By: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings

HARTFORD, CT – The Hartford Wolf  Pack sent goaltender Olof Lindbom and winger Cristiano DiGiacinto back to their ECHL affiliate, the Cincinnati Cyclones. At the same time, the parent New York Rangers recalled defenseman Matt Robertson after three years in the Connecticut capital.

In other news, the Springfield Thunderbirds now have an interim head coach in Daniel Tkaczuk, who was with the Pack for two games. Their previous head coach, Drew Bannister, was promoted to the St Louis Blues as the interim head coach, replacing the terminated Craig Berube.

The Laval Rocket, who the Pack played twice last weekend, lost winger Emil Henimen to recall to their parent Montreal Canadiens.

Joe Snively, who attended Yale University, was recalled from the first-place Hershey Bears by their parent Washington Capitals.

Ryan Smith commits to Quinnipiac University (ECACHL) next year from the Tri-City Storm (USHL).

The schedule has been released for the fourth annual Connecticut Classic, which will be played for the first time at the XL Center.

The defending national champion, the Quinnipiac University Bobcats, will skate against their conference and local rival, Yale University, at 3:30 PM on January 26th in the first of the two semi-final games to kick off the tournament. At 7:30 PM or an hour after the completion of the Quinnipiac and Yale game, UCONN will take on Sacred Heart University in the other semi-final. The championship game will be played on the 27th at 7:00 PM.

UCONN sophomore Matt Wood, the Nashville Predator’s first pick (15th overall) for 2022, was selected to Canada’s WJC team at their camp in Oakville, Ontario. He is the first Husky to play for Team Canada. He’ll play in Gothenburg, Sweden, in the tourney, which runs December 26th through January 5th. Ryan Tverberg (Toronto-AHL) attended camp two years ago but was one of the last cuts. He is the sixth Husky to play for a WJC team.

The American squad won’t be named until Sunday. On the ice are two Rangers draftees, Drew Fortescue and Gabe Perreault, two of a possible seven BC Eagles (HE) in camp in Plymouth, Michigan. Off the ice, Travis Culhane, the son of former Hartford Whaler Jim Culhane of Denver University (NCHC), will be the team’s video coach.

Ex-Pack head coach Kris Knoblauch has affected the Edmonton Oilers, as the team has won eight in a row.

The Washington Capitals (also the NBA Wizards), both owned by Ted Leonis, announced they are leaving the DC Capitol area to head across the Potomac River to a new $2B sports and entertainment district arena being built in Alexandria, Virginia. The Potomac Yard Area has a target of a 2028 opening date. It is doubtful it will affect their relationship with Hershey.

The AHL’s Chicago Wolves have lost their head coach, Bob Nardella, to a ten-game suspension for his use of an anti-gay slur against a league on-ice official. This kind of abusive language deserves serious consequences, but more consequences than some of the violence that occurs on the ice. How does that make any sense?

NHL expansion: Despite over-expansion that has created a diluted talent pool, it’s expected the NHL money grab will happen in the next two years unless there’s a serious national economic downturn.

Our long-time source handicaps the playing field.

“Nothing is likely or set in stone, especially with no formal expansion format in place, but one thing I’m sure of though, it’s going to be higher (in costs) than Seattle.

“The leading cities as likely landing spots are shockingly Atlanta, giving it a go for a third crack at it, and amazingly Salt Lake City. The big caveat is that neither have new buildings that have been built or are on the front burner.

“Houston, the league loves the market, but (Houston) Rockets owner Tilman Joseph Fertitta doesn’t want to own the team, but rent a team, and that NHL President Gary Bettman is greatly opposed to that idea, but if they could get an owner in Eastern Texas that would make the league would make them happiest.

“Quebec, who have been at the altar since the Vegas expansion cycle. The building has a fan base, but the Canadian dollar, the French language, and the Montreal Canadiens stand in the way.

“Hartford is NOT in the discussion. The lack of a new building or any chance of a new building, zero regional sports network and the combo of the NHL/Boston Bruins are a huge hurdle to overcome.”

The Calgary Wranglers recalled former UCONN Husky Jarrod Gouley from the Rapid City Rush (ECHL).

Ex-Pack Sean Day was recalled by the Syracuse Crunch from the Tampa Bay Lightning.

The Bridgeport Islanders reassigned Reece Newkirk to the ECHL’s Worcester Railers.

Ex-BRidgeport Sound Tiger Parker Wotherspoon was recalled from the AHL Providence Bruins by the parent Boston Bruins.

The Detroit Red Wings recalled Austin Czarnik from the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins.

After five points in his first five games with JYP Jyväskylä (Finland-FEL), ex-Pack C.J. Smith is rewarded with an extension for next year.

Konsta Kapanen, the son of ex-Hartford Whaler Sami Kapanen, is loaned from KalPa Kuopio (Finland-FEL) to Tappara for the rest of the year. He is also WJC eligible. His cousin Oliver Kapanen is not.

HARTFORD WOLF PACK

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By: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings

HERSHEY, PA – The Hartford Wolf Pack are on the brink of Calder Cup playoff elimination after a 4-2 loss to the Hershey Bears in Game 2 and now trail two games to none in the best-of-five Atlantic Division Finals. It will be a win-or-go-home situation for the Pack as the series shifts to the XL Center in Hartford for Game 3 on Wednesday at 7 PM.

The Bears were dominant both physically and defensively all over the ice.

Hershey’s Mark Vecchione scored what would prove to be the game-winner at 8:48 of the second period when he got between three Wolf Pack defenders in the slot. Henrik Borgstrom was behind the Pack net and found him open. Unfortunately, the Wolf Pack’s Libor Hájek had broken his stick, forcing him to drop it. Without it, he was unable to defend Borgstrom’s pass. For Vecchione, it was his second goal of the playoffs, making the score 3-1. Ethen Frank got his second point of the playoffs with the secondary assist.

The Bears would add insurance in the third period, tallying their fourth goal and restoring a two-goal margin that Hartford wouldn’t overcome.

Dylan Garand (26 saves) stopped Riley Sutter after a backhand feed from Mason Morelli. Still, the Pack could not clear the zone as defenseman Brandon Scanlin and forward Bobby Trivigno could not control the biscuit behind the net.

An unfortunate bad bounce didn’t help the Pack when the puck went off linesman Jud Ritter, further trapping the Wolf Pack. The puck found Aleiaksei Protoas on the right wing, who sent a cross-ice pass to Hendrix Lapierre, who snapped a shot to the short side off on one of many odd-man rushes against the Pack. The goal made it 4-1 and came at 13:14 of the third period.

To their credit, the Pack kept pressing forward.

At 15:09, Adam Clendening was at the right point after taking Wyatt Kalynuk’s pass. Anton Blidh set a screen in front of goalie Hunter Shepard. Blidh times a jump perfectly as the puck sailed by Shepard to make it 4-2. But, unfortunately, that would be as close as the Wolf Pack would get.

The goal was the first and only five-on-five series goal for the Wolf Pack.

The Bears had the second period’s only goal as they held the Wolf Pack to just five shots.

FIRST PERIOD

Just 11 seconds into the contest, Zac Jones lost his footing, and Beck Malenstyn took advantage, going wide. That forced Jones to slide to try and stop him. But, instead, Jones knocked the net off its magnetic pegs.

At 1:52, Blidh put a shot over Shepherd’s glove but went off the post.

A defensive zone turnover, which would continue to plague the Pack all game long, led to three Bears quality chances. Two came from Joe Snively, who missed the net, and the third from Connor McMichaels, who initially got the puck on the Pack’s doorstep but couldn’t register the goal.

The Pack was in the same situation as Game One, being dramatically outshot. They were down 6-1 in shots in the first six minutes.

Hájek took a selfish and unnecessary penalty drilling Morelli into the side of the net from behind. It sent the Bears to the power play.

Hershey capitalized on the Hájek penalty. Mason Morelli was wide open on the left-wing side. He shuffled a pass over to Brock Malenstyn, who snapped a shot upstairs and into the net at 3:12 to make it 1-0.

The Wolf Packed used their first powerplay effectively as Ryan Carpenter outworked Gabriel Carlsson behind the net and found Will Cullye in front. He snapped it over Shepard’s glove hand to even the game at one at 11:32.

1:12 after the Pack tied the score, they found themselves trailing again. At 12:44, Malenstyn broke into the zone on a two-on-one with Morelli. He was open and blasted it upstairs past Garand with Adam Clendening trailing on the play.

