FROM THE CREASE with Bruce Berlet 

By Bruce Berlet

The Connecticut Whale has provided more support to the parent New York Rangers this season than ever before in the franchise’s 14-year history.

Long-term injuries to former Hartford Wolf Pack All-Star right wing Ryan Callahan, Vinny Prospal, Derek Boogaard have forced the Rangers to depend on some of their top young prospects.

Defenseman Michal Rozsival aggravated a rib injury on Wednesday, and yet another forward was needed from Hartford after left wing Alexandre Frolov joined the Rangers’ M*A*S*H unit Saturday night when St. Louis Blues defenseman Brad Winchester fell on his right leg in the third period of the Rangers’ 2-1 victory.

Whale center Kris Newbury got the call Sunday after it was determined Frolov will undergo season-ending surgery after he sustained a torn anterior cruciate ligament, a second-degree sprain of his medial collateral ligament and a medial meniscus tear. Frolov went to the dressing room and returned for one shift Saturday night, but he couldn’t function – for good reason.

The decision to operate on Frolov was made after he was examined by Dr. Andrew Feldman and had an MRI on Sunday. It’s a sad ending to the season for Frolov, who had only seven goals and nine assists in 43 games after being signed to a one-year, $3 million contract.

But it’s a good break for Newbury, 28, who led the Whale in assists (30) and points (35) to go with five goals and 87 penalty minutes while playing in all 41 games. He is 11^th in the AHL in scoring, and his 30 assists are third in the league. He had a team-high, 10 multiple-point games, including two streaks of three games, and established a career high with an eight-game assist streak from Nov. 28 to Dec. 17.

Newbury played well alongside Dale Weise before the right wing had his second call-up on Dec. 29. Newbury and Weise likely will be linemates again, possibly with Rangers captain and Trumbull native Chris Drury. Rookies Mats Zuccarello and Ryan McDonagh are also with the Rangers, and right wing Jeremy Williams played one game on Broadway on Nov. 24.

This will be the fifth NHL stint for Newbury, a fifth-round pick by the San Jose Sharks in the 2002 NHL entry draft whom the Rangers acquired from the Detroit Red Wings for forward Jordan Owens on March 3. Newbury, who played with the Grand Rapids Griffins and Wolf Pack last season, tied for the team lead in scoring with 18 points in 18 games after being acquired. He has four goals, three assists and 64 penalty minutes in 48 NHL games with the Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs.

Meanwhile, second-year defenseman Michael Del Zotto, who changed place with McDonagh last Monday, has had an immediate impact for the Whale. In his minor-league debut Wednesday night, Del Zotto made a pin-point pass from the right point to the crease to set up Tim Kennedy’s power-play goal with 5:38 left in regulation that broke a scoreless tie and led to a 2-0 victory over the Worcester Sharks. Then on Saturday night, Del Zotto’s brilliant rush set up Williams’ team-leading 20^th goal with 37.2 seconds left in overtime for a 3-2 victory over the Norfolk Admirals. Stefano Giliati had tied it at 2 with 1:39 left in regulation as the Whale was outshot 40-26, but Williams scored off his own rebound to make a winner of Cameron Talbot (38 saves), who had another strong game in improving to 6-0-1 in his last seven decisions.

“We had the late lead and Cam played pretty good, but we got the one at the end,” Whale coach Ken Gernander said. “Del Zotto drove wide down the left-wing boards 4-on-4, and Williams joined the rush on the right side. They both got on either side of the defense, and Del Zotto made a cross-ice pass, (Admirals goalie Dustin) Tokarski made a good save on the first attempt and Williams shot net-front and took an extra hack and put it in.”

Gernander said he has been happy with the 20-year-old Del Zotto’s play in his first three AHL games.

“He’s been pretty good,” Gernander said of the Rangers’ first-round pick (20^th overall) in 2008 who was a member of the NHL’s all-rookie team last season. “He has the two assists on the two game-winners, both real nice passes, and for an offensive player, he has played pretty physical on defensive coverage throwing his weight around. He’s a very competitive kid.”

The 21-year-old McDonagh has been likewise with the Rangers, as he demonstrated Saturday night when he was limping in the locker room after blocking a shot with his right foot. Despite obvious discomfort, McDonagh continued to skate and set in motion the Rangers’ first goal by rookie center Derek Stepan, who finished off a nifty three-way passing play with former Wolf Pack forward Brandon Dubinsky and Zuccarello, playing in his eighth game with the Rangers.

