HARTFORD WOLF PACK SEASON PREVIEW 2023-24 

By: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings

HARTFORD, CT – For the Hartford Wolf Pack, it’s a brand-new season and a new roster for the New York Rangers AHL affiliate, as six of nine forwards and four of six defensemen from last season’s team have departed.

And, while several of last year’s roster are gone, several remain, and there are a whole new slew of talented Wolf Pack to cheer for.

Last year’s jack-of-all-trades, Turner Elson, who played on every line, is back. “I’m willing to play every position,” Elson stated. “I don’t care what part of the lineup I’m playing in. I just want to be playing in the lineup, playing hard, and helping the team win.”

One of his new teammates, Alex Belzile, is someone he’s quite familiar dating back to his first pro season.

“Hockey is a small world. Belzile and I played in Alaska (for the now defunct Aces of the ECHL) 11 years ago. That’s how I know him, and Riley Nash (who played for the Charlotte Checkers last year). You know other people in the league they played with.”

Elson is jazzed about the new face of the Wolf Pack.

“The pace has been good, and I think the team will even be better than last year, a team that can push to a long playoff run. If we stay healthy and work hard, we’re gonna be a good team this year. I like the pieces we have here.

“We have (Brennan) Othmann, (Adam) Sýkora and (Adam) Edström. He’s one of the fastest 6’5 or 6’6 guys I’ve ever seen. With this group of younger players and the veteran crew, we should do well.”

Even he was shocked by the amount of lineup changes the team has had.

“I didn’t realize how many players had left, till the coach told us how many did leave. We added a lot of good pieces though like Belzile, and (Riley) Nash, and (Ben) Harpur, is down here now.”

Nash, a 13-year AHL veteran, is one of the newcomers. He’s comfortable in his own skin and aware of his role. He knows with the Wolf Pack what he will be counted on to bring to this team.

“It’s the nature of the business. Guys go up and down, get traded, there are always a lot of turnovers, and a lot of different people come in. You just have to figure out how to get that chemistry and find it as fast as possible.

“For a couple of years, the love of the game was teetering a little bit. You’re scrapping for minutes, trying to get into the lineup. You’re bouncing around a bit. I was with Tampa on one of their (Stanley) Cup runs (as a Black Ace). It was a pretty cool experience. I got a couple of kids now; you look at things through a different lens. I had my little guy around the rink the other day and last year. His natural love and joy, it’s not who won or lost, and he’s happy if I score.

“That’s cool to see that joy, to never lose that love. So, I’m just trying to get back that love of the game, competing and working hard, especially over the summer. I’m just trying to get back to trusting the process. A lot of people talk about it, but it’s difficult to do if the results aren’t coming. I see things in a different lens, and I don’t have a ton of years left. I just try to enjoy every minute and every day and not get discouraged.

“I was on an AHL deal, so I didn’t see a path to the NHL, so I was more than happy to go to Charlotte (last year). I enjoyed it there, and I felt I wasn’t done and still could contribute. That’s why I came here.”

He has expectations like every other player does, but tempered by his experiences.

“It’s gonna be a feeling out process because we have so much changeover from last year; we have to figure out systems like everybody else at this point of the season. The faster we do that, the better off we’ll be early in the season.

“I see my role like it was last year. I found my rhythm, so I expect to hopefully get the same results as here. I got power play time, so I hope to be counted on in big situations and to help the younger guys find their footing and direction, to know where to go to work on to get to the next level.”

The vagaries of hockey life showed and brought some of the tough side of the business of hockey.

“I once played a year (21-22) on five teams. I’ve been here longer than any of those teams, “Nash joked.

Nash’s older brother, Brendon, is now retired from playing. He skated with the Wolf Pack for half a season back in 2013-14. That makes five brother combinations who have played for the Wolf Pack, including the Bourque’s (Chris and Ryan), the Brodzinski’s (Jonny and Easton), and the St. Croix’s (Chris and Michael) in the regular season.

In preseason games, there have been three: the Byers (Dane and Cole), the Gernanders (Ken and his twin brothers Jim and Jerry), and the Parenteaus (P.A.’ Pierre-Alexandre and Guillaume).

Anton Blidh looked to be in mid-season form on Saturday afternoon. He knows his wheelhouse is at the net front, and the veteran core will be as important and was already a presence on the ice. He has a keen appreciation of this team early.

“We have a lot of new players, older guys like Nash and Belzile, Blidh said. “I like the leadership of this team that will push the younger guys to play hard and play better. I’m really excited for this group. That’s why I tell the (younger) players whether it’s preseason, or game 42, or the first playoff game. I want to show them to work hard every day.”