Nearly 11 minutes in, the shot advantage favored the Bears 10-3.

If the Pack are to survive and get back into this series, Head Coach Kris Knoblauch will have a lot of work to do to get their game back to where it was against Providence, or they could find themselves watching the remainder of the playoffs from the golf course.

LINES:

Brodzinski – Carpenter – Cullye
Fritz – Pajuniemi – Blidh
Leschyshyn – Gettinger – Lockwood
Elson – Henriksson – Trivigno

Jones – Emberson
Hájek – Scanlin
Kalynuk – Clendening

Garand
Domingue

SCRATCHES:

Blake Hillman (healthy)
Talyn Boyko #40
Matt Rempe (healthy)
Adam Edström  (healthy)
Louie Roehl #4 (healthy)
Brett Berard #27 (healthy)
Matt Robertson (upper body, may return in the latter half of this round of the playoffs)
Patrick Khordorenko (season-ending shoulder surgery)
C.J. Smith (hip area surgery done for the season)

NOTES:

The Wolf Pack received good news yesterday. The AHL reduced Adam Clendening’s suspension to the two games he’s already sat out for his Game 3 hit on Fabian Lysell in the series against the Providence Bruins, making him available for Game 2. He was paired with Kalynuk. Blake Hillman was the odd man out.

18 AHL players have signed for Europe for next year.

In Winnipeg in Game 1 of the WHL championship, the Winnipeg Ice Head Coach is former Hartford Whaler/New York Ranger James Patrick. After a nine-day layoff, the Ice defeated the Seattle Thunderbirds 3-2. Easton Armstrong, the son of Wolf Pack great Derek Armstrong, was held to no points and shots for the first two series games at the Life Canada Centre, home of the NHL Winnipeg Jets. Seattle won Game 2, 4-2, as Brad Lambert, nephew of former Bridgeport Sound Tigers head coach and New Haven Nighthawks player, Lane Lambert, had two goals and was a plus-four.

In the ECHL Kelly Cup playoffs, the Pack’s Double AA affiliate, the Jacksonville Icemen, were down three games to one to South Division in-state rival, the Florida Everblades. The teams traveled to Florida for Game 5, and the Icemen won 6-3 to force a Game 6 on Monday.

News on a trio of ex-Sound Tigers, Travis St. Denis (Quinnipiac University) switches teams in Germany going from EHC Straubing (Germany-DEL) and signs with ERC Ingolstadt for next year. Also, Jesse Graham changes teams in the Russian-based KHL from Barys Nur-Sultan (Kazakhstan) to HK Sochi (Russia). Johan Sundström, heads from Frölunda HC (Sweden-SHL) to Sport Vassa (Finland-FEL).

Ex-Pack and ex-Sound Tiger, Andrew Rower, leaves SC Rapperswill-Jona (Switzerland-LNA) and signs for next season with ERC Ingolstadt (Germany-DEL).

The long-time head coach of Middlebury (VT) College (NESCAC), Neal Sinclair, abruptly resigned. The team has won five national Division III titles during his tenure. A search began immediately for his replacement.

In yesterday’s WHL Priority Draft, just one notable name was taken. Masen McCosh, of the Phoenix Jr. Coyotes U-14 (T1EHL) program, was selected by the Calgary Hitmen in the first round (14th overall) in the US portion of the draft. McCosh is the youngest son of one-time New Haven Nighthawk and New Haven Senator Shawn McCosh. His oldest son Michael is at Buffalo St. (SUNYAC), and the boy’s uncle Shayne, played 18 games with the Springfield Falcons.

The IIHF World Hockey Championship began on Friday in Tampere, Finland, and Riga, Latvia.

HARTFORD WOLF PACK

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HERSHEY, PA – The Hartford Wolf Pack built a 2-0 lead through two periods in Game 1 of the Atlantic Division best-of-five finals, but the Hershey Bears scored twice in the third period before Henrik Borgstrom scored at 4:41 of overtime to 3-2.

The game-winner came on the third odd-man rush of overtime.

Pack defenseman Wyatt Kalynuk collided with the linesman at center ice, creating a two-on-one that Dylan Garand stopped. Then there was a four-on-two after Joe Snively, a Yale alum, was stopped, with the upper part of the net staring at Garrett Pilon.

On the final two-on-one came, Borgstrom scored to allow the Bears to come away with the win.

GAME WINNER

Pilon sent a stretch pass to Borgstrom, who came in with Snively. They attacked the Pack’s number one defensive pair of Zac Jones – Ty Emberson, who had just come on the ice for their shift.

Borgstrom didn’t play in the first Bears series against the Charlotte Checkers in the lineup because Mike Sgarbossa couldn’t go for Hershey. Rumors have Borgstrom heading back to Sweden next year, and he made the most of his time in this opportunity.

Borgstrom went from the right wing to center and fired his shot past Garand. The goal sent the crowd of 7,274 into a frenzy.

Game Two between the two teams is Saturday night at 7 PM in Hershey.

Early in the third period, Hershey cut the Wolf Pack lead to one.

Sam Anas was at the right point on their fourth power play of the contest. He shuffled the puck over to the left point. Logan Day one-timed a rising rocket of a shot going off the crossbar and into the net. It was his first goal as a Bear and his first goal of the season. It came at 2:52.

It was former QU Bobcat Anas team-leading fifth assist and seventh point of the playoffs.

PLAY INTENSIFIES

After Tim Gettinger was stopped early on the Pack’s power play bid, Pilon crunched Lauri Pajuniemi as Gettinger made a drop pass that inadvertently left him vulnerable. Pilon nailed Will Lockwood, who took a retaliation penalty that led to the power play goal by Day.

Lockwood would find his moment to return the hit later in the game when he drove Pilon into the curved portion of the glass on a clean, hard hit at 4:51, but the Bears had already done their damage.

GAME TYING GOAL

The Bears pressed the Pack and came up with a game-tying goal late in the third period. Day was at the right point, settled the puck down, and sent it over to Jake Massie. He waited for the screen to materialize in front of Garand.

Just as he unleashed his shot, Connor McMichael was cruising in front of Garand and got a piece of it before Jones could get to him. Emberson was keeping an eye on Joe Snively. This happened before goaltender Hunter Shepard could even get to the bench for the extra attacker at 17:51.

SECOND PERIOD

Anton Blidh took a hard hit along the boards and skated back to the bench, bent over and in what appeared to be some manner of discomfort. Paramedics immediately came to the bench to deal with whatever was ailing Blidh. Referees and the coaches decided to send the teams to their respective locker rooms while a determination was made about Blidh’s condition. The final 2:39 of the period would be played prior to the second period after a one-minute intermission and the switching of sides.  The actions of the paramedics in treating Blidh were considered “precautionary.” Fortunately for Blidh and the Wolf Pack, he was able to return to play for the second period and played to the finish. The official word from the Wolf Pack was that Blidh developed an upper-body non-life-threatening injury. According to other non-team attendees at the site of the game, Blidh had the wind knocked out of him,

The Wolf Pack scored early on their second power play of the game. Tanner Fritz, at the right point, fed it over to captain Jonny Brodzinski, who tallied with his first of the post-season. The whole play started after Shepard made the original stop, but in scrambling around the net, was unable to get into position before Brodzinski’s shot.

The Wolf Pack had two power play goals in the six regular season games between the two rosters. They now had two in Game 1. It’s the first meeting between the two teams since February.

In the second period, the Wolf Pack got far more shots (16) and offensive riding time than they did in the first, when they only mustered three shots for the entire first twenty minutes.

At 11:43, Garand made an impressive glove save, but the goal judge turned the red light on. The refs took the puck from Garand’s glove and chatted among themselves, confirming there was no goal.

The Pack’s penalty killers were a perfect three for three in the first two periods.

FIRST PERIOD

In the first period, the Pack was under constant attack and pressure from the Bears, both with rubber being fired at Garand and physically. Still, despite that, they were able to leave the bench for intermission with the period’s only goal.

The Pack had to handle the first three shots and had a seemingly early PK they would have to kill after Snively lost an edge and ducked a Pajuniemi hit attempt.  At first, referees Beau Halkidis and Jack Young signaled a call. It was clear that Pajuniemi was hot, and he vehemently protested. The refs huddled mid-ice, and they decided that there was no penalty on the play, and the call was reversed.

