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BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings HARTFORD, CT - The suddenly revived UCONN offense aided by a pair of seniors, Alexander Payusov two goals and Wyatt Newpower three assists and a plus-five, swept a critical Hockey East weekend series from UNH by the score of 7-4 before a season-high crowd of 8,211 at the XL Center. UCONN’s record goes to 11-12-4 overall, but the all-important Hockey East number went above .500 at 8-7-2  and UNH falls to (13-11-2 overall, 7-8-1 HEA). The Huskies are in sixth place in the conference, but in a four-way tie in points at 18 with UMASS-Lowell in fourth place, Providence is in fifth followed by UCONN and then Maine. Northeastern is in eighth with 17 points. “I was very pleased with the weekend it was the second is where we won the game from start to finish. It was one of our five best periods of the year and we kept the pressure on them,” said a smiling head coach Mike Cavanaugh. For UNH’s head coach Mike Souza it was a big disappointment. “Not much to say. Credit UCONN they wanted it more than we did this weekend. It was an unacceptable defensive performance on our part. Hats off to Mike (Cavanaugh) they competed hard and made more plays than we did, that’s for sure. We beat ourselves in a lot of ways tonight.” In the third period, the Huskies added some extra icing on the cake as sophomore Jachym Kondelik scored two goals himself as UCONN erupted for 14 goals in two games and 12 different Huskies were on the scoresheet at game’s end. The play was all started by a blind backhand pass by Wyatt Newpower to Kondelik standing at the right side of the UNH net and his first shot was stopped by Trey Taylor, but he got the puck right back and buried his seventh goal of the year at 7:06 for a 6-2 lead. Newpower’s backhand pass was a no-no as the head coach wanted the blind backhand passes to stop as it was leading to turnovers that have been hurting the team. In this case, it ended well. “The coach told our defenseman not to do those types of passes just get to the net. It doesn’t have to be the hardest shot it has to be on the net and a speed we can tip it at or get a (rebound) like on Sasha’s first goal, that’s what we need,” said Knodelik. The head coach was pleased not only his big players came through, but the team got scoring throughout the lineup. “We got everybody scoring Sasha had two goals, Jachym had two goals, Ruslan’s line two goals. We got scoring from all four lines, that’s a recipe for success. When all four lines are chipping in its hard for the other team to focus on one line and shut it down. I told the kids if you keep getting multiple shot shifts, not just one and done. Several multiple shot shifts you will wear teams down and will score.” UNH got a puck bounce of their own on their third goal as Will Mackinnon right point drive went wide short side, but the eight ball bounced off the backboards and off Vomacka’s skate and into the net at 10:04. It was Mackinnon’s third goal of the year and West Haven’s Eric Esposito picked up the first of his two assists for the game and made the score 6-3. Kondelik scored his second goal at 16:37 on a great feed from Kale Howarth from behind the net and UNH closed out the scoring as Joe Sacco Jr. son of Boston Bruins assistant coach Joe Sr. scored his first of the season at 18:06 to make it 7-4. The Huskies regained the lead early in the second period as Brian Rigali, who had a net-front presence, and pest with four shots on goal started this scoring sequence. Rigali put the puck up the left-wing boards and defenseman Yan Kuznetsov shooting off his back foot got it on the net. UNH goalie Ty Taylor left a 28 oz. porterhouse rebound that Alexander Payusov easily slapped past him far side for his sixth goal at 4:32. For Cavanaugh, he shows more from his senior winger from Montreal. “He showed more emotion, he was vocal and was into the game. He was moving his feet, he’s a fun kid to watch when he is playing like that. You can get paralyzed by statistics sometimes were your not scoring goals, but you're helping your team in a lot of other different ways. I was really glad to see him get a few goals because were gonna need Sasha going down the stretch.” The Huskies got the all-important two-goal cushion on some fine work from UCONN’s fourth line. Defenseman Blake Wheeler (plus four) kept the puck in the UNH end of the ice after a Zac Robbins attempt was stopped. Justin Howell deep in the right-wing corner corralled the puck that UNH goalie Taylor missed behind the net. Robbins circling back like an eagle looking for a squirrel went to the net and made a perfect open blade redirect for just his second goal of the year at 15:06. “That was