#boonieves

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings HARTFORD, CT - The NHL "playoffs" are officially underway and the news is coming fast and furious. The AHL has set a date for their return to play. On Thursday, the league's "Return to Play Committee" announced when the start of the 2020-21 season would begin. “At the recommendation of the AHL’s Return to Play" task force, the Board of Governors has approved moving the anticipated start of the 2020-21 regular season to (Friday) December 4, 2020, due to the ongoing COVID-19 public health crisis. The AHL will continue to work with its member clubs to monitor developments and local guidelines in all 31 league cities,” newly-minted, AHL CEO and President, Scott Howson, stated in a league press release. Whether that is the start of play or more likely the start of training camp, is still undecided. It will help the team's depleted sales staff, when they are eventually re-hired, to be able to generate sales with a date for prospective sponsors and season ticket holders. “We just wanted a target date and this gives us some clarity. It will still come down to the Governor's office, in the end, I think by September we'll hopefully, have a clearer direction,” said the lone Wolf Pack current office employee, Erik Hansen, who's the VP of Business Operations. It looks more like an aspirational date since there remain so many unknowns and variables involved. Read the full article

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings HARTFORD, CT - With the 2019-20 AHL and Hartford Wolf Pack season officially canceled, talk changes from what could have been, to what awaits at the next training camp that should start at some point in the final months of 2020. For the New York Rangers, their off-season decisions are many and plentiful. The NHL's proposed salary cap which was projected to be between $84 and $88 million two weeks before the pandemic outbreak is out the window as a result of the COVID-19 crisis. Roster decisions will now be even harder for every team's management to handle once that actual number is decided upon. The Rangers have an excess of defensemen as they did last year. There are 19 defensemen in the system and only 12 can dress between the AHL and NHL. Some are heading elsewhere. In New York, Jacob Trouba, Marc Staal, Ryan Lindgren, Brendan Smith, Adam Fox and Tony D’Angelo have the top spots. Staal and Smith each have one year remaining before they reach UFA status. D’Angelo is now an RFA coming off a solid potentially shortened season. Lindgren will be an RFA after next season. In Hartford, there's Libor Hajek, Yegor Rykov, and Sean Day, who are all entering the last year of their entry-level deals. Hajek is at a crossroads. After making the Rangers out of camp last year, he missed 20 games with an injury was supposed to be in Hartford on injury rehab, but never made it back to Broadway. Day started the year in Hartford, then was sent to the team's ECHL affiliates, the Maine Mariners for the remainder of the season in favor of Rykov, who was a upcoming player. Rykov’s stock fell precipitously at the end of the year. He was a healthy scratch in nine of the last 10 games including the last game the Pack played on March 11th against the Providence Bruins. The team elected to play a freshly signed rookie, Zach Guitarri, from Brown University (ECACHL) instead. Rykov could be dealt this summer if the right offer comes along. Rykov was unhappy about how things were progressing with the knock-on him, according to several sources, was his skating. It's not out of the question that Hajek could also potentially be involved in a package deal. Darren Raddysh and Brandon Crawley are both RFA’s this summer. Both Vincent LoVerde and Mason Geersten were already locked up when they signed one-year AHL deals a short time ago. Raddysh played well on both sides of the puck, as did Loverde. They were the number one shutdown tandem for two months. He would appear to have earned himself another one-year deal. After a good training camp, Crawley spent the majority of the season in Maine. LoVerde was very well-respected in the locker room as well as with the coaches. In fact, he played with every defenseman the Wolf Pack had on their roster this season. Geersten proved to be worth his weight in gold and earned a contract coming in as a non-roster invitee. He was the best body-checker on the team and a true heavyweight who took care of the "physical" business and was another solid veteran signee that stabilized the locker room. Both players earned deals with Geersten seeming to deserve a one-way, NHL money deal. The Rangers signed K’Andre Miller to a three-year, entry-level deal just before the season was suspended. Tarmo Reunanen, who was signed last year but played in Finland, enters year two of his three-year deal. In the Swedish Hockey League (SHL), Nils Lundkvist is coming off a strong year and at the WJC. There's also the aforementioned Guitarri. The problem for Reunanen and Lundkvist coming to North America is that in Europe, COVID-19 hit very hard and the question is where or not they will be able to come across the Big Pond because of possible visa issues. Earlier this week, the EU (European Union) discussed an immunity visa that could be issued and there is a whole panoply of security and civil liberties issues that could potentially follow that. It's a total unknown and it's highly possible both could stay in Europe for another year. Defenseman Matt Robertson, from Edmonton (WHL), will likely be signed to a standard three-year, entry-level deal very soon. Among the defenseman only Nick Ebert is the only UFA-Group 6 free agent. It's not likely that Ebert will be re-signed. He could end up elsewhere in the AHL or Europe. In the forward category, there are significant players who are Group 6 UFA’s. the Pack's leading scorer, Vinni Lettieri, and Danny O’Regan. Team captain, Steven Fogarty, is a UFA. Despite possessing a cannon of a slapshot, Lettieri could sign elsewhere. His stock fell in the Rangers' eye over the last year-and-a-half. O’Regan, an old friend of Rangers head coach David Quinn from their BU days, was highly regarded by the Wolf Pack coaching staff. He will likely get a one-or-two year AHL deal in the neighborhood of $300,000K. Then there's Fogarty. He was a solid captain who played through illness and injury. Near the end of the season, he wasn’t putting up with