2008-2009 Buffalo Sabres Media Guide Portland Pirates
2008-2009 Buffalo Sabres Media Guide Portland Pirates
Portland Pirates
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The Pirates franchise got off to the best start possible, winning the Calder Cup in its inau-
gural season under the direction of head coach Barry Trotz. The next season the Pirates
compiled 104 points, but were upset in the first round of the playoffs. During the 1995-
96 season, the team reached the Calder Cup Finals for the second time in franchise his-
tory, losing to Rochester in seven games. The Pirates made the playoffs in three out of the next four seasons, missing them in 1998-99, but
couldn’t go as far as they had in the previous years. Despite another 100-point season in 1999-2000, the Pirates were eliminated in the first
round of the playoffs.
Change came to Portland when a new ownership group, led by Lyman Bullard and Brian Petrovek, bought the team in 2000. The team con-
tinued its up and down pattern of success on the ice, but its loyal fanbase kept growing steadily in the Portland area. In 2003, the Pirates
hosted the 2003 Dodge AHL All-Star Classic, the first in Portland and one of the most successful in league history. The game was played in
front of a capacity crowd of 6,499 at the Cumberland County Civic Center, home to professional hockey in Portland since 1977.
In the spring of 2005, the Pirates began a new era by signing an agreement to serve as the AHL affiliate for the Anaheim Ducks. The 2005-
06 season began with an entirely new coaching staff as former Hartford Whaler Kevin Dineen was announced as the Pirates head coach. The
new coaching regime led the Pirates to a franchise record of 114 points during the regular season, helped by Corey Perry’s team record 17-
game point streak. The Pirates finished the regular season as the Atlantic Division Champions for the first time in team history and also cap-
tured the Eastern Conference Regular Season Championship, but lost in overtime in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals.
After losing key players to their Stanley Cup-winning affiliate, the Pirates missed the playoffs again in 2006-07, but would bounce back
stronger in 2007-08. The team appeared to be on pace to win a second Calder Cup, but were dealt a devastating blow when Wilkes-
Barre/Scranton scored the game-winning goal with under a minute left in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals. Despite the loss, the
Anaheim era ended with great success and a .623 points percentage, the sixth best in the league during that time span. Fan attendance
averaged close to 5,000 per game and the 3,000,000th fan in Portland professional hockey history walked through the doors of the Civic
Center to watch the final home game of the playoff season.
Another chapter of Pirates history began on June 10, 2008 when the Buffalo Sabres organization was announced as the team’s new NHL affil-
iate. Buffalo became the third affiliate in Pirates history and the deal guarantees professional hockey in Portland through 2011. And so the
tradition of Portland hockey continues.
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KEVIN
Head Coach of the Portland Pirates DINEEN
On August 7, 2008 the Buffalo Sabres named Kevin Dineen as the head coach of the Portland Pirates, Buffalo's
primary player development affiliate in the American Hockey League (AHL). Dineen will be returning to the Portland
Pirates for his fourth season, but this year he will be standing behind a bench full of new players, under a new
NHL affiliation with Buffalo. During Dineen's three-year tenure with the Pirates he posted a 135-89-16 record for
a .596 winning percentage, which is the best winning percentage by a coach in franchise history, just ahead of
legendary Pirates Hall of Fame coach and current Nashville Predators head coach Barry Trotz. Dineen led the
Pirates to two Eastern Conference Finals in three seasons, coming within one win of the Calder Cup Finals each time.
During the 2005-2006, season after a 53-19-5 record, Dineen was named the winner of the Louis A.R. Pieri Memorial Award as the AHL's
outstanding coach, as voted by members of the media in each of the league's 27 cities, an award won by his father Bill in both 1985 and
1986.
Dineen, 44, spent 18 years in the NHL as a player from 1984-85 to 2002-2003. He earned 355 goals and 405 assists for 760 points and
2,229 penalty minutes in 1,188 games with Columbus, Ottawa, Carolina/Hartford and Philadelphia. In the process, he became one of just
eight NHL players to record more than 300 goals and 2,000 penalty minutes in an NHL career. He was drafted by Hartford in the third round
(56th overall) of the 1982 NHL Entry Draft.
After retiring as a player with the Columbus Blue Jackets on Nov. 5, 2002, Dineen spent two seasons working in the Columbus hockey oper-
ations department, assisting General Manager Doug MacLean in player development.
