#gerrycantlon

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings HARTFORD, CT - It's a guessing game predicting for CRDA Executive Director, Mike Freimuth as to the actual opening date for the XL Center to begin hosting events, with what is likely to be a reduced crowd. “We're like everybody else. We have a lot of holes in our calendar. To be honest, everything is stopped. We're hoping for the Magical Mystery Tour,” Freimuth said with snark in his voice as he referenced "The Beatles" 1967 album. The losses at the XL Center have been a permanent feature since the building was first constructed, but like everything else, there is no precedence for what is happening now. With the fiscal year coming to a close, the XL Center is nearly $4.2 million in the red. The pre-COVID-19 losses were to be in the usual $800K to $1.5 million ranges. The losses will nearly double - and all came in the last four months “We're gonna be around $4 million, a little more,” remarked Freimuth, "and we're usually around $2 million. What people don’t see the legislature actually sets that ($800K). The rest of it is made up from other sources (i.e. the Church Street parking garage) to help offset things. The building regularly (losses) runs $2 million in the red. That $800K is made up for in transfer payments and other operations like parking. This year its $4 - $4.2 million, so that's double the historical average in shortfalls and half of that came in the last three months. Read the full article

A long, long time ago, I can still remember how, That music used to make me smile, And I knew if I had my chance, That I could make those people dance, And maybe they'd be happy for a while, But February made me shiver, With every paper, I'd deliver, Bad news on the doorstep, I couldn't take one more step... BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings HARTFORD, CT - The words from the iconic Don McLean hit from the summer of 1971, a paean to the terrible day when Ritchie Valens, JP "The Big Bopper” Richardson, and the legendary, Buddy Holly, all died in a plane crash in an Iowa cornfield en route to their next show and the cascading world that descended from that day. On rising up on March 13, 2020, the worldwide sports landscape changed. It was stilled, quiet, unearthly, and seemed totally devoid of even a pulse. The ice sheet at the XL Center stood glistening clean. The sounds of skates digging in were gone. The hum of the Zamboni shaving and resurfacing of the ice, no more as they have been sent into hibernation. The squeak of sneakers on hardwood, the three-pointers launched with a brilliant arc bringing hopes of glory are now but a misty dream. The sound of baseballs being crushed by a wooden bat, the fleet-footed, and sure-handed infielder, who sought to snare that ball. Those long drives now ride alone on a breeze of a warm spring day, America and the global sports world were left wondering in rapt funeral amazement, have sports died? The English Premier League was the last world sports body to toss in the white towel when players and coaches from Liverpool and Chelsea tested positive for the Wuhan Flu, which is also known as Covid-19. This landscape is hard to process. As a long-time sportswriter opined, "What does a sportswriter do when there are no sports to cover? "Did you write the book of love, And do you have faith in God above, If the Bible tells you so? Do you believe in rock and roll? Can music save your mortal soul? And can you teach me how to dance real slow? Well, I know that you're in love with him, 'Cause I saw you dancin' in the gym, You both kicked off your shoes, Man, I dig those rhythm-and-blues..." Everyone hopes that this moratorium on our sports will be temporary,  but it does have the feeling of the start of a funeral dirge, or maybe bagpipes in sorrowful harmony. The potential human cost is real and that those who developed the virus, it is very uncertain prognosis some may recover and sadly some will not. The full scale and picture is still yet unknown. The economics of the sports industry teams and players are real. In the coming days, the associated ancillary businesses might be a catastrophe. When 30 days is spoken of as the minimum possible period of time was heading into choppy, very unchartered waters. The workers at the arenas faced immediate hardship. The restaurants, pubs and other local eateries surrounding sports venues will see a dramatic fall off. Dallas Mavericks owner, Mark Cuban, said it would be cheaper for him and the country to keep these employees on payroll than it would be to send them off on time-consuming unemployment lines and vagaries of that experience. The NCAA is already talking about extending eligibility to spring athletes who lost their entire schedule dashing dreams of playing upon the bigger stage. Drafts to be held, contracts to be signed, the games stopped, but the business side still goes on while we all waiting for the signs we can resume entering our communal cathedrals. We search like a light bean in the midnight sky, for the stars above will the joy and warmth of the games and the people that we encounter, friendships formed can they stay intact in our magic happy space?  Now, for ten years we've been on our own And moss grows fat on a rolling stone But, that's not how it used to be When the jester sang for the king and queen In a coat he borrowed from James Dean And a voice that came from you and me  The seasons ended in quiet prose as the collegiate playoffs were set to begin for UCONN hockey. A month from now, the hope of the return of the annual rite of spring Wolf Pack postseason hockey. That scene was to be kicked off with a celebration of the 2000 Calder Cup team in our Roman amphitheater to turn cold, gray days to ones of a vivid blue sky and warm sun to add fuel to a spring fire, now rests in a place of celestial purgatory.  