#chrisbourque

[am8zing]

2, 7, 37 and 103. :)

2: Top 3 disney movies Brave, Monsters University, and uuuuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhh Beauty and the Beast

7: Top 3 music artists currently Shawn Mendes, Troye Sivan, Panic! at the Disco

37: Top 3 accents to hear Swedish, German, French Canadian

103: Top 3 pick up lines to be honest i have no answer for this one i don’t like/use tehm

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HARTFORD WOLF PACK SWEEP SPRINGFIELD THUNDERBIRDS

By: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings HARTFORD, CT - The Hartford Wolf Pack vanquished their playoff demons after a 7-1 dismantling of the Springfield Thunderbirds at the XL Center before 5,745, completing the two-game sweep of their I-91 rivals. The Pack received outstanding efforts from Tanner Fritz, Turner Elson, and Anton Blidh in the series-clinching win. The Pack saw seven players score in the first-round sweep and will need to continue to receive that kind of balanced scoring if they are to continue moving forward in the playoffs. "Going into the series, they had won nine of the twelve regular season games, but I felt at five-on-five we had played good hockey against them. The special teams was the difference," remarked Hartford Head Coach Kris Knoblauch. The Wolf Pack move on to challenge the Providence Bruins in a Best-of-Five series beginning Friday, April 28th, and Saturday, April 29th, at the Amica Mutual Pavilion. Both games start at 7:05 PM. As the higher seed, The Bruins will have the home-ice advantage in the Atlantic Division semi-final. After the first two games in Providence, the Pack return home for Game Three on Wednesday, May 3rd, and a potential Game Four on Friday, May 5th. Those two games will have puck drop starting at 7:00 PM. Finally, a potential Game Five would be back in Providence on Sunday, May 7th, with the first puck drop coming at 7:05 PM. The Pack should have a level of confidence in this upcoming series. In ten regular season games against the Baby Bruins, the Wolf Pack went 5-3-1-0. "We have been playing playoff hockey for three or four weeks before this series, so we got into a groove," Knoblauch said. The challenge for Knoblach with the Pack's top four regular season players on recall to New York serving as the Black Aces squad for the Rangers meant the call went out to the roster to come together and find ways to score. "We needed somebody to step up and everybody did so in some way. We had the energy and we knew Springfield had taken us lightly in Game 1, but our guys were prepared for them." THIRD PERIOD In the third period, Springfield trailing 5-1, they pulled their goaltender early. The Wolf Pack capitalized, adding two unassisted empty net goals. The first came shorthanded from Blidh at 13:34, and then Tim Gettinger tallied at 15:02. Pack goaltender Dylan Garand managed the third period well. He made key stops on Martin Frk, Will Bitten, and Nikita Alexandrov to secure the victory over Springfield in a contribution reminiscent of Cam Talbot, who thwarted the Bridgeport Sound Tigers in a short playoff win for CT Whale years ago. "Garand, has been solid all year and we played well defensively in front of him," said Knoblauch. SECOND PERIOD The second period started with the Pack picking up right where they left off in the first frame scoring early and controlling the play. "We got great support from all our lines, and you need that in the playoffs," Knoblauch stated. Adam Edström forced Brady Lyle down and out into a tripping penalty on an early two-on-one. The Pack power play, a work in progress throughout the regular season, paid off in this series. After a successful zone entry, Bobby Trivigno took a short pass from Elson and fired it into the net off the near post at 3:57 for the team's fourth goal. Moving Elson from the fourth to the first line wasn't difficult for Knoblauch. "He got lost in the shuffle, when we had all those trades in the beginning of March. He kept working. We had him when (Ryan) Carpenter was sent down (by the Rangers) in early December and they had good chemistry. So we had to restructure our lines. We put them back together. It was a fairly easy decision for a coach to make," Knoblauch said. Repeating their success from Game One on Wednesday night, the Wolf Pack kept their foot on the gas pedal and continued their exigency. Fine work on the left-wing boards by Will Cullye kept the puck in the zone. He intercepted a Thunderbirds clearing attempt and got it back to Zac Jones. The Pack defenseman wasted little time sending a cross-ice feed to a wide-open Blake Hillman. Hillman moved in with Elson and Carpenter providing traffic in front of Joel Hofer and fired a rocket past the Springfield netminder for a 5-1 lead at 6:30. FIRST PERIOD The Pack struck first. Lauri Pajuniemi received a backhanded pass from Blidh, faded off the left wing, and found Fritz rushing in. Fritz received the puck and deposited the first postseason goal of his career at 8:03. "Fritz was so strong. We played a stretch of four-and-a-half minutes and he was a plus-three. It was easy to give him the tap on the shoulder to go out," an impressed Knoblach stated. With limited playoff experience, Fritz had opined weeks ago about his desire for postseason play. He put action into his words. "I've got what, three games, in like six or seven years. It was something I really wanted to experience," Fritz added, "We got belief in that locker room right now. We're a lot different (team) than Springfield faced before. The crowd has been regularly exciting. We fed off that." The Pack made it 2-0 with Fritz and Blidh factoring in again. Fritz got the puck to Wyatt Kalynuk on the left point. Kalynuk sent a perfect drive to the net with Blidh with the Hofer screen at 10:48 for what would prove to be the game-winning goal. The Pack made it 3-0 with Fritz and Blidh factoring in on the tally again. Fritz was on the left side. He and Jones played a quick pass and catch before finding Ty Emberson open on the right point. Emberson sent a low shot on the net with Blidh and Springfield defenseman Tyler Tucker tied up in front of Hofer, who never saw the puck. Blidh will try to torture his ex-teammates in Providence in the next series. With his team reeling early, former Wolf Pack and now Springfield Head Coach Drew Bannister was forced to use his timeout early to settle his rattled Thunderbirds down, much to the delight of the exuberant XL Center crowd. The crowd started early, chanting, "We want pizza." The chant was about a team promotion with a local eatery providing free slices to ticketed fans whenever the Pack scored four goals. Adam Clendening laid a perfectly clean shoulder check and ran over Quinnipiac grad Matt Peca when he tried to cut across the ice on his zone entry in a one-on-four situation. SPRINGFIELD'S ONLY TALLY Springfield scored in the last minute of the first period on the power play. A Bitten cross-ice, across-the-goal crease pass went off Alexandrov's stick right back to Bitten. He put a shot on the net that went off the inside of Garand's stick and pad while sliding over to make the save with 27.8 left in the period. The Pack never wavered or gave Springfield a chance. LINES: Cullye-Carpenter-Elson Fritz-Pajuniemi-Blidh Gettinger-Edström-Lockwood Henriksson-Sýkora-Trivigno Jones-Emberson Hillman-Scanlin Clendening-Kalynuk Garand Gahagen #35 SCRATCHES: Talyn Boyko #40 Matt Rempe (upper body, day-to-day) Louie Roehl #4 (healthy) Bryce McConnell-Barker #8 (healthy) Brett Berard #27 (healthy) Cooper Zech #37 (healthy) Matt Robertson (upper body, may return in the later half of the next round of the playoffs) Patrick Khordorenko (season-ending shoulder surgery). C.J. Smith (hip area surgery done for the season) NOTES: Near the end of the second period, the XL Center scoreboard malfunctioned and went out. Only the video portion came back. The issue forced the XL Center PA announcer to announce the time left when the play stopped. This continued until just 7:46 remained in the third period when only a small video was shown for the rest of the game. The last playoff series win for the Wolf Pack came in a six-game quarterfinal series victory over the Hershey Bears in 2015. Two of the team's home games were forced to be played in Worcester, MA, at the DCU Center. The now-shuttered Ringling Brothers Circus was at the XL Center. Worcester was still in the AHL before becoming an ECHL city. Simsbury native Tommy Cross (Westminster), injured for half the season, dressed and served as a captain for an elimination game for Springfield. Fritz's three assists on Wednesday allowed him to become the 21st Wolf Pack to accomplish that in the playoffs. Chris Bourque was the last player to do so on May 15th, 2015. That was the last time the Wolf Pack had won a playoff game. The Wolf Pack had three playoff series in the early years against the Springfield Falcons. They came in 1999, 2000, and 2003. Eleven Pack players made their playoff debuts for Hartford on Wednesday night. The AHL media voted Calgary Wrangler's Dustin Wolf the league's regular season Les Cunningham MVP. He becomes just the eighth goalie in league history to accomplish that honor. Wolf is the first netminder since the Wolf Pack's Jason LaBarbera won the award in 2004. LaBarbera is presently the Calgary Flames goalie coach. Another ex-Pack, MacKenzie Skapski, is the Wranglers' goalie coach. The Jacksonville Icemen, the Wolf Pack Double AA affiliate, began its seven-game ECHL South semi-final series against the Rangers' former ECHL affiliate, the Greenville (SC) Swamp Rabbits. Greenville took Game 1 4-1, with former UCONN forward Ben Freeman registering one of the goals, and former Thunderbird Ryan Bednard was in the net for the Swamp Rabbits. Former Quinnipiac Bobcat Craig Martin had Jacksonville's only goal. In the net for Jacksonville was a former Wolf Pack emergency goalie, Charles Williams. He made 27 saves in the loss. Gettinger played his junior career under Bannister for three seasons with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (OHL). The Greyhounds was the landing spot for Wolf Packm assistant coach Jamie Tardif before coming to Hartford. Bannister was a member of the 2000 Wolf Pack Calder Cup championship team celebrated here two weeks ago. The Springfield Thunderbirds went to the Calder Cup Final against the Chicago Wolves last year and didn't face an elimination game until the Conference Final against the Laval Rocket. Then, they staved off elimination against the Kevin Dineen-coached Utica Comets. Speaking of Dineen, congrats to his son William. As a freshman at Yale, he won the William Chace Sportsmanship and Dedication Award at the Ivy League School. Chris Harpur, the younger brother of current Ranger, and former Wolf Pack, Ben Harpur, was recalled from the Orlando Solar Bears (ECHL) by the Syracuse Crunch. After five years of NCAA hockey, Erik Gotz, the nephew of Wolf Pack great Ken Gernander, heads to Europe and signs with the Krefeld Penguins (Germany-DEL). He played a fifth year at the alma mater of two of his other uncles, the Gernander twins, Jim and Jerry, who were graduates of the Vermont Catamounts (HE) program. He played a Wolf Pack exhibition game with their brother many years ago. Twelve players are now off to Europe. 228 Division I and III college players have signed pro deals in North America and Europe. The USA U-18 Team is about to embark on the World U-18 championships in Basel, and Ajoie, Switzerland. They'll play April 20-23. They named their roster. The team is coached by former Yale assistant Dan Muse and one of his assistants is ex-Pack, Chad Kolarik. Their players include two former Mid-Fairfield U-16 members, Sal Guzzo and Ryan Fine, who played together at Don Bosco Prep (NJPREP). The Canadian U-18 squad coaches are ex-Springfield Falcon coach Jeff Truitt (Prince Albert-WHL), with one of his assistants being ex-Danbury Trasher, Bruce Richardson (Blaineville-Boisbrand-QMJHL). Ex-Pack John Gilmour officially signed with Adler Mannheim (Germany-DEL). Cheshire native and former Hartford Jr. Wolf Pack, Robert "Bert" Malloy, now a dual citizen, has been playing for the Australian National team this week in Madrid, Spain. It hasn't gone well. They dropped their first three games to Croatia, Spain, and Iceland in Division II Group A. They won a 7-1 rout of the Israel National Team. Malloy collected the last two goals of the game. He had three shots and was a plus-three. The team plays tomorrow against the nation of Georgia at the Pista del Hielo Arena. Some European titles have been decided. But, amazingly, in the middle of everything going on in Ukraine, the Ukrainian Hockey League (UHL) has crowned MHK Sokil as their champion. SG Cortina (Italy) has won the Alps Hockey League (AlpsHL). Anyang Halla (South Korea) won the first Asia League Ice Hockey (ALIH) title in three years because of the pandemic. The team's head coach is former AHL'er Jim Paek, with one-time Providence Bruin Matt Dalton, a South Korean citizen, in the net. The XL Center honored their late colleague Pat Rudolph-Anderson by having her family drop the ceremonial first puck after a moment of silence. In addition, all monies raised from the 50/50 raffle, Chuck-A-Puck, and jersey auction were donated to the family. The other tribute came behind the goal on each end of the ice as the name "Pat" was etched onto the ice surface by 40-year-plus XL veteran Ice Crew Chief Therell Wayne Knight in a thoughtful homage. HARTFORD WOLF PACK HOME Read the full article

