BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings
HARTFORD, CT – The first baby steps on an AHL 2020-21 season are about to be taken.
In what will be the first hockey action since March 12, 2019, on January 31st, the Hartford Wolf Pack will play in a pre-season tilt with the Providence Bruins at the XL Center.
The Pack regular season opens on Sunday, February 7th -Super Bowl Sunday – against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. The puck drops at 1 PM.
This season, all Wolf Pack games will have 1 PM starting times.
It will be the first home Sunday opener in the 24-year history of the team.
On the eve of the official training camp opening, there have been ongoing small groups this past week. The Pack added defenseman Matt Robertson and forward Morgan Barron; both arrive from the New York Rangers taxi squad.
Defenseman Jeff Taylor, who spent most of the season as a healthy scratch, was loaned to Hartford from the Jacksonville Icemen (ECHL), where he played just four games, tallying an assist and a minus-two.
The AHL scheduling matrix is unbalanced, and in some cases, dramatically this season. While the Wolf Pack will play just 24 games, the San Diego Gulls will sport a 44-game schedule, most of the Pacific Division. Pennsylvania teams, the Hershey Bears and Lehigh Valley Phantoms will play 36 and 38, respectively. The Canadian teams have not released their schedule yet, due in part to provincial health officials have not given the teams the green light to begin playing.
There is uncertainty in some markets that they can participate despite a released schedule. In some cases, the venue they are slated to play in may not turn out to be the one they eventually play in.
It’s a complicated situation at best.
PLAYER MOVEMENT
Center Nick Jones won’t be back. He’s in training camp with the Manitoba Moose.
Ex-Pack, John Albert, signs with the Wichita Thunder (ECHL).
The Bridgeport Sound Tigers released their training camp roster, which consists of merely 28 players.
Former Sound Tiger Calder Brooks, who played with two teams in France, and one in Germany last year, signs a contract with Jacksonville.
MORE PLAYER MOVEMENT
The Anaheim Ducks add a pair of ex-Wolf Pack players from different era’s. Vinni Lettieri and Kodie Curran join the taxi squad. Curran was officially sent to San Diego on Wednesday. Trevor Zegras (Avon Old Farms) was sent to San Diego, fresh off earning an MVP and a Gold medal in the World Junior Championship.
The first AHL preseason action took place in Southern California last week, with San Diego beating the San Jose Barracuda, 5-1. Zegras gained two assists and set up the game’s first goal. The two teams will play again at the Five Point Arena in Irvine, CA, the Ducks’ regular practice facility.
The Las Vegas Golden Knights send ex-Pack, Danny O’Regan to their AHL affiliate, Henderson Silver Knights.
Ex-Pack, and one-time captain, Cole Schneider, signs with the Texas Stars for this season after the Milwaukee Admirals opted out for this year.
Micheal Haley (Wolf Pack/Sound Tigers) and Matt Peca (Quinnipiac University) are on the Ottawa Senators taxi squad.
Ex-Pack, Dylan McIlrath and Dominic Turgeon, the nephew of former Hartford Whaler, Sylvain Turgeon, were sent to the Grand Rapids Griffins.
Ex-Pack defenseman Rob O’Gara (Yale University) signs with Hershey.
Hayden Verbeek, the nephew of Whalers and Rangers great Pat Verbeek, returns for Slovakia and will be in camp with the Laval Rocket.
Last week, the Montreal Canadiens signed a three-year affiliation deal with Trois-Riviere, who beginning with the 2021-22 season, will develop players for the Rocket (AHL).
“This agreement provides our organization with an interesting opportunity to expand our development pipeline here in Quebec while allowing us to closely monitor the development of some of our prospects.
“The ECHL is a league that deserves more recognition for the talent it displays and for its high quality of play,” John Sedgwick, the Canadiens’ vice-president of Hockey Operations and Legal Affairs, remarked in the teams’ press release.
“The decision to move our AHL affiliate team to Laval proved to be very successful, and the advantage of having another affiliate nearby in Trois-Rivières will be very convenient for our hockey operations and to continue scouting local talent.”
The next step in the process will be the naming of the franchise, choosing a color scheme, announcing the naming rights to their building, and the hiring and naming of their first head coach.
Two sons of former New Haven Nighthawks will be skating in the moors to start the season.
Graham McPhee returns from Austria and is dispatched along with seven other players from the Bakersfield Condors to the Wichita Thunder (ECHL). McPhee’s father is George McPhee, the President of Hockey Operations for the Vegas Golden Knights, and Riley Stillman, the grandson of former Nighthawk, Bud Stefanski.
