2013–14 Springfield Falcons season

2013–14 Springfield Falcons
Division	1st Northeast Division
Conference	1st Eastern Conference
2013–14 record	28–8–1–3 (60 pts)
Home record	15–5–0–1
Road record	13–3–1–2
Goals for	128
Goals against	99
Team information
General Manager	Bruce Landon
Coach	Brad Larsen
Assistant Coach	Jared Bednar Nolan Pratt
Captain	Ryan Craig
Alternate captains	Andrew Joudrey Frédéric St-Denis
Arena	MassMutual Center
Team leaders
Goals	Jonathan Marchessault (12)
Assists	Tim Erixon Jonathan Marchessault (17)
Points	Jonathan Marchessault (29)
Penalties in minutes	Cody Bass Darryl Boyce Cody Goloubef (61)
Plus/minus	(+) Cody Goloubef Frederic St. Denis (+10) (–) Will Weber (–6)
Wins	Jeremy Smith (17)
Goals against average	Mike McKenna (1.73)
< 2012–13 2014–15 >

The 2013–14 Springfield Falcons season is the franchise's 20th season in the American Hockey League, which began on October 5, 2013.

Off-season

Retired goalie Manny Legace became a goaltending consultant for the Springfield Falcons.

After nine years of failing to make the post-season, the Springfield Falcons won the Northeast Division in 2012–13 and survived to the second round of the Calder Cup playoffs. The club hoped to build on that momentum to increase the team's fan base and ticket sales for 2013–14. This season marks the final year before the expiration of the Falcons' lease with the MassMutual Center, as well as their working agreement with the Columbus Blue Jackets organization.^[1] Retired goaltender Manny Legace, who played with the Falcons several years including their inaugural 1994 season, rejoined the team in August as a goaltending consultant.^[2]

By the end of the off-season, the Falcons roster featured 15 skaters from the previous season.^[3] New additions to the team included forwards Broc Little,^[4] Darryl Boyce, Ryley Grantham, Jeremy Langlois, Peter Sakaris, Lukas Sedlak and Jack Skille; and defensemen Joseph Lavin, Ilari Melart, Patrick McNeill and Frédéric St-Denis.^[5] The team also signed new goaltenders Jeremy Smith and Mike McKenna, who competed for the starting role after last year's goalie Curtis McElhinney joined the Columbus Blue Jackets.^[6] Former Falcons Cody Bass and Boone Jenner also left Springfield for Columbus in the off-season.^[7][8] Rookies Alex Aleardi, Thomas Larkin and Austin Madaisky all began their first full seasons with the Falcons in 2013–14.^[5] St-Denis became alternate captain for the team along with Andrew Joudrey, who also held that role last year.^[4]

Following a training camp that began September 24 at the MassMutual Center,^[9] the Falcons held two home-to-home preseason games against the Hartford Wolf Pack on September 27 and 29. Springfield won both games, starting with a 7–0 shut-out in the preseason opener, in which Aleardi scored four goals and Langlois scored his first goal in a professional game.^[10] Mike Clemente and Linus Lundin, two goaltenders playing in the Falcons preseason on tryout contracts,^[11] split their time on the net, with Clemenete stopping 11 shots and Lundin stopping six.^[10][12] Springfield won the second game 4–3, with Aleardi scoring twice more against Hartford, and Jake Hansen scoring his third goal of the preseason.^[13]

2013–14 Preseason Game Log: 2–0–0–0 (Home: 1–0–0–0; Road: 1–0–0–0)
# Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Record 1 September 27 Hartford 0–7 Springfield Clemente 1–0–0–0 2 September 29 Springfield 4–3 Hartford Lundin 2–0–0–0

