#DylanMcIlrath

[zuccsuitriot]

Playlist Tag

Rules: Put your entire song library on shuffle & list the first 10 songs & then choose 10 victims

I was tagged by the lovely @sweetserendipity65! This was fun and showed how off the wall my music taste is LOL!

1. Consequence- Incubus

2. No Light, No Light- Florence and the Machine

3. Sweetness- Jimmy Eat World 

4. Yas- Polyphia

5. Shatty Fatmas- AFI

6. Rain- BTS

7. XO- Fall Out Boy

8. I’ll Be There- Monsta X

9. The Real Thing- FEMM

10. Beautiful Feeling- DAY6

I tag: @mysterious-as-the-moon @whattadragg @dylanmcilrath @asituationrises @nyctarian @marii-mari @flordemens @lifetime-of-scars @kihyunshighnote @sassy-kpop-glitter I see y’all in my notes <3

[dominicmoorefanclub]

Hey!

First impression: Sweet, another Rangers fan!

Truth is: Your Hartford Whalers hoodie in your tagged/me is fucking awesome.

How old do you look: Ummmm 19!

Have you ever made me laugh: Yep!

Have you ever made me mad: I can’t say that you have :P

Best feature: Sweet blog and a good sense of humor

Have I ever had a crush on you: Nope

You’re my: Favorite Dorsett lover

Name in my phone: I don’t have your number!

Should you post this too: You already did!

[dropthosegloves]

dylanmcilrath replied to your post “Rangers kids, I haven’t been able to watch much of the preseason. How...”

He's doing pretty well! He looks good out there! Seems to be fitting in alright. Don't worry we'll take good care of him!! (Stats wise he hasn't scored yet but everything else is looking good. AV likes players like him.)

That's good. I just want good things for him, he's such a great person. 

[mitchbeck]

HARTFORD WOLF PACK COMPLETE PERFECT PRESEASON

By: Gerry Cantlon, HowlingsHARTFORD, CT - The Hartford Wolf Pack ended an unbeaten preseason by slaying the Bridgeport Islanders 3-1 at the Koeppel Community Center on the campus of Trinity College on Saturday."We got a chance to see a lot of the guys we'll have in the opening night lineup and expected to be with the team," Wolf Pack Head Coach Kris Knoblauch said. "To be fair to the Islanders, they were still looking at a lot of guys, looking to make cuts. It wasn't a real representation of their team."The lineup will be tweaked before opening night on Friday in Providence against the Bruins. The following 24-48 hours will determine who plays with whom.The New York Rangers put both Pack Captain Jonny Brodzinski and Ben Harpur were placed on waivers on Friday and needed to clear them before they could report to Hartford and play. During the game with Bridgeport, they cleared the waiver wire and are officially with the team, as is Brennan Othmann. The team will need to slice two forwards and one player who qualifies as a veteran, as the team now has six when the maximum allowable is five."With Jonny and Othmann, we have big decisions to make at forward. We have to take two guys out of the lineup from today. We have a veteran issue with Harpur here, but he is a quality defenseman you would like to have in your lineup. We have a lot of quality hockey (guys) here, so there will be some difficult decisions to make," Knoblauch said. "We have just a little bit of time. We hope that by Monday, everything is settled and good (lineup) in place."The Pack power play tallied two goals and showed promise, while last year's was highly ineffective."We added a lot of skilled guys there on defense and at forward with guys like Riley Nash. We added four guys, and there is an expectation that the powerplay will be better than last year."The first goal came off a blast from a newcomer, the recently assigned Mac Hollowell, who was perfectly positioned in the left-wing faceoff circle. He one-timed a right-point pass from fellow newcomer Nikolas Brouillard. Hollowell was on his off-wing side and sent it to the top shelf at 15:14 of the first."It was a very good shot. (Hollowell) looked off the (forward) and gave Nik that extra second to make that pass. A lot of good positives from that play," remarked Knoblauch.The pair factored in the third goal as well.Hollowell sent a pass to Brouillard, who then wired a one-timed slapshot that evaded the Islanders' Tanner Lennox, who played the entire game. The goal came at 46 seconds on a penalty called on ex-Pack Tanner Fritz, which had carried over into the period, making it a 3-1 lead and earning him his second point of the afternoon."Nik was very good for us this afternoon. He moved the puck around well. He and (Hollowell) looked like high-caliber AHL players. We were able to put those guys out there together, and with changes we may have, it might not be possible. They (both) made a lot of nice plays," said Knoblauch.The Islanders tied it late in the first as Samuel Asselin, a Pack killer the past two seasons when he was a Providence Bruin, tied the game at one. He won a one-on-one battle against Brandon Scanlin and scored with 44.4 left in the first frame.The Wolf Pack made it 2-1 when Jake Leschyshyn won the draw to start the scoring sequence, and Blake Hillman finished. Hartford was never in danger of losing the lead as they controlled play in both ends of the ice.Having all three goals come from the backline helps the forwards."Nik and Mac and the others played very well tonight, and we'll need that going forward."Veteran Louie Domingue played the whole contest in net for the Wolf Pack. He stopped 18 of 19 shots in his only preseason action."He stopped one or two breakaways (one from Fritz on the right wing). He played the way you would expect a veteran goalie to play. He could be an NHL goalie. We're very fortunate to have him here, "Knoblauch commented.His best period was the second, stopping golden scoring chances from Aidan Fulp at the right point,  William Dufour from the left wing, and Jeff Kubiak with 3:30 left.NOTES:As expected, the Rangers assigned Othmann to Hartford. The talented forward split last between Peterborough with the Petes and in Flint (OHL) with the Firebirds. He had 24 points in 16 games in Flint before the trade last November. He registered 43 points in 40 games while in Peterborough.Othmann played on the Canadian WJC team and, in the playoffs, had 25 points in 23 games for Peterborough, who became the eventual OHL playoff champions. He also had the opportunity to play in the Memorial Cup last spring.The Wolf Pack made significant cuts on Friday.Off to their new ECHL affiliate, the Cincinnati Cyclones, went Sahil Panwar and goalies Olof Lindbom and Talyn Boyko.Defenseman Matt Cairns, Billy Constatinou, and Steven McLaren.Forwards Luka Burzan, James Hardie, and Michael Mrazik.Defenseman Chris Cameron was released and heads to the Indy Fuel (ECHL), and Peter Laviolette III was released and heads to the Wheeling Nailers (ECHL).The ECHL opens its training camp on Monday.Ryan McCleary, the son of former New Haven Senator Trent McCleary, was cut loose and will head back to the Swift Current Broncos  (WHL) junior team to play his overage year in his hometown.The Wolf Pack has 19 forwards, nine defensemen, and three goalies (28 total) on the roster. The team will see a switch of between three to five players possible by opening night.The Islanders sent 19 players to Bridgeport, including Ruslan Iskharov (UCONN). 10 of those 19 went to waivers first and were then formally assigned.Ex-Bridgeport Sound Tiger/Islander/Wolf Pack Paul Thompson, a Springfield resident, announced his retirement from hockey Saturday.One-time Sound Tiger Will Cullen leaves HK Olimpija Ljubljana (Slovenia-IceHL) and signs with the Toledo  Walleye (ECHL).Quite a few players with CT connections were put on waivers before being assigned to their minor league teams.The Detroit Red Wings sent Artem Anisimov (Wolf Pack), Brogan Rafferty (Quinnipiac University), Nolan Stevens (the son of former Hartford Whaler John Stevens), Wyatt Newpower (UCONN), Tim Gettinger (Wolf Pack) and Austin Czarnik (Sound Tigers) to the Grand Rapids Griffins after all of them made it through waivers.Will Lockwood (Wolf Pack) is on waivers from the Florida Panthers before going to the Charlotte Checkers. The Carolina Hurricanes sent Kieffer Bellows through waivers to yet unknown AHL destination.Samuel Poulin, the son of ex-Whaler Patrick Poulin, was sent to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.The Nashville Predators sent Jachym Kondelik (UCONN) to the Milwaukee Admirals.Jordan Timmons (UCONN) leaves the Kansas City Mavericks (ECHL) and signs with the Greenville Swamp Rabbits (ECHL).The Washington Capitols Dylan McIlrath (Wolf Pack) and Joe Snively (Yale University) are both ticketed for the Hershey Bears.The Columbus Blue Jackets expose Billy Sweezey (Yale University) before he heads to the Cleveland Monsters. Ryan Carpenter (Wolf Pack) goes down just around the corner by the San Jose Sharks.The Calgary Wranglers assign Nick DeSimone to the Rapid City Rush (ECHL).One curious note was the absence of winger Tristan Mullin, who was acquired but never showed for camp.The team refused to comment on the matter. Whether he was injured or dissatisfied in some fashion remains unknown.The last two games were also an important fundraiser for the Roger Jacob Poulin Foundation.The attendees were suggested to make a $5 donation for a child sadly struck down by child cancer in his brief life. In his name, much work non-hockey has been done for ill children.UCONN opened their season on the road with a non-conference meeting with Colgate University on  Saturday night. They won 4-2 over the Red Raiders, who ex-Pack Mike Harder coaches.Matt Wood, Nashville's #15 overall draft choice, opened the scoring for the Huskies. There were three goals in a span of 46 goals in the first. Ryan McGuire (New Canaan), the son of former Whalers' head coach Pierre McGuire, scored Colgate's first goal and added an assist.Joey Muldowney had two assists for UCONN as part of their opening-night victory.The defending national champions, the Quinnipiac University Bobcats (ECACHL), raised their national championship banner before battling in a non-conference contest with a loaded Boston College Eagles squad Saturday night in Hamden at the M&T Bank Arena before an SRO crowd.The Bobcats, despite a sterling performance by goalie Vinny Duplessis (BU grad transfer), lost 2-1 with nine seconds left in overtime on opening night.Ex-Pack Brandon Alderson signs with the Cardiff Devils (Wales-EIHL).Brent Raedeke, the nephew of New Haven Nighthawk Mark Raedeke, signs with the Kalamazoo Wings (ECHL).A good listen for hockey fans is Offsides Episode 7, heard on Canadian radio stations such as TSN 690 in Montreal. It's hosted by former Yale University player Ryan Steeves, who had a brief three-year minor pro career, and ex-CT Whale Brendan Bell, who had a 13-year pro career.Both are parents of youth-aged hockey players, and they coach at that level. Their host presented an articulate, erudite discussion of world hockey at the youth level.Both men are Lead Instructors for the Ottawa Sports Academy and present a well-balanced, articulate analysis of the issues plaguing youth hockey in the US and Canada over the last several years.HARTFORD WOLF PACKHOME Read the full article

[angelwithasquirtgun]

dylanmcilrath replied to your post: dylanmcilrath replied to your post: So I doubt...