Good thing Pajuniemi was not ejected, as he would play the primary role in the Pack taking the 1-0 lead.

Gettinger sent a pass up the left wing to Jones, who broke into the clear and fired a shot at Shepard. He gave up a rebound, and Pajuniemi was there to scoop it up and bury his fourth goal of the postseason.

Garand was the difference for the Pack in the first period, as they were outshot 17-3.

The Pack didn’t get their first shot till 4:05.

LINES:

Brodzinski-Carpenter-Cullye
Fritz-Pajuniemi-Blidh
Leschyshyn-Gettinger-Lockwood
Elson-Henriksson-Trivigno

Jones-Emberson
Hillman-Scanlin
Hájek-Kalynuk

Garand
Domingue

SCRATCHES:

Adam Clendening (suspended the first two games of the series)
Talyn Boyko #40
Matt Rempe (healthy)
Adam Edström  (healthy)
Louie Roehl #4 (healthy)
Brett Berard #27 (healthy)
Matt Robertson (upper body, may return in the latter half of this  round of the playoffs)
Patrick Khordorenko (season-ending shoulder surgery).
C.J. Smith (hip area surgery done for the season)

NOTES:

The Wolf Pack have just one player with an overtime game-winner in their lineup. Ryan Carpenter, with the San Jose Barracuda.

The last OT goal in franchise history was on May 13, 2015, by Chris Mueller in a shorthanded goal against Hershey.

Hershey won four of the six meetings this year. The last contest was on February 11th, resulting in a 2-1 Hershey win as Shepard made 33 saves.

In one of the worst-kept secrets, a week after his season ended ex-Pack Gustav Rydahl is heading back to Sweden and the SHL signing with Frölunda HC.

Rydahl started the talks in Hartford but was loyal and finished out the year out West playing 12 games with the Eagles.

Now 16 AHL players have signed for Europe for next year.

He had a strong training camp, with many feeling he should have been in New York. He played effectively on a Wolf Pack team that struggled most of the year until recently.

Being scratched twice in the last 10 days before his trade didn’t help.

MORE NOTES:

Ex-Pack in Winnipeg Neal Pionk, youngest brother Aaron commits to Minnesota-Duluth (NCHC) from Waterloo (USHL).

News on a trio of ex-Sound Tigers, Travis St. Denis (Quinnipiac University) switches teams in Germany going from EHC Straubing (Germany-DEL) and signs with ERC Ingolstadt for next year.

Jesse Graham changes teams in the Russian-based KHL from Barys Nur-Sultan (Kazakhstan) to HK Sochi (Russia).

Johan Sundstrom heads from Frölunda HC (Sweden-SHL) to Sport Vassa (Finland-FEL).

Former Quinnipiac University goalie Dylan St. Cyr, post-graduation, played one game with Grand Rapids after his transfer year at Michigan St. (Big 10). He is heading to France to continue his career. St. Cyr will play for HC Anglet of the French Elite Magnus League. He has a brother Dakoda Rhéaume-Mullen who is playing with the US National Development Team-NDTP (USHL).  His cousin Nick Rhéaume plays at UMASS-Lowell (HE). His uncle is ex-Pack and Ranger Pascal Rhéaume, who is an assistant coach with the Trois-Rivières Lions (ECHL), the Canadiens Double AA team to Laval.

COLLEGE

A few college assistant coaching moves.

In the process of a complete coaching change, Dana Borges leaves the Colgate Red Raiders (ECACHL) for the Arizona St. Sun Devils (NCAA Independent) leaves for the assistant coach/player development position.

Tayler Nelson, UMass-Lowell Assistant Coach, is the new assistant with the brand new D1 program at  Augustana University (SD) Vikings (NCAA Independent). At Canisius College (AHA), he had four years there and two years at UMASS-Lowell (HE).

American International College-AIC (Springfield, MA) has announced the promotion of assistant coach Matthew Woodard to the position of associate head coach. At one time, he was Yale’s women’s hockey coach.

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

The IIHF World Hockey Championship begins on Friday.

The Team USA captain is Nick Bonino (Unionville via Farmington/AOF), Jack McBain, son of ex-New Haven Senator Andrew, Springfield Thunderbird Scott Perunovich, and ex-Springfield Falcon, two-time AHL MVP former Springfield Falcon T.J. Tynan.

The assistant coach is an ex-New Haven Nighthawk, Scott Gordon. He’s from the Columbus Blue Jackets and will feature GM Chris Clark (South Windsor).

Team Canada ex-Pack Sammy Blais and Springfield Thunderbirds Jake Neighbours and goalie Joel Hofer.

The GM is ex-Springfield Falcon Shane Doan.

Czechia (Czech Republic) has Ranger and ex-Pack, Filip Chytil and ex-Pack Tomas Kundratek.

Denmark-Ex-Pack Nicklas Jensen

Finland-Ranger Kappo Kakko and ex-Springfield Thunderbird Juho Lammikko

Germany-Former P-Bruin Kai Wissman

Latvia-Ex-Thunderbird Rodrigo (father, Artis, will be the assistant coach), Karlis Cuskte (Quinnipiac University-ECACHL), and ex-Sound Tiger Kristers Gudlevskis.

The head coach will be ex-New Haven Senator Harijs Vitolins.

Sweden-Ex-Pack Oscar Lindberg and son of Ranger/Whaler Mikael Nylander, his son Alexander.

Former Springfield Falcon, Assistant GM Josef Boumedinne

Slovakia-Ex-Sound Tiger Richard Pánik.

Switzerland-Playing in his record-setting 13th World Hockey tourney is ex-Pack Andres Ambühl and ex-Sound Tiger Nino Neiderreiter.

Sad news, former UMass-Lowell and Quinnipiac goaltender and 2005 Hockey East rookie of the year Peter Vetri passed away unexpectedly on May 4, 2023.

Vetri was age 37.

Vetri was awarded a full athletic scholarship to play hockey at UMass-Lowell (HE). He transferred to Quinnipiac University (ECACHL) for his junior season in 2007-08 and played just nine games for the Bobcats.

He left during his senior year to pursue professional hockey in the SPHL and ECHL. Vetri played for the SPHL’s Twin City Cyclones, ECHL’s Wheeling Nailers, and one full season with the FPHL’s Danbury Whalers and a total of 41 games for them over four years.

HARTFORD WOLF PACK

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HARTFORD, CT – The Hartford Wolf Pack return to the XL Center Wednesday seeking a win to close out the Best of Five series against the Providence Bruins. The win would advance the Wolf Pack to the Atlantic Division  Final, where they will play the winner of the Hershey Bears and Charlotte Checkers series in what would be a Best-of-Seven series.

With the New York Rangers eliminated by the New Jersey Devils on Monday night, the Wolf Pack have seen the return of captain Jonny Brodzinski, center Jake Leschyshyn, goalie Louie Domingue and defenseman Libor Hájek.

Head coach Kris Knoblauch will have some critical and difficult lineup decisions. Does he add in these four players who have not played in these playoffs for the Pack and risk upsetting the chemistry that has been so successful so far in the playoffs, or could it improve the team with their being added into the lineup?

In goal, does Knoblauch continue to ride Dylan Garand to start while he has been playing so well in winning all four games he’s played into this point, or does he turn to the more experienced and the team’s primary starting netminder all season, Louie Domingue?

On defense, the return of Hájek presents an interesting dilemma. He could help the team on the ice, but given his unlikely re-signing by Rangers General Manager Chris Drury, does it make more sense to ride the defense he has been using? Hájek will likely be looking for a new landing spot next season as it is unlikely the Czech native would be offered, let alone sign another cap-friendly NHL one-way deal again for next season.

The most challenging decision Knoblauch will face is at forward.

Brodzinski and Leschyshyn were two-thirds of the team’s top line. Does he keep them together while keeping Ryan Carpenter and Turner Elson, who have played well together, and move Tim Gettinger up to their line? Gettinger played very well in Game 2. These moves would offer the Pack two solid scoring lines to challenge the Providence defense.

He could keep the very effective Anton Blidh on the third line at left wing. Will Lockwood could drop down to that line on the right side and was another solid Game 2 performer. He might consider scratching Adam Edström and putting Tanner Fritz in the middle.