“Any time you block a shot, it’s going to sting, but you have to keep going until you get it out of the zone,” McDonagh told reporters after playing 11:39 in his second NHL game in place of Rozsival.

Rozsival skated in warm-ups Saturday night but couldn’t play because of an aggravated rib injury sustained in a 2-1 overtime victory over the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday night on Zuccarello’s first NHL goal.

As for his comfort level at the NHL level, McDonagh said, “It’s amazing what one game can do for you. They showed me clips between periods of our defensive play and that helped.”

Despite being hit hard by several call-ups, the Whale (20-14-2-5) is on a 14-3-0-3 run that has vaulted them from the Atlantic Division cellar to a tie for second with the Portland Pirates (21-11-4-1), who have won three in a row, have four games in hand and host the Whale on Friday night.

When McDonagh joined the Rangers, he was expected just to practice with the team for several days so coach John Tortorella & Co. could assess his play. But when Rozsival aggravated his rib injury, McDonagh was tossed into the fire against the Pacific Division-leading Dallas Stars on Friday night and more than held his own in 3-2 shootout victory.

Then against the Blues, McDonagh didn’t get an assist but was instrumental in Stepan’s goal. Dubinsky also helped set up Sean Avery’s winner, increasing his team-leading assist total to 20. And backup goalie Martin Biron made 23 saves for his first career win in 10 games against the Blues (1-7-0-2). No. 1 goalie Henrik Lundqvist has lost his only two decisions against the Blues in regulation.

“There’s a first time for everything, I guess,” Biron told reporters. “I felt the last game that I played against them in the beginning of the season (Nov. 1), it was a 1-0 game, and with an empty-netter, 2-0. I felt I played well, and the last game that I played in Florida (a 3-0 loss on Jan. 2) was probably my best of the year.”

Avery’s first goal in 25 games since Oct. 27 against the Atlanta Thrashers ultimately enabled Biron to get his first win against the Blues and the Rangers to increase their NHL-high road win total to 15.

“We talked about this weekend being the difference between a team that fights for a playoff spot at the end of the year or one that fights for home-ice advantage, what team do we want to be,” Biron said. “It wasn’t easy. (Friday) night we gut one out in Dallas, then a quick turnaround and we do the same thing (Saturday night). It’s just about finding ways to win and showing that resiliency and battle level. That’s our identity.”

It also has been the Whale’s identity the last two months.

Besides Biron and the Rangers’ tenacity, their latest victory could be traced to killing six Blues power plays, including a four-minute opportunity after a double-minor high-sticking call on Avery in the third period on which the Blues had only one shot.

“That kill was a big momentum swing for us,” said defenseman Michael Sauer, one of 11 former Wolf Pack or Whale players now on the Rangers’ roster. “We’re up by one, take a four-minute penalty, and it could go one of two ways. They could get one or we could shut them down and take the wind out of their sails. And we stopped them, so it was key moment, for sure.”

Sauer, 23, a stay-at-home defenseman, has been a bonus for the Rangers in an unassuming way that reflects his disposition.

“You never notice him. That’s good for a defenseman,” Tortorella said.

Sauer has only one goal and three assists in 36 games, but the second-round pick in 2005 is tied for first among rookies with a plus-11 rating.

“For a young guy in his first year, his positioning is really good, and that’s key for him,” Tortorella said. “He’s done a great job away from the puck defensively, and offensively as well, jumping into holes so we can have four guys on the attack.”

Sauer made the team in training camp, beating out veteran tryout Garnett Exelby and prospects McDonagh, Pavel Valentenko and Tomas Kundratek.

“It’s a huge thing for the organization because no one expected it,” Tortorella said.

The Rangers won their third in a row for the fourth time this season and will shoot for their first four-game winning streak on Tuesday night at home against the Canadiens. Prospal and Callahan were scheduled to skate Sunday at the Rangers’ training facility in Greenburgh, N.Y. Prospal was shut down a week ago, but an arthrogram showed healing, and he was cleared to resume skating.

It was to be Callahan’s first skate since he broke his left hand blocking a shot in a 4-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Dec. 15. Callahan, injured on the night Drury returned to the lineup after missing 31 of the first 32 games with a twice-broken wrist, is expected to be sidelined at least another four weeks. When he was injured, Callahan was second on the team in scoring to Dubinsky with 23 points in 32 games.

POULIN WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER NHL DEBUT

While the Rangers were doing their thing in St. Louis, goalie Kevin Poulin had a memorable NHL debut against the Colorado Avalanche after being called up from the Bridgeport Sound Tigers.