some of the lethargic play that crept back into the lineup and called out his teammates. He could receive another one year, one-way NHL deal, but he will likely test the market. He will get offers and will likely head elsewhere. There are four RFA’s on the roster. They are Boo Nieves, Ryan Gropp, Dawson Leedahl, and Gabriel Fontaine. Gropp, a former second-round pick, after being assigned to ain't took a three-week sabbatical early in the season. He returned to Maine and worked his way back up to the Pack lineup. He played well, but didn’t produce enough points, He could be departing as well. Leedahl spent most of the season in Maine and likely will not be back. Coming off of season-ending, left shoulder surgery, Fontaine will likely get a one-year AHL deal. Nieves is a tough call. He played very well, tallying 12 points in 10 games before suffering from severe migraines. He played just one game the remainder of the year. He was a last-minute scratch in what was to be his second consecutive game. Nieves is a tantalizing talent, but the Rangers pigeonholed him as a defensive center, which didn’t work. He's now 27 and on a one-way, one-year, $700K NHL deal. It isn't likely he will be offered another deal. A really solid player and person, he will likely migrate elsewhere. Entering, the last year of their deals, are the most improved player last season in Tim Gettinger, as well as Ty Ronning, Patrick Newell, Nick Jones, and the wildest of wild cards, a former first-round pick, Lias Andersson. Andersson's unexpected departure back to Sweden on November 18th, not surprisingly, earned him organizational scorn, however, some are said to be still willing to give him another chance. Andersson wasn’t a malcontent but made a rash, impulsive, and immature decision that put him in a box. Inside sources indicate he had a bit of an emotional breakdown two weeks before bolting. The self-imposed stress of having to live up to his being the number seven overall draft pick and producing very little results weighed heavily on him. Unless a larger trade deal is constructed that he's a part of, or he has some huge reversal in his behavior, he'll likely spend the final year of his original deal skating on the bigger surfaces in Sweden. The other first-round pick returning for year two is Vitali Kravtsov, who had a difficult first-year. He went back to Russia after just five games, came back, and showed only glimpses of his skill that made him a seventh overall draft selection as well. He was too inconsistent and did not get enough puck time and his willingness to take a hit to get the puck or to take a shot. Nick Jones, a free agent signee did everything he was asked to do and did a lot of good things on both sides of the faceoff circle. He helped set players up and was very strong on the PK. A looming minus-14 needs to be improved upon. Jones’ Achilles Heel was being unable to finish on his scoring chances. He was reminiscent of a young Jed Ortmeyer. He has likely earned a one-year, two-way AHL deal. Ryan Dmowski and Shawn McBride were the heart of the fourth line. The team relied on them before play was suspended. Both were both on AHL deals and looks like they've earned another one-year, AHL deal. Numbers plus analytics will ultimately determine if they do get offers. Returnee Jake Elmer has two years remaining on his deal. He spent more time in Maine than in Hartford. There's a batch of new signees for the Pack. The 6’7, Austin Rueschhoff, as well as Patrick Khodorenko, Patrick Whelan, Michael O’Leary, and Justin Richards will be in what should be a very competitive training camp whenever that camp actually opens though is anyone's guess. The only UFA on the Pack roster is veteran, Matt Beleskey. He and his $825K NHL cap hit and overall $1.9 million are over. He will end up either with an AHL veteran's deal somewhere else or will take a deal to play in Europe. At the start of the season, the Rangers' not even inviting Beleskey to their NHL training camp was one of the very few questionable moves. He would still be a locker room bonus and gave it his all for the team. Late in the season, he was involved in the line brawl in Springfield in the second to last game of the year that earned him a three-game suspension. Late in the year, the departure of Ville Meskanen was obviously the other "questionable" decision by the team's management. The Wolf Pack could have used him, especially when the team hit the skids during a five game losing streak and a 2-7-1 mark in their final 10 games. Meskanen could have easily made a difference in the team's slide rather than having to rely on signing guys, like Connor Bleackly, to PTO’s and ATO’s to fill in the gaps. Goaltending is a major hot button issue for the Rangers. There are presently seven in the organization. A bit of a soap opera will play out until the situation with future Hall-of-Famer, Henrik Lundquist, is resolved. He is entering the last year of his $8.5 million per year deal. Alexander Georgiev becomes an RFA, and Igor Shesterkin enters year two of his two-year deal. An option for the Rangers is to buy-out Lundqvist. Trading Georgiev is another option. Meanwhile, in Hartford, Adam Huska (UCONN) is in his second year. J.F. Berube is there and is a UFA. Tyler Wall was just signed out of UMASS-Lowell (HE) and makes for a very congested organizational goalie crease area. Toss in the drafted, but unsigned, Olof Lindbom, who is coming off an injury sustained while playing with Mora IK (Sweden-Allsvenskan), and his hopes for a bounce back season in Sweden in the SHL possibly with Farjestad BK, where he played one game with last year. He is also WJC eligible. Lots to ponder about the 24th edition of the Wolf Pack coming out of this pandemic. Stay safe. Read the full article

