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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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CANTLON: PACK AND BRUINS BATTLE TO OT

      VERSUS     

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings HARTFORD, CT - A late bench minor penalty for Too Many Men cost the Hartford Wolf Pack dearly as it allowed the Providence Bruins to complete their comeback and earn a 4-3 win in overtime while sending the home team to their second straight loss. The game-winning goal came as Karson Kuhlman came off the right point and spotted Cody Golobeuf in the lower left wing circle and hit him with the pass. The right-handed shooting Golobeuf one-timed it to the far side past the Pack's starting goalie, Dustin Tokarski at 1:03. The late game critical error came when John Gilmour hopped off the bench, but the puck came to Rob O’Gara who was still seeking to exit the ice. “We talked about closing out games, and we did a good job of it early, but we sat back to play not to lose, rather than to play to win and you can’t do that in this league,” said assistant captain, Steven Fogarty. Fogarty, who was skating off the bench, felt that regardless, it was an opportunity that shouldn’t have been there. “We shouldn’t have been in that position to kill (a penalty) in overtime. It comes back to the way we played in the third. We just need to clean it up and figure it.” Head coach Keith McCambridge opted not to talk after the game. The two teams will meet again Saturday night in Providence in the back end of their home-and-home at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center. The puck drops at 7 pm. Midway through the third period, the Pack looked like they might steal two points on Tokarski's strong netminding (32 saves), but they couldn’t hold on to a two-goal lead that evaporated in a 36-second span as the Bruins clawed their way back to tie the game at three. Austin Fyten outworked two Wolf Pack players in the right-wing corner and chipped the puck over to Colby Cave, who made a pretty between the legs, blind pass, that found Anton Blidh, who snapped it to the far side on a sharp angle, semi-screened shot past Tokarski at 12:16. It was Blidh's first goal. The Bruins tied the game at three when Trent Frederic got behind the defense and despite losing his edge and falling to the ice, was able to shovel Kuhlman’s rebound to tie the contest at three. "It was a wasted effort by Tokarski. He played very big for us tonight, and he and (Marek Mazanec) have been keeping us in games. It feels bad not give get them the win,” Fogarty said. The Pack got the all-important third goal on one of their few effective forechecking sessions of the game. Ville Meskanen started the whole sequence in the Bruins' zone and got a quality chance that was denied. He and Fogarty kept the pressure on the Bruins' defense. The puck went up the boards where Chris Bigras, who was at the right point, was able to snare the puck from getting out of the zone. Bigras put it to the net where rookie Tim Gettinger and Fogarty were hovering like hawks in the high noon sun. Gettinger redirected the shot by Zane McIntyre at 7:01 for his third goal of the season. McIntyre appealed to referees to look for what he thought was interference on the play, but the referees disagreed and the play stood. “That’s how we have been playing. Punching it in, and pressuring, and that’s where we have our success. We have to get back to playing like that regularly. Biggie (Bigras) made the play there and we got to the net,” Fogarty, who has come out of the gate strong with four points in four games, remarked. The Bruins had a jump in their game that the Pack didn’t on the opening shift of the second period as Fyten shot it wide. Jakub Zbrobil had a wide open net on the left wing but shot the puck wide by 10 feet. The Wolf Pack however got the goal they needed. Bobby Butler, an offseason free-agent signee, stopped on a first-period chance, didn’t miss his second break-in chance. The Pack’s Peter Holland was at the blue line on the left wing side. Holland sent a perfect short pass that caught a Bruin flat-footed in a line change. Butler skated in, took the puck and snapped his first of the season to the far side past McIntyre at 5:41 and a 2-1 lead. The Bruins maintained puck control on a five-on-three penalty kill and Colby Cave and then Jeremy Lauzon, both had better quality scoring chances than the Wolf Pack. The Bruins came off the wing on Tokarski with chances by Karson Kuhlman, Mark McNeill, Cameron Hughes, Urho Vakkainen and then, Connor Clifton from the right point. Tokarski rejected them all. With just over a minute to go the Wolf Pack had a chance at the right side of the net as Meskanen was stopped. He then dug for the loose puck from under McIntyre, but his backhand shot went through the crease. The Bruins grabbed the early lead as Jacob-Forsbacka Karlsson tallied his first of the year taking a good, quick, short-pass from the Bruins early season scoring leader, Mark McNeill, and went in all alone past the Pack defensive tandem of Vince Pedrie and O’Gara on Tokarski. He went from the left to the right side with a nice forehand deke on Tokarski and slipped it behind him at 6:03. The Pack were outshot 8-2 and had little offensive zone pressure, but still managed to tie the game at one. Bigras, an early season rock on both sides of the defensive coin, used his good skating and stick skill and spotted Lias Andersson skating backwards at the left side of the Bruins