[title-town-boston-blog]

Chris Bourque from last night #providencebruins #chrisbourque

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HARTFORD WOLF PACK HOST FIRST CALDER CUP PLAYOFF GAME SINCE 2015

By: Alex Thomas, Hartford Wolf Pack HARTFORD, CT – The Hartford Wolf Pack will host their first Calder Cup Playoff game at the XL Center since May 27th, 2015, this evening. The Wolf Pack welcome the Springfield Thunderbirds to town for Game Two of their best-of-three Atlantic Division First Round series. Hartford leads the series 1-0 and will advance to the Atlantic Division Semifinals with a victory. Puck drop is set for 7:05 p.m., and coverage is available on both AHLTV and Mixlr. Tale of The Tape: The Wolf Pack and Thunderbirds met 12 times during the 2022-23 regular season, with the Thunderbirds winning nine of those games and collecting points in ten of the 12 outings. They posted a record of 9-2-0-1. The Wolf Pack, meanwhile, accumulated points in five of the 12 meetings, posting a record of 3-7-0-2. After only winning once at the MassMutual Center in six tries during the regular season, the Wolf Pack scored a dominant 6-1 victory in Game One in Springfield on Wednesday night. Lauri Pajuniemi opened the scoring 3:37 into the contest, giving Hartford a lead they never lost. Both Zac Jones and Pajuniemi would strike in the second period immediately after successful penalty kills. Jones was sprung in on a breakaway at 6:02, burying the eventual game-winner fresh out of the box. Pajuniemi also found himself on a breakaway after serving a minor penalty. He snapped home his second goal of the game at 10:43, making it 3-0. Blake Hillman made it 4-0 at 19:54, taking a backdoor pass from Bobby Trivigno and firing home his first goal as a member of the Wolf Pack. Both Ryan Carpenter and Ty Emberson would tack on goals in the third period, while Adam Gaudette scored the T-Birds' lone goal on the powerplay at 11:44. This is the first playoff series between the Wolf Pack and Thunderbirds. Hartford previously played three playoff series against the Springfield Falcons (1999, 2000, 2003), posting a series record of 2-1. Wolf Pack Outlook: The Wolf Pack, despite having eleven players make their Calder Cup Playoff debut, opened the postseason in style on Wednesday night. Both Emberson (1 g, 2 a) and Tanner Fritz (3 a) scored three points in the victory. In addition, Frtiz's three assists tied the franchise playoff record for assists in a game. He is the 21st player to record three helpers in a playoff game for the club and the first since Chris Bourque did it on May 15th, 2015. May 15th, 2015, also marks the last time the Wolf Pack won a Calder Cup Playoff game before Wednesday night. Dylan Garand made 24 saves in his professional playoff debut, picking up his first Calder Cup Playoff victory. Pajuniemi also dazzled in his debut, scoring his North American career's first two playoff goals. Fourteen different Wolf Pack players recorded a positive +/- differential in Game One, with Emberson leading the way with a +5 rating. Jones, meanwhile, was credited with the game-winning goal. It was his first Calder Cup Playoff game-winner. Emberson (1 g, 2 a) and Fritz (3 a) lead the Wolf Pack in playoff scoring with three points each through one game. Pajuniemi's two goals pace the club in that department. Thunderbirds Outlook: The defending Eastern Conference Champions must win tonight to keep their season alive. The Thunderbirds did not face elimination in last spring's Calder Cup Playoffs until the Eastern Conference Final against the Laval Rocket. They swept their first two series, defeating both the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins and Charlotte Checkers in the Atlantic Division Semifinals and Final, respectively. As a result, the T-Birds had a bye through the First Round in 2022. Gaudette's goal at 11:44 of the third period was his first career Calder Cup Playoff goal in his playoff debut. Brady Lyle and Nikita Alexandrov were credited with the assists. The T-Birds penalty kill was strong in Game One, killing all three Hartford powerplays. In 13 games against Hartford this season, the Thunderbirds have successfully killed 88.64% of Wolf Pack powerplays. Game Information: WATCH: AHLTV LISTEN: Mixlr Play-by-play voice of the Wolf Pack, Alex Thomas, will have 'Wolf Pack Pregame' starting live at 6:50 p.m. on both AHLTV and Mixlr. If necessary, Game Three of this Atlantic Division First Round series will take place tomorrow, April 22nd, at 7:05 p.m. at the MassMutual Center in Springfield. For playoff series and ticket information should the Wolf Pack advance, please visit 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 HOME Read the full article

