By: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings

HARTFORD, CT – Hartford Wolf Pack news is starting to trickle out as New York Rangers training camp has officially opened, with a few tidbits still to come.

The Rangers dropped their first pre-season game in Boston 3-0 to the Bruins as young netminder Brandon Bussi put up a 29-save shutout.

Likely Pac-bound forward Will Cullye had a strong game for the Rangers. Adam Sýkora rang one off the crossbar late in the second for NY.

The game featured several Wolf Pack players, including goalie Louie Domingue.

Domingue played the second half of the game and lost a skateblade on one save.

After the game, the Rangers assigned six players to the Wolf Pack. They include goaltender Olof Lindbom, defensemen Seth Barton, Zach Berzolla, and Ryan McCleary, the son of former New Haven Senator Trent McCleary, who is signed for an overage year with his hometown Swift Current Broncos (WHL). He was traded to them by the Portland Winterhawks about a month ago.

Forwards, Maxim Barbashev, the younger brother of Las Vegas Golden Knight Ivan Barbashev, was moved in a QMJHL trade last month from Moncton Wildcats to the Shawnigan Cataractes.

Barbshev, at 19, will be headed there as per the NHL-CHL agreement once the Wolf Pack training camp ends or whenever the organization ends his PTO deal.

Barbashev turns 20 on December 18th. Sahil Panwar is a summer free agent signee by the Wolf Pack.

Ex-Pack/Ranger bust, despite five points in five games, Vitali Kravtsov was injured early in his KHL season with Traktor Chelyabinsk. He is out four to six weeks with an upper-body injury and is out a week to ten days into it.

Kenny Agostino, a former Yale Bulldog, following his deal being scuttled in Sweden after being in Russia the last two years, signs in Germany with Düsseldorfer EG (DEL).

MATT GILROY

Ex-CT Whale/Ranger Matt Gilroy is now an assistant coach with the USNDTP U-18 team (USHL), replacing current Ranger assistant coach and former Yale/Sacred Heart assistant coach Dan Muse.

A great Gilroy story.

The Wolf Pack once put up a game-time trivia question on the scoreboard asking what college Gilroy attended.

On the scoreboard, they put up Boston College. Except Gilroy spent four years at BC’s rival Boston University.

A staff member had to go to the locker room between periods to grab him for a radio interview. Gilroy was NOT pleased. “How stupid are you people? I spent four (expletive) years at BU!”

In the post-game, Howlings jokingly asked Glroy at the end of the interview what school he attended.

He responded bitterly, then ripped the organization for screwing it up.

Matt Barnaby Jr. (Avon Old Farms-AOF), the son of the former Ranger, stays in the Sunshine State and heads over from the Orlando Solar Bears (ECHL) to the Florida Everblades (ECHL).

Nicolas Sykora, the son of NHL’er Petr Sykora, commits to Quinnipiac University (ECACHL) in 2026-27.

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HARTFORD, CT – The New York Rangers training camp has officially opened, and their first game against the Boston Bruins, a 3-0 loss, has been played. There are still lots of Hartford Wolf Pack notes coming out of camp.

Pack defenseman Adam Clendening re-signs with the Rangers on a PTO. Nothing was indicated about his potential for a return to Hartford. He adds depth to an already crowded defense corps. It was thought that the Chicago Wolves, Milwaukee Admirals, Grand Rapids Griffins, or Cleveland Monsters, all AHL teams, would be his next destination.

The Wolf Pack moved their game with Cleveland from Saturday, February 24, 2024, to Thursday, February 22, 2024, at 7:00 p.m. There is an unspecified building availability issue. It will lead to a rare midweek three-games-in-three-days running Wednesday through Friday (Bridgeport Islanders, Cleveland, and Springfield) and an even rarer mid-season weekend off.

EX-PLAYERS MOVEMENT

Ex-Pack Danny O’Regan signs with MODO (Sweden-SHL). Ninety players from the AHL last year have now signed overseas.

Ex-Pack Andy Welinski signs with the St. Louis Blues. There is a good chance he will play for the Springfield Thunderbirds this season.

Ex-Pack goalie Brandon Halverson returns to North American hockey. He departs Germany DEL-2 for one more chance with the Dallas Stars on a Professional Try-Out (PTO) training camp deal. He’s aiming for a spot with the Texas Stars (AHL) or the Idaho Steelheads (ECHL).

Ex-Pack/Ranger Artem Anisimov signs a PTO training camp deal with the Detroit Red Wings.

Angela Ruggiero (Choate Rosemary Hall, Wallingford) is now the Rangers Hockey Operations Advisor and is one of three new female organizational hires.

Former New Haven Senator (19 games) Andy Schneider is the Rangers’ new Director of Amateur Scouting for North America. He moves organizationally from across the Hudson River from the New Jersey Devils, where he was the Director of Canadian major junior hockey scouting for them last year.

YOUNG ARMY

The youngest son of Wolf Pack great Derek Armstrong, Easton Armstrong, is off to the Los Angeles Kings training camp on an invite basis. The Kings are one of the NHL teams his father played for.

Easton will likely return to the Wenatchee Wild (WHL) for his last junior year as an overager. The Wenatchee Wild ownership purchased his Winnipeg Ice team from last season this past summer. The franchise was upgraded from the Junior A BCHL to the WHL.

Reports that Armstrong signed with the Fargo Force (USHL) are false. That organization had pursued him when he was 16 but has had no contact with him since. Three WHL teams had been looking to add him.

AUSTRALIA GAME

The first NHL game in Australia was a hit.

Nick Bjugstad, the nephew of former New Haven Nighthawk Scott Bjugstad, had a strong game and set up the second Arizona Coyotes goal in the 5-3 win over the Kings.

Teammate Barrett Hayton, the son of Nighthawk Brian Hayton, recorded the empty net insurance goal. A third son of a former Nighthawk played as well. Pierre-Luc Dubois is the son of Eric Dubois.

Jason Spence, the second Australian by birth presently playing in the NHL, had the primary assist on the Kings’ first goal.

The goal by Logan Cooley will be the most significant conversation piece, his right-wing rush spin-a-rama tally.

OTTAWA

Michael Andlauer’s purchase of the Ottawa and Belleville Senators was unanimously granted and approved by the NHL and AHL’s respective Boards of Governors on Friday. Now that it’s done, next is getting a downtown arena, and eventually, Belleville might be relocated down the road.

Whispers have been circulating that Ottawa might want to move its AHL team into the Western Quebec region to extend its brand and capture the 25% French-speaking market of Ottawa, the Canadian national capital city.

Gatineau across the river would be likely, but the QMJHL Olympiques will have a big say if it ever happens.

Eastern Quebec has been ceded to the Canadiens.

MORE TRANSACTIONS

Alexandre Fortin, the nephew of ex-Hartford Whaler Jean-Sébastien Giguère, a former Stanley Cup and Conn Smythe (Playoff MVP) trophy winner, signs with the Orlando Solar Bears (ECHL), leaving the Hershey Bears organization.

Nolan Volcan, the nephew of another former Whaler, Mickey Volcan, signed with the Ft. Wayne Komets (ECHL). He came from Canadian college hockey, where he played for the University of Alberta Golden Bears program. He heads to training camp with the Bakersfield Condors (AHL). His grandfather, Mike Volcan, played in the CFL.

BRIDGEPORT NEWS

The Bridgeport Islanders saw the parent New York Islanders bring back from the Swedish Hockey League Dmytro Timashov, who was born in Ukraine.

Timashov played in Bridgeport during the 2020-21 season. He joins Samuel Asselin from the Providence Bruins. He’s been a “Pack pest” the last few years and likely will be in Bridgeport this season.

Former Sound Tiger Goalie Christopher Gibson leaves the Coachella Valley Firebirds (Seattle Kraken) and is headed to the Texas Stars (Dallas Stars).

The Halifax Mooseheads (QMJHL) have Alec Nasredinne, the son of former Sound Tiger player and current Dallas assistant coach Alain Nasredinne. They also have Brady Schultz (Monroe), the grandson of former Whaler Norm Barnes, and Liam Kilfoil, formerly of the Selects Academy at South Kent Pre,p on their lineup as the junior season gets underway.

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By: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings

HARTFORD, CT – The Hartford Wolf Pack has a familiar opponent for the first round of the Calder Cup playoffs.

Behind three points from Chris Wagner and a four-goal third period, the Providence Bruins defeated the Springfield Thunderbirds 7-4 on Sunday afternoon. The loss locked the Thunderbirds into the fourth spot in the Atlantic division and will face the fifth-place Wolf Pack, who make their first appearance in the postseason in eight years. The Pack will now need to contend with goalie Joel Hofer who has had a fantastic season against the Wolf Pack.

The series begins Wednesday in Springfield. On Friday, the two teams travel down I-91 to the XL Center for Game Two in Hartford. If Game Three becomes necessary, it will be played Saturday in Springfield. All the games have their opening faceoff at 7:05 PM.

This is the second time in Hartford franchise history that the two cities have battled in a Best-of-Three series. The last time Springfield was known as the Falcons, they knocked them out in two straight in 2002.

However, this is the first time the two meet with Springfield as the Thunderbirds. Hartford has the series edge over the Falcons (2-1)  and in games (6-4). This is the fourth time the two cities have met in the playoffs in 26 years.

The last time the Wolf Pack was in the playoffs was May 15th, 2014. The series was against the Hershey Bears, and the Pack won Game 6, 6-3. That would be their last series win and the previous playoff series in eight years for the New York Rangers’ top minor league team. In that series, the two home dates were played in Worcester because of XL Center conflicts with the circus that spring. They were then swept by the eventual Calder Cup champs Manchester Monarchs in the Conference Finals in their last season in Manchester before the Pacific Division was created.

The Pack won another best-of-three when they eliminated Bridgeport beating the Sound Tigers behind two consecutive shutouts by Cam Talbot.

After 14 straight seasons of making the postseason, the Wolf Pack missed the playoffs for the first time in 2009-2010.

