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mitchbeck · 4 years

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BANTLON: (FRI) PACK LOSE IN OT TO BRIDGEPORT

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings BRIDGEPORT, CT - The Hartford Wolf Pack funk continues as they dropped their eighth straight game, 4-3, in overtime on Thursday afternoon to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. The Wolf Pack are now 3-5-1-0 (7 pts) and got the point for a regulation tie. They're just one point ahead of Bridgeport 3-7-0-0 (6 points) as they head into a nine-day layoff. The game-winning goal came 29 seconds into OT on the only shot of the extra session. Rookie referee Jordan Samuels-Thomas did not call a fairly obvious crosscheck from Otto Koivula to Anthony Bitetto, who played in his first game with the Wolf Pack. After the hit on Bitetto, Koivula moved around the fallen defenseman and got the puck to Mitchell Vande Sompel behind the Wolf Pack net. He backhanded a pass in front of the net to Koivula, who put it in past Pack netminder Tyler Wall for his first goal of the season. Koivula, who had a sheepish grin, knew he had gotten away with one. “It felt good to get my first goal. We won the faceoff. I cross-checked (Bitetto). We didn’t get a call there. We got lucky. Vande Sompel found me back door. We worked hard at coming back, and we needed a win.”

THOMPSON REACTION

“I’m happy for Otto in scoring the goal and the work he has put in, and the compete, but I was very happy with his play away from the puck. The details, even in the game we lost (on Monday), he was moving, more intense, and I liked his response, and the goal tonight was cherry on top,” commented Sound Tigers Head Coach Brent Thompson. Koivula had a chat with Thompson and the coaching staff last week. It paid off as he was rewarded with his first goal in nearly a calendar year of play. “I had a good talk with Thommer about a week ago when I was scratched for a game. I’ve been pushing myself more, and I got the reward tonight, and that felt good," Koivula said.

THIRD PERIOD

At 1:05 of the third period, the Sound Tigers took the lead as defenseman Daniel Bolduc struck for his third goal of the year, all coming against the Wolf Pack. The Sound Tigers Dmytro Timashov was along the right-wing boards and caught Bolduc moving off the right point. The 6’3 rearguard moved to the middle and cranked a shot that got by Wall and gave the Sound Tigers a 3-2 lead. At 4:50, the Wolf Pack tied the game at three on Ty Ronning's second goal of the contest. Ronning is making a strong case to remain in the lineup with his third goal of the season. Zach Giuttari's shot went wide. The puck hit off the boards behind the net and came out in front. Ronning was at the hash marks and tipped a shot by Darren Raddysh and put it past goalie, Ken Appleby, playing in his first game in over a year. Both teams had late chances to score the game-winner, but their goalies sent the game to extra time.

SECOND PERIOD

The Wolf Pack played well in the first half of the second period, but their play waned as the period progressed, as has become a pattern. Ronning scored the Wolf Pack’s first goal. He made a solid entry into the offensive zone and dished the puck to Patrick Khordorenko. He whistled his shot that Appleby stopped, but there was a rebound that Ronning collected and put in for his second goal of the season at 3:14. The Wolf Pack made it 2-0 as Anthony Greco, playing on the fourth line, used his speed down the left-wing and got the inside position on defenseman Carter Hutton. Greco threw the puck back out in front, and rookie Michael O’Leary jammed home his first pro goal and earned his first pro point at 6:31.