a big goal and gave our bench a big lift. They did very well in the second and in the third with good puck management.” Tomas Vomacka kept the lead for the Huskies with several breathtaking saves on Patrick Grasso hat trick bid, Filip Engaras, and Eric MacAdams. The best though came on Will Mackinnon as the original shot by Mackinnon came off the backboards past Vomacka and went right back to MacKinnon. Vomacka incredibly got back to the net, past a prone teammate top of the crease to deny him what seemed was a sure goal. The Huskies went back on the rush from that save as Vladislav Firstov stopped on a left-wing bid on across ice pass on a late-developing break play with 2:50 to go in the period. The Huskies got some serious puck luck on its fifth goal and third of the period. Alexander Payusov from behind the goal line as he got the puck from hard work by Harrison Rees dump in. Payusov just wheeled and fired the puck that went off the skate of UNH defenseman Ryan Verrier and into the net with 12.7 seconds left, ending a 20 shot barrage from UCONN. The Huskies went to the intermission with a commanding 5-2 lead plus roaring ovation from the crowd. “We shot a lot more pucks than we did last week. We didn’t get the bounces last week but we're happy with the outcome. The crows were great today.” The Huskies grabbed the 1-0 in the first period as they did Friday in New Hampshire. Once again their top line Ruslan Iskhakov-Vladislav Firstov and Jonny Evans factored in the goal. Evans on the right-wing got a good lead pass from t Firstov and Ruslan Iskhakov had inside position on the defenseman and redirected the perfect soft lead pass by Wildcats netminder Ty Taylor at 4:12 for his ninth goal. They finished a combined plus five with six points and on Friday had 11 points and combined plus 15 with each forward plus five. “The commitment to playing defense is helping them, they’re playing a 200-foot game. It was an emphasis we made to shoot one-time pucks, off the pass we saw that a couple of times tonight. My college coach Terry Meagher at Bowdoin always said shoot five-hole when your struggling when looking to pick corners that’s when you miss the net. That is something we have been doing really, really well this week,”. UNH’s lethal powerplay quickly tied it at one just 36 seconds later and 16 seconds into the penalty. The penalty call by Jamie Koharski on Adam Karaschik was a very weak interference call. UNH’s Patrick Grasso received a pass from the left-wing boards from fellow assistant captain Charlie Kelleher at the left side of the net, Grasso completely unchecked turned and swept his 10th goal of the season by Tomas Vomacka. UNH took the lead at 2-1 as Max Gildon from the right point with the puck on edge came off the right point with a slapshot that Vomacka stopped. The rebound was right there and Patrick Grasso found a still bouncing puck swiped at it and put in his second of the period and 11th of the season at 14:01. The Huskies top line was involved in their second goal that came in the last minute of play in the first. Wyatt Newpower at the right point let one fly and with a partial screen from Firstov who cleanly tipped the puck with 52.6 seconds left the Huskies had a lead and momentum going into their locker room. The period saw Vomacka keep the lid on what could have become a wild scoring free-for-all with several stops that he has made look routine as he has all season. NOTES: -UCONN has a bye week off and returns to action against the Maine Black Bears with the second game in Orono will be another NESN broadcast at 7:30 pm on the 15th. -RW Carter Turnbull (lower body) was injured on Friday was out and likely won’t be back till the Maine series in Orono in two weeks. -UNH lost Charlie Kelleher for the game with a lower-body injury late in the first period. -Ben Freeman continues his solid faceoff work with 12 of 23 many in the UCONN end of the ice in PK situations. -UNH had some local ties in Eric Esposito (West Haven/Loomis Chaffe Prep), head coach Mike Souza an ex-Bridgeport Sound Tiger and associate head coach Glenn Stewart, is a former UHL New Haven Knights in his sixth season. Goaltending Development coach ex-Pack, Ty Conklin in his first season. -The Wildcats Patrick Grasso’s uncles are former NHL superstars Joe and Brian Mullen and ex-New Haven Nighthawk, Tom Mullen. Patrick Mullen his cousin is still playing with the Belfast Giants (Northern Ireland-EIHL). -A recent article in USHCO .com by Jim Connelly intimating that Hockey East as a conference might change its format and become part of all-conference setup with all sports. A longtime trusted hockey source and confidant, very familiar with Hockey East and hockey in general, collegiate and minor pro, shot the