Senators Articles: Paddock's 1,000th: He's been a survivor
February 12, 2005

Posted by: Bob Howard
Credit: Scott Lauber of Press Connects.com

Paddock's 1,000th: He's been a survivor

BY SCOTT LAUBER

Press & Sun-Bulletin

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. -- John Paddock won his 400th AHL game four seasons ago and didn't even know about it. But when it came to coaching in his 1,000th game here Friday night, he was well-informed of the milestone.

"I read it in the paper a few months ago that it was coming up, so I knew about it going in," Paddock said after the Senators' 2-1 shootout loss to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. "It's a special milestone. It means you've been around a while, but it also means you've survived.

"As a coach, your life expectancy isn't that long. It means you've been lucky enough to be with good organizations and to work with good people and good players."

Paddock became only the third coach in AHL history to reach the 1,000-game mark, joining the late Frank Mathers (1,256) and Bun Cook (1,171). In November, Paddock joined Mathers and Cook in the league's three-coach 500-victory club. Paddock's overall AHL regular-season coaching record is 522-389-89.

FUEL FOR OPPONENTS

Last month, when they were routinely beating the Philadelphia Phantoms, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, Rochester Americans and Manchester Monarchs, many of the Binghamton Senators cited the quality of competition as a reason for their success.

Now, it's being reversed.

In the midst of a seven-game winless streak, opponents with lesser records are using the Senators' success as motivation.

"Out of the gate, we've been pegged as a team that should win it all and the team that's benefited most from the (NHL owners') lockout," Senators coach Dave Cameron said. "At different times, I think we've gotten caught up in that and gotten away from respecting our opponents. Those have been the times when we haven't won."

Burdened by lofty preseason predictions, the Senators stumbled to a 12-11-3-2 start. They won 15 of the next 18 games, including a franchise-record nine straight, and moved into first place, all the while using wins over AHL powers like Rochester and Manchester as the barometer for how good they really are.

"We circled some of those games because we thought they'd be a good measuring stick for us," defenseman Brian Pothier said. "But The Hockey News picked us to win (the Calder Cup) at the beginning of the year, and obviously people read that. Other teams probably look at games against us as a good measuring stick for them."

REAL HOMERS

A look at the Senators' statistics at home and on the road is a study in contrasts.

Jason Spezza, for instance, has 50 of his AHL-leading 74 points at the Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena, where he is a plus-15 compared to minus-15 in 25 road games going into Friday night. And he's hardly alone. All-star defenseman Brian Pothier is plus-11 at home, minus-13 on the road, while leading goal scorer Denis Hamel is plus-6 at the Arena, minus-10 away from it.

SLAP SHOTS

Rookie defenseman Neil Komadoski (healthy) and Potulny didn't play for the Senators Friday night. ... Since goalie Billy Thompson started against Bridgeport, expect Ray Emery to be in net today in Albany. ... After today's game, most of the Senators will go their separate ways for the all-star break. Four -- Spezza, Pothier, winger Brandon Bochenski and defenseman Anton Volchenkov -- will head to Manchester, N.H., for Sunday night's all-star skills competition and Monday night's All-Star Game. Others will travel home for a three-day break.