Regular season

October

Springfield won the first five games of the season for the first time in franchise history; no previous Falcons team had ever won more than three straight games. They allowed only 10 goals through those first five games, the lowest amount in the Eastern Conference and second-lowest in the league.^[14] They began with a 3–2 shootout victory over the Manchester Monarchs on October 5, marking the ninth time in 10 years that the Falcons won their season opener.^[4][3] Boyce scored his first Springfield goal, and Smith made 22 saves in his Falcon debut. Little was the only player from either team to score in the shootout.^[3] Shortly after the debut game, the Columbus Blue Jackets recalled team captain Ryan Craig and sent down to Springfield former AHL All-Star defenseman Tim Erixon,^[15] while Sakaris was loaned to ECHL's Evansville IceMen.^[4] Erixon went on to score at least one point in each of his next four games.^[16] Springfield won their next two games on October 12 and 13, with Erixon earning four assists and one goal between the two match-ups, and Hansen scoring twice in the first game.^[17] Defenseman Will Weber was suspended for one game for an illegal cross-checking incident in the October 12 game against the Worcester Sharks.^[18]

Winger Jean-François Jacques joined the team on a player tryout agreement shortly afterward.^[18] In a 5–2 victory over the Providence Bruins on October 18, Erixon scored one goal and three assists,^[19] while Michael Chaput got an assist, marking his fourth consecutive game registering a point.^[20][21] Springfield also defeated the Adirondack Phantoms 3–2 in a shootout the next day after coming back from a 2–0 deficit. McKenna stopped 35 of 37 shots, Sean Collins and Cody Goloubef scored in the shootout.^[16] The Falcons' undefeated streak ended with a 4–3 shootout loss against the Bruins, with only Marchessault scoring in six shootout rounds.^[22] They also lost 3–1 the next day to the Sharks, whose Danill Tarasov scored a hat-trick against them.^[23] Afterward, the Blue Jackets returned Craig to Springfield, and also sent down Cody Bass, who had recently returned from an injury he sustained in the preseason.^[24]

November

After three consecutive defeats, the Falcons opened the month with two wins against Hartford on November 1 and 2. The first game was decided in a shootout in which Aleardi and Marchessault scored,^[25] while Boyce and Hansen each scored short-handed goals in the second game.^[26] The goal marked Hanson's ninth short-handed goal of the season thus far, the highest amount in the league and a new single season record for Springfield.^[27] Shortly afterward, Collins was called up to the Columbus Blue Jackets to replace the injured Matt Calvert.^[28]

Standings

Divisional standings

	Northeast Division[29]	GP	W	L	OTL	SOL	Pts	GF	GA
1	Springfield Falcons (CBJ)	14	10	3	0	1	21	38	32
2	Albany Devils (NJ)	17	10	6	0	1	21	44	39
3	Hartford Wolf Pack (NYR)	17	8	7	0	2	18	48	58
4	Adirondack Phantoms (PHI)	15	7	6	0	2	16	36	38
5	Bridgeport Sound Tigers (NYI)	14	4	8	1	1	10	36	51

After games of November 20, 2013

Conference standings

	Eastern Conference[30]	Div	GP	W	L	OTL	SOL	Pts	GF	GA
1	^*y– Manchester Monarchs (LAK)	AT	76	48	19	3	6	105	244	188
2	^*y– Springfield Falcons (CBJ)	NE	76	47	23	1	5	100	247	212
3	^*y– Binghamton Senators (OTT)	ET	76	44	24	3	5	96	276	232
4	x– St. John's IceCaps (WPG)	AT	76	46	23	2	5	99	258	207
5	x– Albany Devils (NJD)	NE	76	40	23	5	8	93	220	193
6	x– Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (PIT)	ET	76	42	26	3	5	92	206	185
7	x– Providence Bruins (BOS)	AT	76	40	25	2	9	91	233	210
8	x– Norfolk Admirals (ANA)	ET	76	40	26	3	7	90	201	192
9	e– Hershey Bears (WSH)	ET	76	39	27	5	5	88	221	213
10	e– Hartford Wolf Pack (NYR)	NE	76	37	32	1	6	81	202	220
11	e– Worcester Sharks (SJS)	AT	76	36	34	4	2	78	189	226
12	e– Syracuse Crunch (TBL)	ET	76	31	32	4	9	75	198	232
13	e– Adirondack Phantoms (PHI)	NE	76	30	38	2	6	68	182	225
14	e– Bridgeport Sound Tigers (NYI)	NE	76	28	40	2	6	64	183	238
15	e– Portland Pirates (PHX)	AT	76	24	39	3	10	61	222	284