In four of the last five years with Ken Gernander behind the bench, the Wolf Pack missed the postseason, and overall it’s been 13 of the previous 14 years without playoffs in HartCity.

The Wolf Pack arrive in the playoffs after putting on a tremendous push over the final seven weeks of the regular season before clinching the last spot in the Atlantic Division. However, before the celebration of the achievement could even be felt, the Rangers recalled four essential cogs to the Wolf Pack machinery as forwards Jonny Brodzinski and Jake Leschyshyn, defenseman Libor Hájek, and goaltender Louie Domingue were recalled to be part of their Stanley Cup Black Aces.

Leschyshyn and Hájek were healthy scratches for the games on Friday and Saturday.

All four are important, but Brodzinski, the March AHL Player of the Month, is essential.

Brodzinski’s play, especially in third periods, willed his team out of its win-one, lose-one play. However, their play was excellent at the end of the season, winning their final eight games, the longest winning streak in two years.

The streak allowed the Wolf Pack to surpass the Bridgeport Islanders and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins and plant the Wolf Pack flag as the sixth entrant in their division.

Brodzinski’s recalls leave him numerically short of league-wide MVP consideration because of games played, but it’s clear he was the MVP in Hartford.

Recalling these critical components of the roster will not make it any easier on Pack head coach Kris Knoblauch.

Brodzinski and Domingue have another year left on their contacts and will return. Leschyshyn has two more years on a one-way NHL money, paying him $775K yearly. Hájek has an expiring deal at the end of the season.

The Rangers have decided that having these four in the stands is more important than having them play the most meaningful games in Hartford in eight years.

Similarly, 31 years ago, the LA Kings airlifted seven prospects, seven weeks from the end of the season, to play for the Phoenix Roadrunners (IHL). It effectively killed off any New Haven Nighthawks chances of making the Calder Cup playoffs.

With both of their parent teams out of the NHL playoffs, in Laval, the Montreal Canadiens received back Rafaël Harvey-Pinard, who scored in the two minutes in his first game back,  as well as Cayden Primeau, and Sean Farrell, making The Rocket a team to be wary of as the Calder Cup playoffs start. The Tucson Roadrunners received five players from the Arizona Coyotes.

The old cliche about “next man up” and “creating opportunities for other players” comes to the forefront for the Wolf Pack. Someone must step up for those missing points with these three skaters gone. Dylan Garand will have big shoes to fill in Domingue’s absence. He will need to be at his best between the pipes.

The reconfigured lineup was on full display Friday with what is likely to be the lineup for the Springfield series.

Will Cullye, a significant beneficiary of playing with Brodzinski this year, will likely skate with Ryan Carpenter, almost a point-a-game player, and Will Lockwood, who provided offense down the stretch.

Tim Gettinger will likely stay on the second line on the left wing. He had no goals and six points last month until Friday night. Tanner Fritz and Lauri Pajuniemi will likely be pushed up to form a new troika.

Anton Blidh will likely stay as the solid third-line left-wing as a net-front nemesis, along with the reliable Karl Henriksson and likely Bobby Trivigno, who added so much spark when he played alongside Henriksson.

The fourth line should feature Matt Rempe, at the center, sidelined as a healthy scratch over the last eight games. His 6’8 presence plus faceoff skills will be critical in the short opening round series. Turner Elson will patrol the left side and can also take draws. He might be moved up to the first line. Anything is possible.

One of the younger kids, Adam Sýkora or Bryce McConnell-Barker, may get some time on the wing. Adam Edström made a strong case for himself with his NHL move and shot on his first goal.

Blake Hillman, like Rempe, saw little game activity by the end of the regular season. He could slide in for Hájek, The other pairings of Jones-Emberson and Clendening-Kalynuk will remain untouched.

In net, it’s Garand’s from here on in. He has performed very well this season. How the defense complies? The backup in the net will be Talyn Boyko.

POSSIBLE LINES:

Cullye-Lockwood-Carpenter
Gettinger-Fritz-Pajuniemi
Henriksson-Trivigno-Blidh
Elson-Rempe- Adam Sýkora or Adam Adam Edström (?)

Jones-Emberson
Blake Hillman-Scanlin
Clendening-Kalynuk

Garand
Boyko

SCRATCHES:

Brett Berard #27 (healthy)
Louie Roehl #4 (healthy)
Bryce McConnell-Barker #8 (healthy)
Easton Brodzinski #23 (healthy)
Matt Robertson (upper body, week-to-week)
Patrick Khordorenko (season-ending shoulder surgery)
C.J. Smith (hip area surgery done for the season)

NOTES:

Media reports from Sweden speculate that Pajuniemi and his reps are conversing with several Swedish Hockey League clubs for the Finnish winger’s services next year.

Pajuniemi has an expiring two-year ELC deal at $925K-NHL/$70K-AHL. He has had no recalls in two years at all.

One player not coming next year is junior prospect Jayden Grubbe. He’s the team captain of the Red Deer Rebels (WHL). He had 67 points (18 goals,49 assists, and 71 PIM). Grubbe was drafted in the third round (65th overall) in 2021 and will be passed on.

According to Eliotte Friedmann of TSN Sportsnet, the Rangers told all the other NHL organizations they would not offer him a contract and had a June 1st deadline to do so. So, as per the CBA, they will retain his rights till August 15th, then he can work out a free-agent deal with the other 31 NHL teams.

The Rebels finished first in the WHL Central Division 43-19-3-3  and are currently in the WHL playoffs awaiting their second-round opponent after knocking off the Calgary Hitmen in five games in the first round. Grubbe had one goal and 10 points in the series.

In four WHL seasons, the 20-year-old had 95 assists, 134 points in 194 games, and along with 195 PIM. He was a seventh overall pick in the 2018 WHL Bantam Draft and was team captain for three of those four years.

He represented Canada on the U-17 World Championship team with another Rangers prospect, Brennan Othman, with three points in five games.

ROY SOMMER

San Diego Gulls head coach Roy Sommer, the all-time winningest coach in AHL history (828 wins) and who coached in the most games (1,814) in a career spanning over 25 years, announced his retirement before the team’s last game of the season.

Sommer won a Calder Cup with the original Maine Mariners in 1984. After that, he played for two years in the AHL.

During his playing days, two teammates were current Springfield GM, former Hartford Whaler player, and Rangers Director of Scouting, Kevin Maxwell. His other teammate, who would become the head coach that year after injuries, ended his career was AHL HOF John Paddock, who is now coaching Regina (WHL).

Sommer won the Louis A. Pieri AHL Coach of the Year in 2016-17 in San Jose.

One of the best Sommer stories is that he was one of the first true-born and bred California players in the mid-1970s. It was a generation before seeing California as a player’s hometown was common. He went to play junior hockey in the rough-and-tumble WHL in Western Canada.

Sommer started his hockey journey in 1978-79 as a member of the Pacific Hockey League (PHL) with the Spokane (WA) Flyers playing against the legendary Bill “Goldie” Goldthorpe.

At next year’s AHL All-Star game at the Tech CU Center in San Jose, he would be a fitting addition to be inducted into the AHL Hall of Fame. For the Oakland, CA native, it would be a home run. They should also induct Colorado resident and Wolf Pack all-time great Derek Armstrong.

Sommer teamed up with ex-Ranger, New England/Hartford Whalers Nick Fotiu as a coaching tandem with the Kentucky Thoroughblades for three years.

BERT MALLOY

Cheshire native and former Hartford Jr. Wolf Pack player, now a dual citizen, Robert “Bert” Malloy, began playing for the Australian National Team in the IIHF Division II Group A tournament in Madrid, Spain, for what is likely his last season of pro hockey.

The Mighty Roo (their national team’s name) lost their opening game to Croatia 6-4.

After falling behind 4-0, they made it close twice, first 4-3 and then 5-4, but couldn’t overcome the early, large deficit. Former AHL’er Borna Rendulic scored twice for Croatia.

Malloy was a minus-one with two shots on goal for the game.

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NEW YORK RANGERS ASSIGN GUSTAV RYDAHL TO HARTFORD WOLF PACK

By: Alex Thomas, Hartford Wolf Pack

HARTFORD, CT – New York Rangers President and General Manager Chris Drury announced today that the club had assigned forward Gustav Rydahl to the Hartford Wolf Pack of the American Hockey League (AHL).

Rydahl, 28, signed with the Rangers as an unrestricted free agent on June 13^th, 2022. In four preseason games with the Rangers, Rydahl registered an assist and two shots.

In 44 regular season games with Färjestad BK of the Swedish Hockey League (SHL) in 2021-22, Rydahl scored 30 points (15 g, 15 a) and finished with a plus-6 rating. On Färjestad BK, Rydahl ranked third in goals, fifth in points, and seventh in assists. His plus-6 rating was tied for the fourth highest on the club.

The Wolf Pack currently has 20 forwards, 12 defensemen, and five goaltenders on the Training Camp roster.

Forwards (20): Easton Brodzinski, Will Cuylle, Cristiano DiGiacinto, Turner Elson, Tanner Fritz, Tim Gettinger, Brendan Harris, Karl Henriksson, Zach Jordan, Patrick Khodorenko, Ryder Korczak, Ryan Lohin, Lauri Pajuniemi, Matt Rempe, Austin Rueschhoff, Gustav Rydahl, C.J. Smith, Sam Sternschein, Bobby Trivigno, and Alex Whelan.

Defensemen (12): Ty Emberson, Zach Giuttari, Louka Henault, Blake Hillman, Luke Martin, Joe Masonius, Matthew Robertson, Jake Ryczek, Brandon Scanlin, Hunter Skinner, Tim Theocharidis, and Andy Welinski.

Goaltenders (5): Talyn Boyko, Louis Domingue, Parker Gahagen, Dylan Garand, and Olof Lindbom.

The Wolf Pack open the 2022-23 season on Friday, October 14^th, when they visit the Charlotte Checkers at 7:00 p.m. The club hosts its home opener on Saturday, October 22^nd, at 7:00 p.m. when the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins come to town.

To run with the Pack during the 2022-23 season, visit hartfordwolfpack.com/tickets for information on ticket packages and to purchase single-game tickets.

