HERSHEY BEARS SWEEP THE HARTFORD WOLF PACK 

By: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings

HARTFORD, CT – Despite a two-to-one shots advantage, the Hartford Wolf Pack season ended before 4,596 at the XL Center Wednesday night when the Hershey Bears defeated them 3-1 and swept their Best of Five Atlantic Division Final series in three straight.

Hershey moves on to play the Rochester Americans, who swept their series over the Toronto Marlies, setting up an AHL Original Two matchup in-a Best-of-Seven Eastern Conference Final.

“Hershey’s a very good team. They’re the best team five-on-five in our conference this year,” Wolf Pack Head Coach Kris Knoblach said. “The difference in the series was we weren’t able to generate enough offense.

“In the first game, we had three power play goals. If we had that tonight, it would have made a huge difference. Five-on-five we weren’t able to capitalize, and they did. Two even-strength goals in three games are simply not enough.”

THE THIRD PERIOD

The Bears put the game away in the third period scoring twice after a penalty shot at 3:28 by former Quinnipiac alum Sam Anas, who was stopped by starting netminder Louis Domingue.

A penalty shot was awarded to Anas after breaking into the Pack zone off the right wing on a two-on-one. Pack Captain Jonny Brodzinski tugged him from behind, creating the penalty shot situation. After starting at center ice on the shot attempt, Anas weaved and zig-zagged to the net. Domingue slightly adjusted to stay in front of him, patiently waited him out, and made a glove save. It kept the score tied and gave the team hope they could still pull this out.

“That was a huge moment for our team. Louie came up with a huge save. We had a lot of offensive zone time in the third period, but I don’t know how many quality chances we had, but we just couldn’t find the net. Not being able to capitalize early in the game, we could have been up two or three goals, especially on a chance (Tim) Gettinger had. It was the turning point in the game. We couldn’t build off our lead,” Knoblauch said.

The Bears, on the other hand, had other ideas.

Lucas Johansen broke the 1-1 tie at 4:22. Normally a defensive-oriented defenseman, Johansen took a Mark Vecchione pass from behind the goal line at the left point. The 6’2 2016 first-round pick (28th overall) ripped a laser of a shot past Domingue high to the glove side at 4:22. That made it 2-1.

Then at 7:25, Garrett Pilon put the final nail in the Pack coffin. Pilon, who was a two-way physical menace in this series, was deep on the right-wing side and took a cross-ice feed from Connor Michaels and, from a bad angle, beat Domingue, who couldn’t come across fast enough to get there. For Pilon, it was his second goal of the playoffs.

The Bears’ Hunter Shepard (33 saves)  stopped the Pack’s efforts to come back the rest of the third.

SECOND PERIOD

In the second period, the Pack had an early power play they could not capitalize on.

At 9:14, Hershey’s Riley Sutter, a righthanded shot on the left wing off a three-on-two, struck Domingue in the mask.

Despite losing his protective gear, Domingue maintained his presence of mind and kept the puck in front of him.

Beck Malenstyn, part of the Hershey fourth line, who was a thorn in the Pack’s side throughout the entire series, leveled Bobby Trivigno at center after he released the puck for a penalty creating a brief scrum.

The hitting at both ends of the ice by Hershey forced an offensive zone turnover by Tanner Fritz and led to a Hershey goal.

Henrik Borgstrom fed Vecchione, who quickly found Vincent Iorio open on the right side. Iorio was two strides ahead of Gettinger and Ty Emberson and fired his first of the playoffs high to the blocker side past Domingue to tie the score at 1-1 with 4:55 remaining in the period.

The Pack got a late power play on the roughing situation between Will Lockwood and Iorio. Ryan Carpenter, a team-best six shots, was stopped.

“We had quality chances. It (was) that last ditch effort for the puck. It was throwing one wide, not bearing down. We played a really good game. In the third period it was those small breakdowns, and they played the opportunistic game. They didn’t play their best game, but when you’re off, they just sat back and took advantage of our mistakes. Two mistakes, (then) we found the puck in the back of our net,” said Brodzinski.

The Pack held the shot advantage throughout, but Shepard had his mojo going as he did in November and this entire series and kept his team in the contest.

“We had a very resilient group this year,” Brodzinski said. “A lot a credit to everyone in that locker room. There was no quit. I thought we had a good enough team to make a deep push, but we came up short. They were very opportunistic on their chances. He (Shepard) played a good game against us. All the credit to them, (they) played a sound defensive game once they got up one or two goals. They’re a tough team to break down, get pucks through. But I’m proud of this team how they played this year.”

FIRST PERIOD

The Wolf Pack started Domingue between the pipes over Dylan Garand, who had gotten them to this point when Domingue was called up to the Rangers for their playoff run. Desperate times call for desperate measures.

Knoblauch also decided to shake up all of his lines and sat Karl Henriksson in favor of 6’6 Adam Edström to add some size to counter the Bears in that department.

“They’re big and physical, and we’re a fast, gritty team. I thought we matched up well against them. It’s the way the series goes. They beat us in overtime in that first game that we should have had. We were up in this game, and we let it slip away. Two of the (three) games could have been ours; that’s how playoffs work. Next year we’ll have to be better,” Brodzinski said. He has another year left on his two-year $325K deal.

Defensive combinations were also required to change because Adam Clendening’s mother-in-law passed away unexpectedly, and he was understandably unavailable.

The two teams traded chances.

At 17:40, the Wolf Pack broke through as Anton Blidh won a one-on-one battle keeping the puck in the Hershey zone.

The puck found Carpenter was behind the net all alone, came out of the left wing, and tried to stuff it in the net on the short side, but Shepard made the save.

The puck came back on his stick. He waited patiently, and in came Turner Elson and stuffed in his second postseason goal.

