By Bruce Berlet
While the parent New York Rangers are on a youth kick, the Connecticut Whale added two thirty-something forwards this week who will make their Whale debuts Friday night perhaps on the same line in a key rematch with the Portland Pirates in Maine.
Center Todd White was the latest to join the Whale on Thursday after clearing waivers for the fourth time this year on Wednesday and finally being sent down by the Rangers, eliminating his $2.35 million salary cap charge from the NHL team’s ledger.
That move came two days after the Whale signed forward Jason Williams to a professional tryout contract after what he called “a year that I’d like to forget” thanks to a broken leg in November and groin and abdominal surgeries in August and October.
White, 35, and Williams, 30, were both victims of advancing age and the youth movement of two NHL teams while still hopeful of returning to the pinnacle of hockey before hanging up their sticks, skates and jerseys. And they began that quest during a brisk 45-minute practice Thursday on a line with Chad Kolarik, who joined the Whale on Nov. 11 in a trade for former Hartford Wolf Pack captain Dane Byers.
Rangers coach John Tortorella admitted White never got a fair shake on Broadway after being acquired from the Atlanta Thrashers on Aug. 2 for disgruntled former Hartford Wolf Pack forwards Donald Braeshear and Patrick Rissmiller. That created some salary cap flexibility, and the $2.35 million cap cut would not have been possible with Brashear and his automatic $1.4 million over-35 cap hit. The Thrashers were willing to take the contract and buy out the enforcer because they’re just above the NHL’s salary cap floor.
“It’s the philosophy that we’re going with here with the kids,” Tortorella told the New York media on Wednesday. “Whitey, he’s a good man. I never really got him in a real good opportunity, an offensive position. But honestly, he’s 35, and we’re looking to try to build our team with youth. That hurt (White’s) opportunity, definitely. Good man. When he played, he certainly didn’t hurt us. But this is the philosophy we have right now as far as trying to develop our team with kids.”
That has been evident with the emergence of former Wolf Pack players such as Marc Staal, Ryan Callahan, Brandon Dubinsky, Artem Anisimov, Dan Girardi and Michael Sauer in key roles on a Rangers team where half of the roster is 26 or under. It’s a testament to what Whale coach Ken Gernander and assistants J.J. Daignault and Pat Boller have accomplished the past few seasons and reinforced in the last two weeks with the call-ups of forwards Dale Weise, 22, and Mats Zuccarello, 23.
Weise got his second call-up Wednesday night after the Whale’s thrilling, 2-1 overtime victory over the Pirates after Rangers center Erik Christensen sustained a sprained right knee when knocked into the post by New Jersey Devils defenseman Andy Greene in the second period of a 3-1 victory. Weise flew to Tampa, Fla., on Thursday to meet his new/old teammates for games against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday night and the Florida Panthers on Sunday night. He has seven goals and five assists in 16 games with the Whale despite being sidelined twice with an injured wrist and finger. He was scoreless in his NHL debut, a 4-1 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Dec. 18, though he impressed with his aggressiveness and won a unanimous decision over Daniel Carcillo.
While Weise was flying to Florida, White, a healthy scratch in 19 of the Rangers’ 37 games and used sparingly when he did play, was practicing with the Whale for the first time at Trinity College’s Koeppel Community Sports Center in Hartford. Barring an onslaught of injuries, White and Williams aren’t likely to get to The Big Apple soon, though White might be placed on re-entry waivers to see if another team is interested in claiming him. If he is claimed, that team will pick up half of his $2.35 million salary cap hit, with the Rangers eating the rest.
Meanwhile, Christensen is expected to be out four-to-six weeks, and Callahan (broken left hand) and forward Vinny Prospal (knee surgery) aren’t likely to return for a month. Plus, Zuccarello, who had his ice time reduced Wednesday night after two strong games while playing on top lines, and Weise will have ample opportunity to make their cases for staying with the Rangers the rest of the season.
Ironically, White arrived just hours after center Tim Kennedy scored his first winner with the Whale 36 seconds into overtime to beat his former team, 2-1. White beat out Kennedy in the preseason for the last forward spot on the Rangers, causing the 24-year-old Kennedy to be placed on waivers and sent to Hartford on Oct. 13.
“(Tortorella) was very honest with me throughout the whole process,” said White, who never complained about limited ice time (he averaged 7:40 a game) while getting one goal and one assist in 18 games with the Rangers. “I was just hoping to get a chance, and it just never came in terms of significant ice time or offensive opportunities. So I just have to work hard here and prove that I can still play there.”
