#AlanQuine

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HARTFORD WOLF PACK REPORTER'S NOTEBOOK

By: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings HARTFORD, CT - The Hartford Wolf Pack announced their 2023-24 home opener will be Friday, October 20, against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins for the second time in team history. The season for the Pack will open on the road on Friday the 13th against the Providence Bruins, and the following night, the team will be in Springfield to challenge the Thunderbirds at the Mass Mutual Center. The full schedule will be released Wednesday. THOMPSON LEAVES BRIDGEPORT The Bridgeport Islanders head coach, and ex-Pack defenseman, Brent Thompson, has departed The Park City to join the Anaheim Ducks, where he will join another Bridgeport coaching alum, Greg Cronin, as his new assistant. Cronin was named the new Ducks head coach last month. Rick Kowalsky was named Thompson's new assistant in Bridgeport last year, and like Ken Gernander a few years ago in Hartford when he saw Keith McCambridge named his new assistant, he was gone a year later. PADDOCK Former Wolf Pack John Paddock, 69, has retired from the Regina Pats (WHL) as Coach/GM/VP of Hockey Operations. The AHL HOF coach won two WHL Coach of the Year honors, won a conference title, and reached a Memorial Cup final in his tenure. In his nine years at Regina, he had 12 players drafted into the NHL. Connor Bedard was the third time a Regina player was taken first overall. Paddock finishes with 209 wins, the second most in team history. MISHEGOSS Easton Armstrong, the youngest son of Wolf Pack great Derek Armstrong, who played a year-and-a-half with Paddock before being dealt to Winnipeg, will be on his third WHL team as an overage player next year. He will play with the WHL expansion Wenatchee (WA) Wild. Ex-Pack Austin Rueschhoff will be seen up to six times next year after signing a one-year AHL deal with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. Ex-Pack François Brassard departs the Maine Mariners and signs with the Ft. Wayne Komets (ECHL). Former Bridgeport Sound Tiger Alan Quine leaves Ontario and signs with the Malmö IF Redhawks (Sweden-SHL). HARTFORD WOLF PACK HOME Read the full article

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CANTLON: HARTFORD WOLF PACK OFF SEASON NEWS 11

By: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings HARTFORD, CT - The Hartford Wolf Pack Training camp is three weeks away. Still, several New York Rangers prospects skated for various countries at the World Junior Championships version of the postponed from December WJC tournament in Edmonton, Alberta. For the fourth time in history, the US squad finished with a perfect record (4-0) during the qualifying rounds. Rangers' draftee, Brett Berard, scored the first goal in a 3-2 win over Sweden. Canada, always a force in this tournament, also finished unbeaten. The Canadians were on track for a meeting with the US, who were victorious in an 11-1 rout of Slovakia with Will Cullye, and Brennan Othmann on a line together copped a goal and assist. A 6-1 win over Austria followed Ridly Greig, the son of ex-Hartford Whaler and Springfield Falcon Mark Grieg, scoring and earning Player of the Game honors. Another Rangers draftee, and their first pick last month in Montreal, Slovakia's Adam Sýkora, a Rangers draftee and first pick last month in Montreal, scored in a Slovakia 3-2 win over Latvia and scored the goal of the tournament outside of the finale. Sýkora came from center ice off a turnover on the left-wing boards. He carried it into the Latvia zone and slipped the puck past Bogdan Hadass, the Latvian defenseman, who played the puck rather than the man, before firing a cross-ice pass to teammate Jakub Demek on the right wing. Demek fed it right back, and Sýkora slipped the puck into the open right side of the net. The 17-year-old was voted Slovakia's Player-of-the-Game and will play for the WHL Medicine Hat Tigers starting next month. Medicine Hat selected him first overall in the July CHL Import Draft. MORE WJC Finland won the first quarterfinal game 5-2 over Germany. Ottawa Senators' prospect Roby Jarventie had two goals and two assists. Sweden advanced in the second QF meeting but barely edged out a tough Latvia squad, 2-1. Canada advanced 6-3 over the Swiss. Culleye scored off a solid offensive zone cycle and cross-ice feed from the right side on a rush. He scored from off the left-wing short side high. The last QF games saw Czechia pull off a big 4-2 upset victory over the US to advance to the semi-finals. US ISSUES AT WJC The US squad victimized itself with sloppy play and missed offensive opportunities by hitting several posts. The US took a foolish, unnecessary penalty early in the third period. Berard's dangerous slew foot hurt the US team. However, the Americans pulled within a goal cashing in on a major penalty, but that would be as close as they would get. In a North Atlantic semi-final showdown for the nightcap, Finland slipped by Sweden 1-0 to meet host Canada for the Gold Medal. Canada played Czechia in the late afternoon game and earned a commanding 5-2 win. Columbus draftee, Kent Johnson, had a goal and two assists. Future Wolf Pack goalie Dylan Garand notched 32 saves en route to the gold medal game. In Edmonton, Team Canada won