CANTLON: CT HOCKEY OFF SEASON VOLUME 6 

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings

HARTFORD, CT – The Off-Season is a busy time for hockey executives. Evaluations of the team’s talent, decisions on who to keep and who to release. Discussion of new talent to bring into the organization to improve it from all over the world. All high-level meetings with the consequences being the team being a contender or an also-ran.

Some decisions have already been made, and some have already been announced.

AHL NEWS

The Manitoba Moose are looking for a new head coach when after five years, Pascal Vincent takes the big step up to “The Show,” taking on the assistant coach responsibilities with the Columbus Blue Jackets.

The AHL’s return to Abbotsford is beginning to take shape, and a name-the-team contest is underway.

The nickname options include; Aces, Aeros, Avengers, Aviators, Canucks, Falcons, Golden Eagles, Millionaires, Pilots, and Sockeyes.

The team is requesting that fans also pick either Abbotsford or Fraser Valley for the name for the team’s location.

The team also announced they are retaining their Utica staff for Abbotsford, starting with former Beast of New Haven, Ryan Johnson as the team’s GM, and Trent Cull as their head coach.

The team will still have Kalamazoo Wings as their ECHL affiliate.

MORE AHL NEWS

As expected, Utica signs a multi-year with the Adirondack Thunder as their ECHL affiliate after the team took last year off. This is part of a new minor league symmetry as prospects will be taking I-90 to I-87 next season.

The talk and plans for a new arena in San Diego have hit a snag

Please read about it HERE.

MINOR LEAGUE NEWS

The FPHL recently held a dispersal draft for the Danville (IL) Dashers team, which lost its lease and was replaced in the city by the Vermilion County Bobcats of the Southern Professional Hockey League (SPHL) starting in the fall. The Danville Dashers joined the FPHL in the 2011-12 season.

Former Danbury Hat Tricks (FPHL/NAHL) broadcaster, Casey Bryant, will be their first broadcaster.

PLAYER & COACHING MOVEMENT

The ECHL Kelly Cup Finals are all set between the Ft, Wayne Komets, and South Carolina Stingrays.

South Carolina features ex-Wolf Pack players Dan DeSalvo, Caleb Hebert, and former Bridgeport Sound Tiger Justin Florek.

On the bench, they have ex-Pack Brendan Kotyk as their assistant coach, who also is the team’s assistant general manager.

Ft. Wayne has an ex-Wolf Pack/Sound Tiger, Justin Vaive.

Ex-Pack Matt Register leaves the Allen Americans (ECHL) and signs with the Cardiff Devils (Wales-EIHL) for next year.

The Providence Bruins lose defenseman Joel Messner to HC Innsbruck (Austria-IceHL).

Dmitri Sokolov of the Iowa Wild heads to Omskie Kryla (Russia-VHL).

Yannick Veilleux of the Laval Rocket departs for Eisbaren Berlin (Germany-DEL).

Along with Vincent LoVerde, that makes 34 AHL players who signed overseas. In addition, 19 of the league’s 31 teams have lost at least one player to an overseas team.

MORE MOVES

Former Sound Tiger goalie Frederic Cloutier continues his career as an Italian citizen signing a deal with HC Meran/Merano (Italy-AlpsHL). Last season he split between HC Bolzano (Italy-IceHL) and Unterland (Italy Division-2).

Cloutier is now eligible to play for the Italian National Team, seeking to qualify for the 2022 Beijing Games. He could play in the qualifying games on August 26-29 in Group E with France, Hungary, and Latvia.

Ex-Pack Julius Bergman’s deal with IF Bjorkloven (Sweden-Allsvenskan) was canceled, so he signs a deal with Brynas IF (Sweden-SHL).

Former Wolf Pack, Ryan Gropp, migrates from Vasterviks IK (Sweden-Allsvenskan) to Stjernen (Norway-NEL) for next season.

EVEN MORE MOVES

Ex-Pack/Sound Tiger Taylor Beck switches KHL teams from Mettallurg Magnitogorsk (Russia) to Dynamo Minsk (Belarus).