article down like an incoming drone. “Utterly and completely baseless. I have no idea where that information came from, but there is no truth to it whatsoever.” It seems farfetched because nearly half of the conference would be disqualified from BU, Maine, UNH, Merrimack, Vermont, and UCONN either are have no conference affiliation or only in certain sports. College hockey is on the verge of expansion not contraction in the next two years. The long plan anticipated inclusion of Holy Cross into Hockey East is still not on the horizon our source commented, “I think that issue might be something the next commissioner will handle.” Joe Bertagna after 23 years is stepping down at the conclusion of the season and a conference committee has been interviewing candidates and has been narrowed down to five candidates. -The UCONN rink bond package has been written according to our source, however, when it will be formally presented to the bond commission remains unknown at this time as legislative jockeying is still ongoing with the Governor and other legislators. -Good news for UCONN hockey fans for next season a Nashville organizational source said both Tomas Vomacka and Jachym Kondelik will be back for their junior years as neither will be offered contracts this spring when the college season ends. -Matej Blumel, from the Czech Republic who was a former UCONN player, but never skated a minute for the Huskies bolting for the Czech Elite League three weeks before the season was to begin. The NHL draft choice of Edmonton Blumel has just three goals and four points in 26 games has re-signed with HC Litvinov (Czech Republic-CEL) for next season. Read the full article

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BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings HARTFORD, CT - With just about sixty days remaining until the start of the 2019-'20 professional hockey season gets underway, teams are beginning to ramp up their final roster decisions and making more signings. PLAYER & COACHING MOVEMENT The Hartford Wolf Pack have been busy. They announced the signing of a forward, Lewis Zerter-Gossage, to a one-year, AHL deal. Zerter-Gossage played four years at Harvard (ECACHL) playing in 128 games scoring 42 goals adding 43 helpers for 85 points. He joined the Wolf Pack at the end of last season on an ATO deal. Zerter-Gossage played in five games in which he tallied two goals. He played his prep school hockey in Connecticut at Kent, which is also where Rangers head coach David Quinn played when he was a young man. The Rangers made it official and brought out Kevin Shattenkirk (Greenwich/Brunswick Prep). The move gives the Rangers immediate cap relief for this year. It puts the Blueshirts under the $81.5M cap at $80.4M. The team's two remaining UFA’s, Brendan Lemieux and Tony DeAngelo, are expected to play for their NHL qualifying offers for this coming season. Coming from out of left-field, former New Haven Nighthawk, and Hartford Whaler, Paul Fenton, was relieved of his duties as the Minnesota Wild's GM after just one season. In a "Hide-and-seek" move to rid the team of the contract of ex-Wolf Pack and Ranger, Ryan Callahan, who you may remember retired last month as a result of a diagnosis of degenerative back disease, was “dealt” by the Tampa Bay Lightning to the Ottawa Senators along with a fifth-round pick in the 2020 entry draft for goalie Mike Condon and a sixth-round 2020 draft pick. Sens had the cap space to spare while Tampa needed to create some. Totally legal within CBA rules. Tampa Bay also signed ex-Sound Tiger, Stephen Gionta, as an amateur scout. Ex-Pack, Vince Pedrie played very sparingly in Hartford last year and included an ECHL reassignment to the Maine Mariners before being released. He then signed with the Milwaukee Admirals where he played quality minutes into the Western Conference Final has signed with the Tucson Roadrunners on an AHL contract for next season. Ex-Sound Tiger, Casey Bailey, returns from HC Slovan Bratislava (Slovakia–KHL) and signs a try-out deal with the Hershey Bears. Wade Megan (South Kent Prep) who played with the Grand Rapids Griffins last season and had some recall time with the Detroit Red Wings, announced his retirement at age 29. He will concentrate on his hockey school in his native Canton, NY. The Charlotte Checkers announced the hiring of Pat Dwyer as a new assistant for new head coach Ryan Warsofsky. On the same day of his hire, Dwyer announced his retirement as a player after spending last season with the Belfast Giants (Northern Ireland-EIHL). The Texas Stars announced the retirement of Travis Morin, 35, and noted that his number 23 will be retired. It was also announced that he is being hired as a skills development coach. Former