BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings

HARTFORD, CT – Every July over the last three years, the Babych brothers, Dave and Wayne, make a pilgrimage from Canada to Hartford, CT to share and enjoy the Whalers alumni weekend with the Hartford Yard Goats.

The two played briefly together in Hartford, an experience that Wayne treasures greatly.

“It was short, but such a pleasure for us,“ Wayne, with his trademark big smile, said. “We hadn’t played together since we were eight-years-old together and there is a two-year difference. It was clearly one of the highlights of my career. To play again with Emile Francis, who I was with in St. Louis, he put together a real good crew and made it a lot of fun a very special place as far I was concerned.”

For Babych, his connection with the fans was so important.

“I always love to play for the fans. You really feed off them as a player. My time in Hartford I saw both ends of it. When I was traded from Quebec, the Nordiques were in first place, and the Whalers were in last place the year before. So, it was a tough adjustment, but the following season was one of my best as a pro. That’s why I come back. I really love to talk to people, hear their stories of what the Whalers meant to them. The folks here (the Yard Goats) are doing everything first class. I can’t thank them enough. We’ll be back next year.”

The 1985-86 season was the high watermark in the NHL portion of the Whalers life.

Babych would gain a measure of revenge against Quebec when they swept the first place Nordiques in three straight – a team many felt that year would be a Stanley Cup Finalist.

Babych enjoyed his time in the majestic Quebec City and playing at the now-closed Le Colisee for an all too brief 15 games.

“I was on a line with the Dale Hunter, and Michel Goulet. We really worked well together and were a solid second scoring line behind the Stastny’s (Anton, and Peter) and Peter was simply among the best players in that generation. It was great to have played with a guy like that. Then to go to the Whalers, I admit I was a little skeptical at first, I didn’t like the trade.”

He was dealt to Hartford for Greg Malone. He posted 28 points in 37 games for the Whalers.

The Whalers played the behemoth Montreal Canadiens, the royalty of the NHL who featured Larry Robinson, Patrick Roy, and Bob Gainey in the second round.

The Whalers won Game Six in dramatic fashion when Kevin Dineen (who was just hired to be the head coach for the AHL San Diego Gulls) got around Robinson off the left-wing and slipped the game’s only goal past Roy to force a Game 7.

“We weren’t the biggest, fastest or strongest team, but we jelled over the last twenty games of the regular season and we battled right to the end of the series. Those two series are clearly among the highlights of my career. The reception we got back in Hartford was amazing (the parade). It was like we had won the Stanley Cup. There was so much pride in the team that spring, in Hartford. It was pretty special.”

In Game 7, Roy was his usual stingy self in goal and then-rookie, Claude Lemieux, tallied a goal at 6:65 of overtime to end the Whalers’ dream.

“That was such a great series and easily the toughest loss you can suffer…Game 7 and Hartford was electric. Then everybody was talking Whalers hockey and game night you felt the real energy.

“I always wonder had we won that series, I really believe we would have gone to the Finals. Beating that Canadiens would have been a rocket booster for us. We had really jelled as a team, and we had a lot of the right pieces that year,” Babych said. He had suffered an injury that altered his career in training camp in a game in Quebec City.

A strong, two-handed but clean hit from behind to his right knee that he received from one of the Nordiques ruffians, Ken McRae, leveled him. To this day it still isn’t the same.

“I played physical. It was part of my game, but he took exception to it then nailed me with a two-hander. I never saw it coming.”

Babych lost all feeling to his knee and underwent a mid-1980’s style reconstructive knee surgery.

“The techniques were nothing like they are today if I had the surgery today I could’ve come back for a few more years. They were using different body parts and everything to put it back together,” Babych joked.

“When I went to a disability exam in California when they looked at my knee on MRI’s and x-rays, they laughed at me and said, ‘Holy cow,’ and asked, ‘How are you still even walking?’ It came at a really bad time because we were talking to Mr. Francis on a longer-term deal. I wanted to stay here. Of course, my brother was here and I really liked that group. It’s one of the reasons we come back. I had so many fond memories.”

Babych eventually sued McRae. The case was settled out of court, but as the saying goes, the damage was done.

The end of his Whaler and NHL career was neither smooth or graceful. After returning from surgery he played four games, a three-in-three at home, then Pittsburgh, and Babych knew there was a problem.

“I skated up to my brother during the game and said, ‘Dave, I don’t think I can do this anymore.’ The pain, I knew my skating was way off. When you have no feeling in your knee and parts of your leg makes it very difficult to play hockey. “

He was assigned to their AHL affiliate in Binghamton, but he refused the assignment and was suspended by the team.

“A lot of people at the time thought I quit or was angling for a trade, that wasn’t the case. Even after the surgery, nothing felt right. I did go to Binghamton, put up some points (seven in six games), but I was nowhere near 100%. I tried to come back in the next training camp, but it was still very difficult. Several ice bags after a game, the pain was still there, and the loss of feeling around the knee was still there and still is.”

At that point, Babych, like ex-Wolf Pack’s Stefan Cherneski, fulfilled the insurance requirements and retired with his disability claim

The Babychs are a part of a rare fraternity of brothers to have played in Hartford. Just seven pairs have done so with the WHA or NHL editions of the team. The others included, among the first Europeans to come over to play hockey in North America, in goalie Christer and defenseman Thommy Abrahamsson (Thommy played half-a-season with the NHL Whalers in 1980-81), Jack “Killer” Carlson and Steve Carson (WHA only) who were the inspiration for the Hanson brother characters in Slapshot. Doug Roberts played just two seasons, both with his brothers, Gordie who played four WHA Whalers seasons. Gordie Roberts would skate just a season and a half years with the NHL squad before being traded.

Mark and Marty Howe, of course, played in NHL and WHA along with their late great father Gordie. Tim and Neil Sheehy with Tim playing with the WHA team from 1972-1975 and in 1977-78 ) and 15 games with the Whalers in their first season. Brother Neil who famously wore 0 as a uniform number (the only player in NHL history to do so) for his 26 games with the 1985-‘86 Whalers. There were also the Wesley brothers, Blake Wesley (1981-82) and Glen (1994-1997) skated for the Whalers and Glen’s son, Josh, skated for the Wolf Pack last spring appearing in 15 games.

The last of the brothers’ crew was the Brownschidle’s. Jack played just 39 games over a three-season span claimed off waivers from St. Louis in March 1984 and Jeff played just seven games with the Whalers (1981-1983).

Babych, now 61, resides in the Winnipeg area. He has a 12-year-old son, Cole, who’s playing hockey with the St. James Canadiens (MBAAA). He wasn’t sure if his father’s tales of the NHL were real until a special lunch.

Babych was taking him to Vancouver to see Uncle Dave and his cousins and wound up having lunch with Wayne Gretzky.

“He never saw me or Dave play, so he wasn’t really sure about us whether we were putting him on or not, but last year we took him to lunch with Wayne. He and I go back to when we were kids and played in the World Junior championship (1977) in Montreal and I think the stories and Wayne’s presence made it click for him; like you really played with him,” said Babych with a good laugh at the irony.

In fact, Babych playing with the young version of Gretzky in his coming out debut at the WJC at the fabled Montreal Forum, and two years he played in Pittsburgh with Mario Lemieux, so he got see greatness up close and personal.

“Some guys would say they would pass you the puck and you never got it back,“ Babych said with a chuckle. “Wayne’s skill level was simply incredible, and his ability to pass was unbelievable, but not just where and when was his gift. He passed it and he not only got it on your stick but at the moment you were in the best position to shoot on a goalie. Mario’s size and agility were so difficult for a defenseman to play against. He could be tied up and yet still send a pass from twelve feet the other way in the other direction with a flick of his wrists. He was a scary big man to play against.”

