HARTFORD, CT – When he was a member of the Connecticut Whale, Jonathan Audy-Marchessault was a diamond in the rough.

Marchessault was playing for the Quebec Remparts in the QMJHL, learning his craft under the recently-retired Memorial Cup-winning head coach, Patrick Roy, over a dozen years ago. The New York Rangers signed Marchessault as an undrafted free agent in 2010 along with his junior teammate and fellow Connecticut Whale alumni, the just-retired Kelsey Tessier. Another of Marchessault’s junior and CT Whale teammates was retired forward Ryan Bourque.

Marchessault finished second in scoring on the initial CT Whale squad with 24 goals and 64 points. The Rangers thought he was going to be strictly an AHL player. They got that wrong.

The Columbus Blue Jackets took a chance on Marchessault the following season and sent him to the AHL Springfield Falcons. Machessault’s anger and frustration were apparent when he explained why he signed and agreed to go to Springfield in a Howlings interview.

“It’s total BS. I’m second in scoring on the team (Kris Newbury was first) and the Rangers didn’t offer me any NHL money in a new contract. I had signed for just a year. They just offered another AHL deal. Total BS. I will get to the NHL and win the Stanley Cup. Signing with Columbus may be my fastest route,” Marchessault scornfully declared then.

Marchessault is the first undrafted player (signed with the WHA Indianapolis Racers with a personal services contract, or he would have been a Montreal Canadiens draft pick) since Wayne Gretzky in 1988 to win a Conn Smythe Trophy. He scored ten goals that either gave Vegas the lead (six times) or tied the game (four times) during the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs. He is just one of three players in the last 35 years to score a goal in the first three games of the Stanley Cup Final.

The Rangers weren’t the only team to misjudge Marchessault’s talent.

After one year with Columbus/Springfield and not getting an opportunity, he then signed the following year with the Tampa Bay Lightning. Marchessault got in his initial NHL playing time with 47 games over two years but spent most of his three years with the organization in Syracuse.

“Marchie’s” journey then crossed the Sunshine State when he signed with the Florida Panthers. He received his first solid NHL playing time a had a 30-goal campaign six years ago. When the Vegas Golden Knights came into the NHL as a franchise, Marchessault was left exposed by the Panthers and was taken by Vegas in the expansion draft.

The Panthers’ decision to leave Marchessault exposed amazingly came about because the franchise decided to protect two other players, both no longer in the organization, Alex Petrovic (Dallas) and Mark Pysyk (Buffalo), who was coming off his worst defensive year at minus-21.

Marchessault never wavered or accepted no for an answer – ever.

Marchessault was on a two-year deal with the Panthers at a cap-friendly $750K. The following year, he signed a five-year extension for $30 million that expires next year. It also included a modified no-trade clause. He then becomes a UFA.

Since he arrived in the Nevada desert, the 32-year-old has not been a minus player since, as one of the original six Golden Knights, who all started the Cup-clinching game.

Naturally, who scored Vegas’s first goal of the series…Marchessault.

The Connecticut connections in Vegas are numerous. Their backup goalie, Jonathan Quick (Hamden/AOF), Chandler Stephenson, is the nephew of Bob Stephenson, a former Hartford Whaler. Ex-Ranger Brett Howden played for three years in New York.

A trio of ex-Whalers, assistant coach John Stevens Sr., goalie coach Sean Burke who did a superb job with Conn Smythe consideration former Springfield Falcon, Aidin Hill, whose first pro game was against the Wolf Pack, and Murray Craven, is a Senior VP of Operations.

Vegas’ Team President is former New Haven Nighthawk and Ranger George McPhee.

Scouts include ex-Whaler Jim McKenzie (Pro Scout), Connor Jones (Amateur Scout) is a former Quinnipiac University/Bridgeport Sound Tigers/and the grandson of former New Haven Blade Terry Jones) standout and ex-Whaler, Alex Godynyuk (European scout).

Florida had ex-Yale Bulldog goalie Alex Lyon, ex-Pack/Ranger Marc Staal, former Sound Tiger Carter Verhaeghe, former Whaler coach, head coach Paul Maurice, and ex-Pack Sylvain Lefebvre as the Panthers assistant coach.

Pro Scouts Sean Backman (Cos Cob/Yale Univ./Sound Tigers/AOF) and P.J. Fenton (son of Nighthawk/Whaler Paul Fenton)

Two special advisors to the team GM, former Nighthawks coach Rick Dudley and former New Haven Nighthawks and Whalers player PJ’s father, the aforementioned Paul Fenton.

Marchessault now has a Stanley Cup ring and was voted as the Conn Smythe Trophy with the Golden Knights with the second most points of 25, just one behind Jack Eichel.

Quebec City got its Stanley Cup from the Cap-Rouge native, a suburb of the city and hopes Marchessault remembers his declaration and parades the Cup it in front of the iconic Frontenac Hotel along the Quebec City elevated promenade, aside from the St. Lawrence River.

He now joins the pantheon of great Quebec French-Canadian high scoring forwards the game has had from Guy Lafleur, Mike Bossy, Mario Lemieux, Maurice “The Rocket” Richard, Marc Tardif, Andre “The Magician” Lacroix (ex-Whaler), Marcel Dionne, and Real “Buddy” Cloutier.

Not taking no for an answer paid off handsomely for Marchessault.

NAHL DRAFT

The NAHL-North American Hockey League held the last junior draft mid-week, two weeks before the NHL Draft in Nashville at the end of the month.

Taken from Connecticut first, the draft pick El Paso initial was James Mallozzi (New Canaan), selected from Westchester U-16 (T1EHL) in the second round (38th overall) by the Danbury Hat Tricks.

Danbury’s first round (26th overall) was Ethan Farrow, then Jack Wuertz in the second round (36th overall).

Tamás Tóth, from the CT Jr. Rangers (NCDC), who played for the Hungary WJC Division Group 1A team, was taken by the Maryland Black Bears.

Matt Alberti, from Salisbury School, was selected in the third round (71st overall) by Janesville (WI) Jets, and Evan West was taken by the Chippewa (WI) Steel, third round (84th overall), a former Danbury Jr. Hat Trick.

In the fourth round (123rd overall), Danbury took Marius Angelin from Potomac (USPHL Premier), coached by ex-Pack Josh Gratton. The pick belonged to the Amarillo (TX) Wranglers.

Then Roman Winnicki was taken in the fifth round (172nd overall) as the Hat Tricks took him from their NA3HL team and was originally an El Paso draft choice.

Jakub Krizan, from Czechia of the Selects Academy at SKP (South Kent Prep), went in the fifth round, 150th overall, and Jack Keane, in the sixth round, 164th overall, was taken by Danbury.

Then the Maine Nordiques took Lucas DiChiara of Fairfield in the sixth round (172nd overall). The pick originally belonged to the Johnstown (PA) Jets.

Then in the sixth round (190th overall), Geno Carcone was taken by Danbury from Des Moines (USHL). The pick was from the Lone Star (TX) Brahmas.

Then seventh round (196th overall), Jacob Ingstrup was selected by Minot (ND) and the Kent School Lions. Then Danbury took Matt DellaRusso (Darien) from the St. George’s School (RIPREP).

In the ninth round (281st overall), the Minnesota Wilderness took Jack Roberts from the Kent School. The final selection in the 10th round (313th overall) was Michael Murtagh, formerly of The Frederick Gunn School (Washington, CT), playing for the Nanaimo Clippers (BCHL).

NOTES:

The Rangers hired their new bench boss, who played 12 games in 1988-89 for the Blueshirts in his playing days and two seasons for the Binghamton Rangers, who were relocated to Hart City in 1997.

He has now coached six Metropolitan Division teams; NY Islanders, Hurricanes, Washington, Hurricanes, and Flyers.

The Rangers announced assistant coach and former Wolf Pack assistant Gord Murphy had been dismissed, and Kris Knoblauch would be back in Hart City.

Former Sound Tiger Matt Donovan returns to the AHL from Adler Mannheim (Germany-DEL) and signs with the Chicago Wolves.

Lochlan Tetarenko, the son of Beast of New Haven defenseman Joe Tetarenko, signs with Saskatoon (WHL), who drafted him last year from Okotoks (AEHL).

The Bridgeport Islanders’ defenseman Connor McCarthy, signs with HC Banska Bystrica (Slovakia-SLEL). He split the season between Bridgeport and Worcester (ECHL).

Ex-Whaler Mark Hunter of London Knights (OHL) won GM of the year, and Bridgeport Islanders Matt Maggio won the OHL Red Tilson regular season MVP award.

HARTFORD WOLF PACK

HOME

The post MARCHESSAULT WINS STANLEY CUP AND CONN SMYTHE first appeared on Howlings.

      VERSUS      

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings

HARTFORD, CT – Cole Schneider’s OT game-winner allowed the Hartford Wolf Pack to end their home schedule in winning fashion 2-1 over the Binghamton Devils in the first meeting of the season.

The Wolf Pack close out the entire regular season in Binghamton.

The Wolf Pack finished their home schedule with a record of 19-6-3-0. Their record sits at .500 at 33-33-6-3. With a win tomorrow, the team will finish above .500, a goal the team has worked toward for the end of this season.

“We have had it on the board to get to .500. That’s what we’re striving for,” said Schneider, the game’s hero.

The game-winner came as Schneider took a lead pass from Chris Bigras at center ice as the Wolf Pack were going for a wholesale change during the three-on-three marched down the right wing was able to stuff in his fifteenth goal of the season off a rebound of his backhander on goaltender Cam Johnson at 1:53.

30 seconds earlier, Johnson stopped Bigras on a breakaway which looked like it could have been the game-winner.

For Schneider, it capped a game perfectly where he was voted the Team’s MVP by his teammates.

“I was happy Biggie didn’t score on the breakaway so I could get out there and get the game winner,” Schneider said with a laugh.

He was humbled hearing the announcement of his winning the MVP.

“It’s very special to be respected by the guys like that. When your teammates do something like that, you really appreciate it. I look at it as so special. It will really hit me over the summer.”

The Pack’s Adam Tambellini had the first solid chance to win the game at 26 seconds of OT with a burst down the left wing that came off a pass from Vinni Lettieri that Johnson stopped.

“We had some good chances in the third and got a few early in overtime and Cole Schneider finished it off. I thought we did a solid job all night and were able to pull through for the win.”

Finishing with a winning home record was also uppermost important to the team.

“We talked about it before the game about getting back to .500 (overall) and to finish up strong at home for the fans and we were able to do that,” Schneider stated.

Lettieri had two chances in the final two minutes of regulation to win it but came up empty. As awards were announced, Lettieri was named as the Wolf Pack Fan Favorite as voted on by the Pack faithful.

“We had some chances where I had more time than I thought. We had chances. Tambo had a good effort on the backhander too against them.”

Winning The Fan Favorite Award and the support from the faithful meant a lot to Lettieri. “I was very thankful for that. We really appreciate the fans. They helped us a lot this year, whether we were winning or losing, they were there for us. I can’t credit them enough how they were there for us, especially in the second half. We saw more fans coming in and that gave us momentum. On some (nights) they got us fired up and thanks to them for that. We’re excited to give them something more to cheer about next year.”

Playing a brand new opponent in game 75 was alright with Lettieri.

“It was great. In fact, it was kind of refreshing actually to see somebody else. We play Springfield and Bridgeport, what, 50 times this year? So, it was nice to play a new team for a change.”

Binghamton nearly won it in the waning seconds of regulation.

Christian Bertschy came off the left wing wall and raced to the net. Pack goalie, Alex Georgiev, calmly poke-checked the puck off his stick.

In the third period, the Devils tied the game at one late in the period.

Nathan Bastian took a short drop pass from Mike MacLeod while Vince Pedrie and Schneider collided while trying to stop MacLeod. Bastian slipped away from Steven Fogarty and sped down the left wing untouched. He then cut across Georgiev and put his shot just under his right pad for his sixth of the season with 5:53 left in the regulation.

In the second period, the Wolf Pack held the Devils to just five shots. Part of the reason for the low shot total was strong defensive play inside the Wolf Pack zone from Ryan Lindgren, who did some fine shot blocking on an attempt by Christian Bertschy.

They were able to put eleven shots on Johnson including a right-wing drive by Fogarty that was redirected by Dawson Leedahl. Gabriel Fontaine, the winner of the team’s Seventh Player Award, was on the third line. He too had a solid opportunity denied by Johnson.

The Wolf Pack used their first power play to score the game’s first goal.

Bigras got the shot off from the right point. The puck made it through to Fogarty. He won a one-on-one battle and out-positioned and got in-between and behind Devils defenseman Brian Strait, and Tariq Hammond who had lost his stick for a shot that was stopped.

Ryan Gropp followed that up with being in a perfect support position behind Fogarty and chipped in his thirteenth of the season at 12:48.

This came just after Dan DeSalvo’s shot from the right point was nearly put in by the stick of Devils defenseman, Jagger Dirk.

WOLF PACK TEAM AWARD WINNERS:

MVP: Cole Schneider
7the Player Award: Gabriel Fontaine
Team Character Award: Steven Fogarty
Man of the Year: Chris Nell
Fan Favorite: Vinni Lettieri

WOLF PACK LINES:

Albert-Leedahl-Jaspar
Schneider-Fogarty-DeSalvo
Tambellini-Lettieri-Ronning
Fontaine-Gropp-Salvaggio

Bigras-Helgesen
Lindgren-Labrie
Pedrie-Crawley

SCRATCHES:

Scott Kosmachuk (foot injury)
Brendan Smith (broken hand)
Boo Nieves (healthy)
Dan Catenacci (veteran)
Drew Melanson (healthy)

Rangers unofficially assigned forward Lias Andersson (Sweden) and Filip Chytil (Czech Republic) to their respective World Championship teams that begin play in Denmark in two weeks on May 4.

The Wolf Pack announced the date of the home opener for 2018-19. The date will be October 5th.

Dirk is the son of former NHL defenseman Robert Dirk.

A whole host of scouts on hand for the home finale. Among them were Anaheim, Detroit, Ottawa, and Winnipeg.

Earlier in the week, defenseman Alexei Bereglazov, who played 13 games at the start of the season before returning to Russia, was put on unconditional waivers and cleared. This ends his contract with the Rangers and he will not be returning to Hartford in the fall and will remain in Russia to play in the KHL.

Wolf Pack Fan Jersey of the Night:

Old school night for sure; #7 Joe Rullier (still remember the banner from the home crowd, “Rullier is French for Loser!” He’s since retired), #14 Jack Combs (Iserlohn Germany-DEL), #15 Hugh Jessiman (retired), #18 (CT Whale) Jonathan Audy-Marchessault (Las Vegas-NHL), #20 P.J. Stock (assistant coach St. Lazare QJAAAHL), #23 Jayson Megna (Vancouver-NHL/Utica-AHL), #27 Martin Grenier (retired), #34 Dane Byers (Manchester England-EIHL), #46 Jordan Owens (Fischtown Germany-DEL) and #48 Peter Ferraro (retired).

Bonus: A pair of Ronnings were in the house, a #7 Cliff Ronning (Arizona) and Ty Ronning #14 (from last year).

