Albany River Rats 497064 223016117 2008-07-02T05:11:48Z 75.177.135.41 {{Pro hockey team | text_color = black | bg_color = #FF2420 | team = Albany River Rats | logo = AlbanyRiverRats.png | logosize = 200px | city = [[Albany, New York]] | league = [[American Hockey League]] | conference = Eastern Conference | division = East Division | founded = [[1990-91 AHL season|1990]] | arena = [[Times Union Center]] | colors = Red and Black | owner = [[Walter Robb]] | coach = [[Jeff Daniels (ice hockey)|Jeff Daniels]] | GM = | media = [[WTMM-FM]] 104.5<br>[[Times Union]] | affiliates = [[Carolina Hurricanes]] ([[NHL]]) (2006-Present)<br />[[Colorado Avalanche]] ([[NHL]]) (2006-2007)<br />[[New Jersey Devils]] ([[NHL]]) (1990-2006) <!---Franchise history---> | name1 = [[Capital District Islanders]] | dates1 = 1990 to 1993 | name2 = '''Albany River Rats''' | dates2 = 1993 to present <!---Championships---> |reg_season_titles = '''2''' [[1994-95 AHL season|1994-95]], [[1995-96 AHL season|1995-96]] |division_titles = '''4''' [[1994-95 AHL season|1994-95]], [[1995-96 AHL season|1995-96]], [[1996-97 AHL season|1996-97]], [[1997-98 AHL season|1997-98]] |conf_titles = |calder_cups = '''1''' [[1994-95 AHL season|1994-95]] }} The '''Albany River Rats''' are an [[ice hockey]] team in the [[American Hockey League]]. They play in [[Albany, New York]], [[United States|USA]] at the [[Times Union Center]]. ==History== The team was founded as the [[Capital District Islanders]] (playing at [[Houston Field House]] on campus at [[Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute|RPI]] located across the [[Hudson River]] in [[Troy, New York]]) in 1990 but changed their name when the [[New Jersey Devils]] sold their old affiliate the [[Utica Devils]] to become linked with this team. The Rats' glory days came in the mid to late 1990s making seven consecutive playoff appearances, won 2 division titles, and took home the AHL's Calder Cup in 1995. Also in 1995, their parent club, the New Jersey Devils won the Stanley Cup. However, wins have declined since the 1997-98 season, the last time Albany won a playoff series. The River Rats finished last in each of the 6 seasons between 2000-01 and 2005-06. A new affiliation with the Carolina Hurricanes beginning in the 2006-07 season brought hope of a return to AHL glory not seen in Albany since the late '90s. On March 22, 2006, the Devils announced that they were cutting ties with the River Rats after the 2005-06 AHL season, as the parent club announced the purchase of the [[Lowell Lock Monsters]]. Despite the move, the River Rats were not relocated.{{ref|Devils|1}} In April 2006, The [[Carolina Hurricanes]] signed a one year agreement (with the option to renew for two additional) with the River Rats to be their farm affiliate.{{ref|Canes|2}} Later on, Carolina was joined by the [[Colorado Avalanche]] in a one-year partnership agreement. On February 22, 2007, the [[Carolina Hurricanes]] and Albany River Rats announced that their affiliation agreement had been extended through the 2008-09 season. {{ref|Canes|3}} On April 24, 2008, the River Rats lost 2–3 to the [[Philadelphia Phantoms]] in the longest game played in AHL history. The Phantoms Ryan Potulny scored 2:58 into the fifth overtime. Albany gave up 101 shots on goal, and goaltender Michael Leighton made 98 saves. '''This market was previously served by:''' *[[Albany Choppers]] of the [[International Hockey League (1945-2001)|IHL]] (1990-91) ===Affiliates=== *[[New Jersey Devils]] (1993/1994-2005/2006) *[[Colorado Avalanche]] (2006/2007-2007/2008) *[[Carolina Hurricanes]] (2006/2007- '''present''') ==Season-by-season results== ===Regular season=== {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" |- !Season!! Games !!Won!!Lost!!Tied!!OTL!!SOL!!Points!! Goals<br />for !! Goals<br />against !!Standing |- |[[1993-94 AHL season|1993–94]]||80||38||34|| 8||—||— || 84||312||315||3rd, North |- |[[1994-95 AHL season|1994–95]]||80||46||17||17||—||—||109||293||219||'''1st, North''' |- |[[1995-96 AHL season|1995–96]]||80||54||19|| 7||—||—||115||322||218||'''1st, Central''' |- |[[1996-97 AHL season|1996–97]]||80||38||28|| 9|| 5||— || 90||269||231||3rd, Empire State |- |[[1997-98 AHL season|1997–98]]||80||43||20||11|| 6||—||103||290||223||'''1st, Empire State''' |- |[[1998-99 AHL season|1998–99]]||80||46||26|| 6|| 2||—||100||275||230||2nd, Empire State |- |[[1999-00 AHL season|1999–00]]||80||30||40|| 7|| 3||— || 