#ctwhale

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings HARTFORD, CT - Ex-New York Ranger and Hartford Wolf Pack defenseman, Stu Bickel, hired by the Minnesota Wilderness (NAHL) in the summer, then moved on to St. Thomas University (CCHA), a brand-new D1 program, has changed jobs again. Bickel was hired this week by the AHL's Springfield Thunderbirds as their new assistant coach. The Thunderbirds have also signed two new defensemen for Bickel to work with who have Connecticut backgrounds, Griffin Luce (Salisbury School) and ex-Wolf Pack, Josh Wesley. The Thunderbirds also signed forward Nic Pierog (Canterbury Prep/Sound Tigers) to a one-year AHL deal. COACHING MOVEMENT With Ryan Martin leaving Detroit to become the new Hartford Wolf Pack General Manager, the Red Wings named former Whaler and Ranger Pat Verbeek as the new GM of Grand Rapids; he also is the assistant GM in Detroit. Chase Stillman was drafted by the Devils in June. He signed the standards entry-level contract (ELC) of $925K-NHL/$80K-AHL. He is junior eligible, WJC eligible. He will play next season with the Sudbury Wolves (OHL). UCONN PLAYERS TURN PRO A third UCONN player turned professional. Forward Kale Howarth signs a one-year AHL deal with the Rockford Icehogs. Howarth was last seen lying on the ice in a Hockey East quarterfinal playoff game. He was hit in a net-front scramble from behind by Providence College’s Jason O’Neil late in the second period with his entire body weight falling on Howarth’s leg. He was helped off the ice with a severe leg injury. Incredibly, no surgery was required, and Howarth did rehab near his home in Calgary this off-season. The other two Huskies who went pro were fellow junior goalie Tomáš Vomáčka with the Nashville Predators. Instead, he'll be with the Milwaukee Admirals (AHL). However, they will likely see one another in an AHL Central Division matchup. Also turning pro was defenseman Yan Kuznetsov. He left UCONN two years early and signed with the Calgary Flames. He could play major junior with the Saint John (NB) Sea Dogs (QMJHL), who selected him in the CHL Import Draft. He is still eligible to play there. He could be in Stockton (AHL) with the Heat this upcoming season. He will likely play for the Russian WJC team. OTHER COLLEGE PLAYER NEWS Christian Evers graduates from the University of Vermont (HE) and signs with the Rapid City Rush (ECHL), making 28 Hockey East East players turning pro. Nationally, 35 underclassmen have left early, and the Division-I pro signings in North America is up to 86. The conference breakdown is: - Big 10 (22) - NCHC (16) - ECACHL and AHA (7) - CCHA formerly the WCHA (4) - NCAA Independent Arizona State (2) The total number of college players Division I and III signing pro deals in North America and Europe is 124. MORE PLAYER MOVEMENT Ex-CT Whale/Wolf Pack Tim Kennedy has been hired by the Buffalo Sabres (NHL) to be their development coach for their AHL, ECHL, and collegiate prospects. He was the Head Coach/Assistant GM of the Buffalo Jr. Sabres (OJHL). After being let go by Halifax (QMJHL) in April, ex-Wolf Pack Assistant Coach, J.J. Daigneault, is still available. Ex-Sound Tiger Ben Thomson signs with the Henderson (NV) Silver Knights. Seven more AHL’ers head to Europe. The second of last season's Wolf Pack heads overseas as Patrick Newell signs with Sterjen (Norway-NEL). Ben Thomas of the Syracuse Crunch moves to Leksands IF (Sweden-SHL). Two depart from the Tucson Roadrunners, Kevin Hancock to Dorbirner EC (Austria-IceHL) and Josh Wilkins to Västerviks IK (Sweden-Allsvenskan). Keegan Lowe, son of ex-Ranger NHL Hall of Famer, Kevin Lowe, and Kevin Boyle of the Grand Rapids Griffins, will head to HC Bolzano Foxes (Italy-IceHL). Another member of the Gulls, ex-Sound Tigers, Matt Lorito heads to Djurgårdens IF (Sweden-SHL). Sweden and Russia are the top international destinations, with 14 players each from the AHL. There are 73 AHL players to sign overseas, with 27 of the 31 teams to lose at least one player. MORE MOVES Cole Sillinger, son of ex-Sound Tiger Mike Sillinger, signed his NHL standard three-year ELC deal with Columbus at $925K-NHL/$80K-AHL. With one more season of eligibility left, it's expected he will play this season with the Medicine Hat Tigers (WHL). Because he has dual citizenship, Sillinger played last year with the Sioux City Stampede (USHL) and is WJC eligible for Canada and the United States. The first US college player to go to Canadian major junior is Dave Lafrance from the now-defunct Robert Morris University (AHA) program. He heads to the training camp of the Halifax Mooseheads (QMJHL). Another Division III player signs in Europe. Corey King Chatham