CANTLON: PACK HITTING THE ROAD AGAIN 

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings

HARTFORD, CT –  Both the Hartford Wolf Pack and the New York Rangers are embarking on critical road trips with both squads not running on all cylinders.

The Rangers lost to the Chicago Blackhawks, 4-1, on Thursday night with scoring and team cohesiveness a trademark issue currently for both teams.

The Wolf Pack’s shoddy performance Wednesday night included another lackluster start to the game and has been the case the past three years and covering two different coaches and basically three different teams each of those seasons.

At this point, it’s on the players. They need to be prepared, and the youngsters who want to get to the NHL must show they are ready for prime time. This present Wolf Pack team is .500 (4-4-1-0) and with the exception of a couple of players, clearly not ready to make the leap to, “The Show.”

Dustin Tokarski’s goaltending on Wednesday night was shoddy at best. For a solid AHL veteran, he was laconic and beaten easily on two of the three goals he surrendered in just 4:36 of action before getting the hook.

Mazanec was slightly better, but two of his goals were eerily similar to goals surrendered by Magnus Hellberg when he flamed out here two years ago. Both netminders are very well compensated this season and the team was hoping they would be the rock on which they could build the foundation of the team as the younger players went through the expected growing pains.

Wednesday’s top line of Lias Andersson-Ryan Gropp-Mikael Lindqvist had a rough night putting up a combined minus-8 while the fourth line, with Shawn O’Donnell leading the way with two goals, finished a plus-5. Not to diminish a great effort by the fourth line, but when they are the best line on the ice, something is clearly very wrong with that picture.

Expect Saturday’s game, the first of the season against in-state, divisional, and franchise rivals, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, to come complete with some new line combinations and defensive pairings as head coach Keith McCambridge looks to shake things up to change the current fortunes that have seen the team drop three of their last four games.

On Sunday, The Pack starts a second long road trip. This one consists of five games, but not like road trips of the AHL of yesteryear.

Credit Patrick Williams of the NHL.com for researching and coming up with this beauty from the Baltimore Skipjacks, circa 1989-90.

The Skipjacks covered 3,400 miles with eight games in eleven days. The team started with a Saturday night game in Glen Falls, NY against the Adirondack Red Wings. The next day they played a Sunday afternoon game in Moncton, New Brunswick. Then, at the end of the trip, they had a Thursday night matchup in Halifax and then a Friday night contest in New Haven. Tack in the time change from Atlantic Standard time, it’s miracle they arrived on time for the game.

The trip concluded in Utica the following night. Baltimore then followed with a four-games-in-four-days jaunt. It’s no surprise they didn’t make the playoffs that season.

It’s reminiscent of the great New Haven Nighthawks end of the season in 1991-92 with a Canadian Maritime road trip of eight games in eleven days.

The trip started in Fredericton on Wednesday. A Saturday/Sunday pair in Halifax followed. It was on to Cape Breton on Tuesday; Wednesday in Moncton, Thursday and Saturday in St. John’s and then concluding on Sunday in Cape Breton.

The Nighthawks lost to eventual Calder Cup champion Adirondack Red Wings in five games in the first round.

AHL FUTURE

The AHL will likely be adding two more Pacific Division teams in the next two years according to several sources.

The expected announcement in early December that the NHL will grant Seattle an expansion franchise to bring the NHL to 32 teams with equally split conferences at 16 teams apiece.

Seattle has started the renovation process of the Seattle KeyArena, with the announcement that they will be building a brand spanking new 180,000 square foot, $70 million, three-rink training facility, at the soon-to-be-renovated Northgate Mall. It will be called the Seattle Ice Center. The next piece will be their AHL team.

The two most likely candidates are the Tacoma Dome which is located 30 miles south of Seattle. It’s undergone a $30 million makeover that originally was priced at $21.3 million. The building last hosted hockey with the now-defunct West Coast Hockey League’s Tacoma Sabercats from 1997-2002 and the WHL’s Tacoma Rockets (1991-1995). The arena is the fourth largest in the US and seats 19,106 for hockey. It opened in 1983 with renovations starting this year.

They have had five NHL preseason games, mostly in the 1980’s and two in the 1990’s. The last one was in 1996.

The other candidate could be Everett, WA at the Angel Wings Arena. It is the current home to the WHL Everett Silvertips (2003-present). It’s 40 minutes North of Seattle and the arena was opened in 2003 and seats 8,149. It’s a perfect size for the AHL. The building is part of Spectra family of buildings who operate in the US and Canada, including the XL Center.

Originally, the arena was known as the Everett Events Center and it was the Xfinity Arena up until a year ago when the Stillaguamish Tribe signed a 10-year, $3.4 million dollar naming rights deal to change it to the Angel Wings Arena.

That new AHL team will likely come in two years.