Babych also scored 54 goals in St. Louis in 1980-81 who had selected him in the first round (third overall) in the 1978 NHL Draft after back-to-back 50 goal seasons with the Portland Winter Hawks (WHL) with another great center, Bernie Federko.

“l played a lot of time with Bernie and Brian (Sutter), but I really did even better when our coach (the great Red Berenson) switched me to the left-wing on the second line with Larry Patey and Blake Dunlop and getting a pass from a person’s backhand on the off-wing was so good and it really worked for me. The previous two years, I was on pace for 40 goals but had some shoulder issues, but that year everything clicked.”

He is a Tim Horton hockey Dad now and that brings Babych a lot of joy and new dreams. “I told him, ‘You keep getting better and get that NHL bonus so I get that condo in Tampa and enjoy life on the beach. He is a forward and going through a growth spurt, but he wanted to play goalie at one point. He was doing well until one game he faced like 50 shots. He comes home and says, ‘I don’t want to be a goalie anymore.’ Seriously, whatever he does I’ll be proud of, and it’s a lot of fun right watching him grow and develop.”

Hartford is certainly a hockey home for Wayne Babych.

(Brother Dave was in attendance, but wasn’t available for the night session)

The post CANTLON’S CORNER: WAYNE BABYCH RETURNS TO HARTFORD first appeared on Howlings.

BY: Bob Crawford, Hartford Wolf Pack

Binghamton, NY, January 25, 2019 – John Quenneville’s power-play goal with 42.4 seconds left in overtime lifted the Binghamton Devils to a 3-2 win over the Hartford Wolf Pack Friday night at the Floyd L. Maines Veterans Memorial Arena.

Bobby Butler and Vinni Lettieri scored for the Wolf Pack, who led 2-1 going into the third period, but Blake Pietila’s second goal of the game tied it in the third, and he also had an assist on the game-winner.

“I liked the effort of the group, I thought we did a lot of things very well,” said the Wolf Pack’s Keith McCambridge, for whom the game was his 500^th as an AHL head coach.  “The start was good, lots of jump, created some chances.  I thought the second period, the game slowed down a little bit for both sides, a little bit more of a lull on our end.  But we got it back, the back end of the second and the third period.  It would have been nice to get the final two points, but the message to the group was, you play that way, and we’ll win more games than we’ll lose.”

Binghamton went to the man advantage when Sean Day was called for hooking at 3:16 of the OT.  On the winning play, Pietila got the puck to John Ramage at the left point, and he sent it across to Quenneville in the right circle.  His one-timer beat Wolf Pack goaltender Marek Mazanec (32 saves) to the stick side.

Pietila had leveled the score at two apiece at 7:24 of the third, shortly after the Wolf Pack had finished killing a penalty.  This time it was Quenneville with the setup, as he stopped up along the boards just inside the Wolf Pack zone and sent Pietila up the slot with a lead pass.  He fired a forehand shot past Mazanec’s blocker.

Pietila opened the scoring for the Devils at 8:56 of the first period, on the game’s first power play.

With Steven Fogarty in the box for a faceoff violation, Brandon Gignac handed the puck to Nick Lappin to the right of Marek Mazanec, and Lappin backhanded a pass across the goal mouth to Pietila, who had most of the net to shoot at from below the right faceoff dot.

The Wolf Pack equalized only 2:17 later, at 11:13, on Butler’s seventh goal of the season.  Gabriel Fontaine fed to Butler on the left boards in the Binghamton zone, and he slapped it at the net.  It hit a defender in front of the goal and deflected past Devil netminder Mackenzie Blackwood (22 saves).

Lettieri scored the only goal of the second period, giving Hartford its first lead of the game at 16:13.  Connor Brickley dropped the puck to Lettieri at the top of the right circle, and his hard snapshot beat Blackwood to the stick side.

The Wolf Pack are back on home ice at the XL Saturday night, for their last game before the AHL All-Star break, a 7:00 contest vs. the Charlotte Checkers.  The Wolf Pack will be holding a “Halfway to Summer” luau at that game, with the team wearing special Hawaiian floral-print jerseys, which will be auctioned off to benefit the Channel 3 Kids Camp.  Also, the first 2,000 fans will receive a free Wolf Pack baseball cap, presented by CT-DOT.

Tickets for all 2018-19 Wolf Pack home games are on sale now at the Agera Energy Ticket Office at the XL Center, online at hartfordwolfpack.com and by phone at (877) 522-8499.  Tickets purchased in advance for kids 12 or younger start at just $13 each, and all tickets will have a $3 day-of-game increase.

Season ticket information for the Wolf Pack’s 2018-19 AHL season can be found online at hartfordwolfpack.com.  To speak with a representative about all of the Wolf Pack’s many attractive ticketing options, call (855) 762-6451, or click here to request more info.

Hartford Wolf Pack 2 at Binghamton Devils 3 (OT)
Friday, January 25, 2019 – Floyd L. Maines Veterans Memorial Arena

Hartford 1 1 0 0 – 2
Binghamton 1 0 1 1 – 3

1st Period-1, Binghamton, Pietila 13 (Lappin, Gignac), 8:56 (PP). 2, Hartford, Butler 7 (Fontaine, Fogarty), 11:13. Penalties-served by Fogarty Hfd (bench minor – delay of game (faceoff violation)), 7:35; White Bng (tripping), 14:39; Pietila Bng (double minor – high-sticking), 16:05.

2nd Period-3, Hartford, Lettieri 12 (Brickley, Nieves), 16:13. Penalties-Lindgren Hfd (roughing), 4:15; Tangradi Bng (roughing), 4:15; Jacobs Bng (hooking), 11:07; Ramage Bng (tripping), 17:24.

3rd Period-4, Binghamton, Pietila 14 (Quenneville, Studenic), 7:24. Penalties-Sissons Bng (interference), 1:35; O’Gara Hfd (interference), 4:49.

OT Period-5, Binghamton, Quenneville 11 (Ramage, Pietila), 4:17 (PP). Penalties-Day Hfd (hooking), 3:16.

Shots on Goal-Hartford 13-6-5-0-24. Binghamton 10-8-13-4-35.
Power Play Opportunities-Hartford 0 / 6; Binghamton 2 / 3.
Goalies-Hartford, Mazanec 7-6-3 (35 shots-32 saves). Binghamton, Blackwood 7-7-1 (24 shots-22 saves).
A-3,339
Referees-Michael Markovic (47), Michael Sheehan (74).
Linesmen-Neil Frederickson (68), Tyler Loftus (11).

The post CRAWFORD: (FRI) PACK HAVE A DEVIL OF A TIME IN BINGHAMTON, LOSE IN OT first appeared on Howlings.

      VERSUS      

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings

HARTFORD, CT – Cole Schneider’s OT game-winner allowed the Hartford Wolf Pack to end their home schedule in winning fashion 2-1 over the Binghamton Devils in the first meeting of the season.

The Wolf Pack close out the entire regular season in Binghamton.

The Wolf Pack finished their home schedule with a record of 19-6-3-0. Their record sits at .500 at 33-33-6-3. With a win tomorrow, the team will finish above .500, a goal the team has worked toward for the end of this season.

“We have had it on the board to get to .500. That’s what we’re striving for,” said Schneider, the game’s hero.

The game-winner came as Schneider took a lead pass from Chris Bigras at center ice as the Wolf Pack were going for a wholesale change during the three-on-three marched down the right wing was able to stuff in his fifteenth goal of the season off a rebound of his backhander on goaltender Cam Johnson at 1:53.

30 seconds earlier, Johnson stopped Bigras on a breakaway which looked like it could have been the game-winner.

