By Bruce Berlet
When not battling injuries, Hartford Wolf Pack left wing Justin Soryal is known mainly for his toughness and ability to battle the opposition with lefts and rights.
But the 23-year-old Soryal is determined to make everyone think of him more than just someone who specializes in giving and taking in fights.
“I look at a guy like (Rangers left wing) Brandon Prust, and that’s the way I get myself to the NHL,” Soryal said after the Wolf Pack began final preparations for their 14th season opener Saturday at 7 at the XL Center in Hartford against the Charlotte Checkers. “He’s a guy who combines playing and fighting. I’m not going to be like a guy like (Rangers enforcer) Derek Boogaard because I’m not that size (6 feet 7, 265 pounds), so I have to find my niche at what I do best.”
Soryal has been working a lot with coach Ken Gernander at being a safe defensive player, getting pucks out and really get on the forecheck. He had been doing during his first two years in the organization after signing a free-agent contract with the Rangers on March 12, 2008 but “cranked it up” since he returned for training camp.
“We’ve been working on my passing and just getting my skill set going, so I’ve been working on my skating,” Soryal said. “We’re really going to try to be aggressive this season. Bang. Bang. Bang. So I’ve got to make that part of my strength, just getting on the forecheck. We’ve got a couple of really good lines, and I’d like to chip in offensively so I’m going to try to combine both the physical and the skilled.”
Soryal demonstrated lots of the latter in the Wolf Pack’s first shootout contest at the end of practice Friday. He, rookie defenseman Ryan McDonagh and left wing Devin DiDiomete, who is recovering from major hip surgery in the offseason, were the only Wolf Pack skaters to beat goalies Chad Johnson and Cameron Talbot in the first round of practice for possible shootouts as the 75th AHL season begins.
Soryal then claimed the initial shootout “victory” of the season, bringing a lifted stick in celebration and some ohs and ahs from his teammates.
But Soryal is normally skating on a line with former Quinnipiac University standout Brandon Wong and Jeremy Williams, signed as a free agent after getting career highs for goals (32) and points (63) last season with the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins thanks largely to a NHL-like shot.
“Williams really has a shot, so I’m going to try to get in there first, bang bodies and get pucks to those guys and hopefully we can convert,” Soryal said. “And there should be a lot of rebounds because that’s a tough shot to stop. Either it’s going to go right in or there’s going to be a nice rebound in front. I think we’re going to play well because we seem to be getting it going pretty well in practice.”
Soryal hopes his linemates can be a strong support to cast to the top two lines of Dane Byers-Kris Newbury-Dale Weise and Brodie Dupont-Evgeny Grachev-Mats Zuccarello. And a good checking line that also should be able to help some offensively is center Ryan Garlock and rookie wings Chris McKelvie and Kelsey Terrier, all of whom have signed AHL contracts.
“I think we can come in waves,” Soryal said. “We’ve got one of the toughest first lines in the league and some solid scorers, so it’s going to be a good squad for sure.”
After being signed as a free agent following his junior career at Peterborough of the Ontario Hockey League, Soryal missed much of his rookie pro season (2008-09) with a broken hand sustained in a fight. He had three goals, seven assists and 114 penalty minutes in 43 games and then had five goals, four assists and 159 PIM in limited ice time in 67 games last season.
But now Soryal and his coaches hope he increase more than just his penalty minutes.
“You want everybody contributing and pulling their weight,” Gernander said. “We don’t have any specialists or any one person designated to play this role or that role. We want them to be well-rounded hockey players so they can compete or participate in a number of different regards.”
When informed Soryal hopes to become someone like Prust, Gernander pointed out how Prust brings an element of toughness and can scrap but also is a guy the Rangers looked to down the stretch last season. Prust, former Wolf Pack center Artem Anisimov and departed tough guy Jody Shelley formed the Rangers’ most consistent line in the late stages of the season.
“If the situation arises, (Prust) can finish a play and even killed some penalties last season,” Gernander said. “There are no specialists now because your roster isn’t big enough to accommodate somebody who can’t play. There’s no more just tough guys. There are no more just goal scorers. Everybody has got to play.”
Gernander said he’s interested to see what transpires when the Wolf Pack start for real after winning three of four preseason games. Nine of the Wolf Pack’s healthy 22 players are newcomers, led by defenseman Wade Redden, who was waived by the Rangers to clear $6.5 million off their $59.4 million salary cap. After playing 994 NHL games with the Ottawa Senators and Rangers, the 12-year veteran will make his minor-league debut after not playing in the preseason.
Others newcomers for the Wolf Pack, who will become the Connecticut Whale around Thanksgiving, are forwards Williams, Zuccarello, Wong, Tessier and McKelvie and defensemen Redden, Jyri Niemi, Tomas Kundratek and the Rangers’ final two cuts, Ryan McDonagh and Pavel Valentenko.
Ironically, the Checkers are the Wolf Pack’s former ECHL affiliate and one of the AHL’s two new teams. They moved from Albany, N.Y., and are now affiliated with the Carolina Hurricanes, who replaced the Whalers after owner Pete Karmanos took his sticks, skates and pucks and bolted for North Carolina.
The Checkers roster includes former Wolf Pack and ECHL Checkers defensemen Bryan Rodney (captain) and Ethan Graham and forwards Jerome Samson (37 goals, 41 assists last season), Jonathan Matsumoto (32 goals, 30 assists with the Adirondack Phantoms), Zach Boychuk, Carolina’s first-round pick in 2008 who played 31 games with the Hurricanes last season, and 20-year-old rookie Jared Staal, the Phoenix Coyotes’ second-round pick in 2008 and the youngest of the four Staal brothers in pro hockey. Marc Staal plays for the Rangers, Eric for the Hurricanes and Jordan for the Penguins. Zack FitzGerald led the AHL in penalty minutes last season with 311. Mike Murphy, who was 10-9 in Albany last season, will start in goal.
Checkers coach is former Hartford Whalers and Beast of New Haven wing Jeff Daniels, who led the Albany Devils to 33-40-0 and 43-29-0 records in his first two seasons as a head coach.
“We’re going to have a lot of experience,” Boychuk told the Charlotte Observer. “This year we’re expecting a big year and better things. We’re solid in all three positions – goalie, defense and forward. Guys are looking to playing as hard as they can to get back up. That’s just going to help our team.”
Leave a Reply