CANTLON’S CORNER: WHITNEY NEW CAPTAIN OF THE SHIP 

Whitney New Captain of the Ship

By: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings

HARTFORD, CT – For Joe Whitney, the Hartford Wolf Pack was the right fit for a New England boy.

“This is a great opportunity,” Whitney said. “When Chris Drury called me during the summer, he told me what the game plan was for Hartford. I wanted in. I’m a Northeast guy. I like the winter. I like the cold. It’s hockey weather. Out West, it’s warm all the time.”

Whitney was selected to be the Wolf Pack’s eighth captain in franchise history. Last season, when captain Mat Bodie was traded, he became the third captain to be traded and second in a year’s time. It’s not the first time Whitney has worn the, “C” previously in his career either. Last season, Whitney was captain of the San Antonio Rampage before being traded to the Tucson Roadrunners. As a senior, in his fourth year with the Eagles, he was also captain at Boston College. as well as in prep school at Lawrence Academy.

“I have been a leader my whole life, so to me, it was not unexpected, but remember there are 19 other leaders in that room too,” Whitney stated. “I’m here to show the young guys about hard work and work ethic. There is a lot of talent here. We just gotta show ’em, about hard work.” Whitney said as he enters his seventh AHL season having played in 389 games played with 279 points scored.

His new head coach, Keith McCambridge, is very enthusiastic about Whitney and what he brings to the Wolf Pack locker room.

“His presence. He has an aura about him when he’s in the room. He has what leaders possess,” McCambridge commented on what makes Whitney such a terrific leader. “He has tremendous practice habits. I’m a big believer in practicing the right way, and he leads by example there and in our games. He’s an intelligent veteran player who realizes how the game has to be played and he plays it the right way. He is just the total package.”

The experience out West last year just never sat well with Whitney.

“It just didn’t work out. There were a lot of factors involved. The weather is warm, and you just don’t have a great year every year. The style of play is different from out East for sure, and the time and travel affect you,” Whitney said. “Three-week road trips away from your family. That was tough for me. The travel is different. You have to be there two hours before some flights and then a layover. I guess I’m just a bus-guy. I like to do my thing and get prepared it was different.”

The Pack’s newest captain is also was coming off a significant injury suffered in Bridgeport two years ago –a broken leg. Those kinds of injuries take time to heal physically and then the mental toughness to endure a grueling rehab process.

“(The injury) was no minor thing. It took away a half-of-a-season, and you can’t train the way you’re used to either. This year I had a full summer to train, skate and run to get prepared, last year I didn’t. It affects you when you’re first out there. How am I going to skate? How am I going to feel taking that first bump (hit) after being away for some time?

I’m 110 percent ready this year this is the right opportunity for me and everybody coaches, management, and players.”

Many players grumble about the relatively frequent, AHL scheduled three-games-in-three-days, but not Whitney.

“I love them. I would rather be playing. To me, I don’t want too much time off, especially when you’re on a streak. You don’t want to lose that energy and momentum you have built up.”

He also isn’t the only Whitney playing hockey in Hartford. Whitney’s younger brother Tyler is a senior at Trinity College. The more youthful Whitney brother won a national title his freshmen year and last year in the Division III finals in Utica; they lost to the Norwich University (Southfield, VT) Cadets who feature former New England Whaler, Cap Raeder, as one of the assistant coaches.

“Its nice to be here. I can see him when I can because of the schedule. I just had him over the house for dinner, and my parents and family and friends can make it here. It’s a good situation for us (he and his wife). Of course, I have to drive him back to his dorm. When I broke my leg, I couldn’t do much, so my wife and I came up to see several games, and I hope, as my schedule allows, I can see a few.”

Another brother Steven, also a BC grad, is skating with the South Carolina Stingrays (ECHL),

“I talk to him all the time and its important keeping track of things with him down there.”

Despite his 5’6 stature, the praise for Whitney is universal for how he plays the game. His former coach in Bridgeport, Brent Thompson, succinctly describes Whitney saying, “He’s a small man who plays a big man’s game.”

His hockey connections don’t end there. Current UCONN head coach Mike Cavanaugh and Husky assistant, Brendan Buckley, recruited him to BC.

“Mike is like family. He treated me very well and my brother (Steven) too. It’s kind of nice that he is across the hallway now. UCONN is in good hands with Mike,” Whitney, who won two national titles at BC with Cavanaugh, said.

Whitney also has New England hockey bloodlines to be extended via marriage. His sister-in-law will tie the knot with current Bridgeport Sound Tiger and former Wolf Pack captain, Ryan Bourque next year. Then, of course, Chris and Ryan Bourque’s brother-in-law is former Sound Tiger, ex-UCONN assistant coach and now associate head coach at the University of New Hampshire, Mike Souza.

“We’re forming our own dynasty,” Whitney said with a laugh.

Hopefully, as the Rangers’ AHL affiliate’s sixth captain, Whitney can help to resurrect the dynasty known as the Hartford Wolf Pack

PLAYER MOVES

The Rangers and therefore the Wolf Pack have made several roster moves.

The Rangers claimed forward Adam Cracknell off waivers from Vancouver playing Tuesday against St. Louis. In turn, the Rangers assigned 18-year-old Czech rookie forward, Filip Chytil, selected in the draft over the summer in the first round, 21^st overall, to the Wolf Pack.

The Rangers had the option to send him back to his Czech Republic club HC Zlin where he had a contract for this season, but opted to assign him to Hartford instead.

His Canadian Major Junior’s rights are with the North Bay Battalion (OHL). The Rangers have until December 31^st to assign him there or to recall him to New York. He will likely be on the Czech Republic World Junior Championship squad at the 2017-18 WJC tourney coming up in Buffalo this year. The tourney starts on December 26th.

