#DavidDesharnais

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CANTLON'S CORNER: WOLF PACK BACK AT PRACTICE

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings HARTFORD, CT - The Hartford Wolf Pack start the second half of their season at their secondary training facility, Champions Skating Center in Cromwell, CT, over the next two days as they prepare for Friday's game with the Springfield Thunderbirds. The taxi squads have been a significant roster disruption for the last two months, but they appear to be gone now. Only one present roster issue remains up in the air. Jarred Tinordi was reassigned by the New York Rangers, as is Zac Jones. They are still with the Pack, who have nine defensemen. As expected, Zach Berzolla was shipped back to the Jacksonville Icemen, the Wolf Pack, and Rangers' ECHL affiliate to get ice time. With the NHL trade deadline approaching next month, it is likely that if the organization makes trades, they will deal from their logjam presently on the backline. The Pack host Springfield and Rochester and Friday and Saturday as they return to action with a full roster of players. NOTES The Bridgeport Islanders saw Austin Czarnik get picked up on waivers by the Seattle Kracken. Ex-Bridgeport Sound Tiger captain Ben Holmstrom will be with the Rochester Americans on Saturday after signing a PTO yesterday from the South Carolina Stingrays (ECHL). Former Wolf Pack Nikalas Jensen was part of Danish hockey history as they won their first Olympic game in 75 years. Denmark won 2-1 over the Czech Republic. Across the way was ex-Pack Tomas Kundratek. He hit the crossbar in the waning seconds for the Czechs as they sought to tie the game. After just one game with the Toronto Marlies (AHL), former QU goalie Keith Petruzzelli was sent back to Newfoundland (St. John's) Growlers (ECHL). Former Wolf Pack Shawn St. Amant plays under his full name Shawn Ouellette St. Amant with the Trois-Rivieres Lions (ECHL). It's common among French players to include either your middle name or your mother's maiden name. Team USA defeated China 8-0 as Sean Farrell had a hat trick and five points in their opening game of the Olympics. A former Yale Bulldog is a brand new father, Brian O'Neill (Jokerit Helsinki Finland-KHL), the only US player with Olympic experience, scored a power play goal. FAMILIAR NAMES A plethora of familiar names on both lineups. Ex-Sound Tiger named an alternate captain, Aaron Ness, now with the Providence Bruins. He was paired with ex-Pack Steven Kampfer who plays with AK Bars Kazan (Russia-KHL) in the opening lineup. He had a gorgeous primary assist on Farrell's second goal. Former Yale Bulldog Ken Agostino (Torpedo Novgorod Russia-KHL) was among the forwards selected by former Rangers coach David Quinn. China had goalie ex-Sound Tiger Jeremy Smith (Kunlun China-KHL) starting in net. The game's first penalty was the one-time Ranger draftee who was traded, Ethan Werek (Kunlun China-KHL). The Chinese assistant coach is former Ranger Alexei Kovalev. Ex-Pack Adam Cracknell (Bakersfield-AHL) and ex-Sound Tiger David Desharnais (HC Fribourg-Gotteron Switzerland-LNA) assisted on Canada's third goal in their opening 5-1 win over Germany. Ex-Pack Adam Tambellini (Rogle BK Sweden-SHL) had the primary assist on their last goal. Ex-Sound Tiger for Germany Tom Kuhnhackl (Skelleftea AIK Sweden-SHL) was held scoreless. Slovakia lost 6-2 to Finland as ex-Pack Marek Hrivik and ex-Springfield Falcons Tomas Jurco, Marko Dano, and ex-Springfield Thunderfield Martin Mancini were held pointless. Another ax-QU goalie Andrew Shortridge is recalled by the Stockton Heat from the Kansas City Mavericks (ECHL). Ivan Nikolishin, the son of the former Hartford Whaler Andrei Nikolishin, heads to his third team and league as he's loaned from Amur Khabarovsk (Russia-KHL) to Ilves Tampere (Finland-FHL). HARTFORD WOLF PACK HOME Read the full article

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David Desharnais autographed Edmonton Oilers 2017 NHL Stanley Cup playoffs hockey puck #daviddesharnais #autographed #edmontonoilers #stanleycup #playoffs #2017stanleycupplayoffs #hockeypuck #signedpuck #dagr010 #dagr1010 #dagrcollectibles #yeg #yegsale #youtubedagr #youtubedagrsportscardsandcollectibles #forsale (at DAGR Sportscards and Collectibles)

