HARTFORD, CT – The annual NHL free agency shopping spree has begun for the New York Rangers; with serious salary cap issues, they’re shopping for deals in the clearance bins.

On Friday, the Rangers announced who they made qualifying offers to and who they didn’t.

The Rangers qualified their two most important restricted free agents, Alexis Lafreniere and K’Andre Miller.

The Hartford Wolf Pack had three players qualified. After a solid second half, Ty Emberson is in the unique CBA Group 6 category. Also qualified after his original two-year deal ended was fellow rearguard, and one of the few on the roster with significant size, at 6’4 “, was Brandon Scanlin. Lastly, and a bit of a surprise, was right-wing Lauri Pajuniemi.

At times Pajuniemi was an unhappy camper. He saw no recalls in his two years in Hartford and had already signed with his Swedish team Malmö IF (Sweden-SHL). He likely has a window before training camp in Sweden begins next month, where he’ll be allowed to sign an NHL deal without penalty.

Winger Anton Blidh signed a new two-year deal paying $775K for play in the NHL and $350K for play in the AHL two weeks after the playoffs ended.

UFA’s Ryan Carpenter, Tim Gettinger, and Wyatt Kalynuk got new deals with other teams on the same terms.

Carpenter re-signed with the San Jose Sharks, who he broke in with his first year. He signed a one-way, one-year deal at $775K.

Kalynuk signed with the St. Louis Blues. He also signed a $775K one-way contract and could wind up playing up the road at the Blues’ affiliate in Springfield.

Gettinger signed with the Detroit Red Wings for $775K. He will likely play for the Grands Rapids Griffins in the AHL, moving closer to his friends and family in Ohio.

Will Lockwood, Adam Clendening, Patrick Khordorenko, who played in just four games before separating his shoulder and ending his season, and Libor Hajek, all remained unsigned as of the end of business on Saturday.

RANGERS SIGNINGS

The Rangers signed veterans Jonathan Quick, Blake Wheeler, Alex Belzile, Riley Nash, a Pack killer in Charlotte with the Checkers last year, and Connecticut product and resident Nick Bonino.

Quick is from Hamden and received a one-year $825K deal from the Blueshirts.

The three-time Stanley Cup Champion started last year in LA and was traded twice on Trade Deadline Day in March. He spent half a day with the Columbus Blue Jackets before being dealt to the Vegas Golden Knights, where he earned that third Stanley Cup ring.

Quick went to and played for Hamden High School Green Dragons under Todd Hall, the ex-Pack assistant coach. Hall was then a recently retired player and retired as Hamden’s head coach a year ago.

Quick also went on to play prep school hockey at the Avon Old Farms (AOF), the acclaimed program coached by John Gardner, who also had Cheshire’s Brian Leetch there at one time too.

At the time, AOF’s assistant coach was former Hartford Whaler, Ranger, and Wolf Pack assistant coach, Ulf Samuelsson.

AOF has produced several Stanley Cup champions starting with Leetch (the first to go to the NHL), Quick, Bonino, and 12 others who have gone on to play in the NHL, including the retired Matt Martin (Hamden), ex-Bridgport Sound Tiger/Wolf Pack and Yalie, Jeff Hamilton, another former Yale Bulldog, Chris Higgins, and presently Anaheim’s Trevor Zegras.

Wheeler comes to New York after spending over a decade with the Winnipeg Jets on a super cap friendly $800K deal for one year.

Belzile was with the Montreal Canadiens last year. He gets a two-year cap complaint deal at $775K per season. He is a depth addition and will likely play in Hartford. He split last year between Laval and injury-riddled Montreal and was Laval’s captain. He has been in the Montreal system for the previous five years. He’s been in Laval for the last three years and the team’s last two years in St. John’s. He is an 11-year minor pro veteran who played in San Antonio for his first three years.

Riley Nash gets two years at $775K on a one-way ticket.

Bonino is from Unionville, near the RI border. He grew up in Farmington. He signed a one-year deal at $800K and played for the San Jose Sharks and Pittsburgh Penguins last year.

The Rangers added depth at defense for Hartford in signing Connor Mackey to a one-year, two-way deal at $775K for NHL play and $400K in the AHL. He split thirty games last season between the Calgary Flames and Arizona Coyotes and played ten more for the USA WC Team, where he replaced Nikko Mikkola on the depth chart, who left for the Florida Panthers.

More relief was brought for the Wolf Pack blueline, which began the day with just four players. Signed was Nikolas Brouillard, to a one-year, $775K one-way money. He played in San Diego Gulls for the last three years. In Juniors, he played for five years in the QMJHL for Drummondville, Quebec, and Rouyn-Noranda and was an All-Star three times.

He spent three years in Montreal at McGill University (OUAA) in Canadian college hockey under the guidance of head coach and ex-Pack, David Urquhart before heading to San Diego.

NOTES:

Ex-Pack Jesper Fast re-signs a two-year deal in Carolina with the Hurricanes for $2.4M.

Two ex-Wolf Pack goalies sign deals as Cam Talbot departs Ottawa for the LA Kings signing a one-year $1M contract, and Dustin Tokarski signs a one-year, two-way deal with the Buffalo Sabres for $775K.

New Canaan’s Max Pacioretty (Taft) moves up the East Coast and signs a one-year $2M contract in Washington with the Capitals.

Former Sound Tiger Kyle Burroughs heads down the West Coast from the Vancouver Canucks to the San Jose Sharks for three years at $1.1M annually.

Ryan MacKinnon leaves Bridgeport for Belleville Senators, whose contract has not yet been posted.

Nick Bjugstad, the nephew of ex-New Haven Nighthawk Scott Bjugstad, leaves the Edmonton Oilers and signs in Arizona for two years at $2.1M.

Vladimir Namestnikov, a former Ranger and son of ex-Pack Evgeny “John” Namestnikov, re-ups with Winnipeg, who Tampa Bay traded for two more years at $2M.

Connor Clifton (Quinnipiac University), who faded at the end of the season in Boston, incredibly gets three years at $3.3M per in Buffalo. Another former Bobcat, Brogan Rafferty, leaves Coachella Valley and the Seattle organization and signs a two-year, one-way deal for $775K with Detroit.

The Red Wings sign former Yale Bulldog Alex Lyon, who was largely responsible for the Florida Panthers getting in the playoffs. The goalie signs for two years at $900K per one-way with a Calder Cup title in his back pocket.

The Seattle Kraken signed ex-Yale Bulldog John Hayden to a one-year extension at $775K.

Ex-Pack Vinni Lettieri returns home to Minnesota and signs a two-year, two-way deal $775K-NHL/$550K-AHL with the Wild. Former CT Whale Jayson Megna departs San Jose to replace him in Providence. The Bruins signed him to a one-year deal at $775K.

Ex-Pack Ryan Graves leaves the New Jersy Devils for Pittsburgh and signs a six-year deal for $4.5M per season. He led the NHL plus/minus the last two years.

Justin Richards, who couldn’t throw the puck in the net two years ago, leaves Columbus for Buffalo for a one-year, one-way $775K deal.

Leaving St. Louis for Tampa Bay is Logan Brown, the son of former Whaler Jeff Brown, signs a one-year, two-way deal for $775K-NHL/$250K-AHL.

Noel Acciari (Kent School), who split last year between St. Louis and the Toronto Maple Leafs, signs a three-year deal in Pittsburgh for $2M per.

And still searching for new deals in the NHL, AHL, or Europe are;

Michael Del Zotto (Anaheim ex-Pack/Ranger)
Jack McBain (Arizona, son of former New Haven Senator Andrew)
Malte Stromwall (Carolina ex-Pack)
Andy Welinski (Chicago via Rockford ex-Pack)
Keith Kinkaid (Colorado with ex-Pack)
Ross Colton (Taft) (just acquired this week by Colorado, and before he could even put on an Avalanche jersey)
Jon Gillies (Columbus, Salisbury School, played with three teams last year)
Magnus Hellberg and Danny O’Regan (Detroit, ex-Pack)
J.F. Berube (Florida, ex-Sound Tiger/Wolf Pack)
Anthony Bitetto (ex-Pack)
Oliver Wahlstrom (Islanders/ex-Sound Tiger)
Kieffer Bellows (Philadelphia ex-Sound Tiger)
Peter Diliberatore (Pittsburgh, via Scranton/Wilkes Barre – was acquired at the trade deadline, Quinnipiac)
Strauss Mann (San Jose, Greenwich/Brunswick School)
Vitali Kravtsov (Vancouver, but already bolted back to Russia to Traktor Chelyabinsk of the KHL)
Morgan Barron (Winnipeg ex-Pack)

The Bridgeport Islanders did not qualify Collin Adams, Blade Jenkins, and the already-in-Europe, Bode Wild.

Ivan Nikolishin, the son of former Whaler Andrei Nikolishin, has left Amur Khaborvsk (Russia-KHL) with no new destination yet.

NEW YORK RANGERS

HARTFORD WOLF PACK

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The post FREE AGENCY AND THE NEW YORK RANGERS first appeared on Howlings.

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings

HARTFORD, CT – The most pivotal weekend of the Hockey East season will be in Orono, Maine for the UCONN Huskies as they try to elbow their way into a solid playoff position with three weeks left.

The Huskies will battle on the road to battle the third place and the 17th ranked nationally Maine Black Bears Friday night at 7 and then on Saturday in a 7:30 pm NESN televised contest.

After a week off after sweeping New Hampshire in a home and home and 7-4 at the XL Center with five different Huskies having multiple-point games.

UConn returns to the ice this weekend for a two-game series on the road against the No. 17 nationally-ranked Maine Black Bears.  Saturday night’s game will be carried live on NESN.

The Huskies and Black Bears met back on January 15th, a 3-2 UConn comeback win at the Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport with Vladislav Firstov scoring the game-winner that ended a Huskies four-game losing streak.

Barter Turnbull started the comeback with a goal to make it 2-1. Turnbull who has been scoring key big goals was injured for the last UNH game and is expected to play in the lineup this weekend.

The Huskies hold a 6-4-4 lead in the all-time series with Maine with six of those games going to overtime.  The Huskies are 6-2-3 against Maine since becoming a member of Hockey East and UConn is 3-2-2 all-time at venerable Alfond Arena.

UConn enters the weekend tied Providence for seventh place in the Hockey East standings with 18 points.  The two are a point behind UNH and Boston University in fifth.

The Black Bears, winners of five-straight, are tied for third with Boston College with 20 points.

The Huskies freshman Vladislav Firstov is the Huskies’ leading scorer with 22 points coming on 11 goals and 11 assists.

Firstov was named the Pro-Ambitions Rookie of the Month for January after posting nine points over eight games, scoring five goals and passing out five assists.  He had two game-winners and was a +11.

He is currently fifth among league rookies in scoring and his 11 goals are tied for second among freshmen goal scorers in Hockey East.

UCONN’s sophomore Jonny Evans (Nanaimo, BC) recorded his second hat-trick this season in the road win at UNH. He also tallied three in a 7-4 win over Vermont at home and has 17 points on the year despite missing time with a broken finger.  Evans is the only player in the country to record a pair of hat-tricks this season.