Now the half-time air was sweet perfume While sergeants played a marching tune We all got up to dance Oh, but we never got the chance 'Cause the players tried to take the field The marching band refused to yield Do you recall what was revealed The day the music died? We started singin' Bye, bye Miss American Pie Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry Them good ole boys were drinking whiskey and rye And singin' this'll be the day that I die This'll be the day that I die We will know soon if are days of sports, of sweet divine deception, will resume. Hopefully, like all the other sights and sound spring bring forth from Bradford pears in bloom, cardinals that return to our castles, bluebonnets fields, the smell of freshly cut grass, but the sporting landscape and of life has inextricably changed dramatically and maybe permanently. Read the full article

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings HARTFORD, CT - The XL Center will be rebooted. The seven-year odyssey to rebuild/re-boot a 45-year-old building finally has life. Wednesday afternoon the Connecticut State House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly for a combined $3 billion in new state bonding (borrowing) over the next two years. Scores of projects to fix public schools, improve transportation, and upgrade the XL Center in Hartford were included in that package. The State Senate is expected to approve the package later Wednesday. The XL Center portion of the package includes the request for $27.5 million in the first year, and even more money, $37.5 million in the second year for improvements to the XL Center in downtown Hartford. House Republicans offered an amendment to delete the funding for the XL Center, but Democrats rejected the amendment in a mostly party-line vote. This bill passage now will allow the CRDA to address The Atrium issue. It's been tied up for over two years and has been at an impasse with Northland Corporation, the title-holder. Now, either a deal will be reached or the government will exercise eminent domain in a very short time period. Once that issue is resolved, the long-overdue project will begin. There will be a final bonding request in two years to complete the full re-boot of the arena and the lower bowl strategy. This summer, the XL Center is set to have a brand new chiller system installed. That is a major piece of the foundation for the arena re-boot. The XL Center has 65 of its 120 or so events being ice-related. The package also includes funding to respond to the spreading coronavirus outbreak that today claimed another sporting event. The entire Ivy League spring sports schedule for all varsity sports teams has been canceled in a press release. This leaves in grave doubt whether the conference winter sports tournaments currently in progress will continue or if they will be wiped as well. Read the full article

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings HARTFORD, CT - It’s a big night for hockey in Hartford for the UCONN Huskies are on the verge of breaking another Hockey East barrier. They have a home-and-home with the UMASS-Amherst Minutemen starting with Senior Night festivities at 7 PM (WCCT-CW Channel 20) and then tomorrow night at the Mullins Center at 7 PM (NESN PLUS) to close out the regular season schedule. UCONN enters the weekend tied for fourth place in the crowded Hockey East standings. The Huskies have 24 points, their best-ever point total since joining the conference in 2014, and are even with UMASS-Lowell. UCONN is a mere point behind the third-place University of Maine, and two points behind the second-place UMASS-Amherst. UCONN is four points back of the first-place Boston College, who knocked Merrimack, 6-1. A weekend sweep could put the Huskies in the top four guaranteeing a first-round, home playoff game next weekend. The reason UCONN is standing on the edge of this goal is the superlative effort on the road last week to beat BU 6-1 last Saturday sweeping their first Hockey East series of the year. Perfect time to do so. It was tight game 2-1 for UCONN when the floodgates opened and the Huskies swarmed all over BU and on all their key opportunities, they didn’t miss the net. The play that set the Huskies superb second third period in motion was a 10-bell-save from sophomore Tomas Vomacka that he made on Dave Farrance off a three-on-two late in the first period. Vomacka was down-and-out and completely vulnerable. He reached out with his glove and snatched a sure goal away from Farrance The first of three goals by senior Alexander Payusov came with linemate Brian Freeman in the slot in front with a screen. Payusov was able to obtain his own rebound for the goal. 41 seconds into the third, Payusov tallied their second goal of the evening as the Russian from Montreal motored like an Acela train through the middle of the ice, lowered his left shoulder and went wide on BU’s defenseman Alex Vlasic. Payusov fired a 35-foot wrister past goalie Ashton Abel and gave the team a 3-1 lead. UCONN never looked back. Freeman then used a time-honored flip pass to Payusov and he marched in and fired a shot five-hole on Abel and a strong 4-1 lead. The Huskies upped the lead to 5-1 with a fantastic powerplay where