By: Bruce Berlet
MCDONAGH MAKES RANGERS DEBUT
Rookie defenseman Ryan McDonagh became the third Connecticut Whale player to make his NHL debut this season with the Rangers on Friday night against the Dallas Stars. McDonagh played 21 shifts for 12:03 in place of Michal Rozsival, who aggravated a pulled rib muscle in a 2-1 overtime victory over the Carolina Hurricanes on Wednesday night. Wing Mats Zuccarello, the second Whale player to join the Rangers, won that game with his first NHL goal and made it 2-for-2 Friday night when he scored the only shootout goal in a 3-2 victory in which goalie Henrik Lundqvist excelled again with 28 saves and a 3-for-3 in the skills competition. Whale wing Dale Weise is on his second recall to the Blueshirts.
McDonagh was paired with Matt Gilroy after exchanging places on the Rangers roster with Michael Del Zotto, a member of the NHL all-rookie team last season who was assigned to the Whale on Monday and set up Tim Kennedy’s winner in a 2-0 victory over the Worcester Sharks on Wednesday night. Gilroy had four assists in five games with the Wolf Pack last season in a successful attempt to rediscover his game, as Del Zotto is trying to do now.
McDonagh, the Montreal Canadiens’ first-round pick (12th overall) in 2007, was reunited with rookie center Derek Stepan, a teammate for two seasons at the University of Wisconsin, which lost 5-0 to Boston College and top Rangers prospect Chris Kreider in the NCAA championship game in April. Since McDonagh is a left-handed shooter, it allowed Gilroy to move to his natural right side. Steve Eminger, a little more comfortable on the left side, was paired with former Wolf Packer Michael Sauer. The Rangers’ No. 1 pairing was two more former Wolf Pack players, Marc Staal and Dan Girardi.
McDonagh had nine shifts for 5:22 in the first period and was on the ice when Brian Southerby scored his first goal in 25 games after goalie Henrik Lundqvist failed to stop the puck behind the net, causing McDonagh to get caught out of position.
McDonagh was interviewed after the first period and admitted having some nerves and hoped his family and friends were watching back home in St. Paul, Minn.
“The butterflies were definitely there, but I’ve always been told when you’re nervous it means you’re ready, so I was just trying to prepare and make sure I was mentally ready,” McDonagh said. “It was exciting, for sure. It’s a fast-paced, high-tempo game, and I’m really glad to be here trying to help these guys win.”
McDonagh credited Whale veteran defenseman Wade Redden, his partner early in the season, for helping him.
“He has been really professional, for sure, the way he handles himself so well around people,” McDonagh said. “He comes to the rink with the right attitude every day regardless of where we’re at. He’s always doing the best he can to make sure he helps the team to win.”
After the game, Rangers coach John Tortorella was generally satisfied with McDonagh’s debut but wanted to withhold complete judgement until a film session Saturday.
“He can skate in the National Hockey League,” Tortorella said. “I think early he was a little tentative, he had a couple good shifts, held in there on the blue line, kept a couple pucks in offensively. But I want to look at the tape.”
Redden didn’t make the trip to Virginia, missing his third consecutive game because of a muscle strain in his side sustained in a 6-2 victory over the Providence Bruins on Jan. 1. But he made another classy move Wednesday night, when he drove to Worcester on his own and was outside the locker room congratulating his teammates after a 2-0 victory over the Sharks.
McDonagh, Stepan, Weise, Zuccarello and Sauer are rookies. Stepan centered Zuccarello and former Wolf Pack forward Brandon Dubinsky, and Weise was alongside center/captain and Trumbull native Chris Drury and Alex Frolov.
Left wing Sean Avery played his first game since a disastrous 23-game stint with the Stars that was followed by a rehab session with the Wolf Pack before he joined the Rangers. Avery played with sniper Marian Gaborik and former Wolf Pack center Artem Anisimov.
The Rangers play at St. Louis on Saturday night, then return home to host the Canadiens on Tuesday night.
