HARTFORD, March 17, 2011:  Connecticut Whale general manager Jim Schoenfeld announced today that the parent New York Rangers have reassigned defenseman Lee Baldwin from the Whale to the team’s ECHL affiliate, the Greenville Road Warriors.

Baldwin, a rookie out of the University of Alaska-Anchorage, has skated in 21 games for the Whale this season and is scoreless, with 17 penalty minutes and 13 shots on goal.  In 18 ECHL games earlier this year with the Road Warriors, Baldwin, who signed with the Rangers as a free agent March 22, 2010, had one goal and five assists for six points, along with six PIM.

The Whale’s next action is tomorrow night, Friday, March 18, a visit to Manchester to take on the Atlantic Division-leading Monarchs (7:00 PM faceoff, WTIC HD-2, www.ctwhale.com, www.wtic.com).  The next home game for the club is this Saturday night, March 19, as the arch-rival Providence Bruins visit the XL Center for a 7:00 game.  Click It or Ticket will be giving away 3,000 bobbleheads of Whale mascot Pucky at this game, and Saturday will also feature the first annual “Guns and Hoses Cup”, as police and fire department personnel from numerous different Connecticut localities battle it out before the Whale-Bruins game.  The police-fire game faces off at 4:30, and tickets can be purchased at CTHeroescup.com for $20, with half of that going to benefit the Muscular Dystrophy Association.  Tickets for the benefit game are also good for the Whale-Bruins game, and Whale season seat-holders can receive free admission to the police-fire game by presenting their season ticket at the gate.

Tickets for all 2010-11 Whale home games are available now at the XL Center box office, through Ticketmaster Charge-by-Phone at 1-800-745-3000 and on-line at www.ctwhale.com.  Tickets start at $7 each at the XL Center ticket office on game day.

For information on Whale ticket packages, group sales and VIP packages, call (860) 728-3366.

By Bruce Berlet

Their similarities are almost eerie.

Both grew up learning to skate and play hockey in Ontario, Canada.

Both played for winning teams in Triple-A and the Ontario Hockey League.

Both played for three OHL teams and stayed with the same family when they started with the Barrie Colts.

Both went undrafted by NHL teams and signed free-agent AHL contracts with the Hartford-based Wolf Pack and Connecticut Whale.

Both started their pro career in the ECHL and got their first call-up to the AHL because of injuries.

Both worked out together two summers ago with elite skating coach Darryl Belfry in St. Catharines, Ontario.

Both shoot right-handed and play defense.

Both now wear No. 5.

Eerie, indeed.

But Blake Parlett is only 12 games into his first AHL stint with the Whale earning about $60,000. Dan Girardi is part of the Rangers’ No. 1 defensive pairing with Marc Staal, the team’s first-round pick (12^th overall) in 2005, and signed a four-year, $13.3-million contract on July 10.

When asked about someday getting a similar contract as Girardi, Parlett smiled and said, “I wouldn’t mind that.”

To continue reading, click on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.

But for now, Parlett is happy to try to continue to climb the hockey ladder as part of the Whale’s No. 2 defensive pairing with Pavel Valentenko.

“Valentenko is a big defenseman who likes to block shots, move the puck and finish checks, and I think they complement each other very well,” said Whale assistant coach J.J. Daigneault, who works with the defense.

Parlett signed an AHL contract on July 27 and was named an ECHL All-Star before being called up by the Whale on Feb. 17. At the time, he was ECHL’s top scoring defensemen with seven goals and 24 assists in 46 games with the Greenville Road Warriors, the ECHL’s No. 1 team at the time.

After a feeling-out period the first few weeks, Parlett has made quite a strong first impression on both ends of the ice, especially when he went to the net and deflected in Kris Newbury’s shot for his first AHL goal with only 27.5 seconds left in overtime to give the Whale a 2-1 victory at Springfield on March 5.

Even veteran defenseman Wade Redden sees similarities to Girardi, whom he played with for two seasons on Broadway.

“Being poised with the puck is the big thing for him,” Redden said Wednesday after practice at the XL Center in Hartford. “He’s strong, can play in traffic, make plays when the pressure is on and skates well, too, so he kind of creates space for himself. And he sees plays, like in Springfield, and reads the ice when he’s got the puck. I definitely think that’s some guys’ strengths. He came in here undrafted and had a pretty good junior career, and you’ve seen a few guys like that just seem to play their game wherever they go and do well.

“Girardi is another guy who didn’t get drafted probably because he’d been injured a lot, but I think they just come in with poise and play smart and hard. That’s a big part of it, especially at the pro level. It’s one of those things where he’s not drafted and they had a lot of defensemen here, so he wanted to prove himself (at Greenville) and is doing a good job here.”

Daigneault said Parlett has one of the biggest assets for a defenseman, being a good passer.

“A good defenseman has to be able to move the puck, whether it’s in transition, regrouping, breaking out or making plays under pressure,” said Daigneault, known for such talents in his 16-year NHL career. “He does all those things, and those are often skills that I try to polish in young defensemen who come here. If you have a kid who shows up and has that element in his game, it’s a good plus.”

“It was good for Parlett to play (in Greenville) because when we had some injuries and were looking to call up a defenseman, we had (Lee) Baldwin, (Sam) Klassen and (Trevor) Glass who also were available,” Daigneault said. “But when I looked at the statistics, I said, ‘If we had nobody who is signed in the AHL, nobody who is Rangers property, and we’re looking for a defenseman, who do we go after?’ Well, we go after the leading scorer who is 21 years old and is our property.

“There are a few things in his game that we’ll have to improve, like his defensive side, but that’s just a tweak. He had to adjust to the AHL level, and he’s adjusting well with seven points in the last (six) games, and his physicality is better. For me, it’s a matter of giving him more and more responsibility as he goes along. He’s still feeling his way, but he’s very promising. He reminds me of Girardi in his passing, but I think (Parlett) has more offensive upside. Danny was a good quarterback, and Blake’s shot is probably not as good as Dan. But I worked with Blake on it (Wednesday), so his shot will improve. He also has very good mobility defending the rush and maintains good defensive position, but I talk to him every game about elevating his game. He has to be better every game.”

When Parlett arrived in Hartford, he only played 5-on-5 but is now also on the second power-play unit and just started helping on the penalty kill. Parlett said the added responsibility has helped with his adjustment to the AHL and boosted his confidence. He had his first multiple-point game with three assists in a 5-4 loss at Worcester on Sunday, giving him a point in five of the last six games after being held off the scoresheet in his first six games.

“Coming in, I’d never played a regular-season game at this level, so I obviously knew the speed was going to be a lot faster and the guys were going to be bigger and stronger,” Parlett said. “My first two games, I just tried to get a feel for it, keep my game simple and just try to improve each game went on. As time went on, the coaches kept showing confidence in me by letting me play my style of game and giving me the opportunity to play on the power play, so that was a pretty positive thing and big for me.”

Parlett said the first three games he felt “a bit off” trying to get used to the speed of the game and the transition. But after six games, he felt he was getting adapted because he had felt better and more confident with the puck with each passing game.

“Around the seventh game I really started to play the way I know I can,” Parlett said.

Coach Ken Gernander also has liked what he has seen after watching Parlett play in the prospects tournament in September in Traverse City, Mich., and then in training camp.

“I like the way he moves the puck, and he’s a strong skater, so that’s always helpful when you’re defending and can close the gap and take away time and space,” Gernander said. “He’s really poised with the puck; he doesn’t just throw it away, which is part of being a good player. And he makes plays that make a difference in the course of a game.

“I knew some of his assets, but how well they translate to this level of play remains to be seen, but I think he has showed himself well.”

Parlett, who has one goal, six assists and is plus-4 in 12 games, said he feels his assets are what others have seen: good first pass, sees the ice well, knows when to jump into the play at the right time.

Parlett smiled when told of his comparison to Girardi, starting with staying with the family in juniors to their joint work with Belfry, who specializes in all phases of on-ice training, including power skating and stick-handling. Parlett has worked with Belfry the last two summers, while Girardi joined some other NHL players in private lessons last year.

Parlett began his quest for the NHL at age 3 in Bracebridge, Ontario, skating with his older sister, Brittney, who was a figure skater. He got into power skating at 6 and started playing in the town league a year later before joining an all-star travel team. He began a four-year stint in Triple-A hockey at 11 on an Indian reservation, North Central Ontario, and helped the team finish fourth, first and second in the Ontario Minor Hockey playoffs his last three seasons.

Parlett then played one season with the Huntsville-Muskoka Otters Junior A team in 2004-05 and was named to Team Ontario for the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge. He was a first-round pick (15^th overall) of Barrie in the 2007 OHL prior draft and helped the Colts to the third round of the OHL playoffs. On Jan. 3, 2007, Parlett was traded to the Windsor Spitfires and was eligible for the NHL draft but went unclaimed. A year later, he was traded to the Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors, where he played for 21/2 seasons before signing with the Wolf Pack.

So what does he need to get to Girardi’s level?

“Improve my defensive play,” Parlett said. “I ‘puck-watch’ a little too much. And I have to learn to close the gap better with the forwards in the neutral zone.”

One step a time, as Dan Girardi knows all too well.

WHALE PLAY TWO AT HOME AFTER VISIT TO MANCHESTER

After four days off, the Whale (33-26-2-6) return to action Friday night when they visit the Atlantic Division-leading Manchester Monarchs, who hosted the Springfield Falcons on Wednesday night and have been the Whale’s biggest nemesis this season. The Whale is 1-5-0-2 against the Monarchs, their only victory being 5-1 at the XL Center on Dec. 11. The Whale has lost their three previous visits to the Verizon Wireless Center by a goal, the last on Dec. 21 in a shootout. The Whale also lost twice to the Monarchs at home by a goal, with a third loss being by two goals with an empty-netter.

After the final meeting with the Monarchs, the Whale will play eight of their last 12 games at home, starting Saturday night against the Providence Bruins (30-32-3-2), who have lost two in a row after four consecutive victories to fall nine points out of a playoff spot. The Whale is 4-2-0-1 against the Bruins but lost the last meeting 5-4 in a shootout in the outdoor Harvest-Properties.com Whale Bowl game at Rentschler Field in East Hartford on Feb. 19. Maxime Sauve got the winning shootout goal after scoring early in the game. He also had two goals in each of the Bruins’ two wins.

Before the game, the first “Guns & Hoses Cup” between police and fire departments from the Greater Hartford area will be played at 4:30 p.m. to benefit the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

“Many of the gentlemen who are going to be playing in the event have been playing hockey for several years, and to play on the XL Center ice surface is really going to be a treat for a lot of these guys,” said East Hartford firefighter Tim George, who has been the driving force behind organizing the event with the Whale. “I think that’s one of the reasons why there is such a draw for people to participate in the event.

“And for it to be more than just a bunch of 40-year-old kids that were going to have fun playing on the ice surface, we decided to do it as a charity event, and that’s how we got the MDA involved. Once we found out we could have the opportunity to play on the XL Center ice surface before a Whale game, it just seemed like a natural fit that we would incorporate that into it, as a fundraiser to raise money for a good cause. That’s what we’re all about all the time, trying to take care of people, help our communities and at the same time give back wherever we can.”

The police team will be comprised of players from the police departments of Farmington, led by Police Chief Paul Melanson, Hartford, Middletown, Rockville, Rocky Hill, Newington and West Hartford. The fire team consists predominantly of East Hartford firefighters.

Fans are encouraged to arrive early as pregame festivities include presentation of the Colors by an honor guard, a live performance of the national anthem and a ceremonial puck drop. Following the game, there will be a trophy presentation to the winning team.

Tickets can be purchased at CTHeroescup.com for $20, with half of that going to benefit the Muscular Dystrophy Association. Tickets for the benefit game are good for the Whale-Bruins game, and Whale season seat-holders can receive free admission to the police-fire department game by presenting their season ticket at the gate. And 3,000 lucky fans will receive a bobblehead of Whalers mascot Pucky courtesy of Click It or Ticket.

The Whale will complete the busy weekend on Sunday afternoon with the first of two consecutive games against Springfield (30-32-2-3), which entered the game at Manchester on a season-high, seven-game losing streak (0-6-0-1) since the loss of rugged wings Tom Sestito and former Wolf Pack captain Dane Byers via deals at the trade deadline. The Falcons were seriously challenging for their first playoff berth since 2005 before the recent freefall that has existed since a 4-1 victory over Portland on Feb. 26. Their only point since then came on March in a 2-1 overtime loss to the Whale, who are 4-1-1-1 against Springfield and have won four in a row with three games left in the I-91 series.