* = Division leaders are seeded 1, 2, and 3 in Conference standings.
The top eight teams in each conference qualify for the playoffs.
 y–  indicates team has clinched division and a playoff spot
 x–  indicates team has clinched a playoff spot
 e–  indicates team has been eliminated from playoff contention

Schedule and results

2013–14 Game Log – Regular season
October: 5–2–0–1 (Home: 2–1–0–0 ; Road: 3–1–0–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Gamesheet 1 October 5 Machester 2–3 Springfield SO Smith 5,528 1–0–0–0 2 Gamesheet 2 October 12 Worcester 3–4 Springfield Smith 2,788 2–0–0–0 4 Gamesheet 3 October 13 Springfield 3–1 Bridgeport McKenna 3,130 3–0–0–0 6 Gamesheet 4 October 18 Springfield 5–2 Providence Smith 6,549 4–0–0–0 8 Gamesheet 5 October 19 Springfield 3–2 Adirondack SO McKenna 2,662 5–0–0–0 10 Gamesheet 6 October 25 Springfield 3–4 Providence SO Smith 8,737 5–0–0–1 11 Gamesheet 7 October 26 Worcester 3–1 Springfield McKenna 2,986 5–1–0–1 11 Gamesheet 8 October 30 Springfield 1–2 Adirondack Smith 1,854 5–2–0–1 11 Gamesheet
November: 2–0–0–0 (Home: 2–0–0–0 ; Road: 0–0–0–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Gamesheet 9 November 1 Hartford 2–3 Springfield SO McKenna 2,888 6–2–0–1 13 Gamesheet 10 November 2 Hartford 2–3 Springfield Smith 3,009 7–2–0–1 15 Gamesheet 11 November 8 Adirondack Springfield 12 November 10 WB/Scranton Springfield 13 November 15 Bridgeport Springfield 14 November 16 Springfield Portland 15 November 22 Albany Springfield 16 November 23 Hartford Springfield 17 November 24 Springfield Providence 18 November 29 Springfield Manchester 19 November 30 Portland Springfield
December: 0–0–0–0 (Home: 0–0–0–0 ; Road: 0–0–0–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Gamesheet 20 December 4 Springfield Albany 21 December 7 Hartford Springfield 22 December 8 Springfield Hartford 23 December 11 Springfield WB/Scranton 24 December 13 Springfield Norfolk 25 December 14 Springfield Norfolk 26 December 20 Springfield Providence 27 December 21 Springfield Hartford 28 December 26 Adirondack Springfield 29 December 28 Bridgeport Springfield 30 December 29 Providence Springfield 31 December 31 St. John's Springfield
January: 0–0–0–0 (Home: 0–0–0–0 ; Road: 0–0–0–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Gamesheet 32 January 3 Springfield Albany 33 January 4 Providence Springfield 34 January 7 Springfield Albany 35 January 10 Albany Springfield 36 January 11 Springfield Hershey 37 January 12 Norfolk Springfield 38 January 17 Springfield Portland 39 January 18 Providence Springfield 40 January 20 Adirondack Springfield 41 January 24 Springfield HArtford 42 January 25 Bridgeport Springfield 43 January 26 Portland Springfield 44 January 31 Springfield Worcester
February: 0–0–0–0 (Home: 0–0–0–0 ; Road: 0–0–0–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Gamesheet 45 February 1 Springfield Bridgeport 46 February 4 Albany Springfield 47 February 7 Syracuse Springfield 48 February 8 Springfield Syracuse 49 February 9 Springfield Providence 50 February 14 Hartford Springfield 51 February 15 Bridgeport Springfield 52 February 16 Worcester Springfield 53 February 21 Springfield Manchester 54 February 22 Hartford Springfield 55 February 23 Norfolk Springfield
March: 0–0–0–0 (Home: 0–0–0–0 ; Road: 0–0–0–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Gamesheet 56 March 1 Providence Springfield 57 March 2 Springfield Worcester 58 March 7 Springfield Hartford 59 March 8 Springfield Adirondack 60 March 9 Springfield Portland 61 March 14 Albany Springfield 62 March 15 Providence Springfield 63 March 21 Springfield Worcester 64 March 22 Manchester Springfield 65 March 23 St. John's Springfield 66 March 26 Adirondack Springfield 67 March 28 Springfield Hartford 68 March 29 Springfield Adirondack
April: 0–0–0–0 (Home: 0–0–0–0 ; Road: 0–0–0–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Gamesheet 69 April 1 Springfield Bridgeport 70 April 4 Springfield St. John's 71 April 5 Springfield St. John's 72 April 11 Portland Springfield 73 April 12 Hershey Springfield 74 April 13 Springfield Bridgeport 75 April 18 Springfield Hartford 76 April 19 Springfield Albany
Legend:       Win (2 points)       Loss (0 points)       Overtime/shootout loss (1-point)