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CANTLON: CT HOCKEY 2021 OFFSEASON VOL 1

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings HARTFORD, CT -The offseason has begun for the Hartford Wolf Pack and the rest of the AHL, except for the Pacific division, which has a playoff. Teams are very busy planning and signing players and coaches for the upcoming 2021-22 season.

PLAYER AND COACHING MOVEMENT

All of the AHL teams not in the Pacific Division have begun to send players to their respective ECHL teams for some post-season experience. The Toronto Marlies sent four players, Bobby McMann, Jeremy McKenna, Noel Hoefenmayer, and Gordie Green, to the Wichita Thunder. The Colorado Eagles sent Sasha Matala to the Utah Grizzlies. The Ontario Reign sent Nick Boka to the Ft. Wayne Komets while Josh Ingham and Jack Sadek packed their bags for the Greenville Swamp Rabbits. Doyle Somerby of the Tucson Roadrunners heads to the South Carolina Stingrays. The Manitoba Moose sent Peter Kreiger to the Indy Fuel, while the Rochester Americans sent Brendan Warren to the Jacksonville Icemen. Nelson Nogier, Cole Kehler, and C.J. Suess were sent to the Tulsa Oilers.

MORE MOVES

Henderson heading to the Pacific Division after eliminating  San Jose on the strength of a two-goal and three-point effort from ex-Pack Danny O’ Regan has sent three players to the Vegas taxi squad in Dylan Sikura and Cody Glass. Henderson will play with the Bakersfield Condors for the Pacific Division post-season title and the John Chick Trophy. The Condors eliminated the San Diego Gulls in OT Monday. Brad Malone, the nephew of former Hartford Whaler, Greg Malone, and the cousin of ex-Pack, Ryan Malone, scored the game-winner. The first AHL player to Europe, David Kase of the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, signs with HC Sparta Prague (Czech Republic-CEL). A former Quinnipiac Bobcat, Karlis Cukste, who played with the San Jose Barracuda (AHL) and the Orlando Solar Bears (ECHL) this past year, heads home to Dynamo Riga (Latvia-KHL). According to the Swedish hockey website, SportsExpressen.se, ex-Pack Dale Weise has signed a deal to be announced shortly with IK Oskarshamn (Sweden-Allsvenskan). Ex-Pack/New York Ranger, Tim Erixon, goes from Växjö HC to  Timrå IK (Sweden-SHL) for next season. Ryan McKiernan (Brunswick School), fresh off winning the  German DEL championship, leaves Eisbaren Berlin to Rogle BK (Sweden-SHL).

COLLEGE NEWS

Former UCONN Husky, Ruslan Iskhakov, moved from TPS Turku (Finland-FEL) to Adler Mannheim (Germany-DEL). Also, in UCONN news, the University announced a new five-year extension for its head coach Mike Cavanaugh and had the groundbreaking for the new 2,600 seats $70 million arena-ready between September 2022-January 2023. The Maine Black Bears selected Ben Barr, the assistant coach from the national champion, UMASS-Amherst, to replace the late Dennis “Red” Gendron over the ex-Bridgeport Sound Tiger (now Islanders) and Maine associate coach for the last six years, Ben Guite. Replacing Barr at UMASS-Amherst is Penn State's assistant coach for the last 10 years, Matt Lindsay. Previously, he was an assistant at Princeton and was a volunteer assistant at Colorado College. He started at Division-III at Hobart College (SUNYAC) and Utica College. Lake Superior St. (NCHC) Damon Whitten’s contract was extended six years. Former Sound Tiger, Peter Mannino, gives up his head coaching job with the Des Moines Buccaneers (USHL) and signs on as an assistant coach with Colorado College (NCHC).

MORE INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Jamie Arniel, the nephew of former New Haven Nighthawk player and Rangers Assistant Coach,  Scott Arniel, leaves EC Bad Nauheim (Germany-DEL-2) and heads to HC Bratislava (Slovakia-IceHL). A trio of ex-Sound Tigers finds themselves on the move. Joey Martin departs Stavanger (Norway-NEL) and will skate next season for EC Graz (Austria-IceHL). Matt Mangene leaves ESV Villacher SV (Austria-iceHL) for EHC Wolfsburg (Germany-DEL). The new head coach there is a former Rangers draft pick, Mike Stewart. Sebastian Collberg exits Löwen Frankfurt (Germany-DEL-2) and returns home to BIK Karlskoga (Sweden-Allsvenskan). Former Wolf Pack and Ranger Steven Kampfer heads from the Boston Bruins to AK Bars Kazan (Russia-KHL). Former QU Bobcat goalie Michael Garteig leaves ERC Ingolstadt (Germany-DEL) and returns to HIFK Helsinki (Finland-FEL). Ex-Wolf Pack, Ville Meskanen, departs Illves Tampere (Finland-FEL) to go to KooKoo (Finland-FEL) next season. Ex-Wolf Pack and Sound Tiger Chris Bourque signs with ERC Ingolstadt (Germany-DEL) for next season, leaving EHC Munich.

ALL KINDS OF NEWS

Nick Dineen (Selects Academy at South Kent Prep), who played with the Amarillo Bulls (NAHL), commits to Stevenson University (UCHC) for next fall. In the fall, the return of the CCHA conference names its regular season and playoff trophy names they will be handing out to the winners in the spring. The playoff title will honor the late CCHA great coach of Michigan State, Ron Mason, with the Mason Cup. The regular season title winner will be awarded the McNaughton Cup. USA Hockey let several coaches go, including Kenny Rausch (Danbury/Immaculate High), the Director of USA Youth Hockey.

TRANSFERS

Goaltender Evan Fear departs Quinnipiac University (ECACHL) and transfers to Northeastern (HE), making 57 school transfers this collegiate off-season and 47 grad transfers. Tobias Fladeby finishes at AIC (AHA) and signs with Tingryds AIF (Sweden-Allsvenskan), making 80 college players sign pro deals in North America and Europe. Emil Öhrvall departs Sacred Heart University (AHA) for BIK Karlskoga (Sweden-Allsvenskan). The Pioneers were his third school in three separate conferences in his collegiate career. Nick Rheaume, the son of ex-Pack/Ranger, Pascal Rhéaume, has committed to UMASS-Lowell (HE) for 2022-23. Rhéaume played with the Prince George Spruce Kings (BCHL) this year.��His cousin is Quinnipiac University (ECACHL) transfer goalie Dylan St. Cyr, the son of former New Haven Senators player Gerry. St. Cyr.