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HARTFORD, CT – The New York Rangers defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins in a dramatic first-round playoff series and now face an elimination game with the Carolina Hurricanes (nee Hartford Whalers) who lead the series three games to two in the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Meanwhile, back in the American Hockey League (AHL), the two teams in the Atlantic Division, the Springfield Thunderbirds and the Charlotte Checkers, are meeting in a 2-3-2 format. Springfield dominated from start to finish in Game 1 on Sunday afternoon at the Mass Mutual Center, crushing the Checkers 6-0. Sam Anas had two goals and an assist, while Joel Hofer, the game’s First Star, had a 35-shot shutout. (GAME SHEET)

EX- HARTFORD WOLF PACK PLAYERS MOVING

Ex-Hartford Wolf Pack forward Brodie Dupont has officially retired and becomes the full-time head coach for the Cardiff Devils (Wales-EIHL). Under Dupont’s leadership behind the bench, Cardiff won the EIHL championship. He is the 96th ex-Wolf Pack/CT Whale player to enter coaching. Dupont played as a Wolf Pack and CT Whale member and was weighing an offer to return to Connecticut.

Ex-Wolf Pack, Ryan Gropp departs IF Björklöven (Sweden Allvenskan).

Another ex-Pack, Nick Ebert, leaves Örebro HK (Sweden-SHL) for HV 71 (Sweden-SHL) next year.

In his tenth year of Polish hockey, New Britain’s Mike Cichy leaves GKS Tychy (Poland-PZIHL) and signs with Unia Oswiecim.

Rayen Petrovicky, the son of former Hartford Whaler Róbert Petrovicky, moves from TUTO (Finland-Mestis) home to HK Dukla Trencin (Slovakia-SLEL).

Brooklyn Kalmikov, the son of former Sound Tiger Konstantin Kalmikov, saw his Moncton Wildcats (QMJHL) eliminated. So he’s now heading from “The Q” and signs with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins for next season.

MORE MOVES

Closer to home, following his sophomore year, Ryan Doolin (Westminster Prep) left Sacred Heart University (AHA) and transferred to D3 Colby College (ME) (NESCAC).

Travis Turnbull, the younger cousin of former New Haven Nighthawk Randy Turnbull, heads from Schwenniger (Germany-DEL) to EHC Straubing (German-DEL).

Jack Marottollo (North Haven), the son of Sacred Heart University (AHA) head coach C.J. Marottollo, goes from South Shore (NCDC) and enrolls at Wesleyan University (Middletown) (NESCAC) in the fall.

THOSE STILL PLAYING MEANINGFUL HOCKEY…

In June, the major junior playoffs continue in Canada, leading to a later-than-planned Memorial Cup in an old AHL city, Saint John, New Brunswick.

In the WHL, current Ranger’s prospect Matt Rempe, who’s playing with the Seattle Thunderbirds, has four goals and five points in ten games, won their Game 7 finale against the Portland Winterhawks to advance to the next round.

Goalie Dylan Garand, heading to Hartford on his Entry-Level Contract (ELC) in the fall, moves on. Garland’s Kamloops Blazers (48-17-3-0) will play against Rempe’s Thunderbirds (44-18-4-2) in the WHL Western Conference championship beginning Friday.

Garand’s 1.51 Goals-Against-Average (GAA) is the WHL’s second-best in the post-season. The Red Wing’s 6’6 prospect, Sebastian Cossa of the Edmonton Oil Kings, is slightly better at 1.48. Both have three shutouts.

OTHER HARTFORD WOLF PACK PROSPECTS

Another fall training camp player is winger Ryder Korczak of the Moose Jaw Warriors. Korczak was last week’s WHL Player of the Week with ten points in ten games. Unfortunately, the Winnipeg Ice eliminated the Warriors.

In the WHL Bantam Draft, Lochlan Tetarenko, the son of Joey Tetarenko (Beast of New Haven), was selected in the third round (62nd overall) by the Saskatoon Blades.

In the US Priority portion of the draft, the son of Whaler Grant Jennings, forward Gordon Jennings, was taken in the second round (35th overall) by the Prince Albert Raiders. The Alaskan native played last season for the U-14 Alaska Oilers AA team.

California had the most players taken, with 44 drafted at 17, followed by Minnesota with 13 and Texas with nine.

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Over in the OHL, two top Rangers prospects will compete against one another in the Western Conference Championship.

Will Cullye of the Windsor Spitfires has eight points in eleven games. That’s good for second-best on the team. Their opponent, Brennan Othmann of the Flint Firebirds, has a team-best 17 points on eight goals in 12 games.

Othmann had three assists in a series-clinching Game 5 with a big 7-1 clincher over Sault Ste. Marie.

Each of these players is the captain of their respective team. They met in February in a wild 7-6 overtime game, with each recording a hat trick. Cullye wears #13 and Othmann #78. The Spitfires won seven of the eight games in the regular season, and they will play for the Wayne Gretzky Conference trophy.

The series started on Saturday in Windsor. Cullye had an assist and game-high eight shots while Othmann went pointless and had one shot. Game two is on Monday.

WINDSOR SERIES

Listen to the Windsor series on old school over-the-air radio on CKLW-AM 800 (Windsor-Detroit) and online. The Eastern Conference series begins on Friday between Hamilton and North Bay. The game can also be heard on CHML-AM 900 (Hamilton).

There were no Ranger prospects in the QMJHL, but former Wolf Pack, Ranger, and Springfield Falcon, and now a head coach, Gordie Dwyer, saw his Saint John Sea Dogs eliminated in the first round of the President Cup playoffs. However, the team does get an automatic Memorial Cup cup berth as the host city.

ANOTHER RANGERS SIGNEE

Centerman Gustav Ryhahl signed a one-year, one-way, free-agent deal with the Rangers paying him $750K in the NHL and AHL. Rydahl, 27, is a 6’3 and 201-pounds physical player from the LeMat Trophy Swedish Hockey League champs Färjestad BK (Sweden-SHL), where he amassed 30 points in 44 games.

In the Clark Cup (USHL) best-of-five series final, the Sioux City Musketeers are tied at one game apiece with the Madison (WI) Capitols.

A few CT names dot the rosters of both teams.

Jake Percival (Avon) plays for Sioux City and is a UCONN recruit for the fall.

Madison has Ohio State (Big 10), Richard (DJ) Hart (Stamford), and Westport’s and QU-bound in the fall Matt McGroarty (Brunswick School). Hart, who played at UCONN in Hartford twice this year, is a fall commit.

COLLEGE HOCKEY

The changes at Storrs keep coming.

According to sources heading to Boston University will be UCONN’s associate head coach West Haven’s Joe Pereira, an ex-Sound Tiger, also formerly of South Kent Prep. He played as an undergraduate for 139 games. He was a  captain his senior season, as one of the new assistant coaches for Jay Pandolfo’s staff after his nine-year run as an assistant to the Huskies Mike Cavanaugh.

He began his college coaching career at Sacred Heart University (ACHA Division-2) as the head coach of their D2 club team, winning the Northeast Collegiate Hockey League championship in 2012-13. As a player, he spent two years as a minor league professional.

Augustana (SD) University Vikings, the 62nd and newest NCAA D1 program, has been accepted as a new conference member for the CCHA, bringing the league to eight teams.

TRANSFERS ACCEPTED

One way for a team to improve its roster is to dip into the transfer portal. NCAA D1 Independent, the Long Island University Sharks, announced seven transfers on Thursday.

The transfers are of all types, undergraduate, grad, inter-conference, non-conference, several Division-3s to Division-1, and even several cross-continent moves. As of this week, the total jumps to a staggering 157, comprised of 88 grad transfers and 69 school transfers.

The Sacred Heart Pioneers (AHA) gets Julian Kislin from Northeastern (HE).

The Quinnipiac Bobcats lose sophomore winger Ty Smilanic to Wisconsin (Big 10). Smilanic’s NHL rights were traded from Minnesota to Arizona. Meanwhile, the Bobcats received three grad transfers.

Over at Yale, they saw a grad transfer in goalie Justin Pearson who heads to UCONN (HE) next year.

UCONN’s Cassidy Bowes has yet to declare his next destination. Still, according to several sources, he’s likely to play Canadian college hockey out in Western Canada, which is closer to his home in either the CWUAA, ACAC, or the BCIHL.

MORE MOVES

Rangers prospect Simon Kjellberg has left RPI (ECACHL) for the greener pastures of Northern Michigan (CCHA).

A laundry list of players remains uncommitted, including Kyle Johnson of Yale and John Fusco of Harvard.

Eric Gotz, the nephew of former Hartford Wolf Pack player and Head Coach Ken Gernander, heads from Michigan Tech (CCHA) to Vermont (HE), where his twin uncles matriculated as young men, Jim and Jerry Gernander.

John Emmons Jr. commits to Miami (OH) (NCHC) from the Oakland (MI) Grizzlies (HPHL).

IIHF WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

US had a close call winning 3-2 in OT over defensive-minded Austria. Ex-Sound Tiger Kieffer Bellows scored in the game. Unfortunately, the US dropped their second game 4-1 to Finland.

Next was a battle with Great Britain, which had Jackson Whistle in the net. He is the nephew of former New Haven Nighthawk Rob Whistle. Bellows scored twice in a 3-0 win.

The US knocked off Sweden on Adam Gaudette’s hat trick as ex-Springfield Falcon TJ Tynan, the two-time reigning AHL MVP, set him up with his second helper of the game.

Canada saw Pierre-Luc Dubois score twice in an opening 5-1 win.

In other games, the Czechs fell to Sweden 4-3 as ex-Pack Tomáš Kundrátek, and ex-UCONN recruit Matej Blümel scored in a comeback bid, but a 5-3 loss and then lost to Austria in their second game.

Michael Spacek scored in a 5-1 win over Latvia.