The Quebec City, Quebec, native appeared in two NHL All-Star Games as a member of the Hartford Whalers (1988 and 1989). He was also
named the 1990-91 NHL Man of the Year and was a three-time finalist for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy (1995, 2001 and 2002), given
to the player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey. Dineen also represented Canada
on many occasions, playing on the country's national team at the 1984 Olympic Games, 1987 Canada Cup and three World Championship
Tournaments (1985, 1989 and 1993).
Dineen also played two seasons at the University of Denver, earning 26 goals and 23 assists for 49 points, with 178 penalty minutes, in 62
games.
Kevin and his wife, Annie, are the parents of two daughters (Hannah and Emma) and two sons (William and Declan).
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ATLANTIC DIVISION
TEAM GP W L OTL SOL PTS PCT GF GA
Providence 80 55 18 3 4 117 .687 280 206
Hartford 80 50 20 2 8 110 .625 266 198
Portland 80 45 26 5 4 99 .562 238 215
Manchester 80 39 31 5 5 88 .487 240 228
Springfield 80 35 35 5 5 80 .437 214 257
Worcester 80 32 37 5 6 75 .400 216 258
Lowell 80 25 43 7 5 62 .312 183 270
EASTERN DIVISION
TEAM GP W L OTL SOL PTS PCT GF GA
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 80 47 26 3 4 101 .587 223 187
Philadelphia 80 46 27 4 3 99 .438 236 212
Albany 80 43 30 3 4 93 .537 213 198
Hershey 80 42 30 3 4 92 .525 253 247
Bridgeport 80 40 36 1 3 84 .500 225 240
Binghamton 80 34 32 9 5 82 .425 225 248
Norfolk 80 29 44 2 5 65 .362 213 267
NORTH DIVISION
TEAM GP W L OTL SOL PTS PCT GF GA
Toronto 80 50 21 3 6 109 .625 246 203
Syracuse 80 46 26 2 6 100 .575 247 201
Manitoba 80 46 27 2 4 99 .575 236 197
Hamilton 80 36 34 3 7 82 .450 208 235
Grand Rapids 80 31 41 2 6 70 .387 210 245
Lake Erie 80 26 41 6 7 65 .325 209 276
Rochester 80 24 46 6 4 58 .300 197 291
WEST DIVISION
TEAM GP W L OTL SOL PTS PCT GF GA
Chicago 80 53 22 2 3 111 .662 300 226
Rockford 80 44 26 4 6 98 .555 247 231
Houston 80 45 29 2 4 96 .562 206 183
Milwaukee 80 44 29 4 3 95 .555 231 212
San Antonio 80 42 28 3 7 94 .520 238 225
Peoria 80 38 33 4 5 85 .475 247 242
Iowa 80 35 37 5 3 78 .437 217 255
# PLAYER GP MINS W L SOL SO EN GA GAA SOGP SOW SOL SOGA SOA SO% SA SVS SV%
53 Adam Dennis 46 2601 17 26 2 3 6 138 3.18 6 4 2 5 32 0.844 1337 1199 0.897
31 * Tyler Plante 25 1451 6 16 1 0 3 86 3.56 2 1 1 1 9 0.889 751 665 0.885
30 David Shantz 14 780 1 10 1 0 1 53 4.07 1 0 1 2 4 0.500 387 334 0.863
TOTALS 80 4832 24 52 4 3 10 277 3.44 9 5 4 8 45 0.822 2475 2198 0.888
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*A new rule instituted prior to the 1995-96 season awards one point to the team that loses in overtime. Prior to the 1999-2000 season, the Overtime Loss des-
ignation was changed to Regulation Tie.
^Prior to 2001-02 season, the Calder Cup Playoffs were changed to a conference format, eliminating divisional series. Teams are seeded 1-14 in both the
Eastern and Western Conferences.
#Format reverted to division standings to determine playoff positions for the 2003-04 season.
GP W L T OTL/RT GF GA PTS
TOTAL (13 seasons) 1,200 558 449 229 58 3,718 3,542 11,309
Coaching Records
COACH SEASONS GMS W L T OTL/RT WIN %
Barry Trotz 1993-97 320 158 109 42 11 .577
Bryan Trottier 1997-98 80* 33 33 12 2 .500
Mark Kumpel 1998-99 80 23 48 7 2 .344
Glen Hanlon 1999-2002 240 110 94 29 7 .533
Tim Army 2002-2005 240 99 89 26 20 .419
Kevin Dineen 2005- Present 240 135 89 16 .596
*Includes one game in which assistant coach Jay Wells served as head coach while Trottier was in Toronto for Hockey Hall of Fame induction. Pirates won game
against Saint John 2-1 on November 15, 1997.