COMMITS

Two CT Division-III commits as William Pond (Wilton/CT Roughriders-EHL) heads to Western New England College (CCC). Ponds' Roughrider teammate Connor Sullivan (Brunswick School/CT Jr. Rangers - NCDC) heads to Lake Forest College (NCHA). Joining him at Lake Forest is Mattias Derraugh (Danbury-NAHL), who committed to the Illinois-based school.

IIHF WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

The IIHF World Championships are underway in Latvia. There are many familiar names dotting the roster landscape. In Group A, the 3-0 Slovakian team has current Wolf Pack goalie Adam Huska and ex-Pack/Ranger Marek Hrivik. Huska has yet to play, and Hrivik has four points in three games. Slovakia engineered an early upset beating Russia 3-1 on Monday. Denmark has ex-Pack Niklas Jensen, who scored a hat trick in their first game and had a goal and two assists against Great Britain in a 3-2 overtime win Tuesday. Sweden had ex-Pack/Ranger player Oscar Lindberg and ex-Wolf Pack Carl Klingberg. The Czech Republic has ex-Pack and current Rangers defenseman Libor Hajek. They also have Adam, and David Musil, the nephews of former Whalers and Rangers player Bobby Holik. Ex-Pack and current Ranger Filip Chytil and former Beast of New Haven Jaroslav Spacek are the assistant coaches, plus former UCONN Husky recruit Matej Blumel. Belarus has an ex-Sound Tiger, Shane Prince, who has citizenship. Switzerland has a pair of ex-Wolf Pack players in Andres Ambuhl and Raphael Diaz; Great Britain has goalie Jackson Whistle, nephew of former New Haven Nighthawk, Rob Whistle, plus Ben Lake (Sacred Heart University-AHA).

MORE IIHF

In Group B, the US squad features Ryan Donato, the son of ex-Wolf Pack/Sound Tiger, Ted Donato. They also have a  current Ranger, Kevin Rooney, and the nephew of former New Haven Nighthawk, Steve Rooney. Current Ranger, Zac Jones and Tage Thompson (Milford/UCONN), a son of the current Bridgeport Islanders head coach, Brent Thompson. The head coach is former Sound Tigers bench boss Jack Capuano. The team General Manager is current Rangers President/GM, Hartford GM Chris Drury (Trumbull/Fairfield Prep). Canada has shockingly lost its first three games to Latvia, Germany, and the US. Canada has a current Wolf Pack, Braden Schneider, and former Sacred Heart University (AHA)/Sound Tiger product Justin Danforth. Germany has Tom Kuhnhackl of Bridgeport, and Italy has former Ranger Peter Andersson as one of the assistant coaches, and he is the father of ex-Pack, Calle Andersson. HARTFORD WOLF PACK HOME Read the full article

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CHAIMOVITCH: IOWA WILD'S GERRY MAYHEW VOTED WINNER OF LES CUNNINGHAM AWARD AS AHL’S MOST VALUABLE PLAYER

BY: Jason Chaimovitch, American Hockey League SPRINGFIELD, Mass. … The American Hockey League announced today that forward Gerry Mayhew of the Iowa Wild has been voted the winner of the Les Cunningham Award as the AHL’s most valuable player for the 2019-20 season. The award is voted on by coaches, players, and members of the media in each of the league’s 31 cities. Mayhew scored a league-best 39 goals – the most by an AHL skater since 2011-12 – and finished third with 61 points in 49 games, helping Iowa to the best regular-season record in franchise history. Ten of Mayhew’s goals were game-winners and he registered 11 multiple-goal outings, including a natural hat trick in a 3-0 win over San Diego on Feb. 14. Mayhew tied a franchise mark with a 10-game scoring streak from Dec. 12 to Jan. 10 and earned CCM/AHL Player of the Month honors for January after totaling 12 goals and 19 points in 11 contests. Among Mayhew’s 39 tallies were 13 power-play goals and two shorthanded markers, and he also led the Wild in plus/minus rating at plus-16. Iowa was 26-7-1-2 in games when Mayhew registered a point. Mayhew represented Iowa at the 2020 AHL All-Star Classic and was voted a Second Team AHL All-Star at left wing for 2019-20. He also made his National Hockey League debut this season, notching two goals in 13 games with Minnesota – including a goal in his first appearance on Oct. 15 in Toronto. A native of Wyandotte, Mich., Mayhew turned pro with Iowa in 2017 after four years at Ferris State University and spent his first two pro seasons on an AHL contract before signing with Minnesota on May 10, 2019. He has skated in 209 regular-season games with Iowa and has compiled 88 goals and 72 assists for 160 points; he added nine goals and two assists in 11 Calder Cup Playoff games with the Wild in 2019. The AHL’s most valuable player award honors the late Les Cunningham, a member of the AHL Hall of Fame who was a five-time league All-Star and three-time Calder Cup champion with the Cleveland Barons. Previous winners of the award include Carl Liscombe (1948, ’49), Johnny Bower (1956, ’57, ’58), Fred Glover (1960, ’62, ’64), Mike Nykoluk (1967), Gilles Villemure (1969, ’70), Doug Gibson (1975, ’77), Pelle Lindbergh (1981), Paul Gardner (1985, ’86), Tim Tookey (1987), Jody Gage (1988), John Anderson (1992), Don Biggs (1993), Derek Armstrong (2001), Jason Spezza (2005), Keith Aucoin (2010), Cory Conacher (2012), Tyler Johnson (2013), Travis Morin (2014), Chris Bourque (2016), Kenny Agostino (2017), Phil Varone (2018) and Daniel Carr (2019). In operation since 1936, the American Hockey League continues to serve as the top development league for all 31 National Hockey League teams. Nearly 90 percent of all players competing in the NHL are AHL graduates, and through the years the American Hockey League has been home to more than 100 honored members of the Hockey Hall of Fame. Read the full article

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CANTLON'S CORNER: RANGERS' PROSPECTS HAVE A SOLID TRAVERSE CITY TOURNEY