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings HARTFORD, CT - Paul Carey and Jason Zrobil each had a goal and an assist to pace the red-hot Providence Bruins to their 11th straight regulation win and 12th overall in a 3-1 win over the Hartford Wolf Pack before an announced crowd of 2,594. The Bruins' win vaulted them over the idle Hershey Bears, into first place in the AHL Atlantic Division with a record of 38-18-3-3 (82 points). The Wolf Pack, a team being reassembled over the last two days, dropped it's fifth-in-a-row and fell to fourth place in the AHL Atlantic Division at 31-20-6-5 (73 points). The Charlotte Checkers' 3-2 OT win over the Cleveland Monsters put them percentage points ahead of Hartford for third place. The Wolf Pack are seven points ahead of the Wilkes Barre/Scranton Penguins. It put them eight ahead of the Springfield Thunderbirds, who they play again Friday at the Mass Mutual Center. When it rains it pours. Pack head coach, Kris Knoblauch, saw his worst come true. Reeling and with three key players suspended and two injured, an injury to New York Rangers' forward, Filip Chytil, set the stage for the recall of Pack captain, Steven Fogarty, to an emergency recall on Wednesday morning. Chytil was injured in Tuesday night’s win in Dallas against the Stars. He was forced to assemble a team that was part-AHL, and part-collegiate. They were held to just one shot in the third period, for just the sixth time in franchise history. The Pack has equaled that dubious total. Facing a Providence team was already a daunting task. “Providence is the hottest team in the league. To go in shorthanded wasn’t ideal, but our veterans put in the efforts, and our new guys showed some promise. There’s room to grow, but definitely a good start for them. We had a good effort from the new guys, a good first step. We're gonna have to build on that to play in the American Hockey League,” remarked Knoblauch. For the players, it wasn’t easy. They need to absorb a number of changes in such a short period of time, “It’s a good group of guys, but it was like a brand new team. We'll get some more time under our belt. We'll figure it out,” Danny O’Regan said. The line of O’Regan-Vitali Kravtsov-Ryan Gropp was what the Wolf Pack needed to do well in this game and did so scoring the Wolf Pack's only goal of the night. O'Regan's hard work getting the puck from Gropp at the blue and spotted Kravtsov wide-open in front of the net, who deftly redirected the puck just under the crossbar at 3:52 for just his second goal in 15 games. “It was started with a good pinch by Ebert, and we get a lot more chances when our D is mobile like that. It was a very nice finish by those two (Gropp and Kravtsov),” noted O’Regan. That was the extent of the offense. There were a few sustained shifts, but clearly the chemistry wasn’t there and that’s to be expected. The Bruins are high in the standings because of their precision passing and shooting are a potent combo. Carey fed the puck to Jason Zrobil at the center point of the blue line. He waited until Randy Fitzgerald got a screen on J.F. Berube and drilled his first season past the Pack netminder to restore a 2-1 Bruins lead at 10:35. The Bruins added another goal to make it a 3-1 lead from yet another break. Zach Senyshyn was below the goal line and saw Carey coming in through the back-door. He redirected the pass off the leg of Wolf Pack defenseman Darren Raddysh. It went between Berube’s legs as he squeezed the pads, but not tight enough as the puck went over the goal line at 17:52. The first goal was a bit of a fluke as Carey took the puck off the left-wing boards, near the blue line, off a shot from ex-Pack, Steven Kamper, on a right-wing shot in close that missed the net. Carey sent the shot toward the net that was deflected off the stick of the Pack’s Brandon Crawley and sailed up and over Berube's blocker at 15:34. This will not be the last time these two teams will meet this season. “We’ve had success against them in the past. We just have to get some chemistry going and get back to doing what we were doing when we were winning,” O’Regan said. LINES: O’Regan-Gropp-Kravtsov Dmowski-McBride-Ronning Jones-Chase-Newell Patrick Khodorenko-Michael O’ Leary-Connor Bleackley LoVerde-Ebert Hajek-Raddysh Zach Giutarri-Crawley SCRATCHES: Tim Gettinger - Upper-body - Day-To-Day Boo Nieves - Upper-body - Day-To-Day Yegor Rykov - (Healthy) Steven Fogarty - (Emergency recall) Vinni Lettieri - (Suspended) Mason Geersten - (Suspended) Matt Beleskey - (Suspended) Gabriel Fontaine - Shoulder Surgery - Season-Ending NOTES: The Pack has some major scoring slumps and now just five goals in their last five games. O’Regan has one goal in ten games, Kravtsov has one goal in 14.  Gropp has just one in ten games while Fogarty has just one in 14. The only Providence overtime win was against Bridgeport 2-1 on February 9th. Their last regulation loss was 3-1 on January 31st to the Binghamton Devils. This was the first of the three-game suspension from Sunday’s first-period melee for Lettieri, Geersten, and Beleskey. News on Nieves and Gettinger is not good. Neither will be in the lineup this weekend as of today. Khodorenko wore jersey #43, O’Leary, #23, and Giutarri, #4 The New York Post Larry Brooks reports the Rangers are closing to signing defenseman K’Andre Miller from the University Wisconsin (Big 10) to an entry-level deal. He had 18 points in 36 games on a Badger team that finished 14-20-2. He also was captain for the US WJC Team back in December-January. Ohio State ended the Badgers season in the opening round of the Big 10 playoffs with a two-game sweep of the best of three series ending a major sub-par season for the Tony Granato coached team. A big shout-out and offer for prayers to Chief-Of-Off-Ice officials, Dave Cunningham, who is recovering well in Hartford Hospital after suffering a stroke on Saturday at the XL Center after the game. Read the full article

Providence Bruins 3, Hartford Wolf Pack 1 BY: Micah Collins, Hartford Wolf Pack Hartford, CT, March 8, 2020 – Paul Carey scored twice, and Jakub Zboril had a goal and an assist, Wednesday night at the XL Center, as the Providence Bruins extended a winning streak to 12 games with a 3-1 victory over the Hartford Wolf Pack. Vitali Kravtsov scored the only goal for the Wolf Pack, who fell to 31-20-6-5 (73 pts.) on the season.  Providence improved to 38-18-3-3 for 82 points and moved past idle Hershey and into first place in the Atlantic Division. The Wolf Pack, who were missing regulars, Vinni Lettieri, Matt Beleskey, and Mason Geertsen due to AHL suspensions, Boo Nieves and Tim Gettinger due to injury and captain Steven Fogarty to recall to the parent New York Rangers, outshot the Bruins 20-15 in the first two periods but were held to one shot on goal in the third. “Providence is the hottest team in the league, to go in shorthanded wasn’t ideal, but our veterans put in the efforts, and our new guys showed some promise,” said Wolf Pack head coach Kris Knoblauch.  “There’s room to grow, but definitely a good start for them.” Carey scored first for Providence, netting his twenty-first goal of the year 15:34 into the first period off a point shot that just snuck past J-F Berube (21 saves). Steven Kampfer had the lone assist on the tally, and the goal would give Providence the lead into the first intermission. Just 3:56 into the second, the Wolf Pack tied the game when Kravtsov deflected the puck into the net for his sixth goal of the year. Ryan Gropp and Danny O’Regan had the assists. “That was a great play by Gropp and Vitali,” said O’Regan of the goal, “I think (Nick) Ebert also made a good pinch to make that play possible, and then Vitali had a great finish.” Providence was able to regain the lead with 9:25 left in the middle frame. Zboril scored his third goal of the season, with assists from Peter Cehlarik and Ryan Fitzgerald. The Bruins added to the lead near the end of the period, with Carey tipping in his second goal of the game with 2:08 left. Zach Senyshyn assisted on the goal. Providence protected goaltender Dan Vladar (20 saves) well in a scoreless third period, outshooting the Wolf Pack 9-1. “We’ve had success against them in the past,” O’Regan said of the streaking Bruins.  “We just have to get some chemistry going and get back to doing what we were doing when we were winning.” Knoblauch added, “Some practice will help the guys get more familiar with each other. It was a good game considering the circumstances.” The Wolf Pack’s next game is this Friday night, March 13, a 7:05 visit to Springfield to take on the Thunderbirds.  All of the action can be heard live on-line at hartfordwolfpack.com.  Video streaming is available at theahl.com/AHLTV. The next home action for the Wolf Pack is also against Springfield, next Wednesday night, March 18 at 7:00.  That is another chance to take advantage of the Wolf Pack’s “Click It or Ticket Hat Trick Pack”.  The Hat Trick Pack includes two tickets, two sodas, and one large popcorn, all for just $40. 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 (860) 722-9425.  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 online, go to hartfordwolfpack.com. Providence Bruins 3 at Hartford Wolf Pack 1 Wednesday, March 11, 2020 - XL Center Providence 1 2 0 - 3 Hartford     0 1 0 - 1 1st Period-1, Providence, Carey 21 (Kampfer), 15:34. Penalties-No Penalties 2nd Period-2, Hartford, Kravtsov 6 (Gropp, O'Regan), 3:56. 3, Providence, Zboril 3 (Cehlarik, Fitzgerald), 10:35. 4, Providence, Carey 22 (Senyshyn, Zboril), 17:52. Penalties-Crawley Hfd (interference), 5:36. 3rd Period- No Scoring.  Penalties-Bleackley Hfd (elbowing), 7:25; Petrovic Pro (high-sticking), 10:08; Gaunce Pro (hooking), 19:15. Shots on Goal-Providence 8-7-9-24. Hartford 10-10-1-21. Power Play Opportunities-Providence 0 / 2; Hartford 0 / 2. Goalies-Providence, Vladar 14-7-1 (21 shots-20 saves). Hartford, Berube 13-17-4 (24 shots-21 saves). A-2,594 Referees-Mitch Dunning (43), Dan Kelly (45). Linesmen-Kyle Richetelle (47), Robert St. Lawrence (10). Read the full article

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howling SPRINGFIELD, MA - The Hartford Wolf Pack's weekend of hope turned into a sea of problems as they dropped their fourth straight game, 4-1, on Sunday afternoon to the Springfield Thunderbirds. The win snapped a four-game skid for the T-Birds. Springfield tallied two late goals to pull away in a tight game. Hartford played two-men short for a majority of the game and lost steam in the engine at the end of the game. Hartford's record drops to 31-19-6-5 (73 points) while Springfield keeps its playoff flame alive 31-27-3-0 (65 points). On the bad side, the Hershey Bears lost 3-2 in a shootout. They have 81 points while the second-place Providence Bruins have 80. The Charlotte Checkers were idle and remain four points behind the Wolf Pack. “We're going through some adversity right now. We'll get out of it. We're relying on our guys and sticking with them. It's the team we have,” said Pack head coach, Kris Knoblauch. The offensive production has been an issue tallying just four goals in the last four games. The Pack is talking to themselves. “We haven’t faced this type of adversity all year and every team goes through it. We're going through it now. It's not the time you want it, but we can flip this back with three wins next weekend,” remarked veteran forward Matt Beleskey. It was old-time hockey at Mass Mutual Center with the first period taking close to an hour to play out. At 6:50 on Sunday afternoon, three-in-three erupted into a line brawl that resulted in 67 minutes worth of penalties that included three game misconducts. It all started with a seemingly minor push-and-shove in the right-wing corner of the Wolf Pack zone. Nothing out of the ordinary as things were starting to cool down. Mason Geersten and Springfield’s Brady Keeper, who each are their respective team's policeman, were doing some pushing-and-jawing when Danick Martel swung at Greg Chase that prolonged the event. The Pack’s Darren Raddysh was in there and it seemingly was all under wraps as Geersten was being escorted off to the penalty box by the linesman. Behind the play, things got ugly rapidly and turned into a wild scene. Keeper not being held by the linesman inexplicably somehow wound up with Vinni Lettieri at the Springfield blue line in front of the Thunderbirds bench. Keeper let loose with a gloved left hook to the head of Lettieri and the fuse was lit. Matt Beleskey came to his aid and had a spirited fight in front of the Springfield bench with Keeper. “I know they're trying to do their best job out there (refs and linesman) it's hard in a situation like that when you have guys everywhere. I just wish they had gotten him (Keeper) off the ice. When a guy sucker-punches Vinni like that. It's not right,” said Beleskey who has had three fighting majors in the last two games. Lettieri ended-up grappling with the Thunderbirds, Ryan Haggerty, an ex-Pack player, who was deep in the Springfield-end of the ice. Both players kept throwing punches, While Lettieri was on his back on the ice and eventually a referee had to get involved to separate them. Several other fights almost started. Martel and Chase looked like they were ready to drop them before order was eventually restored. Lettieri was tagged with a game misconduct for leaving the bench while Geersten was tagged with a game misconduct for leaving the penalty box. Keeper was hit with a game misconduct for abuse of officials. Knoblauch said Lettieri was on a line change as they were anticipating getting a power play. Ironically, after the melee, they were shorthanded and lost two players. “I couldn’t tell if he (Lettieri) was out there before or after. He was out at that end of the ice because we were going to get a power play.