CANTLON’S CORNER: Two Future Pack Players GET AN OPPORTUNITY TO IMPRESS THE ORGANIZATION
BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings
HARTFORD, CT – As the 2017-18 season draws to a conclusion, two current Hartford Wolf Pack players hope to be on the roster for 2018-19. While one is almost certain to be included, the other remains a strong possibility.
Ty Ronning is the one who would be almost a certainty. He signed an entry-level contract back in March and just concluded his five-year major junior career with the WHL Vancouver Giants.
“It’s good stuff. I love the game of hockey at the pro level; it’s exciting,” Ronning stated. “Everybody has made me feel welcome. I just gotta keep working hard.”
Ronning had a strong final campaign where he scored 61 goals, good for second-most in the league. It was also a new Giants regular season record. Ronning’s 65 surpassed the previous record of 65 held by the San Jose Sharks, Evander Kane. Ronning compiled a total of 84 points.
“Individually, it was a great season all around. It was a team that worked very hard. We hadn’t made the playoffs in a while and that was my number one goal; to make the playoffs. We wanted to get to the second round, but we lost in Game Seven (to the Victoria Royals) and that’s the way she goes sometimes. I think the Vancouver Giants have a bright future ahead of them.”
His second stint in Hartford will be shorter than last year, but this time, he knew what to expect at the AHL level.
“Last year I got in twelve games. I got a sniff of what it’s like here. The game is much quicker, so I worked on that, and I can give myself some more time to make things happen,” Ronning said.
Pack Head Coach Keith McCambridge is already happy with Ronning’s performance. “I had him for just one game so far, but I had him in Traverse City (the pre-season prospect camp tournament held annually in Michigan). He gets in those quiet areas well, and he uses technique well to get those areas. He’s not a 6’3 or 6’4 guy, so when you score that many goals, it says something about your skills and we’re trying to put him in areas to accent that, and utilize those skills.”
“Speed” is the key buzz word in hockey evaluation these days, and it certainly applies directly to Ronning’s skill set.
“Not only speed but quickness. I define that as his first three strides, those short bursts outside the zone gaining puck possession are really important.”
Ronning’s father is former NHL’er Cliff Ronning, and that rubs off.
“Obviously, (genetics) is a part of a player. I had Adam Lowry in Winnipeg (the son of NHL’er, Dave Lowery). Those players who Dad’s had an NHL pedigree see structures and systems (a bit quicker) because they spent time with their dad,” said McCambridge.
Ronning spent most of his formative hockey years in Burnaby and the Vancouver area and certainly traveled to several of his Dad’s NHL pit stops.
“I was born in Scottsdale, lived in Minnesota, and visited New York when he was playing for the Islanders. He retired there (Vancouver), but overall most of my hockey has been in Vancouver (Burnaby-BCHL and Vancouver-WHL). Coming to Hartford is a quiet place; a nice town, maybe a little colder than it is in Vancouver now. It was nice to see the sun today. I want to go out and take some pictures around town,” Ronning stated.
Ronning, the younger, was chasing one of his Dad’s records. The record for consecutive games scoring a goal (18 games). This season, the younger Ronning got it to eleven games and respects the record greatly.
“That is so tough to do when you’re actually doing it. It’s a lot harder than people realize. I don’t think that record will be broken for a long, long time,” He said.
Of course, following a successful parent or sibling in sports is always fraught with peril. His father was an offensive scoring whiz. In his last season of junior hockey, while he was with the New Westminster Bruins, Ronning the elder compiled 197 points and won the scoring title, but two years lost his league record for points in a season.
Rob Brown, the former Whaler, had 212 points that year with the Kamloops Oilers. In fact, 14 players that year were above the century mark in total points. This season in the WHL there’s just nine.
Ronning is ready for the new challenge and the first step in his pursuit of being an NHL’er came in getting his first pro contract.
“It felt very good to get the first one, and it’s a very exciting time for myself, and they were the team that believed in me when many others didn’t,” Ronning said of his being drafted in the seventh round, 201st overall, in 2016
For Ronning, it will be an offseason dedicated to training, but he also has some travel commitments to attend to.
He’ll first fly to Phoenix, Arizona where he is going to visit his older sister, Caryn, who is going to be giving birth to his niece very shortly.
“Going to Phoenix to visit my sister and her husband and go to New York to visit my other sister, Caitlin, who lives in Brooklyn, and I have a younger sister, Carly who’s back home.”
For Ronning music is big in his family. All three of his sisters are singers. His uncle is Paul Rodgers, the bass guitarist from the highly successful 1970’s rock group, Bad Company.
While Ronning can’t hit the high notes, he says his voice isn’t that horrible.
“No, no, no, they (his sisters) got that covered. I might do well in karaoke, but that’s about it.”
Meanwhile, for Drew Melanson, even at age 22, he already could be called a hockey vagabond.