New Haven Nighthawk, and Hartford Whalers draft pick, Jerome “Boom-Boom” Bechard, has been hired to be one of two associate coaches with the expansion Columbus (GA) Fire Dragons (FHL). He coached the SPHL Columbus Cottonmouth for seven years before the team folded after the 2016-17 season. Matt Finn, who played four games in Hartford with the Wolf Pack, as well as with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, and had two other AHL PTO signing stops in Ontario and Grand Rapids, signs in Europe with EHC Linz (Austria-EBEL). Finn played the majority of his season with the Florida Everblades (ECHL). Jamie Arniel, the nephew of former Nighthawk and Rangers assistant coach, Scott Arniel, split last season with Vienna (Austria-EBEL) and then Augsburger (Germany-DEL) has signed with HC Bolzano  (Italy-EBEL). Another pair of Euro AHL signings. Bobby Farnham of Springfield signs with Belfast (Northern Ireland-EIHL). Ryan Murphy, who played with two AHL teams (Binghamton, Iowa) and two NHL squads (New Jersey, Minnesota), signs with Neftekhimik (Russia-KHL) making 63 AHL’ers to sign overseas for the upcoming season. European camps start in the next week. Ex-Pack, Brendan Kotyk, re-signs with Toledo (ECHL). Ex-Sound Tiger, Scott Burt, is named the new assistant coach with Boise (ECHL). Ex-Sound Tiger, and Rangers draft pick, Daniel Maggio, leaves Norfolk (ECHL) for Herning IK Blue Fox (Norway-NEL). Ex-Sound Tiger, Alan Letang, the head coach for Owen Sound (OHL), has been added to the Canadian WJC Team as a scout. Former Whaler, Jody Hull, signs a two-year extension as the head coach of the Niagara IceDogs (OHL). He hires a longtime AHL’er Mark Mancari, as a new assistant coach. Mancari played in Rochester, Portland, Chicago, and San Antonio. He concluded a four-year stint in the German DEL to end his playing career. The Sudbury Wolves (OHL) have hired one-time Whalers scout, Tony MacDonald. He went to North Carolina and worked with the Hurricanes and retired there as the Director of Amateur Scouting after the draft in Vancouver. He was their top scout for the final three years in Hartford. He will be a Special Advisor in Sudbury. The Wolves also hired a new assistant coach. He is long-time AHL enforcer, Zach Stortini, who retires from Charlotte to become the Wolves second assistant coach replacing former Nighthawk and Springfield Indian, Bud Stefanski. Stefanski coached with his son-in-law, the team's head coach, Corey Stillman, last year. He officially retires from coaching. Stortini finished 16th on the all-time AHL PIM list with 1,825 in 603 AHL games. He tallied 109 points and played 257 NHL gamers with 41 points and 725 PIM. He is also the all-time PM leader in Sudbury history with 746 in 247 games. His total numbers, 1,109 games played, 124 goals scored, 270 total points, and 3,296 PIM. A few more to add in college player signing categories. Meirs Moore, from RPI (ECACHL), signs with the South Carolina Stingrays (ECHL). His college teammate, Brady Wiffens, signs with the Reading Royals (ECACHL).  Spencer Trapp of Holy Cross (AHA), signs with South Carolina as well. Trapp’s older brother, Bear Trapp, played four years for Sacred Heart University. Liam Morgan leaves two years early from Union College (ECACHL) and heads to Belfast (Northern Ireland-EIHL). Jack Jenkins of Notre Dame (Big 10), signs with the Indy Fuel (ECHL). Marly Quince of Clarkson University (ECACHL) heads to the Adirondack Thunder (ECHL) while Brett Supinski of Union College (ECACHL) inks a deal with the Rangers' secondary farm team, the Maine Mariners (ECHL). He did play two games in the spring with the Ontario Reign. That makes for 188 Division I players to have signed North American pro deals Cory Anderson of Division III's Manhattanville College (UCHC) signs with Huntsville (SPHL) making 24 Division III players to have signed pro deals. 50 college players have signed in Europe and 254 overall between Division I and III have signed. The first Canadian college transfer occurs as Andrew Dodson of the University Alabama-Huntsville (WCHA) will play for the University of Guelph Gryphons (OUAA). There was just one college transfer to the Canadian major junior ranks as Sam Comrie leaves Denver University (NCHC) for Kelowna (WHL). Former Sacred Heart University assistant coach, Josh Beal, is hired as an assistant coach with Bentley University (AHA). Ex-Pack, Layne Ulmer, 38, retires after four strong seasons at Cardiff (Wales-EIHL) that included several championships, He is retiring from hockey and moving back to Canada. Ex-Pack, Juris Stals, re-signs with HK Kurpads (Latvia-LHL). Ex-Pack, Richard Nejezchleb, goes from HC Nova Zamsky (Slovakia-SLEL) to HC Poruba (Czech Republic Division-2). Goalie, Kohl Reddy, leaves