UCONN however still has no scorers in the Top 20 in Hockey East in any offensive category. This is a team that scores by the committee and all four lines will need to produce this weekend.

UCONN does have 11 Huskies who have hit double-digits in points with three players hitting the 20-point mark on the year in Firstov tops at 22, Russian Ruslan Iskahkov 21 points and Czech sophomore Jachym Kondelik with 20.

On defense senior defenseman senior Wyatt Newpower is riding a career-best five-game point streak (1g/7a).  Newpower matched his career-high with three assists in the home win over UNH and now has a career-best 17 points (three goals/14 assists).  He is tied for eighth among league defenseman in scoring.

Husky defensemen junior Adam Karashik and senior Wyatt Newpower are among the top shot blockers in Hockey East this season. Karasik is third in the league with 43 blocks and Newpower is ninth having blocked 35 shots.

Huskies center senior Benjamin Freeman, a Falmouth, Maine native is ranked third in Hockey East in face-off percentage, winning .590 (282-196) of his face-offs on the year.  Freeman leads the league with 282 face-off wins.

In net Czech sophomore goaltender, Tomas Vomacka came up with 42 saves in the Maine win, stopping 20 in the second and 13 in the third.

Vomacka made 38 saves to earn his 11th win on the year against UNH.

He has been lights out in net and the reason UCONN is still in the playoff hunt. His numbers at 3.40 GAA that is 12th out of 13 spots among goalies, save percentage .894 which is 11th out of 13 and winning percentage .481 which is 10th out of 13 and his personal record of 11-12-3 playing 26 of 27 games doesn’t tell the whole story of how well he has played.

(Portions of a UCONN press release were used in the formation of this section).

NOTES:

The 14-goal weekend was the most goals posted in consecutive games under head coach Mike Cavanaugh and the most since the Huskies posted 17 in two-straight in wins over Niagara (8-5) and Sacred Heart (9-3) in 2010-11 when they were in the AHA conference.

-No surprise that Vermont head coach Kevin Sneddon after 17 years (27 overall in college hockey) announced he will be stepping down from the Catamounts head coaching gig at season’s end are currently winless in the conference this season at 0-15-2 and have an overall mark of just 3-20-4.

They are also winless for a full year in the conference losing 23 games.

-The Walter Brown Award is awarded to the top New England Division I collegiate player the award started in 1953.

Of the 23 players submitted for consideration a few CT connections. The group includes two from Sacred Heart University (AHA) in Mike Lee (Hamden/Gunnery Prep) and Pioneer teammate Jason Cotton.

Cotton’s brother, David of Boston College was nominated as well making them just the third brother combo nominated since the award’s inception.

Billy and Bob Cleary and former Whaler Scott and Whaler draft pick Mark were the others all four attended Harvard.

Jack Drury, son of ex-Whaler Ted and uncle Wolf Pack GM Chris who grew up in Trumbull. Uncle Chris won the award twice while at BU.

Five other players have won it twice including Ranger and ex-Pack Mike Mottau former New England Whaler and Hartford Whaler, Tim Sheehy and former Ranger Jimmy Vesey.

Boston College’s Spencer Knight (Darien/Avon Old Farms) and Tyce Thompson from Providence College son of ex-Pack and current Sound Tigers head coach, Brent Thompson are under consideration.

The winner will be announced at the end of the regular season and before the NCAA tourney begins and the winner will be presented the award on May 3rd at a banquet in Saugus, MA.

Several former Wolf Pack players besides Mottau have won it. Matt Gilroy, Dov-Grumet Morris, Bobby Butler, and Ty Conklin. Rangers who have won it include current Blueshirt Adam Fox, Mottau and Brian Leetch (Cheshire).

Several others with CT connections were awarded the honor, the late New England and Hartford Whaler, John Cunniff, Scott Harlow (New Haven Nighthawks) and John Curry (Taft Prep-Watertown).

-Five players from CT Division II/III college hockey was among the 30 names placed in consideration for the Joe Concannon Award to the best New England Division III player.

Liam Feeney, Tedy Loughborough and Barclay Gammill from Trinity College (Hartford), Walker Harris of Wesleyan University (Middletown) and Connor Rodericks of Connecticut College (New London) were nominated.

The award winner is announced before the NCAA Division III Frozen Four at the LECOM Harbor Center in Buffalo,

NY and the award presented at the New England College Hockey Writers brunch in May.

-The announcement of the University of New Haven Board of Trustees approving in Boca Raton, Florida last week to go to Division I in all sports speculation of hockey returning to the West Haven-based school after a 37-year absence has begun.

The Chargers program yielded former LA King GM Dean Lombardi, recently retired University Maine assistant coach Jay Leach and retired Amity HS head coach Gary Lindgren among their prominent hockey alumni.

At the program then at the Division II level in the ECAC North conference playing its home games at Bennet Ice Rink in West Haven and the Milford ice Pavilion. was disbanded in 1983.

Presently, they have an ACHA Division 2 club program.

The collegiate hockey landscape has changed significantly since then and will change more in the next two years, but it’s still early in this process to say exactly where they may land, clearly changes are coming.

The post CANTLON: UCONN BIG WEEKEND IN MAINE first appeared on Howlings.

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings

HARTFORD, CT – The Hartford Wolf Pack scored two early goals and utilized a stingy defense along with solid goaltending from Tom McCollum and upended the visiting Laval Rocket, 3-1, before 4,089 on Friday night at the XL Center.

The Wolf Pack improved their record to 28-13-5-5 (66 points). Their home record elevates to 21-2-0-2 while their record when leading after two periods remains perfect at 20-0-1-2.

The Pack now trails the Hershey Bears by two points who lost in overtime to the Binghamton Devils, 4-3.

The Wolf Pack takes on the Lehigh Valley Phantoms Saturday at the PPL Center and seeks to improve their woeful play and record on the road.

Laval’s record falls to 23-22-5-2 (53 points). They are in sixth place in the North Division and play in Providence against the Bruins on Sunday.

Laval made the game close forcing the Wolf Pack to sweat it out in the third period as two-thirds of the scoring came from players who have hurt the Wolf Pack in the past.

Phil Varone got a pass from defenseman, Gustav Olofsson, in the left-wing circle. His shot was perfectly kicked out by McCollum’s right pad. Unfortunately for the Pack, the rebound went right to Riley Barber who had position on Mason Geersten and was easily able to pot his 13th of the season into the net.

The Wolf Pack’s Tim Gettinger scored his 12th goal of the season depositing the puck into an empty net with 14.6 seconds remaining sealing the Hartford victory.

Laval came out with a bit more fire in the second frame and started taking the body.

McCollum played a well-structured first period but had to do some diving and acrobatics to keep the Rocket off the scoreboard.

He stopped Quinnipiac graduate, Matt Peca, at 6:18. Barber was denied from off the left-wing and leading Laval’s leading scorer, Philippe Hudon, from in the right-wing circle all-alone and Olofsson who was pinching off the left-point with just about 7:50 to go in the second period.

“I felt really good tonight,” remarked McCollum. “I think a lot of it really boils down to a total team effort. The guys in front of me did a really good job. They were blocking a lot of shots and giving me clean lanes to see pucks. Our forwards were doing a good job to create backpressure, which helped our defense.”

His secondary skillset as a good puck handler made a tremendous difference in the game’s outcome for head coach Kris Knoblauch. “He did well for us. His passing skills alleviate a lot of pressure. Making saves is really important, but not letting them establish a forecheck (equally important). I know our defense appreciate that.”

The Wolf Pack grabbed a quick 2-0 lead early in the first period.

The breakout was made possible by Mason Geersten who won a one-on-one battle along the right-wing boards getting the shot/pass to Kravtsov and the scoring sequence began.

At 5:28, Vincent Loverde came across the Laval blueline and sent a short pass to Vitali Kravtsov, who did the same for Danny O’Regan in front of the net. O’Regan was all-alone and went backhand-to-forehand, slipping the puck past Cayden Primeau, the son of former Hartford Whaler, Keith Primeau, for his tenth of the season.

“Our D played awesome tonight. Those small places like that made a difference whether up along the wall or from behind the net makes a big difference,” said O’Regan.

The move in front of the net on the 6’4 Primeau came about as a result of a veteran’s patience with the pay off being a goal.

“Instinct just took over there. I was able to pull it around him and get in the harder work was done by everyone else,” remarked O’Regan while complimenting his teammates.

O’Regan has quietly gone about being a stabilizing force down the middle.

“Danny has been very important to us throughout the year, and that was maybe his best game,” Knoblauch. stated. “I thought he won a lot of key faceoffs. The majority of his shifts were against their top line, which is pretty dangerous. So, not only was he providing offense, but he did a lot of defensive responsibilities. I thought his game was really good.”

Then at 8:55, Nick Ebert skated backward to the blue line and took a pass from Matt Beleskey, who let a hard wrist shot that was blocked and the puck went right to Vinni Lettieri.

Lettieri took a shot that was blocked by Laval defenseman, Josh Brook, and the came right back to him. Lettieri skated back to the blue line and sent a low wrist-shot through a Beleskey/Brook screen.

Primeau never saw Lettieri’s shot, which would become his 22nd goal, go past him,

“I don’t think we could have played any better in the first period. Laval got better as the game went along. We had to defend a lot more. It was a pretty good overall effort from everybody,” Knoblauch stated.

Across the ice, a deeply frustrated Laval head coach, Joel Bouchard, whose Rocket squad is 0-3-1-0 in their last four, and 2-6-2-0 in their last 11, has had some tough times with recalls because of injuries in Montreal.

The Laval lineup that has undergone major changes in the past two months. Bouchard and his staff are working to keep their players as upbeat as possible.

“Every goal seems to weigh on us. We just sag down. We worked hard tonight, but right now we have no chemistry. We have three-or-four guys who were in the NHL most of the year and are adjusting here. Some of our veterans are not playing well. They’re good guys. We just don’t have it right now. They’re a good team (Hartford) and they got out quickly on us.”

LINES:

O’Regan-Kravtsov-Fogarty
Jones-Lettieri-Gettinger
Newell-Beleskey-Elmer
McBride-Dmowski-Ronning

Hajek-Raddysh
LoVerde-Geersten
Crawley-Ebert

SCRATCHES:

Boo Nieves – (Upper-Body, Out Indefinitely) Nieves skated in practice the last few days for the first time in more than a week.
Yegor Rykov – (Upper-Body) For the fourth time in the last five games is just about ready to return to action.
Ryan Gropp – (Healthy)
Gabriel Fontaine – (Shoulder-Surgery, Season-ending)

NOTES:

Pack defenseman Joey Keane was recalled to New York because Rangers rearguard, Tony DeAngelo, suffered an upper-body injury late in the Rangers 5-4 come from behind shootout victory. Keane did not make his NHL debut in Columbus as Marc Staal played despite having had the flu.

Sadly, it was the last game for Minnesota head coach, Bruce “Gabby” Boudreau. He was relieved by the Minnesota Wild early Friday. The interim head coach is former Whaler, Dean Evason.

Bouchard is an ex-Pack and Sound Tiger. Rocket, Hayden Verbeek, is the nephew of former Whaler great and Detroit assistant GM, Pat Verbeek, who was scratched.