Knoblauch might keep Karl Henriksson and Bobby Trivigno intact on the fourth line. Despite playing his best game as a Wolf Pack, he might consider dropping young Adam Sýkora in favor of Lauri Pajuniemi, who has played well in the post-season. His two-year contract expires in June. He may be heading to Sweden to play next season.

These decisions will be critical in determining whether the Pack continue to move forward in their quest for their first Calder Cup Championship since 2000 or end this highly unexpected run.

NOTES:

Carter Verhaeghe, the ex-Bridgeport Sound Tiger, is the toast of the NHL. The Florida Panthers pulled off the biggest upset in hockey with his OT goal that knocked off the regular season Champion, Boston Bruins. This playoff series may be the most significant upset since the “Miracle on Manchester Street” when the LA Kings upset the Edmonton Oilers just before their dynasty run of the mid-1980s.

Ex-Sound Tiger Tom Kühnhackl heads home from Skellefteå AIK (Sweden-SHL) to play for Adler Mannheim (Germany-DEL) next year.

Ex-Pack Tomas Kunratek switched teams in Czechia (Czech Republic). He leaves HC Brno of the Czech Elite League to play for HC Oceláři Třinec.

Hershey’s Joe Snively (Yale University) had a goal and two assists in the Game Two 5-1 win over Charlotte.

The Wolf Pack’s ECHL affiliates, the Jacksonville Icemen, won Game 5 of their South Division ECHL semifinal in a 5-4 win. Former Quinnipiac University player Craig Martin and another former Bobcat and ex-Pack, Brandon Fortunato, scored.

The Icemen look to advance play in Game 6 on Tuesday and a possible Game 7 on Wednesday. The winner will play either the Florida Everblades, the winner in six games over ex-Pack Brendan Kotyk, or the South Carolina Stingrays.

The Quebec City NHL-styles building, The Videotron Centre, has had two of the three largest crowds ever in QMJHL history at the Quebec-Gatineau President Cup semifinal. The Quebec Remparts have shattered the old record of Le Colisee and lapped around the mark set by the Halifax Mooseheads.

The second best occurred in the old Montreal Forum on April 22, 1983, in a “home” game for the nearby Verdun Jr. Canadiens. They were playing the Longueuil Chevaliers and the hockey prodigy in Verdun. They hadn’t seen the likes of since late Guy Lafleur’s junior days in Pat LaFontaine and Jean Beliveau, who graced the ice as the big man down the middle for the NHL Canadiens in the 1960s and 1970s.

17,911 – Quebec | Apr. 30, 2023
17,860 – Verdun | Apr. 22, 1983
17,416 – Quebec | Apr. 28, 2023

Could Quebec City support a new 21st-century Nordiques? Attendance-wise, indeed, yes, but three things remain killing it.

The French immersion requires all schooling to seventh grade to be French only and all public signage and literature to be in French.

The Canadian currency exchange rate. NHL salaries are all paid in US dollars, while most all the Canadian teams take their revenue in Canadian currency.

The last reason is Montreal Canadiens owner Geoff Molson, who wants to extend the Canadiens brand to Northern and Eastern Quebec and French-speaking parts of the Canadian Maritimes.

Add in NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman not wanting to disturb the 16 East, 16 West team balance that he spent years to achieve. Arizona will never move there if their new arena referendum fails in two weeks. They will likely be in Houston in two years.

Pierre Karl Péladeau, President and CEO of Quebecor, owner of Videotron cable, has abandoned his efforts to bring the NHL and a Nordiques rebirth to the city. He has recently brought the CFL Montreal Alouettes instead. He was elected as an MP in the Quebec National Assembly in the 2010 decade.

HARTFORD WOLF PACK

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By: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings

PROVIDENCE, RI – The Hartford Wolf Pack were solid from the net out as their defense and goaltending continued to confound the Providence Bruins as the New York Rangers American League affiliates roll continued in a 2-1 win in Game 2 of their second-round playoff series on Saturday night.

It was the fifth win in a row in the Ocean State. It was also the Pack’s 14th win in their last 16 games. They now hold a commanding lead in the best-of-five series, two games to none. After that, the teams head back to Hartford, with the Pack having a chance to close out the series in front of the home crowd on Wednesday night.

A win by the Pack would send the Cinderella team to the Atlantic Division final against either the Charlotte Checkers or the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. The Checkers currently have a 2-games-to-one lead in that best-of-five series.

THIRD PERIOD

Both teams pushed to try and score early in the third period. Bruins looked for the equalizer from Luke Toporowski, Mike Reilly, and Oskar Steen, who took a Turner Elson turnover for a shot ass Dylan Garand  (29 saves) continued his impressive netminding for the Pack and denied them all. Across the way, Brandon Bussi (26 saves) flashed the leather stopping Adam Sýkora, Wyatt Kalynuk, Will Lockwood, and Lauri Pajuniemi as they sought a cushion goal for the Wolf Pack.

The Bruins came close when defenseman Connor Carrick put a shot off the crossbar with 2:58 remaining in the contest.

At 18:45, the Bruins pulled Bussi for an extra attacker. However, former Pack, Vinni Lettieri, was denied by Garand from the left circle. As the clock was ticking down, with just 15 seconds left and for the second night in a row, the Bruins looked to their regular season points leader, Georgii Merkulov, to take their final shot, but he was stopped by Garand to preserve the win.

SECOND PERIOD

A goal was scored in the first five-plus minutes of the period as John Beecher had an end-to-end rush stopped by Garand just two minutes in.

Two Wolf Pack goals in a span of 3:26 put the Bruins on their heels on their home ice.

Tim Gettinger was on the puck early and got off a shot on net from the right point before Bussi made a right pad save. Ex-Bruin, Anton Blidh, took the rebound and registered his second postseason goal at 6:17.

The Wolf Pack refused to rest on their laurels. Adam Clendening, who had a strong shift earlier in the period, moved off the right point to the top of the center point, just below the blue line. He took a cross-ice pass from Kalynuķ, his defensive partner, fired off a 55-footer, and beat Bussi at 12:16 for the game-winner.

The Pack came close to a 3-0 lead at 13:13 when Zac Jones was at the left point and fired a shot to the net. Ryan Carpenter reached up to redirect the shot that looked to have gone up and under the crossbar. The referees immediately waived off the goal, and after a lengthy review, it was ruled no goal. The ruling was Carpenter’s stick was above the crossbar, negating the goal.

The Bruins’ Justin Brazeau was on the left wing on the next shift. He found Pack killer Jonna Koppannen on the right wing and sent him a cross-ice pass. Koppannen then sent a backhanded pass to the slot where Toporowski was open and fired off a shot that found the back of the net at 14:02, cutting the Pack lead in half.

FIRST PERIOD

The first period saw the Pack start where they left off the previous night and registered the game’s first three shots, coming from Clendening twice and Lockwood.

Ty Emberson went to launch a shot and had his twig break in half, leading briefly to a two-on-zero for the Bruins. However, Emberson kept his position, and the Pack did some serious backchecking. It became a three-on-two, and he timed going down perfectly to get a piece of the puck as the Bruins passed back to the trailer.

Providence’s John Beecher had a solid, long-range, low shot stopped by Garand.

Then Jones used his speed to cut Beecher off on another open opportunity and took it away.

Gettinger had a strong shift on the second power play unit in the last five minutes. He hit the side of the net and had a tip deflection dribble wide. He then got off a third attempt that Bussi stopped.

The end of the period had a scrum between Clendening and Toporowski, Lockwood, and Connor Carrick. They were the only players penalized at 20:00.

The Bruins had 12 shots on goal for the period after having just 14 for the whole game the night before.

LINES:

Cullye-Carpenter-Elson
Fritz-Pajuniemi-Blidh
Gettinger-Edström-Lockwood
Henriksson-Sýkora-Trivigno

Jones-Emberson
Hillman-Scanlin
Clendening-Kalynuk

Garand
Gahagen #35

SCRATCHES:

Talyn Boyko #40
Matt Rempe (upper body, day-to-day)
Louie Roehl #4 (healthy)
Bryce McConnell-Barker #8 (healthy)
Brett Berard #27 (healthy)
Maxim Barbashev #18 (healthy)
Ryder Korczak  #38 (healthy)
Matt Robertson (upper body, may return in the latter half of this  round of the playoffs)
Patrick Khordorenko (season-ending shoulder surgery).
C.J. Smith (hip area surgery done for the season)

NOTES:

The Rangers forced a game seven with a 5-2 win in Game 6. Five different players scored in the game at MSG.