its fourth gold medal in ten years in spectacular fashion with a 3-2 overtime victory. It was a summer classic that was a well-played and highly entertaining game as the last hockey of the 2021-22 calendar year. Topi Niemela took a shot that evaded Garand after he came out and challenged the Fin. Unfortunately, Garard wasn't where he wanted to be and left an open net. Mason McTavish (Anaheim), the tournament MVP, made a remarkable play batting the puck out of mid-air, over the goal line, near the right goal post. It was swept away and began what would become the winning goal-scoring sequence. In the wild three-on-three overtime Logan Stankhoven (Dallas) came in right-wing toe dragged it past his check. Then on his backhand caught an onrushing Kent Johnson. He went backhand for the five-hole and was still in a position while falling to slip in the rebound for the winning goal sending 13,327 fans at Rogers Place into a Stanley Cup winning-like frenzy at 3:20 as Canada captured their 19th overall World Junior Gold with an undefeated tournament record of 7-0. The Finns had stormed back with two goals in the third after Josh Roy (Montreal) and future Bridgeport Islander William Dufour had scored. McTavish, with 17 points, finished now among the pantheon of WJC greats Dale McCourt, Wayne Gretzky, and Brayden Schenn in all-time Canada WJC greats. Finland took silver and didn't toss them in a garbage can, and Sweden took bronze in a 3-1 win over Czechia. Now it's on to training camp next month. PLAYER MOVEMENT Adam Húska gets away as far as he can from Hartford, signing with Torpedo Novgorod (Russia-KHL). In addition, the Islanders signs winger Arnaud Durandeau and defenseman Paul LaDue. The parent club re-signed Kieffer Bellows. Amazingly, players present and past are still signing despite all the talk of hatred of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. They are far ahead of the pack in players to Europe, with 18 heading to Russia along with the Húska signing, along with other countries in the KHL is far ahead with new signees with 26. Just a few more summertime moves as James Sanchez has moved on to Iowa Wild-AHL/Iowa Heartlanders-ECHL next year. Former UCONN goalie Darion Hanson signs with his old first college coach, former Ranger and Springfield Falcon, and Springfield native Rick Bennett with the ECHL expansion Savannah (GA) Ghost Pirates. The team President is Bob Ohrablo, a former CT Whale executive. Ex-Pack Travis Oleksuk moves on from Villacher SV (Austria-IceHL) and Rosenheim (Germany Division-III). Vincent LoVerde, the ex-Pack team captain from two years ago, leaves EC Salzburg (Austria-IceHL) after a year to play for the Beijing-based Kunlun Red Star (China-KHL). Former Wolf Pack Chad Nehring, 35, who was looking to hook up with an AHL team out West in the Las Vegas area where he lives, found no takers and has gone from Augsburger (Germany-DEL) to Grenoble (France Magnus-FREL), the former hometown of the legendary late pro wrestler, Andre the Giant (Rousimoff). MORE MOVES Ex-Pack/CT Whale Devin DiDiomete re-signs for 2022-23 with Gyergyói HK (Romania-MOL). The son of former New Haven Nighthawk Andy Rymsha, Drake Rymsha, goes from the Hershey Bears to the Bakersfield Condors. The Bears and new coach Todd Nelson get former Quinnipiac University Bobcat (ECACHL), Sam Anas, under contract for next season. Ex-Bridgeport Islander/Sound Tiger Cole Coskey signs with the Kansas City Mavericks (ECHL). The Bridgeport Islanders have joined the tall goalie craze. The parent New York Islanders' seventh round pick from last season, the 6'8 Finnish netminder, Henrik Tikkanen (MODO Sweden-Allsvenskan) and KalPa Kuopio (Finland-FEL). The team also announced the signing of last year's Saint John Sea Dogs (QMJHL) captain, the undrafted Vincent Sévigny of the Memorial Cup champions. He was traded from the Victoriaville Tigres and scored the game's opening goal of the championship win, his last game in junior hockey. They also re-signed a defenseman from two years ago, Ryan MacKinnon, who split last year between Lehigh Valley and Reading (ECHL). Ex-Sound Tiger Alan Quine departs Henderson (AHL) for Ontario (AHL) Robin Figren, a former Sound Tiger from two years in the Park City, has retired from hockey. The Swedish native played the last three seasons, with EHC Kloten winning the NLA title the previous year. Ex-Pack, Ranger, and Springfield Falcon Gordie Dwyer signs on to be the coach/GM for the Acadie-Bathurst Titan (QMJHL). Thomas Schmetisch The list of AHL'ers to Europe has grown to 84. In addition, the list now includes former Springfield Thunderbird from four years, Thomas Schmetisch. He goes from Cleveland to Malmö  IF (Sweden-SHL). Schemitch's older brother, Geoffrey, was a Tampa Bay Lightning fourth-round draftee in 2010. He spent four years with a Canadian University and a 111-game career with Acadia (AUAA). He has taken the route of ex-Whaler Dr.Fred Arthur and was just accepted into residency at the University of Toronto's nationally renowned orthopedic program. He also had a four-year OHL career with Owen Sound and Oshawa, totaling 222 games. Former Springfield Falcon Goran Bezina retires and becomes an assistant coach with HC Sierre (Switzerland-LNA). Collegiate North American pro signees for Hockey East 52, NCHC-36, CCHA-32, Big Ten-31, ECACHL-25, AHA-18, and NCAA