#bradjones

Movie Theater Time Machine podcast reviews the classic good-bad film “Dolemite” (1975) with special guest Brad Jones of “The Cinema Snob”! Find the new episode at the link or on your fav catcher at https://linktr.ee/Mttm

Vinni Lettieri BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings CROMWELL, CT - Prior to his departure for the AHL All-Star Classic in Ontario, California Vinni Lettieri was in a good spot as the final 22 games of the regular season. The last stretch commences in a home and home divisional pair of games with Springfield starting Friday at 7:15 pm at the XL Center. Lettieri returns along with teammate Joey Keane and head coach Kris Knoblauch as part of Atlantic Division winners of the 2020 AHL All-Star Classics. Lettieri popped in two goals the first came on a breakaway 2:13 into the first period for the Atlantic Division squad. The second was vintage Vinni off wing slapshot on a cross-ice feed from Providence’s Jack Studnicka 26 seconds into the action against the North Division. Then Joey Keane scored the next goal a little over two minutes later en route to a 5-2 win. He would also add an assist on the night. Now that all festivities are over Lettieri gets back to the task at hand. Practice is the key to his growth and progress. A few weeks ago in Cromwell, he and Keane spent a half hour or so taking extra shots and in one sequence hit the post three times in a row and he tossed his stick up in the air in baton tossing fashion. “That was one day because it's every day. To get better you have to do it every day. Joey and I do it a half-hour or so and it's important because it helps me to know where I am now and where I wanna go, work every day. It's always good to work with someone on those one-timers and Joey has been really good at it. Our powerplay has to improve, so we put in the extra time.” He has admitted his season was a slower start than he would have liked, but on and off-ice work has helped his game improve. “I have watched videos that have given me of Artemi Panarin (Rangers), ex-CT Whale Jonathan Marchessault (Las Vegas) and David Pasternak, (Boston the NHL’s leading goals scorer). It's learning how to hold onto the puck to make a better shot just not shooting randomly. So it's just one thing that changes everything it’s a combination of things. It's not a pattern that I see its learning each game is different. Using the coaches and all the other resources plus my teammates have helped make me a better all-around player,” remarked Lettieri. Panarin, the Rangers leading scorer and who has a high-end skill set is not a bad guy to pattern some of your game after. “Watching how he holds the puck in preparing for a shot is something, it's one of the little things of the game you learn. Pasternak’s shoots so well from any area he’s at its amazing. Marchessault, he seems to be everywhere and he is really dynamic and has great acceleration,” said Lettieri showing his keen scouting skills. Over the roller coaster past few weeks haven’t left Lettieri having seen the valley of the last two seasons. “For the better part of the year we have played the same way and stuck to our game plan and it’s a long season nothing is perfect. Yes, we could have played better in some ways, but overall I like this group and think more often than not will come out on top,” As they prepare for a weekend with Springfield a year ago same building he was adamant about making the playoffs three days the captain was traded and the team never recovered. This is obviously a very different group. “We certainly want it, but that is always important that we have to focus and continue to grow and get better and those things will take care of themselves.” AHL NEWS -Two pieces of new AHL arena news coming out of the AHL All-Star Classic. The San Jose City Council Tuesday night approved the expansion of the Solar4 American Ice Center that will become the new home of the AHL San Jose Barracuda. The arena located in central San Jose 3.6 miles about from the SAP Center aka Shark Tank where the Sharks and their AHL affiliate have shared the building for the past five years since the creation of the AHL Pacific Division. The upgrade slated to start this April that will see the complex go from four to six sheets of ice including a 4,200 seat competition arena that is to be completed by April 2022. The arena sits on a 21.2-acre site that also includes Excite Ballpark, home to the high, Class A eight-team California League San Jose Giants. The building has been the only secondary off-site training facility for the Sharks and Barracuda. The facility is also home to the collegiate varsity club hockey squad, the San Jose State Spartans (ACHA Division-2) and local high