Joe Snively (Yale University) had a goal, and two assists in a Game Two 5-1 win over the Charlotte Checkers.

The Jacksonville Icemen won their South Division ECHL semifinal in a 5-4 fashion. Former Quinnipiac University player Craig Martin and another former Bobcat and ex-Pack, Brandon Fortunato, scored.

MATT WOOD

Team Canada at the U-18 tournament captured bronze with a 4-3 overtime win over Slovakia. The team included Matt Wood (UCONN-HE), who scored the game-tying goal with 1:10 left in regulation with the goalie pulled. The primary assist, off a short slide pass, sprung Celebrini Macklin on a breakaway for the game-winner. Wood finished with a goal and three assists, six shots on goal, and a plus-four. Wood seems to have cemented a high first-round pick status for the upcoming NHL Draft in late June in Nashville.

Wood came to the Huskies after being drafted as a second-round pick (41st overall) in the WHL Bantam Draft in 2020 by the Regina Pats. He turned down the Pats’ offer to play with the consensus #1 overall pick, Connor Bedard, and to be coached by ex-Pack head coach John Paddock.

In 2021, Wood was drafted by the Sioux Falls (SD) Stampede (USHL) as their 9th pick (121st overall) in the USHL Futures Draft.

Team USA played Team Sweden for gold at the U-18 championship in Switzerland. The US won gold in come-from-behind fashion, 3-2 in overtime. It’s their first gold in six years. The game-winner from draft-eligible Ryan Leonard (Amherst, MA) from Pope Francis (MAPREP) (Springfield, MA) and the Springfield (MA) Rifles program. The head coach was former Yale University (ECACHL) and Sacred Heart University (AHA) assistant coach Dan Muse. His assistant coach is ex-Pack, Chad Kolarik. Two players from the Mid-Fairfield program, Sal Guzzo and Ryan Fine, were on the team.

HARTFORD WOLF PACK

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By: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings

HARTFORD, CT – Will Bitten of the Springfield Thunderbirds had a third-period hat trick, and the team scored four goals on five shots to erase a two-goal Hartford Wolf Pack lead for a shocking come-from-behind 4-2 win.

The Pack had another playoff-like date with the Thunderbirds. With this loss, the Pack took a major hit in the standings as the Thunderbirds won their fifth straight. The T-Birds move nine points ahead of the Wolf Pack with 14 games left,

The Bridgeport Islanders, Hartford’s Saturday night opponent at Total Mortgage Arena, won in regulation at home 5-2 over the Syracuse Crunch and are now ahead by three points for the last playoff spot. The Charlotte Checkers shut out the Toronto Marlies. Despite the loss, Toronto has clinched their postseason playoff card. The eighth-place Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins beat the Rochester Amerks 5-4. The Penguins have now crept up to six points behind the Pack. Finally, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms lost 2-1 to the Hershey Bears and are seven points ahead of Hartford.

As Flogging Molly, the Celtic Fusion punk band from LA, mournful tune, “The Worst Day,” wafted through the air as the 6,201 fans filed slowly, languidly out from the hall in stunned silence, on a night when a festive holiday mood on St. Patrick’s Day beckoned them.

“We had our chances in the third, we outshot them, but we made some costly mistakes and turnovers. Most of the play was in their zone. We had opportunities to put the game away; we just had to learn how to finish off our (opponents).

We have to put it away quickly (this game) and get ready for Bridgeport tomorrow night,” said head coach Kris Knoblauch.

Tanner Fritz, Jonny Brodzinski, and Turner Elson had quality chances early in the third period that showed no signs of what was to come.

Springfield cut the deficit to one as Bitten won the battle behind the net with Zac Jones and Libor Hájek and went to the front of the net. However, the puck was kept in the point by ex-Pack Hunter Skinner, and he got the puck to Mikhail Abramov.

Then from behind the Wolf Pack cage, Abramov found Bitten in front on the doorstep, and he flipped it in for his 16th, a backhander that got past Garand at 6:21.

The whole sequence came about as Jones lost control at the left point in the offensive zone and had to race with Bitten for the puck.

Then the defense was victimized again as Hugh McGing, skating from behind Matt Robertson, took the puck off his stick behind the net and sent a backhanded pass again from behind the net to the wide-open, Bitten, who quickly deposited his 17th on an unsuspecting Garand at 11:41.

The Thunderbirds took the lead on the powerplay as the Pack’s Wyatt Kalynuk got the extra two on an unnecessary penalty in a late-game scrum. A hit he made on an offsides play by Keean Waskurak that he didn’t care for led to the scrum with Springfield’s Greg Printz, who came in to help him out.

He was given a crosscheck. However, none was seen based on a review of the game video.

Then perennial offensive threat Mike Perunovich quickly shuffled off a Matt Peca pass at the right point to the left point to Martin Frk, a righthanded shot, who let rip a shot for seemingly his 27th that sailed past Dylan Garand at 16:39.

It was tipped, admittedly by Frk post-game by the Thunderbirds Matt Highmore for his 15th as he was left all alone in front by Hajek and Jones, as he slipped behind them for the goal and unofficially, at this point, ties him for the team lead in points with Frk.

The league will likely correct the play early next week upon reviewing the game footage.

The damage was done; however, Springfield had the lead.

Was it a worthy double minor call on Kalynuk at that point of the game?

Adam Clendening sarcastically and acidly noted at the end of his post-game interview.

“It’s not for me to decide.”

The Pack had a powerplay early in the third, and some solid looks were had. Clendening had two good right-point shots, but the team came up with goose eggs in the third.

“He (Zherenko) had to made the saves he needed to. We had some quality chances, we didn’t get them. We needed to make it tougher on him and this time of the year, we need points and they need points too, were playing desperate, they’re desperate. We just have to find a way,” remarked Clendening looking skyward, beseeching the hockey gods for an answer to his plea.

Bitten scored his 18th notched-the-hat-trick and completed Springfield’s outburst with an empty net tally at 18:47 to hammer the coffin shut on another shocking, inexplicable loss in another third-period collapse by the Wolf Pack.

“We just can’t keep giving up Grade A chance, after Grade A chances in every game and expect him (Garand) and Louie (Domingue) to bail us out. I haven’t been here very long, but have played a fair amount, we have to realize nobody is going to fold up their tents and go home because we’re up a goal or two,” snarled and intoned an agitated and frustrated Clendening, who was playing in his 500th career AHL game.

Matt Peca, the QU grad again, had the first shot of the second period for Springfield 34 seconds in close, denied by Garand.

A lot of four-on-four play was had early in the second period.

Cullye had a shot block that made him unable to get up or off the ice, and the T-Birds Dmitri Samorukov skated past him and his feeble stick check attempt. Garand, then again atop the blue paint, made the save. The Pack was fortunate he was on his game in the net.

On the flip side, Ty Emberson had two bids stopped.

Then Martin Frk, for Springfield on the right wing, couldn’t connect with Mathias Laferriere open on the left wing.

Bitten had two shots, and Mikhail Abramov had two, but Garand shut the door.

The Pack, after taking the first four shots of the game by Springfield Peca, Highmore, Samorukov, and Mitchell Hoelscher and then the Pack came to life.

Winger Anton Blidh started the play with a solid outlet stretch pass to Pajuniemi, then made a strong move inside on the left after taking the puck off Hoelscher’s stick.

Then he wristed his ninth goal over the glove of Vadim Zherenko at 4:32 after Lauri Pajuniemi’s blast was stopped and was kicked out by Zherenko, which went off the left-wing sideboards to Hoelscher like a pool shot going for the corner pocket and he never saw Blidh coming.

Then after a solid hit in the left-wing corner by Cullye on Matt Kessel, I saw Cullye, then head to the net front area and get a piece of 10 feet out from Jake Leschyshyn from the original by Ty Emberson.

He shot from the right point that kept the puck in the Springfield zone, and with a gorgeous redirect by Cullye top shelf for his team-best 21st and kept his line red hot at 5:55.

Two goals in a 1:23 span early held up till the fateful third period.