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CANTLON'S CORNER: MID-WEEK NEWS AND NOTES

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings HARTFORD, CT - The Olympics are into the medal round, and several former Hartford Wolf Pack players and those connected to Connecticut are doing well representing their homelands. Men's Team Canada knocked off the Chinese team on Tuesday, 7-2. Ex-Pack Adam Tambellini garnered five points with two goals, one coming on a penalty shot, with the other three being assists. Ex-Pack Adam Cracknell has one helper in four games. John Gilmour, who's on the taxi squad and has yet to play for the Canadians, has watched his team advance to the quarterfinals against Sweden. Ex-Bridgeport Sound Tiger David Desharnais has an assist in four games. Josh Ho-Sang has three assists in four games. Jack McBain, the son of former New Haven Senator Andrew McBain, registered a goal and an assist against China. MORE OLYMPIC NEWS The 7-2 loss eliminated China. Ex-Pack Ryan Sproul had two assists and goalie Jeremy Smith played in every game, going 0-3 and a 5.63 GAA. To make matters worse, he suffered a knee injury and was taken out of the game against Canada. Aforementioned, Sweden features ex-Pack netminder Magnus Hellberg. He has a 2.46 GAA in two games, while fellow ex-Pack, Carl Klingberg, has three points in three games. Ex-New York Ranger and Wolf Pack forward Marek Hrivik, playing for Slovakia, has a goal and two assists in the Olympics. The Slovaks face the American team on Wednesday at 11:10 PM EST. While playing in the Olympics, Hrivik had his KHL deal with Torpedo Novgorod (Russia) terminated by mutual consent. Instead, he signed a contract with his old Swedish team, Leksands IF (SHL), for the rest of the year. Ex-Springfield Falcon Tomas Jurco has one assist in three games for the Slovaks. Another former Falcon, Marko Dano, is pointless in three games. In four games, Marton Marincin, formerly of the Springfield Thunderbirds, has one goal. EX-PACK CAPTAIN KAMPFER Ex-Pack and Ranger Steven Kampfer, who is playing for ex-New York Rangers' head coach, David Quinn, behind the US bench, has three points in three games. Greenwich's Strauss Mann, like Kampfer, is a fellow Michigan alum. He has played very well. In his only game so far in the Olympic games, he is showing to the world why he is atop the Swedish league. Two former Yale Bulldogs, Brian O'Neill, and Kenny Agostino, have had a solid tourney. O'Neill has three points in three games, and Agostino had the game-winning goal against Canada. It's his only point in three games. Ex-Sound Tiger Aaron Ness has an assist in three games. Jake Sanderson, the son of former Hartford Whaler, Geoff Sanderson, has been limited to playing in only one game due to injury but has put one assist to his credit. Switzerland reached the quarterfinals by beating hockey powerhouse the Czech Republic, 4-2. Ex-Pack Raphael Diaz had a goal and an assist and, one he'd like to forget, in his own net. Andres Ambühl Andres Ambühl, 38, is playing in his fifth Olympics and has scored a goal. He is the second oldest player to score. Borje Salming, 40, a tremendous Swedish defenseman who played for the Toronto Maple Leafs, had potted four goals for Sweden in 1992. Ambuhl is the oldest player to record his first goal. "Today, we played really tight defensively. Everybody came back. We blocked shots. We boxed them out. We won puck battles. Genoni had a hell of a game. He always stopped the first shot, and we cleared the rebounds. I think it was a good, strong effort from the whole team," Diaz told IIHF.com. Ambühl acknowledged his accomplishment. "It's nice to score my first goal at Olympics, but it was great especially for the team," he said to IIHF.com