#brandoncrawley

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings HARTFORD, CT -  There will be a new captain for the Hartford Wolf Pack next season. Last season's captain, defenseman Vincent LoVerde signed a deal with EC Salzburg (Austria-IceHL) and ended his two-year relationship in Hartford. The 11-year AHL vet of 517 games was a trusted rearguard and fully embraced the development model of the modern AHL playing with almost every defenseman on the team over his time with the club. ”He was a very valuable part of the organization he really helped the young guys here," Pack Head Coach, Kris Knoblauch, said. "He handled a lot of responsibility. He and (Darren Raddysh) were a solid pair the first year, and he was willing to play his offside, which wasn’t easy, and we were comfortable enough to play him with anybody. "In a perfect world, we would love to have him back, but with the number of new players coming in on defense, there is just so much roster space.”

KEEPING THE MOTOR RUNNING

During last season's pandemic, Knoblauch also had the unenviable task of trying to herd together and keep a team going under the health restrictions and the rough start the team had in the first portion of the truncated season. The Wolf Pack went on a tear and had the opportunity to play for the Atlantic Division title after having been down 18 points in the three-team Atlantic Division. LoVerde scored his only goal last season in a game the Wolf Pack came up short, falling 6-2 to the Providence Bruins.

LOVERDE HAS A RECORD OF WINNING

LoVerde finishes his AHL career with 50 goals and 176 points, and a plus/minus rating of plus-115. He captured two Calder Cups playing in 78 post-season games notching 23 points and an incredible plus/minus of plus-31. LoVerde's first AHL title was in the Manchester Monarch's last season in the AHL. He and his then teammates sliced up the Wolf Pack in a four-game semifinals sweep in 2014-15, the last time Hartford appeared in the playoffs. They scored the first goal in 17 of their 19 games. LoVerde won his second Calder Cup with the Toronto Marlies in 2017-18. He played in two AHL All-Star games. Collegiately, Loverde played with Miami (OH) in the original CCHA where he won a regular season title in his junior year. The school was the conference playoff champion in his senior season. LoVerde was an Economics/Business major and demonstrated his great business acumen as an AHL player rep in his last seven years. He was highly thought of by the PHPA Executive committee and hierarchy. When he is playing days come to an end, he could very likely be working in Niagara Falls for the union in some capacity.

WOLF PACK 2021-22

Darren Raddysh, who falls into a unique category as Group 6 Free Agent, is in an open-ended situation whether he will be retained and offered a new deal or not. “Darren has that status like Vincent. Whether we can fit him in is going to be a tough call. We have a little extra time this year because the calendar is extended to mid-July, not July 1st, on free agency, and of course we have the (Seattle Krakken) expansion draft. So, there is a lot more going on this off-season,” Knoblauch said in a phone interview. In the Restricted Free Agent (RFA) category, the Pack has many decisions to make, not the least of which are on three key Wolf Pack players. The first two are forwards, Tim Gettinger and Ty Ronning. They are one and two and were linemates. “We certainly would love to have both of them back in our lineup. They both performed very well for us. That being said, a lot goes on above me regarding player contracts. We'll just have to wait and see.”

HUSKA THE THIRD

The third RFA is goaltender, Adam Huska, and his services are a big need. “We need a goalie and he more than showed he can win some games and provide solid work in net, but with the unknowns of an expansion draft, this is one of the tough spots. I really don’t know how this will work out, but we would love to see Adam back," Knoblauch said.

OTHER RFAS

The other RFA’s are still being finalized where their status is in relation to the organization. Defenseman Yegor Rykov, who was loaned out last year to CSKA Moscow (Russia-KHL) and played in the Gagarin Cup Final, has already signed a deal with Severstal Cherepovets (Russia-KHL). Brandon Crawley's initial Entry Level Contract (ELC) is expiring. He was loaned to the Cleveland Monsters at the end of the year. The chances of his coming back seem very remote.

ADDING TO THE ROSTER

Adding players will be different than most years. “Maybe we can add a scoring forward or two, but we have so many players who are coming back, we're likely only to be able to add a free agent or two, but between the expansion draft, potential trades, and the amateur draft it’s a very fluid place right now.” Assistant GM Pat Boller, who has faithfully served the Wolf Pack for 13 years, will still be with the organization, but in a new role. “The most I can say is he will be in an expanded role. It’s being finalized and there will be an announcement in the very near future.” After spending the last two years as an organizational goalie coach, the highly affable Jeff Malcolm (Yale University) will be upgraded to being the Hartford goalie coach next season.

