CANTLON: PACK DROP 4-2 PRESEASON GAME TO THUNDERBIRDS 

Wolf Pack Drop Preseason Opener Against Springfield

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings

DANBURY, CT – A strong second period by the Springfield Thunderbirds allowed them to spoil the Hartford Wolf Pack’s preseason opener by a 4-2 margin at the Danbury Ice Arena on Wednesday night as both teams kicked off their AHL preseason play.

“I liked a lot of the guys,” Wolf Pack head coach Kris Knoblauch said. “A lot of the guys that we’ve been watching, and who have been trying to make this team, played well. They separated themselves from other guys. Sure you want to win, but we had to look at the whole lineup knowing we’ll have some different pieces soon.” Knoblauch said.

With the score 3-2 and 36 seconds remaining, the Pack had a glorious chance to tie it. With goalie Francois Brassard pulled for an extra attacker, Lewis Zerter-Gossagae corralled a loose puck twenty feet out and sent a well-placed blind backhanded pass to a wide-open, Tim Gettinger on the right-wing. Gettinger’s point-blank shot was stifled by Thunderbirds’ goalie Ryan Bednard to preserve the win.

Blaine Byron sealed the victory with eight seconds left in regulation after outmuscling Ryan Gropp for a loose puck at the left point. Byron got inside position heading toward the open cage and slipped in a backhander for the fourth Springfield goal.

The Wolf Pack had a great chance to tie things at 3:20 of the third when Jake Elmer was on a clean breakaway on Bednard. Elmer went for a shake-and-bake backhander but was denied.

The Wolf Pack was able to take advantage of a Thunderbirds miscue and were able to score their second goal. Defenseman Jeff Taylor corralled a dump-in attempt but fell down allowing Taylor to start the rush. On a three-on-two, Taylor, like Gropp, didn’t look to pass at all and beat Bernard high to the short-side at 9:06.

Springfield answered right back a minute-and-a-half later as Rodrigo Abols came off the left-wing wall, dipsy-doodled on Darren Raddysh, who ate a lot of glass and then wired a hard wrist-shot that eluded Pack goalie, Tomas McCollum through the wickets at 11:12.

The Wolf Pack faced a serious push back as Thunderbirds were able to maintain puck possession and stopped former QU Bobcat, Liam Porcaro, and Matt Marcinew to keep the game tied.

Then, as was the case last season, the Thunderbirds scored a late goal with 1:06 left in the second period. Jonathan Ang fired a shot to the top shelf over the left shoulder of Brassard for a 3-2 lead they would not relinquish.

The Wolf Pack scored the game’s first goal on a two-on-one break.

Gropp took a lead pass from Elmer, and with linemate, Greg Chase bore down on the lone Springfield defender. At the right-wing circle, Gropp snapped a hard, low wrist shot to the far side under Bednard’s stick at 1:56.

“It was a good play and shot by Gropp, but what we liked on that play, was what he did in the defensive zone before the rush. That caught the entire staff’s attention,” remarked Knoblauch.

The Wolf Pack showed solid forechecking, puck possession and offensive zone time which last season against Springfield was in short supply.

Raddysh, Terrence Wallin, and Taylor all had good open shots on Bernard.

The Pack went with a more veteran-filled lineup and McCollum, one of the five offseason free-agent signings, didn’t have much work early on.

The Wolf Pack had the games’ first powerplay and like the parent Rangers, there was plenty of quick one-time passing and shots, but were unable to add a second Wolf pack tally.

The Thunderbirds capitalized on the lone Wolf Pack breakdown.

Marcinew was on the right-wing and spotted Jake Massie streaking in off the left side and got him the puck. Massie snapped a one-timer past McCollum at 13:50 to even things at one goal per team.

The Wolf Pack kept the pressure going in the later stages of the period and Matt Beleskey had a superb redirect of Bryan Lerg’s shot while on the left-wing, it rang off the post.

NOTES:

The Wolf Pack received two players from New York. They received AHL free agent signing Phil DiGiuseppe, and goaltender Adam Huska, a former UCONN Husky.

