Photo: John Wright SPRINGFIELD, Mass. … The American Hockey League announced today that Norfolk Admirals right wing Carter Ashton has been named the Reebok/AHL Rookie of the Month for October. Ashton scored a league-leading nine goals and paced all AHL rookies with 13 points in 10 games for Norfolk as the Admirals raced out to a 7-2-0-1 start. Ashton began his first full professional season with a two-goal effort, including the overtime winner, in a 6-5 victory over Charlotte on Oct. 7. He notched a goal and an assist each on Oct. 8 vs. Charlotte and Oct. 21 vs. Binghamton, and authored four multiple-point performances among his first five games of the season. Ashton then scored a goal in four straight games to finish October, netting markers on Oct. 23 at Charlotte, Oct. 26 at Adirondack, Oct. 28 at Providence and Oct. 29 at Syracuse. Selected by Tampa Bay in the first round (29th overall) of the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, Ashton was also named the Reebok/AHL Player of the Week for the period ending Oct. 9. The 20-year-old native of Winnipeg, Man., made his pro debut with Norfolk late in the 2009-10 season, recording one goal in 11 games, and also appeared in two Calder Cup Playoff games in 2011. Ashton, who played his junior hockey in the WHL, is the son of former NHL and AHL forward Brent Ashton. In recognition of his achievement, Ashton will be presented with an etched crystal award prior to an upcoming Admirals home game.

Photo: Chris Rutsch SPRINGFIELD, Mass. … The American Hockey League announced today that Chad Johnson of the Connecticut Whale has been named the Reebok/AHL Goaltender of the Month for October. Johnson made five appearances and went 3-0-2, tying for the league lead among qualified goalies in both goals-against average (1.69) and save percentage (.942) while helping the Whale to first place in the Northeast Division. Johnson made his first start of the season on Oct. 9 and made 41 saves in a 1-0 shootout victory over Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, his sixth career shutout. Following shootout losses to Albany (28 saves) and Bridgeport (23 saves), Johnson turned aside 27 of 28 shots in a 4-1 win over Springfield on Oct. 23, and closed out the month with a 28-save effort in a 3-2 shootout win over Worcester on Oct. 29. Drafted by Pittsburgh in 2006, Johnson was acquired by the New York Rangers on June 27, 2009, and is in his third professional season after playing collegiately at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks. The 25-year-old native of Calgary, Alta., has a career record of 43-37-7 in 92 AHL games with Connecticut, and has also appeared in six NHL contests with the Rangers. In recognition of his achievement, Johnson will be presented with an etched crystal award prior to an upcoming Whale home game.

by Kelly Donahue || AHL On The Beat Archive The Manchester Monarchs, along with many other AHL teams, have joined in to aid in the fight against cancer. Hockey Fights Cancer was founded in December 1998 when the National Hockey league and the National Hockey League Players’ Association paired up with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS). Their mission was to raise awareness and donations both on and off the ice. Hockey Fights Cancer has been able to raise over $12 million to date, to help both national and local cancer research organizations and children’s hospitals. The AHL has been making large strides in assisting with the fight against this all-too-common disease. Teams around the league have been holding “Pink in the Rink” themed games at their own arenas for a few years now. Teams such as the Charlotte Checkers, Norfolk Admirals, Providence Bruins, Syracuse Crunch and many others have been thinking pink and helping to raise funds to find a cure. The Monarchs had huge success when hosting their own Pink In The Rink last January. The Monarchs Care Foundation, the charitable arm of the Monarchs, held their inaugural “Pink in the Rink” night on Jan. 22, 2011, when Manchester hosted the Binghamton Senators. The Monarchs recorded their first sellout of the season during this game with 9,852 fans in attendance. The Monarchs donated over $40,000 to organizations on the quest to cure breast cancer. Donations were made from ticket sales and silent and live auctions, and a portion of sales from the Monarchs Pro Shop that night benefited the Breast Care Center at Catholic Medical Center, Dartmouth Hitchcock Norris Cotton Cancer Center and the Monarchs Care Foundation. The Monarchs will host their second annual Pink In The Rink night at the Verizon Wireless Arena when they play the Connecticut Whale at 7:00 p.m. on Feb. 11, 2012. This season, the Monarchs have magnified their focus to include raising awareness for men’s health, and specifically targeting prostate cancer by teaming up with the Dartmouth Hitchcock Norris Cotton Cancer Center and The Movember Foundation. “We are proud of our efforts last season in raising awareness and funds in the fight against cancer with Pink in the Rink night,” said Monarchs president Darren Abbott. “This season we wanted to expand the scope to include awareness of cancers that affect men with Mullets in Movember. We are proud to have the opportunity to be a platform to spread the word and raise funds to help find a cure for such a deadly disease.” Each November, the Monarchs players and coaching staff — along with others throughout the AHL and NHL — grow mustaches as a sign of support and to help raise awareness of men’s cancers. The Monarchs will be distributing 3,000 mullets, complete with matching mustaches, to fans in attendance to help show support for the cause at their Mullets in Movember game, on Nov. 19 (against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins at 7:00 p.m.). The fight against cancer has never been stronger and the Monarchs are proud to be a part of such a tremendous cause past, present and in the future.