The post CANTLON: PACK KNOCK OFF DEVILS IN FINAL HOME GAME OF THE SEASON first appeared on Howlings.

BY: Bob Crawford, Voice of the CTWhale

The Whale only managed one point out of three games this past weekend, but maintained a two-point lead over Bridgeport for first place in the Northeast Division.  The Whale fell to Portland, 4-1, on Friday night at home, then dropped a 3-2 decision to the P-Bruins the following night in Hartford. Connecticut gathered one point in a 4-3 overtime road defeat to the Sound Tigers to close out the weekend Sunday.  Kris Newbury and Jonathan Audy-Marchessault led the Whale offense with a goal and two assists each on the weekend.

This week:

• The Whale host three opponents in three days this weekend, starting with a date against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Friday night at the XL Center (7:00 PM faceoff). The next night, the Adirondack Phantoms come to town for their final Northeast Division clash of the season with the Whale (7:00), and the Whale close out the weekend’s action on Sunday with another tilt against the Providence Bruins.  That game faces off at a special time of 2:00 PM.

Friday, March 30 vs. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins at the XL Center, 7:00 PM

• This is the third of four clashes on the campaign between the Whale and the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.
• As at every remaining Friday-night Whale home game in the regular season, fans can take advantage of a special meal combo deal at this game.  A hot dog and a 12-ounce soda is only $5.
• The Whale have split two meetings with the Penguins so far this season, winning once in a shootout in Wilkes-Barre before dropping a 3-2 overtime decision at the XL Center in their last head-to-head action on Jan. 27.
• Jonathan Audy-Marchessault has scored once against the Penguins this season, also tallying a shootout winning goal against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in just his second professional game on October 9.
• Former Whale Jason Williams has scored twice for the Penguins against his old club to pace Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
• The Penguins lost two out of three games this past weekend with defeats to Adirondack and St. John’s, but salvaged the weekend with a 5-3 win over Springfield on Sunday.
• Television – this game features the second of three live “Whale TV” telecasts on CPTV Sports, presented by Webster Bank, with Bob Crawford and Garry Swain at the mikes.  CPTV Sports is available on Comcast cable channels 185, 187 and 744 and on the Cox Communications cable system channel 144.
• Radio – CT Whale “Rockin’ Hockey”, live with Mark Bailey, on “The Rock” 106.9 WCCC-FM, and on-line at CTWhale.com.

Saturday, March 31 vs. Adirondack Phantoms at the XL Center, 7:00 PM

• There will be a Whale game-worn jersey auction at this game, to benefit the March of Dimes.  Green game-worn jerseys of Jonathan Audy-Marchessault, Lee Baldwin, Brendan Bell, Francois Bouchard, Tim Erixon, Chad Johnson, Jared Nightingale, Wade Redden, Andre Deveaux, Tommy Grant, Sam Klassen, Chris McKelvie, Kris Newbury, Jordan Owens, Blake Parlett, Cam Talbot, Scott Tanski, Kelsey Tessier, Andreas Thuresson, Pavel Valentenko and Aaron Voros will be up for bids.
• The Whale meet the Adirondack Phantoms Saturday night in their final meeting of four head-to-head tilts this season.
• Connecticut has taken two of three meetings with the Phantoms on the season, winning the last two since dropping the first game of the season to Adirondack in October.
• Kris Newbury tallied a hat trick in that first game, a 6-3 Whale loss October 8, and has added two assists for five points in action against the Phantoms. Denis Hamel has tallied four points (1-3-4) against Connecticut this season, with Mike Testwuide tallying two goals and an assist.
• The Phantoms have won three straight games after snapping a three-game losing streak, putting them two points behind the Syracuse Crunch for eighth place, the last playoff spot, in the Eastern Conference.
• Former Wolf Pack Matthew Ford tallied three goals and an assist for four points this weekend for the Phantoms. Rookie Jason Akeson leads the Phantoms in scoring with 49 points on the season (11-38-49).
• Radio – CT Whale “Rockin’ Hockey”, live with Bob Crawford, Garry Swain and Mark Bailey, on “The Rock” 106.9 WCCC-FM, and on-line at CTWhale.com.

Sunday, April 1 vs. Providence Bruins at the XL Center, 2:00 PM

• Faceoff time for this contest was moved up to 2:00 PM from its original scheduled start time of 3:00 PM.
• The Whale clash with the Providence Bruins on Sunday for the second time in eight days, looking to snap a four-game skid against the P-Bruins.
• Connecticut started the season series with three straight wins against Providence, but has dropped all four since (0-3-0-1), including last Saturday’s 3-2 decision.
• Kris Newbury has tallied seven points (3-4-7) against the Bruins this season, while Carter Camper has gathered four goals and two assists against the Whale for Providence.
• The Bruins ride a four-game winning-streak into this week’s action, having edged Portland, 2-1, in a shootout on Sunday to close out their weekend.
• Providence has closed to within two points of the eighth spot in the Eastern Conference, in a virtual tie with the Adirondack Phantoms.
• Radio – CT Whale “Rockin’ Hockey”, live with Bob Crawford, Garry Swain and Mark Bailey, on “The Rock” 106.9 WCCC-FM, and on-line at CTWhale.com

“Whale TV”, presented by Webster Bank:

The following special “Whale TV” selections are available this week to Comcast Xfinity on Demand customers throughout New England, in the “Get Local” folder of Comcast’s On Demand Service:

• Andrew Yogan Interview (Whale Special Events folder) – New York Ranger 2010 fourth-round draft pick Andrew Yogan, sits down with Bob Crawford, the voice of the Whale, to talk about being one of the latest additions to the Whale roster and Yogan’s excellent season in the Ontario Hockey League this year.
• Whale vs. Providence Game (Game of the Week folder) – an edited re-broadcast of the Whale’s XL Center battle with their arch-rivals the Providence Bruins from this past Saturday night.
• Every week, CPTV Sports will air an edited re-broadcast of a Whale game, on “Whale TV Replay”.  CPTV Sports is available on Comcast cable channels 185, 187 and 744 and on the Cox Communications cable system channel 144.
• This Tuesday night at 7:00 PM, Whale TV Replay will feature a re-broadcast of the energetic clash between the Whale and P-Bruins Saturday night.

Recent Transactions:

• Blake Parlett – Reassigned by the NY Rangers from the Whale to Greenville (ECHL) March 22
• Steve Moses – Signed by the Whale to an Amateur Tryout (ATO) agreement March 23
• Peter Ceresnak – Signed by the Whale to an Amateur Tryout (ATO) agreement March 21
• Andrew Yogan – Signed by the Whale to an Amateur Tryout (ATO) agreement March 21

Whale Tales:

• Fans can take advantage of multiple opportunities to put in auction bids on Whale game-worn jerseys this week.  White Whale game-worn jerseys of Sean Avery, Stu Bickel, Ryan Bourque, Erik Christensen, Carl Hagelin, John Mitchell, Wojtek Wolski, Jeff Woywitka and Mats Zuccarello are up for auction on E-bay through this Tuesday, March 27 at 12 noon.  Green game-worn jerseys of Jonathan Audy-Marchessault, Lee Baldwin, Brendan Bell, Francois Bouchard, Tim Erixon, Chad Johnson, Jared Nightingale, Wade Redden, Andre Deveaux, Tommy Grant, Sam Klassen, Chris McKelvie, Kris Newbury, Jordan Owens, Blake Parlett, Cam Talbot, Scott Tanski, Kelsey Tessier, Andreas Thuresson, Pavel Valentenko and Aaron Voros will be auctioned off at the Whale’s home game this Saturday, March 31 vs. Adirondack, to benefit the March of Dimes.
• The Whale will be hosting a “CT Whale Trail Pub Crawl” this Saturday, March 31, from 3:00 PM to the 7:00 PM faceoff of their game that night at the XL Center vs. the Adirondack Phantoms.  The Pub Crawl will go through five fine downtown Hartford establishments: the Federal Café, 84 Union Place; Pig’s Eye Pub, 356 Asylum St.; The Tavern Downtown, 100 Allyn St.;  The Russian Lady, 191 Ann Uccello St.; and McKinnon’s Irish Pub, 114 Asylum St., before ending at the XL Center for the Whale game.  The cost to join the Pub Crawl is $20 for the general public and $10 for Whale ticket plan holders, and that includes a ticket to the March 31 Whale game and a blue Whale-tail scarf.  There will be $2 Bud, Bud Light and Bud Light Platinum drink specials, and two Big Gig tickets, a Whale merchandise prize pack and a Budweiser prize pack will be raffled off at each Pub Crawl location.  A portion of the proceeds from the Pub Crawl will benefit the March of Dimes.  For Pub Crawl tickets, visit CTWhale.com or call the Whale office at (860) 728-3366.
• Whale season seat-holders who reserve their full-season 2012-13 Whale tickets by April 13 will receive access for four people to the luxurious CT Whale Director’s Suite at the XL Center, for one Whale 2012-13 home game.  This allows the opportunity to watch the game alongside Whale executive personnel and special guests, and to enjoy all of the high-end amenities of the Director’s Suite.  Additionally, all Whale full-season 2012-13 subscribers who purchase by April 13 will receive a custom-made, high-quality season ticket-holder jersey fleece.  The jersey fleece will be exclusive to Whale full-season ticket-holders, and will feature a “Season Ticket Holder 2012-13” patch that designates it as a unique item.  For more information on purchasing Whale season tickets, call (860) 728-3366, visit the Season Ticket Holder table behind Section 101 at a Whale home game or log on to CTWhale.com.
• College students can get discounted tickets to Whale weekday games with the Whale’s “Ditch the Dorms” deal.  For Monday through Friday home games, students who show a valid student ID at the Public Power Ticket Office at the XL Center can get $2 off Upper Level tickets and $5 off Lower Level seats.
• Save on your tickets, and get the best seats, with a ticket plan for the Whale’s 2011-12 AHL campaign, which are on sale now. For information on season seats, mini plans and great group discounts, visit CTWhale.com, or call the CT Whale ticket office at (860) 728-3366 to talk with an account executive today.

The AHL’s Connecticut Whale is operated by Whalers Sports and Entertainment, a Hartford-based sports marketing and event firm founded by Howard Baldwin and Howard Baldwin, Jr.. The team is the top player-development affiliate of the NHL’s New York Rangers.

Since 1972, the CT Lottery has generated nearly $21.4 billion in sales and has transferred more than $7.2 billion to the state’s General Fund. Prizes have exceeded $12.3 billion. Purchasers must be 18 years or older. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, call the Problem Gambling Helpline at 1-800-346-6238. For more information about the Connecticut Lottery Corporation, visit CTLottery.org.

CATCH THE WHALE AT CTWHALE.COM

The post WHALE WEEKLY: March 26 – April 1, 2012 first appeared on Howlings.

VERSUS     

(We apologize as we’re unavailable for our normal direct CTWhale coverage for the next couple of games due to scheduling conflicts…)

BY:  Brian Ring

The Connecticut Whale were defeated by the Providence Bruins, 3-2, Saturday night at the XL Center before a crowd of 5,794. Craig Cunningham had a goal and an assist and Josh Hennessy had two assists to lead the Bruins in scoring, with Zach Trotman providing the game-winner.

Jonathan Audy-Marchessault and Kris Newbury both scored and had an assist for Connecticut, which lost its fourth straight game to the Bruins.

“This time of year you need points, it doesn’t matter how,” said Whale head coach Ken Gernander. “Our margin of error is such right now that given the time of year and the style we have to play, teams are going to create their own offense and it’s going to be tooth and nail.”

Audy-Marchessault opened the scoring 8:10 into the opening period with his 23^rd goal of the season, blasting a shot from the point past Bruins goaltender Anton Khudobin (33 saves). The goal was assisted by both Newbury and Wade Redden.

The Whale outshot the Bruins, 12-9, in the first period, with the home team carrying much of the offensive play. Khudobin contributed a key save on Andrew Yogan which kept the game 1-0 headed into the second period.

Cunningham would tie the game for Providence just 41 seconds into the second frame, taking advantage of a five minute power-play awarded after a boarding call on Yogan. Cunningham received a pass from Hennessy at the blue line and cut in past the Whale defense, breaking in on Whale goaltender Chad Johnson (28 saves) and scoring on the backhand.

The Bruins would stake themselves to a 2-1 lead with 5:01 left to play in the second, as Kirk MacDonald blasted a shot from the high slot through Johnson. Hennessy earned his second assist of the night on the goal, with Jared Staal notching the secondary helper.

Providence would strike again on the power-play 4:18 into the third period, as Trotman tallied his first professional goal in his first pro game to make it 3-1, providing the eventual game-winner. Trotman put a shot through traffic over Johnson, with assists going to David Warsofsky and Cunningham.

Newbury would get the Whale to within 3-2 on the power-play with 30 seconds to play, but a miracle comeback was not in the making, and the Whale fell by the same score.

The Whale close out this weekend’s action on Sunday afternoon, when they visit the Bridgeport Sound Tigers (3:00) at the Webster Bank Arena at Harbor Yard.

The Providence Bruins have even less coverage than the Whale do. Here’s the only news source on the game…just from their website.

GAME SUMMARY and OFFICIAL SCORERS SHEET

STANDINGS:

(Conference)

(Division)

(Standings provided by TheAHL.com)

GAME HIGHLIGHTS:

* Most interesting stat of the week comes from our good friend, and one of the best beat writers we know, Mike Fornabaio at the CTPost:

“In current, modern, points-for-all, bonus-points for OTL and SOW, there is only one Eastern Conference team below points-.500 right now, Binghamton. But if you translate those all back to W-L-T, the way it was pre-1994, only five are over.500: Norfolk (44-19-5), St. John’s (35-24-7), Wilkes-Barre (31-24-12), Hershey (30-24-12) and… Bridgeport (28-27-10). Standings under those terms: BPT 66, HFD 64, ADK 62, SPR 60, ALB 59; NOR 93 (yes, 93; they have only four bonus points right now), WBS 74, HER 72, SYR 62, BIN 55; SJ 77, MCR 66, WOR 61, POR 60, PRO 58.”

* Based upon how the standings sit right now, the Whale’s first round playoff opponents would be the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. Right now what’s at stake for the Whale is who has home ice advantage. Assuming things remain where they are.

* AHL PARADY? Currently in the standings, you have NINE teams that are within SIX points. Nothing I set in stone right now. Starting with Bridgeport at 73 points, just three behind the Whale with a game in hand, Manchester and Syracuse are seven and eight but trail the Sound Tigers by just two points. Springfield follows them in ninth just three points back at 68 and then the log jam. Worcester, Adirondack, Portland, Albany and Providence all have 67. This isn’t over folks. The Whale need to get wins. If they don’t they could not only not finish third, but they could wind up on the outside looking in.