net. Bigras slid a perfect pass to Andersson who redirected it perfectly at the center of the net at 10:58. For Andersson, it was his first of the season. Shortly afterward, the Bruins got a power play, and after hitting three posts last week in the regular season opener, managed to ding another one off the stick of Ryan Fitzgerald. The Bruins kept the pressure on the Wolf Pack. Tokarski was able to turn aside several strong chances by Vakkainen, a first-round draft pick who had three shots, as did Fitzgerald. The two defensemen combined for six of the Bruins 15 first period shots. The Wolf Pack's best chance came when Butler was on the right wing with a seemingly wide-open net and snapped it at the net. McIntyre stopped the shot that appeared to go in, as even the goal judge flicked on the red light, but was fooled. NOTES: The Pack had one injury scratches in Brendan Crawley who is day-to-day with an upper-body injury. Shawn St. Amant and defenseman Sean Day were both healthy scratches. PACK LINES: Butler-Holland-Gropp Andersson-Lindqvist-Schneider Fogarty-Gettinger-Meskanen Fontaine-Ronning-O’Donnell Gilmour-Lindgren Bigras-Hajak Pedrie-O’Gara The Pack defensive duo of Bigras and rookie Libor Hajak are each a plus-five which is among the best in the league. They have played together since training camp in New York. Hajak is top among rookies The Bruins have two players with CT ties. These are defenseman Connor Clifton (Quinnipiac University) and Wiley Sherman (Greenwich/Hotchkiss Prep). Clifton was in the opening lineup and Sherman was scratched. Among the early AHL leaders are Sam Gagner, the son of former Nighthawk, Dave Gagner, who is with the Toronto Marlies. He had two goals and five points and current teammate ex-Pack, Chris Mueller, has two goals and four points and Brad Malone, nephew of former Hartford Whaler, Greg Malone with the Bakersfield Condors, has four points. That team has a goalie with a familiar name, ex-Pack and New York Ranger, Al Montoya, also on Bakersfield and has a 1.45 GAA in two games. Among rookies, Tim Gettinger is in the top 10 with three points in three games. The Pack powerplay is 16th of the 31 teams scoring 16.7% of the time. Providence is 18th at 12.5%. On the PK, the Wolf Pack are 9th at a success rate of 92.9% and the Bruins are 20th at 75%, but they have only have had to kill off four minors so far. The Rangers play Saturday afternoon at 1 pm at MSG against Edmonton. Read the full article

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CANTLON: WOLF PACK CAMP IN SESSION

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings CROMWELL, CT - The time has come for a preview of the 22nd Hartford Wolf Pack training camp for the 2018-19 edition of the team is a major work in progress. The New York Rangers, under a new coaching regime headed by David Quinn, are conducting their first training camp. The team has taken a departure from practices of the past, but as of Wednesday, the Blueshirts still have 40 players in camp heading into their last two exhibition games including Wednesday night at MSG against the New York Islanders, and then the finale Thursday night against the Philadelphia Flyers. The Rangers are required to get down to 23 players as per the CBA Agreement by their regular season home opener against Nashville next Wednesday.  That means that 17 players need to be dispatched in likely various forms and directions. One area where there's a major glut is on defense. There are 16 total defensemen in the organization. Six will be up top and six in Hartford, so five players will either be released, traded, or assigned to other teams and leagues both in North America and around the world. “The numbers are lower for on-ice sessions, but it has given us a chance to see these players we brought in a little more closely that may potentially start the season with us or be part of our depth coming from the ECHL point of view (in Portland, ME with the new Maine Mariners team). The closer look helps us in our evaluation process, and once we have more bodies we'll have the flexibility to work on systems and structures,” remarked Pack head coach Keith McCambridge. The normal model of hockey training camp has clearly been changed for McCambridge as all coaches are detail and task orientated. “Certainly, (having the limited players in camp) takes away from your usual focus of putting together structures and see where players are, so it has been an adjustment to make,“ remarked McCambridge. “So you do lose a few days, but since we're running the same systems it shouldn’t be a big change once we get players here. It's organizing them. It's good right now that they are getting good games and practice time in New York. Once we get people here, we can start to look at lines and combinations.” A pair of exhibition games that were scheduled at Trinity College’s Koeppel Community Center for Friday and Saturday at 1 pm was reduced by one when Friday’s game was canceled because the team won’t have a full complement of players. So, for now, it will allow for McCambridge and his staff only one game to do some depth evaluation for the upcoming season. The excess of defensemen in New York means that when the rest are finally sent to Hartford, decisions on playing time and contract status will be factored in just as much as padding in a transition play or net-front play. “No question the backline has quite a few players as we do up front, but we have a good variety of players on defense and lots of competition for those last two spots in New