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings TRAVERSE CITY, MI - The New York Rangers prospects finished up their time competing in the Traverse City tournament on a high note and left with a 3-1 record. The team showed the promise they have and equally the work they still need to do. It started off with a rocky performance in losing 6-2 to the prospects that Rangers President, John Davidson, brought in when he ran the Columbus Blue Jackets. Brett Kemp (Medicine Hat Tigers-WHL), a training camp, invitee scored both goals on the Rangers' highly-touted Russian goalie, Igor Shesterkin, who had a tough North American debut. There were too many turnovers, especially in the neutral zone, and it proved costly for the young Rangers squad. Game 2 went much better as the prospects rebounded from the loss and beat the Dallas Stars, 7-4. Defenseman Adam Fox had a stellar five-point scoring effort that included the eventual game-winning goal, his second of the game, at 4:45 of the third period. Fox also contributed the primary assist on Karl Henriksson's first goal and he began the scoring sequence for his defense partner, Yegor Rykov’s, power play goal just 1:27 into the second period. VitaIi Kravtsov, the Rangers 2018 first-round pick, earned three assists, with two of them being the primary helper. Ryan Dmowskli (Old Lyme) picked up the final two goals. Fox assisted on his empty netter. Goalie Adam Huska (UCONN) had a strong game with 24 saves. Game 3 of the tourney saw the Rangers score three goals in the third period as first-round draft pick (2nd overall), Finnish winger, Kaapo Kakko, in his debut game scored the winning goal and had two primary assists in a four-point effort. The Rangers scored two powerplay goals just 1:38 apart in the third period off Kravtsov's stick. The Rangers had a five-minute powerplay that carried over from late in the second period after a high-hit by the Stars' Drake Pilon (no relation to former NHL defenseman with the Islanders, Rich Pilon) on Lewis Zerter-Gossage, who was left dazed and bloodied. Kravtsov's first tally came from off the right-wing into a wide-open net, as he converted Kakko’s pass from behind the goal line on the left-wing side at 1:06. Then came the second goal at 2:44. It was a high end, top-shelf play from atop the left-wing circle. From the right-wing circle, Kakko sent a perfect cross-ice pass through the box putting it right in the perfect spot for Kravtsov, who was in full stride and buried it past goalie, Hunter Jones. The Rangers tied the score at three with 1:37 left in regulation. Kakko again tallied, this time from down as he low-banked a shot that went off some legs in front of the net and popped up in mid-air an. The California Kid, Patrick Newell, exercised some fine hand-eye coordination putting it in out of mid-air. The game-winner was the whipped cream on top of the sundae as Kakko burst down the right-wing, circled the net, moved through the offensive zone untouched and went back to the right-wing. Then again, he made another rush from behind the net and this time put a backhanded wraparound on the net from the left wing beat and Jones to the shortside at 2:48 for the game-winner. The team mobbed number 45. The Rangers concluded their tournament play with a 5-3 win over the prospects of the defending Stanley Cup champion, St. Louis Blues. Dmowski kicked off the Rangers scoring at 4:31 of the first period. The goal turned out to be the first of three for the Blueshirts in the period. The Rangers eventually built a 4-0 lead early in the second period as Nick Jones with a goal and an assist scored on the powerplay at 5:47. Swedish second-round pick from June, Karl Henriksson, had another strong game. He had three assists, two of them the primary kind, as well as points in three of the four games. Newell scored again while Finnish rearguard, Tarmo Reunanen, tallied his first two points on assists. Huska again demonstrated a strong presence. NOTES: Former Hartford Wolf Pack forward, Corey Locke, 35, has announced his retirement after playing seven pre-season games with HC Dynamo Pardubice (Czech Republic-CEL). Locke played just one season for the Wolf Pack in 2009-10 and led the Wolf Pack with 85 points, the third-best in the AHL. Only he and Chris Bourque, who also played just one season, are the only Wolf Pack players to have finished in the Top 10 in league scoring in the past ten years. His AHL totals are 639 games played with 182 goals and 568 points. Landon Ferraro, the son of Hartford Whaler great, Ray Ferraro, had an injury riddled year with the Iowa Wild (12-2-3-5-14) last year, signs a training camp PTO deal with Vancouver. Ex-Sound Tiger, Matt Pistilli leaves Lowen Frankfurt (Germany DEL-2) and returns to Esbjerg Energy (Denmark-DHL). Another ex-Sound Tiger, CJ Stretch, departs Orli Znojmo (Czech Republic-EBEL) to MAC Ujbuda (Slovakia-SLEL). Greg Squires (Brunswick School) goes from Kunlun (China-KHL) to EC Graz (Austria-EBEL). Chris Izmirlian (Yale University) departs the Greenville Swamp Rabbits  (ECHL) to head to the Rapid City Rush (ECHL). Drew Blackmun, of Northeastern (HE), transfers to Union College (HE). He will sit out this season as per the NCAA transfer rule. Cam MacDonald (Selects Academy at South Kent Prep) who plays for Sioux City (USHL) commits to Boston College (HE) for 2022-23. Ex-Pack and former Ranger #1 draft, Bobby Sanguinetti, heads to Europe to continue playing signing a deal with EHC Munich (Germany-DEL) who's roster features twelve former AHL'ers including three ex-Wolf Pack in Chris Bourque and Blake Parlett. Sanguinetti played with the defending AHL Calder Cup champion, Charlotte Checkers, last year. He played 150 games with Hartford netting six goals and adding 69 assists. He was drafted as the Rangers first pick (21st overall) in 2006. He along with Jordan Subban of the Toronto Marlies (Dornbirner EC Austria-EBEL) become the 69th and 70th AHL'ers from last season to sign in Europe and Asia. Read the full article

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CANTLON: WOLF PACK OFF SEASON VOLUME 6 PART 2