White has been a solid performer for 12 seasons, getting 140 goals and 239 assists in 635 NHL games with the Rangers, Thrashers, Flyers, Chicago Blackhawks, Ottawa Senators and Minnesota Wild. Two seasons ago with the Thrashers, he had career highs in goals (22), assists (51), points (73) and games (82), but now he’s back in the minors for the first time since 2000-01 with the Grand Rapids Griffins.
“Obviously, he’s a good, skilled player,” Gernander said. “He’s more of a passer, but if a shot’s there, anybody should be able to take it. I think he should be able to play in all situations. It’s a ‘game read’ or feel thing, but he’s been playing. It’s not like he’s been off and needs some conditioning.
“And a lot of guys are competing for playing time now, so you want to get all them on the best lines possible and the most minutes possible. That’s something we’ve been talking about, and we’ll just see how it goes.”
Whether White and Williams play together or not, each wants to make a good impression and help the Whale (16-12-2-5) extend a 10-1-0-2 run that has put them four games above .500 for the first time this season. The month-long surge has vaulted them from the Atlantic Division cellar into third place, one point behind Portland (18-10-3-1), which has three games in hand. The Whale is 7-0-0-2 in their last nine division games and has a standings point in 13 of their last 14 games (10-1-0-3).
“I’m looking at this as an opportunity to get my game back and feeling good about myself,” said White, a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award as the top player in collegiate hockey as a senior at Clarkson University before signing as a free agent with the Blackhawks on Aug. 6, 1997. “I’m just trying to take it that I’m down here to play hard and try to get my game back to an offensive role. When you don’t play much, confidence with the puck definitely takes a hit.
“Obviously everybody wants to be (in the NHL), but at the same time, it’s a situation that you put yourself in, so you just have to work hard. It’ll be good to get back playing significant minutes and fun to be back in all situations again. Hopefully I can play good and warrant another opportunity somewhere.”
Williams feels likewise but under different circumstances. He doesn’t have a $2.35 million contract and celebrated his 30th birthday on Aug. 11 eating cake under unusual circumstances and surroundings in the City of Brotherly Love. He was in a Philadelphia hospital having groin surgery when he reached the third decade of his life and sliced his birthday cake with the nurses.
“It was good that the nurses brought me a cake while I was in the recovery room,” Williams said with a smile.
It also was the second segment of what Williams called “sort of a year I’d like to forget.”
It started in November when Williams broke his right leg in a freak accident while playing with the Detroit Red Wings. That sidelined him for 12 weeks, and after recovering to finish the season and compete in the NHL playoffs for the sixth time, he headed back to London, Ontario, for what he hoped was a summer of working out and trying to find a new job after not being re-signed by the Red Wings.
Instead, Williams began having pain in his right groin area when he started skating.
“It might just have been something that I did while working out,” Williams said.
Williams contacted Dr. William Myers, who specializes in hips and groins and had corrected Williams’ left groin and sports hernia problems three years ago. But despite a second groin surgery, Williams continued to have discomfort, so he made another visit to Myers, who decided abdominal surgery was needed.
“It was tough doing the rehab because I started feeling pretty good,” said Williams, an 11th-year pro since being signed by the Red Wings after a junior career with Peterborough of the Ontario Hockey League. “I figured six weeks after surgery I’d be ready for training camp, but things went downhill so I went back to the doctor. He knew I had the lower abdominal tear, but he didn’t think it would affect anything. But when I started getting back into things, that’s what was bothering me the most.”
Williams had his second operation Oct. 6, the day the NHL opened the season, and then started more weeks of rehabilitation with power-skating specialist Dwayne Blaze in his hometown of London, Ontario, Canada. After feeling strong enough to resume skating, Williams began working out with the OHL’s London Knights.
Two weeks ago, Williams finally felt healthy enough to begin searching for a job, so he alerted his agent, Wade Arnott, who sent emails to most NHL teams. The Rangers were among the first to respond, so Williams surveyed their situation and decided to sign a professional tryout contract on Monday and had his first practice with the Whale on Tuesday.
“I figured it could be a good fit for me, looked over the minor-league system and thought it might be my best bet to get back in the NHL,” Williams said.
Williams said he doesn’t fear re-injuring himself but figured it would take a few practices “to get my legs underneath me, get a few games in and get my timing down.”
“It’s tough because it’s kind of halfway through the season, and I haven’t played any games,” Williams said. “But I’m feeling better. Each day that goes by, I’m trying to make sure I get a proper warm-up, push myself more in practice and make sure that afterwards I’m icing and taking care of myself. As long as I’m doing my exercises, then hopefully everything will stay strong so I can kind of ease my way into these games and progress with each game.”