in a post-game interview. "We somehow didn't manage to bury the pucks before and today they bounced our way. Nobody was happy with the preliminary round so we wanted to show that we can play hockey and win too. We wanted to show this reaction. Now we have to continue like that without getting over excited." MORE RESULTS Switzerland faces off with Finland. Latvia was eliminated by upstart Cinderella Denmark 3-2. One Latvian defenseman is former Quinnipiac University (ECACHL) blueliner Karlis Cukste. His KHL deal with his hometown team, Dynamo Riga, dissolved by mutual consent. He signed an agreement with Lahti Pelicans (Finland-FEL) and will report there shortly. Goalie Kristers Gudlevsk, the ex-Sound Tiger, didn't play a game for Latvia. Germany was eliminated by the Slovaks 4-0. Tom Kühnhack had just one goal in the tourney against the US, while former Springfield Falcon Matthia Plachta had one assist in four games. Denmark has ex-Pack Niklas Jensen. He has an assist in four games, while ex-Sound Tiger Frans Nielsen has three assists in three games. He's playing for the ROC (Russian Olympic Committee), where ex-Pack Artem Anisimov has yet to play. ARIZONA The long-running saga in the desert is reaching the end of the story. A plan has been approved locally to have the sad-sack oft-troubled Arizona Coyotes play at the new on-campus venue at Arizona State for three years with an option for a fourth year. They're trying to wind through a skeptical local political windmill and get a third arena built in Tempe. A long-time trusted source was quite pointed on the subject. "The optics look just awful. A team like Seattle, who just spent a billion dollars renovating their arena and $650 million to get into the NHL, who are doing well, have to be looking on in horror. How can a league let a team play in a sub-standard AHL building, though it will be brand new at, say the 5,000 they are saying, let alone NHL level facility which it clearly will not be, for multiple years and not get priority dates (ASU will) and only game revenue (no building or naming rights)? "Simply put Gary Bettman does not want to ever lose a market like Arizona. I'm shocked there is not more of an uproar so far over this. This obviously has to affect the HRR (Hockey-Related-Revenue) between the players and the owners as agreed to in the CBA." There will be cries to move the team from many former and new cities looking to join the NHL. RELOCATION SITES? In Quebec City, there is a hockey palace already built waiting for an occupant. The Videotron Centre was built five years ago to NHL specs to replace the old Colisée de Québec (later known as Colisée de Pepsi at the end of its heyday). In Houston, the fifth-largest television market, there is also a ready-made already built arena. For Hartford, nothing has been done to the XL Center (nee Hartford Civic Center) in 25 years except for cosmetics to the concourse, a couple of Zambonis, and a new floor, ice, and chiller system. This same source opined about the speculation surrounding any possible moves from Arizona. "You can write this in stone and send it up the hill with Moses. There will NEVER be another NHL team in Quebec City again because of the currency problem, the ongoing language issue (in the province), and the Montreal Canadiens veto power over it. However, they want to extend their brand. They have an AHL team in Laval and an ECHL team in Trois-Rivieres 40 minutes away, halfway to Quebec City. "Hartford? Ha! They can't even get a new building in the twenty-plus years for an AHL team. "Houston will remain in reserve for a new team and say an $800 million dollar payday. Look there have been two expansions and they're still on the outside." HARTFORD WOLF PACK HOME Read the full article