York and the same can be said for us here.” The team did sign one player with a familiar face for fans. Shawn O’Donnell was signed to an official AHL one-way deal. At age 30, he is on the other side of the AHL mountain but brings intangibles - particularly in leading the young guys in the organization - which they simply didn’t get from Joe Whitney last year. O’Donnell’s work ethic has been his calling card and early results are all positive. “He has been our best player in camp, energetic and he ranked number one in our on-ice, and off-ice testing, getting off on a good footing and that catches your eye right away. His skating is very solid and you look at him and you can slot him on a second or third line because of his skating and energy. "He has experience which is a plus, and he is the perfect off-ice player we want. A real quality person that will benefit us,” McCambridge said of the fifth-year minor pro who was a walk-on and made the Wolf Pack. A few other players have impressed McCambridge. “(Scott) Savage as a defenseman has had a few good days with us here as has (Ouelette) St. Amant who has some experience with good size and puck movement. He's done well. Vince Pedrie is back and has experience and Sean Day is a young man who had a strong OHL career and has had some nice days here.” The Wolf Pack 2018-19 are clearly a work in progress. NOTES: Goalie Brandon Halverson is in camp and skating. "Brandon skated in New York and has done so the last two days, so yes, he is ahead of schedule where we expected him to be after his procedure. Cuts look like they will be coming in the next 48-72 hours. The Sound Tigers got another slew of players from the Islanders. Five played last year in Bridgeport. Travis St. Denis, the ex-QU Bobcat, Parker Wotherspoon, Josh Ho-Sang, Michael Del Colle, Jeremy Smith, Tanner Fritz, Christopher Gibson, Sebastian Aho. One major prospect in Kieffer Bellows a highly skilled scoring forward and Las Vegas Golden Knights opted to send defenseman Chris Casto to Bridgeport. There has been several transactions with CT connections. Ex-Pack, Eric Selleck, is in the Toronto Marlies camp on a try out basis. Ex-Pack, Chris Summers, is assigned to Wilkes Barre/Scranton. Another defenseman joining him in PA is Joseph Masonius UCONN (HE). Ryan Haggerty has signed a two-year, two-way deal with the Penguins ($600K/$700K-NHL/$100K-AHL). Ex-CT Whale Tim Erixon signs a PTO contract for the Penguins training camp. Ex-Sound Tiger, Brett Gallant, was assigned to Cleveland and signed a contract extension. Jarred Tinordi, son of ex-New Haven Nighthawk Mark Tinordi, was sent to Milwaukee. Former Ranger, Paul Carey (Salisbury Prep), was assigned to Belleville. Tommy Cross (Simsbury/Westminster Prep) heads to Cleveland. Brad Malone, son of the former Hartford Whaler, Greg Malone, heads to Bakersfield. Nolan Stevens, the son of ex-Whaler John Stevens, and the brother to the Sound Tigers' John Jr., and Adam Musil, the nephew of former Ranger and Whaler player Bobby Holik, were both assigned to San Antonio. Brady Shaw, son of ex-Whaler Dave Shaw, is in Syracuse’s camp. Connor Clifton (Quinnipiac University) was sent to Providence by Boston. Callum Boothy (Salisbury Prep) was sent to Charlotte. Ex-Pack, Joey Leach, is Manitoba’s camp and Ryan Sproul to Stockton (AHL). Ex-Sound Tigers J.F. Berube was sent to Cleveland. Griffin Reinhart to the Chicago Wolves and Steve Olesky to San Diego. Ex-Pack, Daniel Walcott, now of Syracuse, is going to miss six to eight months with shoulder surgery. Jordan Sims (UCONN HE), the son of former Whaler and Nighthawk, Al Sims, has signed with Cincinnati (ECHL). Ex-Sound Tiger, Adam Huxley, re-signs with The Lacombe Generals (ACHW) for another season of Canadian senior league hockey and will be an assistant coach with Wainwright (NEAJBHL). Ex-Pack, Evgeny Grachev, moves from Torpedo Novgorod (Russia-KHL) to Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg (Russia-KHL). Luke Krys of Salisbury Prep, the younger brother of BU’s Chad Krys, announces a commit to Brown University (ECACHL) in 2020-21. Matt Barnaby, Jr. (Avon Old Farms) will play with the Chicago Steel (USHL) this year under its new coach, former Wolf Pack captain, and Sound Tiger, Greg Moore, announces he is Penn State (Big 10) commit for next season 2019-20. Barnaby’s, USHL rights were traded from Bloomington to Chicago played with the Pembroke Lumber Kings (CCHL) the last two years had been an initial commit to Lake Superior St. (NCHC). Ex-Sound Tiger, and Wolf Pack, Jeff Hamilton, who played his high school hockey at Avon Old Fames and collegiately at Yale University, is the Program Director and skills coach for the CT Jr. Rangers (NCDC). Jack Christian (Wilton/Taft Prep) is the new assistant coach for the CT Jr. Rangers. Ex-Pack, Thomas Poeck, is the new head coach for the Northern (MA) Cyclones (USPHL-Elite) Former New Haven Knight, Bob Thornton, is the new head coach of the P.A.L. Islanders (NCDC). Alex Drulia, nephew of former Nighthawk, Stan Drulia is the new head coach for Cape Cod (NA3HL). Logan Mick of Quinnipiac University (ECACHL) becomes the sixth US collegian to head back to Canada as he will be with the University  Lethbridge Pronghorns (CWUAA) this year. The NHL Alumni Association has a few familiar names on its Executive committee this year. Ex-Nighthawk, Wayne McBean, is the Chairman. The Vice-Chairman is ex-Whaler, Kelly Chase, the Secretary/Treasurer ex-Whaler and Ranger Mark Janssens and former Whaler Terry Yake is a board member. Read the full article