HARTFORD, April 20, 2012:  Connecticut Whale general manager Jim Schoenfeld announced today that the parent New York Rangers have reassigned forward J.T. Miller to the Whale from the Plymouth Whalers of the Ontario Hockey League.

Miller, 19, a 6-2, 195-pound native of East Palestine, Ohio, was the Rangers’ first-round pick (15^th overall) in the 2011 NHL Draft.  In 61 games with the Whalers this year, he scored 25 goals and added 37 assists for 62 points, and registered 61 penalty minutes.  Those totals were good for fourth among Plymouth skaters in assists, a tie for fourth in points and fifth on the team in goals.  In 13 OHL playoff contests, Miller notched two goals and eight assists (tied for second-most on the team) for 10 points, along with 18 PIM.

Miller also saw action this winter in the World Junior Championship for Team USA, scoring two goals and chipping in two assists for four points in six games.  Prior to joining Plymouth, he played two seasons in the U.S. National Team Development Program (USNTDP).

The Whale play Game Two of their best-of-five, Eastern Conference Quarterfinal series against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers tomorrow night, Saturday, April 21, at the Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport, with faceoff at 7:00 PM (“The Rock” 106.9 WCCC-FM, www.ctwhale.com).  The Whale are up a game in the series, after a 3-0 victory last night in Game One in Bridgeport.  The series switches to the XL Center in Hartford for Game Three this Sunday, April 22, and faceoff for that contest will be 5:00.  A Game Four, if it is necessary, would be in Hartford Wednesday, April 25 at 7:00, and if the series went the full five games, a decisive Game Five would be next Saturday, April 28 in Bridgeport at 7:00.

Tickets to Game Three at the XL Center are on sale now at the Public Power Ticket Office at the XL Center, as well as on-line at www.ctwhale.com and through TicketMaster Charge-by-phone at 1-800-745-3000, and all Upper Level tickets for Game Three are available for $5 each at the Public Power Ticket Office at the XL Center.

Playoff ticket packages are also available that include tickets to all possible home playoff games.  To speak to a Whale account executive about a playoff ticket package, call (860) 728-3366.  More information is available at www.ctwhale.com.

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By Brian Ring

Bridgeport, CT, April 19, 2012 – The Connecticut Whale defeated the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, 3-0, in the first game of their best-of-five Eastern Conference Quarterfinals series Thursday night at the Webster Bank Arena.

Cam Talbot recorded 42 saves in a stellar shutout performance, the most saves in franchise history in a postseason shutout, and Kelsey Tessier supplied the game-winning goal and an assist as the Whale won for the first time in Bridgeport this season.

“That’s playoff hockey, it’s going to be close-checking,” said Whale head coach Ken Gernander. “We have to be patient and keep with the game plan.

“I loved the third period.  I thought they elevated the intensity, everything got elevated in the third.”

Game Two of the series will be Saturday night at the Webster Bank Arena (7:00 PM).

The Whale were in trouble early and often to begin the first period, affording the Sound Tigers two power-play opportunities within the first half of the frame, and three total in the period. Talbot was excellent for the Whale in the opening period, turning aside a number of up-close chances, including a great sprawling save on a Justin DiBenedetto opportunity.

Bridgeport’s Kevin Poulin (33 saves) was equally good, with each goaltender stopping ten first period shots.

The scoreless standoff would continue through the second period, as both Talbot and Poulin continued to keep any offense off the scoreboard. Both clubs would have close calls in the second, with a shorthanded odd-man rush involving Jonathan Audy-Marchessault and Kris Newbury being narrowly broken up, and an apparent Sound Tigers goal being waved off by the referee at the other end of the ice.

The Sound Tigers outshot the Whale, 15-13, in the second period.

Connecticut would finally break the game open with a statement three-goal third period, started by the line of Tessier, Jordan Owens and Ryan Bourque.

Tessier would break the deadlock just 1:03 into the third, scoring on a breakaway to put the Whale ahead 1-0. Tim Erixon would split the Bridgeport defense with a great outlet pass, feeding Tessier. Erixon’s defense partner Jared Nightingale also assisted on the goal, which would prove the eventual game-winner.

“Awesome saucer pass right on my tape, I just had to put it in there,” said Tessier.

That line would score again at the 9:48 mark, as Owens backhanded a rebound past a sprawled Poulin for the 2-0 advantage. Poulin had stopped Bourque’s initial bid, but left an open opportunity for Owens.

