#CalleAndersson

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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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"Boregous - Invincible (CalleAndersson Remix)" by NewComer

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CANTLON: (SAT) PACK POUNCE ON TIGERS TO STAY UNBEATEN, 4-1

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings HARTFORD, CT - Danny O’Regan’s two points, (goal and assist) paced the Hartford Wolf Pack to a 4-1 win against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers in their most complete game of this early part of the regular season and remain undefeated in regulation play and run their record to 7-0-0-1. The two teams will tango in Bridgeport on Sunday afternoon at 3 pm. Igor Shestyorkin in net for Hartford where he'll be making his first road start of his Wolf Pack career. The Pack played a python-like defensive, squeezing Bridgeport to taking only 17 shots on goal, making it an easy night for Pack goalie, Adam Huska. Once the offense finally kicked into gear for the Pack, they maintained puck possession for most of the remaining 40 minutes of play. “After the first period, five-on-five, it was still 1-1. We just didn’t get the breaks," said Wolf Pack head coach, Kris Knoblauch. ”It changed in the second period. We got the breaks and we got that powerplay goal and to get those breaks you have to work for them. Tonight, I felt we worked all night.” The Wolf Pack broke open the usual tight-checking game with three goals in a 2:36 span in the second period and never looked back or were threatened with losing the lead. While the power play hasn’t clicked the past few games, it finally got going leading to a goal after it expired. One of the few clean entries they've had the past few games got the offense rolling. Filip Chytil and Joey Keane were stopped, but the puck came back to Keane on a catch-and-pass with Vinni Lettieri, who let one fly and put it past a Matt Beleskey screen off the backboards and then off of goalie, Jakub Skarek’s skate, into the net at 13:13. “We settled it down after the first period on the power play. The players talked among themselves and self-corrected a few things and coach themselves. It wasn’t something the coaching staff designed and you want them to figure out the little things and those adjustments were necessary.” Then 36 seconds later defenseman, Mason Geersten was along the left-wing half-wall inside the Sound Tigers zone. He took a strong pass from Nick Jones and sent a soft pass of his own onto the stick of Tim Gettinger.  He then zipped his shot over the shoulder of Czech rookie, Jakub Skarek, who was making his AHL debut. The goal was Gettinger's first of the season. “Geerts got me a great pass, and I was able to find the space and was just trying to get it on the net and it found its way in." The Pack didn’t sit back. Gabriel Fontaine was in the right-wing corner in a one-on-one battle, but the Sound Tigers' Mason Jobst retrieved the puck and sent it up the middle where it went right to O‘Regan, who swiftly moved to the faceoff dot and whistled one over Skarek into the top-shelf over his right shoulder at 15:49. The goal was O'Regan's second goal in as many games. “That third goal really gave us separation on them and I just jumped in the box and we got the room we needed. Everybody was contributing and a great forecheck by Fontsy (Fontaine) and (Patrick) Newell. Some teams can get complacent when you get a lead like that, but we didn’t. I was fortunate that it went right to my stick I was happy to see it go in,” said O’Regan. Sound Tigers head coach Brent Thompson called a timeout to try to settle his troops down and break the Wolf Pack momentum. The Wolf Pack started where they left off last night on the power-play twice in the first five minutes, but their power outage continued. The Wolf pack had awkward entries that looked like they were over-thinking things. Combine that with some Sound Tiger defensive work pinning them on the half-wall at times in the offensive zone. LINES: Chytil-Beleskey-DiGiuseppe Nieves-Lettieri-Fogarty O’Regan-Fontaine-Newell Jones-Gettinger-Meskanen Lindgren-Raddysh LoVerde-Keane Geersten-Neubert SCRATCHES: Sean Day Ty Ronning Vitali Kravtsov WOLF PACK FAN JERSEY OF THE NIGHT: 13 Nicklas Jensen (Jokerit Helsinki Finland-KHL) 30 Dan Blackburn (retired) Pair of 49’s Ilka Heikkinen (TPS Turku Finland-FEL) and Calle Andersson (SC Bern Switzerland-LNA) 42 Jeff State NOTES: Andersson according to EP Prospects. com is close to signing a contract extension. Sad news from the local hockey community as it goes with the passage of time another member of the Whalers family has passed on. Former penalty box attendant, Winston A. “JR” Chevalier Jr. 68, passed away on Wednesday. Condolences to the Chevalier family of the passing of the Hartford native Read the full article