The AHL in a late afternoon press release announced the successor to retiring AHL President and CEO Dave Andrews on July 1st.

Scott Howson, the current VP Hockey Operations, and Player Development in Edmonton. He has a relationship from their Canadian Maritime days when Andrews was the GM and Director of Hockey Operations in Cape Breton. Howson was his assistant GM and took over the reins when Andrews succeeded Jack Butterfield in 1994-95 as AHL President and CEO.

According to a hockey executive who went to apply, they were told the process was being handled by Andrews himself.

The fact Andrews knows Howson, he is with a Western NHL team and the league shift and focus is now more a Central and Western US-based league with the recent announcement of Las Vegas purchasing San Antonio and moving them to Nevada, the Palm Springs, CA expansion team that will begin play by the fall of 2022.

WOLF PACK FAN JERSEY OF THE NIGHT: #19 Chris Mueller, #22 Tomas Kloucek and a #22 Thomas Pock whose name is really spelled Poeck.

Barrett Hayton, the son of former New Haven Nighthawk, Brian Hayton, was recalled from his conditioning stint in Tucson by the parent Arizona Coyotes.

Anton Sundin, the son of ex-Pack, Ronnie Sundin, heads from Hanhals IF (Sweden Division-1) to Karlskrona HK (Sweden-SHL) for the rest of the year.

UCONN defeated the University of Maine in the first of two critical weekend games 3-2 handing the Black Bears their first home loss of the season.

Benjamin Freeman, the Maine native scored the game-winner at of the third period. Carter Turnbull returned to the lineup with three primary assists and Freeman three points and a goal and assists from Sasha Payusov they combined for all eight UCONN points on the night.

The two team splay again tomorrow at 7:30 pm (NESN).

The Walter Brown Award is awarded to the top New England Division I collegiate player the award started in 1953.

Of the 23 players submitted for consideration a few CT connections. The group includes two from Sacred Heart University (AHA) in Mike Lee (Hamden/Gunnery Prep) and Pioneer teammate Jason Cotton.

Cotton’s brother, David of Boston College was nominated as well making them just the third brother combo nominated since the award’s inception.

Billy and Bob Cleary and former Whaler Scott Fusco and Whaler draft pick Mark Fusco were the others all four attended Harvard.

Jack Drury, the son of ex-Whaler, Ted Drury, and the nephew to current Wolf Pack GM, Chris Drury, who both grew up in Trumbull. Uncle Chris won the award twice while at BU.

Five other players have won it twice including Ranger and ex-Pack Mike Mottau former New England and Hartford Whaler, Tim Sheehy, and former Ranger, Jimmy Vesey.

Boston College’s Spencer Knight (Darien/Avon Old Farms) and Tyce Thompson from Providence College son of ex-Pack and current Sound Tigers head coach, Brent Thompson are under consideration.

The winner will be announced at the end of the regular season and before the NCAA tourney begins and the winner will be presented the award on May 3rd at a banquet in Saugus, MA.

Several former Wolf Pack players besides Mottau have won it. Matt Gilroy, Dov-Grumet Morris, Bobby Butler, and Ty Conklin. Rangers who have won it include current Blueshirt Adam Fox, Mottau and Brian Leetch (Cheshire).

Several others with CT connections were awarded the honor, the late New England and Hartford Whaler, John Cunniff, Scott Harlow (New Haven Nighthawks) and John Curry (Taft Prep-Watertown).

Keeping up with Gernander’s wonderful piece on their son, Micah, and being a part of the tradition of Greenway H.S. hockey in Minnesota. Read it HERE.

Another superb piece on Brady Tomlak, son of ex-Whaler Mike Tomlak and his play the Air Force Academy. Read that HERE.

Dean Bachiero (Southington/Salisbury Prep) commits to Brown University (ECACHL) for 2021-22 and the 6’3 forward is NHL Draft eligible this year.

Ex-Pack, Jarko Immonen, signs a one-year extension with JYP Jyvaskyla (Finland-FEL).

Ex-Pack, Marek Hrivik, is rumored to be moved from Leksands IF (Sweden-SHL) to Malmo IF (Sweden-SHL) next season.

Ex-Wolf Pack, Josh Gratton, continues his career in Canadian senior league hockey with the Hamilton Steelhawks (ACH) joining another ex-Pack, Kris Newbury.

A pair of former Wolf Pack players and defense tandem Dale “Diesel” Purinton and Marvin Degon are the latest pro athletes that have entered into the CBD ag-health business like retired Patriots TE Rob Gronkowski.

The post CANTLON: (FRI) ROCKET CRASHES IN HARTFORD first appeared on Howlings.

HARTFORD, CT – The Hartford Wolf Pack will entertain the Charlotte Checkers Friday night before departing for four games on the road over the next two weeks. They will not return home until January 24th against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers.

The Wolf Pack winning streak grew to five-games and in the process, tying their season-best mark after a 2-1 win over the Hershey Bears at the Giant Center before 10,240 on a Wednesday night.

Hartford’s leading scorer, Vinni Lettieri, has six points in his last five games. He also has scored a goal three straight scored the game-winning goal, his 14th, with 53.9 seconds left in the game. Goalie Adam Huska stopped 26 of 27 shots. The Wolf Pack was held to just 15 shots but made the two that scored led them to victory.

Boo Nieves continues his strong play and has garnered seven points in his last six gamers.

The Wolf Pack holds the top spot in the Atlantic Division with a record of 22-8-2-5 (51 points) and now are four points ahead of Hershey and six ahead of the Providence Bruins.

For Hershey, this was just their second loss in their last 15 games.

The team has undergone some serious roster changes in the past month and with the exception of a small blip of a five-game losing streak, they have maintained a strong level of consistency at home, late in games, and against key divisional rivals.

The Wolf Pack are 15-1-2-5 at home and are unbeaten with taking a lead after two periods at 14-0-1-2. They’ve won all five games thus far against Providence who they were battling for first place before being supplanted by Hershey.

LIFE WITHOUT IGOR

Goaltender Igor Shesterkin is on recall by the New York Rangers and made his NHL debut with a 5-3 victory against the Colorado Avalanche. Shesterkin got off to a tough start giving up goals on his first two shots. To be fair, all three goals he surrendered he wasn’t totally responsible for. One was a tip-in, another a breakaway from Nathan MacKinnon and a wide-open goal on the right-wing.

Shesterkin followed that up with a superb showing stopping 46 of 49 shots in a 6-3 win over the New Jersey Devils as ex-Wolf Pack, Tony D’Angelo piled up five points, including the first hat-trick since the Hall of Fame Brian Leetch (Cheshire) had in a playoff game in 1995. It was only the third in team history and the first two were Reijo Ruotsolainen (1982) and Dave Maloney (1980).

Shesterkin was very sharp in the third period stopping a pair of scoring chances from Avalanche defensemen Samuel Girard and Calder Trophy candidate, Cale Makar.

No doubt Shesterkin will have a long NHL career, but the Rangers also have two competent, capable NHL goalies in future Hall-of-Famer, Henrik Lundquist, and ex-Pack, Alexander Georgiev.

Carrying three goalies is difficult at any level of hockey, with one netminder always on the outside looking in, and likely unhappy.

The Rangers have been anticipating their fifth-round draft choice in 2012. He had superb KHL numbers and has finally arrived in North America.

Shesterkin’s deal to come to North America was struck in the spring when the Rangers negotiated a European (KHL) clause in his deal that kicked in at halfway mark of the AHL season. It was eclipsed by several games, and the NHL season clause has been met, and he could return to Russia without penalty.

The NHL trade deadline is February 24th, just seven weeks away. Lundqvist’s age, salary, and no-movement clause make it HIGHLY unlikely he’s going anywhere, and the market for Georgiev isn’t clear at this point.

Shesterkin is likely to see more action at the NHL level. It is possible but perhaps unlikely, that Shesterkin, who does not need to pass through waivers, will get sent to Hartford to playing time when Lundqvist and Georgiev are in the net.

There will be a lot of rumors and a lot of news coming out of New York that will effect Hartford as the deadline approaches and the Rangers decide if they should be a buyer or a seller at the deadline and how to supplement the success currently going on in the Connecticut capital.

MESSAGE FROM SWEDEN

Lias Andersson was last seen departing on a plane from Bradley International Airport after the Wolf Pack’s two-game road trip to Charlotte.

He hasn’t been seen since until the next day after he’d left the team that through his agent it became public that Andersson had requested a trade. He was suspended by the Rangers and there has been radio silence until Wednesday.

Andersson gave an interview with the Swedish sports news service, SVTP Sports (their version of ESPN/TSN).

Uffe Bodin, the Editor-In-Chief of newsme.com, tweeted this translated information.

The troubling tweet raises some serious questions and cast some serious aspersions and insinuations that could have profound impacts going forward for Andersson having any hope of returning to the Rangers or to any organization contemplating acquiring him.

Was Andersson injured toward the end of his self-imposed departure from Hartford?

What was this alleged incident that occurred that made things untenable for him to stay in Hartford?

His assertion about “feeling safe” depicts some untoward work environment in Hartford, was there any?

Is he using the team-issued suspension after leaving the team as some faux reasoning for sitting in Sweden and not practicing in Hartford or Cromwell with the Wolf Pack?

Was he handling or coping with the rigors of pro hockey and being a number seven overall draft pick very well?

Based on his play and this move the answer would be no.

Andersson could be making a fatal career mistake here.

The NHL is a very closed society. While the teams are on ice rivals and there’s a union as a league and when one seeks to overturn the order of things, they don’t like it very much.

Especially from a player in his first three years of an NHL deal that he and his agent signed off on and approved by both the NHL and the NHLPLA.

Teams are not likely to take on a player who jumps ship when he’s under-performing at the NHL and AHL level on an entry-level contract.

There is hockey graveyard littered with first-round busts and players whose ego’s got the better of them.

Andy, as he was known, was not a malcontent by several accounts, but self-imposed pressure to live up to his number seven overall status is a part of the equation that has him in Sweden and not Hartford.

One veteran NHL scout said on the condition that they not be named, about Andersson.

“I spoke to our GM about him, and he said, ‘It’s not his fault he was drafted seventh when maybe 27 or 37 was more appropriate. He has to understand that he isn’t a top-six forward, but a bottom-six forward. I think he’s a salvageable player at age 20, but he has to change his self-appraisal of his skill set.”

On what could be likely his last ever Wolf Pack goal, he was contemplating a Filip Forsberg (Nashville) move on a breakaway coming off the right-wing.

For Andersson, if he’s to have an NHL career, this walkout needs to end immediately.

NOTES:

The Bridgeport Sound Tigers made an AHL deal with the Utica Comets where they sent oft-injured forward, John Stevens Jr. to the Comets for future considerations. Stevens is the son of ex-Hartford Whaler, AHL Hall of Famer, and current Dallas Stars, Assistant Coach, John Stevens Sr.

Drake Rymsha, the son of ex-New Haven Nighthawk, Andy Rynsha, was sent from Ontario (AHL) to Ft. Wayne (ECHL).

How about trading your nephew?

