By: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings

HARTFORD, CT – The Hartford Wolf Pack entered the third period down two goals but scored four times to win dramatically, 6-4, over the Providence Bruins at the XL Center on Wednesday night.

“It was a win-by-committee tonight,” Wolf Pack Interim Head Coach Steve Smith said after the game. “The guys were pretty resilient. We didn’t start well. I saw a hungry group, and we did a way better job getting pucks in deep and chasing them down. We talked about it before, and sometimes it goes in one ear and out the other. In the third period, a lot of guys brought into it.”

Alex Bezile scored the game-winner, his second goal of the contest and seventh of the season, on a late power play just seconds into the opportunity. Adam Edström added an empty netter to seal the win.

Belzile was in front of the net and took a pass from Mac Hallowell, showed patience with an open net, and buried it past Providence goalie Michael DiPietro, who scrambled to get back in position and, in the process knocked the net off its moorings. A review was called for while the crowd continued to celebrate.

There hasn’t been this kind of energy in the XL Center for a Pack win over the Bruins since May 2015, when Chris Mueller won a game late.

“It’s what Alex Belzile has done for us all year so far. He has been a calming influence with young players and with puck on the ice and he has been a real pro. He’s almost a coach on the ice. He’s always talking, after shifts. He showed a lot poise. If the net got (partially knocked off). I was happy for him to get one (game winner),” said Smith.

THIRD PERIOD

After the Bruins potted three goals in the second to take a 4-2 lead, the Pack came out of their locker room with fire and outshot them eight-to-zero. Their increased effort had the Bruins on their heels, and the Pack earned a critical 39-second five-on-three power play in the middle of the period. Dan Ranouf put the Bruins a player short with a tripping call at 7:16, followed by Michael Callahan joining him in the penalty box when he was called for hooking at 8:37.

The Callahan call came after Nikolas Brouillard had a solid rush up the ice and split the two defenders going forehand-to-backhand and hitting the side of the net before the ref blew the whistle and gave the Pack a two-man advantage.

Smith took a propitious timeout, and assistant coach Jamie Tardif drew up the play.

“Jamie, drew something up for us. I felt at that time Jonny’s line had just been out there. They were a little tired. I took the timeout, told Jaimie tell them to take a breath. Jamie, drew something up for them and it worked. Soon after the faceoff, we were able to capitalize on it, “Smith said.

It took just 14 seconds for Belzile to score on the two-man advantage at 8:51. He tipped in a Jonny Brodzinski’s pass in front of the net for his sixth goal of the season, cutting the Pack deficit in half.

Brodzinski, the Pack Captain, was leading his team throughout the game but really stood out in the third frame.

“Ask him to hit, he’ll do that. Ask him to score a goal he does that. He’s good on special teams. That’s why he’s our leader here,” Smith stated.

The power play, near the bottom of the league and such an issue for the team last season, has continually improved this season.

“Guys communicate well, and Jamie is doing a great job with them, and they’re buying into what he’s selling. We work on special teams every week.”

PACK TIES THE GAME

The Pack tied the game when Brodzinski received the puck from Hollowell in his zone and raced out. He saw rookie Brennan Othamann had gotten a step on the Bruins defenseman Jakub Zrobil.

Brodzinski fired the puck off the left-wing center ice boards and, like a five-ball side-pocket shot, caught Othmann in full flight.

Othmann corralled in the puck on its edge and about to slip off his stick. He settled it down and put it past DiPietro through the five-hole for his third goal of the season at 12:15.

“I had tried that (move) a couple of times. I have been unlucky of late. I was able to get a handle on it and tuck it five-hole. I was really glad that it went in. It took some weight off my shoulders. I’m really glad we came out and found a way to win,” a smiling Othman said of his first goal since opening weekend.

“I felt like I had the step on the D (defense). Jonny is a top 5 player in the American (Hockey) League. I have a lot respect for him and he make an outstanding pass. I just tried to bury it the best I could,” Othmann said.

Smith had praise for the rookie. “He’s a natural goal scorer, and it has been a bit of a dry spell for him lately, and the entire bench was pretty happy for him. Watching a smile on his face and helped put smiles on everybody else’s faces.”

Othmann reflected on the Pack’s slow start.

“We didn’t play up to our standards for as good a team that we have and the veterans that we have. Providence is a good team, but we never gave up,” commented Othmann.

SECOND PERIOD

In the second period, the Pack started fast.

The Pack got two shots just seconds apart. The first came from Anton Blidh and then Karl Henriksson.

Othmann then got the puck in deep. Bezile retrieved it before he saw Brodzinski come into the left-wing circle. He sent the puck to Brodzinski, who took the puck at the faceoff dot and rifled in his 11th of the season past DiPietro at 1:46. It gave the Pack a short-lived 2-1 lead.

A turnover in their zone led to a quick two-on-one as Reilly Walsh took the puck and found John Farinacci on the left wing to turn it into a two-on-one rush. Farinacci passed to Luke Toporowski in the right-wing circle, and he uncorked a rocket past Pack starter Dylan Garand at 3:58 to knot the game at two goals each.

The game was played evenly until the Bruins scored twice 40 seconds apart to break it open.

Callahan scored the first while in traffic in front of Garand. He fired his shot off the far post for his first goal of the season at 14:53, taking advantage of work by Trevor Kuntar and Joey Abate to set the play in motion.

The Pack struggled to get the puck out of their zone, which led to the fourth goal.

Frederic Brunett intercepted a pass and got it over to Trevor Kuntar at the right side of the net about ten feet out. Garand saved it but left a rebound for Abate to quickly put into the net for his fourth on the season.

“They’re the best .500 team we’ve seen all year so far. They’re big, tough, strong, fast, and have two of the better goaltenders in the league. We had a really difficult time scoring against them the last two or three years. We got bodies to the net,” Smith stated. “We gave them some chances early in the game and gave them less later in the game. When the game was on the line, guys shut things down.”

FIRST PERIOD

The Bruins struck first and fast in the first period.

Renouf intercepted the puck at center ice and sent it into the right-wing corner to Farinacci. He spotted an unchecked, wide-open in front, Marc MacLaughlin, who buried his second goal of the campaign past Garand just 30 seconds into the game.

Hollowell’s return to action paid big dividends as he got the puck from Adam Sýkora, danced off the right-wing point, and gave it to Henriksson on the left side. Henriksson potted his fourth of the season and gave the Pack momentum heading into the locker room as the goal came with just 2.7 seconds remaining.

The Pack return to action on Friday when they host the Belleville Senators at the XL Center.

LINES:

Karl Henriksson-Anton Blidh-Adam Sýkora
Alex Belzile-Riley Nash-Brennan Othmann
Adam Edström-Jonny Brodzinski-Brett Berard
Matt Rempe-Ryder Korczak- Bobby Trivigno

Nikolas Brouillard-Matt Cairns
Brandon Scanlin-Mac Hollowell
Zach Berzolla-Matt Robertson

Dylan Garand
Louie Domingue

SCRATCHES:

D Ben Harpur (Upper-Body, Month-to-Month)
F Jake Leschyshyn (Upper-Body, Week-to-Week)
F Turner Elson (Healthy)
D Grant Gabriele (Healthy)
D Blake Hillman (Healthy)
F Drew Worrad (Not in residence).

NOTES:

Harpur’s upper-body injury has been upgraded to month-to-month. Other media outlets are reporting that he had surgery and that his season is over. The team and organization say multiple months but have not yet thrown the white flag on the season.

The Wolf Pack executed a minor deal with ECHL implications. Tim Doherty was acquired from the Chicago Wolves and played with the Maine Mariners (ECHL). He led the Mariners in scoring (21 goals and 73 points) last season. He was assigned to the organization’s ECHL affiliates, the Cincinnati Cyclones.

Doherty, from Portsmouth, Rhode Island, played his prep-school hockey at St. George’s Prep (RIPREP)  and for BC collegiately.

His cousins are the Quinn brothers, Jack and Luke in New Jersey, the youngest Hughes. Quinton is captain of the Vancouver Canucks.

Former Wolf Pack C.J. Smith, who they lost after just 21 games last season to a hip flexor/groin problem that required surgery, has signed with JYP Jyväskylä (Finland-FEL). That makes him the 104th AHL’er from last season to sign in Europe and the 17th to go to Finland. Only Sweden has more, with 37.

24 of the 30 players from last year’s Wolf Pack roster are now skating elsewhere in North America and Europe, a record. The other three are part of the organization skating in Cincinnati (ECHL), two are with the Rangers, and one is out of hockey.

The post-Kris Knoblauch bump in Edmonton is over with two straight losses. They blew a 2-0 lead in Florida against the Panthers on Monday. Don’t be surprised if a Wolf Pack player or two winds up in Edmonton at some point.

