CANTLON’S CORNER” AHL WEIGHING IT’S FUTURE AND ASSORTED HOCKEY NOTES 

 BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings

HARTFORD, CT – The future isn’t what it seems to be.

With the entire world still trying to find its footing in the face of the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus that began in Wuhan, China, the hockey world is not any different.

The AHL is weighing out its options in terms of how long it can wait.  The ECHL, the Double AA affiliate, the SPHL (Southern Professional Hockey League), and the FPHL (Federal Prospects Hockey League), which the Danbury Hat Tricks play in and are both single-A level leagues, all ended their seasons quickly last weekend because their economic model demanded it.

The ECHL teams pay the player’s salaries, roughly 95% of them. The teams have about three-to-five NHL team’s contracted players on their rosters. In turn, most players are paying their own housing costs.

Many players are on modified rental housing contracts, approximately six-to-eight months, but if there are no games, no revenue, and no insurance, which applies in this situation and can only go so far, and the question remains, when would those payments be seen?

The AHL is on a different model altogether. There is a mixture of contractual arrangements, five total NHL one-way, and two NHL two-way deals. Then there are AHL contracts plus PTO and ATO deals.

Steering and navigating this broad array of unknowns fall upon team player reps who consult with Larry Landon, the head of the AHLPLA, and with outgoing AHL President and CEO, Dave Andrews, and likely the incoming President, Scott Howson.

The other partner for the AHL is, naturally, the NHL and NHLPLA. They’re all joined together in many facets.

Vincent LoVerde is the AHL player rep for the Hartford Wolf Pack. Late last week he and 30 other AHL reps were in conference with Landon and the AHL.

Loverde was not made available for comment by the team.

The league issued a statement early in the week that a May 1st date is the latest benchmark to review the situation in regards to the CDC, USA, and the Canadian government directives if play could be resumed.

Last week all players on PTO and ATO deals were released. That also includes Robbie Payne, who was signed to a PTO deal from the Adirondack Thunder (ECHL) but didn’t get into a game for the Wolf Pack.

Steven Fogarty was returned from his one-game emergency recall.

Interestingly, if the NHL season resumes, so would the AHL.

The Rangers will have to use their last emergency recall just prior to the resumption of play. The Rangers’ Brendan Lemieux was suspended for a yet-to-be-determined number of games that would lead to the recall.

So with the mutual consent to a formal closing of the Canadian border this week, the AHL decision to send players home was a wise course of action.

European players have a bit more complicated issue with travel bans in place to return to Europe. The question arises would they need to apply for emergency visas and work out living arrangements, and what would be the responsibility of the team to house them?

Ex-Sound Tiger Sean Bentivoglio has hung up the skates retiring from the Cardiff Devils (Wales-EIHL).

XL CENTER

As of now, all events at the XL Center are canceled and the building is closed for business until April 30th.

As first reported earlier this week, the ice has been taken down, a sure sign that hockey is finished for 2019-2020. But then again, these days anything can happen.

“We will remain closed,” said Michael W. Freimuth executive director of the CRDA which oversees the building. “We have had events canceled to that date and beyond at this point. We have had some for May and June, but others are holding dates as of now. We’re going day-by-day just like everyone else,”

The rumors of a change in the recently passed bonding package being imperiled or that the building would be used as a triage center in the event of a deep escalation in patients, Freimuth assertively said were not the case.

“The bonding that was passed remains as is and there is no talk whatsoever of using the XL Center in that capacity at all.”

The installation of the new chiller system is still a go, and the project will be completed this summer as originally planned. A bidder has been selected and a contract is currently being negotiated. There’s hope to have an announcement next month.

COLLEGE HOCKEY

The 2020 Hobey Baker Award finalists were announced.

Rangers draft pick, Morgan Barron, a junior leads the Class of ten players who will be considered. With college play ended, the number #1 ranked Cornell Big Red didn’t get to play in the national tournament with Barron and his teammates.

Barron, who Cantlon‘s Corner first reported had changed his major at school, so now is unlikely to be leaving Cornell until he gets his degree, despite the Rangers’ desire for him to be in a Wolf Pack uniform for the 2020-21 season. He was named ECACHL Player of the Year and was on the first team All-Conference team.

Jason Cotton, Sacred Heart University Pioneers (AHA) is also on the list. Jeremy Swayman, the goalie at Maine, was also among the ten players to sign a professional deal. The netminder signed with the Boston Bruins this week.

Four of the ten announced nominees are from Hockey East. The final three under consideration will be announced on April 3rd with the Hobey Baker winner on April 10th.

Swayman was the Hockey East Player of the Year. The Rookie of the Year was BC’s Alex Newhook. In 24 games, Newhook had 15 goals and 33 points and was plus-25.

Dennis ”Red” Gendron, a one-time Yale assistant coach, who’s in his seventh season at Maine, was named the Conference Coach of the Year.