THE NEW SCHEDULE

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings HARTFORD, CT - The ever-so-brief AHL 2020-21 season has concluded. It was a season that challenged the players and coaching staff and left the Hartford Wolf Pack fans distanced from their team relying on the computer to watch their team play. Seven years have come and gone since the last time there was any post-season hockey in Hart City, and with the past two years since a Calder Cup trophy was awarded. This lack of any postseason is reminiscent of the AHL during World War II. That's not all that's buzzing around the Wolf Pack these days. Last Wednesday at the Madison Square Garden executive offices, New York Rangers and MSG CEO James Dolan terminated their team President John Davidson and GM Jeff Gorton. Chris Drury (Trumbull/Fairfield Prep) became President and GM of the Rangers. One of Drury's first actions as President was to relieve David Quinn of his duties as the team's head coach. The Rangers are in a rebuild mode with a boatload of prized prospects expected to be in training camp in September. Expect the Wolf Pack roster to be significantly different as well in five months. This will extend into the 2022-23 hockey season too, so this move has deleterious effects up and down the Rangers hockey operations ladder from coaches, players and scouts.

HARTFORD WOLF PACK

Drury will likely drop his General Manager title from his portfolio of responsibilities. Expect Drury to first look in-house for a replacement. Among those likely to be considered for the role include ex-Pack players Jed Ortmeyer (Director of Player Development) or Tanner Glass (Assistant Director of Player Development). There's also Pat Boller, the long-serving Assistant GM who had kept things running for the last 13 years on a day-to-day basis, with the potential for an upgrade.

DEFENSE

Among the defensive corps will be the organization's central challenge, which has 21 players under contract. Most likely to be skating in Hartford next season to start the season could be Braden Schneider, Matt Robertson, or if the organization feels he needs some transitioning from the larger to the smaller rinks in the minors, Nils Lundkvist. Among the pairings will be Schneider with Vincent LoVerde, who's on an AHL deal and needs to be resigned. Darren Raddysh is a Group 6 UFA. He’ll be looking for a financial upgrade. Mason Geersten is under contract for next season but will be an Unrestricted Free Agent (UFA) after next season. Tarmo Reunanen, Schneider, and Lundkvist will get long looks in training camp in New York, but where they ultimately wind up is unclear with only so few defensive openings in New York. Patrick Sieloff needs to be signed, likely to an AHL deal, and Zach Giuttari, a free agent (AHL deal). Both could potentially play with the team's ECHL affiliate, the Maine Mariners, or they could move on elsewhere.

GONE

Brandon Crawley played for the Cleveland Monsters on a loan deal. His contract is up, and he is unlikely to be resigned. Yegor Rykov, once a highly touted prospect for the organization, likely will stay in Russia and play in the KHL. His Rangers deal expires on June 30. Jeff Taylor, who was scratched more than he played in two years, will likely be finding a new place to park his skates in North America AHL/ECHL or Europe.

FORWARDS

The big question upfront is what the future hold will with Tim Gettinger and Ty Ronning? Both of their entry-level contracts are expiring. Both played very well and warrant resigning to see what that they can do in an entire season. Veteran Paul Thompson, who has bought into mentoring the younger players, and lives in nearby West Springfield, MA, will likely be a solid bargain to fill the veteran spot.

RETURNING

Anthony Greco and Jonny Brodzinski will be the anchors. Both are returning but will be UFA’s after next season. With a slew of younger players coming back and who will get an entire season of hockey in year two of their pro hockey careers. Also returning to Hartford are Justin Richards, Patrick Khordorenko, Will Cully, Michael O’Leary, James Sanchez, and Alex Whalen. Richards and Khordorenko, two natural centers, demonstrated tremendous growth and promise. All the others showed degrees of improvement. With an entire season awaiting them in the fall of 2021, the question is how much better did they get and if they can continue to improve. Swedish centerman Karl Henriksson is under contract. In the Swedish SHL, he was playing as a 19-year-old. He had one goal and eight points, not exactly eye-popping numbers, so depending on the team's depth, he could be a training camp invitee but is more likely to play another year in Europe. The same scenario is possible for Finnish right-handed center Lauri Pajuniemi of TPS Turku (Finland-DEL). He logged 22 goals and 38 points in 48 games, numbers likely to get him invited to camp.

