HARTFORD, February 11, 2011: Connecticut Whale general manager Jim Schoenfeld announced today that the Whale has released forward Jason Williams from his Professional Tryout (PTO) agreement.

Williams, an 11th-year veteran, had four goals and five assists for nine points, along with 10 penalty minutes, in 17 games since signing with the Whale December 26.

The Whale are back in action tonight, traveling to Hamilton, Ontario to take on the Bulldogs in a 7:00 PM game (WTIC HD-2, www.ctwhale.com, www.wtic.com). Connecticut’s next home-ice action is the historic Harvest-Properties.com Whale Bowl outdoor game vs. the Providence Bruins Saturday, February 19 at Rentschler Field.

Tickets for that game are on sale now at www.ticketmaster.com. Tickets for the AHL game, which begins at 7:00 PM at Rentschler Field, also include the Hartford Whalers legends vs. Boston Bruins legends game at 4:00 PM that day. The February 19 Harvest-Properties.com Whale Bowl is the featured event of the two-week outdoor Harvest-Properties.com Whalers Hockey Fest 2011 spectacular that also showcases numerous collegiate, high school, prep school and youth hockey games. A full Harvest-Properties.com Whalers Hockey Fest 2011 schedule can be found at www.ctwhale.com. Harvest-Properties.com Whale Bowl ticket prices range from $20 to $85 and tickets can be purchased on-line via Ticketmaster, at the Bushnell box office from Monday through Friday, 12 noon-5:00 PM., or by calling the Connecticut Whale at 860-728-3366. Tickets purchased on-line can be printed immediately (via Ticketmaster).

By Bruce Berlet

EAST HARTFORD, Conn. – Howard Baldwin resembled a father with a new son.

It seemed so appropriate, considering he and son Howard Jr., former New England Whalers center Garry Swain and Connecticut Whale mascot Pucky christened the new rink in Rentschler Field with a ceremonial first skate and puck drop, signifying the official opening of the historic Harvest-Properties.com Whalers Hockey Fest 2011.

“This is really special for me,” said the elder Baldwin, chairman and CEO of Whalers Sports and Entertainment, which runs the business operation of the Whale and is hosting the 12-day event. “My son was born (on June 26, 1971) just a few months before the Whalers were born.”

Yes, the New England Whalers were born in November 1971 when the World Hockey Association awarded a franchise to Baldwin and fellow New England businessmen John Coburn, Godfrey Wood and William Edwin Barnes to play in Boston. The Whalers would win the first AVCO Cup (WHA championship) in 1973 and then relocate to Hartford for the 1974-75 season.

Thirty-five years later, Baldwin and his Whalers Sports and Entertainment group have rebranded the Hartford Wolf Pack to the Connecticut Whale and have put together the biggest hockey celebration in state history.

“It’s amazing how they pulled all this together. It’s a beautiful rink, isn’t it?” said Howard Sr., on skates for the first time in 15 years. “A year ago, this was not even an idea. To see these guys take it this far … the whole staff did a hell of a job. This is a landmark event that’s going to do what I wanted it to do, package the brand and show it off to the world.

“It’s a defining moment, just as the Whalers Summer Reunion was in August. We were looking to get 1,500-2,000 then, and we got 5,000. They have made this for all ages, males, females. And the NHL is aware of it, and couple of their guys are going to be coming up (from New York) on the 19^th. This has a $6-7 million budget that could generate who knows how much for the area.”

The rink has a large Connecticut Whale logo at center ice circled by “Harvest-Properties.com Whalers Hockey Fest 2011” in capital letters. The face-off circles at each end include CBT and Hilton logos, and the ice surface has the logos of sponsors Bank of America, Bud Light, Travelers, St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center, Powerstationevents.com, Connecticut Lottery, Hoffman Motors, United Healthcare, XFINITY of Comcast and two logos of Harvest-Properties.com and Webster Bank.