TIGERS RESPOND

Bridgeport answered back as Tanner Fritz came across the blue line and sent a sharp wrist shot that Wall blockered aside. The puck was down to Wall's right with the Pack's Tim Gettinger closest, Zach Giuttari on one side and Justin Richards on the other. Prized Sound Tigers rookie, Simon Holmstrom, managed to collect the puck past all three Pack defenders and put in his third goal of the season at 7:58. "I liked our response. We didn’t hang our heads on the bench. A lot of our older guys have been through this before and know how to turn the ship around in the right direction. They stayed the course, and we went hard to the net and got rewarded.” Thompson said of his team’s response to being down two goals. The Sound Tigers, who have failed to tally a goal at home on the power play in 15 attempts, finally did so. Bode Wilf was at the right point and sent a pass to the left-wing circle. Rookie Cole Coskey sent a rocket of a one-timer past Wall for his second goal of the year, both against the Wolf Pack, at 15:22, knotting the game at two. "I’ve been happy with our puck movement. We just haven’t taken enough shots. We’ve been working on situations, and I was happy to see Cosley get rewarded from at the top of the umbrella. He hit a cannon, and we had traffic in front," Thompson remarked.

FIRST PERIOD

The first period was evenly played as each team collected eight shots on goal. The Wolf Pack's best chance came while killing off their second penalty with 15 seconds to go in the period. Gettinger sent Greco on a clean breakaway, but instead of making a move, he opted to shoot from 15 feet out to be denied by Appleby.

LINES

Brodzinski-Newell-Barron Khordorenko-Ruesschoff-Dmowski Gettinger-Richards-Ronning Thompson-O’Leary-Greco Raddysh-Sieloff Anthony Bitetto-Reunan Giutarri-Taylor Wall Brassard SCRATCHES: Mason Geersten (two-game AHL suspension) Gabriel Fontaine (upper-body) Vincent LoVerde Will Cuylle Alex Whalen James Sanchez Michael Lackey COACHES: Pat Boller Jeff Malcolm Vincent LoVerde

NOTES

Since 2016-17 when he was an assistant to Ken Gernander, it was the first time for Boller that he was behind the bench in an AHL game. For Malcolm, the team’s goalie consultant, and a Yale grad, it was his first game as a coach. LoVerde became the first active Wolf Pack player to be an assistant in a game. It will likely be at least another week that Knoblauch and his associate coach, Gord Murphy, will remain in New York with the Rangers. They will need to be there while the COVID-19 protocols are adhered to as they wait for the coaching staff to have three negative tests as per NHL COVID re-entry policy. Until then, it will be a day-to-day situation. One of the game referees was West Hartford native Jordan Samuels-Thomas (#90), a former Quinnipiac University Bobcats player who skated his youth hockey with the Hartford Jr. Wolf Pack for the Canterbury Prep Saints (New Milford). After being scratched for the last seven games, Ryan Dmowski (East Lyme/Hotchkiss) played on his 24th birthday.

PLAYER MOVEMENT

Brogan Rafferty (Quinnipiac University) is loaned by the Vancouver Canucks to the Manitoba Moose, while former college teammate, Matt Peca, was reassigned to the Belleville Senators by the Ottawa Senators. The Toronto Maple Leafs return Ken Agostino (Yale University) to the Toronto Marlies. The Providence Bruins have signed Eduards Tralmaks from the University of Maine (HE) to an ATO deal. The 24-year-old C/RW just completed his four college career with the Black Bears after elimination in the first round of the Hockey East playoffs by the University of New Hampshire. Tralmaks becomes the fourth member of the conference to sign a North American pro contract and the ninth player overall from Division I and III to have secured a North American or European deal. In the Hockey East playoffs, the UCONN Huskies are still practicing after being eliminated by Providence College on Sunday in the hopes of a remote chance for an NCAA at-large bid for the regionals in either Albany or Bridgeport. HARTFORD WOLF PACK HOME Read the full article

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mitchbeck · 5 years

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CANTLON: PACK WIN AGAIN IN OVERTIME