GONE

Patrick Newell, an RFA, showed flashes of skill but is likely to have a new AHL address. Gabriel Fontaine played in just 17 games over two full seasons due to successive left shoulder surgeries. He could be a candidate to start with the expansion Trois-Rivieres (ECHL) team next season to jumpstart his career.

GOALTENDING

Adam Huska, 23, is an RFA. He showed an ability to play well in tight spots and make a big save. Though his final numbers aren’t AHL sexy, he has performed well this season under these challenging conditions. Tyler Wall showed flashes of his Hockey East form but struggled on many nights and looked like a rookie searching for his confidence. Swedish second-round pick Olof Sundstrom is under contract. However,  he signed a Swedish deal with Kristianstads IK (Sweden-Allsvenskan), and unless he is heading for Maine, he will likely stay in Europe next season. Depending on how the Rangers make expected off-season signings and trades and the final expansion list they submit to the league for the incoming Seattle Kraken draft, a lot could change. The team is allowed to protect eight players and one goalie. Goalie Keith Kinkaid's status will be interesting. With the elimination of the "taxi squad" likely, Kinkaid could be Hartford's top goalie next season after playing well in New York.

MAINE MARINERS

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings BRIDGEPORT, CT - The Hartford Wolf Pack winning streak is now six games after a 5-4 win at the Webster Bank Arena against Bridgeport Sound Tigers Tuesday afternoon. The Wolf Pack record improved to 9-6-1-0 (19 points) and shrunk the once-sizable Providence Atlantic Division lead to just seven points over the idle Bruins. The Bruins have two games in hand. Bridgeport lost their fifth straight, and their record slips to 3-12-1-0 (7 points). The game-winning tally came just 1:40 after the Sound Tigers had tied the game.

HUSKA SETS UP A GOAL

The Wolf Pack goalie Adam Huska was inserted to start the third period because starter Tyler Wall struggled. Huska has been working on improving his puck handling skills, and it showed in the third period when he beat the Sound Tigers' Thomas Kuhnhackl to a loose puck, fired it off the top of the glass on the right-wing boards in the Wolf Pack end. The puck came to Paul Thompson in a well-executed breakout pass. “Adam has been so much better handing the puck this year, it helps the defenseman on forechecks, and in this case, he helped the forwards, and you make your own breaks, “ said Pack head coach Kris Knoblauch. As Thompson entered the Sound Tigers' end, he lost his balance but could still slip a pass over to Patrick Khordorenko, who was behind the Sound Tigers defense. Khordorenko went strong to the net and deposited his second of the game and third of the season at 15:02 for his first pro-game-winning goal.

REACTION FROM BOTH COACHES

“It was a really strong play under pressure finishing off the breakaway, and he played a solid, strong game with two goals and, of course, the game-winner. “There is a lot of competition for ice time and being in the lineup. (Khordorenko) was out a few games, and a game like that makes it tough for a coach making out a lineup and keeping him in,” said Knoblauch. Across the way, the always competitive Sound Tigers' head coach, Brent Thompson, took no solace in the final being a close score. “Any loss is a bad loss. "No one is happy with the result. There were mistakes in the game you can build on, 100%. We came back, that’s something. It shows character and shows a step in the right direction, but the mental lapses at the end of the day have to be intense defensively. We've got to know where people are away from the puck. "We let them back in the game after battling back to make it 4-4. We did make 2-2, 3-3 throughout the game. We made it easy on them.  It’s disappointing. It’s not where we want to be. When we have breakdowns, they’re big ones.”

SOUND TIGERS HAD JUST TIED THE GAME

The Sound Tigers Parker Wotherspoon, victimized on the game-winning play, had just tied the game for the Sound Tigers with his first of the season. Wotherspoon took a Jeff Kubiak pass and wired it over Huska's right shoulder through a big screen at 13:24. It was the only puck to beat Huska. With the goalie pulled and an extra attacker on for the Sound Tigers, they piled on the pressure over the final sixty seconds. Still, shots by Kyle Maclean and Bolduc went wide, then Patrick Sieloff made a terrific block in front, but Bolduc, who has played well against Hartford, had a final shot as the game ended that Huska stopped to secure the win.