HUSKA

Current Wolf Pack Adam Húska was in net for Slovakia’s 5-1 loss to Canada and 5-3 loss to Switzerland. Huska gave up a goal to ex-Springfield Falcon Denis Malgin (one of five ex-Falcons playing in the tourney). Even though he made some acrobatic diving saves, the lack of goal support followed him to Finland from Hartford.

The Slovaks did make the quarterfinals with a 4-3 win over Kazakhstan. Húska faced little work (11 shots), and all three goals resulted from direct rebounds. Huska picked up a secondary assist on the third goal. The Slovak team capitalized with three power play goals on Pavel Akolzin’s ill-advised major for charging in center ice right in front of the Kazakhstan bench.

The Slovaks secured their chance to continue to play by beating Italy 5-2, with Húska manning the cage. Surefire top draft pick in July, Jaroslav Slafkovky, scored again.

Ex-Pack Andres Ambühl was the hero setting up the game-winning goal with 4:21 left for Switzerland in a 3-2 win over Kazakhstan.

Sweden has played ex-Pack Magnus Hellberg in the net for three of their four games. One of them was winning a championship-level-like final, a 3-2 shootout win over Finland.

Former QU Bobcat Latvian Kārlis Čukste earned the secondary assist on the game-winner with 6:19 left to play as Latvia rallied for a late 4-3 win over the British.

HARTFORD WOLF PACK

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The post CANTLON: HARTFORD WOLF PACK OFFSEASON VOL 4 first appeared on Howlings.

HARTFORD, CT – Tim Gettinger’s first professional hat-trick and a four-point night helped fuel a six-goal third-period explosion as the  Hartford Wolf Pack winning streak grew to four games with a 7-2 win over the Bridgeport Sound Tigers.

The win pushed Hartford’s record over the .500 mark at 7-6-1-0 (15 points). They still trail the first-place Providence Bruins by 15 points.

“We didn’t create things early. Things opened up later, and we capitalized on a lot of good opportunities. We didn’t have very much in the first two periods as a credit to them; they played with a lot of structure. We were able to break them down in the third period,” Wolf Pack head coach Kris Knoblauch said.

The Sound Tigers’ season-long struggles continue as their record falls to 3-11-1-0 (7 points). Their winless streak is now four games. Over the last 11, they are 3-8-1-0 with nine games left in their abbreviated season.

The Wolf Pack will face Providence on Saturday at 1 pm at the XL Center. Ten games are remaining, five at home and five on the road for the Wolf Pack.

THIRD PERIOD

In the third period, Hartford’s relentless on-ice pressure caused a quick collapse by the Sound Tigers. The Pack poured in six goals in the period after being a relatively quiet first 40 minutes.

“We knew this was a game we wanted to win,” Gettinger said. “We knew we had to come out and play our best period of the game, and we were able to do that and get ourselves a big win.”

Before the Wolf Pack scored at 1:55, Pack starting goaltender Tyler Wall made a huge save on Cole Bardreau off a feed from Jeff Kubiak, moving to his left to snuff out a quality chance.

Rookie James Sanchez scored his second pro goal and first in Hartford at 2:07 with a deft tip-in of Tarmo Ruenanen’s left point shot following an intelligent pass from Justin Richards in the lower left-wing corner as he got inside position on the Sound Tigers.

Gettinger scored 1:04 later with his second of the night off a two-on-one with Richards on the right-wing. Gettinger used Richards as a decoy before snapping his shot to the far-side on the stick-side high on starter Jakub Skarek.  Gettinger was sprung free by Ty Ronning, and the goal gave the Wolf Pack some breathing room.

“The last three or four games, I had chances; they just weren’t dropping for me. The whole team was shooting on net, and they were just going in for us,” said Gettinger with a major smile. “The whole play started from our own zone as Patty (Sieloff) made a nice play up the wall, and Ty just chipped it to me in the middle.

KNOBLAUCH PRAISES GETTINGER

“Getsy has been playing well for us the last couple of weeks. Sometimes you just need that goal to feel better about yourself. In Bridgeport, he scored one off the defenseman (Seth Helgeson), and that just takes the pressure off you. Ugly as it was, it does so much for your confidence.

“The door has opened up for the (whole) line, and they are playing well for us.”

Gettinger completed the first Wolf Pack hat trick of the season in fine style.

Despite losing the offensive zone draw to Bardreau, the second line center won it cleanly from Morgan Barron. It was the Wolf Pack’s Tarmo Reunanen who stopped Seth Helgeson’s wraparound clearing attempt.

Then in one motion, he went backhand-to-forehand and put the puck on the tape of Gettinger’s stick, allowing him to redirect it past a defenseless Skarek at 5:58.

Gettinger extended his point-scoring streak to four games.

POWER PLAY SIZZLES

The powerplay contributes continued its hot play of recent games, going three-for-six pushing the team’s PP efficiency to 25%.

“Tarmo plays with such skill, and our whole (power play) unit has been really clicking the last several games or so. We just gotta keep this power play going, “said Gettinger.

The waterfall of offense continued at 8:48.

James Sanchez fed the biscuit to Darren Raddysh, who launched a low 50-foot shot with Paul Thompson screening in front of the crease. The puck went off the backboards, hit Skarek’s back, and in making it a 5-2 game.

TIC-TAC-TOE

The Pack execution continued to intensify with their connecting on a beautiful tic-tac-toe goal. Morgan Barron broke out of the Wolf Pack zone. He hit Anthony Greco with a pass just outside the Bridgeport blue line. In turn, Greco made a beautiful one-touch pass to Patrick Newell coming into the zone with speed down on the left-wing side.

Demonstrating excellent agility, Newell moved in from the left-to-the-center and lifted a backhander over the glove of Skarek for a 6-1 lead at 11:09.

The Sound Tigers’ Bode Wild ended the six-goal run by getting an outlet pass from Raddysh that went past Will Cullye. He took the puck, zipped around Cullye, and put a forehand shot past the Wall’s glove to make it 6-2.

The Pack closed out the scoring after a ferocious forecheck led by Ronning getting a pass from Gettinger and then launching a stopped shot.

THE FINAL GOAL

Ronning had another shot at Sharek. He tried to poke check it, and the puck went right back to Ronning, who came around the net. Rookie Hunter Skinner took the pass from Gettinger and launched a shot that went off Skarek and into the net for a 7-2 commanding lead. Ronning retrieved the puck for Skinner.

The third period featured a penalty shot in the period. Patrick Sieloff was caught putting his hand over the puck in the blue paint, and Sound Tigers Dmytro Timashov was elected to take it on Wall, who faced his first penalty shot as a professional and the tenth in the AHL this season. Wall went to his right and stopped Timashov at 14:40.

SECOND PERIOD

There were more shots on goal and a little more action in the second period, and Bridgeport scored the game’s first goal.

Samuel Bolduc, the Sound Tigers’ impressive rookie rearguard,  caught Kyle MacLean at the Wolf Pack blue line with a perfect outlet pass. MacLean snuck over the blue line and waited for the hard-charging Tanner Fritz to arrive, and he slipped him a short pass.

Fritz had an open pathway on the right-wing. When he got to the faceoff circle, he launched a 35-foot shot that Wall couldn’t handle for the goal. Wall was making his first start in three games. The goal was Fritz’s second of the season at 11:37.

The Wolf Pack answered back quickly on their third power play of the game.  Patrick Newell took a shot on goal from the right-wing side, with Skarek unable to control the rebound. Gettinger had two whacks at the puck before sweeping in his third goal at 13:12, just 28 seconds into the five-on-three man-advantage.

“That’s where you go when things are going in. You get to the net. You never know what can happen. I was in the right spot.”

KNOBLAUCH AGREES

“Right now, we’re riding the power play, but early in the year, that wasn’t the case.”

POWER PLAY

The Wolf Pack power play was three-for-six with seven power play tallies in three games. The PP percentage of 27.8 % is now second best in the AHL to the Rochester Americans’ 30.6 %. Quite an improvement from the 12% they were at just a few weeks ago.

The last Wolf Pack player to record a hat trick was last season when Vinni Letteri took one against the Hershey Bears.

PENALTY SHOTS

The last penalty shot against the Wolf Pack was taken by Adam Johnson of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins against Adam Huska in OT on February 22, 2020.

There have been eight penalty shots between the teams in the twenty years of the Sound Tigers’ existence.

Huska faced three penalty shots last season. In the Wolf Pack history, the team has faced 45 penalty shots and has taken 55. The last successful shot was by Daniel Catenacci on April 14, 2017, against the Utica Comets.

The last attempt by a Wolf Pack player was Shawn O’Donnell on November 24, 2018, against Bridgeport. The very first Wolf Pack penalty and goal was by Bob Errey on November 4, 1998, against the Providence Bruins.

Bridgeport is 0-3 on penalty shots this season.

Gettinger and Austin Rueschhoff each had four shots on goal. Gettinger, however, put three of the four into the net.

LINES

Richards-Gettinger-Ronning
Newell-Barron-Greco
Sanchez- Rueschhoff-Geersten
O’Leary-Thompson-Cullye

Raddysh-Reunanen
LoVerde-Hunter Skinner
Giutarri-Sieloff

Huska
Wall

THREE STARS

Tim Gettinger
Ty Ronning
Tarmo Reunanen

HONORABLE MENTIONS

1. James Sanchez
2. Anthony Greco
3. Hunter Skinner

SCRATCHES

Jonny Brodzinski (out for 3-4 weeks upper-body injury) will likely begin skating next week.
Jeff Taylor
Alex Whalen
Patrick Khordorenko
Brandon Crawley
Ryan Dmowski
Zach Bezzola
Francois Brassard
Gabriel Fontaine (upper-body, done for the season)

NOTES

Rangers prospect, Nils Lundkvist, won the prestigious Swedish Hockey League Salming Trophy for the best defenseman. Lundkvist finished the year with 52 games played, registering 14 goals and 32 points, and was a plus-30.

The SHL LeMat Cup playoffs begin on Saturday, and his Lulea HF team will host a quarterfinal game against Skelleftea AIK.

Two Sound Tigers were traded after the game as part of a significant Islanders’ deal and unusual inter-division trade. The Islanders moved Mason Jobst and AJ Greer, who was scratched, to the Devils for Travis Zajac and Kyle Palmieri. The teams swapped draft choices as well.

