By: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings
HARTFORD, CT – Time once again to empty the Howlings Reporter’s Notebook. The New York Rangers have their new head coach Peter Laviolette in place, and the Wolf Pack have Kris Knoblauch in Hartford set for his fifth year.
Joining Laviolette’s staff is one-time Yale/Sacred Heat University assistant coach Dan Muse, who has been steadily climbing the ladder to this spot.
Last year Muse coached the US National Development team in the USHL and worked with the Nashville Predators when Laviolette was head coach as head coach of the Chicago Steele (USHL), where he won the championship.
Muse was the head coach of the US’s U-18 gold medal-winning team this past spring and played at Stonehill College when they were a Division III program.
The Rangers signed defenseman Zac Jones to a two-year, one-way deal at a cap-friendly price tag of $800K / $825K-NHL.
Jones is likely being given a shot to make the Rangers’ third pair to play with Braden Schneider. He’ll compete for that spot with Ben Harpur, who earned the spot and the last available contract last year.
The Hershey Bears won the Calder Cup in overtime over the Coachella Valley Firebirds at 16:19, 3-2, in the last North American hockey of the season played in the California desert at the Acriusre Arena. The Jack Butterfield Playoff MVP was Hunter Shepard, who helped knock off the Wolf Pack in the Atlantic Division conference title last month.
The Hershey Bears won their 12th title in the 75 years of the franchise. Mark Vecchione scored the first Game 7 overtime winner in the Bears’ long, illustrious history overcoming a 2-0 deficit and an early OT PK situation.
Henrik Borgstrom didn’t play in their opening playoff series against the Charlotte Checkers. He stepped in when Mike Sgarbossa went down with a season-ending injury. He had strong right-wing corner puck possession, won a one-on-one battle with the Firebirds’ Ryker Evans, and flipped it out in front.
It was the second overtime winner in the last 70 years of the AHL. The Firebirds sought to become the first AHL expansion team since the Texas Stars in 2010 and just the third in league history to do so.
Ex-Pack and Hershey team captain, Dylan McIlrath, with his daughter ice-side, getting a kiss from Daddy with the Calder Cup in his hands, won his second Calder Cup title in his career and handed it off to ex-Sound Tiger Aaron Ness.
Other CT connections winners for Hershey were former Yale Bulldog Joe Snively and Quinnipiac University Bobcat alum San Anas, who lost in last year’s final as a member of the Springfield Thunderbirds.
Ex-Pack Stu Bickel, assistant coach for Coachella Valley for a second year in a row, came up short last year in Springfield with Anas. So did ex-Yale John Hayden and QU Brogan Rafferty.
Hershey head coach Todd Nelson completed his piece of Calder Cup history as he has now won two titles as a head coach, assistant coach, and player. This summer, he will be strongly considered for an NHL coaching opening.
Ex-Pack Steven Kampfer signed a one-year, two-way deal with the Arizona Coyotes, who acquired him at the trade deadline spending it in Tucson. The value is $775K-NHL/$225K-AHL.
Mathieu Olivier, the son of former New Haven Knights Simon, signed a two-year, one-way deal with Columbus for $1.1M per year.
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