LINES:

Grant – Tessier –Wellman 
Audy-Marchessault – Newbury – Deveaux
Bourque – Owens – Tanski
Moses – Yogan – Thuresson

REDDEN – Nightingale
Valentenko – Vernace
Bell – Klassen

Johnson
Talbot

(Captain in CAPS / Assistant Captains are Italicized)

SCRATCHES:

Francois Bouchard – Broken Wrist – Indefinite
Chad Kolarik – Knee – (Can’t Play Due To Roster Issue)
Peter Ceresnak – Healthy Scratch
Sean Avery – Healthy Scratch
Jeff Prough – Healthy Scratch

THREE STARS:

1. PRO – 14 Craig Cunningham
2. PRO – 11 Josh Hennessy
3. CT – 18 Jonathan Audy-Marchessault

ON ICE OFFICIALS:

Referee:
Ryan Hersey (46)

Linesmen:
Brent Colby (7)
Marty Demers (79)

NEXT GAME:

The Whale have a crucial battle on Sunday afternoon in Bridgeport with the Sound Tigers. If there has been a MUST WIN game all season, this one is it. The Sound Tigers trail the Whale by three points with a game in hand. They need to win this one and win it in regulation. If they lose in regulation, they will find themselves in a real dogfight just to make the playoffs. (See above).

You can hear all the action Sunday afternoon with Bob Crawford on WCCC.com starting at 2:50pm.

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

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

Too far away or can’t make it? Listen live at WCCC.com or from your cell phone or computer you can get all the live action via our Twitter page:@HowlingsToday for all games both home and away.

SCORE SHEET:

Providence Bruins 3 at Connecticut Whale 2 – Status: Final
Saturday, March 24, 2012 – XL Center Veterans Memorial Coliseum

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

1st Period-1, Connecticut, Audy-Marchessault 23 (Newbury, Redden), 8:10. Penalties-McKelvie Pro (fighting), 14:12; Owens Ct (fighting), 14:12; Yogan Ct (major – boarding, game misconduct – boarding), 18:55.

2nd Period-2, Providence, Cunningham 18 (Hennessy, Warsofsky), 0:41 (PP). 3, Providence, MacDonald 9 (Hennessy, Staal), 14:59. Penalties-No Penalties

3rd Period-4, Providence, Trotman 1 (Warsofsky, Cunningham), 4:18 (PP). 5, Connecticut, Newbury 23 (Audy-Marchessault), 19:31 (PP). Penalties-Audy-Marchessault Ct (charging), 3:48; Robins Pro (holding), 6:32; Miller Pro (high-sticking), 10:05; Ridderwall Pro (fighting), 11:42; Valentenko Ct (fighting), 11:42; Camper Pro (holding), 18:25.

Shots on Goal-Providence 9-15-7-31. Connecticut 12-15-8-35.
Power Play Opportunities-Providence 2 / 3; Connecticut 1 / 3.
Goalies-Providence, Khudobin 21-17-3 (35 shots-33 saves). Connecticut, Johnson 21-16-5 (31 shots-28 saves).
A-5,794
Referees-Ryan Hersey (46).
Linesmen-Brent Colby (7), Marty Demers (79).

The post WHALE BRUIN TROUBLE first appeared on Howlings.

VERSUS     

BY: Bruce Berlet

The Portland Pirates, involved in a wild, multi-team chase for the final Eastern Conference playoff spots, parlayed goals from four different players and 29 saves from Peter Mannino into a 4-1 victory Friday over the Whale at the XL Center.

“If there was a loose-puck race, more times than not, they came up with it,” Whale head coach Ken Gernander said. “I thought we had some poor decisions where we turned pucks over and paid the price. A couple of times we go to check, they move the puck and we don’t maintain our defensive position and allow them to get the rebound.”

The victory moved the Pirates (30-28-3-4) into a tie for 10^th place with Worcester and Albany with 67 points, one behind Syracuse and Springfield, which each won Friday night and share the eighth and final playoff berth. Meanwhile, the Whale (33-22-5-5) saw their lead in the Northeast Division sliced to three points over the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, who lost 3-2 in a shootout at Springfield. The Whale had been 14-5-1-0 in their previous 20 games and were an AHL-best 19-6-2-4 at home, including the three wins over the Pirates.

But the Pirates had the edge in every area Friday night, and coach Ray Edwards was especially pleased with the defensive effort after a tough 5-4 shootout loss five days earlier in which Portland rallied from a two-goal deficit, only to lose the lead on All-Star Jonathan Audy-Marchessault’s goal with 2:05 left in regulation.

“We played solid,” Edwards said. “We’re a team that’s desperate, and I thought we played with some desperation. We needed the points more than them. … You knew they were going to push, and we didn’t handle it every well, but we got through it and Mannino made a couple of good saves. Sunday we were game, but there were so many momentum shifts that at times we looked really good and at times looked really tired. I didn’t mind our game because we out-chanced them 16-14 and liked a lot of what we saw. The problem is that when you play three games in three days there’s a lot of mental mistakes. Tonight I thought we were way better defensively and gave us way less chances. When we did, Petie was there for us.”

Both teams had good chances early as Whale rookie wing Ryan Bourque hit the post at 1:42, Mannino made a good stop on Audy-Marchessault off a 2-on-1 at 3:39 after Pirates defenseman Tyler Eckford fell and Whale goalie Chad Johnson slid across to rob All-Star Brett Sterling on a one-timer from the left circle at 4:36.

But on an ensuing rush, the Pirates took a lead they would never relinquish. Ashton Rome’s shot from the left circle missed the net and caromed off the end boards to the right circle to Jordan Szwarz, whose centering pass/shot deflected off Whale defenseman Sam Klassen’s skate and was stopped by Johnson. But the rebound went directly into the slot to a wide-open Rome for easy finish into an open net for his ninth goal at 4:52.

Johnson (23 saves) then kept it close when he denied a wide-open Kenndal McArdle in front at 9:44 and got his right pad on All-Star Andy Miele’s close-in bid with 7:38 left in the period on the Pirates’ first power play.

But the Pirates broke open the game with two goals 73 seconds apart early in the second period. Sterling gave Portland a 2-0 lead when he stole the puck from Audy-Marchessault at the blueline, broke in alone and converted his own rebound at 7:09 for his 26^th goal of the season, fourth in eight games since joining the Pirates on March 3.

Moments later, former New York Rangers prospect Ethan Werek dug the puck away from Whale defenseman Mike Vernace behind the net, circled into the right circle and fired a shot that hit defenseman Pavel Valentenko’s right elbow and beat Johnson to the far side at 8:22. It was Werek’s eighth goal of the season and fourth in three games.

Mannino was sharp to deny rookie Andrew Yogan weaving down the slot at 2:21 in his first game in his second go-around with the Whale. Then less than three minutes later, Pirates defenseman Mark Louis dove across to make the save of the game, stopping a wide-open Yogan with Mannino down and out of position.

“I thought I had a little more time,” Yogan said. “I should have bared down a little more.”

Given those reprieves, Alexandre Bolduc sealed the win when he scored his third goal of the season on a breakaway, beating Johnson between the legs at 9:32.

The Whale then got their first major break and ended Mannino’s shutout when Audy-Marchessault won a faceoff that Casey Wellman touched to Redden, whose slapshot from the left point deflected off Eckford’s stick and into the net for his third goal with 8:05 left.

But the Pirates weren’t to be denied on this night.

“Sometimes when bounces don’t go your way you got to find a way to get through that,” Redden said. “Tonight we didn’t do enough good things to get the win. There were some good times and a lot of poor times.

“We had times where we played in their zone, but we didn’t sustain it. We spent too much time in our end and were sloppy.”

YOGAN MAKES SEASON DEBUT WITH WHALE

Yogan made his season debut with the Whale, after he and defenseman Peter Ceresnak signed amateur tryout contracts with the Whale on Wednesday from the Ontario Hockey League’s Peterborough Petes.

Yogan ended his junior career with a “Gordie Howe Hat Trick” of four goals, one assist and a fight in an 8-6 victory over Oshawa and right wing Christian Thomas, the Rangers’ second-round pick in 2010 who had a goal and an assist. Yogan also was plus-4 and had a game-high seven shots, but since the Petes (27-34-3-4) had been beaten out of the final playoff spot in the last week of the season by Thomas and the Oshawa Generals, he and Ceresnak headed for Hartford, signed the ATO agreements and began practicing with the Whale on Wednesday. Thomas, meanwhile, had one goal Thursday night as Oshawa was routed 8-2 by top-seeded Niagara, led by four first-round draft picks, including Ryan Strome, selected fifth overall by the New York Islanders in 2011. Strome had one goal and two assists and the IceDogs were 5-for-8 on the power play as they amassed a 51-35 shot advantage. They took a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series with a 6-1 romp Friday night.

Yogan, a 20-year-old from Boca Raton, Fla., was named OHL Player of the Week after getting four goals and four assists and being plus-4 in three games to finish March with 17 points in seven games. The Rangers’ fourth-round pick in 2010 finished the season with career highs in goals (41), assists (37) and points (78) and was plus-8 with 96 penalty minutes in 66 games to end a five-year OHL career with 96 goals, 90 assists and 287 penalty minutes in 240 games with the Windsor Spitfires, Erie Otters and Petes.

Yogan got several weeks of pro experience a year ago. After missing most of last season with an injury, the 6-foot-3, 203-pound Yogan had two goals and earned No. 1 star in his pro debut, a 4-3 loss to Bridgeport on April 9. He also had an assist in his other Whale appearance the next night, a 6-3 loss to Norfolk.

The 6-3, 209-pound Ceresnak, the Rangers’ sixth-round pick in 2011 from Trencin, Slovakia, had six goals, nine assists, 64 PIMs and was minus-1 in 61 games in his first junior season.

On Friday, the Whale signed right wing Steve Moses to an ATO. Moses, 22, of Leominster, Mass., tied for the team lead in scoring with the University of New Hampshire with a career-high 36 points, including a career-high 22 goals, in 37 games. Moses passed his physical Friday but was scratched, along with Ceresnak and injured wing Francois Bouchard.

TWO IN, TWO OUT FOR PIRATES

Right wing Brett MacLean (36 points) and defenseman Nathan Oystrick (31), the Pirates’ third- and sixth-leading scorers, returned to the lineup after missing one and five games, respectively, because of injuries. But the Pirates were without captain Dean Arsene (family matter), a former defenseman with the Hartford Wolf Pack, and right wing Ryan Duncan, who needed 45 stitches during 41/2 hours of surgery at St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center in Hartford to repair lacerations to his face after Wellman’s skate accidently grazed him early in overtime of a 5-4 shootout loss Sunday. Duncan, tied for fourth on the Pirates in scoring (32 points), skated with the team for the first time Friday morning since the incident but wasn’t ready to play.

“It was scary at first, but everybody did a great job here and made me feel comfortable,” Duncan said. “Once I found out that it wasn’t so serious, I got lucky and was pretty fortunate. It could have been a lot worse. I got a few stitches in there, which was the only painful part, but since then, it has been pretty painless and I’m on the road to recovery. My breathing is good, so there’s nothing bad except for the cut.”

Duncan hopes to play Saturday night when the Pirates visit Manchester, but he commended Wellman before leaving Hartford.

“Wellman texted me that night,” Duncan said. “That was very nice. He knows and I know that it was an accident, but that just shows what kind of guy he is, very classy. It made me feel good, and hopefully I eased his mind a little bit, too. He shouldn’t be worrying about it. It’s just an accident.”

The Pirates also scratched defensemen Maxim Goncharov (upper body) and Harrison Ruopp, centers Colin Long (concussion) and Justin Maylan, left wing Spencer Bennett and former Wolf Pack wing Ryan Hollweg (knee surgery). Ruopp, a third-round pick of the Phoenix Coyotes in 2011, and Maylan, a free agent and teammate of Ruopp with the Prince Albert Raiders of the Western Hockey League, signed ATOs on Thursday.

On Friday, the Coyotes signed free-agent forward Scott Arnold to a two-year, entry-level contract. The 6-foot-2, 195-pound Arnold had 10 goals, eight assists and 42 penalty minutes in 33 games with Niagara University of the Atlantic Hockey Association last season. Arnold, 21, a native of Pointe-Claire, Quebec, had 26 goals, 14 assists and 91 PIM in 67 games with the Purple Eagles and his sophomore year after battling and beating testicular cancer last summer. He’ll start with the Coyotes but could join the Pirates for the playoffs.

WHALE HOST PROVIDENCE SATURDAY NIGHT, AT BRIDGEPORT ON SUNDAY

The Whale ends a five-game homestand Saturday night when they host Providence before visiting Bridgeport on Sunday afternoon after a NCAA men’s hockey tournament regional is played at Webster Bank Arena at Harbor Yard on Friday and Saturday.

The Whale are 3-2-0-1 against the Bruins, winning the first three meetings and losing the last three, and 4-2-2-1 against the Sound Tigers entering the final game of the GEICO Connecticut Cup season series. The Bruins (29-30-3-4), who beat visiting Manchester 5-2 Friday night, are a longshot for the playoffs with the next-to-worst record in the Eastern Conference and are without center/captain Trent Whitfield, recalled by the Boston Bruins on Wednesday. He was replaced by center Max Sauve, a nemesis for the Whale in the past.

The Sound Tigers (32-24-3-6) are in a 0-5-0-3 slide after a stunning 20-2-0-2 run that vaulted them from last to first in the division. … The Norfolk Admirals beat the visiting Albany Devils 2-1 to establish the longest winning streak in the AHL’s 76-year history with their 19^th consecutive victory. They had shared the record with Syracuse, which won 15 in a row at the end of the 2007-08 season and three at the start of 2008-09. The Admirals’ 19-game streak is two better than the NHL record held by the Pittsburgh Penguins.

RANGERS LOSE GAME, ZUCCARELLO

Drew Stafford had two goals and an assists and Ryan Miller made 26 saves as the Buffalo Sabres beat the Eastern Conference-leading Rangers 4-1 Friday night. The loss prevented the Rangers from tying the St. Louis Blues for the NHL overall points lead with 101.

The Rangers also lost AHL All-Star wing Mats Zuccarello, who fractured his left wrist when hit by a shot in the first period and will be sidelined indefinitely. Zuccarello, recalled from the Whale on March 11, turned away from a shot by Sabres defenseman Jordan Leopold and was struck at 8:48. After nudging the puck, he immediately skated to the bench with his left arm hanging limply at his side and gingerly climbed over the boards. Zuccarello had two goals in 10 games with the Rangers during two recalls.

On the positive side, Erixon, recalled from the Whale last week, got his first NHL point when he assisted on Brian Boyle’s goal that tied it at 1 at 9:32 of the second period. Henrik Lundqvist had 22 saves for the Rangers.

Bruce pulled double duty also filing the story for Portland in the Press Herald.

GAME SUMMARY and OFFICIAL SCORERS SHEET

STANDINGS:

(Conference)

(Division)

(Standings provided by TheAHL.com)

SOUNDS OF THE GAME:

Ken Gernander: 

Wade Redden: 

Andrew Yogan: 

Chad Johnson: 

VIDEO:

Game Highlights:

Ken Gernander Post-Game Press Conference:

NOTES:

* Our most heartfelt wishes for a speedy recovery to Mats Zuccarello. Here’s hoping that “The Norwegian Hobbit” can make a speedy recovery and be a part of the Rangers post season playoffs.

