BY: Bruce Berlet

The Binghamton Senators hadn’t even qualified for the Calder Cup playoffs the past five seasons, but Tuesday night they had extra incentive to win their first AHL championship.

With assistant coach and former Bridgeport Sound Tigers and New York Islanders head coach Steve Stirling back in central New York recovering from emergency quadruple bypass heart surgery Sunday night, the Senators rallied with third-period, power-play goals from Bobby Butler and captain Ryan Keller to beat the host Houston Aeros 3-2 and clinch the title before a record crowd of 10,125 at the Toyota Arena.

“We all know what this (game) means for a lot of reasons,” Senators first-year coach Kurt Kleinendorst told reporters after the morning skate. “But right now, the biggest one is Stirls.”

Stirling was resting comfortably in UHS Medical Center in Johnson City, N.Y., when the Senators traveled to Houston on Monday. Ottawa Senators goaltending coach Rick Wamsley joined Kleinendorst behind the bench as Stirling watched the game in his hospital room.

“This is the second time in three days it’s been a little bit surreal for me,” Kleinendorst said after the Senators won the best-of-seven series 4-2 to give Binghamton its first title in 29 years of pro hockey. “The first time was when I was up in the hospital while Stirls was going through his surgery, and I’ll tell you, there’s a lot of parallels to the way I feel right now and the way I felt then. It’s surreal. It’s hard to explain it. It’s just an unbelievable feeling but in a different way.

“Coach Stirls has got to get his rest because we’re going right from the airport to the hospital tomorrow morning.”

The Senators held the 16^th winning puck of the postseason off the commemorative board they created to allow Stirling the honor of placing it there on Wednesday before Binghamton hosts a parade starting at 6 p.m. This was the city’s first minor-league title since the Binghamton Mets won baseball’s Eastern League crown in 1994.

Keller said Stirling’s surgery put everything in perspective.

“Sometimes when you get in these situations, you think of the games as life and death and things like that,” Keller told the Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin. “This is kind of a rude awakening that there’s more to life than hockey. We’ve love to have him with us, and it’s a shame for his sake that he can’t be here with us. But we know he’s back there thinking of us, and he’s in our prayers, that’s for sure. It’s a terrible situation, and we’re just happy that he’s doing well.

“It means everything. He’s worked so hard. He’s spent such long days at the rink preparing and making sure nothing comes as a surprise to us. Even off the ice, coordination events, he’d make sure everyone know what’s going on. (Stirling) is a huge part to not only our on-ice performance, but off-ice, keeping things in control. It’d be a great feeling to be able to bring back that trophy for him.”

Defenseman Andre Benoit, the son-in-law of Warmsley who anchored Stirling’s defense, added, “For sure our thoughts are with him. He’s a big part of our club. It’s terrible to see what happened. We hear he’s doing well, so we’re happy to hear that. We definitely want to seal it tonight, so we can get home and bring the Cup to him.”

Keller and Benoit got their wish as the Senators won their third in a row after 3-0 and 4-2 victories at home. In the second game, the Aeros enjoyed a 43-27 shot advantage, and they had a 36-27 edge Tuesday night but were thwarted again by 19-year-old rookie goalie Robin Lehner, who was 14-4 with 2.10 goals-against average, .939 save percentage and league-high three shutouts in 19 playoff games.

Kleinendorst inserted Lehner into goal in place of veteran Barry Brust with the Senators down 3-1 in the first round to the Manchester Monarchs. The Senators won four overtime games to win that series and never looked back.

“He was fantastic,” Aeros coach Mike Yeo said. “We had great chances in the second period that could have extended our lead, but we couldn’t get that third goal. He was huge.”

Since allowing four goals on 14 shots to the Portland Pirates in Game 5 of the Atlantic Division finals on May 3, Lehner, the Ottawa Senators’ second-round pick in 2009, was 8-2, 1.48, .955 with three shutouts in 19 games. It earned Lehner the Jack A. Butterfield Trophy as playoff MVP after many said it had been a wasted season after injuries in Ottawa kept him out for much of the regular season.

“It’s so good,” said Lehner, only the fourth teenage goalie to win the Calder Cup. “It’s unbelievable. All you naysayers and critics, you can go hide somewhere. You can never take this away from me. I’m not saying I’m going to go play in the NHL. That’s a long road ahead. But you can never take away from me that I’m a Calder Cup champion and that I got the MVP here.”

Lehner enabled the Senators to put an exclamation point on a remarkable turnaround season. The Senators, who joined the AHL in 2002-03 as Ottawa’s top affiliate, won four of the last five games and set an AHL record with 10 road victories this postseason (10-2), finishing 15-4 after being in the 1-3 hole against the Monarchs. The B-Sens overcame that deficit, winning all four games of the series in overtime, before knocking off the Pirates (4-2) and Charlotte Checkers (4-0) on the way to the finals against the Aeros, the top affiliate of the Minnesota Wild. The Senators’ roster had 15 players who played in a combined 232 games for Ottawa this season.

After a scoreless first period, the Senators took the lead at 2:28 of the second when Roman Wick scored off assists from Kaspars Daugavins and former Aeros and Hartford Wolf Pack center Corey Locke, the AHL’s MVP and leading scorer (86 points) this season. Locke was trying to become the fourth consecutive player to win the Calder Cup in the same season as being named MVP, following the Hershey Bears’ Keith Aucoin (2010) and former Wolf Pack wing Alexandre Giroux (2009) and the Chicago Wolves’ Jason Krog (2008). Locke and Benoit won the Calder Cup as Hamilton Bulldogs teammates four years ago Tuesday.

The Aeros got even 4:09 after Wicks’ goal as captain and South Windsor native Jon DiSalvatore batted in a shot from Maxim Noreau for his seventh goal of the playoffs, the first of four in a row on the power play. The Aeros took their only lead at 11:20 when Jean-Michel Daoust tallied his fourth of the postseason and third in two games.

But the Senators tied it 3:26 into the third period on Butler’s rookie-best 13^th goal but first in four games off an assist from Erik Condra. Keller then scored the winner at 9:09 off an assist from Benoit, who ran his assists streak to four games.

“(Keller) has been our leader from day one,” Kleinendorst said. “He’s been there with me every step of the way, and for him to get that game-winner, it’s fitting. It couldn’t have been a more deserving person.”

The Senators, who qualified fifth in the North Division and seventh in the Eastern Conference, broke a tie for most road victories in one postseason set by the Philadelphia Phantoms in 1998. Meanwhile, it was the first loss in three elimination games this postseason for the Aeros, who got 24 saves from rookie Matt Hackett. They’re 6-0 all-time in Game 7s but 1-8 in Game 6s.

“I wish it were a different outcome,” Yeo said. “I wish it were a different outcome for a lot of reasons, but mostly for the guys in that locker room. I wish they could what they deserved, but having said that, Binghamton is a worthy champion.”

The Aeros nearly got to overtime as they peppered Lehner with 15 shots in the third period, and the Senators young goalie got major help in the final minute when defenseman Geoff Kinrade stopped Patrick O’Sullivan’s shot.

“We’ve talked about that since day one, that every play can make a difference,” DiSalvatore said. “The puck was rolling on Sully, but he got a shot that was head on the net, and with sheer desperation, (Kinrade) kept the game from going into overtime. Those are the plays, and that’s why they’re celebrating right now.”

The Senators were able to celebrate in the AHL’s 75^th anniversary season because Kleinendorst and Stirling were able to mold a team that never really came together until the playoffs because of numerous injuries and after Ottawa made a flurry of moves around the trade deadline that had their roster in flux late in the regular season.

“It’s surreal right now,” Locke said. “I can’t explain it. That group of guys there, the way we did this wasn’t easy. It’s so amazing. I’m so happy to share it with all these guys.”

LEMIEUX LEAVES WHALE FOR GERMANY

Center Francis Lemieux, who spent the second half of last season with the Connecticut Whale after being called up from the Florida Everblades of the ECHL, has signed with Heilbronner Falken in the German Division 2 League. Lemieux had two assists in 22 regular-season games and added one goal and one assist in four playoff games against Portland. … Fans interested in learning about present and future Whale players should visit www.newyorkrangers.com for the “20 Prospects in 20 Days” series running until the start of the NHL draft June 24. It provides extensive information and insight into the Rangers’ top young players, many of whom will participate in a developmental camp after the draft. The inaugural series in 2010 included three players – center Derek Stepan and former Hartford Wolf Pack/Whale defensemen Michael Sauer and Ryan McDonagh – who emerged as Rangers regulars last season. … Former Wolf Pack captain Craig Weller has moved from Cardiff in Wales to Villacher ESV in the Austrian Elite League. … Former Wolf Pack left wing Boyd Kane re-signed with Hershey after his two best seasons. Kane, 33, had a career-high 24 goals in helping the Bears win the Calder Cup in 2010 and added another 24 goals last season, when he also tied a career high with 49 points. Kane had scored 45 goals in three seasons with the Phantoms and was captain of the 2004-05 team that won the Calder Cup. He and Dave Fenyves are the only players to lead two teams to the Calder Cup title in consecutive years. Fenyves led the Bears and Rochester Americans to the AHL titles in 1987-88. … The Pittsburgh Penguins signed Wilkes-Barre/Scranton coach John Hynes and assistant Alain Nasreddine to multi-year contract extensions. Hynes, 36, led WBS to the regular-season championship in his first season as an AHL coach with a 58-21-0-1 record while setting team records for wins, home wins (30), road wins (28) and points (117). The 58 wins were the second most in the AHL history and earned him the Louis A.R. Pieri Memorial Award as Coach of the Year, making him the first WBS coach to receive the honor. After guiding the Penguins to the best record in the league in early January, Hynes was named co-coach for the AHL’s Western Conference All-Star Team. The native of Warwick, R.I., joined the Penguins organization as an assistant coach in 2009-10 and was named coach last July 31. He previously coached the United States National Team Development Program, where his Under-18 national teams won silver (2004), gold (2006) and bronze (2006) in the World Junior Championships. Nasreddine, 35, just finished his first season as an AHL coach after spending parts of five seasons with WBS as a defenseman. A sixth-round pick of the Florida Panthers in 1993, his 726 pro games also included stints with the Sound Tigers and NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes.

FLYERS HOPE TO SIGN BRYZGALOV AFTER TRADE

Hoping to make a deal before free agency begins July 1, the Flyers acquired the rights to impending free agent goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov from the Phoenix Coyotes for minor-league left wing Matt Clackson and a third-round pick and conditional pick in 2012. The conditional pick, which will not be in the first or second round, is contingent on the Flyers reaching a deal with Bryzgalov.

The Coyotes’ move came one day after they signed former Wolf Pack and Rangers goalie Jason LaBarbera to a two-year contract extension after he was Bryzgalov’s backup for two seasons.

Bryzgalov, who turns 31 on June 22, will become an unrestricted free agent if he does not reach an agreement with the Flyers. He was 36-20-10 with a 2.48 GAA and .921 save percentage this season and won 130 games the last four seasons with Phoenix, which claimed him off waivers from the Anaheim Ducks in 2007.

The deal is similar to a move that the Flyers made four years ago when they acquired the negotiating rights to pending free agents Kimmo Timonen and Scott Hartnell from the Nashville Predators before the July 1 deadline and then signed both to long-term contracts. Last year, the Flyers acquired the rights to pending unrestricted free agent goalie Evgeni Nabokov from the San Jose Sharks but failed to sign him as he decided on a more lucrative deal in the Kontinental Hockey League in Russia.

“We’re going to give it our best shot,” Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren said during a conference call when asked if he’s confident the two sides can reach an agreement. “You give up an asset to get a chance to get in early, so we have every intention of trying our best to get a deal done. We’ll see what we can do. I feel like he’s still got a few good years left in him. We’ll see how it goes.”

Bryzgalov was a member of the Ducks’ 2007 Stanley Cup championship team with current Flyers defensemen Chris Pronger and Sean O’Donnell. He played in 27 games that season, posting a 10-8-6-1 record with a 2.47 GAA and .907 save percentage and was 3-1 with a 2.24 GAA and .922 save percentage in five Stanley Cup appearances on the way to the championship.

Tuesday’s deal ends Bryzgalov’s terrific run with the Coyotes, who will now begin to search for a replacement.

“After several discussions with Ilya and his agent, it became very clear to us that we were not in a position to sign Ilya to a long-term contract,” said Coyotes general manager Don Maloney, the former Rangers assistant GM and Wolf Pack GM. “We will now focus our efforts on adding another goaltender to our roster for the upcoming season.”

Clackson, 26, was selected by the Flyers in the seventh round in 2005 and joined the team’s AHL affiliate at the end of the 2007-08 season. In the next three full seasons with the Phantoms, Clackson, the son of former NHL forward Kim Clackson, had six goals, 13 assists and 574 penalty minutes in 204 games.

The Flyers would likely have to move one of their key players before the start of the season to make a long-term commitment to Bryzgalov. According to capgeek.com, the Flyers have $58.9 million committed to 18 players for 2011-12.

“Once we know what the salary cap is going to be next year, we’ll have a better idea of what we need to do down the road,” Holmgren said. “We have options. I don’t know. We’ll just see how it goes.”

Should an agreement be reached, the Flyers would have one of the NHL’s top goaltending tandems in Bryzgalov and Sergei Bobrovsky, who was 28-13-8 with a 2.59 GAA and .915 save percentage in 54 games as a rookie last season.

“I still think the world of Sergei,” said Holmgren, the former coach and general manager of the Hartford Whalers. “I think he’s one of the top young goalies in our game. Having that said, we continue to try to make our team better. I think if we can get (Bryzgalov) signed, we can make our team better.

“We’ll see if we can get a deal done. We’ve got our foot in the door now. We have some time to look at certain things and try to work through the issues and get a deal. We didn’t make this trade to acquire his rights to just kind of hang around. We’re going to try our best to get him signed.”

RON FRANCIS BACK TO HURRICANES FRONT OFFICE

Ron Francis, the only Hockey Hall of Famer in Hartford Whalers history, is headed back to the Carolina Hurricanes’ front office as director of hockey operations after being an assistant to former Whalers coach Paul Maurice.

As director of hockey operations, Francis will work directly with Hurricanes president and general manager Jim Rutherford on all hockey-related matters. Francis initially rejoined the organization in November 2006 as the team’s director of player development and was promoted to assistant GM on Oct. 4, 2007. He then moved behind the bench with Maurice on Dec. 3, 2008, being named associate head coach. Francis played a big role in overseeing the team’s power play in his two-plus seasons behind the bench.

Francis will be replaced behind the bench by Rod Brind’Amour, who will be an assistant coach and development coach. Former NHL defenseman and head coach Dave Lewis has been added as assistant coach, and former Whalers wing, assistant and announcer Tom Rowe will work as a professional scout after time behind the bench.

Maurice said he and his coaching staff will spend the summer determining the roles each will play.

