WILLIAMS INSURANCE 

The Connecticut Whale is bringing in some veteran experience to the team and to the front line and they’re doing it on the cheap by signing Stanley Cup winner Jason Williams to a Professional Try-Out Contract.

This could mean a number of things for the American League representative of the NY Rangers.

1) General Manager Jim Schoenfeld does not feel that the Whale have enough veteran depth up front and wants to take a look at having another experienced NHL player like Wade Redden in the locker room to help mature the Rangers prospects.

2) If Mats Zuccarello plays well in Monday night’s Garden battle with the Islanders, he may well be done with his minor league apprenticeship and could be staying in New York creating a need for more scoring depth in Hartford.

3) The Rangers are looking at Williams for New York and want to audition him in Hartford first before signing him to the big club.

4) Someone is about to be traded either in Hartford or in New York and the organization is lining up a replacement.

5) Could those Tim Kennedy rumors of his requesting a trade a week or so ago have born out some fruit and he could be headed to another North American team or could he be Europe bound? Williams could step into that position.

Stats via www.hockeydb.com

Here’s the official release:

WHALE SIGN FORWARD JASON WILLIAMS TO PTO

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Former Stanley Cup-winner has 420 Games of NHL Experience

HARTFORD, December 27, 2010:  Connecticut Whale general manager Jim Schoenfeld announced today that the team has signed forward Jason Williams to a Professional Tryout (PTO) agreement.

Williams, an 11^th-year pro, is a veteran of 420 NHL games and won a Stanley Cup in 2002 with the Detroit Red Wings.

The 30-year-old Williams, a 5-11, 192-pound native of London, Ontario, played 44 games last season in his second career stint with the Red Wings, registering six goals and nine assists for 15 points, along with eight penalty minutes.  He also was scoreless in three playoff games with Detroit.

Williams, who has spent the last five seasons entirely in the NHL, has totaled 91 goals and 129 assists for 220 points, along with 147 PIM, in his 420 career NHL appearances with Detroit, Chicago, Atlanta and Columbus.  His best season was 2005-06, when he struck for 21 goals and 37 assists for 58 points in 80 games with Detroit.

In 173 career AHL outings with the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks and Grand Rapids Griffins, Williams has tallied 70 goals and 94 assists for 164 points, and has served 93 minutes in penalties.  He was Cincinnati’s top point-scorer in his rookie year of 2000-01, with 24 goals and 45 assists for 69 points in 76 games.

Williams was originally signed by the Red Wings as a free agent September 18, 2000 out of the Ontario Hockey League, in which he totaled 74 goals and 120 assists for 194 points in 249 career games with the Peterborough Petes.

The Whale return to action this Wednesday night, December 29, hosting Head Coach Kevin Dineen and the Portland Pirates at the XL Center in a 7:00 game.

The first 3,000 fans into the game that night will receive a poster commemorating the 1986-87 Adams Division-champion Hartford Whalers squad, and former Whaler and New York Ranger fan favorite, and ex-Hartford Wolf Pack assistant coach, Nick Fotiu will be making a special appearance to sign autographs and meet and greet fans.

Tickets for that, and all 2010-11 home games, are available now at the XL Center box office, through Ticketmaster Charge-by-Phone at 1-800-745-3000 and on-line at www.ctwhale.com.  Tickets start at $7 each at the XL Center ticket office on game day.

For information on Whale ticket packages, group sales and VIP packages, call (860) 728-3366.

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