school hockey. This new facility combined with the AHL coming 32nd team, the expansion Palm Springs, CA team the affiliate for the expansion NHL Seattle team further solidifies the western growth of hockey both NHL, AHL and soon collegiately. -The West will also be solidified by the announcement from outgoing AHL President and CEO Dave Andrews that the Vegas Golden Knights are actively seeking to buy a current AHL team and move them to the Las Vegas area. The arena would be in nearby Paradise called, the Orleans Arena that was home to the ECHL Las Vegas Wranglers from 2003-20014. The building is 7,773 seats- a perfect AHL size building but would have to undergo a serious overhaul of its operating systems to be ready by the fall of 2020. Now, which team would they purchase? The most likely candidate could be Rockford whose arrangement with the Chicago Black Hawks ends after this season. In that scenario, the Golden Knights would purchase Rockford and then move the team to Las Vegas. Meanwhile, the Golden Knights have the Chicago Wolves as their farm team would vacate that arrangement. That could allow the Black Hawks to skate into an arrangement as the Wolves' new parent team. The Wolves are one of the few independently owned teams left in the league in which 19 of the 32 teams are NHL O & O (owned and operated) and is one of the best attended and promoted teams in the league. When Wolves were firstborn in the old IHL under its present owner Don Levin the two were arch enemies. 20 plus years have passed. Rocky Wirtz, not his father Bill is running the team I can see a marriage being formed with the Black Hawks. There are some other possibilities, but Andrews's comments at the State of the AHL press conference made it clear it was more of a matter of when--not if--the AHL would be in the Las Vegas area. “I think that at some point there will be an (AHL) team in Vegas, or (the Golden Knights) will own a team, but would have to happen pretty soon.”  Andrews remarked who is as cautious as NHL President Gary Bettman is regarding announcements or speculations about team transfers, relocations or disbanding. NOTES: -Wolf Pack GM and Trumbull native, Chris Drury added another piece to his executive resume as he was named to the GM post of Team USA that will play in early May at the World Championships in Zurich, Switzerland. -Now that the NHL and AHL All-Star breaks have concluded temporary roster moves for that time period have ended and movement has begun once again. Goalie Adam Huska who went 1-1 with a 1.53 GAA win and Lewis Zerter-Gossage who scored his first ECHL in his two games were returned from Portland officially Monday. Maine’s goalie Francois Brassard in a paper transaction was released from his PTO with the Wolf Pack. Conversely, officially recalled on Wednesday by the Rangers was goalie Igor Shesterkin, but I don’t think this is the last time we will see him. If Alexander Georgiev is not traded by the NHL Trade deadline (February 24th) he would likely be returned by then. The Rangers could keep him in New York till their officially eliminated from playoff contention presently the Rangers are in the seventh spot for the wild card 10 points back. Expect Shesterkin to be here when the Wolf Pack start the Calder Cup playoffs and with Igor, the Wolf Pack’s chances for a long run are significantly improved. -Other notables from the AHL All-Star Classic were two former Quinnipiac Bobcats Sam Anas (Iowa) with two goals and Brogan Rafferty (Utica) with a goal and an assist. Ex-Pack and Sound Tiger Matt Ford (Grand Rapids) scored twice. -Lias Andersson’s suspension was officially lifted and was formally reassigned to HV 71 (Sweden-SHL) for the rest of the season. -Ex-Wolf Pack Dale Weise was recalled back to Montreal from Laval, Jarred Tinordi son ex-New Haven Nighthawk Mark Tinordi was recalled by Nashville from Milwaukee, Jansen Harkins, son of former Whaler Todd Harkins was recalled to Winnipeg from Manitoba and Max Jones, son of former New Haven Nighthawk/Senators Brad Jones goes from San Diego to Anaheim. -Goalie Callum Booth (Salisbury Prep) was assigned to Atlanta (ECHL) by Charlotte. -Former UCONN Husky, Karl El-Mir was sent from Indy (ECHL) as the future consideration of a trade made last week with Greenville (ECHL). -Ex-Sound Tiger John Persson signs a deal with Brynas IF (Sweden-SHL) for the rest of the season and for 2020-21 leaving SaiPa (Finland-FEL) who were having a poor season. -Ex-Sound Tiger assistant coach Matt Bertani is an assistant coach with Team South Korea at the IIHF U-20 Division II Group B tournament being held in Gangnueng South Korea till February 3rd. -We'll be seeing a goalie named Stauber a few times over the next few years. Jaxon Stauber, son of the former Wolf Pack and Nighthawk netminder, Robb Stauber has made a commitment to Providence College (HE) next year 2020-21. The 6’3 undrafted netminder played one game with Minnesota- State Mankato Mavericks (WCHA) before suddenly returning to Sioux Falls (USHL) for this season who are the defending USHL Clark Cup champions, where he was the playoff MVP last season. Father Robb just completed his AHL honorary captain duties at the AHL All-Star Classic in Ontario, California at the Toyota Center, Sunday and Monday. -Easton Armstrong, son ex-Pack great Derek Armstrong played his first two WHL with Regina picking up a one shot on goal. Read the full article