Loomis Chaffe Prep (Windsor) for Kirkland Lake of the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League, (NOJHL) one of the ten Canadian Junior A leagues. One of the all-time wildest players in AHL and minor pro history, Kevin “Killer” Kaminski, becomes the head coach of the La Ronge Wolves (SJHL). UCONN ANNOUNCES REMAINDER OF 2019 CLASS After reporting several of the incoming freshmen class for UCONN, the school announced the remainder of their incoming class. There is plenty of reason for optimism when the group hops over the boards on opening night October 5th in Bridgeport at the Webster Bank Arena against Sacred Heart University (AHA). Jacob Flynn, Defenseman - Bridgewater, Mass./Thayer Academy (USHS-MA Prep) The 5-foot-10 defenseman from Bridgewater, Mass., concluded his high school career in 2018-19 at Thayer Academy.  Flynn was Thayer’s top-defenseman this past season. He finished with a career-high seven goals and 23 points in 28 games as his team finished 13-10-4 in the ISL. In his senior season, Flynn earned ISL all-league honors.  During his junior season, he posted three goals and 12 assists in 30 games.  During his four years at Thayer, Flynn appeared in 119 career games with 12 goals and 33 assists for 45 points.  Ryan Keane, Goaltender - Lewisville, Texas/Jamestown Rebels (NAHL) The 5-9 goaltender from Lewisville, Texas spent the past two seasons in the NAHL. Keane played in 36 games with the Jamestown Rebels. In 2018-19, he finished second in the league with a 1.81 Goals Against Average (GAA). He posted a 23-10-0 record and had three shutouts.  He finished the year with a .927 save percentage.  In 2017-18, Keane saw action in 33 games with the then Philadelphia Rebels and was 24-7-0 with a 1.90 GAA and a .924 save percentage. He earned the NAHL (East) Goaltender of the Year honors. Keane ranked second in the league in GAA and had three shutouts. He was named to the NAHL All-East Division team. Prior to his two seasons in the NAHL, Keane played nine games with the Omaha Lancers (USHL). In 2016-17, the second Texas-born and bred Huskies goaltender, comes out of the Dallas Stars U-16/U-18 program. The other was Rob Nichols (Dallas) who played from 2013-2017. He will be the number two goalie behind returning sophomore, and Czech native, Tomas Vomacka. Yan Kuznetsov, Defenseman - Murmansk, Russia/Sioux Falls Stampede (USHL) The 6-3 defenseman from Murmansk, Russia comes to Storrs after playing last season in the USHL with the Sioux Falls Stampede, the 2019 Clark Cup champions. He was the 157th overall pick in the 10th round of USHL Futures Draft in 2018. Kuznetsov played in 34 games and had four assists. In international play, in November, he helped lead Team Russia to its fourth gold medal in the six-game showcase, World Under-17 Hockey Challenge in New Brunswick, Canada. In addition to earning a medal, he was named to the WHC All-Star team.  He also played for Russia’s U16 team in 2017-18 and has skated for CSKA Moscow U-16.18 squads as well. No relation to the former pro player Sergei Kuznetsov. Harrison Rees, Defenseman - Oakville, Ontario/North York Rangers (OJHL) The 6-2 defenseman from Oakville, Ontario has played the last two seasons with North York of the Ontario Junior Hockey League (OJHL).  In 2018-19, he helped lead the Rangers to the top of the OJHL South Division while putting up 44 points on six goals and 38 assists in 53 games.  In 16 playoff games this past season, Rees scored six goals with seven assists. At the end of the season, he was named to the 2018-19 OJHL All-Star second team. In 2017-18, Rees had a 14 points season in 50 games, scoring three goals with 11 assists.  He spent the 2016-17 season with The Hill Academy's U16 Prep team, playing in 12 games. In 2016, he was drafted in the 11th round, 221st overall pick of the OHL Priority Draft by the Erie Otters. The foursome all join previously announced incoming players of, Carter Berger (North Vancouver, British Columbia), Matej Blümel (Tabor, Czech Republic), Vladislav Firstov (Yaroslavl, Russia) and Eric Linell (Great Neck, N.Y.). They round out this coming season’s eight-player freshmen class. This year’s class features three players taken in June’s NHL Entry Draft in Vancouver, Firstov (Minnesota/2nd round/42nd overall), Blumel (Edmonton/4th round/100th overall) and Berger (Florida/4th round /106th overall). (Portions of a UCONN press release were used in the formation of this piece) WORLD JUNIOR SUPER SUMMER SHOWCASE Now in its third year in Plymouth, MI, this a summer hockey appetizer preview of the World Junior Championship. This year it will be held in Ostrava, and Trinec, Czech Republic. The four countries that participate are the host US, Sweden, Canada, and Finland. The US