#BrendanGaunce

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CANTLON: BRUINS EDGE PACK TAKE SECOND PLACE BATTLE

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings HARTFORD, CT - An early third-period penalty led to a Providence Bruins powerplay goal that allowed them to edge out the Hartford Wolf Pack, 3-2, in a very hard-fought contest Sunday afternoon at the XL Center. The Wolf Pack record slips to 31-16-6-5 (73 points) and the team sits in third place in the Atlantic Division. Providence meanwhile sees its record improve to 34-18-3-3 (74 points). They take-over second-place from Hartford. The Baby bruins have now won eight straight games. The Charlotte Checkers are in fourth place and trail the Wolf Pack by five points. Early in the third period, a bad neutral zone tripping penalty by Pack captain, Steve Fogarty, led to the goal that would allow Providence to regain the lead they would not relinquish. The Bruins' puck possession skills that had been on display all game paid dividends on the man-advantage in just 17 seconds. Jack Studnicka sent the puck over to Peter Cehlarik. He fired a shot that was saved by J.F. Berube, but he was unable to corral the loose puck and Brendan Gaunce was right there to smack it into the net at 2:40. For Gaunce, it was his 17th goal of the season. The Wolf Pack made a strong effort to tie the game, especially in the final two minutes. With Berube pulled for an extra attacker, the Pack would come their closest to scoring. Vitali Kravtsov rang a shot off the inside of the right post with 1:15 remaining. Vinni Lettieri took a short side slapper that was stopped by Max Lagace (21 saves) and Fogarty saw his bid denied as well. “That’s what's happened in our games with Providence this year. Something happens late in the game or a period. They scored a goal from the corner in one game, I believe with 30 seconds left. They don’t always go in your favor. We had everything in our favor in trying to tie the game up, but we missed. We had three really great scoring chances, six on five. It was three-in-three. The guys coulda quit. It's hard playing three-in-three against a very good team and down 2-0. We did everything to try to get it to overtime,” said Knoblauch, doing his best to hide the impact of the tough loss. The Wolf Pack finally got some open ice and time with the puck and picked up their first goal midway through the second period. On a Bruins dump in, Libor Hajek commandeered the puck and started moving up the ice on the left-wing side. Hajek passed it over to Lettieri, who side-stepped getting nailed at the blue line and moved into center ice. Lettieri put a pass back to Hajek as he sailed down the left-wing. Nobody was going to catch him as he ripped his first of the season going top shelf to the far side at 11:56. “Libor did a great job to get the puck up the ice and gave us a real jump when we needed it,” remarked Knoblauch. Another jumpstart was Nick Ebert, not the heavyweight pugilist, getting into a scrap with a much bigger Brendan Woods, who is a lefty. Ebert got the Pack going. “We got that first goal and Nicky dropped the gloves really got us going and we got another late in the period. We battled hard the rest of the period,” said Tim Gettinger The Wolf Pack evened things up at two on a set of smart passes. A backhand dump in from Ebert behind the Bruins net that left the puck a little between Bruins goalie Max Lagace and defenseman Nick Zboril, who both arrived at the puck at the same time. Zboril eventually took possession and rimmed it up the left-wing boards, but just jumping on for his shift was Jeff LoVerde, who got the puck and sent it to Patrick Newell along the right-wing boards. Newell made a quick play from off the right-wing half-wall put the shot toward the net. The puck found Gettinger's red-hot stick as he got to the front of the net and scored his third goal in two games and 15th of the season off a perfect deflection at 14:05. “He (LoVerde) made a great play to Patty, luckily I was able to put in,” Gettinger said while downplaying his own