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings HARTFORD, CT - Player and Coaches alike are making moves these days and more announcements are expected. PLAYER AND COACHING MOVEMENT Former Hartford Whaler, Dave Tippett, gave up a luxurious job of creating the new Seattle NHL team to hop behind the bench of the talented, but underachieving Edmonton Oilers as he signed a multi-year deal with the team's new GM Ken Holland, who he himself was just hired from the Detroit Red Wings. Ex Bridgeport Sound Tiger and ex-Hartford Wolf Pack, Chris Bourque makes his third foray to Europe signing with EHC Munich (Germany-DEL) for next season. In 794 games, Bourque leaves the AHL with 746 points, good for tenth place in AHL history.  The son of Hall-of-Famer, Ray Bourque, has several scoring titles, made many All-Star teams, has been the regular season MVP, the playoff MVP, and won several Calder Cups. He is a sure-fire first ballot AHL Hall of Famer when he becomes eligible. Ex-Pack Chris McCarthy re-signs with the Hershey Bears on a one-year AHL deal for next season. Goalie Harri Sateri leaves the Grand Rapids Griffins for Sibir Novosibirsk (Russia-KHL). Grayson Downing, who split the year with the Colorado Eagles and the Utah Grizzlies (ECHL) signs with Esbjerg (Denmark-DHL). Tomas Hyka, who's started the AHL Calder Cup Finals, leaves for Traktor Chelyabinsk (Russia-KHL) next season and Filip Pyrochta leaves the Milwaukee Admirals and heads back to HC Brno (Czech Republic-CEL). Its official defenseman Adam Ollas Mattsson is leaving the Stockton Heat to go to Malmo IF (Sweden-SHL). Brett Walchyka leaves the Rockford IceHogs for Esbjerg (Denmark-DHL). Mike McMurty leaves Stockton for HC Banska Bystrica (Slovakia-SLEL) and ex-Sound Tiger, David Ullstrom, leaves the Tucson Roadrunners and signs with Dynamo Riga (Latvia-KHL). That makes for 32 AHL’ers that have left for Europe and 19 of 31 AHL teams have lost at least one player thus far to Europe. Stephon Williams, an ex-Sound Tiger goalie, signs with SC Bietigheim-Bissen (Germany DEL-2) for next year. Josh Norris has left Michigan (Big-10) after his sophomore year and signed a two-way, three-year ELC deal with the Ottawa Senators. Ryan Black of Northern Michigan (WCHA) signs with HC Briancon (France-FREL). Joining him is Felix Chamberland of Canisius College (AHA) and Chris Moquin of Southern New Hampshire University (CCC). He heads to the Sydney Bears (Australia-AIHKL) that makes 31 collegians that have signed with European teams and 217 overall in total have signed pro deals. There are college hockey coaching changes as well. Merrimack (HE) hires the long-time Division III head coach of Plattsburgh State, (SUNYAC) Bob Emery, as their Director of Hockey Operations. Former AHL’er Karl Goehring was named the new assistant coach with North Dakota (NCHC) University Alaska-Anchorage (WCHA) announces it's moving its team’s home games from the Sullivan Arena to the on-campus Wells Fargo Center in a cost-cutting move with a state budget crisis in Alaska. Ex-CT Whale Kelsey Tessier departs Vienna (Austria-EBEL) and heads back to Sweden. He will lace them up for Vasteras IK (Sweden-Allsvenskan) in the fall. Ex-Sound Tiger Mike Halmo leaves Ilves Tampere (Finland-FEL) to Iserlohn (Germany-DEL). Ex-Pack David Stich leaves KLH Chomutov (Czech Republic-CEL) signs with HC Litvinov (Czech Republic-CEL) for next year. Ex-Pack, Kyle Beach, departs Tolzer Lowen (Germany DEL-2) for DVTK (Romania-EBEL). Ben Lake (Sacred Heart University) stays in the Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL) going from Coventry (England) to Belfast (Northern Ireland). Defenseman Mike Cichy of New Hartford and born in New Britain, has re-signed with GKS Tychy (Poland-PZIHL). The lowest level of minor league hockey, the Federal Hockey League (FHL), has added two more teams in addition to the Danbury Colonials. The latest team is the Columbus (GA) River Dragons. The city last had a minor pro team, the Columbus Cottonmouth of the SPHL, but that team ceased operations in 2016. The new team hired the old team's head coach/GM as former New Haven Nighthawk, and Whaler draft pick, Jerome Bechard, joins as the VP of Public Relations. No coaching staff has been hired yet. The other team that will be joining the league will be the Delaware Thunder who also have no coaching staff but does have a mini-roster listed with Ray Boudiette (Redding) on the roster. The Canadian National Junior A tournament concluded in Brooks, Alberta. The host Brook Bandits (AJHL) took home the title winning the series and the final game by the same score. They beating the Prince George Spruce Kings 4-3 in the final and won the series 4-3 as well. Six teams competed and some familiar names were involved, the Oakville Blades (OJHL) have Jamie Storr, the former LA King, as head coach and his two player development coaches are former player Jamie Allison and ex-Sound Tiger Rob Hisey. The Ottawa Jr. Senators (CCHL) has Ethan Manderville on the roster. He's the son of former Whaler, Kent Manderville, and the team’s assistant coach is former CT Whale, Ryan Garlock. Former Nighthawk Mark Ferner has stepped down GM/head coach of the Vernon Vipers (BCHL). The QJAAAHL has renamed and they saw former Danbury Trasher, Dustin Traylen, sell the team which was once known as the St. Lazare Revolution. They moved last year and become the Lac (Lake) St. Louis Revolution and are now under new ownership and will be called the West Island Shamrocks. The league is also relocating a team to St. Georges-de-Beauce which is along the Maine and Canadian border. The Hershey Bears have signed Steve Whitney, the younger brother of former Wolf Pack captain and Sound Tiger, Joe Whitney. They've also added goalie Parker Milner (Avon Old Fames) to one year AHL deals for 2019-20. Michael McCosh, the son of former New Haven Nighthawk and Senator Shawn McCosh, commits to the New Mexico Ice Wolves (NAHL) for next year. Remember former Yale University (ECACHL) assistant coach, Dan Poliziani Sr.? He who served under the late Tim Taylor for 11 years in the late 1980s and in the 1990s. His son, Dan Poliziani Jr., graduated from a Canadian college, Ryerson University (OUAA), and signs a deal with Dunkirk (France-Division-2). The elder Poliziani is a head coach with the Canadian high school team called Stanstead College in Quebec (CAHS/MPHL) which is just over the Vermont-Canada border on I-91. Their arena is called the Pat Burns Arena. Prior to his passing, Burns was present for the groundbreaking to make a new hockey rink at the school and sadly passed away a month later in November 2010. Poliziani Sr. played for Yale for four years (1978-1982) was the captain his senior year and had 131 points in 101 games. THE BALDWINS If you think Howard Baldwin Sr. has learned his lessons and changed his ways read these astonishing accounts of their shenanigans that dates back to their CT Whale days. Simply amazing! Read it HERE With that background in mind, we can now return to the facts of this case. In the district court, the Baldwins did not dispute that the amended 2005 tax return they claim to have mailed in June 2011 was never received by the IRS. The Baldwins, therefore, sought to rely on the common-law mailbox rule to establish that the document was presumptively delivered to the IRS in June 2011, shortly after they mailed it. They offered the testimony of two of their employees, who had been tasked with mailing the document on the Baldwins’ behalf. The employees explained that they deposited the amended 2005 return in the mail at the post office in Hartford, Connecticut, on June 21, 2011. Under the common-law mailbox rule, that testimony, if credited by the court, would give rise to a rebuttable presumption that the amended return was delivered to the IRS well before the October 15, 2011, deadline. The district court credited the testimony of the Baldwins’ employees and found, on the basis of the common-law mailbox rule, that the Baldwins’ claim for a refund had been timely filed. Read the full article