The Summer Set is my sister’s favorite band and she won’t even go with me because she hates concerts. I don’t even understand how someone could hate concerts.

ohmy god what how do you hate concerts they are literally my favorite thing on the planet

[mitchbeck]

PREVIEW: HARTFORD WOLF PACK GO HUNTING FOR HERSHEY BEARS

By Gerry  Cantlon, Howlings HARTFORD, CT - The Hartford Wolf Pack are among the final eight AHL teams still playing in May. What seemed improbable seven weeks ago has become reality. Trade deadline moves and an incredible streak of winning 15 of their last 18 games have brought them to this place in the season. They knocked off the Springfield Thunderbirds in the first round. They followed that up by eliminating the Providence Bruins in four games in the second round, despite finishing 17 points behind them in the regular season. That puts the Pack on a collision course in the Division Finals with the Hershey Bears, who finished the regular season 16 points ahead of them. Pack Head Coach Kris Knoblauch knows the tall order that lies in front of them. “(They’re) a big strong team. Outstanding defensively; don’t give you much room,. That’s in part because of their defense. They have some players who can score goals. Their team specialties (powerplay and penalty kill) are very good. We're just gonna have to find a way to the net,“ He said. Hershey's physical height is plentiful. The Bears are led by their captain, the 6'5 defenseman and ex-Pack, Dylan McIlrath. McIlrath was much maligned when he was a member of the Wolf Pack. He played on the last Pack playoff team eight years ago. Ironically, that year, they eliminated Hershey. Joining McIlrath is Aliaksei Protas at 6’6, Gabriel Carlsson at 6’5, Vincent Iorio at 6’3, and Benton Maass, who's 6’2. Their two in-house goalies include the 6’4 Clay Stevenson and the 6'3 Garin Bjorklund. Bjorklund was recalled when the South Carolina Stingrays (ECHL) were eliminated from the Kelly Cup playoffs. It's possible that the 6’2 Zach Furcale will need to be dealt with all over the ice as well. The Bears have eight players who are 6’2 and taller. Casey Shepard will likely start in the net for the Bears. In terms of height, the Pack can counter with the 6’8 Matt Rempe and the 6’6 Adam Edström. PRODUCTION While during the regular season, no Wolf Pack player was anywhere near the top in player production categories. Now, in the postseason, the Pack finds themselves all over the stat sheet as the Atlantic Division final begins. Leading the way for the New York Rangers AHL affiliates is goaltender Dylan Garand who has a 5-1 with a 1.17 GAA, tops in the AHL. He also is at the top of the production sheet for netminders with two shutouts. He will likely start. In the plus/minus department, Ty Emberson is atop the AHL charts at plus-13. In second place in that category is Anton Blidh at plus-11. In assists, Lauri Pajuniemi is fifth-best in the league with eight. Tim Gettinger and Tanner Fritz find themselves in the Top Ten in scoring with seven points each. The Pack also has two of the top three leaders in PIMs. Adam Clendening and Will Lockwood. The top shot producer is Zac Jones. He's tied at 21. A team with a championship mindset expects to be playing its best and most productive hockey in the playoffs. The Wolf Pack are undoubtedly not only the best they've been all season, but you could also argue they're the best they've been in eight years. NOTES: The Rangers did some organizational housekeeping before leaving Tuesday to head to Hershey for Thursday’s series opener. They released from ATO and PTO deals 18-year-olds Bryce McConnell-Barker, who didn’t play, and Adam Sýkora, who played two regular season games and two playoff games. Sýkora might be added to the Slovakia World Championship team when the IIHF tourney starts May 12th running through May 29th. It's a 16-country tournament and will be played this year in Tampere, Finland, Pajuniemi's hometown. They will also play in Riga, Latvia. The team also sent home Maxim Barbashev and Ryder Korczak. When the Peterborough Petes earned a 3-2 victory in Game 7 on Monday night over the North Bay Battalion, it guaranteed that Brennan Othmann will not be coming to Hart City this spring. Othmann had the game-tying goal in the game, and in Game 6 had the tying goal and an assist on the game-winner. The Petes will also play for the John Ross Robertson OHL championship against the London Knights, coached by Dale Hunter, starting on Thursday. The Petes also feature Chase Stillman, grandson of former New Haven Knights and Springfield Indians' alum Bud Stefanski. A Memorial Cup berth for the tournament will be played in Kamloops, BC, at the Sandman Centre from Friday, May 26th, until Sunday, June 4th. That's where Garand spent his junior career. The Cup will be awarded to the winner. The Winnipeg Ice (WHL), coached by former Ranger/Whaler James Patrick, along with Easton Armstrong, the son of former Wolf Pack, Derek Armstrong, will be playing for the WHL Championship. They will have their home games (the first two) starting Friday at the Life Canada Centre, home of the NHL Winnipeg Jets against the Seattle Thunderbirds, Rempe's former junior team, that won 4-2 on Monday over the Kamloops Blazers, who still make the tournament as the host team. Lane Sim, the son of ex-Sound Tiger Jon Sim, was drafted by the OHL Sarnia Sting in the OHL Priority Draft a few weeks ago. He played for Weeks U-18 (NSMHL) in Nova Scotia. The WHL Bantam Draft is on Thursday. May 11th. Players from the two Western Provinces of British Columbia and Alberta and the three Western territories - the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, and the Yukon - are eligible. The US states of Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming are eligible to be selected. The QMJHL Draft is on June 10th at the Palais des Sports in Sherbrooke, Quebec. The draft is divided into two separate drafts. In the first portion, the selections are primarily for kids from the Province of Quebec, the Canadian Maritimes, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island-PEI, and Newfoundland. Occasionally, a small number of New England players get taken. A separate US Draft will be held afterward, comprising Northeastern US states Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont are taken. Any US-born player who plays a second of major junior hockey is NCAA ineligible. Players from European countries, excluding Russia and Belarus, are taken in the CHL Import Draft in which all Canadian major junior teams participate. It will be held a week after the NHL Draft on July 5th. Usually, the top slots are taken by NHL draftees. Now former Wolf Pack’s Adam Sýkora was taken first overall by Medicine Hat (WHL) last year but elected to stay in Slovakia instead. The USHL Phase I Futures Draft and Phase II General Draft were completed a week ago. In Phase I, Mason Kraft, the son of ex-Sound Tiger Ryan Kraft, was selected in the fourth round (48th overall) by the Sioux Falls (SD) Stampede out of Moorhead HS (MN). In Phase II, Sioux Falls also chose Anthony Bongo (Ridgefield) from the Mid-Fairfield U-15 squad in the second round (18th overall). In the third round (33rd overall), Matej Teply (Stamford) was chosen. He played for the Selects Academy program at South Kent Prep. He was selected by the Chicago (Ill.) Steel. In the fifth round (63rd overall), Ronan Buckberger, the youngest son of former Beast of New Haven Ashley Buckberger, was selected by the Madison (WI) Capitols out of the Saskatoon U-18 (SMHL) program. Two years ago, he was selected by Swift Current (WHL). Taft’s (Watertown) top-flight goalie Rudy Guimond (Yale -ECACHL commit), from Pointe-Claire, Quebec, was selected by the Cedar Rapids (IA) Roughriders. He was taken in the fifth round (69th overall). Tate Pecknold (Southport), the son of Quinnipiac University (ECACHL) head coach of the defending national champion Bobcats, Rand Pecknold, was taken in the 13th round (185th overall) by the Omaha (NE) Lancers. This season, he transferred from Avon Old Farms (CT) to St. George’s (RI). Lastly, Jackson Potulny, the nephew of ex-Pack Ryan Potulny, was taken in the 13th round (197th overall) by the Chicago Steel. He was selected from the U-18 team from the successful Minnesota program at Shattuck’s St. Mary’s (NAPHL). Back in the AHL, the North Division final pits the Toronto Marlies against the Rochester Americans. The Marlies feature Quinnipiac University (ECACHL) goalie Keith Petruzzelli, who won against the Wolf Pack in April. They may get some players from around the corner if Florida eliminates the parent Toronto Maple Leafs. Rochester features Michael Mersch, the son of late New Haven Nighthawk Mike Mersch and ex-Bridgeport Sound Tiger Mason Jobst. The Hartford-Hershey tilt winner will play the North Division series winner for the Eastern Conference crown. Out west, two of the newest AHL teams, the Calgary Wranglers and Coachella Valley Firebirds, will square off. Player-wise, Calgary has former Rangers Kevin Rooney and Dryden Hunt. They also have Nick DeSimone (CT Oilers-EHL) and ex-UCONN (HE) defenseman Yan Kuznetsov. Behind the bench as one of the assistant coaches is former Whaler, New Haven Nighthawk, and Springfield Indian Don Nachbaur. The goalie coach is ex-Pack Mackenzie Skapski and AHL coach of the Year for two years in a row, Mitch Love. The Firebirds have former Quinnipiac University defenseman Brogan Rafferty. The Texas (Austin) Stars in the Central Division have just one Connecticut connection in GM Scott White, a one-time New Haven Senator. The Stars will tangle with the Milwaukee Admirals, who received nine players from the parent Nashville Predators. They feature recently acquired at the trade deadline from Hartford, Austin Rueschhoff, and ex-Pack captain and former UCONN (AHA years) player Cole Schneider. Also on the roster is Luke Evangelista, a second cousin to former Whaler Brendan Shanahan. The winners of those two series will battle for the Western Conference championship. The Charlotte Checkers released Mackie Samoskevitch (Sandy Hook) and Skylar Brind’Amour (Quinnipiac University) from their PTO and ATO deals. Charlie Risk of the NCAA Division III Independent, Albertus Magnus College (New Haven), signs with Mont Blanc (France-FFHG Division-2). HARTFORD WOLF PACK HOME Read the full article