“Ron Francis isn’t going anywhere and he’ll be involved in some of the ideas and the vision he had on the power play,” Maurice said. “In terms of dividing responsibilities, that will happen as we move forward here a little bit. I think one of the strengths of this group will be that you have strong men with strong opinions and ideas. And they’re able to articulate those ideas, so we’ll use all our coaches as an influence in all areas.” … According to a TSN report, the ownership group of Winnipeg’s new NHL franchise has called a press conference for Wednesday afternoon to announce Kevin Cheveldayoff as the team’s general manager. Cheveldayoff, 41, is currently the senior director of hockey operations for the Chicago Blackhawks. He was a first-round draft pick of the Islanders in 1988, but injuries prevented him from reaching the NHL. He was forced to retire in 1994 after four seasons in the minor leagues. Cheveldayoff would replace Rick Dudley, who was informed Saturday by True North Sports and Entertainment that he would not be brought to Winnipeg from Atlanta, which lost a NHL team for a second time to relocation. … Ottawa Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson will have back surgery Friday. Alfredsson played his last game Feb. 7 because of what he called a nerve problem in his lower back. He had been trying rest and rehabilitation in an effort to avoid surgery. In 54 games, he had only 14 goals and 17 assists, with his 31 points ending a nine-season stretch with at least 70. Alfredsson, 39, had tried skating with the team during a late March road trip but never got to the point where he felt comfortable playing in a game. It’s unclear how long Alfredsson could be out, but the Ottawa Citizen reported Monday it could be 4-6 weeks.

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

VERSUS   

The Connecticut Whale lost Game Two of their first round playoff series at the Cumberland County Civic Center to the Portland Pirates 3-2 in overtime before 5,029 Saturday night.

But more than the loss that put the Whale down two games to none, is the tremendous similarities between the parent New York Rangers and their AHL affiliate, the Connecticut Whale. The similarities are almost too eerie. After playing a near carbon copy season, the playoffs are proving out to be even more similar.

It starts in how both teams got into the playoffs to being with.

The Rangers needed help from the Tampa Bay Lightning to knock off the Carolina Hurricanes, who were formerly known as the Hartford Whalers. They got that help in a 6-2 Lightning rout and the Rangers were in the playoffs as the eight seed to face the top seeded Washington Capitals.

Meanwhile the Whale needed the Hurricane’s AHL affiliate, the Charlotte Checkers, last season’s Hartford Wolf Pack ECHL affiliate before moving up to the AHL this season, to knock off the Worcester Sharks to punch the ticket for the Whale in order to chase Calder Cup silver. The Checkers came through and the Whale were in as the eight seed that is sent to play the number one seeded Portland Pirates.

That’s just the starting point.

Once they got in, the parent club Rangers lose the first game when a late fluky goal in regulation sends the game to overtime where a busted play leads to the game winner past a helpless goaltender.  They then end up losing the second game to the Capitals when the team can’t generate any sort of offense, get shut out 2-0 and find themselves down two games to none and heading home for a must-win game.

For the Connecticut Whale, they lost Game One due to 2:53 of complete brain lock where they allowed three goals and couldn’t recover and went on to lose 3-2.

It looked like the Whale might be headed in a different direction after a strong first period, but in true “Like Parent-Like Affiliate” thing they allowed a late third period goal to send it to overtime and then lost off a busted play that left their goaltender helpless and lost 3-2 (again) and now head home for a must-win Sunday battle with the Pirates.

The true story of this game was the Whale’s total disappearing act offensively.

After putting sixteen shots on goal in the first period and scoring twice, the Whale put just nine shots on goal the rest of the game including a season low for a period two-shot effort in the third and an equally inept three-shot second.

How bad was it?

To put it into proper perspective, the Whale actually took more penalties in the two periods, (6), than they did shots (5).

Head Coach Ken Gernander, who has stressed player discipline all season long could not be happy about that. He also likely wasn’t happy with the fact that referees Terry Koharski and Mark Lemelin somehow swallowed their whistles and lost site of the fact that they called the Whale seven times and only four for the home Pirates.

“It was an entertaining, back-and-forth game,” Pirates Head Coach told reporters after the game. “At the end of the day, we got the extra break, and that was the difference. And that’s what you need, to really take care of home ice.”

Derek Whitmore scored twice, including both the tying and game winning goals for the Pirates. The game winner came at 12:04 of overtime after Francis Lemieux’s shot from the Pirate blueline was blocked by Tim Conboy which led to a 2-on-1 against.

“I was kind of tired at the end of a shift, but (Conboy) made a great play at the blueline and forced the turnover,” Whitmore said to reporters. “(Brian Roloff) grabbed it, and we smelled blood with the 2-on-1 in overtime and wanted to take advantage of it. He made a great pass over to me, and I had a wide open net.

“It was a huge goal for us because it’s a lot better to be up 2-0 instead of tied 1-1, especially with the way we won coming from behind. It’s a real big boost for us.”

Dov Grumet-Morris (33 saves, 0-2-0), kept the Whale in the game while the offense was M.I.A., “(Whitmore) just got it over me,” said Grumet-Morris, who played with Whitmore earlier this season. “It was a good bury. He’s a good player who made a good play. It was an unfortunate series of events for us, but that’s overtime hockey.”

Whitmore’s first goal, which tied the game with just 7:40 to go in regulation was a fluke goal as rookie Tommy Grant, playing in just his ninth game as a pro, bumped into his own goaltender and the inadvertent contact knocked Grumet-Morris out of the play leaving Whitmore to shoot into practically an empty net.

Grumet-Morris, as he is want to do, protected his young teammate and took responsibility for the boondoggle. “It was unfortunate, but I’ll take the blame before I blame anyone else,” He said. “It happens in hockey…It was a mistake, everyone makes mistakes, I make mistakes all the time.”

Grumet-Morris’ first mistake came when he allowed Matt Ellis goal at 5:02 of the first period. Corey Tropp found the Pirate captain in the lower right corner and then Ellis caught Grumet-Morris anticipating a pass and before he could recover shot the puck and put it between Grumet-Morris and the short side post.

The Whale managed to recover and went on to score two of their own to close the period.

First, Francis Lemieux took a terrific feed from defenseman Tomas Kundratek for a breakaway at 15:26 to get the then game equalizer and then John Mitchell’s pass from the right corner into the crease got deflected into the net off a Pirate defender’s stick.

The goal gave the Whale their first lead of the playoffs with just 3:19 left in the first. But after the second goal, the offense took the rest of the night off managing just six shots through the remaining 2 1/2 periods and now face a huge uphill battle if they are to move on in the playoff race.

“Unfortunately we came out on the wrong side of the game and we have to come back and try to win the next game at home,” Grumet-Morris said. “Quick turnaround, we have the game (Sunday) at home, that’s it.”

Brian Ring was brought in for the Whale perspective. You’ll find that story at CTWhale.com.  Paul Betit could not attend the game due to an upper body injury so off the bench comes our own Bruce Berlet to the rescue. You can read the Master of the Keyboard’s take right here at Howlings. 

GAME SUMMARY and OFFICIAL SCORERS SHEET

NOTES:

*  Whalers Sports and Entertainment president and CEO, Howard Baldwin made the trip up to Portland and took in the game with his wife Karen and his parents who live in Kennebunkport.

* Highly touted New York prospect Carl Hagelin made his AHL debut Saturday night and in true Rangers/Whale fashion, took a hooking penalty on his very first shift.

* The Whale PK units, which surrendered two goals on five tries in Game One, were seven-for-seven in this one.

* Connecticut had four power-play opportunities in Game One and were scoreless. They had four Saturday as well and put one in the net. They are now one-for-eight (12.5%) after going 5-for-32 (15.6%) against the Pirates in the regular season.

* Francis Lemieux’s breakaway goal was his first as a member of the Whale.

LINES:

Grachev – Mitchell – Williams
Dupont – Newbury – Weise
Grant – Lemieux – Couture
Hagelin – Garlock – Tessier

Redden – Nightingale
Valentenko – Parlett
Bickel – Kundratek

Grumet-Morris
Talbot

(Assistant Captains Bold and Italicized)

SCRATCHES:

Todd White – Concussion – Season
Devin DiDiomete – Hip – Season
Chad Kolarik – Hamstring – Day-to-Day
Michael Del Zotto – Broken Finger – Day-to-Day
Justin Soryal – Healthy Scratch
Dylan McIlrath – Healthy Scratch
Jason Missiaen – Healthy Scratch
Kale Kerbashian – Healthy Scratch
Andrew Yogan – Healthy Scratch
Shayne Wiebe – Healthy Scratch
Jyri Niemi – Healthy Scratch

THREE STARS:

1. POR – D. Whitmore
2. POR – M. Ellis
3. CT – D. Grumet-Morris

ON ICE OFFICIALS:

Referee:
Terry Koharski (10)
Mark Lemelin (84)

Linesmen:
Landon Bathe (80)
Joe Andrews (32)

NEXT GAME:

As much as Rangers head coach John Tortorella doesn’t like to admit that his team has their backs against the wall, both his and Ken Gernander’s teams are in exactly that position. If the Whale fall to the Pirates after Sunday’s 6pm starting tilt, let’s face it, then this series is all but over. On the other hand, if the Whale can hold serve over the next two games, this is a whole ‘nother thing.  The puck drops at 6pm with Bob Crawford handling the play-by-play and Mark Bailey on the color commentary. Pregame starts at 5:30.

To watch the game live, you can purchased it for $9.99 at AHL-live.

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

Too far away or can’t make it? Listen live at WTIC.com or from your cell phone or computer visit www.twitter.com/howlingstoday for complete live in-game coverage of all games both home and away.

SCORE-SHEET:

Connecticut Whale 2 at Portland Pirates 3 (OT) – Status: Final OT
Saturday, April 16, 2011 – Cumberland County Civic Center

Connecticut 2 0 0 0 – 2
Portland 1 0 1 1 – 3

1st Period-1, Portland, Ellis 1 (Tropp, Whitmore), 5:02. 2, Connecticut, Lemieux 1 (Kundratek, Bickel), 15:26. 3, Connecticut, Mitchell 1 16:42 (PP). Penalties-Hagelin Ct (hooking), 2:54; Brennan Por (high-sticking), 6:18; Gongalsky Por (slashing), 8:43; Stuart Por (roughing), 16:33.

2nd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Lemieux Ct (slashing), 2:21; Valentenko Ct (cross-checking), 7:12; Fienhage Por (interference), 9:53; Grant Ct (roughing), 15:45; Parlett Ct (high-sticking), 19:33.

3rd Period-4, Portland, Whitmore 1 12:20. Penalties-Grumet-Morris Ct (tripping), 3:24; Lemieux Ct (tripping), 8:32.

OT Period-5, Portland, Whitmore 2 (Roloff), 12:04. Penalties-No Penalties

Shots on Goal-Connecticut 16-3-2-4-25. Portland 8-7-16-5-36.
Power Play Opportunities-Connecticut 1 / 4; Portland 0 / 7.
Goalies-Connecticut, Grumet-Morris 0-2-0 (36 shots-33 saves). Portland, Leggio 2-0-0 (25 shots-23 saves).
A-5,029
Referees-Terry Koharski (10), Mark Lemelin (84).
Linesmen-Landon Bathe (80), Joe Andrews (32).

The post 1ST RD: GAME TWO – LIKE PARENT – LIKE AFFILIATE first appeared on Howlings.

VERSUS   

Thursday night the Connecticut Whale returned to the playoffs after a one year absence, the first in the team’s history, only to have the first game turn into a microcosm of their entire 2010-2011 season. The Whale didn’t put out a full sixty-minute effort, couldn’t capitalize on their own chances, didn’t get consistent pressure in the offensive zone and penalties from a lack of discipline led to their dropping the first game of the Best-of-Seven series with the Portland Pirates 3-2 in front of 2,171 at the Cumberland County Civic Center.

The Whale have been an up-and-down team all year, looking brilliant at times and outright lost at others. This game was no different.

Just 52 seconds into the game, T.J. Brennan took a slashing call giving the Whale an early power play. However, the first power play unit was completely ineffective and didn’t generate much of anything. The second unit came on and did a bit better, but the power play, which was 5-for-32 (15.6%) against the division winning Pirates went for naught.

Dov Grumet-Morris (0-1-0, 20 saves), once again bailed out the defensive mistakes of his teammates putting a stone wall up to deny both Mark Voakes and Igor Gongalsky in front of the net both within the first five minutes.

And that’s when the trouble started.

The Whale killed off Kris Newbury’s tripping call at 7:28 and 4:30 minutes later, Derek Couture was over zealous in front of the Pirates net and skated into David Leggio (1-0-0, 23 saves) in the crease putting the Whale shorthanded for a second time.

Jared Nightingale attempted to clear the puck from the left corner, but Paul Byron made a great play to keep it in the zone. He sent the puck to defenseman Dennis Persson. The Pirate defenseman, to Grumet-Morris’ left, put it on net. Persson fed the puck to the left side of the crease where the AHL’s Rookie-of-the-Year, Luke Adam, jammed it in under Grumet-Morris’ pad.

“(Paul Byron) made a great play down there trying to pass it to me, and I was trying to stuff it,” Adam said to reporters afterwards. “It hit the post and it squeaked in.”

That was just the start of the Whale brain freeze. It came at 13:47.

58 seconds later another mental lapse and sloppy play with the puck doubled the Whale deficit.

In the neutral zone, Mark Voakes stole the puck and broke in on a 2-on-1 with Corey Tropp who promptly ripped a high shot from the right circle over Grumet-Morris’ blocker side shoulder.

For Voakes, it was the first of two helpers in the game.

Voakes  joined the Pirates late in the season after spending the better part of the year in the ECHL. The St. Thomas, Ontario native started his season with the Whale in training camp before he was sent to the team’s ECHL affiliate, the Greenville Road Warriors where he was a teammate of Whale rookie defenseman Blake Parlett.

At 15:08, just 23 seconds after Adam’s goal, Jeremy Williams let his emotions get the better of him and received a slashing call

“Little mistakes aren’t going to be little mistakes,” Whale head coach Ken Gernander said to reporters after the game. “They manifest themselves into big plays throughout the course of the game.

That was certainly the case as left winger Colin Stuart took a pass from Nick Crawford in the left face-off circle and blasted a high shot past Grumet-Morris completing a trifecta of goals all in a span of 2:53.

“We compounded some of our problems by taking some penalties,” Gernander said “When things aren’t going your way, you definitely don’t want to be playing shorthanded. We definitely let them get too much momentum too soon and put ourselves in our own hole.”

The Whale, much like they’ve done all season, came out in the second period and fought back to get into the game.

Just 27 seconds into the period, Newbury had the puck behind the Pirate net and found Brodie Dupont in front. Leggio rose to the occasion and stopped the Whale left winger to maintain the two-goal lead.

Shortly thereafter, after Dale Weise was carrying the puck and knocked down hard, an odd man rush went back the other way and Gongalsky broke between Parlett and his linemate, Pavel Valentenko and came in on Grumet-Morris all alone. The Whale netminder, who was a bit scrambly in the first, rose up to deny the break-in attempt and stop what could have been the backbreaker.