LINES:

Cullye-Leschyshyn-Brodzinski
Gettinger-Lockwood- Carpenter
Fritz-Blidh-Pajuniemi
Rempe-Henriksson-Elson

Jones-Hájek
Emberson-Robertson
Kalynuk-Clendening

Louis Domingue
Dylan Garand

SCRATCHES:

Cristiano DiGiacinto (healthy)
Blake Hillman (healthy)
Brandon Scanlin (healthy)
Bobby Trivigno (healthy)
Ben Tardif (healthy)
Patrick Khordorenko (season-ending shoulder surgery).
C.J. Smith (hip area surgery done for the season

NOTES:

-For the first time in 10 games, the Wolf Pack didn’t change its lineup.

Pretty sure that it will change Saturday night.

-Springfield lost goalie Joel Hofer to emergency recall, who owned the Pack with shutouts in their last two meetings.

The St. Louis recall was because the suspension of Jordan Binnington forced Springfield to start rookie Zherenko.

The Thunderbirds then signed a minor league vet yesterday, Garrett Sparks, a former Maple Leafs farmhand with Orlando (ECHL).

-Binnington’s good friend ex-Pack Phil Di Guiseppe was sent back by Vancouver to Abbotsford.

-Ridly Greig, son of ex-Whaler Mark, is sent back to Belleville by Ottawa.

-Joe Snively, a former Yale Bulldog, is sent back to Hershey by Washington and assisted on their first goal Friday night.

-Another former Yale Bulldog, Luke Stevens, is recalled from the Kansas City Mavericks (ECHL) to replace the loss of another former Yalie John Hayden to an emergency recall to Seattle.

-Patrick Grasso, the nephew of ex-Night Tom Mullen, recalled FRO, Adirondack (ECHL) by Utica, and Mitch Fossier from Maine (ECHL) by Providence.

-Brad Morrison, nephew of former New Haven Nighthawk and current Manitoba Moose (AHL) head coach Mark Morrison, is traded from Florida (ECHL) to Kalamazoo (ECHL). He started the hockey year in Slovakia.

-Unusual for a player coming from Russia to the AHL in Shakir Mukhamadullin, from Salavat Yulaev Ufa (Russia-KHL) to the San Jose Barracuda (AHL), but he isn’t Calder Cup eligible.

-The signing of college players has reached 72 players. Among the new signees is Justin Pearson, UCONN (HE)/Yale (ECACHL), the grad transfer, who the Cleveland Monsters signed. He is the son of former pro player NHL/AHL Rob Pearson.

-Big college hockey upsets Friday night with five of the six big games going to overtime in Quinnipiac, #2 in the nation in the last poll before the postseason, who lost to Colgate University in double OT 2-1 in the ECACHL semifinals.

Colorado College, with Rangers prospect Noah Laba, was the only school to do so in regulation 1-0 against in-state rival Denver University in the NCHC semifinals.

On Saturday, there are six conference championships. Quinnipiac is a guaranteed #2 overall seed in the Pairwise rankings.

The Sunday selection show at 6:30 on ESPNU will be exciting.

HARTFORD WOLF PACK

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HARTFORD, CT – The Hartford Wolf Pack off-season is expected to be another roster transformation project that will make the 2022-23 edition of the New York Rangers AHL affiliate into a very different team.

Six Wolf Pack players, Maxim Letunov, Kris Merkley, Anthony Greco, all forwards, and goaltenders Adam Húska, and Keith Kinkaid are all Unrestricted Free Agents (UFA).

Three of those players, led by Húska, Letunov, and Merkley as per the CBA, are Group 6 free agents by way of not having played enough NHL games by age 25.

Húska’s pending departure seems to be clear after Swedish goaltending prospect, Olof Lindbom, was signed to a two-year ELC deal for $925K-NHL/$70K-AHL. He played last year with Kristianstads IK (Sweden-Allsvenskan) where he posted underwhelming numbers. In 27 games, Lindblom registered a 3.27 GAA an under .500 record at 10-15-0, and a .900 save percentage.

HARTFORD WOLF PACK RESTRICTED FREE AGENTS

Restricted Free Agents (RFA) have to be made legitimate offers. Those Wolf Pack players include Tim Gettinger, Ty Ronning, Vitali Kravtsov, Justin Richards, and Austin Rueschoff. Goaltender, Tyler Wall, is very likely to be allowed to leave as a free agent. As is Jake Elmer and still in junior with Seattle (WHL) still in the playoffs, Matt Rempe.

In the NHL the Rangers have their own share of UFA’s. Greg McKegg, Kevin Rooney, Ryan Strome, Andrew Copp, Ryan Reaves, and trade deadline acquisitions who have played well, Frank Vatrano, Tyler Motte, and Justin Braun.

The Rangers also have Kaapo Kakko, Julien Gauthier, and Libor Hájek who played five games in Hartford on a conditioning stint, and enigmatic ex-Pack goaltender, Alexander Georgiev.

Hartford GM Ryan Martin and Rangers GM/President Chris Drury are, no doubt, getting ready for an important entry draft and are also likely discussing what other moves the franchise could make including possible trade deals.

COACHING, PLAYER MANAGEMENT MOVES

Four ex-Springfield Falcons are playing in Dysin Mayo (Canada). Those players are Marek Langhamer (Czech Republic (Czechia), Matthias Plachta (Germany), and Denis Malgin (Switzerland (LNA).

There will be no Russian squad to play after the IIHF took away the sites of Novosibirsk and Omsk for both this and the WJC tourney.

New Canaan resident, Pierre McGuire, the former Hartford Whaler head coach plus long-time NBC and TSN hockey analyst, was relieved of his duties less than a year on the job in Ottawa as Senior VP of Player Development.

The Bridgeport Islanders knocked off the Providence Bruins to advance against the Charlotte in the Atlantic Division semifinals before falling to the Checkers. Meanwhile, the Springfield Thunderbirds eliminated the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in the other Semi-final.

Joe Snively, the former Yale Bulldog with the Hershey Bears was recalled by Washington, Then Mathieu Olivier, son of ex-Knights Simon is sent to Milwaukee by Nashville.

The Jacksonville Icemen, the ECHL affiliate of both the Wolf Pack and the Rangers, advanced to the ECHL South Division Final to play in-state rival the Florida Everblades (Nashville) in the Kelly Cup playoffs. They were swept by the Everblades, who shut them out twice in the series.

EX-UCONN GOALIE SENT TO FLORIDA

Florida did receive former UCONN goalie Tomáš Vomáčka, after he was reassigned for the series by Nashville from Milwaukee (AHL), but didn’t play or dress.

Connor Jones, a former Quinnipiac University (QU) Bobcat, and ex-Bridgeport Sound Tiger announced his retirement from hockey while with Ft. Wayne (ECHL). Twin brother Kellen will continue to play on with the legendary Komets.

Former QU Bobcat Latvian Kārlis Čukste leaven Pelicans Lahti (Finland) for HC Oceláři Třinec (Czech Republic (Czechia)-CEL) for next season. He played for Latvia in the Olympics and is slated to be on their World Championship team.

David Musil exits HC Oceláři Třinec  (Czech Republic (Czechia)-CEL) to HC Dynamo Pardubice.

After three years as an assistant captain for Tölzer Löwen (Germany DEL-2), former Sound Tiger Tyler McNeeley signed with Rosenheim (Germany Division-3).

CANADIAN WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP ROSTER

The Canadian World championship roster was released with a few familiar names on it.

On defense will be ex-Pack and current New Jersey Devil, Ryan Graves. At forward, will be Cole Sillinger as will Pierre-Luc Dubois.

Húska is suiting up for Slovakian Team and Hartford GM Ryan Martin will guide the US squad.

There will be no Russian squad to play and the IIHF took away the sites of Novosibirsk and Omsk from them for this and the WJC tourney.

Some familiar names are on other WC teams to play in Tampere and Helsinki, Finland.

The US squad features ex-Pack, Vinni Lettieri, ex-Sound Tiger Kieffer Bellows, and goalies Jon Gillies (Salisbury Prep) and Strauss Mann (Greenwich/Brunswick Prep/CT Jr. Rangers-USPHL ) who was signed this off-season by San Jose after playing this year in Sweden and represented the US in the Olympics.

MORE NAMES INVOLVED WITH WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

The US team’s Equipment Manager is Hamden’s Chris Scoppetto (AHL Beast of New Haven) now with New Jersey.

Italy’s assistant coach is Larry Huras (Nighthawks).

The Czech Republic (Czechia) team has ex-Pack Tomáš Kundrátek, Michael Spacek and ex-UCONN recruit, Matej Blümel.

Latvia’s head coach is ex-New Haven Senator, Harijs Vitolins.