all five players on the ice touched the puck. Freeman among the conference-best in faceoff percentage cleanly won the draw. Then Jake Flynn was at the left point and sent it over to Jonny Evans at the right point, then down low to Ruslan Iskhakov. Iskhakov spotted Payusov on the doorstep and got the puck and made a blind backhanded pass to Freeman, who was in the shooter's position on one knee on his off-wing. He drove it into the open left side for a 5-1 commanding lead. The exclamation point came with Justin Howell with 48.3 seconds left winning a one on one battle with BU’s Alex Wise got around and fired a great short side, on the stick-side. The high-wrister on Abel went in to close out the game. Freeman’s two goals and five assists (seven points) earned him Hockey East Player-Of-The-Week, the first one of the season. He has taken over the team-lead in scoring with career-best 26 points on the year on seven goals and 16 assists.  Over the last five games, Freeman has 11 points on the strength of three goals and eight assists. UCONN with a player in any of Top 20 of stats has played a team game and has put themselves in this position that is a mountain that in early January seemed couldn’t be climbed. The Huskies lineup features six 20-point scorers with Payusov having 12 goals, seven coming over the last five games. Freshman Vladislav Firstov who has 23 points on 11 goals and 12 assists and fifth among freshmen scoring in Hockey East. Sophomore Carter Turnbull scored his 11th goal of the season and tied Firstov for the team lead in goals scored.  Turnbull has 23 points on the season, and has had at least a point in eight of his last nine games.  Over that stretch, he has five goals and seven assists. Sophomores Jachym Kondelik eight goals and 13 assists and Iskhakov nine goals and 11 assists round out the UConn 20-point scorers.  There are 12 Huskies who have double digit points and nine different players have scored five or more goals. Senior defenseman Wyatt Newpower is eighth among Hockey East blue-liners with a career-best 19 points with three goals and 16 assists.  He leads the Huskies as a plus 23 on the season, ranking fifth nationally. UCONN is now 7-1-0 over their last eight Hockey East games coming into the weekend. UCONN came back to beat BU in overtime, 4-3, at home last Friday a game they shouldn’t have won. Since joining the Hockey East, UCONN and UMASS have face-off 12 times with the Minutemen holding a slim 6-5-1 edge. In last season's regular season finale, UCONN knocked off the then number two ranked Minutemen, marking the highest-ranked opponent the Huskies have ever beaten. They had previously knocked-off the number three ranked team in the nation when they beat Boston College at home (1-0) in 2014 and a road win over then number three ranked UMASS-Lowell (3-2) in 2016. NOTES: -It will be Senior night with Payusov, Freeman. Newpower, Howell and Bryan Nelson. They will be honored before the game. All fans are encouraged to wear white shirts for the game. -Former Husky Spencer Nass was traded from the Idaho Steelheads (ECHL) to the Kalamazoo K-Wings. Read the full article

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings HARTFORD, CT - This is the time of the year when nothing is written in stone and movements sometimes make little sense. At 11:40 PM this past Wednesday, the New York Rangers announced they had acquired goaltender Jean-Francois Berube from the Lehigh Valley Phantoms for future considerations. Another goalie? It did answer why Hartford Wolf Pack head coach Kris Knoblauch wouldn’t commit to naming his starter for Friday at Wednesday's practice. The future considerations were announced on Thursday morning when goalie, Tom McCollum, and forward Lewis Zerter-Gossage were sent to Lehigh Valley to complete the deal. Team captain Steve Fogarty hopes to break the "Captain-Trade-Jinx" there past four years running. He's just going about his business and leading the team. “It’s pretty weird that’s it happened every year around this time,” Fogarty said with a chuckle. “I’m the captain now and looking forward to finishing the year with this group." The trade of young Joey Keane was certainly felt. “It’s the tough part of our business, losing guys like Joey. He was a big part of our team. He was a heck-of-a player for us and he has a bright future ahead of him.” Getting prepared for the weekend is important for the second place Wolf Pack and their 29-13-5-5 record (68 points). They'll seek to claim the top spot back from the Hershey Bears, who hold on first place by just two points. They'll look to fight off the Providence Bruins who trail the Pack by four points and the Charlotte Checkers who are just six points back. “It's been a while since we had a three-in-three. (It's) time to start separating from the pack and we certainly have to get off to a good start to the weekend in Springfield,” said Fogarty. On the road, the Wolf Pack is not scoring the game's first goal and given those goals way too early in some games. “That first (goal) is key. (It) gives you momentum, and in a place like Springfield, the first goal is huge. That's a good place to get things (for the weekend) started.” Knoblauch mused that the team's worst road efforts came when they had overnight trips and had too much free time on their hands. “Sometimes, it's tough to sit around all day. Maybe there's something to it. I guess the shorter (the road trip) the better.” With games in Springfield and Bridgeport, it certainly would fit the bill. Darren Raddysh, who lost his primary