HARTFORD, CT – The Hartford Wolf Pack start the second half of their season at their secondary training facility, Champions Skating Center in Cromwell, CT, over the next two days as they prepare for Friday’s game with the Springfield Thunderbirds.

The taxi squads have been a significant roster disruption for the last two months, but they appear to be gone now. Only one present roster issue remains up in the air.

Jarred Tinordi was reassigned by the New York Rangers, as is Zac Jones. They are still with the Pack, who have nine defensemen.

As expected, Zach Berzolla was shipped back to the Jacksonville Icemen, the Wolf Pack, and Rangers’ ECHL affiliate to get ice time.

With the NHL trade deadline approaching next month, it is likely that if the organization makes trades, they will deal from their logjam presently on the backline.

The Pack host Springfield and Rochester and Friday and Saturday as they return to action with a full roster of players.

NOTES

The Bridgeport Islanders saw Austin Czarnik get picked up on waivers by the Seattle Kracken.

Ex-Bridgeport Sound Tiger captain Ben Holmstrom will be with the Rochester Americans on Saturday after signing a PTO yesterday from the South Carolina Stingrays (ECHL).

Former Wolf Pack Nikalas Jensen was part of Danish hockey history as they won their first Olympic game in 75 years. Denmark won 2-1 over the Czech Republic. Across the way was ex-Pack Tomas Kundratek. He hit the crossbar in the waning seconds for the Czechs as they sought to tie the game.

After just one game with the Toronto Marlies (AHL), former QU goalie Keith Petruzzelli was sent back to Newfoundland (St. John’s) Growlers (ECHL).

Former Wolf Pack Shawn St. Amant plays under his full name Shawn Ouellette St. Amant with the Trois-Rivieres Lions (ECHL). It’s common among French players to include either your middle name or your mother’s maiden name.

Team USA defeated China 8-0 as Sean Farrell had a hat trick and five points in their opening game of the Olympics. A former Yale Bulldog is a brand new father, Brian O’Neill (Jokerit Helsinki Finland-KHL), the only US player with Olympic experience, scored a power play goal.

FAMILIAR NAMES

A plethora of familiar names on both lineups.

Ex-Sound Tiger named an alternate captain, Aaron Ness, now with the Providence Bruins. He was paired with ex-Pack Steven Kampfer who plays with AK Bars Kazan (Russia-KHL) in the opening lineup. He had a gorgeous primary assist on Farrell’s second goal.
Former Yale Bulldog Ken Agostino (Torpedo Novgorod Russia-KHL) was among the forwards selected by former Rangers coach David Quinn.

China had goalie ex-Sound Tiger Jeremy Smith (Kunlun China-KHL) starting in net. The game’s first penalty was the one-time Ranger draftee who was traded, Ethan Werek (Kunlun China-KHL). The Chinese assistant coach is former Ranger Alexei Kovalev.

Ex-Pack Adam Cracknell (Bakersfield-AHL) and ex-Sound Tiger David Desharnais (HC Fribourg-Gotteron Switzerland-LNA) assisted on Canada’s third goal in their opening 5-1 win over Germany.

Ex-Pack Adam Tambellini (Rogle BK Sweden-SHL) had the primary assist on their last goal.

Ex-Sound Tiger for Germany Tom Kuhnhackl (Skelleftea AIK Sweden-SHL) was held scoreless.

Slovakia lost 6-2 to Finland as ex-Pack Marek Hrivik and ex-Springfield Falcons Tomas Jurco, Marko Dano, and ex-Springfield Thunderfield Martin Mancini were held pointless.

Another ax-QU goalie Andrew Shortridge is recalled by the Stockton Heat from the Kansas City Mavericks (ECHL).

Ivan Nikolishin, the son of the former Hartford Whaler Andrei Nikolishin, heads to his third team and league as he’s loaned from Amur Khabarovsk (Russia-KHL) to Ilves Tampere (Finland-FHL).

HARTFORD WOLF PACK

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HARTFORD, CT – The Olympics are into the medal round, and several former Hartford Wolf Pack players and those connected to Connecticut are doing well representing their homelands.

Men’s Team Canada knocked off the Chinese team on Tuesday, 7-2. Ex-Pack Adam Tambellini garnered five points with two goals, one coming on a penalty shot, with the other three being assists.

Ex-Pack Adam Cracknell has one helper in four games. John Gilmour, who’s on the taxi squad and has yet to play for the Canadians, has watched his team advance to the quarterfinals against Sweden.

Ex-Bridgeport Sound Tiger David Desharnais has an assist in four games. Josh Ho-Sang has three assists in four games.

Jack McBain, the son of former New Haven Senator Andrew McBain, registered a goal and an assist against China.

MORE OLYMPIC NEWS

The 7-2 loss eliminated China. Ex-Pack Ryan Sproul had two assists and goalie Jeremy Smith played in every game, going 0-3 and a 5.63 GAA. To make matters worse, he suffered a knee injury and was taken out of the game against Canada.

Aforementioned, Sweden features ex-Pack netminder Magnus Hellberg. He has a 2.46 GAA in two games, while fellow ex-Pack, Carl Klingberg, has three points in three games.

Ex-New York Ranger and Wolf Pack forward Marek Hrivik, playing for Slovakia, has a goal and two assists in the Olympics. The Slovaks face the American team on Wednesday at 11:10 PM EST. While playing in the Olympics, Hrivik had his KHL deal with Torpedo Novgorod (Russia) terminated by mutual consent. Instead, he signed a contract with his old Swedish team, Leksands IF (SHL), for the rest of the year.

Ex-Springfield Falcon Tomas Jurco has one assist in three games for the Slovaks. Another former Falcon, Marko Dano, is pointless in three games. In four games, Marton Marincin, formerly of the Springfield Thunderbirds, has one goal.

EX-PACK CAPTAIN KAMPFER

Ex-Pack and Ranger Steven Kampfer, who is playing for ex-New York Rangers’ head coach, David Quinn, behind the US bench, has three points in three games. Greenwich’s Strauss Mann, like Kampfer, is a fellow Michigan alum. He has played very well. In his only game so far in the Olympic games, he is showing to the world why he is atop the Swedish league.

Two former Yale Bulldogs, Brian O’Neill, and Kenny Agostino, have had a solid tourney. O’Neill has three points in three games, and Agostino had the game-winning goal against Canada. It’s his only point in three games.

Ex-Sound Tiger Aaron Ness has an assist in three games. Jake Sanderson, the son of former Hartford Whaler, Geoff Sanderson, has been limited to playing in only one game due to injury but has put one assist to his credit.

Switzerland reached the quarterfinals by beating hockey powerhouse the Czech Republic, 4-2. Ex-Pack Raphael Diaz had a goal and an assist and, one he’d like to forget, in his own net.

Andres Ambühl

Andres Ambühl, 38, is playing in his fifth Olympics and has scored a goal. He is the second oldest player to score. Borje Salming, 40, a tremendous Swedish defenseman who played for the Toronto Maple Leafs, had potted four goals for Sweden in 1992. Ambuhl is the oldest player to record his first goal.

“Today, we played really tight defensively. Everybody came back. We blocked shots. We boxed them out. We won puck battles. [Leonardo] Genoni had a hell of a game. He always stopped the first shot, and we cleared the rebounds. I think it was a good, strong effort from the whole team,” Diaz told IIHF.com.

Ambühl acknowledged his accomplishment.

“It’s nice to score my first goal at Olympics, but it was great especially for the team,” he said to IIHF.com in a post-game interview. “We somehow didn’t manage to bury the pucks before and today they bounced our way. Nobody was happy with the preliminary round so we wanted to show that we can play hockey and win too. We wanted to show this reaction. Now we have to continue like that without getting over excited.”

MORE RESULTS

Switzerland faces off with Finland.

Latvia was eliminated by upstart Cinderella Denmark 3-2.

One Latvian defenseman is former Quinnipiac University (ECACHL) blueliner Karlis Cukste. His KHL deal with his hometown team, Dynamo Riga, dissolved by mutual consent. He signed an agreement with Lahti Pelicans (Finland-FEL) and will report there shortly.

Goalie Kristers Gudlevsk, the ex-Sound Tiger, didn’t play a game for Latvia.

Germany was eliminated by the Slovaks 4-0. Tom Kühnhack had just one goal in the tourney against the US, while former Springfield Falcon Matthia Plachta had one assist in four games.

Denmark has ex-Pack Niklas Jensen. He has an assist in four games, while ex-Sound Tiger Frans Nielsen has three assists in three games. He’s playing for the ROC (Russian Olympic Committee), where ex-Pack Artem Anisimov has yet to play.

ARIZONA

The long-running saga in the desert is reaching the end of the story.

A plan has been approved locally to have the sad-sack oft-troubled Arizona Coyotes play at the new on-campus venue at Arizona State for three years with an option for a fourth year. They’re trying to wind through a skeptical local political windmill and get a third arena built in Tempe.

A long-time trusted source was quite pointed on the subject.

“The optics look just awful. A team like Seattle, who just spent a billion dollars renovating their arena and $650 million to get into the NHL, who are doing well, have to be looking on in horror. How can a league let a team play in a sub-standard AHL building, though it will be brand new at, say the 5,000 they are saying, let alone NHL level facility which it clearly will not be, for multiple years and not get priority dates (ASU will) and only game revenue (no building or naming rights)?

“Simply put Gary Bettman does not want to ever lose a market like Arizona. I’m shocked there is not more of an uproar so far over this. This obviously has to affect the HRR (Hockey-Related-Revenue) between the players and the owners as agreed to in the CBA.”

There will be cries to move the team from many former and new cities looking to join the NHL.

RELOCATION SITES?

In Quebec City, there is a hockey palace already built waiting for an occupant. The Videotron Centre was built five years ago to NHL specs to replace the old Colisée de Québec (later known as Colisée de Pepsi at the end of its heyday). In Houston, the fifth-largest television market, there is also a ready-made already built arena. For Hartford, nothing has been done to the XL Center (nee Hartford Civic Center) in 25 years except for cosmetics to the concourse, a couple of Zambonis, and a new floor, ice, and chiller system.