Photo: Gregg Forwerck by Paul Branecky || AHL On The Beat Archive If you’re having trouble keeping track of Justin Faulk these days, just imagine how he must feel. Recalled to the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes immediately after the Checkers’ win on Oct. 23, a contest in which he logged over 25 minutes of ice time for the third consecutive day, Faulk arrived in Raleigh around 11:30 p.m. After two practices and no games played, the Hurricanes informed him that he would be returning to Charlotte, but could not do so until after that night’s game against Ottawa, just in case the team needed him in a pinch. That resulted in a 1 a.m. arrival back in the Queen City, where he returned to practice 10 hours later. “I’m still trying to catch up on rest a little bit,” said the 19-year-old Faulk, considered one of the Hurricanes’ top defensive prospects. “Hopefully it gets to be a familiar drive, or maybe not, depending on how you look at it.” Faulk, the 37th overall pick in the 2010 draft, said that he wasn’t told anything specific about why he was brought back to Raleigh in the first place (“I didn’t really care to ask because it’s their decision,” he said), with the team carrying seven healthy blueliners at the time. However, he did admit he was more surprised by this AHL assignment than his first one, which came after three consecutive appearances as a healthy scratch for the Hurricanes. While he’d rather be playing in the NHL, Faulk, who won an NCAA national championship with the University of Minnesota-Duluth as a freshman last season, seemed to be taking the decision in stride. “I know that I’d rather be playing than sitting in the press box,” said Faulk, who averaged around 18 minutes of ice time in the Hurricanes’ first three games this season. “As a young kid who’s still developing, he needs to play, and he understands that,” said Checkers coach Jeff Daniels. When he arrived in Charlotte for his first AHL assignment, coaches told Faulk that he would likely be returning to the Hurricanes after spending the weekend with the Checkers. Upon his latest reassignment, he did not receive any such hints. “I didn’t hear anything about their plans this time, but for me it’s really the same as last time,” he said. “I’m here to do whatever I can to help the team win.” This weekend, Faulk’s odyssey only became odder, as the team played another three-in-three set in Oklahoma City, San Antonio and Houston, with grueling travel mixed in. That was yet another new experience for the first-year pro, who has played his first regular-season games at the AHL and NHL levels, scored his first professional goal and played his first three-in-three, all in the last several weeks. “I had a couple (three-in-threes) in summer camps and things like that, but nothing during a season,” said Faulk, a product of the U.S. National Development Team Program who represented his country in the World Junior Championship last season. “The legs were definitely tired by the end of it.” He doesn’t figure to get much relief, with Daniels planning to again use him extensively. “He has that (offensive) element to his game, has a heavy shot, can skate it out of our zone and doesn’t shy away from the physical part,” said Daniels. “He’s definitely a guy that can handle a lot of minutes, but we’re not going to kill him.” Of course, all of that is assuming that Faulk actually plays on the road trip, and that the unforeseen doesn’t happen yet again. The Checkers have two more three-in-three road weekends coming up, with a trip to Milwaukee, Grand Rapids and Rockford on tap next. “He’s coming,” said Daniels before this past weekend’s trip west. “Unless I’ve got a message on my phone that I haven’t seen yet.”