For Schneider, it capped a game perfectly where he was voted the Team’s MVP by his teammates.

“I was happy Biggie didn’t score on the breakaway so I could get out there and get the game winner,” Schneider said with a laugh.

He was humbled hearing the announcement of his winning the MVP.

“It’s very special to be respected by the guys like that. When your teammates do something like that, you really appreciate it. I look at it as so special. It will really hit me over the summer.”

The Pack’s Adam Tambellini had the first solid chance to win the game at 26 seconds of OT with a burst down the left wing that came off a pass from Vinni Lettieri that Johnson stopped.

“We had some good chances in the third and got a few early in overtime and Cole Schneider finished it off. I thought we did a solid job all night and were able to pull through for the win.”

Finishing with a winning home record was also uppermost important to the team.

“We talked about it before the game about getting back to .500 (overall) and to finish up strong at home for the fans and we were able to do that,” Schneider stated.

Lettieri had two chances in the final two minutes of regulation to win it but came up empty. As awards were announced, Lettieri was named as the Wolf Pack Fan Favorite as voted on by the Pack faithful.

“We had some chances where I had more time than I thought. We had chances. Tambo had a good effort on the backhander too against them.”

Winning The Fan Favorite Award and the support from the faithful meant a lot to Lettieri. “I was very thankful for that. We really appreciate the fans. They helped us a lot this year, whether we were winning or losing, they were there for us. I can’t credit them enough how they were there for us, especially in the second half. We saw more fans coming in and that gave us momentum. On some (nights) they got us fired up and thanks to them for that. We’re excited to give them something more to cheer about next year.”

Playing a brand new opponent in game 75 was alright with Lettieri.

“It was great. In fact, it was kind of refreshing actually to see somebody else. We play Springfield and Bridgeport, what, 50 times this year? So, it was nice to play a new team for a change.”

Binghamton nearly won it in the waning seconds of regulation.

Christian Bertschy came off the left wing wall and raced to the net. Pack goalie, Alex Georgiev, calmly poke-checked the puck off his stick.

In the third period, the Devils tied the game at one late in the period.

Nathan Bastian took a short drop pass from Mike MacLeod while Vince Pedrie and Schneider collided while trying to stop MacLeod. Bastian slipped away from Steven Fogarty and sped down the left wing untouched. He then cut across Georgiev and put his shot just under his right pad for his sixth of the season with 5:53 left in the regulation.

In the second period, the Wolf Pack held the Devils to just five shots. Part of the reason for the low shot total was strong defensive play inside the Wolf Pack zone from Ryan Lindgren, who did some fine shot blocking on an attempt by Christian Bertschy.

They were able to put eleven shots on Johnson including a right-wing drive by Fogarty that was redirected by Dawson Leedahl. Gabriel Fontaine, the winner of the team’s Seventh Player Award, was on the third line. He too had a solid opportunity denied by Johnson.

The Wolf Pack used their first power play to score the game’s first goal.

Bigras got the shot off from the right point. The puck made it through to Fogarty. He won a one-on-one battle and out-positioned and got in-between and behind Devils defenseman Brian Strait, and Tariq Hammond who had lost his stick for a shot that was stopped.

Ryan Gropp followed that up with being in a perfect support position behind Fogarty and chipped in his thirteenth of the season at 12:48.

This came just after Dan DeSalvo’s shot from the right point was nearly put in by the stick of Devils defenseman, Jagger Dirk.

WOLF PACK TEAM AWARD WINNERS:

MVP: Cole Schneider
7the Player Award: Gabriel Fontaine
Team Character Award: Steven Fogarty
Man of the Year: Chris Nell
Fan Favorite: Vinni Lettieri

WOLF PACK LINES:

Albert-Leedahl-Jaspar
Schneider-Fogarty-DeSalvo
Tambellini-Lettieri-Ronning
Fontaine-Gropp-Salvaggio

Bigras-Helgesen
Lindgren-Labrie
Pedrie-Crawley

SCRATCHES:

Scott Kosmachuk (foot injury)
Brendan Smith (broken hand)
Boo Nieves (healthy)
Dan Catenacci (veteran)
Drew Melanson (healthy)

Rangers unofficially assigned forward Lias Andersson (Sweden) and Filip Chytil (Czech Republic) to their respective World Championship teams that begin play in Denmark in two weeks on May 4.

The Wolf Pack announced the date of the home opener for 2018-19. The date will be October 5th.

Dirk is the son of former NHL defenseman Robert Dirk.

A whole host of scouts on hand for the home finale. Among them were Anaheim, Detroit, Ottawa, and Winnipeg.

Earlier in the week, defenseman Alexei Bereglazov, who played 13 games at the start of the season before returning to Russia, was put on unconditional waivers and cleared. This ends his contract with the Rangers and he will not be returning to Hartford in the fall and will remain in Russia to play in the KHL.

Wolf Pack Fan Jersey of the Night:

Old school night for sure; #7 Joe Rullier (still remember the banner from the home crowd, “Rullier is French for Loser!” He’s since retired), #14 Jack Combs (Iserlohn Germany-DEL), #15 Hugh Jessiman (retired), #18 (CT Whale) Jonathan Audy-Marchessault (Las Vegas-NHL), #20 P.J. Stock (assistant coach St. Lazare QJAAAHL), #23 Jayson Megna (Vancouver-NHL/Utica-AHL), #27 Martin Grenier (retired), #34 Dane Byers (Manchester England-EIHL), #46 Jordan Owens (Fischtown Germany-DEL) and #48 Peter Ferraro (retired).

Bonus: A pair of Ronnings were in the house, a #7 Cliff Ronning (Arizona) and Ty Ronning #14 (from last year).

The post CANTLON: PACK KNOCK OFF DEVILS IN FINAL HOME GAME OF THE SEASON first appeared on Howlings.

LABATT BLUE BUBBLE HOCKEY TOURNAMENT PRESENTED BY THE AHL UNDER WAY

11 AHL cities hosting qualifying rounds; championship Mar. 31 in Hershey

The American Hockey League and Labatt Blue have announced that the 2012 Labatt Blue Bubble Hockey Tournament of Champions presented by the AHL is now under way in 11 participating AHL cities.

Entry is free, and no purchase is necessary. Players must be 21 or older to participate.

The tournament is taking place in three stages. During January and February, each participating team is hosting a series of qualifying nights in local sports bars, restaurants and taverns. A total of eight qualifiers from each city will advance to the team finals, which will be held in AHL arenas to determine each team champion. Finally, the 11 individual team winners will advance and earn a trip to the ultimate Tournament of Champions, scheduled at the Giant Center in Hershey, Pa., on March 31, 2012.

The winner of the 2012 Labatt Blue Tournament of Champions presented by the AHL will receive a Labatt Blue AHL Bubble Hockey game and a mini replica Calder Cup trophy from the AHL. For a full tournament schedule please visit theahl.com.

Participating teams in this inaugural event include the Adirondack Phantoms, Binghamton Senators, Bridgeport Sound Tigers, Connecticut Whale, Hershey Bears, Manchester Monarchs, Portland Pirates, Providence Bruins, Rochester Americans, Springfield Falcons and Worcester Sharks.

The post THIS LOOKS LIKE FUN… first appeared on Howlings.

BY: Bob Crawford, Voice of the CTWhale

The Whale went 0-2-0-1 in three games this past weekend, but still maintained their grasp on first place in the Northeast Division. Connecticut was edged by the defending Calder Cup champion Binghamton Senators, 3-1, Friday in Binghamton. The Whale fell in a shootout, 5-4, to the Springfield Falcons on Saturday in the front end of a home-and-home series with their I-91 rivals, before dropping a 4-2 decision in Springfield to wrap up the week on Sunday. Kris Newbury gathered three goals and three assists in the week’s action, as did All-Star Jonathan Audy-Marchessault.