The Whale and Falcons also play Wednesday before the first-year Charlotte Checkers, their former ECHL affiliate, make their second XL Center appearance next Friday and the Bridgeport Sound Tigers visit next Saturday to end the homestand. The Whale then plays successive games at Providence on March 27 and April 1.

HOCKEY MINISTRIES NIGHT AT WHALE GAME

Hockey Ministries International Northeast is sponsoring 2011 Faith & Family Night at the game against Charlotte. Upper bowl seats are $10, and Scarlet Fade will perform a postgame concert.

To order tickets, contact AHL Chapel Coordinator Rick Mitera at 860-817-6440 or rmitera@hockeyministries.org. When someone buys a ticket through Hockey Ministries, they receive a $2 coupon for parking. For more information on Hockey Ministries, visit www.hockeyministriesnortheast.org.

WHALE TO HONOR HOWE FAMILY ON MARCH 26

The Whale will host “Howe Family Night” when Bridgeport visits on March 26. The No. 9 of “Mr. Hockey,” one of seven numbers in the XL Center rafters, will be lowered and then raised and re-retired as he and his sons, Mark and Marty, whom he played with for seven seasons in Houston and Hartford, look on. The matriarch of the family, Colleen Howe, who died in 2009, will be honored.

A new banner saluting the Howes, hockey’s first family, will also be raised to the rafters and area fans will be able to salute the Howe clan for their contributions to hockey in general and the Hartford market in particular.

“In a lot of ways, Gordie Howe really put Hartford on the hockey map,” Whalers Sports and Entertainment president and COO Howard Baldwin Jr. said. “He brought true greatness to the city and helped usher the Whalers into the NHL. We feel that now is the perfect time to honor him and his legendary family with so many great things going on with the Whale, the Harvest-Properties.com Whalers Hockey Fest having been such a momentous event, and so much excitement around hockey in Connecticut right now.”

Prior to the game, fans can meet Gordie and get a personalized autographed book and photo by purchasing a copy of the colorful 185-page book “Howe No. 9.” The book sells for $70, and he will be signing copies starting at 5:30 p.m. in the XL Center atrium. In addition, the first 2,000 fans will receive a free commemorative 36-page Gordie Howe tribute program full of color photos and stories.

Howe’s No. 9 is in the rafters with the Whalers’ No. 2 (Rick Ley), 5 (Ulf Samuelsson), 10 (Ron Francis), 11 (Kevin Dineen) and 19 (John McKenzie). Gernander’s No. 12 is the only number to be retired in the 14-year history of the AHL team.

“I think the next test of this market will be on Howe Family Night,” Baldwin Jr. said. “People should come out and show Gordie the respect that he deserves. It’s one of the biggest nights of the season, and I agree with (Hartford Courant sports columnist) Jeff Jacobs that it’s the time when the tire meets the road. It’s a big game on our schedule, and we don’t have a lot of games left. I’d be very disappointed if we didn’t have 10,000 people.”

The Howes played together for the first time with the Houston Aeros in 1973 before coming to Hartford and signing with the World Hockey Association’s New England Whalers in 1977. Howe ended his legendary 32-year career in the Whalers’ first NHL season (1979-80), when he had 15 goals and 26 assists and was named a NHL All-Star for the 23^rd time while helping the Whalers make the playoffs at 52 years old.

Tickets for all Whale games are available at the XL Center box office, through Ticketmaster Charge-by-Phone at 1-800-745-3000 and on-line at www.ctwhale.com. Tickets start at $7 at the XL Center ticket office on game day. Fans who did not attend the Whale’s game against Providence at Rentschler Field in East Hartford because of the frigid weather can redeem their tickets for one to “Howe Family Night” or another game of their choice. If fans want to redeem a ticket, they should contact Whalers Sports and Entertainment president and COO Howard Baldwin Jr. at hlb@whalerssports.com.

FIRST TEE OF CONNECTICUT DAY ON APRIL 3

The Whale will host First Tee of Connecticut Day on April 3, when the Portland Pirates are at the XL Center at 3 p.m.

Level 200 tickets are $12, with the First Tee of Connecticut receiving $5 from each ticket sold. To purchase tickets and help local youngsters interested in improving their golf game and life skills, contact Nick Criscuolo at 860-728-3366 or ncriscuolo@whalerssports.com.

FORMER WOLF PACK WISEMAN NAMED AHL PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Former Hartford Wolf Pack wing Chad Wiseman of the Albany Devils was named Reebok/AHL Player of the Week for scoring six goals in helping the Devils win four games and etching his name in the AHL record book.

Wiseman’s week began with a stunning four goals in the final 9:35 of the game, including the winner with 31.6 seconds left, in a 5-4 Devils win over the Sound Tigers Wednesday. The four goals in one period tied an AHL record, accomplished by only six other players in the league’s 75-year history but the first since Cape Breton’s Ralph Intranuovo against Saint John in the first period of a game on April 16, 1996. Wiseman had one goal in a 2-1 win at Adirondack on Friday night and capped the week with the winner in a 4-1 victory over Syracuse on Sunday.

Wiseman, whose six-goal week matched his previous output for the season, has 12 goals and 20 assists for 32 points in 37 games this season. A 10th-year pro from Burlington, Ont., Wiseman has 159 goals and 228 assists in 519 career AHL games with Albany/Lowell, Springfield, Hershey, Hartford and Cleveland. The former draft pick of the San Jose Sharks has also appeared in nine career NHL games with San Jose and the Rangers.

The Whale nominated center Kris Newbury, who had four goals and three assists in four games to extend his points streak to six games (five goals, five assists) since returning from his fourth stint with the Rangers. Other nominees included Sound Tigers center Jeremy Colliton, former Wolf Pack defenseman and captain Andrew Hutchinson (Wilkes-Barre/Scranton) and South Windsor native Jon DiSalvatore (Houston). DiSalvatore was part of a six-goal third period that lifted Houston to a 6-3 victory over Manitoba and has helped the Aeros move into a tie for first in the West Division with Milwaukee, which had three games in hand entering Wednesday night’s game at San Antonio. The Aeros captain had two goals and an assist as Houston set a team record for goals in a period this season. Patrick O’Sullivan got the Aeros tied at 1 only 20 seconds into the third period before DiSalvatore took over and got one of two empty-net goals in the final seconds. He has 14 goals and 15 assists in 26 games since O’Sullivan joined the Aeros on Jan. 15. His 22 goals tie his career high, achieved four previous times (2003-04, 2004-05, 2005-06, 2007-08).

KREIDER RATED TOP RANGERS PROSPECT

Boston College right wing Chris Kreider was ranked the New York Rangers’ top prospect in The Hockey News Future Watch. The Rangers are ranked 12^th with a B among the 30 NHL teams. The rankings are based on prospects who are 21 and under, as well as a handicapping system that takes into account average draft rank of the team’s first pick in each of the last four years.

Kreider, the Rangers’ first-round pick (19^th overall) in 2009, led the Eagles to the NCAA title last year with a 5-0 victory over the University of Wisconsin, whose top players were Rangers center Derek Stepan and defenseman Ryan McDonagh, was rated third by The Hockey News. Kreider had 11 goals and 12 assists in 31 games and was MVP of the Beanpot Tournament before sustaining a broken jaw when hit in the face by a clearing pass by teammate Brian Gibbons in a 4-0 victory over the University of New Hampshire on March 4. Despite being without their best player, the Eagles advanced to a Hockey East semifinal matchup against Northeastern on Friday night at the TD Garden in Boston. New Hampshire plays Merrimack in the second semifinal.

Rugged defenseman Dylan McIlrath, the Rangers’ first-round pick (10^th overall) in 2010 now playing for Moose Jaw of the Western Hockey League, is ranked second and McDonagh third. Right wing Christian Thomas, the Rangers’ second-round pick in 2010 from Oshawa of the Ontario Hockey League, is rated fourth, followed by Whale wing Evgeny Grachev, center Ethan Werek (Kingston-OHL), Whale right wing Dale Weise, right wing Jesper Fasth (Sweden), left wing Ryan Bourque (Quebec-Quebec Major Junior Hockey League) and left wing Roman Horak (Chilliwack-OHL). Bourque is the son of Hockey Hall of Famer Ray Bourque.

Rangers center Derek Stepan and Whale defenseman Michael Del Zotto, Tomas Kundratek and Pavel Valentenko also could be included among the top 10, and former Wolf Pack players Ryan Callahan, Brandon Dubinsky, Artem Anisimov and Mats Zuccarello are all under 25 and coveted young players.

Thomas, the first Rangers draftee since former Wolf Pack wing Ryan Callahan to score 50 goals in an OHL season, was named OHL Player of the Week for the second time this season. Thomas, the son of former NHL standout Steve Thomas, had six goals, including his 50^th of the season, and three assists in three games. Thomas, who leads the OHL with 54 goals, is one of only two 50-goal scorers this season. In reaching 50 goals, Thomas and his father became the first father-son tandem in OHL history to achieve the milestone. Steve Thomas, who scored 421 goals with six NHL teams, had 51 goals with the OHL’s Toronto Marlboros in 1983-84.

Larry Brooks of the New York Post reported Wednesday that Michigan senior left wing Carl Hagelin will sign with the Rangers and report to the Whale when the Wolverines’ season ends.

Hagelin, a sixth-round pick in 2007, will become eligible for unrestricted free agency if he does not sign with the Rangers by Aug. 15, but that’s apparently not the intention of the 5-foot-11, 176-pound Swede.

Michigan, ranked fourth in the country behind North Dakota, Boston College and Yale, faces Western Michigan in the CCHA semifinals at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit on Friday. The NCAA regionals are the following weekend, and the Frozen Four is April 7-9 in St. Paul, Minn. The Whale regular season ends. April 10.

The 22-year-old Hagelin, who has 17 goals and 30 assists in 38 games, is among the three finalists for the CCHA Player of the Year.

HARTFORD, March 16, 2011:  Whalers Sports & Entertainment announced today that the Connecticut Whale’s home game this Saturday, March 19 at the XL Center will be preceded by the first annual “Guns & Hoses Cup”, to benefit the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA).

The Guns and Hoses Cup will feature personnel from numerous Connecticut police and fire departments taking to the ice against each other, with faceoff at 4:30 PM.  The Whale and the Providence Bruins do battle in AHL action at 7:00 PM on March 19.

“Many of the gentlemen who are going to be playing in the event have been playing hockey for several years, and to play on the XL Center ice surface is really going to be a treat for a lot of these guys,” said East Hartford firefighter Tim George, who has been the driving force behind organizing the event with the Whale.  “I think that’s one of the reasons why there is such a draw for people to participate in the event.

“And for it to be more than just a bunch of 40-year-old kids that were going to have fun playing on the ice surface, we decided to do it as a charity event, and that’s how we got the MDA involved.  Once we found out we could have the opportunity to play on the XL Center ice surface before a Whale game, it just seemed like a natural fit that we would incorporate that into it, as a fund-raiser to raise money for a good cause.  That’s what we’re all about all the time, trying to take care of people, help our communities and at the same time give back wherever we can.”

The police team will be comprised of players from the police departments of Farmington (led by Police Chief Paul Melanson), Hartford, Middletown, Rockville, Rocky Hill, Newington and West Hartford.  The fire team consists predominantly of East Hartford firefighters.

Tickets for the Guns & Hoses Cup can be purchased on-line at www.CTHeroescup.com for $20 each, and 50% of that goes to benefit MDA.  Those benefit tickets also include admission to the Whale/P-Bruins game.  Whale season seat-holders can receive free admission to the police-fire game by presenting their Whale season ticket at the gate.

Fans are encouraged to arrive early for the Guns & Hoses Cup game, as pregame festivities include presentation of the Colors by an honor guard, a live performance of the National Anthem and a ceremonial puck drop.  Following the game there will be a trophy presentation to the winning team.

Tickets for all 2010-11 Whale home games are available now at the XL Center box office, through Ticketmaster Charge-by-Phone at 1-800-745-3000 and on-line at www.ctwhale.com.  Tickets start at $7 each at the XL Center ticket office on game day.

For information on Whale ticket packages, group sales and VIP packages, call (860) 728-3366.

HARTFORD, March 3, 2011: Whalers Sports and Entertainment president and COO Howard Baldwin Jr. announced today that the Connecticut Whale’s home game Saturday, March 26 at the XL Center will feature a “Howe Family Night” celebration, honoring the great Gordie Howe, his sons, Marty and Mark, and late wife, Colleen.  The Whale take on the Bridgeport Sound Tigers that night in a 7:00 PM GEICO Connecticut Cup game.