The Wolf Pack reassigned forward Malte Stromwall to Greenville (ECHL). Stromwall, a scratch in the first two games of the season, comes after playing in just 44 games last year where he registered only two goals and six points and a minus-12. Greenville opens its regular season this weekend with a pair of games against Wheeling at home Friday and Saturday.

A tip of the cap to AHL VP of Communications, Jason Chaimovitch, for this doozy of a tidbit.

When Chytil hits the ice tonight against Toronto at (18 years, 38 days), he will be the youngest player to appear in an AHL game since Mario Tremblay (18 years, 36 days) skated with Nova Scotia Voyageurs on October 8, 1974, a 4-2  win over Hershey.

Tremblay played just 15 games that year posting ten goals and 18 points. He went on recall back to Montreal where he played 862 games with the rouge, blanc, and blue and never played another minute of AHL action. That team also featured future NHL star Doug Risebrough, a Ranger in the future, Rick Chartraw, and a Wolf Pack assistant coach, Mike Busniuk

Former Wolf Pack defenseman Chris Summers was recalled from Wilkes Barre/Scranton but was scratched against Washington.

Now that former Ranger Jaromir Jagr is in Calgary he displaces a previous Wolf Pack, Marek Hrivik, who was put on waivers today by the Flames and is heading to Stockton (AHL).

On Monday, Lehigh Valley and San Diego conducted one of the few East-West trades in the league. The teams swapped veteran goaltenders as Dustin Tokarski went to the Phantoms while Leland Irving heads to the Gulls.

Ex-Pack, Shawn O’ Donnell, after a productive camp with Wilkes Barre/Scranton, was one of the last cuts. He was signed by Cincinnati (ECHL) joining another ex-Pack teammate, Justin Vaive, on the Cyclones.

Former Pack, Lauri Korpikoski, is on a tryout deal with HC Lausanne (Switzerland-LNA)

K.J. Tiefenwerth (Quinnipiac University) and Brian Morgan (UCONN) were released from ECHL training camps by Reading and Jacksonville respectively.

Goalie Eric Levine, in Wolf Pack camp as an invitee, was cut from Rockford camp and assigned to Peoria (SPHL) camp.

Canadian senior hockey league actions will start at the beginning of November. Ex-CT Whale, Jason Williams, will join his brother-in-law goalie Brett Legget on the Brantford Blast in the Allan Cup League in Ontario. Legget was an emergency backup in Toronto in 2010-11 for the Wolf Pack.

NOTES:

Charlotte’s Warren Foegele was named the first AHL Player of the Week. Foegele scored twice against the Wolf Pack in the two team’s season opener on Friday. He also tallied the game winner with 59.8 seconds left for the win and then scored two goals both shorthanded in snapping a 2-2 tie the following night en route to a 5-2 win over Wilkes Barre/Scranton.

As reported by Cantlon’s Corner this past summer, the AHL has expanded to its 31^st team. Starting next season, the ECHL’s Colorado Eagles, the Double AA affiliate of the Colorado Avalanche, will be given an upgrade to Triple AAA.

St. Louis is currently splitting San Antonio with Colorado. They will become the full parent team of the Rampage next fall.

This move leaves the AHL with just a few more steps to solidify their arrangement with the NHL.

The likely announcement that the NHL is placing their 32^nd team in the Pacific Northwest in Seattle as an expansion team in early to mid-December which will play in a renovated Key Arena by the fall of 2020 would start the AHL shopping for another Pacific Division city to house their AHL team.

The NHL will have 16 teams East and 16 West as they want to balance out the divisions for travel purposes and TV coverage.

The league still has a messy situation in Glendale. The Arizona Coyotes have an expiring lease at the Gila River Arena. There’s no other place to play in the area after the deal with Arizona State to build a new arena on the East side of Phoenix fell through. Also, an attempt to gets the state of Arizona to bond money for the arena also failed.

The NHL may still relocate a team from the East to Quebec City who built the $450 million Videotron Centre to bring back the Nordiques who left in 1995. The likely candidates are Carolina, who saw only 7,892 fans at their second game of the season. The other could be the Florida Panthers. Presently, the QMJHL Quebec Remparts play in the building and outdraw four NHL teams on a per game basis.

The Seattle move will also likely force Vancouver to relocate their AHL team from Utica out West, most likely Abbotsford, which would rejoin the AHL once the city and Canucks reach a suitable lease arrangement. The Canucks enjoy the relationship in Utica, but it doesn’t make practical sense.

Utica may still yet gain another AHL team as the Comets have been a very well run franchise, but it would seem likely they are more suitable for the ECHL as they are growing a Northeast Division which will help with the travel costs.

Of course, the situation in Hartford and Bridgeport still need to be resolved. The Wolf Pack have an expiring contract at the XL Center. There is a plan in place to renovate the building for $250 million, but the current lack of a state budget and $5 billion dollar deficit the next two years makes it seem highly unlikely the money to start the project can be obtained.

The Sound Tigers/Islanders and Harbor Yard Management Company, which was created four years ago and runs the Webster Bank Arena are expected to file a breach of contract suit regarding their lease against the city of Bridgeport. They’re waiting for Live Nation to legally acquire the baseball stadium next door and start to convert it to an outdoor amphitheater for hosting concerts.

This will likely start a protracted, but likely negotiation, that ends with the Islanders moving the Sound Tigers out of Bridgeport. When that happens, another AHL team will slide in there. Once these four situations come to their conclusion, the AHL will have completed the overhaul of the league started two years ago with the creation of the Pacific Division.

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