#andrewladd

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings HARTFORD, CT - The Hartford Wolf Pack ended 2019 by holding off a late surge from the visiting Bridgeport Sound Tigers to edge out their in-state and division rivals 3-2 at the XL Center before a crows of 2,617. The first place Wolf Pack's record improves to 19-8-2-5 (45 points). They now have a two point lead over the second place Providence Bruins in the Atlantic Division. The Baby Bruins were idle. Bridgeport's record falls to 13-17-4-1 (31 points). The Sound Tigers are in sixth place in the Atlantic. The Wolf Pack hit the road for a key visit to Providence on Friday and then they head to Utica to face the Comets on Saturday. The Wolf Pack maintained their perfect mark with a lead going into the third period (15-0-1-2) and improve their home record to 14-1-0-2. Their next game at home is on January 10th against the Charlotte Checkers. The last five minutes of the game were played almost exclusively in the Wolf Pack's end of the ice. A brilliant combination of Wolf Pack goalie Igor Shesterkin and the team's defense prevented the Sound Tigers from tying the game and forcing overtime. “We were just sitting back," said the Pack's head coach, Kris Knoblauch. "We had played, especially in the second, just a simple game. Nothing flashy. We got a really good defensive effort, especially at the end with some big blocks for Shesty. We got away from that at the end on their push back, but we prevailed.” The Sound Tigers crept up to within one goal after veteran Andrew Ladd made a perfect redirect while in front of the net on Sebastian Aho’s right point shot at 14:05. After that, the sticks appeared to have gotten gripped a little tighter. “Its always like that with Bridgeport. Nothing is happening, and next thing you know, they're right there. We made some big blocks for Shesty. Anytime we can make a block for him we’ll get one or two back from him. It was a good way to end the year with a win,” Matt Beleskey remarked. D-Man, Darren Raddysh, made one of those key blocks and was able get the puck off the boards out of the zone. Beleskey blocked one as well, taking one off his chest in a mad scramble in the Wolf Pack end of the ice in the final 1:31 after the Sound Tigers had pulled their goaltender, Jakub Skarek, for the extra attacker. To start the second period, Sound Tigers head coach, Brent Thompson, sought to change their fortunes by switching goalies from starter, Jared Coreau to Skarek, a Czech rookie. The Wolf Pack kept the Sound Tigers at bay for most of the game. The Pack's top defensive pairing of Raddysh and Vincent LoVerde were particularly solid against the AHL's hottest goal scorer, Keiffer Bellows. They holding him to just one shot. Bellows is coming off a hat-trick in his last game and has scored a goal in five straight, eight of nine and 12 of his last 13. “They have been our top defensive combination so far this season. It was our whole defense (that quieted Bellows) and the forwards coming back helped in that effort,”said Knoblauch. Raddysh downplayed his efforts including the blocked shots, in shutting Bellows down. “We’ve been trying to get in front of shots and trying to help Shesty out as much as possible. I was lucky enough to get in front of that one. We did a good job getting to the middle of the ice and trying to help him out in any way possible.” The Wolf Pack built a first period lead on two goals in a 31-second span. The first came when Beleskey was in front and was stopped by Coreau on a point blank chance, but he stayed with it and tracked down the loose puck. Beleskey fired the puck below the goal line toward the net looking to connect with Phil Di Giuseppe, but the puck went off Bridgeport's defenseman, Parker Wotherspoon, and into the net at 8:18. It was his ninth goal of the season. “He was out of the net, so I knew if I just threw it in front and hoped for the best and it kinda worked out,” Beleskey said with a sly grin. “Phil made a great pass. It was bouncing around a bit, but I stayed with it and it went in for us.” Raddysh took an errant clearing attempt that went awry off of a one-handed golf-swing at the puck by the Sound Tigers, Arnaud Durandeau. Raddysh retrieved the puck at center ice and put it off the right wing boards past the Sound Tigers. He went and collected his own dump in off the right-wing half-wall inside the Sound Tigers end of the ice. Raddysh skated deep on the to the goal line and fired from the sharpest angle shot imaginable and incredibly beat Coreau to the far side at 8:49. It gave the Pack a 2-0 lead. It was his fourth goal of the season. “I don’t know what I was doing. I kinda blacked out on that one,” Raddysh said with a laugh in talking about his solo effort. ”I was just lucky enough to get it back and get it in.” For Knoblauch the play was a part of Raddysh he saw when he coached him in juniors. “I saw him doing that pretty regularly in Erie, and tonight that goal and his very strong play in his own end was the reason we got the win.” The Wolf Pack used the power play to grab a 3-0 lead late in the first period. All five players touched the puck on the play. Nick Ebert was on the right-wing and found Yegor Rykov at the center point. Rykov fired a solid and low shot to the front of the