VOROS A WHALE – FOR NOW 

If you are unsure about why the New York Rangers have signed Left winger Aaron Voros to a Professional Try-Out contract with the Connecticut Whale, you’re not alone.

There are any number of questions you could fairly raise. Here are four right off the top of the head.

1) Is this signing a favor to Marian Gaborik? Could he and Voros been pals when they were both with the Minnesota Wild? (Update: It actually turns out that it might have something more to do with his best buddies Sean Avery and Henrik Lundqvist)

2) Is this just an insurance policy on one of the fourth line guys in New York?

3) Which current roster player in Hartford does this affect most? Remember they just traded for Francois Bouchard, a solid AHL veteran also.

4) Maybe the Mike Rupp injury/surgery will keep him out longer than expected and Voros might be brought up to NY to add some toughness and someone who can go with the heavyweights, or perhaps he’s being auditioned for that role with the Whale?

The ones who stand the most chance of seeing their TOI or even a position on the team in danger would seem to be Tommy Grant and Chris McKelvie as they are both left-wingers  like Voros, or maybe even Scott Tanski.

One other concern might be Ryan Bourque. He did have an injury earlier this season, came back from it and played pretty well but was a healthy scratch in the last game.  He has been playing left-wing on this team as well.

One other concern is the number of experienced veterans on the roster. The AHL limits the number of players that have this kind of experience that can be on the ice.

Answers will come on Friday when we return to the XL Center and have the opportunity to speak with Whale head coach Ken Gernander.

Thoughts?

Here’s the official release:

WHALE SIGN FORWARD AARON VOROS TO PTO

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Eighth-year Pro Brings 162 Games of NHL Experience

Connecticut Whale general manager Jim Schoenfeld announced today that the Whale has signed forward Aaron Voros to a Professional Tryout (PTO) agreement.

Voros, a 6-4, 210-pound eighth-year pro, skated in 12 NHL games with the Anaheim Ducks last season, going scoreless with 43 penalty minutes.  The 30-year-old Vancouver, B.C. native also played two AHL games with the Syracuse Crunch (no points, five penalty minutes) and appeared in 26 AHL contests with the Toronto Marlies (3-4-7, 61 PIM).

Prior to last season, Voros spent two years with the Whale’s parent club, the New York Rangers, logging a total of 95 games, with 11 goals and 12 assists for 23 points, plus 211 PIM.

Originally an eighth-round selection (229th overall) by the New Jersey Devils in the 2001 NHL Draft, Voros has seen action in a total of 162 NHL games in his career, with the Devils, Rangers, Ducks and Minnesota Wild.  His NHL career numbers are 18 goals, 19 assists, 37 points and 395 PIM.   In 251 career AHL games with the Crunch, Marlies, Albany River Rats, Lowell Devils and Houston Aeros, the former University of Alaska-Fairbanks Nanook has amassed totals of 47 goals and 51 assists for 98 points, along with 695 penalty minutes.

AARON VOROS’ AMATEUR AND PROFESSIONAL RECORD

(Stats courtesy of hockeydb.com)

The Whale are back on home ice at the XL Center this Friday night, November 18, taking on the Bridgeport Sound Tigers in a GEICO Connecticut Cup game at 7:00 PM.  In celebration of Veterans Day, the Whale is proud to offer a buy-one-get-one-free discount on Lower Level tickets for this game to any military personnel who present a military/veteran ID at the Public Power Ticket Office at the XL Center.

Tickets to all 2011-12 Whale home games are on sale now at the Public Power Ticket Office at the XL Center, as well as on-line at www.ctwhale.com and through TicketMaster Charge-by-phone at 1-800-745-3000.

Save on your tickets, and get the best seats, with a ticket plan for the Whale’s 2011-12 AHL campaign, which are on sale now. For information on season seats and mini plans, visit www.ctwhale.com, or call the CT Whale ticket office at (860) 728-3366 to talk with an account executive today.

The AHL’s Connecticut Whale is operated by Whalers Sports and Entertainment, a Hartford-based sports marketing and event firm founded by Howard Baldwin and Howard Baldwin, Jr..  The team is the top player-development affiliate of the NHL’s New York Rangers.

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(Photo courtesy of ESPN)