Division I Independents-12. Division-III have now just 17 players. Underclassmen pro signees are 32, European college signees are 41, and the total number of signees for North America is 240, and North America plus Europe is 273. Sammy Walker, a four-year Minnesota (Big 10) grad, signed a free agent, two-year, two-way ELC deal with the Minnesota Wild. His draft rights with Tampa Bay expired last week, making him an unrestricted free agent. He is from the Minnesota hockey-producing town of Edina. Jack St. Ivany, formerly of Yale, took the same road and signed with Pittsburgh out of BC. Three are attending Canadian colleges, and just one is attending a major Canadian junior. The newest additions to the transfer list include the Fusco brothers, John and Matt, who have both transferred from Harvard (ECACHL) to Dartmouth College (ECACHL), a true rarity to have an intra-Ivy school transfer. Yale University saw freshmen Phillip Tresca skating at Ingalls Rink in New Haven. He transfers from the Bulldogs to rival Harvard University. In-school transfers are at 108, and grad transfers are 106 for a total of 214 to be moved this off-season in college hockey. One hundred players remain in the transfer portal. Will Reardon, Loomis Chaffe (Windsor) (CTPREP) commit to Holy Cross (AHA) for 2024-25. Sam Scopa from Belmont Hill (MAPREP) commits to Quinnipiac University (ECACHL) for 2024-25. UCONN The UCONN men's hockey team finally announced their home slate for the 2022-23 season. They still have no venues or times listed as a deal with the CRDA, and their negotiating partner Stafford Sports, is still not yet done. However, there will be 17 games on the Huskies' home ice this season. UCONN will host Union College for their home opener on October 7th and 8th to kick off their non-conference home dates. The Huskies will then welcome from the Big Ten conference Ohio State on October 14th and 15th with a newcomer from Stamford in Richard D.J. Hart; this could be at the XL Center, rather it should be. To wrap up their non-conference home games, the Huskies will welcome LIU (Long Island University)-Post for the first time on December 31 in a New Year's Eve doubleheader with the Wolf Pack, likely at the XL Center. Then another first-time opponent will see the reborn University Alaska-Anchorage Seawolves on February 22. The Huskies are set for 11 Hockey East conference matchups on home ice with Boston College on October 27, likely at the XL Center. The Huskies will welcome the Maine Black Bears for a two-game homestand on November 4th and 5th. UCONN will welcome Providence College and UMass- Lowell as part of a home and home series on November 12th and 19th, respectively. The December schedule for the Huskies will feature Merrimack and Boston University on December 2 and December 11, respectively. The news on the yet named or with a corporate sponsor on-campus arena won't be ready for games till likely mid-January as of now, till they get their CO (certificate of occupancy) to have fans. The Huskies leaked to the UCONN Blog that the final four games have been scheduled for the new arena in Storrs. Three conference games with UMASS, UNH, and BC and the non-conference date with Alaska-Anchorage are slated to be a student-only game, according to the microsite announcing season ticket packages. MORE ON UCONN The inaugural game is tentatively slated as part of a men's and women's doubleheader against a yet-named opponent on January 14. The University has been pushing its winter athletic teams, men's and women's basketball plus hockey, to play more on-campus games to prevent the need to play or practice at the XL Center for the game night charge of $20K for hockey and $40K a night for hoops (or practice rental charge) as they seek to tackle a nearly 60 million dollar budget shortfall in the sports department, that includes last spring's summary judgment of 11-million dollars to pay former men's basketball coach Kevin Ollie. The $11M is the balance of his contract owed. There is a tug-of-war between the CRDA. The quasi-public agency oversees the venue's operation, new building operator OVG-Oak View Group, the state legislature, and UCONN. The school publicly dropped several hints in the late spring as their contract was expiring regarding this subject. UCONN hired an outside entity familiar to all parties involved. In addition, they were familiar with Stafford Sports to handle the negotiations for a new contract, which is still unfinished. The nearly 50-year-old building's future is still in a state of limbo, and the more than necessary complete rebuild is eight years overdue. That's the reason why no venues or times were released last week. Now hockey has been hoping to practice in the new building this fall. Howlings learned several months ago that with all the exterior work now done, all that remains is the interior work, again to save money on practicing at the XL Center as much as possible. FREITAS ICE FORUM The Freitas Ice Forum has a new sheet of ice. Unfortunately, it's reportedly on its last legs as a functional building to play games or practice in after this year. Will UCONN wrangle out of Hockey East another waiver? The building is scheduled to be re-purposed in two years for another sports facility, likely for volleyball. Fellow Hockey East school members are more than just slightly irritated