LINES:

Grant – Tessier –Audy-Marchessault
Wellman – Newbury – Deveaux
Bourque – Owens –  Tanski
Prough – Yogan – Thuresson

REDDEN – Nightingale
Valentenko – Vernace
Bell – Klassen

Johnson
Talbot

(Captain in CAPS / Assistant Captains are Italicized)

SCRATCHES:

Francois Bouchard – Broken Wrist – Indefinite
Chad Kolarik – Knee – (Can’t Play Due To Roster Issue)
Peter Ceresnak – Healthy Scratch
Sean Avery – Healthy Scratch
Steve Moses – Healthy Scratch

THREE STARS:

1. POR – P. Mannino
2. POR – B. Sterling
3. CT – W. Redden

ON ICE OFFICIALS:

Referee:
Chris Brown (86)

Linesmen:
Kevin Redding (16)
Derek Wahl (46)

NEXT GAME:

The Whale have now dropped two straight and need to get back on the stick, pardon the pun. The Providence Bruins return to the XL Center before the Whale head to Bridgeport for a crucial battle on Sunday afternoon. You can hear all the action Saturday with Bob Crawford and Garry Swain in the booth and Mark Bailey ice-side on WCCC.com starting at 6:50pm.

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

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

Too far away or can’t make it? Listen live at WCCC.com or from your cell phone or computer you can get all the live action via our Twitter page:@HowlingsToday for all games both home and away.

SCORE SHEET:

Portland Pirates 4 at Connecticut Whale 1 – Status: Final
Friday, March 23, 2012 – XL Center Veterans Memorial Coliseum

Portland            1 2 1 – 4
Connecticut  0 0 1 – 1

1st Period-1, Portland, Rome 9 (Szwarz), 4:52. Penalties-Audy-Marchessault Ct (slashing), 10:25; Oystrick Por (high-sticking), 16:31.

2nd Period-2, Portland, Sterling 26   7:09. 3, Portland, Werek 8 (MacLean, Rundblad), 8:22. Penalties-Sterling Por (interference), 9:03.

3rd Period-4, Portland, Bolduc 3   9:32. 5, Connecticut, Redden 3 (Wellman, Audy-Marchessault), 11:55 (PP). Penalties-Bolduc Por (interference), 5:36; Louis Por (roughing, roughing), 8:27; Klassen Ct (boarding, roughing), 8:27; Oystrick Por (interference), 11:50.

Shots on Goal-Portland 11-8-8-27. Connecticut 9-10-11-30.
Power Play Opportunities-Portland 0 / 1; Connecticut 1 / 4.
Goalies-Portland, Mannino 7-7-1 (30 shots-29 saves). Connecticut, Johnson 21-15-5 (27 shots-23 saves).
A-3,467
Referees-Chris Brown (86).
Linesmen-Kevin Redding (16), Derek Wahl (46).

The post DESPERATE PIRATES FILET WHALE first appeared on Howlings.

BY: Bruce Berlet

Large green letters on a bed sheet at the XL Center on Sunday read: Tommy 10 Terrific.

Terrific, indeed.

For most of the season, Tommy Grant, who wears No. 10, has been part of the Connecticut Whale’s “energy line” with another second-year pro, center Kelsey Tessier, and rookie wing Scott Tanski. Whenever the Whale needed a lift, coach Ken Gernander didn’t hesitate to send out the gritty, inexperienced trio, as they’re all mature beyond their years.

Tessier and Grant sit in adjacent stalls in the XL Center locker room and often chat about how to improve their games. Grant is usually the inquisitor, but Tessier is happy to be a sounding board.

“What I’ve found out about Grant is that he’s a guy who listens,” said Tessier, named the Whale’s Unsung Hero by the media in his rookie season. “You can say stuff to Grant, and he takes it. He’s not the kind of guy who’s going to tell you to back off or says, ‘I know what I’m doing.’ He keeps everything to himself and wants to know what everyone thinks.

“It’s one of those things where he says, ‘Hey, Tess, I want you to be here when I do this,’ and I’m like, ‘Awesome, I’ll be there.’ When one says something to the other in different situations, now we know. If we never had that situation happen, then we talk on the bench and make sure that this is what we want to do. My junior coach always said communication eliminates duplication. Talking just makes it so much easier for everyone. If you accept what the other person thinks and what I think, then it just makes our bond that much stronger on the ice. And then he goes out there and uses everything with his skill. He’s been playing awesome for us.”

Grant said Tessier’s words of wisdom have been pretty basic.

“We just talk about little things like where we want pucks and different kind of passes that we want to make,” Grant said. “It’s maybe little things that coaches might not necessarily talk about but things that just help each other.”

Whatever Tessier has been saying has certainly helped enhance Grant’s offense the past month. And when Tanski was replaced by All-Star rookie Jonathan Audy-Marchessault for a game against the Portland Pirates on Sunday, Grant put together his first four-point game in six years with two goals and two assists, and he and Tessier were each plus-3. The four points were two shy of the franchise record for a regular-season game, and Audy-Marchessault’s second goal of the game and 22^nd of the season off a rebound of Grant’s shot with 2:05 left in regulation got the Whale to overtime after they blew a two-goal lead in the third period.

Cam Talbot, making his first start in 11 games since Feb. 19, then stopped six shots in overtime and the four he faced in the shootout as the Whale pulled out a 5-4 win that gave them a four-point lead in the Northeast Division over the Bridgeport Sound Tigers heading into Friday night’s rematch with the Pirates at the XL Center.

“Grant had a great game (Sunday), and I just think my linemates were terrific with Marchessault shooting the puck all the time and scoring,” Tessier said. “We have to give him the puck and give Grant the credit because his feet were moving. When Grant’s feet are moving, he’s deadly out there. I like playing with him because we click well, and I know where he is on the ice and he knows where I want (the puck).”

The 6-foot-2, 195-pound Grant had three assists in seven games with the Whale at the end of the 2010-11 season after completing his four-year career at the University of Alaska-Anchorage. Two of the assists came in his debut while on an amateur tryout contract, and Grant and the Ranger organization agreed to terms on an NHL free-agent contract three days later.

Grant had eight goals, 10 assists and 35 penalty minutes in 61 games with the Wolf Pack/Whale last season, but his best day since his junior days on Sunday gave him 10 goals and 12 assists and a plus-4 rating in 62 games this season despite playing mostly on the “energy line” and killing penalties.

But that has changed lately as the 25-year-old Grant, with help from his locker-room neighbor Tessier, improved his all-around game, got to play on one of the two main power-play units and has four of his 10 goals and four of his 12 assists in the last seven games.

“I think it has a lot to do with confidence and just going to the net more and trying to get in better scoring areas,” Grant said. “Before I was just trying to chip pucks in and hit everything that moved. Now it’s kind of trying to make a little mixture, and obviously playing with Tess and Marchie, they’re skilled players that can make plays in high traffic areas. When you’re playing with skilled players, you’ve got to find a way to get shots and make things happen.

“Early in the year, I was struggling not only offensively but defensively as well. I tried to worry about being good in my own zone so I could get more ice time and get more trust out of the coaches, and that has kind of led to getting more chances offensively. I’m coming down lower in the zone and when we’re breaking the puck up has allowed me a little more time and space and to use my speed more effectively. If I go through a bad period, it usually stems from being bad in my own zone or not coming back. If I’m coming back nice and low, then I get more time and more space to make plays. And you can see more of the ice, so I’m just trying to work on that as much as I can. I’m trying to help out more and (still) be good covering my point man, and I think that’s gone a long way as well.”

Grant and Tessier have looked to increase their offense since All-Star wing Mats Zuccarello was recalled by the Rangers on March 12, opening more ice time in all situations. Zuccarello followed veteran John Mitchell and rookie wing Carl Hagelin, who have helped the Rangers to the lead in the Atlantic Division and Eastern Conference since they were called up on Nov. 18.

“There’s no way to fill those guys’ voids, especially Zucc being the last to go up as a forward,” Grant said. “That guy does so much offensively, and I think it’s going to take more than one or two guys to fill that void. All of us – Tanski, (Jordan) Owens, Ryan (Bourque), myself – are going to get a better chance to prove ourselves, and we have to kind of answer the bell.

“And if they’re going to put me on the power play like they have the last couple of games, that’s an offensive situation where if you’re not going to contribute offensively then you’re going to be off that. So I’m just trying to take advantage of the situation, and whether guys come back or more guys go up, everybody has to kind of step up their games, especially with playoffs coming. And every team in our league is fighting either for a higher seed or a playoff spot, so every game is going to be tough. Guys are going to get a good chance here and just have got to kind of rise to the occasion.”

Tessier was a major offensive threat in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, excelling with Audy-Marchessault and Bourque with the Quebec Remparts before being traded to Moncton and helping the Wildcats win the league title and a spot in the 2010 Memorial Cup with 14 goals and 16 points in 21 games. His 30 points were second most and 14 goals third best in the playoffs.

“When big players are gone is when guys like Grant and I and others who were here last year have to step up our game,” said Tessier, who has 10 goals and 17 assists and is plus-5 while playing in all but one of the Whale’s 64 games. “That’s when we have to prove we can play in this league. We played a lot of minutes (Sunday), so when coach puts us on the ice, we have to perform and make sure we’re the second line out there. We’ve got to play like a second line and put the puck deep with a little bit of our mixture.

“And we’re on the power play now, so you have to change your role a bit but not much. You’ve still got to keep it simple, work hard and be a tenacious line. But at the same time, we can create a little more offense. Just be more poised and make sure, ‘We can do this.’ Give a little confidence, pat each other’s back and say, ‘Hey, let’s go, boys.’ ”

Gernander has let Grant “go” more the past few weeks and was quick to explain why.

“Tommy gets all the credit,” Gernander said. “There was a large stretch there where he and Tess and Tanner were a good energy line and, more than anything, worked hard. From that they generated a little bit of success, and the more responsibility that Tommy has been given, the better he has become.

“Guys who are given more opportunity are guys who have earned it. You talk to him at points here and there, but a lot of it is the athlete. He earned more and more ice time, and as he got more and more ice time, he seemed to blossom. He’s just kind of worked his way into the role and is playing very well right now.”

YOGAN ARRIVES ON A HIGH

Andrew Yogan and Peterborough Petes teammate Peter Ceresnak needed nine hours to get to Hartford thanks to an unusually lengthy stop at customs on the U.S.-Canadian border.

“He’s Slovakian, I’m from Florida and we’re going to play hockey in Hartford, so they pulled us out of the car and everything,” Yogan said with a wide smile after his second practice with the Whale on Thursday. “They must have thought we were smuggling something. We didn’t have a note, so they wondered if (Ceresnak) was doing illegal stuff. It was just crazy.”

But when Yogan finally arrived in Hartford on Tuesday night, he had loads of enthusiasm, especially off his final game in juniors on Sunday. Yogan notched a memorable “Gordie Howe Hat Trick” of four goals, one assist and a fight in an 8-6 victory over Oshawa and right wing Christian Thomas, the Rangers’ second-round pick in 2010 who had a goal and an assist. Yogan also was plus-4 and had a game-high seven shots, but the Petes (27-34-3-4) were eliminated from the playoffs in the last week of the season, so he and Ceresnak headed for Hartford, signed ATO contracts and began practicing with the Whale on Wednesday.

“That was pretty neat,” Yogan said of his swansong with Peterborough. “I was real happy with ending juniors with a bang, and it was nice to leave my mark on the OHL.”

Yogan, a 20-year-old from Boca Raton, Fla., was named OHL Player of the Week after getting four goals and four assists and being plus-4 in three games to finish March with 17 points in seven games. The Rangers’ fourth-round pick in 2010 finished the season with career highs in goals (41), assists (37) and points (78) and was plus-8 with 96 penalty minutes in 66 games to end a five-year OHL career with 96 goals, 90 assists and 287 penalty minutes in 240 games with the Windsor Spitfires, Erie Otters and Petes.

Yogan got several weeks of pro experience a year ago. After missing most of last season with an injury, the 6-foot-3, 203-pound Yogan had two goals and earned No. 1 star in his pro debut, a 4-3 Whale loss to Bridgeport on April 9. He also had an assist in his other Whale appearance the next day, a 6-3 loss to Norfolk.

“I was here for awhile last year, and that kind of gave me a big confidence boost and made me feel like I had an advantage over the guys in juniors this season,” said Yogan, a Florida Panthers fans as a kid. “I learned about the speed of the game and how much space you can buy yourself. Playing against less experienced guys in juniors kind of exposed me a little more, and it got easier as the season went along.

“I’m excited because I had the experience here last year and know a lot of the guys so I’m a little more comfortable. But I still have to earn my stripes, work hard and get some respect.”

Yogan has practiced on a line with Andreas Thuresson and Jeff Prough and is being counted on for some of the offense that he displayed with Peterborough.

“We’re going to kind of work him into things, and the more he’s able to do, the more responsibility he’ll be given,” Gernander said. “Given that he has some offensive numbers, that’s where he’s going to have to show some playmaking ability. We don’t expect him to get a hat trick every night, but we hope to get some offense from him. And on the flip side, in learning the pro game he’s going to have to do the little things like finish his checks and be responsible defensively and make sound, timely decisions based on game situations.

“There’s going to be a learning curve as far as understanding the professional game, and then whatever gifts or strengths you have that got you drafted for and earned you a contract coming out of juniors, you’re going to have to find ways to exhibit them as well. It’s not like he’s your little brother and you’re going to carry him along. He’s going to be expected to pull his weight. He has to display the things he did well in juniors and then work hard on the little things that are expected of every pro.”

The 6-3, 209-pound Ceresnak, the Rangers’ sixth-round pick in 2011 from Trencin, Slovakia, had six goals, nine assists, 64 PIMs and was minus-1 in 61 games in his first junior season. Barring injuries, the 19-year-old Ceresnak isn’t likely to get as much playing time as Yogan since the Whale already have six healthy defenseman even after Blake Parlett was reassigned to Greenville of the ECHL on Thursday. Plus, Tim Erixon is on recall to the Rangers, though the rookie appears as if he’s there to stay after playing three games while others have been healthy scratches.

“Things can change quickly in hockey, so you never know,” Gernander said when asked about Ceresnak’s possible ice time. “Right now he’s just gaining that experience, getting to know the guys and getting acclimated to the organization and pro hockey. We’ll just constantly monitor and evaluate things.”

Meanwhile, Thomas finished the regular season with 34 goals and 33 assists in 54 games. Thomas, who was suspended for 10 games, and the Generals will meet Central Division champion Niagara in the first round of the playoffs starting Thursday night.

Another Ranger draftee with NHL ties, Edmonton Oil Kings center Michael St. Croix, was named to the Western Hockey League’s Eastern Conference Second All-Star Team. St. Croix, the Rangers’ fourth-round pick in 2011, set franchise records for goals (45), assists (60) and points (105) as he finished eighth in the WHL in scoring. St. Croix is the son of former NHL goalie Rick St. Croix and younger brother of Chris St. Croix, who played for the Wolf Pack in the 2001-02 season. Michael and the Oil Kings face Kootenay in the first round of the WHL playoffs starting Friday.