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Baldwin and his son, the president and COO of Whalers Sports and Entertainment, also helped unveil the legacy jerseys to be worn by the Hartford Whalers and Boston Bruins alumni teams in their portion of the featured event, the Whale Bowl, on Feb. 19. The elder Baldwin wore a New England Whalers jersey, the younger Baldwin a Hartford Whalers legends jersey, Swain a Connecticut Whale fleece jacket and Pucky his usual Whalers outfit. Ryan Wuerfel, assistant to the chairman, modeled a Bruins legends jersey on the sidelines.

About 20 celebrities will mix in with the legends in a 4 p.m. game to be followed by the AHL’s second outdoor game at 7 p.m. The day’s activities begin with the Army-American International College game at 1 p.m.

More than 20,000 tickets have been sold, so the game is all but assured of breaking the AHL record crowd of 21,508 who watched the host Syracuse Crunch beat the Binghamton Senators 2-1 on former Wolf Pack defenseman Dave Liffiton’s goal in the first outdoor game at the New York State Fairgrounds on Feb. 20, 2010.

The Baldwins’ goal is 30,000 fans, but a sellout would really help prove a point.

“There’s an easier way to make money,” Howard Sr. said with a smile, “but we’re on a mission to bring back the (hockey) market.”

“It’s a celebration of hockey from mites all the way up to professional, and that’s very important,” Howard Jr. said. “Some NHL officials are going to be here, so we want to show them that 38,000 people want the NHL back. We’re close to Syracuse already, but we want to hit it out of the park and show people what the great state of Connecticut can show them and show that we’re a great hockey state like Minnesota.”

The NHL-standard 200-by-85-foot rink was ready for the opening thanks to the Herculean effort of construction manager Jim Hartnett and his staff, after record snowfall in January. They often worked through the night playing catch-up after seven of the first 18 days of construction were wiped out by snow and ice. The only work to be done is the netting at the ends of the rink for the AHL game.

“The only thing that we really have to do is keep grooming the ice to get it better,” said Hartnett, owner of EIS Rinks LLC in Syracuse that also built the rink for last year’s AHL outdoor game. “Now all we need to do is keep skating on the ice, and it’ll open up little cracks so we can put hot water on to seal the cracks and make it better every day. It’s just a balancing act all the way through.”

Hartnett said a favorable forecast of temperatures reaching the high 30s and mid-40s would make for optimal conditions for ice and the fans.

“Rain is about the only concern right now,” Hartnett said. “But we’d like it to be in the 40s because we freeze the ice from the bottom out, and when the temperature is in the mid-20s, we get a freeze from the top and the bottom, and we don’t really want that.”

The opening skate and puck drop preceded the first of 30 outdoor youth, high school, prep school, college, celebrity/alumni and pro games, between the girls teams from Simsbury High and West Hartford’s co-op Hall/Conard. As the scoreboard in the north end of the stadium glowed with “Whale Bowl 2011. More Than Hockey. This is History”, Pucky led the teams on the ice from the south end at 5:01 p.m. Then there was a five-minute skate and picture-taking session before a 10-minute warm-up with pucks.

“It’s unbelievable,” the elder Baldwin said he watched the girls warm up with wife, Karen, as they sat in the press box. “I can’t believe the kids are actually out there on the rink.”

Any tears, Howard? “Not now,” he said, “but maybe on the 19^th.

After the national anthem echoed through Rentschler Field, the first official puck was dropped at 5:22 p.m..  Simsbury’s Jamie Matson scored the first goal at 5:08 of the second period, but West Hartford’s Brianne O’Connor tied it at 5:52 of the third period and Alyson Alissi won it with 2:46 left. West Hartford beat Simsbury 3-2 on Wednesday night, but Thursday’s game was “for fun” because it was the third meeting of the season.

The girls game was followed by two youth and one cthockeyleague.com game. Friday’s schedule includes two prep school games, and there are five games and a Sacred Heart University alumni skate Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to midnight. “UConn Day” is Sunday, when the alumni plays at 9 a.m., followed by the men’s team facing Sacred Heart at 1 p.m. and the women meeting Providence at 4 p.m. Two days later, Feb. 15, is “Trinity-Wesleyan Day” as the schools’ women’s teams play at 4 p.m., their alumni teams at 6:30 p.m. and the men’s teams at 8 p.m.