This same source opined about the speculation surrounding any possible moves from Arizona.

“You can write this in stone and send it up the hill with Moses. There will NEVER be another NHL team in Quebec City again because of the currency problem, the ongoing language issue (in the province), and the Montreal Canadiens veto power over it. However, they want to extend their brand. They have an AHL team in Laval and an ECHL team in Trois-Rivieres 40 minutes away, halfway to Quebec City.

“Hartford? Ha! They can’t even get a new building in the twenty-plus years for an AHL team.

“Houston will remain in reserve for a new team and say an $800 million dollar payday. Look there have been two expansions and they’re still on the outside.”

PLAYER MOVEMENT

Austin McIlmurray (Sacred Heart University) has left his third ECHL team this year, the Iowa Heartlanders. The other two were the Toledo Walleye and Florida Everblades.

Brady Tomlak, the son of former Hartford Whaler, Mike Tomlak, was released by Toledo (ECHL).

Mike Dalhuisen (Quinnipiac University) leaves HK Poprad (Slovakia-SLEL) and signs with EC Salzburg (Austria-IceHL).

Former Sound Tiger, Greg Mauldin, who was with USNDTP U-18 (USHL) part-time as an assistant coach and playing when he could with the Kalamazoo Wings(ECHL) has signed a deal to the end of the season with his old team, the Stavanger Oilers (Norway-NEL).

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HARTFORD, CT – The final trophy in professional hockey for the 2018-2019 has been awarded when the Stanley Cup was presented to the St. Louis Blues on Wednesday night. But now the real work begins as every team will start to make their plans to fill their rosters with the best possible talent in search of a championship in 2019-20.

STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS

It was a classic Game 7, and the AHL played had a big role in directing Lord Stanley to St. Louis. It’s been 49 years since the Blues last appeared in a Stanley Cup final (1970) and it was their first win in the franchise’s 52 years in existence.

The Blues’ 4-1 victory was aided by a spectacular performance from goaltender Jordan Binnington. He made 32 saves including 12 superlative stops in the first period. Remember, the Blues were dead last in the NHL on January 3rd. They were 31st out of 31 teams when they fired head coach Mike Yeo and named Craig Berube their interim head coach.

But that wasn’t the only move that turned their franchise around. The first move was to relegate their then-starter, Jake Allen, to his being their backup goalie. They traded away ex-Pack Chad Johnson to the Anaheim Ducks and elevated Binnington from the AHL’s San Antonio Rampage.

The Rampage started off just as bad as their parent club. They went 2-8 in October but were able to get back to near .500 with a 16-7-1-0 run that included a seven-game winning streak. Binnington, who was nicknamed Winnington by his Rampage teammates, was summoned to calm the icy waters between the team’s 4 x 6 cage.

What’s truly ironic is that a year ago Binnington was playing for the Bruins AHL affiliate in Providence, just 50 miles south of where he hoisted hockey’s Holy Grail on Wednesday. He was assigned there because St. Louis out of Chicago for an affiliate had to assign prospects throughout the AHL before getting their affiliation in San Antonio this year.

Binnington becomes just the fourth rookie goalie to win a Stanley Cup Game 7. The other names on that list are pretty good goalies. They include Ken Dryden (Montreal 1971), Cam Ward (Carolina 2006) and Frank McCool (Toronto 1935).

The AHL is an NHL development league. It would be fitting for the cover of the 2019-20 AHL Media Guide to feature Binnington.

CALDER CUP PLAYOFFS

The Checkers pulled off checkmate in five games and captured their first AHL Calder Cup in team history. The Checkers were the AHL’s best team in the regular season and now post season as well.

The Checkers on the road in Chicago captured the top prize of the AHL with a 5-3 win over the Chicago Wolves.

Andrew Poturlarski scored two goals including the game’s first goal just 1:31 in and the eventual game-winner. He was awarded the Jack Butterfield Playoff MVP trophy registering 12 goals and 23 points in 18 games.

Morgan Geekie also chipped in a goal and assist in the championship-clinching win.

Ex-Pack goalie, Dustin Tokarski, was amazing and earned his second Calder Cup ring. Since his loan reassignment to Charlotte on February 28th, Tokarski didn’t lose a game. While with the Checkers during the regular season he went 7-0-0 with a 1.14 GAA and a .935 save percentage. In the regular season with the Pack, he was 10-6-2-1 with a 3.10 GAA and a .901 save percentage.

Following a 9-1-1-0 hot streak, Tokarski finished by going 1-5-1-1 and was pulled in his last game with the Wolf Pack on February 17th against the Wilkes Barre/Scranton Penguins. It was the second time he was pulled from a game in two weeks.

In the postseason for Charlotte, Tokarski went 5-0 and posted a 1.74 GAA and a .935 save percentage. He will likely head next year to play in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL) after having received four offers.

Ex-Whaler Mike Vellucci, who was voted the Louis A. Pieri AHL Coach of the Year, as well as ex-Nighthawk Don Waddell, the team GM, will get Calder Cup rings.

Ex-Pack Bobby Sanguinetti played in ten playoff games leading up to the finals, added a goal and five assists, However, Sanguinetti didn’t play in any of the game’s Calder Cup Finals. Neither did Zach Stortini, who’s one of the toughest guys in AHL history and who’s likely to retire this summer that’s the only blemish on one of the best AHL teams along with Manchester to capture the tile in the last ten years.

The team should send a ring to former Hurricanes GM and Whaler great Ron Francis. The players on that roster are his draft picks and helped fuel this championship run.

Next stop Saturday, October 5th, the Wolf Pack home opener.

PLAYERS & COACHING MOVEMENT

The first of JD’s roving development coaches to work with younger prospects has been hired.

Ex-Pack, Tanner Glass, 35, hung up the player skates after playing for GHC Bordeau (France-FREL) last year. He played 527 NHL games and 186 in the AHL. The Dartmouth grad was a superb blend of hard work, skill, toughness, and brains. It’s a good first choice by JD.

Head coach Jay Woodcroft of the Bakersfield Condors has been given a two-year extension by Edmonton.

The Ontario Reign’s assistant coach, and one-time Springfield Falcon player and assistant coach, David Bell, has left the team. He’s bounced around the last few years between the OHL and AHL.

John Madden, the former NJ Devil, not the Oakland Raider Coach, was let go by the Cleveland Monsters after two seasons. Officially, it was mutually agreed, but it is rumored that Madden and his players didn’t mesh well.

AHL TO EUROPE LIST GROWS

The fourth player lost by The Bridgeport Sound Tigers to heading across the pond is goalie Jeremy Smith. He signed with Kunlun (China-KHL). Joining him in China is Spencer Foo (Stockton), an Asian-Canadian kid who could potentially play for the Chinese Olympic Team at the 2022 Beijing Winter Games.

Ex-CT Whale Tim Erixon finally heads back to Sweden. He signed with Vaxjo (Sweden-SHL), Goalie, Eddie Pasquale, goes from Syracuse to Barys Nur-Sultan (Kazakhstan-KHL), Emil Petterson Tucson/Milwaukee joins Erixon at Vaxjo HC (Sweden-SHL) and Sam Carrick leaves San Diego to EV Zug (Switzerland-LNA).

Leaving the AHL to Euro number at 43.

Ex-Pack and former captain, Mat Bodie, moves from Torpedo Novgorod (Russia-KHL) to Vaxjo HC (Sweden-SHL) on a one year deal.

Ex-Pack Simon Denis leaves the Daemyung Killer Whale (South Korea-ALIH) and signs with Tokohu Free Blades (Japan-ALIH) next season.

Mike Little (Enfield) leaves EC Kassel Huskies (Germany DEL-2) for SonderyskE (Denmark-DHL).

Goalie, Patrick Spano (Yale/Westminster Prep), goes from HC Chambery (France Division-2) to Liege (Belgium-Netherlands BEL-NED) next season.

Chad Staley of the University Alaska-Fairbanks (WCHA) heads to Hamburg (Germany- Division-3).

That makes 34 collegians to sign Euro deals and 219 total US collegians Division I and III to sign pro deals.

Ex-Pack, Garth Murray was named the full-time head coach for Aalborg Pirates (Denmark-DHL). He was the assistant coach for a year-and-a-half and was elevated on February 5th, 2018 to the head spot.

Former Whaler, Robert Petrovicky, was named the coach of Slovakia’s U-20 team that will play in the 2020 World Junior Championship (WJC). The Championships will be held in the Czech Republic in Ostrava and Trinec, which is near the Czech Republic-Slovak Republic border from December 26th to January 5th.

In his playing days, Petrovicky played for the last Czechoslovakia WJC team in 1993 before the country split into two separate republics.

Missed this one from the NAHL Draft. Will Dineen, the son of former Hartford Whaler great, Kevin Dineen, was drafted by the Odessa Jackalopes in the seventh round (162nd overall) and he was also selected in the April USHL Draft by the Omaha Lancers in the seventh round (98th overall).

The younger Dineen played for the prestigious Chicago Mission U-18 program that plays in the HPHL U-18 Division.

Hockey is in this family tree. His daughter, Hannah, finished her college hockey career at Colby (Maine) and his niece, Ashley, finished her D-III career as well at St. Michael’s, VT.

Kevin’s brother, Gord is the assistant coach with Rochester. His brother Shawn is an ex-Nighthawk is a pro scour for Nashville, brother Peter is an assistant coach with Adirondack (ECHL) after 19 years as a scout with Columbus and brother and Jerry has been the Rangers video coach for the last 16 years.

Their late father Bill started the hockey lineage as he played on two Stanley Cup championships back to back with the Detroit Red Wings 1953-1955 with Gordie Howe.