net. Beleskey was there in front of the goalie and deflected it. Coreau made the save, but Beleskey then found the loose puck and chipped in his second goal of the period at 18:28 for the 3-0 lead. The Sound Tigers broke the shutout just 1:25 later. Ex-Pack captain Ryan Bourque slipped the pick to Otto Koivula in the slot. Despite lots of traffic, Koivula put in his third of season past Shesterkin, who was screened, and placed the puck inside the left-wing post with 16.3 left on the clock. LINES: Nieves - Kravtsov - Di Guiseppe O’Regan - Lettieri - Gettinger Jones - Beleskey - Gropp Zerter-Gossage - Fox - McBride Raddysh - LoVerde Keane - Geersten Rykov - Ebert SCRATCHES: Patrick Newell (upper body, day-to-day) Jeff Taylor (healthy) Lias Andersson (suspension) Gabriel Fontaine (shoulder surgery, season-ending) NOTES: The Wolf Pack close out the 2019 calendar year with attendance that continues to decline. They had a season-best number against the Providence of 5,685, and a poor showing with an early holiday game of 2,617. Presently, the Wolf Pack average just 3,555 a game. That puts them in the 27th spot in the AHL. Right behind them, at 3,222 is Bridgeport, followed by Binghamton, Stockton, and Belleville. The generic TV commercials don't appear to be making any impact. Spectra and the CRDA have to make a more substantial effort to match the team’s success this season. Recycling night, with reusable straws are not exactly a high-end, high-quality promotion. How about bringing back the scarf night? Perhaps with a classy white one this time? How about the plaid-padded ear muffs/snow hat? A fan was spotted wearing one in October at a New York Yankees - Minnesota Twins playoff game. Ex-Pack, Chris Mueller, was involved in an AHL trade. The Syracuse Crunch's parent club, the Tampa Bay Lightning, sent Mueller to the Anaheim Ducks for defenseman Patrick Sieloff. Mueller returns for a second stint with the San Diego Gulls. Ex-Pack, Dan De Salvo, signed a PTO with Cleveland. He was playing with the South Carolina Stingrays (ECHL). Ex-CT Whale, Wojtek Wolski, after playing for HC Ambri-Piotta (Switzerland-LNA) in the just-concluded Spengler Cup, signs a deal to play for the rest of the season with HC Ocelari Trinec (Czech Republic-CEL). The team is near the Polish border. Wolski is a Polish native. Wolski started the season with Kunlun (China-KHL). Team Canada won its fourth title in the last five years at the just concluded Spengler Cup for the 16th time breaking a tie for most titles with host HC Davos. In the championship final, the Canadians shutout HC Trinec 4-0 with ex-Sound Tiger, Dustin Jeffrey. scoring twice and was the tournament’s top scorer. The team was led by GM, Sean Burke, the ex-Hartford Whaler, and assistant coach was another ex-Whaler in Paul Coffey. The runner-up, HC Ocelari Trinec, featured ex-Sound Tiger, Tomas Marcinko, and former CT Whale, Tomas Kundratek. At today’s WJC action Sweden shutout Slovakia who is coached by ex-Whaler, Robert Petrovicky. The score was 5-0. Rangers prospect, Karl Henriksson, picked up an assist for the Swedes. With four power play goals in the first period, five for the game, Canada knocked off the host Czech Republic squad, 7-2. Due to an injury to their starting goalie, Lukas Parik, the Czechs used Nick Malik, 17, the youngest player in the tournament. Malik is the youngest son of former Whaler, Ranger, and Beast of New Haven defenseman, Marek Malik. Canada's GM is former Whaler, Mark Hunter. Their goalie coach is all-time Wolf Pack great, Jason LaBarbera. The US squad will play Finland in the quarterfinals of the medal round Thursday at 11:30am EST (NHL Network). UCONN will own the building Friday against Northeastern in a Hockey East meeting. The game is coming off a split at the Ledyard Classic at Dartmouth College. UCONN lost on late goal to Dartmouth 4-3 in the final game despite two goals from Carter Turnbull (Nanaimo, BC). UCONN still has people talking about how they got to the final by tying the game in the waning micro seconds against the St. Lawrence University Saints, tying the game at two and forcing overtime. With their goaltender pulled for an extra attacker, freshmen rearguard, Carter Berger, took a shot from dead center at the blue line. The puck hit off the chest of St. Lawrence's Callum Cusinato and bounced. The puck got whacked toward the net by UCONN sophomore forward, Jonny Evans, and hit the skates of forward, Jachym Kondelik. It spun on its edge and swooped into the net off the open left-wing side. The goal was credited to senior, Sasha Payusov, who registered the goal with .03 seconds left in the game. The other major story coming out of the game was that junior goalie Bradley Stone (London, England) made his first varsity start at the last minute due to the illness to starting UCONN netminder, Tomas Vomacka. Stone made 21 saves in regulation and overtime and then was scintillating in a nine-round shootout. He stopped eight-of-the-nine sent at him. Turnbull ended things in round nine. Read the full article