defensive position a few games back. He's now paired with Libor Hajek and the pair is functioning better. “We have had a pretty good corps group of seven and eight guys all season, and we're improving every game and that’s the key. We’ve really worked on our breakouts and getting them better as long as they keep things simple, we do better.” Dealing with the whole trade deadline scenario for Raddysh, who was traded for Peter Holland last spring, is something he knows all too well. “Never a fun thing when it happens. He contributed so much to this team. We wish him the best.” The one thing Knoblauch can control is a weekend is a home game sandwiched in between two road games. Knoblauch tries to soften their road woes. “When you look on average, we're about where others are not great, but not that bad and not where we want it to be. "Maybe you can see a trend when we spend too much time in a hotel. That’s our issue that we need to address, taking a six-hour bus ride and staying in that hotel. We don’t have any more of those just day trips,” remarked Knoblauch with a smile. One area that is still not good is the health of center Boo Nieves. Knoblauch sounds cautiously optimistic, but his body language said otherwise. “It's still day-to-day. We don’t have him in the lineup now, but hopefully will have him in the lineup, maybe next week.” Nieves still showed some speed early in practice, but took a long break at the bench and then resumed his drills in his yellow no-contact jersey and was the first off the ice for practice. Clearly, Nick Jones and fourth-line center Shawn McBride have to pick up the slack with Nieves not able to. “Nick is taking some of the big draws on five-on-five and as well during PK time. He (Jones) scored a critical goal in the second period in Lehigh Valley for us. McBride relied on him to take those defensive zone draws on the left side (which Nieves did), PK duty and his regular shift. A centerman is a key part of that fourth line which has played so very well for us recently. Overall both players for first-year pros have done very well for us.” A big weekend is set to begin for the Wolf Pack KEANE TRADE The trade wasn’t a surprise, as the Rangers have an overabundance of defenseman in the organization and more coming online in the next month or two. However, Joey Keane wasn’t the rearguard that was expected to be traded. Keane was dealt to Carolina on Tuesday and was reassigned to Charlotte for RW Julien Gauthier. Keane was a third-round 88th overall selection at the NHL Draft. “We heard it might happen for a while and found it when we were at the end (of practice). Patty (assistant GM Pat Boller) came over and pulled him over.” Knoblauch was like a parent watching their kid go off to college. “He’s played very well here for us and somebody wanted him. I wish him all the success in the world.” Keane, one of the team's two representatives at the AHL All-Star Classic in Ontario last month, is a right-handed shot that the Rangers lacked in that department on defense. He displayed solid puck handling, passing, and shooting skills and strong play in his own zone. Keane playing with veteran Mason Geersten for the vast majority of the season. He was often on the second pair behind Vincent LoVerde and Raddysh. In 49 games, he had eight goals and 22 assists for 30 points and was just a minus-3. Coming back to Hartford is a big body forward that the Rangers lacked. That player is 6’4, 230 lb. Julien Gauthier who's in his third professional season. He'll be staying in New York for the time being. Playing 7:18 on Wedneday in Chicago, Gauthier had a shot on goal and wore jersey #12. “It’s a trade that helps the Rangers for what they need, a big, talented body who can score goals, but we're not getting the benefit of the trade and that happens sometimes.” Gauthier was a first-round pick (21st overall) of the Carolina Hurricanes. He's from Val D’Or (QMJHL) though that didn’t pan out for them. In 44 games this season, he had a team-leading 27 goals, good for fourth-best in the AHL. He has 37 points, good for third-best on the Checkers. He played on last year’s Calder Cup championship team where he had  27 goals and 41 points in 75 games. He also played 17 post-season games with five goals and eight points. The Pointe-aux-Trembles native played for two Canada World Junior teams where he gained seven points in seven games in the 2017 tournament. Over the last few weeks, we have heard from several sources that K’Andre Miller, currently at the University Wisconsin (Big 10) a first-round pick in 2018, might leave after his sophomore season with the Badgers once the collegiate playoffs end. He has seven goals and 16 points in 39 games and a minus seven. He was the captain of the US WJC team that played in the Czech Republic. Nils Lundkvist, who had a strong training camp was sent back to Europe because of the lack of roster space in Hartford once Lulea HF (Sweden-SHL) season is done when the LeMat trophy playoffs that start next month are concluded will he likely be here. He has six goals and 24 points in 36 games for the and is a plus 17 for the top team in the 14 team Swedish Hockey League. He playing big minutes for the Sweden WJC team back in early January. The third could be defenseman Matt Robertson of Edmonton (WHL) who at 6’4 adds some size and offense in 51 games has 12 goals and 39 points. The Oil Kings have clinched a playoff ticket with 17 games left in the season are in first place in the Central Division with 85 points and second-best in the WHL behind Portland. A deep