He coached the WHA Houston Aeros all seven years of their existence in the league with his old linemate, Gordie Howe, still playing, winning two Avco Cups. He coached the last WHA New England Whalers team.

He was a scout for the Hartford Whalers their first two NHL seasons.

From the “They-Grow-Up-Up-Quickly” department, after receiving a text from ex-Wolf Pack great, Derek Armstrong, his oldest son, Dawson, now 18, and who was born in Hartford will be trying out in the fall for the Buffalo Jr. Sabres (OJHL).

The Jr. Sabres assistant coach is one of Army’s old Wolf Pack teammates, Tony Tuzzolino, whose older brother, Nick is the Head Coach). The other assistant is former CT Whale, Tim Kennedy.

Army’s second son, Easton Armstrong, just finished his second junior camp with Regina (WHL), but he will play for the LA Kings AAA U-18 (TIEHL) squad this year.

KEVIN DINEEN

Click HERE for a great article on Kevin Dineen

In addition, a companion video of Dineen’s discussing his favorite hockey memorabilia is HERE.

Dineen would make the perfect next coach for the Hartford Wolf Pack.

Dineen fits what the team so badly needs right now, a strong leader. No offense is not meant in a disparaging way the last two head coaches in Keith McCambridge, and Ken Gernander.

A coach with a strong playing background in the NHL 1,188 games with 355 goals, 405 assists for 760 points and 2,229 PIM. He played two stints with the Whalers 1984-1991 and from 1995-1997. He played in that fateful last game in Whalers history and was the captain for the last Whalers team and the Carolina Hurricanes first team.

He played for Philadelphia where he wore the A twice, skated for Ottawa and closed out his playing days the last three years with Columbus.

Dineen has a solid NHL coaching resume. He spent three years as Head Coach of the Florida Panthers. He then spent a little over four years in Chicago with the Blackhawks earning a Stanley Cup ring as the assistant coach with his close friend and former Whaler teammate, Joel Quenneville. Ironically, he just took the head coaching job at Florida last month.

Dineen, Quenneville, and Ulf Samuelsson, the three Whalers amigo’s, were let go by Chicago last November 6th, but their Whaler jersey numbers 5, 10, and 11 remain “retired” in the rafters of the XL Center.

Between his Florida and Chicago gigs, Dineen helped guide the Canadian women to the Gold medal at the Olympics. He was also the Head Coach of the Canadian U-18 team at their WJC tournament.

Dineen is a former Whaler who was highly popular here is second in all the top player categories with 587 games, 235 goals 268 assists and 503 points tops is, of course, Ron Francis (714-264-557-821) and he is second in PIM at 1,237 to Torrie Robertson’s 1,368. and met his wife here and their kids were born here.

When he was in Portland, where he spent six years as the team’s head coach, the players there spoke highly of his motivational value and willingness to work with younger players and incorporate new ideas.

Give him some good new younger assistant coaches seeking to patch the holes in the Wolf Pack ship, and get some energy in the locker room, and maybe jump start the non-existent marketing of this team with that big smile and love of Hartford from Dineen.

It’s worth a shot.

QMHL DRAFT

From a CT point of view Selects Academy of South Kent Prep school was the big winner with eight players selected at the QMJHL Draft last Saturday in Quebec City. The first part is an open-ended draft and there is a second American only draft where three of the eight were taken.

Oscar Plandowski was the first taken in the 1st round (18th overall) by the Chicoutimi Sagueneens. He is a Quinnipiac University (ECACHL) commit for 2020-21.

Cam MacDonald was taken in the 3rd round (51st overall) by the Saint John Sea Dogs. He is scheduled to play for the Sioux City Stampede (USHL) next season but has no current college commit.

Ryan Greene was taken in the 4th round (59th overall) by the Charlottetown Islanders. Greene is a Boston University (HE) commit for 2021-22.

Eli Barnett went in the 11th round (188th overall) by the Quebec Remparts and is a University Vermont (HE) 2021-22 commit.

Cam Miranda went in the 12th round (200th overall) by Saint John and has no college commit.

There had to be some silence when in the 5th round (74th overall) selection was announced…Robert Orr by Saint John. No relation to the great Robert Gordon Orr #4 in Boston.

The second overall pick of the draft, Justin Robidas, by the Val d’Or Foreurs, is the son of former NHL’er, Stephane Robidas. The only other NHL/AHL father/son combo was Zack Morrissette, the son of Dave “Moose” Morrissette was taken in the 3rd round (53rd overall) by his hometown team, Baie Comeau.

In the American-only portion of the draft, a familiar name was a high selection in Ryan St. Louis (Riverside/Brunswick Prep) was taken in the first round (5th overall) by the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada. He is the eldest son of former Rangers and recent NHL Hall of Fame inductee, Martin St. Louis, and is a Northeastern (HE) 2021-22 commit.

Jack Kurrie, another Selects Academy at South Kent Prep product was taken in the 1st round (9th overall) by the Sherbrooke Phoenix. Kurrie a Vermont native is a commit to University Vermont (HE) for 2022-23.

Two picks later he saw his teammate Jake Bongo (Ridgefield) selected by the Chicoutimi Sagueneens.

Then 1st round (13th overall) pick was John P. Turner (Westport/Avon Old Farms) by the Charlottetown (PEI) Islanders. He was also taken by Sioux City (USHL) 6th round (89th overall) in April and is a University New Hampshire (HE) commit for 2021-22

Goalie, Jake Fillion from the Connecticut Chiefs (Newington) U-16 team in the AYHL (Atlantic Youth Hockey League) was taken in the 1st round (15th overall) by the Baie-Comeau Drakkar who just hired a new head coach.

Then in the 1st round (16th overall) Paul Davey (Greenwich/Brunswick Prep) was taken by the Memorial Cup finalist Halifax Mooseheads. He is a Boston College (HE) 2021-22 commit.

The next pick saw Oliver Flynn (Wolcott) of the Connecticut Chiefs U-16 team taken by the Drummondville Voltigeurs. He was also taken by Waterloo Black Hawks (USHL) 6th round (89th overall) in April.

Then in the 2nd round (23rd overall) Matt McGroarty (Westport/Brunswick Prep) was taken by Blaineville-Boisbrand and was selected by Madison (USHL) in their draft two months ago. He is a Quinnipiac University (ECACHL) 2021-22 commit.

Then in the 2nd round (26th overall) Casey Raffone (Guilford) the last of the Selects Academy at South Kent Prep players was taken by the Quebec Remparts.

Then in the 2nd round (34th overall), Luke Holyfield (Cromwell) of the Connecticut Chiefs U-16 squad was taken by Cape Breton Screaming Eagles.

The last players taken went in the 2nd round (36th overall) in Matt Samokevich (Newtown) by the newly-crowned Memorial Cup champion, Rouyn Noranda Huskies. He played this year for nationally-renowned Shattuck’s St. Mary’s program (MNPREP) and few games for the Chicago Steel (USHL) who drafted him in 2018 in the 4th round (63rd overall) and is a University Michigan (Big 10) commit in 2020-21.

POOLSIDE CHATTER

With hockey playing in North America and Europe completed everybody is undefeated and now the business of hockey 2019-20 takes center stage with first the NHL Awards in Las Vegas on the 19th, then the NHL Draft in Vancouver June 21-22, free agent frenzy on July 1st for the NHL and AHL.

Rumblings from the West Coast say that Calgary is likely to move their AHL farm from Stockton after next season and a possible location will be Fresno, a onetime ECHL market. The issue isn’t the building or the fans they like both very much, but the gang violence in Stockton is considered a bad environment for the players and team staff alike.

Any possible changes however will wait until Seattle makes its selection for its AHL team.

The same Western source says that Palm Springs is a possible location for an AHL team for expansion Seattle. It’s not a fantasy and that there is plenty of serious talk going on. The potential team would be centrally located for the Pacific Division for Ontario and San Diego. Easy short, inexpensive flights to the Northern California teams and direct flights to Tucson and Colorado, two other Pacific Division teams.

Keeping the rink viable in the desert in the heat will be an issue, but Arizona and Las Vegas are not Edmonton both in desert climates have rinks and there is an ice rink in Abu Dhabi, and it gets crazy hot there and Palm Springs, maybe it can work.

Rejected the first team suggested name – The Palm Beach Conquistadors. Yes, resurrecting the old ABA name from the San Diego franchise would be great and make a superb logo for merch sales… The AHL could see that team in two years, a truly universal homogenized schedule of 70 or 72 games than the present 76-68 East-West split which everyone agrees is not very professional for the second best league in the world.

The key is whether the teams in the East particularly teams like Hershey, Cleveland and Grand Rapids would give up two lucrative home dates will likely have to be compensated in some other manner and the West wants no three in three-game structure a deal.

This could allow for a compromise and a deal to be struck and once the new Seattle team is finalized.

Staying out West, some early word is that an initial sketch of an NCAA Division I Western conference is taking shape with Arizona State currently, and, independent D-I program being the first school.

The Sun Devils are starting to break ground on their brand new on-campus arena that is expected to be ready by the 2021. Some of the schools being bandied about for such a conference are; USC, UCLA, University of Oregon, University of Washington, Boise State and Stanford.

There could be some wild cards in that mix, possibly UNLV, Portland State, or Montana. Players are not the issue, it’s the lack of a conference.

Once all the details are worked out, like rinks and leases, travel, NCAA compliance issues and regulations for a conference this is going to be another shot in the arm for hockey out West on the heels of Seattle being awarded an NHL expansion franchise.

Speaking of Seattle, the price tag for the renovations for the KeyArena (which will be renamed with a new title sponsor upon reopening) have seen their costs ballooned already to $930 million (take note CT residents) from its original $600 million initial price tag back in October. The completion date has moved to the summer of 2021, four months before their first NHL season is slated to start in 2021-22.

The work has also begun on its brand new training facility that is said to be state of the art and will hopefully meet any new requirements in the next NHL CBA agreement as well as the current one.