Pellerins Photography SPRINGFIELD, Mass. … The American Hockey League announced today that Abbotsford Heat center Krys Kolanos has been named the Reebok/AHL Player of the Week for the period ending Oct. 30, 2011. Kolanos made a storybook return to hockey last week, notching four goals and three assists for seven points in two games for the Heat. Kolanos, who sat out the entire 2010-11 season due to injury, played in his first game since Jan. 16, 2010, on Friday night and recorded a hat trick as part of a four-point effort in Abbotsford’s 5-1 win at Grand Rapids. On Sunday in Hamilton, Kolanos scored another goal and assisted on two more as the Heat defeated the Bulldogs, 6-2. Kolanos’s addition to the lineup has been a boon for the Heat, who scored 12 goals in seven games without him before totaling 11 goals in the two weekend outings. A former first-round draft pick by the Phoenix Coyotes (19th overall in 2000), Kolanos signed a tryout with the Heat on Oct. 11 after missing a season and a half following hip surgery. The Calgary, Alta., native is a two-time 30-goal scorer in the AHL and has registered 110 goals and 99 assists for 209 points in 228 AHL games over parts of seven seasons. Kolanos has also appeared in 136 NHL games with Minnesota, Phoenix and Edmonton, tallying 20 goals and 21 assists for 41 points. In recognition of his achievement, Kolanos will be presented with an etched crystal award prior to an upcoming Heat home game. Also see: Past winners, AHL Player of the Week

by Jason Lockhart || AHL On The Beat Archive When Peter Holland was 13, his father, Jan, was still hoping his son would switch positions. Peter was undeniably one of the best players of his age group, but Mr. Holland continued to encourage his son to drop back from forward to defense. “Ever since I was young my dad wanted me to play defense,” said the younger Holland. “He told me that as a defenseman I would get more ice time. Also, he said I had good composure with the puck and skated well, so thought I’d be good as a defenseman.” The domestic squabble of Peter’s position began at the early age of two, when he first put on skates. “My earliest hockey memory was skating on our backyard pond in Caledon, just outside of Toronto, said Holland. “I remember my dad teaching me crossovers when I was four.” Like most youngsters in the Toronto area, Holland, at an early age, grew fond of the Toronto Maple leafs. More specifically, he became a fan of captain and center Mats Sundin. “It was because of Sundin that I wanted to become a center,” said Holland. “I also liked scoring and making plays offensively so I naturally wanted to become a forward.” The move paid off as Holland, in short time, had to move up age groups because he was too good for his own age group. His skills earned him a first-round selection by Guelph into the Ontario Hockey League. “When you grow up in Ontario, the OHL is a huge step,” said Holland. “You idolize those guys and look up to them.” But the OHL wasn’t a given for Holland, not because of his talent, but because of his parents. U.S. college hockey was still an option up until his OHL draft year. “Education has always been important to me and my family,” said Holland. “I was a good student growing up and I visited Michigan State.” But ultimately, Holland chose the Canadian junior route and had to balance the remainder of his high school studies with a rigorous hockey schedule. “It was tough taking classes when you’re playing 70 games in a season,” admitted Holland. “But I enjoyed taking classes since it allowed me to take my mind off hockey when I was at the rink. My goal is to eventually finish my studies. My parents had rules for me growing up regarding schoolwork. They would tell me I couldn’t go to practice or games if my marks weren’t good enough. Luckily I was a good student so I didn’t have to worry about that too much.” Holland successfully balanced his class work and hockey. While he picked up just 23 points in his first season with limited ice time, he jumped to 67 in his second season, ranking him among the top forwards for the 2009 NHL Entry Draft. With the draft in nearby Montreal, and with friends and family in attendance, Holland was selected by Anaheim in the first round, 15th overall. “It was one of the best days of my life, and one of the highlights of my career, getting drafted by Anaheim,” recalled Holland. “I don’t think I slept much the night before. As stressful as it was, you try to soak it all in. We had a fun night and it’s something I’ll never forget.” It was at Holland’s first Ducks training camp in 2009 that he was awed and humbled by both a star forward and defenseman. “When you go to the Anaheim Ducks, you’ve got guys that are going to the Hall of Fame,” said Holland. “You have guys that are scoring 50 goals a year. It was a little intimidating to say the least, but it was exciting. I just tried to take in as much as I could. I remember when we were skating out early before practice and Ryan Getzlaf came up and introduced himself and said, ‘You know, you look good out here.’ Something as small as that brightens your day. “Also, I remember a drill when Scott Niedermayer was giving me an outlet, and I didn’t know how much time and space he had given me. When he gave me the puck, I just threw it away because I didn’t know what was going on.” As much as Holland wanted to jump right to the pros following his draft year, he admitted he wasn’t ready, but didn’t let it get him down. “You take all of things you learn from camp, such as working hard and creating the right habits and bring that back with you,” said Holland. “You want to have a positive attitude and help out the young guys.” Some players crack under the pressure of having the first-round label placed on them, but Holland did the opposite: he thrived. Holland added to his point totals in each of his two seasons with Guelph following the draft. “It puts a little bit more pressure on you,” said Holland about being drafted in the first round. “You just have to go out there and play your game, and not worry about the other stuff around you. You take getting drafted as being the beginning and keep improving.” As Holland became one of the top scorers on Guelph, he moved to the point on the power play and had some success there. It allowed his dad to remind his son that he would be good as a defenseman, but that would never come to fruition. Even though Holland resisted moving from forward to defense, his father and mother, Jude continued their unwavering support for their son, traveling west for an hour to Guelph to see him play on a regular basis. “My mom and dad came to almost every home game we had,” said Holland. “I never went more than a week without seeing them. The same year I left for juniors, my sister left for university, so my parents had an empty house pretty quickly.” After finishing his fourth year at Guelph at the end of the 2010-11 season, Holland was immediately sent to Syracuse to begin his pro career. His professional tune-up would only be for three games, but what an impression the young man made on the entire organization and Crunch fans. In his first game with the Crunch on Apr. 7 at the War Memorial, Holland recorded two assists and scored the game-winning goal on the power play. He followed that up with another two goals and an assist in the final two games, giving him six points in three games. “It was exciting to make my professional debut, and it could not have gone much better,” said Holland. “The games were exciting, especially the ones in Syracuse.” That good feeling at the end of the season — not just for Holland but for the whole team, which went 15-5 in the final 20 games of the 2010-11 season — has carried over to the start of the 2011-12 season. “I spent a small time with the team last year, but you could see the guys were disappointed about how they were missing the playoffs and at the same time happy with how they were playing,” said Holland. “I think guys are confident this year, considering how things ended last season.” And as the first full professional season for Holland begins, he can’t help but look back at all of the positive things that have happened in his hockey career and all of the right choices he made, especially his position on the ice as center. It’s something that from time to time he’ll reiterate to his dad. “We had our differences growing up and I still like to give him a hard time about it every now and then,” said Holland. “But I think it worked out pretty well for me.”

Photo: Bobby Pulte by Mark Newman || AHL On The Beat Archive If Gustav Nyquist lived his life strictly by the numbers, he would probably be playing hockey in the Swedish Elite League, not North America. But the 22-year-old Detroit Red Wings prospect took a different route than most players his age in Sweden. Taking stock of his circumstances, he decided he wanted to leverage his odds. The safe bet would have been to stay in Sweden and play in the top league there for a few years until he was ready to ply his trade in the National Hockey League. Nyquist, however, was smart enough to know that you can’t always bank on things working out exactly as you plan. So he intended to hedge his bets and continue to pursue an education while playing hockey. “In Sweden, you can’t study and play hockey at the same time because we don’t have university sports like here,” said Nyquist, who finished third academically in his high school class. “I wanted to try something new. I wanted to go a different route.” He decided he wanted to play college hockey in North America, a decision fully supported by his parents. After all, his orthopedic surgeon father, Fredrik, and architect mother, Eva, had experienced the benefits of a good education themselves. “Obviously, you can’t play hockey your whole life, even though you want to,” Nyquist explained. “I’ve always felt that an education was something good to have to fall back on.” Nyquist had his choice of a number of American colleges. As luck would have it, he decided on the University of Maine, known as much for having one of the best hockey programs in the country as for its forestry, engineering and business schools. In addition to boasting two national championships (1993 and 1999), the school counts Paul Kariya and Red Wings goalie Jimmy Howard among its alumni. Going to Maine, the only land-grant university located on an island (Marsh Island, between the Penobscot and Stillwater rivers), required some adjusting on the part of Nyquist, who hails from the metropolis of Malmo, the