BY: Kelly Masse, Hockey Hall of Fame

TORONTO (November 19, 2019) – Lanny McDonald, Chairman of the Board of the Hockey Hall of Fame, announced today new appointments to the Hockey Hall of Fame Selection Committee and Board of Directors as confirmed at the Directors’ meeting held yesterday in Toronto.

Mike Murphy will join the eighteen-member Selection Committee commencing with the 2020 nomination and election proceedings (replacing Colin Campbell who served his full term limit of 15 years) and Jason Farris will join the Board of Directors effective December 1, 2019 (replacing Murray Costello who is retiring from the Board after 39 years of service, the longest of any member of the Board, Selection Committee or staff).

Murphy played professional hockey in the National Hockey League for 13 years for the St. Louis Blues, New York Rangers and Los Angeles Kings and has been Assistant and Head Coach in the NHL for the Los Angeles Kings, Ottawa Senators, Vancouver Canucks, Toronto Maple Leafs and New York Rangers.  He is presently the NHL’s Senior Vice President, Hockey Operations and as head of the “Situation Room” he has virtually watched every game every night for the past twenty years.

Farris served for seven seasons as Executive Vice-President (in dual roles as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer) for Dallas Sports & Entertainment LP and Alternate Governor for the Dallas Stars until August 2018.  Prior to his tenure with the Stars’ organization, Farris held executive positions in the financial services and software industries. He also founded circa Now Media and under that label has authored and published five hockey books, including his most recent title “It Takes 23 To Win: Building and Being Part of Great Hockey Teams” released in October 2019.

“On top of his extensive playing and coaching experience, Mike has probably watched more NHL hockey than any other person in the world in his role as a League administrator which will certainly benefit the Selection Committee’s deliberations in recognition of excellence, and to complement the Board, Jason brings a depth of business expertise and passion for hockey to assist the Hall in its continued growth and development”, said McDonald.  “I am very pleased to welcome Mike and Jason to the organization and at the same time express our appreciation and gratitude to Colie and Murray for their long-time distinguished service and outstanding contributions.”

In addition to these new appointments, Stewart Johnston was appointed to the office of Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors and Bob Clarke, John Davidson, Igor Larionov, David Poile and Luc Robitaille were re-appointed to the Selection Committee each for a further three-year term expiring December 31, 2022.

The Selection Committee will meet on June 16 & 17, 2020 to consider duly nominated candidates for election into Honored Membership. The announcement of the new inductees will be made on June 17, 2020 and the annual Induction Celebration will be held on Monday, November 16, 2020.

The post MASSE: HOCKEY HALL OF FAME ANNOUNCES NEW APPOINTMENTS TO THE SELECTION COMMITTEE AND BOARD OF DIRECTORS first appeared on Howlings.

PENGUINS BLANK CHECKERS, 1-0, IN MUST WIN
Charlotte leads best-of-7 series 3-2; Game 6 tomorrow in Wilkes-Barre

CHARLOTTE, NC—Brad Thiessen stopped all 23 shots he faced as the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins blanked the Charlotte Checkers, 1-0, in Game 5.

Despite the loss, the Checkers still hold a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series as the teams head back to Wilkes-Barre for Game 6.

Recording his second shutout of the series, Thiessen bested his counterpart, Mike Murphy, who blanked the Penguins on Wednesday night in another 1-0 affair.

Penguins forward Chris Collins scored the game’s only goal on a deflection, midway through the third period.

Murphy continued his stellar play, turning away all but one of the Penguins’ 33 shots, including some key saves to keep the Checkers in the game.

For the second consecutive game, the teams took a scoreless tie into the third period before Collins scored at 8:54. Bryan Lerg took a shot from the point that Collins tipped in front to redirect the puck off of Murphy’s glove and in.

Following the Collins goal, the Checkers had an onslaught of scoring chances, at one point keeping the puck in the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton zone for nearly two minutes. Thiessen, however, made big saves on Bryan Rodney and Brett Sutter to hold on to the one-goal lead.

With 1:04 remaining in regulation, Charlotte pulled Murphy in favor of an extra attacker. Though the Checkers kept the pressure on the Penguins, Thiessen continued his stellar play to keep them off the scoreboard and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton held on for the 1-0 victory.

The Checkers (3-2) head back to Wilkes-Barre for Game 6 tomorrow with an opportunity to clinch a berth in the Eastern Conference Finals. Puck drop from Mohegan Sun Arena is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. Head to www.AHLLive.com to watch/listen.

Notes:

The series is the first in the AHL since 2003 to feature back-to-back 1-0 scores…Three-of-five games in this series have had a shutout…Mike Murphy had a shutout streak of 161:11 between the first period of Game 3 and third period of Game 5…The shutout streak was the longest by a Checkers goaltender this season…The Checkers’ penalty kill is 30-of-30 at home in the playoffs…At 51-of-54, the Checkers penalty-killing is first among AHL teams in the playoffs.

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins 1 at Charlotte Checkers 0 – Status: Final
Friday, May 6, 2011 – Time Warner Cable Arena

W-B/Scranton 0 0 1 – 1
Charlotte 0 0 0 – 0

1st Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Herauf Cha (slashing), 5:57; Craig Wbs (high-sticking), 6:28; Thompson Wbs (interference), 11:02.

2nd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Strait Wbs (interference), 1:52; Matsumoto Cha (high-sticking), 15:48; Terry Cha (hooking), 17:57; Walker Wbs (charging), 19:31; Borer Cha (tripping), 19:49.

3rd Period-1, W-B/Scranton, Collins 3 (Lerg, Craig), 8:54. Penalties-Rodney Cha (hooking), 6:53; Strait Wbs (boarding), 9:18.

Shots on Goal-W-B/Scranton 15-6-12-33. Charlotte 6-3-14-23.
Power Play Opportunities-W-B/Scranton 0 / 5; Charlotte 0 / 4.
Goalies-W-B/Scranton, Thiessen 6-5-0 (23 shots-23 saves). Charlotte, Murphy 6-3-0 (33 shots-32 saves).
A-6,848
Referees-Ryan Fraser (14), Chris Ciamaga (41).
Linesmen-Mike Sheehan (90), Alex Stagnone (7).

The post JUST ONE OF THE NEXT TWO TO ADVANCE first appeared on Howlings.

  

MURPHY’S SHUTOUT GUIDES CHECKERS TO GAME 4 VICTORY
Charlotte netminder makes 44 saves to take commanding 3-1 series lead

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Mike Murphy stopped all 44 shots he faced en route to his first career playoff shutout as the Charlotte Checkers blanked the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, 1-0, on Wednesday evening.

With the victory, the Checkers now lead the best-of-seven series, 3-1, with an opportunity to clinch a berth in the Eastern Conference Finals at home on Friday.

Chris Terry scored the game’s only goal, early in the third period, to end a scoreless 42 minutes of play.
Though somewhat overshadowed by his counterpart, Penguins goaltender Brad Thiessen was near-perfect, making 31 saves to keep his team in the game.

The teams traded scoring chances late in the first period and early in the second period. Brett Sutter and Jacob Micflikier each had opportunities to break the scoreless tie, but couldn’t get the puck past Thiessen.