Two sons of the Hartford Whalers from the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins were recalled. Alexander Nylander  (Mikael Nylander was also an ex-New York Ranger) and Jansen Harkins (Todd Harkins) were recalled by the parent Pittsburgh Penguins.

Ex-CT Whale, now a P-Bruin, Jayson Megna, made a big switch in the off-season. After he thought Colorado would be his home and signed there with his parents in Boston, they can see their 2½-year-old granddaughter no more often living 50 minutes away.

Megna’s brother Jaycob, after having career minutes of playing time in San Jose, where he was playing 23 minutes a game, is now sitting in the press box.

MAXIM BARBASHEV

The unsigned Rangers’ fifth-round draft pick, Maxim Barbashev, who played in Wolf Pack pre-season games and was in Pack training camp, was traded yet again. He is Ivan’s younger brother (Vegas-NHL). He had nine points in 15 games and was traded from the Western Conference’s Shawinigan Cataractes (QMJHL), who are in sixth place, to the fourth-place Eastern conference Rimouski Oceanic. He gets traded for a right-handed shooting right winger from Czechia (Czech Republic), Jan Sprynar.

It’s Barbashev’s third QMJHL team in less than a year.

A veteran QMJHL scout opined on Barbashev.

“(He’s) a strong player – a bull in a china shop. He can make plays but is inconsistent, and (he has) some holes in his game, like any young player. He teases you with a lot of his game, and that’s where you see the inconsistency. I saw him in one game this season. He had two points in his first five shifts-then nothing the rest of the night.”

After 14 games with the Rapid City Rush (ECHL), the Tucson Roadrunners signed ex-Pack Tyson Helgesen to a PTO deal. His brother, Kenton, is on that team as well.

Mike Holland of the CT Chiefs (EHL) commits to Division III SUNY-Brockport (SUNYAC).

HARTFORD WOLF PACK

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By: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings

ALLENTOWN, PA – The Hartford Wolf Pack overcame the recall of three players to New York and earned an O.T. point in a 5-4 loss to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms Friday night. The Pack travel to Utica, New York, for a game with the Comets on Saturday.

Eliott Desnoyers employed his speed during the three-on-three overtime period to gain zone entry. He then sent a pass to Samu Tuomaala, who slipped past his check and put it past Dylan Garand at 1:07 for the win.

The Pack were already shorthanded due to injury recalls in New York to Adam Fox, Filip Chytil, and Igor Shesterkin; they added to the loss as Anton Blidh and Ben Harpur went out of the game in the third period when they managed to score the first two goals of the period.

Brett Berard controlled the puck on the upper right-wing boards and sent a blind backhand pass at 1:40 to Jake Leschyshyn. In the lower right-wing circle, Leschyshyn snuck his first of the season on the power play past Lehigh Valley’s goaltender, Parker Gahagen, to tie the game at three. At the net front, Adam Edström battled Mason Millman, which may have distracted Gahagen. Replays made it look as if the puck might have deflected off Millman’s skates.

At 4:17, Ryder Korczak was caught in full flight with a cross-ice pass from the left side by Blake Hillman. Korczak rushed in and snapped a 30-footer for his first AHL goal over Gahagen’s glove on the short side to give the Pack the lead.

The Phantoms found a way to tie the score at four.

Rhett Gardner was parked at the left side of the net and redirected Will Zmolek’s shot from the left point. The goal was his second of the year and came at 6:46, capping a series of quick goals, three in 6:26.

Despite being down in numbers on the bench, The Pack maintained puck possession in the third period and nearly earned a fifth goal when Leschyshyn was stopped with four minutes remaining. The Pack outshot the Phantoms in the game 33-to-21.

SECOND PERIOD

In the second period, the Gahagen started the period, relieving Phantoms starter Felix Sandstrom.

There was a wave of goals in 1:53 of the period. Two were scored by the Phantoms, with the Pack tacking one on to stop the Phantoms’ momentum.

The Phatoms’ Olle Lycksell was alone on the left-wing side before sneaking his seventh goal past Garand’s short side pad at 10:49. Samu Tuomaala’s excellent pass slipped past Harpur and a sliding Adam Sýkora.

42 seconds later, Jon-Randall (J.R.) Avon got behind Harpur on a lead pass by Tuomaala. 21 seconds later. Korczak’s hard work behind the net paid dividends as he sent the puck to the left point. Berard passed the biscuit over to Mac Hollowell at the right point, who fired it on the net. Matt Rempe, who was screening in front, tipped in his first goal of the season at 11:52. The assist point extended Hollowell’s AHL-best eight-game point-scoring streak.

FIRST PERIOD

In the first period, the Pack took excellent advantage of their opportunities. Brennan Othmann found Alex Belizle on a two-on-one as defenseman Will Zmolek went to Belize. He then slipped it over to Harpur, who redirected his first goal of the year at 7:18.

Harpur tumbled into the end boards, and for the second consecutive shift, Wolf Pack trainer Brian Fairbrother was forced to go on the ice to check on a player down on the ice.

Rempe and Evan Polei exchanged fists in a spirited bout at 6:14. It was Rempe’s third fight in as many games over the last two weeks.

Lehigh Valley was supposed to start a different goalie from last Sunday’s meeting. But Gahagan, the ex-Pack emergency goalie, was reassigned to the Reading Royals (ECHL) on Monday. He was only recalled because Flyer’s goalie Carter Hart sustained an injury that forced the recall of Cal Petersen. He wound up playing when Sandstrom got injured.

LINES:

Ryder Korczak-Adam Sýkora-Anton Blidh
Alex Belzile-Brennan Othmann-Riley Nash
Jake Leschyshyn-Brett Berard- Adam Edström
Matt Rempe-Turner Elson-Karl Henriksson
Bobby Trivigno

Mac Hollowell- Blake Hillman
Ben Harpur-Nikolas Brouillard
Brandon Scanlin

Dylan Garand
James Lorah

SCRATCHES:

Matt Robertson (out day-to-day)

NOTES:

While the Pack’s ECHL affiliated team, the Cincinnati Cyclones, are home to play the Iowa (Coralville) Heartlanders, there wasn’t enough time to engineer the necessary recall. The Pack signed Jordan Lorah, a local P.A. native, as an emergency backup for Garand.

Lorah last played Division II (ACHA) club hockey with the West Chester University Rams. The last time the Wolf Pack had a non-current playing emergency goaltender was with the C.T. Whale incarnation of the team in 2010-11. Brett Leggat, the brother-in-law of then-current Whale Jeremy Williams, was the emergency backup in Hamilton when the Bulldogs were still an AHL team. They are now in the OHL.

Hamilton featured ex-Pack Brendon Nash, the brother of current Wolf Pack Riley Nash. Leggat, 42, still plays. He’s listed on the roster of the Dundas Real McCoys of the Ontario-based Allan Cup Canadian senior league, who open play this weekend.

All these changes allowed Turner Elson to get back in the lineup. He has been sidelined because of the veteran rule.

The Rangers (8-2-0) edged out a tough Carolina Hurricanes team 2-1 Thursday night at MSG on the strength of a third-period game winning goal scored by ex-Pack Will Cullye, his first in the NHL. It earned him the game’s first star honors.

Hot for Utica is winger Xavier Parent. He is coming off a hat trick in a 4-1 victory in Laval, his hometown, on Wednesday. The Utica team features Kevin Dineen on their coaching staff. The ex-Whaler legend has as his assistant ex-Pack assistant David Cunniff, son of New England Whaler John Cunniff.

On the ice, the Devils have Tyce Thompson (Orange/Salisbury School), the son of ex-Pack, current Anaheim assistant coach, and former Bridgeport head coach Brent Thompson.

The Calgary Wranglers, winners over the San Jose Barracuda 1-0, got the game’s lone tally from recently sent down Matt Coronato (Yale Jr. Bulldogs). The Flames recalled Nick DeSimone (C.T. Oilers) from the Wranglers.

In the wake of the horrible that led to the death of Adam Johnson in the EIHA (English Ice Hockey Association). They are responding by making neckguards mandatory equipment across English hockey as of January 1, 2024.

Matt Petgrave, who was the one who cut Johnson’s neck with his skate blade, was signed but never played for the Wolf Pack two years ago. He was quickly released.

One team, the Pittsburgh Penguins, made neckguards mandatory for all players on their minor league teams, effective immediately.

Several do it voluntarily, but other teams will likely follow suit, making them part of the necessary equipment. The NHL and NHLPLA are said to be working on a way forward with the issue, as are the AHL and PHPA, the union for minor league hockey.

A part of the delay is a supply chain issue affecting shipment orders. The Wolf Pack had issues with promotional items last season, famously the military appreciation jerseys ordered in August that didn’t arrive until January.