Former CT Whale Jeremy Williams goes from EHC Straubing (Germany-DEL) to Heilbronner (Germany-DEL-2).

Ex-Sound Tiger David Ullstrom’s contract with HV71 (Sweden-SHL) was formally announced. He played for the three teams in Switzerland last year, the last one being HC Davos.

River Rymsha, the son of former New Haven Nighthawk Andy Rymsha, flips teams in Slovakia, going from HC Detva to HK Poprad.

MALLOY IN AUSTRALIA

Robert “Bert” Malloy (Cheshire/Hartford Jr. Wolf Pack) is back on the ice for his tenth Australian Ice Hockey League (AIHL) season with the Newcastle Northstars, a short 30-game season league.

Newcastle split their two exhibition games, losing 7-4 to Sydney Bears and winning 3-1 over the Sydney Ice Dogs.

The opening series against the CBR Brave was canceled/postponed due to COVID restrictions but will likely be rescheduled for later in the summer 2021 season.

For the sixth time, Malloy will try to play for the Australian National Team in the IIHF Division II, Group A tourney along with China, Croatia, Israel, Netherlands, and Spain in 2022 at a site yet to be determined.

Last year’s tourney in Beijing, China, was canceled.

EVEN MORE MORE MOVES

Vladislav Mikulchilk, the son of former Nighthawk, Oleg  Mikulchilk, switches teams in the Kazakhstan League (KAHL), going from HK Brest to Shakhter Sologorsk.

Landon-Samuel Kolnik, the son of ex-Sound Tiger, Juraj Kolnik, heads from St. Jerome Panthers (QJAAAHL) to Calgary Canucks (AJHL) in a junior A transfer.

Ex-Sound Tiger, Alan Letang, is named the new head coach for his hometown team, the Sarnia Sting (OHL). His son Ayden plays for the Junior B hockey team in the town as well.

THE THOMAS TOMMIES

The new Division I program in a brand-new conference kicking off in the fall, St. Thomas (MN) Tommies (CCHA), named their new assistant coaches for head coach Rico Blasi. Both have CT connections.

Stu Bickel, a former CT Whale/Wolf Pack, and Ranger will be one of them. He comes off a successful season as the head coach for the Minnesota Magicians, where he won the Midwest Division title and got to the NAHL semifinals. He was also the team’s assistant GM.

Professionally, he played 310 AHL games and had 76 NHL games to his credit.

The other assistant is Leon Hayward, a Seattle native; at the start of his coaching career as an assistant at Taft Prep in Watertown and Avon Old Farms.

He played 254 games professionally in the ECHL and 104 games in the AHL. His 358 total minor league games encompassed playing in ten different cities in a six-year span. He is coming over from Colorado College (NCHC), where he was an assistant.

COLLEGE PLAYERS ON THE MOVE

Four more college players, two from Division-I schools and two from Division-III, sign in Europe.

Charles Levesque, UMASS-Lowell (HE) signs with HC Cergy-Pontoise (France-FREL) and Cory King from Bemidji State (WCHA) with HC Giants (Finland Suomi-Sarja Division-I).

The Division-III signees are Vincenzo Renda of Salve Regina (RI) (CCC), who signs with HC Chambery (France FFHG Division-II), and Alex DiBacco from Chatham University (UCHC), also signed with the HC Giants (Finland Suomi-Sarja Division-I).

21 college players between Division-I and Division-III have signed in Europe. In addition, 97 total players have signed pro deals in North America and Europe.

EVEN MORE SIGNINGS AND MOVEMENT

Cole Sillinger, the son of former Sound Tiger, Mike Sillinger, was voted the USHL Rookie of the Year and was named to the Second All-Star team. He’s likely to be drafted in next month’s NHL Draft.

Danbury Jr. Hat Tricks (NAHL) forward Jacob Hewitt heads off to play for the Nanaimo Clippers (BCHL), whose skills coach is ex-Sound Tiger Ben Walter.

The NAHL crowned a new champion for a second time in their history as the Shreveport (La) Mudbugs beat the Aberdeen (SD) Wings 4-2.