Denmark has the soon-to-be-retiring ex-Sound Tiger, Franz Nielsen.

Sweden, has ex-Pack goalie, Magnus Hellberg and forward Carl Klingberg.

Germany, assistant coach is former Hartford Whaler, Tom Rowe.

Switzerland has another ex-Pack who is nearing the end of his career, Andres Ambühl.

MOVES APLENTY CONTINUE

Lastly, Great Britain has goalie Jackson Whistle and Ben Lake, the former Pioneer from Sacred Heart University-AHA.

UCONN recruit Brayden Smith has elected to go to the Penticton Knights (BCHL) next year to preserve his NCAA rights likely for two years. He was taken by the Vancouver Giants (WHL) under former Wolf Pack head coach and Giants associate coach, Keith McCambridge. They selected him in the 2020 bantam draft in the sixth round, 122nd overall.

He was also drafted by the Weyburn (SK) Red Wings (SJHL) in 2020 in the third round 25th overall in their draft.

If he plays one second of major junior pre-season, regular season, or post-season his NCAA eligibility is lost. That’s how the rules are now, but that could change in the future.

Players eligible for the 2022 WHL Prospects Draft on May 19th next week are 2007-born players who reside in; Alberta, B.C., Manitoba, Saskatchewan, the Northwest Territories, and the Yukon.

The US States that are eligible are; Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.

OHL DRAFT

In the OHL Priority Draft, Birk Cassels was taken from the Ohio Jr. Blue Jackets U-15 AAA team (T1EHL) by the Ottawa 67’s at 290th overall in the 14th round.

Cole Cassels played with nearby Cleveland and his nephews are ex-Pack Morgan Barron (Manitoba) and Justin (Laval).

The prospects for the Q that can be drafted are currently playing in the territories served by the QMJHL: the provinces of Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, and Labrador, as well as the northeastern portion of the United States. The QMJHL Draft will take place a few days before the NHL Draft July 4-5 instead of June 17-18.

Tyler Wood of the Selects Academy at South Kent Prep is in the top-tier of the Q draft prospects general list, not just the US portion of the draft that will take place after the main draft.

AHL’ERS HEADING TO EUROPE

After eight years in North America, Sven Bärtschi, of the Henderson Silver Knights returns to his hometown and signs a three-year deal with SC Bern (Switzerland-LNA). He is the third player, thus far from the AHL to head to Europe.

Krystof Hrabik heads from San Jose signs with HC Plzeň (Pilsner) (the Czech Republic-(Czechia)-CEL) and heading back to Russia is goalie Alexei Melnichuk, a Russian native and so far, only Russians will likely do so, heads from the San Jose Barracuda, who finished dead last in the AHL to HC Sochi (Russia-KHL).

NCAA NEWS

Two players are heading to nearby AIC (AHA) in Springfield, MA. Hunter McCurdy of the Danbury Jr. Hat Tricks (NAHL) commits to the school for the fall.

The 57th and 58th NCAA grad transfers are Brennan Boynton after playing just one game with NCAA semi-finalist at the Frozen Four Minnesota (Big 10) will skate for the Yellow Jackets next season.

Ryan Sidorski goes from Union College (ECACHL) to North Dakota (NCHC).

A seventh college player heads to Europe as Taylor Brierley goes from D-3 Wilkes University (UCHC) to HC Chambéry (France-Division-2).

Then a 59th grad transfer of the college offseason Dylan St. Cyr heads to the Michigan St. Spartans (Big 10) heading back to his native Michigan to complete his collegiate career. He is from Northville, a Detroit suburb.

St. Cyr did a regular transfer last year to QU from Notre Dame. He is the son of former New Haven Senator, Gerry St, Cyr. His mother is Manon Rheaume, the first female to play goal in an NHL game albeit exhibition who has a statue of herself in Quebec City on Jean Béliveau Way, near the Videotrom Centre home of the QMJHL Quebec Remparts.

HARTFORD WOLF PACK

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BY: Alex Thomas, Hartford Wolf Pack

HARTFORD, CT – The Hartford Wolf Pack will look to break out of a slump that has seen the team drop six of its last seven games in regulation time on Saturday night when they welcome the Hershey Bears to town for a key Atlantic Division matchup. This is the second half of a back-to-back for the Pack and the third game of a four-game homestand.

The puck drop is set for 7:00 p.m.

Tale of The Tape:

This is the sixth and final meeting of the 2021-22 regular season series between the Wolf Pack and the Bears and the second of two meetings this month between the sides.

The Wolf Pack skated to a 3-1 victory over the Bears at the XL Center in the last meeting on March 5^th. With a powerplay goal, Matt Lorito opened the scoring 12:15 into the second period. The Bears tied the contest just 55 seconds into the third period on an Aliaksei Protas goal, his fourth of the campaign. Tanner Fritz would break the tie 4:11 into the third period, giving the Wolf Pack a lead they would not lose when he banked the puck into the net off a Hershey defender. Austin Rueschhoff tacked on an insurance marker on the powerplay 7:19 into the third period, his 13^th of the campaign, to cement the win.

The Wolf Pack have taken four of the first five meetings between the divisional foes, including both meetings in Hartford. The Wolf Pack are 4-1-0-0 against the Bears during the 2021-22 campaign.

As things currently stand, the Wolf Pack and Bears would meet in a best-of-three, first-round Calder Cup Playoffs matchup.

Wolf Pack Outlook:

The Wolf Pack dropped their second straight contest on Friday night, falling 3-2 to the Springfield Thunderbirds. Patrick Khodorenko and Lauri Pajuniemi both scored for the Pack, but Dakota Joshua’s powerplay goal at 15:09 of the third period proved to be the difference. Sam Anas scored twice for the T-Birds in the victory. For Pajuniemi, it was his first game back after missing the last four contests. He now has two goals in his previous three appearances.

The Wolf Pack have lost six of their last seven games in regulation time. The club’s lone victory was a 5-2 decision last Saturday night against the Belleville Senators.

Anthony Greco leads the Pack in scoring with 45 points (14 g, 31 a). Ty Ronning leads active Wolf Pack skaters in goals with 15. On Thursday, the Pack released forward Aaron Luchuk from his professional tryout (PTO). Defenseman Brandon Scanlin, signed by the parent New York Rangers (NHL) to a two-year, entry-level contract last weekend, made his professional debut last night. He collected an assist in the loss.

Bears Outlook:

Last night, the Bears dropped a 2-0 decision against the Providence Bruins at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center, dropping their record to 30-24-5-3 on the campaign. Tyler Lewington broke a scoreless tie at 6:26 of the third period, while Matt Filipe tacked on an empty netter at 19:33 to cement the victory. Zach Fucale made 16 saves on 17 shots in defeat. The Bears outshot the Bruins by a 28-18 margin.

Mike Vecchione leads active Bears skaters in points with 37 (12 g, 25 a) on the season. Garrett Pilon is second among active skaters with 33 points (15 g, 18 a). Forwards Joe Snively (38 points) and Axel Jonsson-Fjallby (34 points) are currently with the parent Washington Capitals (NHL).

The Bears currently have won 2,999 games in franchise history. A victory tonight will make them the first team in AHL history with 3,000 victories.

Game Information:

WATCH: AHLTV
LISTEN: https://mixlr.com/hfd-wolf-pack/

Join us tonight at the XL Center as we host Guns ‘N Hoses night! For more information on the event, please visit www.ctheroescup.com. The first 1,500 fans into the building this evening will also receive a hand-drawn poster courtesy of Carvel. The Pack will close out their four-game homestand on Monday night when the Utica Comets come to town. Puck drop for tonight’s contest and Monday night’s tilt is set for 7:00 p.m.

Tickets are available at hartfordwolfpack.com.

HARTFORD WOLF PACK

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HERSHEY, PA – Justin Richards scored a late game-winner as the Hartford Wolf Pack bounced back with a 3-2 win in Central Pennsylvania, gaining a weekend split with the Hershey Bears.

Zac Jones came off the bench on the game-winner, caught the puck, and put it back into the Hershey zone, keeping them from a shift change and keeping the tired players on the ice.

Lauri Pajuniemi forced a turnover deep in the Hershey territory. He recovered the puck for a left-wing drive that went wide. Ty Ronning tracked down and retrieved the loose puck at the right-wing boards and sent a backhand pass to Tarmo Reunanen at the right point. As Reunanen wound up and shot, Richards came out from behind the net, parked himself in front of the net, and beautifully deflected the Pack defenseman’s shot for his third goal of the season at 17:14.