playoff run and possible Memorial Cup berth make it more likely he will not be seen till training camp next season. Saturday’s game against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins is Hartford Hockey Heritage Night and there are six slated hockey players who will be on hand to help in the celebration. Former Wolf Pack assistant coach of two seasons Joe Mormina still resides in the area. The lovable Stefan Cherneski, from the early years of the Wolf Pack, and whose 40 game career was cut short because of a serious knee injury. Joining them will be Cheshire native Matt Generous, who had an outstanding collegiate career at St. Lawrence (ECACHL). A brief AHL career with the Portland Pirates, before heading to Europe where he had 10 good years with Lukko Rauma (Finland-FEL) before concussion issues forced an end to his career. Howie Rosenblatt, who bounced around between the ECHL where in 178 games he had 146 points and 850 PM and AHL he had 25 games with 75 PM with Providence. The rugged forward ended his playing career with the UHL New Haven Knights with 12 games and nine points and 30 PM. Jon DiSalvatore, a South Windsor native had an 814 game AHL career played with Lowell and Worcester and ended his career with the Springfield Falcons. Bob Lachance, a Bristol native had a 168 game AHL career with Worcester and 17 games with the Sound Tigers. Then a few years in the old IHL before it folded and then went off to Switzerland for several seasons and concluded his career with a few games in the Federal League included one game with the rowdy, raucous Danbury Trashers. His brother Scott had an 819 NHL game career mostly with the islanders and presently the US Scouting Director for the New Jersey. -Toronto Marlies center Mason Marchment, the son of former Hartford Whaler, Bryan Marchment, was dealt to the Florida Panthers for forward, Denis Malgin. Each player has spent time in the AHL in Toronto and Springfield respectively this season. Marchment was assigned to the Thunderbirds Thursday. -Two other AHL trades happened yesterday, a broken down Laval Rocket team sent veterans Phil Varone and Pittsburgh native Riley Barber to the Wilkes Barre/Scranton Penguins for Joseph Blandisi and Jake Lucchin. Danick Martel was traded from Tampa Bay to Florida for major Wolf Pack killer Anthony Greco and reassigned to Springfield. Greco was assigned to Syracuse. -Former Avon Old Farms Winged Beaver, Tyler Madden, a sophomore at Northeastern (HE) in a rare divisional trade saw his rights traded from Vancouver to Los Angeles along with Tim Schaller for Tyler Toffoli. Madden was a third-round pick 68th overall in 2018 of the Canucks. -Ex-Pack Matt Register was sent to Allen (ECHL) by Iowa. -Drake Rymsha, son of former New Haven Nighthawk Andy was recalled from Ft. Wayne (ECHL) by Ontario. -Former CT Whale Christian Thomas exits Traktor Chelyabinsk (Russia-KHL) and signs with SC Bern (Switzerland-LNA) for the rest of the year. -Ex-UCONN Husky captain last year Miles Gendron was recalled by Ottawa from Brampton to Belleville and then reassigned to Reading (ECHL). -Another ex-UCONN Husky captain defenseman David Drake after going minus two against Hartford last Saturday has been reassigned from the Lehigh Valley Phantoms to the Reading Royals. -A pair of former Sound Tigers reassigned back to their AHL. Aaron Ness by Arizona to Tucson and Casey Bailey from Vancouver to Utica. A third, David Quenneville was traded to Binghamton on Monday. -Lias Andersson Watch: Four games two assists and a minus-2. -From the Wolf Pack first season, a true classic commercial. See it HERE. Read the full article

Bearcats Overpower Rhinos 4-1 BY; Gerry Cantlon, Howlings WATERTOWN, CT - The Hotchkiss Bearcats (Lakeville, CT) continue their present surge winning their sixth-in-a-row. 4-1, over the Taft Rhinos on the road at the Oden Arena in a late-season prep school matchup Saturday afternoon clash. The Bearcats received a strong performance from senior forward, Gavin Puskar (Westfield, NJ) as he contributed two goals while senior captain and goalie, the Boston College-bound, Henry Wilder (Needham, MA), was strong in the net when called upon. The Bearcats first goal was a beauty. Taft goalie, James Donaldson (Beaconsfield, Quebec), had no chance on. With a strong transition play coming up ice from their all junior line, Declan Conway (Long Beach, NY) fed center, Jeremy Abraham (Naples, FL), who found the third member of their line, Jonathan Horns streaking down the left-wing. Abraham slid the pass over and Horn ripped his seventh of the season off the far post at 3:45 for a 1-0 lead. Taft’s senior right-winger Nikita Kovalev (Greenwich, CT) tried to even things up, but Wilder stopped him at 5:57. Zack Tonelli (Armonk, NY) was also denied shortly thereafter on a short-side bid. Zach Hahn (Huntington, NY) also tried to get it past Wilder, but couldn’t. Tonelli got another quality chance on a setup from Wesley Carbone (St. Louis, MO) at 7:23, but Wilder slid over to make the stop. Hotchkiss tried to extend their lead as Horn put a pass on the tape of sophomore, Nate Brockington (St. Catharines, Ontario), but Donaldson made the blocker save. The Bearcats finally made it 2-0 when Karsen Dorwart (Sherwood, OR) scored his tenth goal off the left side putting his shot between Donaldson's left arm and body at 13:59. Before the period expired Hotchkiss made it 3-0 with an amazing shot. Puskar was at the top of the right-wing faceoff circle. He took a pass from junior, Bodie Molnar (Potsdam, NY). As Puskar received the pass, he