University (UCHC) heads to the HC Giants (Finland Suomi-Sarja Division-1). Another Robert Morris player transfers as Matt Guerra enrolls at Holy Cross (AHA). He is the 81st off-season transfer. Quinn Emerson, the son of former Hartford Whaler Nelson Emerson, will play at Wenatchee (WA) Wild (BCHL) this season, delaying his commitment to Bowling Green (CCHA) by a year. Greg Brown, born in Hartford and a former Rangers assistant coach, signs with the Dubuque Fighting Saints (USHL) as their new head coach. AND EVEN MORE MOVEMENT Mitch Eliot, son of former New Haven Nighthawk Daren Eliot, heads from the Utica Comets to the Rochester Americans. Ex-Wolf Pack Richard Nejezchleb departs from Crakow (Poland-PZIHL) to UTE (Hungary-MOL). Jerry Pollastrone (Salisbury School) departs Austria and heads to his seventh European country, signing with EC Bad Nauheim (Germany DEL-2). COYOTES OUT OF OPTIONS The City of Glendale, Arizona, informed the Phoenix Coyotes and the NHL that at the end of next season, when the team's lease expires, it would not be renewed at the Gila River Arena. The city cited mounting debt and other non-compliance issues to the lease as reasons for the termination. However, the team was on a year-to-year lease, with each side having the ability to terminate it, and the city has done just that. Talks have been ongoing for the past sixty days on a third building under consideration to house the team in Tempe. That location would be more desirable for Arizonians but includes buying compost land by 2024 at the earliest. Many details would go into a move like this, including the boatloads of money for a new arena to make it come to fruition, so options are minimal, and the time crunch now. The four cities now being mentioned as possible new destinations include Houston, Texas, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, and incredibly to stay in the Phoenix area. Houston would seem to be the most logical course to pursue with an eager and publicly-stated partner in the NBA's Houston Rockets owner, Tilman Fertitta. They have in Houston a modern building, the Toyota Center, home of the NBA Rockets. A source stated, “This puts the team in a pickle. The city’s move puts the puck in the NHL’s corner. This would be the crowning achievement for Gary Bettman’s legacy, get into another huge market, with a willing, wealthy possible owner and a fairly new building. You keep the (NHL) landscape properly set and get out of all the problems on-and-off the ice in Arizona. Houston seems the logical next step.” ADVANTAGES OF HOUSTON Houston is the fourth large TV market. The Toyota Center was built in 2003. The Fox Sports Southwest regional sports network is already in place. Texas does not have an income tax which helps in recruiting players salary-wise.   There were two previous hockey editions in Houston. First, the Houston Aeros were in the WHA in the mid-1970s with Gordie Howe and his family leading the way, and then there was the AHL-version of the Aeros was relocated to Iowa by the Minnesota Wild 2013. CONSIDERING QUEBEC Quebec has the Videotron Centre home of the QMHL Remparts, a new building built to NHL specs. They have a loyal fan base with visions of raising the blue banner of the Nordiques and regional TV networks in RDS (French) and TSN (English). There are several negatives, however. First, there's the matter of the discrepancy with the US dollar. The onerous taxation on income (up to 25%) and public taxation on items such as food (15%). There's the French language and political issues, the Montreal Canadiens private reluctance in not wanting to share the Quebec province with anyone. Not to mention the current COVID rules that have just been reimposed by the US for another month. These are all significant drawbacks. Hamilton sits in the Buffalo market and has nearly 40% of their ticket base in Southern Ontario. The Eastern city and the building are 30 years old, and it's home to the OHL Hamilton Bulldogs. The building would require MAJOR renovation to bring it up to a contemporary NHL standard. Phoenix has been a disaster for the NHL, but there is a third venue still available. The 61-year-old Veterans Memorial Coliseum is not even up to AHL standards, let alone the NHL's. That last tenant in the building was the old IHL team in 1997 as the third edition of the name, the Phoenix Roadrunners that folded after one year competing against the NHL. Moving AHL Tucson low on the ladder would be another issue. Still, easier going to either Beaumont near the Louisiana border, a former WPHL city (early part of this century), which is closer to Houston like the Astros Triple AAA team in nearby Sugar Land, or return to an “old” AHL market, like San Antonio. HARTFORD WOLF PACK HOME Read the full article