The NHL Trade Deadline is Monday.

Former Sound Tigers captain Kyle Burroughs made his NHL debut with the Colorado Avalanche in a 5-4 loss in Minnesota on Monday night. He played 6:18 with one shot, was a minus-1. He also had his first NHL fight with Nick Bjugstad.

Burroughs’ 313 games with Bridgeport is the third-most in Sound Tigers history behind long-time captain Mark Wotton (368) and current Blackhawks head coach Jeremy Colliton (326).

That historical fact comes courtesy of Mike Fornabaio of the CT Post.

Wotton’s youngest son, Colby, plays Canadian major junior hockey with the WHL’s Regina Pats. He scored his first junior goal in six games. He counts Easton Armstrong, the son of Wolf Pack great Derek Armstrong, as one of his teammates. He has a goal in 12 games of action. The GM of the team is Wolf Pack legend and AHL Hall-of-Famer, John Paddock.

Plenty to celebrate in Sound Tigers head coach Brent Thompson’s household in Milford. On Tuesday night, his son Tyce (Salisbury School) made his NHL debut for the New Jersey Devils, playing against the Buffalo Sabres and his older brother, Tage (UCONN). The more senior Thompson and his wife, Kim, were on hand for the game. Both got primary assists. Tyce got his assist on his first shift. He shot a deep shot from the right-wing, and Damon Severson put in the rebound. Then on the Sabres second goal, Brandon Montour was set up by Tage. It was the first time in their hockey lives that they had played against one another.

HARTFORD WOLF PACK

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The post CANTLON: WOLF PACK EXTEND WINNING STREAK first appeared on Howlings.

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings

HARTFORD, CT – The Stanley Cup finals are completed and attention has shifted to who will be the next superstar and who will be the steal of the draft as teams have come together via video to make their NHL Entry Draft for 2020.

The NHL Draft’s second through seventh rounds will begin at 11:30am on the NHL Network.

By 5pm Wednesday, offer sheets to team’s restricted free agents must be formally submitted,

Come Friday, the 2020-21 season officially begins at Noon when the free agency frenzy officially begins. Expect the rosters of every roster in the NHL and AHL to be very radically different by next Monday.

Any RFA’s who receive qualifying offers will be able to sign those offers when the new league year begins on Friday, October 9.

Offers will expire on Sunday, October 18 at 5:00 PM EST.  If a player does not sign the QO (qualifying offer), the issuing team will maintain the player’s rights simply by making the offer. A restricted free agent can only be signed to a new team by way of an offer sheet.

Any RFA’s who does not receive a qualifying offer becomes an unrestricted free agent and can join the open market on October 9th.

The Hartford Wolf Pack have four “Group 6” free agents.

Nick Ebert already departed Hartford and signed with Orebro HK (Sweden-SHL). Their season has already started.

The Pack’s leading scorer from last season, Vinni Lettieri, and teammate, Danny O’Regan, were having discussions with teams in Switzerland and Germany respectively, but nothing so far has materialized.

Pack center, Boo Nieves,’ future with the organization is unknown. He comes off a season that was cut short by migraine headaches. Before the COVID-19 pandemic would wipe out the season, he was playing his best hockey registering 12 points in last 10 games before the season was lost.

There has been silence about his status and he wasn’t even invited to the Rangers try-out camp before for the qualifying round.

The Wolf Pack have three unrestricted free agents; forward, Matt Beleskey, and goalie, J.F. Berube, will not get another look, but captain Steven Fogarty is also a UFA.

Fogarty is at a crossroads in the organization. He is very well-liked and was a strong captain last year, but hasn’t cracked the bottom six yet. He’ll be the most interesting case to watch come Friday to see if he gets does a better offer with a chance to play elsewhere.

Restricted free agents (RFA) include forward Gabriel Fontaine, who comes off a season where he had season-ending shoulder surgery in December. He will likely get one more chance. Ryan Gropp has yet to blossom.

On the backline, right-handed shooting, Darren Raddysh had a strong season. Then there’s the already-signed, Vincent LoVerde, who together, were the team’s number one defensive pair for about three months last season. Brandon Crawley was recalled from the ECHL Maine Mariners and was invited to the New York Rangers qualifying round training camp is still on the team’s radar.

Forward Dawson Leedahl has fallen into a unique status. He hasn’t played enough NHL games, and was an undrafted free-agent signee. He is now 25 with three years of professional experience all in the AHL and ECHL, so he does not qualify for Group 2 status making him unable to be classified as such so he can’t get an offer sheet and is in the RFA category. This falls under provision 10.2 section C in the CBA Agreement.

EURO UPDATE

Lias Andersson is off to a strong start for HV 71 of the Swedish Hockey League. He has four points in his first four games. Vitali Kravtsov had six goals and 12 points in his first 14 games with Traktor Chelyabinsk in the KHL.

PLAYER MOVEMENT

Tage Thompson (Orange/UCONN) signs a new three-year deal with the Buffalo Sabres for $1.4 million per year. He had season ending shoulder surgery in December after suffering the injury late in a game in Chicago while playing in his first game after his recall from the Rochester Americans. Thompson scored a shootout game-winner against Hartford on October 13 last season over his college Huskies teammate, Adam Huska, in a 3-2 come-from-behind win.

Kristians Rubins, of the Toronto Marlins, become the second AHL’er loaned to a Danish team with Frederikshavn White Hawks (Denmark-DHL).

Marko Dano, of the Cleveland Monsters, had his loan deal publicly announced with HK Dukla Trencin (Slovakia-SLEL), while his teammate, Kole Sherwood, was loaned to Kunlun (China-KHL). Sherwood’s brother, Kiefer, split last year between the San Diego Gulls and the Anaheim Ducks.

Joe Veleno, who split last season between the Grand Rapids Griffins and the Detroit Red WIngs, has been loaned to Malmo IF RedHawks (Sweden-SHL). He has been initially talking to HC Trinec in the Czech Republic, but the team in Sweden was settled on, which is close to the Finnish border.

167 AHL’ers have been loaned or signed in Europe.

Ryan Donato, the son of ex-Wolf Pack/Bridgeport Sound Tiger, and current Harvard head coach, Ted Donato, was traded to his third NHL team, the San Jose Sharks. The Minnesota Wild brought back a third round pick in 2021 that was originally the Penguins pick.

Ben Smith (Avon/Westminster Prep) is being loaned by Adler Mannheim (Germany-DEL) to Rogle BK (Sweden-SHL) because of an injury to ex-Pack, Adam Tambellini, who had six points in hist first three games of the SHL season, but will now miss the next seven weeks of play

Joe Widmar (CT Oilers) heads from Nice (France-FREL) and signs with Cracow (Poland-PZIHL).

Drew Elser of (Selects Academy at South Kent Prep/Avon Old Farms) is traded from Penticton (BCHL) to Trail (BCHL). He is a 2021-22 UCONN (HE) commit.

In a stunning move, 15-year-old, Connor Bedard, was granted the rare exceptional player status in Canadian junior hockey with the Regina Pats (WHL) for this season. Bedard is in camp with HV71 J-20 Super Elite League team.  His uncle is Jim Bedard, the former NHL goalie with the Washington Capitals in the mid-1970s and who had a strong European career in Finland.

Nolan Stevens, the son of ex-Hartford Whaler, John Stevens, Jr., who is an Assistant Coach with the Dallas Stars, has re-signed on a one-year, two-way deal with the St. Louis Blues paying $725K for play in the NHL and $85K should he play in the AHL. His brother, John Jr., split last year with Bridgeport and the Utica Comets. The two both played at Northeastern (HE). He would likely have been in Springfield this year, where his father played, when the team was called the Indians and for the Springfield Falcons.

Mike Corbett, the former University Alabama-Huntsville head coach, lands as an assistant coach with the Robert Morris University Colonials (AHA) program.

Kamil Vavra, the Czech Republic-born, and former Danbury Whaler, is starting his fourth season as a playing assistant coach or head coach for the Kuwaiti Falcons (KIHL) of the Kuwaiti Ice Hockey League, a six team short season league in the Arabian peninsula. Kuwait has Iraq to its north, Iran to its northeast and Saudi Arabia that borders the southern portion of the country with Persian Gulf waters to its East. He also is the head coach for the Kuwaiti women’s national team and helps the men’s nation as a player coach. The men and women are classified in IIHF Division 3 status.

WOLF PACK

Ex-Wolf Pack/CT Whale, Andrew Yogan, leaves Alba Valon (Hungary-IceHL) for Dornbirner EC (Austria-IceHL).

HOCKEY NEWS

The NAHL’s Danbury Junior Hat Tricks will kick off its maiden season on Friday and Saturday at the Danbury Ice Arena against the New Jersey Titans.

The National Collegiate Development Conference (NCDC), which is an independent United States Premier Hockey League’s Tier-II junior-level, recently started its 2020-21 season that will run through late March 2021. The NCDC again will skate with 13 teams for the season, but they are now aligned in a six-team South and a seven-team North division. The Rochester (NY) Monarchs did not return this season, but the NCDC added the new Boston Advantage franchise. Also, the Boston Bandits were sold and relocated to become the Philadelphia Hockey Club based in Sewell (NJ) located in Southern New Jersey.

The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL), one of the three Canadian major-junior leagues, will start its 2020-21 season later this week with the same 18 teams. They are now split from four into three divisions. The six-team Maritimes Division stayed the same, but last season’s four-team East, West, and Central divisions have been combined into a six-team East and West division. Teams will play 60 games within their divisions to minimize travel and overnight stays. On Monday, two teams in the league could have their schedules already altered as the Quebec Remparts and the Blainville/Boisbrand Armada had more restrictive COVID-19 restrictions put in place because of a rise in case numbers.

IN MEMORIAM

Former NHL center, Bob Miller, who played with the Boston Bruins, Colorado Rockies, and Los Angeles Kings, and who was a star with the University of New Hampshire in the early to mid-1970s has passed away at the age of 64.