Melanson arrives in Hartford from the Boston University Terriers (HE), after spending three years with the RPI Engineers (ECACHL). He got his degree in three years, which is no small feat at RPI. He was able to use the NCAA rule that allows one to receive an accelerated undergraduate degree where the athlete can transfer without penalty since they would have one additional year of athletic playing eligibility.
Melanson wasn’t the only player to go that route.
Goalie, Kyle Hayton, did the same thing this year going from St. Lawrence (ECACHL) to the University of Wisconsin Badgers (Big 10). He also just signed an ATO deal with Milwaukee Admirals for the last weekend of non-playoff action.
“I’m very excited to get the opportunity here for these next two-to-three weeks. I was at RPI for three years and the program isn’t where I thought it was going to be, or needs to be.
“I wanted out, so I found out about the rule that if I graduated early, I could go anywhere I wanted. I was looking for a better hockey experience and hunkered down. I had good relationships with my teachers, fellow students, and was able to manage my courses.”
Despite his growing up in Paramus, a town in Northern New Jersey, Melanson grew up as a Boston sports fan. He spent his youth rooting for the Red Sox, Bruins, Patriots, and Celtics. Certainly odd for a Jersey high school student.
“My Dad’s whole family is from Boston, it was great for them. My Dad saw me grow up watching me play in the Chowder Cup around Boston, and this year got to see me in the Hockey East title game, and the Beanpot. It was such a cool experience.
“My Dad married into a Rangers, Giants, and Yankees family, so we made a kind of an alliance. He brought me up to root for the Boston sports teams. That’s worked out okay with the Patriots, Bruins, and Red Sox winning.”
Melanson is a confident and analytical person. He realizes a winger is much more suited for his skill sets as opposed to playing at center.
“I don’t want to make any bold statements, but I’m confident in my ability, I’m just starting to get better. My development stalled out at RPI, that’s why I wanted to move. I’ve played a top two line center, a third line defensive penalty kill center. I have played many different positions and roles. Look, I had two points in like 16 or 17 games at BU at center before Christmas. I had 17 or 18 (points) after when I moved to the wing, by far I think that says where I should be.
“Things you do, you just want to keep getting better. Hockey is about change, so in a period of five years, I have played on seven teams. Every year it’s not the same, so you have to learn to adapt. Adjusting to new players, new systems are part of being a pro, and I’m just two weeks into it.”
He relishes the chance to show his skills here and the future is pretty wide open. His first AHL point was a gorgeous redirect off a crossing play with Vinni Lettieri. Ryan Gropp finished off the play for a goal against the Providence Bruins.
“Early in the game I had a similar play that nine-out-of-ten-times I made in college, but guys at this level are so good with their sticks, so I wasn’t successful. I got another chance in a three-on-two, so I made a better drive through and Vinni made such a nice play and Gropp finished it off.”
Melanson is a rarity. He played against UConn with two different schools and is amazed at the change of the program.
“I noticed a huge difference in the talent pool and style of play. I remember the first year they played this super passive (defensive trap game) keep everything to the outside let the other team control the puck when I was at RPI, but at BU, they were up-and-down, they had two solid lines and a scorer like (Max) Letunov, a really high-end player. That program has a very bright future.”
The late-season contest against the Huskies, a 5-4 OT loss, was the nadir of the Terriers season and provided a launching pad for BU, who would go on to win the Hockey East post-season conference title.
“That game really killed us and we shouldn’t have lost to them. We got up 4-2 and they battled their way back and we needed those points. We didn’t play well all game and we lost in overtime and don’t any points out it. We knew right then and there that we would have to win the conference tournament to get to the NCAA national tournament. We knew we were one of the top talented teams in the country so that game was a turning point no doubt about it. We went on a really good run after that.”
They certainly did. They first knocked off UConn at the Aggasiz Arena in two straight very difficult games in the Hockey East quarterfinals. BU won the Hockey East title at TD Bank Boston Garden over Northeastern and got to the NCAA Regional final in Worcester before losing to Michigan 2-1.
The Wolf Pack are hoping Ronning and Melanson will lead a charge back to the AHL post-season in 2018-19.
NOTES:
Former Wolf Pack defenseman Kodie Curran is going from Storhamer (Norway-NEL) to Rogle BK (Sweden-SHL) next year.
Two more NCAA signings as Jared Thomas goes from the national champion University Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs to signing an ATO deal for this weekend in San Antonio and a one year deal for 2018-19.
Dennis Gilbert goes from the National title runners-up, the ND Fighting Irish, and signs a deal with the Chicago Blackhawks. He could end up in Rockford on an ATO deal.
His former ND teammate Jordan Gross signed an ATO deal and will be in Tucson for the last weekend and AHL playoffs.
That brings the total Division 1 NCAA signees so far to 137 and a total of 163 college players.
Former Wolf Pack player, Tommy Thompson, was assigned on paper to Idaho (ECHL) to make him eligible for their playoff roster by the Texas Stars. He will be in Austin when they open the AHL playoffs next weekend.
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