This week:

The Whale heads to Virginia to face the Norfolk Admirals for two games this weekend, clashing with their East Division foe Friday and Saturday. It will be the only trip of the season to Norfolk for the Whale, who will host the Admirals Jan. 21 and Mar. 10 at the XL Center.

Friday, January 13 at Norfolk Admirals (Norfolk Scope), 7:30 PM

· The Whale head to Norfolk Friday for their first of four meetings on the season with the Admirals.

· The Admirals enter the week in second place in the AHL’s East Division, four points behind the Eastern Conference-leading Hershey Bears.

· Norfolk is currently in a two-game skid, having dropped a pair of home games to the Albany Devils this past week.

· Richard Panik scored the only goal of the game for the Admirals in Saturday’s 3-1 defeat to the Devils, and also collected a pair of assists in Friday’s 5-4 overtime loss.

· Radio – CT Whale “Rockin’ Hockey”, live with Bob Crawford, on “The Rock”, 106.9 WCCC-FM, and on-line at www.ctwhale.com.

Saturday, January 14 at Norfolk Admirals (Norfolk Scope), 7:15 PM

· The Admirals boast two of the league’s top five leading scorers, with Trevor Smith carrying the team lead with 44 points (16-28-44). Cory Conacher is the league’s top scoring rookie with 41 points on the season (21-20-41), and is tied for the overall league lead in goals with 21.

· Norfolk owns the second-best power-play in the league, clicking at a 22.2% rate. Their 38 power-play goals are second in the league to Hershey’s 51.

· The Admirals’ penalty-kill is ranked 23^rd in the AHL, working at a 79.7% success rate so far this season.

· Dustin Tokarski is ranked 13^th among qualifying goaltenders with a 2.45 goals against average, and he has the decision in 14 of the Admirals’ 21 wins this season.

· Radio – CT Whale “Rockin’ Hockey”, live with Bob Crawford, on “The Rock”, 106.9 WCCC-FM, and on-line at www.ctwhale.com.

“Whale TV”:

· The following two special “Whale TV” selections will be available this week to Comcast Xfinity on Demand customers throughout New England, in the “Get Local” folder of Comcast’s On Demand Service:

o Kris Newbury Interview (Whale Special Events folder) – the Whale’s veteran scoring leader talks about his recent point-scoring run, and his Reebok/AHL Player of the Week honor.

o Game Highlights (Game of the Week folder) – the featured game is an exciting, back-and-forth skirmish between the Whale and their most familiar rivals, the Springfield Falcons, from January 7 at the XL Center.

· Every Tuesday night, CPTV Sports will air an edited re-broadcast of a Whale game from the previous week, on “Whale TV Replay”.

o This Tuesday night, January 10 at 7:00 PM, Whale TV Replay will feature a re-broadcast of the game from this past Saturday night, January 7 vs. the Springfield Falcons.

· The second of five live Whale TV broadcasts on WCCT-TV, Connecticut’s CW affiliate, presented by Webster Bank, is coming up Saturday, January 28, when the Whale host the Springfield Falcons at 7:00 PM.

Recent Transactions:

Jeff Prough – returned by the Whale to Greenville (ECHL) January 4.

Practice:
All Whale practices are open to the media at the XL Center or Champions Skating Center in Cromwell.  As schedules are subject to last-minute changes, please call the public relations department at (860) 728-3366 before attending a practice.

Tue., January 10            10:00 – 11:00 AM, Champions Skating Center

Wed., January 11          11:00 – 12 Noon, Champions Skating Center

Thurs., January 12         Practice in Voorhees, NJ
Fri., January 13             Game at Norfolk

Sat., January 14            Game at Norfolk

Sun., January 15           No practice

Mon., January 16 10:00 – 11:00 AM, Champions Skating Center

Whale Tales:

The Whale will host a top-level professional women’s hockey game prior to their home game Saturday, January 21 at the XL Center vs. the Norfolk Admirals.  The “International Women’s Hockey Challenge”, presented by Aetna, will be a Canadian Women’s Hockey League (CWHL) regular-season battle between the Boston Blades and Team Alberta.  That contest will face off at 3:00 PM on January 21, before the Whale and Admirals lock horns at 7:00.  Tickets for the Whale game will also be good for admission to the CWHL tilt.

Whale fans can pick up some collectible goodies at Whale home games January 27 and January 28, which will be “Trading Card Weekend” at the XL Center.  Friday, January 27, when the Whale entertain the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (7:00 PM faceoff), 5,000 fans will receive the Whale’s second set of player trading cards, sponsored by Webster Bank.  The featured players for this set are All-Star Jonathan Audy-Marchessault, Cam Talbot, Ryan Bourque, Kelsey Tessier, Jordan Owens and, in a historical tribute, former Hartford Wolf Pack star Ryan Callahan, now captain of the parent New York Rangers.  Then the next night, Saturday, January 28, when the Springfield Falcons visit the XL Center for a 7:00 game, will feature a giveaway of additional sets of the first group of Whale trading cards.  That array included cards of All-Star Mats Zuccarello, Wade Redden, Kris Newbury, Chad Johnson and Carl Hagelin.  Also, after the game on January 28, selected Whale players will conduct an autograph session to sign their cards.

The Connecticut Whale and the CT Hockey Hall of Fame will partner to hold a CT Hockey Hall of Fame night at the Whale’s home game at the XL Center Saturday, March 10 vs. the Norfolk Admirals.  That night will mark the enshrinement of a new class of 2012 inductees into the CT Hockey Hall of Fame, which has adopted eight members from the storied Hartford Whalers Hall of Fame.  There will be an induction ceremony before the game, which faces off at 7:00 PM on March 10, and the new inductees will also be recognized on the ice during the first intermission.  Fans can take home a special souvenir of the March 10 night, as 5,000 Hall of Fame posters will be given away, courtesy of SuperCuts.  This will be the first class of inductees since 1990, and the 2012 class will be announced later this month.  Further details are available at cthockeyHOF.org.

College students can get discounted tickets to Whale weekday games with the Whale’s “Ditch the Dorms” deal.  For Monday through Friday home games, students who show a valid student ID at the Public Power Ticket Office at the XL Center can get $2 off Upper Level tickets and $5 off Lower Level seats.

Save on your tickets, and get the best seats, with a ticket plan for the Whale’s 2011-12 AHL campaign, which are on sale now. For information on season seats, mini plans and great group discounts, visit www.ctwhale.com, or call the CT Whale ticket office at (860) 728-3366 to talk with an account executive today.

The AHL’s Connecticut Whale is operated by Whalers Sports and Entertainment, a Hartford-based sports marketing and event firm founded by Howard Baldwin and Howard Baldwin, Jr.. The team is the top player-development affiliate of the NHL’s New York Rangers.

Since 1972, the CT Lottery has generated nearly $21.4 billion in sales and has transferred more than $7.2 billion to the state’s General Fund. Prizes have exceeded $12.3 billion. Purchasers must be 18 years or older. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, call the Problem Gambling Helpline at 1-800-346-6238. For more information about the Connecticut Lottery Corporation, visit ctlottery.org.

CATCH THE WHALE AT WWW.CTWHALE.COM

The post WHALE WEEKLY: January 9 – 15, 2011 first appeared on Howlings.