The QMJHL is the only junior league requiring mandatory neck guards, having done so for the last 20 years. The other two major junior leagues, the OHL and WHL, have not as of yet, but that is likely to change.

The AHL, as in junior hockey, made half-visors mandatory. That came in the wake of then-rookie Jordan Smith losing an eye to an errant puck with the Portland (Maine) Pirates on February 24, 2006. The AHL made them mandatory immediately.

Smith did skate for five more years with the Canadian college hockey’s Lakehead University (Thunder Bay, ON) Thunderwolves (OUAA). He retired and is an assistant coach with the Springfield Thunderbirds.

The neckguard mandate will likely be added over the next few months. The AHL is usually the experimental lab for the NHL when new rules and regulations are instituted.

Colleges require full-face cages, but neck guards will likely become mandatory at the collegiate, junior, and all levels of hockey within the next few months.

Adam Erne (North Branford) is swapped out by the Edmonton Oilers and assigned to the Bakersfield Condors for Sam Gagner, the son of former New Haven Nighthawk/New York Ranger Dave Gagner.

Former UCONN player Joe Masonius leaves HC Csikszereda (Romania-MOL) and signs with the Newfoundland (St. John’s) Growlers (ECHL).

Ty Amonte, the son of the former Ranger, Tony Amonte, and a former UCONN (HE) grad transfer player, becomes an assistant coach at Division-III UMASS-Boston (MASCAC).

Ex-Pack Brodie Dupont has left English hockey as a coach and is going the Canadian college prep hockey route in Sherbrooke, Quebec, with Bishop’s College (CSSHL) as their head coach this season.

Anthony Bongo (Ridgefield/Mid-Fairfield) of the Shattuck’s St. Mary’s U-16 AAA (Faribault, MN) commits to The University of Michigan (Big 10) for 2025-26.

Defenseman Trey Scott of the Omaha Lancers (USHL) commits to UCONN (HE) for next year.

LW Hayden Stocks departs the Danbury Jr. Hat Tricks (NAHL) to hook up with the Neepawa Titans of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League (MJHL). He started the year playing three games for the Minot (N.D.) Minotaurs (NAHL).

HARTFORD WOLF PACK

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By: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings

HARTFORD, CT – Hartford Wolf Pack players will report to the New York Rangers training camp in only a few weeks. But that is not the only news, as more players are moving about and signing contracts around the world. But while some are signing to keep playing, others call it a career.

Ex-CT Whale and Ranger defenseman Michael Del Zotto retired from hockey after 14 seasons, his last with the Anaheim  Ducks. He split last year with the Charlotte Checkers and the San Diego Gulls (AHL) after 736 NHL games and a Stanley Cup. Del Zotto was initially drafted by the Rangers in 2008.

Another player calling it a career is ex-Bridgeport Sound Tiger goalie Kevin Poulin. He retired from hockey after playing with the Laval Rocket with an above .500 record in the AHL. Poulin played for five teams and accumulated a career record of 115-106-23 with a .910 save percentage over nine seasons. He spent 13 years in pro hockey and earned a bronze medal for Team Canada at the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in South Korea.

SIGNINGS

Ex-Pack Joey Keane renews his deal with Spartak Moscow (Russia-KHL).

Ex-Pack/Sound Tiger Jean-François Bérubé leaves the Florida Panthers organization and returns to the LA Kings organization.

Five more AHL’ers move on to Europe.

Bobby Lynch leaves the Rockford IceHogs for Torpedo Novgorod (Russia-KHL). Goalie Anton Khudobdin also leaves Rockford for Sokol Krasnoyarsk (Russia-VHL). Dylan Sikura leaves the San Diego Gulls and Rockford for Skellefteå AIK (Sweden-SHL). Chase Pearson leaves the Grand Rapids Griffins to go to HC Dukla Michalovce (Slovakia-SLEL), and Erik Brown departs from Bridgeport to Sport Vassa (Finland-FEL).

That makes 83 players in total heading to Europe. Ten go to Russia, making 17 to the KHL. 30 of the 32 AHL teams have seen at least one player sign overseas. Sweden leads all countries with 31 players signed.

ERIC BOULTON & SONS

Eric Boulton, who played with the Rochester Americans (AHL) during his career. He played against the Wolf Pack, most memorably in the 2000 AHL Calder Cup final. He was also a Sound Tiger for two games at the end of his career. The Rangers originally drafted him in the ninth round of the 1994 NHL Draft, but he never played in New York. He spent half a season in Binghamton. Boulton has both of his sons involved in hockey.

His 17-year-old son, Ryder Boulton, will play for the London Knights (OHL) this season. He spent last year with the Buffalo Jr. Sabres U-16 AAA team, where his father was the assistant coach and an Islanders pro scout.

19-year-old Sawyer Boulton is in American junior hockey. He goes from the El Paso (TX) Rhinos (NAHL) to the Rochester Jr. Americans (NAHL) this year.

MOVES

The Pittsburgh Penguins dealt Peter DiLiberatore (Quinnipiac University) to the Arizona Coyotes, where he will likely play with the Tucson Roadrunners (AHL).

Another former member of the national champion Quinnipiac Bobcats and a grad transfer from Wisconsin (Big 10), Ty Smilanic, is slated to be in the rookie camp of the Montreal Canadiens, hoping to get a deal to play in Laval or the Trois-Rivières Lions (ECHL).

Jacob Nordqvist, who played his grad transfer also with the national champion Quinnipiac University (ECACHL) team after four years with Lake Superior State (CCHA), signs with the Kalamazoo Wings (ECHL).

Now that makes 26 ECACHL pro signees.

The Hockey East conference still leads all conferences with 38 singings, while the NCHC has 37, the CCHA has 35, the Big Ten 32, and the AHA has 20.

As for the rest, the NCAA Independents have 13, Europe has 65, and Division III has 34. Canadian colleges have four, and Canadian major junior leagues have only two. Undergrads leaving early is at 39, and the total number is now 305.

Grad transfers 70 and in-school-104.

NEWS

UCONN promotes Assistant Coach Tyler Helton to Associate Head Coach. After four years as an undergrad since 2013, he has been a part of the UCONN Hockey East version since its inception.

The Huskies got a verbal commitment from California native Colin Frank of the Dubuque  Fighting Saints (USHL) for 2025-26.

Jake Sanderson, the son of ex-Hartford Whaler Geoff Sanderson, signed a one-year extension with the Ottawa Senators to his original ELC deal.

The U-17 tourney schedule was announced. It will be held in Charlottetown (Eastlink Centre)/Summerside (Credit Union Place), PEI (Prince Edward Island) November 2-12. It features six teams: Canada Red, Canada White, Czechia, Finland, Sweden, and the US.

The medal games will be held on November 11 at noon and 5 p.m. AST.

HARTFORD WOLF PACK

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HARTFORD, CT – For the Hartford Wolf Pack and their parent organization, the New York Rangers, the lazy, hazy summer days are winding down. The teams are two weeks away from training camp opening in Tarrytown, NY and then the Wolf Pack training camp at the XL Center starts a couple of weeks later.  There are still moves being made in the hockey world.

The Rangers have hired Angela Ruggiero (Choate Rosemary Hall-Wallingford) to join Peter Laviolette’s coaching staff as a Hockey Operations Adviser. No clear reporting on what her responsibilities will be.

Rangers President Chris Drury (Trumbull) and she were both selected and entered the US Hockey Hall of Fame together with the Class of 2015.

Ruggerio played for several US Women’s Olympic teams and won a gold, two silvers, and a bronze medal. She earned four gold medals and six silvers in international World Championship action.

In 1999, the Harvard grad with an MBA degree won a national title with the Crimson, and the defenseman won the Patty Kazmier Award as the top college female hockey athlete in 2004.

She played for two women’s professional leagues in her active playing days. She was part of the CWHL (Canadian Women’s Hockey League) and the WWHL (Western Women’s Hockey League) during her 11-year career. Ruggerio retired in 2011.

She has been involved in the business side of hockey since then.

Hiring Ruggerio is part of the overall revamping of the Rangers coaching staff.

HARTFORD CONNECTED ATHLETES MAKING MOVES

Casey Torres, an ex-Pack assistant coach for one year and who was out of hockey last year, is back in. was named the assistant coach for the Windsor Spitfires (OHL).

After a year off from hockey, ex-Pack Peter Holland signs with the Colorado Avalanche organization and will likely be skating with the Colorado Eagles next season. Holland last played in Sweden two years ago.

Holland was traded from the Wolf Pack in 2018-19, a week after then-captain Cole Schneider. The belief is that Schneider was dealt because of the manner in which he tried to motivate then rookie, and now an unsigned ex-Pack, Libor Hájek. Apparently, Schneider’s actions angered former Wolf Pack head coach Keith McCambridge, who is now an assistant coach with the Bakersfield Condors.

