Howlings

SOUND(LY) BEATING TIGERS

    VERSUS   

Rivalries are what sports are all about. They’re what elevates a regular meeting and gives it juice. Think of all the great battles in sports history and the best of them are Army and Navy in college football; Yankees and the Red Sox in baseball, Lakers-Celtics in hoops, John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg in tennis, Ali-Frazier in boxing and the list goes on and on. The granddaddy of them all however lies in hockey with the battles between the New York Rangers and the New York Islanders.

The Rangers - Islanders rises above all those others because this rivalry transcends the major league level and filters down into their minor league system as well.

Saturday night at the Arena at Harbor Yard, 5,007 witnessed yet another round that elevated the battle in this storied rivalry which saw the Wolf Pack come out victorious 4-1 for their fourth win in a row and sixth in their last seven and moved the team into third place in the Atlantic Division.

Storylines were everywhere.

Greg Moore, last season’s Pack captain, saw action for the first time on the other side of the fence having signed over last summer with the Islanders and has since became a member of the Sound Tigers.

Another ex-Pack saw his first action against his former mates from the other side. Enforcer Trevor Gillies was sporting the orange, blue and white of the Sound Tigers as well.

The Pack started slowly and at first seemed to be a step behind and not winning the one-on-one battles. But midway through the first the effort started to rise and the Wolf Pack got on the board first. With 4:55 remaining Andres Ambϋhl’s shot from the left circle struck the stick of the net crashing Mathieu Dandenault and flipped in past Sound Tiger starting netminder Nathan Lawson. It was Dandenault’s first goal and first AHL point since signing a professional tryout contract with the Pack on October 21st.

Just 2:05 later the Pack struck again as the league best power play unit cashed in on a four-on-three man advantage situation. Bobby Sanguinetti fed P.A. Parenteau low on the left wing side. Parenteau waited, what seemed like forever, for Mark Flood to commit to how he was going to play. Parenteau faked a pass and when the defensemen went down, the Hull, Quebec native slid a perfect pass under the D-man and right to the stick of Corey Locke who one timed it past Lawson from low in the right circle. The Pack would hit the lockers at the end of the first with a 2-0 lead.

At 6:58 of the second period, Dandenault seemed to take a real bad angle shot from the right side corner goal line. The puck wound up high and was then gloved in the crease by Bridgeport defenseman Jon Gleed. Referee Jaime Koharski saw it and promptly called for a Pack penalty shot. Ken Gernander called out Parenteau to try and add a third Pack goal. The right winger came in with speed on Lawson but, “The puck sort of stuck to my blade. I knew what I wanted to do, but it was too late,” Parenteau said. He fired a shot from the left circle but the wrister missed the net.

It didn’t take long though for the Pack to strike again. Just 1:28 later, Dale Weise came up right wing and fed Tyler Arnason on the rush. Arnason in turn floated if to Evgeny Grachev, who’s hard shot from the left circle ripped the black out of the puck and deposited itself over the glove of Lawson and into the corner pocket for the 3-0 lead.

Falling behind 3-0 you could feel that the Tigers were going to try something to elevate themselves of their poor play. After Pascal Morency tried to engage the Pack’s Derek Couture and couldn’t get the Pack winger to swallow the bait that things elevated to a different level.

Gillies left the Calgary native no choice when he jumped Couture and began to pound on him. After making a useless effort defending himself, Couture had no choice but to fall to the ice and turtle himself and wait for the referees to step in.

For his efforts, Gillies received a two-minute instigating, five for fighting, an instigating misconduct and a game misconduct for being an aggressor.

When Sean Bentivolglio was sent to the sin bin for a two minute stretch for a hooking call at 14:30 it gave the Pack a two man advantage for 1:22 and the Tigers paid for it on the ensuing power play.

1:13 into the five-on-three, Sanguinetti put a shot on Lawson. The rebound fell in front and there was a mad scramble in front. Corey Locke got the puck from right in front of the goalmouth and fed Grachev. The 19 year old showed incredible patience and slid the puck across to the cutting Sanguinetti who elevated a shot over the fallen goaltender. It was 4-0.

Frustration was settling in on the home team.

The intensity rose quite dramatically in the third period. Jordan Owens and Matt Martin both took roughing penalties and then Sanguinetti joined them in the box setting up a four-on-three advantage for the home team.

Off a face-off win by Moore, Mark Katic fed Dustin Kohn at the point. Kohn slid over to his left and from the top of the slot let a shot fire that deflected off a Pack defender and spoiled Chad Johnson’s bid for his first career shutout at 6:30.

Tensions continued to rise when a backchecking Brodie Dupont absolutely leveled Mark Flood who had his head down. No penalty was called on the hard, but clean hit.

Minutes later Parenteau and Michael Haley went at it after the whistle had blown and both were given misconduct penalties that ended their respective nights.

But the excitement was far from over.

With 2:10 remaining as the two teams were changing, Pascal Morency jumped over the boards and just molested Dupont and when the Pack forward couldn’t get any footing he went down to the ice and turtled. Morency rained a storm of punches on the Pack forward.

Dupont was given two minutes for roughing but referee Jaime Koharski threw the book at Morency. he received a five minute fighting major, two minutes for instigating, an instigating misconduct and then an instigator misconduct (last 5:00).

“I probably play our lines more than any other coach in this league. They’re line us up (the Morency line) and they went over and what ever took place, took place.” Sound Tigers head coach Jack Capuano said. “From my stand point I had nothing to do with it. The league it’s in their hands and they can review it.”

After the final horn sounded, as the two teams headed for their respective lockers, words were passed between Pack enforcer Justin Soryal and Capuano. The third year Tiger coach had plenty to say after the game.

“I was walking off the ice,” He said. “I heard one of their players (Soryal) yipping at somebody and I looked and obviously there was nobody behind me, so I guess it was me, but you know what? If he has a problem, he knows where to find me.”

Capuano continued. “I’m don’t talk to players and players shouldn’t be talking to coaches and the players handle the game and if he thought there was a problem at the end of the game, like I said, we just roll our lines. Our lines roll. That’s the way that I coach. It’s about development. If we had wanted to do anything (Morency attacking Dupont) it would have been before the five minute mark ‘cause I know the rules and regulations. It’s not like there’s a minute left and let’s go out there and try to do something. That was never the intention.”

The Cranston, Rhode Island native was asked if he had discussed this kind of thing in the past with the players. “We haven’t had a problem all year. They know the rules probably and we just don’t play like that. So whatever happened at the end happened at the end. I’m sure it had something to do with…the bench (getting) riled up on the hit on Mark Flood there…maybe with Dupont there at one point. If we wanted to do something we’d have done something.”

Pack head coach Ken Gernander was pleased with the performance of his team, but still considerably and visibly upset, especially how the end of the game went down.

“In the final five minutes of the game he (Morency) comes off the bench and jumps Dupont.” Later it was confirmed that the Pack have asked the league to look into this incident.

The Pack return for round two of this season long battle in Bridgeport on November 29th.

Bob Crawford sums it up from upstairs at Hartfordwolfpack.com. The one and only Mike Fornabaio's stry in the CTPost is not posted online, but you can read his thoughts in his blog.

GAME SUMMARY and OFFICIAL SCORERS SHEET

NOTES:

* Greg Moore on playing his first game for the Tigers against his former mates. “There was a little bit of nerves. I was excited, a little nervous. It was certainly a lot weirder than I expected to see all those guys on the other team and playing against them and stuff. But in the midst of it, every shift you don’t think about anything else about your job.” The Maine native added, “There are no friends on the ice during the sixty minutes so we’ll continue to do our job and I’m sure they’ll do the same thing.”

* In the game against Calgary Saturday night the Rangers laost both Chris Drury and ex-Pack Brandon Dubinsky for what appears to be extended periods of time. Drury was lost to a concussion from a cheap shot by the Flame's Curtis Glencross's hit to the head. Dubinsky appeared to have possibly broken his wrist when a shot hit him in the bar part above his glove. In all liklihood that means that that Pack, and the AHL's top two scorers, Corey Locke and P.A. Parenteau will head to New York for an extended stay. There's an outside chance that it could be Grachev who heads up to The Show. For those who will still be here, now will be the time to elevate their game and shine, otherwise the Pack could be headed very far south.

* BTW, please forgive the lateness of this report. After having it myself a week ago, now both of my sons, (Ross 7, and Tory 5), have Swine Flu. It's more of a concern for my five year old since he is slightly asmatic and this isn't helping any.

LINES:

Owens – Locke – Parenteau

Grachev – Arnason - Weise

Garlock – Dupont - Couture

Soryal – Crowder - Ambϋhl

Sauer - Dandenault

Heikkinen - Sanguinetti

Potter - Henley

Johnson

(Assistant Captains Italicized)

SCRATCHES:

Dane Byers – Recall with NY Rangers

Devin DiDiomete – Sent to Charlotte for Conditioning

Dave Urquhart – Healthy

Nigel Williams - Healthy

THREE STARS:

1. HFD - 19 Evgeny Grachev
2. HFD - 29 Chad Johnson
3. HFD - 21 Bobby Sanguinetti

ON ICE OFFICIALS:

Jamie Koharski (84), Referee
Luke Galvin (2), Linesman
Kevin Redding (16), Linesman

NEXT GAME:

The third place Wolf Pack are off until Wednesday when they finsih up this three game road trip against first place Manachester who they trail by four points. Game time is 7pm.