contribution. The Bruins came into the game having won seven-in-a-row. In the first period, they showed why as they scored their first two goals of the game. The first goal was scored shorthanded by the Bruins with surgical precision at 11:41. Danny O’Regan lost the puck on his rush attempt ice. The puck went back to the Bruins left defenseman, Jason Zboril, who passed it over to his partner Josiah Didier who nailed a diagonal pass from the defensive zone to the Wolf Pack blue line to Trent Frederic. The Bruins second-leading scorer then hit a speeding Oskar Steen racing down the right-wing with a perfect pass that he redirected in full flight for his seventh of the season. The second goal was again a lightning strike by the Bruins using handy stick work. This time an outlet pass meant for Fogarty never arrived. Cameron Hughes intercepted a pass and then on a dime quickly curled to the net and fed Jack Studnicks who put in his 22nd of the season at 11:32. “We weren’t playing our best. They were taking it to us. They got pucks deep. We weren’t moving our feet and in the second and third we finally got our feet moving and we starting getting chances. We just didn’t have enough (at the end),” said Gettinger. It sets up a very critical three-in-three next weekend with two home games against the Hershey Bears. LINES: O’Regan-Kravtsov-Fogarty Jones-Newell-Gropp Beleskey-Lettieri-Gettinger McBride-Dmowski-Ronning Hajek-Raddysh LoVerde-Geersten Ebert-Rykov SCRATCHES: Boo Nieves - Upper-body - Injury day-to-day. Brandon Crawley - Healthy Greg Chase - Healthy Gabriel Fontaine - Shoulder Surgery - Season-Ending NOTES: J.F. Berube has 23 saves on the game for Hartford. Lettieri had six shots and Kravtsov had four to pace the Wolf Pack. D-men Didier and ex-Pack, Steven Kampfer, with four shots each paced the Bruins' shots. Matt Beleskey had the second scrap of the game with a much bigger Alex Petrovic early in the third. One lineup change was Jake Elmer, who was sent back to the team's ECHL affiliate, the Maine Mariners. The Wolf Pack recalled Greg Chase, who's the nephew of former Hartford Whaler, Kelly Chase. He was scratched as was Elmer since he was recalled. Among the six Bruins scratches was Wiley Sherman (Greenwich/Hotchkiss Prep). Wolf Pack Fan Jerseys Of The Game: Wolf Pack #10 Brian Gibbons (Charlotte), CT Whale, Michael Haley (Rangers) and CT Whale #86 Wojtech Wolski (SC Bern Switzerland LNA). Very classy gesture by the entire Bruins team to go shake hands with linesman Mike Baker and Derek Wahl, who were working their last AHL games as a linesman. We were alerted they had received a curiously worded e-mail “Pick your last game,“ earlier in the week as notice their contracts would not be renewed for next season. Read the full article

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Canuck Birthday art. Happy Bday no.50! #art #digitalart #illustration #hockey #canucks #brendangaunce #happybirthday

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COLLINS: PACK CLOSE OUT WEEKEND WITH LOSS TO BRUINS

BY: Micah Collins, Hartford Wolf Pack Hartford, CT, March 1, 2020 – A power-play goal by Brendan Gaunce early in the third period was the difference Sunday, in a 3-2 win by the Providence Bruins over the Hartford Wolf Pack at the XL Center. The Wolf Pack concluded a weekend that had them playing three games in three days, going 1-2 during that time. “The guys worked really hard,” said Wolf Pack head coach Kris Knoblauch. “They could have phoned it in, with it being their third game in as many days, but they just don’t have any quit in them.” Providence got on the board first when Oskar Steen scored his seventh goal of the year shorthanded 8:19 into the game. Trent Frederic and Josiah Didier assisted on the goal. Shortly thereafter, Jack Studnicka would score to put the Bruins up 2-0 at 11:32. Cameron Hughes had the lone assist. “They got up 2-0 early, and we really knew we weren’t playing our best,” the Wolf Pack’s Tim Gettinger said.  “They really took it to us in the first, we weren’t moving our feet. We had some chances later in the game, though.” The second period seemed like it would be a stalemate, until Libor Hajek scored his first goal of the season with 11:56 left in the middle frame, firing a laser past Max Lagace (21 saves). “Hajek had a great play there, moving up the ice, and it was a really good shot,” said Gettinger.  That really helped to give us some energy and get back in it.” Vinni Lettieri had the lone assist. With 5:55 left in the second period, Gettinger scored his 16th goal of the year, and his third in the last two games, to make it 2-2. Patrick Newell and Vincent LoVerde assisted on the tally. Gettinger was quick to credit his teammates. “ made a great play to Patty, luckily I was able to put it in.” The goal would send the two teams into the second intermission tied. The winning goal came 2:40 into the third, 17 seconds after Steven Fogarty was whistled for tripping.  Studnicka moved the puck from the right-wing side, and Peter Cehlarik deflected it to Gaunce, who sent a low shot past Wolf Pack goaltender J-F Berube (23 saves). The Pack would pull Berube in the dying minutes to try to get the equalizer but to no avail. “They can’t all go our way,” said Knoblauch.  “We gave ourselves an opportunity to get it to overtime at least, but we couldn’t make it happen.” The loss dropped the Wolf Pack (31-16-6-5, 73 pts.) into third place in the Atlantic Division, one point behind the 34-18-3-3 (74 pts.) Bruins, who extended a winning streak to eight games. The Wolf Pack’s next action is back at the XL Center this Friday, March 6, a 7:15 tilt vs. the division-leading Hershey Bears.  All Friday-night Wolf Pack home games feature $1 hot dogs and $2 beers through the start of the second period, presented by Nomads Adventure Quest. Tickets for all 2019-20 Wolf Pack home games are on sale now at the Sunwave Gas & Power Ticket Office at the XL Center, on-line at hartfordwolfpack.com and by phone at (860) 722-9425.  Tickets purchased in advance for kids 12 or younger start at just $10 each, and all tickets will have a $3 day-of-game increase. To speak with a Wolf Pack representative about season or group tickets, or any of the Wolf Pack’s many ticketing options, call (860) 722-9425, or click here to request more info.  To visit the Wolf Pack online, go to hartfordwolfpack.com. Providence Bruins 3 at Hartford Wolf Pack 2 Sunday, March 1, 2020 - XL Center Providence 2 0 1 - 3 Hartford     0 2 0 - 2 1st Period-1, Providence, Steen 7 (Frederic, Didier), 8:19 (SH). 2, Providence, Studnicka 22 (Hughes), 11:32. Penalties-Gaunce Pro (hooking), 5:09; Senyshyn Pro (slashing), 7:22. 2nd Period-3, Hartford, Hajek 1 (Lettieri), 8:04. 4, Hartford, Gettinger 16 (Newell, LoVerde), 14:05. Penalties-Woods Pro (fighting), 6:18; Ebert Hfd (fighting), 6:18; LoVerde Hfd (hooking), 10:04; Lauko Pro (roughing), 17:52; Ebert Hfd (roughing), 17:52. 3rd Period-5, Providence, Gaunce 17 (Cehlarik, Studnicka), 2:40 (PP). Penalties-Fogarty Hfd (tripping), 2:23; Petrovic Pro (fighting), 3:48; Beleskey Hfd (fighting), 3:48. Shots on Goal-Providence 10-7-9-26. Hartford 3-7-13-23. Power Play Opportunities-Providence 1 / 2; Hartford 0 / 2. Goalies-Providence, Lagace 21-7-3 (23 shots-21 saves). Hartford, Berube 13-14-4 (26 shots-23 saves). A-5,100 Referees-Corey Syvret (42), Guillaume Labonte (35). Linesmen-Mike Baker (11), Derek Wahl (46). Read the full article

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CRAWFORD: WOLF PACK WEEKLY: February 24-March 1, 2020