After John Mitchell was denied off a left side rush just over four minutes into the period, the Whale finally found a way to solve Leggio.

Francis Lemieux made a great pass from the left corner in front to the pinching Parlett. The Whale defenseman made a nifty move coming from the right side of the crease to the left and put a nice backhander between Leggio and the left post to make it a two-goal deficit.

The Whale were much stronger  in the second period and outshot the Pirates 9-3 in the frame and both teams had 16 each as they went to the third period.

In the third, the Whale wasted no time in pressing for another goal and in the first 30 seconds, Evgeny Grachev had a wide open look from in front of the net, but his shot sailed over the top of the net.

Grachev had another chance for the Whale with Weise in the box on a hooking call. A turnover led to Grachev and John Mitchell rushing up the ice 2-on-1 shorthanded, but the second year Russian forward was stopped easily by Leggio.

After Adam and Matt Ellis had golden opportunities to put the game out of reach, Grumet-Morris gave his team a chance as he has done so well over the second half of a season to earn the team MVP award with his 13-5-1 record matched with a .923% and a 2.12GAA, by keeping the puck out of the net.

With 6:57 to go in regulation, Grachev fell as he was attempting a wraparound shot coming left to right on Leggio. The puck slid up the crease to the hash marks where it was rudely treated by Weise who ripped it past Leggio to make it a one-goal game.

The Whale pressed hard for the equalizer, even after Grumet-Morris was pulled with 35 seconds left, but just could not get it past the Pirate netminder.

“We got ourselves back into the game.  We’ll focus on that tomorrow as more along the lines of how we have to play these next 60 minutes, and we’ll build from there,” said Gernander

The two teams meet again on Saturday evening in Portland before the venue changes to Hartford for games three and four on Sunday (6pm) and Tuesday night (7pm).

Brian Ring has the short story for the New York Rangers’ top farm team at CTWhale.com.  Paul Betit leads the cheering second for the Pirates at PressHerald.com.

GAME SUMMARY and OFFICIAL SCORERS SHEET

NOTES:

*  The Whale finished the season 12th in the AHL in attendance averaging 5,695.

* For the season, the Whale finished 10th on the PP (19.3%) and 14th on the PK (82.4%)

* Kris Newbury won the team’s scoring title at 61 points (17g, 44a) in 69 games.  Jeremy Williams led the team in goals with 32.

* The Whale lost six of their last eight prior to Thursday’s game and including game one have now lost three straight.

LINES:

Dupont – Newbury – Weise
Grachev – Mitchell – Couture
Grant – Lemieux – Williams
Soryal – Garlock – Tessier

Redden – Nightingale
Valentenko – Parlett
Bickel – Kundratek

Grumet-Morris
Talbot

(Assistant Captains Bold and Italicized)

SCRATCHES:

Todd White – Concussion – Season

Devin DiDiomete – Hip – Season
Chad Kolarik – Hamstring – Day-to-Day
Michael Del Zotto – Broken Finger – Day-to-Day
Carl Hagelin – Healthy Scratch
Dylan McIlrath – Healthy Scratch
Jason Missiaen – Healthy Scratch
Kale Kerbashian – Healthy Scratch
Andrew Yogan – Healthy Scratch
Shayne Wiebe – Healthy Scratch

Jyri Niemi – Healthy Scratch

THREE STARS:

1. POR – C. Stuart
2. POR – L. Adam
3. POR – M. Voakes

ON ICE OFFICIALS:

Referee:
Chris Brown (86)
Terry Koharski (10)

Linesmen:
Landon Bathe (80)
Jeremy Lovett (78)

NEXT GAME:

The Whale needs to get a win Saturday night in Game Two against the Pirates in Portland. The puck drops at 7pm with Bob Crawford handling the play-by-play. Pregame a half an hour before game time.

To watch the game live, you can purchased it for $9.99 at AHL-live.

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

Too far away or can’t make it? Listen live at WTIC.com or from your cell phone or computer visit www.twitter.com/howlingstoday for complete live in-game coverage of all games both home and away.

SCORE-SHEET:

Connecticut Whale 2 at Portland Pirates 3 – Status: Final
Thursday, April 14, 2011 – Cumberland County Civic Center

Connecticut 0 1 1 – 2
Portland 3 0 0 – 3

1st Period-1, Portland, Adam 1 (Byron, Brennan), 13:47 (PP). 2, Portland, Tropp 1 (Voakes), 14:45. 3, Portland, Stuart 1 (Crawford, Voakes), 16:40 (PP). Penalties-Brennan Por (slashing), 0:52; Newbury Ct (tripping), 7:28; Couture Ct (goaltender interference), 12:05; Williams Ct (slashing), 15:08.

2nd Period-4, Connecticut, Parlett 1 (Lemieux, Grant), 5:13. Penalties-Adam Por (slashing), 7:03; Valentenko Ct (interference), 10:05; Whitmore Por (tripping), 16:07.

3rd Period-5, Connecticut, Weise 1 (Grachev, Redden), 13:03. Penalties-Turnbull Por (holding), 3:30; Weise Ct (elbowing), 7:31.

Shots on Goal-Connecticut 7-9-9-25. Portland 13-3-7-23.
Power Play Opportunities-Connecticut 0 / 4; Portland 2 / 5.
Goalies-Connecticut, Grumet-Morris 0-1-0 (23 shots-20 saves). Portland, Leggio 1-0-0 (25 shots-23 saves).
A-2,171
Referees-Chris Brown (86), Terry Koharski (10).
Linesmen-Landon Bathe (80), Jeremy Lovett (78).

The post 1ST RD: GAME ONE – ’57 MINUTES NOT ENOUGH! first appeared on Howlings.

GREENVILLE, SC –

Cunningham was named an All-ECHL First Team defenseman. Entering tonight his 40 points are the third most among ECHL defensemen, his 33 assists rank second, and his 14 power play assists rank tied for fifth. The third year pro from Dresden, Ontario is two assists shy of his career high 35, three goals shy of his career high 10, and five points off his career high 45. He set all of those marks last season with the Elmira Jackals of the ECHL and led Jackals defensemen in each major offensive category. Cunningham has been a steady presence on the Road Warriors blueline and is third on the team in games played at 66; behind only Marc-Olivier Vallerand (67) and T.J. Reynolds (68).

Grumet-Morris was named the goaltender of the All-ECHL second team. A sixth-year pro from Evanston, Illinois, Grumet-Morris was loaned to Connecticut of the American Hockey League on February 4 and has compiled an 11-4-1 record in 18 appearances. He has a 15-8-1 record with the Road Warriors while his 0.922 save percentage ranks second in the league and his 2.32 goals-against average ranks third. Grumet-Morris became the third goalie in the history of the ECHL to win Goalie of the Week honors in consecutive weeks when he won the award for the weeks of November 29 to December 5 and December 6 to December 12. He also won Goalie of the Month for the month of December with a 9-2-1 record.

2010-11 All-ECHL First Team

G – Gerald Coleman, Alaska Aces

D – Wes Cunningham, Greenville Road Warriors

D – Eric Regan, Elmira Jackals

F – Mark Derlago, Idaho Steelheads

F –Wes Goldie, Alaska Aces

F – Kory Karlander, Kalamazoo Wings

2010-11 All-ECHL Second Team

G – Dov Grumet-Morris, Greenville Road Warriors

D – Jason Lepine, Toledo Walleye

D – Bryan Miller, Alaska Aces

F – Trent Daavettila, Kalamazoo Wings

F – Ryan Ginand, Trenton Devils

F – Francis Lemiuex, Florida Everblades/Bakersfield Condors

Fans coming to tonight’s game are encouraged to visit the table located by the Road Warriors Team Store and register to win one of the prizes that will be given away on Fan Appreciation Day on Saturday, April 2. The grand prize giveaway will be one season ticket to the 2011-12 Road Warriors season! Group tickets for 10 or more people are available for tomorrow, as well. Groups get discounts off of the box office price, preferred seating based on availability and other great benefits. Call 864-674-PUCK to talk to a Road Warriors representative about a group outing.

The post TWO CT WHALE AND ONE ROAD WARRIOR ON ECHL ALL-STAR LIST first appeared on Howlings.

By Bruce Berlet

As the pressure mounts as the playoffs approach, players and teams can buckle or get stronger late in games.

The latter has been the Connecticut Whale’s MO the past few weeks.

Despite still having five players injured and two on recall to the New York Rangers, the Whale has won eight of 10 games, including three in a row, to seize the upper hand in their quest to return to the postseason after missing for the first time in the franchise’s 14-year history.

Strength and conditioning coach Jeremy Goodman can take some credit for having the players in such good shape this late into the season. And most players earn kudos for heading to the stationary bike or workout room after nearly every practice and game, led by goalie Dov Grumet-Morris, who has a 20-minute ritual after every start, and 34-year-old veteran defenseman Wade Redden, whose postgame stretching exercises would make most ache just watching him.

The attention to their bodies and detail on the ice helped the Whale (36-26-2-6) win three games in less than 48 hours this weekend to reach their high-water mark this season of 10 games over .500 and earn a well-deserved day off Monday. They moved four points ahead of Worcester (32-26-4-8) in the battle for the third and final guaranteed spot in the Atlantic Division playoff race and one point in front of Binghamton (36-27-3-4), which is fifth in the East Division in the fight for a possible crossover playoff berth.

With veterans such as Redden, Kris Newbury, Dale Weise, Brodie Dupont and John Mitchell logging loads of minutes at even strength and on the power play and penalty kill, the Whale has needed other sources of strength. The line of Francis Lemieux between Kelsey Tessier and Derek Couture – with Ryan Garlock sprinkled in at center at times – has stepped to the forefront. Couture scored his first AHL goal this season, Lemieux got the shootout winner Saturday, and Couture and Tessier assisted on defenseman Pavel Valentenko’s insurance goal on Sunday.

“They’re a pretty important part of things, and that’s the kind of contributions they’re going to have to make,” Whale coach Ken Gernander said of Tessier-Lemieux-Couture. “They’re an effective forechecking line, and they’re all fairly good, physical, grind ’em out type of forwards so hopefully over the course of a game or a weekend they take their toll on the opponent’s defense. And if they can kick in some offense, that’s critical, too.

“The staples or hallmarks for (Tessier) is to do all the little things with great courage and extra effort. If you’ve made that his identity, that’s great because that’s the kind of game he has to play to be effective. If anybody can play that type of game you can be effective. If you have the intelligence to read plays and recognize what little things need to be done to help the team be successful and you can do them with that courage and enthusiasm, I think anybody can have an impact and be effective.”

The defensive corps of Redden, Valentenko, Jared Nightingale, Tomas Kundratek, Stu Bickel and newcomer Blake Parlett continue to excel in front of Grumet-Morris, who got his first shutout with the Whale in a 1-0 victory at Manchester on Friday night, and Cam Talbot, who rebounded from a rare sub-par game to backstop a 3-1 win over Springfield on Sunday.

“Our third period has been the best the last 10 to 12 games,” Tessier said, “and we want to keep that going but make sure we’re ahead when we’re going into the third. It was three (games) in three (nights), so you have to grind it out. You can’t be too fancy. It’s a dump-and-chase game pretty much, and when you have the opportunity to bring it to the net, you have to. We didn’t have as many as we wanted in the first period, but we came back harder in the second and third and proved we can get a few more goals.”

Gernander pointed to a learning curve for playing better late in games, especially when you’ve started the season with 10 new players, including five rookies on defense.

“Every game has a different turning point or play,” Gernander said. “Sometimes it’s poor penalties in the third period, different things earlier in the season that were coming back to haunt us, so maybe we’ve got better in some of those areas. And I think our goaltending has been heating up lately, so if you get a key timely save in the third period that helps as well.”

Between the Manchester and Springfield wins, the Whale ground out a 4-3 shootout victory over Providence on Saturday night, with Evgeny Grachev’s shorthanded goal off a 1-on-3 with 3:26 left getting the team to overtime before Weise and Lemieux scored in the skills competition to enable Grumet-Morris to extend his AHL career-high winning streak to five games. The Whale has allowed fewer than three goals in 13 of 17 games since a team meeting after a 9-2 drubbing at Toronto on Feb. 9 that tied franchise records for goals allowed and margin of defeat.

“I think we’ve got a pretty good goalie tandem right now,” Talbot said after making 22 saves to improve to 11-5-2 with a 2.42 goals-against average, .917 save percentage and two shutouts in 18 games. “There are not too many games where we’re losing because of goaltending, that’s for sure. Then again, we haven’t lost that much at all lately. Any time you can keep the opposing team to one or two goals, you know our team is going to fire in at least three in their net. The guys have been playing great, and they came out in the third period and really kept the shots to the outside except on the power play, where they got a few inside. The guys did a good job of clogging up the middle and let me see all the shots.

“The team really has confidence knowing we can win every night whether we’re playing (AHL-leading) Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Bridgeport, Providence or Springfield. We know we can beat anyone in the league on any given night so it’s a matter of coming out and playing the way we know how. Guys are buying into the system in the offensive zone and defensive zone. We’ve been working the puck down low and getting the third man high, so we’ve been limiting the odd-man rushes. Anytime you can limit odd-man rushes, they have to dump it in and then we have the first guys back and they can get outlet passes and head right back up the ice. Every game this time of year is obviously a playoff game, so there aren’t going to be many scoring chances, and it’s going to be tight games from here on out.”

Newbury got the winner on Friday night and Weise the winner on Sunday, with Valentenko’s point-shot blast providing insurance against the Falcons.

“I think there’s enough desperation and urgency to get the two points night in and night out that it has probably enhanced our game a little bit,” Gernander said. “Our message between the second and third periods (Sunday) was that we were right where we need to be, so let’s make sure we finish the deal. We don’t want to sit back, you don’t try to protect leads, but you obviously don’t take unnecessary risks either. You manage your game to some extent, but that doesn’t mean sitting back and being passive.”

The Whale has won three in a row and is on a 4-1-0-1 run at home since the debacle in Toronto to get above .500 at the XL Center (16-14-2-2).

“I don’t think there’s any issue with having confidence at home,” Gernander said, “but you certainly do want to establish an identity, whether it be at home or on the road, that you’re going to be a hard team to play against. I go back to the importance of the two points and the wins right now have seemed to elevate our play whether it be on the road or at home.”

The stage was set for a rematch Wednesday night at the XL Center when the teams had to be separated after the final buzzer sounded as they were leaving their benches, the Whale to congratulate Talbot and salute the crowd as they do after every win at home. The scuffle was precipitated by Falcons tough guy Kyle Neuber jabbing at Newbury and Devin DiDiomete, the AHL leader in fighting majors (32) and penalty minutes (296). It wasn’t the first time this season the Whale had a run-in with Neuber. He hit All-Star right wing Jeremy Williams from behind in the Whale’s 3-2 victory on March 2, forcing the team leader in goals (29) to miss four games.

Whale assistant coach Pat Boller emphatically held Justin Soryal on the bench to keep the feisty left winger out of the fray.