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All-Time Individual Leaders
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MOST GOALS - ALL-TIME - PORTLAND PIRATES MOST GAMES - ALL-TIME - PORTLAND PIRATES
1. 147 Kent Hulst 11. 215 Mike Farrell
2. 124 Jeff Nelson 12. 212 Jason Ulmer
3. 110 Andrew Brunette 13. 198 Benoit Gratton
4 102 Trent Whitfield 14. 197 Todd Rohloff
5. 75 Graham Mink 15. 192 Norm Batherson
6, 74 Martin Gendron
7. 68 Chris Jensen HAT TRICKS - ALL-TIME - PORTLAND PIRATES
8. 67 Glen Metropolit 1. 5 Martin Gendron
67 Mark Murphy 2. 4 Jeff Nelson
10. 64 Ryan Mulhern 3. 3 Chris Jensen
11. 63 Patrick Boileau 4. 2 Steve Konowalchuk
12. 58 Matt Herr 2 Michel Picard
13. 51 Norm Batherson 2 Kent Hulst
14. 50 Jaroslav Svejkovsky 2 Trevor Halverson
15. 47 Trevor Halverson 2 Jean-Pierre Dumont
2 Mark Murphy
MOST ASSISTS - ALL-TIME - PORTLAND PIRATES 2 Pierre Parenteau
1. 224 Andrew Brunette
2. 222 Jeff Nelson
GAME WINNING GOALS - ALL-TIME - PORTLAND PIRATES
3. 213 Kent Hulst 1. 19 Kent Hulst
4. 153 Trent Whitfield 2. 16 Mark Murphy
5. 151 Steve Poapst 3. 13 Chris Jensen
6. 143 Patrick Boileau 4. 12 Ryan Mulhern
7. 129 Glen Metropolit 12 Jeff Nelson
8. 113 Benoit Gratton 6. 11 Andrew Brunette
9. 102 Mark Murphy 7. 10 Matt Herr
10. 88 Norm Batherson 10 Glen Metropolit
11. 79 Mike Boback 9. 9 Martin Gendron
12. 78 Peter Ferraro 9 Trent Whitfield
13. 76 Jason Christie 11, 8 Mike Peluso
14. 75 Colin Forbes 8 Jaroslav Svejkovsky
15. 72 Graham Mink 8 Patrick Boileau
14. 7 Kevin Kaminski
MOST POINTS - ALL-TIME - PORTLAND PIRATES 7 Peter Ferraro
1. 360 Kent Hulst 7 Graham Mink
2. 346 Jeff Nelson
3. 334 Andrew Brunette
POWER PLAY GOALS - ALL-TIME - PORTLAND PIRATES
4. 255 Trent Whitfield 1. 51 Andrew Brunette
5. 206 Patrick Boileau 2. 47 Kent Hulst
6. 196 Glen Metropolit 3. 46 Jeff Nelson
7. 195 Steve Poapst 4. 31 Trent Whitfield
8. 169 Mark Murphy 5. 28 Martin Gendron
9. 156 Benoit Gratton 6. 27 Patrick Boileau
10. 147 Graham Mink 7. 22 Matt Herr
11. 139 Norm Batherson 8. 19 Chris Jensen
12. 138 Chris Jensen 19 Mark Murphy
13. 135 Martin Gendron 10. 18 Glen Metropolit
135 Ryan Mulhern 11. 17 Steve Poapst
15. 121 Peter Ferraro 12. 16 Ryan Mulhern
13. 15 Mike Peluso
MOST GAMES - ALL-TIME - PORTLAND PIRATES 15 Jaroslav Svejkovsky
1. 473 Kent Hulst 15. 14 Peter Ferraro
2. 459 Patrick Boileau 14 Graham Mink
3. 454 Steve Poapst
4. 348 Trent Whitfield
5. 336 Jeff Nelson
6. 281 Brad Church
7. 264 Andrew Brunette
8. 258 Graham Mink
9. 244 Jakub Cutta
10. 241 Darren McAusland
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DEFENSEMAN RECORDS:
MOST GOALS
17 – Patrick Boileau, 2001-02
MOST ASSISTS
35 – Todd Nelson, 1994-95
35 – Nick Naumenko, 2001-02
MOST POINTS
53 – Brian Salcido, 2007-08
50 – Nick Naumenko, 2001-02
MOST POWERPLAY GOALS
10 – Nick Naumenko, 2001-02
MOST SHORTHANDED GOALS
2 – Todd Nelson, 1994-95
BEST PLUS/MINUS RATIO
+41 – Steve Poapst, 1994-95
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