High school and prep school games fill most of the schedule the remainder of the week until the Whale Bowl. All tickets are general admission except for Feb. 19.

Hall of Fame defensemen Brian Leetch, a Cheshire native, and Brad Park headline the Bruins legends team. Other commitments are Enfield native Craig Janney, former captain Rick Middleton, Reggie Lemelin, Ken Hodge, Don Marcotte, Rick Smith, Bob Sweeney, Lyndon Byers, Cleon Daskalakis, Jay Miller, Bob Miller (no relation) and Ken “The Rat” Linseman, a member of the Whalers for a few moments as he passed through in a multi-player trade with Philadelphia and Edmonton that included Mark Howe leaving Hartford for the Flyers. Derek Sanderson and Gary Doak will coach the Bruins team.

Commitments for the Whalers team are WHA Hall of Famer Andre Lacroix, John McKenzie, whose No. 19 is retired in the XL Center rafters, Blaine Stoughton, Pat Verbeek, John Anderson, Garry Swain, Bob Crawford, Chris Kotsopoulos, Jim Dorey, Jordy Douglas, Ray Neufeld, Gordie Roberts, Darren Turcotte, Nelson Emerson, Mark Janssens, Bill Bennett, Jeff Brubaker, Fred O’Donnell, Terry Yake, Scott Daniels, Ed Hospodar, Yvon Corriveau and the Babych brothers, Dave and Wayne. Norm Barnes and former captain Russ Anderson will be among the coaches.

Among the celebrities scheduled to play with one of the legends teams are filmmaker Bobby Farrelly, writer/director of such hit films as “Dumb and Dumber”, “There’s Something About Mary”, “Kingpin”, “Me, Myself and Irene”, “Outside Providence”, “The Heartbreak Kid”, “Stuck on You”, and “Shallow Hal”; and actor David Henrie, from “Wizards of Waverly Place” and “That’s So Raven”.

Famed former NHL referee Paul Stewart will officiate the game. Stewart, a Boston native, refereed more than 1,000 NHL games in a 13-year career. On March 15, 2003, he refereed his 1,000^th game, becoming the only American-born official to accomplish the feat. He also officiated during the Canada Cup in 1987 and 1991 after an eight-year playing career with teams in the NAHL, AHL, NEHL, CHL, WHA and NHL.

Tickets ($20 to $85) for the doubleheader can be purchased at Ticketmaster.com and the Bushnell box office in Hartford on Monday through Friday from noon to 5 p.m. or by calling the Whale at 860-728-3366. They also can be purchased online and printed immediately at Ticketmaster.com.

The official charity of the Hockey Fest is “Sam’s Race for a Place,” a fund-raising effort spearheaded by West Hartford resident Samantha Udolf that benefits the Ronald McDonald House. Since Udolf, a successful competitive skier, founded Sam’s Race for a Place in June of 2008, it has generated donations of more than $43,500.

The Ronald McDonald House is a non-profit charity operating since 1991 that helps hundreds of families and children enjoy the comforts of home while they await treatment at area medical facilities. Udolf became familiar with Ronald McDonald House and its good works while volunteering there, and she conceived Sam’s Race for a Place after learning it is independently-funded and depends on grass-roots campaigns for nearly all of its support.

For more information about Sam’s Race for a Place, visit www.samsraceforaplace.com. Donations also can be made through that web address. Besides the games, the Hockey Fest will include “Whale Town” featuring exhibitors, games and the Whalers Mobile Hall of Fame.

A complete schedule of games can be found at www.ctwhale.com. There will be a free public skate on Feb. 22 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. to thank the sponsors and fans who supported the event.

 

WHALE LOOKS TO REBOUND BIG TIME

While the Baldwins & Co. celebrated the start of their latest dream, the Whale players did some soul-searching as they shoot to rebound in a major way after one of the worst losses in their 14-year history, 9-2 to the Toronto Marlies on Wednesday. The Whale allowed more goals (five) than they had shots (four) in the first period on the way to matching franchise records for goals allowed in a game and margin of defeat.

