HARTFORD WOLF PACK PREPARE FOR HERSHEY AND CHARLOTTE (10/27)
By: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings
HARTFORD, CT – The AHL early season either features hot or tough play. The Hartford Wolf Pack, who currently have been on the wrong side of the ledger, will have two weekend home games Friday with the Hershey Bears and Saturday with the Charlotte Checkers at the XL Center.
The Pack needs to get and play with the lead, which they haven’t had in any of their four games. Constantly playing from behind is not a recipe for sustainable success.
The Pack has seen its first big lineup loss as Julien Gauthier, who played well in a 3-0 loss to the Bridgeport Islanders on Wednesday night, was recalled to the New York Rangers to fill in for the injured Vitali Kravtsov.
Gauthier has to play ten games or thirty days, per the CBA, before he will have to be exposed to waivers. Expect that they will take all of that by then. No set standard replacement on the line with Jonny Brodzinski and Will Cuylle.
The likely trio of Bobby Trivigno, Austin Rueschhoff, or all scratched on Sunday will likely be there. At this week’s practice sessions, Knoblauch moved players around to jumpstart the team’s offense looking to get another full line for secondary scoring.
On the backline on Thursday, Ben Harpur, the very last player signed in training camp for the Wolf Pack, was rewarded with a one-way NHL deal with the lucky last contract for the NHL minimum of $750K-NHL for this year, but once signed as per the CBA he must be exposed again on waivers but is expected in the lineup Friday against Hershey.
The Pack will likely go with veteran Louie Domingue in net, whose sterling play has gotten them the only two points they have, and then will see Dylan Garand on Saturday against Charlotte
NOTES:
Leading Hershey will be their captain, ex-Pack Dylan McIlrath, and new teammate for QU Bobcat Sam Anas.
Mark Kastelic, the son of former Hartford Whaler Ed Kastelic, signs a one-year extension of his Entry Level Contract with the Ottawa Senators.
Simon Robertsson, son of ex-Pack Bert Robertsson and a St. Louis Blues draftee, was loaned over in Sweden by Skellefteå AIK (Sweden-SHL) to Piteå HC (Sweden-HockeyEttan).
Brendan Less (QU) signs with the Iowa Wild (ECHL), and Brad Morrison, the nephew of current Manitoba Moose head coach and one-time New Haven Nighthawk Mark Morrison, signs with HK Nitra (Slovakia-SLEL).
Ex-Sound Tiger Christopher Gibson, like Harpur, signs for NHL minimum with the Seattle Kraken and will be heading to the Coachella Valley Firebirds and Kieffer Bellows, now an ex-Sound Tiger as he was taken off the waiver wire by Philadelphia.
Ex-Sound Tiger David Ullström signs an extension with ERC Schwenniger (Germany-DEL).
Ex-Pack of last season for three games last season, Jacob Hayhurst is recalled from Worcester Railers (ECHL) by the Springfield Thunderbirds.
Strauss Mann (Greenwich/Brunswick School) heads from the San Jose Barracuda (AHL) to the Wichita Thunder (ECHL).
Émile Poirier was supposed to go to the Laval Rocket but heads back to Europe with the Iserlohn Roosters (Germany-DEL).
Brendan Dumas commits to Sacred Heart University (AHA) from the New Jersey Jr Titans (NAHL) and Ronan Walsh, the son of a former Springfield Indian, commits to UNH (HE) from Aberdeen (NAHL).