A new banner saluting the Howes, “hockey’s first family”, will be raised to the XL Center rafters, and area hockey fans will have an opportunity to salute the entire Howe clan for their contributions to hockey in the Hartford market.

“In a lot of ways, Gordie Howe really put Hartford on the hockey map,” Baldwin said.  “He brought true greatness to the city, and helped usher the Whalers into the NHL.  We feel that now is the perfect time to honor him and his legendary family, with so many great things going on with the Whale, the Harvest-Properties.com Whalers Hockey Fest having been such a momentous event, and so much excitement around hockey in Connecticut right now.”

Prior to the game, fans can meet Gordie, and get a personalized autographed book and photo, by purchasing a copy of  the colorful 185-page book “Howe #9”.   The book sells for $70 and he will begin signing copies at 5:30 PM in the XL Center atrium.  In addition, the first 2000 fans in attendance will receive a free commemorative 36-page Gordie Howe tribute program, loaded with full color photos and stories.

To continue reading, click on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.

Gordie Howe, the NHL’s all-time leader in seasons-played (26) and games-played (1,767) and second all-time leading goal-scorer (801), joined the WHA’s New England Whalers in June of 1977, along with Marty and Mark, with whom he had been playing with the Houston Aeros.  Gordie skated for the Whalers in their final two WHA seasons, 1977-78 and 1978-79, totaling 53 goals, 86 assists, 139 points and 136 penalty minutes.  He then brought down the curtain on his brilliant career with a 15-goal, 41-point performance in 80 games with the Whalers in their first NHL season, 1979-80.

Mark Howe played 929 NHL games, and another 426 in the WHA, in a 22-year pro career that spanned from the 1973-74 season through 1994-95.  Playing both forward and defense, Mark amassed NHL totals of 197 goals and 545 assists for 742 points, along with 455 penalty minutes, in 929 games with the Whalers, Philadelphia and Detroit.  In his Hartford tenure, in 213 career NHL games, Mark totaled 51 goals and 147 assists for 198 points and had 92 penalty minutes.  In 147 total WHA games with the Whalers, he scored 72 goals and added 126 assists for 198 points and served 64 minutes in penalties.

Marty Howe, a defenseman, played 141 total WHA games with the Whalers in 1977-78 and 1978-79, scoring 19 goals and adding 25 assists for 44 points while serving 97 minutes in penalties.  He remained with the Whaler organization through the 1984-85 season, logging 197 NHL games, in which he scored a total of 31 points, two goals and 29 assists, and had 99 PIM.

Colleen Howe, who passed away in 2009, was married to Gordie for 56 years and was the matriarch behind all of the family’s countless hockey accomplishments.  A keen hockey and business mind in her own right, Colleen was inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame in recognition of her tireless work in youth hockey and other humanitarian efforts.  Colleen handled all of the family’s business affairs, including the negotiation of Gordie’s Whaler contracts and his personal endorsements.

Tickets for the March 26 game, and all 2010-11 Whale home games, are available now at the XL Center box office, through Ticketmaster Charge-by-Phone at 1-800-745-3000 and on-line at www.ctwhale.com.  Tickets start at $7 each at the XL Center ticket office on game day.

Fans who did not attend the Whale’s Harvest-Properties.com Whale Bowl game against Providence at Rentschler Field in East Hartford because of the weather can redeem their tickets for one to “Howe Family Night” or another game of their choice. If fans want to redeem a ticket, they should contact Baldwin at hlb@whalerssports.com.

For information on Whale ticket packages, group sales and VIP packages, call (860) 728-3366.

Worcester, MA, March 13, 2011 – A third-period Connecticut Whale comeback fell just short Sunday at the DCU Center, and the Worcester Sharks held on for a 5-4 win to move back into a third-place tie with the Whale in the Atlantic Division standings.

Trailing 5-2 in the third, the Whale scored twice in the final 5:23, but could not manage an equalizer and saw a five-game winning streak in the season series against Worcester come to an end.  The two teams are deadlocked at 74 points with 13 games left in their respective seasons and their eight-game season series complete.

John McCarthy scored a pair of goals, his first two AHL goals of the season, to lead the Sharks, who earned a split of a home-and-home series with the Whale after losing 4-2 at the XL Center on Saturday night.  Worcester also got goals from Dan DaSilva, Tommy Wingels and Kevin Henderson, who had the game-winner early in the third.  Carter Hutton made 29 saves in his first appearance of the year against the Whale.  Kris Newbury, Brodie Dupont and Kelsey Tessier had a goal and an assist each for Connecticut, and Jeremy Williams upped his Whale-leading goal total to 28 with his third goal in two games.  Rookie defenseman Blake Parlett had his first career multiple-point game in the AHL with three assists.

Worcester opened the scoring at 5:29 of the first period, on DaSilva’s 14^th goal of the season.

Michael Swift pounced on a Whale turnover just outside the Connecticut blue line and moved left to right across the slot before feeding DaSilva, who fired a shot from the right faceoff dot past the glove of Whale goaltender Cam Talbot (24 saves).

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A major swing occurred about seven minutes later, when the Whale appeared to have tied the game at 12:19, with Francis Lemieux poking the puck past Hutton, but not only was the goal disallowed, Lemieux was also called for a high-sticking penalty, and Worcester scored only seven seconds into the resulting power play.

That goal was scored by Wingels, who had both Shark goals in Saturday night’s game.  Jamie McGinn sent the puck to Wingels between the circles and Wingels beat Talbot with a snap shot to the stick side.

The Whale narrowly missed going down 3-0 with about two minutes left in the first, when Talbot stopped DaSilva on a breakaway with a left-pad save.

The Sharks were able to extend the lead just 1:19 into the second, though, on a shorthanded goal by McCarthy, just the third shorthander given up by the Whale in 67 games on the season.  Williams had the puck trickle away from him at the left point, and McCarthy broke two-on-one with McGinn.  Using McGinn as a decoy, McCarthy unloaded a shot off of right wing that went underneath Talbot’s stick-side arm.  The goal was McCarthy’s first in 12 AHL games on the season.

Connecticut finally got on the scoreboard at 11:29 of the second, with Newbury getting his 14^th goal of the year and his fifth in the last six games.  Hutton made a pair of saves, and had a teammate bat the puck out of the air from in behind him, but couldn’t stop Newbury’s shot from the top of the circles, off of a pass from Tessier.

The Whale then got a shorthanded goal of their own at 17:04, as Newbury and Dupont broke in on a two-on-one.  Newbury passed to Dupont in the right circle, and even though Dupont didn’t get all of the shot, he still had enough room to get it by Hutton on the glove side.

The Sharks got that one back, however, just 1:55 later on McCarthy’s second of the game.  McCarthy took a pass from Sean Sullivan and circled the net, coming out to Talbot’s right.  McCarthy jammed the puck toward the crease, and it found its way past Talbot for a 4-2 Worcester lead.

Worcester gave itself a three-goal cushion only 1:49 into the third period, as T.J. Trevelyan won an offensive zone faceoff from Lemieux and Matt Irwin’s shot from the right point was deflected in by Henderson.

While that looked like it was going to be an insurance goal, it turned out to be the game-winner when Tessier and Williams scored 3:11 apart, starting at the 14:37 mark.

Connecticut cut the lead to 5-3 when Parlett brought the puck down right wing in the Worcester zone and centered it across the slot, and Tessier, who had been knocked down hard at the far side of the net, reached out with his stick while down on the ice and slid the puck into the goal.

That tally, Tessier’s eighth of the season, was followed at 17:48 by Williams’ goal, which came as a result of Tomas Kundratek finding Williams unguarded in front of Hutton.  Williams backpedaled to about 15 feet from the net and snapped the puck into the top corner over Hutton’s catching glove.

The Whale ended up with a 12-6 shots on goal in the third period, and a 33-29 edge for the game, but could not solve Hutton again, finishing the season series against the Sharks 5-2-0-1.  The loss was only the Whale’s fifth all-time regular-season regulation defeat in Worcester against the Sharks, in 21 total visits (14-5-0-2).  The Whale also had a three-game road winning streak, and a five-game win streak against Atlantic Division teams, snapped in the loss.

RARE DAILY DOUBLE FOR RANGERS ORGANIZATION

It’s not often the major-league team and top affiliate of two organizations face off in the same night, but that’s what happened Saturday with the New York Rangers and San Jose Sharks.

And the Rangers organization emerged with a much-needed daily double in a pair of tight playoff races.

First, the Whale grinded out a come-from-behind 4-2 victory over the Worcester Sharks behind two goals from All-Star right wing Williams, back after missing four games with an injury, steady goaltending from Dov Grumet-Morris and a successful, stand-up-for a-teammate fight by defenseman Jared Nightingale in the second period that turned the momentum of the game. The win helped ease the pain of a 2-1 loss to the two-time defending Calder Cup champion Hershey Bears the previous night.

About an hour after Dale Weise’s empty-net goal finished off Worcester, the Rangers set out to try to atone for a disappointing 5-2 loss in Anaheim on Tuesday night in the start of a two-game West Coast road trip. They responded with one of their most important victories of the season, a 3-2 shootout decision over the San Jose Sharks.

Henrik Lundqvist made 31 saves in regulation and overtime, including all 12 shots he faced in the third period, and then was 5-for-6 in the shootout. Former Hartford Wolf Pack forward Brandon Dubinsky scored the winner after Wojtek Wolski extended the shootout by beating Sharks goalie Antti Niemi in the third round with the Rangers on the verge of losing the game.

“It was huge how we responded after that game on Wednesday,” said Lundqvist, who made his 14^th consecutive start. “We needed to play well, but more importantly, we needed the points. And we got both. This was such an important win for us.”

The victory vaulted the Rangers past the Buffalo Sabres, who lost 4-3 to the Toronto Maple Leafs earlier in the evening, and back into seventh place in the Eastern Conference with 76 points. The Rangers are now 11-4 in overtime and 8-2 in games decided by the shootout, thanks largely to Lundqvist.

Erik Christensen and former Wolf Pack defenseman Michael Sauer scored for the Rangers in regulation.

“We knew how big it was with the other teams that lost tonight and where we’re at in the standings,” Dubinsky said. “It was a huge two points. We understood that we had to get back to who we are against a much better team in San Jose. We had to be that hard-working team that’s tough to play against, and we did that right from the get-go.”

With a split on the West Coast, the Rangers flew home Sunday and now play four of their next five games at home, starting Tuesday night against the streaking New York Islanders.

The Whale is in a similar situation. They are off for four days before playing at Manchester on Friday night and then having a five-game homestand, starting with games against Providence and Springfield on Saturday night and Sunday afternoon. Then it’s Springfield on March 23, Charlotte on March 25 and Bridgeport on March 26.

A TRIPLEHEADER: TWO GAMES AND PUCKY BOBBLEHEAD

The first Guns & Hoses Game between police and fire departments from Greater Hartford will be played Saturday at 4:30 p.m. before the Whale meets Providence at 7 p.m.

Plus, 3,000 lucky fans will receive a bobblehead of Whale mascot Pucky courtesy of Click It or Ticket.

So arrive early and enjoy a doubleheader of action and get a lasting memento that youngsters will enjoy for years.

HOCKEY MINISTRIES NIGHT AT WHALE GAME

Hockey Ministries International Northeast is sponsoring 2011 Faith & Family Night at the game against Charlotte on March 25. Upper bowl seats are $10, and Scarlet Fade will perform a postgame concert.

To order tickets, contact AHL Chapel Coordinator Rick Mitera at 860-817-6440 or rmitera@hockeyministries.org. When someone buys a ticket through Hockey Ministries, they receive a $2 coupon for parking. For more information on Hockey Ministries, visit www.hockeyministriesnortheast.org.

WHALE TO HONOR HOWE FAMILY ON MARCH 26

The Whale will host “Howe Family Night” on March 26 against Bridgeport. The No. 9 of “Mr. Hockey,” one of seven numbers in the XL Center rafters, will be lowered and then raised and re-retired as he and his sons, Mark and Marty, whom he played with for seven seasons in Houston and Hartford, look on. The matriarch of the family, Colleen Howe, who died in 2009, will be honored.

Howe’s No. 9 is in the rafters with the Whalers’ No. 2 (Rick Ley), 5 (Ulf Samuelsson), 10 (Ron Francis), 11 (Kevin Dineen) and 19 (John McKenzie). Gernander’s No. 12 is the only number to be retired in the 14-year history of the AHL team.