[mitchbeck]

HARTFORD WOLF PACK SIGN MAXIM BARBASHEV TO ATO, NEW YORK RANGERS REASSIGN RYDER KORCZAK

By: Alex Thomas, Hartford Wolf Pack HARTFORD, CT – New York Rangers Assistant General Manager and Hartford Wolf Pack General Manager Ryan Martin announced today that the club had signed forward Maxim Barbashev to an amateur tryout agreement (ATO) for the remainder of the 2023 Calder Cup Playoffs. In addition, the Rangers have reassigned forward Ryder Korczak to the Wolf Pack from the Moose Jaw Warriors of the WHL. Barbashev, 19, appeared in 67 regular season games with the QMJHL's Moncton Wildcats this season. He set new career highs in goals (32), assists (33), and points (65). He finished second on the club in goal-scoring and fourth in points. In 12 playoff games, Barbashev tacked on eight points (4 g, 4 a). The 6'1", 176-pound forward was named to the QMJHL's 'All-Rookie Team' following the 2021-22 season. He scored 42 points (15 g, 27 a) in his first full season in North America. The native of Moscow, Russia, was selected by the Rangers in the fifth round, 161st overall, of the 2022 NHL Entry Draft. Korczak, 20, scored 69 points (28 g, 41 a) in 48 games with the WHL's Moose Jaw Warriors this season. He tacked eleven points (3 g, 8 a) in ten playoff games with the club. The 5'11", 171-pound forward also appeared in five games with the Wolf Pack earlier this season, making his AHL debut on October 23rd against the Bridgeport Islanders. The native of Yorkton, Saskatchewan, has scored 246 career points (82 g, 164 a) in 248 WHL games with the Warriors and Calgary Hitmen. Despite playing only 48 games, he finished fourth on the club in goals, assists, and points during the 2022-23 season. Korczak was selected in the third round, 75th overall, by the Rangers in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft. The Wolf Pack continue the 2023 Calder Cup Playoffs this Friday, April 28th, when they visit the Providence Bruins for Game One of their Atlantic Division Semifinals best-of-five series. Then, the series shifts back to Hartford for Game Three on Wednesday, May 3rd, with puck drop set for 7:00 p.m. To purchase tickets and for the full series schedule, visit www.hartfordwolfpack.com/tickets/playoff-information. ABOUT THE HARTFORD WOLF PACK: The Hartford Wolf Pack has been a premier franchise in the American Hockey League since the team's inception in 1997. The Wolf Pack is the top player-development affiliate of the NHL's New York Rangers and plays at the XL Center. The Wolf Pack has been home to some of the Rangers' newest faces, including Igor Shesterkin, Filip Chytil, and Ryan Lindgren. Follow the Wolf Pack on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok. HARTFORD WOLF PACK NEW YORK RANGERS HOME Read the full article

[mitchbeck]

CANTLON: PACK MELTS HERSHEY IN SHOOTOUT

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings HARTFORD, CT - Ty Ronning had the shootout winner, while Keith Kinkaid made 41 saves in regulation, and stopped three more in the shootout as well as a penalty shot to lead the Hartford Wolf Pack to a 4-3 win over the visiting Hershey Bears. “I was coming down and wanted to change the angle a little bit. I had been chatting with our goalie coach Jeff Malcolm, as I haven’t been in a lot of shootouts and I learned a little bit from him. Just come in on that angle and see what was open. I like to go to my backhand to open him up and I was fortunate enough to score,” Ronning said. The Wolf Pack will play a rare Monday night game against the Utica Comets, coached by legendary former Hartford Whaler Kevin Dineen. This game is a COVID-19 rescheduled game from December. “The same story as last night,” commented Pack Head Coach Kris Knoblauch. “We came out with a good first period, an awful second period, held up well in the third period, overtime, and the shootout to win it.” 54 seconds into overtime, Kinkaid made a big save on Brett Leason. Kinkaid was run over by Brett Leason but did not get a call, and he snapped. Despite firing his helmet and his stick in the ref’s direction after the first whistle, Kinkaid was not given a penalty. His stellar netminding all night was well appreciated by Ronning and Knoblauch. “Many of the game’s saves were phenomenal. They had a couple backdoor plays and for him to reach back and make those saves and get in front of them. He does that on a daily basis. We have to do a better defending in front of him.” THIRD PERIOD In the third period, Mark Vecchione tied it at three on a pass from Leason off an intelligent play from Alexei Protas for his 13th goal at 8:57. The Wolf Pack did not fall behind because of Kinkaid’s play, preventing Hershey from getting their franchise 3,000th AHL win at his team's expense. “He (Kinkaid) faced some Grade-A scoring chances and made some important saves for us late in the third.” “Little things are important, and sometimes we get away from that and that makes game management tough (for ourselves). It’s a big part and we're coming down to the end of the season and everything is intensified,"  remarked Ronning. SECOND PERIOD The second period was all Hershy who held a 21-4 shot advantage over the Pack, who have been outshot 50-9 in the two games in the second period. “We're an even younger team now, “Knoblauch said, “We’re an inexperienced team and a fragile team right now. When things aren’t going well, they snowball for you. Guys start to question themselves and wonder aloud.” Ronning elaborated on his coach's thoughts. “Time in the game of hockey is about momentum. It can sway from us and be a challenge. When we allow our opponent to shoot so much more (than us) overall, it’s a challenge to keep that momentum, keep things simple and let the play develop." The Wolf Pack felt pressure right off the bat in the second period. At 1:09, ex-Pack Dylan McIlrath was stopped twice by Keith Kinkaid. STRONG BETWEEN THE PIPES Hershey’s Mason Morelli was awarded a penalty shot at 6:40 when he was pulled down by Zach Guittari. The last penalty shot was on April 7, 2021. It was stopped by Tyler Wall. The Pack went up 3-0 as Anthony Greco scored his team’s best 15th goal (and 42nd point) on the power play, and back came the Bears. First Garrett Pilon got his 16th goal from Bobby Nardella. Then Morelli tallied his sixth goal at 16:26 even after Alexeev broke his stick on a point shot attempt. They smartly used the power play to their advantage as Matt Loritio clipped Cody Franson behind the net at 13:36 earning him a double-minor when Franson was bleeding on the play and that opened the door and turned the game around. Entering the game, the two teams are separated by just a .05 winning percentage point in the AHL Atlantic Division standings for fourth place and the last playoff spot. The previous five weeks of the regular season have begun with the struggling Wolf Pack losing five of their previous six. SCORING The first goal came to Hartford as they went down up top to score on their first power play. Zac Jones started the play down low, controlling the puck. He got it to Lundkvist near the blue line, then advanced it over to Matt Lorito, who in turn sent a cross-ice pass to Greco on the left-wing. Greco then put a shot on the net allowing Merkley to collect his first goal as a member of the Wolf Pack. It was his 13th of the season at 12:54, just 19 seconds into the man advantage. They went up 2-0 as Alex Whalen snared a rebound on Jarred Tinordi’s shot that went wide to the short side. Still, he had inside position on Franson, and then-rookie Cristiano DiGiacinto escaped his check and backhanded his sixth by Pheonix Copley at 14:28. Kinkaid was sharp in the first stopping Mark Vecchione and Kody Clark with 1.4 left even after losing his stick. LINES Merkley-Fritz-Lorito Ronning-Greco-Khordorenko Richards-Rueschoff-Pajuniemi DiGiacinto-Whalen-O’Leary Tinordi- Guittari Jones-Scanlin Robertson- Lundkvist Kinkaid Huska SCRATCHES Skinner Gettinger (upper-body. likely out until next Wednesday) Girduckis Reunanen Taylor NOTES Hershey’s Kody Clark is the son of ex-NHL’er Wendel Clark, and his uncle Kerry was a member of the Springfield Indians and Portland Pirates. His elder cousins are former NHL players, the former Rangers/Red Wings tough customer Joe Kocur, and ESPN college hockey analyst Barry Melrose. Hershey forward Drake Rymsha is the son of former New Haven Nighthawk Andy Rymsha. He was cut as he was caught up high by a shot by Zach Guittari late in the second period. After medical repairs, he returned as did Franson in the third. The Wolf Pack's Justin Richard saw his alma mater, the University of Minnesota-Duluth, get eliminated from the NCAA tournament by Denver University 2-1. The only goal scorer for UMD was Darian Gotz, the nephew of former Wolf Pack great player and head coach Ken Gernander. Michael O’Leary’s Notre Dame Fighting Irish lost 1-0 to Minnesota State in their NCAA Regional game. The Quinnipiac University Bobcats have a Sunday date with Michigan in the Allentown, PA Regional at the PPL Center, home of the AHL Lehigh Valley Phantoms. LACK OF HONOR FOR THE 2000 CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM The organization committed an unforced error in tonight’s promotion to honor the 2000 Wolf Pack Championship team. It was wrong that even sound cost-efficient ideas were ignored and nothing was done. With the pandemic now waning, it would have been a home run to celebrate Hartford’s ONLY championship team in the city’s history. A whole generation of fans have no living memory of the 2000 Championship team, and the organization should at least honor the names of Armstrong, Smyth, Hall, Labbe, Tuzzolino, and Gernander. The Hartford Yard Goats, the city’s Double AA Eastern League baseball team, do more than the Wolf Pack do to honor the City's hockey history. They do a superb job every year with "Whaler Day." A tweet of a picture is not enough and is grossly negligent for the city's only championship team. How about retiring some numbers? How about honoring the all-time leading scorer #11 Brad Smyth (382 points), who was the team's only 50-goal scorer. That should have been done three years ago with time on a Saturday night to retire the number. He then entered the AHL Hall of Fame the following Monday. Clearly not right. #17 Derek Armstrong, the only player to crack the 100-point barrier, won a regular season and post-season MVP Awards; now his number is being worn, by a fourth-line PTO winger (Abbott Girduckis). He's likely to be released soon because of player numbers, not performance, and who's played just five games (scratched the last two). No disrespect is intended, but nobody should be wearing that number. How about Jason LaBarbera's #35? He won a regular season MVP and holds every team goaltending record and is now the Calgary Flames (NHL) goalie coach. Just Gernander’s #12, which is highly deserved; hangs in the rafters. In the league just 21 years, Grand Rapids is retiring TWO numbers shortly. Jeff Hoggan #10 and former Whaler draft choice Michel Picard’s #7, but the Pack in 25 have only Gernander's number retired. Not nearly good enough. CONGRATULATIONS CONGRATULATIONS are in order for the long-time ex-voice of the Wolf Pack, Bob Crawford, who has landed on his feet with the NHL Production Offices. He spent the last year as the voice of UCONN hockey on CBS Sports OnLine and for select CW20 games that air locally in the just concluded Hockey East season after spending 24 years as the voice of the Pack. Alex Thomas, the new voice of the Wolf Pack stated that Team Equipment Manager Craig Lewis recently did his 900th game. Congrats to Craig and his family. HARTFORD WOLF PACK HOME Read the full article