Hartford Wolf Pack 3, Bridgeport Sound Tigers 2 BY: Micah Collins, Hartford Wolf Pack Hartford, CT, December 31, 2019 – Matt Beleskey scored twice, and Yegor Rykov had a pair of assists, Tuesday night at the XL Center, helping the Hartford Wolf Pack to a 3-2 win over the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. The win improved the Wolf Pack’s record against their in-state rivals to 4-1-0-0, and moved Hartford (19-8-2-4, 45 pts.) past the idle Providence Bruins into sole possession of first place in the Atlantic Division. “Every game they put up a good fight,” Beleskey said of the Sound Tigers, “but we’re proud of how we stuck with it and played hard.  “We came out ready to play, and that pays off any time you can get on a team early. “Confidence is a huge part of this game. When you play with confidence you play well, and we want to keep that rolling and keep going down the stretch here. The schedule always ramps up in the second half, so any cushion we can have is good.” The Sound Tigers seemed to have all the momentum Beleskey scored hist eighth of the season from behind the net, rebounding a shot off of the leg of Bridgeport starting goaltender Jared Coreau (five saves) with 11:02 left in the first period. “(Phil) Di Giuseppe made a great pass,” said Beleskey.  “It kind of bounced around in front and ended up in the net.” Di Giuseppe and Rykov assisted on the goal. Just 51 seconds later, Darren Raddysh scored his fourth goal of the year off of a tight-angle shot from just below the right circle, giving the Wolf Pack a two-goal lead. “I didn’t know what I was doing, I kind of blacked out then,” joked Raddysh. “I just threw it at the net, luckily it went in.” The goal was unassisted. With just 1:32 left in the period, Beleskey scored his second of the game and ninth of the year on the power play. “It was nice to see Beleskey get two goals,” said Raddysh of his teammate’s offensive performance. “It’s a shame we couldn’t get him the hat trick, but it was still a great game by him.” Rykov and Nick Ebert both assisted on the goal. With just 17 seconds left in the first, Otto Koivula scored his third of the year to put Bridgeport on the board, sneaking a shot past Igor Shesterkin (18 saves).  Ryan Bourque and Seth Helgeson assisted on the goal. The Sound Tigers started the second period with a goaltending change, as Coreau was replaced by Jakub Skarek (15 saves). Both teams would lock down defensively for the middle frame, with Shesterkin making key saves, as has become his standard. Beleskey was quick to praise his netminder, saying, “Shesterkin has been unbelievable, we just try to help him out where we can and make it easier on him.” Andrew Ladd beat Shesterkin with 5:51 left in the third period to bring the Sound Tigers within one. The goal was Ladd’s 10th of the season, and was assisted by Sebastian Aho and Travis St. Denis. The goal would prove to be the only one of the period, even when Bridgeport put on the pressure in the final minute of the game, pulling Skarek for the extra attacker. “They came hard at the end, we knew they wouldn’t quit,” said Raddysh. The Wolf Pack’s next action is this Friday night, January 3 in Providence against the Bruins.  Faceoff is 7:05, and all of the action can be heard live on-line at hartfordwolfpack.com.  Video streaming is available at theahl.com/AHLTV. The next Wolf Pack home game is this Saturday night, January 4, a 7:00 battle with the Utica Comets.  That is #MillenialNight at the XL Center, featuring a reusable straw set giveaway to all fans attending the game, presented by ProHealth. Tickets for  all 2019-20 Wolf Pack home games are on sale now at the Sunwave Gas & Power Ticket Office at the XL Center, on-line at hartfordwolfpack.com and by phone at (877) 522-8499.  Tickets purchased in advance for kids 12 or younger start at just $10 each, and all tickets will have a $3 day-of-game increase. To speak with a Wolf Pack representative about season or group tickets, or any of the Wolf Pack’s many ticketing options, call (860) 722-9425, or click here to request more info.  To visit the Wolf Pack on line, go to hartfordwolfpack.com. Bridgeport Sound Tigers 2 at Hartford Wolf Pack 3 Tuesday, December 31, 2019 - XL Center Bridgeport 1 0 1 - 2 Hartford     3 0 0 - 3 1st Period-1, Hartford, Beleskey 8 (Di Giuseppe, Rykov), 8:58. 2, Hartford, Raddysh 4   9:49. 3, Hartford, Beleskey 9 (Rykov, Ebert), 18:28 (PP). 4, Bridgeport, Koivula 3 (R. Bourque, Helgeson), 19:43. Penalties-Geertsen Hfd (tripping), 4:14; Burroughs Bri (tripping), 6:48; Koivula Bri (hooking), 16:42. 2nd Period- No Scoring.  Penalties-Wotherspoon Bri (roughing), 11:46; Di Giuseppe Hfd (roughing), 11:46; St. Denis Bri (tripping), 15:57. 3rd Period-5, Bridgeport, Ladd 10 (Aho, St. Denis), 14:09. Penalties-Beleskey Hfd (interference), 1:38; O'Regan Hfd (tripping), 9:25; Ladd Bri (hooking), 9:40; LoVerde Hfd (holding), 12:06. Shots on Goal-Bridgeport 9-3-8-20. Hartford 8-8-7-23. Power Play Opportunities-Bridgeport 0 / 4; Hartford 1 / 4. Goalies-Bridgeport, Coreau 5-9-1 (8 shots-5 saves); Skarek 3-5-1 (15 shots-15 saves). Hartford, Shesterkin 14-4-3 (20 shots-18 saves). A-2,617 Referees-Mason Riley (79), Jim Curtin (90). Linesmen-Kevin Briganti (39), Robert St. Lawrence (10). Read the full article