He had some AHL success in Rochester and Springfield plus one season in the old Central Hockey League. At the end of his playing career, he was in Europe with clubs in Finland, and Switzerland. He also coached for two seasons.

He played for three USA World Championship teams and the 1976 US Olympic team in Innsbruck, Austria.

The post CANTLON’S CORNER: NHL DRAFT & FREE AGENCY first appeared on Howlings.

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings

HARTFORD, CT – In an expected move, the New York Rangers have placed defenseman Sean Day on unconditional waivers Saturday with the purpose of terminating the last year of his entry-level contract ($725K-NHL/$70K-AHL).

The 22-year-old defender was selected 81st overall in the third round of the 2016 NHL draft, which was the Rangers’ first pick that year. His brief Wolf Pack career totals were just 62 games with four goals and 18 total points with 21 PIM and glaring minus-24.

In Maine, with the Rangers’ ECHL Affiliates, The Mariners, in 55 contests, Day had nine goals and 35 points with 33 PIM and was a plus-16. While playing in Maine, for about two months, Day was on the top defensive pairing with Brandon Crawley before Crawley’s recall.

Day is famous for having been granted exceptional status in the OHL back in 2013 to play at age 15. At the time, he was only the fourth player ever to receive that status. Three other players have been granted that status since.

This year’s OHL Rookie-Of-The-Year, Shane Wright (Kingston Frontenacs), and Connor Bedard, who will start his first major junior season in the fall with the Regina Pats, are two of them. Bedard, the number one overall in pick in April’s WHL Bantam Draft, is the first WHL player to be granted that status.

Others who’ve been given that status include, John Tavares (2005), Aaron Eklad (2011), Connor McDavid (2012), and Joe Veleno (2015), who was the first QMJHL player to be given the early status.

Day simply never developed into the player the Rangers expected and with 19 signed organizational depth at defense, the move clears a roster spot for the organization to use whenever the AHL season starts again.

Day’s highwater mark in Hartford was toward the end of the 2018-2019 season. The Wolf Pack had already been virtually eliminated from playoff contention tallying just 13 points in 23 games, and Day ran the powerplay after John Gilmour was recalled to the Rangers. He struggled mightily to build off that moderate success this season, and despite his size and excellent skating skills, it was his decision-making away from the puck that left him vulnerable defensively too many times.

Day registered just three points through 16 games. He suffered through his share of defensive lapses and turnovers led to his demotion in December demotion to Maine in favor of Yegor Rykov, who was coming off an early training camp injury in Traverse City, MI at the Prospects Tourney.

Rykov’s (pronounced Ree-kov) star waned considerably at the end of the season as well. He was a healthy scratch in nine of the last ten games prior to the season being suspended and ultimately canceled.

Rykov has one year left on his entry-level deal. He could be on the move as well when all is said and done.

The Rangers have six defensemen with Jacob Trouba, Marc Staal, Brendan Smith, Tony D’Angelo, Adam Fox, and Ryan Lindgren. ON the blueline, the Wolf Pack has eleven including Vincent LoVerde, and Mason Geersten, who are both under contract on AHL deals for this upcoming season. Libor Hajek and upcoming RFA, Darren Raddysh, are among them.

Group 6 free-agent, Nick Ebert is already exploring European options in Sweden in the Swedish Hockey League and Russia with the KHL.

Nils Lundqkvist is another defenseman expected to come over from Sweden (Lulea HF) after having a solid SHL season and WJC tournament, but with COVID-19 issues he may have to spend another year in Sweden.

Defenseman Matt Robertson (Edmonton Oil Kings-WHL), and Tarmo Reunanen (Lukko Rauma Finland-FEL), have played off the first year of their three-year entry-level deals and should be in camp along with K’Andre Miller, who signed his ELC several days before the suspension of the season.

Swedish goalie prospect, and a second-round pick in 2018, and not under currently under contract, Olof Lindbom is also weighing offers from Swedish and Finnish teams for next season.

The Wolf Pack has two other Group 6 free agents in Vinni Lettieri and Danny O’Regan. They also have two UFA’s in team captain and forward, Steven Fogarty, and Matt Beleskey, both of whom have their contracts expire in June.

It’s a possibility that O’Regan would be the only one in that quartet back next season.

The Rangers have three UFA’s, Jesper Fast, Greg McKegg, and former Wolf Pack/CT Whale, and Sound Tiger, Micheal Haley. Fast would be the obvious choice to be signed by the Rangers.

The post CANTLON: DAY PLACED ON UNCONDITIONAL WAIVERS first appeared on Howlings.

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings

HARTFORD, CT – With the 2019-20 AHL and Hartford Wolf Pack season officially canceled, talk changes from what could have been, to what awaits at the next training camp that should start at some point in the final months of 2020.

For the New York Rangers, their off-season decisions are many and plentiful.

The NHL’s proposed salary cap which was projected to be between $84 and $88 million two weeks before the pandemic outbreak is out the window as a result of the COVID-19 crisis. Roster decisions will now be even harder for every team’s management to handle once that actual number is decided upon.

The Rangers have an excess of defensemen as they did last year.

There are 19 defensemen in the system and only 12 can dress between the AHL and NHL. Some are heading elsewhere.

In New York, Jacob Trouba, Marc Staal, Ryan Lindgren, Brendan Smith, Adam Fox and Tony D’Angelo have the top spots.

Staal and Smith each have one year remaining before they reach UFA status. D’Angelo is now an RFA coming off a solid potentially shortened season. Lindgren will be an RFA after next season.

In Hartford, there’s Libor Hajek, Yegor Rykov, and Sean Day, who are all entering the last year of their entry-level deals.

Hajek is at a crossroads.

After making the Rangers out of camp last year, he missed 20 games with an injury was supposed to be in Hartford on injury rehab, but never made it back to Broadway.

Day started the year in Hartford, then was sent to the team’s ECHL affiliates, the Maine Mariners for the remainder of the season in favor of Rykov, who was a upcoming player.

Rykov’s stock fell precipitously at the end of the year. He was a healthy scratch in nine of the last 10 games including the last game the Pack played on March 11th against the Providence Bruins. The team elected to play a freshly signed rookie, Zach Guitarri, from Brown University (ECACHL) instead.

Rykov could be dealt this summer if the right offer comes along. Rykov was unhappy about how things were progressing with the knock-on him, according to several sources, was his skating. It’s not out of the question that Hajek could also potentially be involved in a package deal.

Darren Raddysh and Brandon Crawley are both RFA’s this summer. Both Vincent LoVerde and Mason Geersten were already locked up when they signed one-year AHL deals a short time ago.

Raddysh played well on both sides of the puck, as did Loverde. They were the number one shutdown tandem for two months. He would appear to have earned himself another one-year deal.

After a good training camp, Crawley spent the majority of the season in Maine.

LoVerde was very well-respected in the locker room as well as with the coaches. In fact, he played with every defenseman the Wolf Pack had on their roster this season.

Geersten proved to be worth his weight in gold and earned a contract coming in as a non-roster invitee. He was the best body-checker on the team and a true heavyweight who took care of the “physical” business and was another solid veteran signee that stabilized the locker room.

Both players earned deals with Geersten seeming to deserve a one-way, NHL money deal.

The Rangers signed K’Andre Miller to a three-year, entry-level deal just before the season was suspended.

Tarmo Reunanen, who was signed last year but played in Finland, enters year two of his three-year deal.

In the Swedish Hockey League (SHL), Nils Lundkvist is coming off a strong year and at the WJC. There’s also the aforementioned Guitarri.

The problem for Reunanen and Lundkvist coming to North America is that in Europe, COVID-19 hit very hard and the question is where or not they will be able to come across the Big Pond because of possible visa issues.

Earlier this week, the EU (European Union) discussed an immunity visa that could be issued and there is a whole panoply of security and civil liberties issues that could potentially follow that.

It’s a total unknown and it’s highly possible both could stay in Europe for another year.

Defenseman Matt Robertson, from Edmonton (WHL), will likely be signed to a standard three-year, entry-level deal very soon.

Among the defenseman only Nick Ebert is the only UFA-Group 6 free agent. It’s not likely that Ebert will be re-signed. He could end up elsewhere in the AHL or Europe.

In the forward category, there are significant players who are Group 6 UFA’s. the Pack’s leading scorer, Vinni Lettieri, and Danny O’Regan.

Team captain, Steven Fogarty, is a UFA.

Despite possessing a cannon of a slapshot, Lettieri could sign elsewhere. His stock fell in the Rangers’ eye over the last year-and-a-half.

O’Regan, an old friend of Rangers head coach David Quinn from their BU days, was highly regarded by the Wolf Pack coaching staff. He will likely get a one-or-two year AHL deal in the neighborhood of $300,000K.

Then there’s Fogarty.

He was a solid captain who played through illness and injury. Near the end of the season, he wasn’t putting up with some of the lethargic play that crept back into the lineup and called out his teammates. He could receive another one year, one-way NHL deal, but he will likely test the market. He will get offers and will likely head elsewhere.

There are four RFA’s on the roster. They are Boo Nieves, Ryan Gropp, Dawson Leedahl, and Gabriel Fontaine.

Gropp, a former second-round pick, after being assigned to ain’t took a three-week sabbatical early in the season. He returned to Maine and worked his way back up to the Pack lineup. He played well, but didn’t produce enough points, He could be departing as well.

Leedahl spent most of the season in Maine and likely will not be back.

Coming off of season-ending, left shoulder surgery, Fontaine will likely get a one-year AHL deal.

Nieves is a tough call. He played very well, tallying 12 points in 10 games before suffering from severe migraines. He played just one game the remainder of the year. He was a last-minute scratch in what was to be his second consecutive game. Nieves is a tantalizing talent, but the Rangers pigeonholed him as a defensive center, which didn’t work. He’s now 27 and on a one-way, one-year, $700K NHL deal. It isn’t likely he will be offered another deal. A really solid player and person, he will likely migrate elsewhere.