Ex-Pack Jake Elmer dissolves his contract with Odense in Denmark and signs with the Dundee Stars (Scotland-EIHL) for next season.

Jeff Heil was a backup goaltender for 11 games during the Wolf Pack’s first season. His son Caleb, also a goalie, is involved in the game. He played for the Sioux City (SD) U-16 AAA (T1EHL) team and nine games for the Sioux Falls Stampede (USHL) last season and has verbally committed to play in two years at the University of North Dakota (NCHC).

Jabez Seymour, a Newfoundland native from the Selects Academy program at South Kent Prep-SKP U-15 team last year, signed with the Baie-Comeau Drakkar, who drafted him in the first-round 18th overall in the June QMJHL Draft.

After six years as a head coach for Kootenay/Winnipeg Ice (WHL), ex-Whaler/Ranger James Patrick signed to be the new Director of Player Development for the Victoria Royals (WHL). The team in Winnipeg was sold to a group of the Wenatchee (WA) Wild, who moved up from the Junior A level BCHL to the major junior WHL. One of the players to start the year there will be Easton Armstrong, who is the youngest son of ex-Pack legend Derek Armstrong. He’ll play his overage year to start with Wild.

After four years as the Northern Ontario Scout for Kingston Frontenacs (OHL), ex-Sound Tiger Brent Gauvreau returns to his hometown as an assistant coach with the Sudbury Wolves (OHL).

AHL signings to Europe now stand at 76. The latest, Alex Galchenyuk, leaves the Colorado Eagles (AHL) for SKA St. Petersburg (Russia-KHL). Sweden leads in the signees department with 30.

Maxim Barbashev, who was in the Wolf Pack house late last season when his junior season ended but never played a game, was involved in a pre-season QMJHL trade as he was moved from the Moncton Wildcats and will play his third season with the Shawinigan Cataractes.

Ex-Pack Josh Nicholls leaves Kunlun Red Star (China-KHL) for a second time and signs with the Sheffield Steelers (England-EIHL).

SIGNINGS/TRANSFERS

The college to pro signings North America/Europe, and the transfer in-school and graduate continues.

North America first, Hockey East leads all conferences with 38, and the NCHC conference has 37. The Big Ten and the CCHA each have 34, the ECACHL 25, and the AHA 21. Division III is at 32, and attending Canadian colleges four and undergrads departing early is 39. Independent Division I schools now have 14, signed in Europe is 62, and returning to American junior hockey is two. Surprisingly, none have yet to come from Canadian major juniors.

The total number stands at 301.

The transfers collegiately have exploded in-school is 102 and graduate 68.

UCONN

UCONN finally announced its official incoming class for the college hockey season.

Ethan Haider is a post-grad goaltender from Clarkson. He is expected to split time with the returning Arsenii Sergeev (Calgary). Another grad transfer will be Ryan Mashie of RPI (ECACHL).

Incoming freshmen will feature Oliver Flynn (Wolcott/CT Chiefs (AYHL)/Loomis Chafee Prep-Windsor). Forward Joey Muldowney, D Owen Simpson, and Bauer Swift (West Hartford/Choate Rosemary Hall-Wallingford). Swift has an older brother (Cooper) and younger brother (Easton) involved in hockey and are both named after a hockey equipment brand.

Rayen Petrovický, the son of former Hartford Whaler and Ranger Róbert Petrovický, elects to sign with VHK Vestin (Czechia (Czech Republic-Division-II) for 2023-24.

It took just two days for ex-Yale Bulldog Ken Agostino’s one-year deal with Skellefteå AIK (Sweden-SHL) to be terminated. The team said it received backlash for signing someone who played in Russia for the last two years with the ongoing war in Ukraine. He played on the 2022 US Olympic squad at the Beijing Games.

Howlings previously reported on the strange anomaly of current and ex-North American players signing deals with KHL clubs despite the war and public declaration that the NHL wanted nothing to do with Russia, where no transfer agreement exists. A long line of players behind Agostino have all done the same thing.

Per Elite Prospects.com, as of last week, 53 North Americans are in the KHL, 39 Canadians, 15 Americans, and 22 players from EU nations are listed in the KHL. Russian and European training camps are about to end as their regular season starts next month.

Will other EU clubs announce their rescinding any dealings with any of these players or others?

Wolcott native Nick DiNicola, who played youth hockey for the CT Jr. Wolves (AYHL), CT Clippers (AYHL), Hartford Jr. Wolf Pack (ATJHL), CT (Stamford) Yankees (USPHL-Premier) then under the direction of ex-Wolf Pack/Sound Tiger Jeff Hamilton (Yale University & AOF) and had five games with the Danbury Hat Tricks (FPHL) leaves Como (Italy Division-2) for Chiavenna (Italy Division-3) for next season.

By the way, Hamilton has owned the CT Jr. Rangers (NCDC) for the last two years and is out as owner. He was involved with the Mid-Fairfield Rangers U-14 team as head coach last year.

Five ex-Whalers were at the golf club at Avon Country Club last weekend for a charity event. They included Ron Francis, Ulf Samuelsson, Mike  Liut, Dave Tippett, and Joel Quenneville. The tournament was named, honoring Quinneville’s late nephew Connor Scott Zieky. None of them made it to the Yard Goats Whaler Day last month. The Yard Goats official assistant GM, Dean Zappolorti, said Francis informed him he would come next year and help him recruit other players to attend. If that happens and Pat Boutette gets Mike Rogers and Blaine Stoughton to return, it will be a home run (pun intended) next year.

Ex-Pack Domenic Moore is playing in the Over-40 Senior Canadian Tennis Championships. During the hockey season, he works as an Analyst for ESPN.

An NHL source regarding the Phoenix situation.

“It’s a mess. We hear that they’re looking to secure land now, but they have to get something soon. It’s become an embarrassment…a sore point for the league, a  black eye. The player’s association is unhappy, they’re losing money and owners are getting tired of spending money to keep them going. Sooner or later, something has to give, soon, it just can’t keep going on like this. When a kid like (Logan) Cooley, a next generation likely NHL star, signs reluctantly, leaving a larger arena he had in college (Minnesota) for a smaller one in Arizona, that they’re not even selling out, things have to get done in short order. They’re gonna have to move them most likely if they don’t nail things down soon.”

HARTFORD WOLF PACK

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HARTFORD, CT – Reviewing last week’s Reporter’s Notebook features plenty of movement by ex-Hartford Wolf Pack and LOTS of Connecticut-connected players also changing locale.

Last Monday, the Wolf Pack announced the signing of depth forward the 6’1, 185-pound, left wing/center and Czechia-native Matej Pekar.

Pekar’s three-year pro career has been spent with the Rochester Americans without attaining notable offensive success. Last season, he did post decent numbers with the Pack’s new Double AA affiliate, the Cincinnati Cyclones (ECHL).

Ex-Pack Ryan Gropp joins another ex-Pack, Lewis Zerter-Gossage (Kent School), on SC Bietigheim/Bissen (Germany-DEL) in 2023-24.

Former Pack Jacob Hayhurst signs an AHL two-way deal with the Coachella Valley Firebirds / Kansas City Mavericks (ECHL).

Blake Parlett, another ex-Pack, departs Nuremberg (Germany-DEL) and signs with HC Bolzano (Italy-IceHL) for 2023-24, joining ex-Pack Christian Thomas and ex-Sound Tiger Mike Halmo.

Another ex-Pack on the move is Mike Harder, the new head coach of Colgate University (ECACHL); Harder hires US NDTP assistant, former Yale Bulldog, one-time-captain Anthony Walsh as one of his assistant coaches.

Walsh was the assistant coach to another Yale Bulldog assistant, Dan Muse, who is now the new assistant on Peter Laviolette’s staff with the New York Rangers.

Finally, ex-Pack legend Brad Smyth, the all-time leading Wolf Pack scorer, was Head Coach of the Year with Kemptville.

OTHER CONNECTICUT PLAYERS MOVING ABOUT

The colleges continue to develop the future of some of Connecticut’s prep schools.

Last Sunday, Simsbury lifelong native Tommy Cross announced his retirement from professional hockey. He played at his hometown Westminster Prep. Between his college and pro career, except one season in Cleveland and some time in juniors in Ohio, he was a New England boy at heart. His captain skills were a vital character feature from Boston College (HE) and his time with the Providence Bruins. Most recently, he’s been with the Springfield Thunderbirds.

His leadership skills were well respected. In his first season in Springfield with the Thunderbirds, while still the property of the Florida Panthers, he was reassigned there and was named the team captain. He’s also been a captain six times in his career.