[mitchbeck]

CANTLON: (1/7) PACK LOSE AGAIN TO AMERICANS

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings ROCHESTER, NY - Arttuu Ruotsalainen picked up a goal and an assist as the Rochester Americans downed the Hartford Wolf Pack 5-2 on Friday night at the Blue Cross Arena in Rochester, NY. The Pack, who play in Utica tomorrow, have dropped into third place behind the Hershey Bears. The Bears have a winning percentage of .593 compared to the Pack's .577 ahead. However, the Pack remains ahead of the fourth-place Providence Bruins. The Wolf Pack power play was powerless. They went 0-7 couldn't score after Rochester was assessed a late double minor and on the subsequent five-on-three. DOUBLE MINOR The double minor was Lukas Cragg, who clipped Austin Rueschoff coming in the Rochester end of the ice. Five-on-three after, Ruotsalainen was sent to the box for an extra-curricular scuffle with Anthony Bitetto. Pack Head Coach Kris Knoblauch was creative. He pulled starting netminder Tyler Wall to favor an extra attacker and gave his team a six-on-three advantage. Rochester goaltender, Aaron Dell, stopped a blast from the point by Bitetto and bids by Lauri Pajuniemi, Anthony Greco. However, Ty Ronning missed the net. PACK INCH CLOSER The Pack pulled within two goals as Greco's short pass from the left wing to Ronning, who was coming in alone on the right-wing side. He went to his backhand and flipped his eighth of the season into the net at 4:18 of the third period. The second period started unkind to the Pack. Rochester benefitted from a generous rebound on an early power play. Anthony Bitetto, in his first game in three weeks, coughed up the puck just past the Pack blue line. The biscuit went right to Jack Quinn, who went to the backhand. Wall denied his shot, but the rebound was left out in front, and Ruotsalainen buried it for just his second goal of the year at 2:15. The goal gave Rochester a 4-1 lead. FIRST GOAL The Americans scored a goofy first goal. Anthony Greco had a turnover in the Pack end of the ice forced by former Springfield Falcon Ethan Prow. Just back from his recall to the Buffalo Sabres and playing his third hockey game in four days, Ryan MacInnis chipped at the puck. It popped up in the air and amazingly fluttered over the shoulder of the 6'4 Pack netminder and into the back of the net at 3:36. The Wolf Pack answered back at 5:31 as Tanner Fritz was behind the Americans net. He found Aaron Luchuk at the top of the left-wing circle. He whistled his first goal as the newest member of the Wolf Pack going went to the far side of the cage, just inside the left post. Luchuk's goal came on his first shot in his first game. Rochester retook the lead as Jack Quinn pounced on a rebound right point shot by Ruotsalainen. A wide-open Quinn, just back after spending the last three weeks battling mono, was right there to bury his 12th at 11:46. The Americans Linus Weissbach found a loose biscuit off a rebound that Wall couldn't control, put it into the back of the net for his sixth season, and established a two-goal lead at 3-1 at 16:55 if the first. LINES Fritz-Ronning-Pajuniemi Khordorenko-Liam Percararo-Aaron Luchuk O’Leary-Whalen-Rueschoff Greco- DiGiacinto- Richards-Whalen Guittari-Bitetto Schneider-Robertson Taylor-Skinner Tyler Wall Adam Huska SCRATCHES Zach Berzolla Brandon Fortunato James Sanchez François Brassard NOTES Pecararo wore #81 Luchuk #10 Ruotsalainen had six points in two games against Hartford. Steve Fogarty, the ex-captain of the Wolf Pack, was called up to the Boston Bruins on Friday. Goalie Tuukka Rask signed a Professional Try-Out (PTO) contract during his post-hip surgery rehab. He would play against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, but both games were postponed this weekend. His next opportunity comes Friday against Hartford. P.C. Labrie scored a goal and fought just 2:57 into the game with ex-Pack Dylan McIlrath in the game between the Syracuse Crunch and Hershey Bears. The Wolf Pack signed ex-Springfield Thunderbird (F) Liam Pecararo of the Greenville Swamp Rabbits (ECHL). He registered 24 points in 19 games. This is his second AHL loan of the season. He spent four games with the Charlotte Checkers earlier this season. After two games with the Belleville Senators, former C.T. Whale Michael Del Zotto was called up to the Ottawa Senators taxi squad and was sent right back. Craig Martin (Quinnipiac University) signs a PTO with Charlotte. He was with the Pack's ECHL affiliate, the Jacksonville Icemen (ECHL). Ex-Pack/Bridgeport Sound Tiger goalie Jean-Francois (J.F.) Berube goes from the Cleveland Monsters to the Columbus Blue Jackets (NHL) taxi squad. Ex-Pack Darren Raddysh is returned to Syracuse (AHL) by the Tampa Bay Lightning. Matt Foley (Yale) gets his third AHL recall and his fourth city this season. This recall is to the Tucson Roadrunners (AHL). Nick Hutchison (Avon Old Farms) goes from the Wheeling Nailers (ECHL) to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. Alexander Nylander, the son of former Hartford Whaler Michael Nylander, was traded from the Chicago Blackhawks (NHL) to the Pittsburgh Penguins for Sam Lafferty, a one-time Deerfield Academy (MAPREP) product. Ex-Pack Peter Holland leaves Djurgårdens IF (Sweden-SHL) and signs for the second half of the year with the Iserlohn Roosters (Germany-DEL). Coming to Djurgårdens IF (Sweden-SHL) from the Abbotsford Canucks is Cam Schilling. He becomes the sixth AHL'er to go to Europe mid-season thus far. HARTFORD WOLF PACK HOME Read the full article

[mitchbeck]

