Welcoming the West: This week's games against West Division opponent, the San Antonio Rampage, mark Manitoba's first foray outside the North Division in 10 games. The Moose earned at least a point in each of those 10 games, going 7-0-1-2 and improving this season's record against divisional opponents to 12-5-2-3. The last time the Moose played an opponent outside the North Division was Dec. 17/06 in San Antonio, when Manitoba dropped a 4-3 overtime decision to the Rampage. The Moose are 6-2-2-0 against the West Division and 1-0-1-0 against the Rampage this season.

Winning in Winnipeg: With Manitoba's 3-0 victory over the Hamilton Bulldogs on Jan. 12/07, the Moose set this season's longest win streak at five games and are two games away from tying a franchise record for most consecutive home wins - a record set in the 1999-2000 season. After a 5-3 overtime loss to the Syracuse Crunch on Dec. 30/06, five straight wins have improved Manitoba's home record to 12-6-2-2 heading into the final two games of an eight-game homestand - the team's longest of the year. The Moose have earned at least a point in every game since Dec. 17/06 and a point in every home game dating back to Dec. 8/06. The last time the Moose lost outright at home was Dec. 6/06 when the team fell 3-2 to the Rochester Americans. The franchise's longest-ever win streak, home and away, was 10 games in the 2000-01 season.

Sniper sets the bar: Eclipsing benchmarks set by Rusty Fitzgerald (1999-2000) and Greg Pankewicz (1996-97; 1997-98), Jason Jaffray extended his goal-scoring streak to seven games Jan. 12/07 vs. Hamilton, setting a new Moose record for goals in consecutive games. Jaffray's first period goal, his team-leading 24th of the season, puts him at the top of the league in current goal-scoring streaks, two games ahead of former Moose Ryan Bayda (ALB), who is on a five-game streak. Jaffray has also tied Manitoba's record for points in consecutive games this season, matching Brad Moran's seven-game points streak from Dec. 5-16/06. The 25-year-old winger has tallied seven goals and six assists in his last seven games, and has points in eight of his last nine games. The league's longest goal-scoring streak this season was set by Chicago's Brett Stirling, who scored in nine consecutive games between Dec. 12-29/06.

Scott Brown
Director of Communications
(204) 926-5570
sbrown@moosehockey.com

Travis Kondratuk
Communications Assistant
(204) 926-5571
tkondratuk@moosehockey.com

Two wins over the Hamilton Bulldogs this past week have pushed the Manitoba Moose to five straight wins, the longest win streak of the season, and within two points of the North Division leading Rochester Americans. After earning three points against Syracuse in the last games of 2006 and posting back-to-back wins against Rochester January 4th and 5th, the Moose were on a roll heading into the homestand against Hamilton. The stakes were high for these division rivals, but the Moose swept the series and finished the work week tied for first in the North. (On Saturday, January 13th Rochester defeated Syracuse 5-2 to regain their lead in the standings.)

Thursday, January 11, 2007:
Oblivious to the bone-numbing deep freeze that settled over southern Manitoba earlier in the day, the Manitoba Moose delivered red-hot performances at both ends of the ice Thursday night vs. Hamilton. After an early first-period powerplay goal from Brad Moran, Jason Jaffray capitalized on a beautiful Prestin Ryan pass at the 13-minute mark, tallying his second short-handed goal of the season and extending his goal-scoring streak to six games. Nathan Smith added his second point of the night with a goal in the middle frame, and Shaun Heshka scored his second of the year in the third, helping the Moose secure a 4-2 win. Manitoba's league-leading penalty-kill unit kept the Bulldogs to one powerplay goal in five chances, and Drew MacIntyre stopped 23 of 25 shots to earn first star honours. (view game recap / highlights)

Friday, January 12, 2007:
7,329 Moose fans braved the coldest day of the year to take in the Moose-Bulldogs re-match Friday night as Jesse Schultz's 10th goal of the year gave the Moose a quick lead. Jason Jaffray provided the momentum to carry the home team to a win. His powerplay marker with only :03 left in the first was his 24th of the year and seventh in as many games, setting a new all-time Moose record for longest scoring streak. Brad Moran added his 16th of the season in the third period, while Drew MacIntyre held the Bulldogs pointless by stopping all 19 shots faced for his second shutout of the season. (view game recap / highlights)