AHA SHOOTOUT DEC. 1
five rounds of monthly news from around the league
- It didn't take long for Wayne Gretzky to shoot to his presumed place atop the AHA scoring list, putting up 31 points in 14 games in November to give him 50 through 27 games, a big reason the Calgary Stampede lead the Western Conference with 54 points.
- The two conferences have set up very distinctly to this point, with the Eastern Conference showing more balance (the four teams in 2nd through 5th place are separate by five points) while the Western Conference is a clear three-team race, with three teams above 50 points and the other three having less than 40.
- We noted before the season that the Seattle Storm had the oddest draft of any AHA squad, taking a goalie (Glenn Hall) in round 1 but not selecting a defenseman until the 11th round. So it is no surprise that the Storm have allowed the second most goals in the league (94). What is a surprise, though, is the fact they've also scored the second fewest (65).
- The Chicago goaltending situation remains an oddity. Andy Moog has started 20 of the Hitmen's 27 games. He's lost 11. The Hitmen have lost 12. Bill Ranford leads the league in goals against (1.86) and save percentage (.952). One has to believe coach Claude Julien is going to reverse course here shortly.
- On the injury front, Philadelphia suffered a major loss when Scott Niedermayer was diagnosed with a hip fracture that will keep him out for the rest of the season. Niedermayer had four goals and 14 assists in 23 games. Meanwhile, the Charlotte Pilots suffered a loss of their own as Drew Doughty (9 G, 18 A, +8) will miss about a month with a dislocated shoulder.
GH