Last year, injuries cost him dearly, allowing him to only play in 18 games. He played his last pro game in the Wolf Pack sweep of the Springfield Thunderbirds in the opening round of the playoffs. He clearly was not playing at 100% but fulfilled his captain duties.

Yale gets a commitment from 16-year-old Kirby Perler, a Woodbridge native. Knowing the general difficulties surrounding Ivy League school admissions, it’s a verbal commitment pending his meeting the strict academic entry requirements. ECACHL schools still have to compete in the competitive college hockey marketplace.

Perler likely still faces a tough road and will need to go to either a prep school, USHL, or the now independent of BC Hockey, the Junior A level BCHL, before he sees the ice at Ingalls Rink in New Haven, home of the Bulldogs.

Note KIJHL-Kootenay International Junior Hockey upgraded by the BC Hockey Association to Junior A status.

Michael Munroe of Avon Old Farms is a 2025-26 commit to the University of Maine (HE) Black Bears.

Quinnipiac University (ECACHL), the National champions, got a commitment from Ethan Wyttenbach for 2026-27 to attend the Hamden campus.

Last year, he played for the Long Island Gulls U-15 team. He will likely be heading to a prep school and/or juniors until he arrives.

Ex-Bridgeport Sound Tiger, Mitch Vande Sompel, goes from the Colorado Eagles (AHL) to the independent AHL Chicago Wolves. Bode Wild goes from the Atlanta Gladiators (ECHL) back overseas to HC Banska Bystrica (Slovakia-SLEL). Victor Crus-Rydberg switches teams in the Swedish lowest Division 1 league HockeyEttan going from Kalmar HC to Karlskrona HK in 2023-24.

Current Montreal Canadiens Head Coach, and former NY Ranger, Martin St. Louis’ boys are moving on. Ryan St. Louis, and his brother Lucas, who both played last year with the Dubuque Fighting Saints (USHL), have new destinations.

Ryan left Northeastern (HE) after his junior season of play and transferred to Brown University (ECACHL) in the fall. Lucas, meanwhile, is off to Harvard University (ECACHL). The St. Louis’ are both from Greenwich and played for Brunswick School.

St. Louis’s boss Montreal GM Kent Hughes, has his two boys also on the move.

Hughes’ son Riley has transferred from Northeastern to Ohio State University (Big 10). His brother Jack, an LA Kings’ draftee, goes crosstown in Boston from Northeastern (HE) to Boston University (HE). The Red Raiders open next season by hosting UCONN.

The Huskies have their regular season schedule partially out. The road schedule is there. They have home dates, but the venue(s) are still to be determined.

The only guaranteed XL center home dates are January 26th and 27th, hosting the Connecticut Ice Festival, for a total of six games that will be played.

Former Sound Tiger goalie Peter Mannino is elevated from assistant coach to head coach for the Colorado College Tigers (NCHC). He displaces former Sound Tiger Kris Mayotte, whose contract was not renewed.

Former Yale Bulldog Jean-Francois Boucher is the assistant coach with the Rockland Generals (HEO-Hockey East Ontario), a U-18 feeder league for the Junior-A league CCHL.

Cheshire native Rob “Bert” Malloy (Hartford Jr. Wolf Pack – ATJHL), in what is likely his last season of pro hockey, is suffering along with his teammates through the short-season Australian Ice Hockey League campaign.

Playing with his local AIHL team, the Central Coast Rhinos, are 1-23-1 and were trounced on Saturday 20-1 (not a misprint) by a fellow expansion team, the Brisbane Lightning.

Malloy is second on the team in scoring, playing just 17 games with 10 goals and 21 assists.

Union College (ECACHL) drops Dutchmen/Dutchwomen nickname to Garnet Chargers as the PC madness continues.

HARTFORD WOLF PACK

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HARTFORD, CT – Pat Boutette may have been small in stature, but he stood pretty tall as part of the Hartford Whalers Dash, Bash, and Stash line in the early 1980s.

“At the time when you went the university route, there wasn’t much anticipation or expectations than if you took the junior road in that period. That has changed over the years. A lot of the smarter players are going university now,” Boutette said.

Boulette made a 10-hour drive from his Ontario home to make his maiden appearance at the Hartford Yard Goats’ “Whalers Day.”

Mike Rogers, the center of that line, could not return this year after initially being scheduled. Right Wing Blaine Stoughton also did not return this year, making Boulette the one member of that memorable line in the house.

Boutette was an unknown college player for the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers (WCHA) program. He would become a ninth-round draft pick (139th overall) by the Toronto Maple Leafs. As a senior, tallying 63 points, he was voted a WCHA Second Team All-Star and was an All-American.

“Everybody gets classified and stereotyped in one way or another. I felt that was a miscalculation on people’s part, I wasn’t an OHA junior guy (now OHL), but I showed at Minnesota I could play. Many thought I was just gonna fill a minor league roster spot.”

After five and a half years in the Toronto organization and a two-year apprenticeship in Oklahoma City in the original Central Hockey League (CHL), he was traded from the Maple Leafs to the Whalers.

Leaving Harold Ballard-owned Leafs was somewhat challenging for Boutette.

“It was always the same thing you always heard ‘You’re not gonna make it. You’re too small,’ but I just worked my tail off and proved them wrong. Harold was always good to me, always a big backer of me,” Boulette said. “I always had his respect. He, no doubt, had his way of doing things, and it rubbed people the wrong way, but he was always fair with me, though. I wasn’t the biggest guy, but I never gave up,”

Despite his success in the Toronto organization, he was moved at an inauspicious time to the Whalers. He came to Hartford on Christmas Eve 1979 for Bob Stephenson in the Whalers’ first NHL season.

https://www.high-endrolex.com/15

“We had a game that night (for Toronto). I showed up, got dressed, and before we went out, they told me, ‘Go home.’ Why? ‘We can’t tell you; call us tomorrow.’ Are you kidding me? Obviously, I knew something was up, but things like that happened in those days. That was a hell of a time to have your first trade, just before Christmas,” The current CBA prevents those kinds of moves now.

Boutette made himself a valuable asset.

“Back then when I first started out, I had some skills, and they grew, even if I didn’t. I got to expand my skill set by being aggressive, which paid off. It helped me grow my game, I could play either way. A lot of players don’t have that grit today. All the teams that win the Cup have that grit. Look at the Maple Leafs now. They have two good lines and no grit. What have they done?”

His bond in 1982 with Stash (Blaine Stoughton), the Dash (Rogers), and especially Rogers’ passing skills helped invigorate him. Stoughton’s game helped him find his goal-scoring touch, and again, he found himself an All-Star, but this time in the NHL.

The Dash, Bash, and Stash line was born, which made him among the top NHL goal scorers, and the line was among the league’s best.

” Coming to Hartford was a bit of a surprise. I had two good years here. I could have had more.”

The key to the line’s success was their speed and transition game.

“The game is all speed now, and we had a lot of it with that line, and we complemented each other very well out there. We also could feel a hit when it was coming. I loved playing with them. Once Mike got into open ice, he was hard to catch. I was able to get out in front of the net, and Blaine was nearby, waiting for a rebound near the perimeter of the (faceoff) circle. We got our opportunities, not gonna score if the puck is the corner,” Boutette stated.

Boutette went straight-forward to the net and often battled defensemen much larger than himself at a time when the game was more physical. He dished it out as well as he good it.

The Whalers made an RFA (restricted free agent) offer sheet to the Pittsburgh Penguins forward Greg Malone, and then, on June 29, 1981, the NHL Commissioner, then John Zieglar, awarded Boutette to Pittsburgh, along with the Whalers’ fourth-round draft choice, and Kevin McClelland in the exchange as used to happen pre-CBA when odd, arbitrary decisions could be made.

It was a complete shock for Boutette.

“I was at home, and Larry Pleau (now a senior advisor with Arizona), called me and told me I had been moved. I was in total shock. I didn’t believe him. It came from left field completely; I had no idea this was gonna happen. To this day, I have never gotten a straight answer on why and how I was moved. It was kinda weird; something was going on there. It was terrible because we had a great thing going on in Hartford.”

Pittsburgh eventually traded McClelland to Edmonton, where he would win four Stanley Cups as part of the Oilers mid-1980’s dynasty run.

In Pittsburgh, Boutette was paired with Paul Gardner and Rick Kehoe, very talented players in their own right, but two totally different types of players with completely different skill sets than his line in Hartford had.

“They were good but didn’t have the speed and creativity Mike and Blaine had. You had to get the puck to them. There was no comparison. Then when you get to your early to mid-30s, your body starts to break down, especially when you played a physical style as I did. When you played with guys like Mike and Blaine, it takes that pressure off you because of the speed they both had. When you’re battling the likes of Larry Robinson (the Canadiens) or “(Andre) “Moose” Dupont (Philadelphia and Quebec), it gets tough after a while, and once you fight one, you gotta fight them all. It’s wear and tear.”