VERSUS     

If the Connecticut Whale are going to make a serious run at a Calder Cup championship they are going to have to learn how to play with a lead and that it takes a full sixty minutes to win. Friday night in Binghamton, New York the Whale took on the Ottawa Senators top farm team and surrendered goals to forwards Andre Peterrsson and Pat Carrone in exactly sixty seconds and ex-Hartford Wolf Pack center Corey Locke would add an empty net goal in the final minute and the Whale lost for the eighth time in their last thirteen games (5-6-1-1) and saw their record when leading after the first period to 5-4-1-3 as they dropped a 3-1 decision in front of 3,684 at the Brome County Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

“I thought in the third period, when we pushed harder, we got more consistent offensive output,” Whale head coach Ken Gernander told the team’s Brian Ring afterwards. “In the first two periods, we tried forcing plays, we turned down shots, we didn’t put pucks deep and consequently we didn’t generate much offense. I think that was the difference between the third period and the first two.”

Tentative would best describe how the New York Rangers AHL affiliate  started this game. As Gernander stated, they passed up shots and did a lot of dumping the puck in the Senators zone but didn’t chase them down. The last place Senators however did and pushed the Whale around on the ice. When Senators defenseman Mark Borowiecki crushed the Whale’s Chris McKelvie hard into the boards by the center red line, Jordan Owens had seen enough and jumped in to fight for his teammate at 11:11.

Despite taking the harder shots in the fight, Owens woke his teammates out of their malaise and 1:33 later would take the lead.

Kelsey Tessier cleanly won a faceoff with Stephane Da Costa in the left circle in the offensive zone. The puck went back to Francois Bouchard who immediately fired a wrister past the games First Star, veteran netminder Mark McKenna (10-9-0,  38 saves).

In the twenty games since arriving in a trade with the Hershey Bears for defenseman Tomas Kundratek back in mid-November, Bouchard has only contributed four points (2g, 2a). Bouchard,  now has a three game game points streak, potting a goal and five helpers for six points.

The Whale had another great scoring opportunity with 31 seconds left in the first when Andre Deveaux across the crease feed to Kelsey Tessier on the right gave the Whale center a great opportunity to deposit the puck in the back of the net, but Tessier could not lift the puck and McKenna got back in a near miraculous way to get the puck under him.

Sean Avery, playing in his second game since being sent back to the Whale last week made an impact early in the second period. It was his retaliation to being faked out of his skates in the neutral zone that led to a slashing call putting the Whale on their second PK at 6:29.

On that resulting power-play, Petersson took a pass from Locke, the game’s Second Star, in the middle of the slot and snapped a shot that eluded the blocker of Chad Johnson (10-6-3, 37 saves) and went to the back of the net. The goal was Petersson’s ninth of the season. The secondary assist went another one-time Hartford Wolf-Pack, forward Mike Hoffman.

Sixty seconds later, after the Whale just could not get the puck out of their own end, defenseman Tim Conboy made a strong play along the right side to keep the puck in the Whale zone and fired a shot form the right point that Pat Cannone deflected past an otherwise solid Johnson who was rightfully awarded the game’s Third Star.

The Whale narrowly avoided going down 3-1 later in the second period. At 11:49,  Avery took another foolish penalty, an obvious and blatant crosscheck right in front of referee Chris Brown. On that power play Petersson smashed the puck off the crossbar from almost the exact spot that he’s scored from earlier.

Had Johnson not been particularly strong throughout, it could have been FAR worse as the Whale ended the second period trailing in shots 34-17.

However, as Gernander noted, the Whale woke up in the third period and exploded for their highest shot total since an October 15th game against Bridgeport when in the second frame they put 22 shots on net by doing the same in Binghamton in the third. But despite the rubber flying from everywhere, the Whale could not slip one past McKenna.

The Whale will have a chance to end their two-game slump when the Springfield Falcons return to the XL Center on Saturday night and start a back-to-back home-and-home pair with the Whale.

Joy Lindsay takes you inside the Binghamton Senators locker room at PressConnects.com part of the Press & Sun Bulletin in upstate New York.

GAME SUMMARY and OFFICIAL SCORERS SHEET

STANDINGS:

(Standings provided by TheAHL.com)

NOTES:

* Kris Newbury went scoreless ending his eight game points streak

* Tim Erixon had flu-like symptoms and did not make the trip with the team, but Mats Zuccarello, who, between his starting the season in New York and recovering from this leg injury, has been out for all but 18 games this season. He is skating skating hard in practice and could return soon. He travelled with the team.

* The 4th ranked CTWhale PP went 0-2 against a team who entered the game 29th of 30 in PK. Meanwhile their 10th ranked PK was 2/3 against the 16th ranked PP of the Senators

* Avery photos courtesy of Rebecca Catlett at Pressconnects.com

LINES:

Audy-Marchessault – Newbury – Deveaux
Voros – Avery – Bourque
Bouchard – Tessier – Thuresson
Grant – Owens – McKelvie

Valentenko – Parlett
Bell – Klassen
Baldwin – Nightingale

Johnson
Talbot

(Assistant Captains Bold and Italicized)

SCRATCHES:

Wade Redden – Lower Body – Indefinite
Mats Zuccarello – Lower Body – 2-3 Weeks
Tim Erixon – Ill – Day-to-Day
Scott Tanski – Healthy Scratch

THREE STARS:

1. BNG – M. McKenna
2. BNG – C. Locke
3. CT – C. Johnson

ON ICE OFFICIALS:

Referee:
Chris Brown (86)

Linesmen:
Jim Harper (59)
John Everett (82)

NEXT GAME:

Back to the building so big they call it the XL Center as the Whale return home Saturday to start a home-and-home with the Springfield Falcons. Bob Crawford will be on the air with the pre-game show at 6:50pm on WCCC.com.

To watch the game live, you can purchased it for $6.99 at AHL-live.

For Ticket information for all home games, call (860) 548-2000.

Too far away or can’t make it? Listen live at WCCC.com or from your cell phone or computer you can get all the live action via our Twitter page: @HowlingsToday for all games both home and away.

SCORE-SHEET:

Connecticut Whale 1 at Binghamton Senators 3 – Status: Final
Friday, January 6, 2012 – Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena

Connecticut 1 0 0 – 1
Binghamton 0 2 1 – 3

1st Period-1, Connecticut, Bouchard 3 (Tessier), 12:44. Penalties-Owens Ct (fighting), 11:11; Borowiecki Bng (fighting), 11:11; Bell Ct (cross-checking), 16:45.

2nd Period-2, Binghamton, Petersson 9 (Locke, Hoffman), 7:35 (PP). 3, Binghamton, Cannone 9 (Conboy, Dziurzynski), 8:35. Penalties-Avery Ct (slashing), 6:29; Hoffman Bng (slashing), 9:11; Avery Ct (cross-checking), 11:49.

3rd Period-4, Binghamton, Locke 3 (Petersson, Klinkhammer), 19:26 (EN). Penalties-Conboy Bng (delay of game), 5:42.

Shots on Goal-Connecticut 10-7-22-39. Binghamton 16-18-6-40.
Power Play Opportunities-Connecticut 0 / 2; Binghamton 1 / 3.
Goalies-Connecticut, Johnson 10-6-3 (39 shots-37 saves). Binghamton, McKenna 10-9-0 (39 shots-38 saves).
A-3,684
Referees-Chris Brown (86).
Linesmen-Jim Harper (59), John Everett (82)

The post WHALE OBJECTION OVERRULED first appeared on Howlings.

VERSUS     

Two goal leads and discipline have been the Connecticut Whale’s Achilles’ Heel to this point in the season and they both reared their ugly heads Sunday as the Binghamton Senators defeated the New York Ranger’s top minor league affiliate 4-3 in front of 2,669 at the XL Center.

The Whale jumped out of the gate fast with strong play in both ends of the ice and certainly looked like the top team in the American League’s Eastern Conference while the Sens looked like the cellar-dwellers that they are.

At 8:56 Mats Zuccarello, who had two goals on the night, was named the number two star of the game and was active all over the ice, missed a wide open net and hit the post.