team features a few important names including the NY Rangers first-round pick (22nd overall) in 2018 in defenseman K’Andre Miller of the University of Wisconsin. It also includes a pair of former Avon Old Farms Players in Spencer Knight (Darien/Boston College), Trevor Zegras (Boston University), and Christian Krygier. Also on the list is the son of former Whaler, UCONN Husky, and Nighthawk, Matthias Samuelsson (Western Michigan) who is the son of ex-Nighthawk, Kjell Samuelsson. Lastly, there's Shane Pinto (US Selects Academy at South Kent Prep). Rangers draft pick, Zac Jones, (Tri-City USHL 2019, third round, 68th overall), a defenseman, and current Sound Tiger, Oliver Wahlstrom, and Jack Drury (Harvard), the son of former Whaler, Ted Drury who also is the nephew of Wolf Pack GM, Chris Drury from Trumbull. On Friday, Miller had another solid offensive rush from the US goal-line but was denied as Rangers' President John Davidson was in attendance. In the waning minutes of the first period, Cole Caufield, and Drury were each denied on Grade-A chances. Miller nailed Drury with a shot in front of the net, and he, of course, was back at in the second period. The US battled back from a 4-1 deficit after giving up four goals of the seven scored in the second period. They got a late goal from Trevor Zegras with 1:31 left in regulation but fell one short in the 6-5 loss to Finland despite 51 shots on goal. Miller assisted on Zegras' tally, and Drury added a power play goal from the right-wing circle set-up by Caulfield. The US routed Sweden on Wednesday, 6-0. Knight recorded the shutout with 22 saves. His best work came in the first period stopping four point-blank shots including one on Ranger prospect, Karl Henriksson. His former Avon Old Farms teammate, Zegras, scored one of the six goals while Jones has another strong game with an assist and five shots on goal. The US lost to Canada 4-1 in the opener with Caulfield scoring the only US goal. Miller had two good strong plays, one on a coast-to-coast rush and a screen shot that Canadian netminder Olivier Rodrique snatched away from the top right corner spot he was shooting for. Miller set up Drury for an in-front tip in play, but that was denied by Rodrigue as well. The series concluded with the US winning over Canada on Saturday. Of note on the other three teams are Jack McBain of Canada, the son of former New Haven Senator, Andrew McBain, and the goalie coach for Canada is all-time Wolf Pack great, Jason LaBarbera. Sweden had three Ranger draft picks in defenseman Nils Lundkvist (2018 first-round, 24th overall), Karl Henriksson (2019 second-round, 58th overall) and goalie, Olof Lindbom (2018 second round, 39th overall). While both are eligible to play in the WJC in December, both Jack Hughes (New Jersey), and Kaapo Kakko (Rangers) are expected to be in the NHL and were not invited to this tourney. Read the full article

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings CROMWELL, CT - It was a very silent Hartford Wolf Pack practice at Champions Skating Center on Wednesday. Fresh off a disheartening 4-1 loss to the Hershey Bears, who scored all four of their goals in the last seven minutes of the game, the New York Rangers' AHL affiliates did their drills and skating, but the usual chatter was missing. “We liked our first 53 minutes held them, to 21 shots to 11 shots against those back to back penalties, one of which they scored on. We had some missed D zone coverage, then a blocked shot, bounces up in front of the net and then a turnover by our goalie and an empty net goal, it‘s over. That’s not the recipe for closing out games especially a team like Hershey that’s won now how many games in a row? (Nine and 17-1-0-1 in their last 19),” Wolf Pack head coach, Keith McCambridge, said. The mental part of the game is still is not up to par in critical situations. “Your up 1-0, have control and taking penalties. You get away killing one, but then you come right back with another it's just not about managing the puck it's managing the game,” remarked McCambridge through a hoarse voice. When your goalie commits a turnover that led directly to the third Hershey goal as Brendan Halverson’s pass up the middle was intercepted by the last guy you wanted to have it, the Bears leading scorer Riley Barber who put in his second of the game and 26th of the season. “There’s a fine line in how he plays the puck. He had several nice plays on the penalty kill. He took control sent it all the way down (the ice). .There is that fine line when you play it too much,” said McCambridge of Halverson who will start tonight in Springfield. The team offense has been done by a small cache of players led by Vinni Lettieri, on a six-game point streak, Steven Fogarty 