Murphy continued to keep Wilkes-Barre/Scranton off the board with a couple of big saves in the second, stonewalling a flurry of Penguins chances from the low slot.

Spearheaded by big saves by Murphy and a sliding block by Nicolas Blanchard, the Checkers continued their stout play on the penalty kill, killing off a 5-on-3 midway through the second period.

The Checkers finally broke the scoreless tie at 2:01 of the third period with a power-play goal by Terry. The Checkers’ leading goal-scorer during the regular season received a pass from Bryan Rodney, stepped up to the left-wing faceoff dot and snapped a shot through traffic that beat Thiessen low, glove-side.

With 14 minutes remaining in the third period, the Penguins had their best chance of the game. Murphy made a pair of sprawling saves when a Wilkes-Barre forward chipped a puck that trickled along the goal line, but never went in.

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton then pulled Thiessen in favor of an extra attacker with 1:31 remaining in regulation. Murphy, with help from a shutdown cast of players in front of him, kept the high-powered Penguins off the board and secured the 1-0 victory.

The Checkers (3-1) have an opportunity to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals with a win over the Penguins on Friday in Game 5. The puck drops at 7 p.m. from Time Warner Cable Arena.

The first 2,000 fans at Friday’s game will receive a Checkers cowbell, courtesy of Imperial Printing. For tickets visit www.ticketmaster.com or call 704.342.4423.

Notes:

Chris Terry’s goal was his first-career game-winning playoff goal…Zac Dalpe leads the Checkers and is tied for first among AHL rookies with 10 points (4g, 6a) in the playoffs…The Checkers have a perfect penalty kill (25-for-25) at home in the playoffs and are 49-for-52 overall (94.2%), ranking first in the league…The Checkers have won four straight home playoff games.

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins 0 at Charlotte Checkers 1 – Status: Final
Wednesday, May 4, 2011 – Time Warner Cable Arena

W-B/Scranton 0 0 0 – 0
Charlotte 0 0 1 – 1

1st Period- No Scoring.Penalties-served by Veilleux Wbs (bench minor – too many men), 1:09; Dalpe Cha (roughing), 7:05; Bellemore Cha (delay of game), 12:39; Marshall Wbs (holding), 16:25.

2nd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Wallace Wbs (diving), 5:43; Faulk Cha (holding), 5:43; Sutter Cha (slashing), 11:00; Terry Cha (slashing), 12:02; served by Nash Cha (bench minor – too many men), 14:23; Vitale Wbs (tripping), 14:31; Mormina Wbs (roughing), 17:56; Osala Cha (unsportsmanlike conduct), 17:56; Potter Wbs (roughing, roughing), 20:00; Boychuk Cha (roughing, roughing), 20:00.

3rd Period-1, Charlotte, Terry 2 (Rodney, Matsumoto), 2:01 (PP). Penalties-Veilleux Wbs (tripping), 0:10; Craig Wbs (hooking), 13:27.

Shots on Goal-W-B/Scranton 14-19-11-44. Charlotte 11-8-13-32.
Power Play Opportunities-W-B/Scranton 0 / 5; Charlotte 1 / 5.
Goalies-W-B/Scranton, Thiessen 5-5-0 (32 shots-31 saves). Charlotte, Murphy 6-2-0 (44 shots-44 saves).
A-4,406
Referees-Jean Hebert (43), Tim Mayer (19).
Linesmen-Mike Sheehan (90), Alex Stagnone (7).

The post THE MIGHTY ARE FALLING – CHECKERS UP 3-1 first appeared on Howlings.

CHECKERS SCORE 5 STRAIGHT IN THRILLING 5-3 COMEBACK
Dodge scores winner for second straight game; Checkers lead series 3-2

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – After falling behind 3-0 midway through the second period, the Charlotte Checkers scored five unanswered goals and shocked the Hershey Bears, 5-3, to take a 3-2 lead in the East Division Semifinals.

Four of the Checkers’ goals came in the third period and Nick Dodge scoring his second straight game-winning tally. Dodge now has seven goals in 13 career postseason games. Brett Sutter, Zach Boychuk, Oskar Osala and Drayson Bowman also scored for the Checkers, while Mike Murphy made 31 saves on 34 shots to earn the win.

The Bears got goals from Steve Pinizzotto, Mathieu Perrault and Andrew Carroll, but fell after Braden Holtby allowed four goals on 33 shots, including three on 13 shots in the third period.

For the fourth time in five games, it was Hershey who scored the game’s first goal. Just 3:06 into the first period, a heavy forecheck forced a Checkers turnover in the defensive zone. Boyd Kane emerged with the puck and centered a feed from the left-wing corner to Pinizzotto, who buried it into the top corner of the net.

The Bears upped their lead to 2-0 when Perreault scored off a rebound at 1:49 of the second period before former Checker Carroll put his team ahead by three, 10 minutes later, by banging home a rebound in the paint.

The Checkers got their first goal and started the comeback with 2:46 left in the second period, thanks in part to an odd bounce off an innocent looking dump-in. Dalpe sent the puck ringing around the boards from center ice, which caught a nick in the corner and squirted directly into the goal mouth, where Sutter poked it in for his first playoff goal as a Checker.
The Checkers climbed to within one goal when Boychuk deflected a shot by Bowman into the back of the net, just 1:00 into the third period.

Charlotte continued its relentless attack and tied the score five minutes later when former Bear, Osala, banged in his own rebound after being sprung on a breakaway.

Continuing to carry the play and not allowing a shot through the first 11 minutes of the third period, the Checkers took their first lead of the game when a backhand pass by Osala hit Dodge’s skate and ricocheted over the goal line.

The resilient Bears refused to go without a fight, though, and were given a golden chance to pull even when two Checkers penalties 1:08 apart put the road team on a two-man advantage. Thanks to several acrobatic saves by Murphy, and solid defensive play by the Checkers, the Bears were held at bay and Bowman scored an empty-net goal to secure the 5-3 win.

After a travel day on Saturday, the series will resume at Giant Center on Sunday at 5 p.m., where the Checkers will have a chance to clinch the series and dethrone the two-time defending Calder Cup Champions.

Notes:

Drayson Bowman and Oskar Osala both contributed a goal and two assists…Brett Sutter and Zach Boychuk both had a goal and an assist…Boychuk has a point in every game of the series (3g, 3a)…Nick Dodge has seven goals in 13 career postseason games…The Checkers have outscored the Bears, 9-2, in third periods in the series.

Hershey Bears 3 at Charlotte Checkers 5 – Status: Final
Friday, April 22, 2011 – Time Warner Cable Arena

Hershey 1 2 0 – 3
Charlotte 0 1 4 – 5

1st Period-1, Hershey, Pinizzotto 2 (Kane), 3:06. Penalties-McNeill Her (slashing), 4:20; Nash Cha (tripping), 8:29; Matsumoto Cha (delay of game), 9:26; Orlov Her (slashing), 16:12.

2nd Period-2, Hershey, Perreault 3 (Willsie, Greentree), 1:49. 3, Hershey, Carroll 1 (Perreault, McNeill), 12:57. 4, Charlotte, Sutter 1 (Dalpe, Boychuk), 17:14. Penalties-Nash Cha (hooking), 2:33; Blanchard Cha (boarding), 4:24; Miskovic Her (holding), 13:12; Fahey Her (boarding), 19:29.