BY: Bob Crawford, Hartford Wolf Pack HARTFORD, CT - The Wolf Pack (30-14-6-5, 71 pts.) finished the week one point out of first place in the Atlantic Division, after a 4-1 win at Bridgeport Sunday, in the last of three games on the weekend.  J-F Berube made 17 saves to bank his first Wolf Pack win in that game, and Tim Gettinger (first pro SHG) and Nick Jones had a goal and an assist apiece.  The Wolf Pack began the weekend with a 4-1 defeat in Springfield on Friday night and then battled back from 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2 deficits at home against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Saturday night, to earn a standings point in a 4-3 overtime loss.  Vinni Lettieri and Vitali Kravtsov had a goal and an assist each in that game. For the latest AHL standings, click here. This week: It’s another full three-game slate for the Wolf Pack this weekend.  The team heads to Binghamton on Friday night for a 7:05 battle with the Devils and then returns to Bridgeport on Saturday night to rematch with the Sound Tigers at 7:00.  The Wolf Pack is then back home on Sunday, hosting the Providence Bruins at 3:00. Friday, February 28 at the Binghamton Devils (New Jersey) at the Floyd L. Maines Veterans Memorial Arena, 7:05 PM This is the last of four meetings on the year between the Wolf Pack and the Devils, and Hartford has swept the first three, including a 4-3 overtime win October 19 in the Wolf Pack’s only previous visit to Binghamton. The Devils started their season 9-17-4-0 in their first 30 games, but since Christmas, they have gone 18-7-0-0 in 25 contests, to climb to within three points of a playoff spot in the North Division, at 27-24-4-0 for 58 points. Binghamton rookie goaltender Gilles Senn is 7-1-0 in his last eight appearances, with a 1.74 goals-against average, a 94.2% save percentage and one shutout over that span. Broadcast – live online at https://www.iheart.com/live/fox-sports-1430-3544/.  Video streaming at ahllive.com. Saturday, February 29 at the Bridgeport Sound Tigers (Islanders) at Webster Bank Arena, 7:00 PM This is the Wolf Pack’s second visit to Bridgeport in less than a week and the fourth time of the season.  After Sunday’s 4-1 road win over the Sound Tigers, the Wolf Pack are 6-1-0-0 in the season series, 2-1-0-0 on the road. Josh Ho-Sang had Bridgeport’s only goal in Sunday’s Wolf Pack-Sound Tigers tilt, his third in 16 games on the season and the Sound Tigers’ fourth power-play goal in their last two games. Sunday’s loss to the Wolf Pack dropped the Sound Tigers to 0-3-0-1 in their last four games and to below .500 at home, 11-12-2-2. Broadcast – live with Bob Crawford on-line at hartfordwolfpack.com.  Video streaming at theahl.com/AHLTV. Sunday, March 1 vs. the Providence Bruins (Boston) at the XL Center, 3:00 PM This is another chance to take advantage of the Wolf Pack’s “Click It or Ticket Hat Trick Pack”.  The Hat Trick Pack includes two tickets, two sodas, and a large popcorn, all for just $40. The Wolf Pack will celebrate their mascot Sonar’s birthday at this game, with a number of the lovable wolf’s mascot friends in attendance. Fans are encouraged to bring their skates to this game, for a free post-game twirl on the XL Center ice. The Bruins come into this week on a 5-0-1-0 run, and 11-3-2-1 in their last 17 games, and trail the Wolf Pack by three points in the Atlantic Division playoff race. Veteran Bruin forward Brendan Gaunce (16-15-31 in 45 GP) has goals in four of Providence’s last five games (5-2-7) and points in six straight (5-3-8). The Wolf Pack have won their last five head-to-head battles with the Bruins and are 6-0-0-1 on the season against Providence, 3-0-0-0 at home. Tickets for this game, and all 2019-20 Wolf Pack home games, are on sale now at the Sunwave Gas & Power Ticket Office at the XL Center, on-line at hartfordwolfpack.com and by phone at (860) 722-9425.  Tickets purchased in advance for kids 12 or younger start at just $10 each, and all tickets will have a $3 day-of-game increase. Broadcast – live with Bob Crawford and Mark Bailey on-line at hartfordwolfpack.com.  Video streaming at theahl.com/AHLTV. Wolf Pack Community Appearances: The Wolf Pack have the following appearances scheduled this week.  For further information on these, or any other Wolf Pack community initiatives, contact Wolf Pack community relations manager Frank Berrian, at (860) 541-4728: Tuesday, February 25, 7:00-8:30 PM, Buffalo Wild Wings, 1267 Silas Deane Hwy., Wethersfield, CT The Wolf Pack are throwing a Rangers “watch party” at Buffalo Wild Wings, and Wolf Pack players Danny O’Regan, Darren Raddysh, Vincent LoVerde, Adam Huska, Libor Hajek, and Ryan Dmowski are scheduled to be on hand, along with the Wolf Pack’s iconic mascot, Sonar, to watch the Rangers’ game against the Islanders.  