Wednesday, January 17, 2007
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Matt Keith
Right wing Matt Keith is trying to make the most of his fresh start with the Portland Pirates.
He scored the lone goal during a shootout Sunday to lift his new team to a 5-4 victory against Worcester.
Three weeks ago, Keith, a third-year pro who has played 24 games in the NHL with the Chicago Blackhawks, was included in a trade that sent Portland's leading scorer, Pierre Parenteau, to the Norfolk Admirals.
If he feels pressure in replacing a fan favorite, Keith doesn't show it.
"The only pressure I feel is the pressure I put on myself in wanting to succeed," he said. "I have heard a lot of good things about Pierre Parenteau since I've been here. He was a fan favorite here, but I figure he's probably thinkingÝ the same thing I am. He probably really wants to play well, too. In the Chicago organization, it's a fresh start for him, too."
In his first nine games with the Pirates, Keith, 23, has three goals and an assist. His game-winning shootout goal isn't counted in his statistics.
"I'm just trying to come in here and play my game," he said. "It's taking a little bit of time, but I think as we go on here I'm going to improve and keep getting better."
When he arrived, Keith's conditioning was an issue.
"We hold our players to a certain standard as far as their conditioning, and Matt came in with an injury bug, and I didn't see his (conditioning) where my expectations were," Portland Coach Kevin Dineen said.
"He's been given a couple of weeks to get on board and get with our organization's expectations for him, and he's done a great job of that. He's done absolutely everything that we've asked of him."
With Dineen, the harder a player works the more he plays.
"He's going to get some quality ice time," Dineen said. "He's worked hard here in the last couple of weeks. He's scored some big goals for us. That's important for our team right now."
After spending his first two seasons as a pro in the Chicago organization, switching to Anaheim was a big change for Keith, but he's embraced it.
"I really enjoy it here," he said." The fan support is great. The guys in the(locker) room are great, and we have a very good team here. When we win games, it's because everybody comes together and contributes. That's a good feeling, and it definitely has been a good start here."
THE PIRATES will be home against Manchester, the Atlantic Division leader, in a rare midweek game tonight at the Cumberland County Civic Center.
The last time the Pirates played a midweek home game in the regular season was last Feb. 15, when they edged Lowell 3-2 in a shootout before 3,381 fans.
Tonight's game starts a stretch of four games in five nights for the Pirates.
A COUPLE of Pirates held brief family reunions in Boston this week.
Portland forwards Geoff Peters and Drew Miller watched their brothers, left wing Andrew Peters and goalie Ryan Miller of the Buffalo Sabres, play Monday against the Boston Bruins.
"We drove down to Boston Sunday night after the (Pirates') game," Geoff Peters said. "We got down there around 9:30 and hung out with our brothers in the hotel room."
DAVID CLARKSON, a Lowell right wing, was named AHL Player of the Week after scoring five goals and three assists as the Devils beat the Philadelphia Phantoms twice.
Portland forward Tim Brent, who had a goal and two assists in three games, also was nominated.
THE PORTLAND Professional Hockey Boosters Club is sponsoring bus trips for the Pirates' Feb. 24 game at Albany and the March 24 game at Bridgeport.
For more information, drop by the club's 50/50 table at any home game or visit its Web site at http://www.geocities.com/portlandpiratesbc.
Staff Writer Paul Betit can be contacted at 725-9795 or at:
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