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings BRIDGEPORT, CT - The Bridgeport Sound Tigers pulled away from the visiting Hartford Wolf Pack with three goals in the third period to take control of what was an otherwise tight battle between the intrastate and franchise rivals and won 5-1 at the Webster Bank Arena kicking off the post-holiday break on Friday night. Andrew Ladd had two goals while Otto Koivula added three assists to drive the engine for the Sound Tigers offense. The victory was Bridgeport’s first against the Wolf Pack in four games this season. The Sound Tigers are now 9-1-0-0 when leading after two periods and the Wolf Pack record when trailing after two drops to 2-7-0-1. “We did a good enough job in stretches, but we gave up way too many odd-man rushes and the chances we gave up were really good. (Goaltender) Adam (Huska) kept us in it, particularly in the second where he made some really big saves,” Pack head coach Kris Knoblauch stated. The Wolf Pack record slips to 17-8-2-5 (41 points) and they are second in the Atlantic Division. The team heads back  to Hartford where they will prepare to play the first place Providence Bruins, 4-3 winners over the Springfield Thunderbirds, on Saturday night at 7pm at the XL Center. Igor Shesterkin is slated to be in net, but the Pack will be without team captain Steven Fogarty, who was recalled after the game by the New York Rangers as a result of the broken hand suffered by Brendan Lemieux. With Fogarty heading to the NHL, the Rangers promoted forward Dillan Fox to the Wolf Pack from their ECHL affiliate, the Maine Mariners, and signed him to a PTO deal. In Maine, Fox has 12 goals and 24 total points in 26 games. He is second in scoring behind only Terrance Wallin. Fox is a four-year minor league pro out of Division III SUNY-Plattsburgh (SUNYAC). This will be his first AHL action. Maine dropped a 5-0 game at home to the Reading Royals and will play in Worcester against the Railers on Saturday night. Bridgeport's record improves to 13-16-3-1 (30 points). They sit in seventh place in the Atlantic, just one point ahead of the last place Lehigh Valley Phantoms. The Tigers will host sixth-place Springfield on Saturday night. The Wolf Pack sought to battle back early in the third period and managed to score shorthanded. Fogarty was on the right-wing and waited as he and Boo Nieves broke in on a two-on-one. Nieves broke away from the checking of the Sound Tiger’s Travis St. Denis and got separation and took a cross-ice pass and whistled it for his third goal of the season to the short and stick-side of Jared Coreau at 2:55. The goal narrowed the Sound Tiger lead to one at 2-1. “I really thought we had a chance there scoring early. I really felt we were going to win it when we got to one goal. Then we hit a post and just after the power play ended, they scored and we didn’t recover and they quickly got another one on us,” said Knoblauch. Nieves, who has been snake-bitten in his shooting at times this season, wasn’t going do any victory laps while scoring a goal in a game his team lost. “It was good to get us back in the game at that point, and it gave us a chance. It's only a good feeling if you don’t get scored on a couple times (right after). Then it doesn’t feel so good.” 23-seconds later, Tim Gettinger snapped a shot from off the left-wing side that hit the post. That would be the closest the Wolf Pack would get again. The Sound Tigers pulled away with two goals in a 3:01 span, reestablishing a two goal lead. Ladd tallied his second of the game, and ninth of the season, when he finished off a strong passing sequence. It started with Koivula in the right wing corner hitting Josh Ho-Sang in front of the net. Ho-Sang made a sweet one-touch pass to Ladd, who then deftly put the puck into the back of the net at 6:03. “We can’t give up that much space. This is a good league and players like that are gonna score those. We gave up way too many open shots like that and we're gonna have to clean that up by tomorrow night,” said Nieves. For Bridgeport’s head coach, and former Wolf Pack, Brent Thompson, he had all of his big scoring eggs coming from one basket. Koivula, Ladd, and Ho Sang, who is in his second game after sitting out two months waiting on his trade request. It paid off in big dividends. “Otto had his feet moving tonight. Josh is a high-end caliber talent, and Ladd has that experience. Put all those pieces together, you have a powerful unit." Grant Huston followed with a 55-footer from the left point that found its way through traffic with Koivula starting the scoring play again for Bridgeport at 9:04. Kyle Burroughs put a 195-foot shot into an empty net off a clean defensive zone draw win with 33.4 seconds left to close out the game for the Sound Tigers. The games' first goal came in the second period. After gaining a clean entry, on the power play, the Sound Tigers set up shop. Matt Lorito came in off the right-point. The left-handed shot fired a bullet that Huska stopped, but for the Wolf Pack, the rebound went to the wrong guy. Kieffer Bellows of the Sound Tigers had a wide open net and deposited his team best tenth goal of the season at 10:34. For Bellows, it was his fifth straight game at home with a goal. He has nine goals in his last 12 games and is among the hottest players in the AHL. Thompson was eager to discuss his growth and development. “It's not only his play with the puck, but his play away from the play is better. He was having a tough time at the beginning of the year, but he is learning the systems. The biggest difference is he’s moving his feet and he is getting it now. It's about breaking old habits. You're in a league that is bigger and stronger, and you can’t do things you got away with like you did in college or juniors. The pace changes and I accept that it takes time.  