ANOTHER THREE-IN-THREE FOR WHALE

The Whale, 14-5-1-0 in its last 20 games, has another three-games-in-three-days routine this weekend, starting with the return of the Pirates (29-28-3-4), who are in a desperate chase for the last few Eastern Conference playoff spots with nine teams. They’re 12^th with 65 points, three behind Syracuse, which holds the eighth and final postseason berth, two back of Worcester and Albany and one behind Springfield. Portland and Worcester each has one game in hand on the other teams.

After the roller-coaster ride to victory Sunday, the Whale (33-21-5-5) has an AHL-best 19-6-2-4 record at home and is 3-2-1-0 against the Pirates, with the three wins coming at the XL Center in regulation, overtime and the shootout. Audy-Marchessault (four goals, two assists), Grant (3, 3) and Tessier (2, 4) share the team lead in scoring against the Pirates. Portland is led by All-Stars Brett Sterling (25 goals, 27 assists) and Andy Miele (13, 33), who has one goal and seven assists against the Whale. Hustling wing Ryan Duncan assisted on two goals by former Rangers prospect Ethan Werek on Sunday before being hospitalized after Casey Wellman’s skate accidently sliced his face early in overtime. Duncan needed 45 stitches during 41/2 hours of surgery at St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center in Hartford to repair the damage. Werek, a rookie wing, has three goals and four assists in his last five games after getting four goals and four assists in his first 51 games.

Duncan, fourth on the Pirates in scoring with 14 goals and 18 assists in 55 games, forward Brett MacLean, third with 18 goals and 17 assists, and Nathan Oystrick, first among defensemen with 10 goals and 21 assists, are questionable this weekend, while defenseman Maxim Goncharov is out indefinitely with a concussion.

It seems amazing that Duncan could actually play Friday night.

“I knew I was hit by a skate, but I thought it was just the boot of the skate,” Duncan told Paul Betit of the Portland Press-Herald after returning to practice Wednesday. “I didn’t think it was the blade. It felt like I just got kicked in the face, like I got punched. I started bleeding, but I thought it must be just a pressure wound. When I skated to the bench, I could see the reaction of my teammates. I guess it (looked) pretty bad, so I figured I got caught by the blade.”

Duncan immediately pressed a towel to his face and was rushed to the hospital in an ambulance. After only two days off, Duncan rode the stationary bike and lifted weights Wednesday. He has a four-inch, crescent-shaped scar starting just to the right of his nose and running above his left lip to his left check.

“It’s good I didn’t have any (other) symptoms, like a concussion,” Duncan said. “It’s just basically the cut, and I just have to wait and see how the swelling goes. If it goes down, I’ll toss on the cage and hopefully get back on the ice.”

When Duncan does return, he’ll wear a metal cage or a full shield, as he did at the University of North Dakota. In 2007, he won the Hobey Baker Award as college hockey’s top player after leading UND to the national title. After graduating in 2009, he spent his first two pro seasons with Salzburg EC in the Austrian Elite League.

“We thought at first there was an orbital fracture, there might be some nerve damage,” Pirates coach Ray Edwards told Betit. “Right now it doesn’t look like any of that, but there was a lot of trauma to a small area of his face. … He’s hanging in there. It was a very traumatic experience for him. He’s a tough little bugger. If I know him, he’s going to want to play, but if all depends on the swelling.”

The Whale hosts Providence on Saturday night and visits Bridgeport on Sunday afternoon. They’re 3-2-0-1 against the Bruins, winning the first three meetings and losing the last three, and 4-2-2-1 against the Sound Tigers entering the final game of the GEICO Connecticut Cup season series. The Bruins (28-30-3-4) are a longshot for the playoffs with the next-to-worst record in the Eastern Conference and will be without center/captain Trent Whitfield, recalled by the Boston Bruins on Wednesday. He was replaced by center Max Sauvé, a nemesis for the Whale in the past.

The Sound Tigers (32-24-3-5) are in a 0-5-0-2 slide after a stunning 20-2-0-2 run that vaulted them from last to first in the division and are four points behind the first-place Whale with 12 games left for each team. Left wing John Persson, the New York Islanders’ fifth-round pick in 2011 from Sweden, made his pro debut in a 3-0 loss at Binghamton on Wednesday night. The Sound Tigers also signed free-agent center Tyler Gron, the Northern Michigan’s leading scorer this year (37 points), to an ATO. The Sound Tigers will be without goalie Anders Nilsson and left wing Micheal Haley. Nilsson, the Reebok/AHL Goaltender of the Month in February who returned from the Islanders last week, twisted his ankle in a 5-2 loss at Worcester on Sunday and is out 7-to-10 days. The Sound Tigers signed Dan Clarke, a senior at Quinnipiac University, to an ATO. Haley was suspended three games with Worcester defenseman Mike Moore after they fought after leaving the penalty box after an initial fight Sunday. … Houston Aeros goalie Joe Fallon was named Reebok/AHL Player of the Week last week after allowing only five goals on 125 shots while going 4-0-0 with a 1.20 goals-against average and .960 save percentage. It was the Aeros’ first four-game winning streak of the season and included making 32 saves in regulation and overtime and stopping six shootout attempts in a 1-0 victory over Abbotsford. He’s 5-1-0 with a 2.05 GAA and .931 save percentage in eight appearances since joining the Aeros on March 3. … Former Wolf Pack defenseman Tomas Kundratek had six points (three goals, three assists) for the Hershey Bears in wins over Adirondack and Albany last Friday and Saturday. He has career highs in goals (11) and points (19) in 43 games since being acquired from the Whale for Francois Bouchard on Nov. 8.

MEMORABLE 27^TH BIRTHDAY FOR CALLAHAN

Former Wolf Pack right wing Ryan Callahan has a thing for scoring on his birthday.

Callahan ended a delicious, end-to-end thriller with the injury-riddled Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday night with his 27^th goal of the season on his 27^th birthday at 2:42 of overtime, giving the Rangers a 2-1 victory.

The Rangers’ captain became only the seventh player to score an overtime winner on his birthday, and this one involved four former Wolf Pack players. Callahan beat Ty Conklin from 30 feet in the slot off a terrific pass from defenseman Michael Del Zotto after a setup by wing Brandon Dubinsky, who has revived his game the past few weeks after struggling most of the season. In 2009, Callahan had two goals on his 24^th birthday, which just happens to be his number. He’s the only Ranger to score an overtime winner on his birthday.

“It’s a great play by everyone involved,” said Callahan, who had a game-high eight shots and blocked two shots, including a dangerous chance by defenseman Niklas Kronwall with 1:03 left in regulation after thwarting Pavel Datsyuk’s shorthanded breakaway midway through the second period. “It was a good birthday gift. They tried to set me up in the second, and I missed a wide-open net. I had to respond back.”

Rangers coach John Tortorella gushed about Callahan.

“He just had an unbelievable third period and overtime,” Tortorella said. “He does so much for the hockey club. It’s fitting that he gets the winning goal. I thought Ryan Callahan was our best player.”

Goalie Henrik Lundqvist concurred after making 26 saves and having the only assist on Brad Richards’ power-play goal that came on an end-to-end rush and tied it with 5:02 left in the first period.

“He’s been incredible, and that block at the end of the game,” Lundqvist said after notching his first win over the Red Wings. “A couple of highlights there for Cally, first with that huge block for us and then scoring the game-winner. That’s the way he plays right now, and it’s big for us.”

Callahan recently missed six games because of a sore right foot from blocking a shot.

“We’ve been playing well,” said Callahan, whose previous high for goals was 24 last season, when he missed 20 games because of injuries. “Right from that (Colorado) Avalanche game, I thought we were playing well even though we lost. I think we’re starting to get our groove back, and we’re starting to play how we want and how we were playing earlier in the year. It’s an important time of year, and we’ve got to keep building and keep going.”

The Red Wings played without Nicklas Lidstrom (foot), Jimmy Howard (groin), Johan Franzen (back), Darren Helm (knee), Jonathan Ericsson (wrist), Joey MacDonald (back) and Jakub Kindl (upper body). Conklin was filling in for Howard and MacDonald after being called up from Grand Rapids earlier in the day.

CONGRATULATIONS TO GIRARDI, DEMICHIEL

Congratulations to former Wolf Pack defenseman and good guy Dan Girardi on being the Rangers’ nominee for the Bill Masterson Memorial Award, given by the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association to the player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey.

“It means a lot,” said Girardi, who narrowly edged former Wolf Pack defenseman Marc Staal for the nomination. “I feel like I’m an ideal candidate for the Masterton Trophy. I’m pretty excited. I really didn’t know too much about it. I looked up a little bit today. When I woke up from my nap, my agent texted me and said, ‘You’re nominated.’ I was like, ‘Oh, all right. I’ll take it.’ I knew what it was, but I took a little deeper look and it means a lot to be nominated.

“I’m dedicated, I’ve gone through a lot from where I’ve been to this point. I feel like it’s a good description for how I want to act as a hockey player and as a person.”

Girardi, 27, grew up in Welland, Ont., and played his junior hockey with the London Knights of the OHL, where he won the 2005 league championship and Memorial Cup. After going undrafted in 2003, he signed a contract with the Rangers and joined the Wolf Pack for the 2005-06 season. Girardi was called up to the Rangers for good during the 2007-08 season and has missed only two games because of injury since then. He replaced Staal as an alternate captain at the start of the season when Staal was out because of post-concussion symptoms.

More kudos to Avon native Jared DeMichiel on helping the Rochester Institute of Technology women’s hockey team win its first Division III title Saturday night when the Tigers avenged a loss in the 2011 final with a 4-1 victory over Norwich.

DeMichiel was an assistant coach of the team that celebrated again Tuesday when it was officially announced the program was leaping to Division I, obviously looking for better competition. The Tigers were 54-3-3 with one national championship and the runner-up finish the past two seasons. They were 28-1-1 this season, setting a Division III record for wins but won’t be eligible to compete in the NCAA Tournament the first two seasons.

DeMichiel backstopped RIT to a surprise berth in the men’s Frozen Four in 2010. After a brief pro career in the AHL and ECHL, DeMichiel returned to his alma mater to work with the women’s team. If at first …

DeMichiel will become an assistant coach with the Nazareth College men’s team this fall and certainly has a tough act to follow.

The post SPOTLIGHT: TOMMY GRANT first appeared on Howlings.

BY: Bob Crawford, Voice of the Connecticut Whale

The Whale took four out of six points in three home games this past weekend, solidifying their lead in the Northeast Division with wins over the Bridgeport Sound Tigers and the Portland Pirates. The Whale began the weekend with a big 3-2 win over the Sound Tigers Friday, before a 3-0 setback against Springfield on Saturday. Connecticut closed their three-games-in-three-nights home slate with a 5-4 shootout triumph over the Pirates on Sunday afternoon, helping them to carry a four-point division lead into this week. Tommy Grant posted a four-point game on Sunday (2-2-4) and Jonathan Audy-Marchessault had a four-point weekend as well (2-2-4). Casey Wellman had three points in Friday’s win (1-2-3), while Cam Talbot Sunday won his first decision in goal since Feb. 18.

This week:

• The Whale will once again take on three opponents in three nights this weekend, beginning on Friday night with a return engagement against the Portland Pirates at the XL Center (7:00). The Providence Bruins will come to town on Saturday night (7:00), before the Whale pay their final visit of the season to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers on Sunday afternoon (3:00 in a key GEICO Connecticut Cup divisional matchup.

Friday, March 23 vs. Portland Pirates at the XL Center, 7:00 PM

• The Whale take on the Portland Pirates for the seventh of eight meetings on the season Friday night, with the Whale holding a 3-2-1-0 record against the Pirates this season. All three wins have come on XL Center ice.
• As at every remaining Friday-night Whale home game in the regular season, fans can take advantage of a special meal combo deal at this game.  A hot dog and a 12-ounce soda is only $5.
• The Whale defeated the Pirates, 5-4 in a shootout, in their last head-to-head meeting this past Sunday. Jonathan Audy-Marchessault had two goals for the Whale, as did Tommy Grant, who had 4 points total (2-2-4).
• Audy-Marchessault (4-2-6), Grant (3-3-6) and Kelsey Tessier (2-4-6) now share the team lead in scoring against the Pirates with six points apiece this season.
• Pirates rookie Andy Miele has continued to hurt the Whale, tallying eight points against Connecticut this season (1-7-8).
• The Pirates dropped two out of three games this weekend with losses to Springfield and the Whale, and they continue to sit two points out of a playoff spot, but with four other clubs ahead of them in the standings.
• Television – this game will mark the first of three live “Whale TV” telecasts on CPTV Sports, presented by Webster Bank, with Bob Crawford and Garry Swain at the mikes.  CPTV Sports is available on Comcast cable channels 185, 187 and 744 and on the Cox Communications cable system channel 144.
• Radio – CT Whale “Rockin’ Hockey”, live with Mark Bailey, on “The Rock” 106.9 WCCC-FM, and on-line at CTWhale.com.

Saturday, March 24 vs. Providence Bruins at the XL Center, 7PM

• The Whale host the Providence Bruins Saturday night in their seventh of eight clashes this season. The teams have split the first six games of the season series, posting identical 3-2-0-1 records thus far.
• After winning the first three games versus Providence this season, the Whale have now dropped three straight against the Bruins, including their latest meeting, a 4-3 road defeat on Feb. 19.
• Kris Newbury has led the Whale against Providence with five points (3-2-5), while Carter Camper has scored four goals and tallied two assists in action against the Whale this season.
• Chad Johnson shows just one win and a shootout loss against the Bruins this season, but he holds a 0.75 goals against average and a .973 save percentage versus Providence in three games played.
• Michael Hutchinson boasts comparable stats against the Whale, having allowed three goals in two games and showing a 1.45 goals against average and a .953 save percentage.
• The Bruins sit in 14th in the Eastern Conference after losing two of three games this weekend, four points out of a playoff berth.
• Radio – CT Whale “Rockin’ Hockey”, live with Bob Crawford, Garry Swain and Mark Bailey, on “The Rock” 106.9 WCCC-FM, and on-line at CTWhale.com.

Sunday, March 25 at BPT Sound Tigers (Webster Bank Arena), 3PM

• The Whale visit the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, to close out the GEICO Connecticut Cup season series, Sunday afternoon for a pivotal Northeast Division contest.
• Connecticut has won four of nine meetings with the Sound Tigers this season, winning the last two, including a 3-2 win over Bridgeport on March 16 at the XL Center.
• Jonathan Audy-Marchessault (6-6-12) and Kris Newbury (3-9-12) lead the Whale in scoring against their in-state rivals, while Justin DiBenedetto leads active Sound Tigers in scoring against Connecticut with six points (4-2-6).
• The Sound Tigers are in the midst of a six-game winless streak, and have gained just two points during that span (0-4-0-2).
• Bridgeport maintains the sixth spot in the Eastern Conference entering this week’s action, four points behind the Whale in the Northeast Division.
• Radio – CT Whale “Rockin’ Hockey”, live with Bob Crawford on “The Rock” 106.9 WCCC-FM, and on-line at CTWhale.com

“Whale TV”, presented by Webster Bank:

• The following special “Whale TV” selections are available this week to Comcast Xfinity on Demand customers throughout New England, in the “Get Local” folder of Comcast’s On Demand Service:
• Ken Gernander Interview (Whale Special Events folder) – Bob Crawford, the voice of the Whale, chats with franchise icon, former long-time captain and current head coach, Ken Gernander, about his recent induction into the Connecticut Hockey Hall of Fame.
• Damien Hess Interview (Whale Special Events folder) – the Whale’s athletic trainer, Damien Hess, joins Bob Crawford to talk about his role in managing injuries and helping players through the most important part of the season.
• Game Highlights (Game of the Week folder) – a rundown of the Whale’s entertaining, back-and-forth battle with the Portland Pirates, that went all the way to a shootout, this past Sunday at the XL Center.
• Every week, CPTV Sports will air an edited re-broadcast of a Whale game, on “Whale TV Replay”.  CPTV Sports is available on Comcast cable channels 185, 187 and 744 and on the Cox Communications cable system channel 144.
• This Tuesday night at 7:00 PM, Whale TV Replay will feature a re-broadcast of this past Friday’s GEICO Connecticut Cup showdown with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers.