3rd Period-5, Charlotte, Boychuk 3 (Bowman, Rodney), 1:00 (PP). 6, Charlotte, Osala 2 (Sutter), 5:48. 7, Charlotte, Dodge 3 (Osala, Bowman), 11:24. 8, Charlotte, Bowman 2 (Osala), 19:00 (EN). Penalties-Wellar Her (interference), 1:22; Pinizzotto Her (roughing), 7:09; Terry Cha (goaltender interference), 12:44; Rodney Cha (interference), 13:52; Borer Cha (delay of game), 19:59.

Shots on Goal-Hershey 14-14-7-35. Charlotte 11-9-14-34.
Power Play Opportunities-Hershey 0 / 7; Charlotte 1 / 6.
Goalies-Hershey, Holtby 2-3-0 (33 shots-29 saves). Charlotte, Murphy 2-1-0 (35 shots-32 saves).
A-6,183
Referees-Geno Binda (22), Ghislain Hebert (49).
Linesmen-Mike Sheehan (90), Alex Stagnone (7).

The post CHECKERS ON THE VERGE OF JUMPING OVER BEARS first appeared on Howlings.

Here is the AHL release of the entire list.

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. … The American Hockey League announced today the individual team winners of the IOA/American Specialty AHL Man of the Year awards, selected by their respective clubs for their outstanding contributions to the local community and charitable organizations during the 2010-11 season.

From this list of finalists, representatives from IOA/American Specialty and the AHL will choose the winner of the 2010-11 Yanick Dupré Memorial Award. The AHL’s annual Man of the Year award is named after the late Yanick Dupré, who died in 1997 at the age of 24, following a 16-month battle with leukemia. Dupré, an AHL All-Star in 1995, played four seasons with the Hershey Bears, registering 169 points in 207 AHL games. He also skated in 35 NHL games with the Philadelphia Flyers.

This year’s winners of the IOA/American Specialty AHL Man of the Year awards are:

Matt Keith, Abbotsford Heat
J.P. Testwuide, Adirondack Phantoms
Brad Mills, Albany Devils
Cody Bass, Binghamton Senators
Tony Romano, Bridgeport Sound Tigers
Mike Murphy, Charlotte Checkers
Spencer Machacek, Chicago Wolves
Jared Nightingale, Connecticut Whale
Greg Amadio, Grand Rapids Griffins
Alex Henry, Hamilton Bulldogs
Andrew Joudrey, Hershey Bears
Jean-Michel Daoust, Houston Aeros
Travis Gawryletz, Lake Erie Monsters
Bud Holloway, Manchester Monarchs
Nolan Baumgartner, Manitoba Moose
Mark Van Guilder, Milwaukee Admirals
Alex Berry, Norfolk Admirals
Jake Taylor, Oklahoma City Barons
Dave Spina, Peoria Rivermen
Derek Whitmore, Portland Pirates
Trent Whitfield, Providence Bruins
Paul Baier, Rochester Americans
Kyle Hagel, Rockford IceHogs
Eric Neilson, San Antonio Rampage
Steven Goertzen, Springfield Falcons
Mat Clark, Syracuse Crunch
Brad Lukowich, Texas Stars
Christian Hanson, Toronto Marlies
Ryan Craig, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
Nick Petrecki, Worcester Sharks

The winner of the 2010-11 Yanick Dupré Memorial Award will be announced at a later date.

Here is the release for Jared Nightingale:

The Connecticut Whale are proud to announce that Jared Nightingale has been named the team’s winner of the IOA/American Specialty AHL Man of the Year award for his outstanding contributions to the Hartford community during the 2010-11 season.

Nightingale has been tireless in his enthusiasm for community outreach during this 2010-11 Connecticut Whale season.  He has consistently been the first to offer his time to any charitable, school or hospital appearance that is scheduled and has on many occasions taken it upon himself to initiate appearances, without prompting from the team.  He has forged tight relationships with area hospitals, including Connecticut Children’s Medical Center and Gaylord Rehabilitation Hospital, which is the beneficiary of the Whale’s annual “Tip a Player Dinner and Sports Carnival”, and has made a significant impression on many a student and faculty member at countless school visits.

Nightingale is now one of 30 finalists for the AHL’s 2010-11 Yanick Dupre Memorial Award, honoring the overall IOA/American Specialty AHL Man of the Year. The league award is named after the former Hershey Bears forward and AHL All-Star who died in 1997 following a 16-month battle with leukemia. The winner of the Yanick Dupre Memorial Award will be announced by the American Hockey League in the coming weeks.

Here is the Checkers release on Mike Murphy:

MURPHY NAMED CHECKERS 2010-11
IOA/AMERICAN SPECIALTY AHL MAN OF THE YEAR

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The Charlotte Checkers are proud to announce that Mike Murphy has been named the team’s winner of the IOA/American Specialty AHL Man of the Year award for his outstanding contributions to the Charlotte community during the 2010-11 season.

Murphy has gone above and beyond what is expected of a professional athlete and is one of the best ambassadors to the game of hockey in Charlotte.

In addition to attending most of the team’s formally scheduled appearances, Murphy has, on his own time, visited with Presbyterian Children’s Hospital patients and has participated in local youth hockey clinics.

On his own accord, Murphy has also been actively engaged in utilizing social media to promote team fundraising initiatives. He was active in promoting the Checkers’ Facebook fundraiser for Zach Bennett and during the ‘Pink in the Rink’ jersey auction, he Tweeted that the winning bidder would be treated to dinner.

Murphy is now one of 30 finalists for the AHL’s 2010-11 Yanick Dupre Memorial Award, honoring the overall IOA/American Specialty AHL Man of the Year. The league award is named after the former Hershey Bears forward and AHL All-Star who died in 1997 following a 16-month battle with leukemia. The winner of the Yanick Dupre Memorial Award will be announced by the American Hockey League in the coming weeks.

The post MAN OF THE YEAR first appeared on Howlings.

VERSUS

Goaltender Mike Murphy stopped all 28 Connecticut Whale shots on goal and Matthew Pistilli scored the first goal of the game for the second consecutive game meting with the Checkers and that was enough to give Charlotte a 1-0 win at the Time Warner Cable Arena in front of a vocal 12,933 in attendance Saturday night. The win by the Checkers gave them a sweep of the two game series in Charlotte.

Pistilli’s power play goal came early in the second period. The Whale had almost  killed off their extended man-disadvantage, but rookie Zac Dalpe put a shot on goal that Dov Grumet-Morris (21 saves, 4-3-1) denied, but the Whale starter but left a rebound in front of the net. Ex-Wolf Pack defenseman Ethan Graham swept in on the right side of the crease to put a second shot on goal. That shot was also rejected by Grumet-M0rris. However, the rebound of that one went over to the left side where it found a wide-open Pistilli after Bickel left his position to try and get to Graham. Pistilli wasted no time immediately firing it into the top right corner of the net. Grumet-Morris made a valiant effort to get to that side but had no chance on the game’s only tally.

The Whale were a dramatically different team then they were before arriving to Charlotte on Wednesday night.

Head Coach Ken Gernander missed his second straight game and remains hospitalized with an undisclosed lower body issue that was causing him swelling and a great deal of pain. That left Assistant Coaches J.J. Daigneault and Pat Boller to run the team.

Connecticut was without three of their top four point scorers.

Jeremy Williams, the Whale’s lone AHL All-Star representative, and the team’s top point earner and goal scorer (25g, 19a, 44pts) may have played, but he was held off the score sheet for the third straight game and for the eighth time in the last ten games.

The Whale was also was dealing with the absence of their second leading point earner, Tim Kennedy (12g, 30a, 42pts) who, along with a third round pick in the upcoming NHL draft, were shipped earlier in the day to the Florida Panthers by the New York Rangers in a trade for veteran defenseman Bryan McCabe. Due to CBA waiver rules, Kennedy will still remain in the minor leagues. He will immediately join Florida’s American League affiliate, the Rochester Americans.

Kris Newbury (9g, 33a, 42pts), third in scoring remains on recall with the New York Rangers even after clearing waivers at noon Saturday.

Also missing form the Whale’s lineup is their fourth leading point earner, Chad Kolarik who will likely miss another week or two with a hamstring issue.

Without the offensive firepower up front, even though Gernander would likely have said that it was an opportunity for someone else to rise up and fill the gap, that never materialized.

Thursday night the team had no life or anything approaching an effort until the third period when the game was long out-of-reach. Saturday, the physicality carried over, but so did the lack of any kind of sustained offensive thrust.

The tone was set very early on when Devin DiDIomete, the AHL’s leader in fighting majors, added to his stat when he was attacked right off the bat by Nicholas Blanchard at exactly 1:00.

4:11 later, Stu Bickel dropped the gloves and beat the pulp out of Zack Fitzgerald after  the Checker defenseman plowed into Lee Baldwin late and leveling him.

The Whale kept taking the game to their hosts and outshot them 14-2 in the period. The two shots allowed were the fewest allowed in a period this season. They allowed three twice, The first to Binghamton in the second period on October 22nd, also ironically a 1-0 loss, and then again to Manchester in the third period on November 17th in a 4-3 loss.

With 23 seconds left in the period, Devin DiDiomete swung behind the Checker’s net from the left side and put a hit on Fitzgerald, knocking the defenseman to the ice surface. Brett Bellemore immediately jumped to his defenseman’s aide and dropped the gloves with DiDiomete.

Referee Jeff Smith felt strongly about DiDiomete’s hit saw and threw the book at the Whale, and one time ECHL Checker. He gave DiDIomete five minutes for the fight with Bellemore, a five minute major for a check to Fitzgerald’s head and a game misconduct for intent to injure. The only problem with Smith’s call was that it appeared, on the replay anyway, to be a good hard hit. The penalty at the end of the first was the instrument that led to Pistilli’s game winner in the second.

DiDiomete’s ejection left the Whale who were already shorthanded up front with Kennedy’s departure, now down two forwards.That problem would only get exacerbated in the third period when Ryan Garlock would leave the game with a right leg injury and needed help getting to the Whale locker room.

Pistilli’s fifth goal of the season in the second frame highlighted a sub-par effort by the Whale who were outshot 16-8 by a team that was playing their seventh game in nine days and had just driven 5 1/2 hours back from a brutal game in Norfolk against the Admirals the night before.

The Whale pressed hard in the final frame but still could only muster 6 shots on goal. The best chance to get one past Murphy came with just 6:14 to go when both Brodie Dupont and Williams were there to put the puck into the net in front of Murphy after the Checker netminder left a rebound of a blistering Pavel Valentenko point shot  in front of the crease. Murphy recovered to keep it out of the net.

The Whale will return to Connecticut on a Sunday flight where they will be rejoined by defenseman Michael Del Zotto, who was sent back to the Whale with Steve Eminger playing well enough to remain the seventh defenseman and the arrival of McCabe.

The Whale will need to find some more help up front for Wednesday’s rivalry game with the Springfield Falcons who jumped ahead of the Whale with their 4-1 win over Portland. The Falcons have now won three straight. Worcester picked up a point on the Whale and trail by just one point and have two games in hand. Norfolk, who the Whale are also chasing for the final two playoff spots picked up a point in their 3-2 shootout loss to the W/B Scranton Penguins.

Bob Crawford, who was joined by Kolarik for the play-by-play in the radio booth, once again to pulls the double-duty of calling the game and writing the CTWhale.com recap. Jack Horan has the story on the Checkers at CharlotteObserver.com.

Here is the Charlotte tale of the game:

CHECKERS BLANK WHALE IN FRONT OF RECORD CROWD
Murphy earns second shutout in a week with 1-0 win

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Mike Murphy recorded his second shutout of the week as the Charlotte Checkers defeated the Connecticut Whale, 1-0, in front of a record crowd of 12,933 on Saturday evening.

With the win, the Checkers improved to 4-1-0-2 on a current seven-game span which consisted of six different cities in nine nights and more than 2,700 miles of traveling.

Murphy continued his play as one of the league’s hottest goalies turning away all 28 Connecticut shots. The two-time Ontario Hockey League Goaltender of the Year is now 8-0-1, including two shutouts, in his last nine games.

Matthew Pistilli scored the game-winning goal for Charlotte, converting a rebound during an early second-period power play.

Connecticut netminder Dov Grumet-Morris did his best to match his counterpart, stopping all but one of Charlotte’s 22 shots, but the Whale offense couldn’t find an answer for Murphy.

Tempers flared throughout a scoreless first period. Nicolas Blanchard scrapped with AHL penalty minute leader Devin DiDiomete in the opening minute of the game while Zack FitzGerald and Brett Bellemore also dropped the gloves for Charlotte in the first.

The Checkers broke the scoreless tie at 4:10 of the second period on Pistilli’s power-play tally. Ethan Graham threw a puck on net from the low slot, forced a rebound and Pistilli buried it on his second attempt.

Murphy made several key saves toward the end of the period, including a diving shoulder stop and an impressive stab with his glove on a 2-on-1.

With just over a minute remaining in the third period, Connecticut pulled Grumet-Morris for an extra attacker, but couldn’t find the equalizer as the Checkers held on for a 1-0 victory.

Charlotte (33-20-2-6) will embark on a three-game road trip beginning on Friday, Mar. 4 when they take on the Providence Bruins. The Checkers will return home on Tuesday, Mar. 8 against the Binghamton Senators. For ticket information, call 704-342-4423 or visit www.gocheckers.com.

For every ‘like’ the Checkers get on their Facebook page between now and Apr. 1, the team will donate $2 to Zach Bennett and his family, who plan to move to Charlotte for better medical care. Visit www.gocheckers.com for more information.

NOTES:

The crowd of 12,933 sets a single-game attendance record for the Checkers…The Checkers are 15-4-0-2 in the second half of back-to-back game…Ethan Graham has five assists on a career-high four game point streak… Matthew Pistilli has four goals in his last six games…Charlotte is now 12-6-0-1 against Atlantic Division foes this season…Mike Murphy has two shutouts in his last four games and is 17-2-1 in his last 20 starts.

GAME SUMMARY and OFFICIAL SCORERS SHEET

STANDINGS:

(Standings via theahl.com)

NOTES:

* In Gernander’s absence, J.J. Daigneault acted as head coach with Pat Boller assisting.

* Mike Murphy has won eight of his last nine starts.

* With Kris Newbury in New York, and Tim Kennedy traded, Dale Weise was made an Assistant Captain.

* Kennedy will join another ex-Whale/Wolf-Pack player in Rochester as Hugh Jessiman is playing there.

Here is the release on Del Zotto’s return to Hartford:

RANGERS RETURN MICHAEL Del ZOTTO TO WHALE

*           *           *           *

Has Seven Points in Ten AHL Games

HARTFORD, February 26, 2011:  New York Rangers president and general manager Glen Sather announced today that the Rangers have returned defenseman Michael Del Zotto to the AHL’s Connecticut Whale.

In 47 games with the Rangers this season, Del Zotto has scored two goals and added nine assists for 11 points, while serving 20 minutes in penalties.  In ten AHL games earlier in the year with the Whale, the second-year pro chipped in seven assists, and was Even with eight penalty minutes.

The Whale’s next action is this Wednesday, March 2, as they return to the XL Center to host the Springfield Falcons in a 7:00 PM game.  There will be a “Whale Bowl Appreciation Night” promotion for that game, as Whale Bowl ticket purchasers who present their Whale Bowl ticket stub at the XL Center ticket office can purchase one $19 or $12 ticket for the March 2 game, and receive a second of equal or lesser value free.  On top of that, the Whale will add a coupon for 15% off all Whale Bowl merchandise.  The coupon is redeemable at the Whale Pro Shop, which is located in the Hartford Store at 45 Pratt St. in downtown Hartford and is open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 AM to 4:30 PM.  The coupon is good only for Whale Bowl merchandise.

Tickets for all 2010-11 Whale home games are available now at the XL Center box office, through Ticketmaster Charge-by-Phone at 1-800-745-3000 and on-line at www.ctwhale.com. Tickets start at $7 each at the XL Center ticket office on game day.

For information on Whale ticket packages, group sales and VIP packages, call (860) 728-3366.

LINES:

Dupont – Tessier – Weise
Soryal – Garlock – DiDiomete
Grachev – Lemieux – Williams
Eizenman – Imbeault

Redden – Nightingale
Valentenko – Parlett
Baldwin – Bickel

Grumet-Morris
Johnson

(Assistant Captains Bold and Italicized)

SCRATCHES:

Chad Kolarik – Hamstring, 1-2 Weeks

Tomas Kundratek – Flu, Day-to-Day

Jyri Niemi – Separated Shoulder – Four – Six Weeks

Chris McKelvie – Foot Surgery, Season

Todd White – Concussion – Undetermined

Head Coach Ken Gernander – Lower body pain – Day-to-Day

Michael Del Zotto – Healthy Scratch – Will meet the team in Hartford

THREE STARS:

1. CHA – M. Murphy
2. CHA – M. Pistilli
3. CHA – E. Graham

ON ICE OFFICIALS:

Referee:
Jeff Smith (49)

Linesmen:
Mike Sheehan (90)
Alex Stagnone (7)

NEXT GAME:

After seven of eight on the road and a 3-5 record during it, the Whale return to the XL Center Wednesday night for a showdown with Dane Byers and the Springfield Falcons. The puck drops at 7pm with Bob Crawford and the pregame a half an hour before game time.

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

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

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

SCORE-SHEET:

Connecticut Whale 0 at Charlotte Checkers 1 – Status: Final
Saturday, February 26, 2011 – Time Warner Cable Arena

Connecticut 0 0 0 – 0
Charlotte 0 1 0 – 1

1st Period- No Scoring.Penalties-DiDiomete Ct (fighting), 1:00; Blanchard Cha (fighting), 1:00; Bickel Ct (roughing, fighting), 5:11; FitzGerald Cha (fighting), 5:11; DiDiomete Ct (fighting, major – checking to the head, game misconduct – checking to the head, game misconduct – third major), 19:37; Bellemore Cha (roughing, fighting), 19:37.

2nd Period-1, Charlotte, Pistilli 5 (Graham, Dalpe), 4:10 (PP). Penalties-Dupont Ct (fighting), 7:29; Herauf Cha (fighting), 7:29; Redden Ct (hooking), 8:01; Boychuk Cha (interference), 8:35; Boychuk Cha (slashing), 15:10; Weise Ct (roughing), 16:04; Dalpe Cha (roughing), 16:04.

3rd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Redden Ct (high-sticking), 7:54.

Shots on Goal-Connecticut 14-8-6-28. Charlotte 2-16-4-22.
Power Play Opportunities-Connecticut 0 / 2; Charlotte 1 / 5.
Goalies-Connecticut, Grumet-Morris 4-3-1 (22 shots-21 saves). Charlotte, Murphy 19-9-3 (28 shots-28 saves).
A-12,933
Referees-Jeff Smith (49).
Linesmen-Mike Sheehan (90), Alex Stagnone (7).

The post JUST NOT ENOUGH first appeared on Howlings.

VERSUS

Top to bottom the Whale’s visit to Charlotte for the first time against the team that for 17 years was their ECHL affiliate ended as badly as it started as the visit resulted in a, hard-to-watch, 5-1 loss in front of 4,511 at the Time-Warner Cable Arena Thursday night.

Chad Johnson’s (11 saves, 16-19-3) struggles between the pipes  continued as he surrendered five goals on sixteen shots. In his last 11 appearances, Johnson has allowed 36 goals on 296 shots for a 3.05GAA and a .878 save percentage over the span. For the season, Johnson has allowed 103 goals on 1,040 shots for a 2.72GAA and a .901%. It’s just not good enough.

Thursday, Johnson only allowed one bad goal while the remainder were the result of pathetic effort by his teammates who, over the first 40 minutes, played with less spirit than they did when they took a 9-2 shellacking in Toronto to start this road trip.

Head Coach Ken Gernander was not on the trip as he was hospitalized overnight in an area hospital as a precaution after experiencing pain and swelling in his lower legs earlier in the day. For his sake, hopefully he won’t have to watch the tape from this one. If there’s one thing that sends Gernander’s blood to a boil, it’s a lack of effort in losses and this one would have turned his blood to steam.

Just 1:30 into the game, Jacob Micflicker had a breakaway off some sloppy play on the backend in the offensive zone. The Whale caught a break when Micflicker lost control of the puck on the way to the net, but it a sign of things to come.

After spending most of the early part of the contest in the Whale zone with control of the puck, at 8:57 the Checkers broke through.

Sloppy puck handling again plagued the Whale as Zac Dalpe lead a 3-on-2 odd-man rush into the Connecticut zone. Dalpe passed across ice to Drayson Bowman on the left side who fed Matthew Pistilli who was wide open in the slot for a shot that beat Johnson over the blocker shoulder for a 1-0 lead.

18 seconds after the Whale had killed off a Stu Bickel interference call at 11:55, ex-Wolf –Pack defenseman Ethan Graham fed Micflicker who gave the puck on the left side to Bowman. The Checker left wing was left completely alone as he skated from one side of the ice to the other and given FAR too much room as he spun back and fired a shot through traffic that beat Johnson low to the blocker side from the right wing circle. 2-0.

Johnson did manage to stop Riley Nash all alone in front of the net and then Chris Terry on a rush, but Blake Partlett was called for a slash on the play with 1:15 to go in the period.

The Whale killed off the remaining penalty time to start the second, but it only took 53 seconds for the Checkers to get their field goal lead after goaltender Mike Murphy (26 saves, 18-8-3) handed the puck to Dalpe and watched him rush end-to-end completely untouched and unimpeded by a single Whale defender. When the rookie center got to Johnson’s left, he just sort of dropped the puck in on him and it slid between the Whale netminder’s skates and behind him. Totally unacceptable.

Bickel stood up for Tim Kennedy after the smallish skilled forward was handed a crushing hit from Terry along the Checker’s bench at 1:47. The hit on Kennedy left him dazed for a bit, but he got up and continued.

But the waves of offensive attack continued as the Whale watched the Checkers pick them apart without much of a response.

Around the seven minute mark, Jon Matsumoto was stopped by Johnson and that was followed by Johnson’s best save of the game denying Brett Sutter from dead-red off a 2-on-1 odd-man rush.

Oren Eizenman took a lazy hooking call at 11:25 for the team’s fourth shorthanded opportunity and it cost them as Terry made them pay just 18 seconds later.

Terry took a Dalpe pass along the right side half boards. Pavel Valentenko stood and watched him skate by, as Terry came to the front of the net and fired a shot that beat Johnson low to the glove side for the 4-0 lead.

26 seconds later Terry scored again.

Terry moved through Whale defenders like you would see in a skills competition skating through traffic cones and firing a shot. Wade Redden and Jared Nightingale, playing for the first time in Charlotte since playing for the ECHL Checkers last season, played the part of the traffic cones  and from almost the same spot as the previous goal fired the shot and beat Johnson through the five-hole for the second bad goal of the game by the Whale netminder.

After the next stoppage at 15:51, Johnson’s night was over.

Dov Grumet-Morris entered the game and while his defense wasn’t doing much more than they’d done for Johnson, Grumet-Morris  kept the puck out of the net stopping all 14 shots he faced in the contest.

Brodie Dupont, who after a great streak of 4g, 6a in 8 games after being returned from his first career call-up with the Rangers, had cooled and held pointless in his last three contests, almost got back on the board late in the first when he tried to follow up on a Valentenko shot, but was snuffed out by Murphy for likely his best stop of the game.

The third period, the Whale had been humiliated enough that they decided collectively to do something about it.  But the Checkers, who had dazzled with their offensive skill, were not shy when it came to the rough stuff either.

After Jeremy Williams took a holding call along the right wing while rushing the puck up ice, the right winger fired a shot on Murphy after the whistle. As he skated through the crease, Brett Bellemore and Michal Jordan clobbered him.

Nicolas Blanchard got called for roughing in the ensuing scrum while Williams was given an Unsportsmanlike Conduct penalty to go with the original holding call at 7:43.

The game devolved after that.

At 8:27, Zach Boychuk and Nightingale got into a tango while Dale Weise and Terry got into a fight. Boychuk was given a double roughing minor while Nightingale got a single roughing call and Weise and Terry went for the standard five minutes for fighting.

But old habits die hard, and the defense was asleep at the wheel again at 9:17 when Matsumoto was left all alone in front of the net only to be denied on both attempts but Grumet-Morris.

20 seconds later, it was penalty time again as Bickel and Matsumoto went off for matching minors.

Blanchard and Devin DiDiomete got into a scrap at 12:10. Nothing new for DiDiomete who leads the AHL in fighting majors. What made this fight memorable was that when the fight moved to the front of the Checkers bench, DiDiomete was practically ignoring Blanchard altogether and was having a yelling match with a very animated Brad Herauf who openly was mocking him. It’s a safe bet that these two will somehow tangle in the team’s next meeting Saturday night.

Bellemore was called for a trip at 12:22 and it would cost Murphy his shutout as the Whale’s 4th ranked power play over took the Checker’s sixth ranked penalty kill for the tally.

The Whale moved the puck well along the perimeter and it wound up on Redden’s stick at the right point. Redden threw the puck down low to Grachev. The Russian rookie moved in on net and slid it into the crease. Meanwhile simultaneously to Grachev coming in close, Dupont was knocked down and managed to redirect the puck from the ice and past Murphy for his 13th of the season and the Whale’s only goal of the game.

More rough stuff the rest of the way highlighted by a play in the corner where after watching Micflicker board a teammate, Weise crushed Kyle Lawson into the boards, then picked up the fallen defenseman and smacked him around and got up in his face.

If the Whale can play with that level of intensity and have some heart Saturday night, they’d have a heck of a better chance of a better flight back to Connecticut and Gernander might be able to rest a bit easier.

Bruce Berlet is on a well-deserved vacation and didn’t make the road trip so that leaves Bob Crawford once again to pull double-duty both, calling the game and writing the CTWhale.com recap.  Jack Horan has the story on the Checkers at CharlotteObserver.com.

Here is the Charlotte tale of the game:

CHECKERS SCORE FIVE STRAIGHT TO DROWN WHALE
Terry tallies twice; Murphy earns seventh win in eight games

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The Charlotte Checkers scored five straight goals and Mike Murphy continued his stellar play as they downed the Connecticut Whale, 5-1, on Thursday evening.

Murphy stopped all but one of Connecticut’s 30 shots to improve to 7-0-1, including a shutout, in his last eight games. Chris Terry scored two second-period goals to supplement tallies by Matthew Pistilli, Drayson Bowman and Zac Dalpe.

Along with his goal, Dalpe added a pair of assists for his 10th multi-point game of the season. Bryan Rodney led the way on defense for Charlotte with two assists and a plus-3 rating.

Whale goaltender Chad Johnson had a rough night, allowing five goals on 16 shots before being replaced by DovGrumet-Morris with 4:09 left in the second period.

At 8:57 of the first period, the Checkers got on the board first with a goal by Pistilli. Bowman drove down the left-wing side, found Pistilli trailing the play and the winger blasted a slap shot into the upper left corner of the net.

Bowman then extended the Charlotte lead to 2-0, with 5:47 remaining in the opening period. The Colorado native collected a loose puck at the top of the right-wing circle and ripped a slap shot off of the far post and in.

In the opening minute of the second period, the Checkers padded their lead with a goal by Dalpe. The AHL rookie scoring leader took a bad angle shot from the right-wing side that squeaked between Johnson’s skate and the post.

Later in the second, Terry tacked on a pair of goals, including a power-play tally, to drive his season total to 25, the most on the Checkers’ active roster.

In an attempt to reverse their fortunes, Connecticut relieved Johnson in favor of Grumet-Morris late in the second period.

The Whale denied Murphy his second shutout of the week with a late-third period goal by Brodie Dupont but it wasn’t enough as the Checkers won, 5-1.

The Checkers (33-20-2-5) travel to Norfolk to take on the Admirals on Friday night before returning to Charlotte on Saturday to battle Connecticut for the second time in three nights. The puck drops at 7 p.m. at Time Warner Cable Arena. For ticket information, call 704-342-4423 or visit www.gocheckers.com. The first 3,000 fans at Saturday’s game will receive a free Checkers backpack.

NOTES:

Zac Dalpe leads all rookies with 41 (18g, 23a) points in just 41 games… Chris Terry has five goals in his last four games and is on a five game point streak (5g, 3a)… Matthew Pistilli has scored three goals in his last four games… Drayson Bowman has scored goals in three straight games… Bryan Rodney has six (1g, 5a) points in his last three games… Mike Murphy is 7-0-1 in his last eight games and has recorded two assists in his last three games.

GAME SUMMARY and OFFICIAL SCORERS SHEET

STANDINGS:

(Standings via theahl.com)

NOTES:

* In Gernander’s absence, J.J. Daigneault acted as head coach with Pat Boller assisting.

* Mike Murphy may be the backup in Charlotte, but he’s red hot. The Checkers netminder has won seven of his last eight games.

* Both Wade Redden and Brodie Dupont had points in this game and are fifth and sixth in scoring on the Whale with 32 (5, 27) and 31 (13, 18) respectively.

* To tell you how bad things are after that, Mats Zuccarello, who hasn’t played for the Whale in the last 26 games because he graduated to the NHL, is seventh with 25 points, (13, 12) one more than Evgeny Grachev who has played in 52.

* 21 games remain in the Whale season, 11 home games and 10 on the road. After completing this road trip they play 7-of-9 at home and then finish the season playing four on the road and three at home.

* This was game six of the Whale’s span of playing 10 of 12 on the road. They are 4-2 on the trip to this point. Still to go are games against Charlotte again Saturday night before returning to the XL Center for the first time in nearly a month, then visit Springfield, Worcester and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton to close out the run of road games.

LINES:

Grachev – Kennedy – Williams
Dupont – Tessier – Weise
DiDiomete – Lemieux– Imbeault
Soryal – Garlock – Eizenman

Redden – Nightingale
Valentenko – Parlett
Baldwin – Bickel

Johnson
Grumet-Morris

(Assistant Captains Bold and Italicized)

SCRATCHES:

Chad Kolarik – Hamstring, 1-2 Weeks

Tomas Kundratek – Flu, Day-to-Day

Jyri Niemi – Separated Shoulder – Four – Six Weeks

Chris McKelvie – Foot Surgery, Season

Todd White – Concussion – Undetermined

Head Coach Ken Gernander – Lower body pain – Day-to-Day

THREE STARS:

1. CHA – C. Terry
2. CHA – B. Rodney
3. CHA – M. Murphy

ON ICE OFFICIALS:

Referee:
Jeff Smith (49)
Ghislain Hebert (49)

Linesmen:
Paul Carnathan (93)
Terry Wicklum (58)

NEXT GAME:

Whale look to bounce back in Charlotte for the second of their two with the team that was last season’s ECHL affiliate before they moved up to become Carolina’s AHL team. Saturday the puck drops at 7pm. Bob Crawford has the pregame a half an hour before game time and he and the injured Chad Kolarik will have the play-by-play.

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

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

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

SCORE-SHEET:

Connecticut Whale 1 at Charlotte Checkers 5 – Status: Final
Thursday, February 24, 2011 – Time Warner Cable Arena

Connecticut 0 0 1 – 1
Charlotte 2 3 0 – 5

1st Period-1, Charlotte, Pistilli 4 (Bowman, Dalpe), 8:57. 2, Charlotte, Bowman 11 (Micflikier, Graham), 14:13. Penalties-Bickel Ct (interference), 11:55; Parlett Ct (slashing), 18:45.

2nd Period-3, Charlotte, Dalpe 18 (Rodney, Murphy), 0:53. 4, Charlotte, Terry 24 (Dalpe, Rodney), 11:47 (PP). 5, Charlotte, Terry 25 (Sutter), 15:13. Penalties-Bickel Ct (roughing), 1:47; Eizenman Ct (hooking), 11:25.

3rd Period-6, Connecticut, Grachev 15 (Dupont, Redden), 13:54 (PP). Penalties-McKenzie Cha (tripping), 2:51; Williams Ct (holding, unsportsmanlike conduct), 7:43; Blanchard Cha (roughing), 7:43; Nightingale Ct (roughing), 8:27; Weise Ct (fighting), 8:27; Boychuk Cha (roughing, roughing), 8:27; Terry Cha (fighting), 8:27; Bickel Ct (roughing), 9:35; Matsumoto Cha (slashing), 9:35; DiDiomete Ct (fighting), 12:10; Blanchard Cha (fighting), 12:10; Bellemore Cha (slashing), 12:22; Weise Ct (roughing), 14:50; Micflikier Cha (boarding), 14:50; FitzGerald Cha (slashing), 19:42.

Shots on Goal-Connecticut 9-8-10-27. Charlotte 10-6-14-30.
Power Play Opportunities-Connecticut 1 / 4; Charlotte 1 / 5.
Goalies-Connecticut, Johnson 16-19-3 (16 shots-11 saves); Grumet-Morris 4-2-1 (14 shots-14 saves). Charlotte, Murphy 18-9-3 (27 shots-26 saves).
A-4,511
Referees-Jeff Smith (49), Ghislain Hebert (49).
Linesmen-Paul Carnathan (93), Terry Wicklum (58).

The post BRUTAL first appeared on Howlings.

VERSUS    

MURPHY, DEFENSE PERFECT AS CHECKERS DOWN BEARS, 5-0
Rookie netminder stops 20 for sixth straight win

HERSHEY, Pa. – Mike Murphy made 20 saves for his first shutout of the season as the Charlotte Checkers blanked the Hershey Bears, 5-0, on Sunday evening in Pennsylvania.

Murphy has now won six straight games and is 15-2-0 in his last 17 starts.

Bryan Rodney led the way offensively for Charlotte with one goal and two assists, while Zac Dalpe added a goal and an assist. Dalpe now leads all AHL rookies with 38 points (17g, 21a) in just 39 games.

The Checkers wasted no time, scoring 31 seconds in on the first shot of the game. Rodney threw the puck on net from the point and it bounced off a Hershey defenseman onto the stick of Nicolas Blanchard. Blanchard made no mistake and backhanded it past Hershey goaltender Braden Holtby for the early 1-0 lead.
The Bears pressed in the final minute of the period but Murphy made several good saves, including a point blank stop with his right pad off a redirection.

Less than five minutes into the second period, Charlotte took a 2-0 lead on a great individual effort by Drayson Bowman. Bowman broke into the zone, blew by a defender and was stopped by Holtby, but picked up his own rebound and buried it. The power-play goal came at 4:31 of the second frame.

Midway through the period, Chris Terry made it 3-0 Checkers when he took a drop pass in the slot from Zach Boychuk and ripped a shot over the right shoulder of Holtby.

Murphy was solid once again in the closing minutes of the period and the Checkers went to the room after 40 minutes with a three-goal lead and a 23-13 advantage in shots.

Rodney put the Checkers ahead 4-0, early in the third period, when he took a great pass from Herauf on the left side and fired a wrist shot home on the short-side under the cross-bar.

Rodney then added his third point of the night when he let go a shot that was stopped by Holtby. Dalpe was on the doorstep and converted the rebound for a 5-0 Checkers lead.

The Bears pulled Holtby for an extra attacker but were not able to solve Murphy and the Checkers walked away with the victory.