Some break it early. Some take a year. Some take two years. It’s a long road for him, but I couldn’t be happier for him right now his attitude and work ethic. Right now it's all about confidence. 100%, he’s got it. It’s a long year if you stay focused, good things can happen." It was the first time the Sound Tigers have scored the game’s first goal this season in the series between the two teams. “We got that first goal and refocused and got some momentum and started creating chances,” said Thompson. A power-play came a result of an instigator penalty called on Darren Raddysh. He came into the play when Bridgeport’s Robert “Bobo" Carpenter nailed his defensive partner, Vincent LoVerde, from behind. Neither coach could have been happy with the officiating or the linesman. Nieves was tackled in the offensive zone in the second period. No call was made on the play. Joey Keane dropped the puck on the power- play for the trailer and he gets dropped in neutral zone on a solid hit by Carpenter. “You're not trying to get me fined are you?” replied Knoblauch with a smile and a chuckle when he was asked about the officiating. “Sometimes the calls go your way and sometimes they don’t. That’s all I’m gonna say.” Nieves on ice frustration was noticeable, but he stickhandled his way around the question too. “That’s not my area of expertise. It's frustrating and it is what is, but you just can’t let it get in your way.” The Sound Tigers generated half of their 14 shots from the back-line over the first two periods. The Pack got a solid effort from Vitali Kravtsov who had a solid chance at 5:50 of the second period. He then made a tremendous recovery play diving to block a pass to Bellows at the end of his shift. The Sound Tigers staked out a two-goal lead in the last minute of regulation of the second period. Defenseman Tyler Wotherspoon made a strong lead pass to Koivula. He took the pass and went down the left-wing side, spreading out the Wolf Pack defense and then found Ladd, a former NHL first-round pick, open, backdoor.Ladd didn’t miss with 22.7 seconds left in the period. The Pack only managed to put nine shots on net in the second period. “Well, we did go through a long stretch without a shot on net, but I don’t think (we were too choosy). I think we tried to stick-handle too much on our entries rather than chip it deep and get behind their defense,” said Knoblauch. The first period was scoreless with both teams trying to find a rhythm after coming back from the holiday break. Bridgeport had a 5-2 shot advantage in the first ten minutes. Huska made two quality stops on the five denying Grant Huston and then Bellows. Over the final ten minutes though, the Wolf Pack found their stride and outshot their hosts 7-0 and generated some quality chances in the final five minutes. Raddysh, Phil DiGiuseppe, who was just returned from his Rangers recall earlier in the day, Kravtsov, Nick Ebert, and Vincent LoVerde were all denied on solid scoring chances. LoVerde's coming in the final ten seconds of the period. LINES: Nieves - Fogarty - Beleskey O’Regan - Kravtsov - Di Giuseppe Jones - Lettieri - Gettinger Zerter-Gossage - McBride - Gropp Raddysh - LoVerde Keane - Geersten Rykov - Ebert SCRATCHES: Patrick Newell (Upper-Body, day-to-day) Jeff Taylor (Healthy) Lias Andersson (Suspended) Gabriel Fontaine (Season Ending Shoulder Surgery) NOTES: Both teams come off shutouts in their last game before the break. The Wolf Pack white-washed the Providence Bruins, 4-0, with Igor Shesterkin recording 32 saves. Meanwhile, the Sound Tigers shut-out the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins 3-0 off a 38-save performance from goalie, Jakub Skarek. It was his first AHL shutout. Bridgeport left the pre-game skate early. Seven Wolf Pack players remained as the clock hits zero. You are required to exit the ice or you can be penalized and fined by the AHL for the violation. There has been some strong goaltending so far this year in Hartford, but out West, Stockton beat San Jose 8-1 with the goaltenders only seeing 19 shots on goal. The G.A.A. for the goalies in that one is not going to look pretty. At the WJC, the US downed Germany 6-3 as a former member of the Avon Old Farms Winged Beavers, Trevor Zegras tallied four assists including a fantastic play off a turn and pass to Connor Hall, who put it in past a thoroughly surprised German goaltender. The Sound Tigers' Oliver Wahlstrom tallied his first goal of the tourney. It was the sixth of the game and came after he came off the left-wing half-wall in the German offensive zone. He cut to the middle and tucked his shot in along the ice. The US squad is off Saturday and will play the Russians on Sunday. Brooklyn Kalmikov, the son of former Sound Tiger, Konstantin Kalmikov, was traded at the QMJHL Trade Deadline from the Cape Breton Eagles to the Victoriaville Tigers. Read the full article