CANTLON: (11/20) PACK SMASH HERSHEY

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings HARTFORD, CT - The Hartford Wolf Pack more than just recovered from a dreadful, defensively after a garish second period, they erupted, scoring a season-best five goals in a 7-3 win over the Hershey Bears before 3,699 at the XL Center. The Pack onslaught began with 3:32 left after Hershey’s third goal and 14-shot second period. Goalie Keith Kinkaid was visibly disgusted after ex-Pack Dylan McIlrath’s goal. The next shot forced a glove save on a wide-open Mason Morelli on the right-wing, who was another clean entry facing no checking or stiff opposition. He went to the bench on a commercial time-out - a goalie rarity, but just prior, he’s chucked the puck to the corner rather than hand it over to the linesman. His disgust at the play of his teammates was clear. “We realized when we were in the locker room after the second period. He’s building a wall for us, one save at a time. I heard guys saying it. He has done so much for us (this season), we’ve got to play better for him,” said veteran P.C. Labrie. KNOBLAUCH SEES THE HUMOR “We had the same thing happen with Shesty (Igor Shesterkin) once came to the bench, but nobody understood him because he was muttering in Russian,” Knoblauch said with a smile. “He would bark at people. Everybody knows because they have a lot of respect for him (Kinkaid). He’s done a lot for us in lots of games. We shouldn’t have won. Obviously, we responded well in the third.” The third-period onslaught was ignited by the stick of Lauri Pajuniemi, who scored twice his fourth and fifth goals in 64 seconds, starting at 2:53. The first one came off a redirection of a Ty Ronning shot. The second was a two-pass masterpiece that gave him his first multi-goal game.  The second goal started in the defensive zone with a Tanner Fritz outlet pass, finding Ronning, who then sent a lead pass for Pajuniemi, who outraced three Bears to the puck. Once gaining control, Pajuniemi fired it past goaltender Zach Furcale, a former #1 pick of the Montreal Canadiens. “I didn’t have time to (process) that he had two goals,” Labrie said. “Boom, he got one. Boom he gets another. We’re in control here. That’s the strength of this team. (Goals) can come from any side of the ice or line for the team and when we defend against a team it’s the combo we have.” PAJUNIEMI Knoblauch complemented his rookie forward. “He did the same thing in Providence with a guy draped all over his back. There isn’t a lot of room to score goals out there, but he’s starting to find them.” Labrie completed his three-point night with the Pack’s third goal in a 1:51 timeframe. Labrie jammed home his second goal of the year in front of the Hershey net. His excitement and exuberance were on full display as he banged on the glass behind the net afterward. “We’re working smart in practice, and it paid off (tonight),” Labre said in his French-accented English. “We’re putting in five 10-minute drills in front of the net. Anybody we put on the fourth line is playing the right way. We’re fighting and battling to stay there, and I like the chemistry we have. It doesn’t matter who is on that line; nothing feels out of place. Everyone wants to chip in. MORE PAJUNIEMI His head coach spoke of and thought highly of him, not as a spare part in returning to North America from Germany after two years at the last minute. “He has a good shot and protects the pucks well. P.C. has brought a lot. He has played more than we expected. We knew he was a tough guy and had skills. We knew he could play. He played in the NHL before. It’s been a nice surprise for us. He is by far one of the most popular guys in the dressing room. “I love the way he plays and the energy he brings to the room,” remarked Knoblauch. “As a fourth liner, he doesn’t get that much ice time. Sometimes players get out of a game, can get out of focus. He doesn’t. Some guys can get lulled by the game; He knows when his shift is. He is encouraging his teammates. He’s making sure his linemates are ready for their shift. He’s another coach on the bench.” BRODZINSKI Captain Jonny Brodzinski scored two goals on special teams. The first was the team’s first power play goal in ten tries, and they added a shorthanded goal to complete Labrie’s prophecy from three weeks ago when he said, “When it cracks for us, it will crack.” “He is working the wall so well for us. He wins like 90% of the puck battles he’s in. That’s why he’s our captain he gets rewarded.” The first period was all Hartford. The second all Hershey as they tallied three goals to take an albeit brief lead. “We had a good effort in the first and third period, not the second. We’ve been down numerous times like in Providence. There is no quit on this team and we stick with a game plan, and it works. We have had good leadership and the young guys have been respectful, hard-working and want to get better,” Knoblauch said. SECOND PERIOD BLUES Libor Hajek, playing in the last game of his conditioning stint, sent an ill-advised pass up the middle of the ice. The pass was broken up by Michal Kempny and set up Shane Gersich to score his first goal of the year, getting it past Kinkaid at 1:33 of the second. The Bears tied it at two on an extended shift in the Pack end. The Pack was unable to clear their end. A shot from the left point by Lucas Johansen was deflected by Bears veteran and AHL sharpshooter, Mike Sgarbossa who tallied his team-best sixth goal at 10:06. Then McIlrath, an ex-Wolf Pack and former Rangers 2010 first-round draft pick took an elusive shot from along the far side past Kinkaid at 15:13. It completed another Bears cycle in the Wolf Pack end of the ice. It was the second time of his career, the first coming as a Springfield Falcon, that McIlrath has scored as an opponent against the Pack. PACK RESPOND The Wolf Pack has done well in reversing their first-period blues. Anthony Greco (six shots) came on for a line change burst down the left-wing side in the Bears zone. Braden Schneider (two assists) was able to see him and hit him with a perfect, diagonal pass. In one motion, Greco put it on the net past Furcale with the puck headed low to the far side of the net at 6:18 McIlrath clipped Zach Jones on a play that didn’t go unnoticed. When the play stopped, Ronning showed fearlessness, loyalty by going after the much bigger and enforcer-minded McIlrath. Labrie, the Pack’s tough guy, appreciated Ronning’s effort. “That’s the mentality we have. We don’t have to fight every night, but when that crap happens, when you see Ty doing that, we’re all right there backing each other up.” AFTERMATH On the ensuing rush, Patrick Khordorenko picked up the loose puck generated by a Labrie clearing play and got a clean zone entry used. Next, Khodorenko used Bears defenseman Cody Franson as a screen and shot over Furcale’s glove with 6:18 remaining in the period. It was his first goal as Franson skated to his netminder to apologize to him. Labrie likens the team to the 2012 Calder Cup-winning team he was a part of in Norfolk. “There’s a lot of (similarities) like the young guys and the veterans, the coaching staff we have. I think we have the two best goalies in the league.” LINES Fritz-Brodzinski-Greco Barron-Ronning-Pajuniemi Whalen-Khordorenko-Richards Labrie-DiGiacinto-Rueschoff Schneider-Robertson Jones-Hájek Reunanen-Guittiari. Kinkaid Huska SCRATCHES Bitetto Gettinger Skinner Brassard O’Leary NOTES Hajek played all weekend. The decision was made that his conditioning would not be extended. On Monday, he returns to New York. “He has spent his time in development here. He’ll be moving on to New York. They can’t extend it.” Knoblauch said. Gettinger was scratched from the lineup for a second game as he nursed an AHL campaign’s assorted bumps and bruises. “It’s a nagging injury. He’ll be on the ice on Monday. We want him to get the rest and heal. It’s a persistent injury. He needs the time to heal, but if it were the playoffs, he would play. We just don’t want it to be all season long.” HOCKEY FIGHTS CANCER It was ‘Hockey Fights Cancer Night’ at the XL Center. Before the game, Labrie reflected on his former assistant captain and Quebec Triple AAA teammate Alexandre Charest of the Coaticook Frontaliers (QJAAAHL) who passed away from a rare form of cancer while very young. “He fought and battled very hard, but sadly he didn’t make it. During the opening ceremony and anthem, I thought about him, and said a quick prayer and had a good thought about him. We’re all wearing a jersey, playing or not.” WINNING STREAK Friday, the Utica Comets won their 12th straight to start the season at home. It was a 4-1 win over the Charlotte Checkers. The old record was eleven held by the 1984-85 Rochester Americans who got win number 13 as they built a 5-0 lead held on for a 5-3 win. The league record for consecutive wins is 28. That record is held by the now-defunct Norfolk (V.A.) Admirals in 2011-12. They went on to win the Calder Cup title. The only losses they suffered in their march to the title in that impressive run were at the hands of the C.T. Whale in the playoff quarterfinals which they lost in six games. MORE NOTES Ex-Pack Deven DiDiomete signs with Gyergyói HK (Romania-MOL) in the Erste League, Max Sauvé, who played at Avon Old Farms (CTPREP) and played at Penn State (Big 10), signs with the Wheeling Nailers (ECHL). CRAWFORD SELLS OUT Former Hartford Whaler and New Haven Nighthawk and briefly C.T. Whale President of Operations, Bob Crawford, sold his stake in Connecticut arenas but sold the International Skating Center in Simsbury to local business interests. He also sold Champions Skating Center in Cromwell, the Wolf Pack second practice facility, and the Bolton Ice Palace to a national arena management company called Black Bear Sports Group that will handle all the business operations and maintenance operations. Crawford will still be involved on the hockey side of things and will still be doing the winter open ice at Bushnell Park in the heart of downtown Hartford. The two buildings give Black Bear 29 in total. The release state that “An affiliate of Black Bear Sports Group, Inc. (“Black Bear”) has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Champions Skating Center in Cromwell, CT, and Bolton Ice Palace in Bolton, CT (the “Arenas”). The Agreement is subject to normal course closing conditions. The Arenas collectively feature two NHL ice sheets, one Olympic ice sheet, a full-service gym, and a pool. The transaction also includes purchasing the Hartford Jr. Wolf Pack, the elite Tier I and Tier II youth hockey program. The Arenas are also home to the Whalers Youth Hockey Association & Eastern Connecticut Stars, and many figure skating. The Sellers included long-time silent business partner Alan Lazowski, Founder and CEO of Laz Parking, and former NHL player Bob Crawford. Crawford is assuming a senior role with Black Bear, including becoming a member of the Board of Directors. Black Bear, the largest owner/operator of ice rinks in the U.S., was founded by CEO Murry Gunty in 2015. The two buildings give them 29 in total. “I am thrilled that Bob will continue his life’s work and legacy with Black Bear, the best and most prolific rink owner and operator in the United States.” “It has been my great honor to partner with Bob Crawford over the past 30 years and watch his passion and love for the game and his commitment to teach young men and women the art of the game,” said Lazowski. “I am thrilled that Bob will continue his life’s work and legacy with Black Bear, the best and most prolific rink owner and operator in the United States.” “We are excited to expand our Connecticut presence with this transaction, as Connecticut is such a strong hockey market,” said Murry N. Gunty, Founder and CEO of Black Bear. “More importantly, I am thrilled to have Bob Crawford has joined our organization to help us continue to build out our hockey business. Bob brings deep hockey experience from both his distinguished NHL career and his extensive youth hockey experience including leading leagues, representing his district and serving in leadership capacities at the highest levels of hockey especially USA Hockey. It is an honor to have him on board.” “I’m excited to stay on board and continue to develop players in the Jr. Wolf Pack program and support Black Bear’s overall hockey business,” said ex-NHLer Bob Crawford. “Over the years we have had numerous offers to sell the rinks, but both Alan and I believe that Black Bear will be the best home for our families and our buildings and a great place for my wife, Kathleen, and I to continue to make a large impact on both our community and the sport that we both love. In addition, Bolton Ice Palace and Champions Skating Center will continue to thrive under Black Bear’s ownership.” The arena in Cromwell was first purchased in 1997. “Our mission is to continue growing hockey and ice sports in Connecticut and are thrilled to add another Tier I franchise that we can support through our numerous junior team franchises such as the Youngstown Phantoms of the USHL,” said Ryan Scott, Vice President of Black Bear. “Under Bob’s leadership, we also look forward to growing our league and tournament businesses in Connecticut and the rest of the Northeast and expect to host numerous boys’ and girls’ events in our rinks.” -This is the first of six meetings between the Wolf Pack and the Bears during the 2021-22 AHL regular season. This is also the first of three meetings at the XL Center. The sides will meet back in Hartford on March 5th and 26th. The following three meetings will occur in Hershey, coming on January 22nd and 23rd and February 2nd. HARTFORD WOLF PACK HOME Read the full article

[mitchbeck]

