WOLF PACK START WEEKEND WITH LOSS IN SYRACUSE 

By: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings

SYRACUSE, NY – The Hartford Wolf Pack dropped the opener of a rare back-to-back home-and-home series with the Syracuse Crunch 5-3 on the back of a dominant 8-point performance from the line of Gabriel Dumont (two goals and two assists), ex-Pack Daniel Walcott (two goals and an assist) and Maxim Grosov (one goal).

Syracuse scored first in the decisive third period.

Dumont passed it to the weak side. Walcott had gotten behind the defensive coverage and fired the puck at starting goalie Dylan Garand. The Pack netminder got a piece of it, but not enough to keep it out of the net. For Dumont, it was his second goal of the contest and eighth tally of the year. The goal came at 3:21 and gave the Crunch a temporary lead.

At 6:30, Devante Stephens of the Crunch was sent to the penalty box for a High Sticking. It took the Pack and Captain Jonny Brodzinski only 22 seconds to cash in on good puck movement on its fluid power play and put the puck past ex-Pack and starting Crunch netminder Brandon Halverson.

The goal was Brodzinski’s second power play goal of the night and almost identical to his goal in the first period. Brodzinski was in the left-wing circle and took a Matt Robertson pass to score his tenth of the season.

Dumont answered for the Crunch at 13:23. Taking advantage of Shawn Element screening Garand, Dumont wheeled into the left wing circle, fired into the net, and restored the Crunch lead.

BUILDING THE LEAD

The Crunch was not finished.

Walcott was behind the Pack net and found an open seam to get the puck to Dumont in front. At 18:34, Dumont snapped in his second of the night to make it a 5-3 Crunch lead.

Walcott tallied the second period’s only goal as he tipped a Philippe Myers shot from the right point, corralled the rebound, and put a shot on goal. Garand didn’t get enough of the puck to keep it out at 10:25, giving Walcott his seventh goal.

Crunch controlled play in the first half of the period, getting strong play from Dumont. Gage Goncalves redirected a puck just three minutes into the period and was able to corral the rebound, but it hit the side of the net.

Prized rookie Brennan Othmann was stopped on the Pack’s third power play before Syracuse’s Mitchell Chaffe was denied just before the Crunch tied it up.

FIRST PERIOD

In the first period, the Crunch scored at 9:32.

Groshov continued his early season scoring surge after taking a pass from Dumont and Declan Carlile. He slipped behind his check in the left-wing circle and tallied his eighth of the season, going stick side and high to the short side.

The Pack thought they had tied it at 12:20 as Halverson stopped Anton Blidh from in front of the net. It looked like Blidh had jammed it home, but the referee waived it off.

However, the Pack tied the score at 13:05 on the team’s red-hot power play, registering the goal two seconds into their man advantage. Riley Nash won the draw and sent the puck back to Robertson. He then shuffled it over to Brodzinski, who lasered it over Halverson’s glove hand.

The Wolf Pack took the lead at 17:37.

Matt Rempe carried the puck behind the Crunch net and shielded the puck with his 6’8 frame before finding Blake Hillam coming down off the left point. Hillam shot toward the net, which went off Blidh’s leg in front, giving him his third goal.

Two goals in 4:32 changed the early complexion of the game.

The two teams will leave Syracuse and return to Hartford for a Saturday night tilt at the XL Center at 7 pm. 

LINES:

Henriksson – Blidh – Sýkora
Belzile – Brodzinski – Othmann
Edström – Nash – Berard
Rempe – Korczak – Turner Elson

Hillman – Brouillard
Robertson – Scanlin
Berzolla – Cairns

Dylan Garand
Louie Domingue

SCRATCHES:

D Ben Harpur (upper body, injury upgraded to month to month)
D Mac Hollowell (upper body, day-to-day)
F Jake Leschyshyn (upper body, week-to-week)
F Bobby Trivigno (healthy)
D Grant Gabriele (healthy)
F Drew Worrad (not in residence).

