FROM THE CREASE with Bruce Berlet
By Bruce Berlet The Connecticut Whale added one member of the parent New York Rangers on Wednesday and another could be coming for a refresher course.
FROM THE CREASE with Bruce Berlet
By Bruce Berlet Few sporting entities ebb and flow together more than a hockey goaltender and his or her team. Chad Johnson has discovered that more than ever this season, which seems almost divided between when the local AHL team was the Hartford Wolf…
FROM THE CREASE with Bruce Berlet
By Bruce Berlet The Connecticut Whale might have seen the last of crafty wing Mats Zuccarello. The 5-foot-7, 170-pound “Norwegian Hobbit” had his second consecutive strong game and recorded his first NHL point Monday night in a 7-2 romp over the New York…
FROM THE CREASE with Bruce Berlet
By Bruce Berlet Athletes often have unique ways to get involved with the sports that they love. Nick Evlampios Fotiu got plenty of enjoyment from football, soccer and boxing while growing up in Staten Island, but a bit of divine intervention helped the…
FROM THE CREASE with Bruce Berlet
By Bruce Berlet Connecticut Whale wing Mats Zuccarello did about everything imaginable to help the New York Rangers win Thursday night in his NHL debut on Broadway. The Rangers lost in the bottom of the 11th round of a shootout and the rookie in North…
FROM THE CREASE with Bruce Berlet
By Bruce Berlet After their team surrendered a four-goal lead Tuesday night, Connecticut Whale coach Ken Gernander and his assistants figured a 9 a.m. practice Wednesday, only eight hours after the team arrived home from New Hampshire, might not be “very…
FROM THE CREASE with Bruce Berlet
By Bruce Berlet When Chad Kolarik was asked how the Connecticut Whale had been able to make such a dramatic turnaround the past month, you could almost hear the surfer sounds of America’s band, the Beach Boys, reverberating through the XL Center. “Catch…
FROM THE CREASE with Bruce Berlet
By Bruce Berlet Connecticut Whale right wing Dale Weise likely didn’t need a plane to fly from Hartford to Philadelphia on Friday afternoon. With former Hartford Wolf Pack right wing Ryan Callahan sidelined 6-to-8 weeks with a broken left hand sustained…
FROM THE CREASE with Bruce Berlet
By Bruce Berlet No Nick Fotiu, no Jack Carlson, no Curt Brackenbury, no Gilles Bilodeau from the New England Whalers days in the World Hockey Association. No Stu Grimson, no Jim McKenzie, no Dave Schultz, no Torrie Robertson from the Hartford Whalers…
FROM THE CREASE with Bruce Berlet
By Bruce Berlet When an athlete says his parents are his idols because of the strong faith they show every day, you know you have a special person. Connecticut Whale defenseman Jared Nightingale is just such an individual. While Nightingale is one of the…