Player statistics

Skaters

Note: GP = Games Played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/− = Plus/Minus; PIM = Penalty Minutes
Updated as of January 20, 2014^[31]

Regular Season Player GP G A Pts +/- PIM Marchessault, JonathanJonathan Marchessault 39 12 17 29 −1 35 St. Denis, FredericFrederic St. Denis 37 8 14 22 10 16 Boyce, DarrylDarryl Boyce 40 8 13 21 3 61 Goloubef, CodyCody Goloubef 40 6 14 20 10 61 Erixon, TimTim Erixon 22 3 17 20 8 6 McNeill, PatrickPatrick McNeill 32 5 14 19 2 26 Machacek, SpencerSpencer Machacek 31 8 10 18 5 22 Parlett, BlakeBlake Parlett 31 4 14 18 3 20 Joudrey, AndrewAndrew Joudrey 40 8 9 17 −2 24 Collins, SeanSean Collins 36 6 11 17 0 20 Chaput, MichaelMichael Chaput^‡ 21 8 8 16 4 26 Hansen, JakeJake Hansen 40 8 7 15 9 18 Craig, RyanRyan Craig^‡ 26 7 6 13 5 21 Jacques, Jean-FrancoisJean-Francois Jacques 21 5 7 12 3 14 Aleardi, AlexAlex Aleardi^* 31 4 7 11 2 14 Bass, CodyCody Bass 26 2 7 9 5 61 Smith, DaltonDalton Smith 35 4 4 8 −4 56 Little, BrocBroc Little^‡^* 20 3 5 8 2 8 Miller, TimTim Miller^† 18 0 8 8 0 39 Sedlak, LukasLukas Sedlak^* 28 6 0 6 6 14 Madaisky, AustinAustin Madaisky^* 20 2 2 4 2 6 Skille, JackJack Skille 6 2 1 3 1 2 Melart, IlariIlari Melart 24 1 2 3 0 28 Weber, WillWill Weber 37 1 2 3 −6 50 Grantham, RyleyRyley Grantham 6 0 2 2 1 19 Larkin, ThomasThomas Larkin^* 4 0 1 1 2 29 Vogelhuber, TrentTrent Vogelhuber 4 0 1 1 −1 6 Langlois, JeremyJeremy Langlois^* 5 0 0 0 −4 0

^†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining team. Stats reflect time with the team only.
^‡Left the team mid-season
^*Rookie

Goaltenders

Note: GP = Games Played; TOI = Time on Ice; W = Wins; L = Losses; GA = Goals Against; GAA = Goals Against Average; SV = Saves; SA = Shots Against; SV% = Save Percentage; SO = Shutouts; G = Goals; A = Assists; PIM = Penalty Minutes
Updated as of January 20, 2014^[32]