SCORES GALORE IN THE SECOND PERIOD

In the first period, there were no goals, and in the second period, seven combined goals were scored and three in the first four minutes of play. The Wolf Pack scored first. Morgan Barron came across the blue line, went deep on the left-wing wide on defenseman Mitch Vande Sompel and snapped one just inside the far post for his team-leading ninth goal of the season at 1:01. The goal extended his point-scoring streak to four games. Darren Raddysh also extended his streak with the primary assist. At 2:54, the Sound Tigers rookie Bode Wilde with Austin Rueschoff bore down on Wall and scored his second of the season. He launched a shot on Wall from the right point. The puck hit off the post and went into the net to even the game at one. At 3:40, the Wolf Pack grabbed back the lead at 2-1.

PACK GO BACK UP

The Wolf Pack's red-hot scorer, Ty Ronning, evaded the stick check by Wotherspoon and sent a cross-ice feed to a wide-open Justin Richards in the left-wing circle. Richards buried his second score via Jakub Skarek's five-hole at 3:40. The Sound Tiger fought back again to tie the contest. Winger Tanner Fritz went down right-wing with Vincent LoVerde; when he got to the lower face-off circle, Fritz sent a shot on net that Wall couldn’t contain and wound up in the back of the net at 9:42. "The puck was rolling a little bit. Sometimes those are tough for goalies to squeeze. I was fortunate there. Good things happen when you put the puck on the net,” Fritz said of his second goal of the year, both coming against the Pack. Forty-nine seconds later, the Wolf Pack jumped back into the lead 3-2 when Alex Whalen snagged a rebound, circled the Sound Tiger net, and flipped a backhand pass back to Rueschoff, who deposited his fourth goal into a wide-open left side of the net with a solid net-front presence from Mason Geersten that helped create that opening.

REACTION TO GERTSEN

“That line played very well, and Gert (Gertsen) makes a difference out there. Guys don’t want to check him, fight him, or leave him alone. He has been doing a really good job and created a lot of commotion in front. "Austin was left alone back door, and Alex made a perfect pass to him,” said Knoblauch on what has become an effective third line for the Wolf Pack." The Wolf Pack extended the lead to two goals when Patrick Khordorenko picked up a loose puck from a shot attempt by Tarmo Reunanen from the left point. It hit Bolduc’s skate and sent a backhander past Skarek for his second goal of the season at 14:51. Bridgeport rallied again to make it 4-3. Defenseman Seth Helgeson went down the right-wing with Raddysh keeping him at bay, launched a backhand shot in the lower right-wing corner. It almost got to the goal line because Wall was deep in his net; he thought he had the puck pinned to his near post. However, he didn't have it completely controlled, and the Sound Tigers' Arnaud Durandeau, trailing on the rush, went to the net, smacked the loose puck, and into the net. It was his second goal with a minute remaining in the period. The Durandeau goal getting past Wall gave Knoblauch the impetus to make the call to Huska for the third period.

FIRST PERIOD

The first period was a scoreless duel with the Wolf Pack with an 8-5 shot advantage. Early on, the Wolf Pack had solid forechecking pressure keeping the Sound Tigers five pinned in their zone for two minutes earlier. The fourth line provided the pressure but had two shots stopped. Tim Gettinger was stopped on his second shot. Wolf Pack rookie D-man, Hunter Skinner, put on a solid check inside the Sound Tiger side on Kyle MacLean of the Sound Tigers. LINES: Richards-Gettinger-Ronning Newell-Barron-Greco Whelan-Rueschhoff-Geersten Khordorenko-Thompson-Cullye Raddysh-Reunanen LoVerde-Skinner Giutarri-Sieloff Huska Wall THREE STARS: Patrick Kordorenko Tarmo Reunanen Darren Raddysh HONORABLE MENTIONS: Adam Huska Paul Thompson Patrick Sieloff Anthony Greco SCRATCHES: Jonny Brodzinski (upper-body) will likely play Thursday Jeff Taylor James Sanchez Michael O’Leary Ryan Dmowski Zach Berzzola Francois Brassard Gabriel Fontaine (upper-body, done for the season)

BRANDON CRAWLEY

The Wolf Pack reassigned/loaned defenseman Brandon Crawley to the AHL Cleveland Monsters on Monday. He is still Rangers' property and subject to recall by the Wolf Pack. Crawley is in the last year of his contract and will be an RFA (restricted free agent) next season. Crawley has played twice in the last three weeks in his only back-to-back games (March 25-27). He has played in seven games this season and just 16 in the previous two years. Crawley has been on the Wolf Pack taxi squad for most of this season and spent most last season with the Pack's ECHL affiliates, the Maine Mariners.

