UPGRADING NET COVERAGE 

While Pier-Oliver Pelletier is a really good bloke, he’s not an AHL quality netminder. Friday, The Connecticut Whale sent him packing and brought back Dov-Grumet Morris and signed the Greenville Road Warrior netminder to a Professional Try-Out (PTO) agreement. This means that Cam Talbot is not quite ready to come back from his high ankle sprain suffered when a player fell on him in his last start on Jan. 16 against the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins.

Here’s the official release:

WHALE ANNOUNCE ROSTER MOVES

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Goaltender Dov Grumet-Morris Signed to PTO, Fellow Netminder Pier-Olivier Pelletier Released

HARTFORD, CT:  Connecticut Whale general manager Jim Schoenfeld announced today that the Whale has signed goaltender Dov Grumet-Morris to a Professional Tryout (PTO) agreement and has released netminder Pier-Olivier Pelletier from his PTO.

This will be the second stint of the year with the Whale/Hartford Wolf Pack for Grumet-Morris, a sixth-year pro out of Harvard University.  The 6-2, 205-pound Evanston, IL native played two games, totaling 91 minutes, with the Wolf Pack earlier this season and was 0-1-0, with two goals-against on 31 shots (a 1.32 goals-against average and a 93.5% save percentage).  Grumet-Morris comes to the Whale from its ECHL affiliate, the Greenville Road Warriors, for whom he was 15-8-1 in 24 appearances, with a 2.32 GAA, a 92.2% save percentage and three shutouts.  Grumet-Morris was tied for the ECHL lead in shutouts, ranked second in the league in GAA and fourth in save percentage.

In addition to his two games with the Wolf Pack, Grumet-Morris, who was a fifth-round pick (161st overall) by Philadelphia in the 2002 NHL Draft, has AHL experience with San Antonio, Portland, Hamilton, Manitoba and Milwaukee, with career totals of 29 games-played, an 8-13-5 record, 2.55 GAA, 91.5% save percentage and one shutout.

Pelletier, signed by the Whale January 19 from the Laredo Bucks of the Central Hockey League, played 54 minutes of one game, his AHL debut, with the Whale.  That was a 7-3 loss to the Hamilton Bulldogs January 21, in which Pelletier stopped 18 of the 22 shots he faced, including a penalty shot save.  In 21 games with Laredo this season, Pelletier is 6-9-4, with a 3.33 GAA, an 89.5% save percentage and one shutout.

The Whale return from the AHL All-Star break tonight, with a home game at the XL Center vs. their GEICO Connecticut Cup rivals the Bridgeport Sound Tigers.  Faceoff is 7:00, and the game is sponsored by XFINITY of Comcast.  Tonight marks the 25th anniversary of the NHL All-Star Game being played in Hartford, and 1986 All-Stars Mark Howe and Brian Propp, along with former Whaler Alan Hangsleben, will hold a private, “meet and greet” reception with Whale season ticket holders and outdoor Harvest-Properties.com Whalers Hockey Fest 2011 festival ticket purchasers before the game (4:30-6:30 p.m.), and then drop the ceremonial first puck. Hangsleben also will sign autographs in the XL Center atrium during the second intermission with selected Whale players.

Also, there will be a giveaway at the game of 3,000 Harvest-Properties.com Whale Bowl commemorative pucks, and being a Friday night, it’s Guida’s Family Value Night.  Family Value packages start as low as $48 and include three tickets, three hot dogs or pizza slices, three sodas and a Whale souvenir. Guida’s Family Value Night packs are available at the XL Center ticket office and on-line at www.CTwhale.com..

Tickets for all 2010-11 Whale home games are available now at the XL Center ticket 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.

Since 1972, the CT Lottery has generated more than $19.3 billion in sales and has transferred nearly $6.7 billion to the state’s General Fund.  Prizes have exceeded more than $11.1 billion.  Purchasers must be 18 years or older.  If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, call the Problem Gambling Helpline at 1-800-346-6238.  For more information about the Connecticut Lottery Corporation, call (860) 713-2000, or visit the CT Lottery web site at ctlottery.org