He would return to Hartford in a trade with the Penguins four years later for the rights to Finnish defenseman Ville Siren.

Boutette had lost a step by then and had a falling out with Whaler’s coach Jack “Tex “Evans. He wound up on their farm team in Binghamton (NY) Whalers. His career was over at the end of the’ 84-’85 season, five years before the Penguins won their consecutive Stanley Cups with former Whalers Ron Francis, Ulf Samuelsson, Gordie Roberts, Grant Jennings, and with former Whalers head coach, Pierre McGuire.

“Timing is everything. If we had some better teams in Pittsburgh before then, but once they got Mario (Lemieux) came in my first year, and then when they got (Jaromir) Jagr it was just a matter of time, but my time was up.”

Boutette finished his career playing in 756 games registering 282 assists and 453 points. He also accumulated 1,384 PIM.

“I enjoyed Hartford a lot. I just wish I got more time to spend there. I spoke to multiple people about this event, I’m very glad we came. I will call Mike when I get home and get Blaine here next year and have a proper (line) reunion,” said Boutette.

Boutette continues to stand tall in his career among his peers.

HARTFORD YARD GOATS

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HARTFORD, CT – Hartford Whaler legend Gordie Roberts took an unconventional route to pro hockey. Now, at 65, he returned to Hartford for the first time since participating in that infamous frozen Whale Bowl on a Saturday in January 2012.

The Roberts family is heavily vested in pro hockey. Gordie is the youngest of four hockey-playing brothers and the uncle to two more former pros. He is also the only one of his siblings not to go to Michigan State.

He played one year with the Detroit Jr. Red Wings, then in the Southern Ontario Hockey League (SOJHL) to start his career.

“It’s funny Mark and Marty Howe were ahead of me by a few years in the league. The Junior Red Wings got in to start and was the only team to play just over the border in Southern Ontario then.

“I can say the Canadian teams and fans didn’t like an American team playing there that much. We had a few fights then, we developed some strong rivalries back then. You had to earn their respect.”

Roberts reversed course and took an unusual path in the mid-1970s. He ventured North to play in the rough and tumble Canadian major junior Western Canadian Hockey League (WCHL-now the WHL). The league featured legendary brawlers like ex-Whaler Archie Henderson, one-time New York Ranger Barry Beck, and the big and tough Rick Dorman.

He landed with the Victoria Cougars posting 64 points in 53 games.

Roberts had the playing ability with skill and finesse and was tough enough to handle the nightly brawn and brawling of the WCHL.

“I was originally drafted by Sudbury (Wolves) of the Ontario Hockey. I went to a weekend in Sudbury, then a weekend in Victoria. It was a big difference between those two towns. I really liked Victoria. It’s a really beautiful city, and we had a very good team that year.

“We had a strong team. Mel (Bridgeman) could play it tough and score. Kim Clackson was one of the toughest players I played with or against, period; and (Curt) Fraser was a warrior out there.

“We had a good team. I was very fortunate to play on a first-place team. We beat a really good, tough New Westminster (Bruins) team that year. I couldn’t have asked for a better team to be with. I was the only American in the league at that time. You had to earn your spurs back then,” Roberts said.

The following season, he made another radical change. He was still 17 but signed an 18-year-old contract as an underage free agent. He wasn’t drafted by either the NHL or WHA, so he exploited a loophole in the 20-year-old NHL draft system then and signed with the New England Whalers as an “underage” player. It allowed him to bypass the NHL and start with the upstart WHA New England Whalers.

Because Roberts had an early October birthday, once he turned 18, he could begin to play for the Whalers.

“The WHA was trying to stay one step ahead of the NHL all the time and that worked in my favor. My brother Doug signing with the Whalers was a big factor too. He was able to help show me the way a little bit, because I was so young then. Ironically, all of the underage guys who came after me, Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, and Rod Langway, were just some of them.”

Four years later, five underage players, all like Roberts at age 18 and undrafted, signed with the WHA Birmingham Bulls. They challenged the pro hockey draft system and won their court case, overturning the 20-year-old draft system and forcing the NHL to change how they drafted players. That ruling is still in effect.

“I wasn’t ready for the NHL then, but Hartford and WHA Whalers gave me an important valuable experience on and off the ice. Hartford was the launching pad for my career.”

Once signing, Gordie had the opportunity to play with his older brother Doug for two seasons in Hartford at the start of his career.

“Naturally, I looked up to him. He was 15 years older than I was. We had that extra bond between us and it brought us closer together. I came in early as an offensive player in my career, I was 80% of a player then and really the WHA Whalers were a great proving ground early on,” remarked Roberts.

Four of his six years in Hartford were with the WHA Whalers, and then the first two with the Whalers in the NHL as an anchor of their defense.

Tim Sheehy, an original New England Whaler who played against  Doug Roberts, Sr. in Edmonton, got a chance to play with Gordie in his last WHA season for the Whalers when he was reacquired. “Gordie had very good size, moved the puck well, and both Roberts played an experienced game. He (Doug) was college educated, and both had good heads on their shoulders, and both had a great feel for the game.”

Gordie was taken “back” by the Whalers from the Montreal Canadiens in the NHL-WHA 1979 Expansion draft. His NHL draft rights reverted to Montreal, who had selected him as their seventh choice in the third round (54th overall) in 1977. There was no place in Montreal for the young Roberts to play, and one of the reasons he stayed with the NHL Whalers.

On December 16, 1980, after six seasons in Hartford, Gordie was traded to the Minnesota North Stars for Mike Fidler. During his Hartford stay, he was a teammate of “Mr. Hockey” Gordie Howe and assisted on his last NHL goal in April of 1980. For Howe, it was ironic that the final goal came against Detroit, where he was a living legend.

“It was really a treat not only to have played with Gordie, but playing against him my rookie year in a series with Houston. It was an even more intimidating experience than when I played with him. You really could realize then how good he was, despite he had been retired for five years by then. When Gordie Howe was on the ice you knew it, let’s put it that way,” Roberts said with a laugh. “I had the privilege to also play with legends like Dave Keon, Johnny McKenzie, Rick Ley, and Bobby Hull. I was so lucky to play with these icons of the game.

The Whalers gave me a very memorable experience. I didn’t have a college degree, but I got a master’s in hockey, playing from age 18-22 with guys like that. I learned so much,” Roberts stated.

Roberts would go on to play six years with Minnesota. He was a solid contributor at both ends of the ice. He was eventually dealt twice in a month. On February 8, 1988, he was sent to the Philadelphia Flyers for future considerations.

“As time went on, I became a more-steady stay-at-home defenseman. I was able to adapt and change my role. My passing and skating were always my strength, and I used them well to keep myself in the NHL. It was a combination of the good Lord looking after you out there, and I also was a bit of a fitness buff in the summer as I learned more of what it took to be a pro. I prided myself on having played 20 -years in the NHL,” commented Roberts.

Then after 11 games in Philadelphia, Roberts was packing again—this time to St. Louis to join the Blues on March 8, 1988. The trade, again, was for the euphemistic future considerations in pre-CBA times.

“I was in Philly a short time; it didn’t work out. I was lucky to go to St. Louis just as Bobby Hull’s son Brett arrived there and had the pleasure to play with him. I was traded once in my first 13 years; then everybody wanted me,” Roberts said with a laugh.

Roberts found himself in Pittsburgh for the next two seasons and helped the Penguins win two Stanley Cups with Mario Lemieux.

“That capped my career to play with another legend and win a Stanley Cup, I couldn’t have asked for more,” said Roberts.

At the end of his career, in his last two seasons, he played for the Boston Bruins, going over 1,000 games. He played game 1,000 on December 9, 1992, in Buffalo against the Sabres and became the first American player to accomplish that feat.

“I took great pride in it. As you got older as a player, it’s a unique milestone, but to be the first American player was very special, and in Boston, where my brother had played too. All my brothers had played at Michigan State when there were no other Americans playing there. That made it extra special for me,” Roberts added.

Over his 15-year career, Roberts played in 1,097 NHL games totaling 420 points and 1,258 PIM. In addition to his NHL career, he had 300 WHA games and just over 600 games with Hartford between the WHA-NHL.

He also represented the US at two World Championships and the 1984 Canada Cup.

He finished his playing career playing in the old IHL, coming out of retirement first as a playing/assistant coach with the Chicago Wolves.

“That was the first year of the Wolves’ existence, and that was special, starting out with a brand-new team. I got to play with another icon in Al Secord, who had a prolific career with NHL Blackhawks and goalie Wendell Young (the team’s GM, the past 14 years and 20 total with the team).

“The IHL was kind of like the old WHA, a mixture of older and younger players, and allowed me to extend my career a few more years. I was able to get into coaching a little bit that year, but like the WHA, the league went out of business.”