Bridgeport Sound Tigers 5, Hartford Wolf Pack 1 BY: Bob Crawford, Hartford Wolf Pack Bridgeport, CT, December 27, 2019 – Andrew Ladd scored twice, and Otto Koivula had three assists, for the Bridgeport Sound Tigers Friday night at Webster Bank Arena, in a 5-1 win over the Hartford Wolf Pack. A Boo Nieves shorthanded goal was the only Wolf Pack score.  Hartford outshot the hosts 31-22 in the game, but Jared Coreau made 30 saves in the Bridgeport net. The game was the first for both teams since Saturday night. “I thought we did a lot of good things, especially for the first game after a long break,” Wolf Pack head coach Kris Knoblauch said.  “One thing I didn’t think we did very well was, we gave up too many odd-man rushes, and they capitalized on those.  But overall, there was a lot of good performances.” After a scoreless first period, in which the Wolf Pack outshot Bridgeport 9-5, the Sound Tigers would score a pair in the second frame. The Bridgeport power play broke the ice at 8:57, after Darren Raddysh was called for instigating a fight with Bobo Carpenter at 7:31. Wolf Pack goaltender Adam Huska (17 saves) stopped a shot from the right-wing circle by Matt Lorito, but Kieffer Bellows found the rebound and held the puck long enough to find some room to Huska’s right through which to flick it in. Ladd doubled the lead with 22.7 seconds left in the second, with his eighth goal in 20 AHL games on the season.  Koivula sliced down the left side in the Wolf Pack zone before feeding across the slot, and Huska had no chance on Ladd’s quick shot. Nieves cut the lead in half 2:55 into the third period, while teammate Nick Jones was serving a holding minor.  Nieves intercepted a Ladd pass in the Wolf Pack zone and broke out on a 2-on-1 with Steven Fogarty.  Fogarty’s pass from the right side in the Sound Tiger zone went off of Bridgeport forward Travis St. Denis’ stick to Nieves, and he put a shot past Coreau high on the stick side. Ladd restored the two-goal margin with his second of the game just 3:08 later, though, at 6:03.  A fine pass by Koivula set Josh Ho-Sang up with open ice in the middle of the Hartford zone, and he found a wide-open Ladd on the left side for an easy finish behind Huska. Grant Hutton made it a 4-1 Bridgeport lead only 3:01 after that, at 9:04.  Sebastian Aho slid a pass from the right boards to Hutton at the middle of the blue line, and his long drive beat Huska to the glove side. Parker Wotherspoon completed the scoring with an empty-net goal with 33.9 seconds left, connecting from the corner of his own zone, after Carpenter won a faceoff to Coreau’s left. The Wolf Pack are back in home-ice action at the XL Center Saturday night, hosting the Providence Bruins.  Faceoff is 7:00, and the first 2,000 fans will receive a free Wolf Pack pennant flag, courtesy of NBC Connecticut. Tickets for  all 2019-20 Wolf Pack home games are on sale now at the Sunwave Gas & Power Ticket Office at the XL Center, on-line at hartfordwolfpack.com and by phone at (877) 522-8499.  Tickets purchased in advance for kids 12 or younger start at just $10 each, and all tickets will have a $3 day-of-game increase. To speak with a Wolf Pack representative about season or group tickets, or any of the Wolf Pack’s many ticketing options, call (860) 722-9425, or click here to request more info.  To visit the Wolf Pack on line, go to hartfordwolfpack.com. Hartford Wolf Pack 1 at Bridgeport Sound Tigers 5 Friday, December 27, 2019 - Webster Bank Arena Hartford     0 0 1 - 1 Bridgeport 0 2 3 - 5 1st Period- No Scoring.  Penalties-No Penalties 2nd Period-1, Bridgeport, Bellows 10 (Lorito, Quenneville), 8:57 (PP). 2, Bridgeport, Ladd 8 (Koivula, Wotherspoon), 19:37. Penalties-Raddysh Hfd (instigating, fighting, misconduct - instigating), 7:31; Carpenter Bri (fighting), 7:31; Schilkey Bri (slashing), 10:34. 3rd Period-3, Hartford, Nieves 3 (Fogarty), 2:55 (SH). 4, Bridgeport, Ladd 9 (Ho-Sang, Koivula), 6:03. 5, Bridgeport, Hutton 3 (Aho, Koivula), 9:04. 6, Bridgeport, Wotherspoon 3 (Carpenter), 19:26 (EN). Penalties-Jones Hfd (holding), 1:08. Shots on Goal-Hartford 9-9-13-31. Bridgeport 5-9-8-22. Power Play Opportunities-Hartford 0 / 1; Bridgeport 1 / 2. Goalies-Hartford, Huska 5-4-4 (21 shots-17 saves). Bridgeport, Coreau 5-8-1 (31 shots-30 saves). A-6,271 Referees-Dan Kelly (45), Alex Normandin (65). Linesmen-Nick Briganti (58), Andrew Bell (43). Read the full article

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings HARTFORD, CT - Any thought of the Hartford Wolf Pack making the post-season were slim at best, but another Monday off day trade pretty much seals the team’s fate. The New York Rangers have tossed in the towel on their AHL affiliate's season and have begun the dismantling the 2018-19 edition of the team. In the space of a month, the Rangers have traded their team captain, Cole Schneider, the fourth consecutive season where the team captain was dealt, their first off-season signing from last summer, goalie Marek Mazanec, and now the team's leading scorer, Peter Holland. Holland, 28 was a former #1 overall pick of the Anaheim Ducks. He was dealt to the Chicago Blackhawks for a 22-year-old defenseman, and former first-round selection, Darren Raddysh, who was playing with the Rockford Ice Hogs. Holland was assigned to Rockford with a ledger that has 20 goals and 49 points on it, tops on the Wolf Pack and ninth in AHL scoring race. Holland was one of the