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CANTLON: (FRI) WOLF PACK LIMP HOME

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings HARTFORD, CT - When last seen, the Hartford Wolf Pack (16-7-2-5) were riding-high on a five-game winning streak, but that came to a crashing halt as the team came off two of their worst performances of the season in Charlotte against the Checkers as part of a three-game road trip. They started off by losing the back-end of a home-and-home with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms last Saturday. “We played good enough in Lehigh Valley, but in Charlotte we weren’t really ready to play in the first period. They really took it to us. We played better later, but too little, too late, to make a difference in the outcome,” remarked Pack head coach Kris Knoblauch who was keeping an even keel about the performance. Charlotte has been like a graveyard for Wolf Pack teams the past few years. They are winless in the Queen city at 0-12-0-0. Besides getting outscored 13-4 over two games, for the first time in the AHL franchises' 1,624 games, as either the Wolf Pack or CT Whale, the team's two goalies were lifted in back-to-back games. Were Igor Shesterkin and Adam Huska the sole reasons for the losses? No, but they had plenty of company. For the first time though the two of them looked mortal between the pipes. Shesterkin, who held the AHL's best Goals-Against-Average entering the two games, is now is fifth at 2.14. He was lifted after surrendering goals after facing 19 shots in the first period alone. Huska was fine in relief with 19 saves on Tuesday night in a 6-3 loss. “To be honest, pulling them was more because of not wanting to leave them in the way the team was playing… not very well in front of them. Igor and Adam have been so good for us all year, and I don’t think there's a coach in the league after thirty games that could say they weren’t at their best. They’ve been exceptional. It was the first two games they haven’t been. We still trust our goaltenders very much,” Knoblauch stated. Then, in a 7-1 thrashing, Huska was pulled after the second period with just 10 saves and a trailing 4-0. Shesterkin fared no better surrendering three more goals. “Honestly, we had a good streak. We won five and now we lost three. Sometimes it happens,” said Phil Di Giuseppe, “Now we have had some success against Providence, hopefully they played Wednesday, and tonight we can take advantage of that." He'll get the call tomorrow against the P-Bruins, who hold first place, two points ahead of Hartford (41-39). They lost to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, 1-0. Knoblauch was self-critical as well stating, “The coaching staff has to get better too, and address things and trends a little earlier.” This was also the first time this season the Wolf Pack looked like the team of the last two years. At times they were undisciplined, disinterested, and not playing as a five-man unit. “We're going to have to play a lot better all throughout the lineup than the last two games. Providence is in first place." The Pack played as if they were already on Christmas break and will be after Saturday’s game. “We're in the middle of (the season) now and everybody else in the league is in the same position. It’s still no excuse for the way we played. Hopefully, we can get things off on the right foot for the New Year. Everybody has got each other’s back and we're looking forward to it. We’ve had a lot of changes lately, but that’s pro hockey these days.” said Di Giuseppe. NOTES: After ten games and no points, the Wolf Pack reassigned Ryan Dmowski (Old Lyme/Gunnery Prep) back to their ECHL affiliate, the Maine Mariners. Jansen Harkins, the son of ex-Hartford Whaler Todd Harkins, has 31 points in 30 games with the Manitoba Moose. He was recalled by the Winnipeg Jets. He was a scratch in Thursday’s game in Winnipeg against Chicago. Scott Morrow (Darien) who plays at Shattuck’s St. Mary’s (MNPREP) has committed to North Dakota (NCHC) for 2021-22. The Canadian-entry for the Christmas-time, European six-team, Spengler Cup Tournament in Davos, Switzerland has some familiar names. The GM is ex-Whaler, Sean Burke. The head coach is former New York Ranger, Craig MacTavish. His assistant coach is ex-Whaler (in spirit only), Paul Coffey. On the ice will be ex-Pack, Adam Tambellini, as well as ex-Sound Tigers, Andrew MacDonald, and Dustin Jeffrey, as well as former Quinnipiac Bobcat, Justin Danforth, and former Ranger Josh Jooris, and ex-Ranger and Sound Tiger, David Desharnais all lacing them up. HC Davos features a trio of ex-Pack players. They're led by captain Andres Ambuhl, Danny Kristo, and Casey Wellman. HC Ocelari Trinec (Czech Republic) has ex-Pack/CT Whale, Tomas Kundratek, David Musil, the nephew of former Whaler and Ranger, Robert (Bobby) Holik, and goalie Nick Malik, the son of ex-Whaler, Beast of New Haven, and Ranger, Marek Malik. TPS Turku (Finland) features as their captain, ex-Pack, and Ranger, Lauri Korpikoski, and from HC Ambri-Piotta (Switzerland), Brian Flynn (Pomfret School). Former UConn Husky, Philip