Here is an update from KING-TV Channel 5 in Seattle; Watch it HERE.

The name Sockeyes might be one of the finalists for a team name as a logo with salmon colors (thank God no black) is circulating. I’m still partial to Sea Lions and I think a great mascot name, Sammy the Sea Lion could emerge. Seattle has trademarked 13 possible names and Sockeyes and Sea Lions are among them.

Closer to home the Islander new arena at Belmont Park is awaiting three final approvals before putting the shovels in the ground.

The Empire State Development, the Franchise Oversight Board and Public Authority Central Board are slated to sign off on the deal in the next 60 days so the 18,000 seat arena can be built by the 2022 season.

The post CANTLON: WOLF PACK OFF-SEASON – VOL. 8 first appeared on Howlings.

BRIDGEPORT, CT – Gabriel Fontaine’s shorthanded goal in the third-period combined with Marek Mazanec’s 22 saves and a fantastic five-on-three, late-in-the-game penalty-kill all worked together to give the Hartford Wolf Pack an important 4-2 road win over the Bridgeport Sound Tigers Saturday night at the Webster Bank Arena.

Hartford’s victory was just the second defeat at home for Bridgeport (22-12-4-2), who stay in second place in the Atlantic Division with 50 points. The Wolf Pack are now back over .500 with a record of 18-17-2-2 (40 points) but leave them still in seventh place as the Providence Bruins knocked off the Springfield Thunderbirds 4-3 at the Mass Mutual Center.

“We know this a tough building to win in and to get the two points. It was a really solid effort by everybody,” remarked head coach Keith McCambridge.

Late in the game, the Wolf Pack needed to kill off a Sound Tiger two-man advantage after two penalties that were called within three seconds of each other. The first came off a  questionable holding call to Vinni Lettieri and a delay of game on Rob O’Gara who fired the puck over the glass right off the ensuing faceoff.

“It was a lot more than we wanted at that point of the game, but the guys did a very good playing it and Maz came up with several big saves, and our defensive corps was solid all game,” McCambridge said.

Across the hall, the Sound Tigers head coach Brent Thompson was asked about the game and his answer was both blunt and direct. “We got outworked, that simple. They out-worked and out-competed us on the battles. They wanted it, and we didn’t do that. It wasn’t good enough. Our powerplay has been big for us all year and didn’t get it done tonight. Overall, a disappointing night.”

Mazanec made two extraordinary saves. The first was on a redirect by the Islanders’ prized rookie, Otto Koivula, whose shot was a redirect up top from about 15 feet out.

“The saves he made for us in the third period were important for us to get this win,” Fontaine stated.

The Sound Tigers came out early in the third-period and narrowed the Wolf Pack lead to one goal at 3-2.

Defenseman Kyle Burroughs took a pass from ex-QU Bobcat, Travis St. Denis, and came in off the right point. Burroughs put a shot toward the net through a screened by Mazanec’s own player, Brandon Crawley. The Pack netminder never had a chance. The goal came at the 58 second mark and was Burroughs’ second of the season.

Then it was the Pack special teams that helped them regain their two-goal lead, one they would not relinquish.

Fontaine snagged a loose puck in the neutral zone after a mishandle of a pass by Koivula.  Fontaine and Tim Gettinger had a two on one break in. Fontaine, a lefthanded shot, was on the right wing side. He used the 6’6 Gettinger as a decoy and whistled his sixth goal of the season past Sound Tiger goalie, Jeremy Smith at 2:43, putting the Pack back in control.

“I saw him (Gettinger) going wide on the D. I wasn’t sure if I was gonna pass or shoot. I was trying to surprise him a bit. I saw the top corner of the lefthand side open, so I tried to aim for it and it went in,” a very happy Fontaine said.

McCambridge was happy with the Fontaine’s entire line’s performance.

“The whole line of Fontaine, (Ryan) Gropp, and (Dawson) Leedahl was a good line for us all game and the goal by Gabby made a difference in the game.”

Steven Fogarty was lost in the game to an apparent concussion forcing McCambridge to do some line juggling. It included double-shifting Peter Holland who was inserted between Lettieri and Pack team captain, Cole Schneider.

Just after Chris Bourque took a shot to the short-side of Mazanec that missed, the Pack made the miss pay off for them.  Fontaine snared the loose biscuit and sent Gropp off on a breakaway. Gropp got himself behind Yannick Rathgeb and slipped his third goal of the campaign past Smith at 10:06 of the second period.

“I was little lucky on that play,“ Fontaine remarked. ”Gropper had the nice finish on that breakaway for us.”

The Sound Tigers spoiled Mazanec’s shutout bid shortly after Gropp’s goal.

Mitch Vande Sompel was at the right point and launched a shot at the net with Otto Koivula and Chris Bourque up high creating some traffic and it seemed the puck went off Koivula and hit the inside of the left pad of Mazanec and slipped through and trickled over the goal line at 11:21.

The Pack’s potent top line factored in the Wolf Pack scoring the game’s first goal.

Matt Beleskey was in the neutral zone and caught Holland on the left wing. Holland got ex-Pack Chris Bourque, turned around and zipped past him on the open left wing side. He came with speed and fired his team-leading 15^th goal past Smith to the short side at 3:35.

Holland has 12 points over his last six games. He’s cracked the AHL’s Top 10 for scoring as he’s sitting in the 9th spot with 39 points. Beleskey has seven points in his last ten games.

The Wolf Pack made it a 2-0 lead with a strong sequence inside the Sound Tigers zone.

Bobby Butler got control of the puck and sent it right to Lias Andersson’s stick blade. Andersson then made a strong move to the net and sent a short pass to Gettinger who smacked in his ninth goal at 16:58. It was Gettinger’s first goal since December 19th, but his second point in as many games.

The Wolf Pack were strong on their forecheck and just as solid in their neutral zone play. It kept the Sound Tigers off-balance as they had only one quality chance by Chris Bourque that Mazanec, making only his fourth start since November 18th, stopped with 1:48 left in the period.

What had been a rather pedestrian Wolf Pack-Sound Tigers game saw tempers flare during the last 40 seconds of the first period.

The Sound Tigers Steve Bernier nailed Fogarty in front of the Wolf Pack’s penalty box with a high hit to the head. A scrum ensued with Ryan Lindgren jumping in yet only Bernier was penalized.

Bernier was assessed a game misconduct, as well as a match penalty for contact to the head giving the Wolf Pack a major penalty power play. Fogarty was down for several minutes and clearly groggy as he went to the locker room. He did not return to the game.

However, on the Pack power play, it was the Sound Tigers who had the best scoring chance when Connor Jones came down on the right wing with Ben Holstrom on the left on a two-on-one. Jones sent the puck across to Holmstrom who gave it back. Amazingly, Mazanec made the stop on the best of the Sound Tigers five shots of the period.

PACK LINES:

Holland-Beleskey-Meskanen
Fogarty-Lettieri-Schneider
Andersson-Butler-Gettinger
Fontaine-Leedahl-Gropp

Gilmour-Lindgren
O’Gara-Bigras
Hajak-Crawley

SCRATCHES:

Dustin Tokarski (Healthy)
Shawn O’Donnell (Upper Body, Day-To-Day)
Shawn St. Amant (Healthy)
Sean Day (Healthy)

NOTES:

New York Rangers GM, Jeff Gorton, and Assistant GM, Chris Drury, were in attendance.

There was no update on Fogarty’s condition after the game. He will likely be evaluated on Monday.

The Sound Tigers saw a franchise-best streak of regulation wins without a loss at home snapped (12-0-2-1).

Holland’s cracking the AHL’s Top 10 scoring list makes him the first Wolf Pack player to do so since Chris Bourque finished the 2014-15 season with 64 points. The only others in the past nine years to achieve this accomplishment were PA Parenteau (retired), Kris Newbury (Jacksonville – ECHL) and Jonathan Marchessault (Las Vegas – NHL).

The game was chippy with several scrums, and clearly, there was animosity building between these two teams. “I hate playing that team,” Holland said while claiming his post-game meal. The comment was edited to make it family appropriate.

The Rangers won the back-end of their home-and-home series with the Islander in Brooklyn. Ex-CT Whale, Mats Zuccarrello, scored the game-winner as ex-Pack, Alexander Georgiev, picked up the win. It was the Rangers first, and only, win in seven tries since the Islanders moved to the Barclay’s Center in 2015.

The Rangers lost defenseman Frederick Claesson midway through the game after a center ice hit. It appeared like Claesson may have suffered a separated shoulder. He did not return to play.

The injury won’t affect the Wolf Pack line up. The Rangers have two extra defensemen with them in Brendan Smith and Neil Pionk, who were both scratched are available.

Former Ranger, Paul Carey (Salisbury Prep), was dealt by the Ottawa Senators to the Boston Bruins yesterday. He was assigned to Providence and proceeded to score the game-winner in Springfield with 1:01 left in regulation. Carey, is a Boston-area native having been born in Weymouth. He played his college hockey at Boston College.

Michael Doherty, a former Yale defenseman, was signed by the Binghamton Devils from the  Manchester Monarchs (ECHL).

The UCONN Huskies dropped their Hockey East game to Merrimack, 5-2. The Husky goals came from Karl El-Mir and Jachym Kondelik.

UCONN play their last non-conference game at the XL Center on Wednesday at 7 pm against RPI (ECACHL). The remainder of the regular season games are all Hockey East games.

Congratulations to the Wolf Pack anthem singer, Irene Leitao, who will be doing the Canadian National Anthem in Portland, Maine on Wednesday for the Maine Mariners, who are the Rangers ECHL affiliate. Leitao will perform the Anthem when the Newfoundland (St. John’s) Growlers come in for a visit.

Recently, Leitao did a superb, bilingual version, of the Canadian Anthem for the New England Black Wolves (NLL), a minor-league professional lacrosse team that plays out of the Mohegan Sun Arena in a game played against visiting Saskatchewan.

