CANTLON’S CORNER: ARMSTRONG ON BEING HONORARY AHL ALL-STAR CAPTAIN 

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings

HARTFORD, CT – His happiness resounded off the Colorado mountains he was in.

Former Hartford Wolf Pack legend, Derek Armstrong, was ecstatic after learning that he and former Pack teammate, goalie, Robb Stauber, were officially named the honorary captains for this year’s AHL All-Star Classic. This year will mark the first time that the game will be hosted in a Pacific Division city. The game will be in Ontario, CA, the home of the LA Kings top farm club, the Ontario Reign.

“It’s so cool. When I got the call two weeks ago, my schedule synced up with this. I’m truly honored to be named, and along with one of my first teammates in Hartford better,” remarked Armstrong in his singularly well-known gravely voiced and rapid-fired delivery, much like his goals and assists came during his pro career.

The Ontario, Canada boy is now thoroughly, So Cal (Southern California for the non-natives). His being able to celebrate both sides of his hockey career is important to him.

“My NHL life was here. It’s where I really had my best, and longest NHL time, and I met so many important people, such as Luc Robitaille, and Rob Blake. The AHL was also my home and the foundation at the beginning of my career. To get the chance to merge the two at the All-Star Classic is something. I’m so looking forward to it and I’m extremely appreciative of the opportunity. The chance to mingle with the current AHL generation is going to be wild.”

In his AHL career, Armstrong skated for Manchester, Peoria, and Worcester, but Hartford is where his heart is.

Armstrong’s place in Wolf Pack history is well cemented after having garnered 309 points in 265 games, good for third-best in team history. He made two AHL All-Star Game appearances. He won the Jack Butterfield AHL Playoff MVP in the Wolf Pack’s lone Calder Cup year (1999-00). He was awarded the Les Cunningham AHL Regular Season MVP and the John Sollenberger trophy for winning the scoring title (2000-01). He is the only player to top the century mark in points scored (101 in 2000-01) during the season. That all leaves him as a cornerstone in the foundation that built the Pack franchise.

Joking with Muhammad Ali-like bravado, Armstrong lets everyone know his place in Wolf Pack history.

“Let’em know, I’m the greatest Wolf Pack player of all time,” Armstrong said with a laugh.

Armstrong sending a jab at his lifelong rival, close friend, and former teammate, Brad “Shooter” Smyth, the Wolf Pack’s all-time leading in points, (365 in 345 games).

What would have been wonderful to see was his being inducted into the AHL Hall-of-Fame where he would join the other three pillars of the Wolf Pack hockey trinity, Smyth, Ken Gernander, and J.F. Labbe.

Armstrong is still involved in hockey on several levels. He is still a coach and still does a FOX-TV pre-game and post-game for Kings games.

He is the head coach of the LA Kings U-18 team. Armstrong also works with the Kings’ international hockey development program in mainland China, and he’ll do a hockey camp for boys and girls this weekend. Armstrong was en route to doing an outdoor hockey camp at Mammoth Mountain (CO) with a group of 80 kids.

“This is really an important outreach the Kings are doing because hockey is growing out West. Getting young people involved, learning it the right way, and then they go back to their communities enthused and wanting to be involved. Doing the overseas thing in China has been a very rewarding experience. Doing something so innovative there, in another part of the planet, has been amazing.”

Come January 26-27 he will have a national TV presence to celebrate his AHL life and his time in Hartford.

NOTES:

Keeping with a West Coast theme.

The AHL’s longest-serving head coach (1,638 games), Roy Sommer, has been summoned to become an assistant coach with the NHL’s San Jose Sharks in the wake of yesterday’s firing of Peter DeBoer.

He played just three NHL games with the Edmonton Oilers and scored his one, and only NHL goal, in his first game. Sommer played ten years of minor pro hockey while working his way up the ladder. He started playing in his native Oakland, CA playing high school hockey. He then went on to the Spokane (WA) Flyers of the Pacific Hockey League where he lasted all of two seasons.

He primarily played with the Wichita Wind of the old Central Hockey League and played one season in the AHL with the original Maine Mariners, where he won a Calder Cup in 1984-85.

His current assistant coaches, Jimmy Bonneau, and Mike Chiasson, the son of late Hartford Whaler, Steve Chiasson, will be the co-coaches for the AHL’s San Jose Barracuda for the rest of the season.

Sommer’s first game was a 6-3 loss to the New York Rangers.

On a sadder note, former Whaler Scot Kleinendorst has serious medical issues.

Kleinendorst, 59, was badly injured and is fighting for his life following a heavy machinery accident at the Grand Rapids, MN paper mill, UPM Blandin, over the weekend.

“Although it is still under investigation, there was an accident while Scot was operating a piece of heavy machinery at UPM,” the family wrote on a Caring Bridge page. “He suffered multiple traumatic injuries, including very serious trauma to the brain. Scot was airlifted to Duluth and eventually stabilized after many blood transfusions. After he was stabilized, he went into emergency surgery to relieve the life-threatening hemorrhage on the left side of his brain.”

The family said Kleinendorst “pulled through” the surgery on his brain. He also suffered many broken bones in the accident.

The incident occurred last Saturday evening, the company said in a statement, reiterating that Kleinendorst was stabilized and flown to a Duluth (MN) trauma center by helicopter.

“We are all shocked by this tragic incident and our immediate thoughts are with our employee and family,” UPM Blandin spokesperson Marsha Miller said. “We are in contact with the family and will support the family as much as possible in this difficult situation.”

The state office of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration confirmed the investigation.

Blandin, which reported the incident, has seven days to respond. If Minnesota OSHA Compliance is satisfied with the response, the incident would be closed, officials said.

Kleinendorst played in the NHL from 1982-90, appearing in 281 games for the Hartford Whalers, New York Rangers (53 games two goals and 13 points) and Washington Capitals his NHL totals were 12 goals, 58 points, and 452 PM.

With the Whalers, he played five seasons 210 games with nine goals and 40 points.

He played collegiately at Providence College then in ECAC, but who are now in Hockey East.

He and his brother Kurt were drafted by the Rangers in the 1980 NHL Draft out of PC with Scot going in the 5th round 98th overall and Kurt was taken the round before and 77th overall.

Kurt coached in the AHL with Lowell, Binghamton on two different occasions, Iowa and Belleville and presently he coaches Nuremberg Tigers (Germany-DEL) that features ex-Pack players Chris Summers and Chris Brown.

Kleinendorst after starring at Grand Rapids High School, where he was first-team All-State defenseman in 1977-78 and part of a Minnesota state championship team in 1976.

(Portions of an AP story were used in the formation of this piece)