Portland Pirates Playoffs: Game One Goes To Monarchs 5-2

By William Grigsby |

Portland Pirates Drop Game One To Monarchs; Henrik Samuelsson Nets Goal, Assist In Loss

The Manchester Monarchs showed why they finished on top of the Eastern Conference by sailing by the Portland Pirates on Thursday night. The Monarchs ‘Weal & O’Neill’ show was in full force, as they both netted two goals apiece to drop the Pirates sails.

One thing about the Monarchs that I didn’t keep up on is that twitter king Paul Bissonnette has been playing there for most of this AHL season. He has one goal, six assists and a whopping 187 PIM (a tough guy’s numbers for sure) for the L.A. King’s affiliate. I didn’t realize that after the Arizona Coyotes had released him in December of last year, that he signed with Manchester.

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Anyway… with the Portland Pirates losing game one, the next game becomes very important if they wish to remain in the post season play. Since the AHL playoff series in the first round are only best of five games affairs, the Pirates need to get their affairs in order. The next game in in Manchester again on Saturday April 25th.

The Monarchs are a tough opponent for the Portland Pirates, finishing the 76 game regular season with 109 points. They also ended the season with a 8-1-0-1 record over the last ten games, while the Pirates just barely slipped into the last playoff spot finishing 2-5-2-1 in their last ten games.

Obviously the Portland Pirates don’t want to be in a do or die situation on Sunday, the 26th when the series switches back to Portland for two games. A five game series leaves no mercy for mediocrity. You either stay in the game, or you’re back home golfing/fishing for the summer.

Other Pirates News:

On Saturday, the 18th, the Pirates held their team awards ceremony before their last home game vs Providence.

Most Valuable Player – Mike McKenna, who recorded a 26-18-6 record and 0.925 save percentage for the 2014-2015 season, and had seven shutouts and reached a career-high for wins.
The Jack Button Award (best NHL prospect award) – Henrik Samuelsson who is in his first professional season, had 16 goals and 21 assists with a +7. He was called up to the parent NHL Coyotes twice.
The Tom Ebright Award honors the player who best fit the ideals of what a Portland Pirates player should be went to Alex Bolduc. He Bolduc, who has had 21 goals and 28 assists for a +10 rating, played in his 500^th professional game this season and was named to the Eastern Conference All-Star Team.
The Player’s Player Award, which honors the player deemed to best represent the values and spirit of the team, as chosen by the players themselves, was awarded to assistant captain Dylan Reese. Reese, a defenseman, has 10 goals and 27 assists with a +9 rating for the current season.
Unsung Hero Award – Jordan Szwarz. This award goes to the player who rose above expectations to become a key member of the team, as chosen by Pirates fans. Szwarz has scored 9 goals with 12 assists and has a +2 rating for 2014-2015.
Most Popular Player – Francis Wathier, who has 5 goals and 9 assists this season, got the most votes by fans in the online poll.

Since the parent Arizona Coyotes have signed an agreement with the Springfield Falcons of the AHL, this will be the last season the Pirates will be affiliated with Arizona. Next season the Florida Panthers will take over affiliation with the Pirates.

GO PIRATES ! !

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