The post CANTLON: PACK KNOCK OFF SOUND TIGERS 4-2 first appeared on Howlings.

BY: Bob Crawford, Hartford Wolf Pack

Bridgeport, CT, January 12, 2019 – Gabriel Fontaine had a shorthanded goal and an assist Saturday night at the Webster Bank Arena, as the Hartford Wolf Pack defeated the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, 4-2.

The win broke a two-game losing streak for the Wolf Pack, who improved to 18-17-2-2 on the year and snapped a Bridgeport franchise-record streak of 15 straight home games without a regulation loss (12-0-2-1).

“We got up in the game, and we didn’t sit back on our heels,” Wolf Pack head coach Keith McCambridge said.  “We played the same way, did a good job managing pucks.  As a group, we made sure that we tried to do our best to make sure that momentum stayed on our side.”

The Wolf Pack had a strong first period, outshooting Bridgeport 10-6 and building a 2-0 lead.

Hartford scoring leader Peter Holland opened the scoring at the 3:35 mark, with his 15^th goal of the year, and eighth in the last seven games.  He took a pass from Matt Beleskey and moved down the left wing in the Bridgeport zone, before firing a shot from below the faceoff dot into the top corner on the short side of Sound Tiger goaltender Jeremy Smith (25 saves).

Tim Gettinger made it 2-0 with 3:02 left in the period, finishing after a strong move to the net by Lias Andersson.  Andersson took the puck to the middle off of the right-wing boards, and it came loose to Gettinger at the left side of the goal crease.  He easily deposited it into the back of the net.

The two teams then traded goals in the second period, 1:35 apart.

Ryan Gropp upped the Wolf Pack lead to 3-0 at 10:06, with a breakaway goal.  After Fontaine broke up a Bridgeport pass just inside the Wolf Pack blue line, Gropp was able to get clear of Sound Tiger defenseman Yannick Rathgeb and put a forehand shot past Smith on the stick side.

Mitch Vande Sompel then got Sound Tigers on the scoreboard at 1:41, sliding a long shot up the slot from the middle of the blue line.  Wolf Pack goaltender Marek Mazanec (22 saves) got a piece of it with its stick, but it found its way through his pads and just over the goal line.

Bridgeport then cut the lead to 3-2 only 58 seconds into the third period, with defenseman Kyle Burroughs’ second goal of the season.  He moved down from the right point and snapped a shot past the catching glove of Mazanec, who was screened by one of his own defensemen, Brandon Crawley.

The Wolf Pack’s Ryan Lindgren was called for holding only 32 seconds after that, but Hartford grabbed the momentum back with a shorthanded goal by Fontaine.

After a Chris Bourque pass went off of Otto Koivula’s stick at the left point, Fontaine broke out on a 2-on-1 with Gettinger.  Using Gettinger as a decoy, Fontaine let go a shot from the right side, his off-wing, that flew past Smith’s right arm and into the net.

“Big goal, really nice goal,” McCambridge said of the Fontaine tally.  “I thought that line overall, Fontaine, Gropp and (Dawson) Leedahl, was a good line for us, but that was a very key goal by Gabriel.”

The Sound Tigers never recovered from that, despite having a two-man advantage of 1:26 late in the third.

The next action for the Wolf Pack is a home game this Friday, January 18, a 7:15 PM contest vs. the Lehigh Valley Phantoms at the XL Center.  That being a Friday night, fans can enjoy $1 hot dogs, and $2 beers and fountain sodas, through the start of the second period, presented by Nomads Adventure Quest.

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

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

Hartford Wolf Pack 4 at Bridgeport Sound Tigers 2
Saturday, January 12, 2019 – Webster Bank Arena

Hartford     2 1 1 – 4
Bridgeport  0 1 1 – 2

1st Period-1, Hartford, Holland 15 (Beleskey), 3:35. 2, Hartford, Gettinger 9 (Andersson, Butler), 16:58. Penalties-Butler Hfd (hooking), 3:47; Bernier Bri (match – check to the head), 19:20; Gilmour Hfd (tripping), 20:00.

2nd Period-3, Hartford, Gropp 3 (Fontaine), 10:06. 4, Bridgeport, Vande Sompel 6 (Fritz, C. Bourque), 11:41. Penalties-Eansor Bri (hooking), 7:00; St. Denis Bri (cross-checking), 16:50.

3rd Period-5, Bridgeport, Burroughs 2 (St. Denis, Wotherspoon), 0:58. 6, Hartford, Fontaine 6   2:43 (SH). Penalties-Lindgren Hfd (holding), 1:30; Eansor Bri (holding), 4:07; Bigras Hfd (hooking), 6:23; Bigras Hfd (cross-checking), 14:49; St. Denis Bri (slashing), 14:49; Lettieri Hfd (holding), 16:15; O’Gara Hfd (delay of game), 16:18.

Shots on Goal-Hartford 10-10-9-29. Bridgeport 6-7-11-24.
Power Play Opportunities-Hartford 0 / 5; Bridgeport 0 / 5.
Goalies-Hartford, Mazanec 7-6-2 (24 shots-22 saves). Bridgeport, Smith 12-7-2 (29 shots-25 saves).
A-6,622
Referees-Mitch Dunning (43), Jordan Deckard (14).
Linesmen-Tyson Baker (88), John Kiriakos (23).

The post CRAWFORD: (SAT) PACK DOUBLE UP TIGERS AT BRIDGEPORT first appeared on Howlings.

HARTFORD, CT – Travis St. Denis scored on a breakaway during the three-on-three overtime period to allowing the visiting Bridgeport Sound Tigers to escape with a 3-2 win and a sweep of the team’s home-and-home series.

The Sound Tigers record improves to 21-9-4-1 (47 pts) continue their march to catch the first place Charlotte Checkers as they now trail them by just three points. The Wolf Pack record drops to 14-15-2-2 (32 pts) as they slide back into the sixth spot place, one point ahead of the Providence Bruins, and have lost two in a row.

“I like our game. We were very aggressive on the puck. We played a physical style. We had some really good structure, and level of play. I’m just disappointed we didn’t get the full two points, but the guys who came in and filled in those minutes for (Peter) Holland, (Cole) Schneider and (Steven) Fogarty, they made the most of those opportunities,” Pack head coach Kevin McCambridge said.

The game-winning play came from the Islanders #1 draft pick, Otto Koivula. He sent St. Denis, the former Quinnipiac University star, away on a clean breakaway and was able to beat Dustin Tokarski through the five-hole, at 4:26 of overtime.

Tokarski was simply fantastic in overtime with numerous monster saves. Tokarski stopped Koivula twice, ex-Pack, Chris Bourque on a “grade-A scoring chance, and Mike Sislo twice earlier in overtime. One particular Tokarski save, when Sislo was wide-open on the left wing wide side, was a bullet of a one-timer that left him dropping his head down. Over two games, Sislo has had 12 shots on Tokarski and has come up empty.

Over the past several weeks, Tokarski has raised his game and been outstanding.

“The saves he made were amazing, and he helped us in this game,” defenseman Chris Bigras stated. “His play the last handful of games before the break has been unbelievable for us. At times we just wish we could give him that win in overtime. It didn’t happen, so we get prepared for tomorrow.”

McCambridge was happy with his goalie and impressed by the work of the opposing netminder.

“Dustin was just great for us and made key saves, but you can’t take away anything from their goalie. When we had some Grade-A quality chances, he took them away from us. Dustin has been making saves and giving us a chance to win and that’s what you want your goalie to do.”

The Wolf Pack tied the game at one early in the third period.

Bigras took a feed from Gabriel Fontaine after Lias Andersson, who was double shifted for the game, got things started at 1:41 of the third.

“(Bigras) has been playing really well for us. He’s moving the puck very well and we want our defense involved in the offense, and he certainly was.”

The Sound Tigers regained the lead off a two-on-one break in when St. Denis was on the left wing side and slipped a pass over to Koivula. The 6’4 winger tallied his ninth of the season.

The Wolf Pack answered back seconds later when Bigras crossed the blue line with his head up spotted Bobby Butler on the left wing. He fired a one-timer past Sound Tiger goalie, Jeremy Smith, to tie the game at two.

“I think I heard him,” Bigras said with a laugh. “Bobby did a great job on that play. That whole line did a great job to get the puck in their zone.”

The last seven or eight minutes the Wolf Pack maintained strong offensive zone pressure and it seemed like a game-winner was coming.

“We were able to get pucks deep and we had everybody pushing and were able to keep on them, but Smitty played well and stopped us,” Bigras said.

His performance in the second period clearly demonstrated why the New York Rangers brought Tokarski into the organization. Tokarski stopped all 12 Sound Tiger shots and prevented them from extending their lead.

With three of their top forwards (Holland, Schneider, and Fogarty) all suspended, nobody was going to be able to complain about ice time, especially Andersson who was sent back to Hartford by the Rangers yesterday.

The Sound Tigers struck gold on their first shot of the game.

At 1:34, ex-Pack captain Ryan Bourque outworked a Pack player and fed Kieffer Bellows streaking down the middle and he snapped a wrist shot over Tokarski’s glove hand for his ninth goal, and second in as many games.

While the Wolf Pack outshot the Sound Tigers 13-6, the quality chances were spaced out far in-between with the best chance for the Pack coming from Ryan Gropp off a good setup by Fontaine from 10 feet out that Smith denied with 4:25 left.

Matt Beleskey did have solid bids on back-to-back shifts just before Gropp’s bid that was scuttled by Smith.

The Sound Tigers Matt Gaudreau, who was just recalled from Worcester, had a strong shot for the Sound Tigers and that was stopped.

NOTES:

Marek Mazanec will start in net tomorrow for the Wolf Pack.

Vinni Lettieri matched Sislo with seven shots to pace the Pack offense. Ville Meskanen had five and  Beleskey had four.