Recent Transactions:

• Chad Johnson – recalled from the Whale by the NY Rangers March 13, and returned later that same day, and recalled again March 15 and returned later that day
• Tim Erixon – recalled from the Whale by the NY Rangers March 17

Whale Tales:

• Fans will have multiple opportunities to put in auction bids on Whale game-worn jerseys starting this Tuesday, March 20.  White game-worn jerseys of Sean Avery, Stu Bickel, Ryan Bourque, Erik Christensen, Carl Hagelin, John Mitchell, Wojtek Wolski, Jeff Woywitka and Mats Zuccarello will be up for auction on E-bay, starting Tuesday at 12 noon and ending the following Tuesday, March 27 at 12 noon.  White game-worn jerseys of Jonathan Audy-Marchessault, Lee Baldwin, Brendan Bell, Francois Bouchard, Tim Erixon, Chad Johnson, Jared Nightingale, Wade Redden, Andre Deveaux, Tommy Grant, Sam Klassen, Chris McKelvie, Kris Newbury, Jordan Owens, Blake Parlett, Cam Talbot, Scott Tanski, Kelsey Tessier, Andreas Thuresson, Pavel Valentenko and Aaron Voros will be auctioned off during the second intermission of the Whale’s home game this Saturday night, March 24 against Providence.  In addition, green game-worn jerseys of all these players will be up for bids in an auction at the Whale’s home game Saturday, March 31 vs. Adirondack, to benefit the March of Dimes.
• The Whale will be hosting a “CT Whale Trail Pub Crawl” Saturday, March 31, from 3:00 PM to the 7:00 PM faceoff of their game that night at the XL Center vs. the Adirondack Phantoms.  The Pub Crawl will go through five fine downtown Hartford establishments: the Federal Café, 84 Union Place; Pig’s Eye Pub, 356 Asylum St.; The Tavern Downtown, 100 Allyn St.;  The Russian Lady, 191 Ann Uccello St.; and McKinnon’s Irish Pub, 114 Asylum St., before ending at the XL Center for the Whale game.  The cost to join the Pub Crawl is $20 for the general public and $10 for Whale ticket plan holders, and that includes a ticket to the March 31 Whale game and a blue Whale-tail scarf.  There will be $2 Bud, Bud Light and Bud Light Platinum drink specials, and two Big Gig tickets, a Whale merchandise prize pack and a Budweiser prize pack will be raffled off at each Pub Crawl location.  A portion of the proceeds from the Pub Crawl will benefit the March of Dimes.  For Pub Crawl tickets, visit CTWhale.com or call the Whale office at (860) 728-3366.
• Whale season seat-holders who reserve their full-season 2012-13 Whale tickets by April 13 will receive access for four people to the luxurious CT Whale Director’s Suite at the XL Center, for one Whale 2012-13 home game.  This allows the opportunity to watch the game alongside Whale executive personnel and special guests, and to enjoy all of the high-end amenities of the Director’s Suite.  Additionally, all Whale full-season 2012-13 subscribers who purchase by April 13 will receive a custom-made, high-quality season ticket-holder jersey fleece.  The jersey fleece will be exclusive to Whale full-season ticket-holders, and will feature a “Season Ticket Holder 2012-13” patch that designates it as a unique item.  For more information on purchasing Whale season tickets, call (860) 728-3366, visit the Season Ticket Holder table behind Section 101 at a Whale home game or log on to CTWhale.com.
• College students can get discounted tickets to Whale weekday games with the Whale’s “Ditch the Dorms” deal.  For Monday through Friday home games, students who show a valid student ID at the Public Power Ticket Office at the XL Center can get $2 off Upper Level tickets and $5 off Lower Level seats.
• Save on your tickets, and get the best seats, with a ticket plan for the Whale’s 2011-12 AHL campaign, which are on sale now. For information on season seats, mini plans and great group discounts, visit CTWhale.com, or call the CT Whale ticket office at (860) 728-3366 to talk with an account executive today.

The AHL’s Connecticut Whale is operated by Whalers Sports and Entertainment, a Hartford-based sports marketing and event firm founded by Howard Baldwin and Howard Baldwin, Jr.. The team is the top player-development affiliate of the NHL’s New York Rangers.

Since 1972, the CT Lottery has generated nearly $21.4 billion in sales and has transferred more than $7.2 billion to the state’s General Fund. Prizes have exceeded $12.3 billion. Purchasers must be 18 years or older. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, call the Problem Gambling Helpline at 1-800-346-6238. For more information about the Connecticut Lottery Corporation, visit CTLottery.org.

CATCH THE WHALE AT CTWHALE.COM

The post WHALE WEEKLY: March 19 – 25, 2012 first appeared on Howlings.

VERSUS    

(I feel like I need to apologize to the readers of Howlings. I haven’t written my normal stories for the games on Friday and last night. This is as some of you may or may not know, started as a hobby for me but has progressed to the point where it has become a non-paying — and actually I pay quite a bit of money for all of it — part-time job. Well the job that does pay me, my employment agency Crossroads Consulting, has had an explosion of business the past three days and frankly it was difficult to find the time to even get to the games at all. I am also having incredible computer problems that are messing up both “jobs” so I haven’t had the time to dedicate to this as I should. So for that I apologize. We’ll get it right again this coming week…once again, I apologize.)

BY: Bruce Berlet

After being shut out by the Springfield Falcons at home for the first time in 15 seasons on Saturday night, Connecticut Whale coach Ken Gernander almost completely shuffled his deck Sunday afternoon.

Gernander changed all four lines, two of the three defensive pairings and started Cam Talbot in goal for the first time in 11 games since Feb. 19.

It took longer than Gernander and the Whale would have hoped, but shootout goals by Brendan Bell and Casey Wellman and four successive saves by Talbot produced a 5-4 victory at the XL Center.

“I thought we had a good two periods, and then we seemed to sit back a bit and stopped skating a bit instead of keeping the pressure on,” Whale veteran defenseman and captain Wade Redden said. “We kind of stopped moving our feet and then got some (strange) bounces. We have to stay a little more poised and have a little more urgency, even when we’re up a couple (goals), but the good thing is we got the two points.”

That could be traced largely to the line of rookie wings Tommy Grant (two goals, two assists) and All-Star Jonathan Audy-Marchessault (two goals) and second-year center Kelsey Tessier (two assists and yeoman work on face-offs and the penalty kill). Audy-Marchessault got the Whale to overtime when he scored his second of the game and 22^nd of the season when he flipped Grant’s rebound past Peter Mannino (38 saves) with 2:05 left after the Pirates had scored three third-period goals, two by former New York Rangers prospect Ethan Werek, to take a 4-3 lead.

After the Pirates had a 6-1 shot advantage in overtime, Bell and Wellman scored on the Whale’s first two tries in the shootout and Talbot stopped All-Stars Andy Miele and Brett Sterling, Mathieu Beaudoin and David Rundblad to improve to 3-0 in shootouts.

“I definitely had to get my game legs under me,” Talbot said. “I thought I did a good job the first couple of periods, and then it might have caught up to me a little at the beginning of the third. I wasn’t as sharp as we should have been, but then I kind of shook off those three goals and came back with a few saves to get it to overtime and the shootout.

“We let off the gas a little bit, and the first goal on the power play kind of gave them a little momentum. It wasn’t the ideal win giving them a point, but we still came out with the two points. We practice a lot of breakaways at the end of practice, so I’ve learned to try to stay patient and focused, making them make the first move and then just kind of moving with them.”

After a 3-0 loss to Springfield and rookie goalie Mike Clemente on Saturday night, the Whale (33-21-5-5) moved to 7-5 in shootouts and increased their Northeast Division lead to four points over the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, who lost 5-2 at Worcester. The Whale is 3-2-1 against the Pirates, winning in overtime, regulation and now a shootout at the XL Center, where they have an AHL-best 19-6-2-4 record. It was a tough extra point to lose for the Pirates (29-28-3-4), who are now 4-4 in shootouts and tied for 11^th in the Eastern Conference with Albany with 65 points, two behind Worcester, which holds the eighth and final playoff spot, and one point behind Springfield and Syracuse.

“It’s very frustrating to give it back to them after we worked hard to get the lead,” Pirates coach Ray Edwards said. “We broke down in coverage (on Audy-Marchessault’s tying goal), so it’s just very frustrating for that to happen at that point in the game. In our situation, if we fight like hell to get back, we’ve got to close it out.”

The Pirates also might have lost hustling wing Ryan Duncan, who assisted on Werek’s two goals but was taken to St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center by ambulance after Wellman’s skate glazed his face midway through overtime, opening a cut from one cheek under his nose to the other cheek.

“It’s a nasty cut,” Edwards said. “It wasn’t bleeding that much, but we knew it was a bad one right away when he came to the bench.”

Grant sliced up the Pirates much of the game while recording his first four-point game in six years. Grant had been on an energy line with Kelsey Tessier and Scott Tanski much of the season, but being put with Audy-Marchessault amped up his offensive game.

“It has a lot to do with confidence and just going to the net more and trying to get into better scoring areas,” said Grant, who has four of his 10 goals and four of his 12 assists in the last seven games. “Before, I was just trying to chip pucks in and hit everything that moved. Now, it’s kind of trying to make a little mixture and playing with Tess and Marchie, they’re skilled players that can make plays in high traffic areas. When you’re playing with skilled players, you have to find a way to get shots and make things happen.”

Talbot stopped a wide-open Miele 5:25 into the game, but moments later, Beaudoin dug the puck out of the right corner to Miele, who roofed a shot over Talbot’s right shoulder for his 13^th goal at 5:40.

Talbot kept it close when he flicked out his left pad on Nick Ross’ shot from 30 feet in the slot with 7:45 left before Mannino made his first save when he dove to stop Grant’s deflection of a centering pass by Audy-Marchessault. Then on the game’s first power play, Mannino stopped Wellman’s one-timer on the doorstep off an Andre Deveaux setup with 5:09 left and denied Audy-Marchessault racing in off the right wing with 3:48 to go.

Mannino capped a strong first period in which he had 15 saves by getting his right pad on defenseman Pavel Valentenko’s 50-foot slap shot from the right point with 1:38 left. But the Whale continued to press at the start of the second period and tied it with the teams skating four aside as Tessier stole the puck from Rundblad along the left boards and backhanded a pass across the slot to a wide-open Grant for an easy finish into an open net at 58 seconds.

Then six seconds after the teams returned to five a side, Valentenko blocked Mark Louis’ shot to Grant, who raced through the neutral zone and dropped a pass to Audy-Marchessault, who beat Mannino with a 35-foot shot low to the glove side at 1:56.

The Pirates nearly tied it on their first power play, but Talbot denied Duncan at the right post, Miele lifted a backhander wide on a breakaway and Duncan hit the post. After both sides missed several excellent scoring chances, the Whale took a 3-1 lead when Tessier won a faceoff from Miele to Grant, who fired a 30-foot shot in the slot that beat Mannino to the glove side with 5:01 left in the period.

The Pirates had a golden opportunity to cut into their deficit during their second power play, but Talbot made an alert pad save on Sterling’s one-timer from 25 feet in the slot with 48 seconds to go. But the Pirates did get to 3-2 when Duncan skated into the Whale zone and passed to Alexander Bolduc, who had two shots stopped before Werek converted the second rebound for his sixth goal at 5:13 of the third period.

The Pirates then got even on their third power play as Tyler Eckford dug out the puck along the right boards and passed into the slot to Aaron Rome, whose 35-foot shot glanced off Talbot’s glove and into the net for his eighth goal at 7:40.

The Pirates had a golden opportunity to reclaim the lead when Kenndal McArdle found Werek coming out of the penalty box for a breakaway that Talbot stopped with his right pad with 8:25 left. But another strong play by Duncan helped regain the lead for the Pirates as he carried the puck to the goal line extended and backhanded a pass that Werek lifted home for his second goal of the period and seventh of the season with 5:54 left.

But Audy-Marchessault sent the game to overtime when he converted Grant’s rebound for his second goal of the game and 22^nd of the season with 2:05 left after a shot from the left point by Brendan Bell.

“It started with a good point shot that got to the net, then Grant pounces on the rebound and catches some iron,” Gernander said. “So we had two guys, Grant and Audy-Marchessault, going to the net for rebounds, and Marchie showed nice hands to finish from such a sharp angle and get it up over the goalie.”

The Pirates outshot the Whale 6-1 in the five extra minutes, but Talbot was sharp, especially on Bolduc’s bid from the left circle with 38 seconds left and then excelled in the shootout.

“It’s promising when you find a way to win games like that,” Grant said. “They got three quick goals, and it’s easy to shut it down, but good teams find a way to win games like that, and we did.”

Whale coach Ken Gernander was happy all was well that ended well but hopes his troops learned an important lesson, especially heading down the stretch.

“I give the guys full credit,” Gernander said. “Three games in three days on a Sunday, but they stuck with it to get the goal with two minutes remaining. (But) with a two-goal lead from here on out, you have to play the style of game that’s going to be a given that you’re going to be able to maintain that lead. If you’re managing your game and playing sound hockey with defense first, you have to have better awareness with a two-goal lead, and that’s something we’ll have to improve upon moving forward.”

Ironically, the Whale’s next moves will be against the Pirates, who visit the XL Center on Friday night.

GRITTY NEWBURY PLAYS

Whale veteran center/assistant captain/leading scorer Kris Newbury played after leaving the game Saturday night with 4:18 left in the second period when he was injured when checked into the boards by defenseman Dalton Prout. Newbury had X-rays taken at a hospital and returned minutes after the game ended.

“He’s a tough, competitive, courageous kid,” Gernander said. “There’s probably a lot of guys this time of year who aren’t playing at 100 percent, but I give him top marks for being able to fight through.”

In Gernander’s new forward alignment, Newbury started between Wellman and Deveaux. Tessier centered Grant and Audy-Marchessault, Jordan Owens was between Ryan Bourque and Scott Tanski and Andreas Thuresson was flanked by Prough and Blake Parlett, a converted defenseman who later returned to the blueline. The new defensive pairings were Redden being reunited with Jared Nightingale and Bell back alongside Sam Klassen. The only duo to remain intact was Valentenko and Mike Vernace.

