BRUCE BERLET REPORTS FROM PACK/WHALE PRACTICE 

By Bruce Berlet

The Wolf Pack had barely finished their third day of training camp when reinforcements arrived at Champions Skating Center from the Rangers.

Goalie Chad Johnson and forwards Dane Byers, the team captain, Dale Weise and Kris Newbury showed up with their equipment and renewed acquaintances with some former teammates as team officials met with three representatives of Whalers Sports and Entertainment a week after the group headed by former Whalers president and managing general partner Howard Baldwin signed a three-year agreement to take over the business operations of the Rangers’ top affiliate.

Others assigned to the Wolf Pack were veteran defenseman Wade Redden, who cleared waivers Monday to free up $6.5 million of the Rangers’ $59.4 million salary cap, forwards Evgeny Grachev and Mats Zuccarello, who is only 5-foot-9, 170 pounds but led the Swedish Elite League in scoring last season (23 goals, 41 assists in 55 games) and won the Guldhjalmen Award as the league’s most valuable player.

Byers, Newbury and forward Jeremy Williams, signed as a free agent in the offseason after getting career highs of goals (32), points (63) and shots (210) last season with the AHL’s Grand Rapid Griffins, will practice with the Wolf Pack but have to clear waivers to be officially assigned because they have more than three years of pro experience.

Defensemen Garnet Exelby, Brandon Manning and Alexei Semenov were released from their tryout contracts, leaving the Rangers with 27 players (two goaltenders, nine defensemen and 16 forwards), which is four over the limit they can have for their opener Oct. 9. But captain and Trumbull native Chris Drury is expected to miss the first three or four games because of a broken left index finger.

Redden’s agent, Don Meehan, emailed several Rangers beat writers that his client will report to the Wolf Pack on Wednesday, a week after his wife, Danica, gave birth to the couple’s first child. If the 33-year-old Redden refused to report, the Rangers would devoid the remaining four years and $23 million of his contract, and the defenseman would become an unrestricted free agent. Regardless, Redden’s $6.5 million salary will be deducted from the Rangers’ salary cap.

Redden has played 994 NHL games in a 12-year career, including 156 with the Rangers the last two seasons after signing a six-year, $39-million contract as a free agent from the Ottawa Senators on July 1, 2009. Wolf Pack players should be asking Redden to pick up plenty of meal checks since stands to earn $6.5 million in each of the next two season and $5 million in each of the final two years of the deal.

Left wing/center Brodie Dupont was among those who greeted Johnson, Byers, Weise and Newbury after he cleared waivers but will be making pocket change compared to Redden. Dupont was disappointed to be among the first Rangers cut last week, but after a bit of a slow start, he has played well in the last two scrimmages while skating with former Quinnipiac University standout Brandon Wong and Marc-Olivier Vallerand.

“(Dupont) worked hard today, and (coach) Ken Gernander said he came down with a great attitude and has worked hard,” said Rangers assistant general manager and Wolf Pack GM Jim Schoenfeld, who made his first appearance at Wolf Pack camp. “But you’ve got to be better. There are other guys that are ahead of him. It’s the most depth the Rangers have had since I’ve been there.”

Dupont was initially disappointed to be among the Rangers’ first cuts but was happy he remained in the organization.

“I wanted to stay here or in New York, but I didn’t expect anything to happen,” said Dupont, who had 17 goals and 22 assists while playing in all 80 Wolf Pack games last season at left wing and center. “Very rarely does a guy get picked up because then they have to hold you up there (in the NHL) for 30 days. But I haven’t played any (NHL preseason) games, so to pick me up right now is kind of pointless. They might want me for their AHL team, but they have to hold me for 30 days.”

Greenville Coach Scouting

Dean Stork, coach of the Rangers’ new ECHL affiliate in Greenville, S.C., is on a four-day scouting mission in Hartford, though he doesn’t need many more bodies. Stork said he has already signed 23 players, some of whom will have to be released once he gets players from the Rangers and Philadelphia Flyers, Greenville’s secondary affiliate. ECHL teams can have 20-man rosters with three spots for injured reserve (one three-day, seven-day and 21-day). There is no limit to how many players can be put on the 21-day IR, but only one player usually is unless there are extenuating circumstances.

“I’m looking for a veteran, two-way center who kills penalties and plays a little on the power play,” Stork said. “We need some experienced guys because my youth is really good with guys like Vallerand and potentially Wong. Defensive-wise I’m stacked, and I’ve got some good young guys but need some more experience up front.

“I’ll probably get five or six guys (from the Wolf Pack), but I don’t know who. It’s hard to say who Hartford will send down right now, depending on injuries. I hope I get my pick (of players) because there are some guys here who wouldn’t make my team in Greenville. There are some guys here under contract who wouldn’t really beat out my free-agent kids.”

Stork said he and Schoenfeld would discuss possible player assignments, depending on how Greenville was doing and how the player reacts when sent down.