For some reason, I really wanted to wear this awesome #Woodrocket tee featuring @heyitsapriloneil & take a pic with the #CinemaSnob's #BradJones. I would later be informed by Mr. Jones as he & @leeroymyers both follow each other on Twitter which is "super cool". #WizardWorldChicago #WizardWorld2019 #WizardWorldChicago2019 #WizardWorld (at Wizard World Chicago Comic Con) https://www.instagram.com/p/B1ncH58FNOz/?igshid=1qb4yb4uc126i

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings HARTFORD, CT - The wound needs time to heal. The loss of captain Cole Schneider via trade on Monday had far more impact than the trade last year of Joe Whitney. The loss was palpable. “The first practice (Tuesday) was tough. It was like losing a family member as Cole was a big part of our family,” said Pack head coach Keith McCambridge, who wore the C the last three years with the defunct Alaska Aces (ECHL). “Your leaders wear letters for a reason. Whenever you take those pieces out of your dressing room those are big shoes to fill. We're gonna have to fill that void in leadership. The person who wears the 'C' has a strong voice in the room. We do lose the many things Cole brought to the table, but we get a player back with significant AHL experience." Before the question was finished, McCambridge laid out the leadership equation for the remainder of the regular season. “We're going with three A’s. Peter Holland will have an A on his jersey (Friday) night. When you set and design your team, you have a captain, but we're now past the halfway part of the season. We have the structure in place. It really is a credit to them that we have had such a solid leadership corp this season. It’s like an eight-cylinder engine. You lose a spark plug and trying to fill it in. Time will tell how this new leadership structure will work. Cole was a hard working individual who poured his heart and soul into this. The tough business side of things is never easy.” Whether it works or not is anyone's guess, but one thing for sure is that telling the players on a way to move forward is not an easy task. “I told them he was a part of our family starting from September and you hope till early June (Calder Cup Final time) you're together as a family. I really like this group. They get along well together, and a piece of our family was taken away. I always speak from the heart to the team,” McCambridge said. McCambridge was channeling his captain’s player role, not so much being their head coach “I liked Cole a lot. He was a good man. I like what he represented. Now, we have to pick up the slack in a leadership void and what he brought (to the team) on the ice as well.” Holland has eight years of pro experience and this never gets easy. "We're bummed out for sure. That is the tough part of the business, and we signed up for it, and we all know the possibilities," Holland said. "Our lives can be tossed into a blender and get traded away.” Holland has felt the sting of trades as well. “It’s a big hole in the locker room for sure.“ The loss of Schneider is genuinely being felt throughout the locker room. “He’ll be hard to replace and missed. He was a vocal leader and he held guys accountable in a good way, guys respected him. It’s gonna hurt in the mentoring role we have had with the younger guys, this is a big lesson to learn. Certainly, his offense will be missed, so, it means we all have to step in in our own way to fill that void. It does suck that’s for sure.” Holland was one of the first to learn Schneider had been dealt. “I got a text from him saying that he had been traded and I really thought he was joking because there was inkling this was coming. I tried to Facetime with him and got no response for awhile he was talking with family and friends and it started to dawn on me this might be more real than I thought. We live in the same building and it’s a short elevator ride down…it was kinda crazy. He was very surprised by it.”