Bourque would strike with a goal of his own with 6:42 remaining in the third period, putting home a rebound of Tessier’s shot. Pavel Valentenko grabbed the secondary assist on the score, a play that was very nearly an outstanding save Poulin.

Talbot would protect the lead the rest of the way, denying the Sound Tigers the chance to chip into the Whale lead with 17 third-period saves.

The Whale will look to up their series lead over the Sound Tigers in Game Two Saturday night in Bridgeport (7:00 PM). The series will shift to the XL Center Sunday night for Game Three (5:00 PM).

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Connecticut Whale 3 at Bridgeport Sound Tigers 0
Thursday, April 19, 2012 – Webster Bank Arena

Connecticut 0 0 3 – 3
Bridgeport 0 0 0 – 0

1st Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Erixon Ct (holding), 1:41; Valentenko Ct (hooking), 10:30; de Haan Bri (hooking), 14:43; Audy-Marchessault Ct (unsportsmanlike conduct), 18:43.

2nd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Wellman Ct (interference), 12:07.

3rd Period-1, Connecticut, Tessier 1 (Erixon, Nightingale), 1:03. 2, Connecticut, Owens 1 (Bourque), 9:38. 3, Connecticut, Bourque 1 (Tessier, Valentenko), 13:18. Penalties-Owens Ct (roughing), 2:07; Poulin Bri (roughing), 2:07; Newbury Ct (slashing), 19:17.

Shots on Goal-Connecticut 10-13-13-36. Bridgeport 10-15-17-42.
Power Play Opportunities-Connecticut 0 / 1; Bridgeport 0 / 5.
Goalies-Connecticut, Talbot 1-0-0 (42 shots-42 saves). Bridgeport, Poulin 0-1-0 (36 shots-33 saves).
A-3,682
Referees-Geno Binda (22), Mark Lemelin (41).
Linesmen-Jim Briggs (83), Kevin Redding (16).

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By Bob Crawford

Shane McColgan, who joined the Connecticut Whale April 4 from the Kelowna Rockets of the Western Hockey League, grew up amid the sun and surf of Manhattan Beach, California, not exactly a hockey hotbed.

Fifteen or 20 years ago, a California-bred hockey player would have been a real novelty, but according to McColgan, youth hockey in his home state is taking off.

“It’s (the level of play) pretty high, and I’ve told everyone that asks me, it goes up every year, it increases,” McColgan said in a conversation before a recent Whale game in Portland, Maine.  “And you’ll see a lot of guys coming up in the next few years.”

The addition of McColgan gave the Whale two Californians on their roster, as fellow forward Casey Wellman hails from Brentwood.

Another Los Angeles area native, Ryan Hollweg, was a member of the then Hartford Wolf Pack in 2004-05 and 2005-06, and he cited the trade of Wayne Gretzky from the Edmonton Oilers to the LA Kings in 1988 as the impetus for his getting interested in the game.  Nearly ten years younger than Hollweg, McColgan is part of a subsequent wave of California youngsters who have ridden that wave of enthusiasm.

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“I was definitely too young to remember the Gretzky trade,” McColgan said, “but just guys like (the Anaheim Ducks’) Bobby Ryan and Hollweg, guys like that, really good players that have played in the NHL and the AHL, I’m looking at following in their footsteps.”

Leaving the sands of Manhattan Beach for Kelowna and the wilds of British Columbia would seem to be the genesis of a major culture shock.  For McColgan, though, just the opposite was true.

“I got really lucky with a good billet family, they’re great people,” he said.  “And Kelowna, I kind of describe it as the California of Canada.  It’s really nice, I go back there for a few weeks every summer and train, and I enjoy it.  Hopefully I can eventually get a place there.”

Making the jump to Major Junior, too, had to be a big leap from California midget hockey, but McColgan suffered no hiccups at all, striking for 25 goals and 69 points in 71 games in 2009-10, his first year with the Rockets.

“For me it was a pretty easy transition,” said McColgan.  “Coming from midget hockey [in California], obviously guys are a little bit bigger and faster and stronger, like it is here (the AHL) from the ‘Dub’ (WHL).  It’s (the WHL) a great league, it’s a great development league.  I think for my overall goal to play in the NHL, that was the best route for me.”

The next transition now for McColgan, who was selected by the parent New York Rangers in the fifth round (134^th overall) of last summer’s NHL Draft, is to the pro ranks, where the 5-9, 170-pound centerman made his debut for the Whale in a 3-0 loss at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton April 7.

“I’ve felt pretty good,” McColgan said of his first pro action.  “The first game was kind of a feeling-out process, and after a few shifts I got pretty comfortable out there.  I just want to learn as much as I can here from the guys, and it’s been pretty good so far.”