The league also made history. The Maryland Black Bears, already sporting the first female team President in US junior hockey history, hired the first female bench coach in Assistant Coach, Kimberley Weiss (Trinity College), who has coached the Washington Power girls program the past ten years.

Ryan Wojciechowski of the Danbury Jr. Hat Tricks (NA3HL) heads to Keene State (NH) (ACHA Division-II).

IN MEMORIAM

The pro hockey world lost two titans of a bygone era this week.

Defenseman Tom Kurvers passed away a serious struggle with lung cancer at age 58 after spending the last three seasons as the GM of the AHL’s Iowa Wild.

During his playing career, Kurvers was a steady, stay-at-home defenseman. He played in 659 NHL games and registered 328 points. He won the Hobey Baker Award in 1984 and was the WCHA Player of the Year in that same season.

His Minnesota-Duluth team lost to Bowling Green 5-4 in overtime in the national title game. One of his collegiate teammates was former Whaler, Ranger, and New Haven Nighthawk, Norm MacIver, now the Seattle Krakken’s Director of Player Development.

He won a Stanley Cup with the 1986 Montreal Canadiens and played with the Buffalo Sabres, New Jersey Devils, Toronto Maple Leafs, Vancouver Canucks, New York Islanders, and Anaheim Ducks.

AN AMAZING HISTORY BEING TRADED

Kurvers was traded by Montreal to Buffalo for a second-round pick, a future minor leaguer, former New Haven Senator Martin St. Amour. Then New Jersey sent him to Toronto for the Maple Leafs’ first-round draft pick, who turned out to be future Hall-of-Famer, Scott Niedermayer.

Vancouver traded him to Minnesota for former Hartford Whaler, Dave Babych. Then, in his next to last trade, Minnesota sent him to the Islanders for his former Canadiens Cup-winning teammate, Craig Ludwig.

He ended his last year of playing in Japan with the Seibu Bears in the Japanese Ice Hockey League (JIHL), with the team capturing the title. He was there helping to prepare players for the 1998 Nagano Olympics for the eventual Japanese Olympic Team, such as teammate leading scorer Ryan Fujita and one-time Springfield Indians player goalie Dusty Imoo.

Kurvers carved out a solid post-playing executive career with Arizona/ Phoenix Coyotes and nine years with the Tampa Bay Lightning, where he earned another Stanley Cup ring. He came to his home state team, the Minnesota Wild, three years ago as a scout, assistant GM, and Director of Player Development.

RENE ROBERT REMEMBERED

Winger Rene Robert, a Trois-Rivieres, Quebec native, a junior star in the mid-1960s and broke through in the NHL when he was traded to the Buffalo Sabres and hooked up with fellow Quebec natives, Gilbert Perreault and the late Rick Martin and formed the fabulous “French Connection” line as they were known.

The trio was an offensive juggernaut and led the Sabres to the 1975 Stanley Cup Final against the hated Broad Street Bullies, the Philadelphia Flyers. Robert’s late first OT game-winner in the infamous Game 3 “Fog Game” was a career highlight, but the team fell short, losing to the Flyers in six games.

Robert had superb offensive production, topping 40 and 30 goals two times each and finished with 702 points in 744 NHL games and ended his career where it started in Toronto.

When Terry Pegula purchased the team, the owner, a childhood fan of the trio, said he would have a statue of the three sit outside the arena at the announcement of the purchase.

HIS START

Robert went undrafted but signed a five-game pro tryout with the Toronto Maple Leafs. He was involved in a minor-league trade in 1969 with a future New England Whaler great, Brad Selwood.

On June 8, 1971, he was claimed twice in what was then known as the Inter-League Draft, first by Buffalo and then by the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Robert was then traded by Pittsburgh to Buffalo mid-season for the legendary Eddie “The Entertainer” Shack, and his career took off from that point in Buffalo.

He was 70 years old. Robert passed away in a hospital in Port Charlotte. Florida, after suffering a heart attack, Sadly, he would have likely been a part of the opening night festivities for the new Trois-Rivieres Lions (ECHL) team, where most of his family still resides in the city ninety minutes from Montreal.

HARTFORD WOLF PACK

HOWLINGS