NOTES:

Syracuse is now led by ex-Pack/Bridgeport Sound Tiger Joël Bouchard. He was hired by the Crunch this past summer and has faced the Pack previously as a head coach when he was the bench boss with the Laval Rocket.

The New York Rangers recalled Connor Mackey after 5 pm.

Center Matej Pekar was called up but returned to the Pack’s ECHL affiliate, the Cincinnati Cyclones, before departing for upstate New York.

The Wolf Pack signed 6’2, 195lb defenseman Grant Gabriele to a Professional Try Out (PTO). The right-handed shooter comes via the Toledo Walleye (ECHL), who are atop the ECHL Central Division, as it appears that Ben Harpur and Mac Hollowell will be out a considerable length of time.

Gabriele played seven games, registering five assists, and had a one-game recall with the Rochester Americans, where he went scoreless. He comes from Ohio State (Big 10) as a four-year starter from Brighton, MI. He played with the Maine Mariners (ECHL) last season.

UCONN

The UCONN Huskies (HE) (3-3-0-1 HEA, 5-6-1-0 overall) have a home-and-home this weekend with the #4 Boston College Eagles (2-1-1-0 HEA, 7-2-1-0 overall). They are tied for fifth place in Hockey East, and the Huskies, Merrimack, and Vermont each have eight points. The two teams will tango on Friday in Chestnut Hill and then again on Saturday at the Toscano Family Ice Forum.

Wisconsin (Big 10) is the new #1 in the nation.

BC won 5-4 in overtime as Cutter Gauthier tallied two goals and an assist.

COLLEGE KIDS

Four players: two Connecticut High School-aged kids, a third who played junior in Danbury, and a fourth is a Quinnipiac University commit from the Powell Rowell River Kings (BCHL).

Junior age Alexis Van Houtte-Cachero, 20, played for the Danbury Jr. Hat Tricks (NAHL). In his third and last season of junior A hockey in Canada season, in fifteen games, he recorded 14 points and headed off to the Sioux City Musketeers (USHL). He is committed to the University Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks (NCHC) for next year.

Goalie William Baker (Norwalk) and forward Brendan Giles (Ridgefield) have left them the famed Mid-Fairfield Rangers program’s U-18 AAA team and will play this year for Greenwich, Connecticut’s Brunswick Prep School this winter. Neither player has collegiately committed yet.

Two teammates at Brunswick include Luke Drury, the son of the Rangers’ President and General Manager Chris Drury (Trumbull). He’s also the nephew of ex-Hartford Whaler Ted Drury. He is a Salmon Arm (BCHL) commit for next year and Brown University (ECACHL) in two years.

Ryan St. Louis, the son of Montreal Canadiens Head Coach and former Ranger Marty St. Louis, is Harvard University (ECACHL) bound next year and will play for ex-Pack/Bridgeport Sound Tiger Ted Donato.

The last player, Noah Eyre, has committed to Quinnipiac University (ECACHL) for next year. He is another product of the Shattuck St. Mary’s program.

Joseph Sciabarra, from Kent School and the Yale Jr. Bulldogs, goes Division III to Johnson & Wales (RI) (NEHC).

Jonathan Brown commits to Yale University (ECACHL) for 2025-26 from nearby (Scarsdale, NY). He also plays with the famed Shattuck St. Mary’s but for their U-16 team (Faribault, MN). He played youth hockey with the Mid-Fairfield U-13 team a few years back. He already holds three passports: a US, a British, and one from France.

He will be in junior hockey or a Connecticut prep school next year. He’ll be with Yale for hockey and admission purposes. His younger brother Ben is with Hotchkiss Prep (Washington, CT).

The new prep school hockey season is about to get underway. The Loomis Chaffe School (Windsor, CT) has a new assistant coach. He is an ex-Wolf Pack, Islander/Sound Tiger, and Springfield Thunderbird/Falcon. He is the recently retired Paul Thompson from the Springfield, Massachusetts, area. The team opens on November 30th against Brunswick School Bruins.

HARTFORD WOLF PACK

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