Roberts came out of retirement a second time to play the following year with the IHL Minnesota Moose before the team was relocated to Winnipeg to become the first edition of the Manitoba Moose. Roberts would add another 111 IHL games to his playing resume.

“That was a lot fun the Moose gave me one more crack it, and I got in about 50 (37) games that year.”

Like his brother Doug before him, Gordie gave coaching a whirl in his post-playing days.

He became an assistant coach for two years and one as Director of Player Development for the Arizona Coyotes (nee Phoenix Coyotes) in their first three years after the team had relocated from Winnipeg.

“It was very brand new to me when the team was in Arizona. I gained a lot experience that I didn’t have at all in the management portion of the game.”

He was honored to be elected to the US Hockey Hall of Fame in 2000.

“I take a lot of pride as an American player, who made it when it was really a Canadian player dominated game back then. To be one of those first players right up there with NHL players at that time, was tremendous sense of accomplishment I felt,” said Roberts.

Roberts settled in Minnesota with his late wife Marlo and became a scout for Montreal for nine years before leaving the program.

“I finally got with Montreal after they drafted me, so many years ago, so it was really ironic. I went into scouting with them and used the experiences I had with Arizona and really got into scouting, which, I loved and flourished in it.”

Following his NHL career, Roberts began earnestly to use his hockey career master’s degree as an assistant coach with Division III Hamline (Saint Paul, MN) University.

He continued his hockey journey diving into the challenging world of Minnesota high school hockey. He was the head coach for Elk River, where he ran the bench for four years. While there, he coached current Hartford Wolf Pack defenseman/forward Blake Hillman in his first year and Hershey Bear Benton Maas in his last year.

Then Roberts moved on to Maple Grove, where he was an assistant coach for three years. He finished out his involvement in hockey as a coach in the pandemic year of 2020 and retired from the game after coaching prospects Conor Kelly (Chicago), Cal Thomas (Arizona), and Kyle Kukkonen (Anaheim).

“There aren’t too many openings at this level and I was very fortunate to get one. Elk River was a very wonderful experience as was Maple Grove. It’s the very beginning stage of hockey and was lucky I coached a few players, who went on to play college, minor pro and pro hockey.”

Induction to the NHL Hall of Fame would be a fitting final stamp on a long pro hockey career that started in Hartford for Gordie Roberts.

US HOCKEY HALL OF FAME

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By: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings

HARTFORD, CT – Much to empty from the Reporter’s Notebook as the off-season pro hockey signings continue but slow down as the dog days of summer approach.

EX-HARTFORD WOLF PACK PLAYERS SIGNING

After playing for three European teams last year, ex-Hartford Wolf Pack Aaron Luchuk signs with Orlando Solar Bears (ECHL) for next year.

Goalie Keith Kinkaid signs with the now-independent Chicago Wolves for next season.

Ex-Pack goalie François Brassard leaves Maine (ECHL)/ Providence (AHL) and signs with Ft. Wayne (ECHL) for 2023-24.

And another Ex-Pack of one season, Mike Lee (Hamden), re-signs with HC Nove Zamsky (Slovakia-SLEL) for the 2023-24 season.

OTHER CONNECTICUT RELATED PLAYERS

Rick Kowalsky, who has coached since 2005, was named the new Bridgeport Islanders head coach. Kowalsky has spent the last two seasons in Bridgeport with ex-Pack Brent Thompson, who departed and heads to the Anaheim Ducks as their new assistant coach for their new head coach, and former Sound Tigers head coach, Greg Cronin.

Ex-Sound Tiger Oliver Wahlstrom re-signs with the New York Islanders.

Ross Colton (Taft School), who was just traded to the Colorado Avalanche, re-signs with Colorado (NHL) for next year.

HARTFORD WHALERS DAY

The Hartford Yard Goats hosted the Hartford Whalers Weekend at Dunkin Donuts Park this past weekend. Some sons and daughters of the ex-Whalers are involved in coaching, management, and scouting levels in hockey.

Sydney Daniels, the daughter of Scott “Chief” Daniels, has left the scandal-plagued Harvard University (ECACHL-W) program. She is about to start her second year as the US college scout for the Winnipeg Jets, where she covers ECAC and Hockey East.

Stew Gavin made his first appearance at Whaler Day. His son Max is an assistant coach for Dartmouth College, having just completed his first season.

Kevin Dineen’s son, Will Dineen, just completed his freshmen season at Yale University (ECACHL).

The nephew ex-Whaler Mickie (Mike) Volcan, Nolan Volcan, graduates from Canadian college hockey and the University Alberta Golden Bears (CWUAA) and signs his first pro deal with the legendary Ft. Wayne Komets (ECHL).

Sutter Muzzatti, the son of ex-Whaler/Wolf Pack Jason Muzzatti, now the goalie coach with the Carolina Hurricanes, is off to RPI (ECACHL) in the fall. He was drafted last month by the hometown host city, Nashville Predators.

Dominic Turgeon, the nephew of ex-Whaler, Sylvain Turgeon and the son of soon-to-be hockey Hall of Famer Pierre Turgeon, leaves Ässät Pori (Finland-FEL) and signs with Södertälje SK (Sweden-Allsvenskan) for the 2023-24 season.

JOEY HADDAD

The Cape Breton Eagles (QMJHL) announced that ex-Sound Tiger Joey Haddad was named the hockey club’s new Assistant General Manager of Business Operations & Brand Ambassador.

After retiring from playing, Haddad spent last year as the head coach of the Sydney Mitsubishi Rush U-18 of the Nova Scotia  Major Hockey League (NSMHL).

By marriage, Haddad is the younger first cousin of former New Haven Blade/Nighthawk tough guy and NHL defenseman of the 1970s and early 80s, Kevin Morrison. They’re part of a tight-knit hockey community of players of Middle Eastern descent known as the “Gaza Strip” in Sydney.

ODDS AND ENDS

Brady and Owen Schultz of Monroe, Connecticut, are the grandsons of ex-Whaler Norm Barnes. They are playing at different levels of junior hockey. Brady went undrafted and is about to start his third year in the Canadian Maritimes in major junior with the Halifax (Nova Scotia) Mooseheads (QMJHL). Owen is skating with the Northern Cyclones (Hudson, NH) (THF).

The AHL’s players moving on to Europe have risen to 60. The latest three are Kohen Olischeski of the Rochester Americans heads to Düsseldorfer EG (Germany-DEL), Alexsei Heponiemi of the Charlotte Checkers heads next door to EHC Biel/Bienne (Switzerland-LNA), and Spencer Foo leaves the Henderson Silver Knights for Kunlun (China-KHL).

The college-to-pro signings have slowed down. Per conference, the breakdown goes; Hockey East and the NCHC with 37. CCHA has 31. The Big Ten has 29, with the ECACHL having 24, the AHA at 20, and Independents with 13. Division III signings are 32, and Europe (Division I & III) is 49.

Canadian colleges have three players going back and heading to American Juniors two. None yet are headed to Canadian major junior.

Undergrads going pro early is 37, grad transfers are 44, and in-school transfers are 57.

HARTFORD WOLF PACK

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HARTFORD, CT – On paper, anyway, The New York Rangers had a successful 2023 NHL Draft. For now, “hope springs eternal.” How it all shakes out in the end, only time will tell. The Rangers added four additional picks after selecting Gabe Perreault with their first-round pick at number 23, and with those picks, the Rangers went for size.

President and General Manager (and Trumbull, CT native) Chris Drury decided on and took Drew Fortescu in the third round (90th overall). The one-time Mid-Fairfield player will join Perreault at Boston College (Hockey East) after their time as teammates on the USNDTP (USHL) and the US WJC.

With the 152nd pick in the fifth round, the Rangers selected defenseman Rasmus Larsson, who played with Västervik IK (J-20 Sweden). Larsson will head to Northern Michigan (CCHA) to begin the next step in his development.

In the sixth round, with the 178th pick, Druy and the Rangers selected 6’7″ centerman Dylan Roobrueck from the Oshawa Generals (OHL). Roobrueck is one of just two players who were 6’7″ that were drafted.

Ty Hendricks was the Rangers’ choice with their second sixth-round pick at 183rd overall. Hendricks is a 6’5″, 205-pound Left-Winger who played for the Fargo (ND) Force (USHL) and the Muskegon Lumberjacks (USHL). He will be attending the Western Michigan Broncos (NCHC).

CONNECTICUT RELATED DRAFT PICKS

Regarding Connecticut-related players, the second day of the NHL draft was a bit quieter than usual. Only three college players were taken with Connecticut connections; one current and two future were chosen.