70||225||250||4th, Empire State |- |[[2000-01 AHL season|2000–01]]||80||30||40|| 6|| 4||— || 70||216||262||6th, Mid-Atlantic |- |[[2001-02 AHL season|2001–02]]||80||14||42||12||12||— || 52||172||271||4th, East |- |[[2002-03 AHL season|2002–03]]||80||25||37||11|| 7||— || 68||197||235||5th, East |- |[[2003-04 AHL season|2003–04]]||80||21||39||11|| 9||— || 62||182||257||7th, East |- |[[2004-05 AHL season|2004–05]]||80||29||38||—|| 6|| 7 || 71||198||248||7th, East |- |[[2005-06 AHL season|2005–06]]||80||25||48||—|| 4|| 3 || 57||206||278||7th, Atlantic |- |[[2006-07 AHL season|2006–07]]||80||37||36||—|| 4|| 3 || 81||246||258||4th, East |- |[[2007-08 AHL season|2007–08]]||colspan="10"|''See [[2007-08 AHL season]] for up-to-date standings''. |} ===Playoffs=== {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" |- !Season!!1st round!!2nd round!!3rd round!!Finals |- |[[1993-94 AHL season|1993–94]] ||L, 1-4, [[Portland Pirates|PORT]] ||—||—||— |- |[[1994-95 AHL season|1994–95]] ||W, 4-0, [[Adirondack Red Wings|ADIR]] ||W, 4-2, [[Providence Bruins|PROV]] ||--||'''W, 4-0, [[Fredericton Canadiens|FRED]]''' |- |[[1995-96 AHL season|1995–96]] ||L, 1-3, [[Cornwall Aces|CORN]] ||—||—||— |- |[[1996-97 AHL season|1996–97]] ||W, 3-1, [[Adirondack Red Wings|ADIR]] ||W, 4-3, [[Rochester Americans|ROCH]] ||L, 1-4, [[Hamilton Bulldogs|HAM]] ||— |- |[[1997-98 AHL season|1997–98]] ||W, 3-0, [[Adirondack Red Wings|ADIR]] ||W, 4-0, [[Hamilton Bulldogs|HAM]] ||L, 2-4, [[Philadelphia Phantoms|PHIL]] ||— |- |[[1998-99 AHL season|1998–99]] ||L, 3-2, [[Hamilton Bulldogs|HAM]] ||—||—||— |- |[[1999-00 AHL season|1999–00]] ||L, 3-2, [[Rochester Americans|ROCH]] ||—||—||— |- |[[2000-01 AHL season|2000–01]] ||colspan="4"|Out of Playoffs |- |[[2001-02 AHL season|2001–02]] ||colspan="4"|Out of Playoffs |- |[[2002-03 AHL season|2002–03]] ||colspan="4"|Out of Playoffs |- |[[2003-04 AHL season|2003–04]] ||colspan="4"|Out of Playoffs |- |[[2004-05 AHL season|2004–05]] ||colspan="4"|Out of Playoffs |- |[[2005-06 AHL season|2005–06]] ||colspan="4"|Out of Playoffs |- |[[2006-07 AHL season|2006–07]] ||L, 1-4, [[Hershey Bears|HER]] ||—||—||— |- |[[2007-08 AHL season|2007–08]] ||L, 3-4 [[Philadelphia Phantoms|PHIL]] ||—||—||— |} ==Team records== ===Single Season=== :'''Goals:''' 46 {{flagicon|CAN}} [[Jeff Williams (hockey player)|Jeff Williams]] (1998-99) :'''Assists:''' 63 {{flagicon|USA}} [[Keith Aucoin]] (2006-07) :'''Points:''' 99 {{flagicon|USA}} Keith Aucoin (2006-07) :'''Penalty Minutes:''' 348 {{flagicon|CAN}} [[Matt Ruchty]] (1994-95) :'''GAA:''' 2.10 {{flagicon|CAN}} [[Michael Leighton]] (2007-08) :'''SV%:''' .931 {{flagicon|CAN}} Michael Leighton (2007-08) ===Career=== :'''Career Goals:''' 155 {{flagicon|CAN}} [[Steve Brule]] :'''Career Assists:''' 214 {{flagicon|CAN}} Steve Brule :'''Career Points:''' 369 {{flagicon|CAN}} Steve Brule :'''Career Penalty Minutes:''' 1197 {{flagicon|CAN}} [[Rob Skrlac]] :'''Career Goaltending Wins:''' 77 {{flagicon|POL}} [[Peter Sidorkiewicz]] :'''Career Shutouts:''' 8 {{flagicon|POL}} Peter Sidorkiewicz :'''Career Games:''' 423 {{flagicon|SVK}} [[Jiri Bicek]] ==References== *{{note|Devils|1}} {{cite news | url=http://www.capitalnews9.com/content/headlines/?ArID=172983&SecID=33 | title=What's next for the River Rats? | publisher=[[Capital News 9]] | date=[[2006-03-22]] | accessdate=2006-03-23 }} *{{note|Canes|2}} {{cite news | url = http://theahl.com/news/league/index.html?article_id=6566 | title = River Rats announce new affiliation, lease | publisher = theahl.com | date = [[2006-04-04]] | accessdate = 2006-04-17 }} *{{note|Canes|3}} {{cite news | url = http://www.carolinahurricanes.com/news/news.asp?articleid=1719 | title = River Rats to remain Carolina’s top farm club through 2008-09 | publisher = Carolina Hurricanes | date = [[2007-02-22]] | accessdate = 2007-03-06 }} ==External links== *[http://www.albanyriverrats.com Albany River Rats Official Website] *[http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/teamseasons.php?tid=263 The Internet Hockey Database - Albany River Rats] {{AHL}} {{Upstate New York Sports}} [[Category:Albany River Rats|Albany River Rats]] [[Category:New Jersey Devils]] [[Category:Carolina Hurricanes]] [[Category:Colorado Avalanche]] [[Category:Sports in Albany, New York]] [[Category:Ice hockey teams in New York]] [[de:Albany River Rats]] [[fr:River Rats d'Albany]] [[pl:Albany River Rats]] [[sk:Albany River Rats]] [[fi:Albany River Rats]]