Entering, the last year of their deals, are the most improved player last season in Tim Gettinger, as well as Ty Ronning, Patrick Newell, Nick Jones, and the wildest of wild cards, a former first-round pick, Lias Andersson.

Andersson’s unexpected departure back to Sweden on November 18th, not surprisingly, earned him organizational scorn, however, some are said to be still willing to give him another chance.

Andersson wasn’t a malcontent but made a rash, impulsive, and immature decision that put him in a box.

Inside sources indicate he had a bit of an emotional breakdown two weeks before bolting. The self-imposed stress of having to live up to his being the number seven overall draft pick and producing very little results weighed heavily on him. Unless a larger trade deal is constructed that he’s a part of, or he has some huge reversal in his behavior, he’ll likely spend the final year of his original deal skating on the bigger surfaces in Sweden.

The other first-round pick returning for year two is Vitali Kravtsov, who had a difficult first-year. He went back to Russia after just five games, came back, and showed only glimpses of his skill that made him a seventh overall draft selection as well. He was too inconsistent and did not get enough puck time and his willingness to take a hit to get the puck or to take a shot.

Nick Jones, a free agent signee did everything he was asked to do and did a lot of good things on both sides of the faceoff circle. He helped set players up and was very strong on the PK. A looming minus-14 needs to be improved upon. Jones’ Achilles Heel was being unable to finish on his scoring chances. He was reminiscent of a young Jed Ortmeyer. He has likely earned a one-year, two-way AHL deal.

Ryan Dmowski and Shawn McBride were the heart of the fourth line. The team relied on them before play was suspended. Both were both on AHL deals and looks like they’ve earned another one-year, AHL deal. Numbers plus analytics will ultimately determine if they do get offers.

Returnee Jake Elmer has two years remaining on his deal. He spent more time in Maine than in Hartford.

There’s a batch of new signees for the Pack.

The 6’7, Austin Rueschhoff, as well as Patrick Khodorenko, Patrick Whelan, Michael O’Leary, and Justin Richards will be in what should be a very competitive training camp whenever that camp actually opens though is anyone’s guess.

The only UFA on the Pack roster is veteran, Matt Beleskey. He and his $825K NHL cap hit and overall $1.9 million are over. He will end up either with an AHL veteran’s deal somewhere else or will take a deal to play in Europe.

At the start of the season, the Rangers’ not even inviting Beleskey to their NHL training camp was one of the very few questionable moves. He would still be a locker room bonus and gave it his all for the team. Late in the season, he was involved in the line brawl in Springfield in the second to last game of the year that earned him a three-game suspension.

Late in the year, the departure of Ville Meskanen was obviously the other “questionable” decision by the team’s management.

The Wolf Pack could have used him, especially when the team hit the skids during a five game losing streak and a 2-7-1 mark in their final 10 games.

Meskanen could have easily made a difference in the team’s slide rather than having to rely on signing guys, like Connor Bleackly, to PTO’s and ATO’s to fill in the gaps.

Goaltending is a major hot button issue for the Rangers. There are presently seven in the organization.

A bit of a soap opera will play out until the situation with future Hall-of-Famer, Henrik Lundquist, is resolved. He is entering the last year of his $8.5 million per year deal. Alexander Georgiev becomes an RFA, and Igor Shesterkin enters year two of his two-year deal.

An option for the Rangers is to buy-out Lundqvist. Trading Georgiev is another option.

Meanwhile, in Hartford, Adam Huska (UCONN) is in his second year. J.F. Berube is there and is a UFA. Tyler Wall was just signed out of UMASS-Lowell (HE) and makes for a very congested organizational goalie crease area.

Toss in the drafted, but unsigned, Olof Lindbom, who is coming off an injury sustained while playing with Mora IK (Sweden-Allsvenskan), and his hopes for a bounce back season in Sweden in the SHL possibly with Farjestad BK, where he played one game with last year. He is also WJC eligible.

Lots to ponder about the 24th edition of the Wolf Pack coming out of this pandemic.

Stay safe.

The post CANTLON’S CORNER: WOLF PACK 2020-21 SEASON first appeared on Howlings.

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings

HARTFORD, CT – Planning for the 2020-2021 AHL season is well underway as is the possible return of the NHL in the summer and a possible late-in-the-year start to the following season are dominant news stories this week.

North American players have been signing deals to play next season in Europe.

The first few of those, even though this AHL season is still a “suspended” rather than a “canceled” season, but expect that designation could change by week’s end or by early next week.

Last week, the Hartford Wolf Pack’s signings for next season of Vincent LoVerde and Mason Geerstsen to AHL contracts combined with two of the five players confirmed heading across the Atlantic Ocean would certainly make it seem like the towel has been tossed in on 2019-20 season.

Nikolai Goldobin of the Utica Comets was the first to announce he was heading back to play with CSKA Moscow (Russia-KHL).

On Sunday, Zach Redmond, 31, an assistant captain the last two season with the Rochester Americans, signed a one year deal with EHC Munich (Germany-DEL). His production slipped to 30 points from 50 after having played in 50 games last season with Rochester. A Ferris State college grad, then in the original CCHA, played 373 AHL games with 70 goals, 157 assists for 227 points. Last year he played in his second AHL All-Star game and was named winner of the Eddie Shore Award as the AHL’s top defenseman. He was selected to the AHL First Team All-Star with the most goals by an AHL defenseman (21) in 2018-19 including a league-best 10 game-winners. He played 133 NHL games with five different teams garnering 29 assists and 38 points. Redmond played three seasons of junior hockey with Sioux Falls (SD) Stampede (USHL) in 2008-09.

Two players are expected to sign in Switzerland are Cory Conacher (Syracuse Crunch) and Philippe Hudon (Laval Rocket). Peter Cehlarik (Providence Bruins) is weighing offers from several Swedish Hockey league teams.

The list of US college players signing with North American teams is up to 90, Including Division III players and Euro signings, such as Zach Remers of Buffalo State College (SUNYAC) with Kalmar HC (Sweden Division-1), the total number is 146.

Former New Haven Nighthawk, Grant Ledyard, was the head coach this past season with the college club program at the University of Buffalo Bulls (ACHA Division-1) in the NECHL (Northeast College Hockey League). His assistant coach was one of his three sons, Ryall, a graduate of the school.

AHL NEWS

It would seem to be a forgone conclusion that by mid-to-late May, the AHL season officially will be canceled. The current blueprint that’s being worked on is to pivot to next season.

Players were paid through what would have been the end of the 2019-20 season. Several independent sources have stated that’s the working AHL philosophy, meaning there will, sadly, be no Calder Cup champion this year.

The NHL, on the other hand, seems to be intent on finishing the 2019-20 season that had about 14-15 games left before the Covid-19 pandemic shut it down. They are discussing finishing the regular season and commencing with a summertime Stanley Cup playoffs.

Cantlon’s Corner has learned that four-to-five cities have been identified with low COVID-19 rates and restrictions that have been or about to be lifted. Those US cities are Dallas, Pittsburgh, and Columbus, In Canada, the cities are Edmonton and Toronto. Las Vegas was also under consideration, but the NBA plans on having one of its camps to resume their season there. It’s a numbers game in how many people can be in one facility at any one given time.

While logic would say that with the NHL, having a team in Las Vegas with none in the NBA, that the NHL would get first shot at it, that’s not where the conversation is at this point in time.

The players are being asked what their status is with all of this. The NHL does not want to get into a nitpicking negotiation for the re-opening. However, some players are balking at the idea of returning with the plan of locking down and isolating the players to reduce the chance of an outbreak occurring while the season is resumed. Some players are not happy that they would be taken away from their families for that long of a time.

The cost of canceling the remaining NHL season and the playoffs is estimated at $1.1 billion. The losses if they do play are expected to be only $500 million.

There is a myriad of tricky issues, one of which is that players with contracts that are set to expire on June 30th. There would likely need an addendum or some other sort of legal instrument that would be approved by both the NHL and NHLPLA to extend the deals till September 1st.

Assuming everything is done by August, free agency would begin in September for both the NHL and AHL. At that time, the NHL Draft, potentially virtually as the NFL did, could possibly be held.

The discussion also includes starting the 2020-21 NHL and AHL hockey seasons after Thanksgiving with the NHL All-Star Game likely to be scrapped. However, the AHL All Star Classic is set for Laval in late January and still could receive the green light.

This all subject to change.

CHARLOTTE 

Relationships change like seasons. Some are equitable, amiable, and a mutually parting of the ways. While others can be more contentious and acrimony ensues. It’s safe to safe the odd exit of the Carolina Hurricanes from the Charlotte Checkers as their top farm team, clearly falls in the bitter category.

On Tuesday, the Checkers issued a very rare, extraordinarily biting and snarky press release that upstaged the worst kept secret in hockey that is frankly, baffling, The Hurricanes are moving their AHL team to the Chicago Wolves and leaving the Bojangles Coliseum behind.

“While we are aware that the Carolina Hurricanes are nearing an affiliation agreement with the AHL’s Chicago Wolves, the Hurricanes have had little dialogue with us regarding this matter. In an era when NHL teams are placing great value on affiliations with closer proximity between the two clubs, we understand the confusion such a move would cause.”

Street chatter has the Checkers becoming the affiliate of the Florida Panthers, the only team in the NHL without a clear affiliation with any AHL team.

Could this be a sign of a bigger move lurking in the background?

NWHL DRAFT

Congrats to the Danbury-based Connecticut Whale on their picks in the NWHL Draft.

The five-round event for the league’s six teams saw the Whale take Kayla Friesen of Clarkson University in the first round (second overall).

Yale University’s Saroya Tinger went fourth overall to the Metropolitan Riveters.

The other Whale selections included Victoria Howan (University of New Hampshire) in the second round (seventh overall) and in the third round (13th overall) forward Savannah Rennie (Syracuse University) was selected.

In the fourth round, the Whale chose Amanda Conway (Norwich University – 19th overall), and in the fifth and final round, they had two picks taking, with the 25th pick, Nicole Gaigliaro (Adrian College) and their final pick (27th overall), Maddie Bishop (Sacred Heart University).