. When Holland was traded from Anaheim to Toronto he was in a different place than he is now. “First time I got traded I was 20-21 years old. A young guy, a single guy and I thought it was a big deal, it wasn’t. You pack up one place and away you go. It gets a lot harder as you get older, It gets to be a bigger deal. You have live-in girlfriends, pets and in some cases kids or kids in school. The amount of (anxiety) increases tremendously, and it’s a huge change in your life when you're traded in the next 12 hours you're gone! You need friends and family to pick up the piece when you have to leave, it’s a big scramble.” He saw the same thing while in the NHL. “I was with the Leafs when Dion Phaneuf got traded. Even if you know it might be coming, it’s still a shock to the system. One day there's a nameplate on the locker, and the next day it's empty. Teams are like family. It's tough.” Now, sporting the "A" stitched to his jersey, a few more bricks are riding on his shoulders. “We have a good leadership group. It's an opportunity for everybody to take on new roles within the team. It adds a little more pressure to do some of the things Cole did here.” For Connor Brickley, he was on the other side of the trade. His adventure was equally wild. He arrived in Hartford at midnight and had his first practice Thursday. “I had woken up from my pre-game nap. We're in Winnipeg to play the Manitoba Moose. I was waking up around 4 pm (Central time) my phone was going off with text messages from friends and (management). I don’t have a Canadian phone plan, so it wasn’t dialing out. So, I had to borrow my roommate's (Jared Tinordi) phone to make a few calls and found out I wouldn’t be playing that night." Brickley was tempered in responding to how much he knew. “There had been rumblings, but I really didn’t expect anything. It's always nice to get a new opportunity and it's nice to be wanted. It’s a fresh start for me and gives me a chance to show the Rangers what I can put on display.” Brickley is familiar with the XL Center having played for the Portland Pirates for two years. Brickley is playing for a contract since his current one-year deal expires in June. “Fans will see a fast, hard-working forward who can play physical and get the puck to the net and get some gritty goals," Brickley said. "I’m really looking forward to it.” The deal caught people by surprise, but those on the inside, this was in the works in two stages, one in November, and the other over the past two weeks. A knowledgeable source filled Cantlon’s Corner in on the details. “Nashville actually was offered Schneider back in November, but they declined. The Rangers really had zeroed in on Brickley in the last month, and over the last two weeks things got serious and the deal was made.” McCambridge was able to say out loud, in a dark-humored way, what everybody is thinking. “Players are smart. They know what's going on around them. When you have that many people (captains) traded in a row it does become the proverbial “kiss of death." Sadly, the captaincy in Hartford once so revered has become just that. BIG WEEKEND No way to underestimate how important this three-in-three is. It cannot be overstated. The Wolf Pack are above the .500 mark at 18-17-2-2 (40 points) and sit in seventh place in the Atlantic Division. They are four points behind the Springfield Thunderbirds, and three points behind the current eighth place, Toronto Marlies. They want to keep in the hunt for the final playoff spot. On this weekend they'll have three solid chances to make a dent in that pursuit as they host Lehigh Valley Friday, Springfield Saturday and Monday afternoon in Providence. Holland is keenly aware of the importance the second half of this season and its overall importance to the younger players developmentally. “I can speak from experience. When I was with the Toronto Marlies in my third year as a pro, we had a phenomenal run. We lost in Game 7 to Texas, who went on to win (the Calder Cup) against Keith (McCambridge's) team when he was in St. John’s. It's so much fun playing hockey at that time of year. You work all year to get there, and if you don’t make the playoffs, you don’t know what you're missing. For guys who have been there, you gotta sell the guys who maybe had some experience in junior and college, its different at this (AHL) level.” We know all three teams this weekend very well. They all bring very strong offensive teams and we're gonna have to beat teams that are ahead of us (to make the playoffs). We have to focus on what we need to do, playing good sound team defense is key.” These are huge divisional games for us and at this point, there is just a half season left. We need the points.” McCambridge is keenly aware of the standings and the big push is now on. “You have a lot of teams jockeying for that position in