SCORE-SHEET:

Hartford 2 2 0 - 4
Bridgeport 0 0 1 - 1

1st Period-1, Hartford, Dandenault 1 (Ambuhl, Crowder), 15:05. 2, Hartford, Locke 9 (Parenteau, Sanguinetti), 17:00 (pp). Penalties-Morency Bri (hooking), 3:17; Locke Hfd (hooking), 7:45; Heikkinen Hfd (roughing), 8:06; Mauldin Bri (roughing), 8:06; Dupont Hfd (unsportsmanlike conduct), 15:36; Haley Bri (unsportsmanlike conduct), 15:36; Kohn Bri (hooking), 16:30.

2nd Period-3, Hartford, Grachev 5 (Arnason, Weise), 8:26. 4, Hartford, Sanguinetti 5 (Grachev, Locke), 15:33 (pp). Penalties-Gillies Bri (roughing), 1:44; Ambuhl Hfd (interference), 4:46; Couture Hfd (roughing), 10:52; Gillies Bri (instigating, fighting, misconduct - instigating, game misconduct - aggressor), 10:52; Bentivoglio Bri (hooking), 14:30; Soryal Hfd (hooking), 16:24.

3rd Period-5, Bridgeport, Kohn 2 (Katic, Moore), 6:30 (pp). Penalties-Potter Hfd (tripping), 0:39; Owens Hfd (roughing), 5:12; Martin Bri (roughing), 5:12; Sanguinetti Hfd (roughing), 5:33; Sanguinetti Hfd (holding), 9:28; Parenteau Hfd (misconduct - unsportsmanlike conduct), 12:21; Haley Bri (misconduct - unsportsmanlike conduct), 12:21; Dupont Hfd (roughing), 17:50; Morency Bri (instigating, fighting, misconduct - instigating, game misconduct - instigator (last 5:00)), 17:50.

Shots on Goal-Hartford 12-13-12-37. Bridgeport 6-9-14-29.
Power Play Opportunities-Hartford 2 of 6; Bridgeport 1 of 6.
Goalies-Hartford, Johnson 6-3-0 (29 shots-28 saves). Bridgeport, Lawson 3-4-0 (37 shots-33 saves).

SOMETHING’S BRUIN AT THE DUNKIN DONUTS CENTER

   VERSUS  

The Hartford Wolf Pack travelled up to Providence to play the Bruins for the fourth time in this early part of the 2009 –2010 season and won for the third time as they rode multi point games from five players including Brodie Dupont’s first multi-goal game as a pro and beat their neighbors from Rhode Island for the third straight time 5-3 in front of 6,746 at the Dunkin Donuts Center Friday night.

P.A. Parenteau had yet another very strong game with goal and an assist to extend his points streak to five games. Over the span the Hull, Quebec native has 5g and 6a, for 11 points. Jordan Owens demonstrated why the parent New York Rangers rewarded him with a two-way contract this past off-season with a goal and an assist. Evgeny Grachev had both as well ending a four game scoreless streak. Corey Locke held on to the team lead in the race for the team scoring title on Parenteau with two assists.

The Pack seemed to start this one right where they left off the last one, pressing hard on the forecheck and getting good scoring chances, but it was James Arniel who turned things for the Baby B’s when he took the puck away from Mathieu Dandenault who whiffed on a dump in from the red line and broke in all by himself. Arniel shot from the right circle and beat Pack starter Chad Johnson over the glove for a 1-0 lead just 5:02 into the contest.

But it only took the resurging Pack 1:23 to answer back. Former Pack forward Craig Weller nearly had his head separated from his body when Ryan Garlock hit the former Pack Captain square in the chest and VERY hard. The puck, and probably a couple of filling, were loose in the neutral zone. Brodie Dupont stormed in to pick up the loose vulcanized rubber and rushed up right wing. Dupont ripped a powerful shot that soared right past the stick side of Bruin starter Dany Sabourin.

The second period saw the Pack working a traditional road strategy of dump and chase hockey. The Pack benefited by continuously winning the individual battles along the boards. But just like the first period, it was the Baby Bruins who struck first.

Bruin defenseman Jeff Penner crossed the red line with the puck and timed a lob into the Pack zone perfectly which allowed Mikko Lehtonen to get under it and the Bruin right winger fought off Bobby Sanguinetti and put a soft shot on Johnson that the rookie netminder let slide between his legs for the go ahead goal at 6:48.

But the Pack are starting to show the resiliency that will take them a long way this season. Just 1:51 later P.A. Parenteau worked the puck loose behind the net and fed Jordan Owens who was completely alone in front of the net. The Pack fourth year pro immediately deposited the puck behind Sabourin for the equalizer at 8:39.

However this time the Pack wouldn’t fall further behind but take the lead for themselves. The heavy pressure on the puck kept the Pack with the puck for long stretches in the Bruin zone.  At 13:40 the Pack took the lead when Brent Henley shot from the point was beautifully deflected by Evgeny Grachev and past Sabourin. The tally for the  Khabarovsk, Russia native was his first in four games and only the third game in 13 where the left wing had registered a goal.

It only took 2:42 for the Pack to double their lead. Dale Weise, who just seems to be in the middle of everything these days, stole the puck behind the goal line but lost the puck. A B’s defender jabbed at it and the puck slid to Grachev’s stick and out to the center of the crease where Dupont jumped all over the puck and launched a cannon ball of a shot that Sabourin had no chance on. The goal was his second of the game and gave Grachev a goal and an assist in the period.

The Bruins came out in the third and completely took the game to the visitors with a hard forecheck and pressure on the puck all over the ice. It also appeared as if the Pack had lightened up a bit in their own intensity in the game and it would eventually come back to cost them.

The Baby Bruins has tremendous chances early in the period. The first, by Weller all alone in front with an open net shot high giving the Pack an early reprieve. Moments later, Johnson rose to the occasion making a stellar save stopping Jordan Knackstedt in the crease and smothering the puck.

Referee Jeff Smith, who generally just skates and watches the game and if he feels inclined will call a penalty or two, gave Providence their first power play opportunity of the game, the Pack failed on their chance at 8:51 of the first, at 10:12 of the third frame. Apparently Smith felt that a relatively harmless Grachev pick was as good a reason as any to cover himself by saying that he at least gave Providence a chance with a man advantage.

The Pack have struggled on the penalty kill all season and entered the game 28th in the league with a putrid 75% success rate (15/60 with a league leading 5 shorties). The Pack were scrambling around in their own zone. Andy Wozniewski’s shot from the point got through. Johnson could not handle it and the puck rebounded out to Penner in the right faceoff circle. Penner saw Lehtonen all by his lonesome on the left doorstep. Lehtonen’s shot hit nothing but the back of the net and the Bruins were within a goal with 9:08 to play.

The Bruins kept coming and the Pack continued to bend. But what makes a good team is they bend but don’t break and this team is starting to show that kind of resiliency. Most of the play was in the Pack zone but the team kept the Bruins to chances primarily from the outside.

With 43.3 seconds left, Parenteau would seal the deal with an empty netter from the left side of the slot. Linemates Corey Locke and Jordan Owens assisted on the clincher.

 

Bob Crawford has the view from the Broadcast booth at Hartfordwolfpack.com. If the Providence Journal even bothers to send someone up the street to cover the game you’ll find it at ProJo.com. The PBruins have their own recap at ProvidenceBruins.com.

 

GAME SUMMARY and OFFICIAL SCORERS SHEET

 

NOTES:

* With the win, the Pack have their first three game winning streak of the season.

* The win put the Pack over the .500 mark for the first time of the season at 7-6-0-0 and now find themselves in fourth place just a point behind I-91 rival Springfield and six points behind first place Manchester.

* The Pack entered the game winners of four of their last five all at home. They knocked off Lowell, Worcester, Lost badly to Hershey and then put more than just a little hurting on Providence and then finished the run with a victory over Manchester.

* Corey Locke leads the AHL in Scoring with 8g and 11assists for 19 points in 13 games. Parenteau is second with 18 points, 9g,9a in 11 games. Ex-Pack Alexandre Giroux has 7 goals and 10 assists for 17 points in just NINE games.

* Pack defenseman Bobby Sanguinetti is 8th overall with 15 points 4g, 11a. Sangs is tied for second overall among D-men with Jonas Junland of Peoria and trails Andy Wozniewski by two points. Wozniewski leads overall with 17 points (5g, 12a)

* Chad Johnson is ranked 29th overall in the AHL among netminders.

* The Pack still remain first overall in the power play at 29.0% (18/62) and 28th on the PK at 73.8% (16/61 but are number one in the AHL with 5 shorties)

* In other Pack related news, former Pack center Tom Pyatt is getting his first taste of the NHL with the Montreal Canadiens.

MEANWHILE DOWN IN CHARLOTTE:

The Charlotte Checkers will "Fight For Ellie" on Sunday when they play host to the Kalamazoo Wings at 2 pm. at Time Warner Cable Arena.

Ellie Shoal Potvin is a seven-year-old girl who, last July, was diagnosed with Stage 4 Rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare childhood cancer. Last season, the Checkers hosted “Lift Up Ellie Night”, raising $9,600 for Ellie’s treatment and her family’s expenses.

To help with the ongoing financial burden facing the Potvin family during Ellie’s struggle the Checkers have set up a fundraising ticket initiative for this game. Fundraiser tickets can be purchased at $15 with $6 going directly back to the family. More information can be found at http://www.gocheckers.com/ellie or by contacting Danielle Adkins at 704-444-1876 or dadkins@gocheckers.com.