three assistant captains on the team. The other assistant captains are Steven Fogarty and Matt Beleskey - who's filling for the injured Rob O’Gara. The new assistant structure is still being formulated. “We have a couple scenarios we have looked at, but no final decision has been made,” remarked head coach McCambridge. The second year bench boss kept his remarks to the point in losing his leading scorer. “Peter did a lot of good things for this organization its an opportunity for both players we get a young defenseman on the back end and that’s a part of pro sports and part of the game of hockey,” replied a measured Keith McCambridge. Did you get a heads up that this deal was a possibility ? “As a head coach in this league you always know around this time of year, the trade deadline time this is a possibility of some type of movement,” said McCambridge being very precise in his answers when asked twice about the trade. In Holland’s first game with Rockford he posted two primary assists in a 3-2 OT come from behind win in Grand Rapids sporting jersey number 13. For the the Pack’s Matt Beleskey, now the most senior forward of experience on the team he has been through the revolving door of hockey was sanguine regarding the upheaval of the past month. “You see what the big club what direction there going in. It’s tough, but as a team you have to look at yourself and were not winning and when things aren’t going well there gonna be changes. Its really tough to lose Pete, he has been a good player and leader for us. I know he wasn’t asking to go anywhere it’s kinda surprising, but it’s a part of the business. We all know things happen at this time of year (trade deadline) it usually does and I don’t think its over.”” For Beleskey, he loses just not only a teammate, a fellow veteran to guide in the sheperding process with the younger players which Holland embraced, he loses his linemate. Holland along with the presently injured Ville Meskanen formed one of the few consistent solid lines the Pack have had all season. Helping young players absorb this lesson is not by him alone,but he clearly a few extra bricks are tossed on his shoulder. “Its kinda done by committee,but you have to point out if you have a losing record changes are going to happen. You certaintly don’t want to get use to this (losing) you want a team to stick together and be able to go places in April and may that’s a lesson. I kinda try to preach when things are going well, these kinda changes don’t happen.” Beleskey skated with Lias Andersson and Bobby Butler the last two days and that changed Thursday afternoon. Lias Andersson, who has just one goal and six points in 16 game since the Rangers reassigned him after four points in 21 games in New York was recalled as the Rangers because they will sit either one or both, Steven Hayes and ex-CT Whale Mats Zuccarello who are expected to be traded by Monday by the Rangers. “Look we have what maybe 30% of the team we started the year with. I think one or two defenseman right now from the start, so that’s tough to get into a groove, but our job is not to make the lineup, its to play. That’s all you can really do,”. The Holland trade was the 22nd AHL level trade made prior to Monday’s NHL trade deadline by the parent clubs since mid-December. These moves are primarily cap space moves for this season and in some cases for next season, a year before the expected lockout/work stoppage coming at the NHL level. Holland scored his 20th goal Sunday afternoon in a wild 5-4 OT loss to Wilkes Barre allowing the Wolf Pack to have had at least one 20 goals scorer in each of their 22 seasons. Holland is a UFA after this season which his salary was a one way NHL deal at $700K. The player he was traded for is right handed defenseman Darren Raddysh who had a strong junior career with Erie (OHL) with 65 assists 81 points plus 22 points in 22 OHL playoff games and eight points in five Memorial Cup games in his last season. Raddysh was a free agent undrafted signee to an ELC deal by the Black Hawks which he has one more year left at $70K-AHL/$755K-NHL.Raddysh has played 120 AHL games with Rockford with 13 goals and 48 points for the 6’0 200lb. rearguard. His brother Taylor plays for Syracuse (AHL). McCambridge got his first look at him at Wednesday’s practice. “He was poised with the puck, moved it well, I liked how his shot came off his stick, a good first practice and impression,” said McCambridge. Having a righthanded defenseman is like a lefthanded pitcher in baseball everybody wants a couple of them. “There are year when you might six righthanded shots as I have seen a lot of different mixes in the past. Right now, you want the best available defenseman to work on the back end.” The Wolf Pack have a truly very important three in three this weekend they must be all regulation wins no overtimes or shootouts if they can keep the very slim post season hopes alive. Friday season long nemesis Springfield is in town and Saturday starts a home and home with the team holding fourth place in the Atlantic division the Providence Bruins. “We felt we have had some good efforts like against Toronto, we split two games in Lehigh Valley never an easy easy building to play in this league. Then  again Bridgeport we had a chance there against a team who