The Hartford Wolf Pack head into the final weekend of games for the 2007 – 2008 Season with three goals:
1) Play Well All Weekend
The Pack really don’t have anything at stake right now. The Providence Bruins locked up the Atlantic division last weekend and the Pack clinched second place in the game prior so they will need to be on guard for letting their game get away from them. The last thing the Pack need right now is to lose the edge in the quality of their play by letting off the gas so much so that they pick up bad habits going into what is going to be a very tough battle with the Portland Pirates (who the Pack are 3-3-1-1 against this season) in the first round of the playoffs. Remember, the Pack has been eliminated in two of the past three seasons in the first round. The team is hot though and currently on a 7-1-0-2 roll. There are a number of players right now that have risen their level of play and none so more than Hugh Jessiman. The Darien, CT native has been exceptional and he’s put points on the scorers sheet in eight of his last nine including a First Star of the Game effort against the Lowell Devils where he potted two hard earned goals. Jessiman’s been playing the type of dominant power forward that was expected he’d bring when he was drafted in the first round three seasons ago.
The organization however is hopeful that this version of the Pack can do what only the 2004-2005 team could do and that is to have a 50-win season. That team went 50-24-3-3. The Pack could also best a team record for points from the Cup winning team of in 1999-00 which had a record of 49-22-7-2 good for 107 points. To get to these milestones, the Pack will need to sweep all three games this weekend to reach 50 wins (47-20-2-8) and need at least three points to match their franchise best as they currently have 104 points. Given the competition this weekend both are attainable goals.
2) Resting players while working in the “newbies” –
Injuries have been a major concern for the boys from Hartford all season long. The team lost their 6’8″ 258 pound enforcer forward Mitch Fritz in the second game of the season and he would miss the next 69 games with a shoulder injury. Fritz returned six games ago and contributes three helpers.
Hartford’s finest also lost two others key contributors for the season. Defensemen David Liffiton suffered a concussion against Worcester in October and missed the next 34 games before feeling well enough to return only to play in 11 more games before a fight with Springfield’s Troy Bodie aggravated the symptoms which returned two games later and Liffiton was done for the season.
The Pack’s other enforcer, Francis Lessard, was lost for the season in a freak accident in the first period of a November 17th game against Lowell when he tripped on a rut in the ice and blew out his knee which required season ending surgery.
Then there’s Brodie Dupont who’s missed the last eight games with a minor concussion. Dupont got his concussion as a result of a first period fight on March 21st when he was clocked by Philadelphia defenseman Josh Beaulieu.
Enigmatic forward Alex Bourret has missed 15 of the last 16 games with a concussion and when that finally cleared up enough for him to play, he then came down with a stomach virus that caused him to miss all three games last week. He should be ready for action this weekend barring some other unforeseen issues. His playing well and being involved will be an important factor if the Pack are going to have long term success in the playoff run.
Meanwhile there are the healthy and strong young guys entering the fray. Michael Taylor arrived six games a go and has played well even having a two-goal and an assist night against Springfield on March 29th. Tomas Zaborsky has been added to the roster and has accounted well for himself. He’s added an assist in his first game and even skated on the first line for much of the second game with P.A. Parenteau out with an ankle injury. Then there’s that new defensemen tearing it up. What as his name again? Oh yeah, Bobby Sanguinetti who has looked like he’s been here all season long and will more likely than not be the top defensemen on next season’s squad. There could be more additions to the team in the next several days and keep checking here at Howlings to keep up to date on any player movement.
3) GET THE INJURED HEALTHY AND AVOID NEW INJURIES!
The Pack have been without leading scorer P.A. Parenteau (32 Goals, 47 Assists, 79 points) for the past couple of games after he was slashed in the ankle. He will probably sit at least another game before getting in and ready for the play-offs. Dupont and Bourret are likely to get back into action this weekend. The injury bug that has plagued Ivan Baranka his entire time in Hartford has bitten the Slovakian again. Team officials has not released what this current injury is, but thus far this season, Baranka has missed 14 games on three separate occasions. Given the undisclosed nature of this injury whether he returns to action at all, let alone this weekend is a mystery.