* Devin DiDiomete certainly made an impact in his second game in North Carolina. The Pack’s agitator is in Charlotte after spending the start of the season on the DL with a broken arm sustained from a slash in the last exhibition game against Worcester. DiDiomete got suspended for one game as a result of an incident from Thursday night’s 7-0 trouncing by the Florida Everblades.  After watching Mike Hoffman take a run at some of the Checkers’ smaller players as the game was coming to a close, the Stratford, Ontario native, and a guy not afraid to challenge anyone, immediately went over to the Everblades’ toughest fighter, defenseman Brad Zanon, and essentially beat him like a bad habit. For sticking up for his teammates, DiDiomete received a fighting major, an game misconduct aggressor penalty which resulted in an automatic one game suspension.

DiDiomete told Howlings, “No matter what league I’m in, I’m the type of player that doesn’t let other teams take liberties on there smaller guys.” He said. “I did what I thought was right and stuck up for a teammate.” He added, “I never fight because I want to hurt people.  I do it to fire the team up or make a point. If my teammates know I'm going to be there for them going to battle, for me and that's what its all about.”

This is nothing new for the Pack’s version of Sean Avery. “I’m an emotional player and I try and play with my heart on my sleeve. Sometimes I’m going to get suspended because of it, but as long as I have the respect from my teammates and my teammates know I’m going to be there for them, that means a lot to me and hopefully it means a lot to them too.”

DiDiomete expects to be back in game shape and in Hartford in a couple of weeks.

 

LINES:

Owens – Locke – Parenteau

Grachev – Arnason - Weise

Garlock – Dupont - Couture

Soryal – Crowder - Ambuhl

Sauer - Dandenault

Heikkinen - Sanguinetti

Potter - Henley

Johnson

(Assistant Captains Italicized)

SCRATCHES:

Dane Byers – Recall with NY Rangers

Devin DiDiomete – Sent to Charlotte for Conditioning

Dave Urquhart – Healthy

Nigel Williams - Healthy

 

THREE STARS:

1. HFD - 9 Brodie Dupont
2. PRO - 8 Mikko Lehtonen
3. HFD - 19 Evgeny Grachev

 

ON ICE OFFICIALS:

Jeff Smith (49), Referee
Chris Millea (33), Linesman
Mark Messier (12), Linesman

 

NEXT GAME:

It’s off to Bridgeport, A.K.A. The Newark of Connecticut. The Pack will see last season’s captain, Greg Moore, for the first time in the uniform of their GEICO Connecticut Cup rival as the Bridgeport Sound Tigers and Wolf Pack renew their rivalry and start their season series at the best facility in the division, The Arena at Harbor Yard Saturday night.

SCORE-SHEET:

Hartford 1 3 1 - 5

Providence 1 1 1 - 3

1st Period-1, Providence, Arniel 1 (McQuaid, Bodnarchuk), 5:02. 2, Hartford, Dupont 2 (Garlock), 6:25. Penalties-Arniel Pro (hooking), 8:51.

2nd Period-3, Providence, Lehtonen 4 (Penner, Wozniewski), 6:48. 4, Hartford, Owens 2 (Parenteau, Locke), 8:39. 5, Hartford, Grachev 4 (Henley, Weise), 13:40. 6, Hartford, Dupont 3 (Grachev), 16:22. Penalties-No Penalties

3rd Period-7, Providence, Lehtonen 5 (Penner, Wozniewski), 10:52 (pp). 8, Hartford, Parenteau 9 (Owens, Locke), 19:16 (en). Penalties-Grachev Hfd (interference), 10:12.

Shots on Goal-Hartford 12-9-6-27. Providence 9-7-16-32.

Power Play Opportunities-Hartford 0 of 1; Providence 1 of 1.

Goalies-Hartford, Johnson 5-3-0 (32 shots-29 saves). Providence, Sabourin 5-4-0 (26 shots-22 saves).

DIDOMETE TO CHARLOTTE

This is one of those good news, bad news sort of reports. The good news is that Hartford Wolf Pack agitator Devin DiDIomete is ready to come back from the broken arm that he sustained in the pre-season. The bad news is that he won’t be doing that early rehab work with the Pack, but down in Charlotte with the Checkers as the team announced that was where the Stratford, Ontario Canada native was going.

Here’s the official release:

FORWARD DEVIN DiDIOMETE REASSIGNED TO CHARLOTTE

Hartford Wolf Pack general manager Jim Schoenfeld announced today that the parent New York Rangers have reassigned forward Devin DiDiomete from the Wolf Pack to the team’s ECHL affiliate, the Charlotte Checkers.

DiDiomete, a second-year pro, has been out of action since being injured in the Wolf Pack’s last preseason game, September 27 vs. Worcester. Last season the 5-11, 200-pound DiDiomete skated in 73 games with the Pack, registering four goals and five assists for nine points, along with a team-leading 239 penalty minutes.

The 21-year-old DiDiomete was signed to a free-agent contract by the Rangers October 20, 2008, out of the Ontario Hockey League.

The Wolf Pack return to action this Friday night, November 6, traveling to Providence to take on the Bruins at 7:05 (WTIC HD-2, www.hartfordwolfpack.com, www.wtic.com). The Pack’s next home game is Friday, November 13, when the Manchester Monarchs come to town on Guida’s Family Value Night. Family Value Night packages start as low as $45 and include three tickets, three hot dogs or pizza slices, three sodas and a Wolf Pack souvenir. Guida’s Family Value Night packs can be ordered through the XL Center box office and on-line at www.hartfordwolfpack.com.

Single-game tickets for 2009-10 Hartford Wolf Pack regular season home games are on sale now at the XL Center box office, through Ticketmaster Charge-by-Phone at 1-800-745-3000 and on-line at www.hartfordwolfpack.com.

Also returned to Charlotte was Chris Chappell...

FORWARD CHRIS CHAPPELL RETURNED TO CHARLOTTE

Hartford Wolf Pack general manager Jim Schoenfeld announced today that the parent New York Rangers have reassigned forward Chris Chappell from the Wolf Pack to the team’s ECHL affiliate, the Charlotte Checkers.

Chappell played one game for the Wolf Pack, Saturday’s 7-0 home win over Providence, after having joined the Pack from Charlotte earlier that day. He was even with five penalty minutes and two shots on goal in that game. In three ECHL games with Charlotte, the rookie out of the Ontario Hockey League had one assist.

Chappell was signed as a free agent by the Rangers July 2, after tallying 38 goals and 38 assists for 76 points in 68 games with the OHL’s Saginaw Spirit last season.

(Picture courtesy of flickr.com)

WOLF PACK WEEKLY: November 2 – 8, 2009

The Wolf Pack (6-6-0-0, 12 pts.) took two out of three games for the second straight week last week, in the last three games of a five-game homestand.  The week started on a down note, with a 6-0 loss to the Hershey Bears on Friday, but the Pack rebounded immediately, with a 7-0 trouncing of the Providence Bruins on Saturday.  Sunday produced another Atlantic Division win, a 3-2 overtime triumph over the first-place Manchester Monarchs.  Corey Locke exploded for seven points (2-5-7) in the two wins, and scored the overtime winner on Sunday with one second left.  Defenseman Bobby Sanguinetti also chipped in with 3-3-6 in the pair of victories.

This week:

The Wolf Pack hit the road for a pair this weekend, both inside the Atlantic Division.  The Pack head to Providence for a 7:05 PM game this Friday night, November 6^th, and then travel to Bridgeport on Saturday night (7:00), for the first installment of the GEICO Connecticut Cup series against the Sound Tigers.

Friday, November 6 at Providence (Dunkin’ Donuts Center Providence), 7:05 PM

· The Bruins (5-5-1-0, 11 pts.) bounced back from Saturday’s 7-0 loss at the XL Center to post a 4-3 home win over Bridgeport Sunday.  Providence is currently in seventh place in the Atlantic Division, one point behind the Wolf Pack and Lowell.

· The P-Bruins are 0-4-0-0 on the road, but have gone 5-1-1-0 in seven home games on the season.

· This is already the Wolf Pack’s third visit of the year to Providence, where they have split two games with the Bruins, and the fourth game overall in the season series, in which the Pack are 2-1-0-0.

· Providence’s Andy Wozniewski (5-10-15) is tied with the Wolf Pack’s Bobby Sanguinetti for the AHL leadership in points among defensemen.

· Radio – live with Bob Crawford in HD on WTIC’s 96.5 HD 2 and on-line at www.hartfordwolfpack.com and www.wtic.com.

Saturday, November 7 at Bridgeport (Bridgeport’s Arena at Harbor Yard), 7:00 PM

· This is the first of 10 GEICO Connecticut Cup battles on the year between the Wolf Pack and their Nutmeg State rivals the Sound Tigers.  The Pack split the 10 games in the season series last year, going 5-5-0-0 against Bridgeport, 1-4-0-0 on the road.

· Head coach Jack Capuano’s Sound Tigers won their first four games of the year, but are 3-6-0 in nine games since then.

· At 7-6-0-0 for 14 points, Bridgeport sits in third place in the Atlantic Division, two points ahead of the Wolf Pack.

· Ex-Wolf Pack captain Greg Moore is tied with Trevor Smith for the Sound Tigers’ team scoring lead, with 5-4-9 in 13 games.

· Radio – live with Bob Crawford in HD on WTIC’s 96.5 HD 2 and on-line at www.hartfordwolfpack.com and www.wtic.com.