Wing Jamie Langenbrunner didn’t play for the Stars after being re-acquired from the New Jersey Devils for a conditional third-round draft pick. The conditional pick will become a second-rounder if the Stars win the first round of the playoffs or re-sign the former Devils captain before July 1. If the Stars re-sign him after July 1, the Devils swap their 2012 third-round pick with the Stars’ second-round pick.
The 35-year-old Langenbrunner scored 10 goals in the Stars’ run to the Stanley Cup in 1999. He was traded to the Devils on March 19, 2002 and won another Stanley Cup in 2003. But like the Devils, who have the NHL’s worst record, he struggled this season with four goals, 10 assists and a minus-15 in 31 games and missed eight games with a sore neck. He had only four goals in 20 regular-season games after being captain of Team USA that won a silver medal in the 2010 Olympics. He was a healthy scratch in the Devils’ game against the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday night.
NEW ROAD JERSEYS TO APPEAR NEXT FRIDAY
The Whale has a rematch with the Admirals on Saturday night and then will debut their new blue road jerseys at the end of their four-game road trip next Friday at Portland. The jerseys are available for purchase at the XL Center or The Hartford Store, 45 Pratt Street in Hartford. Prices, including sales tax, are $289 (authentic), $125 (senior replica) and $99 (junior replica). … The Whale returns to the XL Center next Saturday at 7 p.m. to face Providence, the start of a three-game homestand that will include former Boston Bruins standouts Rick Middleton and Reggie Lemelin signing autographs in the XL Center atrium from 6-7 p.m. and then dropping the ceremonial first puck. Middleton, who played 12 seasons with the Bruins after two with the Rangers, and Lemelin will also be playing with the Bruins legends team that will face the Hartford Whalers legends Feb. 19 at 4 p.m. before the Whale plays the Providence Bruins. That doubleheader is part of the “Harvest-Properties.com Whalers Hockey Fest” at Rentschler Field in East Hartford on Feb. 11-23. Early commitments for the Whalers team include Jordy Douglas, Ray Neufeld and Gordie Roberts. Tickets ($20 to $85) for the Legends Game and Whale-Bruins game can be purchased at Ticketmaster.com and the Bushnell box office in Hartford on Monday through Friday from noon to 5 p.m. or by calling the Whale at 860-728-3366. They also can be purchased online and printed immediately at Ticketmaster.com. … The homestand also will include visits from league-leading Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (Jan. 16) and Hamilton (Jan. 21), which is a special Family Value Night at which New Britain Rock Cats mascot Rocky will be on hand. There will be a giveaway, a table setup and autograph session, and the New Britain High School marching band will perform the national anthem and during the first intermission. Tickets in the lower level are $16 and include a soda and pizza slice or hot dog. Visit www.ctwhale.com.
DISCOUNTED TICKETS FOR WHALE FANS
Whalers Sports and Entertainment, in association with the XL Center, is offering a discount for “Disney On Ice” shows to Whale fans. For discounted tickets, use the discount code WHALES and save $4. Discounted tickets start at $11 for shows Saturday at 6:30 p.m. and Sunday at 4:30 p.m. Tickets can be purchased at the XL Center box office, online at Ticketmaster.com or by calling 800-745-3000. For groups of 15 or more, contact the XL Center group sales office at 860-548-2000.
… Whale mascots Pucky and Sonar will appear at the University of Hartford women’s basketball game against Albany on Saturday at 3 p.m. at the Reich Family Pavilion in West Hartford. It’s Father/Daughter Day as daughters get a free ticket when dad buys a $15 ticket in the lower level. Pucky and Sonar will have a dance-off at halftime with Howie the Hawk, the Hartford mascot. So come and root on coach Jennifer Rizzotti’s team and enjoy some time with Pucky and Sonar.
… WS&E chairman and CEO Howard Baldwin will be the guest speaker at the East Hartford Chamber of Commerce breakfast series sponsored by AT&T Connecticut Tuesday at 8 a.m. at the Sheraton Hartford Hotel on East River Drive in East Hartford. Baldwin will speak about his efforts to revive the local hockey market, the Whalers Hockey Fest and other economic development opportunities.
