RUSSIAN REVOLUTION
VERSUS With under five minutes to go in the game Friday night and the Connecticut Whale trailing 0-2, some of the 5,862 fans at the XL Center began filing out of the building…wonder how they feel now after the home team scored two goals in 1:13 to tie…
VALIQUETTE, A GIANT AMONG MEN AND NOT JUST IN GOAL
There are certain people that you meet over the course of your life that just leave an indelible impression upon you…Steve Valiquette is one of those people. “Vali,” is a 13-year pro who has played for several teams and at just about every level of…
FROM THE CREASE with Bruce Berlet
By Bruce Berlet After two deflating seasons on Broadway fraught with boos and negative press, no one could have blamed Wade Redden for exiting the NHL stage left for more pleasant endeavors like the impending birth of his first child. But chats with…
FROM THE CREASE with Bruce Berlet
By Bruce Berlet Connecticut Whale rookie goalie Cam Talbot paid defenseman Pavel Valentenko quite the compliment Sunday. “He blocks shots so well it’s like having three goalies,” Talbot said after watching Valentenko doing plenty of just such dirty work…
FROM THE CREASE with Bruce Berlet
By Bruce Berlet As the pressure mounts as the playoffs approach, players and teams can buckle or get stronger late in games. The latter has been the Connecticut Whale’s MO the past few weeks. Despite still having five players injured and two on recall to…
WHALE WEEKLY: March 21-27, 2011
The Whale (36-26-2-6, 80 pts.) improved to a season-best ten games over .500 by sweeping last week’s action with a perfect three-game slate. The Whale defeated the Manchester Monarchs, 1-0, on the road Friday night, before returning to the XL Center for…
FROM THE CREASE with Bruce Berlet
By Bruce Berlet Their similarities are almost eerie. Both grew up learning to skate and play hockey in Ontario, Canada. Both played for winning teams in Triple-A and the Ontario Hockey League. Both played for three OHL teams and stayed with the same…
VARSITY AND JV BOTH WIN
VERSUS Saturday hosted one of those rare nights where both the NHL and their AHL affiliates would squared off on the same day. The AHL Connecticut Whale did their part with a 4-2 victory, their fifth in seven tries, against the Worcester Sharks. After…
FROM THE CREASE with Bruce Berlet
By Bruce Berlet Bruce Landon has known Howard Baldwin for nearly four decades. When Landon wasn’t tending goal for Baldwin’s New England Whalers for parts of their first five seasons in the World Hockey Association, he was playing mostly in Springfield,…
FROM THE CREASE with Bruce Berlet
By Bruce Berlet It was a doubly good Tuesday for Connecticut Whale center Francis Lemieux. Lemieux was released from his second professional tryout contract and signed to an AHL deal before being among the 22 players on the Whale’s Clear Day list.…