Sunday, November 8 – “Wolf Pack Bowl-a-Thon” – AMF Silver Lanes, East Hartford, 11:00 AM

The Wolf Pack players will be bowling for Special Olympics Connecticut at AMF Silver Lanes in East Hartford, in the Hartford Wolf Pack Community Foundation’s annual “Wolf Pack Bowl-a-Thon”.  The Pack players will be bowling alongside teams of four bowlers, who have collected pledges to benefit Special Olympics Connecticut Eastern Region.  A minimum pledge level of $200 is required for a team to enter, and the top fund-raising teams will win prizes, including the use of luxury suites at Wolf Pack home games.  A registration and pledge form to enter the Bowl-a-Thon is available on-line at www.soct.org, under the “Special Events” section.  There will be two sessions of bowling, the first starting at 11:00 AM and the second at 2:00 PM.  AMF Silver Lanes is located at 748 Silver Lane in East Hartford.

Recent Transactions:

Dane Byers – recalled from the Wolf Pack by the New York Rangers October 30.

Chris Chappell – reassigned by the New York Rangers to the Wolf Pack from Charlotte (ECHL) October 31.

Derek Couture – signed Professional Tryout (PTO) agreement with the Wolf Pack October 31.

Ryan Garlock – recalled by the Wolf Pack from loan to Charlotte (ECHL) October 31.

Ryan Hillier – reassigned by the New York Rangers from the Wolf Pack to Charlotte (ECHL) October 31.

P.A. Parenteau – recalled from the Wolf Pack by the New York Rangers October 27, and returned to Wolf Pack October 31.

Miika Wiikman – reassigned by the New York Rangers from the Wolf Pack to Charlotte (ECHL) October 31.

Matt Zaba – reassigned by the New York Rangers to the Wolf Pack from Charlotte (ECHL) October 31.

Pack Tracks:

Individual tickets for Wolf Pack games are on sale now at the XL Center Box Office and all Ticketmaster locations including Macy's at the Buckland Hills Mall and at the Westfarms Mall. Tickets may also be charged by phone at 1-800-745-3000 or online at www.hartfordwolfpack.com.

Every Friday-night Wolf Pack home game at the XL Center is Guida’s Family Value Night.  Family Value packages start as low as $45 and include three tickets, three hot dogs or pizza slices, three sodas and a Wolf Pack souvenir.  To order your Guida’s Family Value Night pack, visit the XL Center box office, or go on-line to www.hartfordwolfpack.com.  The next Guida’s Family Value Night is Friday, November 13, when the Wolf Pack host Manchester in a 7:00 game.

The AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack is operated by Northland AEG LLC, a joint partnership between Northland Investment Corporation and AEG Facilities.  The team is the top player-development affiliate of the NHL’s New York Rangers.

Since 1972, the CT Lottery has generated more than $19.3 billion in sales and has transferred nearly $6.7 billion to the state’s General Fund.  Prizes have exceeded more than $11.1 billion.  Purchasers must be 18 years or older.  If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, call the Problem Gambling Helpline at 1-800-346-6238.  For more information about the Connecticut Lottery Corporation, call (860) 713-2000, or visit the CT Lottery web site at ctlottery.org.

TRACK THE PACK AT WWW.HARTFORDWOLFPACK.COM

OVERTHROWING THE MONARCHY

   VERSUS  

It literally took 65 minutes to determine a winner in what was, for the Hartford Wolf Pack, the most important victory of the early 2009 – 2010 season. Corey Locke’s stuff in past Manchester Monarch netminder Jonathan Bernier as the clock expired in overtime gave the Pack the win over a first place team who came into the game winners of six in a row, and nine of their first eleven. But more important than that, it established to the Pack players that they could follow up a bad blow out with a big win and keep their momentum moving forward.

I was pretty lucky,” Locke said to reporters afterwards. “Fortunately the shot (by defenseman Bobby Sanguinetti) got through to me. I held on to (the puck), the goalie made a good save, then it came loose and I poked it in. Very lucky."

The old saying goes,"It's better to be lucky than good." That may be one thing, but when a player like Locke puts two goals and five assists over two games into the scorer's sheet, it's more than just a little luck.

“Corey is a very opportunistic player," Gernander said. "He gets his opportunities and has a nose for the net.”

In overtime, where the two teams are playing four aside, there is lots of open ice and both team’s had good chances throughout. Third Star of the Game Viatcheslav Voynov had a solid scoring chance that was turned aside by Pack starter Chad Johnson. P.A. Parenteau came right the other way but hit the stone wall that Bernier (27 saves, 6-2-0, 1.49 GAA, .956 save percentage) has been to this point in the season.

But as time wound down, the Pack rushed the puck up ice and just got the puck on net. Locke found the puck in front of him and put it on net. Justin Azevedo inadvertently kicked the puck back towards his netminder who could not handle it cleanly and it slid back to Locke. Last season’s Canadian AHL All-Star saw the puck and just put it in the net just as the buzzer sounded in overtime giving the home team the win.

After a 7-0 thrashing of the Providence Bruins Saturday night, Hartford Wolf Pack head coach Ken Gernander, in his post game news conference with reporters spoke about his team’s need to find consistency. “It was a good rebound (after losing to the Hershey Bears 6-0 Friday night) and rather encouraging, but one of the bigger things in pro sports is consistency,” He said. “(Last night was) all well and good, but we have to put our focus on Manchester.” And they did just that Sunday.

Gernander felt his team is learning the lessons they're being instructed on. “Not to be cliché, but you play right to the end,” Gernander said in the post game news conference. “We’ve been asking all the guys for two weeks to finish all their plays in practice and in games, battle for loose pucks until the play is dead. They stuck with and got a big goal."

With the recent additions of Ryan Garlock, Chris Chappell and Derek Couture from Charlotte and Parenteau back from a call-up in New York, the Wolf Pack came out and attacked Manchester from the opening drop of the puck.

Gabe Gauthier took a bad penalty hooking Corey Potter in the offensive zone and set up an interesting scenario. The Pack possess the best power play unit coming into the contest with a 29.8% (17/57) conversion rate. Conversely, Manchester has the top Penalty Killing unit with a 96.2% (51/53). There’s an old adage that states that a good defense will beat a good offense, but apparently nobody had told the Pack.

55 seconds after Gauthier took his seat in solitary confinement, Corey Locke in the right circle found Parenteau down low to starter Jonathan Bernier’s left. Parenteau attempted to stuff it in past Bernier. Bernier stuck his pad out and the puck came right back to Parenteau who slid the puck up the slot where defenseman Illka Heikkinen snuck in from his left point position and beat defenseman Joe Piskula to the puck and fired it past Bernier.

Sometimes the bounces go your way and some times they don’t. In the first period, things for the Pack certainly did. Just 2:58 after the first tally, the Pack struck again on a pinball like shot. Parenteau fed Locke behind the Manchester net. Locke brought the puck out to Bernier’s right and turned and fired a shot on net. Bobby Sanguinetti this time broke in from his right point position and had Locke’s shot hit him on the way to the net. The puck deflected off Sanguinetti and hit Piskula skates and redirected and surprised Bernier as it went in the net past him for an early 2-0 lead at 7:08.

Seven seconds later Andres Ambuhl could have left his teammates in a world of trouble taking a double minor for tripping putting the Pack on the penalty kill for four minutes. Fresh off his first career shutout, Johnson (33 saves, 4-3-0, 2.86 GAA, .895 save percentage), the Calgary, Alberta Canada native stood tall particularly on a great stop of a David Kolomatis try from the slot.

The Pack started the second period with the same intensity that had built them a two nothing lead, but as P.A. Parenteau said between periods, “We lost our focus for about ten minutes and they capitalized.”"

After Corey Potter took a slashing call at 11:26, Voynov had a puck in the slot on the power play. However the Chelyabinsk, Russia native fanned on his shot while being guarded by Jordan Owens. Unfortunately, Owens though the Pack had possession of the puck and started to vacate the zone. But Voynov regained the puck and moved by Sanguinetti and fired a high shot that beat Johnson putting the Monarchs on the board.

Just 1:41 later the Monarchs would tie the score. Johnson made an initial save off a blast from Kolomatis from the right side, but he could not control the puck and it fell into the right side of the crease where Richard Clue was standing by his lonesome and smacked it into the twine knotting the score at two.

The Pack would see Owens sent into exile in the box for an inadvertent tripping call and on the ensuing penalty kill had their best chance at regaining the lead when Brodie Dupont’s forecheck steal and wraparound try was amazing stopped by the leg of Bernier.

The Pack were outshot 11-8 in the first and 13-7 in the second.

In the third period, both teams killed off Tripping penalties and played the game close to the vest almost sensing that whoever flinched and made a mistake would lose the contest. At 11:21, Johnson shined as he stopped Gauthier’s stuff in attempt after the Monarch center from Torrance, California came out of the right corner with speed and tried to ram it in under the Pack netminder.

Johnson came up big again moments later when at 14:10 Brandon Segal had a huge scoring chance that Johnson ended with great glove work.

The great play coming from their net inspired the Pack who stepped up their own offensive pressure only to see Bernier rise to the occasion.

But in this see-saw period, Manchester was not going to quit. Trevor Lewis had two more great scoring opportunities the best one coming with Johnson down and an open net in front of him. But with just 25 ticks of the clock remaining to be played, Lewis for some unexplained reason, fired the puck wide and missed the open net which set up the game to head into overtime and give Locke his moment of glory.