The Howes played together for the first time with the Houston Aeros in 1973 before coming to Hartford and signing with the World Hockey Association’s New England Whalers in 1977. Howe ended his legendary 32-year career in the Whalers’ first NHL season (1979-80), when he had 15 goals and 26 assists and was named an NHL All-Star for the 23^rd time while helping the Whalers make the playoffs at 52 years old.

Fans who did not attend the Whale’s game against Providence at Rentschler Field in East Hartford because of the frigid weather can redeem their tickets for one to “Howe Family Night” or another game of their choice. If fans want to redeem a ticket, they should contact Whalers Sports and Entertainment president and COO Howard Baldwin Jr. at hlb@whalerssports.com.

Connecticut Whale 4 at Worcester Sharks 5
Sunday, March 13, 2011 – DCU Center

Connecticut 0 2 2 – 4
Worcester 2 2 1 – 5

1st Period-1, Worcester, DaSilva 14 (Swift), 5:29. 2, Worcester, Wingels 15 (McGinn, Ferriero), 12:26 (PP). Penalties-Kundratek Ct (holding), 5:56; Schaus Wor (holding), 8:32; Irwin Wor (hooking), 10:15; Lemieux Ct (high-sticking), 12:19.

2nd Period-3, Worcester, McCarthy 1   1:19 (SH). 4, Connecticut, Newbury 14 (Tessier, Parlett), 11:29. 5, Connecticut, Dupont 14 (Newbury, Parlett), 17:04 (SH). 6, Worcester, McCarthy 2 (Davis, Sullivan), 18:59. Penalties-Moore Wor (boarding), 0:19; Kundratek Ct (interference), 3:01; Mitchell Ct (high-sticking), 12:53; Bickel Ct (cross-checking), 16:01.

3rd Period-7, Worcester, Henderson 7 (Irwin, Trevelyan), 1:49. 8, Connecticut, Tessier 8 (Parlett, Dupont), 14:37. 9, Connecticut, Williams 28 (Kundratek, Grachev), 17:48. Penalties-Petrecki Wor (cross-checking), 4:07; Grachev Ct (hooking), 9:16.

Shots on Goal-Connecticut 12-9-12-33. Worcester 10-13-6-29.
Power Play Opportunities-Connecticut 0 / 4; Worcester 1 / 6.
Goalies-Connecticut, Talbot 10-4-2 (29 shots-24 saves). Worcester, Hutton 6-3-2 (33 shots-29 saves).
A-4,247
Referees-Tim Mayer (19).
Linesmen-Todd Whittemore (70), Bob Paquette (18).

By Bruce Berlet

HARTFORD, Conn. – The celebrations started early and often in the Insurance City and throughout the rest of Connecticut and other parts of the world Saturday on St. Patrick’s Day.

Parades, green beer, shamrocks and lots of merriment and Irish music could be found everywhere, and the Connecticut Whale joined the festive mood Saturday night after registering a crucial 4-2 victory over the Worcester Sharks before 8,011 at the XL Center.

All-Star right wing Jeremy Williams, back after missing four games with an injury, scored two goals, including the winner, to back the 21-save effort of Dov Grumet-Morris as the Whale (33-25-2-6) won their fifth game in six starts to move two points ahead of the Sharks (30-24-4-8) in the battle for the third and final guaranteed playoff spot in the Atlantic Division. The win got the Whale even at home (14-14-2-2) compared to 19-11-0-4 on the road, where they will be Sunday afternoon as they visit the DCU Center in Worcester for a rematch with the Sharks.

The Whale is 5-1-0-1 against the Sharks, including a 7-2 drubbing at Worcester last Sunday that tied their season high for goals. Besides being eliminated from the playoffs two years ago, the Hartford Wolf Pack/Whale is 14-4-0-2 at the DCU Center, including 2-0-1 this season. Last Sunday was the Sharks’ second-worst loss at home to the 7-1 beating they got from the Wolf Pack on Dec. 8, 2007.

Williams’ first goal tied the game and was the first of two quick power-play strikes after defenseman Jared Nightingale came to the aid of teammate John Mitchell, who had been pushed to the ice from behind by Nick Petrecki.

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“That’s one of the roles that I think I can bring to this team,” said Nightingale, who became an assistant captain after Tim Kennedy was traded to the Florida Panthers on Feb. 26. “I’ve done it the last two years, and I have no problem doing it. I think there are 19 other guys who would be willing to do the same thing. Sometimes a fight can turn around a game. I’m not going to say that fight turned around the game. I think Dov made some big saves, and we just stuck with it, chipped away and just happened to score after the fight.

“We stuck to the game plan, and after the fight they took some penalties, and our power play won the game for us.”

Williams begged to differ, saying Nightingale’s fight influenced the outcome “big time.”

“Any time you’ve got a guy like Nightie, (Justin Soryal) and (Devin DiDiomete), they can change a game,” Williams said. “Getting a goal or one of our guys getting into a good fight is the same kind of momentum builder. That’s why there’s such a good mix of scoring and toughness. If we’re not scoring, we’ve got guys fighting to get everybody up. Nightie sticks up for Mitchell, and it ignites everybody. Everybody gets a little fired up, and from then on, we were pretty good.”

Grumet-Morris said Nightingale’s effort “had a significant impact on our team.”

“I thought it was the right place, right time,” he said. “Obviously we still maintained our power play because he did initiate a fight that the guy was looking for. I think it gave us a boost, and we obviously scored consecutive power-play goals and that clearly turned the game around.”

It started when defenseman Wade Redden made a terrific play to keep John McCarthy’s clearing attempt in the Sharks zone and got the puck to Williams, who moved into the high slot and fired a 40-foot laser that beat Tyson Sexsmith high to the glove side with 6:40 left.

“It was a pretty heady play,” coach Ken Gernander said of Redden’s effort. “He used his body to block the puck and then have the poise to collar the puck and made a good D-to-D pass when you’re getting forced (by McCarthy).”

Then on the ensuing 5-on-4, Kolarik passed in front to Evgeny Grachev and went to the net to convert the Russian’s rebound for his 21^st goal with 5:58 to go.

Williams wasn’t certain how he would perform after being out for 10 days.

“I was a little unsure how I was going to feel,” said Williams, who increased his team-leading goal total to 27. “It was kind of weird because we were playing so many games that it was tough to get into some practices where it was game-like and some battle drills. I pretty much waited until I had no pain and then (the coaches) skated me to get me into shape.

“I felt pretty good to be out there, though there were still a few things that I’m a little rusty on. There were a couple of shots that I would have blocked on both their goals and the guy gets it by me. But overall, I thought our line (with Kolarik and Francis Lemieux) and our defense played good. Our power play struggled at the start, but we got it back going and got some goals and momentum started coming. We all weren’t really on the same page. We weren’t really sure what we were doing.

“We were a little too individual, myself included, but don’t take away anything from them because they’re neutral zone on their penalty kill is really unique because they take away the outside and collapse on you when you go inside. You have to make good plays, and if you’re not ready and not bearing down, it’s going to look like our first two power plays. So I think it was a matter of shaking the rust off because we hadn’t played together for a while.”

The Whale came out with more zip than at the start of a 2-1 loss to Hershey on Friday night, but the Sharks took the lead on a deft play at 8:07 by Tommy Wingels, who scored both Worcester goals. Nick Schaus’ blueline shot was tipped by Brandon Mashinter and picked up by Wingels, who skated behind the net and flipped a shot that ricocheted off Grumet-Morris and into the net.

“I was trying to find the puck and ‘get big,’ but Wingels saw I was off my post because I couldn’t see,” Grumet-Morris said. “He knew what he was doing. That was a purposeful goal and a very skillful goal.”

Grumet-Morris kept it close through the remainder of the period thanks to a nifty glove save on Benn Ferriero on a 2-on-1 at 11:58 and denying Michael Swift breaking in off left wing with 3:52 left.

Sexsmith had to be especially sharp at the start of the second period when Kris Newbury stole the puck 20 feet in front at 35 seconds and Kolarik had two excellent rebound bids at 1:12.

Off of the confrontation with Nightingale, Petrecki got an extra minor for slashing, and after Williams was stopped breaking in off right wing, Schaus was whistled for slashing, giving the Whale a 5-on-3 power play for 48 seconds and changing the fortunes of the game.

After the Whale scored the two power-play goals, Grumet-Morris kept them ahead when he made a good glove stab on T.J. Trevelyan’s shot from 20 feet in the slot with the Sharks on a power play with 2:11 left in the period.

The Whale then made it 3-1 at 1:34 of the third period as Pavel Valentenko passed ahead to defensive partner Blake Parlett, who threaded the puck between Schaus and Petrecki to Williams for a breakaway and shot that beat Sexsmith high to the glove side.

“I looked up, and (Williams) is the first guy I saw,” said Parlett, who has been a strong addition since being called up from Greenville of the ECHL on Feb. 17. “He made a good play to get open, and there’s no one else I’d rather give the puck to than him.”

But the Sharks quickly retaliated as Wingels converted the rebound of Petrecki’s shot from the left point 3:04.

Sexsmith kept the Sharks in it when he gloved Dale Weise’s bid from the doorstep off Newbury’s setup with 5:40 left. But after the Sharks pulled Sexsmith for a sixth attacker with 1:20 left, Weise made them pay when he took a pass from Brodie Dupont and scored into the empty net with 41.2 seconds to go.

“I thought we had a very strong game defensively,” Grumet-Morris said. “We had only 23 shots against, and we had only (22) against (Friday) night. So the consistency of our defensive corps and our team defense has been really good.”

Gernander thought likewise of Grumet-Morris, who is 7-3-1 with a 2.02 goals-against average and .920 save percentage since being recalled from Greenville of the ECHL.

“It has been his MO of late (to make timely saves,” Gernander said. “Lots of nights it’s not the workload you have, it’s the save at the big moment. It’s not the volume of work.”

But now that they’ve protected their home ice, the Whale has to continue to excel on the road, where they’ve won three in a row and were 7-3-0-0 during a recent stretch in which they played 10 of 12 games away from the XL Center.

“It’s a six-period game, especially with this weekend being a potential eight-point swing,” Williams said. “They’re going to be hungry (Sunday), so we’re really going to have to match that. We’re going into their building, and we build off what we did in the third period.”

Nightingale said it’s “a great opportunity to widen the gap.”

“This is the last time that we play Worcester, so we have to go in with a must-win and playoff attitude and really separate ourselves from them,” Nightingale said.

WILLIAMS, KUNDRATEK RETURN FOR WHALE

Williams and defenseman Tomas Kundratek returned after missing four and 10 games, respectively. Williams was injured when hit from behind by the shoulder of Kyle Neuber during the Whale’s 3-2 victory over the Springfield Falcons on March 2. Kundratek hadn’t played since a 4-1 victory at Providence on Feb. 13.

Williams replaced DiDiomete, and Kundratek replaced Lee Baldwin and was paired with Bickel. The Whale also scratched center Todd White, wing Chris McKelvie  and defensemen Michael Del Zotto and Jyri Niemi.

The Sharks were still minus All-Star right wing Jonathan Cheechoo (18 goals, 29 assists), a 56-goal scorer for the San Jose Sharks in the 2005-06 season who missed his seventh consecutive game because of an ailing back that he’s resting at his home in California. The Sharks also scratched Alex Stalock, Joe Loprieno, Tony Lucia, James Marcou, Jody Pedersen and Cam MacIntyre. …After Sunday’s game, the Whale is off for four days before playing at Manchester on Friday night. They then have a five-game homestand, starting with games against Providence and Springfield on Saturday night and Sunday afternoon. Then it’s Springfield on March 23, Charlotte on March 25 and Bridgeport on March 26. … The Bears’ victory over the Whale on Friday night enabled Mark French to become the coach to reach 100 wins faster than any coach in the AHL’s 75-year history. French reached 100 in only 147 games (100-39-1-7) and is already the 10^th Bears coach to achieve the plateau in less than two seasons. The Bears (40-22-1-4) also reached the 40-win mark for the sixth consecutive season, extending the longest stretch of 40-win seasons in the team’s 73-year AHL history. They have reached 40 wins in every season of an affiliation with the Washington Capitals that began in 2005-06. Hershey’s 3-2 overtime victory over Adirondack on Saturday night moved French within one victory of former Bears and current Capitals’ coach Bruce Boudreau (102-45-11-11) on the team’s all-time wins list. … In a trade that was technically a reassignment, goalie Jared DeMichiel of Avon, who signed an AHL contract with the Bears on July 15 after leading upstart Rochester Institute of Technology to the Frozen Four for the first time last year, was sent from South Carolina to Elmira for the rights to forward Brock McBride, currently with the AHL’s Milwaukee Admirals. DeMichiel, the Atlantic Hockey Association goaltender of the year and NCAA East Regional Most Outstanding Player in 2010, was 2-1-0 with a 3.65 goals-against average and .873 save percentage in five games with the Bears and 14-10-0, 2.66, .913 with one shutout in 26 games with the Stingrays this season. He joined former Whale forwards Tyler Donati and Oren Eizenman in Elmira.