12 points in his last seven games and Ryan Gropp who has five points in seven games. “Vinni’s been dangerous all year here. That line has been very productive for us, very strong in the offensive zone, but their defensive zone coverage has been as equally strong between the three of them they will generate offense. By far our most dangerous offensive line,” remarked McCambridge. Conversely, the secondary scoring has been a trickle as of late. “It’s the secondary scoring that we need and it drops off from that line. You hope during the season when these players are having dry spells will pick it up. Lately, we have had players who hit some real dry spells been a while since they had points or goals. It was nice to see Fontaine last night score a goal, gain some traction, but I do like how hard we're working, but we have been missing some players (to injuries, trades). We have points in the last six games then last night we let one slip away from us with Hershey, where we should have had them in seven.” With 18 games remaining there is simply no margin for error and likely no margin left. “It's very disappointing because we have played well of late,“ Assistant captain Steven Fogarty said while wearing one of the team hoodies. “We got points and to play so well for most of the game and collapse…in a matter of two shifts… it's tough. It’s unacceptable, it's why we are, where we're at (in the standings). We're running out of time here.” The team also had another day of changes as the newly minted assistant captain, Ryan Lindgren, was in a left boot cast after taking a shot off his foot. He is likely out for this weekend’s games against Springfield and Wilkes Barre/Scranton breaking up their top defensive duo of Lindgren and John Gilmour. The Rangers also recalled rookie rearguard, Libor Hajak, Wednesday morning. With Lindgren out, the fans will likely see former QU Bobcat, Zach Tolkinen, back in the lineup taking his place. The Rangers did what was expected as they reassigned goalie Dustin Tokarski, too, of all places, Charlotte the top team in the Atlantic Division. With that, the AHL ending the veteran goalie experiment that didn’t produce the results the Rangers/Wolf Pack had hoped for this season (more info below). The most frustrating thing about last night’s loss, is it stalled momentum that the Wolf Pack have been building. Recently, they have been in this position clawing from the bottom trying to make the playoffs. Why this has become a yearly routine occurrence with a mostly new team? “We’ve been asking that question for three years. There obviously is a mental aspect to it. You're going to get scored on, but you can’t cheat when you get scored on. Obviously, It's going to be March tomorrow and we haven’t learned that yet. We're still in the hunt, but it's a desperate time. There are only so games left.” Will the clock strike midnight on their season this weekend? The Wolf Pack fate is in their skates and sticks. NOTES: On the injury front, Lindgren is listed as day-to-day pending a medical evaluation. After he got some x-rays done, Rob’Gara (lower-body) skated in a red non-contact jersey. He's week-to-week. Ville Meskanen (upper body) was skating in a red non-contact jersey. He's day-to-day while Chris Bigras was with cast and crutches and is listed week-to-week. So far the Hartford Wolf Pack have remained mostly intact from Monday’s NHL Trade Deadline Day with some minor deals, but might be different after Monday’s AHL Trade Deadline. Tokarski's reassignment/trade comes as no surprise, but to be sent to Charlotte, the top team in the AHL and, of course, the Atlantic Division, was quite shocking. Tokarski’s last Wolf Pack game was a porous effort against Bridgeport February 17th in a 5-4 OT loss to the Sound Tigers. He played in 21 games, just one more than his other veteran battery mate, Marek Mazanec, who was shipped off to Vancouver two weeks ago. Tokarski’s record was 10-6-2 with a 3.01 GAA and a .901 save percentage and one shutout. He, like Mazanec, was inconsistent. While he did have a 9-1-1 stretch, that was the extent of his best playing period. He was pulled three times this season, twice in his ten playing days. One NHL scout described Tokarski as, “either really good or really (crappy). There is no in between.” In return, the Wolf Pack will receive Hartford-born, Josh Wesley, and will add another defenseman who has shuttled most of his pro career in the Carolina organization between Charlotte and Florida (ECHL). Wesley is the son of former Whaler, Glen Wesley (1994-1997), who played ten years in Carolina with the exception of seven games with Toronto when he was a deadline trade in 2003. Currently, he is the defensive skills development coach for St. Louis after