Johnson, speaking after the game to the press said it all. "The defense played awesome in front of me,” The rookie netminder said. “You can’t give enough credit to them. They were doing a good job of standing up at the blue line, let me see all the shots and cleared all the rebounds. (The Monarchs) had some chances because they have some skilled players, but there are times in the game when a goalie has to stand up.”

Bruce Berlet regularly brings to the printed word the same magic as Locke’s goal brought to the XL Center on this Sunday afternoon. Read the recap at Hartfordwolfpack.com. For the Manchester perspective, if they sent a reporter, you’ll find it at UnionLeader.com.

GAME SUMMARY and OFFICIAL SCORERS SHEET

NOTES:

* Johnson’s keep the puck out of the Pack net for exactly 110 minutes prior to Voynov’s goal. He last surrendered a goal to Alexandre Giroux at 2:39 of the third period Friday night against Hershey.

* This was Locke’s second Game Winner of the season tying him with Dale Weise for the team lead.

* The game winning tally was Locke’s 8th of the season tying him with P.A. Parenteau for the team lead.

* 4-0-0-0 is now the Pack record when leading after one period. This was their first venture being tied after two periods and are 1-0-0-0.

* The Pack were outshot in this contest 35-30 overall and increased their record to 3-1-0-0 in such situations and improved to 3-2-0-0 in one goal games.

* After playing six of their first seven on the road and going 2-5-0-0 overall, 1-5-0-0 on the road, the Pack have responded with a very successful home-stand winning four of five and got their record to .500 for the second time of the season at 6-6-0-0.

* The Pack owned the Monarchs last season posting an overall 6-1-1-0 record against their New Hampshire rivals.

* By stopping the Manchester power play five of their six tries, the Pack power play rate moved up to exactly 75% at 15 given up in 60 tries.

* The Power play will take a little hit going one for four to 29.5% 18 for 61.

 

MEANWHILE DOWN IN CHARLOTTE:

  Versus   

Gwinnett Gladiators at Charlotte Checkers

The Charlotte Checkers dropped their first home game of the season with a 4-3 overtime loss to the Gwinnett Gladiators on Sunday afternoon. Gwinnett took advantage often on the power play scoring four goals with the man-advantage.

Checkers goaltender Billy Sauer stopped 31 of 35 shots in a losing effort and former ECHL All-Star Tyler Doig picked up his 100th point as a professional in front a home opener crowd of over 6,000.

Charlotte opened the scoring five and a half minutes into the game on a goal by leading scorer Michel Leveille. Tyler Doig let a shot go from the blueline that went wide and bounced off the end boards onto the stick of Leveille who then tapped it in for his sixth of the early season.

The Checkers got into penalty trouble in the second period and Gwinnett would answer back twice on the power play.

On a 5-on-3 power play, Gladiators forward Scott Mifsud took a pass down low and dished the puck cross-crease to Pat Galivan who one-timed a shot past Checkers’ goaltender Billy Sauer. The goal came at the 9:01 mark of the period.

Charlotte captain Jared Nightingale then took a double-minor penalty for high-sticking that proved to be costly. Gwinnett’s Mifsud dished a pass back to rookie defenseman Drew Paris who beat Sauer with a wrist shot for his league-leading fifth goal of the season among blueliners.

Gwinnett held a 24-18 shot advantage through two periods of play.

Charlotte would tie the game just over eight minutes into the third period on a beautiful goal by Tyler Doig. Doig took a pass at the faceoff circle from Mike Taylor and fired a shot high over the glove of Gwinnett goaltender Danny Taylor for his second of the season. The goal came at the 8:11 mark of the third period and was Doig’s 100th point as a professional.

The Checkers took the lead with just over eight minutes to play on a goal by veteran tough-guy T.J. Reynolds. Reynolds let a shot go on Taylor that deflected into the air and dropped back down across the goal line. Matt Schepke and Mike Taylor picked up assists on the even-strength goal.

Gwinnett tied the game two minutes later with their third power-play goal of the afternoon. Forward Tom Zanoski took a pass from Sam Roberts and buried it blocker side for his fifth goal and team-leading 12th point of the season.

The game remained tied 3-3 at the end of regulation as the teams prepared for their second overtime of this two-game series.

In the extra frame, and on the power play once again, Gwinnett forward Scott Mifsud notched his fourth of season. The game-winning tally came with 42 seconds to play in overtime and sealed the victory for Gwinnett.

LINES:

Owens – Locke – Parenteau

Grachev – Dupont - Weise

Garlock – Arnason - Couture

Soryal – Crowder - Ambuhl

Sauer - Dandenault

Heikkinen - Sanguinetti

Potter - Henley

Johnson

(Assistant Captains Italicized)

SCRATCHES:

Dane Byers – Recall with NY Rangers

Devin DiDiomete – Broken Arm – Mid-November

Dave Urquhart – Healthy

Nigel Williams - Healthy

Chris Chappell – Healthy

THREE STARS:

1. HFD - 84 Corey Locke
2. HFD - 29 Chad Johnson
3. MCH - 76 Viatcheslav Voynov

ON ICE OFFICIALS:

Zac Wiebe (89), Referee
Derek Wahl (46), Linesman
Jim Briggs (83), Linesman

NEXT GAME:

The Pack start a three game road trip as they head to the Dunkin Donuts Center for a rematch with the Providence Bruins who will be looking to redeem themselves after getting slaughtered by the Pack 6-0 on Saturday night.

SCORE-SHEET:

Manchester 0 2 0 0 - 2

Hartford 2 0 0 1 - 3

1st Period-1, Hartford, Heikkinen 3 (Parenteau, Locke), 4:10 (pp). 2, Hartford, Sanguinetti 4 (Locke, Parenteau), 7:08. Penalties-Gauthier Mch (hooking), 3:15; Ambuhl Hfd (unsportsmanlike conduct, tripping), 7:15.

2nd Period-3, Manchester, Voynov 3 (Loktionov, Gauthier), 12:39 (pp). 4, Manchester, Clune 1 (Kolomatis, Moller), 14:20. Penalties-Couture Hfd (tripping), 2:23; Piskula Mch (tripping), 5:38; Gauthier Mch (slashing), 6:54; Potter Hfd (interference), 11:26; Owens Hfd (tripping), 16:08.

3rd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Segal Mch (tripping), 5:26; Couture Hfd (tripping), 8:14.

OT Period-5, Hartford, Locke 8 (Sanguinetti), 4:59. Penalties-No Penalties

Shots on Goal-Manchester 11-13-9-2-35. Hartford 8-7-10-5-30.

Power Play Opportunities-Manchester 1 of 6; Hartford 1 of 4.

Goalies-Manchester, Bernier 6-2-0 (30 shots-27 saves). Hartford, Johnson 4-3-0 (35 shots-33 saves).

A-2,801

JEKYLL AND HYDE

   VERSUS   

Friday night was like a nightmare for the Hartford Wolf Pack. However the real terror came on Halloween night for the visiting Providence Bruins, as Saturday night became “Fright Night” in a 7-0 Freddy Kruger-like thrashing for the Hartford Wolf Pack, A slew of personnel changes to the New York Rangers top farm team injected Vampire-like super powers as they got four point nights from Bobby Sanguinetti (2g, 2a) and Corey Locke (1g, 3a) plus a three pointer (2g, 1a) from emerging star Dale Weise. It didn't hurt that they also had a fine performance by Chad Johnson in net who stopped all 17 shots he faced from the team's Rhode Island Rivals.

On Friday night against the Hershey Bears, the Wolf Pack played like Sleeping Beauty. But the tandem of Head Coach Ken Gernander and General Manager Jim Schoenfeld acted like Prince Charming and woke them up. Where last night they couldn’t get to the puck to pressure it, in this one they were jumping right from the first drop of the puck. That excellent pressure up front finally led to a break.

Providence defenseman Andy Wozniewski brought the puck up along the left side of the ice. Dale Weise continued his strong play and stripped the 28-year old from Buffalo Grove, Illinois and broke in all alone on netminder Matt Dalton (41 saves, 0-3-0, 4.31 GAA, .887 save percentage), and brought it home slamming through the five-hole for his second short-hander of the year.

The Pack were dominant in every aspect of their game. At one point they led in shots 10-1 and held the Bruins without a shot the next 15 minutes and finished the period with a 18-3 margin.

With just 10.5 seconds remaining in the first period, left winger Jeff DelVecchio flipped the puck out of play in his own end and sent the Pack, the AHL’s best power play unit unit to the ice to start the second period.

Bobby Sanguinetti made them pay just 39 seconds in when he took a feed from the left wing boards by the blue line from Corey Locke and blasted it from just beyond the circle. On it’s way to the net, the puck hit defenseman Adam McQuaid’s skate and redirected fooling Dalton for the 2-0 lead.

The Pack could have easily settled into a defensive mode or lightened up as they have in the past and gotten themselves into trouble. Instead the young Pack stepped up the pressure on the forecheck and pinned the Bruins in their own end. Michael Sauer, who had fought Guillaume Lefebvre late in the first period after the left winger had hurt Jordan Owens, made an excellent entry pass to Tyler Arnason. The NHL veteran got cross checked from behind and as he was falling made a terrific pass to Owens. The Toronto native walked it in a little from the right circle and from the face off dot unloaded a rising shot that beat Dalton over the glove on the short side for a 3-0 lead.