“I think I’ve got a jersey burn on my neck,” Soryal said with a smile.

“I think that just added a little more motivation for Wednesday, and I think our team thrives on that,” Weise said. “We’re real team tough. We don’t any real super heavyweight. We stick together and stand up for each other. If they want to play games like that, we’re perfectly OK with a physical brand of hockey.

“Neuber got on his last shift and started running around, and guys like that are just finding their way out of the game. We’re not going to fall into stuff like that. We stand up for each other, but if guys want to run around like that, we’ve got guys who will hold them accountable.”

That extracurricular activity aside, the Whale is peaking at the right time with only 10 games left in the regular season and a playoff spot now in their sights.

“We’re not getting a lot of offensive chances, but that’s playoff hockey, winning games 2-1 and 3-2, and I think we’re comfortable playing that game,” Weise said. “We’re hard to play against, and we have some good offensive players who if you give them a little area, they’re going to find the back of the net. I like our team and our team unity. I think we’re really looking strong in the stretch.

“We’ve been playing playoff hockey the last month, and I think that’s a strength for us. You look at a team like Manchester, and they’ve been in cruise control since mid-December when they were in the playoffs. But it has made every game that much more important for us, and once we hop into the playoffs, where games really, really start to matter, I think our team is going to be perfect. We know how to play and what it takes to win playoff-like games.”

On the other end of the spectrum, the Falcons (30-36-2-3) are on a 0-10-1-0 slide since the loss of rugged wings Tom Sestito and former Hartford Wolf Pack captain Dane Byers via deals at the trade deadline. They were challenging for their first playoff berth since 2005 before the freefall dating to a 4-1 win over Portland on Feb. 27. Their only point since then came March 5 in a 2-1 overtime loss to the Whale, who are 5-1-1-1 and have won five in a row against their I-91 rival. The Falcons have been shut out twice and scored only four goals in their last five games.

The Falcons are led by rookie right wing Tomas Kubalik (21, 24), veteran centers Trevor Smith (18, 22) and Ben Guite (14, 25) and rookie left wing Maksim Mayorov (18, 13). Former Wolf Pack captain/center Greg Moore has one assist in 10 games since being part of the Sestito trade. Former Wolf Pack David LeNeveu (16-20-2, 2.97 goals-against average, .896 save percentage) and Gustaf Wesslau (12-16-1, 3.17, .897) are sharing the goaltending. LeNeveu was pulled after the second period Sunday because of fatigue from having played three games in less than 48 hours, including a trip to Binghamton, N.Y.

After the rematch with the Falcons, the first-year Charlotte Checkers, the Whale’s former ECHL affiliate, make their second Hartford appearance on Friday night and the Bridgeport Sound Tigers visit Saturday night to end the homestand. The Whale then plays successive games at Providence on Sunday and April 1.

WHALE TO HONOR HOWE FAMILY ON SATURDAY NIGHT

The Whale will host “Howe Family Night” when the Sound Tigers visit Saturday night. The No. 9 of “Mr. Hockey,” one of seven numbers in the XL Center rafters, will be lowered and then raised and re-retired as he and his sons, Mark and Marty, whom he played with for seven seasons in Houston and Hartford, look on. The matriarch of the family, Colleen Howe, who died in 2009, will be honored as a new banner saluting the Howes, hockey’s first family, will also be raised to the rafters.

There will be highlight film of the Howe shown on the video screen as area fans can salute the Howes for their contributions to hockey in general and the Hartford market in particular. The Howes’ signing did more than just help the Whalers on the ice. They joined the team in 1977 and midway through their first season, the Hartford Civic Center roof collapse on Jan. 18, 1978.

“The Howes put this city and this franchise on the map,” Whalers Sports and Entertainment chairman and CEO Howard Baldwin said. “I’m not saying they’re the only reason the Civic Center got rebuilt, but who knows what would have happened if they weren’t here. So I’m genuinely praying that people will show up in droves for them (Saturday night). I remember doing something in Des Moines, Iowa, and telling all the people, ‘Remember this day because you’re part of a city that’s honoring the Babe Ruth of hockey and the first family of hockey.’ How many people wouldn’t remember if they were at Fenway Park and see Ted Williams hit his last home run, and this is going to be one of those moments Saturday night.”

Before the game, fans can meet Gordie and get a personalized autographed book and photo by purchasing a copy of the colorful 185-page book “9. Nine. The Story of Mr. Hockey, Gordie Howe.” The book sells for $70, and he will sign copies starting at 5:30 p.m. in the XL Center atrium. The first 2,000 fans will receive a free commemorative 36-page Gordie Howe tribute program full of color photos and stories, and there will be a video tribute to the Howes during a pregame ceremony.

Howe’s No. 9 is in the rafters with the Whalers’ No. 2 (Rick Ley), 5 (Ulf Samuelsson), 10 (Ron Francis), 11 (Kevin Dineen) and 19 (John McKenzie). Gernander’s No. 12 is the only number to be retired in the 14-year history of the AHL team.

“I think the next test of this market will be on Howe Family Night,” WSAE president and COO Howard Baldwin Jr. said. “People should come out and show Gordie the respect that he deserves. It’s one of the biggest nights of the season, and I agree with (Hartford Courant sports columnist) Jeff Jacobs that it’s the time when the tire meets the road. It’s a big game on our schedule, and we don’t have a lot of games left. I’d be very disappointed if we didn’t have 10,000 people.”

The Howes played together for the first time with the Houston Aeros in 1973 before coming to Hartford and signing with the World Hockey Association’s New England Whalers in 1977. Howe ended his legendary 32-year career in the Whalers’ first NHL season (1979-80), when he had 15 goals and 26 assists and was named a NHL All-Star for the 23^rd time while helping the Whalers make the playoffs at 52 years old.

Tickets for all Whale games are available at the XL Center box office, through Ticketmaster Charge-by-Phone at 1-800-745-3000 and on-line at www.ctwhale.com. Tickets start at $7 at the XL Center ticket office on game day. Fans who did not attend the Whale’s outdoor game against Providence because of the frigid weather can redeem their tickets for one to “Howe Family Night” or another game of their choice. If fans want to redeem a ticket, they should contact Baldwin Jr. at hlb@whalerssports.com.

HOCKEY MINISTRIES NIGHT AT WHALE GAME

Hockey Ministries International Northeast is sponsoring 2011 Faith & Family Night at the game against Charlotte. Upper bowl seats are $10, and Scarlet Fade will perform a postgame concert.

To order tickets, contact AHL Chapel Coordinator Rick Mitera at 860-817-6440 or rmitera@hockeyministries.org. When someone buys a ticket through Hockey Ministries, they receive a $2 coupon for parking. For more information on Hockey Ministries, visit www.hockeyministriesnortheast.org.

FIRST TEE OF CONNECTICUT DAY ON APRIL 3

The Whale will host First Tee of Connecticut Day on April 3, when the Portland Pirates are at the XL Center at 3 p.m.

Level 200 tickets are $12, with the First Tee of Connecticut receiving $5 from each ticket sold. To purchase tickets and help local youngsters interested in improving their golf game and life skills, contact Nick Criscuolo at 860-728-3366 or ncriscuolo@whalerssports.com.

PALMIERI NAMED AHL PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Syracuse Crunch right wing Kyle Palmieri was named Reebok/AHL Player of the Week on Monday after getting six goals and one assist in four games, including the first three game-winners of his pro career.

After being scoreless against Albany on Wednesday night, Palmieri scored the only goal in Syracuse’s 1-0 victory over Toronto on Friday. He then notched his second hat trick of the season, added an assist for his first four-point effort and registered a game-high nine shots in a 6-2 win over Charlotte. On Sunday, he scored twice in the third period as Syracuse beat Hershey, 5-2.

The Anaheim Ducks’ first-round pick (26th overall) in 2009 has a team-high 20 goals and 18 assists in 51 games and represented the Crunch in the AHL All-Star Classic. The 20-year-old native of Smithtown, N.Y., also has one goal in 10 games with the Ducks. He skated for the United States at the last two World Junior Championships, winning a gold medal in 2010 and a bronze in 2011.

The Whale nominated Grumet-Morris, who stopped 58 of 62 shots in regulation and overtime and seven of eight shots in the shootout against Providence as he improved to 9-3-1 with a 1.94 GAA, .925 save percentage and one shutout against Manchester. Other nominees included former Wolf Pack forwards Chad Wiseman (Albany) and Corey Locke (Binghamton) and South Windsor native Jon DiSalvatore (Houston).

CONGRATULATIONS, JARED DEMICHIEL

Congratulations to Avon native Jared DeMichiel on being named the Rochester Press-Radio Club’s PAXCHEX Male College Athlete of the Year for 2010 after leading the surprising Rochester Institute of Technology to the NCAA Frozen Four last year. He will be recognized at the organization’s awards dinner May 24, when the featured speaker will be former Detroit Lions quarterback Clay Matthews.

In his senior year at RIT, DeMichiel was 27-10-1 with a 2.09 goals-against average, .921 save percentage and six shutouts, capped by victories over top-seeded Denver University and the University of New Hampshire to give the school a record for wins in a season and its first berth in the Frozen Four before an 8-1 loss in the semifinals to Wisconsin, led by Rangers center Derek Stepan and defenseman Ryan McDonagh, who began the season with the Whale. Wisconsin lost 5-0 in the championship game to Boston College, led by right wing Chris Kreider, the Rangers’ top prospect after being a first-round pick (19^th overall) in 2009.

His stellar senior year earned DeMichiel an AHL contract with the Hershey Bears, but he started this season with the ECHL’s South Carolina Stingrays, where he was 14-10-0, 2.66, .913 with two shutouts in 26 games before being traded on March 11 to the Elmira Jackals for the rights to forward Brock McBride, who was with the Milwaukee Admirals. DeMichiel is 1-0-1, 3.37, .909 in two games with the Jackals, losing 3-2 to the Trenton Devils in a shootout despite making 49 saves. He’s also 2-1-0, 3.65, .873 in five games with the Bears.

The post FROM THE CREASE with Bruce Berlet first appeared on Howlings.

VERSUS

“That was what  we call in hockey, ‘a greasy win,’” Connecticut Whale Assistant Coach J.J. Daigneault said his team gutted one out and defeated the Springfield Falcons 3-1 Sunday afternoon in front of 4, 985 at the XL Center. “But we’ll take it,” He said with a smile.

Whale Head Coach Ken Gernander was a bit more direct. “We’re not going to thumb our nose at any win at this point in time,” He said. “We’re happy with the two points it was a pretty good grind of a weekend of three games in three nights. The Sunday ones are maybe a little bit tough, but the guys got through it and got us the two points.

“It’s that time of year when those things take their toll on you, so you gotta manage your game a little bit. And it’s not always equal footing, three-in-three.  You have a guy that does extra on both special teams and is a physical guy, maybe a bigger guy and he really has to pay the price to maintain that pace for two nights as opposed to maybe a guy that floated around for two nights, is on the perimeter and plays a little bit different role. It affects each guy differently, so I thought that our guys played hard, and most importantly got the win.”

There are currently three teams, the Whale, the Worcester Sharks and the Binghamton Senators fighting for the two remaining undecided playoff spots. The Whale are in third place and hold one of the two spots with a four-point lead over their Atlantic Division rival, the Sharks and hold a single point margin over the East Division’s Senators. Whichever team has more points, the fourth place Atlantic or fifth place East division will go to the playoffs while the other goes home. The Sharks are currently on the outside looking in as they trail the Sens by three points. All three teams have played the same amount of games.

Given the desperation of their own situation and playing a rapidly fading Springfield Falcon team that came into the game with a tired team that had extended their current losing streak to 10-games after being shut out by the Senators 2-0 the night before, you’d have expected that the Whale, despite playing their third game in less than 72 hours, to have come out looking to end this one quickly and put the two points in the standings.

“We want to build an identity as a forechecking team and a pressuring team and giving them three-in-three, if you’re going to be killing penalties and not getting pucks deep, and you’re a half-step off, it changes the complexity of the game a little bit.” Gernander said.

Even knowing all that was at stake, the Whale came out slow and sluggish and clearly looked out of sync on any number of levels.

Dale Weise, who would score what would prove to be the game winner in the second period, acknowledged his team’s poor play over the first half of the game. “I didn’t think we had a very good start, but once again our goaltender held us in the game and we did what we had to do to win the game.”

Cam Talbot was between the pipes for the Whale for his first start since a poor outing in a 5-4 loss to Worcester the previous Sunday.  Talbot spent time talking with goaltending guru and Rangers coach, Benoit Allaire.

“This was a big game for me and obviously a big game for the team,” Talbot said. “I talked to Benoit earlier in the week and he said, ‘You just have to forget about (the start in Worcester). You just have to move forward. That’s what all the best goaltenders do. Hank (Rangers All-Star goaltender Henrik Lundqvist) can give up seven one night and come get a shutout the next night. That’s what separates the best from the worst. So you’ve got to put them behind you and focus on to the next one.’

“(Benny) is great with (the goaltenders). He’s never negative. He always focuses on the positive. That really helps. He’s really easy to play for. He doesn’t care if you make a mistake, he just expects you to stop the net one and that’s all I tried to do tonight.

The rookie netminder went on to add, “Basically he said stop the puck and don’t worry about anything. If you let up a rebound, you just have to be in position for the next save. I was seeing the puck a lot better. I was seeing through screens a lot better and we blocked a lot of big shots, especially Jared Nightingale and Pavel Valentenko, who’s like having three goalies.

“I think we’ve got a pretty good goalie tandem right now. There are not too many games where we’re losing because of goaltending, that’s for sure. Then again, we haven’t lost that much at all lately. Any time you can keep the opposing team to one or two goals, you know our team is going to fire in at least three. The guys have been playing great, and they came out in the third period and really kept the shots to the outside. They got a few inside on the power play, but the guys did a good job of clogging up the middle and let me see all the shots.

“Guys are really buying into the system in the offensive and defensive zone. We’ve been working the puck down low and getting the third man high, so we’ve been limiting the odd-man rushes. Anytime you can limit odd-man rushes, they have to dump it in and then we have the first guys back making good outlet passes. Every game this time of year is obviously a playoff game, so there aren’t going to be many scoring chances, and it’s going to be tight games from here on out.”

“Last Sunday’s game probably wasn’t indicative of Cam’s best hockey.” Gernander said. “Just like everybody this time of year, you want him playing his best hockey. He and Dov (Grumet Morris, the Whale’s other netminder) have brought some pretty solid goaltending to us, so just like any other member of the team, you have to bring your best hockey right now.”

Despite posting a three shots in the first period, which tied a season low, which they’d done three previous times, (Oct. 10  in a 4-3 loss to Worcester; Mar. 2 a 3-2 win over these same Falcons both came in the first period of those games and in the third period in a 2-1 loss to Hershey on Mar. 11) , the Whale managed to get on the scoreboard with one of them.