“ The team will look to challenge the game misconduct to Lettieri. “Yes. We're going to look at everything,” said Knoblauch. Incredibly, neither Lettieri or Haggerty got fighting majors though they could have. Geersten left the box when he saw Keeper’s cheap shot to Lettieri, one he wouldn't be penalized for. He earned the game misconduct trying to wrestle away from the linesman to get at Geersten, who was standing at center ice but did not get physically involved. This kind of moment was out of character for this team. “We're the least penalized team in the league. You're not gonna see that too often from us,” Knoblauch stated. Hockey play was resumed and the Thunderbirds got the only goal of the period as Joel Lowry in front took Rodrigo Abols pass in the chest at 6:13 and smacked it past Adam Huska for his eighth of the season. Huska would face several quality chances especially stopping Jack Rodewald on a shorthanded breakaway at 12:40. Daniel Audette followed with back-to-back chances and the Pack countered with Libor Hajek and Raddysh. “I was pleased with Adam and other players stepped up Chase played well. Gropp played our so-called fourth line, played a lot of minutes and helped out with a goal.” After a strong mid-ice hit on Lowry, Beleskey nailed him behind the Thunderbirds net. Beleskey was given a major for boarding Lowry with 1:55 left in the period. Pack captain, Steven Fogarty, had a shorthanded bid from off the left-wing stopped. His second whack at the puck drew a crowd led by Martel with 14.6 seconds to go. The Pack had 35 shots for the game and tallied just two goals in nine periods and game up empty in the win column. “The old adage of gripping your stick too tight, worrying too much just try to relax and enjoy playing hockey,” said Knoblauch. Down two players, the Wolf Pack battled back in the second period, just 48 seconds after Belesky's major expired, the Wolf Pack struck for their first goal. Nick Ebert with a good short pass to Ty Ronning as they broke across the Springfield blue line. Then Ronning put a short pass in the middle from the left-wing past Springfield’s Chase Priskie. Ryan Dmowski stepped into the shot and beat the Thunderbirds Philip Desrosiers at 3:53 for his fourth of the season tied the game at one. “Ronning made a nice play there and so did Ebert. They create scoring chances by working hard it allows them to force turnovers and strike quick like they did.” Ice time was aplenty and the Wolf Pack kept working to keep themselves in the game. Then the best chance of the period came as Chase, off of a perfect stretch pass sent by Beleskey, was on a breakaway, but missed the net. Desrosiers stopped Fogarty, with a game-high seven shots, twice, Ronning's backhand wraparound attempt and Nick Jones on a bang-bang play. Huska was a rock in net stopping Ethan Prow on successive chances and Rodrigo Abols late in the period and Haggerty as well. “He was outstanding. It was Huska's best game of the season. He made huge saves for us and kept us in this game to have a chance,” remarked Beleskey. Desrosiers denied Nick Jones on the right-wing rush with 2:03 left in the period. In the third period, the toll of skating two men down on the third day of a three in three gave way as the Thunderbirds scored three times in the third period the last two 1:11 apart. The game-winner for Springfield came off the stick of former QU Bobcat Chase Priskie just acquired from Charlotte in the last two weeks. As he took Audette’s pass on the right-wing and fired it top shelf right side high for his eighth of the season. Then like a fighter in the 11th round, the Thunderbirds went up 3-1 as Abols was coming hard on the left-wing whistled off where the post and crossbar meet and that popped in the air hit Ebert and went into the net at 18:15. Then the sniper Martel bagged his 20th of the season on the backhand in front of the net off a pass from the net by Haggerty to close out the scoring at 4-1. “We're down a goal we're trying to cheat a little bit late in the game you have to. If your cheating and your tired it’s a tough combo to handle,” noted Knoblauch. LINES: Fogarty-Lettieri-Dmowski O’Regan-Newell-Kravtsov Beleskey-Jones-Gropp McBride-Ronning-Chase LoVerde-Hajek Ebert-Geersten Raddysh-Crawley SCRATCHES: Tim Gettinger - Upper-body - Day-To-Day Boo Nieves - Upper-body - Day-To-Day Yegor Rykov - Healthy Gabriel Fontaine - Shoulder Surgery - Season-Ending NOTES: Yale University won its ECACHL quarterfinal meeting at Ingalls Rink as Graham Lillibridge scored at 3:10 of double overtime eliminating Union College. Next week the Bulldogs travel seven miles down Whitney Avenue to meet Quinnipiac University. In the NEPSAC hockey championships held at Trinity College (Hartford) at Koeppel Community Center saw Salisbury Prep with a 4-0 shutout over Dexter Academy captured the Open Division title. Loomis Chaffe (Windsor) won Large Division also in shutout fashion 2-0 over Cushing Academy. In the Small Division, Gunnery (Washington) outlasted Pomfret 5-3. The CT public school playoffs start on Wednesday. Read the full article

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings HARTFORD, CT - A strong three-goal second period allowed the Hershey Bears to seize control of the game and skate away with a 4-1 win Saturday night at the XL Center. The two-game battle between these two division rivals left the Bears in a much stronger position now seven points ahead of the third-place Wolf Pack. Providence with a win over Springfield 4-2 are now five ahead of them and Charlotte got a point in a 3-2 overtime loss to Utica narrowing the lead between them to four points. “We played according to plan in the first we played really well. (We) almost had a goal on the powerplay, and had some other good opportunities. J-F came up with some huge saves in the first, its what we expected. Then in the second period, we let that first goal affect us and took a lot of momentum away from us,” said head coach Kris Knoblauch. The Pack concludes the weekend play in Springfield tomorrow afternoon at 3 PM. The Bears