All-time Wolf Pack great, and head coach, John Paddock, who’s the current GM and VP of Hockey Ops for the Regina Pats (WHL) sent his nephew, Max, to the Prince Albert Raiders yesterday. That won’t be awkward at the Christmas Table

Goalie Nick Malik, the son of ex-Whaler, Ranger, and Beast of New Haven defenseman, Marek Malik, is leaving home for North America.

He played primarily with HC Frydek-Mistek (Czech Republic Division-2) where his father is the assistant coach this season. His Czech Elite League (CEL) rights are with HC Ocelari Trinec where he played two games.

The younger Malik got in some time for the Czech Republic WJC team in the just-completed tournament but has decided to head to the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (OHL) for the rest of the year.

The Greyhounds drafted him in the CHL Import last June in the first-round (50th overall). All CHL teams are involved in the draft.

He was eleventh pick (168th overall) in the NAHL Draft by the Muskegon Lumberjacks as well last year

Ethan Cardwell, the nephew of former New Haven Knights, Matt Cardwell, was traded from the Saginaw Spirit (OHL) to the Barrie Colts (OHL) as part of a five-player trade at the junior trade deadline.

Logan Stephenson, the son of former Whaler, Bob Stephenson, goes from ASC Corona Brasov (Romania-EBEL) to HKM Zloven (Slovakia-SLEL) for the rest of the season.

The post CANTLON: PACK PREPARE FOR BUSY WEEKEND first appeared on Howlings.

NEW YORK, September 20, 2019 – National Hockey League defenseman Dan Girardi announced his retirement today after 13 seasons in the league.

“I would like to thank all my coaches, family, friends and teammates for supporting me throughout my entire hockey career,” Girardi said. “I want to thank the New York Rangers for giving me a chance to fulfill my childhood dream of playing in the NHL. Throughout those 11 incredible years, I have made so many friends on and off the ice. I bled Ranger blue and gave it my all for my team, the city, and the Garden faithful. I also want to thank the Tampa Bay Lightning for helping me continue my career by giving me a chance to play for such an amazing organization, city and fan base. The last two years in Tampa Bay have been so much fun for me and my family. I will always fondly remember my time here. Finally, I want to thank my wife Pamela for always being there for me and holding down the fort and to Landon and Shaye for always being daddy’s number one fans.

“I gave my all every single night and left it all out on the ice. Now it’s time for the next chapter of my life to begin and I couldn’t be happier…and so is my body.”

“On behalf of the entire Rangers organization, I want to congratulate Dan on an outstanding NHL career,” Rangers Senior Advisor to the Owner and Alternate Governor Glen Sather said. “Dan was the ultimate warrior. From the moment he joined the Rangers, he gave his heart and soul to his teammates, the organization, and the fans. Dan’s relentless effort and dedication to the Rangers was an inspiration to everyone. The accomplishments we achieved during Dan’s tenure with the Rangers – which included two Division Championships, a Presidents’ Trophy, and a Stanley Cup Final appearance in 2014 – would not have been possible without his immeasurable contributions. We wish Dan, his wife Pam, and their two children, Landon and Shaye, the best of luck as they begin their next chapter. They will always be a part of the Rangers family.”

Girardi skated in 927 career NHL games with the Rangers and Tampa Bay Lightning, registering 56 goals and 208 assists for 264 points, along with a plus-78 rating and 314 penalty minutes. Since the NHL began to track blocked shots consistently in 2005-06, Girardi has been credited with more blocked shots than any other NHL player (1,954). He helped his team advance to the Stanley Cup Playoffs in his 12 of his 13 seasons in the league, and he skated in 143 career Stanley Cup Playoff games. During his career, Girardi helped his team advance to the Eastern Conference Final in four different years, as well as the Stanley Cup Final in 2014. Over the last 13 seasons, only six NHL players skated in more playoff games than Girardi. In addition, Girardi’s ranks 30th all-time among NHL defensemen in playoff games played.

Girardi skated in 788 games with the Rangers over 11 seasons (2006-07 – 2016-17), registering 46 goals and 184 assists for 230 points, along with a plus-54 rating and 275 penalty minutes. He ranks 10th on the Rangers’ all-time games played list among skaters. In addition, Girardi, who was signed by the Rangers as an undrafted free agent on July 1, 2006, appeared in more games with the Blueshirts than any other undrafted player in franchise history (among players who were eligible to be selected since the NHL Draft was implemented in 1963).

The Welland, Ontario native helped the Rangers advance to the playoffs 10 times during his 11 seasons with the franchise (2006-07 – 2008-09; 2010-11 – 2016-17), and in those 10 playoff appearances, the Rangers advanced to the Eastern Conference Final three times and the Stanley Cup Final in 2014. In addition, Girardi helped the Rangers finish in first place in their division twice during the regular season (Atlantic Division – 2011-12; Metropolitan Division – 2014-15) and finish with the best record in the NHL during the regular season in 2014-15, as the Blueshirts established single-season franchise records with 53 wins and 113 points. Girardi represented the Rangers at the 2012 NHL All-Star Game and finished sixth in voting for the Norris Trophy as the NHL’s best defenseman in 2011-12. He led the league in blocked shots in 2010-11 and 2012-13, and he established career-highs in blocked shots (236), assists (27), and points (31) during the 2010-11 season. In addition, Girardi served as one of the Rangers’ alternate captains for six seasons (2011-12 – 2016-17).

Girardi skated in 788 of 820 regular-season games the Rangers played from the time he made his NHL debut on Jan. 27, 2007 through the end of the 2016-17 regular season (96.1%), including 651 of 656 regular-season games the team played from Jan. 27, 2007 through the end of the 2014-15 regular season (99.2%). Girardi skated in at least 80 games in seven seasons in his career, and he played all 82 games of a season five times. Since the NHL implemented an 82-game schedule in 1995-96, Girardi and Brian Leetch are the only Rangers who have played all 82 games of a regular season in five different seasons.

Girardi skated in 122 career playoff games with the Rangers, registering six goals and 27 assists for 33 points, along with 36 penalty minutes. He is the franchise’s all-time leader in playoff games played (among skaters) and only trails Henrik Lundqvist (128) in career playoff appearances by a Ranger. Girardi also holds the franchise record (among skaters) in consecutive playoff games, as he skated in 109 consecutive playoff games with the Rangers from his Stanley Cup Playoff debut in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals against Atlanta in 2007 to Game 1 of the First Round against Pittsburgh in 2016. Girardi’s 27 career playoff assists and 33 career playoff points rank fifth among Rangers defensemen in franchise history. Girardi registered three game-winning goals during the 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs, including one in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals vs. Ottawa on April 26, 2012, and his three game-winning goals were tied for the fourth-most any Ranger has recorded in one playoff year in franchise history. Girardi led the NHL in blocked shots (67) and led NHL defensemen in hits (80) during the 2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs while helping the Rangers advance to the Stanley Cup Final.

During his tenure with the Rangers, Girardi received several team and league awards and nominations. He was the Rangers’ nominee twice for the Bill Masterton Trophy (2011-12 and 2016-17), which is awarded annually to the NHL player who “best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey.” Girardi received the John Halligan Good Guy Award in 2012-13 for his cooperation with the media, and he was named the Rangers Fan Club Rookie of the Year in 2006-07.

The post RANGERS: DAN GIRARDI ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT first appeared on Howlings.

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings

TORONTO, CANADA – Six more names have been selected to enter the esteemed NHL Hall of Fame on Yonge Street in Toronto on November 18th.

Ex-New York Ranger, Sergei Zubov, as well as Guy Carbonneau, Hayley Wickenheiser, and Vaclav Nedomansky enter in the player’s category while Jim Rutherford and Jerry York the longtime BC head coach, enter in the builder’s category.

One of the inductees played a major part of hockey history from the mid-to-late 20th century.

Nedomansky, who was considered to be the best player in the world at the time, was the first Eastern European hockey player to flee the grip of communism and head to the West to showcase his talents.

“When I made that decision in 1974 to follow my dream, I jumped right in,” the 75-year-old Nedomansky, a soft-spoken man, said. “I’m so happy I did that.”

An original New England Whaler, Tim Sheehy, saw his pro career intertwined with Nedomansky’s in several ways having played with, and against, Big Ned.

“I was on the US amateur team in 1969 with Larry Pleau (ex-New England Whaler great and Whalers head coach several times). We went over for the World Championships in Stockholm, Sweden. At the time, the Soviet tanks were still in the streets of Czechoslovakia after they crushed the Prague Spring in 1968. Tensions were very high at that time, and Czechoslovakia was supposed to host the event, but they declined because of the Warsaw Pact invasion. It was the first time I experienced a mixture of athletics and politics. It was pure drama.

“It took us 36 hours to get there. Our bus hit a car. It was a crazy trip, and our first game was against Czechoslovakia. We lost 13-0. (Nedomansky) cruised all around us. Then we played the Soviets, probably their greatest team ever. We lose 17-2 and then the Soviets were scheduled to play Czechoslovakia.

“For Czechoslovakia, it was the Gold Medal game, Stanley Cup, and Super Bowl, all rolled into one. It was one of the most intense games of hockey I have ever seen…Period. Ned was a force in that game, and his teammates were determined to beat the Soviets and they shut them out, 2-0,” Sheehy stated. The Czechoslovakian squad won the second meeting, 4-3, but lost both games to Sweden and finished with a Bronze Medal.

A few years later Sheehy was on the 1972 US Olympic team in Sapporo, Japan and again, Big Ned was on the ice, but this time, the US got even beating the Nedomansky led Czechoslovakian team, 5-1 in the other “Miracle On Ice”. Then the Soviets beat the Czechs avenging for 1969. It allowed the US to vault into second place and the team edged out the Czechoslovakian squad for the Silver Medal.

In 1974, Nedomansky made his decision to defect to the West and Canada after securing a two-week vacation visa to Switzerland. Big Ned landed in Toronto to play for the WHA Toros leaving behind the claustrophobic gray world of communism.

Nedomansky didn’t disappoint scoring 41 goals and logging 81 points in his first season and improving to 56 goals and 98 points in his second year with the Toros, who played in Maple Leaf Gardens after successfully suing for the right to play there.

In his third season, Nedomansky’s team was relocated to Birmingham, Alabama and became the Birmingham Bulls.

Sheehy was traded from the New England Whalers and found himself playing with Nedomansky, as well as the Canadiens’ great, “The Big M” Frank Mahovlich.

“They made it easy for me to get 41 goals. To be able to have played with and among the best the game has ever seen, was very special. Ned’s vision was so good. He saw plays develop before you realized it. He was a big man for a center in that era at 6’3. He was very strong with the puck very hard to knock him off the play.”

Sheehy and Nedomansky then became a part of hockey history. The Bulls, like so many WHA teams, were deep in financial red tape, and they made the first inter-league NHL-WHA trade moving Nedomansky and Sheehy to the Detroit Red Wings, for Dave Hanson!

Yes, the Dave Hanson of Slapshot fame. Birmingham also brought in the late Steve “Madman” Durbano, and Frank “Never” Beaton, which Sheehy quipped, “We gave up nearly 100 goals (97 to be exact) for 800 penalty minutes (804 to be exact).”

Because Nedomansky had played in the WHA and in Czechoslovakia at the time, the NHL didn’t recognize his playing time so he was classified as a rookie… at age 33.