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings BRIDGEPORT, CT - The Hartford Wolf Pack remains unbeaten after a Darren Raddysh goal in overtime gave the home team a 2-1 road victory over the Bridgeport Sound Tigers Sunday afternoon. It was the third Wolf Pack OT victory in their last four games and completed a sweep of the home-and-home series. It was the Wolf Pack’s fifth overtime game of the young season and a timely player change led to the goal. Ryan Lindgren sent a pass for Danny O’Regan in the left-wing corner and went to the bench for a change. With the Pack bench on the Sound Tigers side of the ice making it easier to change, it allowed Raddysh to jump on the ice and take a perfect tape-to-tape pass from Matt Beleskey, and in one motion hit the short-side to turn on the red light and give the Pack the victory. Raddysh was all smiles and fist-pumping on his game-winning goal, his first of the season, as he was mobbed by his teammates. “I was getting closer the last couple of games (to scoring), but (Beleskey) put the perfect pass back door for me to shoot it. We try to keep short shifts in three-on-three and it paid off.” Pack Head Coach, Chuck Knoblauch, was happy with the efforts of all of his players on the game-winning play. “He (Lindgren) wasn’t tired, but when you look at it, as a left-handed shot, he would have received it likely on his backhand, where Rad as a righty was able to get it and made the shot in one motion.” Knoblauch was thrilled as the Pack swept their first three-in-three weekend which hasn’t happened in some time. The work of Beleskey and O’Regan was critical for Knoblauch. “They both won their battles to get the puck. The third game in 36 hours and you're tired and that extra effort, that pays off for us.” The Wolf Pack is now one win shy of equaling the team record for the best season start at 8-0-0-1. They're in first place in the AHL Atlantic Division, something that hasn’t been associated with a Wolf Pack team in almost five years. The record of nine straight to start the regular season was set in 2003-04. They were all regulation wins. Conversely, the Sound Tigers are off to their worst start in franchise history at 1-6-1-1. The Wolf Pack have reversed their fortune from the end of last season. “It's the first time I can remember sweeping a three-in-three since I’ve been here,“ said Pack captain, Steven Fogarty. King od amazing that it comes in his fourth year in Hartford “It was a greasy game and again, we found a way to win. Shesty (goaltender, Igor Shestyorkin) played another great game in net, and he and Adam (Huska) give us a chance to win every night.” Just before the game-winner, the Sound Tigers nearly scored themselves as Kieffer Bellows was a recipient of an ill-advised cross-ice pass from Sean Day, but Shestyorkin (29 saves) was equal to the task and kept the puck out of the net. Earlier, the Sound Tigers broke a scoreless duel off a faceoff win. The Sound Tigers' John Stevens won the faceoff cleanly from O’Regan and sent it back to Carter Hutton at the left point. With hordes of traffic in front of the net and a broken stick on the ice, he slipped a 25-foot wrist shot to the far-side past Shestyorkin, who never saw the shot at 14:40. The Wolf Pack struck back quickly and just seconds later. Boo Nieves was in the top of the Sound Tigers' zone and corralled a loose puck while being knocked down by David Quenneville. Nieves shifted the puck over to Vinni Lettieri on the left-wing side. In turn, he slipped a pass over to Fogarty, who made no mistake on the shot burying it for his first goal of the season. “Anytime you can score and help your team to win feels good. I’ve had my chances lately, and finally, it went in. Nice play by Boo and Vinni. All I had to was make sure it went in." As expected in the third game of a three-in-three weekend, in the first period the Wolf Pack had a tough time coming out of the chute and with the Sound Tigers seeking to avenge last night’s loss, they had the extra step. The Wolf Pack had the right antidote, Shestyorkin. Playing in his first AHL road game, he seemed as unflappable as he's been at home, stopping all 12 Sound Tigers shots including the first from Jeff Kubiak. Then at 4:55, Parker Wotherspoon came from the left point with a bang-bang play. Shestyorkin got some big help from Day, back in the lineup after being a defensive healthy scratch the last two games. Off a turnover, the Sound Tigers had a blossoming three-on-one with Travis St. Denis, the Quinnipiac University product, feeding Matt Lorito a pass for a shot, but Day got back and lifted his stick, and the puck as well. Shestyorkin stopped Steve Bernier on the Sound Tigers' first powerplay and then Colin MacDonald (Wethersfield) twice from the left-wing. In between those two chances, the Wolf Pack had their first quality chance shorthanded. O’Regan had a shorthanded breakaway, but as he got to the net and was about to make his move, he lost control of the puck and never got his shot off. The Wolf Pack had two other solid chances. First, it was Nick Jones on a backhander, and then it was Gabriel Fontaine off a two-on-one bid from the right-wing faceoff circle. NOTES: Vitali Kravtsov's return to Russia is official. He signed a one-year, two-way deal as a loan to Traktor Chelyabinsk (KHL). This allows the Rangers to recall him anytime should such a situation arise. He is still eligible to return to Hartford when the regular season or the Gagarin Cup playoffs for Traktor end since his original entry-level deal was signed before December 1st. He will wear his number 74 shedding the 91 he wore in Hartford. The Rangers lost to the Boston Bruins 7-4 on Sunday night. It's safe to assume that it's likely a few Pack players will not be in Canada this weekend with the team. LINES: Chytil-Beleskey-DiGiuseppe Nieves-Lettieri-Fogarty O’Regan-Fontaine-Newell Jones-Gettinger-Meskanen Lindgren-Raddysh LoVerde-Day Geersten-Keane SCRATCHES: Nick Ebert Ty Ronning The Wolf Pack hit the road next week with two games in Laval Rocket at the Place Bell Centre to play on Wednesday and Friday before heading to Belleville and the CAA Arena on Saturday. The next home game is November 8 against Hershey. Ex-Sound Tiger defenseman, Jessie Graham, has signed with HK Nitra (Slovakia-SLEL). He played in Utica last season and that makes him the 77th AHL player from last season to sign in Europe and Asia. He was in Charlotte’s training camp and was among the last cuts. Ex-Sound Tiger goalie, David Leggio, is playing Canadian senior league hockey with the Brantford Blast (ACH) and another Blaine Down is with the Whitby Dunlops (ACH). Chris Willkie, the son of ex-Wolf Pack, David Wilkie, had his NHL rights traded from Florida to Ottawa. Wilkie is currently a senior at Colorado College (NCHC) where he transferred from North Dakota. Dalton Duhart, the son of ex-Danbury Trasher, Jim Duhart, was traded from Barrie Colts (OHL) to the Saginaw Spirit (OHL). Devante Smith-Pelly, who split last year with Washington and Hershey, signs with Kunlun (China-KHL). That makes 78 AHL players from last season to sign in Europe or Asia. Read the full article