Evgeny Grachev made a strong move up the ice. He had Maksim Mayorov chasing him up the ice and blue right past Tomas Kana along the left side boards. As he approached center ice he hit a streaking Jeremy Williams rushing up along the right wing. Grachev put the puck right on Williams’ stick.

As Williams drove past Trevor Frischmon, all the centerman could do was throw his stick out there at the Whale’s right winger. It went to no avail as Williams headed into the right circle where defenseman Theo Ruth tried in vain to make a play, but Williams’ snap shot went over the far shoulder of starter and ex-Wolf Pack goaltender David LeNeveu (10 saves, 16-20-2) for his 29th of the season at 9:35.

But that lead didn’t last long as Tomas Kundratek took a useless and lazy Interference call at 10:16 that put the Whale on the penalty kill.

It only took nine seconds for the game to become tied.

Kris Newbury won a defensive zone draw back to veteran Wade Redden in the right corner. Redden then fired the puck around the back wall to Brodie Dupont on the left side. The left winger semi-fanned on the clearing attempt and it wound up on the stick of David Savard on the left point. Savard through it over to Tomas Kubalik who sent it right back to the Falcon defenseman. Savard fired form the left point with Newbury all over him, but the puck hit the pants of Ben Guite who was crossing the slot at the time. Both Redden and Valentenko were in front of Talbot dealing with forward Trevor Smith and screened their netminder from seeing the puck clearly on the shot.

In the second period the Whale came back and had a number of excellent scoring chances early on. Weise had a terrific shot at 7:40 but was turned aside by LeNeveu and then Derek Couture and Francis Lemieux had a 2-on-1 odd man rush that the Falcon goaltender denied.

The Whale were buzzing the net starting with a shot from Weise from the top of the slot. The puck rebounded off of LeNeveu to Stu Bickel on the left side. Bickel’s shot hit LeNeveu and went out to the right side and also caused the Falcon netminder to lose his stick. Newbury recovered the stick behind the net and fired it up along the boards to the right point to Kundratek. The Whale defenseman sent it back down to Newbury in the corner. Newbury then shook Frischmon and found Weise in the right circle all alone. Cody Goloubef tried to get in Weise’s way, but the Whale right winger used him as a screen and threw the puck on net.

“We had a set play off the faceoff, and Tomas hit me up high and I just put it on net looking for a tip,” Weise said. “I find the soft areas pretty well, and Newbs knows where I am so I gave a quick holler. He made a great pass, and I got it off quick. I saw LeNeveu didn’t have his stick, so I tried to keep it low and get it in his feet somewhere. There wasn’t much (LeNeveu) could do.”

The Whale were given a brief 5-on-3 late in the second when Jonathan Sigalet took a tripping call at 12:47 and then John Moore took a Delay of Game penalty when he launched the puck into the stands at 14:28 which gave the Whale 19 seconds of two man advantage. They did nothing with either power play and finished the game 0-for-4 on the power play.

“(Bringing your best hockey to the forefront) was kind of our message in between the second and the third period,” Gernander said. “‘Okay, we’re right where we need to be right now. Let’s make sure that we finish the deal. You know, like we don’t want to sit back. We don’t want to protect leads, but also don’t take unnecessary risks either. you manage your game to some extent. But that doesn’t mean sitting back and being passive.”

According to Falcon’s coach Rob Riley, LeNeveu “was wiped out” after playing overtime Friday night, a full sixty on Saturday and two periods Sunday, so the decision was made to substitute Gustaf Wesslau for LeNeveu to start the third period.

Wesslau seemed to keep things quiet in the third frame as the Whale were playing cautiously and looking to keep mistakes to a minimum.

6:59 into the period, the league’s leader in penalty minutes, Devin DiDiomete and Justin Soryal, the Whale’s toughest customer, had a run in with Trevor Smith, John Moore and Kana in front of the Falcon net that led to plenty of time in the penalty box for both teams (See on this link at MassLive.com). Kana was tossed from the game for being the third man into a fight.

Shortly after the fireworks had faded, at 9:07, the Whale scored what would be the backbreaker.

Pavel Valentenko started the rush up ice handing off the puck to Kelsey Tessier who used his speed to advance the puck up ice past Guite on the left wing side. Tessier looked to make a pass to Couture but that was broken up by David Savard. However, C0uture took the puck away from him and curled up in the left wing circle and found Valentenko and his massive shot all alone at the left point.

Valentenko unloaded a bomb of a one timer. Tessier battled with Guite in front of  Wesslau and deflected it over the right pad of the Falcon goalie. Tessier celebrated the goal, but it went credited to Valentenko.

“Valentenko has a good shot that he has to make sure gets through,” Gernander said. “Obviously that was a big goal for us, so that was much-needed offense from a source that’s not typical of some of our power-play guys.”

“We didn’t shoot much the first period, but we hung in there and started to play a lot better,” The rookie forward said. “We had a better third man high and made sure we helped out our defense a little more. Talbot played really well, and we just had to work harder than them at the end of the game.”

With 1:42 left in regulation, Blake Parlett took a cross checking call and the Falcons pulled their goaltender to give them a 6-on-4 advantage on the ice. The Falcons were un able to get a puck past Talbot, and the Whale had four legitimate shots at the empty net. Grachev missed twice while John Mitchell and Newbury also missed on their tries as well.

“Lately our third period has always been the best the last 10 to 12 games and we want to keep that going but make sure we’re ahead when we’re going into the third period.” Tessier said. “It was three-in-three, so you have to grind it out. You can’t get too fancy. It’s a dump-and-chase game pretty much, and when you have the opportunity to bring it to the net, you have to. We didn’t have as many as we wanted in the first period, but we came back hard in the second and third and proved we can get a few more goals.”

At the end of regulation there was a big dust up around the benches.

“Things were building up. There were a couple of scrums earlier in the game. Guys were hacking and whacking a little bit and at the end there, Kyle Neuber threw a spear at DiDiomete so it got us all worked up,” Soryal said.  “He’s their tough guy so all us tough guys play on the edge a little bit, so he tried to get a couple of guys going so that’s how we react.”

Soryal was restrained first by Grumet Morris and Assistant Coach Pat Boller also held him back from going from the Whale bench onto the ice to get Neuber.

“I think I had a few of my own teammates on my back,” Soryal said with a laugh. “I got a bit of jersey burn on my neck that didn’t come from their team. (Our Teammates) have to hold us back sometimes. We play on the edge so sometimes it’s a little difficult to keep the emotions in check.”

Neuber was the Falcon player who’s cheap shot injured Jeremy Williams’ neck with a dirty hit that kept the Whale’s leading goal scorer out of action for four games back on March 2nd when the two teams last tangled at the XL Center.

“I think there’s enough desperation and urgency to get the two points night-after-night,” Gernander said. “I think it’s helped to enhance our game a little bit.”

Bruce Berlet writes another masterful summary that can only be read in its entirety here at Howlings. Jason Remillard has the view from inside the Springfield locker room at MassLive.com.

GAME SUMMARY and OFFICIAL SCORERS SHEET

STANDINGS:

(Standings via theahl.com)

VIDEO:

SOUNDS OF THE GAME:

Ken Gernander: 

Cam Talbot: 

Kelsey Tessier: 

Dale Weise: 

Justin Soryal:

NOTES:

* The Whale output of a measly 18 shots matched their season’s low that came on October 17 against Providence. Ironically, the Whale, then the Wolf Pack, also scored three goals and also won the game, that one a 3-0 road win.

* One-goal games, as many playoff games are, has become a Whale specialty. All three games, Friday through Sunday, were one goal games and all won by the Whale.

* After struggling all season long to win at home, the Whale moved two games over hockey .500 at 16-14-2-2.

* When tied after first , the Connecticut record is now 20-9-1-2 and when leading after two, the record is 21-1-0-3.

LINES:

Dupont – Newbury – Weise
Grachev – Mitchell – Williams
Couture – Lemieux – Tessier
Soryal – Garlock – DiDiomete

Redden – Nightingale
Valentenko – Parlett
Bickel – Kundratek

Talbot
Grumet-Morris

(Assistant Captains Bold and Italicized)

SCRATCHES:

Chad Kolarik – Undisclosed Injury – Day-to-Day
Michael Del Zotto – Broken Finger, 2-3 weeks
Jyri Niemi – Separated Shoulder – Four – Six Weeks
Todd White – Concussion – Indefinite
Chris McKelvie – Foot Surgery, Season

THREE STARS:

1. CT – D. Weise
2. CT – C. Talbot
3. CT – K. Tessier

ON ICE OFFICIALS:

Referee:
Chris Cozzan (18)
Mark Lemelin (84)

Linesmen:
Kevin Redding (16)
Chris Low (88)

NEXT GAME:

Are you ready for some vendetta hockey? Wednesday the Falcons return where there should be attitude all over the ice. The puck drops at 7pm with Bob Crawford handling the play-by-play with the pregame a half an hour before game time.

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

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

Too far away or can’t make it? Listen live at WTIC.com or from your cell phone or computer visit www.twitter.com/howlingstoday for complete live in-game coverage of all games both home and away.

SCORE-SHEET:

Springfield Falcons 1 at Connecticut Whale 3 – Status: Final
Sunday, March 20, 2011 – XL Center Veterans Memorial Coliseum

Springfield 1 0 0 – 1
Connecticut 1 1 1 – 3

1st Period-1, Connecticut, Williams 29 (Grachev), 9:35. 2, Springfield, Guite 14 (Savard, Kubalik), 10:25 (PP). Penalties-Nightingale Ct (interference), 5:11; Kundratek Ct (interference), 10:16; Ruth Spr (interference), 11:56; Tessier Ct (tripping), 14:45; served by DiDiomete Ct (bench minor – too many men), 19:40.

2nd Period-3, Connecticut, Weise 15 (Newbury, Kundratek), 11:15. Penalties-Nightingale Ct (slashing), 1:43; Sigalet Spr (tripping), 12:47; Moore Spr (delay of game), 14:28.

3rd Period-4, Connecticut, Valentenko 3 (Couture, Tessier), 9:07. Penalties-Holden Spr (holding the stick), 3:44; Kana Spr (game misconduct – third man in), 6:59; Moore Spr (fighting), 6:59; Smith Spr (slashing), 6:59; DiDiomete Ct (fighting), 6:59; Soryal Ct (slashing), 6:59; served by Soryal Ct (bench minor – too many men), 11:11; Parlett Ct (cross-checking), 18:18; Neuber Spr (slashing), 20:00; DiDiomete Ct (slashing), 20:00.

Shots on Goal-Springfield 7-7-9-23. Connecticut 3-9-6-18.
Power Play Opportunities-Springfield 1 / 7; Connecticut 0 / 4.
Goalies-Springfield, LeNeveu 16-20-2 (12 shots-10 saves); Wesslau 12-16-1 (6 shots-5 saves). Connecticut, Talbot 11-5-2 (23 shots-22 saves).
A-4,985
Referees-Chris Cozzan (18), Mark Lemelin (84).
Linesmen-Kevin Redding (16), Chris Low (88).

The post IT WASN’T PRETTY; THAT’S FOR SURE! first appeared on Howlings.

VERSUS

Playing on ice that more closely resembled a Coney Island sno-cone than an American League hockey rink, the Connecticut Whale overcame a two goal deficit and came back to beat the Providence Bruins 4-3 in a shootout at the XL Center in front of 9,103 Saturday night.

Francis Lemieux, who was signed by the Whale from the ECHL’s Florida Everblades on February 21, got his first AHL game-winner off an impressive shot that beat starter Anton Khudobin (26 saves, 6/8 in shootout, 24-13-2) over the blocker.

“I told (Kelsey Tessier) on the bench that if (coach Ken Gernander) is sending me, I’m going East Coast speed so the goalie won’t be expecting that, so that’s what I did,” Lemieux said with a broad smile after the game. “I was coming pretty slow, just waiting for the goalie to make a move and shoot over his shoulder.

“I practice (the move) a little bit in Florida (with the Everblades) and did it one game and it worked so I just stuck with it and I tried it again (Saturday night) and it worked.

“(Khudobin) is catching with the left hand, so it’s easier for me because it’s his blocker side and tougher for him to reach over his shoulder. So I’m just coming slowly and just waiting for him to put his shoulder down and just tried to put it over his shoulder.

“It’s kind of fun to contribute offensively.”

After playing extraordinarily well during regulation, two of the three goals allowed he was helpless on, Dov Grumet-Morris (34 saves, 7/8 in shootout, 9-3-1) stole this game for his Whale teammates.

Grumet-Morris was incredibly dialed-in, as he has been in each of his games between the pipes for the surging Connecticut Whale, winners of seven of their last nine and nine games over hockey .500 for the first time this season.

The shootout was a microcosm of the entire game as the Whale rallied from a goal down with time running out only to win it on Lemieux’s goal and Grumet-Morris stoning Jordan LaVallee-Smotherman to clinch it in the eighth round of the shootout.

Jamie Arniel beat Grumet-Morris with a fake that the Whale netminder bit on and then a backhander over the top of him in the third round. Dale Weise then made a spectacular move to freeze Khudobin as he skated by and slide it five-hole to knot it up. The teams went three more rounds each before Lemieux and Grumet-Morris sealed the Baby Bruins fate.

“We needed these two points,” Grumet-Morris said. “That’s really what everyone was focused on. That’s the only thing that matters at this point.”

“I did make some saves and (The Bruins) were putting some pressure on. I’m sure if you asked them they felt they could have scored one or two more. Had that happened I think the game would have been out of reach… we came out ahead in the third period and what we talked about in the locker room, if we win the period we’re going to get at least one-point. That’s what we did and that’s what we needed to do.”

None of the post regulation heroics would have happened had Evgeny Grachev not ended a six-game goalless drought with his 16th of the season 3:26 left in regulation.

Stu Bickel high sticking call along the right wing half-boards as he tried to cover up for a bad Grachev giveaway just outside the Whale blueline left the Whale shorthanded for the fourth time at 15:58.

On the ensuing Bruin power play, after Wade Redden recovered a dump-in pass and advanced the puck to newcomer, veteran John Mitchell in the left corner. Mitchell made a terrific outlet pass to spring Grachev on a 1-on-2 in the neutral zone. Grachev got by Ryan Donald who reached for the puck and fell down just outside the Bruin’s blueline. Grachev took Alain Goulet wide to the left side as Maxime Sauve tried to make up ground on the streaking Russian. The second year winger fired a hard wrist shot that initially looked to be heading wide, but Khudobin made a stab at it with the glove and couldn’t control it. The puck hit his glove, deflected and changed direction enough that it fell over his shoulder and into the net.

“We were shorthanded, I was going down the (left wing) and I saw (Khudobin) go down to one knee,” Grachev said. “I got a fortunate break and the shot went off his glove. He had a lot of heart. It was tremendous to come back. When you get a goal like that, you get pumped up.”

The Whale got on the board first at 11:15 of the opening stanza on the power-play.