A TRIPLEHEADER: TWO GAMES AND PUCKY BOBBLEHEAD

The first Guns & Hoses Game between police and fire departments from Greater Hartford will be played next Saturday at 4:30 p.m. before the Whale meets Providence at 7 p.m.

Plus, 3,000 lucky fans will receive a bobblehead of Whale mascot Pucky courtesy of Click It or Ticket.

So arrive early and enjoy a doubleheader of action and get a lasting memento that youngsters will enjoy for years.

HOCKEY MINISTRIES NIGHT AT WHALE GAME

Hockey Ministries International Northeast is sponsoring 2011 Faith & Family Night at the game against Charlotte on March 25. Upper bowl seats are $10, and Scarlet Fade will perform a postgame concert.

To order tickets, contact AHL Chapel Coordinator Rick Mitera at 860-817-6440 or rmitera@hockeyministries.org. When someone buys a ticket through Hockey Ministries, they receive a $2 coupon for parking. For more information on Hockey Ministries, visit www.hockeyministriesnortheast.org.

WHALE TO HONOR HOWE FAMILY ON MARCH 26

The Whale will host “Howe Family Night” on March 26 against Bridgeport. The No. 9 of “Mr. Hockey,” one of seven numbers in the XL Center rafters, will be lowered and then raised and re-retired as he and his sons, Mark and Marty, whom he played with for seven seasons in Houston and Hartford, look on. The matriarch of the family, Colleen Howe, who died in 2009, will be honored.

Howe’s No. 9 is in the rafters with the Whalers’ No. 2 (Rick Ley), 5 (Ulf Samuelsson), 10 (Ron Francis), 11 (Kevin Dineen) and 19 (John McKenzie). Gernander’s No. 12 is the only number to be retired in the 14-year history of the AHL team.

The Howes played together for the first time with the Houston Aeros in 1973 before coming to Hartford and signing with the World Hockey Association’s New England Whalers in 1977. Howe ended his legendary 32-year career in the Whalers’ first NHL season (1979-80), when he had 15 goals and 26 assists and was named a NHL All-Star for the 23^rd time while helping the Whalers make the playoffs at 52 years old.

Fans who did not attend the Whale’s game against Providence at Rentschler Field in East Hartford because of the frigid weather can redeem their tickets for one to “Howe Family Night” or another game of their choice. If fans want to redeem a ticket, they should contact Whalers Sports and Entertainment president and COO Howard Baldwin Jr. at hlb@whalerssports.com.

A DAY TO REMEMBER FOR QUENNEVILLE AND REST OF BLACKHAWKS

Former Hartford Whalers defenseman Joel Quenneville had a day to remember Friday, as the coach of the Chicago Blackhawks and other team officials and players enjoyed about a 20-minute shift visiting President Barack Obama at the White House.

Obama was especially light on his skates – er, feet – likely because he’s a native of Chicago.

“We have hosted a lot of teams at the White House over the last two years, but this one is a little sweeter, pretty special,” said Obama, who referred to Quenneville as “Coach Q.”

The Blackhawks presented Obama with a team jersey with 44 on the back (he’s the 44^th president) and a silver replica of the Stanley Cup complete with engravings. He also got to try on a Stanley Cup ring a day after the Blackhawks took the Cup on a visit to some Wounded Warriors.

“I thought the President had a great attitude,” said Quenneville, who didn’t seem to stop grinning while on the South Lawn to recognize the Blackhawks’ first Stanley Cup since 1961, when, Obama quipped, a movie cost 69 cents, he was still in diapers and “legendary” goalie Glenn Hall played with a wooden stick and no mask. “He seemed really genuine, a regular guy, bubbly and enjoyed meeting all the guys. Going through and meeting all the players, we had some guys who were bandaged up, some guys missing teeth — we had a tough looking group.”

Obama’s speech lasted seven minutes, and he spent about another 15 minutes talking to Blackhawks family members and more than 70 local kids on hand to participate in First Lady Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move” street hockey clinic on the front lawn.

“It would be unbelievable to do it again,” said wing Patrick Kane, who scored the Cup-clinching goal and was called out by Obama that it was time to grow another “playoff mullet” and come back to the White House next year.

Kane, a 22-year-old Buffalo-area native who manned a Flip-cam for the visit, was awed.

“When it’s happening it’s kind of surreal that it’s really going on,” he said. “You don’t really believe you’re actually meeting the President. A lot of us … were saying, ‘This is probably one of the cooler things we’ve done.’ ”

Quenneville got the last word between the leaders of the ’Hawks and the United States of America.

“It makes you want to win the Cup again,” Quenneville said. “This was the culmination of the celebration. We should all feel fortunate to be here. But at the same time once you win it, you can’t wait to do it again.”

After losing 11 players because of salary cap problems, the Blackhawks will be hard pressed just to make the playoffs next month. But if anyone deserves to be a repeat winner, it’s Quenneville, truly one of the great people and classiest acts anywhere.

WHALE 4, SHARKS 2

Worcester      1 0 1 – 2
Connecticut   0 2 2 – 4

First period: 1. Wor, Wingels 13 (Mashinter, Schaus), 8:07. Penalties: Petrecki, Wor (slashing), 9:49; Moore, Wor (holding), 17:47.

Second period: 2. Conn, Williams 26 (Redden), 13:20 (pp). 3. Conn, Kolarik 21 (Grachev, Mitchell), 14:02 (pp). Penalties: Irwin, Wor (delay of game), 1:16; Nightingale, Ct (cross-checking), 4:07; McLaren, Wor (hooking), 6:21; Petrecki, Wor (slashing, fighting), 11:29; Nightingale, Ct (fighting), 11:29; Schaus, Wor (slashing), 12:42; Valentenko, Ct (tripping), 15:19; Bickel, Ct (cross-checking), 17:23.

Third period: 4. Conn, Williams 27 (Parlett, Valentenko), 1:34. 5. Wor, Wingels 14 (Petrecki, McCarthy), 3:04. 6. Conn, Weise 14 (Dupont, Newbury), 19:18 (en). Penalties: Soryal, Ct (high-sticking), 6:36; Wingels, Wor (roughing), 19:55; served by Lemieux Ct (bench minor-unsportsmanlike conduct), 19:55.

Shots on goal: Worcester 8-5-10-23. Connecticut 10-13-10-33; Power-play opportunities: Worcester 0 of 4; Connecticut 2 of 6; Goalies: Worcester, Sexsmith 2-3-1 (32 shots-29 saves). Connecticut, Grumet-Morris 7-3-1 (23-21); A: 8,011; Referee: Keith Kaval; Linesmen: Paul Simeon, Kevin Redding.

By Bruce Berlet

HARTFORD, Conn. – After a commendable four-week stretch in which they earned 17 of a possible 24 points while playing 10 of 12 games on the road and another at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, the Connecticut Whale’s major objective Friday night was to start improving their work and results at the XL Center.

Winning seven of 10 starts away from home in the most demanding stretch of the season pleased coach Ken Gernander, but playing better than .500 at home in 10 of their remaining 16 games was paramount if the Whale was to return to the Calder Cup playoffs after missing for the first time in their 14-year history last season.

But after scoring 14 goals in the previous three games, the Whale lost 2-1 to the Hershey Bears, as veteran center Brian Willsie scored the winner and assisted on Kyle Greentree’s goal before 5,819.

“The start was pretty important, and it wasn’t what I expected,” Gernander said.

“We just didn’t play our game,” said center Kris Newbury, who scored the Whale’s goal but took an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty with 1:49 left and his team on a power play. “We just didn’t work hard enough, and that’s basically what it came down to. We had a good third period, and I think we could have put more pucks on net when we had some chances in the first two periods. But you’re not going to beat a team like when you only play one period.”

The injury-riddled and shorthanded Whale (32-25-2-6) had won four in a row, had a standings point in nine of 11 games (8-2-0-1) and was 8-3-0-1 in the most demanding stretch of the season from Feb. 9 to Tuesday night. That included 7-3-0-0 on the road as they reached their high-water mark this season of eight games over .500 while playing the previous three games a man shy of the 18-skater limit because eight players were ailing.

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But Friday’s loss dropped the Whale into a third-place tie with the Worcester Sharks (30-23-4-8), a 3-1 winner over the Atlantic Division-leading Manchester Monarchs, in the battle for the third and final guaranteed playoff spot in the division. The Sharks are at the XL Center on Saturday night for the start of a home-and-home set with the Whale, who remained within one point of the Binghamton Senators (33-25-3-4), the fifth-place team in the East Division who lost 8-3 at Norfolk on Friday night.

The two-time defending champion Bears (39-22-2-4), who were missing three key injured players, ended a three-game pointless streak. They extended their point streak when leading after two periods to 28-0-0-3 and swept the season series, having won the first meeting with the then Hartford Wolf Pack, 4-3 in Hershey on Nov. 21.

And despite more energetic play, the Whale were limited to three shots in the third period, matching their low for any period this season.

“They do a good job of not giving you a lot,” Whale veteran defenseman Wade Redden said. “They have numbers back in the neutral zone and kind of make you get it in and work for it, and I don’t think we did that enough to put pressure on them and create some chances. They don’t give you anything easy, so you have to go in and get it back. It’s tough to create against those teams, but you have to find a way.”

The Whale had a golden opportunity to take an early lead at 5:29, but veteran Nolan Schaefer (23 saves) made bang-bang stops on rebound bids by Francis Lemieux and Kelsey Tessier off Derek Couture’s shot. Cam Talbot (22 saves) then kept it scoreless when he stopped David de Kastrozza’s breakaway at 7:15 and NHL veteran defenseman Sheldon Souray breaking in off the left point at 9:07.

But the Bears took the lead for good after Willsie won the ensuing faceoff from Newbury. Andrew Kozek tipped the puck into the slot to Greentree, who maneuvered between Whale defensemen Pavel Valentenko and Blake Parlett and beat Talbot between the legs from 25 feet at 9:11.

With the Bears on their second power play, Talbot (20 saves) kept the Whale close when he denied Willsie alone in the slot with 1:26 left in the period. Schaefer then made a brilliant glove stab off Redden as he cruised down the slot with 13.7 seconds to go.

Schaefer again kept Hershey ahead with a sprawling save on Tessier’s backhander at 6:40 of the second period. As often happens, the Bears took a 2-0 lead only 69 seconds later as Greentree found Willsie at the far blueline, and the crafty center got behind Redden, skated into the right circle and beat Talbot to the far corner for his team-leading 26^th goal.

“It was a bad change,” Redden said. “We kind of got mixed up.”

The Whale’s only serious threat the rest of the period came when Newbury found Brodie Dupont cruising through the slot, but Schaefer again made an alert save with 5:26 left.

After shuffling their lines and defensive pairings for the third period, the Whale immediately showed more energy and got to 2-1 on a quick counterattack. Ryan Garlock, back after missing four games with an injury and moved from center to wing at the start of the third period, broke down the left side and passed across the ice to Chad Kolarik, who had missed nine games with an injury. Kolarik then skated into the right circle, found Newbury breaking down the slot and the Whale’s leading scorer got inside Bears defenseman Dmitry Orlov and put a backhander between Schaefer’s legs at 5:36 for his 13^th goal and 49^th point.

“(Garlock) made a heck of a pass to Kolarik, who made a nice pass to me,” Newbury said. “I just wanted to get it on net, and it went five-hole, so we’ll take those.”

The Whale nearly tied it at 7:59, but Schaefer came out to deny Grachev breaking in off the left wing. Then after a Jared Nightingale turnover, Talbot kept it a one-goal game when he stopped Ashton Rome’s shot from the left circle and Maxime Lacroix’s rebound bid at 9:08.

The Whale got a power play when Mathieu Perrault was called for slashing with 2:30 left, but that was negated when Newbury got the unsportsmanlike penalty for shooting the puck on net after the whistle had sounded.

The Whale pulled Talbot for an extra attacker with 1:33 left but failed to get a shot, with Willsie, the game’s No. 1 star, blocking Parlett’s final bid from the left point with three seconds to go.

“I thought we played better in the last period, but you don’t get rewarded for one period of play,” Gernander said. “I don’t think we finished enough checks, I don’t think we won enough battles for pucks and I don’t think we challenged enough wide on entry (into the offensive zone).