Fans can get autographs and take pictures and will be automatically entered to win prizes just by showing up. Saturday, February 29, 10:30 AM, Crystal Lake, 144 Prout Hill Rd., Middletown, CT Sonar cheers on those “freezin’ for a reason” in the annual Special Olympics Connecticut “Penguin Plunge”. Recent Transactions: Joey Keane – recalled from the Wolf Pack by the New York Rangers, and traded to Carolina, February 18. Jean-Francois Berube – loaned to the Wolf Pack by the New York Rangers, after being acquired in a trade from Philadelphia, February 19. Tom McCollum – traded by the Wolf Pack to Lehigh Valley on February 20. Lewis Zerter-Gossage – recalled by the Wolf Pack from Maine (ECHL), and traded to Lehigh Valley, February 20. Pack Tracks: Saturday, March 7, when the Wolf Pack host the Hershey Bears at 7:00, is Military Appreciation Night at the XL Center.  The Wolf Pack will be paying tribute to all veterans and active-duty military for their service to our country, and the first 2,000 fans will take home a free Wolf Pack reversible drink koozie, courtesy of CT-DOT. Each of the Wolf Pack’s Sunday and Wednesday home games feature the Wolf Pack’s “Click It or Ticket Hat Trick Pack”.  The Hat Trick Pack includes two tickets, two sodas, and a large popcorn, all for just $40.  After this Sunday, the next Hat Trick Pack game is Wednesday, March 11, a 7:00 battle with the Providence Bruins. In partnership with the Hartford Chamber of Commerce, the Wolf Pack is offering “Suit to Sweater Wednesdays”, to wash away the mid-week work blues.  Any fan showing a company ID at the Sunwave Gas & Power Ticket office can purchase Blue-Level tickets to Wolf Pack Wednesday home games for only $15 each (limit two tickets per ID).  The Wolf Pack’s next Wednesday home date is March 11, when the Providence Bruins invade the XL Center for a 7:00 game. Once again this season, fans can enjoy $1 hot dogs, and $2 draft beers and fountain sodas, at every Friday Wolf Pack home game, through the start of the second period, presented by Nomads Adventure Quest.  The Wolf Pack’s next Friday-night home outing is March 6, when they entertain the Hershey Bears in a 7:15 PM game. Wolf Pack home game tickets can be purchased at the Sunwave Gas & Power Ticket Office at the XL Center, on-line at hartfordwolfpack.com and by phone at (860) 722-9425.  Tickets purchased in advance for kids 12 or younger start at just $10 each, and all tickets will have a $3 day-of-game increase. To speak with a Wolf Pack representative about season or group tickets, or any of the Wolf Pack’s many ticketing options, call (860) 722-9425, or click here to request more info.  To visit the Wolf Pack online, go to hartfordwolfpack.com. TRACK THE PACK ONLINE AT HARTFORDWOLFPACK.COM Read the full article

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CANTLON: (SAT) WOLF PACK PULL AWAY FROM BRUINS, 5-2

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings HARTFORD, CT - Adam Huska made 34 saves while Steven Fogarty tallied a shorthanded game-winner and Darren Raddysh added two points to pace the Hartford Wolf Pack to a 5-2 regulation win over the Providence Bruins. For a change, there was no overtime and no shootout. With the win, the Pack remain atop the Atlantic Division and the entire AHL with 11-0-1-5 record (26 points) and are off to their best start since 2004-05. The Providence record drops to 9-7-0-2 (20 points). The Wolf Pack will play their next game in their annual 11 am Edu-Skate contest against the Syracuse Crunch on Wednesday. In the third period, the Wolf Pack built a two-goal lead. Phil DiGiuseppe took a rising slapper that went off Providence goalie Kale Keyser’s glove and into the net at 10:09 giving the Pack a 4-2 lead. “Phil has played very well as of late and he's scored big goals in the last three games for us and helped us finish this one out,” Pack head coach Kris Knoblauch said. Danny O’Regan had an