“Years later, our Birmingham GM Gilles Leger told me we were traded really for a $100,000 because it allowed the team to make payroll, but the team folded at the end of the year anyhow.”

Nedomansky played three years in Detroit and toward the end of his playing days ended in an unusual fashion.

He was signed as a free agent by the Rangers on September 30, 1982, but had to be placed on waivers then on October 6th and was claimed by St. Louis where he played 22 games for the Blues. His roommate with the Blues was an NHL rookie named Bob Crawford, the ex-Whaler, Ranger and Nighthawk now a long-time Connecticut resident and owner of three Connecticut hockey rinks.

“He was the man growing up in Canada. We all know about who he was at the time, besides Bobby Orr and Gordie Howe, who were both actively playing then. He was considered to be among the best in the world. I was a little upset at first as they gave him my jersey number (14). (Nedomansky) wore the number his entire career. He was a gracious and humble guy; no pretense about him. He was at the end of his career, but he had those flashes of what he was, it was very impressive.

“It was a great way to start a hockey career, to have a guy like that to chat with when you’re just starting out. His induction is long, long overdue,” Crawford stated.

The relationship was short lived between the two as Nedomansky closed out his NHL career when the Blues traded him back to the Rangers with goalie Glen Hanlon for a present-day Connecticut resident defenseman, Andre Dore back on January 4, 1983.

Nedomansky’s career numbers were about a point a game average. He had 122 goals and 278 points in 421 games. In the WHA, he had 253 points with 135 goals in 252 games. His Czechoslavakian numbers with HC Slovan Bratislava were 320 games played and he accounted for 354 goals, 156 assists for 440 points. In World championship competition, he played in 80 games contributing 65 goals and 92 points. Over the course of two Olympiads, he played in 17 games adding 13 goals and 18 points.

Sadly, some stats were incomplete during the communist era, such as his international competition. The only stats they kept were just games played and goals scored. Those numbers are 163 goals in 220 games. His Slovan Bratislava first season, there are no stats. The same holds true from his two junior years in his hometown team HK Hodonin, a town near the Slovak and Czech border.

Big Ned then became a Head Coach in Germany for three years. He coached with ERC Schwenniger (DEL) and one season with HC Innsbruck in Austria. He was then was a European scout for Los Angeles for 14 years, a Nashville pro-scout for six years, and he’s presently a pro scout with the Vegas Golden Knights through their first three NHL seasons.

Sheehy was ecstatic to hear his old linemate had been selected for the Hall of Fame.

“I couldn’t be happier to hear that he was selected. Ned is a wonderful person and endured so much to come here and showed his skills, he belongs there.”

It completes things for Nedomansky who was inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame in 1997.

Sheehy’s was involved with two other selections from the 2019 Hall of Fame class.

Jerry York, the all-time winningest college hockey coach, is still operating as the head coach for the Boston College Eagles (HE). He played for BC in the late 1960s and Sheehy got an up-close look himself when he was a BC freshman.

“He was among top scorers on our team, and he was the captain, and he and the late John Cunniff (New England Whalers) were part of our big line and did so well. Jerry just caught the playing part of the game at the wrong time. While the NHL had expanded to 12 teams in 1967, at a time when not many Americans played pro hockey in the NHL, it was mostly Canadians players. The WHA was several years away. I didn’t get a chance to play with him because he was a senior then and I was a freshman. At that time freshmen were not allowed to play varsity sports.”

York’s record speaks for itself. A number of players he has coached from his first stint at Clarkson went on to successful careers. His first recruit at Clarkson turned out to be Dave Taylor, who went on to have a long NHL career with LA. Then at Bowling Green, he won his first NCAA title with players like Rob Blake and Hobey Baker winner and now a current Vegas Golden Knights President and GM, George McPhee. At BC, York has won four more NCAA titles having players like Johnny Gaudreau, Brian Gionta, and the just-retired Brooks Orpik, all among the many that skated for him at Conte Forum, cementing his legacy.

“I almost didn’t answer the call,” York remarked in his usual professorial manner. “I thought John Davidson was trying to trade for one of my players. When he told me I was going to be inducted, I had to sit down.”

While in Detroit, Sheeny befriended the team’s goalie, Jimmy Rutherford.

“At the time our two goalies was this guy, Eddie Giacomin, and Ron Low. The late Ted Lindsay was our GM. Jimmy and I became quick friends. Our birthdays are very close and one of the funnier moments we had was in the Montreal Forum and I asked Rutherford, who is this player, Guy Lafleur?

“Next shift, Lafluer goes through all five guys, and fires one top shelf.”

70-year-old, Jim Rutherford was inducted in the builder’s category. One of his last seasons as a player before retiring was in New Haven with the Nighthawks. He was a part of the Hartford Whalers last three seasons in the Nutmeg State as its GM before the team left for North Carolina.

“This is something you don’t think a lot about, but you sometimes pause to dream about. I’ve traveled lots of miles in hockey and met so many great people along the way. I started my career in Beeton, 50 miles north of the Hall of Fame, never dreaming that I would once be in it.”

He won two Cups with Pittsburgh, but the first one with Carolina was special.

“We were still working off our move from Hartford, but the first one is special because we really didn’t expect it. We had a great run with the play of Rob Brind’Amour (now the team’s head coach) and goalie Cam Ward. I liked the ones in Pittsburgh too, but the first one is always special.”

Hayley Wickenheiser, 40, retired standing atop the women’s hockey mountain with records that are Gretzkyian and frankly, Ruthian in scope.

She is tied for the record of most gold medals by any Canadian Olympian with teammates Caroline Ouellette and fellow NHL Hall of Famer, Jayna Hefford, a fellow Canadian.

In Wickenheiser’s 23 seasons with Team Canada, she rewrote the national team record book for goals (168), assists (211) and games played (276). She also won a title at every level she played in including three Olympic gold medals and a silver, seven World championship golds, a CWHL Isobel Cup with the Calgary Inferno, and she became the first women to play in a men’s league in Finland with HC Salamat and won the Division-2 championship.

She won a Canadian college title with the University of Calgary Dinosaurs and the WWHL title with the Calgary Oval X-Treme.

Wickenheiser is currently the Assistant Director of Player Development for the Toronto Maple Leafs where she broke another barrier becoming the first women in the history of the game to coach NHL players in an on-ice capacity.

“The Renaissance Woman couldn’t even answer the phone to learn of her selection,” said Hall-of-Fame Committee Chairman, Lanny McDonald. “She was taking her medical exam at the University of Calgary. To have answered the phone during the exam would have led to a failing grade.”

Incredibly, she’ll likely soon walk away from the position to pursue her career as a doctor.

Sergei Zubov won two Stanley Cups. His first came with the Rangers in 1994 ending the 54-year Curse of futility. He then won it again in 1999 with the Dallas Stars. He was one of the most reliable defensemen in the league over a long stretch of his career.

Zubov had a solid 16-year NHL career tallying 771 points (152 goals, 619 assists) and played in 1,068 games. His post season stats were equally impressive. He registered 117 points in 164 Stanley Cup playoff games.

He started playing on the last Soviet-era Army CSKA Moscow squad. The first game under the Russian flag before starting out in Binghamton before ascending to New York and beginning his NHL career.

“It was good to play in Binghamton. It was a tough start with the (language). I did well (36 points in 30 games) and there was an injury and I get called up and it worked out,” said Zubov.

When he hits the Hall-of-Fame in November, it will be his second trip. The first was as an eight-year-old visitor coming to Toronto for a tournament. Now, 40 years later, he will be entering as a member of those enshrined within its walls.

“I was eight years old when I traveled to Canada with the national team. We had a tournament in Canada and I walked into the Hall of Fame. Back then (under the communist system), I couldn’t even think of or (even) dream that one day, I would have a chance to be part of it.”

His wife would mention it from time to time, but his work as a coach a head coach for HC Sochi (Russia-KHL) has kept him occupied mentally.

“She would say something about it, but you have so much to do as a coach. I don’t have the time to think about that. The players like Mark Messier, Brian Leetch, and my first defense partner, Kevin Lowe, helped me so much (early on). In Dallas, Bob Gainey, Ken Hitchcock, and Ron Wilson were so very good. Wilson really helped me look at the game very differently than I had before,” Zubrov, who tallied 50 or more assists in seven years and was an assistant captain in Dallas for 10 of his 12 years with Stars, said.

Guy Carbonneau, 59, was a part of three teams that played in the post-season for 17 of his 18 NHL seasons. He doesn’t have the stats of a Hall-of-Fame player – just 260 goals and 630 points – but he was the embodiment of the defensive player’s contribution to a championship before it was the mantra that is today’s NHL.

He was the captain of the last Montreal Stanley Cup winner, his third with the bleu, blanc, and rouge. It was the last Canadian-based team to hoist Lord Stanley. He then went to Dallas, which was run by the forerunner of the defensive player. His captain early in his career and later Dallas GM, Bob Gainey.

He won another Cup this time with Zubov in 1999 in the next to last season of his 1,318 game career, He started the career by reinventing himself after being a prodigious junior scorer with the Chicoutimi (QMJHL) and two solid AHL seasons with Nova Scotia Voyageurs.

“I wasn’t playing a lot of minutes and (Head Coach) Jacques (Demers) approached me about it, and that I had to sacrifice some points and I went from five minutes to 20 minutes of play.

“I think I deserve it. After your career, you kind of look back at what you’ve done and you look at who’s in the Hall-of-Fame and I thought maybe I would have a chance at one point, but it’s not something that I was disappointed about every year because I was not named. It was always fun, I guess, to think about it. Now its happened, so I don’t have to think about it anymore, and I can get prepared for my speech,” Carbonneau, one of the most reliable faceoff players in the history of the game, said.

The post CANTLON: NHL 2019 HALL OF FAME CLASS ANNOUNCED first appeared on Howlings.

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings

BRIDGEPORT, CT – A new, “Ice Age” is coming to Connecticut.

This new “Ice Age” will cover Connecticut in ice, not the kind to cause downed stress, excessive traffic accidents, and inconvenience, but the exciting kind. The type of “Ice Age” that involves Connecticut college ice hockey.

At a press conference Monday, an unveiling was made of the first-ever Connecticut Ice Tournament that will be played between January 24-26, 2020 at the Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport. The tournament will feature all four of Connecticut’s Division I college hockey teams. The tournament is part of a planned Connecticut festival of the sport of hockey. It’s kind of a combination of Boston’s Beanpot and the Quebec City Winter Carnival.

The regional cable network, SNY, which is already affiliated with UCONN basketball and football broadcasts, was the driving force in creating the concept in 2017. After two years of effort, they made it a reality.

“This is a very exciting day,” remarked SNY President, Steve Raab. “This has been two years of hard work to design and many people made this day possible.”

One of the key elements was to help the growth of hockey in the State of Connecticut. To do so, all four Division I college programs, UCONN, Yale, Sacred Heart, and Quinnipiac needed to be involved. They will all carve out the time from their respective schedules to make this happen.

“The spirit this will create, and the entertainment, it will bring many memories. This will bring hockey fans from the state to Bridgeport.”

For UCONN head coach Mike Cavanaugh, he is happy and surprised. “To be honest, I couldn’t believe there wasn’t one before, but with all four schools now Division I, it makes it easier and will be a major plus for hockey in Connecticut.”