The league expanded to Toronto, a former CWHL (Canada Women’s Hockey League) city for 2020-21. With six teams, the NWHL’s status as a minor league operation will help in getting visas for their players from Canada and Europe.

The Toronto team will conduct a name the team contest this summer.

NEW COLLEGE HOCKEY PROGRAM

This came out of left field, but it might fit into a regional puzzle.

The Long Island University (LIU) Sharks announced they will launch the 61st NCAA Division I college hockey program.

The school, located in Brookville, Long Island (Nassau County) already has a women’s program that won their conference (New England Women’s Hockey Alliance) post-season title in year one. when they knocked off Sacred Heart University (Bridgeport, CT) in the semifinals and St. Anselm (Goffstown, NH) in the final.

One NCAA requirement hurdle is now out of the way with a men and women’s program in the same sport.

The surprising announcement stated they would start the program as a Division I independent immediately for the 2020-21 season. They’re already in a national search for its first head coach and are paring candidates down to three finalists.

The press release didn’t mention a conference it might join, but the AHA (Atlantic Hockey Association) would seem to be the most logical choice as they said they have talked to the AHA, ECACHL and Hockey East.

The men’s team, like the women’s team, will be using three rinks to play their home games in. They are The Ice Works in Syosset, the Northwell Health Ice Center in East Meadow, and a game or two at the newly renovated, Nassau Coliseum, the home of the NHL New York Islanders who are building a new arena at Belmont Park.

Interestingly, the school is 20-25 minutes from Ronkonkoma (Suffolk County) where there is a proposed 7,500 seat arena that has been talked about and whose initial proposal was submitted. A group, JJL Group, of Chicago has hired former Islander and New York Rangers great, Pat LaFontaine, to gain letters of commitment from an AHL team and college program to be the primary tenants in the proposed new arena.

The JJL Group was given a second extension by Suffolk County until April to gain the necessary commitments, but with the COVID-19 crisis there has been no word on the project. This announcement might change things,

Over the coming weeks more info will be coming on LIU and the arena in Ronkonkoma.

AWARD WINNERS

The Double AA affiliate of the Wolf Pack, the Maine Mariners announced their team’s season awards.

Center, Terrence Wallin (Gunnery Prep), was named the Community Leader Award winner. He played 23 games with the Wolf Pack in the 2018-19 season.

“Terrence has devoted himself to the community in Portland,” said Maine Head Coach, Riley Armstrong, in the team’s press release, “He continues doing work even now with his zoom hockey skills to help develop and grow the game in Maine.”

The other winner of note as the team’s Most Improved Player went to Ty Ronning, who finished up the year with the Wolf Pack.

“The way Ty approached this season on being sent to Maine was a 180 from last season,” said Armstrong. “His maturity level both on and off the ice was eye-opening for me. The way he played in Maine, he really deserved to be up in Hartford.”

Ronning had 11 goals and 26 points in 28 games for the Mariners and had a pair of call ups to the Wolf Pack – first on October 24th, 2019, and again on February 3rd, 2020, after which he stayed in the AHL for the remainder of the season.

With the Mariners in 2019-20, Ronning had three multi-goal games, highlighted by his second career hat trick on January 24th, 2020 in an 8-1 home win against the Worcester Railers.

Ronning will forever hold unique status in Mariners history for his five-point ECHL debut on November 24th 2018 versus the now-defunct Manchester Monarchs, still a single-game franchise record.

USHL DRAFT

The USHL draft will be held this coming Monday (Phase 1) and Tuesday, (Phase II).

Phase I of the Draft is ten rounds of “Futures” age players only, U-17 players for next year’s season (2004 birth year players only for the 2020 Draft).

Phase II of the Draft will take place the following day beginning with round one. This draft is open to players of all ages eligible to play junior hockey and are not currently protected by another USHL team.

BEIJING OLYMPICS 2022

The final rankings by the IIHF for 2020 for men’s and women’s hockey were announced and they are the bases for seeding and grouping for the 2022 Beijing Olympics to be held February 4-20 2022 in the capital of Communist China.

Group A: Canada (1), USA (6), Germany (7), China (12).

Group B: Russia (2), Czech Republic (5), Switzerland (8), Qualifier 3 (11).

Group C: Finland (3), Sweden (4), Qualifier 1 (9), Qualifier 2 (10).

The Olympic Qualification for the men’s teams has already started in November 2019 and will end with the Final Olympic Qualification scheduled for 27-30 August 2020 in the following groups:

Group D: Slovakia, Belarus, Austria, Poland. In Bratislava, Slovakia.

Group E: Latvia, France, Italy, Hungary. In Riga, Latvia.

Group F: Norway, Denmark, South Korea, Slovenia. In Norway (city TBA).

The women’s side has also been set. Sadly, the US and Canada both were placed in Group A derailing a possible Gold Medal game between the two best teams in the tournament.

With only two tournaments played this season, the 2020 IIHF Women’s World Ranking also didn’t change much. The top-six countries remained in the same order and will be the ones directly qualified for the Olympic women’s ice hockey tournament in Beijing 2022, which will be played in two-tiered groups:

Group A: USA (1), Canada (2), Finland (3), Russia (4), Switzerland (5).

Group B: Japan (6), Qualifier 1 (7), Qualifier 2 (8), Qualifier 3 (9), China (10).

The chance of a US-Japan or Canada-Japan or some other nation Gold Medal guarantees no ratings outside of the US and Canada.

A best of three Gold medal series between them would be a ratings winner and help the women’s game on the grandest stage of all.

The US and Canada are clearly heads and shoulders above everyone else in women’s ice hockey someday other nations will join them-just not now.

The women’s world championships were scheduled to be in Halifax and Truro, Nova Scotia in March and were among the first international hockey events canceled because of COVID-19 as the US was seeking its fifth straight title.

CARLSON ON THE MEND

The last six weeks of COVID-19 has demonstrated that nobody is spared from it.

One-time New England Whaler, Steve Carlson, 64, the youngest of the Carlson brothers, was released from a Johnstown, PA hospital and has initially tested negative for COVID-19.

“Steve is home from a two-day hospital stay. He is continuing to gain strength and is in good spirits. Prognosis looks good with further cardiologist consulting and more testing is needed. He is COVID-19 negative. A special thank you to the doctors, EMT, emergency room, seventh-floor nurses, technicians and security guards at Conemaugh (Memorial Medical Center),” remarked his wife, Vicki Carlson, in a press released late last Friday afternoon.

Carlson and his brothers Jack and Jeff, along with Dave Hanson, made brawling an art form. They were the inspiration of one of the all-time greatest hockey and sports movies, Slapshot as the infamous, Hanson brothers.

Carlson himself addressed the concern for his well being.

“I am grateful and humbled for the outpouring of prayers, concern, and well-wishes. To have friends, fans, and the hockey family, put on the foil during this time, gives me strength. I, and my family, are looking forward to a full recovery,” using one of the more memorable quips from the movie in his foil reference.

Jack had been recalled to the Minnesota Fighting Saints (WHA) during filming, so he didn’t appear in the movie, so Dave Hanson was his replacement and his name helped create the iconic characters.

Steve was not nearly the fighter. His two brothers were never going over the century mark in penalty minutes. He was a more defensive-minded center.

In Johnstown, of the old North American Hockey League (NAHL), he led the team in scoring with 88 points. His brothers were on the wings along with Hanson creating controversy whenever they played. They won the NAHL championship.

He played one full NHL season with the LA Kings in 1979-80. He played with Edmonton on the last WHA Oilers team with his roommate being a very young, Wayne Gretzky.

He played for the harpoon Kelly green uniformed New England Whalers in 1976 and half a season in 1977 each totaling 69 games with 10 goals and 26 points. He was acquired from the Minnesota Fighting Saints, who originally drafted him in the 1974 WHA Amateur Draft, as a free agent, when the first edition of the Fighting Saints folded in May 1976.

He was reacquired on the WHA Intra-League Draft in 1976 by the reincarnation of the Fighting Saints that were originally supposed to be a WHA team in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.

Then in a cash move, he was traded along with brother Jack, Bill Butters, Mike Antonovich, J.P. Levasseur, and Johnny McKenzie in January 1976 to Edmonton.

Nearly a year later, in January 1977, the Oilers traded him, his brother Jack again, along with the legendary Dave Keon, McKenzie and goalie Dave Dryden (the great Ken Dryden’s older brother) to the Whalers for future consideration in future Hartford Whalers Dave Debol, winger Danny Arndt and cash.

He was claimed off waivers by Edmonton in May 1978 prior to the last WHA season and played the whole season with the Oilers.

Carlson’s entrance to the NHL wasn’t simple either.

His NHL rights were traded to Detroit for a physical minor-league defenseman, Steve Short on December 6, 1978, by LA-even though he wasn’t in the NHL at the time or drafted by either team.

The Kings reclaimed him on waivers from Edmonton prior to the NHL expansion draft on June 9, 1979, the first season after NHL-WHA merger.

Carlson had six solid AHL seasons, two with the Springfield Indians, and the last four of his playing career with the Baltimore Skipjacks finished his AHL career with 207 points in 341 games.

Former New Haven Nighthawk, Dan McCarthy, who played with him in Baltimore, and a full season with the Birmingham South Stars in the old Central Hockey League, has fond memories of their playing days.

“Carly was a great teammate and player. His sense of humor was fantastic. He always had a smile on his face and would pull pranks on players regardless of who they were. Every team needs a Steve Carlson on their team and in the locker room. Hope he gets healthy quickly.”

TOM WEBSTER

Canlton’s Corner received a nice e-mail from former New England Whaler and all-time WHA leading scorer, Andre Lacroix, regarding the passing of Tom Webster last week. “Tommy Webster was a true natural goal scorer. He was a great teammate and he never looked for the glory. He played both ends of the ice as good as anybody. You could always depend on Tommy in a critical situation. The best part about Tommy, he was even a better individual.”

The post CANTLON’S CORNER: HOCKEY NEWS AND NOTES VOLUME 7 first appeared on Howlings.