empty netter with 2:46 to go to close-out the scoring for the night. The Wolf Pack took the lead on a shorthanded tally returning the favor from the previous night when the Bruins scored a man-down. Fogarty, along with Boo Nieves, outworked two Bruins in the left wing circle and snapped a quick, wrist shot that surprised Keyser, just 16-seconds after a cross-checking penalty call on Mason Geersten. “It was a great effort by Boo to get down there first. I was just able to dig it out and I saw he wasn’t ready for it and had the angle on him and got it by him,” Fogarty said in an ever-so-matter-of-fact-manner of his game-winner. It was the turning point in the game. “We were sitting back too much, letting them take the play, and then on that situation we come out plus one. That was very important for us,” said Knoblauch.

The rest of the second period was, "The Huska Show" where the Pack netminder stopped all 17 Bruins shots earning him his fourth win and the team's championship belt for his sterling game performance (above). Huska did so making saves in almost every conceivable fashion. One shift, Huska stopped the Bruins' Scott Conway three times. Once from the left wing, off the ensuing face-off from dead center and then as Conway was exiting the ice for his shift on a long-range shot with his very active glove hand. Huska denied Robert Lantosi from the right point, and then Peter Cehlarik from the net front on a Bruins power play. Jack Studnicka was stopped on a late two-on-one with Huska's glove as he scooped it and in the same motion pushed it ahead to his defenseman for a breakout. “I saw him coming and I knew he had someone on other wing. I just stayed on him and he took the shot,” said a smiling Huska.

He was aided by good defensive work from veteran Vincent LoVerde with a PK blocked shot of a slap-shot that earned him the team's hard hat award. (Left) The P-Bruins jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the first period, but this Wolf Pack roster has shown an early penchant for not being deterred by adversity. 37 seconds in, off a neutral zone turnover by Providence, developed into a quick forming three-on-two. Brendan Gaunce, a lefty shot who was on the right-wing, zipped a pass across the box to the hard-charging Ryan Fitzgerald, who buried his fifth goal in the open stick-side. Then the Bruins capitalized off a scramble on the power play. Fitzgerald fed Studnicka, who was open on the right wing side and from the face-off circle deposited his sixth goal. “We have found a way this year to respond when we're down. We got it back to 2-2 and in third, again we responded,” remarked Fogarty. The Wolf Pack got back into the game with two goals of their own to tie the game at two. Raddysh came off the right-wing boards with the Bruins Wiley Sherman (Greenwich/Hotchkiss Prep) trying to catch him. He circled the net, turned and fired a wraparound on the Bruins' goalie. DiGuiseppe was alone at the right post, but the first shot was stopped by Keyser. “I saw the opening, so I went and got it. I figured I would try the wraparound and was lucky it worked,” Raddysh said of his third goal of the season. Taking the initiative at a critical point in the game, Raddysh was another crucial part in helping launch five consecutive goals by the Wolf Pack. “The short time I’ve been in Hartford, I have seen him as a defensive defenseman. Pass first, get the puck out, not often out of position. The Darren I saw in juniors (Knoblauch coached him at Erie in the OHL) was very offensive and scoring a lot of points and saw it quite regularly. We got a bit of that tonight.” The Wolf Pack tied things on the power play at two. Danny O’Regan was on the right point and sent the puck to his power play defense partner, Vinni Lettieri who unloaded a rocket from fifty-feet and just below the left point, high to the short-side on the blocker side. Keyser had no chance on the Aaron Judgian velocity shot. It was Lettieri’s sixth of the season, and the third power play goal for the team’s leading scorer (15 points). The Wolf Pack had a