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings HARTFORD, CT - The holiday season is upon us, and for the Hartford Wolf Pack the extra day off after Christmas is traditionally saved for a game against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. This season, it's been moved until Friday. It's given everybody a chance to take advantage of the extra time to step away from hockey. Head coach Kris Knoblauch said it will allow him to do something he hasn’t been able to do so thus far this season - attend one of his son’s pee wee travel hockey games. “Most of his games are on the weekend and I’m a bit occupied on the weekends,” Knoblauch said with a chuckle. “I've made all of his practices, so he has a game on Sunday - bright and early, and I have to drive an hour. My wife let me know where. It's going to be fun and I'm really looking forward to be able to do it." For Danny O’Regan he'll have just a short ride to make to get up to Boston. “I’m leaving after the game and will get there in about two hours, so I’ll get right into it.” Also heading to Beantown is Phil Di Giuseppe where the Montreal native was set to enjoy the holidays with his girlfriend. “She’s from the Boston area, so gotta keep her happy.” Those plans changed though when he was recalled by the New York Rangers after their 5-1 win over the Anaheim Ducks. He'll play against the Philadelphia Flyers Monday night. Making their way to Minnesota will be Vinni Lettieri (Excelsior) and Steven Fogarty (Edina). Rookie Patrick Newell, a Los Angeles, California-native, opted for New York City where he'll visit with family and friends. “I thought about California. If I had another day because of the travel I would have gone. I thought about Minnesota too. All those guys go back, and since I went to St. Cloud State, I got friends there too, but decided to stay a little closer. The AHL is better than the NHL. Lindy (Ryan Lindgren) texted me that he has to leave on the 23rd and be back for practice on the 26th at 10 AM. That's not much time.” With his extra day, Matt Beleskey is doing something he hasn’t done since his early days. He'll go home to Barrie, Ontario. “It’s first time since my first year of pro that I’m going. My wife and daughter are already there, so we're all ready to go Sunday." NOTES: Ex-CT Whale, Logan Pyett, departs Frederikshavn IK (Denmark-DHL) for SC Csikszereda (Romania-EBEL). Pyett has been referenced lately sadly since Flyers player Oskar Lindblom, who was recently diagnosed with a sarcoma cancer, the same Pyett had four years ago. Pyett has successfully beaten it. The cancer was discovered when he was in Flyers training camp. He was scheduled to play for Lehigh Valley. Another AHL player leaving mid-season for Europe is Hunter Shinkaruk. He leaves Charlotte and heads to Beijing and Kunlun (China-KHL). Ex-Pack, Ville Meskanen, scored in his first game with Ilves Tampere (Finland-FEL) and was a minus-3. Read the full article

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings HARTFORD, CT - As the Hartford Wolf Pack gets set for their first three-games-in-three-days this weekend with the Laval Rocket coming to Hartford on Friday night at the XL Center. Then the Pack plays a home-and-home with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers on Saturday and then on Sunday afternoon at 3 pm at the Webster Bank Arena. Pack Associate Head Coach, Gord Murphy’s hiring in the off-season, where he was accompanying his last year's fellow Philadelphia Flyers assistant, Kris Knoblauch, who were both relieved at the end of last season, coming to the AHL was a new interesting option. “I really like it so far. When I was researching the position, I talked to a number of former and current AHL coachers, and the one thing they all said was, 'You will like the time you have to really teach and develop.' In the NHL you don’t have all the time to practice. In fact, you're manufacturing time to talk to a player about certain things. "I really appreciate the time so far where a player can learn, process, and prepare for a game at the American (Hockey) League level,” Murphy, who spent 17 years as an assistant coach after retiring from playing, said. Murphy recognizes there's a learning curve. “I know this isn’t going to happen overnight. It takes time to set up and implement procedures and the structure the organization is looking for. We're all new (the coaching staff) and many new players with a lot of skills with leadership and veterans added to the mix.” One of the big mantras is defense-first. “I don’t care what level of hockey you're at, you have defense first, and