The Whale scored five-straight power-play goals in their win over Springfield the night before and they looked equally sharp while Matt Carkner was sitting in the sin bin and Kris Newbury found Zuccarello for their set play in front of the net and “The Norwegian Hobbit” buried his sixth of the season for the 1-0 lead at 12:57.

It only took 19 seconds for the Whale to double their lead as Andreas Thuresson fired a one-timer from a Ryan Bourque pass from just inside the right circle and just up and over Robin Lehner’s (23 saves, 6-8-1), glove for the Whale’s nemesis, a 2-0 lead.

Binghamton attempted to take the Whale off their game early by taking some questionable hits and the like, but first Stu Bickel stood up for a teammate by fighting Carkner at 15:18 and then moments later when Mark Borowiecki made a very questionable hit to Kelsey Tessier along the boards, Jared Nightingale came in to fight, and for that matter pummel him, over it.

As the first period ended, the Whale lead in shots (10-8) the score (2-0) and were in control. But something mentally changed between periods and it was obvious right from the start of the second frame.

“I thought we played well the first period and had some guys step up physically (Bickel and Nightingale) as far as the fighting and giving (the Senators) no life or nothing to build on,” a clearly perturbed Whale head coach Ken Gernander said in his post game press conference. “We were up 2-0 with a couple of fights, then the rest of the guys didn’t respond and seemed to relax. They didn’t feel the onus was on them to do the little things like finish checks, block shots and pressure on the forecheck. They just thought everything had been taken care of at that point, and we didn’t carry the play at all in the second period.”

Zuccarello agreed. “It was a real bad (second) period for us,” He said. “We stopped playing, and that’s not acceptable.”

Two goals over a span of just 1:19, the first came at 6:01 as Rob Klinkhammer took a feed from the game’s Third Star, Stephane Da Costa to make it 2-1 and then the second, and the first of two on the night by the games’ First Star Andre Petersson. Klinkhammer got the primary assist on the goal to knot the score at two each.

The Whale gave up a third unanswered goal to Derek Grant on the power play at 15:35 and like that, the spirit in the Whale’s play was gone.

If there’s one thing you can say about Mats Zuccarello is that he’s not the one to give up. He scored his second of the game off a feed from the recently returned from the Rangers, Andre Deveaux to tie the game with just 1:10 to go in the second period.

It’s just the way this team has played that despite playing so poorly in the period that they would come back and find a way to get it done in the third period, but it just never materialized.

8:07 into the final frame, Petersson got his second of the contest from the right circle after Cam Talbot (30 saves, 6-4-0) left a juicy rebound in front of the net off a Carkner shot from the right circle. Talbot could only to watch as it was knocked behind him past the stick-side and into the net by Petersson.

Much as they have done, the Whale elevated their game and intensity, but it was too little, too late.

Pavel Valentenko crushed David Dziurzynski into the boards and appeared to hurt his wrist while the Senators forward had to be helped off the ice and was “under evaluation” according to Senators head coach  Kurt Kleinendorst.

Valentenko was given a five-minute major boarding penalty and a game misconduct with 4:10 to go in the game.

Klinhammer took some of the pressure off when 35 seconds into the Whale kill he awarded them back two minutes when he was flagged for a high-sticking infraction.

With exactly two minutes left, a scramble in front of the Whale net led Carkner slashing (although it more closely looked like a spearing) to Newbury.

With two minutes left to go the Whale would have had a four-on-three power play, but Newbury lost his cool when he was called for an Unsportsmanlike Conduct call. Gernander said that referee Dan Dreger explained it to the Whale Coach and it seemed like he was called for something he said and it was NOT diving. Zuccarello, who was standing right next to Newbury at the time said that it was NOT for talking back, that Newbury didn’t say anything and the call was for Diving. Whichever way you want to take it, it eliminated a power play opportunity.

This was not the first time that Newbury has been at the center of a play where a power play opportunity has been lose because of something like that, which explains Gernander’s reaction.

Zuccarello summed it up this way, “This is a game we should win for sure, so we’re kind of disappointed. We played three (games) in three (days) and obviously were a little banged up and couldn’t get our legs going. They outshot us hard, and we didn’t get into the game.

“We didn’t play our game at all, and you can’t win games in this league if you don’t play 100 percent. We can’t be that lucky as we were (Saturday night) every game.”

Safe to say that Gernander would wholeheartedly agree and is certain to emphasize that point to his team what will sure to be a hard week of practice for the Whale.

Listen to the post game interviews for comments from Mats Zuccarello and head coach Ken Gernander below.

Joy Lindsay covers the Senators at Press Connects.

GAME SUMMARY and OFFICIAL SCORERS SHEET

STANDINGS:

(Standings provided by TheAHL.com)

VIDEO:

SOUNDS OF THE GAME:

Ken Gernander: 

Mats Zuccarello: 

NOTES:

* Sorry for the delay in getting this report posted. I turn 50 today and last night after the game I took my wife and children out to dinner.

LINES:

Voros – Audy-Marchessault – Bouchard
Zuccarello – Newbury – Deveaux
Bourque – Tessier – Thuresson
Grant – Owens – Tanski

Bell – Bickel
Redden – Nightingale
Valentenko – Parlett

Talbot
Johnson

(Assistant Captains Bold and Italicized)

SCRATCHES:

Tim Erixon– Undisclosed Injury – Day-to-Day

Carl Hagelin – Recall, NY Rangers
John Mitchell – Recall, NY Rangers
Chris McKelvie – Healthy Scratch

THREE STARS:

1. BNG – A. Petersson
2. CT – M. Zuccarello
3. BNG – S. Da Costa

ON ICE OFFICIALS:

Referee:
Dan Dreger (51)

Linesmen:
Derek Wahl (46)
Luke Galvin (2)

NEXT GAME:

The Whale are off until Friday night when they go for round two of the “Battle of the Bourques.” Bob Crawford will be on the air with the broadcast from the XL Center starting with the pre-game show at 6:50pm on WCCC.com.

To watch the game live, you can purchased it for $6.99 at AHL-live.

For Ticket information for all home games, call (860) 548-2000.

Too far away or can’t make it? Listen live at WCCC.com or from your cell phone or computer you can get all the live action via our Twitter page: @HowlingsToday for all games both home and away.

SCORE-SHEET:

Binghamton Senators 4 at Connecticut Whale 3 – Status: Final
Sunday, December 4, 2011 – XL Center Veterans Memorial Coliseum

Binghamton 0 3 1 – 4
Connecticut 2 1 0 – 3

1st Period-1, Connecticut, Zuccarello 6 (Newbury, Bell), 12:57 (PP). 2, Connecticut, Thuresson 6 (Bourque), 13:16. Penalties-Carkner Bng (hooking), 12:50; Carkner Bng (fighting), 15:18; Bickel Ct (fighting), 15:18; Borowiecki Bng (fighting), 18:20; Nightingale Ct (fighting), 18:20.

2nd Period-3, Binghamton, Klinkhammer 3 (Da Costa, Wiercioch), 6:01. 4, Binghamton, Petersson 6 (Klinkhammer, Gryba), 7:20. 5, Binghamton, Grant 4 (Bartlett, Borowiecki), 15:35 (PP). 6, Connecticut, Zuccarello 7 (Deveaux), 18:50. Penalties-Thuresson Ct (interference), 14:14; Bell Ct (holding), 19:36.

3rd Period-7, Binghamton, Petersson 7 (Carkner, Da Costa), 8:07. Penalties-Valentenko Ct (major – boarding, game misconduct – boarding), 15:50; Klinkhammer Bng (high-sticking), 16:25; Carkner Bng (slashing), 18:00; Newbury Ct (unsportsmanlike conduct), 18:00; Bell Ct (tripping), 19:29.