glorious extended five-on-three power play to grab the lead, but couldn’t turn the red light on with Patrick Newell and Nick Ebert having the best chances. With 1:32 left in the period, Newell feed from behind the net to Ty Ronning and O’Regan sent one from the front that didn’t connect. Then the P-Bruins Jeremy Lauzon hit iron with 50.9 seconds left before the first period intermission. LINES: Nieves-Meskanen-Gettinger O’Regan-Lettieri-Newell Fogarty-DiGuiseppe-Elmer Ronning-Dmowski-Zerter-Gossage LoVerde-Raddyash Day-Ebert Geersten-Keane SCRATCHES: Matt Beleskey (upper body - Should be back for Wednesday) Gabriel Fontaine (upper body - Is not looking good. Looks like a long term injury) Nick Jones (lower body-skate cut) is day to day Jeff Taylor (healthy) NOTES: Laval shutout Bridgeport 3-0 in an afternoon AHL affair at Place Bell before the parent team, the Montreal Canadiens hosted New Jersey at the Bell Centre. Likewise at the Coca Cola Coliseum, another matinee game in Toronto saw the Marlies win a wild high-scoring affair, 8-4, over Texas with former Yale Bulldog Kenny Agostino registering a hat trick. He now has eight goals and Jeremy Bracco with three more assists. Ex-Pack goalie, Chris Nell, was released after three games in Greenville (ECHL) and 5.72 GAA. Wolf Pack fan jersey of the night a plethora and variety. Starting with #10 Garth Murray (currently Assistant Coach of the Aalborg Pirates Norway-NEL) and then a pair of 18’s Benoit Dusablon (retired) and the Patrick Rissmiller (a development coach with New Jersey). A #22 Ryan Potulny (the Assistant Coach at the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers Big 10). Then #32 goalie David LeNeveau (Co-Owner/President/Goalie coach) Nanaimo Clippers (BCHL) #44 Mike Ouelette (retired). The very forgettable number 96 Robin Kovacs (Lulea HF Sweden-SHL) has a big cult following there might be leaving for Orebro HK next season according to Swedish hockey reports. Honorable mentions, a number 3 Calgary Flames Dion Phanuef, the first Kappo Kakko Rangers #45 jersey sighting and always a winner #99 Wayne Gretzky Rangers jersey. -Ex-Pack Conor Allen switches team in the Czech Republic going from HK Hradec Kralove to HK Ceske Budejovice. Read the full article

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CANTLON: (SAT) TWO EX-PACK LEAD COMETS TO VICTORY IN HARTFORD

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings HARTFORD, CT - Two ex-Hartford Wolf Pack players lead the Utica Comets to a 4-0 shutout victory over their former team before an announced crowd of 3,980 at the XL Center on Saturday night. Tom Pyatt paced the win with a goal and an assist ex-Pack goalie Marek Mazanec recording his first shutout of the season in his eighth game for Utica. It was also the fourth time the Wolf Pack have been held scoreless this season and the Comets scored via even strength, powerplay, and a shorthanded goal. The Comets outplayed, a clearly youthful, professionally inexperienced Wolf Pack squad with half their forwards lacing their skates up with less than four games under their belt Saturday night at the XL Center. “We didn’t have the puck very much tonight. I think they had a majority of the play the first half of the game. Tough to play when you're down 3-0. We worked and got a better slice of the game in the third, but we weren’t able to play a 200-foot game most of the night,” remarked Pack head coach, Keith McCambridge. For Utica, the win snapped a four-game losing streak and was just their second win in eleven games. The win boosted their record to the .500 mark at 32-32-6-2 (72 points) and seventh place in the North Division. The Comets play in Providence against the Bruins tomorrow afternoon. The Wolf Pack record falls to 28-34-7-3 (65 points) for eighth place in the Atlantic division and have lost five-in-a-row with four games left in the season, one of which comes Sunday afternoon against the Binghamton Devils at 3 pm. The Comets were launching shots like a meteor shower throughout the first period in which they outshot the Wolf Pack, 17-8. Utica