The All-Conference teams were announced. BC freshmen Spencer Knight (Darien/Avon Old Farms) was on the second team. UCONN’s senior, Wyatt Newpower, also earned second-team honors in a real breakout year tallying 22 points in 34 games and finishing with a plus-23.

Junior Tyce Thompson (Orange/Salisbury Prep) of Providence College, the youngest son of ex-Pack, and current Bridgeport Sound Tiger head coach, Brent Thompson, was also named to the second team.

On the Conference’s third team and in the strongest position, was Rangers draft pick, goalie Tyler Wall of UMASS-Lowell.

Freshmen, Trevor Zegras (Avon Old Farms), was named to the team as well. He had a great WJC tourney for the US this year.

ECACHL All-Conference team winners that were included on the second-team were Yale’s Curtis Hall, Odeen Tufto of Quinnipiac University, and Jack Drury (Harvard University), the son of ex-Hartford Whaler, Ted Drury and the nephew of Hartford Wolf Pack GM, Chris Drury.

On the third team, was Peter Diliberatore, also of Quinnipiac University.

The rate of college player signings has been dramatically curtailed. As of today, only 39 Division 1 players and 49 players total have signed. Division III signings, a lifeblood of the ECHL, have come to a complete standstill.

Things have picked up a little over the last several days.

On Friday, the Rangers signed 6’7, 230 lb. forward, Anthony Rueschoff, a junior from the Western Michigan Broncos (NCHC). He inked a two-year, two-way, entry-level deal.

Rueschoff had 35 goals and 70 points in 105 collegiate games. With that size imagine that frame on a power play unit parked in front of a goaltender.

Patrick Harper (New Canaan/Avon Old Farms) also signed a two-year, two-way, NHL entry-level deal with the Nashville Predators after he completed four years with the Boston University Terriers.

Harper captured Hockey East conference third-team honors after having his best year with 14 goals and 37 points. In 128 games with the Terriers, he had 41 goals and 115 points. He will likely start next season with the Milwaukee Admirals.

Last week, the Rangers inked defenseman K’Andre Miller, a sophomore from Wisconsin who will be a 2020-21 member of the Wolf Pack.

Congrats to Walker Harris of the Wesleyan University Cardinals (NESCAC). He was named the Joe Concannon Award winner for the best American born New England player Division II/III with 13 goals and 33 points in 28 games. The Cardinals were 15-11-1 and captured their first NESCAC regular season title and qualified for the post-season for the first time. In 105 games over four years he had 50 goals and 58 assists for 108 points and was a First Team All Star.

He was among five finalists including Trinity College’s Barclay Gammill for the 20th edition of the award named after long-time Boston Globe writer Joe Concannon who passed way in 2001.

The draft for the five major junior leagues in the US and Canada, as of now, should go on as planned. It would be among the few bits of hockey business that can be conducted during this unique time period because it doesn’t require a crowd unlike the NHL Draft.

WHL will have its first-ever US Prospects Draft of two rounds. It will be held on March 25th and the Bantam Draft for Canadian players in Red Deer, Alberta comes on May 7th.

Players eligible for the 2020 WHL U.S. Prospects Draft will be 2005-born players who reside in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.

The OHL Priority Draft is already held remotely is set on Saturday, April 4.

USHL Phase I Futures Draft is slated for May 4th and Phase II Draft the next day May 5th.

The combines are tentatively scheduled for next month.

The NAHL Draft will be held June 2nd.

The QMJHL Draft will be held on June 6th. In a press release on Thursday, for the first time it will be done remotely. It was originally scheduled to be held in Sherbrooke at the Sports de Palais Arena.

The league also conducts a separate US QMJHL Draft with players from Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island or Vermont.

The NHL Draft is marked for Friday and Saturday, June 26th-27th in Montreal.

Jason Marsella (Greenwich/Avon Old Farms), a Yale University (ECACHL) 2021-22 commit will play next year for the Penticton Vees (BCHL).

KHL PLAYOFFS

The Russians have bowed to reality and suspended the Gagarin Cup playoffs until April 10th and are looking to develop a new yet announced format.

Down to six teams, after two bowed out after the opening round wins in Barys Kazakh from Kazakhstan and Jokerit Helsinki of Finland.

Jokerit’s leading playoff scorer is ex-Pack Niklas Jensen (6-3-4-7). They also have former Pack, Steve Moses, ex-Sound Tigers’ Jesse Joensuu, and former Yale Bulldog Brian O’ Neill.

The six remaining teams are Barys Astana from Kazakstan, Dynamo Minsk from Belarus the rest are from Russia in SKA St. Petersburg, CSKA Moscow, Salavat Yulaev, and Sibir Novosibirsk.

Ex-Ranger Ryan Spooner, Rangers training camp invitee way back in the fall, Joe Morrow, and ex-Sound Tiger, Shane Prince are on Dynamo Minsk and SKA St. Petersburg has ex-Pack goalie Magnus Hellberg.