As if that weren’t enough, then the Birds had to endure the seven plus hour bus ride to Hershey, PA for a 5PM game on Sunday. The Falcons arrived in Chocolatetown around 5AM Sunday morning. The biggest positive of the weekend came when Springfield dug deep and played a good hockey game against a club that has always played Springfield teams tough. The game was tied 1-1 at the end of 60 minutes. Former Falcon, Ryan Potulny gave the Bears the victory just 22 seconds into the extra session on a power play goal.
Dispensing with my usual divisional standings, as playoff time draws nearer I’ll include the Eastern Conference standings in the Falcons weekly recap:
AHL EASTERN CONFERENCE STANDINGS (as of 3/6/12):
| Pos. | Team | GP | W | L | OTL | SOL | PTS | GF | GA |
| 1. | Norfolk Admirals (TB) | 60 | 39 | 18 | 1 | 2 | 81 | 214 | 159 |
| 2. | St. John’s IceCaps (WPG) | 57 | 35 | 15 | 5 | 2 | 77 | 191 | 165 |
| 3. | Bridgeport Sound Tigers (NYI) | 57 | 32 | 19 | 3 | 3 | 70 | 175 | 158 |
| 4. | Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (PIT) | 59 | 33 | 19 | 2 | 5 | 73 | 188 | 179 |
| 5. | Hershey Bears (WSH) | 59 | 31 | 19 | 4 | 5 | 71 | 197 | 172 |
| 6. | Connecticut Whale (NYR) | 58 | 29 | 19 | 5 | 5 | 68 | 172 | 160 |
| 7. | Albany Devils (NJD) | 58 | 27 | 22 | 6 | 3 | 63 | 150 | 165 |
| 8. | Worcester Sharks (SJ) | 57 | 25 | 21 | 4 | 7 | 61 | 150 | 154 |
| 9. | Manchester Monarchs (LA) | 60 | 29 | 28 | 0 | 3 | 61 | 155 | 174 |
| 10. | Portland Pirates (PHX) | 58 | 27 | 25 | 3 | 3 | 60 | 163 | 192 |
| 11. | Adirondack Phantoms (PHI) | 58 | 28 | 27 | 2 | 1 | 59 | 158 | 165 |
| 12. | Springfield Falcons (CBJ) | 59 | 27 | 27 | 3 | 2 | 59 | 166 | 181 |
| 13. | Providence Bruins (BOS) | 60 | 26 | 28 | 3 | 3 | 58 | 148 | 174 |
| 14. | Syracuse Crunch (ANA) | 58 | 24 | 26 | 4 | 4 | 56 | 182 | 190 |
| 15. | Binghamton Senators (OTT) | 59 | 23 | 32 | 2 | 2 | 50 | 160 | 189 |
Instead of the video, here’s the aftermath:
Norfolk Admirals right wing Eric Neilson has been suspended for three (3) games, Norfolk left wing Pierre-Cedric Labrie has been suspended for two (2) games, Springfield Falcons center Adam Mair has been suspended for three (3) games and Springfield defenseman Greg Amadio has been suspended for two (2) games, all as a result of their actions during pregame warm-ups prior to a game between the teams in Norfolk, Va., on Mar. 3.
In addition, both clubs have been fined an undisclosed amount.
Neilson and Labrie will miss Norfolk’s games Friday (Mar. 9) at Adirondack and Saturday (Mar. 10) at Connecticut; Neilson will also miss Norfolk’s game Sunday (Mar. 11) at Bridgeport.