Shots on Goal-Binghamton 8-19-7-34. Connecticut 10-5-11-26.
Power Play Opportunities-Binghamton 1 / 4; Connecticut 1 / 1.
Goalies-Binghamton, Lehner 6-8-1 (26 shots-23 saves). Connecticut, Talbot 6-4-0 (34 shots-30 saves).
A-2,669
Referees-Dan Dreger (51).
Linesmen-Derek Wahl (46), Luke Galvin (2).

The post YOU CAN’T WIN’EM ALL first appeared on Howlings.

Former Hartford Wolf Pack center Corey Locke got the Senators started and Zach Smith scored a power-play goal late in the second period and added an insurance tally with 4:04 left in a 4-2 victory over the Houston Aeros at the Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena.

The win was the second in a row for the Senators, who have a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven finals and can capture the title Tuesday night at the Toyota Center in Houston. If the Aeros prevail, a decisive Game 7 will be Thursday night in Texas, but the odds aren’t in their favor of adding a second title to the one that they won in 2003. Of the 19 previous best-of-seven finals that have been tied 2-2, only the 1987 Rochester Americans won after losing Game 5.

Locke, the AHL’s MVP and leading scorer (86 points) this season, scored off Andre Benoit’s pass 9:19 into the game during a four-on-four to give the first goal for the fourth time in five games. Locke has three goals and 11 assists in 15 games since returning from a shoulder injury that forced him to miss the first round of the playoffs.

Jean-Michel Daoust scored his first of two goals to tie it at 11:08, ending 19-year-old rookie goalie Robin Lehner’s shutout streak at 97:09. The Senators regained the lead as Erik Condra blocked a shot and scored on a breakaway at 12:17, but Daoust, a fourth-liner, got the Aeros even again when he tipped in Marco Scandella’s shot with only 6.3 seconds left in the first period.

The Aeros controlled much of the second period, but the Senators took the lead for good with only 8.5 seconds left when Smith scored his first of two goals off an assist from Ryan Potulny, the leading scorer in the playoffs (26 points) who had been shut out by the Aeros in the first four games. He had been held scoreless in only three of the Senators’ first 17 games through three rounds.

The Senators and 19-year-old rookie goalie Robin Lehner (41 saves) nursed the lead until Smith scored his second of the night and eighth of the postseason. An over-capacity crowd of 4,727 remained on its feet for the remainder of the home finale for the Senators, who held off the Aeros’ final push after they pulled Hackett for a sixth attacker with 2:02 left.

Lehner improved to 13-4 with 2.11 goals-against average and .939 save percentage in 18 appearances this spring. Aeros rookie goalie Matt Hackett, making his 28^th consecutive start, had 23 saves and is now 14-9 with a 2.47 GAA and .903 save percentage.

The Senators had got even in the series Friday night as Locke had a goal and an assist to back Lehner’s 21-save performance in a 3-0 victory. Locke scored the Senators’ second goal on the series’ first 5-on-3 power play during a two-goal first period in which they had an 18-8 shot advantage. Locke then assisted on defenseman Derek Smith’s insurance goal and first in the playoffs at 2:19 of the third period.

Cody Bass ended a six-game points drought with the only goal that Lehner and Senators needed 11:48 into the game. It was his second goal of the postseason and first since Game 5 of Binghamton’s first-round series against the Manchester Monarchs on April 20.

Lehner got his league-leading third shutout of the playoffs as the Senators improved to 6-1 after a loss this postseason. The Aeros, who got 34 saves from Hackett, were shut out for the first time since a 3-0 loss at the Texas Stars on March 22.

Whenever the series does end, first-year Senators coach Kurt Kleinendorst will interview for the vacant coaching job of the parent Ottawa Senators. NHL Senators general manager Bryan Murray watched the Binghamton portion of the series and has been interviewing possible successors to Cory Clouston, fired on April 9.

Kleinendorst, a fourth-round pick of the Rangers in 1980, led the B-Senators to a 42-30-3-5 record in the regular season and their first playoff berth in six years. The only other Binghamton team to reach the finals was the Binghamton Whalers in 1982, when they lost in five games to the New Brunswick Hawks.

Murray has already interviewed Detroit Red Wings assistant coach Paul MacLean and has expressed interest in other candidates, including former B-Senators coach Dave Cameron.

The post FROM THE CREASE with BRUCE BERLET first appeared on Howlings.

DiSalvatore had a career-high 28 goals in the regular season and scored with 1:13 left in Game 7 of the Western Conference finals to give the Aeros a 3-2 victory over the Hamilton Bulldogs and former Hartford Wolf Pack and New York Rangers wing Nigel Dawes.

Wednesday night, DiSalvatore netted the first goal only 83 seconds in and then assisted on the winner in a 2-1 victory over the Binghamton Senators for a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven finals. Games 4 and 5 are Friday and Saturday nights in Binghamton, and if the Aeros don’t sweep, they’ll get a shot at the title at home on Tuesday or Thursday night.

After practice Thursday, DiSalvatore joined TheAHL.com to answer fans’ questions as submitted on the AHL’s official Facebook page. Here’s the questions and Jon’s answers, which included some major props for former Wolf Pack and Rangers wing Jed Ortmeyer. It sure would be nice to still have Jed around, though guys such Jared Nightingale and Kris Newbury have filled that strong veteran leadership role quite well the past two seasons.

How do you get yourself ready to go on game days? Do you have a particular routine? – Andrew from Pennsylvania

Generally it depends on if we’re at home or away. If we’re on the road, usually we’ll have a pre-game skate followed by a pre-game meal, and then we have a three or four-hour period where we can take a nap. Getting up for the game usually starts with a trip to a coffee shop, I’ll get a cup of coffee. Usually I’ll jump in the cold tub and then throw a couple heating packs on to loosen up the body a little bit. I’ll do some stretching and then I always like to play a game of soccer right after our team meeting. And then I grease up my body with whatever makes my legs feel good, and get out there and play.

How do you feel about playing in a smaller building like the Veterans Memorial Arena in Binghamton? What are some of the differences from a larger building – Dave from Binghamton

Fan-wise, the fans are definitely more on top of you here. It seems like you’re really closed in. They’re packing this place right now, so the atmosphere has been pretty intense.

As far as the rink itself, the neutral zone is a little smaller, plays develop a little faster than they would in a larger rink like the one we have in Houston. Your execution needs to be a little better because the transition game happens so quick that if you’re out of position or if you don’t manage the puck properly, you’re going to allow the other team to get a lot more opportunities.

Can you describe how different the feeling of a Calder Cup Playoffs game or a finals game are when compared to a regular season game? – Ben from Texas

Emotionally, it’s intense. Every play can be such a huge difference. Most of our games have been decided by just one goal, and just knowing that one play can make the difference is a pretty intense feeling and kind of draws your focus to a strong point. That’s probably the biggest difference – the focus in the games and the intensity of the games is a lot higher. You demand a lot more from your team because a lot of times you’re playing for your lives, and you’re playing for the end of your season. You don’t want it to end, so everything is amplified it seems like a hundred times more than it would be during the regular season.

You guys are now up 2-1 in the series against a team which has been resilient all year long. What do you think are some of the keys to going on to win the series and take the Calder Cup – Matthew from Texas

The keys for us – we pride ourselves a lot on our offensive zone play and our transition game and our strong defensive game – three key areas for us. We have a certain style of game that we don’t feel we have to change. We just have to continue to perfect it, even though no one is ever going to be perfect. But we feel our style is very effective and very suffocating to teams where we’re very stingy defensively, and we like to control and manage the puck offensively as well. I think our bend but don’t break mentality is something that’s going to be huge for us to pull off a Calder Cup championship.

