[Drury18]

Adirondack Flames (22-15-3-1) vs Rochester Americans (Buffalo Sabres) (21-12-2-3)

Friday January 23rd @ 5:05pm (MST)
Saturday January 24th @ 5:00pm (MST)


#31 - Joni Ortio

Ortio, a goalie from Turku, Finland, was selected with the Flames 6th Round Pick (171st overall) in the 2009 Entry Draft. A long time member of the Finnish National Team, Ortio has represented Finland at the U18 World Junior Championship and the U20 World Junior Championships 4 times bringing home a bronze medal in 2009. Despite being drafted by the Swift Current Bronco's of the WHL, Ortio opted to stay in Finland in order to continue his education there and not make the jump to North America. As a result, Joni struggled to adapt to the North American game upon turning pro and spent the first 4 years of his professional career between TuTo, TPS, Abbotsford and Alaska before finally making the full time jump to the AHL in 2013-14. During that season, Ortio finally found success in the North American game and was solid in net for the Heat earning him a spot on the 2013-14 AHL All Rookie Team as well Team MVP for the Heat. His success continued in the 2014-15 season where he has spent most of the season in the AHL Top 5 for goaltender wins, minutes played, saves and shutouts. His play also earned him a nomination to the 2014 AHL All Star Game and a call up to the Flames where he went 4-1 with a 1.98 GAA, .931 GAA and 1 SO. Joni isn't the only hockey player in his family as his father Kai was a defencemen who played in the Liiga (winning the championship in 1988-89) and 1 &2 Divisioona before retiring and becoming a coach in the Finnish Leagues. Ortio has been quoted as saying he hasn't been involved in a goalie fight in his career but "I'd like to try it sometime if there is a chance".

Game Notes:

• This is the 8th and 9th of 12 meetings this season between the teams. They will meet again on the 31st to close out a 3 game series over 2 weeks.
• Adirondack leads the season series 4-3 outscoring the Amerks 21-20.
• The Flames have lost 3 straight; The Amerks have won 3 of their last 5.
• Flames players looking to snap pointless streaks: Gillies (12 games), Cundari (8 games) and Reinhart (5 games)

Roster Notes:

• ADD - Drew Shore (F), Joni Ortio (G), Markus Granlund (F) and Tyler Wotherspoon (D) - Assigned to the AHL Flames
• DEL - Taylor Vause (F) - Returned to Colorado
• The Flames now have 17 forwards (16 healthy), 9 defencemen (9 healthy) and 3 goalies on the roster
• Scratches for Tonight: Setoguchi (Injured), Arnold (Injured), TBA
• Starting Goalie: TDA

Standings:

• Adirondack sits in 11th (out of 30 teams) with 48 points and 2nd in the North Division 6 points behind Utica.
• Overall PP is 9th in the AHL at 17.5 % (30/171). Home PP is 10th at 18.1%; Road PP is 16th at 16.9%
• Overall PK is 10th in the AHL at 85.4 % (146/171). Home PK is 18th at 82.6%; Road PK is 6th at 88.2%
• Poirier (F) is 6th in Rookie Points with 12G, 13A and 25 PTS, 2nd for Rookie Goals (12) and 5th in Rookie Shooting Percentage (17.6%)
• Arnold (F) is 17th in Rookie Points with 9G, 12A and 21 PTS
• Culkin (D) is tied for 3rd in Rookie PP Assists (9) and tied for 3rd in overall Defencemen PP Assists
• Ortio (G) is 4th for Wins (17) and 5th for Saves (721) and

Point Streaks and Notables:

• Agostino - 1G, 2A in 5GP
• Arnold - 4G, 5A in 12GP - Injured
• Baertschi - 5G, 12A in 20GP
• Culkin - 9A in 16GP
• Granlund - 3G, 2A in 5GP
• Hanowski - 1G, 3A in 4GP
• Poirier - 7G, 6A in 14GP
• Potter - 3A in 5GP
• Wolf - 4G, 2A in 4 GP

Injuries:

• Devin Setoguchi (Sports Hernia Surgery) - Out for Season
• Bill Arnold (Separated Shoulder) - Out 1-2 Months

Preview from the Adirondack Flames : http://www.adirondackflames.com/news/?article_id=177

Preview from the Rochester Americans : http://www.amerks.com/preview.asp?gameID=20150123

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