That sentiment is echoed by Whale head coach Ken Gernander, who has liked what he has seen out of McColgan to this point.

“He’s a guy that’s going to bring an offensive package, a skilled player,” Gernander said.  “He’s not over-sized, but he is a feisty, competitive kid.  It’s a tough role for him coming in right now, to be a center.  It’s a little bit tougher position than maybe the wing positions, and I’m sure in Junior he wasn’t counted on to do as much defensively as he has been here.  So it was a little bit different role, even in the same position, than he was used to.”

The other hurdle that McColgan will always have to face is the challenge of being a small player in a big man’s game.  The key to overcoming that, according to Gernander, is being a good skater.

“You have to be able to use your skating ability to get in good body position,” the Whale bench boss said, “whether it be defensively or to protect the puck when you’ve got possession offensively.  As long as you’ve got a good, strong base and you can maintain that body position, you can be effective.”

So far, so good for McColgan on that score, is Gernander’s evaluation.

“He’s definitely a willing player,” Gernander said.  “He’s not shy to compete and battle for loose pucks and do things of that nature.  It’s just going to be a little bit of an adjustment period, and he is a little bit behind the curve from a development standpoint, in that some of these guys have been playing pro hockey for years upon years, and he’s a young kid coming right out of Junior.  So it’ll take him some time to get acclimated.”

That is fine with McColgan, who is not about to get impatient with his own personal developmental curve.

“For now I’m just going to learn as much as I can,” he said, “and probably come back next year with Kelowna and have a good season there and come as a 20-year-old here (the AHL) and play like I can.  And that’s when it really starts.”

McColgan began his pro tenure at the same time as another 19-year-old former Ranger draftee up from the Junior ranks, fellow forward Christian Thomas.  And though Thomas is a Canadian and played his Junior hockey in the Ontario League, McColgan reports that he and Thomas have formed some good chemistry since arriving simultaneously in Connecticut.

“Me and him are rooming together for the time that we’re here and we’re bonding pretty well,” McColgan said of Thomas.  “And obviously he plays in the OHL, they’re a little different leagues, but he’s definitely a great player, he has one of the best shots I’ve probably ever seen.  I can see him on the same line as me, for sure, in the future.”

That would undoubtedly be just fine with the Rangers, who have as good a “home-grown”, internally-developed character to their roster these days as any team in the NHL.

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HARTFORD, April 19, 2012:  Whalers Sports and Entertainment announced today that former New England Whaler, and long-time Simsbury, CT resident, Garry Swain has been named Director of Corporate Partnerships for the company.

Swain has been employed by WSE for the past year, serving as both a sales associate and radio color commentator.  In his new role he will oversee all sales and sponsorship activities for WSE.

Swain, a first-round draft pick of the NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins in 1968 and a veteran of three seasons with the WHA’s Whalers, brings years of business experience to Whalers Sports and Entertainment. He has previously worked with a number of local Hartford-area businesses in leadership positions, and has also managed his own real estate development business.

According to Mark Willand, WSE Senior Vice President of Business Operations, “Garry has been a great asset to the organization in 2011-2012, leveraging his many relationships in the Hartford community to expand our community relations and sponsorship efforts.  Examples of his efforts include:  Aetna, who sponsors the Whale’s Amateur Hockey program, and Cigna, who sponsored our  ‘Hockey in the Streets’ program.”

Added WSE President and COO, Howard Baldwin, Jr., “It’s great to have a former Whalers player in this critically important position. Garry’s combination of hockey experience, extensive business relationships and sales acumen make him the perfect person for this role.”

Swain also serves as a color commentator alongside Bob Crawford for Whale broadcasts on both 106.9 WCCC-FM’s “Rockin’ Hockey” and on television broadcasts aired by CPTV Sports.

The Whale host the Bridgeport Sound Tigers in Game Three of their first-round Calder Cup playoff series Sunday at the XL Center (5:00 PM faceoff).

Tickets to Game Three at the XL Center are on sale now at the Public Power Ticket Office at the XL Center, as well as on-line at www.ctwhale.com and through TicketMaster Charge-by-phone at 1-800-745-3000.

Playoff ticket packages are also available that include tickets to all possible home playoff games.  To speak to a Whale account executive about a playoff ticket package, call (860) 728-3366.  More information is available at www.ctwhale.com.

Follow Ian on Twitter @soxanddawgs. And be sure to like us on Facebook as well.