“I thought (Schaefer) had a pretty good glove. We had some opportunities, but I still think we could have done more to generate and create more ourselves. Quite honestly, a lot of chances he saw, and there wasn’t enough second and third opportunities.”

The Whale is 19-11-0-4 on the road but fell to 13-14-2-2 at the XL Center with nine of their last 15 games at home, starting Saturday night the critical matchup with the Sharks.

“We’d like to have an identity at home to make this a terrible place for a visiting team to come in and play, and now we’re back to one game below .500,” Gernander said.

“It’s frustrating because you obviously want to do well in your home rink,” Redden said. “I don’t think it’s an issue. We have more games at home left than on the road, so we definitely have to be a lot better here.”

WHALE FINALLY AT FULL STRENGTH

The return of Kolarik and Garlock gave the Whale a full lineup for the first time in four games dating to a 3-2 victory over Springfield on March 2. Kolarik, the Whale’s third-leading scorer (20 goals, 20 assists), started on right wing alongside center John Mitchell and Grachev, while Garlock was reunited with feisty wings Justin Soryal and Devin DiDiomete. In the third period, Kolarik skated with Newbury and Garlock, while Mitchell was between Grachev and Tessier.

The Whale continued to be without All-Star right wing Jeremy Williams, their second-leading scorer (team-high 25 goals, 19 assists), center Todd White, wing Chris McKelvie and defensemen Michael Del Zotto, Tomas Kundratek and Jyri Niemi. The Bears scratched perennial All-Star center Keith Aucoin, the AHL’s fourth-leading scorer (64 points), Andrew Gordon, the team’s fourth-leading scorer (22, 24), All-Star and former Hartford Wolf Pack defenseman Lawrence Nycholat (5, 22), Steve Pinizzotto, Trevor Bruess, Dmitri Kugryshev, Zach Miskovic, Dylan Yeo, Phil Oreskovic and Dany Sabourin. … Bears coach Mark French won his 100^th game in his second season. He’s 100-39-1-7 overall, after being 60-17-0-3 last season and leading the Bears to their second consecutive Calder Cup.

WHALE STARTS HOME-AND-HOME WITH SHARKS AT XL CENTER

After hosting the Sharks on Saturday night, the Whale is at the DCU Center in Worcester on Sunday at 3 p.m. The Whale is 4-1-0-1 against the Sharks, capped by a 7-2 drubbing at Worcester last Sunday that tied their season high for goals. Redden had his first two-goal game since before the NHL lockout in the 2004-05 season, while Weise had a goal and two assists and Dupont had four assists, a personal best of assists and points in a pro game. He had a team-high seven points (one goal, six assists) in the six games against Worcester.

“I don’t think we have to say too much,” Redden said of the key matchups with the Sharks. “I think everyone is excited and looking forward to the challenge. We’re put this game behind us. We’ve had a good stretch, so we want to get back to doing those things we’ve been doing well to be successful. We did some of them (Friday night). We had some chances but probably put the puck on net as often as we should have. The more shots you get the more likely you’re going to score, so we’ll get back to that (Saturday night).”

Said Newbury: “Everyone realizes the importance of the games, but you just have to prepare like it’s any other game. We have to go out, outwork them and do things that they’re not doing or they’re doing better and hopefully have more pucks on net. We’ll definitely be stressing to shoot the puck more on the net and have that second guy drive the net for the rebound. Hopefully it’ll be sitting there to bang in. We played a good game that last time we were in their building, so I’m sure they’re going to come in here and be fired up. Any team would like to have a better home record than we do, but we just have to approach this last (five weeks) just like it’s any other game. If you’re on the road or what not, you have to find a way to win hockey games. That’s what it has come down to this last month. It’s no different, but maybe the playoffs have started a little bit early for us.”

The Sharks are led by All-Star right wing Jonathan Cheechoo (18 goals, 29 assists), a 56-goal scorer for the San Jose Sharks in the 2005-06 season who missed his sixth consecutive game Friday night because of an ailing back. The Sharks signed Cheechoo to an AHL contract last Sunday, allowing him to be on their Clear Day list.

The Sharks’ other top scorers are center Michael Swift (17, 18), left wing T.J. Trevelyan (14, 20), defenseman Sean Sullivan (12, 20) and right wing Dan DaSilva (13, 19). No. 1 goalie Alex Stalock (19-17-4, 2.63 goals-against average, .907 save percentage, no shutouts) is out for the season with nerve damage in his lacerated left leg that required surgery, so the Sharks have been rotating rookies Tyson Sexsmith (1-2-1, 2.92, .901, no shutouts) and Carter Hutton (6-3-2, 2.97, .896, two shutouts) and veteran Daren Machesney (2-3-1, 3.20, .882, two shutouts). The Whale shot 7-for-19 against Machesney on Sunday, a day after he had 34 saves in a 2-0 victory over Charlotte.

Besides being eliminated from the playoffs two years ago, the Wolf Pack/Whale is 14-4-0-2 at the DCU Center, including 2-0-1 this season. Sunday was the Sharks’ second-worst loss at home to the 7-1 beating they got from the Wolf Pack on Dec. 8, 2007.

JERSEY AUCTION TO BENEFIT MARCH OF DIMES

Saturday night could be a hat trick of happiness and benefit for Whale fans. They not only can watch their favorites in a key matchup with Worcester, but they also can win players’ jerseys and help a great cause at the same time.

During the game, fans can bid on jerseys on display throughout the evening. Winners will be announced at the end of the game and invited on the ice to receive their jersey, meet the players and have photos taken. Proceeds will benefit the March of Dimes, which works to help develop stronger, healthier babies. The auction has raised nearly $20,000 in the first two years.

“The annual jersey auction has been a great event for our March of Dimes family and the hockey community,” said Deb Poudrier, executive director of the March of Dimes Greater Hartford Division. “The Whale organization has been an incredible supporter of the March of Dimes, not only with the jersey auction but as a March for Babies sponsor and team as well. They truly are a great community partner.”

The March of Dimes is the leading non-profit organization for pregnancy and baby health. With chapters nationwide, the March of Dimes works to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality. Visit www.marchofdimes.com or www.nacersano.org for the latest resources and information.

A TRIPLEHEADER: TWO GAMES AND PUCKY BOBBLEHEAD

Fans can also enjoy another tripleheader next Saturday.

The first Guns & Hoses Game between police and fire departments from Greater Hartford will be played at 4:30 p.m., followed by the Whale against archrival Providence at 7 p.m.

Plus, 3,000 lucky fans will receive a bobblehead of Whale mascot Pucky courtesy of Click It or Ticket.

So arrive early and enjoy a doubleheader of action and a lasting memento that youngsters will enjoy for years.

HOCKEY MINISTRIES NIGHT AT WHALE GAME

Hockey Ministries International Northeast is sponsoring 2011 Faith & Family Night at the Whale’s game against the Charlotte Checkers on March 25. Upper bowl seats are $10, and Scarlet Fade will perform a postgame concert.

To order tickets, contact AHL Chapel Coordinator Rick Mitera at 860-817-6440 or rmitera@hockeyministries.org. When someone buys a ticket through Hockey Ministries, they receive a $2 coupon for parking. For more information on Hockey Ministries, visit www.hockeyministriesnortheast.org.

WHALE TO HONOR HOWE FAMILY ON MARCH 26

The Whale will host “Howe Family Night” at the XL Center on March 26 against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. The No. 9 of “Mr. Hockey,” one of seven numbers in the XL Center rafters, will be lowered and then raised and re-retired as he and his sons, Mark and Marty, whom he played with for seven seasons in Houston and Hartford, look on. The matriarch of the family, Colleen Howe, who died in 2009, will be honored.

“That old (jersey) is a little worn,” Whalers Sports and Entertainment president and COO Howard Baldwin Jr. said. “I think we’ll have a big crowd. I love Ronnie Francis (the only Hall of Famer to play mostly with the Whalers), but Gordie is the one who put the team on the map. He needs to have the respect of the people coming out to see him, and it’ll be a great opportunity for it.”

Howe’s No. 9 is in the rafters with the Whalers’ No. 2 (Rick Ley), 5 (Ulf Samuelsson), 10 (Francis), 11 (Kevin Dineen) and 19 (John McKenzie). Gernander’s No. 12 is the only number to be retired in the 14-year history of the AHL team.

The Howes played together for the first time with the Houston Aeros in 1973 before coming to Hartford and signing with the World Hockey Association’s New England Whalers in 1977. Howe ended his legendary 32-year career in the Whalers’ first NHL season (1979-80), when he had 15 goals and 26 assists and was named a NHL All-Star for the 23^rd time while helping the Whalers make the playoffs at 52 years old.

Fans who did not attend the Whale’s game against Providence at Rentschler Field in East Hartford because of the weather can redeem their tickets for one to “Howe Family Night” or another game of their choice. If fans want to redeem a ticket, they should contact Baldwin at hlb@whalerssports.com.

SHARKS EXTEND AGREEMENT TO STAY IN WORCESTER

Silicon Valley Sports and Entertainment has exercised its option to extend its license agreement with the SMG management group and the City of Worcester for two years. The original contract, signed in 2006, was a 10-year deal structured as a 5+2+3 (five-year lease with an option to extend for two years to 2013 and again for an additional three years to 2016).

Before this season, Worcester City Manager Michael O’Brien assembled a group of local business leaders, the “Power Players,” to rally a renewed commitment from fans and supporters throughout Greater Worcester. These individuals succeeded in obtaining commitments for new season ticket holders, flex voucher customers and corporate sponsorships.

“As promised, the Sharks have brought momentous hockey, family fun and an overall great fan experience to the DCU Center,” Sandy L. Dunn, general manager of the DCU Center, said in a statement. “The quality of the product both on and off the ice is tremendous. The Worcester Sharks are an engaged partner in the business community, and they’ve actively worked with local charities, including the establishment of their own programs like ‘Reading Is Cool’ and ‘Sharks Charities.’ As a local business, they’ve significantly contributed to improving the local economy.”

As one of 30 AHL franchises, Worcester joins an elite group of cities on an international sports stage. More than 35 players have moved from Worcester to the NHL. To date, attendance is up 26 percent and ticket revenue is up 28 percent over last season.

BEARS 2, WHALE 1

Hershey       1 1 0 – 2
Connecticut 0 0 1 – 1

First period: 1. Her, Greentree 23 (Kozek, Willsie), 9:11. Penalties: Wellar, Her (hooking), 9:20; Soryal, Ct (roughing), 13:41; Baldwin, Ct (tripping), 17:40.

Second period: 2. Her, Willsie 26 (Greentree), 7:49. Penalties: Carroll, Her (roughing), 9:47; Soryal, Ct (roughing), 9:47; Greentree, Her (holding), 17:39.

Third period: 3. Conn, Newbury 13 (Kolarik, Garlock), 5:36. Penalties: Lacroix, Her (fighting), 16:17; Couture, Ct (fighting), 16:17; Perreault, Her (slashing), 17:30; Newbury, Ct (unsportsmanlike conduct), 18:11.

Shots on goal: Hershey 10-7-5-22. Connecticut 11-10-3-24; Power-play opportunities: Hershey 0 of 3; Connecticut 0 of 3; Goalies-Hershey, Schaefer 11-18-2 (24 shots-23 saves). Connecticut, Talbot 10-4-2 (22-20); A: 5,819; Referee: Chris Cozzan; Linesmen: David Spannaus, Derek Wahl.

By Bruce Berlet

Facing pucks flying at him at more than 100 mph never seemed so easy, so mundane, so inconsequential to Connecticut Whale goalie Dov Grumet-Morris.

Not when you’re helping bury one of your best friends and former Harvard teammates after he committed suicide at 28.

But that’s what Grumet-Morris faced Jan. 11 at Tom Cavanagh’s funeral in East Greenwich, R.I.

Though it was one of the saddest days of his life, Grumet-Morris had taken a week off and been determined to do whatever was necessary to get to Rhode Island despite a major snowstorm in the Southeast. He was in Greenville, S.C., when informed of his friend’s unexpected death, and seemingly by the grace of God, he was able to board the only plane to leave town in 48 hours.

But Grumet-Morris had to switch his flight to fly west, to Dallas, before heading north, to Boston, and then renting a limousine service to drive him to Providence. He made it in time for the start of Cavanagh’s wake only because a stewardess held the other passengers in their seats so he could go from the back to the front of the plane and get off first.

“I don’t know if it was an act of God, but it was planes, trains and automobiles,” Grumet-Morris said after practice Thursday at the XL Center. “It was a lot of hard work done by American Airlines that made it happen for me, and I’m very thankful for that.”