The Vancouver Canucks will likely move from Utica after this season, the last of their five-year lease. Utica has been a model AHL citizen. It’s very well run and did everything you can do to make it a good place for prospects. The combination of geography and money make it likely the Canucks make a true Pacific rival coming into the NHL while saving money on its AHL recalls when they move the farm team closer to home.

Canucks owner Francis Anquillini has hinted that they are looking at Abbotsford, about 45 minutes from downtown. They exited the AHL five years ago after a disastrous run with Calgary that saw the city write a check for $5.5 million for the Flames to leave. The Abbotsford Entertainment & Sports Centre is another Spectra run facility that holds 7,046 seats for hockey – again, perfect for the AHL.

The other possibility floated by Acquillini is the now vacant, and the original Canucks home, the PNE Coliseum. It was built in the late 1960’s. The WHL Vancouver Giants moved out two years ago to a smaller arena in nearby Langley, BC.

So if they go to the PNE Coliseum, the Canucks will have to get new chillers or repair those that have not been in operation for two years. They’ll need to renovate the locker rooms and training facilities and section off the seating as well as fix up the building. It seats 16,281, far too large for AHL hockey.

The mayor of Abbotsford, Henry Braun, is on record as saying he wants the Canucks AHL team to come to Abbotsford. It looks like they will come to some sort of satisfactory lease arrangement for both sides. The AHL Pacific Division travel only plays 68 games which makes it much more palatable to return the AHL to Abbotsford.

Seattle’s new team nickname is down to the final two – Sockeyes and the Totems.

The Totems was the name of the old Western Hockey League franchise (1958-1975) and in this PC era will likely raise a ruckus with the use of a Native American symbol. Sockeyes refers to the fish and longtime Maritime fishing industry in the Pacific Northwest.

Very shocked Sea Lions didn’t make the cut in the Seattle Times name the team contest.

Canlton’s Corner endorses Sockeyes with no black uniforms.

NOTES:

Ex-Pack, Ryan Sproul’s, odyssey for finding an AHL place to play is on its third stop. He spent training camp with Stockton was released, signed with the Toronto Marlies, played one game got where he got an assist and was let go from PTO deal. He is now with the Laval Rocket on a PTO deal.

Paul Carey (Salisbury Prep) is sent to Belleville by Ottawa.

Alex Biega (Salisbury Prep) is recalled from Utica by Vancouver.

Ex-Sound Tiger, Matt Finn, was assigned to Florida (ECHL) by Grand Rapids.

Shane Starrett (South Kent Prep) is reassigned by Bakersfield to Wichita (ECHL).

Former Wolf Pack, Rory Rawlyk, opts not to play in Poland and signs a deal with Evansville (SPHL).

Enfield’s Robbie Baillargeon departs Tulsa (ECHL) and signs with Milton Keynes Lightning (England-EIHL).

Ex-Pack, Danny “Monte” Kristo, finally officially leaves Brynas IF (Sweden-SHL) and signs with HC Rapperswil-Jona (Switzerland-LNA).

Ex-Pack, Zdenek Bahensky, signs with ASC Corona Brasov (Romania-MOL).

Ex-Pack and Sound Tiger, Joe Combs, signs with EHC Kloten (Switzerland-LNB).

Forner CT Whale, Wojtech Wolski, had his contract brought out by Metallurg Magnitogorsk (Russia-KHL) and is looking to Switzerland or maybe another KHL team.

Former New Haven Senator, Harijs Vitolins, is doing some work as an assistant coach for HK Kurbads (Latvia-LHL) during the Continental Cup tournament. Last year, he was with KHL Gagarin Cup champion SKA St. Petersburg (Russia-KHL).

Jordan Sims, son of the former Hartford Whaler and Nighthawk, Al Sims, was traded from Cincinnati (ECHL) to Greenville (ECHL).

Former Springfield Falcon, Trent Vogelhuber, retires, and become the assistant coach for Cleveland (AHL) where he played for three years. He might be the first player to retire after going through training camp and had been assigned to San Antonio.

Another ex-Falcon, Yann Sauve, signs with Medvescak Zagreb (Croatia-EBEL).

Former UCONN defenseman, David Drake, was reassigned to Reading (ECHL) by Lehigh Valley.

Ben Sanderson, the son of former Whaler, Geoff Sanderson, has been changing addresses frequently lately. He started the season with Dubuque (USHL) and left after two games. He heads back to play with the Okotoks Oilers (AJHL) for a game before being traded in a Junior A interleague deal to the Vernon Vipers (BCHL).

Vernon’s head coach and Director of Hockey Operations is former New Haven Senator and AHL All-Star defenseman, Mark Ferner.

Sanderson is a 2019-20 commit to Colorado College (NCHC)

Josh Primeau, the nephew of ex-Whaler, Keith Primeau, is loaned for the rest of the season from HC Rapperswil-Jona (Switzerland-LNA) to HC Thurgau (Switzerland-LNB).