lost his edge, but as he was falling backward, he let a shot go that found it's way over Donaldson's left shoulder and just under the crossbar and popped the water bottle. For Puskar, it was a high-end skill shot that put the Bearcats in a commanding position with 6.1 seconds left in the first frame. It was also his team-leading thirteenth goal of the season. Numerous whistles for off-sides and icings made for a choppy start to the second period before Taft tallied and got the goal horn to sound. Nick Cullnan (Ridgefield), was on the left-wing and went low to the stick-side on Wilder and found the back of the net at 7:34. That would be all the offense Taft would muster for the rest of the game. Puskar was stopped, and so was Charlie Kerrigan (Stowe, VT). Jonathan Horn was peppering Donaldson, but he kept Hotchkiss from running away with the game. Off a faceoff from the right point, Jack Ferguson (Darien) was stopped, as was Declan Conway on a right-wing drive. Nick Traggio (Sharon) had a right-point drive that Donaldson again kept the Bearcats from scoring. Early in the third, Puskar tallied his second goal from a set up at 2:11, ending any hopes of a Taft comeback with a solid 4-1 lead that they would maintain until the end of the game. Hotchkiss spent a large portion of the rest of the third period mostly in the Taft end of the ice. Dorwat attempted a goal-line jam attempt, Puskar, seeking the hat trick, had Taft’s only shot for the first 12:25 of the period. He came on a dump-in to the net for a line change. The Rhinos finally got some offensive zone time with Bobby Barrasso (Mountain Lakes, NJ) and Wesley Carbone denied by Wilder late in the game. Taft senior, Henry Molson (Westmount, QC) denied an empty-net goal attempt by Hotchkiss with great hand-eye coordination as he batted a flip shot out of the air. Hotchkiss' record improves to 15-4-1. Their game at home against Loomis Chaffe (Windsor) on Monday, one of their last five games of the regular season. The Bearcats are seeking to qualify for the NEPSAC playoffs that start the first week of March. Taft's record drops to 7-15-1. They will host Deerfield Academy on Wednesday in one of their last four games of the season. Taft travels to Hotchkiss on February 29th to close out the regular season. Avon Old Farms (19-2-0) and Salisbury Prep (18-2-1) are qualified for the NEPSAC Large Division and Open Division playoffs while Hotchkiss is making a run to qualify. The NEPSAC semifinals and finals are played on the first weekend of March at Sullivan Arena at St. Anselm College in Manchester, NH. Read the full article

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings HARTFORD, CT - A special treat is coming for Hartford Wolf Pack fans. Friday, April 10th is the regular season-finale Wolf Pack against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, but there will be an additional hockey event that fans won't want to miss. Cantlon’s Corner is exclusively reporting that final, regular season game will add a special element to it's regular Fan Appreciation Night as the team will celebrate and honor the 2000 AHL Calder Cup Champion, Hartford Wolf Pack team who will assemble together at the XL Center. The Wolf Pack is the ONLY professional championship team in Hartford's history and just the second minor-league professional hockey championship team ever. Wolf Pack alumni sources have said much of the preparation for the event is set, but there are several pieces in the process of being finalized. One event that is all set to occur is the Wolf Pack 2000 team playing a charity game against the Hartford City Police and Fire Department Team the afternoon prior to the Wolf Pack's game at 7:15 PM. Among the legendary Wolf Pack greats expected to attend include, Brad “Shooter” Smyth, the team's all-time leading scorer in Wolf Pack history and AHL Hall-Of-Famer, plus Shooter's partner in crime, both on-and-off the ice, Derek Armstrong, who was the 2000 Jack Butterfield Calder Cup playoff MVP. The other AHL Hall-Of-Famer and 2000 playoff goalie extraordinaire, J.F. (Jean-Francois) Labbe, and defenseman Terry Virtue, who scored "The Goal" in the semi-finals against the Providence Bruins in double overtime of Game 7. The win propelled the Wolf Pack to the Calder Cup Finals. The owner of the Calder Cup Championship's winning goal is Connecticut’s very own Hamden-resident, Todd Hall, and the effervescent and wildly-popular, feisty-pugilist, P.J. Stock. The Wolf Pack's championship coach, John Paddock, will also be on hand for the festivities. The record this championship group is shooting to break is the Wolf Pack's attendance records. The first one was set on January 6, 2006, against the now-defunct Portland Pirates, when 12,206 hockey fans came out and paid tribute to three former Whaler greats, Ron Francis (#10), Ulf Samuelsson (#5), and Kevin Dineen (#11) whose numbers hang in the rafters. The goal is to eclipse that mark. They hope to even take a run at Game 2 of the 2000 Calder Cup Finals against Rochester on May 26, 2000, when the team set a franchise playoff best attendance of 11,168. The all-time, best-attended Wolf Pack home game is 14,115. That record was set on January 24, 1998, against the also-defunct, Springfield Falcons. There will be a fantastic autograph and picture session with the players and the coach at the game. This will be a tremendous event honoring Hartford’s championship team as well as the fans who love them. A post-game celebration at a local venue is under consideration. There will be more details forthcoming. All the exciting info can be found in this space over the next few months.   Read the full article