Holland is on his second of a two-game suspension. Schneider was suspended just for this game. Both will be eligible to play against Springfield.

Fogarty’s suspension was announced earlier and he will be gone for both of the weekend’s games.

He was tagged for two games for a boarding minor that sent the Sound Tigers Jeff Kubiak heavily into the backboards. Kubiak is out with a lower-body injury.

This is the first time in Wolf Pack history that three players have been suspended at the same time and none of them are named Purinton.

“That was the first I ever saw that,” Bigras said shaking his head in amazement. “Somebody had a lot to do over the break (regarding the number of suspensions issued by the league this week).

The AHL determined that Bridgeport would lose Connor Jones for their next game as a result of his hit to Schneider’s head.

In 21 games, Andersson tallied a lone goal and three assists for the Rangers. He had four goals and 12 points with the Pack in 14 games prior to his recall.

WOLF PACK LINES:

Andersson-Beleskey-Meskanen
Fontaine-Lettieri-Gropp
Butler-Leedahl-Wallin
St. Amant-Melanson

Bigras-O’Gara
Gilmour-Lindgren
Hajak-Crawley
Sean Day

WOLF PACK SCRATCHES:

Peter Holland (Suspension)
Cole Schneider (Suspension)
Steven Fogarty (Suspension)
Tim Gettinger (Concussion)
Shawn O’Donnell (Injured in pre-game skate)
Vince Pedrie (Healthy)

Joey Keane, a Rangers draft pick from last summer, was dealt at the OHL holiday trade deadline from the Barrie Colts to the London Knights. He joins his younger brother, Gerard Keane, who also plays defense for the Dale Hunter coached Knights.

Keane was among the last cuts from US WJC team last week.

Connor LaCouvee, who was in training camp with the Pack, was loaned from the Maine Mariners (ECHL) to the Laval Rocket (AHL) where he picked up his first AHL win in Laval by a 4-2 score over Belleville. The Canadiens recalled Charlie Lindgren from Laval because of Carey Price’s injury.

The Mariners signed Hannu Toivonen, yes the same person who played with the Bruins. He played one game with HIFK Helsinki (Finland-FEL) pitching a shutout before signing with Maine.

Joseph Masonius (UCONN-HE) signs with the Manchester Monarchs (ECHL) his fourth team already. He played one game with the Wilkes Barre/Scranton Penguins was sent to the Wheeling Nailers (ECHL) his contract terminated. He signed for one game with the South Carolina Stingrays (ECHL) and was released.

Michal Cajovsky of Charlotte has left and signed with Dynamo Moscow (Russia-KHL) the rest of the year.

At the WJC tourney in Vancouver and Victoria, BC Rangers #1 pick Vitali Kravtsov scored the first goal of the tourney for the Russians and picked up and assist in 5-2 win over Denmark. In a spirited contest, between the Russians and the Czech Republic, Russia held on for a 2-1 win.

Current UCONN Husky, Jachym Kondelik, tallied the lone goal for the Czechs literally off his face into the net.

Pack fan jersey of the night: #10 Tommy Grant (CT Whale) and #35 J.F. Labbe. Grant currently plays senior league hockey in BC for Quesnel (CIHL) and Labbe an AHL Hall of Famer, is the goalie coach for Sherbrooke (QMJHL) and San Diego (AHL).

The post CANTLON: (SAT) WOLF PACK DROP BACK END OF HOME-AND-HOME WITH SOUND TIGERS first appeared on Howlings.

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings

BRIDGEPORT, CT – The Hartford Wolf Pack returned from their holiday break and dropped a 3-2 decision to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers on the front end of a home-and-home series with their in-state rivals before 5,098 at the Webster Bank Arena on Thursday night ending a three-game winning streak.

The Wolf Pack record drops to 14-15-1-2 (31 points) and they fall into a seventh-place tie in the Atlantic division with the Providence Bruins. They are four points behind the Wilkes Barre/Scranton Penguins and the Springfield Thunderbirds.

Bridgeport remains in second place in the Atlantic division as their record improves to 19-9-4-1 (43 points) and trail the first place Charlotte Checkers by just five points.

“We made mistakes at critical junctions of the game,” said Pack head coach, Keith McCambridge. “They forced us into some of those mistakes (and) that hurt us.”

The Pack was putting pressure on their hosts late in the game looking for the equalizer, but with just 3:03 remaining, team captain, Cole Schneider, made their task more difficult when he took a costly five-minute major penalty.

Schneider crosschecked Connor Jones in the chest in the Wolf Pack zone. He then followed that up with a series of haymakers. Bridgeport’s 5’6 Stephen Gionta, fresh off a three-game suspension, jumped into the fracas and for some unexplained reason was not called for being the third man in.

Clearly, Schnieder was angry after taking a dangerous hit to the head.

“Did you see the hit to the head?“ McCambridge shot back when asked about the penalty. “That’s about the safety and well-being of a player. It was not a good hit at all.”

McCambridge said he would send the tape to the AHL offices for review for a suspension.

Schneider was hit with an instigator, a major for fighting and issued double game misconduct penalties for the fighting major in the last five minutes of the game, and as the aggressor in a fight. Jones only got a roughing minor.

Schneider’s 27 PIM total on the play resulted in a one game suspension with the major in the last five minutes of the game and the aggressor penalty.

Sound Tigers head coach Brent Thompson was amazed anything happened. “To be honest, I missed it. I was shocked, I was watching (other) things, next thing a fight broke out. Things happen in hockey, I missed (what led up to it).”

A review of the AHL Live game video afterward showed Jones hitting Schneider along the left wing boards in the Sound Tiger zone. The replay appeared to make it seem more like a typical hockey play where a player is rubbed out rather than a deliberate targeting of a shot to the head. At very least, the video appears to be inconclusive.

Schneider was able to skate up the ice to engage Jones and never fell down.

The Pack’s John Gilmour had two solid scoring chances of his team-leading six shots for the game. Both of them were stopped. Dustin Tokarski (28 saves) flat out stole a goal away from ex-Pack, Chris Bourque with a glove save with 1:03 left and the whole top portion of the net wide open.

The Sound Tigers had solid early chance in third to extend their lead as Scott Eansor in the Wolf Pack zone was able to create space and slipped a neat backhand pass to Sebastian Aho at the right point and his low to the ice wrist shot through traffic hit the post at 4:57.

The Wolf Pack clanged one off the iron themselves as Rob O’Gara put a shot to Jeremy Smith’s (23 saves) stick-side connected solidly with the post and went to the corner.

The two teams continued their pace of the first period in the second and each goalie came up with solid saves.

Tokarski faced several good shots from former QU Bobcat, Travis St. Denis, and stopped all three of them and the Pack tied the game shortly thereafter.

At 10:52, while on the Sound Tiger powerplay, St. Denis tried a toe drag shot from the slot. Tokarski stayed with it and then made a left pad save at 12:16.

“Dustin played very well for us. He gave us a chance. I have no complaints with his game tonight,” McCambridge said.

Steven Fogarty came out of the penalty box and nearly converted a steal into a breakaway. On the very next offensive zone at 13:20 Fogarty tried, off a quick two-on-one, to zip a pass over to Vinni Lettieri on the left-wing. In one motion, on a shot off his back foot, Lettieri drilled his eighth goal past Smith to tie the game at two.

“A real quick shot, a true goal scorer’s goal,” McCambridge said of Lettieri. He has had seven points in his last five games and was getting a post-game medical examination after getting hit with the puck below his right eye. He left the game with 11 seconds remaining.

The Pack had a late power play and a chance to go ahead before the second period expired, but it would be Bridgeport that did.

Gilmour overhandled the puck in the Wolf Pack end of the ice and fell down. Scott Eansor took the puck and skated in. He made a shake-and-bake move and went from a forehand deke to slipping a backhander past Tokarski with 22.9 seconds left. It gave the Sound Tigers an emotional lift going into the locker room with his second goal of the game.

“That was one of the mistakes at critical junctures.” That was all McCambridge would say about the eventual game-winning goal.

“Scott’s been playing well lately. His offense is coming on and it’s nice to see him get rewarded,” Bridgeport head coach Brent Thompson said. “He has been one of those players who has created offense off the penalty kill. Right now, he’s playing a solid 200-foot game.”

In a swift skating, very up-tempo first period, the Sound Tigers led 2-1 at the intermission.

The Sound Tigers scored first of an O’Gara turnover that went right to Tanner Fritz which became an instant two-on-one. Fritz spotted Eansor on the left wing and drilled his fourth goal past Tokarski at 2:17.

The Wolf Pack answered back just 1:41 later. Ville Meskanen was in the right circle. He zipped Chris Bigras’ rebound off a right point shot past Smith for his seventh goal of the year.

Meskanen now has four points in his last five games.

“He has a strong knack of being in the right spot. He makes really nice plays in high traffic areas. He had a very good release with quickness on that shot,” McCambridge said.

The Sound Tigers got the lead as the Wolf Pack had a goof up at the bench on the power play with a too many men on the ice penalty not getting a chance to attack the Sound Tigers PK which usually is in the top five currently is in the bottom five of the AHL number 27 entering the contest.

The Sound Tigers quickly used the extra ice in the four on four in just 12 seconds.

Parker Wotherspoon fed defense partner Kyle Burroughs and the Sound Tiger captain circled the Wolf Pack net and hit Kieffer Bellows with a pass who was wide open in the right wing circle. Bellows down to the shooters one knee nailed a no-mistake-about-it-slapshot past Tokarski at 10:36 for his eighth of the season.

The two teams kept up a strong pace with Tokarski stopping St. Denis at 12:49 and with 2:58 left in the period, Smith denied the Pack bid on his doorstep.