Quinnipiac University (ECACHL) sophomore Charles-Alexis Legault, a right-handed, 6’3, 210 pounder, was taken from the reigning national champion Bobcats by the Carolina Hurricanes in the fifth round (139th overall). Legault was just one of nine US college draftees taken.

Joining Legault in Hamden next season will be Chris Pelosi, who was taken 92nd overall in the third round by the Boston Bruins out of the Selects Academy program at Mount St. Charles (RI). He played split last year between Janesville (WI) Jets (NAHL) and the Sioux Falls (SD) Stampede (USHL).

A future Yale goalie in 2025-26 from the Taft Rhinos (Watertown), Rudy Giumond, who was the ONLY Connecticut High School player selected, and who won the New England Prep small school championship, was taken by the Detroit Red Wings 169th overall in the sixth round. While he is eligible to return to Taft, he will play next year with the Cedar Rapids (IA) Roughriders (USHL) to prepare for Division I college play. He was just one of four prep School players taken. The last major Taft player to play for Cedar Rapids was Max Pacioretty that transformed his play,

NOTES:

Howlings has learned that next year’s 72-game Wolf Pack schedule will NOT include Midwestern teams Rockford, Milwaukee, and Grand Rapids. They have been dropped. Likely to return will be Laval,  Belleville, and possibly a new first-time team like the Cleveland Monsters (Columbus Blue Jackets). However, nothing is set in concrete.

Ex-Sound Tigerr Josh Bailey was placed on unconditional waivers and picked up by the Chicago Blackhawks.

Some final notes on the draft, some names of note. At 143rd in the fifth round by the draft’s host, the Nashville Predators, was Sutter Muzzatti. He is the son of former Hartford Whaler/Wolf Pack Jason Muzzatti, the goalie coach for the Carolina Hurricanes.

Lastly, at 149th overall in the fifth round, was Aaron Pionk. He is the youngest brother of ex-Pack Neal Pionk (Winnipeg Jets). Aaron is heading to the University of Minnesota-Duluth (NCHC) from the Waterloo Black Hawks (USHL).

NEW YORK RANGERS

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By: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings

PROVIDENCE, RI – The Hartford Wolf Pack were solid from the net out as their defense and goaltending continued to confound the Providence Bruins as the New York Rangers American League affiliates roll continued in a 2-1 win in Game 2 of their second-round playoff series on Saturday night.

It was the fifth win in a row in the Ocean State. It was also the Pack’s 14th win in their last 16 games. They now hold a commanding lead in the best-of-five series, two games to none. After that, the teams head back to Hartford, with the Pack having a chance to close out the series in front of the home crowd on Wednesday night.

A win by the Pack would send the Cinderella team to the Atlantic Division final against either the Charlotte Checkers or the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. The Checkers currently have a 2-games-to-one lead in that best-of-five series.

THIRD PERIOD

Both teams pushed to try and score early in the third period. Bruins looked for the equalizer from Luke Toporowski, Mike Reilly, and Oskar Steen, who took a Turner Elson turnover for a shot ass Dylan Garand  (29 saves) continued his impressive netminding for the Pack and denied them all. Across the way, Brandon Bussi (26 saves) flashed the leather stopping Adam Sýkora, Wyatt Kalynuk, Will Lockwood, and Lauri Pajuniemi as they sought a cushion goal for the Wolf Pack.

The Bruins came close when defenseman Connor Carrick put a shot off the crossbar with 2:58 remaining in the contest.

At 18:45, the Bruins pulled Bussi for an extra attacker. However, former Pack, Vinni Lettieri, was denied by Garand from the left circle. As the clock was ticking down, with just 15 seconds left and for the second night in a row, the Bruins looked to their regular season points leader, Georgii Merkulov, to take their final shot, but he was stopped by Garand to preserve the win.

SECOND PERIOD

A goal was scored in the first five-plus minutes of the period as John Beecher had an end-to-end rush stopped by Garand just two minutes in.

Two Wolf Pack goals in a span of 3:26 put the Bruins on their heels on their home ice.

Tim Gettinger was on the puck early and got off a shot on net from the right point before Bussi made a right pad save. Ex-Bruin, Anton Blidh, took the rebound and registered his second postseason goal at 6:17.

The Wolf Pack refused to rest on their laurels. Adam Clendening, who had a strong shift earlier in the period, moved off the right point to the top of the center point, just below the blue line. He took a cross-ice pass from Kalynuķ, his defensive partner, fired off a 55-footer, and beat Bussi at 12:16 for the game-winner.

The Pack came close to a 3-0 lead at 13:13 when Zac Jones was at the left point and fired a shot to the net. Ryan Carpenter reached up to redirect the shot that looked to have gone up and under the crossbar. The referees immediately waived off the goal, and after a lengthy review, it was ruled no goal. The ruling was Carpenter’s stick was above the crossbar, negating the goal.

The Bruins’ Justin Brazeau was on the left wing on the next shift. He found Pack killer Jonna Koppannen on the right wing and sent him a cross-ice pass. Koppannen then sent a backhanded pass to the slot where Toporowski was open and fired off a shot that found the back of the net at 14:02, cutting the Pack lead in half.

FIRST PERIOD

The first period saw the Pack start where they left off the previous night and registered the game’s first three shots, coming from Clendening twice and Lockwood.

Ty Emberson went to launch a shot and had his twig break in half, leading briefly to a two-on-zero for the Bruins. However, Emberson kept his position, and the Pack did some serious backchecking. It became a three-on-two, and he timed going down perfectly to get a piece of the puck as the Bruins passed back to the trailer.

Providence’s John Beecher had a solid, long-range, low shot stopped by Garand.

Then Jones used his speed to cut Beecher off on another open opportunity and took it away.

Gettinger had a strong shift on the second power play unit in the last five minutes. He hit the side of the net and had a tip deflection dribble wide. He then got off a third attempt that Bussi stopped.

The end of the period had a scrum between Clendening and Toporowski, Lockwood, and Connor Carrick. They were the only players penalized at 20:00.

The Bruins had 12 shots on goal for the period after having just 14 for the whole game the night before.

LINES:

Cullye-Carpenter-Elson
Fritz-Pajuniemi-Blidh
Gettinger-Edström-Lockwood
Henriksson-Sýkora-Trivigno

Jones-Emberson
Hillman-Scanlin
Clendening-Kalynuk

Garand
Gahagen #35

SCRATCHES:

Talyn Boyko #40
Matt Rempe (upper body, day-to-day)
Louie Roehl #4 (healthy)
Bryce McConnell-Barker #8 (healthy)
Brett Berard #27 (healthy)
Maxim Barbashev #18 (healthy)
Ryder Korczak  #38 (healthy)
Matt Robertson (upper body, may return in the latter half of this  round of the playoffs)
Patrick Khordorenko (season-ending shoulder surgery).
C.J. Smith (hip area surgery done for the season)

NOTES:

The Rangers forced a game seven with a 5-2 win in Game 6. Five different players scored in the game at MSG.

Joe Snively (Yale University) had a goal, and two assists in a Game Two 5-1 win over the Charlotte Checkers.

The Jacksonville Icemen won their South Division ECHL semifinal in a 5-4 fashion. Former Quinnipiac University player Craig Martin and another former Bobcat and ex-Pack, Brandon Fortunato, scored.

MATT WOOD

Team Canada at the U-18 tournament captured bronze with a 4-3 overtime win over Slovakia. The team included Matt Wood (UCONN-HE), who scored the game-tying goal with 1:10 left in regulation with the goalie pulled. The primary assist, off a short slide pass, sprung Celebrini Macklin on a breakaway for the game-winner. Wood finished with a goal and three assists, six shots on goal, and a plus-four. Wood seems to have cemented a high first-round pick status for the upcoming NHL Draft in late June in Nashville.

Wood came to the Huskies after being drafted as a second-round pick (41st overall) in the WHL Bantam Draft in 2020 by the Regina Pats. He turned down the Pats’ offer to play with the consensus #1 overall pick, Connor Bedard, and to be coached by ex-Pack head coach John Paddock.

In 2021, Wood was drafted by the Sioux Falls (SD) Stampede (USHL) as their 9th pick (121st overall) in the USHL Futures Draft.

Team USA played Team Sweden for gold at the U-18 championship in Switzerland. The US won gold in come-from-behind fashion, 3-2 in overtime. It’s their first gold in six years. The game-winner from draft-eligible Ryan Leonard (Amherst, MA) from Pope Francis (MAPREP) (Springfield, MA) and the Springfield (MA) Rifles program. The head coach was former Yale University (ECACHL) and Sacred Heart University (AHA) assistant coach Dan Muse. His assistant coach is ex-Pack, Chad Kolarik. Two players from the Mid-Fairfield program, Sal Guzzo and Ryan Fine, were on the team.

HARTFORD WOLF PACK

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