David Laliberte took a hooking call at 9:21. The Whale power play seemed to be going nowhere when it rallied late. Mitchell broke in hard and fast getting by Goulet for a shot at Khudobin, but lost the puck into the corner. Mitchell chased the puck down and gave it off to Lemieux, who drew a defender and gave it back to Mitchell. The veteran center fed the puck to the left side of the circle where it met Grachev’s stick. Grachev sent the puck out to the left point to Blake Parlett. The rookie defenseman then sent the puck past a sliding Kirk MacDonald over to Mitchell, who was all alone in the low right circle. Mitchell’s semi-fanned on one–timer got past Goulet and went over the top of the sliding Khodobin for his fifth of the season and a 1-0 lead.

A scrum in front of the Bruins net landed Devin DiDiomete in the penalty box with a double minor, one call for roughing and the other for slashing. His combatant, Andrew Bodnarchuk, got just one two-minute stay in isolation which gave the Bruins a man-advantage at 17:11.

Trent Whitfield recovered a Jared Nightingale clearing attempt in the left corner and sent the puck out to the point to Zach Hamill. The Bruin Center brought the puck to the top of the high slot and unloaded a hard shot on net. Nightingale and Sauve crashed the net. The puck hit Nightingales skate and bounced off of Sauve’s shin out to Whitfield on the left doorstep. Grumet-Morris was down to get the Hamill shot and could not recover fast enough to get to Whitfield who buried his 13th of the year at 18:22.

Providence scored twice in a span of 1:54 to build their lead out to 3-1 on goals by Jordan Caron at 13:28 on a rebound of a shot that changed direction when it hit Brodie Dupont’s stick, much like Whitfield’s goal, and then at 15:22 when Kris Newbury’s offensive zone turnover wound up in the back of the net off a LaVallee-Smotherman stuff in after it hit Whitfield in front of Grumet-Morris.

It would be the “third-line” of Kelsey Tessier, Lemieux and Derek Couture who would be the most effective for Ken Gernander’s troops and they got it close when Couture was finally able to break through and get his name onto the scorers sheet with 3:38 to go in the second.

Couture has had a multitude of great scoring chances since rejoining the Whale nine games ago after spending most of the season with the Victoria Salmon-Kings of the ECHL. Couture’s backhander from the left side of the crease off a Pavel Valentenko rebound snuck past Khudobin. In his zeal to get it out of harms’ way, MacDonald knocked into his own net to bring the Whale within a goal.

It wasn’t pretty, but Couture will take it.

“I’ve had three breakaways and two good, solid opportunities from the slot, and that’s the one that goes in?” He said. “But that’s how the game works sometimes. Each line has to chip in, and we felt good out there.”

“Couture got a big goal for us that got us back in the game,” Lemieux said speaking of his line. “It was good for our whole line to create offensively. We’re just trying to work hard every night. We know we’re there to create some energy and scoring chances and not make any mistakes mentally, and that’s what we did tonight. We were first on the puck all night and finished our hits, and it worked well for us.”

The win combined with the Worcester Sharks’ 5-3 loss at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton to the Penguins extended the Whale’s hold on third place in the Atlantic Division to four points with eleven left to go in the regular season. The Whale’s win also kept them a single point ahead of the Binghamton Senators who are currently 5th in the East Division. The Sens were 2-0 winners over the Whale’s Sunday opponent, the fading Springfield Falcons, 2-0.

Of the three teams left realistically in the hunt for playoff spots, two will make the race for the Calder Cup. The third place Atlantic Division team is in as is the team with the higher point total between the fourth place Atlantic and fifth place East division team. The AHL set it up that way as the East has eight teams to the Atlantic’s seven.

Bruce Berlet has the Official game story right here at Howlings. For the P-Bruins story, the Providence Journal has a story…if you can call it that.

GAME SUMMARY and OFFICIAL SCORERS SHEET

SHOOTOUT RESULTS:

STANDINGS:

(Standings via theahl.com)

VIDEO:

SOUNDS OF THE GAME:

Ken Gernander: 

Evgeny Grachev: 

Francis Lemieux: 

Dov Grumet-Morris: 

NOTES:

* When tied after one period, the Whale are 19-9-1-2

* 14-13-0-2 is the Whale record when opponents outshoot them. They are 20-13-2-3 when the situation is reversed.

* Bigger stat, when trailing after two periods the Whale are 6-21-0-2

* In one-goal games, the Whale are 18-12-2-6. Think they’re playing a lot of one-goal games? To put it in perspective, Providence is 17-6-3-3.

* The victory was the Whale’s 600^th during the regular-season in the franchise’s 14-year franchise history – they’re 600(W)-361(L)-66(T)-49(OTL)-33(SOL).

LINES:

Dupont – Newbury – Weise
Grachev – Mitchell – Couture
Tessier – Lemieux – Williams
Soryal – Garlock – DiDiomete

Redden – Nightingale
Valentenko – Parlett
Bickel – Kundratek

Grumet-Morris
Talbot

(Assistant Captains Bold and Italicized)

SCRATCHES:

Chad Kolarik – Undisclosed Injury – Day-to-Day
Michael Del Zotto – Broken Finger, 2-3 weeks
Jyri Niemi – Separated Shoulder – Four – Six Weeks
Todd White – Concussion – Indefinite
Chris McKelvie – Foot Surgery, Season

THREE STARS:

1. CT – F. Lemieux
2. PRO – T. Whitfield
3. CT – D. Grumet-Morris

ON ICE OFFICIALS:

Referee:
Ghislain Hebert (49)

Linesmen:
Jim Briggs (83)
Derek Wahl (46)

NEXT GAME:

Another game in less than 24 hours as the Whale  take the ice in another critical game Sunday afternoon against the Springfield Falcons  at the XL Center. The puck drops at 3pm with Bob Crawford handling the play-by-play with the pregame a half an hour before game time.

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

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

Too far away or can’t make it? Listen live at WTIC.com or from your cell phone or computer visit www.twitter.com/howlingstoday for complete live in-game coverage of all games both home and away.

SCORE-SHEET:

Providence Bruins 3 at Connecticut Whale 4 (SO) – Status: Final SO
Saturday, March 19, 2011 – XL Center Veterans Memorial Coliseum

Providence 1 2 0 0 – 3
Connecticut 1 1 1 0 – 4

1st Period-1, Connecticut, Mitchell 5 (Parlett, Grachev), 11:15 (PP). 2, Providence, Whitfield 13 (Sauve, Hamill), 18:22 (PP). Penalties-Mitchell Ct (tripping), 1:33; Laliberte Pro (hooking), 9:21; Bodnarchuk Pro (roughing), 17:11; DiDiomete Ct (slashing, roughing), 17:11; LaVallee-Smotherman Pro (elbowing), 19:47.

2nd Period-3, Providence, Caron 10 (Bartkowski, Hamill), 13:26 (PP). 4, Providence, LaVallee-Smotherman 13 (Whitfield, MacDonald), 15:22. 5, Connecticut, Couture 1 (Valentenko, Lemieux), 16:22. Penalties-Bickel Ct (roughing), 12:42.

3rd Period-6, Connecticut, Grachev 16 (Mitchell, Redden), 16:34 (SH). Penalties-Whitfield Pro (roughing), 0:29; Newbury Ct (roughing), 0:29; Sauve Pro (slashing), 2:05; Bickel Ct (high-sticking), 15:58.

OT Period- No Scoring.Penalties-No Penalties

Shootout – Providence 1 (Hamill NG, Sauve NG, Arniel G, Whitfield NG, Caron NG, MacDonald NG, Laliberte NG, LaVallee-Smotherman NG), Connecticut 2 (Mitchell NG, Williams NG, Grachev NG, Weise G, Redden NG, Newbury NG, Kundratek NG, Lemieux G).

Shots on Goal-Providence 12-14-9-2-0-37. Connecticut 9-7-10-3-1-30.
Power Play Opportunities-Providence 2 / 4; Connecticut 1 / 3.
Goalies-Providence, Khudobin 24-13-2 (29 shots-26 saves). Connecticut, Grumet-Morris 9-3-1 (37 shots-34 saves).
A-9,103
Referees-Ghislain Hebert (49).
Linesmen-Jim Briggs (83), Derek Wahl (46).

The post A WHALE OF A WIN first appeared on Howlings.

VERSUS 

Saturday hosted one of those rare nights where both the NHL and their AHL affiliates would squared off on the same day. The AHL Connecticut Whale did their part with a 4-2 victory, their fifth in seven tries, against the Worcester Sharks. After that game concluded, some three hours later the parent New York Rangers went on to beat the San Jose Sharks in a shootout 3-2.

In another twist of irony, it was ex-Ranger Wade Redden who’s key play in the second period led to the game-tying goal for the Whale, while an ex-Wolf Pack player, Brandon Dubinsky, scored the shootout goal winner for the Rangers.

Meanwhile back in Hartford where the Whale have struggled to win all season long, it wasn’t a goal or a big  defensive play that broke open the game for the home team, it was a fight.

The Whale were not playing badly, but they weren’t exactly playing well either. At times offensively they looked semi-comatose thought the first half of the game. They were dead-for-four on their power play which looked like these guys had all just met on the ice for the very first time. On the scoreboard they were already trailing 1-0 on a Tommy Wingels goal at 8:07 of the first period and basically looked like they were going nowhere.

Williams acknowledged the team’s slow start and the shakiness of the Whale had the man-advantage. “Our power play struggled at the start, but we got it back going and got some goals and momentum started coming. We all weren’t really on the same page. We weren’t really sure what we were doing.

“We were a little too individual, myself included,” Williams said. “But don’t take away anything from them because they’re neutral zone on their penalty kill is really unique because they take away the outside and collapse on you when you go inside. You have to make good plays, and if you’re not ready and not bearing down, it’s going to look like our first two power plays. So I think it was a matter of shaking the rust off because we hadn’t played together for awhile.”

That all changed at 11:29 of the second period.

Nick Petrecki had already been called by referee Keith Kaval for slashing John Mitchell behind the play when, as the two skated into the Whale zone, the Sharks’ defenseman skated up behind the Whale center and cross-checked him to the ice.  That was all that the Whale’s Jared Nightingale was going to tolerate.

The 6’3, 205-pound Nightingale was engaged with defending Benn Ferriero when he stepped up and jumped all over the 6’4”, 220 pound Petrecki. Nightingale just pummeled Petrecki with right hands. While the fight didn’t end in a knockout or anyone being dropped to the ice, it just seemed to send two messages, one to the Whale bench and the other to the Sharks. For the Whale it was a wake up call and to the Sharks, it told them that the Whale was not going to allow cheap shots to go without a strong answer.

“That’s one of the roles that I think I can bring to this team,” Nightingale said.  “I’ve done it the last two years, and I have no problem doing it. I think there are 19 other guys who would be willing to do the same thing. Sometimes a fight can turn around a game. I’m not going to say that fight turned around the game. I think Dov made some big saves, and we just stuck with it, chipped away and just happened to score after the fight.

“We stuck to the game plan, and  after the fight (the Sharks) took some undisciplined penalties, and our power play won the game for us.”

Nightingale may have been a good soldier in his comments and was perhaps being a bit humble, because Williams, back after missing four games with a neck injury, wasn’t downplaying the significance of the Nightingale fight saying that it turned things around, “Big time! Any time you’ve got a guy like ‘Scary’ (Justin Soryal), ‘Nightie,’ (Nightingale), ‘Dibs’  (Devin DiDiomete), ‘Bicks’ (Stu Bickel) when the game’s flat, those guys…Nightie is stickin’ up for Mitch, the guy slashes him, of course it ignites everybody. Everybody gets a little fired up, and we ended up from then on, we were pretty good.

“Getting a goal or one of our guys getting into a good fight is the same kind of momentum builder. That’s why there’s such a good mix of scoring and toughness. If we’re not scoring, we’ve got guys fighting to get everybody up.

Goaltender Dov Grumet-Morris (21 saves, 7-3-1) agreed with Williams assessment of the importance of Nightingale’s contribution saying, “It had a significant impact on our team. I thought it was the right place, right time,” Grumet Morris said. “Obviously we still maintained our power play because he did initiate a fight that the guy was looking for. I think it gave us a boost, and we obviously scored consecutive power-play goals and that clearly turned the game around.”

“There are all kinds of things that can change the momentum of the game,” Coach Ken Gernander said. “Sometimes it’s a big save, sometimes it’s a scrap, a big hit, something, but (the fight) was good.”

After the fight, Worcester lost control of the contest as well as their discipline and it cost them two points in a “4-point” game to determine third place in the Atlantic Conference.

With the Whale on the power play from the Petrecki slash, things seemed to change all over the ice. The Whale power play went from a blank vacant stare, to a lively well-oiled machine.

Williams had a great shot from the right wing stopped by Tyson Sexsmith (29 saves, 2-3-1) at 12:24, but just 18 seconds after that, Nick Schaus was whistled for a slash with 48 seconds still remaining on Petrecki’s penalty giving the Whale a 5-on-3 power play and with that they turned the game 180 degrees the other direction.

The Whale got a Williams power play goal with just nine seconds remaining on the two-man advantage at 13:20 off a tremendous blast that flew in high over the glove of Sexsmith from the left point. But this goal doesn’t happen if not for a great play at the blueline by Redden to keep the puck in the zone after  John McCarthy stripped Brodie Dupont along the right wing half-boards. Redden cut off McCarthy’s clearing attempt and then sent the pass over to Williams for the shot.

“It was a pretty heady play,” Gernander said describing Redden’s play. “He used his body to block the puck and then have the poise to collar the puck and made a good D-to-D pass when you’re getting forced (by McCarthy).”

The Whale came right back 42 seconds later when ever so ironically, it was number 42, Chad Kolarik who would score his 21st of the season.

Mitchell picked up a loose puck along the right wing half-boards and sent it into the corner to Kolarik. The Whale forward, back in just his second game after missing nine games with a hamstring injury, came out of the corner and approached Sexsmith. Jon Landry was battling Evgeny Grachev for position in front of the net. Kolarik dished to Grachev who put the shot on goal. There was a scramble in front as Matt Irwin joined the fracas as the puck rebounded out to Kolarik, who was headed towards the front of the net, dove back to the right side of the cage and knocked it into the net giving the Whale a lead they would not relinquish.

The Whale finished the period killing off consecutive penalties to Pavel Valentenko (Tripping) and Bickel (Cross-checking) and after two periods led 2-1 with a 23-13 lead in shots.

The game was still very much in question when the third frame began, but the Whale gave themselves much needed breathing room when Williams would get his second of the game at 1:34.

The play started innocently enough as Valentenko sent his first pass from behind the cage out to the left win to  Blake Parlett. Valentenko’s defensive partner saw Williams breaking through a gigantic gap between Schaus and Petrecki and made a tape-to-tape pass that hit the streaking forward right in stride. Williams rushed up ice to the circle and from just inside the circle by the has marks ripped a bullet over the glove of Sexsmith for what would prove to be the game winner.

“I looked up, and (Williams) is the first guy I saw,” Parlett said. “He made a good play to get open, and there’s no one else I’d rather give the puck to than him.”