NOTES

The Wolf Pack has the AHL’s best power play with a 30.5% success rate. They had just one chance for the day. Ronning held a 36.4% shooting percentage coming into the game. Igor Shesterkin earned his first NHL shutout stopping the New Jersey Devils 3-0 shutout in The Prudential Center. Congratulations to Adam Erne (North Branford, CT) for scoring the 20,000th goal in Detroit Red Wings franchise history. Sadly, more of the COVID-19 collateral damage is that the Memorial Cup has been canceled for the second year in a row.

SOUND TIGERS MOVES

The Sound Tigers loaned forwards Yannick Turcotte, who played just two games against the Wolf Pack, to the South Carolina Stingrays (ECHL), and Brett Neumann, who played four gamers to Allen Americans (ECHL). Defenseman Mike Cornell made his regular season Sound Tigers debut this afternoon.

ZAC JONES

As expected, the Rangers signed defenseman Zac Jones (Selects Academy at South Kent Prep) from the NCAA national champion UMASS Minutemen (HE) to an entry-level (ELC) deal. Jones has agreed to a three-year entry-level contract that carries an $832.5K cap hit at the NHL level and will make the standard $70K in the AHL with a $92.5K signing bonus that brings him to the CBA negotiated ceiling of $925K. This season burns off the first year of his deal, according to CapFriendly.com. Jones is staying in New York and practicing with the Rangers. At this point, Jones will then have 14 games left in the regular season to get some NHL ice time. There is no sign that Jones will be assigned to Hartford this year. The Rangers now have 21 defensemen organizationally under contract.

JONES HISTORY

Jones, 20, skated in 29 collegiate games with UMass this season, registering nine goals and 15 assists for 24 points, along with a plus-17 rating and eight penalty minutes. He helped UMASS, located in Amherst, MA, win the National Championship this past Saturday in a 5-0 shutout of St. Cloud St. Jones was named to the NCAA (East) Second All-American Team this season, the Hockey East Second All-Star Team, and the Frozen Four All-Tournament Team, and he also helped UMASS win the Hockey East Championship during the season. He ranked second among NCAA defensemen in goals, He ranked third among NCAA defensemen in points, tied for third among NCAA The 5-11, 185-pounder skated in 61 collegiate career games in the two seasons, with UMASS registering 12 goals and 35 assists for 47 points, along with a plus-29 rating and 32 penalty minutes. Jones was named to the Hockey East All-Rookie Team as a freshman in 2019-20, as he led NCAA freshmen in assists (20) and shots on goal (89) and ranked third among NCAA freshmen in points (23) during the season.

MORE JONES INFO

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings MARLBOROUGH, MA - The Hartford Wolf Pack marched into the New England Sports Center and erased a nine-game winless streak by toppling the Providence Bruins 4-2 in an old-style, physical Providence-Hartford meeting. The Wolf Pack record improves to 4-6-1-0 (9 pts). Providence’s record drops to 11-3-1-0 (23 pts) and is still tops in the Atlantic Division by 14 points over Hartford. The Wolf Pack face-off against the 3-7-0-0 (6 pts) Bridgeport Sound Tigers on Saturday at 1 PM at the XL Center. All the tweaks to the Wolf Pack lineup had their desired effect in what was their most complete game since the start of the season.

PACK DOMINATE FIRST PERIOD

The first twenty minutes added up to the best period since their opening game and where the Wolf Pack did their most damage of the day. The team's moribund power play, which entered the game operating at 12%, awoke scoring on their first two chances. Rookie James Sanchez scored his first professional goal as he got the puck back after a shot on goal. Paul Thompson dislodged it from Bruins starting netminder, Jeremy Swayman. He couldn’t cover the puck, and Sanchez swooped in and jammed it home at 8:03. Just 2:01 later, the Wolf Pack cashed in on an instigator penalty that was issued to the Bruins' Ian MacKinnon in a wrestle/scrap with Patrick Sieloff. Tarmo Reunanen cut to the middle of the ice just below the blue line and made a high-end, behind-the-back pass to Anthony Greco at the right point. Greco sent a low shot on the net. Morgan Barron was positioned in front and deflected the shot off the crossbar for his sixth goal of the season. The offensive roll for the Pack continued in gaining a 3-0 lead with a solid transition play. Justin Richards got Tim Gettinger moving. As he crossed the Bruins blueline from left-to-right, he was tripped by Urho Vaakanainen and a penalty was called. During the delayed penalty, Gettinger was on the ice and swept the puck back. Ty Ronning quickly got to the loose puck and picked it up and swept across the net. He snuck a backhander past Swayman to the short side for his third goal of the season at 17:22. The Pack outshot the Bruins 16-5 in the period and were committed to stepping in front of pucks and blocking shots which benefitted goaltender, Adam Huska, who made his first start since February 27th, just his fifth start of the entire season, who also looked solid throughout.