Cavanaugh is in a rare position. He recruited Connecticut hockey players when he was at Boston College, and now as UCONN’s head coach for the last six years, he has a unique point of view. “It’s going to help all the schools in recruiting because kids in Connecticut will grow up watching this and will see the benefits right away. A solid eight, ten years of keeping this tournament going will produce results. The whole state will be excited about this tournament I believe.”

Early on, Cavanaugh brought the Boston rivalry piece with him to the Nutmeg State.

“That’s why I have scheduled games against all the state teams, and we can develop continuity here. This is a great first step. As you saw at the end of the (promotional) video, you want guys 10-20 years from now talking about how they played in this tournament. Guys can talk about when they won this year, or that year, or scored a goal people, remember. That’s what makes traditions. “

Cavanaugh mentioned what he sees as a, ’cause and effect’ by his having been a part of the Beanpot, the 65 year Boston tradition that takes place every February among the four Boston universities BC, BU, Harvard, and Northeastern.

“If Tommy Cross (Simsbury) or Cam Atkinson (Greenwich) had played in a tournament like this, they would have been inclined to stay in state. The four schools never really played each other until Quinnipiac went into the ECAC with Yale. Now, with this, it will help grow this tournament and the game in the state.”

For now, the tournament will be in Bridgeport, but the question comes about if it could be rotated among the venues in the state.

“I’m a Hartford guy. That’s our home rink. I’m just glad we’re playing here at Webster Bank next year and will see what happens down the road,” said Cavanaugh.

A major component to this plan is to have a youth portion in which Bantam age (13-14-year-olds) teams all the way to beginning Mites (6-8-year-olds) will compete on the very same ice as the big boys they watch and cheer for. A Friday night doubleheader will feature, a public school, and prep school hockey matchup, again bringing a whole new generation of youth hockey under one umbrella.

“We were approached in 2017 about whether we could get youth hockey involved as part of the overall event,” said the Past President of the CT Hockey Conference, and USA Hockey Director, Tom Regan. He played both his high school and collegiate hockey in Connecticut. “We had discussions the last two years over timing, the format, but getting the four colleges was key. It’s the first event, it takes time and effort to get four schools when they are all in league play to commit to this. That shows you how important they all want this.

“To do it (the tournament) in January in the heart of hockey season rather than something earlier in the year, might not have had the same (punch), and it’s at ALL the levels and that makes it very important.”

To get all levels involved was critical for the ability to grow hockey. Having a sport that requires some cash to play was not lost on Regan.

“To get the kids on the ice to play and watch the college kids play, it will give real inspiration to those (young) players. The next Brian Leetch, the next Chris Drury will see this grow the game, increase the excitement around the game, and for the tournament.”

The event had some warm light-hearted moments after the audio didn’t match up with the video at the beginning. Cavanaugh in his remarks uttered the best line of the day, “I could read Chris Drury’s lips and he was saying, if he were playing, he would have gone to UCONN!”

C.J. Marrotolo, the head coach of the Sacred Heart University Pioneers, relayed a childhood story. “When I was nine or ten, I begged my parents to go to Yale games.”

Keith Allain, the Yale head coach deadpanned in his opening remarks, “I was disappointed C.J didn’t mention he wanted to see me playing goal,” Allain, who played at Yale and still holds the record for career saves in addition to guiding the Bulldogs to winning their first NCAA title in 2012, said with a laugh.

Quinnipiac’s assistant coach, Bill Riga, stood in for head coach Rand Pecknold, who is in preparation for his team’s NCAA regional on Friday in Allentown, PA. The game will be played at the PPL Center against NCAA Independent Division I’s Arizona State Sun Devils, who will be making their first appearance in the tournament just four years after upgrading their program to NCAA DI status. The Bobcats have reached the NCAA tourney five of the last seven years.

Festival Weekend Schedule (Tentative):

Friday, January 24, 2020

1:00 – 4:00 pm – Mites Cross Ice Jamboree

4:30 – 6:00 pm – Girls U12 Championship

6:30 – 8:00 pm – Connecticut Prep School Championship

8:30 – 10:00 pm – Connecticut High School Championship

Saturday, January 25, 2020

11:30am – 1:00 pm – Squirts Boys Championship

1:30 – 3:00 pm – USA Hockey On-Ice Clinic – U12-U14 (Skills, Checking, Goaltending)

4:00 – 6:30 pm – SNY COLLEGE TOURNAMENT GAME 1

7:30 – 10:00 pm – SNY COLLEGE TOURNAMENT GAME 2

Sunday, January 26, 2020

11:30 am – 1:00 pm – Peewee Boys Championship

1:30 – 2:30 pm – USA Hockey On-Ice Clinic – Girls

3:30 – 6:00 pm – COLLEGE TOURNAMENT CONSOLATION – TBD v. TBD

7:00 – 9:30 pm – COLLEGE TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONSHIP – TBD v. TBD

Tickets for the inaugural Connecticut Ice Festival are on sale now via: sny.tv/CTice

Discounted ticket packages are available for all Connecticut Youth Hockey League families, as well as for students from the four participating colleges. Group ticket rates are also available for groups of 15 or more. Regular price two-day passes for Saturday, January 24 and Sunday, January 25 are $35.00 for kids (18 & under) and $70.00 for adults. General admission tickets for Friday night’s high school rivalry games will be available at the Webster Bank Arena Box Office.

For more information on Connecticut Ice please go to www.SNY.tv/CTice

The post CANTLON’S CORNER: CONNECTICUT ICE TOURNEY UNVEILED first appeared on Howlings.

BY: Gerry Cantlon, HOWLINGS

HARTFORD, CT – It was an unusually busy week in professional hockey over the past seven days, so strap in and here it is.

WOLF PACK 2018-19

The New York Rangers announced officially on Monday what Cantlon’s Corner reported last week, the signing of their RFA’s (Restricted Free Agents) to one-year contracts.

The latest and one which will have a direct impact on the Wolf Pack roster was the signing of Chris Bigras to a one-year, two-way deal paying him $874,125 in the NHL and $70K in the AHL. Bigras was acquired at the trade deadline on February 26 for Ryan Graves.

“Chris did a nice job in the time he had here. He used it well. He showed he could handle duty on the power play and penalty kill. Coming to Hartford, he got a fresh start and used his time effectively to earn a contract.” said Wolf Pack Head Coach, Keith McCambridge, in a phone chat earlier this week.

The Rangers also announced the signing of John Gilmour, who split the season between Hartford and New York after getting recalled on February 9^th. He earned his first NHL point in his hometown of Montreal and scored an overtime winner in Vancouver on February 28^th. He became the first Ranger rookie to score an OT game-winner in the regular season game in franchise history.

Gilmour’s deal is a one-year, two-way contract that pays $650K in the NHL and $100K in the AHL.

The Rangers now have eleven defensemen in NY and six on the roster in Hartford.

“You never know what your roster looks like in the AHL. Change occurs every year, but I’m looking forward to developing some really quality young players that we have coming in and returning,” McCambridge said.

Bigras could conceivably be McCambridge’s most experienced defenseman when the team opens its season against the Providence Bruins come October 5th.

The other previously reported signees are Rob O’Gara, Boo Nieves, and Steven Fogarty.

The Rangers have seemingly switched directions. They have only signed one AHL veteran to date. That player is Bobby Butler, who, with the returning Cole Schneider, will help to bring along the first and second-year players. Butler replaces Scott Kosmachuk who signed with Colorado (AHL).

“Bobby brings a lot to the table as a proven goal scorer in this league, and we’re here to develop players for the New York Rangers. (At) training camp, you have a lot of surprises; younger guys are pushing older guys for slots, and you have movement in both directions here, and everything starts in White Plains (at the Rangers training facility) and will go from there.”

McCambridge confirmed there again will be just two pre-season exhibition games. The dates are September 26th and 27^th against Bridgeport with both scheduled to be at Trinity College’s Koeppel Community Center Arena, the home of the national Division III powerhouse, Trinity College Bantams.

One player who won’t spend next season in New York or Hartford is the Rangers’ first-round selection (9^th overall), Vitaly Kravtsov.

The 6’4, left-handed shooting, 18-year-old, right-winger signed a new one-year deal with Traktor Chelyabinsk (Russia-KHL).

Kravtsov will not be in Rangers training camp and will only be eligible to play in North America – either the NHL or AHL- once the conclusion of Traktor’s KHL season arrives.

The Rangers also have announced David Quinn’s assistant coaches. The first is David Oliver, a former Blueshirt during his playing days. He worked with Quinn at Lake Erie (nee Cleveland) when he was the head coach there as part of the Avalanche organization.

Quinn then chose Greg Brown from his collegiate rival, Boston College. They also worked together at USA Hockey. Brown is a long-time friend, and former BC teammate of Ranger great, and Cheshire native, Brian Leetch. Brown has been an assistant with BC for 13 years. The move will certainly not slow the BU-BC rivalry intact with this move.

UCONN SCHEDULE UNVEILED

The Huskies, who finished the regular season strong, have a light home schedule for the first half of the season, and a strong one over the second half. This scheduling is the complete opposite of last season.

The team is on the road their first four games before they make their home opener.

The Huskies tango with Army at West Point on Friday, October 12. Then the Huskies are in Hamden to skate against the Quinnipiac University Bobcats on Tuesday, October 16. They then travel to Providence Friday on October 19^th then leave for Troy, NY for a non-conference meeting with RPI. Both the RPI and Army games will be the team’s first visits there.

The Huskies kick off the home schedule against the Maine Black Bears at the XL Center on Friday, October 26^th. On Saturday, the 27th, the Huskies will play at 3 pm as part of a UCONN-Wolf Pack XL Center hockey doubleheader.

The Huskies have two special road trips this season. They will travel first to Belfast, Northern Ireland to play BU, Union College, and Yale as part of the Friendship Four tourney for the Belpot Championship on November 23^rd and 24th. The Odyssey Arena, the home of the UK-based, Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL), Belfast Giants, will host the games.

UCONN will play Yale at Ingalls Rink on New Year’s Eve Day at 4 pm before traveling to Las Vegas to play at the T-Mobile Arena, the home of the NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights. The Huskies will take part in the second annual Ice Vegas Invitational in January school time, game time and broadcast info to be announced at a later date.

The complete schedule is available HERE.

KAITION DISSED?

If you need another reason to hate the Carolina Hurricanes as they look to end one of the last vestiges of the Hartford Whalers radio voice, Chuck Kaiton, read about it HERE.

COACHES & PLAYER MOVEMENT

Elias Lindholm, the son of former Nighthawk, Mikael Lindholm, was acquired by the Calgary Flames at the NHL Draft from Carolina. He signs a four-year extension at $4.85M per season.

Congrats to former Quinnipiac player and assistant coach, Reid Cashman, who gets a promotion from the Hershey Bears to the Stanley Cup Champion, Washington Capitals, as their new assistant coach. As part of the wholesale change in Hershey, former Wolf Pack, Randy Murphy, was relieved as an assistant coach, but old Wolf Pack and Yale Bulldog, Alex Westlund, will remain as the goaltending coach.