At 3:04, Worcester would come within a goal when Petrecki’s shot form the left point hit Grumet-Morris’ pads and bounced out in front of the net. Neither Valentenko or Parlett picked up Wingels who put his second of the game past the glove of the fallen Whale netminder.

With 1:20 to go, Sexsmith came out of the net for an extra attacker.

Bickel took a loose puck in the Whale zone and threw it the length of the ice. The puck was picked up by Jon Landry in the left corner. His clearing attempt was knocked down by Kris Newbury who handed off to Dupont at the left point. Dupont saw Dale Weise all alone in the circle and banked it off the boards right to the Whale right winger who flung the puck into the far corner of the net just past a sliding Matt Irwin for his 14th of the season.

The Sharks’ first goal was a bit of a mystery at first as to how the puck got into the net.  But Grumet-Morris explained it.

“The pass went up to (Shaus). He did a shot fake, moved to the side, did a power wrister in. The puck went to the side. The man in front (Brandon Mashinter) tipped it. I made the first save with my right pad and it came out. (Mashinter) stayed in front and created a screen. I was trying to find (the puck) and trying to ‘get big,’ but Wingels picked the puck up saw I was off my post because I couldn’t see and he shot it right off of me and in.” Grumet-Morris said. “He knew what he was doing. That was a purposeful goal and a very skillful goal.”

Overall the Whale goaltender was pleased with how his teammates performed in such a big game. “I thought we had a very strong game defensively,” He said. “We had only 23 shots against, and we had only (22) against (Friday against Hershey) night. So the consistency of our defensive corps and our team defense has been really good.”

But Grumet-Morris was VERY solid in between the pipes for the Whale as he has been in each opportunity he’s been given this season.

“It has been his MO of late (to make timely saves),” Gernander said of his goaltender. “Lots of nights it’s not the work load you have, it’s the save at the big moment. It’s not the volume of work.”

The win gives the Whale a two-point lead on Worcester for third place in the Atlantic Division. Binghamton came from behind to defeat the Charlotte Checkers 3-1 so they remain 1-point in front of the Whale in 5th place in the Atlantic. Remember, that if the fifth place team in the Atlantic (which has one more team than the Atlantic) is better than the fourth place team in the other division they will get in to the tournament and send the fourth place team to the summer vacation. So catching Binghamton is important for both teams.

Getting some distance between themselves and the Sharks however is crucial to the Whale’s playoff aspirations.

“It’s a six-period game, especially with this weekend being a potential eight-point swing,” Williams said. “They’re going to be hungry (Sunday), so we’re really going to have to match that. We’re going into their building, and we build off what we did in the third period.”

Nightingale acknowledged the importance of the battle with the Sharks on Sunday. “It’s a great opportunity to widen the gap. This is the last time that we play Worcester, so we have to go in with a must-win and playoff attitude and really separate ourselves from them.”

Bruce Berlet gives you all the news and information you can live with. Reach it, unedited right here at Howlings.  Bill Ballou has the Worcester perspective at Telegram.com.

GAME SUMMARY and OFFICIAL SCORERS SHEET

STANDINGS:

(Standings via theahl.com)

VIDEO:

SOUNDS OF THE GAME:

Ken Gernander: 

Jeremy Williams: 

Dov Grumet-Morris: 

Jared Nightingale: 

NOTES:

*  One time NHL 56-goal scorer, Jonathan Cheechoo was a scratch for this game. Cheechoo is at his home in California resting an ailing back.

* The Whale netminders, Chad Johnson (5 games), Cam Talbot (1 game) and Grumet-Morris (1 game) have stopped 188 of 202 Shark shots in seven games this season. That gives them a .930% and a 2.00 GAA. Any wonder that the Whale are 5-1-0-1 versus their Massachusetts neighbor?

LINES:

Dupont – Newbury – Weise
Kolarik – Lemieux – Williams
Grachev – Mitchell – Tessier
Soryal – Garlock – Couture

Redden – Nightingale
Valentenko – Parlett
Bickel – Kundratek

Grumet-Morris
Talbot

(Assistant Captains Bold and Italicized)

SCRATCHES:

Lee Baldwin – Healthy Scratch
Devin DiDiomete – Healthy Scratch
Michael Del Zotto – Broken Finger, 2-3 weeks
Jyri Niemi – Separated Shoulder – Four – Six Weeks
Todd White – Concussion – Indefinite
Chris McKelvie – Foot Surgery, Season

THREE STARS:

1. CT – J. Williams
2. WOR – T. Wingels
3. CT – C. Kolarik

ON ICE OFFICIALS:

Referee:
Keith Kaval (40)

Linesmen:
Paul Simeon (66)
Kevin Redding (16)

NEXT GAME:

Part two of perhaps the two most important games of the season as the Whale go back on the road for the back-end of the home-and-home with the Worcester Sharks. Making the playoffs is on the line. The puck drops Sunday at 3 with Bob Crawford handling the play-by-play with the pregame a half an hour before game time.

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

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

Too far away or can’t make it? Listen live at WTIC.com or from your cell phone or computer visit www.twitter.com/howlingstoday for complete live in-game coverage of all games both home and away.

SCORE-SHEET:

Worcester Sharks 2 at Connecticut Whale 4 – Status: Final
Saturday, March 12, 2011 – XL Center Veterans Memorial Coliseum

Worcester 1 0 1 – 2
Connecticut 0 2 2 – 4

1st Period-1, Worcester, Wingels 13 (Mashinter, Schaus), 8:07. Penalties-Petrecki Wor (slashing), 9:49; Moore Wor (holding), 17:47.

2nd Period-2, Connecticut, Williams 26 (Redden), 13:20 (PP). 3, Connecticut, Kolarik 21 (Grachev, Mitchell), 14:02 (PP). Penalties-Irwin Wor (delay of game), 1:16; Nightingale Ct (cross-checking), 4:07; McLaren Wor (hooking), 6:21; Petrecki Wor (slashing, fighting), 11:29; Nightingale Ct (fighting), 11:29; Schaus Wor (slashing), 12:42; Valentenko Ct (tripping), 15:19; Bickel Ct (cross-checking), 17:23.

3rd Period-4, Connecticut, Williams 27 (Parlett, Valentenko), 1:34. 5, Worcester, Wingels 14 (Petrecki, McCarthy), 3:04. 6, Connecticut, Weise 14 (Dupont, Newbury), 19:18 (EN). Penalties-Soryal Ct (high-sticking), 6:36; Wingels Wor (roughing), 19:55; served by Lemieux Ct (bench minor – unsportsmanlike conduct), 19:55.

Shots on Goal-Worcester 8-5-10-23. Connecticut 10-13-10-33.
Power Play Opportunities-Worcester 0 / 4; Connecticut 2 / 6.
Goalies-Worcester, Sexsmith 2-3-1 (32 shots-29 saves). Connecticut, Grumet-Morris 7-3-1 (23 shots-21 saves).
A-8,011
Referees-Keith Kaval (40).
Linesmen-Paul Simeon (66), Kevin Redding (16).

The post VARSITY AND JV BOTH WIN first appeared on Howlings.

By Bruce Berlet

It was a doubly good Tuesday for Connecticut Whale center Francis Lemieux.

Lemieux was released from his second professional tryout contract and signed to an AHL deal before being among the 22 players on the Whale’s Clear Day list. Another recent call-up from the ECHL, rookie defenseman Blake Parlett, was also on the list, while feisty left wing Devin DiDiomete, who leads the AHL in penalty minutes (280), and center Ryan Garlock, a regular before being injured last week, were not included but put on the “in-residence” list.

Lemieux, a sixth-year pro, originally joined the Whale on Feb. 20 when he signed a PTO while leading the ECHL in scoring (28 goals and 45 assists in 55 games) with the Florida Everblades. After returning to the Everblades for one game, Lemieux rejoined the Whale on Feb. 28 and got his first point in his sixth game with the team when he set up veteran defenseman Wade Redden’s breakaway goal in a 7-2 victory over the Worcester Sharks on Sunday.

The 26-year-old Lemieux has 45 goals and 69 assists in 257 AHL games with four teams and also played four games in Austria at end of last season. He’s one of 50 players on the 30 Clear Day lists – and only one with the Whale – to win a Calder Cup ring, having done it with the Hamilton Bulldogs in 2007.

“I think he has been a real good addition,” coach Ken Gernander said before the Whale played at league-leading Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Tuesday night. “He’s obviously a good skater, strong on the puck and can probably give us some more offense. Center is where we’ve been kind of thin, so we feel he can help in a lot of areas, including the power play and penalty killing. Plus, he could have had a few more assists if guys had converted some of his passes.”

Parlett has been solid since he was called up from Greenville on Feb. 18 while leading ECHL defensemen in scoring with 31 points (seven goals and 24 assists in 46 games). He got his first AHL point when he deflected in Kris Newbury’s shot with 27.5 seconds left in overtime to give the Whale a 2-1 victory over the Springfield Falcons on Saturday night.

“He has made a really strong case for himself and earned a spot on the Clear Day list,” Gernander said. “Plus he gives us more flexibility and depth if there are any call-ups (to the New York Rangers). We have one or two defensemen who could play up front if need be, so Blake gives us flexibility there.”

The 30 AHL teams had to submit two goalies and 20 skaters by 3 p.m. Monday, and only those players on a Clear Day roster are eligible to play in the remainder of the regular season and the playoffs unless emergency conditions arise as a result of recall, injury or suspension. Teams may also add signed junior players or players on amateur tryout contracts after their respective seasons are complete.

The Whale’s Clear Day list included goalies Chad Johnson and Cam Talbot, defensemen Redden, Parlett, Ryan McDonagh, Michael Del Zotto, Tomas Kundratek, Jyri Niemi, Jared Nightingale, Stu Bickel and Pavel Valentenko, and forwards Newbury, Lemieux, Jeremy Williams, Chad Kolarik, Dale Weise, Brodie Dupont, Evgeny Grachev, Kelsey Tessier, Justin Soryal, John Mitchell and Mats Zuccarello.

McDonagh and Zuccarello, along with Johnson, are on recall to the Rangers but were reassigned and then recalled last week so they would be eligible for the Whale’s list. Veteran center Todd White, out since Jan. 14 with a concussion, forward Oren Eizenman, defenseman Lee Baldwin and goalie Dov Grumet-Morris also were among Whale players not on the Clear Day list but put on the “in-residence” list with DiDiomete and Garlock. Any of them could be added if injuries occur or players get called up if the Rangers reach the playoffs.

“Our Clear Day list is structured in such a way that we have the flexibility to use guys not on the list if there are call-ups or injuries,” Gernander said. “DiDiomete and Garlock have been good soldiers who have played well, and right now we have plenty of playing time for them so hopefully they’ll continue to do well in case we need them in the playoffs.”

The Whale also could sign junior or college players such as center Ethan Werek (Kingston of Ontario Hockey League) and right wing Roman Horak (Chilliwack of Western Hockey League), the Rangers’ second- and fifth-round picks in 2009, defenseman Dan Maggio (Oshawa-OHL), goalie Scott Stajcer (Owen Sound-OHL) and left wings Carl Hagelin (Michigan), Jason Wilson (Niagara-OHL) and Ryan Bourque (Quebec of Quebec Major Junior Hockey League), the son of Hall of Famer Ray Bourque. All of their teams likely will make the playoffs, and some are expected to advance well in the postseason, with Niagara hosting the Memorial Cup finals.

Stajcer has been sidelined since November because of hip surgery after playing with Talbot in the prospects tournament in September in Traverse City, Mich. But Stajcer hopefully can return before the regular season ends in two weeks. One of Owen Sound’s owners is former Hartford Whalers right wing Paul MacDermid, and the Attack’s coach is former Whalers wing Mark Reeds and his assistant is former Wolf Pack defenseman Terry Virtue.

Former Wolf Pack players on Clear Day lists are AHL leading scorer Corey Locke (Binghamton), Dylan Reese (Bridgeport), Greg Moore and David LeNeveu (Springfield), Nigel Dawes (Hamilton), Alexandre Giroux and Jake Taylor (Oklahoma City), Dane Byers and Ryan Hollweg (San Antonio), Boyd Kane and Brian Fahey (Hershey), Jed Ortmeyer (Houston), Chad Wiseman (Albany), Bobby Sanguinetti, Bryan Rodney and Ethan Graham (Charlotte), David Liffiton and Matthew Ford (Lake Erie), Dean Arsene (Peoria), Tim Kennedy, Hugh Jessiman and Patrick Rissmiller (Rochester), Jeff Taffe (Rockford), Nigel Williams (Syracuse), Garth Murray (Manitoba), Mitch Fritz (Norfolk) and Andrew Hutchinson and Corey Potter (Wilkes-Barre/Scranton).

Players with Connecticut ties include Jaime Sifers of Stratford (Chicago), Nick Bonino of Avon (Syracuse), Jon DiSalvatore of South Windsor (Houston), David Meckler of Yale (Manchester), Colin McDonald of Wethersfield (Oklahoma City), the son of former Whalers defenseman Gerry McDonald and Lane McDermid (Providence), the son of Paul McDermid.

Gernander is one of 10 AHL head coaches to have won a Calder Cup as players, head coaches and/or assistant coaches. The others are former Whalers wing Randy Cunneyworth (Hamilton), Jim Playfair (Abbotsford), Don Lever (Chicago), Mark French (Hershey), Claude Noel (Manitoba), Lane Lambert (Milwaukee), Todd Nelson (Oklahoma City), Dallas Eakins (Toronto) and Roy Sommer (Worcester), the dean of AHL coaches.

Sixteen of the AHL’s 30 teams will qualify for the playoffs, which start the second week of April. For Clear Day lists, complete qualification rules and up-to-date standings, as well as Calder Cup history, records and all-time championship rosters, visit theahl.com.

The AHL’s championship trophy is named after Hockey Hall of Famer Frank Calder, who was the first National Hockey League’s president from 1917-43. During the 1920s, Calder was instrumental in guiding pro hockey into the mainstream of the United States’ major cities, including New York, Boston, Chicago and Detroit, while also helping form the AHL.

In operation since 1936 and celebrating its 75th anniversary this season, the AHL is the top development league for the players, coaches, officials, managers, executives and broadcasters for the NHL and its 30 teams. More than 85 percent of NHL players are AHL graduates, and more than 100 Hockey Hall of Fame members came through the AHL.

WHALE FINALLY HOME FRIDAY NIGHT

After completing a demanding schedule of 10 road games in 12 starts, including their only visits to Toronto, Hamilton, Charlotte and Wilkes-Barre, the Whale plays 10 of their final 16 games at the XL Center, starting Friday night against Hershey (39-21-1-3), which began a four-game road trip at Portland on Tuesday night. The Bears won the previous meeting this season, 4-3 in Hershey on Nov. 21 as Mathieu Perrault scored twice and Fahey had a goal and an assist.