The intensity of the hitting picked up after that and at 13:10 Brett Cloutier clearly boarded Bobby Sanguinetti but was not called when his hit left the New Jersey native stunned and crumpled to the ice and stayed down and was helped up by trainer Damien Hess.

Cloutier’s hit clearly angered the Pack and just 1:12 later, Owens left his feet on a hit to Lefebvre and the two immediately dropped the gloves. Brent Henley jumped in the fight and was immediately tossed from the game with a game misconduct for third man in.

But tempers were still hot as the period ended as Soryal fought for the second time in the game when he and ex-Pack Craig Weller dropped the mitts as the second period ended. Both were tossed from the game for fighting after the period had officially ended.

After a fight between newcomer Chris Chappell and Wozniewski, Lefebvre seemed to have lost his mind and went after Brodie Dupont as he was entering the penalty box. That loss of composure sent both he and Dupont to the showers and gave the Pack a second power play.

Weise then tallied his second goal and third point of the game when his backhand shot while crossing the crease hit defenseman Drew Fata and popped into the net. On the play Locke picked up his second helper of the contest.

The onslaught continued when Bobby Sanguinetti tallied for a second time when his shot from the right point hit the stick of LoVecchio and knuckled in the air and with a crowd in front of him, flipped in over Dalton. Ryan Garlock got his first assist as a member of the Wolf Pack.

But it didn't take long for them Pack to strike again.

When Providence took back to back penalties, first a hook called by Cloutier and then Andrew Bodnarchuk took a foolish delay of game call when he put the puck out of play sending the Pack to a five-on-three advantage for 21 seconds…and they made it work.

Locke found himself in the low right side by the goal line. He went to send the pass up high to the left point. However en route the puck hit the skate of Drew Larmen and redirected with some angle on it and it totally took Dalton by surprise and wound up buried in the twine.

The Pack would tally one final time with just 2:10 left when Locke brought the puck down low to Dalton’s left and when the puck came back to Locke off Dalton’s pad, Locke sent the puck into the slot. The puck found it’s way to the high slot area where it found Ilkka Heikkinen’s stick. The Finn then blasted a massive slap shot that Dalton had no chance on for what proved to be the final score of the contest, a 7-0 victory.

The Pack have now won three of their last four and have only lost once on home ice.

Johnson (17 saves, 3-3-0, 3.04 GAA, .885 save percentage) did not have to be especially good but was steady in his first professional shutout.

The interesting question is this…which team shows up tomorrow at 3pm when they take on the red hot Manchester Monarchs who’ve won six straight games.

Bruce Berlet once again brings his world class talents to bear with the recap at Hartfordwolfpack.com. If the Providence Journal even bothers to cover this one, you'll find it at Projo.com.

GAME SUMMARY and OFFICIAL SCORERS SHEET

NOTES:

* Only 1,754 bothered to show up for the Pack's biggest offensive outburst of the season.

* The shutout was the largest margin of victory in a shutout in the team's history.

* The Pack welcomed back forward Craig Weller, who became the Pack’s first captain after the retirement of Ken Gernander, the team’s one and only captain during the first ten years of existence.

* Good news for the Wolf Pack, but not so good news for P.A. Parenteau, the Rangers announced that Parenteau has been sent back to the Pack. However, Dane Byers remains in New York.

* The Pack are now 3-0-0 when leading after the first period and 5-0 when leading after the second. When the team is tied after 1 frame, they are 2-2-0. They haven’t been tied yet after two periods of play.

* Conversely, the team is 0-4-0 when trailing after 1 and 0-6-0 when trailing after two.

* The Wolf Pack are 3-5-0-0 when outshooting their opponents and 2-1-0-0 when being outshot themselves.

* In ONE goal games the Pack are 2-2-0-0, 0-2-0-0 in TWO goal games and in THREE goal games 1-1-0-0.

* The seven goal output gets the team over the schneid in terms of plus/minus in goals scored versus allowed. They’ve tallied 38 and surrendered 37.

* The power play will remain the AHL’s best tallying at a blistering 29.8%

* The Bruins entered the game as the leagues second best power play at 25.5% and the Pack were dreadful and second to last on the kill at 72.5%. But they stopped the power play three times and improved to 74.1% which should get them a step up over Lowell.

* The Pack lead the AHL with five short handed tallies. Rochester, Chicago, Lake Erie and Abbotsford all have four.

MEANWHILE DOWN IN CHARLOTTE:

The Checkers had the night off. The team has an amazing website… check it out at gocheckers.com

LINES:

Grachev – Locke – Weise

Chappell – Dupont – Couture

Garlock – Arnason - Owens

Soryal – Crowder - Ambuhl

Sauer - Dandenault

Sanguinetti - Heikkinen

Henley - Potter

Johnson

(Assistant Captains Italicized)

SCRATCHES:

P.A. Parenteau – Recall with NY Rangers

Dane Byers – Recall with NY Rangers

Dave Urquhart – Healthy

Nigel Williams - Healthy

Devin DiDiomete – Broken Arm – Mid-November

THREE STARS:

1. HFD - 23 Dale Weise
2. HFD - 21 Bobby Sanguinetti
3. HFD - 84 Corey Locke

ON ICE OFFICIALS:

Ian Croft (87), Referee
Brent Colby (7), Linesman
David Spannaus (8), Linesman

NEXT GAME:

The XL Center hosts a 3:00 Sunday start against Jonathan Bernier, Andrei Loktionov and the rest of the Manchester Monarchs who’ve won six straight. The Pack will complete their five game home stand after playing six of the first seven on the road.

SCORE-SHEET:

1st Period-1, Hartford, Weise 3 2:39 (sh). Penalties-Garlock Hfd (slashing), 2:10; Clouthier Pro (fighting), 5:57; Soryal Hfd (fighting), 5:57; Lefebvre Pro (fighting), 17:06; Sauer Hfd (fighting), 17:06; LoVecchio Pro (delay of game), 19:49.

2nd Period-2, Hartford, Sanguinetti 2 (Locke, Weise), 0:39 (pp). 3, Hartford, Owens 1 (Arnason, Sauer), 7:05. Penalties-Dandenault Hfd (tripping), 9:45; Lefebvre Pro (fighting), 14:22; Henley Hfd (game misconduct - third man in), 14:22; Owens Hfd (charging, fighting), 14:22; Kwiet Pro (slashing), 17:16; Weller Pro (fighting, game misconduct - fighting other than during periods of game), 20:00; Soryal Hfd (fighting, game misconduct - fighting other than during periods of game), 20:00.

3rd Period-4, Hartford, Weise 4 (Locke, Sanguinetti), 4:30 (pp). 5, Hartford, Sanguinetti 3 (Garlock, Owens), 11:01. 6, Hartford, Locke 7 (Sanguinetti, Heikkinen), 13:16 (pp). 7, Hartford, Heikkinen 2 (Locke, Grachev), 17:50. Penalties-Lefebvre Pro (roughing, misconduct - unsportsmanlike conduct, game misconduct - unsportsmanlike conduct), 4:11; Wozniewski Pro (fighting), 4:11; Chappell Hfd (fighting), 4:11; Dupont Hfd (misconduct - unsportsmanlike conduct, game misconduct - unsportsmanlike conduct), 4:11; Clouthier Pro (hooking), 11:26; Bodnarchuk Pro (delay of game), 13:06; Kwiet Pro (roughing), 14:58; Couture Hfd (roughing), 14:58.

Shots on Goal-Providence 3-10-4-17. Hartford 18-13-17-48.

Power Play Opportunities-Providence 0 of 3; Hartford 3 of 5.

Goalies-Providence, Dalton 0-3-0 (48 shots-41 saves). Hartford, Johnson 3-3-0 (17 shots-17 saves).

WOLF PACK MOVES

There were moves a plenty in Connecticut’s capitol. Coming up to Hartford are goaltender Matt Zaba along with forward Chris Chappell, Ryan Garlock and Derek Couture. Heading back to Charlotte is netminder Miika Wiikman and Ryan Hillier.

The logic behind sending down Wiikman and not Chad Johnson is confusing. Johnson has not nearly been as good as Wiikman. The only possible logic is playing time in that Zaba is going to play the vast majority of games and that they want Wiikman to play rather than sit. But even that is faulty because Johnson would probably benefit more from the playing time in Charlotte than Wiikman , who has proven that he can play at this level.

Looking at the numbers, Wiikman has played in four games with the Wolf Pack and posted a 2-2-0 record with a 3.27 GAA and an .888 save percentage. Johnson has a 2-3-0 record with a 3.66 GAA and a .871 save percentage. Johnson has allowed 18 goals while Wiikman only 11.

This is an interesting stat that I just made up, but I’ll throw it out there anyway. Wiikman has 202 minutes in four games. That translates into a goal every 18.36 minutes played. Meanwhile Johnson, in six games has coughed one up every 16.44 over the 296 he’s protecting the net. Just to contrast that, Rangers starter Henrik Lundqvist in 13 games played has seen the lamp lit behind him 33 times in 738 minutes. Meaning his rate of surrender is a goal every 22.36. 

In terms of Matt Zaba, he’s 0-1-0 with a 4.84 GAA and a .846 save percentage. Zaba has allowed 8 goals in 99 minutes of action over the 3 games he’s been a part of. His time between goals allowed is 12.375. If you add in his time in Charlotte, that’s another 185 minutes, 11 and goals in three games that would put him at 14.947…not exactly the kind of numbers you want to see. Zaba is a VERY talented netminder and perhaps he can rediscover the zip that was in his game last season when he went 25-10-0 with a 2.33 GAA, a .922 save percentage and a rate of 25.70 goals between minutes played.