Blidh and ex-Pack Dylan McIlrath were battling for position in front, leaving it open for Elson. Each player was penalized, but Mac escaped a cross-checking minor.

LINES:

Carpenter-Cullye- Elson
Fritz-Pajuniemi-Blidh
Leschyshyn-Brodzinski-Lockwood
Gettinger- Adam Edström-Trivigno

Jones-Emberson
Hájek-Scanlin
Kalynuk-Hillman

Domingue
Garand

SCRATCHES:

Karl Henrikksson (healthy)
Talyn Boyko #40
Matt Rempe (healthy)
Louie Roehl #4 (healthy)
Brett Berard #27 (healthy)
Matt Robertson (upper body)
Patrick Khordorenko (season-ending shoulder surgery).
C.J. Smith (hip area surgery done for the season)

NOTES:

Condolences to Clendening on the passing of his mother-in-law.

The last win by the Pack against Hershey was on November 20th.

Tanner Fritz finished the Pack playoffs with a team-best nine assists and ten points.

The Pack lost back-to-back games for the first time since early March. They ended the year with a three-game losing streak (0-3) in a five-game stretch and lost four of their last five. The previous streak of that kind was in early March 5th-11th.

The last series win by the Pack over Hershey was eight years ago in six games. Just over nine years ago, they last lost to the Manchester Monarchs.

McIlrath was at both. He was on the losing side of a sweep by Manchester, the eventual Calder Cup champs, and in the game against the Bears.

The Calgary Wranglers will play the Coachella Valley Firebirds in a decisive Game 5 Friday. The winner goes to the Western Conference final. The Milwaukee Admirals lead the Central Division final. They are up two games to one over the Texas Stars and play in the Lone Star state capital on Friday.

Brennan Othman, who will likely be with the Wolf Pack next season, had an assist as he and his Peterborough Petes teammates beat the London Knights 5-3, going up three games to one. They’re one step closer to an OHL title with the chance for a trip to the Memorial Cup in Kamloops, BC. They would join the host Kamloops Blazers. The game will air on the NHL Network.

The Halifax Mooseheads are up three games to one on the Quebec Remparts in the QMJHL Gilles Courteau Trophy Championship.

The Seattle Thunderbirds are up by the exact count in their series with the Winnipeg Ice.

Propositions 301, 302, and 303 on creating a Tempe Entertainment District, which would primarily house a new 16,000-plus seat arena for the Arizona Coyotes, were soundly defeated by the voters 56 % to 44%. The defeat now sets the stage for the eventual relocation of the long-troubled franchise. The NHL was unhappy with the outcome and will meet with the Coyotes’ ownership in the next few days to discuss the options now available to them.

Staying at Mullet Arena beyond the contracted three years is not likely one of them.

What could throw a monkey wrench into this are the quiet negotiations that have already been taking place. The NHL Players’ Association’s new head, Marty Walsh, when asked what his first order of business was when taking over last month, replied that he was getting NHL players not to play regularly in a college arena. That signaled how he felt the Coyotes’ situation playing in the 5,000-seat Mullett Arena at ASU (Arizona State University) had to be remedied immediately.

The agreed and signed escrow scheme (a part of the CBA revenue) to meet desired levels by finding them a new home and closing that gaping hole.

The most likely scenario will see the team relocate to Houston, the fourth largest US TV market. It also won’t disturb Commissioner Gary Bettman’s 16 East and 16 West scheduling balance. By extension, the AHL Tucson Roadrunners would likely need to be moved.

A lease arrangement would need to be agreed to first. Then, a regional TV deal would need to be secured, and several large sponsorships, especially for food and concessions with a soft drink company and a beer company, will be required, staffing, and so on.

The NBA’s Houston Rockets have been very open to adding an NHL team to the building’s portfolio. It will take time to put in an ice system and to deal with making their building, the Toyota Center, dual-use compliant for hoops and hockey.

Regarding naming the team in Houston, what’s most likely is a new name and color scheme to maximize branding and merchandise sales.

In the past, Houston has seen the Aeros in the old WHA, IHL, and AHL. Then there was the Apollos, for four years in the Central Hockey League (1965-1969) as an affiliate of the Montreal Canadiens. Then a second edition in the CHL (1979-1981).

The Houston Blast played in the Gulf Coast Hockey League. They and the league never got off the ground. A USHL team, then a semi-pro league, had a team that called Houston home just after WWII that lasted for just two years.

As for options other than Houston?

Quebec City already has an NHL-level building, The Videotron Centre, but it won’t get a team for four reasons. 1. French language requirements 2. Canadian currency exchange rate 3. The Montreal Canadiens 4. It busts Gary Bettman’s mentioned 16/16 conference formula.

Hartford? Not a chance.

Kansas City? Despite Patrick Mahomes lobbying, remember the Kansas City Scouts, the mid-’70’s NHL expansion disaster?

The clock has started ticking.

Tucson relocation options would be… in order… 1. Beaumont, at the Ford Center east on I-10 on the Texas/Louisiana border, 2. San Antonio, the AT&T Center, was an old AHL city south of Austin (Texas Stars) on I-10 southwest of Houston. 3. Waco 4. Amarillo 5. San Angelo 6. Allen.

Ex-Sound Tigers goalie Kristers Gudlevskis, heads from MODO (Sweden-Allsvenskan) to Fischtown (Germany-DEL).

C.J. Stretch leaves SC Bietigheim-Bissen (Germany-DEL 2) and heads down a level to Rosenheim (Germany Division-3).

The AHL to Euro list has grown to 25 as the semi-Swedish name of Axel Andersson going from San Diego to Djurgårdens IF (Sweden-Allsvenskan).

Expect more in the coming days.

HARTFORD WOLF PACK

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