BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings
CROMWELL, CT – For Derek Pratt, it’s nice to start your first pro camp in familiar territory.
The two-time captain and of the UCONN Huskies had to go just about 15-feet from his former locker room to enter the Hartford Wolf Pack locker room.
“It’s funny how things work sometimes. It literally helps to be around familiar surroundings as opposed to a completely different environment and just taking advantage of the opportunity. For me, it has worked out so far.”
Pratt is among ten graduates of last year’s Huskies team and seven that have taken their first steps in pro hockey in a lot of different AHL and ECHL locations. Joseph Masonius and Johnny Austin are in Wilkes Barre/Scranton with the Penguins. Jesse Schwartz is with the Maine Mariners. Spencer Naas is with the Texas Stars. Dallas Drake found residence with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms and Max Letunov is in San Jose with the Barracuda.
“I was sure to take a picture in front of the wall (the team photo just outside the locker room) and send it to the boys,” Pratt said with a wide smile.
Pratt signed an ECHL deal with the New York Rangers new affiliation with the Maine Mariners. The team resurrected their original AHL name, but with a new logo. For Pratt, a New England hockey product its fitting perfect.
“It’s nice to have a team in Maine and getting a chance at being in an AHL camp before I go there really helps getting adjusted. Going to Traverse City really helped. We played against some elite talent and it was a big plus for me with my confidence and wherever I wind up its all good for me,” Pratt, a defenseman who has played primarily his left side.
It was a baptism of fire for Pratt.
“You learn real quickly it’s a grind. Guys are on you all night. You can’t take a night off. You’re always being evaluated. It’s all the (hockey) clichés; learning about being a professional, playing every night, training regimen, and they’re all true.”
His time spent with the Pack in Traverse City and training camp left a very solid impression on Wolf Pack head coach, Keith McCambridge.
“Real good impression. He played for us in Traverse City. He’s a good, puck-moving defenseman, and has a lot of physicality in his game. He’s done a lot of good things so far.”
He’s also picked up tips already from assistant coach, Joe Mormina
“They helped me out with checks in the corner; how to stick handle with one hand on your stick, and a lot of small technique plays.“
A big part of his hockey pedigree comes from his Dad, Tom Pratt, a former pro defenseman who played for the New Haven Nighthawks and has been able to help him prepare for his first pro camp.
“It’s nice to test him about some things and he has been through a few American (Hockey) League camps in his time. He knows what it takes. Like I said before, it’s the things you can control. It’s what he has stressed to me. He was my coach for a long time in minor hockey and he taught me a work ethic and doing the extra things,” Pratt said.
His father coached him at Northfield, Mt. Hermon for many years and has moved on to a non-hockey position for a few years at Kimball Union Academy in New Hampshire.
The difference from college to the pros has taught Pratt many things quickly.
“There’s a lot more question marks. There’s a lot of things out of my control. I can control showing up to the rink and doing the best I can. In college its structure.”
From establishing his first skate cuts in Hockey East at UCONN was something that Pratt has enormous pride in.
“Guys in the locker room have asked me what the UCONN program is like. I tell them from our first home game (a 1-0 win over BC) to last year battling BU hard, the program has come a very long way. It was extremely rewarding and all ten seniors can be so proud of it where the program has gone and the apart they had in it. We had a very good senior class, and coach Cavanaugh and the staff had a phrase, ‘We’re developing men for success, not just in the rink or on the ice, but on the outside for life.”
The “C” he wore spoke a lot to his character, but as a rookie, the question comes in how to translate that when nothing is stitched into the upper left part of the jersey.
“For me, I’m more vocal having been in the role. That helps a lot on ice to keep communication going. It’s all a new learning process.”
For Pratt, the summertime allowed him to finish out the last of his educational needs to receive his degree in Sports Management at UCONN and for the off-ice summer training.
“I took care of my internship and was able to train in Hooksett, New Hampshire, where I played my senior year in high school with the Junior Monarchs (Eastern Hockey league) and was able to kill two birds with one stone, so it worked out just right for me.”
NOTES:
The Wolf Pack’s lone exhibition game is Saturday at Koeppel Community Center rink at Trinity College against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers.
In lieu of admission, a minimum donation of $5 is requested for the Wolf Pack Ryan Gordon Scholarship Fund in the main lobby of the arena, the home of the Trinity College Bantams (NECSAC).
In the last two days, the Rangers have finally assigned a bulk of their potential opening night lineup
Seven forwards, which surprisingly includes the Rangers first round pick (7th overall), Swedish-born, Lias Andersson, who had a strong camp in New York. The others sent to Hartford, include the third-year pro, Steven Fogarty, leading scorer, Cole Schneider in his second year of a two-year deal and like Pratt, a UCONN alumnus. Finnish rookie, Ville Meskanen, and veteran Peter Holland, who played well with the Wolf Pack in 18 games before a recall to New York.
The first two assigned were the veteran, Bobby Butler, who will take one of the vet slots and signed to a summertime AHL deal, former BU Terrier Drew Melanson.
Defense is where the parent Rangers had a tremendous logjam that included Czech rookie, Libor Hajek, prized-prosect, Ryan Lindgren, Swedish rookie, Michael Lindqvist, and one-time Yale Bulldog, Rob O’Gara. They have all been assigned by the Rangers to the Hartford Wolf Pack.
A bit of a surprise was Chris Bigras, who had a very good camp in New York. There are also two veteran goalies in Slovak, Marek Mazanec, and Dustin Tokarski.
Schneider, Bigras, Holland, Mazanec, and Tokarski had to go through waivers before they were officially assigned to the Wolf Pack.
The Rangers have 26 players remaining on their roster, including three injured players likely destined for Hartford : Matt Beleskey (separated shoulder), Brandon Crawley (undisclosed), and Boo Nieves (concussion protocol).
On Thursday, the Rangers shipped back second-year forwards, Ryan Gropp, Gabriel Fontaine, rookie Tim Gettinger, and defenseman John Gilmour, who was recalled after 57 games last year and was the Wolf Pack lone AHL All Star representative last season.
Other hockey news of note, a pair of ex-Wolf Pack players, in Scott Kosmachuk, and Ryan Graves were assigned by the Colorado Avalanche to their AHL team the Colorado Eagles.
Ex-Pack Al Montoya was put on waivers by Edmonton with the intention of sending him to the Bakersfield Condors.
Wade Megan (Salisbury Prep) and ex-Pack and Sound Tiger, Matt Ford, were assigned to Grand Rapids.
Jansen Harkins, the son of ex-Whaler Todd Harkins, was assigned to Manitoba.
Sam Anas (Quinnipiac University) was sent to Iowa.
The Maine Mariners traded Mitch Jones, the son of former New Haven Nighthawk, Brad Jones, to the Cincinnati Cyclones for future considerations.
Eric Hartzell (Quinnipiac University), a former big goalie star, is in camp with Wichita (ECHL).
Aidan Muir of Western Michigan (NCHC) heads to Ft. Wayne Komets (ECHL) camp, while Filip Starzynski of Northern Michigan (NCHC) signed a tryout with Norfolf (ECHL). That makes 207 Division I players to sign North American pro deals. 271 total college players have signed pro deals in North America, Europe, or transferred to a Canadian college.