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CANTLON: (SAT) SOUND TIGERS CLIP WOLF PACK IN OT

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings BRIDGEPORT, CT -  Sporting one of the stronger home records in the AHL, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers got a goal from Otto Koivula with 6.9 seconds left in overtime to lift them to a 4-3 victory over the Hartford Wolf Pack. Koivula had two glorious chances on the same type of play, a rush off the right wing. The Pack, however, saw netminder, Brandon Halverson, stop the first one, but he lost control of the puck on the second shot, but the third time was the charm for the Sound Tigers as Koivula took a pass from Chris Bourque, the ex-Pack, and came from the left wing side to score the game winner. The Pack deserved a better fate after having played a fairly solid road game in a building that has seemed to have a hex on them and other teams in the AHL. “This place is tough for a lot of teams in the AHL, but I thought for large chunks of time, we controlled play. We got off to a good start, but we just had those lapses and mismanagement of pucks that hurt us. That being said, I think the guys worked very hard and just didn’t get the reward for their efforts,” said Pack head coach, Keith McCambridge. The Wolf Pack erased the sting of a late Josh Ho-Sang second-period goal by scoring early and taking a one-goal lead. Steven Fogarty fed Ryan Lingren who took a shot from the left point which produced a strange rebound. The puck came right into the right wing circle where Tim Gettinger was there and able to pop his second goal in as many games into the net at the 17 seconds mark. For Gettinger, it was his 11th goal of the year. The Sound Tigers returned the favor and evened the game at three. In his first game on conditioning loan from the parent New York Islanders, Thomas Hickey received a tight pass along the blue line. He was being pressured and seemingly had little room to operate, but saw his 55-foot shot somehow get past a plethora of bodies and past Halverson at 3:20. “We have to do a better job defending that play,” said McCambridge. The Wolf Pack made quick use of open ice to take an early 2-1 lead in the second period. While playing four-on-four, Fogarty got the team off to a good start by winning the faceoff. Fogarty advanced the puck to defenseman, Sean Day, who in turn flipped it over to Lindgren. He launched a shot from the right point that Fogarty redirected while screening Christopher Gibson.  The Sound Tigers netminder was also screened by a Bridgeport defenseman. For Fogarty, it was his 13th goal of the season and came just thirty seconds into the four-on-four. “I knew I had some room there," Fogarty said. "It was a good shot by Lindgren and I was able to get my stick on it.” The two teams combined for 25 shots in the period. The Pack got off to a good start getting three early on and two of those came off the stick of rookie, Lias Andersson. Bridgeport’s Travis St. Denis, the former QU Bobcat, was denied. John Gilmour followed as he calmly came along the upper right wing half wall and snared a loose puck. Gilmour sent it to Peter Holland, who in turn put a sharp angle shot on net. At 7:26, Halverson stopped Koivula and Steve Bernier attempts and then another by St. Denis. The Sound Tigers tied the game up late in the second period. Off a strong rush, Andersson had an open chance on the left wing side but missed the net completely. Sebastian Aho picked up the loose puck for the Sound Tigers and fed Andrew Ladd, who was playing in his first game since being assigned on a conditioning loan by the Islanders. Ladd sent a perfect lead pass for Ho-Sang who busted through the middle of the ice. Andersson was cruising back thru center ice and made a weak stick-check and watched as Ho-Sang barrel thru it and a Wolf Pack defenseman and straight on in on a breakaway. He cut from the left wing to the right wing side before beating Halverson on the forehand. The goal was Ho-Sang's third goal of the year. "You can’t let a player get through the neutral zone like that. A strong defense was needed there." McCambridge stated. After just five shots on goal between the two teams and many more missed shots, the Pack cashed in on their first power play in 40 seconds. Regular linemates Matt Beleskey fed Holland deep on the left wing. He quickly found Vinni Lettieri on the right point and zoomed in down the middle and buried Holland’s pass for his 16th of the season at 6:34. “That was a good solid play. We executed it quickly and Vinni has a good finishing touch,“ remarked McCambridge. The Sound Tigers evened the game as the Wolf Pack got caught in a bad line change on a neutral zone turnover. They never got set up in their own zone and the Sound Tigers defensive tandem of Parker Wotherspoon and Yanick Rathjeb did some point-to-point passing once in the Pack's zone. At 17:20, Rathjeb launched a shot from the right point that Ladd redirected from 15 feet out past Halverson, who was making his fourth straight start. SCRATCHES: Chris Bigras (right ankle, out at least a month) Ville Meskanen (lower body, day-to-day) Rob O’Gara (lower body) Ty Ronning (lower body injury from playing in Maine) Derek Pratt (healthy) Shawn St. Amant (healthy) Brandon Crawley (healthy) LINES: Fogarty-Gettinger-Gropp Holland-Beleskey-Butler Melanson-Lettieri-Leedahl Fontaine-Andersson-O’Donnell Gilmour-Lindgren Tolkinen-Hajak Day-Finn NOTES: The roster revolving door keeps up for the Wolf Pack. UCONN grad defenseman Derek Pratt was signed from Maine (ECHL) and wore jersey number two, Drew Melanson was recalled from the Mariners for his second tour of duty and switched to number 13. The latest roster addition comes in the form of another defenseman, Matt Finn from Florida. He also played four games for the Grand Rapids Griffins in an early action out of training camp tallying just a goal. Finn played for the Sound Tigers twice. He played in the first 33 games back 2015-16 and then two games the following season. He is donning jersey number 20. This year he has played 26 games with the Florida Everblades with nine goals, 18 points in 26 games. He arrived at 6 pm last night and just in time for the UCONN-BU game at the XL Center. He becomes the 37th player to play for the Wolf Pack and Sound Tigers. GM Chris Drury was not in attendance but was just up the road at the Yale-Colgate game at Ingalls Rink doing some scouting for future Wolf Pack players. Ex-Wolf Pack/CT Whale goalie, Cam Talbot, was traded straight up for Flyers goalie Anthony Stolarz by the Edmonton Oilers. The signing on the day before he was fired by former Oilers GM Peter Chiarelli, of former Sound Tiger goalie Mikko Koskinen to a three-year extension forced a move since the Oilers would have been over the cap limit. Stolarz played against the Wolf Pack in a rehab start two weeks ago at the XL Center. Sam Gagner, the son of ex-New Haven Nighthawk, Dave Gagner, who was just in here a week ago with Toronto, was traded by Vancouver who then loaned him to the Marlies to Edmonton for former Ranger Ryan Spooner. Former UCONN Husky, Jesse Schwartz, was loaned from Roanoke Valley (SPHL) to Brampton (ECHL). UCONN dropped a back-end of home with BU getting shutout 2-0. Maine beat Merrimack 4-2 and have gone back to being up eight on UCONN for the eighth and final playoff spot. PERSONAL NOTE: Its been a tough two weeks with the sudden loss of my middle brother, Kieran, who passed away at the way too young of an age of 56 yesterday. We also lost one of the better minor pro hockey fans in New Haven Nighthawks super-fan, Butch Gesner. A fixture at the New Haven Coliseum, Gesner loved the Nighthawks. He migrated when the Beast of New Haven folded and became the newborn Bridgeport Sound Tigers in 2001. In the mid-1990s, when New Haven had no AHL team after the Senators left for PEI, he befriended Springfield Falcons GM, Bruce Landon, and went to many a Falcons games. Gesner recently sent me a very touching note about how my personal Facebook page posting of my game stories on the Wolf Pack and UCONN helped keep him in the hockey loop. Many knew Gesner, who was paralyzed from the neck down after a severe home accident, that he still maintained his joyful attitude. When cancer came calling, he met that challenge like a fierce forechecker. RIP you have earned it my friend. Our warmest and sincerest condolences to the Gesner family. (EDITOR'S NOTE: Howlings wouldn't be Howlings without the remarkable contributions of Gerry Cantlon. He has become family to us and we offer him our deepest and most heartfelt condolences to Gerry and his entire family. May Kieran rest in peace...) Read the full article

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CRAWFORD: WOLF PACK WEEKLY: February 4-10, 2019