added two good piece on a conditioning loan (Andrew Ladd and Thomas Hickey both recalled on Monday). We like the traction we have had, we just haven’t gotten the results.” For John Gilmour he realizes this a critical weekend. “We have had a do or die mentality lately, we just haven’t gotten the W’s we wanted. We have a little over 20 games left we can’t afford to drop any and were playing every game like it’s a playoff game. We have to have a lot of desperation to our games if we want to make the playoffs which is our goal.” The Wolf Pack are down three games to none can they reverse the trend ? NOTES: -Beleskey with one more year left at $1.9 million of an originally deal signed with Boston in 2015 who carries only an $800K cap hit for New York remains the optimist and realist, “Your always trying to figure what’s gonna happen, but I‘ve learned in this business you never know what’s  gonna happen.” -The Pack injury front there is some encouraging news Ville Meskanen (lower body) practiced in his a red no contact jersey could see a game as could Ty Ronning (lower body) and Brandon Crawley (upper body) practiced could see some time this weekend. Defenseman Rob O’ Gara (lower body) still remains a week or so away from playing. -The Wolf Pack continued to add more player insurance ahead of the trade deadline with foward Zach Lynch from Wheeling (ECHL). The three year ECHL vet has 15 goals and 37 assists for 52 points in 53 games with Wheeling Nailers (ECHL). He has 145 career ECHL games with Wheeling and Manchester and 36 career AHL games with Utica, Springfield and Portland when they were in the AHL as the Pirates. -The Washington Capitals picked up ex-CT Whale Carl Hagelin from Los Angeles for a 3rd round pick in 2019 and a conditional sixth round pick in 2020 late Thursday. "We are pleased to welcome Carl to our organization," said Caps senior VP and GM former New Haven Nighthawk Brian MacLellan. "We felt this trade enables us to add depth up front and provides us with a veteran player with a tremendous amount of speed to help us on the penalty kill." -Ryan Donato, son of ex-Pack and Sound Tiger Ted Donato was traded by Boston to Minnesota for Charlie Coyle, a younger cousin to former New Haven Nighthawk, Bobby “The Cat” Sheehan. -Ex-Pack Desmond Bergin signed a PTO deal with Binghamton he was playing with Adirondack (ECHL). -Former UCONN Husky Derek Pratt having been scratched both games that he was eligible for was released on Tuesday from his PTO deal and reassigned to Maine (ECHL). This was similar to Matt Petgrave two weeks ago who was scratched for three games he was eligible for and returned to Brampton (ECHL). -Goalie Chris Nell, still Rangers property was reassigned early in the year to Greenville (ECHL) their old ECHL affiliate from Maine was curiously reassigned to Hartford Wednesday. Like Halverson is in the last year of his contract. -Justin Salvaggio who played four games last year for the Wolf Pack was reassigned from Maine (ECHL) to Wichita (ECHL). -Looking ahead four Wolf Pack players will be UFA (unrestricted free agents) Group 6 category at the end of the year. Group 6 is defined as a player with three years pro experience who has not played 80 NHL games by their 25th birthday making them unrestricted. Steven Fogarty and Rob O’ Gara each have just 11 games, John Gilmour is at 28 and Boo Nieves who is in New York, if he plays all of the remaining 24 Rangers games will qualify by just two games. Dustin Tokarski and Connor Brickley on recall are straight UFA’s. -After three games and no points ex-Pack Dale Weise was assigned to Laval by Montreal. -Micheal Haley, the ex-Wolf Pack and Sound Tiger was claimed off waiver by his former NHL team the San Jose Sharks from the Florida Panthers. -Former New Haven Senators head coach Don MacAdam brought in as an interim coach on December 18th was let go after exactly two months later from SC Csikszereda (Romania-EBEL) that plays in the Austrian Elite League. -Late breaking news is the New York islanders have named Oak View Group (OVG) to be the new management company of the Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport. This is significant in two ways. One, OVG that is the group beginning the renovation project on the Seattle KeyArena that will house the NHL’s 32nd yet unnamed franchise. The other significance is OVG is in partnering with MSG run by Jim Dolan who is the primary financial backer in OVG on renovation in Seattle and have a piece of the pie with the Islander new building to be built in Belmont Park slated to begin at last report next month. Webster Bank Arena’s original 20 year lease negotiated by the late Roy Boe expires in two seasons and the building at 20 years of age will need state funding to begin replacing and repairing its operating mechanical systems. Matthew Herpich, was named the new GM of the Webster Bank Arena, a 12 year veteran of arena management . He has run arena’s in Chicago, Portland,ME, Cleveland State University and in Aiken, SC. Michael Picker, the current President and GM, a long time Islanders executive will remain as President of the Sound Tigers. The deal will be effective February 28th. Read the full article

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

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