with UCONN. Perhaps they can get a few more games in the severely sub-standard building, last used two years ago in the pandemic year. UCONN has remained mum on the subject. Ex-UCONN Husky Joe Masonius departs Adirondack (ECHL)/Utica (AHL) for Kalamazoo (MI) (ECHL). Steve Bergin, from the UCONN (AHA) years, comes back from a year with Hershey (AHL) to be the new associate head coach at Sacred Heart University's (AHA) with head coach C.J. Marrotolo (North Haven) next season. He was his assistant two years ago and had a five-year minor pro career with Pensacola (SPHL). RIP Sadly, two more former Hartford Whalers have passed away in the last several weeks. Original New England Whaler Terry Caffrey dies. He and the New England Whalers' all-time leading scorer, the late Tom" Hawkeye" Webster, topped the 100-point plateau in that first year in Boston. He was the first ever WHA Rookie-of-the-Year. George Lye, in 1976-77 was the second Whaler to win the Award. Secondly, also passing away was former Hartford Whalers trainer (1983-1990)  Tommy "Woody" Woodcock, whose wake was in Rocky Hill. He was a member of PHATS (Professional Hockey Athletic Trainers Hall of Fame), the National Hockey Hall of Fame, and the AHL Rhode Island Reds Hall of Fame. Howlings sends its sincerest condolences to the friends and families of these two Hartford legends. HARTFORD WOLF PACK HOME Read the full article

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CANTLON'S CORNER: BOO NIEVES CARVING A NEW CAREER AT CENTER

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings HARTFORD, CT - The Hartford Wolf Pack's Boo Nieves brought his electric drum set to the Connecticut capitol as the musically inclined forward is not only working on perfecting his musical talent but is also working on making his own beat as a centerman as the new season that has commenced. “We have a lot of time on our hands, so I want to keep busy and stay sharp on the drums. I can play drums and piano a lot, still learning and play that pretty well. I play guitar, but really not that well,“ Nieves said with a laugh. Accepting the role of a defensive center is a tough one to embrace when headlines go to the goal scorers and point producers. On the one hand, you want to play as many minutes as possible in Hartford, because when he would get to New York, he would be a bottom-six forward. One the other hand though, to prepare for the role requires some sacrifice, even on minutes, and special teams and as a player, you'd play to a different beat. “It’s definitely a challenge for me. As a hockey player, you want to go out and score goals and get assists to help the team here. However, to get back there (to the NHL) they're doing a good job at getting me to manage my time here. So, I’m just gonna make the best of the time I have out there. It’s strange, no question, but I’m learning to handle it.” said Nieves reflectively. He did get his first goal of the season on a breakaway off a perfect lead pass that was banked off the center ice boards from Matt Beleskey. Nieves' attention to detail, by keeping his stick on the ice, and then by following his own rebound, paid off. Nieves' maturation as a player was demonstrated clearly in this play. “Beleskey is a veteran and he knows how to do those things and Kravtsov, he is a new guy and we're breaking him in. Those guys made my job pretty easy to put it in,” Nieves said. “In my first year, I might have passed up on the net on that play and turned my head in frustration when the first shot didn’t go in. I stayed with it, and was able to put it in and make it count.” Working on the 10-20 foot area around the net has been another aspect that he is building on to add to his playing calling card. “I'm really working on being a more hard-nosed player in front. Maybe the past few years, I was waiting to see somebody initiate the play, now I‘m taking the initial move to knock the player off the puck and make that first play,” said Nieves. Despite the line combo switch, the team felt last weekend his work with Beleskey gave him a template to build on. “You know when you come in with speed, he always is in position and you see the whacks he takes in front to be able to find the room for a tip-in or to find that rebound, which makes a difference.” For Pack head coach, Kris Knoblauch, and the staff getting a player to train for a specified NHL role clearly requires patience and persuasion. “When he gets the call, he’s gonna be a fourth-line guy, penalty killer, hard-to-play-against and getting into the offensive zone being able to protect and hold onto the puck, and of course taking important defensive zone draws. "I want him to play like he will with the Rangers. He isn’t on our power play now, but when we need him, we will absolutely use him. We're trying to balance getting these guys ready (for the NHL) playing in situations they will be involved in and we're playing him a lot here. “ His quick progress has Knoblauch excited. “The first night against Charlotte he wasn’t good on faceoffs, since then, he has been dominant. We want to put him in those situations with the puck as much as possible. There are about 60-70 faceoffs a game. We hope he’ll be in on 30 of them.” Selling a player on the defined role has its drawbacks and requires career diplomatic skills. “We had that conversation this week with