KEELEY: BRAZEAU LAST ONE TO MAKE MAINE ROSTER

KEELEY: JUSTIN BRAZEAU WAS ASSIGNED TO MAINE, COMPLETING THE SEASON-OPENING ROSTER Former Newfoundland Growler star joins Mariners from Providence BY: Michael Keeley, Maine Mariners PORTLAND, ME – October 21, 2021 – Forward Justin Brazeau was assigned to the Mariners Wednesday from the American Hockey League’s Providence Bruins. A former 100-point scorer in the Ontario Hockey League, Mariners fans may remember Brazeau from his time with the Newfoundland Growlers in 2019-20. Brazeau, 23, hails from New Liskeard, ON, and is 6’6, 225 pounds. A star in the OHL, he played four seasons for the North Bay Batallion, where he increased his point total exponentially each year. In the 2018-19 season, he finished second in the league. He had 113 points in 68 games, including a league-best 61 goals. That season, he was also captain of the Batallion. Brazeau also put up a 75-point campaign for North Bay the season prior. Turning pro in 2019-20, Brazeau signed a two-year deal with the American Hockey League’s Toronto Marlies. He played just one game for the Marlies and spent the remainder of the season with their ECHL affiliates and Mariners division rival, the Newfoundland Growlers. Brazeau led the Growlers with 27 goals and was second in points, with 55 in 57 games. He was named to the ECHL All-Rookie Team. Last season, Brazeau appeared in 21 games for the Marlies, scoring four goals and adding one assist. In late August, he signed with Providence. The Mariners season-opening roster is complete, consisting of 14 forwards, eight defensemen, and three goaltenders. Click here to view the roster. The Mariners are now proud affiliates of the Boston Bruins and begin their 2021-22 season, presented by Hannaford To Go on October 22, with the home opener against the Worcester Railers, sponsored by Skowhegan Savings. Individual game tickets for all 36 home games are on sale now, online at the Trusted Choice Box Office inside the Cross Insurance Arena or by calling the box office at 207-775-3458. In addition, full season, half-season, 12-game mini-plans, and 10-ticket flex plans are also available. More information on ticket packages is available by calling 833-GO-MAINE, emailing mariners-sales@comcastspectacor.com, or by visiting MarinersOfMaine.com. HOME Read the full article

[mitchbeck]

CANTLON: WOLF PACK RETURN HOME

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings HARTFORD, CT - Their Hartford Wolf Pack's recent four-game road trip didn’t yield the desired points result, but regardless, there was still progress made on the young season as the team sits atop the entire AHL, two feats the team has not accomplished in over six years. A three-in-three this weekend begins with two home games starting Friday night at 7:15 pm with the Hershey Bears, who last season, owned the Wolf Pack Pack as they won five-of-their-six games and taking all three in Hartford. As part of a hockey doubleheader Saturday night, one of last weekend’s opponents, the Belleville Senators, take the ice at 7:30 pm following a UConn hockey game. On Sunday afternoon, the team gets on the team hits the bus to travel to Providence for their first meeting with the Bruins at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center at 3:00 pm. “We got only two out of a possible six points, which isn’t good. We lost two in the shootout and didn’t score in either of the shootouts. The positive was that we did score late to force overtime and we have several of these (games) where we haven’t given up. We have persevered and shown desperation. We just need to play an entire game like that,” remarked head coach, Kris Knoblauch. While the shootout is a gimmicky way to decide a hockey game, it does factor in a team earning points and the Pack have had an early season struggle with it. The Wolf Pack worked on it at the end of Wednesday's practice. “Usually you have three or four guys in this. We have one player, we think has a really good move, but let's face it, the advantage is to the goalies. They know what to expect and right now the coaching staff is looking to see who is comfortable, and today we practiced it and think we have a better understanding,” commented Knoblauch. Pack captain, Steven Fogarty, has seen the low times in Hartford. He takes a philosophical approach to the early season success and the lessons that still need to be learned. “This a very good league, and your not going to win every game, but we have had a pretty good run here. Its great to see how we battled back to force overtime. Those were two good teams (Laval and Belleville) and we picked up two points. This weekend's its three different teams and the opportunity is there.” Goalie Igor Shesterkin is off to a great start. One reason is that he is just as competitive in practice as he is in a game as he just gave up a single tally while his counterpart, Adam Huska, registered just two. As a player, it has to be tough to practice something you're struggling with when you are going up against two players who are playing as well as Shesterkin and Huska are. “He (Igor) give us a lot of confidence back there in net, as does Adam, who has played well. Igor’s numbers speak for themselves. When you're playing against some of the best, you hope you learn a few things that will make it easier against the other (goalies) when you get the chance,” Fogarty said with a laugh. The Wolf Pack power play is clearly in a funk. They have registered just 4 tallies in 50 chances and sit at the bottom of the AHL at a hideous 8.0%. “Two things come to mind regarding our power play, our entries and our passing. Those two areas have failed us. We're not getting into the zone cleanly, or often enough. In the offense zone, you just to have to make simple passes and you want to move fast. To move fast you have to pass the puck. "When you have both of those going, you're gonna be in position to take some good shots. The first two steps, we haven’t gotten a passing grade yet,” Knoblauch, who has been known as having strong power play credentials, stated. One player on top of his game with his shot is Vinni Lettieri. Despite leading the team with 10 points in 12 games, he's off to a slow start. His usual lights-out positioning, and powerful shot on the power play has not been in evidence. He's registered three goals total and just a 9.1% shooting percentage. “When you’re a goalscorer like him, you want him to take shots, but not low percentage shots that can lead to puck turnovers. You have possession and you take a shot that is not likely to go in you're then expending energy going back down to defend or retrieve the puck back. "Against Belleville, he had six shots, five, which were outstanding (chances), one hit the goalie in the shoulder, and another chance just went over the crossbar. That Vinni that I saw shooting in Belleville is the Vinni that I want.” Knoblauch has no complaints about his goaltending tandem, nor should he. What’s not broken doesn't need fixing. Shesterkin will start Friday with Huska in the net on Saturday night. NOTES: The Pack’s first injury belongs goes to veteran Matt Beleskey (upper body) who will be out for the weekend. His injury led to the recall of Ryan Dmowski (Old Lyme/Gunnery Prep) from the team's ECHL affiliates, the Maine Mariners, where he had five points in six games. The Pack PK is doing very well. They are ranked sixth best in the league at 88.6%. The Hershey lineup is complete with Joe Snively (Yale University), who has been overhauled from last season. The back-end of a home-and-home between UConn and Boston College will be at 3:30 pm on Saturday with the possibility of seeing Darien CT-native, Darien-native, Spencer Knight (Avon Old Farms), As a former NHL first-round draft pick for the Florida Panthers when the Eagles takes on the Huskies. UConn is in of the year. Belleville got ex-BC Eagle Colin White from Ottawa yesterday while Cole Cassels, son of the ex-Whaler Andrew Cassels,  He had a goal and an assist against Hartford last week. Another Ex-BC Eagle, and the youngest son of Hartford Whalers' great Ulf Samuelsson, Adam Samuelsson, has signed with a Canadian major junior team, the Sudbury Wolves (OHL). They drafted him in 2016 in the fifth round (95th overall) in the OHL Priority Draft. He was playing with USHL Sioux City Musketeers after leaving BC last year. He can no longer play US collegiate hockey. Former Wolf Pack, Dylan McIlrath, was recalled from Grand Rapids by the Detroit Red Wings and played against the New York Rangers on Wednesday night. The Blueshirts took the game 5-1. Riley Stillman, the grandson of ex-New Haven Nighthawk, Bud Stefanski, was returned to the Springfield  Thunderbirds by the Florida Panthers. Ex-CT Whale, Jayson Megna, was sent down to the Colorado Eagles (AHL) from the parent Colorado Avalanche. Ex-Bridgeport Sound Tiger, Justin Taylor, heads up from Kalamazoo (ECHL) to the Utica Comets. Ex-Yale Bulldog, Ryan Hitchcock, who played 52 games with Worcester (ECHL) and 36 AHL games with Bridgeport, has announced his retirement from pro hockey according to CT Post’s Mike Fornabaio. Another ex-Yale Bulldog, Ted Hart, is loaned from Peoria (SPHL) to Maine (ECHL). Ex-Pack, Josh Wesley, was reassigned to Tulsa (ECHL) from San Antonio. Ex-Danbury Trashers Drew Omicioli (Loomis Chaffe Prep) is the new junior head coach for the South Shore Kings (USPHL). Tyler Boucher, the son of former NHL goalie, Brian Boucher, and a former Avon Old Farms Winged Beaver, is now playing for the US National Development Team-USNDTP (USHL) and the US National U-17 Team. Boucher has committed to Boston University (HE) for 2021-22. Read the full article

[mitchbeck]