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings HARTFORD, CT - The proverbial puck is in the state's corner. The XL Center last week officially placed the XL Center in Ned Lamont's bonding package for $27.5M per year ($55 million total) over the next two years when the Governor of Connecticut announced his State of the State address unveiling his $22.5 billion dollar state budget. The Finance committee has four sponsors of the bonding issue that placed the request on the agenda for review and those four includes some political heavyweights, House Majority leader, Matt Ritter (D-Hartford), Speaker of the House, Joe Aresimowicz (D-Berlin), Senate Majority leader, Bob Duff (D-Norwalk, Darien) and President Pro Tempore, Senator Martin Looney (D-New Haven). For CRDA Executive Director Mike Freimuth this is the culmination of an eight-month protracted process that has had many starts, stops, pauses, and plenty of acrimony to get to this point. “We have three pretty powerful people behind it, the Governor, Minority Speaker Ritter, and Rep. John Fonfara (D-Hartford, Wethersfield and the chair of the Finance committee) and several other prominent legislators. But that being said, I am cautiously optimistic this will get through. There is a long process still to go through. It’s hard to predict." The bonding issue must first pass the Finance committee, and it has, and then it must be approved by the General Assembly before officially going to the Bond Commission. The General Assembly has been very reluctant, as a whole, especially the delegations from the big cities; New Haven, Waterbury, New London, Bridgeport, and Stamford, to allocate any public money for the XL Center considering its age and poor financial performances over the years. “I think it’s a tough sell, always has been. We have the votes to pass and I think the authorization could get done in 60 days, but the bonding is gonna take a bit more time. There is a lot more questions that will be asked of us in this process as it plays out. We have to rationalize the equation to the dollars being put in and the dollars generated both with respect to taxes and to revenue generated inside the building.” The Governor controls the agenda and the priorities of the Bond Commission. Last year, a $60 million dollar proposal was never even considered. In the last seven years, proposals for renovating the XL Center started at $250 million and then was lowered to $100 million. Both proposals were quashed and never received approval during the Malloy Administration. Ritter, in an interview with WNPR, seemed confident that in the next 60 days this long-stalled project will come to life. “I think it’s an issue of getting this done quickly. That’s the biggest issue because if it languishes for four-or-five more years, you won’t a building that can be used anymore,” He said. “We have to get this done very, very quickly, and I think we will.” A Fact...The project is already five years behind schedule The number still falls short of the overall goal of the new Lower Bowl Strategy ($100 million) that is needed desperately to overhaul the aging building as the marketplace passes Hartford by everyday regionally and nationally. New buildings are being built while older ones are getting necessary retro-fits they need to remain viable, marketplace entertainment assets. “We have to get this thing started because once we do we have to then look to renegotiate contracts with UCONN and MSG because the revenue stream will change. The whole equation hinges on a whole set of factors, just one or two, hence the complexity involved which adroit political and financial maneuvering." The XL Center loses roughly $1.5 to $2 million per year with the state taking care of the shortfall. The CRDA is set to unveil a fifth new study that was commissioned from CSL International about the economic viability of the XL Center in the marketplace. The Lamont Administration insisted on it in order to seek support for the bonding and requiring public-private financing to fill in the other half of the economic equation to get the ball moving on a project four-to-five years overdue from when it should have started. But that raises the question that asks if the study has put the CRDA into a position to start making pitches in boardrooms in the state, the region, or nationally? “It's still too early until we release the study next Thursday, presenting it fully before the (CRDA) board. Part of doing all of this, what will premium seating be and other price points. I think we'll have better concessions and better revenue and that will factor in those future negotiations with UCONN and MSG. All of this will be simultaneous with Big East basketball coming back,” said Freimuth. This comes amid new financial numbers at the XL Center which are a mixed bag with team operators in the building in the red, while concessions and the all-important per cap from food and beverage sales are in the black. The numbers are quite shocking in some cases. At the end of the fiscal year, the Hartford Wolf Pack is drawing only about 2,800 fans. UCONN hockey is faring worse with a meager 2,100 fans per game in December. “Those were December numbers. The January numbers were much better of a month and trending upwards. Both teams are above those numbers right now. We hope with UCONN hockey and the Wolf Pack continue playing well those numbers will go up. Playoffs traditionally don’t draw well because you don’t