scored the game’s first goal in the first minute of the second period took control of the game. Brian Pinho at the right point let one go Berube made the save, but he could not control the rebound and cover it the Bears Matt Moulson with his long stick got one crack at it and the second sent the puck into the net for his 21st goal of the regular season at 52 seconds. “Last night we played well and we started out pretty well, but once they got the first one we just kinda combusted. We just kinda gave up,” said an annoyed captain Steven Fogarty “just playing hard and doing the right things and the only we can control is our attitude and effort and they just weren’t there we could see it and feel it on the bench.” The Bears in short order took a 2-0 lead scoring 11 seconds into a powerplay just their second of the game. Daniel Sprong at the right point took a Bobby Nardella pass and quickly fired a good hard low shot that Philippe Maillet free from his check and the Quebec native with a perfect tip scored on his mon-ami monsieur Berube depositing his 16th of the season far side. “We gave up just one goal and changed our entire game the way we played our structure the things that have helped us gain success so far this year. It’s a mindset thing you can’t change things the effort wasn’t there. We had a little push there in the third, but obviously not enough.” The Wolf Pack playing way too passive in a five on five situation, playing like a PK. Matt Beleskey sought to change the direction got into a scrap unfortunately it was Hershey who kept the momentum. “That’s the type of guy Beleskey is he saw what was going on the bench tried to get us going and it worked, but we went ahead and combusted like that (again),” said Fogarty. Once again Bobby Nardella got the scoring sequence started receiving the pass from Eric Burgdorfer a the right point getting the puck to Brian Pinho as he came off the right-wing half wall. Then just before he was going to get nailed by Mason Geersten he snapped a 35 footer top shelf over Berube’s left shoulder to make it 3-0 silencing a hearty crowd of 4,814. “They're a good team there gonna get their chances, but we allowed too many,” said Knoblauch. His captain put it more straight forward. “They going to have their puck possession and get their chances, We have to play down in their end, and we did not do enough of that.” That was all for Berube facing 18 shots and in came Adam Huska. “I did that because we needed to try to change things at that point,” said Knoblauch. The current offense output is not enough to get back into first place. “One goal in five (periods) just isn’t enough in this league there a good team, but so are we. Were not just not getting enough second chances, not getting guys to the net. We weren’t generating enough off the rush and we have proven all year long we can score goals. We gotta get back to playing the right way defensively and we can get guys going to the net better.” All too often Hershey had the puck the Wolf Pack didn’t. The Bears were able to secure the puck and make rushes up ice and gain easy entry into the Pack end of the ice. As one fan acidly texted me during the game “why don’t (they) let them stroll into the offensive zone !! Well put and wells aid. The Bears continued the quality chances as Bobby Nardella, Mike Sgarbossa and Shane Gemish had point-blank shots. In the third period, that Wolf Pack broke Vitek Vanecek's bid for a second straight shutout at 12:03. After botching a three on one break, Nick Jones with his shot missing the net, the puck remained in the Hershey zone. Patrick Newell got the puck from Greg Chase and in the right-wing faceoff circle sent a smooth backhand pass to Jones who one-timed his ninth past the Bears netminder at 12:03. It was Chase’s first ever Wolf Pack point. Hershey’s Tyler Lewington’s empty netter with a second to go closed out scoring for the night. The first period was much like last night’s tight-checking and opportunities that came via turnovers. Hershey got an early break at 1:22 off a turnover and Daniel Sprong who has played very well since being acquired from San Diego last week was stoned by Berube. The loss of Tim Gettinger and Boo Nieves forced some interesting line combos as Ryan Dmowski was with Steven Fogarty and Vinni Lettieri to start the game. Dmowski had the first shot and the first hit of the game. Beck Malenstyn had another chance for Hershey and Sean McBride on the left-wing answered back with one at 7:04. At 12:58 another gift turnover went to Hershey’s Shane Gersich and he went in all alone, but Berube made a gorgeous butterfly glove save to keep the game scoreless. The Wolf Pack powerplay continues its struggles doing well on the first half of the first chance, but didn’t sustain the same puck movement in the second half of it. As part of the Wolf Pack’s Military Appreciation weekend, the Wolf Pack wore their camouflage-style jerseys for the game. In the first intermission, a new class for the Army, Marines and Coast Guard took oaths to begin their training. Congrats to all! LINES: Fogarty-Lettieri-Dmowski O’Regan-Newell-Kravtsov Beleskey-Jones-Gropp McBride-Ronning-Chase LoVerde-Hajek Ebert-Geersten Raddysh-Crawley SCRATCHES: Tim Gettinger - Upper-Body - Day-To-Day Boo Nieves - Upper-Body - Day-To-Day Yegor Rykov - Healthy Gabriel Fontaine - Shoulder Surgery - Season-Ending NOTES: Nieves was a last-minute scratch forcing Knoblauch to do some serious line juggling and when Beleskey was tossed early in the third for his second fight of the game they were down a forward for the rest of the third period. Gettinger looks doubtful for tomorrow and might not be available till next weekend. UCONN hockey will travel to Orono, Maine to play the Hockey East quarterfinals next weekend as the fifth seed to play the number four Black Bears. Providence’s Dan Vladar finally surpassed Igor Shesterkin in best GAA at 1.83 and Igor still has second-best save percentage at .934 The Wolf Pack record since his recall January 7th is 10-10-5 (W-L-OTL). Among the best plus-minus in the AHL two ex-Pack players ay the fourth and fifth spots Hubert Labrie (Belleville) plus 25 and Cole Schneider (Milwaukee) plus 23. Wolf Pack fan Jersey of the night: #27 Ryan Graves (Colorado), #5 CT Whale Blake Parlett (EHC Munich Germany-DEL), #42 Jeff State, #43 Dan Catenacci (HC Bolzano Italy-EBEL), and #6 Joel Bouchard (Head coach AHL Laval Rocket). NEPSAC prep school playoffs all finals will be Sunday at Trinity College at the Koppel Community Center. In a big upset, Salisbury Prep knocked off Avon Old Farms 4-3 in overtime at Jennings-Fairchild Rink. They will play Dexter School who knocked off Berkshire Scholl 3-0 at 5 PM. In the Large Division, Loomis Chaffe (Windsor) knocked Brunswick School (Greenwich) 5-2 and will play Cushing Academy 4-2 winners over St. Sebastian’s 4-2 at 2:30 PM for the title. In the Small School division Pomfret shutout Groton 4-0 and will play Gunnery (Washington) 5-2 winners over The Rivers School at 12:30 PM Read the full article