SO MUCH FOR "HOME SWEET HOME"

   VERSUS   

There’s an old vaudeville joke that best sums up the Hartford Wolf Pack’s last couple of days which climaxed with a complete dismemberment by the visiting Hershey Bears to the tune of 6-0 at the XL Center Friday night.

Jack and Phil are sitting next to one another on the train.

Jack says to Phil, “It’s been a rough day so far.”

“Really?” Phil says. “What’s wrong?”

“When I hit my alarm this morning the knob came off… Then when I went to get my briefcase so I could leave for work, the latch broke off and when I opened the door to my car the handle fell off…”

“Geeze, that’s a rough morning…”

“Yeah, I was afraid to go to the bathroom.”

It's just been that kind of a week for Hartford’s AHL franchise.

After losing the AHL’s leading scorer, P.A. Parenteau to recall on Wednesday, word came late Friday morning that New York was calling again. This time, the name on the request list was forward Dane Byers. The 6’3” 199 pounder was immediately put on a plane and sent off to Head Coach Ken Gernander's home state of Minnesota to help the parent New York Rangers deal with injuries to Chris Higgins and Sean Avery.

Byer's departure hurt the Pack because, along with linemate P.A. Parenteau,it took away the team’s top offensive threat and arguably their best all around player especially when it comes to play around the net. Add into the mix that coming in the entranceway to the XL Center was former Pack forward and last year’s AHL MVP, Alexander Giroux. The Quebec, Canada native rejoined the Bears after a three game NHL stint (1g, 0a, 1pt) with the Washington Capitals. Giroux was determined to put numbers back on the board to get him another shot at sticking in the NHL. He did just that.

The 28 year old left wing lit up the Pack for two goals and two assists and just ran about single handedly ran the team out of their own building.

“When you get outworked by that amount of skill, you lose 6-0 at home and get booed. This stinks, especially on home ice.” Pack defenseman Brent Henley, who along with David Urquhart were the only players on the Pack not in the minus of the plus/minus statistic Friday night, told reporters afterwards.“If getting booed doesn’t extra motivate you for the next game (tonight at the XL Center versus Providence), then you shouldn’t be in the game. We all lost together (Friday night), and we better all win together (tonight).”

Gernander was not using the absence of two of his top players as an excuse.

“That doesn’t excuse what transpired,” Gernander said to reporters. “If you battle like crazy and goals are hard to come by, that’s another story. But if you’re not 100 percent committed or mentally into it, you’re not going to look good in anything.”

Gernander then summed up the message that his team just didn’t get. “This is an opportunity to play. Guys are getting called up to the New York Rangers because they’re playing hard, participating and doing what they’re supposed to do. Guys should be chomping at the bit.”

It was then asked if the game had any redeeming value?

“No. None,” He said.

There literally were no highlights for the home team. They got beaten in virtually every single aspect of this game. Nobody played well at all.

The Pack were down two goals within 1:17 of one another. The first came at 9:30 when Andrew Joudrey spun and embarrassed Ilkka Heikkinen and stuffed it past the stick of Miika Wiikman (9 saves, 2-2-0, 3.27GAA, .888%). The second came after a turnover that Giroux recovered led to a Francois Bouchard breakaway past…yes, Heikkinen , and another stuff in under Wiikman’s blocker.

The third goal for Hershey came with just 21.2 remaining in the first period. Giroux this time split the defense pairing of Michael Sauer and Nigel Williams and broke in alone and ripped the black out of the puck past Wiikman stick side.

While the shots were 10-9 Hartford, it was not even close to an indicator as to how the play was going.

The second period was not much better for the home team. Another ex-Pack, Boyd Kane ended the night for Wiikman when his shot from the slot beat Wiikman and sent him to the showers.

After a bore of a fight between ex-Pack Brandon Sugden and Henley, Giroux did it to his ex-team again when his centering pass from the right side found Mathieu Perrault who’s deflection beat Chad Johnson (9 saves 2-3-0, 3.66GAA, .871%). The replay demonstrated that there was a “clear and distinct kicking motion” which should have negated the goal, but it stood and it was 5-0.

Giroux added his second tally of the night at 2:39 of the third period when he skated through everyone except the popcorn vendor (that’s still under review) and beat Johnson to the short-side for what would be the game’s final score.

Hopefully the Pack can do like Rocky Balboa in the third film when he took a terrible beating from Clubber Lang and rise above it and put on a good performance against the Providence Bruins.

Bruce Berlet was in the house for the home team coverage at HartfordWolfPack.com. For the Hershey P.O.V. read Tim Leone at Pennlive.com

GAME SUMMARY and OFFICIAL SCORERS SHEET

NOTES:

* The Pack have not lost by six goals since an 8-2 loss at Lowell on Jan. 27, 2006.

* Byers got his first NHL goal in the same way that he does it in Hartford…The Nipawin, Saskatchewan native battled in front of the net for a lose puck in front and put it past All-Star netminder, Nicklas Backstrom.

* Both Parenteau and Byers get their team’s first goal and the first of their NHL careers on back-to-back nights. So what do you think Tortorella will say that will be critical of Byers?

* Parenteau and Byers both looked completely at home in the NHL. How Giroux is not there also is a travesty. He has completely outgrown the AHL talent-wise and should be given a chance to play at that level.

 

MEANWHILE DOWN IN CHARLOTTE:

The Charlotte Checkers (3-1-0) won a shootout thriller, 6-5, in Gwinnett on Friday Night. Michel Leveille led the way offensively with three points in a high-scoring game that saw goals on the first four shots of the contest.

The Gladiators took an early two-goal lead, just three minutes into the game, on even-strength goals by Matt Caruana and Chad Denny. Caruana took a pass from Tom Zanoski on a Checkers turnover and converted for his fifth goal of the early season. Denny took advantage of another turnover and tapped in a pass from Pat Galivan for the early 2-0 lead.

Charlotte would answer back with two quick goals to knot the score at 2-2. Julien Brouilette skated in alone on Gladiators goaltender Danny Taylor and beat him with a wrist shot over the blocker. Michel Leveille then beat Taylor with a one-time shot on a pass from Derek Couture that deflected off the post and in.

The Checkers took the lead midway through the first period as rookie defenseman Mike Berube scored on a screened point shot that seemed to fool Gwinnett netminder Danny Taylor.

With less than three minutes to play in the first frame, Gwinnett defenseman Drew Paris fired a shot off the end boards that took a strange bounce and found its way into the net, notching the score at 3-3.

Charlotte then regained the lead, nine minutes into the second period, on a power-play goal by team captain Jared Nigthingale. Nightingale blasted a shot from the high slot between the legs of Taylor for his first of the season. The goal came at the 9:02 mark of the second period and was assisted by Kenny Roche and Jason Lawrence.

The Checkers would mount a two-goal lead, just 42 seconds later, as rookie Andrew Carroll skated into the zone on the left wing and let a shot go that trickled in for his first of the season.

The two-goal lead wouldn’t last long. Gwinnett forward Tom Zanoski took a pass on a 3-on-1 and beat Zaba glove-side for his fourth of the season.

Charlotte carried a 20-17 shot advantage, and 5-4 lead, through two periods of play.

Gwinnett would tie the game on the power play when Drew Paris scored on a point shot for his second of the game. The goal came at 8:43 of the third period and was assisted by Sam Roberts and Brad Schell.

The game would remain tied and went to a shootout after a scoreless overtime. Charlotte forwards Kenny Roche, Michel Leveille and Tyler Doig all lit the lamp to take a 3-0 advantage and Matt Zaba shut the door as the Checkers sealed the 6-5 shootout win.

Zaba stopped 21 of 26 shots to earn the win for the Checkers while Danny Taylor made 31 saves in a losing cause for the Gladiators. Leveille now has nine points in four games out of the gate to lead the Checkers.

 

LINES:

Grachev – Dupont – Weise

Owens – Locke – Dandenault

Soryal – Crowder - Ambuhl

Urquhart – Arnason - Hillier

Potter – Henley

Heikkinen – Sanguinetti

Williams - Sauer

Wiikman

(Assistant Captains Italicized)

SCRATCHES:

P.A. Parenteau – Recall with NY Rangers

Dane Byers – Recall with NY Rangers

Devin DiDiomete – Broken Arm – Mid-November

THREE STARS:

1. HER - 12 Alexandre Giroux
2. HER - 22 Francois Bouchard
3. HER - 35 Jason Bacashihua

 

ON ICE OFFICIALS:

Zac Wiebe (89), Referee
Paul Simeon (66), Linesman
Glen Cooke (6), Linesman

NEXT GAME:

On the plus side of things, the boys will have no time to sit around and dwell on this one. The team goes right back at it at the XL Center again Saturday night when they welcome back on time captain Craig Weller and the sixth place Providence Bruins.

 

SCORE-SHEET:

1st Period-1, Hershey, Joudrey 2 (Pinizzotto, Alzner), 9:30 (sh). 2, Hershey, Bouchard 4 (Giroux), 11:47. 3, Hershey, Giroux 6 (McNeill, Bouchard), 19:38. Penalties-Amadio Her (slashing), 9:11; Amadio Her (interference), 13:07.