Regular Season

Player	GP	TOI	W	L	GA	GAA	SV	SA	SV%	SO	G	A	PIM
McKenna, MikeMike McKenna	13	798:43	10	3	23	1.73	342	365	.937	2	0	0	0
Smith, JeremyJeremy Smith	25	1522:57	17	8	65	2.56	626	691	.906	0	0	0	0
Clemente, MikeMike Clemente^*	2	125:00	1	1	6	2.88	50	56	.893	0	0	0	0
Totals		2446:40	28	12	94	2.30	1018	1112	.915	2	0	0	0

^‡Left the team mid-season
^*Rookie

Milestones

Player	Milestone	Reached
Broc Little	1st AHL Game	October 5, 2013	[33]
Lukas Sedlak	1st AHL Game	October 5, 2013	[33]
Ilari Melart	1st AHL Game	October 5, 2013	[33]
Lukas Sedlak	1st AHL Goal	October 12, 2013	[20]
Austin Madaisky	1st AHL Assist	October 12, 2013	[34]
Broc Little	1st AHL Goal	October 19, 2013	[16]
Ryley Grantham	1st AHL Assist	October 19, 2013	[16]
Jeremy Langlois	1st AHL Game	October 19, 2013	[35]

References

1. Chimelis, Ron. "Springfield Falcons hope strong season translates to offseason ticket drive". The Republican. Archived from the original on September 22, 2013. Retrieved September 22, 2013.
2. Tucker, Cam (August 6, 2013). "AHL Falcons hire Legace as new goaltender consultant". NBC Sports. Archived from the original on September 22, 2013. Retrieved September 22, 2013.
3. Remillard, Jason (October 5, 2013). "Springfield Falcons open 20th American Hockey League season with 3-2 shootout win over Manchester Monarchs". The Republican. Archived from the original on October 10, 2013. Retrieved October 10, 2013.
4. Brown, Garry (October 8, 2013). "Springfield Falcons winger Broc Little hoping for big things in rookie season". The Republican. Archived from the original on October 10, 2013. Retrieved October 10, 2013.
5. Brown, Garry (October 4, 2013). "Springfield Falcons open 20th anniversary season with plenty of questions". The Republican. Archived from the original on October 10, 2013. Retrieved October 10, 2013.
6. Brown, Garry (October 3, 2013). "McKenna, Smith vie for spot in Falcons goal". The Republican. Archived from the original on October 10, 2013. Retrieved October 10, 2013.
7. Mitchell, Shawn (September 13, 2013). "Blue Jackets notebook: Injury problems on the ice won’t make Bass ease up". The Columbus Dispatch. Archived from the original on October 10, 2013. Retrieved October 10, 2013.
8. Mixer, Rob (September 28, 2013). "Blue Jackets make final wave of roster moves". Columbus Blue Jackets. Archived from the original on October 10, 2013. Retrieved October 10, 2013.
9. "Springfield Falcons assigned 17 players by Columbus Blue Jackets". The Republican. September 18, 2013. Archived from the original on September 22, 2013. Retrieved September 22, 2013.
10. Owen, Nate (September 29, 2013). "Springfield Falcons wrap brief preseason slate with 4-3 win at Hartford". The Republican. Archived from the original on October 7, 2013. Retrieved October 7, 2013.
11. Landon, Bruce (October 1, 2013). "Bruce Landon: Walk-on tryouts seldom work out, but the case of Linus Lundin proves there are exceptions". The Republican. Archived from the original on October 10, 2013. Retrieved October 10, 2013.
12. "Falcons open preseason with 7-0 win over Wolf Pack". WWLP. September 27, 2013. Archived from the original on October 10, 2013. Retrieved October 10, 2013.
13. Owen, Nate (September 29, 2013). "Springfield Falcons wrap brief preseason slate with 4-3 win at Hartford". The Republican. Archived from the original on October 7, 2013. Retrieved October 7, 2013.
14. Scandura, Mike (October 25, 2013). "Springfield Falcons Tim Erixon roars to life on ice for AHL team". The Republican. Archived from the original on October 30, 2013. Retrieved October 30, 2013.