BY: Bob Crawford, Hartford Wolf Pack Hartford, CT - The Wolf Pack (19-23-3-2, 43 pts., .457) returned from the AHL All-Star break with a 5-2 loss at Springfield on Friday night.  Hartford came back from a 2-0 first-period deficit to tie that game at two, on goals by John Gilmour and Connor Brickley, but the Thunderbirds went on to tally the final three of the contest.  Then, on Saturday night at the XL Center vs. North Division-leading Rochester, the Wolf Pack got a late third-period goal from Ville Meskanen to avoid a shutout, but that was the only one of 35 Hartford tries to elude Americans goaltender Jonas Johansson in a 4-1 Rochester victory. For the latest AHL standings, click here. This week: The Wolf Pack have a busy week on tap, with four games in six days, starting Tuesday night at home vs. Bridgeport.  That game faces off at 7:00 PM, and then the Wolf Pack get their first look at the Syracuse Crunch Friday night at the XL Center, in a 7:15 game.  After that, Hartford makes its first trip of the year to Allentown, PA for a pair of battles against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.  The Wolf Pack and Phantoms tangle Saturday night at 7:05 and Sunday afternoon at 3:05. Tuesday, February 5 vs. the Bridgeport Sound Tigers (Islanders) at the XL Center, 7:00 PM This is Bridgeport’s last trip of the season to the XL Center and the second-to-last of ten meetings between the AHL’s Connecticut rivals.  The Wolf Pack are 4-3-1-0 thus far on the year against the Sound Tigers, 2-1-1-0 at home. The Sound Tigers come into this week winners of two of their last three games, but since January 2, when they were 21-9-4-1, they have won only four of 13 contests (4-8-0-1).  Bridgeport still sits second in the Atlantic Division at 25-17-4-2 for 56 points, 12 points behind Charlotte and one point up on Providence. Former Wolf Pack forward Chris Bourque (10-24-34 in 46 GP) has put up 3-4-7 in the last four games, to take over the Sound Tiger team points lead. At this and every Wolf Pack home game, fans are encouraged to come early for “Hockey Happy Hour” in the Comcast Coliseum Club, presented by Minuteman Press.  Enjoy $2 beers and $5 appetizers from 5:00 PM until puck drop. Tickets for this and all 2018-19 Wolf Pack home games are on sale now at the Agera Energy Ticket Office at the XL Center, online at hartfordwolfpack.com and by phone at (877) 522-8499.  Tickets purchased in advance for kids 12 or younger start at just $13 each, and all tickets will have a $3 day-of-game increase. Broadcast – live with Bob Crawford and Mark Bailey on News Radio 1410 AM, and 100.9 FM, WPOP, online at iheart.com and on iHeartRadio.  Video streaming at theahl.com/AHLTV.  Friday, February 8 vs. the Syracuse Crunch (Tampa Bay) at the XL Center, 7:15 PM This being a Friday-night Wolf Pack home game, fans can enjoy $1 hot dogs, and $2 draft beers and fountain sodas, through the start of the second period, presented by Nomads Adventure Quest. This is Pride and Diversity Night at the XL Center.  Join the Wolf Pack as they team up with the “You Can Play Project” to promote equality and diversity in the community. The Crunch are the highest-scoring team in the AHL, averaging 3.81 goals-per-game, and come into the week on a six-game winning streak.  At 27-13-2-1 for 57 points, Syracuse is three points behind first-place Rochester in the North Division. Syracuse scoring leader Carter Verhaeghe (22-32-54 in 43 GP) has the second-most points in the AHL and is tied for fourth in the league in goals, and Cory Conacher (15-30-45 in 39 GP) is tied for fourth among AHL skaters in points and assists. This is the first time the Wolf Pack and Crunch have seen each other this season, the opener of a two-game season series.  The two clubs split a pair of meetings last year, with Syracuse winning 3-2 in their only XL Center visit January 6. At this and every Wolf Pack home game, fans are encouraged to come early for “Hockey Happy Hour” in the Comcast Coliseum Club, presented by Minuteman Press.  Enjoy $2 beers and $5 appetizers from 5:15 PM until puck drop. Tickets for this and all 2018-19 Wolf Pack home games are on sale now at the Agera Energy Ticket Office at the XL Center, online at hartfordwolfpack.com and by phone at (877) 522-8499.  Tickets purchased in advance for kids 12 or younger start at just $13 each, and all tickets will have a $3 day-of-game increase. Broadcast – live with Bob Crawford and Mark Bailey on News Radio 1410 AM, and 100.9 FM, WPOP, online at iheart.com and on iHeartRadio.  Video streaming at theahl.com/AHLTV.  Saturday, February 9 at the Lehigh Valley Phantoms (Philadelphia) at the PPL Center, 7:05 PM This is the Wolf Pack’s first visit of the season to Allentown, after having won two of their three home games vs. the Phantoms.  Hartford swept three meetings between the two teams at the PPL Center last year, all by one-goal margins, including an overtime win and a shootout win. Lehigh Valley (25-17-3-2, 55 pts.) is currently tied with Providence for the last playoff spot in the Atlantic Division, one point behind Bridgeport and three points ahead of Springfield. Former Wolf Pack forward Dale Weise, who played 194 games in a Wolf Pack/CT Whale uniform from 2008-09 through 2010-11, had a goal and an assist for the Phantoms in a 7-5 home win over Bridgeport Friday night, his first AHL game since the 2011 playoffs with the Whale. Broadcast – live with Bob Crawford on News Radio 1410 AM, and 100.9 FM, WPOP, online at iheart.com and on iHeartRadio.  Video streaming at theahl.com/AHLTV.  Sunday, February 10 at the Lehigh Valley Phantoms (Philadelphia) at the PPL Center, 3:05 PM The Wolf Pack come into the week 7-14-1-2 on the road, and the Phantoms are 13-9-0-1 at home. In 12 all-time games at the PPL Center, the Wolf Pack are 10-2-0-0. Broadcast – live with Bob Crawford on News Radio 1410 AM, and 100.9 FM, WPOP, online at iheart.com and on iHeartRadio.  Video streaming at theahl.com/AHLTV.  Recent Transactions: Dustin Tokarski – returned to the Wolf Pack by the New York Rangers January 28. Zach Tolkinen – signed by the Wolf Pack to a Professional Tryout (PTO) agreement January 31 Pack Tracks: Join the Wolf Pack for its first Craft Beer Night Friday, February 22, when the Springfield Thunderbirds visit the XL Center for a 7:15 PM start.  Enjoy 90 minutes of tastings from Back East, Connecticut Valley, and Hanging Hills brewing companies for only $50.  That cost includes a game ticket.  For more information, click here. 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.  After this Friday, the Wolf Pack’s next Friday home date is February 22, when they host the Springfield Thunderbirds in a 7:15 PM game. Each of the Wolf Pack’s Sunday and Wednesday home games will feature the Wolf Pack’s “Click It or Ticket Family Value Pack”.  The Family Value Pack includes two tickets, two sodas, and two hot dogs, all for just $40.  The next Family Value Pack game is Wednesday, February 13, when the Toronto Marlies come to town for a 7:00 PM game. Every Wolf Pack Wednesday home game is a “Winning Wednesday”.  If the Wolf Pack win at home on a Wednesday, fans can show their Winning Wednesday ticket at the Agera Energy Ticket Office at the XL Center and receive a free ticket to the next Wednesday Wolf Pack home game (some restrictions apply).  The Wolf Pack’s next Wednesday home game is February 13, a 7:00 PM contest vs. the Toronto Marlies. Wolf Pack home game tickets can be purchased at the Agera Energy Ticket Office at the XL Center, online at hartfordwolfpack.com and by phone at (877) 522-8499.  Tickets purchased in advance for kids 12 or younger start at just $13 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 (855) 762-6451, or click here to request more info. TRACK THE PACK ON-LINE AT HARTFORDWOLFPACK.COM Read the full article

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CHAIMOVICH: EAGLES' TYNAN VOTED AHL MVP

BY: Jason Chaimovich,  AHL SPRINGFIELD, Mass. … The American Hockey League announced today that forward T.J. Tynan of the Colorado Eagles was voted the winner of the Les Cunningham Award as the AHL’s most valuable player for the 2020-21 season. The award was voted on by coaches, players, and media members in each of the league’s 28 active cities. Tynan recorded 35 points in 27 contests for the Eagles in 2020-21, good for a 1.30 points-per-game average that ranked first among all AHL skaters who played at least half of their teams’ games. Tynan finished second in the league with 27 assists – his third straight top-3 finish – and recorded assists in eight straight games from Mar. 12 to Apr. 11 and nine straight from Apr. 14 to May 9, the two longest such streaks in the league this season. Tynan, who was named team captain before the Eagles’ home opener on Feb. 24, added one goal and two assists in two postseason games for Colorado. A native of Orland Park, Ill., Tynan has played 436 AHL games over seven pro seasons and has totaled 71 goals and 277 assists for 348 points, tied for the most in the league since the start of the 2014-15 season. The three-time AHL All-Star won a Calder Cup championship with Lake Erie in 2016, reached the Finals with Chicago in 2019, and amassed 24 points in 44 AHL playoff games. Tynan was a third-round selection by Columbus in the 2011 NHL Draft and has skated in 19 career NHL games with the Blue Jackets and Colorado Avalanche, posting one assist. The AHL’s most valuable player award honors the late Les Cunningham, a member of the AHL Hall of Fame who was a five-time league All-Star and three-time Calder Cup champion with the Cleveland Barons. Previous winners of the award include Carl Liscombe (1948, ’49), Johnny Bower (1956, ’57, ’58), Fred Glover (1960, ’62, ’64), Mike Nykoluk (1967), Gilles Villemure (1969, ’70), Doug Gibson (1975, ’77), Pelle Lindbergh (1981), Paul Gardner (1985, ’86), Tim Tookey (1987), Jody Gage (1988), John Anderson (1992), Don Biggs (1993), Derek Armstrong (2001), Jason Spezza (2005), Keith Aucoin (2010), Cory Conacher (2012), Tyler Johnson (2013), Travis Morin (2014), Chris Bourque (2016), Kenny Agostino (2017), Phil Varone (2018), Daniel Carr (2019) and Gerry Mayhew (2020). Since 1936, the American Hockey League continues to serve as the top development league for all 31 National Hockey League teams. Nearly 90 percent of all players competing in the NHL are AHL graduates, and through the years the American Hockey League has been home to more than 100 honored members of the Hockey Hall of Fame. THE AHL HOME Read the full article