“I am very excited to have a man of Howard Baldwin’s experience, energy and commitment to Connecticut and the Hartford area speaking at our Chamber event,” Chamber president Ron Pugliese said. “I invite anyone who has the desire to see the Hartford area grow and prosper economically to join us on January 11.” … Howard Baldwin Jr., the new president and COO of WS&E, has a new Twitter account accessible to Whale fans at howardbaldwinjr.
… Former Wolf Pack defenseman Terry Virtue and Hartford Whalers wing Scott Young will be among the first six inductees into the Worcester Hockey Hall of Fame on Jan. 22 at the DCU Center in Worcester. It’s “Salute to the IceCats” Night, the former name of the Sharks, and other inductees will be Kelly O’Leary, Eddie Bates, Larz Anderson and Marvin Degon Sr., father of former Wolf Pack defenseman Martin Degon.
… The Whale’s eighth Tip-A-Player Dinner and Sports Carnival, presented by Aetna, will be Jan. 23 at the XL Center from 4-7 p.m. Tickets are $30 for adults and $20 for children, and proceeds benefit Gaylord Specialty Healthcare at Gaylord Hospital in Wallingford. For more information, contact Lori Lenihart at 860-728-3366.
ALL-STAR VOTING ENDS SUNDAY
On-line fan voting for the AHL All-Star Classic Jan. 30-31 at the Giant Center in Hershey, Pa., runs through midnight Sunday at theahl.com and facebook.com/theahl. Players receiving the most votes by position will earn berths in the starting lineups of the Eastern Conference and Western Conference teams. A committee of AHL coaches will select the remaining All-Stars, and all 30 clubs must be represented. By completing the official ballot, fans are entered to win a grand prize of a team-signed All-Star jersey. Ten more winners will receive an official All-Star Classic T-shirt.
The Hall of Fame Class of 2011, to be inducted Jan. 30 at 11 a.m., is Mitch Lamoureux, Larry Wilson and the late Harry Pidhirny and Maurice Podoloff, who grew up in New Haven and graduated from Yale. AHL Hall of Famer Bruce Boudreau, former coach of the Hershey Bears and now coach of the Washington Capitals, will be the keynote speaker, and AHL graduate and 2008 Foster Hewitt Award winner Mike Emrick will be master of ceremonies.
ORTMEYER SIGNS WITH WILD
Former Wolf Pack and Rangers right wing Jed Ortmeyer signed with the Minnesota Wild and cleared waivers but remained with the AHL’s Houston Aeros, where he signed a professional tryout contract earlier this season.
The gritty 32-year-old Ortmeyer has played 306 NHL games with the Rangers, Nashville and San Jose. He had his best season in 2009-10 when he had eight goals and 11 assists in 76 games with the President Trophy-winning Sharks.
Ortmeyer will continue to provide veteran leadership for the Aeros or take that strength to the Wild and possibility skate on a line with Eric Nystrom, a linemate for two years at the University of Michigan, where he also played with former Wolf Pack goalie Al Montoya.
“Hopefully I can play well enough (in Houston) to get back to playing in the NHL,” Ortmeyer said. “My game is pretty simple, working hard, good on the penalty kill and being an energy guy. Hopefully I can chip in some points and be a good role model for some of the younger guys (in Houston).” … Former Rangers goalie Jason LaBarbera, a two-time AHL goalie of the year with the Wolf Pack and named to the All-Wolf Pack team in November, made 34 saves in the Phoenix Coyotes’ 2-0 victory over the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday night. … Former Wolf Pack and Rangers wing Nigel Dawes had four goals in the Chicago Wolves’ 9-3 victory over the Toronto Marlies on Wednesday night. That same night, Peoria’s Derek Nesbitt had four goals and an assist in a 7-4 victory over the San Antonio Rampage. … The AHL suspended Wilkes-Barre/Scranton right wing Jeff Boulerice for 10 games for his actions in a 3-2 shootout victory over the Charlotte Checkers on Wednesday night. Boulerice was suspended under the provisions of AHL Rule 28.1 (supplemental discipline) after review of a third-period incident in which it was determined Boulerice deliberately applied physical force to an official without intent to injure. He began serving his suspension Friday night against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers and will be eligible to return on Jan. 28 against the Albany Devils.
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