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings HARTFORD, CT - The Hartford Wolf Pack deserved a better fate. Ed Wittchow's goal with 5:48 remaining in regulation would prove to be the only goal either goalie surrendered in a playoff-type atmosphere as the Hershey Bears tripped up the Wolf Pack in a 1-0 Friday night battle at the XL Center before 4.489 fans. Left winger Ryan Dmowski (Old Lyme/Gunnery) had the puck along the left wing boards,but couldn’t get it past Shane Gersich who won the one on one battle and gained possession. He got the puck to Brian Pinho who found Wittchow open coming off the left point top of the left wing circle he one timed wired a shot off the far post for his fifth of the season. The perfect shot nothing Wolf Pack goalie J.F. Berube could do about it. “It was tough for us it was two huge points we wanted and we know how big games are at this time of the year. We just gotta try to take a positive out of it there were a lot of good things we did tonight,” noted Berube played his fifth game as a member of the Wolf Pack The Pack threw a barrage of 17 shots at Hershey’s Vanacek in the third period and he stopped them all and they came from everywhere and everyone. From Mason Geersten low bullet at 1:21 to Matt Beleskey two minutes later the red light stayed off. Danny O’Regan at 4:25 was denied and then Dmowski on a left wing rush at 5:31 the Wolf Pack were in constant forward motion. Patrick Newell at 12:28 off a smart rush into the Hershey end of the ice was stifled and Nick Jones screaming in off the right wing lost his edge at the last second for his shot attempt. Boo Nieves back in the lineup after 13 games filling in for Tim Gettinger with a high wrister at 10:04 that couldn’t crack the wall Vancek was building around the Hershey net. “We deserved a better outcome. Forget about tonight, move onto to tomorrow and get back at it,” remarked Berube. With a tripping penalty in the final minute of regulation on recently acquired Daniel Sprong it was golden chance for the Wolf Pack, but a six on four advantage couldn’t produce a goal for Hartford. Steven Fogarty had two chances one right on the Bears doorstep,but no room to maneuver to shoot on Vanacek was available. Matt Beleskey backhander missed the target and then Darren Raddysh with the last of his four shots for the game with 11.4 seconds was the last chance that was repelled by the Bears netminder. A last second faceoff win and the found its way to Vinni Lettieri saw his big blast blocked by the Bears Beck Malenstyn went all the way back behind the Wolf Pack net ending the game. The two teams meet again tomorrow at 7pm at the XL Center,but the Bears (36-18-3-3, 78 points) have a five point lead on the Wolf Pack (31-17-6-5) in the Atlantic Division. Utica kept Charlotte five points behind the Wolf Pack with a 2-1 win over Checkers, but Providence moved three points ahead of Hartford with a 2-1 overtime win at home against Springfield. For head coach Kris Knoblauch there is not much you can find fault in a game like this. “Besides the first 10 minutes I thought we played a pretty good game. Give a lot of credit to Hershey they’re a good hockey team.” In the second period only nine shots were registered between the two teams and the Berube an stopped former teammate Matt Moulson’s bid with 2:56 left in the period. Then Philippe Maillet, a fellow Quebecer tried his luck from the right wing as time expired at the end of the second period with the two chatting in French likely about Berube’s snatching his attempt away. “He is friend from back home we chatted a bit nothing too dangerous,” chuckled Berube about a light moment in this intense game. The Pack had two big chances by Vinni Lettieri with just officially counting. Lettieri in his garden spot top of the left wing circle, but on his back foot let one go that hit the post and few minutes later darting off the right wing was stopped by Vanacek with 5:52 left in the period. “It’s a matter time before those go in Vinni had the right spot just hit post there,” remarked Berube. The Pack also weather an intense Bears shift in which they kept Hartford in their zone for almost two minutes The first period was a chess match as each team sought to see where they could create chances, but the period still saw an early momentum swing. Big Mason Geersten nailed Bears forward Shane Gersich with a clean, thunderous check at their blue line in front of the Hershey bench. Wittchow made a bee line from the left defensive side in the Hershey zone to battle Geersten in a spirited heavyweight fight at 6:33 with Wittchow getting the instigator on the play. The Wolf Pack 27th ranked powerplay stalled on that chance and one right afterwards as well. Berube made a superb stop on a two on one break denying Daniel Sprong on his attempt to score early. Berube is familiar with Hershey from his time in Lehigh Valley. “I’m sure there some pre-scouting done on their part, but some on my part too. I know they like to go East-West they like to find those seams, it something they do real well,”. Saturday will be a major test for the Wolf Pack. LINES: O’Regan-Kravtsov-Fogarty Jones-Newell-Gropp Beleskey-Lettieri-Nieves McBride-Dmowski-Ronning LoVerde-Hajek Ebert-Geersten Raddysh-Crawley SCRATCHES: Tim Gettinger - Upper Body - Day-To-day. Yegor Rykov - Healthy Greg Chase - Healthy Gabriel Fontaine - Shoulder Surgery - Season-ending NOTES: Knoblauch was non-committal about his starting goalie for Saturday’s night rematch. UCONN lost Friday night in their regular season finale in Lowell 3-1 to UMASS-Lowell to finish at .500 overall at (15-15-4 and 12-10-2 in HE). The loss took away any chance of a home playoff game and will finish 5th or 6th and might play with Boston University or Northeastern next weekend. Yale University