Recently in Manchester Monarchs Category

In this morning's New Hampshire Union Leader, Manchester Monarchs coach Mark Morris talks about the upcoming season, including which players he thinks will stick with the Kings and what he hopes to see from his team in the upcoming season. The article mentions Brian Boyle and Teddy Purcell as two players Morris believes ``proved they belong'' in the NHL. Here's the full story...

Watching baseball, talking hockey with Monarchs coach

Hope everyone is having a good holiday weekend. It's hard to beat sleeping in on a Monday morning. But to get back into the swing of things, here's an interview Don just did with Mark Morris, coach of the AHL Manchester Monarchs. In the interview, Mark gives some perspective on the season and what it's like to coach at the highest minor-league level. It's another great interview by Don with an interesting subject...

The Manchester Monarchs, the Kings' American Hockey League affiliate, announced today that the contracts of coach Mark Morris and assistant coach Scott Pellerin have been extended for the 2008-09 season. Morris has coached the Monarchs to a 90-52-12-6 record in two seasons. Last year's team lost in the Eastern Conference Finals and this year's team lost in the first round of the playoffs. Here's the full press release...

In a rough end to a weird series, Manchester blew a 2-0 lead last night, lost in overtime and got swept by Providence in the first-round AHL series. Don Fulton did a recap and also caught up with Monarchs coach Mark Morris this morning...

The blog server appears to be working today, so I'll give this whole posting thing a go. Don Fulton tracked down coach Mark Morris, whose Manchester Monarchs are in dire straits, down 3-0 to Providence and facing elimination tonight. Don also has an interview with Jeff Zatkoff ready to go. Here's what Morris had to say about the Monarchs' situation:

On being down 3-0 in the series.

"We've gotten great goaltending from both Bernier and Quick, and I don't think we have to hang our heads at all. We had those two goals disallowed (in Game 3), that in our opinion, were both good goals, and we didn't have a whole lot of things go our way. I really believe that we are really on the verge of winning any one of those games. These are the types of battles that are going to make these guys better hockey players."

On the absence of Brian Boyle:

"That was a huge blow. Brian is such a physical presence, guy who played half the season as a defenseman and still lead the league in rookie scoring. I can't say enough for what he has meant to our hockey club. There aren't too many 6-7, 250-pound people that can replace him. He's been a huge presence in front of the net on the power play, and a good face-off man. He knows how to distribute the puck and he is a hard guy to hold. My guess is that his recovery time is going to be too lengthy unless we are able to turn this thing around."

Pascal Pelletier scored 9:01 into overtime as Providence beat Manchester 3-2 in the first game of the best-of-seven first round series in the AHL playoffs. Petr Kanko scored with just over five minutes left in the first period to give the Monarchs a 1-0 lead, and after two Providence goals (one shorthanded), the Monarchs tied the game when Matt Moulson scored a power-play goal 9:30 into the third period. Jonathan Bernier played in goal for the Monarchs and stopped 34 of 37 shots. Tonight's game was played in Providence. The Bruins also host Game 2 on Friday.

Game 1 of the first-round AHL playoff series between Manchester and Providence starts just after 4 p.m. Pacific time (7 p.m. local time). The Monarchs, who finished fourth in their division, face the Bruins, who finished first. The Monarchs coach is indicating that Brian Boyle might return sometime during the series, but that seems vague. A key to the series could be whether Phil Kessel shows up. Kessel has been a healthy scratch for the Boston Bruins put could end up on the Providence roster at some point.

There's a webcast of the game, but you have to shell out $6 to watch it. Seems as though there might be free audio on the Monarchs' site, but I can't be 100 percent certain of that. Here's a couple preview stories from the two local papers:

Manchester Union-Leader: Monarchs prepped for playoff test

Providence Journal: P-Bruins are riding wave into playoffs

The Manchester Monarchs concluded their regular season Saturday and are now preparing for a first-round series against the Providence Bruins, starting Wednesday in Providence. The Monarchs finished with 88 points, good for fourth in the Eastern Conference's Atlantic Division, while the Bruins finished first with 117 points.

Here's the series schedule. I found it interesting that the series goes 2-2-2-1. Providence gets four of the first six games at home, but the seventh game would be at Manchester. Interesting setup...

Game 1 - Wed., Apr. 16 - Manchester at Providence
Game 2 - Fri., Apr. 18 - Manchester at Providence
Game 3 - Sat., Apr. 19 - Providence at Manchester
Game 4 - Mon., Apr. 21 - Providence at Manchester
*Game 5 - Fri., Apr. 25 - Manchester at Providence
*Game 6 - Sat., Apr. 26 - Manchester at Providence
*Game 7 - Mon., Apr. 28 - Providence at Manchester

Here's today's story from the Union Leader:

Monarchs Insider

Following up on the Thomas Hickey story, he did not play last night for Seattle, the day after he took a knee to the head during a game. According to a couple newspaper articles, holding out Hickey was precautionary, but we'll see. The WHL Western Conference semifinals resume Tuesday, with Seattle and Tri-City tied 1-1.

Also, rather than recap a lot of information, I'll refer you to the Union-Leader's stories about Manchester, which have some good stuff about Jonathan Bernier and an injury to Brian Boyle. Kevin Provencher does a great job of covering that team. Here you go...

Bernier sharp in debut with Monarchs

Monarchs Insider: Kings' future starts in Manchester

The last couple days have been big and busy for the Manchester Monarchs. Jonathan Bernier is there and will start in goal tonight against Worcester. Manchester can clinch a playoff spot with a victory and a Springfield loss. Teddy Purcell has been named AHL rookie of the year. Davis Drewiske, the defenseman the Kings signed out of the University of Wisconsin, made his debut last night. Also, Josh Kidd has signed an amateur-tryout agreement with Manchester and is playing. To make room for Bernier, the Monarchs released goalie Curtis Darling from his tryout agreement. Whew...anything else? Oh yeah, the Kings play their season finale against the Ducks this afternoon. I'll be there to cover that and hopefully start putting the Lombardi quotes up.

For now, here's a real treat. Don Fulton scored an interview with Bernier in advance of his first AHL start tonight, so I hope you enjoy the read...

From Don:

Brady Murray scored two goals, Teddy Purcell, Brian Boyle and David Meckler added one goal each, and the Monarchs increased their hold on the final playoff spot in the AHL's Eastern Conference by five points, as the team defeated the Hershey Bears last night 5-2. Goalie Jonathan Quick stopped 31 of 33 shots to improve his record to 8-8-0 on the season. The Monarchs currently have 79 points with only six games left to play - including the final three games of the season against the league's best team, the Providence Bruins (107 points). The Monarchs (35-30-5-4) look to maintain or extend their five point lead over the Springfield Falcons on Wednesday night at home against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers.