Greenville suffers a setback in Tuesday night defeat finishing second of three games against South Carolina.

BY: Brian Tosti, Greenville Swamp Rabbits

North Charleston, SC – The Greenville Swamp Rabbits (12-8-2-0), proud ECHL affiliate of the New York Rangers and the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack, fell to the South Carolina Stingrays (11-4-3-1) tonight at the North Charleston Coliseum in an 8-2 rout. Greenville’s chances were shut down early as the Stingrays began the game with a pair of first-period tallies and never looked back. Greenville and South Carolina are now even in this 3-in-5 series, with both teams earning wins in the last two games.

BOX SCORE
The Stingrays cashed in on a spot of bad luck for Greenville in the first period. Tim McGauley sent a pass across the ice toward Kelly Zajac on the left side of the net but had it interrupted by the stick of Sean Flanagan. The deflection snuck into the net to open the scoring 4:15 into the game. Greenville would have a few chances to tie the game including a set of three shots on Parker Milner that were wrapped up with a glove save on the left side of the net.

The Stingrays then added a second goal from the stick of Patrick Gaul who began a three-point (2G, 1A) night in the final two minutes of the first period. The forward recorded his fifth goal of the season to take a 2-0 lead into the intermission.

The Stingrays then put five goals through in the second period. Danny Federico began the charge with a one-timer from the right wing and was matched by Gaul before the six-minute mark of the second period. The Stingrays pushed goaltender Ty Rimmer out of the game after making 11 saves and dealing the netminder his first loss on the road since Oct. 20. Brandon Halverson took over and was immediately met with a set of shots.

After the goaltender made a group of saves, the Stingrays touched a few passes toward the crease and found Dylan Margonari for a quick redirection. The Stingrays would add two more goals in the period to take a 7-0 advantage into the third period.

Greenville entered the third period with the chance to break through Milner, who made all 17 saves he faced in the first two periods. Austin McKay tallied the first goal of the game for the Swamp Rabbits and second in as many games. The center deflected a long shot by Brenden Kotyk to record his fourth goal of the season. Less than five minutes later, Jack Nevins matched McKay with a power play goal. The winger angled the puck from the slot into the net. Greenville finished the game 1-for-6 on the power play and a perfect 3-for-3 on the penalty kill.

South Carolina would stop Grenville’s momentum with a final third-period goal from Margonari to finish the game. Halverson finished the game with 14 saves in relief while Milner earned his fourth win of the season with 28 saves in goal.

The teams meet again on Thursday night at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena at 7 p.m. The game will be the third straight between the intrastate rivals and the sixth head-to-head meeting of the season.

THIRSTY THURSDAY | Thursday, December 7 | 7 p.m.
We are throwing ticket prices back for Thirsty Thursday presented by Harbor Inn. Grab two tickets for $20 and enjoy our Hoppy Hour specials including $3 domestic beer from 5-8 p.m.

WINTER WONDERLAND PACKAGE
The Swamp Rabbits are offering a Winter Wonderland experience! Get your four tickets for the team’s Dec. 23 game, four passes to Ice on Main, and a Dave and Buster’s gaming package, a $140 value for only $65! The package is ONLY available for purchase through the Swamp Rabbits office at (864) 674-PUCK or online at SwampRabbits.com.

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The post TOSTI: SWAMP RABBITS STUMBLE ON THE ROAD AGAINST STINGRAYS  first appeared on Howlings.

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings

HARTFORD, CT – It’s expected that the next two weeks would likely determine the future direction of the state’s two major multi-purpose hockey arenas, the XL Center in Hartford, and the Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport.

Of the two locations, one shoe dropped giving direction on the future Wednesday night in Bridgeport.

Nationally renowned concert promotion agency, Live Nation, working with local developer, Howard Saffan, the one-time former president of the Sound Tigers, won the bidding process to convert the baseball stadium into a three-season, 5.500 seat, outdoor concert amphitheatre in the fashion of the Meadows/Xfinity facility in Hartford, to open in May 2019.

The awarding of the deal to Saffan/Live Nation was ratified by the Bridgeport City Contracts Committee Council on Wednesday night.  

For the other facility, an even bigger shoe dropped on Thursday morning.

A bi-partisan, $40-billion-dollar budget passed early Thursday morning in the Senate and in the House. However, that budget only allocates $40 million to be bonded (pending bond commission approval) to the XL Center over the next two years to do much-needed repairs and to purchase the atrium.

CRDA Executive Director, Michael Freimuth, was certaintly not doing a jig but he wasn’t exactly ringing the church bell either. “We’re caught in the middle. There is no consensus to shut it down or renovate it either. We’re happy the operating budget was maintained for the building (at $600K) because the budget previously passed and vetoed by the Governor had it cut completely. If it had passed it would be a completely different situation to deal with.

“Now we have two questions before us. We have the $40 million the next two years to do some needed repairs and deal with the Atrium. The larger one is can we find outside investors by 2019 in helping with the renovation part since there is no appetite in the legislature (to fund) it now.”

The legislative finance committee took the original request of $125 million – half the publicly stated cost of the project – and recommended only $75 million. In one of the failed budgets over the past few months, John Fonfara (D-Hartford), who has the XL Center in his district, had a plan to bond $115 million. That budget was defeated with three Democrats defecting to pass the Republican proposal. That budget was vetoed by the governor.

Freimuth was under no illusions about the $115 million budget allocation.

“That had no chance of ever passing. Certainly, would have been nice, but I’m a pragmatist about this. You have to be realistic about what you can get given the fiscal dynamics in the state right now. We have fully depreciated equipment in the building, contracts with Spectra, and major tenants, so this is not an easy situaion for obvious reasons. The marketplace the XL Center operates in will be changing in the next two years as well with a new casinos and now the amphitheater in Bridgeport.”

There was another kiss of death provision in the budget. If a private investor isn’t found, the XL Center will go up for sale in 2019. It seems like a polite way to say, “We’re closing the building because nobody will buy a 44-year-old building.” Last year, an RFP’s for private investor’s was put out and received just one response.

Northland Corporation, the owner of the atrium title and who has been in a protracted negotiation for close to two years will now seek even more money for the title and deed he holds. Northland could now wait until the building closes and build another building. During the early days of Northland’s being the building’s operator, this reporter was this was Northland’s long-term strategic objective.

At this point, all of the current occupants have expiring contracts. The most immediate is that of the Wolf Pack.

As per the agreement, MSG has to inform the CRDA by December 31^st of their intention in regards to the contract. Both sides are already discussing it.

“We have been talking (to them) for the better part of two months,” Friemuth said. “They have expressed their interest to remain in Hartford and any deal will be short-term because that’s what we’re working with right now.”

Friemuth confirmed what Howlings reported two months ago that there is a two-year offer on the able. He wouldn’t confirm the numbers, but a reliable source stated it would follow the path of the current deal which would pay $1.55 million in 2018 and $1.6 million in 2019 with the check being written by Spectra.

After the Wolf Pack situation is resolved there’s still the matter of UCONN hockey which has to be sorted out first before anything concerning the basketball teams.

“They clearly need a place to play with no on campus arena in Storrs. I would say that might be a 2-3 year agreement or a year-to-year with options. There are several ways to proceed with it. I think now with an operating budget in place, we can move forward with that piece and the Wolf Pack.”

The ultimate solution on the building is still nowhere in sight.

“I wish I could say we have something, but we don’t at this point. We’re kind of like the Romans and the Greeks with our Coliseum. Not much has changed. We know the problems and we know what needs to be done and until the fiscal landscape changes, it’s still unresolved. We put a lot of effort in the process. I have learned not to answer my phone after 11 pm anymore, that’s for sure,” a smiling Freimuth stated. He was referencing the many late night budget issues that been worked on the past two months.

It seems that we might be leaving a Roman Coliseum in Hartford that future generations will come with backpacks and say, “This is where the XL Center once stood or where Hart City finally flatlined.”

(A more detailed historical outline of the history of the states sports arenas is coming this weekend)

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The post CANLTON’S CORNER: XL CENTER LOOKS TO BE SOLD  first appeared on Howlings.

Greenville silences crowd in North Charleston with three unanswered goals including game-winning tally 14 seconds into the overtime period.

BY: Brian Tosti, Greenville Swamp Rabbits

North Charleston, SC – The Greenville Swamp Rabbits (12-7-2-0), proud ECHL affiliate of the New York Rangers and the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack, completed an improbable comeback tonight against the South Carolina Stingrays (10-4-3-1) to earn a 5-4 victory in overtime. The Swamp Rabbits were down by two goals on two separate occasions in the game but rallied to tie the contest each time. After a late goal in regulation by Joe Houk, the Swamp Rabbits would seal the win 14 seconds into overtime as the defenseman led Allan McPherson on a mini-breakaway.

BOX SCORE

In the third period, the Swamp Rabbits trailed 4-2 and needed to battle back against an aggressive Stingrays fore-check. Greenville would have their eighth power play of the game cut short by a penalty and forced to a penalty kill with a little more than 10 minutes left in the contest. After killing the two-minute minor, Greenville moved into the offensive zone with numbers. McPherson caught a long pass from Brenden Kotyk and moved down to the left circle to drop off a pass to Caleb Herbert. The trailing forward walked across the slot and outlasted goaltender Parker Milner to tuck in his 15^th goal of the season and the second tally of the contest.

One final power play chance was all Greenville needed to tie the game. The Swamp Rabbits pulled goaltender Ty Rimmer with less than three minutes left in the contest to earn a 6-on-4 advantage. Despite being held off the board on the first eight chances on the man-advantage, Greenville connected with a long one-timer from Houk at the blue line. Matt Prapavessis sent the pass right to his defensive partner at the line, tying the game with 1:10 left to play in regulation.

McPherson’s overtime tally came soon after a faceoff win to open the extra period. Houk fed the pass to the wide-open fifth-year forward on the left side of the ice. As he walked in uncontested, McPherson tucked a shot inside the left post to earn his first game-winning goal in over a year.

The Stingrays put Greenville down in the first period by two goals on shots from the hash marks. Both Kelly Zajac and Taylor Cammarata walked into the low slot and launched shots past goaltender Ty Rimmer. The Swamp Rabbits recorded 12 shots in the frame but were held off the board until the second period.

Herbert put his team on the board with a scrappy goal six minutes into the second period. With the puck resting in the crease, the fourth-year pro started his two-goal night jamming the puck into the net through the pad of Milner. Two minutes later, Austin McKay added a second goal to tie the contest. Sergey Zborovskiy launched a shot from the blue-line with the 6-foot-5 forward providing a screen atop the crease. McKay tipped the shot in for his third goal of the season.

However, Frankie Simonelli put the ‘Rays back on top with his third goal of the season at 11:39. The shot through the screen beat Rimmer to earn a 3-2 advantage heading into the second intermission.

Cammarata grabbed the Stingrays final goal 1:07 into the third period but could not keep Greenville from countering in the third frame. Milner suffered the loss in the game with 33 saves while Rimmer earns the win with 15 saves. Greenville owned the shot differential 38-19, going 1-for-9 on the power play and 2-for-3 on the penalty kill.

The Swamp Rabbits and Stingrays face off again on Tuesday night at the North Charleston Coliseum. The teams then change venues on Thursday as the Greenville hosts their interstate rival on Thursday night at 7 p.m.

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The post TOSTI: (SUN) SWAMP RABBITS LATE GOALS COMPLETE COMEBACK WITH 5-4 VICTORY IN OVERTIME first appeared on Howlings.