15. Remillard, Jason (October 12, 2013). "AHL All-Star defenseman Tim Erixon returns to Springfield Falcons, looking to work for NHL return". The Republican. Archived from the original on October 15, 2013. Retrieved October 15, 2013.
16. Brown, Garry (October 20, 2013). "Springfield Falcons off to first 5-0 start". The Republican. Archived from the original on October 20, 2013. Retrieved October 20, 2013.
17. Fornabaio, Michael (October 13, 2013). "Springfield Falcons beat Bridgeport Sound Tigers 3-1, remain unbeaten". The Republican. Archived from the original on October 15, 2013. Retrieved October 15, 2013.
18. Brown, Garry. "Springfield Falcons hockey team ready to hit road". The Republican. Archived from the original on October 20, 2013. Retrieved October 20, 2013.
19. Tannenbaum, Josh (October 19, 2013). "Springfield Falcons top the Providence Bruins and remain unbeaten". WWLP. Archived from the original on October 20, 2013. Retrieved October 20, 2013.
20. "Falcons Weekly Notes: October 14". Springfield Falcons. October 14, 2013. Archived from the original on October 20, 2013. Retrieved October 20, 2013.
21. "Gamesheet: Springfield at Providence". American Hockey League. October 18, 2013. Archived from the original on October 20, 2013. Retrieved October 20, 2013.
22. Scandura, Mike (October 25, 2013). "Springfield Falcons undefeated streak ends with 4-3 shootout loss to Providence Bruins". The Republican. Archived from the original on October 30, 2013. Retrieved October 30, 2013.
23. Setterlund, Carl (October 26, 2013). "Daniil Tarasov's hat trick leads Worcester Sharks". The Telegram. Archived from the original on October 28, 2013. Retrieved October 28, 2013.
24. Brown, Garry (October 29, 2013). "Falcons have some boys back". The Republican. Archived from the original on October 30, 2013. Retrieved October 30, 2013.
25. Remillard, Jason (November 1, 2013). "Springfield Falcons score 3-2 shootout victory over Hartford Wolf Pack". The Republican. Retrieved November 5, 2013.
26. Remillard, Jason (November 2, 2013). "Shorthanded goals lift Springfield Falcons to 3-2 win over Hartford Wolf Pack". The Springfield. Archived from the original on November 3, 2013. Retrieved November 3, 2013.
27. Remillard, Jason (November 3, 2013). "Jake Hansen sets Springfield Falcons single-season record for shorthanded goals". The Republican. Retrieved November 5, 2013.
28. "Jackets put Matt Calvert on IR". ESPN. October 14, 2013. Retrieved November 5, 2013.
29. "2013–14 Regular Season – Division". American Hockey League. Retrieved November 12, 2013.
30. "2013–14 Regular Season – Conference". American Hockey League. Retrieved January 18, 2014.
31. "Skaters – 2013–2014 Regular Season – Springfield Falcons". American Hockey League. Retrieved November 3, 2013.
32. "Goalies – 2013–14 Regular Season – Springfield Falcons". American Hockey League. Retrieved November 3, 2013.
33. "Gamesheet: Manchester at Springfield". American Hockey League. October 5, 2013. Archived from the original on October 30, 2013. Retrieved October 30, 2013.
34. "Gamesheet: Worcester at Springfield". American Hockey League. October 12, 2013. Archived from the original on October 30, 2013. Retrieved October 30, 2013.
35. "Gamesheet: Springfield at Adirondack". American Hockey League. October 12, 2013. Archived from the original on October 30, 2013. Retrieved October 30, 2013.

External links

• Springfield Falcons official website