scored early. Jonah Gajdovich had inside position on the Wolf Pack defenseman. Gajdovich took a cross-ice feed from Lukas Jasek that was tipped in the air. The Czech finished for the third time of the season at 2:15. The entire scoring sequence came about as the Comets Brendan Gaunce was at the left point and got a wraparound cleared by Josh Wesley and sent it back to Jasek at the goal line on the left wing side. Wesley peeled back chased him up the right wing boards creating the mismatch that Gajdovitch took advantage of. “We just didn’t get another good start and you fall behind it's not easy to fight back from. We battled back in spurts, but we just didn’t do enough to win the game,” remarked Ryan Gropp. The Pack, as they did early in the week against Springfield, surrendered another shorthanded goal. Matt Register got knocked off the puck and lost his stick in the process. Reid Boucher created the turnover along the lower right wing boards and then sent a crisp short pass to Pyatt, who wasted little time and snapped his fifth goal past Pack starter Adam Huska at 9:16. “It felt really good. I haven’t scored one in a while,“ Pyatt said. "Credit to Reid. He did all the work on that play to get the puck first and made a perfect pass.” Pyatt played for the Wolf Pack ten years ago. The Wolf Pack’s best chance of the period came late with 3:05 remaining. The Pack had just four shots but just two quality shots. One of those quality shots came from rookie Patrick Newall, who got a good lead pass from Gropp, his linemate, with a clean chance on the right wing and Mazanec, made a glove save, his toughest save of the entire game. “You can see the skill set he has, the vision, the speed, and with time and more play his play will evolve and surely get better. We just need more of that from all parts of the lineup, “ said McCambridge. Gropp was duly impressed with his play. “Newsy certainly has a shot and really good speed and if we get more time he will do pretty good here.” The Comets tallied their third goal in the second period again courtesy of sloppy play in their own end of the ice by Hartford. Pyatt fired the pass to Zach MacEwan who put a one-timer on net that Huska stopped, but the rebound was in the crease area and Cam Darcy got his stick on it before a Wolf Pack defenseman and swept his tenth of the season into the back of the net at 10:02. Huska made a great breakaway stop on MacEwan with 38.4 seconds left the second period MacEwan closed out the scoring with an empty-netter with 52.3 seconds left in the contest for his 21st goal, a minute after the Wolf Pack took a timeout to try to ruin Mazanec’s bid for a shutout to no avail. “It would have been better if we kept things simpler, got more bodies at the net, but we shied away from that too much and we just were never able to generate enough offense,” said Gropp. NOTES: Huska played his first back-to-back pair of games in his brief pro career. Brandon Halverson will start tomorrow against Binghamton Bobby Butler and Brandon Crawley wore A’s for the first time. Stratford native, and former Fairfield Prep and Salisbury Prep high school player, Jamie Sifers was in the starting lineup for Utica. Rangers won their regular season finale 4-3 in overtime over Pittsburgh. Ryan Lindgren played, but John Gilmour and Vinni Lettieri did not. There was no word if any of three will be reassigned to Hartford for tomorrow’s game. Wolf Pack fan jersey of the night: #39 Nik Latta playing hockey in the German DEL league and a real golden oldie #2 Burke Henry now retired working in real estate in Florida. SCRATCHES: Dawson Leedal (Upper Body) Shawn O’Donnell (Healthy) Matt Beleskey (Lower Body, likely out for the rest of the season) Rob O’Gara (Lower Body, out for tomorrow) Shawn St. Amant (Healthy) Chris Bigras (Ankle, done for the season) LINES: Fogarty-Gropp-Newell Fontaine-Meskanen-Gettinger Butler-Dmowski-Shawn McBride Jones-Jake Elmer-Lewis Zerter-Gossage Day-Raddysh Wesley-Crawley Bergman-Register Read the full article

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