As the team captain, do you ever have to say anything to the guys during intermissions to pump them up, especially when behind in a game? – Kathryn from Texas

We have a lot of vocal leaders on the team. I’ll say things when I feel like it’s appropriate, kind of pick my spots. I try to be more of a leader by example. If I feel like things aren’t going the right way, I’ll try my best to go out there and do them the right way. But we have a great group of leaders on our team, with Warren Peters, (Patrick) O’Sullivan, Jed Ortmeyer, Drew Bagnall – those guys, vocally, things are always said when they need to be said. I don’t necessarily need to do a lot of speaking myself.

In the last round against Hamilton, what was the mood of the team as the 3-0 series lead was eventually lost and you had to play a Game 7? – Joe from Massachusetts

I think what happened there is that we just started looking ahead a little too much. We were still feeling out our opponent, and before you knew it we came out of the gate really strong and took a 3-0 lead. I think we just started counting the series as over and started getting ready for the Finals and forgot that the hardest game is always the game to finish a team off. Hamilton was very desperate, they made a great push, and they put us off our game a bit. Just the feeling that we got away from things was a little disappointing, but at the end of the day we got to experience another Game 7, and I think we became a better team because of it.

What’s the intensity like on the ice during a Game 7, and can you talk about how you guys have been able to win two of them so far during these playoffs? – Jared from Massachusetts

That’s kind of similar to a playoff game versus a regular season game. It’s just pure desperation, but I feel like the team that can focus on their game the best and not get too wrapped up in too much of the emotional stuff is the team that’s going to end up being better off at the end of the game. I think in Game 7’s, we’ve been able to focus on our process and how we play the game, doing things the right way. We feel like we’re a great team when we do that. We’ve been able to do that in two Game 7’s, and I think that’s why we are where we are.

You’ve been in the playoffs on a few other occasions but have never gone this far. What do you attribute the success of this team all season long to? – Don from Texas

I think it all starts with the foundation that our coaches laid out for us, the patience that they had in allowing the team to mold into what they were laying out for us, and just the buy-in factor from every guy. We looked at each other and basically said we’re all in this together, we’re all going to buy into what’s going to make us a successful, championship-winning team.

Obviously there were some key additions to our team – talking about Ortmeyer and O’Sullivan again – just adding to the experience and leadership corps. All of that stuff just coming together, and guys believing in each other, is really the difference.

How does playing and living in Houston compare to some of your other stops during your professional career – Scott from Texas

I’ve enjoyed every city that I’ve played in. Houston’s been phenomenal. There are so many reasons away from the ice to enjoy Houston, but the fans have been fantastic. There have been some of the biggest crowds I’ve ever played for, especially now in the playoffs they’ve been phenomenal. Obviously the area is great, and my family and I love it down there. The weather is always nice, so it’s a different experience, but hockey-wise it’s obviously enjoyable with the success we’re having.

How nice was it to see such nice crowds for the first two games of the series in Houston, and what impact, if any, can a crowd have on the way a team plays the game? – Carla from Houston

I think obviously they’re going to motivate you. If you’re feeling like there’s a lull in the game, they’re going to pull you out of it with their emotion and their noise and applause. It can go both ways too – if you can silence a crowd like I feel we did here (in Binghamton in Game 3), that’s huge. But what Houston did for us – they carried us, carried us through every part of the game. When you’re playing well or whether you’re down, the belief they show in the stands for us, it makes you rally, and it just makes you want to perform for them.

You’ve scored at least 20 goals in each of your first eight professional seasons. How much pride do you take in that consistency over the years? – Kyle from Massachusetts

It’s nice, you know, it’s nice to score goals. It’s not necessarily something that I focus on going into the season, but I just try to make sure that I’m always put in situations to score goals, whether it’s on the power play or 4-on-4 situations. So I just try to be ready and prepared to finish my opportunities, and every year that’s the goal and I know I’m going to be put in those situations. It’s my job to prepare to take advantage of those situations. I’ve been a player that’s done it, and I hope to continue to do it.

I know there’s not suppose to be any rooting in the press box, but I have to admit I’m pulling for DiSalvatore, Ortmeyer and the Aeros.

The post TWO MINUTES with BRUCE BERLET first appeared on Howlings.

BY: Bruce Berlet

Connecticut hockey fans had more to cheer about Wednesday than just Hartford Whalers icon Kevin Dineen being named coach of the Florida Panthers.

South Windsor native and Houston Aeros captain Jon DiSalvatore scored only 68 seconds into the game and had the primary assist on Nate Prosser’s winner in a 2-1 victory over the host Binghamton Senators in Game 3 of the Calder Cup playoffs Wednesday night.

The Aeros took a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series, with Games 4 and 5 on Friday and Saturday nights at the Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena in Binghamton. Games 6 and 7, if necessary, on Tuesday and next Thursday nights in Houston.

DiSalvatore knocked in his own rebound for his sixth playoff goal, then Prosser picked up a loose puck and beat Senators rookie goalie Robin Lehner at 12:51 of the second period. Patrick O’Sullivan got his second assist of the game on the winner.

Senators captain Ryan Keller scored his ninth goal of the playoffs at 2:52 of the third period, but Aeros rookie goalie Matt Hackett (28 saves) shut down Binghamton the rest of the way to improve to 14-7 in the postseason. The Senators, who had 21 goals in a four-game sweep of Charlotte in the Eastern Conference finals, have only four games in the first three games against the Western Conference champion Aeros, who are seeking their first title since 2003.

But the fans thought the Senators had tied it with 24.5 seconds left on a goal by former Wolf Pack center Corey Locke, the AHL’s MVP and leading scorer (86 points) this season, during a late flurry after pulling Lehner. But referee Terry Koharski waved his arms to signal no goal, leading to many in a sellout crowd of 4,710 to rain plastic bottles and cups on the ice.

“(The puck) was on its edge, but it didn’t go over (the goal line),” Hackett said. “With the (Senators) goalie pulled, it was pretty intense. People were blocking shots with their faces, with any part of their body, and they did a great job.”

Senators coach Kurt Kleinendorst didn’t dispute the no-goal call but was upset his team wasn’t as intense as the Aeros.

“These are the Calder Cup finals, and you would expect your group would show up and give you an honest 60 (minutes),” Kleinendorst said. “I think we can do better. We have to give credit to Houston, but at the same time, I know this group, I know my guys, and we’re not quite where we need to be. We’re close, but close isn’t going to cut it. We’re going to have to fight for every little inch.”

And that’s about by how much the Senators failed to tie it late, but there is no video replay in the AHL because not all arenas in the 30-team league are equipped for it.

“That’s hockey,” Senators forward Mike Hoffman said. “Sometimes that happens. The chances were there, we just had to capitalize, and we didn’t. That’s why we lost the game.”

Instead, the Aeros regained the home-ice advantage and hope to return home with the Calder Cup. The Senators, now only 4-5 at home in the playoffs, hope to get back to Houston in a bid for their first title.

DiSalvatore was thinking otherwise.

“We’re striving for two more wins,” he said. “We can’t go flying high on this win and forget what we need to do. We have to look at tape from this game and look at things we can do to get better.”

DiSalvatore has been better than ever this season, having scored a career-high 28 goals during the regular season and now helping put the Aeros within two victories of another AHL championship. It has been 11 years since the Wolf Pack won the only title in Hartford hockey history, though Dineen had sure tried hard to get one earlier. After all, there are loads of reasons that his number (11) and that of Connecticut Whale coach Ken Gernander (12) are in the XL Center rafters.

The post TWO MINUTES for BRUCE BERLET first appeared on Howlings.