The Whale scratched injured wing Francois Bouchard. The Pirates scratched injured Brett MacLean, Maxim Goncharov, Colin Long, Nathan Oystrick, Spencer Bennett and former Hartford Wolf Pack wing Ryan Hollweg.

ODDS AND ENDBOARDS

Left wing Andrew Yogan ended his junior career Sunday with a memorable “Gordie Howe Hat Trick” of four goals, one assist and one fight in Peterborough’s 8-6 victory over Oshawa in their Ontario Hockey League finale Sunday. Yogan also was plus-4 and had a game-high seven shots, but the Petes’ 27-34-3-4 record failed to qualify for the playoffs. Yogan, the Rangers’ fourth-round pick in 2010 from Boca Raton, Fla., finished the season with career highs in goals (41), assists (37) and points (78) and was plus-8 with 96 penalty minutes in 66 games. The 6-foot-3, 200-pound Yogan had two goals and one assist in final two regular-season games with the Whale last season. His 6-4, 203-pound Peterborough teammate, defenseman Peter Ceresnak, the Rangers’ sixth-round pick in 2011 from Trencin, Slovakia, had six goals, nine assists and 64 PIM in 61 games in his first North American junior season.

Right wing Christian Thomas, the Rangers’ second-round pick in 2010, had a goal and an assist for Oshawa to finish the regular season with 34 goals and 33 assists in 54 games. Thomas, who was suspended for 10 games, and the Generals will meet Central Division champion Niagara in the first round of the playoffs.

Former Quinnipiac University standout Brandon Wong, who started last season with the Whale, had three goals and an assist as the Greenville Road Warriors beat visiting Cincinnati 5-1 Sunday to clinch a second straight playoff berth. Wong joined Justin Bowers, Marc-Olivier Vallerand and Brendan Connolly as players to record 100 points in his career with Greenville. Jason Missiaen, who finished last season with the Whale and was in training camp in the fall, had 46 saves as the Road Warriors improved to 40-22-2-3 and moved within two points of South Division leader Gwinnett.

Chris Kreider, the Rangers’ first-round pick (19^th overall) in 2009, assisted on the second of freshman Johnny Gaudreau’s two goals as top-ranked Boston College beat No. 10 Maine 4-1 in the Hockey East final before 13,709 at TD Garden in Boston on Saturday night. Gaudreau also assisted on a goal by Pat Mullane of Wallingford, and goalie Parker Milner made 41 saves as the Eagles (29-10-1) became the first team to capture three consecutive tournament titles and a record 11 overall. Maine (23-13-3) played without conference Player of the Year Spencer Abbott, who was elbowed in the back of the head in the third period of Friday night’s 5-3 semifinal win over Boston University.

Fans can bid on AHL All-Star Classic jerseys, helmets, gloves and pucks at www.theahl.com. The Whale’s Audy-Marchessault and Mats Zuccarello and Greenwich native Cam Atkinson of the Springfield Falcons were on the Eastern Conference team, which was captained by former Wolf Pack left wing Boyd Kane, captain of the Hershey Bears. Zuccarello is on recall to the New York Rangers and Atkinson to the Columbus Blue Jackets.

RANGERS RETAIN DIVISION, CONFERENCE LEAD

The Rangers retained their Atlantic Division and Eastern Conference leads when All-Star Scott Hartnell scored with 0.9 seconds left in overtime to give the Philadelphia Flyers a come-from-behind 3-2 victory over Pittsburgh, ending the Penguins’ 11-game winning streak.

The Rangers (44-20-7) are one point ahead of the Penguins (44-21-6) entering a home game against the New Jersey Devils on Monday night. The Penguins beat the Devils 5-2 Friday night as Sidney Crosby had three assists in his second game since Dec. 5 after missing 40 because of post-concussion symptoms. He was pointless against the Flyers (42-22-8), who rallied from a 2-0 deficit on goals by Kimmo Timmonen and two by Hartnell. Ilya Bryzgalov had 38 saves for the Flyers, while Marc Andre-Fleury had 24 for the Penguins.

Rookie defenseman Tim Erixon, recalled from the Whale after scoring in a 3-2 victory over the Sound Tigers on Friday night, was scoreless and minus-1 in 9:57 in the Rangers’ 3-1 loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday night. The Rangers had a season-high 42 shots, but only Mats Zuccarello, called up last Sunday, beat Semyon Varlamov.

The promotions of Zuccarello and Erixon, who were roommates while with the Whale, account for half of the recalls the Rangers are allowed until the Whale is eliminated from the playoffs.

Erixon told the New York media that he has gotten a better grasp of how to play on the smaller North American rinks while with the Whale. Erixon, the son of former Rangers wing Jan Erixon, was the first-round pick (23^rd overall) of the Calgary Flames in 2009 and acquired last June with a fifth-round pick for two second-round picks and Roman Horak.

“I had to make adjustments because it’s a different game to play,” Erixon said. “I feel like I improved from the start of the year and kept improving when I went back after Christmas. I’ve spent a lot of time in the weight room and have been learning a lot. I hope I can use all that here.”

Zuccarello was confident Erixon would make a successful adjustment.

“He’s so smart with such a good hockey sense,” said Zuccarello, who played 14:32 and was a regular on the first power-play unit. “He takes what he learns and he uses that on the ice. He was in the gym every day. He wants to get stronger and he wants to get better. He’s gotten feistier and more aggressive in the corners. I think he’s going to be fine here.”

Bruce Berlet pulled double-duty covering the game for the PressHerald.com.

GAME SUMMARY and OFFICIAL SCORERS SHEET

SHOOTOUT RESULTS:

STANDINGS:

(Conference)

(Division)

(Standings provided by TheAHL.com)

SOUNDS OF THE GAME:

Ken Gernander: 

Cam Talbot: 

Tommy Grant: 

Kelsey Tessier: 

VIDEO:

Game Highlights

Ken Gernander Post-Game Press Conference

NOTES:

* As you may or may not already know, the Norfolk Admirals won their 18th straight game setting the AHL consecutive winning streak record. The most impressive thing to us is that these are all REGULATION wins.

Here is the official AHL release:

The Norfolk Admirals established the longest winning streak in the 76-year history of the American Hockey League Sunday afternoon, posting their 18th consecutive victory with a 5-0 decision over the Charlotte Checkers at the Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte, N.C.

Norfolk’s winning streak surpasses the previous mark held by the Philadelphia Phantoms, who won 17 straight games during the 2004-05 season. (The Syracuse Crunch also won 18 consecutive regular-season games, but they spanned the 2007-08 and 2008-09 seasons.)

The Admirals’ current 18-game win streak is also one better than the National Hockey League record, held by the 1992-93 Pittsburgh Penguins.

LINES:

Grant – Tessier –Audy-Marchessault
Wellman – Newbury – Deveaux –
Bourque –  Owens – Tanski
Prough –  Thuresson – Parlett

REDDEN – Nightingale
Valentenko – Vernace
Bell – Klassen

Talbot
Johnson

(Captain in CAPS / Assistant Captains are Italicized)

SCRATCHES:

Francois Bouchard – Broken Wrist – Indefinite
Chad Kolarik – Knee – (Can’t Play Due To Roster Issue)
Sean Avery – Healthy Scratch

THREE STARS:

1. CT – T. Grant
2. CT – J. Audy-Marchessault
3. POR – E. Werek

ON ICE OFFICIALS:

Referee:
Jarrod Ragusin (54)

Linesmen:
Brent Colby (7)
Mike Baker (11)

NEXT GAME:

The Whale are off until next Friday when they will once again do the whole three-in-three thing again and it starts with Portland returning for a rematch. You can hear all the action with Bob Crawford, Garry Swain and Mark Bailey on WCCC.com starting at 2:50pm.

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

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

Too far away or can’t make it? Listen live at WCCC.com or from your cell phone or computer you can get all the live action via our Twitter page:@HowlingsToday for all games both home and away.

SCORE SHEET:

Portland Pirates 4 at Connecticut Whale 5 (SO) – Status: Final SO
Sunday, March 18, 2012 – XL Center Veterans Memorial Coliseum

Portland 1 0 3 0 – 4
Connecticut 0 3 1 0 – 5

1st Period-1, Portland, Miele 13 (Beaudoin, Ross), 5:40. Penalties-Hextall Por (tripping), 14:39; Brodeur Por (unsportsmanlike conduct), 19:50; Audy-Marchessault Ct (unsportsmanlike conduct), 19:50.

2nd Period-2, Connecticut, Grant 9 (Tessier), 0:58. 3, Connecticut, Audy-Marchessault 21 (Grant), 1:56. 4, Connecticut, Grant 10 (Tessier), 14:59. Penalties-Eckford Por (holding the stick), 2:56; Hextall Por (unsportsmanlike conduct), 4:24; Redden Ct (unsportsmanlike conduct), 4:24; Valentenko Ct (hooking), 5:43; Miele Por (delay of game), 10:09; Vernace Ct (high-sticking), 17:20.

3rd Period-5, Portland, Werek 6 (Bolduc, Duncan), 5:13. 6, Portland, Rome 8 (Eckford, Ross), 7:40 (PP). 7, Portland, Werek 7 (Duncan), 14:06. 8, Connecticut, Audy-Marchessault 22 (Grant, Bell), 17:55. Penalties-Deveaux Ct (tripping), 6:27; Werek Por (slashing), 9:24.

OT Period– No Scoring.Penalties-No Penalties

Shootout – Portland 0 (Miele NG, Beaudoin NG, Sterling NG, Rundblad NG), Connecticut 2 (Bell G, Wellman G, Newbury NG, Audy-Marchessault NG).
Shots on Goal-Portland 12-10-12-6-0-40. Connecticut 15-16-9-1-1-42.
Power Play Opportunities-Portland 1 / 3; Connecticut 0 / 4.
Goalies-Portland, Mannino 6-7-1 (41 shots-37 saves). Connecticut, Talbot 12-12-0 (40 shots-36 saves).
A-3,457
Referees-Jarrod Ragusin (54).
Linesmen-Brent Colby (7), Mike Baker (11).

The post REDEMPTION first appeared on Howlings.

VERSUS    

BY: Bruce Berlet

Despite numerous injuries and call-ups, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers had proven to be a bugaboo for the Connecticut Whale.

The Sound Tigers were 5-1-1-1 in the first eight meetings with their intrastate rival, though the Whale had lost twice in overtime and once in a shootout.

But for the second straight Friday night, the Whale prevailed thanks to another stellar performance by goalie Chad Johnson, who had 38 saves in a 3-2 victory after two quick visits to the New York Rangers this week as a backup to Martin Biron filling in for the ailing Henrik Lundqvist.

While Johnson was No. 1 star and reason the Whale (32-20-3-5) took the outright Northeast Division lead over the Sound Tigers (32-20-3-5), it was defenseman Jared Nightingale taking one for the team that proved the spark to the team improving to 13-4-1-0 after an 11-game winless streak (0-6-3-2) in January.

A series of turnovers against the Sound Tigers’ strong fore-checking led to the Whale being outshot 15-5 in the first 15 minutes of the second period, with Johnson making brilliant saves on Tomas Marcinko alone in front with 7:16 left and Tyler McNeely bursting in off right wing on a 3-on-2 with 6:48 to go to keep it a 1-0 game.

Then with 4:52 left, former Hartford Wolf Pack left wing/enforcer Trevor Gillies punched Tim Erixon in the face, knocking the Whale defenseman to the ice as referee Marcus Vinnerborg was headed up ice. After Gillies also knocked down Casey Wellman, who had a second straight three-point game (one goal, two assists), Nightingale had had enough. He stepped in to challenge one of the game’s toughest players, and though Gillies got the better of the fight, Nightingale had made his point, especially to his teammates.

“I just saw Timmy laying down and wanted to come his aid,” Nightingale said. “Then it worked out that he had just finished his hit on Wellman, and I was right there. It doesn’t matter who it is. (Gillies) was running around, and then it just worked out when he finished his hit on Wellman that I was right there.

“It’s not always the point to win a fight. It means a lot just coming to the aid and showing up. Guys respond better, and I think it might have sparked the team even more when he was hitting me when I was down. It kind of fired up the guys. … It’s a great character win, especially since we had a slow second period and came back and took it to them in the third.”

When informed several of his teammates commended him for coming to Erixon’s defense, Nightingale paused, smiled and said, “That’s nice.”

Johnson was more emphatic.

“That was awesome and I think that kind of turned things around,” said Johnson, who is 4-2-1 against the Sound Tigers. “When you’re on your heels, a fight can change things up a bit and definitely gave us a boost fighting one of the tougher players. I think that helped to give us a little bit of energy.”

All-Star rookie wing Jonathan Audy-Marchessault, who had two assists, called Nightingale “a warrior.”

“(Gillies) should have had a penalty on Timmy in the corner, and Nightie went right after him,” Audy-Marchessault said. “He knew it was Gillies, and just to see that act of courage he gave us gave us some strength to go to the other end. We said, ‘Come on, guys, we need a better shift,’ and that’s what we did. They put Casey with me and Newbs, and it went well.”

Two shifts later, the Whale tied it with 3:07 left in the period when Wellman converted the rebound of a shot by Audy-Marchessault, who had spun away from Rhett Rakhshani in the right circle and skated into the slot. It was Wellman’s 21^st goal, third in two games and seventh in 17 games with the Whale since being acquired from the Minnesota Wild on Feb. 3.

The Whale kept the lead thanks to another alert stop by Johnson on Trevor Frischmon’s deflection in the waning seconds of the second period. Marcinko’s slashing penalty early in the third period gave the Whale a 5-on-3 for 31 seconds, and they took advantage as Erixon one-timed Audy-Marchessault’s pass, the puck slithering through Poulin at 3:30 for the defenseman’s third goal and a 2-1 lead.

Johnson then was at his best during the Sound Tigers’ fourth power play with four saves, including two point-blank bids by Tony Romano. Given those reprieves, the Whale got the winner when Wellman circled the net and found a wide-open Newbury in the right circle for a shot into an open net for his team-leading 22^nd goal with 2:27 left.

“I was calling for the puck and just took a wrist shot,” Newbury said. “Normally I don’t take a wrist shot, but maybe it’s something I’ll try a little more. … It’s a big two points and something to build on for the rest of the weekend, but we know we can play better. Johnson is giving us a chance to win every night, and it’s a good time for him to get hot. But we know we can make some corrections and give him a little easier job, but right now, everyone is confident with him back there.”

Johnson said it was just a continuation of feeling good all season.

“They’re all going to be tight games coming down the stretch, and we always have battles with Bridgeport, so it was an important game for us to get,” said Johnson, who is 11-4-0 while starting 16 of the last 18 games and missed the other two because of an injury. “They come hard with a lot of speed and finish all their checks, but I felt good, and it was good to get the two points.”

After pulling Poulin for a sixth attacker, the Sound Tigers got to 3-2 as Frischmon scored off a scramble with 1:08 to go. Despite pulling Poulin a second time, the Sound Tigers couldn’t get the equalizer and suffered their fourth straight loss, the first two via shootouts, starting against the Whale last Friday when Newbury scored with 4.9 seconds left in regulation and then Johnson stopped all three shots in a shootout while All-Star Mats Zuccarello, Wellman and Brendan Bell were scoring for the Whale. Zuccarello was called up by the New York Rangers on Sunday, and he was joined Friday night by Erixon, recalled after the game.