Milan Hejduk scored his second goal of the game off a scramble with only four seconds left in regulation, but John Tavares, the first overall pick in 2009, made a brilliant move around defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk and lifted a shot under the crossbar with 1:08 left in overtime to give Poulin and the New York Islanders a 4-3 victory.

“It hit my shoulder and went in the net, which is why I was a little more disappointed because I almost had it,” Poulin said of Hejduk’s late goal. “I didn’t know how much time was left, but I saw there were four seconds. It happened. They had six (men on the ice). They made a good play. They crashed the net, but we played as a team in overtime and we scored.

“It means everything to me,” added Poulin, who made 34 saves and was named the No. 1 star. “That’s why you play hockey.”

After winning only one game in a 21-game stretch earlier this season, the Islanders are on an 8-2-0-1 run under coach Jack Capuano, who seems in the process of eliminating the interim from interim coach after replacing Scott Gordon on Nov. 15. Gordon became an adviser to the man who fired him, general manager Garth Snow.

“We’re handling adversity a lot better now,” Tavares said in trying to explain the turnaround.

Jeremy Colliton, called up from Bridgeport last Friday to replace injured former Sound Tigers teammate Frans Nielsen, scored on a power play in the first period, his first NHL goal since April 15, 2006 in a 5-4 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins. Then while playing in front of his parents for the first time in his NHL career after they drove in from Calgary, the 25-year-old native of Blackie, Alberta, notched his first two-goal NHL game at 3:17 of the second period on another power play to give the Islanders a 3-2 lead. In between Colliton’s goals, another former Sound Tiger, Blake Comeau, scored his 10^th goal at 12:59 of the first period.

“It means a lot,” said Colliton, who played last season in the Swedish Elite League with Rogle Angelholm after spending most of his first four pro seasons with the Sound Tigers. “It’s exciting to get the opportunity, first of all. But I got put in that position, and it’s nice to actually do something.”

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., ended at midnight Sunday. Players receiving the most votes by position earned berths in the starting lineups of the Eastern Conference and Western Conference teams that will be announced this week. A committee of AHL coaches will select the remaining All-Stars, and all 30 clubs must be represented.

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. Rookie head coaches John Hynes of Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and Jared Bednar of Peoria will be co-coaches of the Western Conference All-Star team. By virtue of winning the 2010 Calder Cup, Hershey Bears coach Mark French and assistant Troy Mann will coach the Eastern Conference All-Star team for the second consecutive year.

Tickets for the All-Star Classic, which includes admission to the skills competition (3 p.m., Jan. 30) and All-Star Game (7 p.m., Jan. 31), are nearly sold out. Tickets remain for the post-skills party (6 p.m., Jan. 30) and Hall of Fame induction and awards ceremony (11 a.m., Jan. 31). For information, contact the Giant Center box office at 717-534-3911. … Center Corey Locke, a four-time All-Star including with the Wolf Pack last season, had a goal and an assist as the Binghamton Senators beat Providence 5-3 Sunday. … Former Wolf Pack and Rangers wing Ryan Hollweg scored and former Wolf Pack goalie Al Montoya made 30 saves, but the San Antonio Rampage lost 3-1 to the Houston Aeros Sunday. Former Wolf Pack and Rangers wing Jed Ortmeyer, signed by the Minnesota Wild on Wednesday and kept in Houston, got his second assist of the game on Colton Gillies’ empty-net, power-play goal that clinched the victory.

WHALE’S NEW ROAD JERSEYS DEBUT FRIDAY

The Whale concludes a four-game road trip Friday night at Portland, where their new blue road jerseys will debut. The jerseys are available 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 the Providence Bruins in 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 also will play on the Bruins legends team that will face the Hartford Whalers legends Feb. 19 at 4 p.m. before the Whale plays the P-Bruins at 7 p.m. The 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 are Jordy Douglas, Ray Neufeld, Gordie Roberts and the Babych brothers, Dave and Wayne. Tickets ($20 to $85) for the doubleheader 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 the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Jan. 16 and the Hamilton Bulldogs on Jan. 21, which is a special Family Value Night at which New Britain Rock Cats mascot Rocky will be on hand with Whale mascots Pucky and Sonar. 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.

BALDWIN SPEAKS FOR EAST HARTFORD GROUP ON TUESDAY

Whalers Sports and Entertainment 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.” … 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.

Howard Baldwin Jr., the new president and COO of WS&E, has a new Twitter account accessible to Whale fans at www.twitter.com/howardbaldwinjr.