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CANTLON'S CORNER: LATEST XL CENTER UPDATE AN OTHER NEWS

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings HARTFORD, CT - The saga of the XL Center remains in limbo as the change of state government has begun. “We haven’t had a meeting with the Governor-Elect or his transition team. I would think in about six weeks we'll have a chance and lay out our case. Right now, between the transition and the upcoming holidays, the schedules are tight,” CRDA Executive Director Mike Freimuth commented. The one variable that has changed since August, is that the $250 million dollar renovation that had been favored and the quasi-state agency has been pushing for over two years has fallen by the wayside. “There hasn’t been an appetite to fund this re-boot of the arena by the state. The needle hasn’t moved before, or even after the election so we have to move to a more workable economic model. We're looking at eliminating the second concourse as a way to reduce construction costs by half. We have to address the limitations inside the building and deal with tired, aging and fatigued mechanical systems, that hasn’t changed either.” The calculus is still the same, but now within a $125 million model that will seek to have what is likely to be a 10,000 to 12,000 seat arena will still be able to drive new revenue streams particularly with UCONN basketball and hockey, and the AHL Hartford Wolf Pack as well. “There are still components and features we can include in the very necessary re-boot of the arena to make the building as modernized as its necessary to compete in a whole new landscape that exits the marketplace,” Freimuth said. The XL Center nears entering its third decade of the 21st century. The formula remains as clear as it was five-and-a-half years ago when the CRDA started this process. “The three elements haven’t changed," Friemuth said. "We need to have the atrium, reboot the building, and modernize it for the fans and to do a complete upgrade of the seating, wiring, heating, and cooling. We have done our best to keep the building open and functional, and I know it sounds stale, but we are whistling past the graveyard. The costs haven’t changed and have gone up in some cases, and the need grows larger every month that we don’t deal with this.” The atrium negotiations with Northland remain in the same state it's been for almost two years- no agreement. “We're talking, that’s always good. However, they have come back with some new appraisals but we're no closer to anything like an agreement. We're very far apart in numbers, but until a new governor is seated and legislature convened, not much is happening until then.” There is also a matter of the bid by Oak Street CapItal, LLC of Chicago to buy the XL Center. That is also unresolved. “Unfortunately, that too remains in a holding pattern because anything with that proposal is going to go through the legislature one way, or the other. We're thinking the new modified arena proposal might be a model that work within their proposal of what has been discussed between the parties. We're anxious to talk to folks in the legislature regarding the concepts that have been presented. In all of this, there is no set timetable, but we have to start making decisions, the calendar year is moving quickly.” PLAYERS MOVES Former Yale goalie, Alex Lyon, continued his shuttle between Philly and Lehigh Valley. Tanner Fritz returns to Bridgeport from the Islanders. Ryan Donato, the son of ex-Pack, Ted Donato, was recalled from Providence and forward, Anders Bjork, was sent to P-Town. Ex-Pack, Ryan Sproul, was released from his second AHL team this fall by Laval. The reason was that the Canadiens assigned two defenseman to the Rocket in Karl Azner and Victor Mete. Reid Boucher is once again sent back to Utica by Vancouver. Former UCONN goalie, Tanner Creel, was loaned by Roanoke Valley (SPHL) to Reading (ECHL). Ex-Pack defenseman, Calle Andersson, signs an extension with SC Bern (Switzerland-LNA). His younger brother, Rasmus, is playing in Calgary. Their father, Peter, is an ex-Ranger and the head coach with Malmo IF (Sweden-SHL). Several ex-Pack players are skating in Canadian senior league hockey. Sam Klassen and Garett Bembridge skate for the Rosetown Red Wings while Matt Stefanshion is with the Stony Plain Eagles of the Allan Cup West League that was formerly known as the Chinook Senior Hockey League. PACK PLAY CHARLOTTE IN LONE GAME OF THE WEEK The Wolf Pack record stands at 10-9-1-2 (23 pts) and has them sitting in fifth in the Atlantic division, just four points behind the second place Sound Tigers. The Pack, who has been playing quite often over the first two months, have see their schedule slow down this week with just one game. They took Wednesday off for practice and they meet the division-leading, and the top team in the AHL, the Charlotte Checkers whose record is 16-5-1-0 (33 pts). The Checkers lost their last game, 2-1, to Providence last night have a three-in-three weekend before heading back to Providence on Sunday. However, both teams lost big parts of their offensive from their lineup in the last 24 hours. The Wolf Pack lost Vinni Lettieri to a Rangers recall after they were shutout in Ottawa Thursday and third shutout in 10 games. He has five points in four games and in his last two games was a dominanting offensive force. The Checkers saw Valentin Zykov, a 33 goal scorer last year year, no goals and three points with Carolina and just two goals in six games with the Checkers this season was taken off waivers by Edmonton. Given his play of late, it would be a good bet Dustin Tokarski will start in net Saturday night. The Pack have just two home games in the next week and five for the month. They play Charlotte next week and also travel North Carolina fopr two games go to Bridgeport and host Providence on the 19th before Christmas. See the Pack now as they will be around for a limited time in December. The Checkers are led in scoring by Janne Kuokkanen with 22 points in 22 games and Andrew Poturlarski 20 points in 22 games. The Wolf Pack are led by Peter Holland with 19 points including 16 assists plus a team high six game points scoring streak and defenseman John Gilmour 15 points in 22 games. Read the full article