CANTLON'S CORNER: WOLF PACK 2019-20 ROSTER IS SET

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings HARTFORD, CT - Hartford Wolf Pack fans have a reason for optimism as the start of the 2019-20 season approaches on Saturday against a very revamped defending Calder Cup champion, the Charlotte Checkers. The game will also be the home-opener at the XL Center and the puck drop is set for 7 pm. The New York Rangers made their final roster cuts on Monday. The Wolf Pack, at least on paper, will be a contender early in the season.  The Pack will look this solid for the first time since 2014-15 when they won the Eastern Division regular title and would go on to the conference finals before being eliminated by the eventual Calder Cup champion, the Manchester Monarchs. Returning after two years in the NHL is Filip Chytil, the young talented 20-year-old Czech who needs more playing time than he would be getting in the Big Apple. Here, he will be getting boatloads of it. Vinni Lettieri, one of the few offensive bright lights last season, joins him. Making the journey with them from NYC is the Rangers highly-touted Russian rookie, Vitali Kravtsov, who was the seventh overall selection in the 2018 NHL Draft. Kravtsov brings size, serious speed, and a powerful shot that will bring fans out of their seats. However, like any 18-year-old, he needs time to develop and mature. The same applies to most young players, namely those not named Auston Matthews or Patrick Laine. Conceivably Chytil, Kravtsov, and Lettieri could be one of the first two lines on a team that has been offensively challenged the past several seasons. Another talented player who will be returning to Hartford is Steven Fogarty. He begins his fourth season with the Wolf Pack. Then, in the offseason, the Rangers brass added AHL veteran Phil DiGuiseppe, and returnees Tim Gettinger (second year), Gabriel Fontaine (third year), and veteran Danny O’Regan, who had a strong preseason game at Trinity College. A second-year pro, Ville Meskanen, will be back as well as a trio of rookies, including the very impressive well-rounded center, Nick Jones, and Patrick Newell, and Lewis Zerter-Gossage. Center Boo Nieves was returned by New York as well. He cleared waivers and will be also be garnering serious ice time. In fact, it's also the first time in years that the Wolf Pack has had a spate of natural centers and won’t need to carve one out of a winger. All the elements are there for this Wolf Pack team to be a genuine offensive threat, at least early in this season. The backline also has some very important pieces the Rangers sent to Hartford. Ryan Lindgren, who had an outstanding camp, but was sent down based not on performance, but rather player and contract numbers. An "A" could possibly be getting stitched on his jersey. Brandon Crawley, with a fresh lease on playing, as well as, AHL veteran free-agent offseason signing, Jeff LoVerde, rookie Joey Keane, Darren Raddysh, and Jeff Taylor help make this a diverse group. The last piece of the defensive puzzle is Mason Geertsen who checks in at 6”4, 220 lbs. He was playing with the Colorado Eagles last season and came to a training camp without a contract and earned one. Geersten's stellar play includes excellent puck management skills, and the ability to use his size effectively with timely, well-placed hits, and when the bell rang got into a few scraps. Geertsen is the first player since Shawn O’Donnell, who was a walk-on from Canadian college hockey ranks in 2013-14, to earn an AHL-deal based on camp performance for the Wolf Pack. Goaltending which will be a highly competitive position with the experienced Russian rookie netminder from SKA St. Petersburg (Russia-KHL), Igor Shesterkin, who has finally arrived in North America after posting some eye-popping KHL numbers. Hockey is played differently in the KHL and on a bigger surface. The question is, however, how long he'll be in the Connecticut capitol and that will depend on his adaption and adjustment to North America rinks and style of the play. That stay could be for a short period and will be determined by his play. His contract, which has a clause that could be activated, allows him to return to Russia. But, not since Mackenzie Skapski, has the team had such a top goalie prospect in Hartford. Of course, that Skapski experiment fizzled out disastrously. The number two goalie is a very familiar face in these parts. Former UConn Husky, Adam Huska (Hoo-ska), who had himself a very productive training camp in both New York and Hartford. Huska was a seventh-round draft pick and has helped make the Rangers have options in net for organizational depth. A player nobody expected but has been sent to Maine along with seven others, is Tom McCollum. The off-season AHL free-agent signee performed quite well in net here and now, like fellow Maine Mariner, Ryan Dmowski (Old Lyme/Gunnery Prep) doesn’t deserve to be there, but roster space and contracts are factors in where a player winds up. Besides Saturday’s opener, The Wolf Pack has a Sunday afternoon date with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, a part of seven of their first ten games will be at the XL Center. NOTES: The other players heading to Portland, Maine were forwards Ty Ronning, Jake Elmer, Dawson Leedahl, Greg Chase, Shawn McBride, and a defenseman, former QU Bobcat, Zach Tolkinen. Connor Brickley, who came camp on a try-out basis and goalie Francois Brassard were released and that makes them free agents who will likely be heading to a yet determined ECHL camp. Lots of transactions yesterday with players being moved. Ex-CT Whale, Jayson Megna, was the last cut in Colorado. He heads to the Colorado Eagles. Ex-Pack players, Dylan McIlrath and Matt Puempel were assigned to Grand Rapids, Kenny Agostino (Yale University) heads to the Toronto Marlies. Cole Cassels, the son of former Hartford Whaler, Andrew Cassels, was released by Belleville. Tage Thompson (Orange/UConn), the son of Sound Tiger head coach and ex-Wolf Pack, Brent Thompson, was sent to Rochester. Chase Priskie (Quinnipiac University) went to Charlotte while Chad Krys (Ridgefield) is off to Rockford and Logan Brown, the son ex-Whaler, Jeff Brown, packs for Belleville. Lane Valimont (Avon Old Farms) heads to Wheeling (ECHL) camp after completing his collegiate career with Marian University (NCHA). Canon Pieper (Quinnipiac University) and Craig Puffer (New Canaan) are both in camp with Tulsa (ECHL). Kristoff Kontos, the son of former New Haven Nighthawk and Ranger, Chris Kontos, is in camp with Wichita (ECHL). Ex-CT Whale Logan Pyett signs with Frederikshavn IK (Demark-DHL). Read the full article

[mitchbeck]

CANTLON'S CORNER: OFF-SEASON NEWS AND NOTES - VOLUME II

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings HARTFORD, CT - Much has gone on in the hockey world. In the AHL Calder Cup Playoffs, the best-of-five first-round series have mostly ended and there are a few surprises. The Bridgeport Sound Tigers won Game 4 in overtime 3-2 in Hershey to extend the series to a deciding Game 5 on Saturday night at the Webster Bank Arena. That game went to the Bears who advanced to the second round with a 3-2 OT win on a Brian Pinho goal. In game four, Oliver Wahlstrom scored his first pro goal at 1:13 of the third period to tie the game at two and Matt Lorito scored at 1:13 of overtime to claim the win offsetting ex-Pack Jayson Megna’s second period unassisted shorthanded goal and the first Hershey goal was scored by ex-pack Ryan Sproul. Kyle Burroughs paced the offense with two assists. Hershey will take on the Charlotte Checkers in a best of seven series starting Friday night. One series that didn’t last long, was the only sweep of the first-round as the Toronto Marlies continued its strong second half by eliminating the Rochester Americans. Ex-Pack, Chris Mueller led the way with five points. The Marlies will play the Cleveland Monsters who knocked off the Syracuse Crunch in four games with a 3-0 shutout on Thursday. The Monsters feature Simsbury native and Westminster Prep grad, Tommy Cross, and ex-Pack, Dan DeSalvo. San Diego eliminated the San Jose Barracuda in four games. The first game of the series that kicked off the Calder Cup playoffs was a wild 6-5 OT win for the Gulls in one of the craziest first periods you’ll ever see with six goals scored in 10 minutes and both starting goalies were pulled. Ex-Pack TJ Hensick scored the first goal of the AHL postseason and added an assist on the third goal as the Barracuda had a 3-0 lead after just 6:15 of play. The Gulls starter Kevin Boyle was pulled after just six shots on goal. The Gulls roared back to tie the game at three in a span of 3:08 forcing San Jose’s Antoine Bibeau to an early shower after just eight shots on goal. Former Beast of New Haven, Dallas Eakins, is the head coach with a pair of ex-Pack players from different era’s, David Urquhart and Sylvain Lefebvre are the assistant coaches and a third ex-Pack, J.F. Labbe is the Gulls goalie coach. Ironically, Bibeau was recalled the next day by the parent San Jose Sharks. The Gulls will play the Bakersfield Condors, winners over the Colorado Eagles in four games. The Iowa Wild defeated the Milwaukee Admirals in Five games defeating ex-Pack captain, Cole Schneider, and another ex-Pack, Vince Pedrie, also on the Milwaukee roster. The last game of the opening round was played Sunday between the Chicago Wolves and the Grand Rapids Griffins. The Red Wings top farm team features ex-Pack’s Dylan McIlrath, Matt Puempel, Matt Ford, Wade Megan (Salisbury Prep) and Dominic Turgeon, the nephew of former Whaler Sylvain Turgeon. PLAYER MOVES Ex-Pack Desmond Bergin signs with his fourth AHL team this year with the Cleveland Monsters. He spent most of the year with Adirondack (ECHL). His other AHL stops were; Providence, Milwaukee, Binghamton. The last player to wear a New Haven pro hockey jersey playing in an active top level league has retired. Ex-New Haven Knights (UHL) Hungarian forward, Arpad Mihaly, announced his retirement after playing for ASC Corona Brasov (Romania-MOL) after five years with the team. Nathan Lutz, a defenseman who played two playoff games for the Knights and who skated in the Canadian senior hockey league this year with the Porcupine Plains Blues (Saskatchewan) of the Wheatland Senior Hockey League (WSHL) (names not made up) is the last one who remains playing. It will be unknown until November when Canadian senior hockey regular season play commences, if Lutz, 41, will share the honor with Mihaly or become the last one. The last Nighthawk to play was Steve Moria at 50 in England and the last Beast of New Haven players to skate were Bryon Ritchie in Sweden and Herbert Vasiljves in Germany. Ex-Pack Chad Nehring leaves Fischtown (Germany-DEL) to Dusseldorfer EG (Germany-DEL) next season. Ex-Pack Tomas Zaborsky leaves Tappara (Finland-FEL) for SaiPa (Finland-FEL) next season. Travis Turnbull, the cousin of former Nighthawk, Randy Turnbull, goes from Iserlohn (Germany-DEL) to EHC Straubing (Germany-DEL). Ex-Bridgeport Sound Tiger and New York Ranger, David Desharnais, goes from Avangard Omsk (Russia-KHL) to HC Fribourg-Gotteron (Switzerland-LNA). Two former Sound Tigers have hung up the skates, Peter MacArthur Adirondack (ECHL) and Tyler Barnes Worcester (ECHL). Francis Drolet (Salisbury Prep) played with HC Briancon (France Division-1) signs for summer hockey with Newcastle (Australia-AIHL) whose regular season begins next weekend. Cheshire’s Rob Malloy, the team captain, of Newcastle returns for his seventh AIHL campaign. Ex-CT Whale, Andreas Thuresson, signs with ERC Schwenniger (Germany-DEL) joining ex-Pack, Matt Carey, as an offseason signing for the 2019-20 season. IIHF World U-18 tournament is underway in Sweden as the US romped over Latvia 7-1 and in the quarterfinals shutout Finland 6-0 on Thursday. The US lost to the Russians on Saturday in one semifinal and in the other semi, Canada lost to Sweden. The United States won the Bronze medal after defeating Canada 5-2. The US team features goalie Spencer Knight (Darien), who picked up 21 saves in his first shutout. A former Avon Old Farms player committed to play at Boston College (HE) in the fall and will likely be selected in the first three rounds of the NHL Draft in Vancouver in June. His fellow Winged Beaver teammate, Trevor Zegras, BU bound in the fall helped set up a hat trick for the likely number one overall pick by New Jersey in Vancouver Jack Hughes in the win. Latvia’s assistant coach is the aforementioned former Beast of New Haven forward, Herbert Vasiljves. Latvia features Raimonds Vitolins, the youngest son of former New Haven Senator, Harijs Vitolins. Canada has Samuel Poulin, the son of former Hartford Whaler, Patrick Poulin, who skates for Val D’Or (QMJHL). In men’s action, the IIHF Division II Group B World Championship playing in Mexico City, Mexico one of the six teams, is Israel. Their head coach is former Whaler and Ranger, Robert (Bobby) Holik. Holik also coached their Division 2 Group B World Junior and the U-18 team this season as well. The countries in their pool were Iceland, the nation of Georgia (great logo), New Zealand and North Korea. The IIHF Division III tournament is in Sofia, Bulgaria has Turkmenistan, Luxembourg, Turkey, host Bulgaria, Taiwan (Chinese Tapei), and South Africa who features Charl Pretorius who was the first South African to play in the US minor leagues with Elmira (FHL) after finishing collegiate hockey at Division III  Nazareth College (UCHC). The IIHF Division III Qualifying tourney was held in Dubai and host UAE (United Arab Emirates) was the winner beating out teams from Hong Kong, Bosnia-Hercegovina, Kuwait, Thailand, and Kyrgyzstan. The US has named some of the first players for the red, white and blue squad that will play in Kosice, Slovakia at the World Championships in two weeks. The group included current Ranger, ex-CT Whale, Chris Kreider, and current Ranger and ex-Pack, Brady Skjei. Current Hartford GM and Rangers Assistant GM and Trumbull native, Chris Drury was named GM for the team. The US Advisory committee features current Rangers GM, Jeff Gorton, former Nighthawk, Don Waddell (Carolina), Paul Fenton (Minnesota) and former Ranger goalie great, John Vanbiesbrouck (US National program). Hockey titles in Austria in the EBEL elite league was decided as  KAC Klagenfurt knocked off the Vienna Capitals in six games winning the title-clinching game 3-2 in OT. Vienna featured former CT Whale Kelsey Tessier. The VHL (Vyasa Hockey League) the AHL to Russia’s KHL league saw Sary Arka Karaganda (Kazakhstan) knocked off Rubin Tyumen in a four-game sweep. NCAA RECRUITING CHANGE A long overdue change in the NCAA recruiting process for hockey was finally passed and becomes effective May 1st. The recruiting period for high school sophomores is limited until after January 1st allowing for phone calls, e-mails, texts, unofficial school visits, and camp and clinic conversations only. Then a window starting August 1st of their junior year when a scholarship offers can be made verbally by the school, official visits can be made and off-campus visits can be done. Not perfect, but a start to the present system that is wide open, with no structures and kids as young as 14-years-old were making oral commitments to schools. Conferring adulthood, so early has been the sin of the college recruiting process in part to counteract the Canadian major junior leagues ability to offer more inducements to young hockey players to go that route. Presently, a hockey player can play Canadian Junior A hockey which is a step below major junior in leagues like the BCHL or AJHL and still retain their NCAA eligibility, but if they play a minute of hockey with a major junior team, pre-season or regular season, they are ineligible to play collegiate hockey. This is the first step to curb the insanity and bring some normalcy to the process and a perfect example of this is 15-year-old Max Namestnikov, the son of former Wolf Pack Evgeni "John" Namestnikov, and the brother of current Ranger, Vladislav Namestnikov, just made an oral commit to Michigan State (Big 10) for 2023-24 ! The pyramid for a young US born hockey player who wants to gain a scholarship is first public school, then prep school, then the US junior or Canadian junior A and then college. Read more HERE. Read the full article