that’s just not your defensemen. The goal is to keep the puck out of the net. That gives you a chance to win the game. If you don’t have the defense, it's not a recipe for success.” The team saw its shootout loss last Sunday against Rochester in which the Americans scored late to force overtime, and then the team defensive core held against the Springfield Thunderbirds in a 1-0 shutout win. The six-on-five is a part of a defensive strategy that all teams work at as the season starts to progress especially with the Wolf Pack heading into its first heavy dose of games with six games over the next eleven days. “It’s a learning experience. It’s an area we haven’t really touched on yet, only briefly. We obviously have had talks now about what our setups should be. We have been practicing this, and like everything else, it takes time.” The changes in defensive combinations last weekend is all part of the plan to build a stronger team defensively. “Changes are inevitable in this game, especially on defense. There will be injuries and call ups at some point, so it's better we learn, so we'll know how the players work together, finding the strengths and weaknesses will make the team and the player better.” The sport that he mastered playing in 735 NHL games has changed, especially from his early days with the Hershey Bears back in 1987-88. “There weren’t the skills coaches, the nutrition aspect, or the systems that we have today. Back then, we were taught certain positioning, but we were left on our own to use our skills all that we had. The dynamics now is the players are simply so much faster than in our day. We might have had three or four really top skaters, today is like closer to 15. The skill sets are far different today in what goes into making a 'player.'” Among Murphy's teammates were ex-Hartford Whalers, Kevin Maxwell, Don Nachbaur, Ray Allison, Kevin McCarthy, Nick Kypreos, and John Stevens. He also played with ex-New Haven Nighthawks, Brian Dobbin, and Mark Lofthouse, and former Wolf Pack assistant coach, JJ Daigneault. Teaching the new generation trust is an important component. “I’m trying to help them, and I can relate my experiences. The kids can Google about my past and that’s what is the past. Now I can share my knowledge. The kids have been very receptive and have worked very hard, but at the end of the day I have to earn their trust and respect.” For Murphy, the relationship with his troops now is akin to a parent-child relationship, in some ways. “Its like when they’re riding a bike learning that they’ll fall and skin their knee, but you get right back at it. We're helping to shape them, not only as players but as young men. Many are out on their own for the first time and learning to make good decisions on-and-off ice is a part of the equation of their professional growth and development.” Murphy’s experience is hopefully going to produce up top in New York for the Rangers and hopefully for Hartford when next April rolls around. NOTES: The Rangers recalled Ty Ronning to Hartford from the team's ECHL affiliates, the Maine Mariners. Ronning had five points in four games. Laval will be without Michael McCarron who is serving the second of his two-game suspension for a major interference penalty in Providence. He missed Wednesday’s game in Belleville. Not only are the Lindgren brothers, Ryan (Hartford) and Charles (Laval), playing against each other tonight, but two former members of the St. Cloud Huskies (NCHC) who were college teammates will be facing each other, in Patrick Newell (Hartford) and Ryan Poehling (Laval). In addition, ex-Pack/CT Whale, Dale Weise, makes his first appearance back in Hartford since 2010-11. Bridgeport has recalled highly-regarded Czech-born netminder, Jakub Sharek from the Worcester Railers. Sharek posted a 1.42 GAA in two games. The team reassigned another European goalie they like in Swedish Linus Soderstrom to Worcester. Riley Stillman, the grandson of ex-Nighthawks and Springfield Indians player, Bud Stefanski, was recalled from Springfield by Florida. Ex-Pack, Daniel Walcott, is assigned to Syracuse by Tampa Bay. Mitch Eliot, the son of former Nighthawk, Daren Eliot, is reassigned from Utica to Kalamazoo (ECHL). Ex-Pack, and Sound Tiger, Jack Combs signs a deal with Wichita (ECHL). Ex-Pack, and Ranger, Connor Brickley, signed a deal today with EC Salzburg (Austria-EBEL) for the rest of the season. He will report to the Red Bulls next week. Brickley played 13 games in Hartford last year after being acquired. Josh Primeau, the nephew of ex-Whaler, Keith Primeau, signs with HC Sierre (Switzerland-LNB) his eighth Swiss team in his career, all spent in Switzerland. Read the full article