Not yet announced, Danny O’Regan, a major AHL offseason signing, has been assigned but has to clear waivers first on Thursday before being officially assigned.

Finnish defenseman Tarmo Reunanen is also going to be assigned to complete his North American training camp. By assigning him here is also a contractual matter, so that he can play here at the end of the year as he is being loaned to his Finnish team Lukko Rauma (Finland-FEL) where he will play the 2019-20 regular season.

The Rangers signed him to a standard entry-level deal early in the spring.

Defenseman Matt Robertson was sent back to his junior team, the Edmonton Oil Kings (WHL).

In turn, the Wolf Pack released four players from their camp who are heading to their ECHL teams.

Taylor Cammarata Maine (ECHL), a pair of defensemen, Cody Donaghey to Orlando (ECHL), and Jordan Klimek to South Carolina (ECHL) while goalie, Jake Kumsky, continues the pursuit of his career with the Ft. Wayne Komets (ECHL).

After the game, Knoblauch hinted the lineup will be altered by tomorrow.

“I’m pretty sure three players will be reassigned and we’re not sure which players from New York will be here, but there is gonna be some changes and some very tough decisions will be made before we play Friday.”

The Wolf Pack will play Bridgeport on Friday at 1 pm at the Koeppel Community Center on the campus of Trinity College.

PACK LINES:

Bryan Lerg-Tim Gettinger-Lewis Zerter-Gossage
Gabriel Fontaine-Matt Beleskey-Ty Ronning
Ryan Gropp-Greg Chase-Jake Elmer
Terrence Wallin-Alex Kile-Patrick Newell

Defense:

Brandon Crawley-Darren Raddysh
Joey Keane-Mason Geertsen
Jeff Taylor- Zach Tolkinen

Tomas McCollum

Wolf Pack Scratches:

Forwards – Connor Brickley, Ryan Dmowski, Ville Meskanen, Shawn McBride, Dawson Leedahl, DiGiuseppe, and Nick Jones.

Defenseman: Jeff LoVerde, Sean Day (injury), and Johnny Coughlin.

Springfield has former Yale Bulldog Adam Larkin in camp, and former Thunderbird, Cam Brown, a University of Maine grad.

Florida assigned three players to Springfield who all must clear waivers including major Pack-killer from last season, Anthony Greco, as well as Ian McCoshen and Ethan Prow.

Matt Mangene signed a contract extension yesterday.

The Sound Tigers had seven players assigned including, Kieffer Bellows, Scott Eastnor, and Otto Koivula.

Former Thunderbird, Harry Zolniercyzk, who signed a deal with Hartford over the summer elected to retire and that’s why Bryan Lerg is in camp looking to fill one of the veteran slots.

A Wolf Pack player pre-game soccer and training took place adjacent to the parking garage at the arena. It was tight quarters.

Hartford GM Chris Drury, Director of Pro Scouting, Kevin Maxwell, new development scout, Tanner Glass, and former Pack goalie and Yale grad Jeff Malcolm, now a scout for the team, were all in attendance.

Wolf Pack fan jerseys of the night: Dan Cloutier 39, Dan Catenacci 43, and a Filip Chytil 72.

The bromance continues between former Hartford Whaler, Ron Francis, who’s the new GM of the Seattle expansion team, and his first two pro scouts that he hired. To no surprise, he hired his old Whalers teammate, plus a former Rangers and Wolf Pack assistant coach, Ulf Samuelsson.

Samuelsson was relieved of his duties, along with the other three Whaler amigos, Joel Quenneville, and Kevin Dineen, from the Chicago Blackhawks last November.

Quenneville is the new head man of the Florida Panthers, the parent team of Springfield. Dineen, who interviewed for the Wolf Pack job, is the head coach in San Diego.

The other scout was long-time NHL’er, Stu Barnes, who played 1,136 games for Winnipeg (original Jets), Pittsburgh, Florida, Buffalo, and Dallas.