The Checkers (32-20-2-4) will continue their road trip in Syracuse Tuesday before returning to Charlotte on Thursday to host the Connecticut Whale (formerly Hartford Wolf Pack) at 7 p.m. For ticket information, call 704-342-4423 or visit www.gocheckers.com. The first 3,000 fans at Saturday’s game against Connecticut will receive a free Checkers backpack.

NOTES:

Mike Murphy has won 15 of his last 17 starts (15-2-0)…Chris Terry has two goals and three assists on a current three-game point streak…Rodney recorded his second three-point game of the season (Nov. 11 – 3a)…Zac Dalpe leads all AHL rookies with 38 points (17g, 21a) in 39 games.

Charlotte Checkers 5 at Hershey Bears 0 – Status: Final
Sunday, February 20, 2011 – Giant Center

Charlotte 1 2 2 – 5
Hershey 0 0 0 – 0

1st Period-1, Charlotte, Blanchard 4 (Matsumoto, Rodney), 0:31. Penalties-Wellar Her (interference), 6:33; Terry Cha (tripping), 7:23; Godfrey Her (hooking), 9:51; Bowman Cha (roughing), 10:10; Beagle Her (roughing), 10:10.

2nd Period-2, Charlotte, Bowman 9 (Dalpe, Murphy), 4:31 (PP). 3, Charlotte, Terry 22 (Boychuk), 11:11. Penalties-Kroll Her (slashing), 2:45; Greentree Her (tripping), 5:16; Herauf Cha (fighting), 8:39; Carroll Her (fighting), 8:39; Herauf Cha (fighting), 15:55; Rome Her (fighting), 15:55; Pistilli Cha (hooking), 19:48; Willsie Her (cross-checking, unsportsmanlike conduct – disputing decision, misconduct – abuse of officials), 20:00.

3rd Period-4, Charlotte, Rodney 7 (Herauf), 6:47. 5, Charlotte, Dalpe 17 (Boychuk, Rodney), 9:25 (PP). Penalties-Terry Cha (tripping), 1:27; Kroll Her (roughing), 7:36; Pinizzotto Her (cross-checking), 8:48; Bouchard Her (tripping), 10:57; Bellemore Cha (hooking), 13:10; FitzGerald Cha (tripping), 15:02; Nash Cha (tripping), 19:22.

Shots on Goal-Charlotte 12-11-13-36. Hershey 6-7-7-20.
Power Play Opportunities-Charlotte 2 / 8; Hershey 0 / 5.
Goalies-Charlotte, Murphy 17-9-2 (20 shots-20 saves). Hershey, Holtby 13-6-2 (36 shots-31 saves).
A-10,430
Referees-Mark Lemelin (84), Chris Cozzan (18).
Linesmen-Mike McDevitt (13), Bob Goodman (90).

The post CHECKERS HIBERNATE BEARS first appeared on Howlings.

VERSUS

LATE GOAL BOOSTS CHECKERS OVER DEVILS
Murphy stops 26 of 28 for fourth straight win

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Brett Bellemore’s goal with less than four minutes to play was the difference as the Charlotte Checkers edged the Albany Devils, 3-2, in front of more than 8,000 fans at Time Warner Cable Arena Sunday.

Jon Matsumoto and Brett Carson recorded the Checkers’ other two goals and Mike Murphy was strong between the pipes stopping 26 of 28 shots for his fourth straight victory.

Brad Mills and Steve Zalewski scored for Albany while goalie Dave Caruso made 29 saves for his second solid outing in as many nights.

Midway through the second period, Albany struck first with a goal from Mills. After constant pressure in the Charlotte end, Rob Davison blasted a slapshot from the point that Mills redirected past Murphy.

Charlotte finally broke through to tie the game, 1-1, with 30 seconds remaining in the second period. While shorthanded, Chris Terry drove down the left-wing boards, out-skated the defense and fed Matsumoto in front for the goal.

At 3:08 of the third period, Carson gave the Checkers their first lead of the night on a slapshot from the point. Riley Nash swept the puck up the right-wing boards where the 6-foot-4 defenseman hammered it over the glove of Caruso.

The lead was short-lived as Albany drew the game even at 2-2, less than three minutes later, on a power-play goal by Zalewski.

The Checkers, however, took a 3-2 lead with 3:38 remaining in regulation at the hands of an unlikely candidate. Jumping up into the play, Bellemore received a pass from Zach Boychuk and sniped a wrist shot past Caruso off the far post.

With 46 seconds remaining, Albany pulled Caruso in favor of an extra attacker, but couldn’t find the equalizer as the Checkers held on for a 3-2 victory.

The Checkers (30-18-6) host the Devils for the rubber match in the three game series on Tuesday at 7 p.m. For ticket information, call 704-342-4423 or visit www.gocheckers.com.

NOTES: Brett Carson is on a three-game point streak (2g, 2a)… Jon Matsumoto has seven points (4g, 3a) in the last five games… Drayson Bowman has three goals in his last four games…Mike Murphy has won his last four starts.

Albany Devils 2 at Charlotte Checkers 3 – Status: Final
Sunday, February 13, 2011 – Time Warner Cable Arena

Albany 0 1 1 – 2
Charlotte 0 1 2 – 3

1st Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Letourneau-Leblond Alb (misconduct), 10:25; Herauf Cha (tripping), 12:25.

2nd Period-1, Albany, Mills 6 (Davison, Henrique), 9:30.2, Charlotte, Matsumoto 16 (Terry, Carson), 19:30 (SH). Penalties-Urbom Alb (holding), 2:11; McKenzie Cha (interference), 5:32; Micflikier Cha (tripping), 10:20; McIntyre Alb (tripping), 15:44; Dodge Cha (interference), 18:23.

3rd Period-3, Charlotte, Carson 4 (Nash), 3:08.4, Albany, Zalewski 6 (Wiseman, Magnan), 5:46 (PP).5, Charlotte, Bellemore 2 (Boychuk, Dodge), 16:22.Penalties-Pistilli Cha (slashing), 4:53; Anderson Alb (boarding), 7:20; Murray Alb (interference), 12:16.

Shots on Goal-Albany 10-13-5-28. Charlotte 8-11-13-32.
Power Play Opportunities-Albany 1 / 5; Charlotte 0 / 4.
Goalies-Albany, Caruso 2-4-0 (32 shots-29 saves). Charlotte, Murphy 14-9-2 (28 shots-26 saves).
A-8,169
Referees-Ian Croft (87).
Linesmen-Paul Carnathan (93), Mark Hamlett (81).

The post DEVILS DUMPED LATE BY CHECKERS first appeared on Howlings.

Goaltender Cam Talbot stopped 25 of 26 shots faced, including nine in the third period.  The New York Rangers prospects put 33 shots on net in the losing effort.

“The goaltending was really solid at both ends.  Talbot came up with a number of big saves,” said Gordie Clark, Director, Player Personnel, New York Rangers.  “Down at the other end, we were just taking shot after shot. We had breakaways from (Derek) Stepan and (Christian) Thomas and he stopped those. He also took one in the face. If (Carolina goaltender Mike) Murphy doesn’t throw that game at us, we were carrying most of the play the whole night.”

The New York Rangers prospects next take the ice Tuesday, September 14 against the Minnesota Wild prospects at 3:30pm ET.

The post Traverse City Tournament Day Two first appeared on Howlings.