LET'S GET READY TO RUMBLE

After having already played each other eight times to this point in the season, in the third-period tensions spilled over and the gloves came off.  The Pack's 6’7 rookie, Auston Rueschhoff, outdueled Matt Filipe in the first pro fights for both players. Mason Geersten was battling in front protecting Huska when the Bruins' Jakub Lauko took an extra swipe at the puck. That act sent the two to pair off for a battle. Lauko, a rookie and a willing combatant, fought the much larger Geersten who scored a TKO as he cut Lauko open, sending him to the locker room for repairs. With 2:09 left in the game and a screen in front of Huska (23 saves), Robert Lantosi's snapshot found the back of the net spoiling the shutout for the former UCONN Husky netminder. It was his first win since playing in Slovakia. Before the goal was scored there was a final eruption of hostilities. The officials prevented it from turning into a major melee with MacKinnon trying to go with Huska and everybody paired off. No punches were thrown and MacKinnon was tossed at 14:56

SECOND PERIOD

The Wolf Pack managed to avoid their season-long second-period blues. They did so by widening their lead and surrendering just one on a power play. They exited the period up 4-1. The Pack clamped down on the Bruins, holding them to just two shots on goal in the first ten minutes of the period, and made it 4-0 on Barron's excellent effort. Barron received a pass from Reunanen in the Pack zone. He took that pass and went upright, thru center unchecked. Barron gained entry into the Bruins' end of the ice and ripped a 35-foot wrist shot past Swayman (27 saves) for his second goal of the game and seventh of the season at 11:57. The loss was Swayman's first of the season against seven wins. The Wolf Pack had to kill a roughing call to Geersten, who was roughing it up with MacKinnon in front of the Wolf Pack bench. The Bruins took advantage after Brady Lyle's first shot was blocked by Richards, he launched another from the left point. Huska made the save, but Anton Blidh, who was alone in front, jammed in the rebound for his third goal of the season at 14:33 to make it 4-1. With 25 seconds left in the period and the Wolf Pack again on the PK, Greco had a shorthanded breakaway bid late in the PK, but Swayman stopped him. Huska responded for the Pack with a big and timely stop on Alex-Olivier Voyer with two seconds left in the period. Filipe made a strong play on a pass from behind the net, but Huska kept the advantage to three goals. There was some rough stuff as the period ended between Thompson and Voyer, the Bruins Josiah Didier with Sieloff, and a Euro shoving match with Reunanen and Vaaakanainen.

LINES

Newell-Barron-Greco Richards-Gettinger-Ronning Khordorenko-Thompson-Whelan Sanchez- Rueschhoff-Geersten Raddysh-Crawley LoVerde-Reunanen Giutarri-Sieloff Huska Wall

SCRATCHES

Gabriel Fontaine (upper-body injury) Jeff Taylor Will Cullye Michael O’Leary Ryan Dmowskinewly Zach Bezzola Michael Lackey Francois Brassard

COACHES

Pat Boller Jeff Malcolm Brook Ballard It was Boller's first time, since 2016-17 when he was an assistant to Ken Gernander, that he was behind the bench. He's coaching his third game since head coach Kris Knoblauch and associate coach Gord Murphy were recalled to the New York Rangers last Wednesday after David Quinn and his entire staff were subject of COVID protocols. Malcolm, the team’s goalie consultant, and a Yale grad is handling the defensemen, and Ballard is one of the Rangers skills coaches.

THREE STARS

- Morgan Barron (2 goals) - Tarmo Reunanen (2 assists) - James Sanchez (first pro goal)

HONORABLE MENTIONS

- Ty Ronning - Patrick Sieloff - Darren Raddysh

NOTES