know what the calendar is, but you hope a good run helps out." The AHL attendance figures list put the Wolf Pack at 25th out of the league's 31 teams at 3,828 per game. Basketball in their last year in the AAC conference, before they returned to the Big East, were not drawing very well either. The men’s side of the coin had two big games with Wichita State and Baylor. Hockey operations are running even with the budget, but the XL Center as a whole as the third quarter was set to begin was operating with a $275K budget shortfall or unfavorable to the budget in the accounting parlance. These numbers will accompany any proposal to a potential private partnership rise another question of if it could sink any possibility before you enter the foyer or elevator of any corporate office? “It’s a bit too early for that. We'll be releasing the study and then we can examine the best direction to move forward on is, to the rebuild of the arena. There is going to be public dollars however way you slice it. How we get there? That is what we're working on and why we had the study done.” The atrium portion of the building, owned by Northland Corporation, remains at a stalemate after nearly three years of negotiation. The chasm in pricing has not been bridged with the Northland, the property's titleholder. In the last go-round, Northland was seeking as much $10 million to the proposed $4.5 proffered by the CRDA in their last proposal that was rejected. Eminent domain has hung in the air like an impending summer thunderstorm cloud and everyone still wonders if the CRDA will pull the trigger on the move this year or is it still being held in abeyance at the request of the Governor, Speaker of the House Aresimowicz, and Minority Leader, Len Fasano (R-North Haven)? ”Nobody wants to do it, but we have been begged off on it. It has been a topic of conversation there have been multiple discussions. Everybody is aware the atrium is critical to this whole process in the rebuild of the building. We're gonna have to come to some kind of a solution to that,“ said Freimuth. If the bond package passes as currently written will the atrium have to be resolved shortly thereafter? “Absolutely, at that point to go forward the issue will have to be addressed.” In that WNPR interview Chris Davis (R-East Windsor, Ellington) offered an alternative that has been aired in this column and other venues making a smaller arena near the Dunkin’ Donuts ballpark to create a sports and entertainment zone on the beginning of the North End of Hartford. The current XL Center location and setup is not something Davis, a bond committee member, would support. “We keep hearing that there are talks of potentially doing private partnerships, but I fear that we’d be throwing this money at it, basically putting the cart before the horse.” Is this feasible, in any form of preliminary discussions, a Plan B, or is it a pie in the sky theory? “Nothing at all,” said Freimuth succinctly. Part of the backdrop in the state sports landscape that UCONN athletics is running a $42 million deficit. Then a public announcement of the gargantuan financial sinkhole that is Rentschler Field that is bleeding enormous financial red ink into the nearby Connecticut River at the clip of one million dollars by the conclusion of this fiscal year. Its largest loss since the stadium opened in 2003. The realization of that stand-alone issue and its long term viability UCONN football will be now as enter an independent Division I schedule with an average attendance of just 9,675 a game in a 40,000 seat stadium could have an adverse effect on the XL Center future discussions. Toss in the disaster of the rebuild of Dillon Stadium that diverted time and resources last summer and where red ink oozes from underneath the brand new field and stadium One positive note is the installation of a long-overdue chiller system seems to be on target this summer after a year delay. The RFP (Request For Proposal) packages have gone out and they received responses and a bid is expected to be selected next month and contract signed to begin work sometime time in May. “Right now, they’re out on the street. They’re due to be turned in in about two weeks or so. Bob Saint (CRDA Construction Manager) has been hard at work on it. We’re relocating the chillers based on a new building concept. They’re not going into the place where the current chillers are. We hope to get it done this summer.” Should the Wolf Pack have a long Calder Cup playoff run into May and several other scheduled events at the XL Center, the work won’t start until events so as to not impact either the event or the installation project. “We’re gonna wait till the hockey season ends and the way the Wolf Pack playing, it could be a longer-season and we have the Cirque de Soleil Ice Show in June and several to still be announced concerts They’re too many things to move around. Better to wait until everything is done.” Will the new chiller system be hooked up to the existing system and disconnecting the current outdated system? “We’re gonna hook it up as soon as we can. We’re gonna transition to it we’re not going cold turkey on the old system. We'll do it when the new system is ready. There is going to be a transition period to work things out. When we get the chiller system put into shape and ready to go will do it. To be honest, they’re not too many more rubber bands left that we can put on the chiller system that we have now. We’re running pretty thin on the line as it now, we gotta get this thing done.”A Read the full article