With Weise back with the Rangers, Williams should get plenty of ice time, with experience a major asset.
“One of my strengths is being able to read the play and use my head out there,” Williams said, “so I’m just going to have to think a little more and try to anticipate maybe a little more than usual. But I think the timing will come back fairly quickly. It’s just getting into those game situations at practice. I practiced with the junior team, but it’s a lot different practicing with kids and coming here because the pace is obviously a lot quicker. But I feel my skating is right back where it used to be, and I’m doing things like pivoting without thinking about it.
“Now it’s just maintaining my strength and continuing to stay on top of things, doing all the little things that you have to do as you get older. I can’t lace ’em up and go right out there anymore. You have to get kind of in a routine and get a good active warm-up.”
Williams has played all three forward positions and prefers center but has played wing most of his pro career, which began when he signed as a free agent with the Red Wings on Sept. 18, 2000. He has 91 goals and 129 assists in 420 NHL games with the Red Wings, Blackhawks, Thrashers and Columbus Blue Jackets and helped Detroit win the Stanley Cup in 2002. He also has 70 goals and 94 assists in 173 AHL games with the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks and Grand Rapids Griffins.
“I like center because I can use my speed,” Williams said. “If I’m skating on the wing, I feel like I can get lost at times. I just don’t seem to do enough and feel I’m more involved when I’m in the middle. You’re usually the guy down low in the defensive zone so I’ll definitely have to make sure I keep my shift short. I don’t want to get caught out there too long.
“But I just want to get in some game situations and see how I feel and react. Then after the first game, I want to see how I feel the next day. I’ll just keep in touch with (Gernander) and let him know how I feel. We’ll just have to see how it goes.”
Gernander said Williams can add to all phases of the team, especially after Zuccarello seems as if he could be with the Rangers for awhile, if not the rest of the season. But Gernander has to treat Williams like any other tryout player.
“He’s a guy looking for an opportunity with NHL experience and numbers who’s recovering from surgery,” Gernander said. “So he’s here to show himself and try to earn a job just like anybody else.”
WHALE HOSTS PROVIDENCE & MANCHESTER THIS WEEKEND
After helping the Pirates ring in the new year on Friday night with a game and postgame fireworks, the Whale host the Providence Bruins on Saturday at 5 p.m. and the Atlantic Division-leading Manchester Monarchs on Sunday at 3 p.m. The Whale moved the starting time of Saturday’s game from 7 p.m. so it wouldn’t conflict with the University of Connecticut football team playing Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl, which kicks off at 8:30.
The Whale beat the Bruins 3-0 and 3-1 in their first two meetings at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center in Providence on Oct. 17 and Dec. 3. The Bruins (13-15-2-1) are last in the Atlantic Division but 9-4-1-0 on the road. Center Jamie Arniel leads the Bruins in goals (14) and points (24). Left wing Lane McDermid, son of former Hartford Whalers right wing Paul McDermid, has one goal and three assists in 29 games.
The Whale is 1-3-0-1 against the Monarchs (22-11-1-1), who have won five in a row. But the Whale’s one victory was a 5-1 romp in the Monarchs’ last visit to the XL Center on Dec. 11. Center Andrei Loktionov leads a balanced Manchester attack with five goals and 21 assists, followed by defenseman Viatcheslav Voynov (5, 20), left wing Bud Holloway (9, 15), center Corey Elkins (9, 12) and center Oscar Moller (8, 12), who had two goals and an assist as the Monarchs rallied from a 4-0 deficit to beat the Whale 5-4 in a shootout on Dec. 19. Fans are encouraged to bring their skates as there will be a free postgame skate with some Whale players.
BALDWIN NOT SURE THAT HE WANTS JERSEY CHANGE
The Whale will unveil their new white jerseys Saturday night, and their new blue ones will debut Jan. 14 in Portland, Maine. The new jerseys, replacing the current green jerseys, are available at the XL Center and The Hartford Store, 45 Pratt Street in Hartford. Prices, including sales tax, are $289 (authentic), $125 (senior replica) and $99 (junior replica).
But while the new jerseys will bring added revenue, Whalers Sports and Entertainment chairman and CEO Howard Baldwin isn’t so sure he wants to make a change. The team is 10-1-0-2 since being rebranded as the Connecticut Whale on Nov. 27 after starting the season 6-11-2-3 as the Hartford Wolf Pack.