2nd Period-4, Hershey, Kane 2 (Pinizzotto, Beagle), 3:35. 5, Hershey, Perreault 1 (Giroux, Bouchard), 9:30. Penalties-Arnason Hfd (hooking), 0:12; Sugden Her (fighting), 3:37; Henley Hfd (fighting), 3:37; Osala Her (hooking), 10:13; Amadio Her (fighting), 15:13; Dupont Hfd (fighting), 15:13.

3rd Period-6, Hershey, Giroux 7 (Bouchard), 2:39. Penalties-Soryal Hfd (roughing), 5:34; Weise Hfd (roughing), 6:23; Potter Hfd (roughing), 7:22; Osala Her (fighting), 9:58; Henley Hfd (fighting), 9:58; Bruess Her (tripping), 18:22.

Shots on Goal-Hershey 10-7-7-24. Hartford 9-8-9-26.

Power Play Opportunities-Hershey 0 of 4; Hartford 0 of 4.

Goalies-Hershey, Bacashihua 2-0-0 (26 shots-26 saves). Hartford, Wiikman 2-1-0 (13 shots-9 saves); Johnson 2-3-0 (11 shots-9 saves).

A-2,531

Referees-Zac Wiebe (89).

Linesmen-Paul Simeon (66), Glen Cooke (6).

BYERS TO MINNESOTA

Don’t panic… Dane Byers wasn’t traded.

The Nipawin, Saskatchewan native has been recalled to play in tonight’s game against Minnesota. Byers is off to a very good start in his first full season back from major knee surgery last year. The 6’3” 190 pounder has two goals and three assists for five points in nine games so far this season with the Wolf Pack. Byers will be in the lineup as well as P.A. Parenteau as both will be getting their second games as a New York Ranger. Apparently either Christopher Higgins (ankle) or Sean Avery (knee) won’t be able to go and so the Pack’s left winger will be in this matchup.

This leaves the Pack two of their top players short for their contest tonight with last season’s record scoring champion Alexander Giroux and the defending Calder Cup Champion Hershey at the XL Center at 7pm. It will be interesting to see if the team recalls anyone from Charlotte.

If the Pack are to stand any chance of victory tonight, the scoring will need to come from Evgeny Grachev and Dale Weise.

Here’s the official release:

New York Rangers President and General Manager Glen Sather announced today that forward Dane Byers has been recalled from the Hartford Wolf Pack of the American Hockey League (AHL).

Byers, 23, has registered two goals and five points, along with 26 penalty minutes in nine games with Hartford this season. He ranks second on the team in penalty minutes, is tied for fourth in goals and eighth in points. He is also tied for third on the Wolf Pack with one power play goal. Prior to his recall, Byers was riding a three-game point streak, recording two goals and four points over the span. He tallied his first multi-point effort of the season with two assists on Sunday against Worcester. Last season, Byers tied for the team lead in playoff goals (three) and finished second on Hartford in playoff points (four).

The Nipawin, Saskatchewan native was originally the Rangers second round selection, 48th overall, in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft.

The Blueshirts return to action tonight when they will face off against the Minnesota Wild at Xcel Energy Center (8:00 p.m.). The game will be televised live on MSG 2 and can be heard on 970 The Apple.

(Dane Byers photo courtesy of viewimages.com)

PARENTEAU SCORES FIRST

Congratulations to P.A. Parenteau on scoring his first NHL goal in his first game as a New York Ranger on his first shot as a Blueshirt no less. It was a great personal achievement and comes as a result of years of hard work. He should be very proud of himself. More so than even the goal was the fact that he was also the best player on the ice for much of the game for the Rangers. The MSG cameras seemed to be on him constantly. But in terms of the goal itself, for those of us who have seen him play as much as we have, it was a typical goal for the youngster from Hull, Quebec.

So today should be a day of happiness and celebration, at least if he doesn’t read this comment by head coach John Tortorella, who was asked to assess the right winger’s performance after the game. “He was OK. I worry about his skating at this level. You can see he has a nose for the net, he’s an offensive guy. But I worry about his skating.”

Gee, thanks coach…

Our first thought after he said that we can’t print. But our second thought we can. It comes from Bull Durham. After Nuke pitches a great inning he comes back to the dugout for this exchange:

NUKE

I was great, eh?

CRASH

Your fastball was up and your curveball was hanging--in the Show they woulda ripped you.

NUKE

Can't you let me enjoy the moment?

CRASH

The moment's over.

Sound like Tortorella to you?

This display was another, in what seems like, an endless series of disgraceful and childish reactions by someone who's supposed to be a leader of men. Tortorella displayed, once again for the whole world to see, why the Rangers are going nowhere with him at the helm. His team showed just how vulnerable they are without Marion Gaborik in the lineup. To his credit, Tortorella's system is interesting and exciting to watch when he has the players to pull it off. For the first severn games they seemed to get it and played phenomenal and well over their heads. But in terms of the long run, Tortorella doesn't have the troops on this team to pull it off. It's his job to fix it. We're not seeing it.

The Rangers were out-everything-ed by a last place Islander's team that had only won ONE game in regulation. Last night proved one thing and that is that without Gaborik in the lineup, this is a team going nowhere. Even with him in the lineup, they just are a slightly better than average team.

By the way, do you think that Joe Michaletti can say just once that a Rangers oppenent  is NOT a hard working team? Everyone they play that's the first words out of his mouth and repeated throughout. It would be interesting to ask if he feels the Rangers are a hard working team.

But what about the stars of the team?

Let’s look at them to this point.

Vinnie Prospal

There is no player on the team who has benefited more from having Gaborik in the lineup that Vinnie Prospal. Gaborik is making him look like he’s a $7mm/per Center. Without him in the lineup, the $1.5mm he’s getting is about right. Prospal shines because Gaborik finishes so often on the chances that Prospal gives him and conversely benefits from the opportunities Gaborik creates for him.

Ryan Callahan

I'm prejudice when it comes to Cally. We knew him well when he was in Hartford and he was always willing to share plenty of info and taught us a lot about the game. We said to anyone who would listen that Cally would make a great pro. But the truth and the bottom line on is that Cally is a solid and talented third line checker who has the talent to put the puck in the net. But because this team is so thin on talent, he's being called on...as it's been Ranger history...to be someone he's not, a top line scorer. He’s getting pressure from Tortorella to score more and that’s not his game.

Sean Avery

When Avery is on his game as an agitator there is NO ONE in the league better at it than him. As a hockey player overall, he’s okay. He’s not great. He’s not bad. He’s alright. But since the start of the season he looks like he’s playing on medication. Where is the agitation that gets other team off their game? In terms of offense he’s doing fine. In fact in that department he’s off to a good start, but he's not on this team for his offensive output. It’s good that he is, but don’t get that worked up. He’s a 15 goals a year guy. Avery has six points after his nine games (2g, 4a). Terrific. But if he's not agitating and getting the grit in the game that the Rangers need, then he’s being massively overpaid at $4m per for 15 goals.

Chris Drury

We have been rooting for Chris Drury since he was the best player in Little League in Trumbull, CT, the next town over from us. We have hoped to see him in the red,white and blue for as long as we can remember and were thrilled when he was signed to come here. But let’s be real about this. AT BEST, at this point in his career, he’s a third line center…maybe a second, but really a third. But as is the way in Ranger-Land, he’s being asked to do more than he is capable of doing. He’s not been good.

Michael Rozsival

Do I need to even go there?

Wade Redden

While Redden has been a better than he's been in the past, that's not saying all that much. He’s been…at best…okay.

Dan Girardi

Can someone please explain to me who kidnapped the real Dan Girardi and put out this impersonator? If he doesn’t turn it around and soon, I’d trade or release him and bring up one of the youngsters in Hartford. Michael Sauer, Bobby Sanguinetti and Corey Potter are all playing better than Girardi is right now.

Christopher Higgins

He’s holding his stick tighter than Ebenezer Scrooge would to his last shilling. If he can’t come to “grips” pardon the pun, and start relaxing and putting the puck in the net, then he needs to sit and chill out a while. Maybe a stint in Hartford to get his confidence back. He doesn’t pass through waivers and gets claimed, fine. There are enough kids, like Parenteau, like Dale Weise, like Dane Byers that are knocking on the door to play in the Big Apple.

But getting back to Parenteau. The kid was clearly the best player on the ice for the Rangers throughout. We do need to say that at times he looked a bit slow in getting back to the defensive zone and seemed to us like he was coasting a bit at times, but that’s not why he was there. He was there to score goals and he did that. Granted he’s not Alex Ovechkin and he needs to get back and get involved, but that doesn’t excuse the comments that Tortorella made on him on a night when the kid is in his first game as a Ranger and scores the only goal for a team that needed goals and a lift so badly. To say what he did of Parenteau shows the total lack of class this guy has.

He couldn't have said, "The kid had his first goal as a pro tonight and we're happy for him. We'll need to look at the tape and continue evaluating his game at this level, but tonight we're happy for him." Tom Renney would have said something like that albeit in a paragraph and not a sentence, but could you ever imagine Tom Renney ripping the kid like that? We can’t.

Now, it’s clear that Tortorella is not Renney. That was probably a key in the reason the guy was brought here in the first place, but it’s not too much to ask for the guy to show even a little class?

Bottom line is that The Rangers all seem to be playing on edge like scared children afraid of their lunatic father exploding at them rather than a group of players all focused and relaxed looking to do well for one another.

Congratulations P.A.. Your coach might not say it, but you deserve a pat on the back for a job well done.