CANTLON’S CORNER: PACK PRACTICE LOOKING TO CHANGE FORTUNES 

BY: Gerry Canton, HOWLINGS

HARTFORD, CT – It’s still early in the 2018-2019 season, but with the Hartford Wolf Pack mired in a losing streak and with a 4-6-1-0 record, they are in all too familiar territory.

The Wolf Pack head to Pennsylvania for the weekend starting with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins as they look to reverse course and start to string some wins together and end their four-game losing streak.

It’s not an overstatement it’s a critical weekend of games.

“No doubt it is,“ team captain Cole Schneider said. “It’s early in the season. We started out good, but we struggled the last few games.  We’re shooting ourselves in the foot sometimes with penalties. It sets us back like it did in the last game (in Springfield). As soon as we get back in a game, we take a penalty. We worked hard this week about not taking stupid penalties.”

Pack head coach Keith McCambridge and his assistant coach, Joe Mormina, have spent the last several days preaching discipline after the penalty-laden performance on Sunday in Springfield. It can’t be repeated.

“We had a strong week of practices. We worked on areas in the Springfield game that needed to be corrected, and we liked parts of the Bridgeport game. We didn’t like the result, however, there were some good things that we saw in that game that we liked. It was a good productive week of practice. To have success in the AHL, you can’t have that many penalties. It doesn’t work that way,“ McCambridge remarked.

In addition to the penalty-control, getting their offense and defensive breakout schemes corrected were also addressed as they had issues in that area as well.

“We worked on breakouts this week and in my opinion, you can’t work on it enough. You want to exit your zone nice and clean with puck possession and better opportunities come through with speed from the neutral zone and to get into the offensive areas. It’s at the top of the list every year to work on that to get yourself into a good place,” said McCambridge.

The captain is taking a thoughtful cautious approach.

‘We have a lot of young guys who are learning and it will come. We had a good week of practice working on it and we’re ready to go,“ Schneider said.

Schneider has been battling a cold this week, but says he is fine and ready to play,

“It’s not they were not trying. I think we tend over-think things too much. and that sometimes, we just have to settle down and just keep playing hard. It will be OK.”

Schnieder’s captaincy has found its first test and Schneider is not trying to get rattled.

“I just tell them to keep it simple and get to know what everyone is doing out there. We’re trying to make it too complicated,”

The two veteran goalies, Marek Mazanec, and Dustin Tokarski have shown flashes of why they were signed and what they do to help the team this season. The transition process is on-going and at times, both have struggled between their 4×6 cage. It’s something McCambridge is working on.

“There are parts of their game that have been very strong and there are moments where they have allowed some goals that were manageable and they would surely like back as well.“

The Pack bench boss hopes the goaltending and defensive play will improve from their 29th ranked (out of 31) defense which has allowed 44 goals, two less than the Stockton Heat and three less than cellar dweller, the Ontario Reign’s 47 through eleven games. The eleven games played tops the AHL in games played with the Milwaukee Admirals and the Hershey Bears.

At the beginning of Sunday’s game, McCambridge tinkered with the team’s forward lines and then during the game itself. There is a chance we might see some fresh new combinations Saturday at Casey Plaza Mohegan Sun Arena.

‘We have had more practice time, but we’re tied for the most games in AHL played so far. This week was good to get some guys some of that practice time. We’ll see come game-time what we have,” McCambridge said.

Over the past five years on their home ice, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and Hershey have been tough on the Wolf Pack.

“Wilkes-Barre and Hershey, regardless of the year, always have competitive good teams. We know every year we’re up against two very good teams. However, it’s a matter for us to not play the way we did in Springfield, but play closer to the Bridgeport game.”

The team made just one move this week. They sent Shawn St. Amant to their ECHL affiliates, the Maine Mariners, to get some playing time with the hope of regaining the way he was playing in the pre-season.

“He has to play, but look at a Shawn O’Donnell for example. He has come in here and played well. He goes in straight lines and made contributions and when Shawn played he didn’t make the most of it. When you’re a bubble guy like he is, you have to be doing something to keep you in the lineup. He will play in Maine and get his game back and maybe get another opportunity.

The Pack clearly need to change fortunes this weekend.

NEW ENGLAND WHALERS & WHITEY BULGER

The news this week of the death of aging, convicted homicidal mobster, James “Whitey” Bulger in a West Virginia prison brings back a fine New England Whalers story he was involved in, though not violently.

The first two years of the franchise were played in Boston before they made the mover to Hartford. In year one, while battling with the Boston Bruins in court for the right to play at the Boston Garden. The Whalers were playing their home games at the Boston Arena. That building is now known as the Matthews Arena, the home of the Hockey East Northeastern Huskies. It’s the oldest operating arena (1910) in the US.

The Boston Arena was also one of the first venues to allow “The Doors” to play in their facility after the band’s infamous Miami concert in 1969. That show led to the arrest of their late lead singer, Jim Morrison, whose entire national tour had been canceled because of it.

The 1972 New England Whalers showed up for practice one morning to find out all their equipment had been stolen overnight.

The late John Cunniff, who played for the Whalers for their first two years and was an assistant coach with the NHL Whalers (1981-82), was a Boston native. He had an acquaintance who knew the local mobster who took care of South Boston, James “Whitey” Bulger. The call went out and the next day for practice, the players arrived and all the equipment was returned lock, stock and barrel in full.

Thanks to Mark Willand, the former CT Whale President, who passed along this story this past summer at Whalers Day with the Hartford Yard Goats.

NOTES:

Boo Nieves continues to practice with Hartford in a non-contact jersey until the New York Rangers return from their West Coast trip.

According to a senior Rangers official, Nieves isn’t ready yet, but will, when he’s ready, be assigned to Hartford to get in game condition.

“He still isn’t medically cleared to play for sure. It’s good he can keep up his conditioning with the Wolf Pack. In all likelihood, he will be reassigned to Hartford once that happens and he doesn’t have to go through waivers.”

Ex-Pack goalie, Charles Williams, has been loaned to Ontario from Manchester (ECHL).

After an emergency recall from Newfoundland (St. John’s) of the ECHL to the Toronto Maple Leafs last week as a result of an injury in Toronto (AHL), ex-Sound Tiger goalie, Eamon McAdam, is officially reassigned to the Marlies.

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

Sons and nephews of Hartford Whalers are on the move. Jake Marchment, the nephew of Brian Marchment, goes from San Diego to Utah (ECHL). Hayden Verbeek, the nephew of Pat Verbeek, goes from Laval to Maine (ECHL). Trevor Yates, the son of Ross Yates, goes from Grand Rapids to Toledo (ECHL).

Former UCONN defenseman James Masonius was reassigned by Wilkes Barre/Scranton to Wheeling (ECHL).

After eleven games, former CT Whale, Christian Thomas, had just one assist with Rogle BK (Sweden-SHL). He had his contract dissolved and then signed with Traktor Chelyabinsk (Russia-KHL).

Ex-Sound Tiger, Kurtis McLean, goes from EC Graz (Austria-EBEL) to TUTO (Finland Division-1).