The Whale finished 4-0-0-1 in their five XL Center games against the Tigers and have the AHL’s best home winning percentage at .724 (18-5-2-4), including only two regulation losses in their last 20 games (13-2-2-3).

“A goalie keeping us in the game is helping us to get some big points, and now we’re first in the standings, and a lot of it is because of him,” Audy-Marchessault said. “We know (Johnson) is as big as a house in the net.”

The Whale had the game’s first good scoring chance, but Poulin (31 saves) made a brilliant glove stop of Andre Deveaux’s laser from 25 feet in the slot at 3:08. Then with the Sound Tigers on their first power play, Johnson denied Frischmon off right wing at 7:06.

But 16 seconds after the power play ended, Sound Tigers defenseman Jon Landry fired a shot that Justin DiBenedetto deflected past Johnson for his team-leading 18^th goal at 7:20.

Johnson kept it 1-0 with 8:59 left in the period when he denied Sean Backman on a 2-on-1. Poulin then kept the Sound Tigers in front with two brilliant save in the final 3:42. First, he stopped Scott Tanski bursting in alone off right wing off a terrific feed from Tommy Grant and then turned aside Nightingale off a Newbury setup.

After the Whale didn’t allow the Sound Tigers a shot on their second power play early in the second period, Grant came out of the penalty box and broke in down right wing but was stopped by Poulin at 5:52. Then at 7:58, Johnson was alert to stop Michael Haley. Haley was his third go-around with the Sound Tigers after he and goalie Anders Nilsson were reassigned by the New York Islanders on Monday.

The Whale were then hemmed in much of the second period before Nightingale took on Gillies and turned the tide.

“We had a long stretch in the second period where they controlled play, and we didn’t help ourselves,” Whale coach Ken Gernander said. “They were playing hard and carrying the momentum for large portions, but we could have helped ourselves with a little better decision making. We had opportunities to at least get pucks deep, get a line change and alleviate some of the pressure, but we were too stubborn and they countered and came right back when we shouldn’t have been looking for home run plays.

“I thought (Johnson) had a great game obviously. He had stretches in the second period and late in the third where he made numerous saves and was quick on the rebounds and has been very strong for us the last six weeks. And I give Nightingale full marks for standing up for a teammate. I think that was a big catalyst as far as getting us going. With five minutes to go in the second, we seemed to get a little better for the rest of that period, but we were certainly better in the third than we had been to that point.”

VALENTENKO RETURNS FOR WHALE

Valentenko returned and was paired with Mike Vernace after missing two games with an injury sustained in a 3-1 loss to the Norfolk Admirals last Saturday night. The Whale scratched defenseman Sam Klassen and injured wing Francois Bouchard.

The great and very talented Mike Fornabaio takes you inside the Bridgeport locker room at CTPost.com.

GAME SUMMARY and OFFICIAL SCORERS SHEET

STANDINGS:

(Conference)

(Division)

(Standings provided by TheAHL.com)

SOUNDS OF THE GAME:

Ken Gernander: 

Jared Nightingale: 

Jonathan Audy-Marchessault:

Kris Newbury: 

Chad Johnson: 

VIDEO:

Game Highlights

Ken Gernander Post-Game Press Conference

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mEQOsvN9gI]

NOTES:

* Whale General Manager Jim Schoenfeld was in the house and was the one who told Tim Erixon he was headed to New York and could be heard from outside the door saying, “So, you doing anything tomorrow?” Erixon had a HUGE smile on his face when leaving the coach’s office after being told of his promotion. What a great way to tell a young man that he’s getting the next step in his ascension to the NHL. Kudos to Schoenfeld for that.

LINES:

Audy-Marchessault – Newbury – Deveaux
Bourque – Wellman – Thuresson
Grant – Tessier – Tanski
Prough – Owens – Parlett

REDDEN – Erixon
Bell – Nightingale
Valentenko – Vernace

Johnson
Talbot

(Captain in CAPS / Assistant Captains are Italicized)

SCRATCHES:

Francois Bouchard – Broken Wrist – Indefinite
Chad Kolarik – Knee – (Can’t Play Due To Roster Issue)
Sam Klassen – Healthy Scratch
Sean Avery – Healthy Scratch

THREE STARS:

1. CT – C. Johnson
2. CT – C. Wellman
3. CT – J. Audy-Marchessault

ON ICE OFFICIALS:

Referee:
Marcus Vinnerborg (45)

Linesmen:
Brent Colby (7)
Jim Briggs (83)

NEXT GAME:

Springfield continues their I-91 Rivalry at the XL Center Saturday night. You can hear all the action on WCCC.com starting at 6:50pm.

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

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

Too far away or can’t make it? Listen live at WCCC.com or from your cell phone or computer you can get all the live action via our Twitter page:@HowlingsToday for all games both home and away.

SCORE SHEET:

Bridgeport Sound Tigers 2 at Connecticut Whale 3 – Status: Final
Friday, March 16, 2012 – XL Center Veterans Memorial Coliseum

Bridgeport 1 0 1 – 2
Connecticut 0 1 2 – 3

1st Period-1, Bridgeport, DiBenedetto 18 (Landry), 7:20. Penalties-Wishart Bri (tripping), 3:45; Thuresson Ct (interference), 5:04.

2nd Period-2, Connecticut, Wellman 21 (Audy-Marchessault, Newbury), 16:53. Penalties-Grant Ct (hooking), 3:25; Gillies Bri (fighting), 15:08; Nightingale Ct (fighting), 15:08; Erixon Ct (tripping), 18:09.

3rd Period-3, Connecticut, Erixon 3 (Audy-Marchessault, Wellman), 3:30 (PP). 4, Connecticut, Newbury 22 (Wellman), 17:33. 5, Bridgeport, Frischmon 9 (Haley, McNeely), 18:52. Penalties-Landry Bri (holding), 1:32; Marcinko Bri (slashing), 3:01; Tanski Ct (hooking), 14:58.

Shots on Goal-Bridgeport 9-18-13-40. Connecticut 10-10-14-34.
Power Play Opportunities-Bridgeport 0 / 4; Connecticut 1 / 3.
Goalies-Bridgeport, Poulin 17-16-3 (34 shots-31 saves). Connecticut, Johnson 21-14-5 (40 shots-38 saves).
A-4,177
Referees-Marcus Vinnerborg (45).
Linesmen-Brent Colby (7), Jim Briggs (83).

The post WHEN YOU’RE HOT, YOU’RE HOT first appeared on Howlings.

BY: Bob Crawford, Voice of the CTWhale

The Whale won two out of three games again this past weekend, starting off with a key 4-3 shootout victory at home Friday over the Bridgeport Sound Tigers in Northeast Division action. The Whale would fall to the league-leading Norfolk Admirals Saturday at the XL Center, 3-1, on Connecticut Hockey Hall of Fame night, but would rebound nicely with a 5-3 road win over the Manchester Monarchs on Sunday. Casey Wellman had two goals and an assist in Sunday’s game, and both Jonathan Audy-Marchessault and Kris Newbury cracked the 20-goal mark over the course of the three games. Chad Johnson recorded his 20^th win of the season in goal Sunday, after earning a First-Star nod in Friday’s win over the Sound Tigers.

This week:

• The Whale will face a trio of heated rivals this weekend, as they begin a three-games-in-three-nights stint at the XL Center. Friday night, the Whale will host the Bridgeport Sound Tigers in GEICO Connecticut Cup action (7:00 PM faceoff), before the Springfield Falcons come to town on Saturday night (7:00). The Whale will finish the weekend out with a Sunday afternoon tilt against the Portland Pirates.  That game faces off at 3:00.

Friday, March 16 vs. Bridgeport Sound Tigers at the XL Center, 7:00 PM

• 5,000 fans at this game will receive the third and final set of Whale trading cards, sponsored by Webster Bank.  This set includes cards of Andre Deveaux, Tim Erixon, Scott Tanski, Pavel Valentenko and Casey Wellman, plus a bonus Ken Gernander Hartford Wolf Pack card.
• The Whale host the Bridgeport Sound Tigers in GEICO Connecticut Cup action Friday, in a pivotal Northeast Division matchup with playoff implications.
• As at every remaining Friday-night Whale home game in the regular season, fans can take advantage of a special meal combo deal at this game.  A hot dog and a 12-ounce soda is only $5.
• The Whale have taken three of their first eight meetings with the Sound Tigers, including the last tilt, coming last Friday at the XL Center. The Whale are 3-0-0-1 in four home games against the Sound Tigers this season.
• Connecticut edged the Sound Tigers, 4-3, last Friday in a shootout. Kris Newbury tied that game with 4.9 seconds remaining in regulation, and Mats Zuccarello’s shootout goal was enough to seal the win for the Whale.
• · The Sound Tigers lost three straight games for the first time in 2012 this past weekend, losing in  shootouts to the Whale and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, before being doubled up by the Norfolk Admirals, 6-3, on Sunday.
• Jonathan Audy-Marchessault leads the Whale in scoring vs. Bridgeport with ten points (6-4-10).
• The Sound Tigers (32-20-3-5, 72 pts.) are currently tied with the Whale for first place in the Northeast Division, but they have one game at hand and own the first tie-breaker, which is most non-shootout wins.
• Rhett Rakhshani has a six game point streak in March (4-4-8) and had three points this weekend (1-2-3).
• Radio – CT Whale “Rockin’ Hockey”, live with Bob Crawford, Garry Swain and Mark Bailey, on “The Rock” 106.9 WCCC-FM, and on-line at CTWhale.com.

Saturday, March 17 vs. Springfield Falcons at the XL Center, 7:00 PM

• Green Whale koozies will be given away to 5,000 fans at this game, courtesy of Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over.
• The Whale and the Falcons clash for the 12^th and final time this season on Saturday, as the I-91 rivalry comes to its regular-season conclusion.
• Connecticut has taken seven of the first eleven games in the season series between the clubs, winning three of five meetings at the XL Center (3-1-0-1).
• The Whale were shut out by the Falcons in their last meeting, 2-0, on February 25 at the MassMutual Center, the first time the Whale had been blanked since the second game of the season.
• Jonathan Audy-Marchessault leads both teams in scoring in the season series, tallying 19 points in 11 games (6-13-19).
• Alexandre Giroux leads active Falcons in scoring against the Whale with nine points this season (6-3-9).
• The Falcons have lost five of their last six (1-3-1-1) and will also play Portland and Providence this coming weekend.
• Radio – CT Whale “Rockin’ Hockey”, live with Bob Crawford, Garry Swain and Mark Bailey, on “The Rock” 106.9 WCCC-FM, and on-line at CTWhale.com.

Sunday, March 18 vs. Portland Pirates at the XL Center, 3:00 PM

• Fans are encouraged to bring their skates to the game, as there will be a free postgame skate on the XL Center ice.
• The Whale take the on the Portland Pirates in their sixth head-to-head tilt of the season. Each team has been perfect against each other on their home ice, with the Whale capturing two wins vs. Portland at the XL Center.
• Connecticut was edged, 3-2, in the last meeting between the teams on Mar. 2 in Portland.
• Tim Erixon leads the Whale in scoring against the Pirates with five assists, while rookie Andy Miele has tallied seven assists against the Whale for Portland.
• The Pirates dropped two out of three games this past weekend, losing to Worcester and Manchester before defeating the Providence Bruins, 5-4, on Sunday at home.
• The Pirates are sitting in fourth place in the AHL’s Atlantic Division with 62 points, just two points out of a potential Eastern Conference playoff spot.
• Radio – CT Whale “Rockin’ Hockey”, live with Bob Crawford, Garry Swain and Mark Bailey, on “The Rock” 106.9 WCCC-FM, and on-line at CTWhale.com

“Whale TV”, presented by Webster Bank:

• The following special “Whale TV” selections are available this week to Comcast Xfinity on Demand customers throughout New England, in the “Get Local” folder of Comcast’s On Demand Service:
• Connecticut Hockey Hall of Fame Inductee Videos (Whale Special Events folder) – video tributes to the seven 2012 Connecticut Hockey H-O-F inductees, detailing their careers and accomplishments, that were produced for Saturday’s Connecticut Hockey Hall of Fame Night.
• Connecticut Hockey Hall of Fame Night Highlights (Game of the Week folder) – highlights of both the Connecticut Hockey Hall of Fame induction ceremony and the game Saturday night between the Whale and the powerful Norfolk Admirals.
• Every week, CPTV Sports will air an edited re-broadcast of a Whale game, on “Whale TV Replay”.  CPTV Sports is available on Comcast cable channels 185, 187 and 744 and on the Cox Communications cable system channel 144.
• This Tuesday night at 7:00 PM, Whale TV Replay will feature a re-broadcast of this past Saturday’s CT Hockey Hall of Fame Night contest against the league-leading Norfolk Admirals.

Recent Transactions:

• Blake Parlett – Reassigned to the Whale by the NY Rangers from Greenville (ECHL), March 10
• Mats Zuccarello – Recalled from the Whale by the NY Rangers, March 11

Whale Tales:

Whale season seat-holders who reserve their full-season 2012-13 Whale tickets by April 13 will receive access for four people to the luxurious CT Whale Director’s Suite at the XL Center, for one Whale 2012-13 home game.  This allows the opportunity to watch the game alongside Whale executive personnel and special guests, and to enjoy all of the high-end amenities of the Director’s Suite.  Additionally, all Whale full-season 2012-13 subscribers who purchase by April 13 will receive a custom-made, high-quality season ticket-holder jersey fleece.  The jersey fleece will be exclusive to Whale full-season ticket-holders, and will feature a “Season Ticket Holder 2012-13” patch that designates it as a unique item.  For more information on purchasing Whale season tickets, call (860) 728-3366, visit the Season Ticket Holder table behind Section 101 at a Whale home game or log on to CTWhale.com.

College students can get discounted tickets to Whale weekday games with the Whale’s “Ditch the Dorms” deal.  For Monday through Friday home games, students who show a valid student ID at the Public Power Ticket Office at the XL Center can get $2 off Upper Level tickets and $5 off Lower Level seats.

Save on your tickets, and get the best seats, with a ticket plan for the Whale’s 2011-12 AHL campaign, which are on sale now. For information on season seats, mini plans and great group discounts, visit CTWhale.com, or call the CT Whale ticket office at (860) 728-3366 to talk with an account executive today.

The AHL’s Connecticut Whale is operated by Whalers Sports and Entertainment, a Hartford-based sports marketing and event firm founded by Howard Baldwin and Howard Baldwin, Jr.. The team is the top player-development affiliate of the NHL’s New York Rangers.

Since 1972, the CT Lottery has generated nearly $21.4 billion in sales and has transferred more than $7.2 billion to the state’s General Fund. Prizes have exceeded $12.3 billion. Purchasers must be 18 years or older. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, call the Problem Gambling Helpline at 1-800-346-6238. For more information about the Connecticut Lottery Corporation, visit CTLottery.org.

CATCH THE WHALE AT CTWHALE.COM

The post WHALE WEEKLY: March 12 – 18, 2012 first appeared on Howlings.