two players. Everyone wants to have the ice time and score 30-40 goals, and they feel if they get noticed they will get called up by being atop the team in scoring. That’s true, but Boo and (Steven) Fogarty can lead this team in scoring and get top-six minutes, but I don’t think either player will fulfill that role with the Rangers. They want to help this team as much as possible, but they also want to work on their game and what will give them the best chance to get called up by the Rangers. "They both have been very receptive and professional in handling it." Nieves started last year dealing with post-concussion issues, but this year he is fresh and ready to go and focused solely on hockey. “It’s nice to start the year playing that’s for sure. Getting back to fundamentals and get everything in place and getting my timing in pace." The change in coaching, while sounding repetitive, has been a major change after years of stagnation for the Wolf Pack. The stagnation came for a variety of reasons. “We're not being over-coached, but we're getting the information to nail systems down, but allowing us to play. Not moving us to one side of the ice or something like that, just making sure we are in the right spots when the puck is dumped in on the attack giving us several different options to have us coming in waves.” Nieves is now in a leadership role as an assistant captain. That too is part of the musical ice score he is working on. “We have a nice core we're making here, and each weekend, we have been doing different things, but we're scratching clawing and were in games this year. It’s a good sign with this group were ready to battle and play.” Learning to play in the critical parts of the game, whether it's his major PK duty, or at the end of game-situations Nieves wants the challenge. “We're learning to be in the right spots. The six on five we had, we're learning how to react and how not to get running around and stay compact, and that's to play smart and off each other. Be patient when the center goes, then you go, or the other way (winger, then center),“ Nieves said. "He's at the jumping-off point and is evolving well early. We're not getting into the situation where it is it you go or I go, we know when to go. That’s the part of initiative I was describing.” He spent the offseason training in Connecticut and he and Rangers head coach, David Quinn, share a common Connecticut high school hockey school experience at Kent. “We talked about it a bit. We both loved our experiences there, and it's kinda cool to have something like that in common with your NHL coach. I didn’t expect it but going to a boarding school I met some really good people who I'm still friends with today,” Nieves said. His Nutmeg State ties also extend to two teammates who are now in Maine, with the team's ECHL affiliate, the Mariners, Terrence Wallin, and Ryan Dmowski both played at Gunnery Prep in Washington, CT. “I had a lot of battles with Wallin back in the day and a few other players who are now in the NHL, so we're scattered everywhere.” The drummer keeps the rhythm of a song, and Nieves hopes to be the beating it for his teammates leading to a winning season in Hartford, and perhaps as one of the bright lights of NYC as well. NOTES: Lots of players on the plus side of plus/minus. They're led by Filip Chytil, who's a plus-8. Ryan Lindgren is a plus-6, while Phil Di Guiseppe and Jeff LoVerde are both a plus-5. Logan Brown, the son of ex-Whaler, Jeff Brown, was recalled by Ottawa from Belleville. Ex-Sound Tiger, Alan Quine, was sent back to Stockton by Calgary. The first AHL trade of the season has Springfield sending defenseman Ian McCoshen to Rockford for one-time Rangers draft pick, Alexsei Saarela, who didn’t make the Chicago Blackhawks out of training camp. The Islanders are working on a deal to trade mercurial RW Josh Ho-Sang, who has refused to report to Bridgeport after clearing waivers. Two former Salisbury Prep players on the move. Francis Drolet, who played summer/winter hockey with the Newcastle Northstars (Australia-AIHL), signs with HC Amiens of the French Elite Magnus League. A current player, Matt DeBoer, announces an oral commit to Holy Cross (AHA) in 2021-22. His father, of course, is Peter DeBoer, the current head coach of the San Jose Sharks and his brother Jack is a sophomore at Boston University (HE). Former Texas Stars Samuel Laberge elects to play closer to home signing with the Sorel-Tracy Epriviers (LNAH). Read the full article

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CANTLON'S CORNER: HOCKEY NEWS AND NOTES OFF SEASON VOLUME 18

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings HARTFORD, CT – News in the hockey world is coming in expedited fashion as the NHL has returned to the ice in their respective training camps as they get ready for the upcoming 24-team tournament to determine a 2019-2020 Stanley Cup Champions. As many as 19 wins is what it will take for teams to get there. The tournament starts soon. Expect more and more news coming as the NHL ramps up again. RANGERS TRAINING CAMP  As expected, an interim tag has been added to Gord Murphy's name as the Hartford Wolf Pack Assistant Coach was elevated to the same position for the New York Rangers as they begin to train for their first-round, best-of-five playoff series-opener against the Carolina Hurricanes at High Noon on August 1st in Toronto. The Rangers recalled ten players from the Wolf Pack as part of the team's expanded post-season roster of 30. The ten players making their respective ways to the MSG Training Center include forwards, Steven Fogarty, Vinni Lettieri, Tim Gettinger, Vitali Kravtsov, and surprisingly Danny O’Regan. The defensemen are Libor Hajek, Darren Raddysh, and two big surprises in Brandon Crawley, who enters the last year of his Entry-Level Contract (ELC), and K’Andre Miller, who signed his three year ELC just days before games were stopped but who is ineligible to play because his contract starts in the 2020-21 season. Read the full article