After he got off to a slow start with the Colorado Eagles, Blidh was moved to the Wolf Pack in a return to the Atlantic Division. He played very well for Hartford and was rewarded by the Rangers with his being re-signed to a two-year deal after last season.

Blidh noted a difference between playing in the Eastern and Western conferences. “It’s more skill-wise (in the Eastern Conference). The Western (conference) is a little bit slower. It’s faster, harder hockey (out East). That’s more my play style,” remarked Blidh.

Captain Jonny Brodzinski returns as a young father of two daughters and was among the last cuts in the Rangers training camp.

“The girls are doing fine. I’ve got one four-year-old, now nine months, who’s just crawling. I spent two months without them. They and my wife just got here yesterday (Monday). I’ve been a bachelor in training camp (in New York).

Despite personal frustrations, he is focused on the task at hand as the AHL 72-game regular season commences.

“It’s an easy adjustment, it’s been my whole career that I have been a fringe, bubble guy. I have been one of the last guys cut the last few years, it always sucks, you never really get used to it but, the transition is very easy (NHL to AHL) especially being the captain the majority of last year. We have some familiar faces and some new ones. The transition and re-adjustment hasn’t been too difficult.”

His early impressions are good.

“The locker room already has been pretty cohesive. We have pretty much the same core group, that helps a lot with me, Turner, and Jake (Leschyshyn) are back it makes it lot easier for the younger guys, to pick our brains. (On defense) Harps (Ben Harpur) is back and taking over the D (defense) a good group of veterans with some fast group of young forwards.”

That group of kids at forward has caught his eye early.

“They’re hungry, want to learn, and get better every day. We had four or five goals in a scrimmage game, and Adam Sýkora celebrated every one of them. He’s very excited and can’t wait to get the year going. He’s going to be on the power play (at times). He’s picking our brains, wanting to take that next step forward,” said the captain.

It all starts in Providence on Friday.

NOTES:

Early on, the team is working on two-on-one situations and breakouts as part of its early season preparation.

Drew Worrad and Zach Berzolla were re-assigned to Cincinnati mid-week.

The Brodzinski playing hockey clan of Ham Lake, MN, is still active.

Easton signed in Jacksonville (ECHL), and Bryce is a super senior (his COVID year) at the University of Minnesota-Duluth (NCHC). Michael, an ex-Pack of three games, retired from hockey and is in a non-hockey post-playing career in finance in Minnesota.

After just seven games with HC Plzeň (Czechia-CEL), ex-Pack Luke Adam heads across the border to sign and play for H.C. Banska Bystrica (Slovakia-SLEL).

Ex-Sound Tiger David Ullstrom was playing with ERC Schwenniger (Germany-DEL) and has retired.

The Huskies’ all-time assists leader, Jachym Kondelik (UCONN), heads back home to Czechia to play with H.C. Motor České Budějovice (CEL) rather than go back to Milwaukee Admirals (AHL). He is in the second year of a two-year ELC deal. UCONN opens its home schedule at the tiny Toscano Famy Ice Forun against AIC (Springfield, MA) (AHA) in a pair of non-conference meetings this weekend.

He spent four years at UCONN (HE) after being the top pick in the CHL Import Draft by the Sudbury Wolves (OHL).

The Huskies gained a recruit in a left-handed shooting, 6’5, 200-pound rearguard, Brendan Dunphy (San Diego, CA), who played with the Langley Rivermen (BCHL) for 2025-26.

Easton Armstrong, the youngest son of Wolf Pack great Derek Armstrong, was off to a blazing start in his fourth and last WHL season on Monday, named the third WHL Player of the Week. He had nine points in four games coming off a training camp invite by the L.A. Kings for the LA-born 6’3 forward on Monday before being traded on Tuesday.

The Wenatchee (W.A.) Wild moved him in a one-for-three deal to the Saskatoon Blades. He went in a trade for Washington State native Spencer Shugrue and two WHL draft picks. He is now the Blades’ third overage player, the max allowed by the league. It’s his fourth WHL team in two years.

Armstrong played his first game for them on the road on Wednesday in Edmonton against the Edmonton Oil Kings. He scored a goal and was a plus-2 in a 7-0 win.

Wenatchee was coming off its suspension for the rest of the year for its head coach, former NHL coach Kevin Constantine, for violating the WHL Code of Conduct.

HARTFORD WOLF PACK

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