“I’m very superstitious, but I don’t know if I get a vote anymore,” Baldwin said with a chuckle. “You’ll have to ask my son (president and COO Howard Baldwin Jr.) or the coach what they’ve got planned. I like the crest, but I’m not going to kid you. I understand where you’re coming from.”
What Baldwin doesn’t want to change is the recent increased support for the team, especially Wednesday night. A record walkup of about 4,500 enabled the Whale to draw 7,913, the second-largest crowd of the season to the 13,089 that showed up for the first game with the new name, a 3-2 shootout victory over Bridgeport.
Unfortunately because three ticket takers reportedly called in sick and weren’t replaced, only six ticket windows were open, leading to many fans having to wait as long as two hours to get into the game. Some didn’t make it until the second period, but they didn’t miss much other than two fights won by the Whale’s Brodie Dupont and Justin Soryal. Whale management rewarded about 2,500 of the most patient fans with ticket vouchers to another game.
“They told me it was the largest walkup they’ve ever had,” Baldwin said. “(The Whalers) never had a walkup like this in the 1970s and ’80s. It shows you (interest) is building, but it’s not going to happen overnight. It takes time, but it’s all starting to come together nice.
“Every game people have more and more fun and enjoyment. The team has responded great, and that makes all the difference in the world. We always felt the (hockey) market is here, but it’s not like turning on a light switch or turning on that stereo (in the locker room). It takes time to build it back, and if people are patient and everything keeps going the way it’s going, we’re going to be in great shape.”
So why was there such a large walkup on a Wednesday night?
“This time of year over the holidays, people start not to like each other and want to get out of the house,” Baldwin said, laughing. “But this time of year, you want to get a good crowd. The team has been doing well, we’ve been spending a lot of money working hard on sales, so this is the time we should get a good crowd. We should do pretty well Saturday, a little softer Sunday, and then on Jan. 15 (against Providence), we ought to have a really big crowd. But sometimes it’s pretty predictable depending on the cycle.”
The Bruins game will be the Whale’s first at the XL Center after a four-game road trip to Worcester, Norfolk (two games) and Portland.
Baldwin said he has continued to work on some of the day-to-day operations since his son became his right-hand man in the organization three weeks ago.
“I’m thrilled with what he has done and really proud of him,” Baldwin said. “But I’m there to help him, and there are certain things I’m going to work on.”
When told his son had said dad isn’t into minutia, Baldwin smiled and said, “He’s right. I’ve forgotten what it is to be structured. I’ve been away from that too long. But I’ve always loved the marketing, and if I can help with that and the vision and really doing what has to be done to make this work … That’s all any of us wants.”
DOUGLAS, NEUFELD TO PLAY IN WHALERS ALUMNI GAME
Former Whalers forwards Jordy Douglas and Ray Neufeld will be among those playing for the Whalers Legends team against the Boston Bruins Legends at Rentschler Field in East Hartford on Feb. 19 at 4 p.m.
The Legends game is part of the Harvest-Properties.com Whale Bowl, the top attraction of the 12-day Whalers Hockey Fest featuring 30 youth, high school, prep school and college games. The Legends game will be followed by the second outdoor AHL game in history between the Whale and the Bruins at 7 p.m.
Douglas, of Winnipeg, Manitoba, joined the Whalers in 1978-79, their final season in the World Hockey Association when he had six goals and 10 assists in 51 games. Douglas and the Whalers joined the NHL the next season, and he stayed with the team until traded to the Minnesota North Stars on Oct. 1, 1982. He had 56 goals and 49 assists in 162 games with the Whalers and finished with 76 goals and 62 assists in 268 NHL games with Hartford, Minnesota and the Winnipeg Jets.
Neufeld, from Winkler, Manitoba, was the Whalers’ fourth-round pick in 1979 who spent nine seasons in the organization. In 331 games with the Whalers, Neufeld had 95 goals and 131 assists. He also played 15 games with the Bruins and 31/2 seasons with the Winnipeg Jets, finishing with 157 goals and 200 assists in 595 NHL games.
Tickets ($20 to $85) for the Legends Game and Whale-Bruins game can be purchased at Ticketmaster.com or by calling the Whale at 860-728-3366. They also can be purchased online and printed immediately at Ticketmaster.com. … Former Wolf Pack wing P.A. Parenteau had the winning shootout goal as the New York Islanders beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 2-1 Wednesday night. Josh Bailey, just back from a stint with the Sound Tigers, scored in regulation for the Islanders, who rebounded from a 7-2 thrashing from the Rangers on Monday night. The Islanders also ended Sidney Crosby’s 25-game point streak.
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