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mitchbeck · 4 years

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CANTLON'S CORNER: HOCKEY NEWS AND NOTES OFF SEASON VOLUME 18

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings HARTFORD, CT – News in the hockey world is coming in expedited fashion as the NHL has returned to the ice in their respective training camps as they get ready for the upcoming 24-team tournament to determine a 2019-2020 Stanley Cup Champions. As many as 19 wins is what it will take for teams to get there. The tournament starts soon. Expect more and more news coming as the NHL ramps up again. RANGERS TRAINING CAMP As expected, an interim tag has been added to Gord Murphy's name as the Hartford Wolf Pack Assistant Coach was elevated to the same position for the New York Rangers as they begin to train for their first-round, best-of-five playoff series-opener against the Carolina Hurricanes at High Noon on August 1st in Toronto. The Rangers recalled ten players from the Wolf Pack as part of the team's expanded post-season roster of 30. The ten players making their respective ways to the MSG Training Center include forwards, Steven Fogarty, Vinni Lettieri, Tim Gettinger, Vitali Kravtsov, and surprisingly Danny O’Regan. The defensemen are Libor Hajek, Darren Raddysh, and two big surprises in Brandon Crawley, who enters the last year of his Entry-Level Contract (ELC), and K’Andre Miller, who signed his three year ELC just days before games were stopped but who is ineligible to play because his contract starts in the 2020-21 season. Read the full article

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