The Bears, who have the AHL’s fifth-best road record (19-10-1-1), are led by perennial All-Star center Keith Aucoin (15 goals, 48 assists), who was first in the league in scoring last season (106 points) and is fourth this season behind Locke (73 points), Giroux (65) and Portland’s Mark Mancini (64), with the latter two on recall to Edmonton and Columbus. Aucoin gets lots of support from wings Brian Willsie (25, 30), Kyle Greentree (22, 28), Andrew Gordon (22, 24) and Kane (22, 22), who had the Bears’ goal in a 4-1 loss to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Sunday.

Fahey (3, 18) and NHL veteran Sheldon Souray (3, 13 in 33 games) head the blueline corps and work the point on the power play, and veterans Dany Sabourin (14-9-0, 2.45 GAA, .908 save percentage, two shutouts) and Nolan Schaefer (10-17-1, 3.06, .898, no shutouts) are handling the goaltending. Schaefer was acquired on loan from the Boston Bruins on Friday. Braden Holtby, on recall to the parent Washington Capitals, is 14-6-2 with five shutouts and shares the AHL lead in save percentage (.930) and is third in GAA (1.98). He was the No. 1 star Monday night when he replaced injured Michal Neuvirth (eye), stopped the 21 shots he faced through overtime and three more in a shootout, including former Wolf Pack and Rangers forward Dominic Moore, as the Capitals rallied for a 2-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning. It was the Capitals’ fifth straight win and gave them a two-point lead over the Lightning in the Southeast Division.

The Whale then has a home-and-home set with the Worcester Sharks (28-23-4-8) at the XL Center on Saturday night and at the DCU Center on Sunday afternoon. The Whale is 4-1-0-1 against the Sharks this season, capped by a 7-2 drubbing at Worcester on Sunday that tied their season high for goals and moved them two points ahead of Worcester in the battle for the third and final guaranteed playoff spot in the Atlantic Division. Redden had his first two-goal game since before the NHL lockout six years ago and Weise added a goal and two assists and Dupont had four assists, setting personal bests for points and assists in a pro game.

The Sharks, who are 1-2-1 in their last four games and wrap up a four-game homestand against Hershey on Wednesday night, are led by All-Star right wing Jonathan Cheechoo (18 goals, 29 assists), a 56-goal scorer for the San Jose Sharks in the 2005-06 season who missed his four consecutive game Sunday because of a sore back. But the Sharks signed Charlotte to an AHL contract after the game, allowing him to be on their Clear Day list.

Other top Sharks scorers are center Michael Swift (17, 16), left wing T.J. Trevelyan (14, 19), defenseman Sean Sullivan (12, 20) and right wing Dan DaSilva (12, 18). No. 1 goalie Alex Stalock (19-17-4, 2.63 goals-against average, .907 save percentage, no shutouts) is out for the season with nerve damage in his lacerated left leg that required surgery, but Daren Machesney (2-3-1, 3.20, .882, two shutouts) and Tyson Sexsmith (1-2-1, 3.15, .891, no shutouts) held their own until the Whale shot 7-for-19 against Machesney on Sunday.

Besides being eliminated from the playoffs two years ago, the Wolf Pack/Whale is 14-4-0-2 lifetime at the DCU Center, including 2-0-1 this season while amassing a 4-1-0-1 overall edge. Sunday was the Sharks’ second-worst loss at home to the 7-1 beating they got from the Wolf Pack on Dec. 8, 2007. … Adirondack’s Denis Hamel scored his 19th and 20th goals of the season on Sunday in a 4-3 overtime victory over Albany, reaching the 20-goal plateau for the ninth time in his AHL career. … Portland’s five power-play goals in an 8-3 victory over Bridgeport on Saturday tied a franchise record most recently attained against the Wolf Pack on Nov. 20, 2005. … In the “so much for statistics” department, Providence entered last weekend’s play ranked 30th on the power play and 29th on the penalty kill. But in wins over Charlotte and Bridgeport, the Bruins’ power play was 5-for-12 and their penalty kills was 15-for-15.

JERSEY AUCTION TO BENEFIT MARCH OF DIMES

Saturday could be a hat trick of pleasure and benefit for Whale fans. They not only can watch their favorites hopefully win only their third XL Center game since Feb. 6 in a key matchup with Worcester, but they also can win players’ jerseys and help a great cause at the same time.

During the game, fans can bid on jerseys on display throughout the evening. Winners will be announced at the end of the game and invited on the ice to receive their jersey, meet the players and have photos taken. Proceeds will benefit the March of Dimes, which works to help develop stronger, healthier babies. The auction has raised nearly $20,000 in the first two years.

“The annual jersey auction has been a great event for our March of Dimes family and the hockey community,” said Deb Poudrier, executive director of the March of Dimes Greater Hartford Division. “The Whale organization has been an incredible supporter of the March of Dimes, not only with the jersey auction but as a March for Babies sponsor and team as well. They truly are a great community partner.”

The March of Dimes is the leading non-profit organization for pregnancy and baby health. With chapters nationwide, the March of Dimes works to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality. Visit www.marchofdimes.com or www.nacersano.org for the latest resources and information.

HOCKEY MINISTRIES NIGHT AT WHALE GAME

Hockey Ministries International Northeast is sponsoring 2011 Faith & Family Night at the Whale’s game against the Charlotte Checkers on March 25. Upper bowl seats are $10, and Scarlet Fade will perform a postgame concert.

To order tickets, contact AHL Chapel Coordinator Rick Mitera at 860-817-6440 or rmitera@hockeyministries.org. When someone buys a ticket through Hockey Ministries, they receive a $2 coupon for parking. For more information on Hockey Ministries, visit www.hockeyministriesnortheast.org.

WHALE TO HONOR HOWE FAMILY ON MARCH 26

The Whale will host “Howe Family Night” at the XL Center on March 26 against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. The No. 9 of “Mr. Hockey,” one of seven numbers in the XL Center rafters, will be lowered and then raised and re-retired as he and his sons, Mark and Marty, whom he played with for seven seasons in Houston and Hartford, look on. The matriarch of the family, Colleen Howe, who died in 2009, will be honored.

“That old (jersey) is a little worn,” Baldwin Jr. said. “I think we’ll have a big crowd. I’m not a morbid person at all. I love Ronnie Francis (the only Hall of Famer to play mostly with the Whalers), but Gordie is the one who put the team on the map. He needs to have the respect of the people coming out to see him, and it’ll be a great opportunity for it.”

Howe’s No. 9 is in the rafters with the Whalers’ No. 2 (Rick Ley), 5 (Ulf Samuelsson), 10 (Ron Francis), 11 (Dineen) and 19 (John McKenzie). Gernander’s No. 12 is the only number to be retired in the 14-year history of the AHL team.

The Howes played together for the first time with the Houston Aeros in 1973 before coming to Hartford and signing with the World Hockey Association’s New England Whalers in 1977. Howe ended his legendary 32-year career in the Whalers’ first NHL season (1979-80), when he had 15 goals and 26 assists and was named a NHL All-Star for the 23^rd time while helping the Whalers make the playoffs at 52 years old.

Fans who did not attend the Whale’s game against Providence at Rentschler Field in East Hartford because of the weather can redeem their tickets for one to “Howe Family Night” or another game of their choice. If fans want to redeem a ticket, they should contact Baldwin at hlb@whalerssports.com.

The post FROM THE CREASE with Bruce Berlet first appeared on Howlings.

VERSUS

So much for trouble scoring goals.

First, the goal-challenged New York Rangers scored seven goals for the third time this season and defeated the Philadelphia Flyers, a division rival, 7-0 Sunday afternoon. Then their AHL affiliate, the equally goal- challenged Connecticut Whale,  followed suit a couple of hours later, also scoring seven times, but for just the second time this season, and they too defeated a division rival, beating the Worcester Sharks on the road by a 7-2 score in front of 3730 at the DCU Center.

Multi-point games abounded, many with individual firsts for the suddenly red-hot Connecticut Whale, winners of three straight.

Brodie Dupont had a career high four point game (0g, 4a). Dale Weise added three points (1g, 2a) while  Wade Redden chipped in two goals. Rookies Pavel Valentenko had a goal and an assist and Kelsey Tessier assisted on two Whale goals.

In terms of firsts, there were plenty to go around.

For Redden it was his first two-goal game since before the NHL lockout six years ago.

Pavel Valentenko had his first multi-point game as a professional.

Dupont’s four assists were a career single-game high.

Cam Talbot (32 saves, 9-3-2) played in his first game for the Whale since being injured (high ankle sprain) in a 6-3 victory over the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins back on January 16.  Talbot missed 13 Connecticut games recovering from the injury. After being cleared for play, the 24 year old native of Caledonia, Ontario did get in two games for the Whale’s ECHL affiliate, the Greenville Road Warriors. While on rehab there, Talbot posted a 1-0-1 record with a 2.46GAA and a .921 %. Talbot also got to experience his first NHL call-up Tuesday night. The 6’3” 185-pounder was flown up from Charlotte to sit on the bench at MSG as Henrik Lundqvist’s backup. Marty Biron, the Ranger’s top backup netminder, is done for the season with a broken collar bone after getting hit with a puck at lunch time.

Add another first, this one for the team, as they went seven games over .500 for the first time all season. Not bad considering that they were 6-11-2-3 when they ended their run as the Hartford Wolf Pack on November 26th. Since becoming the Whale on November 27th, the team is 24-13-0-3.

Despite playing with out nearly just over a third of the active roster due to injury, it has been the solid overall team play, and contributions from a variety of players that has moved the Whale from the Atlantic Division cellar into sole position of, what is likely to be, the last playoff position in the conference.

No more was that total team concept and fight-to-the-last-man-standing-spirit more evident than when the Sharks fought their way back from a 3-0 deficit early in the second period to score two unanswered goals to cut the lead to 3-2.

Brandon Mashinter scored on the power play at 15:51 after a Talbot blunder misplaying a puck led to the first Shark goal for Cory Quick at 3:21.

But Connecticut responded 42 seconds later when Newbury made a great pass to Weise in front of the net. Weise buried the feed through the legs of  Daren Machesney (19 saves, 2-3-1).

The quick goal restored the Whale’s two goal lead and they never looked back from there scoring three times in the third period to seal it.

“Everybody knows what kind of situation we’re in, that we have to get third place because it’s going to be tough to catch (the fifth-place team) in the East Division,” Weise said to reporters afterward. “It was a good team effort all around. We’ve got a lot of skilled players who had kind of got a little bit cold lately, and it was just a matter time of time before we broke out and scored. I think this is just a building block for us to have.

Coach Ken Gernander  felt much the same way. “It was a big win on the road against a team we were tied with, so I was happy with the guys,” He said in his post-game press conference. “There was a little bit of a glitch (in the second period), but for the most part, I thought we were pretty strong. The guys know the situation, but you remind them because that’s part of what you do. But that’s just kind of a little kicker at the end. You go over what you need to do, what you want to accomplish, special teams or whatever, and then say, ‘Now remember, boys, this is for a big two points.’”

Dupont, the game’s First Star, stressed just how important these games with the Sharks are. “We look at the standings and kind of have our destiny in our own hands because we play the Sharks (three times),” He said. “We’re fully aware of where we sit and talk about the games during the week. Nobody wants to miss the playoffs again.“

If the Whale can continue to get this kind of offensive production moving forward, they won’t have to worry about making the playoffs as much as how far they’ll go in them.

The Whale return to action for their final game of ten in twelve on the road when they visit the AHL’s best team, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (45-17-0-0) Tuesday night.

Bruce Berlet wrote a simply magnificent piece on the game. You can read his unedited posting here at Howlings. For the Worcester story that is certain to be filled with excuses and alibis there’s Bill Ballou at Telegram.com.

GAME SUMMARY and OFFICIAL SCORERS SHEET

STANDINGS:

(Standings via theahl.com)

NOTES:

* It was something new for the Whale. For the first time in the past four games, the team entered the third period with a lead

LINES:

Dupont – Newbury – Weise
Grachev – Mitchell – Tessier
Soryal – Lemieux – Couture
DiDiomete- Eizenman

Redden – Nightingale
Valentenko – Parlett
Baldwin – Bickel

Grumet-Morris
Talbot

(Assistant Captains Bold and Italicized)

SCRATCHES:

Chad Kolarik – Hamstring, 1-2 Weeks
Tomas Kundratek – Virus, Day-to-Day
Jyri Niemi – Separated Shoulder – Four – Six Weeks
Chris McKelvie – Foot Surgery, Season
Todd White – Concussion – Undetermined
Ryan Garlock – Leg injury – Day-to-Day
Jeremy Williams – Neck Injury – Day-to-Day

THREE STARS:

1. CT – B. Dupont
2. CT – D. Weise
3. CT – W. Redden

ON ICE OFFICIALS:

Referee:
Chris Cozzan (18)

Linesmen:
Chris Aughe (74)
Todd Whittemore (70)

NEXT GAME:

The Whale finish their tenth of twelve on the road Tuesday with a battle in Wilkes-Barre against the Penguins. The puck drops at 7pm with Bob Crawford handling the play-by-play with the pregame a half an hour before game time.

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

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

Too far away or can’t make it? Listen live at WTIC.com or from your cell phone or computer visit www.twitter.com/howlingstoday for complete live in-game coverage of all games both home and away.

SCORE-SHEET:

Connecticut Whale 7 at Worcester Sharks 2 – Status: Final
Sunday, March 6, 2011 – DCU Center

Connecticut 2 2 3 – 7
Worcester 0 2 0 – 2

1st Period-1, Connecticut, Mitchell 3 (Dupont), 8:56 (PP). 2, Connecticut, Valentenko 2 (Weise, Dupont), 11:21. Penalties-McLaren Wor (tripping), 4:28; Bickel Ct (fighting), 7:53; Mashinter Wor (cross-checking, fighting), 7:53; Bickel Ct (roughing), 14:13; DaSilva Wor (roughing), 14:13; Redden Ct (boarding), 14:28.

2nd Period-3, Connecticut, Grachev 15 (Tessier), 1:44. 4, Worcester, Quirk 3 (Wingels), 3:21. 5, Worcester, Mashinter 12 (Ferriero, Sullivan), 15:51 (PP). 6, Connecticut, Weise 13 (Newbury, Dupont), 16:33. Penalties-Redden Ct (cross-checking), 14:45; Grachev Ct (cross-checking), 17:20.

3rd Period-7, Connecticut, Redden 6 (Weise, Dupont), 2:29. 8, Connecticut, Redden 7 (Lemieux, Tessier), 7:16. 9, Connecticut, Eizenman 4 (Parlett, Valentenko), 8:38. Penalties-Redden Ct (delay of game), 5:08.

Shots on Goal-Connecticut 7-6-6-19. Worcester 10-12-12-34.
Power Play Opportunities-Connecticut 1 / 2; Worcester 1 / 4.
Goalies-Connecticut, Talbot 9-3-2 (34 shots-32 saves). Worcester, Machesney 2-3-1 (19 shots-12 saves).
A-3,730
Referees-Chris Cozzan (18).
Linesmen-Chris Aughe (74), Todd Whittemore (70).

The post WHALE GOES MOBY DICK ON SHARKS first appeared on Howlings.