lost Game 1 of their ECACHL opening round playoff game series 3-0 to Union College. Big off ice changes, the Springfield Thunderbirds announced on Friday they have signed a standard five year affiliation/partnership agreement with the St. Louis Blues starting next season. Blues needed a new home after the San Antonio Rampage their present AHL farm team was sold to the Vegas Golden Knights last month. The team will be moved there to play in the fall at the Orleans Arena in the fall as likely the Las Vegas Silver Knights until their new arena, the Lifeguard Arena presently under construction is completed. The current parent team, the Florida Panthers who never wanted to be in Springfield in the first place will be heading a little closer to home to Charlotte, North Carolina. Where they will surprisingly take the place of the nearby Carolina Hurricanes who we first reported three weeks ago are moving their farm team prospects to Chicago to hook up with the Wolves to save money. We learned from an NHL source they did try to buy the Wolves,but owner Donald Levin’s price tag was a tad steep for the team. Stockton and Calgary have extended their agreement by another year to tidy up all the AHL off ice business for the year. The hockey world lost one of its best players today as Henri “The Pocket Rocket” Richard passed away at the age of 84 have battled Alzheimer’s the past several years. His career numbers were simply stupendous for a player who stood in the shadow of a legendary brother, Maurice “The Rocket” Richard. Richard was captain of the Canadiens from 1971 to his retirement in 1975, succeeding the legendary Jean Beliveau, with whom he shares the record of playing 20 seasons for the NHL club. He was nicknamed the Pocket Rocket for his five-foot-seven, 160-pound frame. Despite his small stature, Henri Richard was a giant in the game playing 1,256 regular-season games, another Canadiens record that he still holds. He scored 358 goals and had 1,046 points, third in team history behind Guy Lafleur (1,246) and Beliveau (1,219). He also amassed 129 points in 180 playoff games. His 11 Stanley Cups, one more than Beliveau and another former Canadiens captain Yvon Cournoyer, is unlikely ever to be surpassed. Seven were won when the NHL had only six teams. He was known for his playmaking skills and determination with and without the puck, Richards twice led the NHL in assists, with 52 in 1957-58 and 50 in 1962-63. He had nine 20-goal seasons, including a high of 30 in 1959-60. He won the Bill Masterton Trophy for sportsmanship and perseverance in 1974 and was selected to four league all-star teams. The Canadiens retired his number 16 on December 10, 1975, and he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1979. Read the full article

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings HARTFORD, CT - The American Hockey League verdict is in and the justice was swift and the Hartford Wolf Pack have been hit hard. On Monday afternoon, in a first in Wolf Pack history, three players, Forwards Vinni Lettieri, Matt Beleskey, and Mason Geersten, were all simultaneously suspended. Four in were suspended as a result of Sunday afternoon’s melee in Springfield against the Thunderbirds. All three Pack players were issued three-game suspensions that will knock them out of the lineup for this week's round of AHL contests. Losing Lettieri, the Pack's leading scorer leaves the team with a gaping scoring issue. The loss of Beleskey further hurts the team's line combinations. Geersten is a mainstay on defense, this leaves the team short a very important physical asset. Lettieri and Beleskey were suspended for leaving the bench despite being in the midst of a line change and then engaging in an altercation. Ironically, Beleskey played the remainder of the game and actually incurred a major for boarding during the game. Despite a ten-minute delay, the referees missed it altogether. Geersten was punished for leaving the penalty box after being placed in there. The suspension for Lettieri isn’t logical. Springfield’s Brady Keeper was hit with three games for his manhandling of the linesman on two occasions during the skirmish. Keeper ignited the whole affair with a left hook with a gloved hand to Lettieri’s head, a move neither the refs on Sunday and the league did not address. The number of clips on YouTube that show Lettieri hopping over the boards to start a rumble is exactly ZERO! Hockey fights.com lists just three previous scraps, one NHL, one AHL, and one USHL. The AHL did acknowledge that the players were on a line change. The league should look to change some of the language of those suspendable offenses to measure a player's intention in the play. Beleskey responded to the clear mismatch of Keeper and Lettieri. He was not an instigator. These suspensions put the Wolf Pack in a bind as they seek to address their lineup issues. Tim Gettinger and/or Boo Nieves will start on Wednesday against the Providence Bruins and again two road games that include a rematch in Springfield next Friday, and then the Bridgeport Sound Tigers on Saturday. The team might reach down to the ECHL and their affiliates, the Maine Mariners and recall forward Jake Elmer and veteran defenseman Jeff Taylor. The Wolf Pack announced a signing Monday. Zach Giuttari from Brown University (ECACHL), who's season ended by losing to the ECACHL quarterfinals Colgate in two games. Giuttari could be pressed into service in one of the games. Giuttari, a 6-2, 190-pound native of Warwick, RI, just completed a four-year career at Brown University. The 23-year-old Giuttari served as Brown’s captain this season, and led the team in points and assist. He had four goals and 11 assists for 15 points, along with ten penalty minutes.  His four goals tied for the top among Bruins defensemen, and fourth overall on the team.  That earned Giuttari his second consecutive Second-Team All-Ivy selection. In 121 career games at Brown, Giuttari totaled 16 goals and 38 assists for 54 points, plus 43 penalty minutes. Prior to his college tenure, Giuttari spent three seasons (2012-13 through 2014-15) at The Loomis-Chaffee School in Windsor, CT and played 18 games with the Connecticut Wolf Pack’s U-18 team in 2014-15. The team also conducted a paper transaction sending Adam Huska to Maine to be on their playoff roster and conversely goalie Francois Brassard in Maine was assigned to Hartford. Read the full article