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CANTLON: WOLF PACK OFF SEASON VOLUME 11

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings HARTFORD, CT: The NHL draft is over. The free-agency period has kicked off and players and teams are filing for arbitration for their salary issues. Yes, hockey summer has begun. WOLF PACK 2018-19 The Pack got there first AHL veteran, Bobby Butler, a sniper on the RW. Butler, a veteran of eight pro seasons, was a member of the 2018 U.S. Olympic Team. He skated in five games for Team USA at the Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea.  The 31-year-old Marlborough, MA native played in 67 AHL games in 2017-18 with the Milwaukee Admirals.  Butler led the Admirals in goals and was second in points, with 24-21-45 in 36 games. The 6-0, 188-pound Butler has seen action in 130 NHL games in his career, with the Ottawa Senators, New Jersey Devils, Nashville Predators, and Florida Panthers. His ledger shows totals of 20 goals and 29 assists for 49 points.  He has logged 288 career games of AHL action, with the Admirals, Binghamton Senators, Albany Devils and San Antonio Rampage, registering 111 goals and 100 assists for 211 points.  He won the Calder Cup as a rookie with Binghamton in 2010-11. Butler has four 20-goal AHL seasons to his credit and was selected to three AHL All-Star Classics (2010-11, 2012-13, and 2014-15). Prior to signing with Ottawa, he was an undrafted free agent. Butler played four seasons at the University of New Hampshire (HE) where, in 153 career games as a Wildcat, struck for 61 goals added 60 assists (121 points) and earned Hockey East Player of the Year honors as a Senior in 2009-10.  In 39 games that year, Butler had 29 goals and 24 assists for 53 points. The team also inked two players to AHL contracts who finished their collegiate careers and played with the Wolf Pack at the end of the season. One is very familiar to the New York Rangers new head coach, David Quinn. He is Drew Melanson, who finished up with the Terriers and then played five games in Hartford where he got his first professional point, an assist. Justin Salvaggio also completed his Hockey East career, but with the UNH Wildcats. He played in four games and didn't earn a point. Steven Fogarty was the only RFA forward on the Wolf Pack roster that was given a qualifying offer. It was a one year, two-way deal paying $700K - NHL, $70K - AHL). Having worn the A in the past, Fogarty might be a candidate for team captain, should the team go that direction. The Pack has traded their last three captains... all in a row. Those three were Ryan Bourque, Mat Bodie, and Joe Whitney. Goalie Marek Mazanec was a UFA. The Rangers smartly offered him a deal and he liked and signed for the season. Adam Tambellini, Ryan Sproul, Dan Catenacci as well as players in New York, Paul Carey and David Desharnais were not given offers and can freely negotiate with other teams. The only three players with RFA status still not publicly announced whether they were signed or not are Boo Nieves, Chris Bigras, and Peter Holland. Defenseman Tyson Helgeson, who played four games at the end of the season after completing his junior career with the Spokane Chiefs (WHL), returns to his native Alberta to play Canadian college hockey in Calgary and continue his academics at Royal Military College (CWUAA). PLAYERS & COACHING MOVEMENT Former UCONN Husky, Tage Thompson, was on the move. The very active St. Louis Blues moved the Orange resident to Buffalo in the Ryan O’Reilly deal. At the NHL level, former Wolf Pack, Brian Gibbons (Salisbury Prep), who struggled mightily while wearing a Hartford hockey sweater got himself a one-year, $1 million dollar deal from Anaheim after leaving New Jersey. Wow! Former Bridgeport Sound Tiger, Matt Martin, returns to the Islanders family for Sound Tiger goalie Eamon MacAdam? Martin, a player with over 500 NHL games for a goalie with 36 AHL games experience and over 40 in the ECHL? Obvious salary dump. It was no surprise when ex-Pack, Chris Bourque, announced via Twitter that he would not be returning to the Hershey Bears next season. It wasn’t a big surprise that at $400K and at age33, there aren't many teams going to pay that much. Hershey also did not make a qualifying offer to former Pack, Adam Chapie. Former Sound Tiger, Calvin de Haan, struck gold in Carolina signing a four-year deal valued at $18.2 million and leaving Long Island. A brand newly minted pair of ex-Pack that were acquired from Hershey late in the year have moved on. Defenseman Hubert Labrie signed with Syracuse while center John Albert, as expected, went to Europe to play for EHC Wolfsburg (Germany-DEL) for 