#chadwiseman

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings HARTFORD, CT - For Steven Fogarty, being named the team captain for the Hartford Wolf Pack was a very high honor that left him both humbled and a bit surprised. “I didn’t expect it really. I've been here for four years and I’ve seen the ups and downs. I’m just being one of the older guys, I have always taken pride in being a leader.  We have a fresh new group here, and I’m very excited. I’m not the most vocal guy. I will say something when it needs to be said. I met with Boo (Nieves) and Lindy (Ryan Lindgren) (who were both named assistant captains). I think we're gonna have a very strong leadership group here,” Fogarty said. Lindgren is quite the loquacious player. If Fogarty isn't going to be vocal it's a pretty good bet that Lindgren will. “He’s got a pretty good set of pipes,” Fogarty said with a laugh. However, for the Wolf Pack, over the past few years, being named the captain has been a kiss of death. The preceding four were all traded during the season, something Fogarty is fully aware of. “Well, it was in the back of my mind,“ Fogarty smiled and chuckled acknowledging the obvious, “No, I’m not worried about that.” The Rangers have addressed a multitude of changes all throughout the first training camp of the "John Davidson Era," was kicked off. “We met with the coaches and asked everyone to embrace the change. It’s a whole new staff and a lot of other changes. We're starting over. I really got to see that in camp.” The offensive depth is palpable with the team. ‘We have some tremendous depth up-front and a lot of pieces from veterans like Danny (O’Regan) and Phil (Di Giuseppe), younger players with strong credentials; it’s the best depth we have had here. I think it’s going to be a lot of fun,” Fogarty said. He signed a one year deal last spring. The new Wolf Pack head coach, Kris Knoblauch, was effusive in his praise of Fogarty and spoke of the collective organizational input on the selection process. “I knew some things about Steven, but Jeff (Gorton), Chris (Drury) and Jed (Ortmeyer) and others filled me in about Steven, and what David (Quinn) saw of him in Rangers camp. For me, my interactions have been solid and matched up with everything that I heard that there was no better qualified to handle the captaincy.” Having a new staff takes some adjustment for everybody. “All of them have different levels of experience, but at the end of the day, you have to execute the systems in place. They’re to help us play the right way. The more eyes and expertise you can bring the better we can be. They brought in a lot more people to the organization to try to make us successful and hold us accountable. Players have to take advantage of it.” The recent cycle for Wolf Pack Nation over the past five years hasn’t been very good. Fogarty recognizes that and has an antidote for it. ‘Winning can take care of a lot things and solves a lot of issues. It boosts confidence. You're excited to come to the rink. It helps everything. It’s our main goal to play the right way. Everything will take care of itself. A winning culture takes care of a lot of problems." KRAVTSOV AFFAIR There's an early piece of drama for the Wolf Pack. It was astonishing that Vitali Kravtsov was benched. Maybe at game 10, 20, or in game 30, it could be understood, but game one, in the second period was extraordinarily unusual. He earned the benching and might be embarrassed , but that's the intention of a benching. The new head coach has 19 other players he has to handle and on the first night of game-play, he has to show he's in control of the team. It’s clear that with Drury present, he was given full discretion to do this. This was about more than just his indifferent play at the end of camp, but also in the pre-season game in Bridgeport and the first period against Charlotte. What is possibly fueling this during the negotiations between the New York Rangers and his agents were the promises made for him to come to North America. Clearly, he was hoping he would be playing in the NHL in New York, but he demoted and assigned here. This will require getting things smoothed out. While Kravtsov signed a standard NHL entry-level deal, he does have a European out-clause that could allow him to return to the KHL in Russia and Traktor Chelyabinsk who still hold his rights. When that clause can be activated and what conditions allow it to be invoked specifically are unknown. In addition, he is still WJC eligible. It would seem likely that he would be allowed to play for Russia at the WJC in December in the Czech Republic. The NHL and Russian Ice Hockey Federation do not have a formal transfer agreement. There was one piece of news that could be an inducement for Kravtsov to stay was the trade of Vladimir Namestnikov to the Ottawa Stars for New Jersey-born defenseman, Nick Ebert, who played one game in Belleville and has been assigned to Hartford. There could be a roster slot open in New York for a revitalized Kravtsov with some strong AHL play, possibly over the next couple of weeks. In a worst-case scenario, if he did go back, a la Ilya Kovalchuk when he left the Devils for the KHL, the NHL teams holds his rights until the end of his initially signed contract. Those rights could be traded. Kovalchuk was different because he turned 35 and was a free-agent who eventually signed with LA. Also, another possibility is that he could come back after the season in the KHL was over. It is likely to be worked out the Rangers who drafted him. Obviously he is very highly regarded and an important asset in bringing a competitive team to Broadway that can compete for the Stanley Cup, and that is the number one priority. The story of Ryan Poehling, now in Laval, should be conveyed to him. Poehling had a great WJC tournament last year and had a dream NHL first game on the last night of last year’s regular season against Toronto. Poehling had a hat trick, and five points including scoring the game-winning shootout goal. He had a strong camp for the Montreal Canadiens. Poehling is in Laval working on his craft and will be at the Bell Centre in the very near future. If Kravtsov lights things up in Hartford, he too will be at MSG among the bright lights soon enough. The Ebert addition to the Hartford d-corps forced the reassignment of Brandon Crawley, who was scratched along with Jeff Taylor last weekend for both games, to the Maine Mariners. The Rangers are already planning the Wolf Pack's 2020-21 roster. They signed defenseman Matthew Robinson to a three-year entry level deal. He had a strong training camp before being reassigned back to his junior team, the Edmonton Oil Kings (WHL). Ex-Pack, Conor Allen, has signed with HK Hradec Kravlove (Czech Republic-CEL) for the year. Ex-Pack, Corey Locke, who retired after the pre-season with HC Dynamo Pardubice (Czech Republic-CEL), has been named an assistant coach with Guelph (OHL) whose associate head coach is ex-Pack, Chad Wiseman. Locke becomes the 88th former Wolf Pack player to be involved in hockey as a coach, GM, or as a scout. Three former coaches are still behind the bench while three others are scouts. Read the full article