spending ten years in the same position in the same capacity with Carolina. A few former players have been moved to new addresses. Ex-CT Whale, Michael Del Zotto, lands on his third team this year. He leaves the Anaheim Ducks to head to the St. Louis Blues. Then ex-Pack forward Oscar Lindberg was involved in the Ryan Stone deal and heads to the Canadian capital city to play for the Senators from Las Vegas. Jonathan Dalen, son of former New Haven Nighthawk and Ranger, Ulf Dahlen goes from Vancouver to San Jose. Ex-Pack Brian Gibbons (Salisbury Prep) is moved from Anaheim to Ottawa for Patrick Sieloff. In non-trade news, recently ex-Pack goalie, Marek Mazanec, was assigned to Utica by Vancouver. Ex-Wolf Pack, Dale Weise, has been recalled from Laval by Montreal. Weise had two goals in three games with the Rocket. Ex-Sound Tiger defenseman Matt Donovan was recalled by Nashville from Milwaukee. Rangers announced Monday that they have signed two of their potential Group 6 free agents centers, Boo Nieves and Steven Fogarty, to one-year contracts. Nieves' deal was for one-year. It's a one-way NHL deal paying $700K. Fogarty’s deal was a one-year two-way deal paying $700K in the NHL and $150K at the AHL. Fogarty celebrated with a hat-trick in a 4-1 win over the Providence Bruins on Sunday. Two of the goals were shorthanded. That gives Hartford three in a two-game span and Fogarty was involved in all of them. It was the first Wolf Pack hat trick in a little over two years. The last came from Adam Tambellini against Springfield on February 10, 2017, at the Mass Mutual Center. It's also just the fifth Wolf Pack hat trick in the last seven years. “I wasn’t sure how this was going to work. This is my first. I was going to be a free agent,“ Fogarty remarked. “It's obvious. It's exciting. When I got the call and the process started. They called a few weeks ago and things just progressed pretty nicely.” Did you want to test free agency? “To be honest, I was not sure how that process works out. I think I have a good year personally, made strides in my game and my goal is to get to the NHL. I really do like this organization who drafted me. I like coaches and the staff, so my heart has always been here,” said the Edina, MN native born in Chambersburg, PA. The Wolf Pack are still in the playoff hunt with a very steep hill to get there. They are nine points behind Providence and saw some personnel shift in the Atlantic Division. Springfield got Jean-Sebastien Dea, a frequent Pack killer, from the Wilkes Barre/Scranton Penguins and right-handed defenseman Chris Wideman heading to PA. Charlotte, already an exceptionally strong offensive team, added Tomas Jurco from Springfield. They are an early Calder Cup Final favorite. Matt Finn, just released by the Wolf Pack and sent back to Florida (ECHL), has signed another PTO with Ontario (AHL) and Alex Krushelnyski is traded from Lehigh Valley to Binghamton for his second AHL tour in southwestern New York state. He started the season with Reading (ECHL). Philippe Hudon, a Hudson, Quebec native who played three years at Choate Prep of Wallingford, then three years of Canadian major junior with the Victoriaville Tigres (QMJHL) and then five years of Canadian college hockey at Concordia University (OUAA) in Montreal signed an ECHL tryout deal with the Florida Everblades (ECHL). Nick Dilsi, a former Hartford Jr. Wolf Pack, goes from IFK Stromsund (Sweden Division-2) to HC Tabor (Czech Republic-Division-2). William Rinaldi (Kent Prep) is playing with Wellington (OJHL) commits to R.I.T. (AHA) for next year. The first of the European and Asian hockey titles have been decided. The Scottish National title was won by the Murrayfield Racers, the Italian title was won by SV Ritten/Renon their fourth straight title and fifth in six years. Then in India, the Indo-Tibet Border Police team won their third straight title over the Ladakh Scouts 6-5. The Ice Hockey Challenge Cup of Asia begins on Friday in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia with seven teams competing. The countries involved are defending champion and host Malaysia, Indonesia, Macau, Mongolia, Oman Philippines, and Singapore. In the Republic of Ireland, the Irish Times reports a deal has been struck to open the first ice rink converting an old building owned by the Institute of Technology in Dundalk. The city is located along the eastern coast near the Irish Sea just south of the Northern Ireland border. The rink would be the first and is expected to open in September. In Northern Ireland, they have the only rink, the SSE Arena that is run by AEG and houses the Belfast Giants (EIHL) and has hosted the Friendship Four college tournament the past five years. Read about it HERE. Read the full article