WOLF PACK LINES:

Fogarty-Schneider-Lettieri
Fontaine-Beleskey-Meskanen
O’Donnell-St. Amant-Drew Melanson
Butler-Leedahl-Wallin

Gilmour-Hajak
Bigras-O’Gara
Day-Pedrie

PACK SCRATCHES:

Tim Gettinger (concussion)
Ryan Lindgren (lower body)
Brandon Crawley (lower body)
Ryan Gropp (healthy)

NOTES:

The Wolf Pack roster rotation continues. Both defenseman, Sean Day and Ryan Gropp, were recalled from Maine (ECHL) and have jersey numbers 74 and 11 respectively.

In 19 games, Day posted 4 goals and 11 assists. He was a plus-4 and had six penalty minutes. He skated in 6 games with Hartford in the season’s first month before being assigned to the Maine Mariners on November 5^th. He was recalled as a result of the injuries to Ryan Lindgren and Brandon Crawley.

Gropp posted eight points in eight games (5g. 3a) in Maine. In the 19 games he’s appeared in before being reassigned to Hartford, he had two goals and three assists (5 pts).

The team was without their leading scorer, Peter Holland (31-9-18-27). He has a team-best three game-winners and four points in his last three games. Holland was handed a two-game suspension by the AHL on Canada’s Boxing Day as punishment for a check to the head in Saturday’s game against Rochester. He was not penalized on the play but did set off a mini-ruckus near the end of the game in the Pack’s 5-1 victory.

Rochester’s Yannick Veilleux was also handed a two-game suspension for his actions during the late game scuffle.

Cole Schneider’s four-game point scoring streak came to an end.

Vince Pedrie played for just the seventh time this season. He’s been a healthy scratch for 22 of the team’s 29 games.

Ex-Pack defenseman, Ryan Graves, was recalled by the Colorado Avalanche from the Colorado Eagles (AHL) and another Caleb Herbert goes from Utah (ECHL) to Colorado (AHL).

Ex-Sound Tiger, Alan Quine, is returned to Stockton by Calgary.

Jake Marchment, the nephew of former Hartford Whaler, Bryan Marchment, and the cousin of current AHL’er Mason Marchment (Toronto), was recalled from Utah (ECHL) by San Diego.

Ex-Pack, Desmond Bergin, signs a PTO deal with Milwaukee. He was with Adirondack (ECHL)

Ex-Pack and Sound Tiger, Taylor Beck, switches KHL teams again going from Kunlun (China-KHL) to his first KHL team Avangard Omsk at the KHL Trade deadline.

SPENGLER CUP

The Spengler Cup, a Christmas tournament, is underway in Davos, Switzerland. The host, HC Davos, has two ex-Wolf Pack players in Andres Ambuhl and Bobby Sanguinetti. Among the other five teams participating are several ex-Wolf Pack, Sound Tigers, and a smattering of ex-Whalers. The Nuremberg Ice Tigers (Germany-DEL) have Brandon Segal and Chris Brown and a pair of ex-Sound Tiger in Jake Newton and Jason Bast. HC Ocelari Trinec (Czech Republic-CEL) has ex-CT Whale, Tomas Kundratek, David Musil, who’s the nephew of ex-Whaler, New York Ranger and New Jersey Devil, Bobby Holik. They also have ex-Sound Tiger, Tomas Marcinko. Metallurg Magnitogorsk (Russia-KHL) has ex-Pack, Alexei Bereglazov. Team Canada under co-GM’s Sean Burke, and Ron Francis, with their head coach, Kevin Dineen, are all ex-Whalers. The assistant coach is ex-Wolf Pack and Ranger, Gordie Dwyer. On their playing roster is an ex-Pack Dominic Moore, who was also a Ranger, Kodie Curran, and Adam Cracknell, plus Torrey Mitchell (Hotchkiss Prep). KalPa Kuopio (Finland-FEL) is led behind the bench by ex-Whaler, Sami Kapanen, who is also the franchise owner and Chairman of the Board. Kapanen’s assistant coach is an ex-Sound Tiger from their first season, Marko Tuomainen.

The post CANTLON: (THUR) PACK DROP A CLOSE GAME TO SOUND TIGERS  first appeared on Howlings.

Hartford, CT, December 29, 2018 – Travis St. Denis’ breakaway goal with 33.8 seconds left in overtime gave the Bridgeport Sound Tigers a 3-2 win over the Hartford Wolf Pack Saturday night at the XL Center.

Otto Koivula sent St. Denis in alone on Wolf Pack goaltender Dustin Tokarski after Hartford’s Matt Beleskey had a shot blocked in the Sound Tiger end, and St. Denis was able to put the winning shot past Tokarski’s stick side.

That was after Tokarski had made five saves in the overtime, and he finished with 29 stops in the game.

“Dustin played real strong and had some key saves,” Wolf Pack head coach Keith McCambridge said. “He’s giving us a chance to play some hockey, and that’s what every coach wants.

“I’m disappointed we didn’t get the two full points obviously, but I think we played a good game.  I thought we were really aggressive, putting pressure on pucks, a physical style.”

The Wolf Pack outshot the visitors 13-6 in the first period, but came out of it down 1-0, thanks to a goal 1:34 in by Kieffer Bellows.

After Parker Wotherspoon shot the puck in, Ryan Bourque passed it out of the right-wing corner to Bellows headed down the slot, and his quick shot got by the catching glove of Tokarski.

That was the only offense for more than two full periods before Chris Bigras finally got the Wolf Pack on the scoreboard 1:41 into the third.  Just as a penalty to Vinni Lettieri was ending, Lias Andersson sent a quick pass to Gabriel Fontaine in the Bridgeport zone, and he found Bigras for a one-timer from the blue line that went off of Sound Tiger goaltender Jeremy Smith’s catching mitt and into the net.

Bridgeport regained the lead briefly at 9:28, when St. Denis and Koivula broke into the Wolf Pack zone on a 2-on-1 and Koivula fired a shot past Tokarski’s stick side, but the Wolf Pack knotted things back up only 17 seconds later.

Bobby Butler netted his sixth of the year at 9:45 to make it 2-2, taking a cross-ice pass from Bigras and beating Smith with a one-timer from the bottom of the left circle.

“Butler did a good job, staying loose and being ready for that shot,” Bigras said.

“Bobby Butler is an offensive player, and I thought he was all over the whole game,” McCambridge added. “Bobby and Chris have been playing really well together, and that’s working for us.”

The Sound Tigers outshot the Wolf Pack 6-2 in overtime, and Tokarski stopped a pair of breakaways before St. Denis’ winner.

“It would have been nice to give Tokarski the OT win,” Butler said. “They’re a good team, we just need to be ready for tomorrow.”

The Wolf Pack are right back at the XL Center on Sunday, hosting the Springfield Thunderbirds at 3:00 PM.  That is another chance to take advantage of the Wolf Pack’s “Click It or Ticket Family Value Pack”, which includes two tickets, two hot dogs and two sodas, all for just $40.

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

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

Bridgeport Sound Tigers 3 (OT) at Hartford Wolf Pack 2
Saturday, December 29, 2018 – XL Center

Bridgeport 1 0 1 1 – 3
Hartford     0 0 2 0 – 2

1st Period-1, Bridgeport, Bellows 9 (R. Bourque, Hitchcock), 1:34. Penalties-Lettieri Hfd (tripping), 5:25; St. Denis Bri (hooking), 13:23.

2nd Period- No Scoring. Penalties-Hajek Hfd (tripping), 1:49; Leedahl Hfd (tripping), 9:03; Lettieri Hfd (tripping), 19:36.

3rd Period-2, Hartford, Bigras 3 (Fontaine, Beleskey), 1:41. 3, Bridgeport, Koivula 9 (St. Denis, C. Bourque), 9:28. 4, Hartford, Butler 6 (Bigras, O’Gara), 9:45. Penalties-Helgeson Bri (cross-checking), 6:10; St. Denis Bri (misconduct – abuse of officials), 9:28.

OT Period-5, Bridgeport, St. Denis 9 (Koivula), 4:26. Penalties-No Penalties

Shots on Goal-Bridgeport 6-12-8-6-32. Hartford 13-6-12-2-33.
Power Play Opportunities-Bridgeport 0 / 4; Hartford 0 / 2.
Goalies-Bridgeport, Smith 11-5-1 (33 shots-31 saves). Hartford, Tokarski 7-4-2 (32 shots-29 saves).
A-4,805
Referees-Michael Duco (82), Dan Kelly (55).
Linesmen-Brent Colby (7), Luke Galvin (2).

The post CRAWFORD: PACK WORK HARD BUT COME UP SHORT AGAINST SOUND TIGERS IN OT first appeared on Howlings.

BY: Bob Crawford, Hartford Wolf Pack

Bridgeport, CT, December 27, 2018 – Scott Eansor scored two goals, including the shorthanded game-winner, Thursday night at the Webster Bank Arena, to lift the Bridgeport Sound Tigers to a 3-2 victory over the Hartford Wolf Pack, in the front half of a home-and-home set between the two teams.

The loss snapped a three-game winning streak for the Wolf Pack, who got goals from Ville Meskanen and Vinni Lettieri.  Dustin Tokarski made 28 saves.  It was the first game after the Christmas holiday for both clubs.

“I thought the first period had pretty good pace, especially for both teams coming out of Christmas break, and that we had good pressure for blocks of the game,” Wolf Pack head coach Keith McCambridge said.  “But the mistakes we made, they capitalized on.  Any time you’re coming out of a few days off, you have to make sure that you play in straight lines, you take care of the puck.  And for the most part, we did, but the couple times we didn’t, it cost us.”

Bridgeport opened the scoring on its first shot of the game, Eansor’s first goal of the night, at 2:17.  After the Wolf Pack lost control of the puck in center ice, Tanner Fritz moved into the Wolf Pack zone on a 2-on-1 with Eansor,   Fritz passed the puck across the slot to Eansor on the left side, and his quick shot beat Tokarski.