And the airline’s help didn’t stop there. After flying from Providence to Philadelphia at the start of his return trip, Grumet-Morris was booked on eight different flights and prepared to rent cars wherever he landed.

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“The snow was so bad they didn’t know if anyone was going to be able to get in or get out,” said Grumet-Morris, who has a picture on his cell phone of him holding the eight tickets. “I ended up sleeping in the Philadelphia Airport because they couldn’t get any flights out so it wasn’t an easy trip all around. But it wasn’t a question of whether I was going to do it. It was just a matter of how it was going to get done.”

While the trip and wake, where people waited in line as long as 31/2 hours in freezing weather, were difficult, the funeral was worse. Grumet-Morris didn’t notice two rainbows, one inverted in the shape of a smile, that appeared in the sky as Cavanagh’s parents, eight siblings and more than a thousand friends and former teammates gathered at the cemetery. Cavanagh’s father, Joe, said the rainbows were a sign, but Grumet-Morris viewed it a little differently.

“To me, that’s not really indicative of Tom or what was going on at the time,” Grumet-Morris said. “Whether it was raining or sleeting or snowing or sunny out, we were there to remember him and what he did. He was a very nice, quiet person, but the biggest thing that anyone who knew him, whether through athletics or on a personal level, is how hard of a worker he was.

“He was a very, very, very hard worker and lived by the warrior creed, so to say, where he would never – and I mean never – complain about anything, whether it was an injury or playing time or lack of playing time or overuse or underuse or not enough rest or too much rest. In the four years I played with him and the next six years I knew him, he never, ever complained about anything.”

To the outsider, Cavanagh’s death seemed unthinkable and surreal. He appeared to be a young man with everything. A Harvard degree. A hockey player who reached the pinnacle of his sport with the San Jose Sharks in 2008. A friendly, engaging personality. A coach’s dream.

“He probably was the most low-maintenance player I have ever been around,” Harvard coach Ted Donato, whose 13-year pro career included stints with the Boston Bruins, New York Rangers and Hartford Wolf Pack, said at the time of Cavanagh’s death. “You couldn’t get him to miss a practice. … He was wonderful. He probably spoiled me for the rest of my coaching life. He was the guy we compared all the other players to. He played hard. He played through everybody, and he was a perfect gentleman off the ice.”

Cavanagh also “fought the demons of mental illness for many years,” according to his father, a prominent Rhode Island lawyer, three-time All-American at Harvard and a member of the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame. The demons died on Jan. 6 when Cavanagh locked his car in the Providence Place Mall parking lot and jumped to his death from an upper level. It was only then that most people realized Cavanagh had accomplished so much so quickly despite almost totally concealing he had been diagnosed with schizophrenia and suffered a series of psychotic episodes that forced him to be institutionalized four times in his final months.

The day Cavanagh committed suicide he had an appointment with his doctor, whom his father called to say his son had seemed especially depressed the previous few days. The doctor called that night to say Cavanagh had not showed up for the appointment. Cavanagh also missed a dinner date with his girlfriend. Later, a Providence policeman broke down as he delivered the news to Joe Cavanagh that his son had died of “multiple traumatic injuries due to blunt force impact.”

Though Cavanagh had played with Grumet-Morris for four years, stayed over at his house and been at his bachelor party, Grumet-Morris was unaware of Cavanagh’s condition.

“That was a private issue and that was Tom, a very private person,” Grumet-Morris said. “Much the way he dealt with his physical pain from hockey by internalizing it, he did the same thing with the struggles that he had (mentally). He would never want to put his problems or the onus of his issues on anybody else. That’s the way he lived, and that’s the way he was.

“I spoke to him during this season in particular because I was in Hartford and he was in Springfield (with the AHL Falcons). We spoke several times a month, if not every week, whether through email, texting or phone call, so I was very close to him, and I never got an inkling (of trouble). I knew him for 10 years, so if I couldn’t pick up on it, then you would have to be literally in his family to know. And I’m sure there were members of his family who didn’t know.”

Falcons president and general manager Bruce Landon said no one in the franchise knew of Cavanagh’s problems after he was brought in to try to add some offense after the parent NHL Columbus Blue Jackets tried to sign him last season. Cavanagh had one assist in five games before injuring his shoulder in a 2-1 victory over the Providence Bruins on Oct. 15 at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center, not far from where he grew up. His final game was two days later, a 3-1 Falcons victory over the Manchester Monarchs. He was released on Nov. 10.

“He was a good kid who was a little bit quiet, at least around me,” Landon said. “He got along and mingled well with the other players and seemed like a good, normal, very polite young man when I talked to him about a lot of different things.

“Obviously he had had some issues in the past and some hockey-related injuries. He played well in spurts, but then he was hurt so we didn’t really get a chance to see enough of him. He had been a good American Hockey League player throughout his career, especially in Worcester (he’s the Sharks’ career leader in assists, 96, and points, 138, in 202 games), but he got the injuries. But he got along well with his teammates, and the guys liked him. It’s a very sad story.”

Cavanagh played in 18 NHL games with the San Jose Sharks, scoring his only goal on March 28, 2009 in a 3-2 victory over the Phoenix Coyotes. He overcame wrist, knee and shoulder injuries to continue to play with the Falcons, considered law school so he could follow in the footsteps of his father and sister and was trying hard to understand what was wrong with him.

Cavanagh’s search ended in the worst way imaginable, but his father found some solace.

“As tragic as this is, it’s a relief that he’s out of his torment,” Joe Cavanagh said. “He’s not suffering anymore.”

Grumet-Morris has performed well for the Wolf Pack/Whale and the ECHL’s Greenville Road Warriors this season, but it turned somewhat bittersweet as the trauma of Cavanagh’s suicide lingered. He credits his wife, Rachel, with helping him deal with the grief of losing such a close friend. After eight years of medical school and time as a general surgeon, Rachel is finishing her second year of residence for a two-year research position in surgical oncology in Houston, where the couple will move after the season.

“In her position, she deals with death on an everyday basis,” Grumet-Morris said, “so she definitely knows what it feels like, both from a personal level and a professional level and how it can affect your job. Let’s be honest, we’re all human and we all have emotion, and whether we like it or not, we try to partition things away from our work, but it definitely has an effect.

“So she definitely has helped me, and that’s one of the many benefits of being married, that you have your life to share with someone and don’t have to go it alone, so to speak. It’s a process where you talk about it and think about it a lot at the beginning, and then as you try to put the pieces back together and try to go back to some level of normalcy, it starts to fade a bit. It’s not in a bad way, but the reality of the situation is you have to continue your life and have to not forget but learn and keep that as a lesson and move on.

“I still talk about it and think about it quite a bit. It’s not as if it’s something that has faded from memory. It’s just not something that has to be brought up in every subject on an everyday basis with friends and family.”

Playing only two games in five weeks gave Grumet-Morris time to put things in perspective.

“It’s tough to lose anyone,” he said, “but anytime you lose a friend it has a connection, especially when he’s a young man and you’re a young man. I don’t know of any 20-year-olds who died, so for me, it’s the first time I’ve had to deal with it. I’ve had grandparents who passed away, but the way my father put it, ‘Grandparents die, that’s what happens. They get older, and they die. You’re young.’

“If you’re a teen-ager when it happens, it’s something where they’re 60 or 70 or 80 years old and have lived a very long and very full life, and you expect that it’s going to happen eventually. You know it has a certainty. But when you lose someone who’s close to you and who’s very young, you regret and you mourn because of the loss of the potential. You don’t know what they could have accomplished, whether it’s in hockey or in life, what kind of family they could have had, what kind of legacy they could have left behind.

“So that’s a lot of the mourning that goes on. You feel like you missed out on an opportunity to engage with them in their life, and they missed out on an opportunity to engage with you and others and the world at large. That’s why parents hate to outlive their kids because they feel like they haven’t reached their full potential. And I don’t mean in the sense of success or failure but in the sense of living a full and complete and enriched life.”

Grumet-Morris started his full and enriched life in Evanston, Ill, where he grew up with three brothers and two sisters and played hockey and baseball.

“I had five siblings and Tom had eight, so that always was a connection we had, too,” Grumet-Morris said.

Grumet-Morris started skating at 3 years old under the tutelage of his father, who did his residency at Northwestern University and worked at a hospital across the street from the family’s house. Dov played on his first team at 4, and his early skating partners included his older sister, Aviva, who later was a defenseman at Princeton.

Appropriately, Grumet-Morris was mainly a catcher in baseball through high school and played on Triple-A hockey teams that traveled throughout the Midwest because the competition in Chicago youth hockey was limited. Ironically, his favorite goalie was Mike Richter, the retired Rangers legend whose No. 35 is retired and hanging in the Madison Square Garden rafters.

“He was such a great athlete and great skater, which is very important,” Grumet-Morris said. “He wasn’t the biggest guy, but he was just such a technically sound goaltender. I really admired him, his style of play and what he was able to accomplish.”

Grumet-Morris also was a fan of the defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks, coached by former Hartford Whalers defenseman Joel Quenneville, and got interested in the Ivy League and ended up at Harvard largely because of its educational benefits, strong hockey program and his sister attending Princeton. He graduated with “a dual concentration” in Government and Near Eastern (Mideast) Languages and Civilizations largely because his first day of class was Sept. 12, 2001.

“The terrorist attacks pushed me in that direction,” Grumet-Morris said of his dual majors. “That was a ‘Where were you when?’ kind of moment, the same as my parents for the John F. Kennedy assassination or when man landed on the moon or Dec. 7, 1941. For my generation, 9/11 will always be that “Where were you when?’ moment.”

Grumet-Morris was part of a major recruiting class with Cavanagh, a leading prep school player in Rhode Island, and defenseman Noah Welch, a second-round pick of the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2001 now with the AHL’s Chicago Wolves. The three won numerous awards, with Grumet-Morris and Welch being named All-Americans in their senior year while leading the Crimson to two ECAC titles and four NCAA Tournament appearances.

“Tom, Noah and I had opportunities to leave, but all we wanted to stay and finish what we started,” Grumet-Morris said. “The three of us, and three others, always thought we were kind of brothers. We lived together, we played together, we worked out together, we worked together in camps, we had beers together. I came from a family of four brothers, so it was all very similar for me.”

Grumet-Morris graduated in 2005 with a 63-40-9 career record, 2.25 goals-against average, .924 save percentage, school-record 11 shutouts and a promising future after being a fifth-round pick of the Philadelphia Flyers three years earlier. He played for seven teams in the AHL, ECHL and CHL his first three pro seasons and was named to the all-rookie team and won the CHL title with Laredo in 2005-06, when he was 18-5-2 with a 2.03 GAA and a career-best .926 save percentage.

After Grumet-Morris played with four teams in 2006-07, he signed a NHL contract with the Nashville Predators on July 2, 2007, and then had his best statistical season while going 24-7-1 combined with the ECHL’s Cincinnati Cyclones and AHL’s Milwaukee Admirals. But the Predators, whose top affiliate is Milwaukee, had Pekka Rinne, now one of the best goalies in the NHL, so Grumet-Morris decided to go to Europe, spending the last two seasons in Austria and Slovenia despite having signed a contract with the ECHL’s Utah Grizzlies on Aug. 31, 2009.

“I just didn’t get a chance to play much because of Rinne,” Grumet-Morris said. “I only played nine games in the AHL and wanted an opportunity to play more. I went to Europe and got to play (96) games, so I had an opportunity to build my resume and confidence.”

He also expanded his horizons on many fronts.

“I loved living in Europe,” he said. “The quality of life is higher there than it is here. When I’m there, I’m a professional athlete making a decent wage and have a whole organization to support me and pay for my housing and cars, so I don’t have to deal with much. And the quality of the infrastructure of the countries I lived in is significantly higher than the United States. Things like highway bridges and recycling centers is much higher quality, and there’s a very, very, very high emphasis on environmental protection, so the landscape is absolutely gorgeous and pristine.”

Before and during his stint in Europe, Grumet-Morris won gold medals in the World Jewish Championships in Israel in 2007 and 2009. He shut out Canada 6-0 in the finals two years ago, when he was a player/coach and affectionately called “Reg Dunlop,” after the character that Paul Newman played in the famous hockey movie “Slap Shot.”

“I’d love to do it again if they have it, especially after being able to take a pretty big role in the 2009 tournament,” Grumet-Morris said. “It was actually pretty tough because not only was I playing, but you’re making sure there are water bottles and pucks and doing practice schedules and lines and working on some drills and some systems. Then when we had an off-day that was a travel day, I was always the person in charge of making sure everyone is there. On top of that, I was the only one on the team who spoke Hebrew, so I would translate for the group if someone was giving a tour in Hebrew.