After the Newfoundland (St. John’s) Growlers (ECHL) opted out for this year, Evan Nuegold (Goshen/Westminster Prep) signs in a warmer climate with the Florida Everblades (ECHL).
Defenseman Braedan Virtue, who was born in Hartford and is the son of ex-Pack, Terry Virtue, was traded from the Gatineau (QC) Olympiques (QMJHL) to the Charlottetown (PEI) Islanders (QMJHL) for a fifth-round pick in the 2021 draft.
On the last day of the QMJHL trading period, Samuel Poulin, the former Whaler Patrick Poulin’s son, was sent from the Sherbrooke Phoenix to the Van D’Or Foreurs. He was also a Pittsburgh Penguins draft pick.
Zakary Karpa, the son of former Wolf Pack, Sound Tiger, and Ranger, David Karpa, was recently traded from the Omaha Lancers (USHL) to the Des Moines Buccaneers (USHL). He has de-committed from Princeton University (ECACHL) and instead committed to Harvard University (ECACHL) for 2021-22.
The Islanders, after assigning the truculent forward, Josh Ho-Sang, to the Sound Tigers, the next day was loaned to Örebro HK (Sweden-SHL). It’s not a good idea to push the patience of GM Lou Lamoriello.
Ex-Pack, Steve Kampfer, and Paul Carey (Salisbury School) were assigned to the Providence Bruins.
Ex-Pack, Matt Puempel of Grand Rapids, signs with the Malmö IF Redhawks (Sweden-SHL).
Last year, Joey LaLeggia was with the San Antonio Rampage, signs with Rögle BK (Sweden-SHL).
Émile Poirier, of the Manitoba Moose, signs with HC Kosice (Slovakia-SLEL).
Joel Lowry, who spent last year with the Springfield Thunderbirds, signs with Iserlohn (Germany-DEL).
Former Sound Tiger Matt Donovan, who, because Milwaukee is not playing this year, signs a deal with his former Swedish team HV 71 (Sweden-SHL).
J.T. Brown of the Iowa Wild signs with IF Björklöven (Sweden-SHL).
Corey Tropp of the San Diego Gulls signs with the EHC Straubing Tigers (Germany-DEL), making 233 of last season’s AHL’ers signing or been loaned to Europe.
Max Jones, the son of ex-Nighthawk, Brad Jones, was recalled from San Diego by Anaheim.
The NHL expansion, Seattle Kraken, continues to be a haven for former New Haven Nighthawks, Hartford Whalers, and New York Rangers. Norm MacIver became the team’s first Director of Player Personnel. Maclver played for all three teams.
He was with the Chicago Blackhawks for the last eleven years in the same role and was Assistant GM. In his other life, he was an Assistant Coach for three years with the Springfield Falcons.
A pair of former Beast of New Haven players are coaching and have sons playing hockey.
Ashley Buckberger has twins Boston and Braxton playing for the Saskatoon Blazers (SMAAHL). Boston is a University of Wisconsin (Big 10) commit next year. Braxton is committed to a junior expansion team, the Blackfalds (AB) Bulldogs (AJHL), next year. The youngest son is 15-year-old Ronan. He plays for Saskatoon (SAAHL), where his father is the team’s assistant coach.
Former NHL Defenseman Filip Kuba, Sr., is an assistant coach for his son, Flilp Jr.’s team, the Tampa Bay Jr. Lightning (USPHL Premier).
Matej Baca, the nephew of former Whaler, Jergus Baca, is traded from HK32 Liptovsky (Slovakia-SLEL) to HC Detva (Slovakia-SLEL).
A pair of ex-Wolf Pack’s return to their Czech Elite League teams from other Czech teams’ loans. Conor Allen is back with BK Mlada Boleslav and Brandon Alderson with HC Ceske Budejovice.
Chikara Hanzawa of the South Shore (MA) Kings (NCDC) makes a commitment to the Sacred Heart University Pioneers (AHA) for 2022-23. He will be seeking to become the second Japanese-born player to play NCAA Division-1 college hockey. The other is Kohei Sato, who is currently at the University of New Hampshire.
Peter Muzyka went from Cornell University (ECACHL) to Powell River (BCHL) when the school canceled its season. Because the BCHL has yet to start its season, he has signed a junior deal with the New Mexico Ice Wolves (NAHL).