Expect Head Coach Ken Gernander, who has simply done an incredible job this season, to use the next two games in particular to evaluate the capabilities of his new young guns, make sure some of the returning players get themselves back to being ready for the Calder Cup run and rest some of his tired players.
VERSUS SPRINGFIELD Friday, at Springfield 7:30 p.m.
The Falcons have had a difficult time with their i-91 rivals to the south. The Falcons are having a hard time selling tickets and even more so putting pucks in the net. The Wolf Pack have won eight of the nine previous games this season and have outscored Springfield by a total of 42-16. Ten of the 42 came in the last meeting when the Pack absolutely shellacked the Falcons in a 10-1 victory at the XL Center. The win was the most one-sided affair in the Pack’s 11 year history on March 29th. The Falcons will be playing for pride since they were eliminated by Worcester from playoff contention in the Atlantic Division and they almost certainly won’t have forgotten the beating they took in the last meeting.
Springfield, the AHL affiliate of the Edmonton Oilers, is not without talent in their lineup. The Falcons are led up front by the AHL’s eighth leading scorer, Rob Schremp. Rumors swirled around Schremp at the trade deadline that GM Kevin Lowe was unhappy with his effort and was going to deal the former first round draft pick to the Wolf Pack. Supposedly Lowe wanted Hugh Jessiman and Al Montoya and another pick. The Rangers organization felt that was too much even for a player who has posted 22 goals, 52 assists for 74 points in 75 games. Jessiman remains with the Pack and Montoya was later part of a trade that brought David LeNeveu, ironically a former Springfield Falcon, and Josh Gratton, who has added some grit to the Pack lineup.
The Pack will need to be stay on their toes and try and avoid unnecessary confrontations to insure that they stay healthy going into the playoffs. The Falcons are not likely to oblige as the Falcons have three guys who seem to love to take fighting majors. Tim Sestito leads that group with 175 penalty minutes. Theo Peckham has 162 PIM while Grant Potulny has 102.
VERSUS SOUND TIGERS Saturday at the XL Center (7:05pm) AND Sunday in Bridgeport (4:05pm).
These should be two fairly intense games depending upon the outcome of the Sound Tigers and Hershey Bears games on Friday night. The Bears magic number to clinch the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference is three. So, should the Tigers win at home against Lowell and the Bears drop their road game in Philadelphia against the Phantoms, the Tigers would trail Hershey by just two points with two games left to play. If that ‘s the case come Saturday night, expect the Tigers to come out hard with their season on the line. However, should it go the other way and the Tigers lose while Hershey wins then with the let down of being eliminated it might make for two easier games for the Pack.
Saturday night is the Wolf Pack’s final regular season home game and its also the annual “Fan Appreciation Night.” 29 lucky fans will get an authentic game jersey awarded them right from each of the Pack’s players in the always popular “Shirts off Our Backs” promotion.
Also at stake is the GEICO Connecticut Cup series that will be decided this weekend against the Sound Tigers. For the Pack (3-3-0-2) against their in-state rivals from Bridgeport, the Pack must win both games of this weekend’s home-and-home series between the two teams with at least one of them in regulation, in order to keep the GEICO Connecticut Cup. If the Wolf Pack win both but only one in regulation, then the two clubs would be tied in points in the series and the deciding factor would be goal differential, which currently favors Bridgeport, 21-19.
The Sound Tigers best player is Jeff Tambellini. He is part of a a four-way tie for the AHL lead in goals with 36. He’s also managed to notch 36 helpers as well giving him 72 points on the season in only 53 games.
You can catch all of the action live with the one-and-only Bob Crawford on ESPN Radio 1410, or you can spend $6 and watch the game live at B2livetv.com.
Bruce Berlet is in Augusta covering the Masters Golf Tournament so there will be a substitute covering the team. Here is his Week Ahead in the Courant.
Bob Crawford has a profile of Corey Potter at the AHL website “On the Beat.”
In his blog, Tommy Pock picks the Rangers to beat the Devils in six games.
Check back at HOWLINGS for all the latest news and coverage of the Pack’s final weekend of the regular season as well as the Charlotte Checkers’ games in the ECHL play-offs.