Ex-Pack, Ryan Graves, signs a one-year, two-way deal with the Colorado Avalanche paying $650K in the NHL and $70K in the AHL. Graves will likely start the year with the newest AHL team, the Colorado Eagles (Loveland, CO).

Goalie Jon Gillies (Salisbury Prep) signs a two-year deal with Calgary; Gillies gets a two-way deal at $750K in the NHL and $200K in the AHL, and a one-way contract in 2019-20 at $750K. He could start the year in Stockton.

The Sound Tigers signed a defenseman, Devon Toews (Quinnipiac University), to a two-year deal. Toews hit a grand slam in this deal with the one-way money of $650K the first year, and $750K the second year. Kyle Burroughs also got a standard two-year two-way deal. The first season he’ll earn $650K (NHL) or $100K (AHL). The second-year pays $700K (NHL) $125K (AHL).

Kurtis MacDermid, the son of former Whaler, Paul MacDermid, gets a two-year, two-way deal from the LA Kings. The first year he’ll make $650K (NHL) or $100K (AHL) with the following season paying $700K (NHL) and $150K (AHL). He will likely start the season in Ontario.

Former UCONN Husky, Spencer Naas, who, after completing four years in Storrs, played four games with Cleveland, has signed a one-year AHL deal with the Texas Stars, last season’s AHL Calder Cup finalist.

Ex-Pack, Alex Krushelnyski, who was the big hero for Lehigh Valley when he scored the game-winning goal in the fifth overtime against Charlotte, the AHL’s longest playoff game ever, signs a one-year AHL deal with the Phantoms.

Tim Army, a Providence, RI native, and a fixture in college and pro hockey, was named the head coach of Iowa. He was an assistant last year with Wilkes Barre/Scranton. Army’s son, Derek (Hotchkiss Prep), retired to become an assistant with Worcester (ECHL).

In August, at The Dunkin’ Donuts Center in Providence, the installation of a new $700K video board will be completed and in time for the 2018-19 season.

Ex-Pack, Shawn O’Donnell, who played just one game on a recall last year with the Wolf Pack before suffering a fractured cheekbone, has signed back with Cincinnati (ECHL) for next season.

Mike Doherty, a former Yale Bulldog, re-signs with Manchester (ECHL) and his fellow ex-Bulldog, Frankie DiChiara, goes from Worcester (ECHL) to Reading (ECHL).

Ex-Pack Mackenzie Skapski departs Orlando (ECHL) and heads to Europe where he signed with HKM Zvolen (Slovakia-SLEL).

Joel Martin, a former Sound Tiger goalie, retires from Kalamazoo (ECHL) to become an assistant coach.

Ex-Sound Tiger, Ryan Walters, re-signs with Utah (ECHL).

Make it ten more AHL’ers heading to Europe. Ex-Pack captain, Mat Bodie, leaves Syracuse for Torpedo Novgorod (Russia-KHL). Also moving to Europe is the Pack’s Dan Catenacci, who was a part of that trade. He signs with HC Bolzano Foxes (Italy-AEHL).

Catenacci was acquired from Rochester two years ago for Bodie. In Hartford, he had nine goals and 24 points in 61 games. Catenacci, whose plays in the Austria Elite League, is now following in his father’s skate blades. His dad played strictly in Europe. Maurizio Catenacci had a 13-year career (599 points in 354 games) in Italy and concluded his career with seasons in France, Germany, and Slovenia.

The other eight AHL’ers heading to Europe include Adam Comrie, who ended the year in Utica after splitting time in Lehigh Valley and Reading (ECHL). He signs with Klagenfurter AC (Austria-AEHL). Phillip Holm, who was in Utica and played a game in Vancouver before being traded to the Chicago Wolves at the trade deadline, signed with Torpedo Novgorod (Russia-KHL).

Mike Latta, Binghamton/Tucson, skates to Kunlun (China, KHL), and Trevor Mingioia leaves Milwaukee for Vasterviks IK (Sweden-Allsvenskan).

Mike Blunden leaves Belleville to go to HC Bolzano (Italy-AEHL), and one of the most significant AHL signees, Temmu Pulkkinen, goes from the Chicago Wolves to Dynamo Minsk (Belarus-KHL).

Brent Regner leaves Texas for EC Salzburg (Austria-AEHL) while Patrick Cannone leaves Iowa for ERC Ingolstadt (Germany-DEL).

57 players plus one coach have all signed to go to Europe. 24 AHL teams have lost at least one player.

Ex-Pack, Travis Oleksuk, leaves HC Bolzano Foxes (Italy-AEHL) after two years but will stay in the league and play in Austria for the EC Graz 99’ers.

Ex-Pack, Paul Crowder, goes from defending champion, Cardiff (Wales-EIHL) to Fife (Scotland-EIHL) for next season..

Ex-Sound Tiger, Victor Bartley, goes from Orebro HK (Sweden-SHL) to Kunlun (China-KHL),

Evan Richardson, a former UCONN Husky, departs from Tulsa (ECHL) to Manchester (England-EIHL).

Ex-Pack, Nicklas Jensen, signed a one-year deal with Jokerit Helsinki (Finland-KHL).

Five more collegians have signed overseas. There will be three in France, the World Cup capital of the universe.

Mark Auk of Michigan Tech (WCHA) signs with Lukko Rauma (Finland-FEL) and Eetu Torpstrom UMASS-Amherst (HE) signs with Jokerit Helsinki (Finland-KHL).

Alex Bontje goes from Robert Morris (AHA) to HC Cholet (France Division-2) and Gianni Mangone along with his collegiate teammate, Derek Thorogood, are headed from Division III Marian University (NCHA) to HC Neuilly-sur-Marne (France Division-2).

Brad McClure, the captain of Minnesota State-Mankato, signs with Texas as did Nolan Gluchowski of St. Lawrence (ECACHL). Corey Kalk goes from Dartmouth College (ECACHL) to Orlando (ECHL).

Kevin Miller from Ohio State (Big 10) signs with Ft. Wayne (ECHL) while another player has returned to Canadian college hockey in Colin Grannary. He goes from the University Nebraska-Omaha (NCHC) to Concordia University–Montreal (OUAA).

That’s now 164 Division I college players that have signed North American pro deals. 218 total college players have signed either North American or European agreements. Four players have now transferred to Canadian college hockey.

The University of Alaska-Fairbanks, after a long process, has hired an assistant coach, and Fairbanks native, Steve Largen, to be the Nanooks new head coach the ninth in school history.

Defenseman Jordan Smith, whose career was cut short after losing an eye when he played in Portland (AHL), was named associate head coach for the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (OHL). His injury ushered in the mandatory half visor rule in the AHL.

Some nice ex-Pack news!

Former all-time great, Derek Armstrong, had a test for a TV gig with the Vegas Golden Knights last season. Their games air on AT&T Sportsnet. Another reason to watch Vegas hockey! Last year Armstrong did ten test games doing pre- and post-game studio work.

Armstrong is still the head coach for the LA Kings Triple AAA U-15 and U-18 teams which his sons, Easton and Dawson, are on. Easton is heading to summer development camp with Regina (WHL) who drafted him back in the spring.

Armstrong, is the Director of Satellite programming (on ice) for LA which is an outreach development program. He also just hired ex-Nighthawk, Todd Elik, a former LA King, to run the newly designed LA Kings hockey academy in Beijing, China.

Another ex-Wolf Pack is now coaching.

Defenseman Ronnie Sundin, from the very first Wolf Pack team, coaches Hamhals IF J-18 squad in Sweden. His son, Anton, plays for Frolunda HC J-20 and is eligible to play for the Swedish Hockey League team while his nephew, Felix Sundin-Hellqvist, plays for Falu IF (Sweden Division-2).

There are now 20 former Wolf Pack players whose sons and daughters are playing at high levels of hockey. The current known number is 32.

Last crazy ex-Pack tidbit…

Three former players are involved in the BCMML league (Bantam level) in British Columbia. Two of them are coaches in Geoff Smith, with Thompson, and Peter Hay with Fraser Valley. Jeff Finley has his son playing in the league; Jack was with Okanagan last year.

The post CANTLON’S CORNER: BIG WEEK OF WOLF PACK OFF SEASON NOTES – VOLUME 13 first appeared on Howlings.

David Oliver and Greg Brown named Assistant Coaches, join Lindy Ruff on David Quinn’s coaching staff

BY: The New York Rangers

NEW YORK, July 17, 2018 – New York Rangers General Manager Jeff Gorton announced today that the team has named David Oliver and Greg Brown as Assistant Coaches. Oliver and Brown will join Lindy Ruff on Head Coach David Quinn’s coaching staff.

Oliver, 47, joins the Rangers organization after spending the past 11 seasons with the Colorado Avalanche organization (2007-08 – 2017-18). Oliver most recently served as Colorado’s Director of Player Development, a role which he held for the last four seasons (2014-15 – 2017-18) as well as for two seasons in 2009-10 and 2010-11. During his tenure, he also served in a variety of roles for the Avalanche organization, including General Manager of the Lake Erie Monsters, Colorado’s American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, for three seasons (2007-08 – 2009-10), an Assistant Coach with Lake Erie for two seasons (2011-12 and 2012-13), and the Director of Hockey Operations with Lake Erie for four seasons (2010-11 – 2013-14). In his role as Colorado’s Director of Player Development, he assisted in the progression of several of the Avalanche’s top prospects, including current Rangers defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk, who was selected by Colorado in the first round of the 2007 NHL Entry Draft and made his NHL debut with Colorado during the 2010-11 season.

Oliver served as Lake Erie’s General Manager when the team hired current Rangers Head Coach David Quinn to be the Monsters’ Head Coach prior to the 2009-10 season, and Oliver also served as an Assistant Coach on Quinn’s staff in Lake Erie during the 2011-12 season. In his most recent role with the Avalanche as Director of Player Development, Oliver assisted in overseeing the development of all the franchise’s prospects in the professional, junior, and college ranks in both North America and Europe.

Prior to beginning his tenure in an executive role, the Sechelt, British Columbia native played 13 seasons of professional hockey, including parts of nine seasons in the NHL (1994-95 – 1996-97; 1998-99 – 2000-01; 2002-03 – 2005-06). Oliver skated in 233 career NHL games with the Edmonton Oilers, New York Rangers, Ottawa Senators, Phoenix Coyotes, and Dallas Stars, registering 49 goals and 49 assists for 98 points, along with 84 penalty minutes. He played in 14 regular season games and three playoff contests with the Rangers during the 1996-97 season, and he tallied three points (two goals, one assist) in his 14 regular season games as a member of the Blueshirts. Oliver established career-highs in games played (80), goals (20), assists (19), and points (39) with Edmonton in 1995-96, and he led the Oilers in goals during his rookie season in 1994-95 with 16. He was selected by Edmonton in the seventh round, 144th overall, of the 1991 NHL Entry Draft.

Oliver also played four seasons of collegiate hockey with the University of Michigan (1990-91 – 1993-94) prior to beginning his professional career. In his final season at the school in 1993-94, he was a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award as the top player in collegiate hockey, and he was also named the CCHA Player of the Year. Oliver won the Turner Cup as International Hockey League (IHL) Champions with the Houston Aeros in 1998-99, as he registered 16 points (10 goals, six assists) in 19 playoff games.