Mair and Amadio will miss Springfield’s games Friday (Mar. 9) at Manchester and Saturday (Mar. 10) vs. Syracuse; Mair will also miss Springfield’s game Sunday (Mar. 11) vs. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
Falcons Individual Stats:
| Player | Pos. | GP | G | A | Pts. | +/- | PIM |
| Martin St. Pierre | C | 57 | 10 | 42 | 52 | +7 | 46 |
| Cam Atkinson X | RW | 50 | 29 | 16 | 45 | +4 | 31 |
| Alexandre Giroux | LW | 49 | 21 | 23 | 44 | +4 | 52 |
| Dane Byers | LW | 49 | 14 | 16 | 30 | -9 | 102 |
| Matt Calvert | LW | 45 | 12 | 12 | 24 | -5 | 31 |
| Brent Regner | D | 58 | 2 | 22 | 24 | +5 | 18 |
| Nick Drazenovic | C | 25 | 6 | 16 | 22 | -6 | 16 |
| Wade MacLeod | LW | 49 | 6 | 14 | 20 | +1 | 19 |
| Andrew Joudrey | C | 56 | 8 | 11 | 19 | -1 | 10 |
| Maksim Mayorov | LW | 34 | 8 | 10 | 18 | -2 | 8 |
| Tomas Kubalik X | RW | 42 | 8 | 10 | 18 | -10 | 34 |
| Nathan Longpre – season totals | F | 42 | 8 | 10 | 18 | +7 | 10 |
| David Savard | D | 33 | 3 | 13 | 16 | +2 | 55 |
| Ryan Russell X | C | 30 | 9 | 6 | 15 | 0 | 15 |
| Ryan Garlock | C | 55 | 4 | 9 | 13 | -4 | 27 |
| Cody Goloubef | D | 35 | 0 | 11 | 11 | -7 | 35 |
| Brett Lebda X | D | 26 | 1 | 9 | 10 | 0 | 18 |
| Nick Holden X | D | 25 | 3 | 6 | 9 | -2 | 14 |
| Cody Bass | C | 20 | 3 | 5 | 8 | -1 | 41 |
| Dalton Prout | D | 51 | 3 | 5 | 8 | -2 | 50 |
| Patrick Cullity – season totals | D | 34 | 1 | 6 | 7 | -3 | 40 |
| Adam Mair | C | 29 | 2 | 4 | 6 | -3 | 51 |
| Teddy Ruth | D | 42 | 1 | 5 | 6 | -17 | 35 |
| Greg Amadio – season totals | D | 48 | 0 | 6 | 6 | -12 | 180 |
| Aaron Bogosian | LW | 43 | 2 | 2 | 4 | -4 | 52 |
| Mike Thomas X | RW | 25 | 1 | 3 | 4 | -6 | 16 |
| Ray Macias X | D | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | +3 | 0 |
| Tim Spencer | LW | 22 | 2 | 0 | 2 | +1 | 42 |
| John Moore X | D | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -2 | 2 |
| Manny Legace (with Springfield) | G | 31 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Oliver Gabriel X | LW | 11 | 1 | 0 | 1 | -5 | 0 |
| Brett Motherwell X | D | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | -2 | 4 |
| Chaz Johnson X | RW | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Mike Spillane | G | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Darcy Campbell X | D | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Chris D’Alvise X | C | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Chad Costello X | F | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 2 |
| Trevor Bruess X | RW | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -4 | 5 |
| Mark Dekanich X | G | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Allen York X | G | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Steven Delisle | D | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +2 | 8 |
| Danny Taylor X | G | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Anton Blomqvist | D | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +2 | 17 |
| Paul Dainton | G | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
GOALTENDING:
Manny Legace was idle this week, due to injury. He is ranked at #29 among AHL goalies with at least 1080 minutes played. Legace’s GAA sits at 2.74, with a .906 save percentage.
Paul Dainton’s record is now 9-7-0 with a 2.92 GAA and a .895 save percentage. On Monday of last week, Dainton was named the AHL Player of the Week for his heroics in the Falcons previous weekend games when the club went 3-0-0 to move back into the thick of the playoff picture.
Mike Spillane, who was signed to a PTO last week, became the sixth goaltender to see action in the Falcons net this season. Spillane came on in relief of Dainton on Saturday night in Norfolk. Mike gave up two goals in his 40 minutes of relief, good for a 3.00 GAA and fielding a .857 save percentage.
Transaction this week:
Feb. 27: Ryan Russell returned from Columbus
Feb. 27: John Moore returned from Columbus
Feb. 27: Cam Atkinson returned from Columbus
Feb. 27: Nathan Longpre traded by Chicago Wolves to Springfield
Feb. 27: Ryan Russell recalled by Columbus
Feb. 27: John Moore recalled by Columbus
Feb. 27: Cam Atkinson recalled by Columbus
Feb. 29: Adam Mair released from PTO
Feb. 29: Adam Mair signed to SPC
Mar. 1: Chris D’Alvise returned to Stockton Thunder (ECHL)
Another three-in-three await the Falcons this weekend. Friday night, their five game road trip concludes in Manchester, NH. Saturday night, the Birds return home to take on the Syracuse Crunch. The weekend wraps up on Sunday when Springfield hosts the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins at 3PM.