third most populous city in Sweden. By contrast, Maine is situated in Orono, a small, insular college town where seemingly everyone is connected to the school in some fashion. “There were adjustments, both off and on the ice,” said Nyquist, a self-confessed “city boy” who nonetheless grew to appreciate the quaintness of the university town. College life was another matter altogether. “Suddenly you’re taking classes in English, not Swedish, and that’s a little different,” he said. “You have to learn how to budget your time off the ice because you have homework and you need to study. I think it makes you grow up a little faster.” Acclimating his play to the smaller rinks in North America also took some time, perhaps a couple of months by his estimation, but Nyquist capitalized on his decision. At Maine, Nyquist excelled both in the classroom and on the ice. He was a fixture on the Dean’s List as a straight-A student. His major was finance, a subject that had long intrigued him. “I like following my own portfolio,” said Nyquist, whose list of holdings covers both the Swedish stock exchange and Wall Street. “I like to keep track of it, and it’s something to do away from the rink.” Drafted by the Red Wings in the fourth round of the 2008 NHL Entry Draft, Nyquist made sure his stock on the ice went up, growing stronger and capitalizing on the ample ice time he was afforded by the coaches. He led the nation in scoring during 2009-10 and twice was a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award, the honor given to the best college player in the nation. “It was a huge honor to be considered two years in a row,” he said. The major letdown of his time at Maine was that the Black Bears never qualified for the postseason during his time at the school. “It’s obviously a disappointment when your goal is to reach the NCAA tournament,” he said. After his junior year, Nyquist decided it was time to cash in. “I felt like I was ready for a new challenge,” he said, explaining his decision to leave school and sign a two-year entry level contract with the Red Wings. “Detroit is giving me a big opportunity here,” he said. “It’s been my dream since I was a little kid to be part of an organization like Detroit, and I couldn’t be happier.” The Red Wings, in fact, have been Nyquist’s favorite team since he was a boy, which is not surprising given that the roster is loaded with Swedes – Nicklas Lidstrom, Henrik Zetterberg, Johan Franzen, Tomas Holmstrom, Niklas Kronwall, Jonathan Ericsson and Fabian Brunnstrom. He attended his first Red Wings training camp this fall and wasted little time in making an impression. After a solid performance in the prospects tournament, he turned a few heads during the team’s intra-squad scrimmages. “Nyquist is a real good hockey player,” Red Wings head coach Mike Babcock told the assembled throng of media. “He’s like Pav (Datsyuk) in that he skates faster with the puck than he does without it, creates space every time he’s on the ice. He’s professional with and without the puck. He’s an NHL player.” The Griffins gave Nyquist a brief audition late last season when he appeared in eight games after the completion of Maine’s season. He tallied one goal and three assists with the team to close out the 2010-11 season. Griffins head coach Curt Fraser certainly liked what he saw. “He’s got everything – skilled, fast, a real good playmaker,” Fraser told Grand Rapids Press beat writer Michael Zuidema. “I don’t think you’re one of the top players in college hockey by accident, and this kid did it for three years straight. He was a welcome addition to our team.” The eight-game stint set the stage for Nyquist to assume a larger role on the Griffins this season. With five of the top 10 scorers from last season’s team departing over the summer, including leading scorer Ilari Filppula and former captain Jamie Tardif, there was some room on top of the Grand Rapids depth chart for newer blood. Nyquist has made an immediate impact, tallying three goals and three assists in the Griffins’ first seven games after starting the season with points in four straight games. Alongside newcomer Chris Conner and countryman Joakim Andersson, he comprises a large part of the first line and top power-play unit. Nyquist thinks the late-season stay provided him with invaluable insight into his transition to full-time pro hockey. “It was a good experience to get in those eight games,” he said. “It’ll help for sure, because I got a taste and I now know what to expect.” Of course, there could be more ups and downs than the volatile Dow Jones Industrial Average. Fraser expects that Nyquist’s assets may not be entirely evident at the outset, as he made need time to reach his full potential. “He’s a gifted player. He does some real good things, but he’s a young man,” Fraser said. “College hockey and the American League are a lot different. He’s just got to get a little experience and time, and as soon as he does that, he’ll be gold.” Nyquist is prepared to invest every ounce of his being into proving that he is, indeed, an NHL player. “I’m just going to come to the rink every day and work as hard as possible to do my best,” he said. “I want to help us get into the playoffs and make some noise. That’s definitely the first goal.”