The Pack’s commitment to team defense held up for the win. In a late defensive zone draw, Ronning demonstrated his dedication to the team in a diving effort to get the puck out of the zone and out to Alex Whelan.

The Wolf Pack record improves to 18-11-3-2 (41 points). They are now in second place .10 percentage points behind the new division leader, the Providence Bruins.

Hershey’s record falls to 19-12-3-2 (43 points) and a .597 winning percentage.

The Pack was recharged by the entire line of Jonny Brodzinski-Tim Gettinger-Anthony Greco and Reunanen and Jones on defense.

Adam Huska was in goal for the injured Keith Kinkaid. Huska made 24 saves, including a huge early third-period beauty on a three-on-two rush stopping Shane Gersich and Mike Vecchione at 7:21.

At 5:36 of the second period, Jones and Brodzinski combined to get one past netminder Zach Fucale for Brodzinski’s 12th goal of the season.

Hershey retaliated shortly after that with Gersich behind the net, finding Vecchione, who went over Huska’s glove at 7:16 to tie the game at two.

The Wolf Pack took the lead in the first period, with Tanner Fritz scoring his first goal in two months from Ronning at 7:08. However, Hershey tied it late as former Yale Bulldog, Joe Snively, continued his torrid home play with his 13th goal of the season, all scored on home ice. Snively converted a Gersich pass on a late power-play at 19:02.

LINES

Brodzinski-Gettinger-Greco
Richards-Pajuniemi-Khordorenko
Rueschoff-Ronning-Fritz
Whelan-O’Leary-DiGiacinto

Bitetto-Skinner
Lundkvist-Robertson
Jones-Reunanen

Huska
Wall

SCRATCHES:

Kinkaid (lower-body)
Hayhurst
Elmer
Luchuk
Sanchez (day-to-day)
Taylor
Brassard

NOTES:

The Pack’s Double AA affiliates, the Jacksonville Icemen, released forward Jacob Panetta after 31 games for allegedly making racist taunts at defenseman Jordan Subban, the youngest brother of NHL defenseman PK Subban in an overtime game Saturday with South Carolina.

The entire incident is under review by the league, and they will render an official comment and likely suspension in the coming days. Subban hasn’t played at the AHL level in two years.

HARTFORD WOLF PACK

HOME

The post CANTLON: (1/23) PACK RESPOND WITH WIN first appeared on Howlings.

Hershey Bears 4, Hartford Wolf Pack 3 (OT)

BY: Bob Crawford, Hartford Wolf Pack

Hershey, PA, December 1, 2019 – Steven Fogarty’s second goal of the game forced overtime with 2:03 left in the third period, but Brett Leason scored at 2:21 of OT to give the Hershey Bears a 4-3 win over the Hartford Wolf Pack Sunday at Giant Center.

A pass from Christian Djoos sent Leason down the left side in the Wolf Pack zone, and Hartford goaltender Adam Huska (25 saves) stopped Leason’s initial shot.  Huska could not control the rebound, though, and Leason flicked it into the net on his forehand, for his third point of the contest.

Fogarty’s team-leading seventh tally of the season earned the Wolf Pack a standings point for the 18th time in 22 games on the season (11-4-2-5).  With the teams skating 4-on-4, Vinni Lettieri backhanded the puck on goal from in the slot, and Hershey netminder Pheonix Copley (26 saves) made a stick stop.  Fogarty jumped on the rebound, however, and flipped the puck through Copley’s legs from the left side of the goal-mouth.

Hershey opened the scoring at 8:11 of the first period, on a rebound goal by defenseman Christian Djoos.  Mike Sgarbossa passed the puck from the left-wing side to Joe Snively in the middle.  His shot was stopped by Huska, but the puck caromed back out into the slot, and Djoos fired it in.

After a 40-minute delay for the cleanup of Hershey’s “Teddy Bear Toss”, Fogarty equalized for the Wolf Pack at 11:35, on Hartford’s first power play of the game.  With Kody Clark off for slashing, Fogarty took a drop pass from Joey Keane at his own blue line and clicked on a strong solo rush.  After slicing through the Bear defense, he finished with a low shot through the pads of Copley.

The Wolf Pack power play cashed in for a second time in two chances 7:37 into the second period, giving Hartford its first lead of the game.  After Tyler Lewington was called for interference at 6:11, Nick Ebert played the puck from the left point across to Phil DiGiuseppe high in the right circle.  He dropped it off to Vincent LoVerde high in the slot, and his one-timer beat Copley to the stick side.

Hershey’s Shane Gersich brought the Bears back into a tie at 15:16, with a shot from the bottom of the left circle.  Leason put the puck on net from the right boards, and Liam O’Brien jammed the rebound away from Huska, who could not scramble to his right quickly enough to stop Gersich’s bid.

Hershey then jumped in front again at 5:08 of the third period, with Beck Malenstyn scoring in his first game back from a recall stint with the Washington Capitals.  A shot from the left point by Ed Wittchow hit traffic in front of the goal, and, after Leason poked it on the net from the right side, it went off of Huska’s stick to Malenstyn in the slot.  He banged the puck in from close range.

The Wolf Pack finish a stretch of five straight road games this Friday night, December 6, traveling to Springfield for a 7:05 PM game vs. the Thunderbirds.  All of the action can be heard live on-line at hartfordwolfpack.com, and video streaming is available at theahl.com/AHLTV.

The next home game for the Wolf Pack is this Saturday, December 7, when the Binghamton Devils visit the XL Center for a 7:30 game.  That is “Star Wars Night”, as fans can rub shoulders with their favorite Star Wars characters, and win some awesome Star Wars prizes, and the first 2,000 fans will receive a free Wolf Pack 2020 calendar, presented by Hartford Distributors.

Tickets for all 2019-20 Wolf Pack home games are on sale now at the Sunwave Gas & Power Ticket Office at the XL Center, on-line at hartfordwolfpack.com and by phone at (877) 522-8499.  Tickets purchased in advance for kids 12 or younger start at just $10 each, and all tickets will have a $3 day-of-game increase.

To speak with a Wolf Pack representative about season or group tickets, or any of the Wolf Pack’s many ticketing options, call (860) 722-9425, or click here to request more info.  To visit the Wolf Pack online, go to hartfordwolfpack.com.

Hartford Wolf Pack 3 at Hershey Bears 4 (OT)
Sunday, December 1, 2019 – Giant Center

Hartford 1 1 1 0 – 3
Hershey 1 1 1 1 – 4

1st Period-1, Hershey, Djoos 2 (Snively, Sgarbossa), 8:11. 2, Hartford, Fogarty 6 (Keane), 11:35 (PP). Penalties-Taylor Hfd (slashing), 1:36; Clark Her (slashing), 11:11; Raddysh Hfd (boarding), 12:44.

2nd Period-3, Hartford, LoVerde 3 (Di Giuseppe, Ebert), 7:37 (PP). 4, Hershey, Gersich 3 (O’Brien, Leason), 15:16. Penalties-Lewington Her (interference), 6:11; Alexeyev Her (high-sticking), 7:51; Andersson Hfd (roughing), 8:44; O’Brien Her (tripping), 11:36; Sgarbossa Her (roughing), 16:46.

3rd Period-5, Hershey, Malenstyn 4 (Leason, Wittchow), 5:08. 6, Hartford, Fogarty 7 (Lettieri, Raddysh), 17:57. Penalties-Jones Hfd (holding), 2:34; Wittchow Her (slashing), 5:15; O’Brien Her (cross-checking), 10:04; Moulson Her (slashing), 13:16; Andersson Hfd (tripping), 17:26; Sgarbossa Her (roughing), 17:33.

OT Period-7, Hershey, Leason 1 (Djoos, Pinho), 2:21. Penalties-No Penalties

Shots on Goal-Hartford 6-10-13-0-29. Hershey 12-10-11-4-37.
Power Play Opportunities-Hartford 2 / 9; Hershey 0 / 5.
Goalies-Hartford, Huska 4-1-4 (37 shots-33 saves). Hershey, Copley 5-5-4 (29 shots-26 saves).
A-10,014
Referees-Reid Anderson (49), Andrew Bruggeman (22).
Linesmen-Bob Goodman (90), Bill Lyons (27).

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