Nyberg, after having contract dissolved by Mora IK (Sweden - SHL) signs for the rest of the season with Lindloven IF (Sweden Division-1). Ex-Sound Tiger goalie, C.J. Motte, goes from HC Innsbruck to Coventry Blaze (England - EIHL). Ex-Sound Tiger, Robert Nilsson officially retires as a result of concussion issues from ZSC Zurich Lions (Switzerland - LNA) and a ceremony will be held January 18th. Ex-Pack, Ryan Haggerty was dealt by the Pittsburgh Penguins to the Florida Panthers for Kevin Roy in a minor league swap as Haggerty heads to the Springfield Thunderbirds and Roy to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Haggerty scored the game winner in his first game a Thunderbird. Springfield also did some additional holiday house cleaning sending Blaine Byron to Ontario for future considerations. One of the few AHL coast-to-coast trades since the Pacific Division was created. After the break, the Wolf Pack play the Bridgeport Sound Tigers who have had two lineup additions. Robert Carpenter, the son of former NHL'er, Bobby Carpenter, and brother to Team USA's forward, Alex Carpenter, has recovered from a preseason injury. Returning from his Islanders imposed exile in Toronto is truculent forward, Josh Ho-Sang. He demanded a trade at the end of training camp and has been working out at the University of Toronto and was shaken the team hasn't traded him. The US WJC camp is in full swing in Plymouth, MI. Leading the charge is goalie and Darien-native, Spencer Knight (Boston College/Florida). He is being joined by fellow former Avon Old Farms Winged Beaver, Trevor Zegras (Boston University/Anaheim). Also on the roster is Christian Krygier (Michigan State Big 10/NY Islanders), the son of former Whaler/Nighthawk/UConn player, Todd Krygier) and K’Andre Miller (Wisconsin Big 10), the Rangers first-round pick (22nd overall) in 2018. Mattias Samuelsson (Western Michigan - NCHC/Buffalo), the son of former Nighthawk, and Ranger, Kjell Samuelsson, Jack Drury (Harvard - ECACHL/Carolina), the son of former Whaler, Ted Drury and the nephew of current Wolf Pack GM, Chris Drury. Shane Pinto (Selects Academy at South Kent Prep/North Dakota - NCHC/Ottawa) and the Islanders sent current Sound Tiger forward, Oliver Wahlstrom over. The USA team is in the Czech Republic and the final team will be announced on Christmas Eve Day. Ironically or not, the Islanders didn’t send Noah Dobson to the Canadian team. Peter Dilaberatore (Quinnipiac University) and Barrett Hayton (Arizona-NHL), the son of former New Haven Nighthawk, Brian Hayton, are with Team Canada. Team Sweden has two Ranger prospects, defenseman Nils Lundkvist, and center Karl Henriksson. The US team will be playing in Group B in Ostrava, Czech Republic and the opening game is against traditional rival, Canada on Boxing Day at 1 PM on the NHL Network. All preliminary and medal games will be shown on the NHL Network. Lastly, sad news during the holiday season. Former Whaler, Scot Kleinendorst, passed away Tuesday from the injuries suffered at a mill plant in his hometown of Grand Rapids, MN. The family took him off life support as a result of the extensive nature of his injuries. Kleinendorst played in the NHL from 1982-90. He appeared in 281 games for the Hartford Whalers, New York Rangers (53 games two goals and 13 points) and the Washington Capitals. His NHL totals were 12 goals, 58 points, and 452 PM. With the Whalers, he played five seasons (210 games) tallying nine goals and 40 points. He played collegiately at Providence College, then in ECAC, but who are now in Hockey East. He and his brother, Kurt, were both drafted by the Rangers in the 1980 NHL Draft out of PC with Scot going in the fifth round (98th overall) and Kurt was taken in the fourth round before (77th overall). Kurt coached in the AHL with Lowell, Binghamton on two different occasions, Iowa and Belleville. He presently coaches the Nuremberg Tigers (Germany-DEL) that features ex-Pack players Chris Summers, and Chris Brown. Kleinendorst after starring at Grand Rapids High School, where he was first-team All-State defenseman in 1977-78 and part of a Minnesota state championship team in 1976. Read the full article

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

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

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David Desharnais autographed Edmonton Oilers 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs hockey puck #daviddesharnais #autographed #edmontonoilers #2017stanleycupplayoffs #signedhockeypuck #dagr010 #dagr1010 #yeg #yegsale #youtubedavidgrass #forsale (at DAGR Sportscards and Collectibles)

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I added Benoit Pouliot, David Desharnais, Todd MacLellan, Ian Herbers and Jack Michaels to my Rogers Place 16x20 photo today. I have all the current players on it, only need Jonas Gustavsson to get everyone who played for the Edmonton Oilers this season. #benoitpouliot #daviddesharnais #toddmaclellan #ianherbers #jackmichaels #rogersplace #edmontonoilers #dagr010 #dagr1010 #yeg #youtubedavidgrass (at DAGR Sportscards and Collectibles)