our division. There is an opening there and everybody has their eyes on it. We were happy we beat Springfield. We lost the two games with Providence, so we didn’t do ourselves any favors. We have to be consistently gathering points at this stage of the season. Lehigh Valley is a really good team, offensively-minded, and we had a very good game against them last time. They remember it. They're a transition and fast team and all the more reason we have to have a strong start.” The Pack lost Ryan Lindgren to recall to the Rangers, and the Wolf Pack will have just six defensemen with Sean Day, who will be in the line-up, but the recall for Lindgren (now wearing jersey 55) brought a smile to McCambridge’s face amid dealing with the fall out of the Schneider trade. “I’m happy for him. You're happy when they get that call and for myself, it's nice to watch him play his first NHL game, and as many times you make those calls, when guys get the opportunity to achieve their lifetime goal to play in the NHL, those calls never get old.” NOTES: UPDATE: Sunday’s game with Providence has been postponed to MLK Jr. Day Monday at 3:05 pm at the Dunkin’ Arena in Providence.*** Brickley will wear the number 23 for the Wolf Pack. Schneider wore 25 in his first game with the Admirals. He had three shots on goal and no points in Winnipeg. Lehigh Valley reassigned goalie Brandon Komm, who played his first AHL game last time the Phantoms were in town. He goes to Reading (ECHL) and Anthony Stolarz was sent down for a conditioning stint by the Flyers. He will likely start in net against the Pack. Dustin Tokarski gets the call for the Wolf Pack. Another day, another AHL-style trade as Lehigh Valley will receive Justin Bailey from Rochester, a big forward who heads to upstate New York, Tyler Leier. Since Christmas nine AHL level trades have been made and were now just five weeks out from the NHL Trading deadline. Usually, these trades occur just before or after the deadline. This is an inordinate amount and shows how much cap tweaking is going on in preparation for a potential work stoppage in 2020-21. Steven Fogarty (concussion) is listed as day-to-day. McCambridge is hoping he gets clearance and can get in one game this weekend. Shawn O’Donnell (upper body) is doubtful for the weekend, but he is hoping he might be ready by mid-week (against Springfield) next week. Terrance Wallin is back from Maine was signed to a PTO deal. “He’s been a very reliable player for us, important centerman for us and has stepped into several roles for us and he will be in the lineup this weekend.” Springfield lost JT Brown to recall by Florida. The Sound Tigers reassigned former Yale Bulldog Ryan Hitchcock to Worcester (ECHL), and goalie, Alex Nedejlkovic, was recalled by Carolina from Charlotte. A lineup addition possibility for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms could have been ex-Wolf Pack/CT Whale Dale Weise, who cleared NHL waivers on Wednesday, and is now eligible to be reassigned to the Phantoms. As of Noon, Friday Weise has yet to be assigned by Philadelphia who scratched him from the Boston game Wednesday night. He was on waivers at the start of the season and not claimed. Weise’s now 30 years old. His only AHL duty was in Hartford in 2011. He played 194 games with 57 goals and 111 points and since then he has played 481 NHL games with Vancouver, Montreal, Chicago and Philadelphia. The always verbose Winnipegger has one more year left of a four-year $9.4 million dollar deal he signed with departed Flyers GM Ron Hextall at a $2.5 million cap hit next year. Ex-CT Whale and friend of Weise’s, defenseman, Michael Del Zotto was traded by Vancouver to Anaheim Max Jones, the son of ex-Nighthawk Brad Jones, was recalled from San Diego by Anaheim. Ex-Pack Ryan Graves was returned to Colorado (AHL) by the Avalanche and ex-Pack Caleb Herbert departed the Colorado Eagles to Utah (ECHL). Ex-QU Bobcat Jordan Samuels-Thomas (South Windsor) who had been playing with Medvescak Zagreb (Croatia-EBEL) signs a PTO deal with Hershey. Former Sound Tiger Nino Niederreiter has changed NHL addresses going from Minnesota to Carolina. Goalie Callum Booth (Salisbury Prep) was reassigned to Reading (ECHL) by Charlotte. Ex-CT Whale defenseman and all around good guy Pavel Valentenko was traded from Uzhny- Ural Orsk (Russia-VHL) to Yugra-Khanty (Russia-VHL), Lukas Znosko (Stamford) was let go by Zaglebie Sosnowice (Poland-PZIHL). Read the full article

Channel Awesome Retrospective #7 | Brad Jones The CinemaSnob

New pair of legs #cinemasnob #bradjones #cats #catsofinstagram #cats😻

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Lookie what I found! #crystalpepsi I think we have #bradjones #cinemasnob to thank