The Wolf Pack equalized only 1:31 later, at 3:48, on Meskanen’s seventh goal of the year.  Chris Bigras carried the puck over the Bridgeport line and stopped up at the right point, before snapping a shot at the net.  The bid was deflected on goal, and Sound Tiger netminder Jeremy Smith (23 saves) made the stop but could not control the rebound, and Meskanen flicked it in.

Bridgeport grabbed the lead back in a 4-on-4 situation at 10:36.  Kyle Burroughs stickhandled around the Wolf Pack net to the left side and fed a pass to Kieffer Bellows, whose quick shot from just below the top of the circles found the back of the net.

The two clubs traded goals in the second period, with Lettieri scoring for the Wolf Pack and Eansor netting his second of the game for Bridgeport.

Lettieri drew the Wolf Pack even at 13:20, off of a quick-developing 2-on-1 with Steven Fogarty.  Fogarty handed the puck to Lettieri at the left side of the slot, and he gunned a quick bullet that went high into the net behind Smith.

Eansor stunned the Wolf Pack with a shorthanded goal, though, with only 22.9 seconds remaining in the second.  He was able to work the puck away from John Gilmour in the Wolf Pack zone, and head in alone on Tokarski.  Eansor faked a forehand shot and then slipped a backhander through Tokarski’s pads, for what would turn out to be the game-deciding goal.

“Just a bad hop and a turnover,” McCambridge said, “in a real tough area of the ice to turn the puck over, especially at that period of the game, end of the second.”

The Sound Tigers protected the lead throughout a scoreless third period, dropping the Wolf Pack’s record on the season to 14-15-1-2.

The Wolf Pack and Sound Tigers complete the home-and-home Saturday night at the XL Center.  Faceoff is 7:00 PM and the first 2,000 fans into the XL Center for that game will receive a free Wolf Pack team trading card set, presented by CM Concessions.

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

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

Hartford Wolf Pack 2 at Bridgeport Sound Tigers 3
Thursday, December 27, 2018 – Webster Bank Arena

Hartford     1 1 0 – 2
Bridgeport  2 1 0 – 3

1st Period-1, Bridgeport, Eansor 4 (Fritz), 2:17. 2, Hartford, Meskanen 7 (Bigras, O’Gara), 3:48. 3, Bridgeport, Bellows 8 (Burroughs, Wotherspoon), 10:36. Penalties-Vande Sompel Bri (holding), 8:50; served by Gilmour Hfd (bench minor – too many men), 10:24; Hajek Hfd (cross-checking), 12:17.

2nd Period-4, Hartford, Lettieri 8 (Fogarty), 13:20. 5, Bridgeport, Eansor 5   19:37 (SH). Penalties-Wallin Hfd (unsportsmanlike conduct – playing without helmet), 7:01; Fogarty Hfd (boarding), 10:52; Casto Bri (hooking), 18:48.

3rd Period- No Scoring. Penalties-Schneider Hfd (instigating, fighting, game misconduct – instigator (last 5:00, game misconduct – aggressor), game misconduct – aggressor), 16:57; Jones Bri (roughing), 16:57.

Shots on Goal-Hartford 9-7-9-25. Bridgeport 10-10-11-31.
Power Play Opportunities-Hartford 0 / 2; Bridgeport 0 / 5.
Goalies-Hartford, Tokarski 7-4-1 (31 shots-28 saves). Bridgeport, Smith 10-5-1 (25 shots-23 saves).
A-5,098
Referees-Peter MacDougall (45), Olivier Gouin (54).
Linesmen-Bill Lyons (27), Brian Pincus (25).

The post CRAWFORD: PACK STILL SEARCHING FOR A WAY TO BEAT SOUND TIGERS first appeared on Howlings.

HARTFORD, CT – 23 saves by Dustin Tokarski and two goals guided the Hartford Wolf Pack through a strong third-period en-route to a 3-1 win over the visiting Bridgeport Sound Tigers on Saturday night at the XL Center.

Tokarski posted a season-high 42 saves, leaving the Wolf Pack (10-9-1-2) in fifth in the Atlantic and seventh overall in the conference. The Sound Tigers (11-6-2-1) sit in second place in the Atlantic as well as in the conference.

The win came as a result of a concerted effort from each player on the bench doing the extra things to get the two points over a familiar and important divisional opponent.

Tops among them came from in the net as Tokarski played with an almost championship game-like presence making a variety of tremendous stops including one on Kyle Burroughs from the point right side, Sebastien Aho from the left point, Mike Sislo at the side of the net, and ex-Pack, Ryan Bourque, from the slot.

“We’re showing some character,” Tokarski said. “On (Friday) night, we came back and got the win on the road and got another one tonight; which is great. I think we’re playing better as a team now, from the net out and that’s big.”

Tokarski was able to keep track of the puck and not allow Bridgeport too many second or third opportunities. “We were able to get the momentum back early in the third and that helped us.”

The Pack used a penalty that carried over from the second frame into the third to gain a 2-0 lead early in the period.

Matt Beleskey and Vinni Lettieri had a crack at a loose puck, but Beleskey retrieved it back to Peter Holland, who buried his third goal, and second in three games, at the 58-second mark just 16 seconds after Cole Schneider’s deflection was stopped.

The Sound Tigers struck back at 3:08 when Michael Del Colle, just sent back to the American League by the New York Islanders, was the first to a loose puck off a rebound from a left point shot by Seth Helgeson. Del Colle got past Ryan Lindgren and buried his eighth of the season.

Hartford answered back at 4:55 with strong a net-front presence as all three forwards worked together with Shawn St. Amant tallying his first AHL goal when he jammed home a rebound of a Schneider shot. St. Amant had five shots on net for the game.

Shawn O’Donnell earned the second assist from hard work to free the puck on the forecheck. O’Donnell was involved even in the final two minutes when he blocked a shot at both the beginning as well as the end of his shift and took a hit to get the puck out of the zone.

“A perfect example of a player knowing his role. Shawn is so versatile and he’s shown a willingness to pay the price to take a hit. He gets involved in his shift,” Head Coach Keith McCambridge said. “I can use him anywhere; center or either wing. He has earned his minutes and to play a factor for the team.”

The game was a chippy affair by modern standards. Seth Helgeson instigated a fight with Brandon Crawley after a hit to the head of former Pack, Chris Bourque.

“Playing Bridgeport, the game is definitely amplified with how many games we play against them,” Pack defenseman John Gilmour said. “We don’t like those guys, so when we play them it’s a gritty game.”

After a scoreless first period, the Wolf Pack broke through on the power play in the second.

Boo Nieves won a draw and Nieves dropped it to Gilmour. He fed a pass to Lettieri at the right point. He sent it back to Gilmour who fired a quick shot to the far side on netminder Christopher Gibson at 9:05.

Gilmour now has points in six of his last seven games (nine points) while Lettieri has points in three of his last four games.

“We’ve been zipping the puck around well on the PP, which is nice, and that’s been giving us confidence on the PP, which is nice too,” Gilmour said.

The Pack had a Grade A chance when O’Donnell was hauled down from behind by Travis St. Denis and was awarded his third penalty shot opportunity as a member of the Wolf Pack. The penalty shot would be the team’s 54^th their history.

O’Donnell went in on Jeremy Smith as he tried to go low on the glove side, but was stopped at 13:50.

The first period was a chess match as each team tried to establish momentum. One would get a shot, but second and third chances just weren’t available for either team. The Wolf Pack’s best chance came at 22 seconds as they stormed the net and thought they put one in, but there was no signal from the referee and a video review showed it was not a goal.

Lettieri, who’s red hot, was in a crowd of Sound Tigers and got a pass from behind the net from Ryan Gropp, but Gibson made the save. Crawley and Bobby Butler both had chances turned aside.

Tokarski on a third straight shot made his best save stopping Scott Eansor for a second straight night in a row was stopped on a breakaway.

NOTES:

UCONN basketball played earlier in the afternoon against New Hampshire. Because of the changeover, the game started at 7:30. An excellent job by the entire XL Center crew to accomplish that task.

Tim Gettinger made his NHL debut against the Washington Capitals playing seven minutes. He did not get a shot and had five hits. Cody McLeod (hand), Pavel Buchnevitch (hand), Tony DeAngelo and Mats Zuccarello (groin) were out.

During the game the Rangers sent him back.

Bridgeport lost Tanner Fritz to recall but regained Del Colle and former Yale Bulldog, Ryan Hitchcock, was reassigned to Bridgeport from Worcester (ECHL).

WOLF PACK SCRATCHES:

Gabriel Fontaine

WOLF PACK LINES:

Beleskey-Meskanen-Holland

Nieves-Lettieri-Gropp

O’Donnell-St. Amant-Schneider

Butler-Leedahl-Wallin

Crawley-Hajak

Gilmour-Lindgren

Bigras-O’Gara

The Pack is 87-63-3-12-7 in 173 meetings over 17 years with the Sound Tigers. At the XL Center, the Pack has a decided record advantage of 81-27-2-5-3.

Vinni Lettieri had an unnatural hat trick Friday night including the game-tying goal with 1:17 left in regulation, He also had the only goal in the shootout which doesn’t count in personal stats. He had a Wolf Pack high eight shots on net last night. He was the last player off the ice for warm-ups.

Peter Holland has a six-game scoring streak, a new team season-high. His 16 assists are third best in the AHL. Cole Schneider is on a five-game streak.

In Wolf Pack history, Alexander Giroux and PA Parenteau each had four penalty shots in their career. O’Donnell is and Jayson Megna (now with the Hershey Bears) each have three on the team historical chart.

The Pack is 16^th in the PP at 18.9% while Bridgeport is 14^th at 21.0%. The PK is 20^th at 79.6% & uncharacteristically the Sound Tigers are 24^th at 77.%.

In Ty Ronning’s first game with the Pack’s ECHL affiliates, the Maine Mariners, he had three goals, two assists and hit the post twice.

The post CANTLON: PACK RIDE TOKARSKI TO 3-1 WIN OVER SOUND TIGERS first appeared on Howlings.