2018-19. Scott Kosmachuk gets a sweet deal that pays him $650K-NHL and $250K-AHL. He was one of the first three signees to the 31st AHL franchise, the Colorado Eagles. They will be the top farm team of the Colorado Avalanche. Ex-CT Whale, Jayson Megna, leaves Vancouver and signs a nice deal with Washington paying $700K-NHL and $315K-AHL. Meanwhile, ex-Sound Tiger, Alan Quine, gets the “Brinks Armored Car Award” signing with Calgary for $700K-NHL and $400k-AHL. Some other movement for various CT players. Kenny Agostino, a former Yale product, goes from Providence to Laval on a one-year deal paying $650K-NHL and $275K-AHL. Defenseman Tommy Cross (Simsbury/Westminster Prep) leaves New England for the first time in his hockey career as he signs with Cleveland for $650K-NHL and $300K-AHL. Paul Carey (Salisbury Prep) goes from the Rangers to Ottawa on a 700K-NHL and $350K-AHL deal. Ex-Pack, Adam Cracknell, goes leaves Laval after starting the year mostly in Hartford and a brief pit stop in New York and heads to Toronto on a $650K one-way contract. Ex-Sound Tiger, Matt Mangene, goes from Texas to Springfield (AHL). Wade Megan (Salisbury Prep) signs with Detroit on a $650K-NHL and a $275K-AHL deal.  Brian Flynn (Pomfret Prep) leaves Texas to sign with St. Louis/San Antonio for $650K-NHL and $350K-AHL. Mike Mersch, the son of the late Nighthawk, Mike Sr., leaves Ontario and signs with Dallas/Texas for a $650K-NHL and $250K-AHL contract. Three OHL coaches get AHL gigs. Former Ranger, Joe Cirella, leaves Sault Ste. Marie to be named the new assistant coach for Stockton (AHL). Jay Varady goes from Kingston to be the new bench boss for Tucson. Bob Jones, the head coach at Oshawa, becomes an assistant with Texas. After 913 NHL games, Alexandre Burrows retires and becomes the assistant coach with the AHL Laval Rocket. Zach Tolkinen, a former QU Bobcat, goes from Wheeling (ECHL) to Maine (ECHL). The AHL to Euro list grew when former Pack, Marek Hrivik, went from Stockton to Vityaz Podolsk (Russia-KHL). Joining him will be Miro Aaltonen from the Calder Cup champion, Toronto Marlies. Ed Wittchow of Springfield went to KooKoo (Finland-FEL) and his former Thunderbird teammate, Curtis Valk, went to Barys Astana (Kazakhstan-KHL). They also signed Patrice Cormier of Manitoba. Iiro Pakarinen goes from Bakersfield to Mettalurg Magnitogorsk (Russia-KHL). Brett Findlay of Stockton moves to HC Bolzano (Italy-AEHL) while Beau Bennett goes from the Chicago Wolves to Dynamo Minsk (Belarus-KHL). That makes 43 players from 21 teams with Springfield and Binghamton seeing the most leave with four each. Ex-Pack, Danny Kristo, goes from Dynamo Riga (Latvia-KHL) to Brynas IF (Sweden-SHL). Justin Fontaine leaves Dynamo Minsk (Belarus-KHL) for Kunlun (China-KHL). Another Ex-Pack, Kyle Beach, heads from ESV Villacher (Austria-AEHL) to EC Bad Tolz (Germany-DEL-2) Shaun Pauly, a former UCONN Husky, leaves Kansas City (ECHL) for HC Lyon (France-FREL). Drew Omicioli, (Gunnery Prep) switches teams to coach in Italy in the Alps Hockey League (AlpsHL). He goes from SG Cortina to HC Milano Rossoblu. All player salary figures are from capfriendly.com COLLEGE HOCKEY The UCONN Huskies have two new recruits coming in the fall big difference in size. On defense, at 6’2 and 210 lbs, Corson Green of Potsdam, NY goes from Central Illinois (USHL) while forward Jonny Evans from Delta, BC and the Powell River Kings (BCHL) checks in at 5’7 and 125 lbs. Quinnipiac University (ECACHL) extended the contract of the only Division I coach they have ever had in Rand Pecknold till 2022-23. Drew Hickey (New Canaan/Taft Prep) commits to the University of New Hampshire (HE) in the fall. The 5’11 right-hand shooting defenseman was the captain of the CT Jr. Rangers (NCDC) this past season. Colton Point, the 6’5 goalie from Colgate (ECACHL), leaves early and signs a three-year deal with Dallas. That makes 212 collegiates in total and 160 Division I to sign pro deals. New college coaches as well. Dallas Ferguson goes from Alaska-Anchorage to become the assistant at the University of Denver (NCHC) and Brent Bekke, a long-time Miami (OH) assistant, takes the same role with Clarkson (ECACHL). Three colleges are getting rink upgrades. First Northeastern (HE) with the Matthews Arena, the oldest operating rink in Division I at 108 years old is adding a 50-foot video board and two ribbon panels. Awesome! The other two are Cheel Arena at Clarkson, Their $3.45 million addition will add 300,000 square feet over the next two years in a multi-phase campaign. The building will be operational during the work. Also, the St. Lawrence University’s Appleton Arena is part on a donation from the estate of the late NHL upper management icon Bill Torrey and was over a million dollars. Minnesota Hockey Day is January 17-19 and will be played out on Lake Bemidji with two NCAA men’s and women hockey games comprised of Minnesota's boys and girl’s high school teams in action. One of the schools is Greenway High school. They will feature a new import player-Micah Gernander (Newington), the son of former Wolf Pack great player, and head coach Ken Gernander. He has taken a job as an amateur scout for the Islanders covering college and junior hockey in Minnesota and the US Midwest. The fourth Desert Sun Classic hockey tourney returns to Gila River Arena in Phoenix, home