[mitchbeck]

CANTLON'S CORNER: WOLF PACK PREPARE FOR FINAL SIX GAMES

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings HARTFORD, CT - The sun is close to setting on the Hartford Wolf Pack's 2019-20 season. The Wolf Pack have their last midweek contest in Springfield in a building that has haunted THEM the past two seasons and presently the Thunderbirds lead the series five games to four. Both teams are looking at some serious roster makeovers in the offseason and maybe changes in coaching staffs. On Saturday, the Pack host the sliding Utica Comets who have gone 1-8-1 in their last 10, and on Sunday afternoon, the Binghamton Devils come to town at 3 pm. The Devils are tied for the worst goals against in the AHL with Ontario at 253, the Pack is third with 243. The Pack at 28-32-7-3 and 66 points and the eighth and last spot in Atlantic Division are six points behind Springfield with each having six games left and Hartford is four wins from the .500 mark. The Rangers end their regular season on Saturday against Pittsburgh and it's very unlikely Vinni Lettieri and/or John Gilmour will be assigned back to the Wolf Pack for the last four games of the season. PACK SIGNINGS & MOVEMENTS The direction for the 2019-20 edition of the Wolf Pack can be seen in the signing of Patrick Newell of St. Cloud St. (NCHC) to an ATO deal. Despite being upset by the Springfield-based American Internation College (AIC) 3-1, the biggest NCCA post-season upset since R.I.T. (Rochester Institute of Technology) knocked off Minnesota in 2012 Newell has an impressive resume. He was on three consecutive championship teams in three separate leagues. In 2013-14, he was a Clark Cup champion with the Indiana Ice (USHL), 2014-15 BCHL Fred Page Cup champion with the Penticton Vees and won an NCAA championship with St. Cloud St. in his freshmen season. At St. Cloud St., they also won three Penrose Cup NCHC conference titles. He was on the First All-Star team and a Hobey Baker nominee this season for the 23-year-old from Thousand Oaks, CA. The Wolf Pack released Greg Chase from his PTO deal. Defenseman Josh Wesley, still in the Carolina organization, was reassigned to the Maine Mariners (ECHL) for a day and then reassigned back by Carolina in what was clearly a paper transaction by the Hurricanes who still have Wesley as a part of their organization. NOTES: The first two AHL’ers to sign for Europe next year has occurred. Axel Holmstrom of the Grand Rapids Griffins returns to his native Sweden to play for HV 71 (Sweden-SHL). Linus Bystrom of Springfield will play for Karpat Oulu (Finland-FEL). Read that HERE.  However, the teams have not made an official announcement which will likely come next week when the AHL regular season concludes. Former Yale Bulldog, Joe Snively, had his first pro goal with Hershey, a game-winner against Providence. Dominic Turgeon, the nephew of former Hartford Whaler, Sylvain Turgeon, was recalled by Detroit from Grand Rapids. He joins ex-Pack Dylan McIlrath, who was recalled last week. Andrew Peeke Notre Dame (Big 10) signs with Cleveland (AHL). Laval gets two prized underclassmen, Ryan Poehling St.Cloud St. and goalie Cayden Primeau of Northeastern (HE), the son of ex-Whaler Keith Primeau. The college player signings continue on pace as Shane Bowers BU goes to Colorado (AHL). Daniel Perez Maine (HE) heads to the Greenville Swamp Rabbits (ECHL). Joe Daccord of Arizona State and an NCAA Division I independent signs with Ottawa after the Sun Devils were eliminated by Quinnipiac over the weekend. The Bobcats Brogan Rafferty signed a one-year deal two-way deal with Vancouver and could play for  Utica when the Comets take on the Pack this coming weekend. Teammate Craig Martin signed with Springfield while Northeastern’s Liam Pecararo could be in the lineup for the Thunderbirds tomorrow when they host the Pack for the last time this season. The total number of Division I players who have signed is 123. The total number of signings, including Division II, who have signed pro deals in the US and Europe is 140. Congrats to ex-Wolf Pack assistant coach JJ Daigneault, who has been in the same position with San Antonio, will head to Quebec City this weekend where he will be inducted into the QMJHL Hall-of-Fame joining a pretty distinguished class along with goalie coach, Francois Allaire, the brother of Rangers' goaltending guru, Benoit Allaire, former NHL’ers goalie, Stephane Fiset, defenseman Bob Murray, and Mario Tremblay one of the Montreal Canadiens all-time greats. The QMJHL one of Canada’s three major junior leagues is celebrating its 50th anniversary this season. In Daigneault’s first junior season, he played with the Laval Voisins with a player named Mario Lemieux, and he was on the Montreal Canadiens last Stanley Cup winner, which ironically is the last NHL team to capture Lord Stanley in 1993. The Canadian Junior A BCHL Final Four is set with the Vernon Vipers featuring Ben Sanderson, son of ex-Whaler Geoff and is coached by former New Haven Nighthawk Mark Ferner. The Victoria Grizzlies feature UCONN recruit offensive defenseman standout Carter Berger and Wenatchee (WA) Wild with Wilton native Matt Gosiewski and the Prince George Spruce Kings will play for Page Cup trophy. The BCHL Surrey Eagles hired ex-Pack, Cam Keith, as their new head coach and associate GM. Ex-Pack, Ahti Oksanen, stays in Finland, but signs with the KHL team for next year in Jokerit Helsinki. Ex-Pack, Malte Stromwall, is moving from KooKoo (Finland-FEL) to HK Sochi (Russia-KHL) next season. Former Springfield Falcon, Mike Blunden, goes from HC Bolzano (Italy-EBEL)  goes to ERC Schwenniger (Germany-DEL) next season. HK Mogo Riga won the Latvia Hockey title in six games over HK Kurbads who feature ex-Pack Juris Stals in six games. Some bad news for women's pro hockey with the sudden and unexpected folding of the CWHL (Canadian Women’s Hockey League) a week after the Calgary Inferno won what is the last Isobel Cup title in league history. The only other women’s pro hockey league now is the NWHL (National Women’s Hockey League) already announced it will expand to Toronto and Montreal. Merger talks have been off and an on between the two leagues and the players were in support of a merger, but an agreement was never reached. The 40th anniversary of the NHL-WHA merger is coming up. It radically changed the salary structure of professional hockey at that time. It ushered in a new era for the game in new markets. One of the architects of the merger was the owner of the New England Whalers and eventually the Hartford Whalers, Howard Baldwin, Sr. who was rhapsodic about the process that eventually led to the eventual union of the two leagues. Only the Edmonton Oilers remain from the original merger. The current Winnipeg Jets came from Atlanta and have a totally new logo of course. Only Quebec City has a slim, and outside chance of returning to the NHL with its brand new Videotron Centre. Read about it HERE. Read the full article