“It was actually a very daunting trip, but I loved it and had a great time. And one of my brothers, 20-year-old Amit, a forward, was able to come on the trip and play as well, so that’s always fun.”

Despite his success and enjoyment in Europe, Grumet-Morris wanted to be closer to his wife, who had remained in the United States, and to play again in North America in the AHL with an eye toward the NHL.

“I’d played in the AHL before, but I wanted to come back and try it again because this is the second-highest league in the world,” Grumet-Morris said. “The level of professionalism is incredibly high, and I very much enjoyed that, the challenge and the intensity of the AHL. I had lessons to learn, and I achieved what I wanted to achieve in Europe and thought there was always a chance I could make it to the NHL.

“(Boston Bruins goalie) Tim Thomas spent 10 years in the minors before he went to the NHL. I’m not trying to compare myself to him, but there’s always a chance. Look at our situation with (Martin) Biron out in New York. Henrik (Lundqvist) is realistically going to play every day, but there’s still an opening.”

During his time in Europe, the Grizzlies protected Grumet-Morris’ rights and traded him to Greenville, the Whale’s new ECHL affiliate, when he returned to North America. Road Warriors coach Dean Stork asked the Wolf Pack to allow Grumet-Morris to attend their camp in Hartford in September.

“We had our four goalies, and Greenville wanted to look at some goalies and brought Dov in,” Gernander said. “We had liked what we saw in the past, and he was very professional, worked very hard and was very competitive. He had a lot of attributes that we liked, so if we were in need of a goalie, we were comfortable with recalling him and he has played very well for us.”

Grumet-Morris started the season in Greenville but signed his first professional tryout contract with the Wolf Pack on Oct. 18. He lost his only start, 2-1 in overtime to Syracuse on Oct. 23, had a no-decision in one relief appearance and then returned to Greenville on Nov. 4 and led the Road Warriors to the ECHL’s best record while going 15-8-1 with a 2.32 GAA, second in the league, .922 save percentage and three shutouts, tied for the league lead. He was the ECHL Goalie of the Month in December when he was 9-2-1 with a 1.56 GAA, .942 save percentage and two shutouts in 12 games.

Grumet-Morris didn’t get in a game after signing PTOs with Portland and Grand Rapids, returned to the Whale on Feb. 3 and registered his first win two days later, a 4-3 victory at Portland. He caught a break when Biron, the Rangers’ backup goalie, sustained a broken collarbone in practice Feb. 28 that will sideline him the remainder of the regular season.

Cam Talbot, just back from missing 13 games with a high ankle sprain, was summoned from Greenville to New York to back up Lundqvist for a game before returning to the Whale as Chad Johnson headed to the Rangers on March 2. That same day, the Whale released Grumet-Morris from his PTO and signed him to an AHL contract. He responded with strong efforts in 3-2 and 2-1 (in overtime) wins over the Falcons last week as he made eight starts in 10 games and improved to 6-3-1 with a 2.02 GAA and .921 save percentage.

“My season has gone as well and as fast as I could have hoped,” Grumet-Morris said. “Coming back without a contract, I’ve worked my way up. I had an outstanding (time) in Greenville and was one of the pieces that helped put that team in first place. Coming to Hartford, I was able to contribute right away and help chip in but also take a leadership role in a sense when we were down as far as injuries and illness and even had an emergency backup for a couple of games.

“I was able to help and stabilize a situation, so I definitely feel at home in Hartford and feel I’m a part of the team. I think overall the season has gone exactly as I could have planned it.”

But Grumet-Morris liked his new-found stability more for his wife than himself.

“It’s hard when someone asks, ‘OK, I want to come and visit?’ or my parents want to come and see a game because they essentially can’t come and make any plans because on any given day you can be sent down,” Grumet-Morris said. “You can practice in the morning and get released at night, so it’s very difficult. But it’s professional hockey, and you have to accept that as a rule if you’re a non-contracted goaltender. And if you don’t like it, you can always quit.”

Grumet-Morris has never quit on anything, just like friend Tom Cavanagh, whose brother-in-law played with them at Harvard and whose sister married one of their teammates. Injuries might have hampered Cavanagh’s career, but they never stopped him.

“One story that never really got out to the public was that in mid-January of his senior year he had been playing with an injured knee, but he never complained,” Donato said, echoing the sentiments of Grumet-Morris. “Finally he went to the doctor and learned he had totally torn his ACL. The doctor said he couldn’t do any more damage, but he was going to need an operation that would require six to eight months’ recovery.

“I found out at 5:30 before a 7 o’clock game that night, so I met with Tom and told him he had been an unbelievable contributor to our program, that he had done everything we could ask. So if he wanted to leave the team and have the operation immediately to put himself in a better position to play professional, I and his teammates would understand. He said, ‘Coach, I want to keep playing. I want to play for Harvard.’ Sure enough, that night in the third period he scored the winning goal.”

Not surprising to those who continue to regret and mourn the loss of a good, polite young man.

HARTFORD, March 10, 2011:  Connecticut Whale general manager Jim Schoenfeld announced today that the team has returned forward Oren Eizenman on loan to the Elmira Jackals of the ECHL.

Obtained November 24 by the Whale in an AHL trade with the Syracuse Crunch in exchange for future considerations, Eizenman has skated in 33 games for Connecticut this season, scoring four goals and adding two assists for six points, while serving six minutes in penalties.  In 13 ECHL games with the Jackals, the fourth-year pro has totaled five goals and 13 assists for 18 points, along with six PIM.

The Whale are back in action tomorrow night, Friday, March 11, hosting the two-time defending Calder Cup-champion Hershey Bears at the XL Center on Guida’s Family Value Night.  Faceoff is 7:00, and Family Value packages start as low as $48 and include three tickets, three hot dogs or pizza slices, three sodas and a Whale souvenir. Guida’s Family Value Night packs are available at the XL Center box office and on-line at www.ctwhale.com.

Tickets for all 2010-11 Whale home games are available now at the XL Center box office, through Ticketmaster Charge-by-Phone at 1-800-745-3000 and on-line at www.ctwhale.com.  Tickets start at $7 each at the XL Center ticket office on game day.

For information on Whale ticket packages, group sales and VIP packages, call (860) 728-3366.

Wilkes-Barre, PA, March 8, 2011 – Kris Newbury scored two goals and added an assist, and Wade Redden had a goal and two assists, to lead the Connecticut Whale to a 5-2 win over the AHL-leading Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins Tuesday night at the Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza.

The victory was the Whale’s fourth straight, and gave the club a sweep of a two-game season series with the Penguins, who came into the game with a 45-17-0-0 record for 90 points.  The Whale had taken a 6-3 decision from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in the team’s first meeting January 16 in Hartford.

John Mitchell added a goal and an assist for the Whale, Dale Weise had three assists and Kelsey Tessier also scored.  Cameron Talbot made 29 saves to improve his season record to 10-3-2.

Tim Wallace and Chris Collins scored Wilkes-Barre/Scranton goals, and former Hartford Wolf Pack captain Andrew Hutchinson had a pair of assists for the Penguins.

Despite being outshot 20-7 in the first period, the Whale came out of it with a 2-2 tie.

Connecticut put itself in trouble almost immediately with penalties, with Pavel Valentenko being called for interference only 1:29 in and Newbury for hooking 43 seconds later, and the Penguins capitalized on the five on three.

Wallace took a pass from Hutchinson at the bottom of the left circle and moved to the faceoff dot, before snapping a shot that got between Talbot’s blocker and the post to his right.

The two teams then combined for three goals in a span of 2:49, starting with Mitchell’s third goal in four games with the Whale at 7:53.

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Mitchell brought the puck down the left-wing side and undressed a Wilkes-Barre/Scranton defender with a stickhandling move, then, using Tessier as a decoy, got Penguin starting netminder Brad Thiessen to move off the post before firing a high shot into the net.

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton responded only 1:38 later at 9:31, on Collins’ 12^th goal of the year.  Hutchinson made a great slap pass from the right point to Collins at the left side of the slot, and Collins had virtually an open net.

The Whale had an answer only 1:11 after that, though, as Newbury tied it at two at 10:42.  Weise played the puck toward the front of the net from the right-wing boards and after Thiessen made the save, Newbury, headed hard up the middle, shoved the rebound past him and into the goal.

The Whale would then get a five-on-three goal early in the second period, after a Wallace slashing penalty carried over from the first period and Joe Vitale was called for tripping at the 17-second mark of the second.

With only one second left on the first penalty, Redden powered a shot through traffic from the blue line that eluded Thiessen at 1:54, causing the Penguins to replace Thiessen (three goals-against on 11 shots) with John Curry.

It was the second time in two games against Connecticut that Thiessen has been pulled.  Thiessen, who came into the game 27-6-0, with a 1.87 goals-against average, a 92.4% save percentage and six shutouts, leading the AHL in wins, GAA and shutouts, allowed four goals on 10 shots in the first period of the first game between the two teams before being relieved by Curry.

The Whale upped their lead to 4-2 at the 1:24 mark of the third period, as Tessier got them some breathing room.  Mitchell fed a deft pass to Tessier at the right side of the slot, and Tessier drove a hard slap shot that went past Curry on the stick side and blew Curry’s water bottle off the top of the net.

Connecticut faced another two-man disadvantage of 1:32 shortly thereafter, and two other penalty-killing situations later on in the third, but Talbot was able to hold the fort.  Newbury then iced the game with an empty-net goal at 19:40.

With the win, the Whale (32-24-2-6, 72 pts.) now have at least a standings point in nine of their last 11 games (8-2-0-1), and improved their hold on third place in the Atlantic Division to a margin of four points over idle Worcester.

Tuesday’s game ended a stretch in which the Whale played ten out 12 games on the road.  Starting with Friday’s game at the XL Center against the two-time defending Calder Cup-champion Hershey Bears (7:00 PM faceoff), Connecticut will now have 10 of its last 16 games of the season at home.

Friday’s game is a Guida’s Family Value Night.  Family Value packages start as low as $48 and include three tickets, three hot dogs or pizza slices, three sodas and a Whale souvenir. Guida’s Family Value Night packs are available at the XL Center ticket office and on-line at www.CTwhale.com.

Connecticut Whale 5 at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins 2
Tuesday, March 8, 2011 – Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza

Connecticut 2 1 2 – 5
W-B/Scranton 2 0 0 – 2

1st Period-1, W-B/Scranton, Wallace 17 (Hutchinson, Street), 2:36 (PP). 2, Connecticut, Mitchell 4 (Redden, Nightingale), 7:53. 3, W-B/Scranton, Collins 12 (Hutchinson, Lerg), 9:31. 4, Connecticut, Newbury 11 (Weise, Redden), 10:42. Penalties-Valentenko Ct (interference), 1:29; Newbury Ct (hooking), 2:12; Wallace Wbs (slashing), 19:55.

2nd Period-5, Connecticut, Redden 8 (Weise, Newbury), 1:54 (PP). Penalties-Vitale Wbs (tripping), 0:17; Strait Wbs (hooking), 4:28; Baldwin Ct (holding), 7:56; Parlett Ct (holding), 10:22; Potter Wbs (cross-checking), 13:05; Marshall Wbs (hooking), 15:11; Vitale Wbs (slashing), 16:00.

3rd Period-6, Connecticut, Tessier 7 (Mitchell, Parlett), 1:24. 7, Connecticut, Newbury 12 (Weise, Dupont), 19:40 (EN). Penalties-Bickel Ct (tripping), 1:53; Dupont Ct (elbowing), 2:21; Soryal Ct (fighting), 8:14; Boulerice Wbs (fighting), 8:14; Couture Ct (holding), 10:20; DiDiomete Ct (fighting), 10:20; Walker Wbs (fighting), 10:20; Redden Ct (hooking), 12:03; Parlett Ct (fighting), 17:30; Sill Wbs (fighting), 17:30.

Shots on Goal-Connecticut 7-14-8-29. W-B/Scranton 20-5-6-31.
Power Play Opportunities-Connecticut 1 / 6; W-B/Scranton 1 / 8.
Goalies-Connecticut, Talbot 10-3-2 (31 shots-29 saves). W-B/Scranton, Thiessen 27-7-0 (11 shots-8 saves); Curry 18-11-0 (17 shots-16 saves).
A-5,742
Referees-Jamie Koharski (84), Graham Skilliter (40).
Linesmen-Jameel Chaudry (51), Judson Ritter (34).