“We’re definitely going to have a good relationship with the Rangers, but they have to work with us in Greenville as well,” Stork said. “Neil Smith has been involved with the Rangers (as general manager) and is now my owner, but there has to be a fine line on what talent they’re going to send us. They can’t send us their junk or I’ll have to find a different place for them to play.

“It’s the same with the Flyers. We’re just not going to be a deposit place. You’re going to have to get us some development youth. There are a lot of kids here who are really good who might need a year in the ECHL. But I also look around, and there are some players who are bums, but that’s the way it is everywhere because teams have to fill their rosters. I actually have a kid from Greenville that I sent here but might have to release him because he’s just not good enough.”

Stork said he expects to get four defensemen from the Wolf Pack after already having nine free-agent blueliners already signed.

“I went into this year’s recruiting thinking I can’t be thinking about Hartford and I can’t think about the Rangers or Flyers,” Stork said. “I’ve got to recruit for Greenville, so I didn’t want to wait around. Now I over-recruited, which is a good thing. Now I’ll just have to release and cut.”

Stork said Dov Grumet-Morris is one of his goalies after playing the last two seasons in Austria. He said he also likely will get Nic Riopel from the Flyers, whose assistant GM is John Paddock, who coached the Wolf Pack to their only Calder Cup title in 2000.

“I worked out with John that we’re only going to get one goalie and one forward,” Stork said. “If he calls me in the next couple days and says he’s sending more, I’m going to tell him he’s going to have to find another place for them because the Rangers are my No. 1 affiliate and they’re who I’m going to look after.”

The Road Warriors open training camp Oct. 5 and play their opener at home Oct. 21 against the Florida Everblades.

“I’m going to run camp just like they’re doing here, and we have three exhibition games, so it’s going to be really good competition,” Stork said. “Guys are going to be competing for jobs, even if they’re under contract with the Flyers and the Rangers.”

New Logo Unveiling Wednesday (See it now on Howlings below)

Whalers Sports and Entertainment will unveil the logo for the Connecticut Whale to the media Wednesday at 5:30 pm at the Koeppel Community Sports Center at Trinity College in Hartford. The logo then will be available for viewing by the public as the Wolf Pack, who likely will become the Connecticut Whale between Thanksgiving and Christmas, open their preseason schedule at 7 pm against the new Albany Devils. Donations, in lieu of an admission charge, will be accepted at the door to benefit the Ryan Gordon/Hartford Wolf Pack Community Scholars Fund. The fund is a memorial to young Wolf Pack fan Ryan Gordon, who died in 2006 and asked that a portion of the monies set aside for his college education be donated to the Wolf Pack Community Foundation.

The Wolf Pack also plays Friday at 7 pm against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers at the TD Bank Sports Center at Quinnipiac University in Hamden. A $5 admission charge will benefit Gaylord Hospital in Wallingford. The Wolf Pack and Sound Tigers then have a rematch the next night at 7 pm at the Rinks at Shelton.

The Wolf Pack wraps up preseason play against the Worcester Sharks on Sunday at 2 pm at Champions Skating Center. A $5 admission charge benefits Junior Wolf Pack Youth Hockey.

The Wolf Pack start the regular season Oct. 9 at 7 pm against the Charlotte Checkers, their former ECHL affiliate and one of the AHL’s two new teams.

Tickets for home games are available at the XL Center box office, through Ticketmaster charge-by-phone at 1-800-745-3000 and on-line at www.hartfordwolfpack.com. For information on season tickets and numerous ticketing options, call the Wolf Pack ticket office to talk with an account executive at 860-548-2000 or visit www.hartfordwolfpack.com.

Blue Rallies To Beat Red

Ryan Garlock, Chris McKelvie and tryout Bretton Cameron (empty net) scored in the third period as the Blue rallied from two one-goal deficits for a 4-2 scrimmage victory over the Red. Defenseman Nigel Williams also scored for the Blue around two goals by Brendan Connolly, another tryout player who impressed with his speed for the third consecutive day. Some defensemen continued to play some at forward because an injury to Chris Chappell left only 14 healthy forwards and 14 defensemen. That problem was alleviated with the Rangers’ reassignments later in the day. … Players put on waivers by the Monday noon deadline included former Wolf Pack players Greg Moore (Columbus), Jake Taylor (Edmonton), Chad Wiseman (New Jersey), Mitch Fritz (Tampa Bay), Ryan Hollweg (Phoenix), Anders Eriksson (Phoenix), and former No. 1 draft picks Al Montoya (Phoenix) and Hugh Jessiman (Nashville), the only first-rounder from the 2003 draft who hasn’t played in the NHL. Others included South Windsor native Jon DiSalvatore (Minnesota) and former Whalers goalie Manny Legace (Carolina). Former Rangers and Wolf Pack right wing Jed Ortmeyer has been invited to Islanders camp and could play with the Sound Tigers. … Defenseman Mathieu Dandenault, who helped the Detroit Red Wings win the 2002 Stanley Cup and played 19 games with the Wolf Pack last season before heading home, announced his retirement from hockey