Brown, 50, joins the Rangers organization after spending the past 14 seasons as a member of the coaching staff at Boston College (2004-05 – 2017-18), including the last six seasons as the team’s Associate Head Coach (2012-13 – 2017-18). In his role at Boston College, Brown was responsible for overseeing the team’s defensemen, and he also worked with the team’s special teams units. During his tenure at the school, Boston College won the NCAA National Championship three times (2007-08, 2009-10, and 2011-12). Brown coached several current and former Rangers during his tenure at Boston College, including players such as Chris Kreider and Kevin Hayes. In addition, he assisted in the development of several defensemen who currently play in the NHL, including Brian Dumoulin, Noah Hanifin, Mike Matheson, Ian McCoshen, and Steven Santini. During the 2017-18 season, Boston College ranked fourth in Hockey East in goals against per game (2.68) and led Hockey East in shorthanded goals (seven).

In addition to his coaching experience with Boston College, Brown has served as an Assistant Coach with Team USA in several international tournaments. He served as an Assistant Coach with the United States at the IIHF World Junior Championship three times (2014, 2017, 2018), helping Team USA earn a gold medal in 2017 and a bronze medal in 2018. Brown coached current Rangers defenseman Brady Skjei during the 2014 IIHF World Junior Championship, and he also coached defenseman Ryan Lindgren, a Rangers prospect, at the IIHF World Junior Championship in both 2017 and 2018.

Prior to beginning his coaching career, Brown completed a distinguished playing career that spanned nearly two decades at the professional, collegiate, and international levels. He played three seasons of collegiate hockey at Boston College (1986-87, 1988-89, and 1989-90), registering 120 points (24 goals, 96 assists) in 119 career games. Brown received numerous accolades over the course of his collegiate career. In both 1988-89 and 1989-90, Brown was named the Hockey East Player of the Year, was selected to the NCAA (East) First All-American Team, and was selected as a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award as the top player in collegiate hockey. During the 1987-88 season, Brown played with the United States Men’s National Team prior to the 1988 Winter Olympics, and he was teammates with Rangers legends Brian Leetch and Mike Richter at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Alberta. Brown was also teammates with Leetch and Richter, as well as Rangers Head Coach David Quinn, at the 1986 IIHF World Junior Championship, where Team USA earned its first medal in the tournament’s history (bronze). In addition, Brown and Leetch played together for one season at Boston College (1986-87) and represented the United States at the 1987 IIHF World Junior Championship. Brown also represented the United States at the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, France.

Following his collegiate career, Brown played 13 seasons of professional hockey, including parts of four seasons in the NHL (1990-91; 1992-93 – 1994-95). Brown, who was selected by Buffalo in the second round, 26th overall, of the 1986 NHL Entry Draft, skated in 94 career NHL games with Buffalo, Pittsburgh, and Winnipeg, and he registered 18 points (four goals, 14 assists) and 86 penalty minutes. He also played professional hockey in Sweden, Switzerland, Austria, and Germany during his career.

Ruff, 58, enters his second season as an Assistant Coach with the Rangers. He joined the Blueshirts organization on July 10, 2017 after serving as a Head Coach in the NHL for the previous 19 seasons (1997-98 – 2016-17). Ruff has posted a 736-554-78-125 record (.561 points percentage) in 1,493 career regular season games as an NHL head coach. He ranks sixth in NHL history in games coached and wins, trailing only Scotty Bowman, Joel Quenneville, Al Arbour, Ken Hitchcock, and Barry Trotz in both categories.

The post RANGERS ANNOUNCE COACHING STAFF ADDITIONS first appeared on Howlings.

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings

HARTFORD, CT – The New York Rangers made three first round selections in Dallas in Round One of a made for TV 2018 NHL Entry Draft.

It was just the fifth time in Rangers history that they had multiple first round picks. The remaining rounds will be conducted Saturday starting at 11 am (NHL Network).

None of these picks are likely to see Hartford any time soon.

The Rangers’ first pick, Russian right winger, Vitali Kravtsov, was a bit out of the box. There were other higher-rated options waiting to be snatched. Among them was another top scoring forward, the BC-bound, Oliver Wahlstrom. He was selected by the Islanders in the eleventh slot. Also on the board were defensemen Evan Bouchard (Edmonton) and Noah Dobson (Islanders 12^th pick).

With their highest pick at ninth, the Rangers tabbed the lefty shooting, Kravtsov, who at age 18, stands at 6’4 and weighs 185 lbs.  Kravtsov is from Traktor Chelyabinsk (Russia-KHL).

Kravtsov was the second Russian taken in the Top Ten picks. The Carolina Hurricanes took right winger, Andrei Svechnikov.

Kravtsov’s regular season numbers with the big club weren’t eye popping. He tallied four goals and seven points in 35 games, but he was a boy playing in a men’s league. His post season numbers however were excellent and very well may be a greater indicator of his talent. He put up 11 points (6 goals – 5 assists) in 16 KHL post season games.

Playing against his peers with Chelmet Chelyabinsk (Russia-VHL), Kravtsov tallied seven points with four goals in nine games. In one game in the Russian MHL Junior League with Belye Medvedi, he popped in a goal and had three points.

Kravtsov is eligible for the CHL Import Draft to be held next week. He has one year left on his Russian contract. If he plays in the KHL, he could only play in Hartford once his Russian season end under the current CBA.

One caveat could be similar to the one with Filip Chytil last year. He played with the Pack as an 18-year-old in part because a formal transfer agreement with the Czech Hockey Federation exists while one does NOT exist with Russia. Kravtsov could play in Hartford if an agreement between the Rangers and Traktor Chelyabinsk could be worked out on his Russian contract.

Kravtsov did earn the KHL’s Alexei Cherepanov Rookie of the Year Award. Cherepanov, of course, was a Rangers first round pick (17^th overall) in 2007. He died tragically at a KHL game on October 13, 2008 while with Avangard Omsk. His team and linemate was one-time Ranger, Jaromir Jagr, who was right next to him on the bench with what was called an undiagnosed heart ailment.

Subsequent investigations showed the possibility of blood doping, though it was later stated doctors were treating a heart condition that never showed up in the Rangers pre-draft medical evaluation. The Rangers successfully argued that since he was never under contract with the Rangers they were awarded a compensatory draft pick in the second round in the 2009 Draft. That ruling is now known as, “The Cherepanov Rule.” The rule is that if a player was selected and should pass away, the team drafting that player will receive a compensatory draft pick.

The second first round pick was an 18-year-old defenseman who has lots of room to grow into. K’Andre Miller from Minnesota is 6’4 195 lb.

He played the last two years for the US Development Team program in the USHL. He played international competition for the US U-17 and U-18 teams.

Miller is a left-handed shot who played 22 games this season for the USHL squad. He tallied four goals and 12 assists and is a big, punishing hitter. Later, while with the U-18 squad, Miller played 58 games and had nine goals and 29 points. Miller has played the equivalent of an NHL regular season schedule. The U-18 team garnered a silver medal at the IIHF U-18 World Championships.

Miller will be heading to the Big 10, where he will play for the University of Wisconsin Badgers program that’s coached by former Ranger, Tony Granato.

Miller was selected three years ago in the WHL bantam draft by the Saskatoon Blades in the 9^th round, 177^th overall. He was two sport (football & hockey) athlete at Minnetonka High.

The Rangers thought enough of Miller to move up from the 26th pick to 22nd and gave up their 26th and 48th pick to get him.

The last pick is a 17-year-old, right-handed shooting defenseman. His name is Nils Lundkvist and he’s from Lulea HF of the Swedish Hockey League. He went 28^th overall. Lundkvist is 5’11 and just 172 pounds.

He played on Lulea’s J-20 team. In 26 games, Lundkvist had three goals and 14 points and was voted best defenseman. He also played with the SHL club for 29 games scoring two goals and had five points. He was 16 for most of the season playing against men. He played on Sweden’s U-18 team that won the bronze medal at the IIHF U-18. championships.

All three players are eligible for their national World Junior Championship squads. Expect to see them at the tourney which will be held in Vancouver, and Victoria, BC starting December 26 on Canada’s Boxing Day.

The aforementioned four sets of Rangers dual first round draft picks were interesting parts of Ranger history.

In 1971, Steve Vickers, who had a solid Rangers career playing in 698 games and scoring 241 goals, registered 340 assists (586 points), and the highly combustible, the late Steve Durbano. He never played a game for the Rangers and was traded to St. Louis, but in the words of the late great Ranger broadcaster, Bill “Big Whistle” Chadwick,“ speaking of Durbano he said, “He was suspended in every league he ever played in.”

The words came during his wild fight with Nick Fotiu at the Garden in 1979 when he was on his second tour with the Blues. It set off a major bench clearing melee after a hat trick goal was scored and he exited the ice surface by bending over and mooning the MSG crowd.

In 1972, Al Blanchard, who never played a game with the Rangers but played in the AHL with Providence and Springfield, and Bob MacMillan, who played 22 games with the Rangers, but would have a nice career with St. Louis, Atlanta/Calgary Flames, the Colorado Rockies/New Jersey Devils and Chicago, but not the Rangers. He is presently an amateur scout with Calgary.

In 1977 they took Lucien DeBlois and Ron Duguay. They played well in New York. Two years later went the team went to the Stanley Cup Finals against the Montreal Canadiens where they lost in five games. The Rangers passed on Mike Bossy who would become one of the greatest scoring right wings in NHL history who helped the New York Islanders win four consecutive Stanley Cups.

The last set of multiple first round picks came in 1999 at the draft in Boston. The picks that year were Pavel Brendl and Jamie Lundmark. Brendl never played in New York. His lack of conditioning and inflated ego impaled his career in North America. He played in just 77 NHL games with four different teams none of whom were named Rangers.

After a stellar junior year with Calgary (WHL), Brendl was assigned to the Wolf Pack for the post season of their Calder Cup winning spring. He ended up being sent home after two games when he tried to instruct head coach John Paddock on how to run the team’s powerplay during practice.

Brendl played in Europe last season after taking a year off due to a medical condition. He’s rostered to the HC Arlanda Swedish who play in the first division.

Lundmark played in 114 games posting 11-19-30 with the Rangers. He had 295 NHL games in total. He played parts of his time with Calgary, Phoenix (nee Arizona) and LA. While with the Wolf Pack, Lundmark played 165 games with 50 goals 68 assists and 118 points

Lundmark retired this season after a six year career with Klagenfurter AC in the Austrian Elite League.

The first 19 years of the NHL Draft were held in Montreal. 1985 was the first year that it wasn’t. That year the draft was held in Toronto. The first time it was held in the US was in Detroit in 1987.

HOCKEY NEWS

Late Thursday, Rangers GM, Jeff Gorton, confirmed that Adam Tambellini was not going to receive a qualifying offer. He is free to negotiate a new deal elsewhere. Steven Fogarty was given a qualifying offer and it remains to be seen if he takes it or tries his luck elsewhere.

Two more AHL’ers are off to Europe.

Miro Aaltonen, from the Calder Cup champion Toronto Marlies, heads back to a yet unnamed KHL team.

Leland Irving leaves San Diego for HC Bolzano (Italy-AEHL).

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