of the NHL Coyotes, with Arizona State, Minnesota, University Minnesota-Duluth and Clarkson. IN MEMORIAM One of the biggest names in the CT hockey scene for close to five decades, Dick Gagliardi, passed away on Monday at the age of 84. He was truly a student of the game. For Gagliardi, the town of Hamden was tattooed on his heart as he spent most of his adult life there. He became a fixture on the hockey scene in its genesis of the sport at the organized level in the late 1940’s. He was a three-sport athlete for the Green Dragons. Before there was a CIAC that governs high school sports, he helped the hockey team to the 1952 New England championships. He moved onto Boston College football and hockey under the late Len Ceglarski Sr. and played in two NCAA national tournaments that are now known as the Frozen Four. They won two ECAC championships then the only Division I level in New England. He would become the head coach for the Yale University Bulldogs (1965-1972) for seven years and while he didn’t have the success on the ice as he would have wanted, he did establish his trademark work ethic and game preparation schedule. He would also strike up and develop a friendship with his successor at Yale, the late Tim Taylor, whom he had the highest admiration for his entire career. He returned to Hamden High succeeding the late, Louis Astorino, for whom the rink is named, in 1987. Gagliardi would win just one state title in 1989 when they beat Notre Dame-WH 1-0 at the Hartford Civic Center (nee XL Center). He would win 196 games before stepping down in 2001 and handing the reigns over to his longtime assistant coach Billy Verneris. He was honored along with Astorino and Bill Belisle of Mt. St. Charles (RI) in a ceremony in 2005 honoring their career and service in high school hockey in Hamden. After 37 years of teaching math at Hamden, he found a new challenge around the corner from Mix Avenue in Hamden on Denslow Hill Road. He became the AD for the all-girls Catholic school, Sacred Heart Academy (1993-2005) where he helped to oversee the upgrade both of the athletic programs and the facilities. The current Hamden head coach, just the fifth in the school’s history of the program that began in 1948, is former Wolf Pack, Todd Hall. Gagliardi made an impression on him from the beginning. “I didn’t try out for the freshmen team, but my older brother, Robert, was the goalie and I got the advanced report on Coach Gags; dress right, speak right and listen. He commanded respect the minute you put that sweater on.” Gagliardi was not teaching only about X’s and O’s puck handling and skating skills, it was about life, something Hall uses today as he helps guide the current group of Green Dragons every winter. “He had such attention to detail it down to the minute, we always tried to peak and see what was on his sheets. He left them for us, I can’t say I’m as organized as he was, but I keep it structured because it was a benefit to me. He was also aiming to apply this in your life as a son, father, and part of your community I keep that in mind all the time now. He was a Marine through and through and handled himself that way at all times. "I was very fortunate to call him a coach and a friend.” Gagliardi loyalty knew no bounds. He was just as proud of Boston College as he was his beloved Hamden. When Hall went there in his sophomore year, the new head coach, Steve Cedorchuk, who succeeded Ceglarski, wanted to rebuild things in his image. Hall wasn’t his recruit, so he did his best to make his life miserable. Gagliardi wasn’t amused as a BC alum, hockey coach or man. He came to his aid and while Hall did eventually transfer to New Hampshire, the letter Gagliardi wrote to then Whalers owner, Richard Gordon, (his son was on the BC football team) regarding Hall - then a Whalers draftee - in how he was being treated started a chain reaction. That got the ball rolling and eventually, the school discovered problems under Cedorchuk’s brief tenure and he was dismissed and never has coached in college hockey again. He underestimated the BC Marine. A point of personal privilege, I got to become friends with Coach Gagliardi first starting as part of a radio broadcast team with Tony Bonetti doing Hamden High games on WXCT-AM (1220) for three seasons and another seven years covering the program for the Hamden Chronicle, then part of the Elm City Citizen newspaper chain, a division of ABC/CapCities. Gagliardi would give me a free Ph.D. lesson in the tactics, strategies, history, and breath of the game. Anatoly Tarasov, the true father of the Soviet Big Red machine from 1960’s and 1970’s, was a man he and Taylor admired and studied. In the mid-1960’s and early 1970’s, studying coaching and tactics of USSR hockey was not fashionable, but his unorthodox approach of combining several different disciplines in forming a cohesive team structure appealed to both men and that’s how their friendship that he cherished was born. I would get the book on Tarasov and read it and it opened my eyes from the teacher at heart. He looked upon the sport as a footprint for life not just wins and losses I would hope this winter the CIAC would introduce, the Dick Gagliardi Award to be given to a hockey athlete who truly combines athletics, academics and community service. We were blessed to have had him.   Read the full article