It was hardly the way the Whale (24-22-2-5) wanted to start the toughest stretch of the season, 10 of 12 games on the road. Dale Weise, who scored the Whale’s first goal, returned to the lineup after missing three games with shingles. Goalie Cam Talbot (high ankle sprain) is on a three-game road trip, but center Todd White (concussion) and wing Chris McKelvie (foot surgery) remained in Hartford.

Despite the lopsided victory, the Marlins were more interested in goalie Jonas Gustavsson’s recurring heart problem. Gustavsson was pulled after the first period because of an elevated heart rate. It was the Swede’s second start, and first at home, after being assigned to the Marlies for a two-week conditioning stint by the parent Toronto Maple Leafs.

“I don’t know what it is,” Gustavsson told reporters after the game. “I’m going to talk to the doctors soon, again, and we’ll see what they say. They said it wasn’t as bad as last year, and I could have gone in to play the (second) period. But we decided not to do that. It’s more frustrating not to be able to keep going.”

Gustavsson, 26, was first diagnosed with an abnormal heart rhythm in September 2009 and has undergone two surgeries to treat the condition. But this was the first time he had to leave a game this season, and the Toronto Sun reported Thursday that he will be out indefinitely. In December 2009, he didn’t make it through a game in Montreal and went to the hospital because his heart rate had elevated.

“I’ve been feeling good since then,” Gustavsson said. “It hasn’t been bothering me, and I haven’t felt it, so I hope it’s going to stay that way. You never know. The doctors couldn’t guarantee it wouldn’t come back.”

Jussi Rynnas inherited a 5-0 lead when he replaced Gustavsson and made 21 saves in the final two periods before 7,779 on hand for the school-day game. Weise and Tim Kennedy scored for the Whale, and Kennedy, Jyri Niemi and Justin Soryal were the only Whale players not to be a minus in the game.

The Marlies are 2-0 in school-day games this season, but the first on Nov. 24 against the Grand Rapids Griffins wasn’t really fit for children’s eyes. A 3-1 victory was marred by 204 penalty minutes, including 18 fighting majors and six game misconducts in the third period.

The Whale completes their only venture into Canada this season with a Game Friday night at the Hamilton Bulldogs at 7:00, and then moves on to play at Providence on Sunday at 4:05 p.m.

The Bulldogs (28-17-1-4) have lost three of their last four games to fall one point behind the North Division-leading Manitoba Moose, but they are still on a 7-4-0-0 run that included six consecutive wins from Jan. 12 to 26. They won the first meeting with the Whale 7-3 on Jan. 21 at the XL Center, as rookie defenseman Brendon Nash had one of his three goals and three of his 30 assists this season. The Bulldogs’ best player has been veteran goalie Curtis Sanford, who is 19-11-1 with a 1.81 goals-against average and .935 save percentage, both second in the league, and five shutouts, which is tied for the AHL lead with Hershey’s Braden Holtby.

The Bulldogs’ No. 1 and 3 scorers, All-Stars David Desharnais (10 goals, 35 assists) and former New Canaan High and Taft School-Watertown standout Max Pacioretty (17, 15), are on recall to the parent Montreal Canadiens. Hamilton’s current top scorer is center Ben Maxwell (9, 25), followed by right wing Aaron Palushaj (9, 21) and Nash. Center Ryan Russell, the Rangers’ seventh-round pick in 2005 who never played for the organization before being traded to the Montreal Canadiens, has seven goals and nine assists.

The Bruins (23-24-3-1) have lost three in a row and are tied for fifth in the Atlantic Division with Springfield, five points behind the Whale. The Bruins have lost four in a row on the road and won five consecutive home games after being 5-13-1-1 at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center and 13-7-2-0 on the road. The Bruins have won the last two games with the Whale at the XL Center after Talbot backstopped three consecutive Whale wins, including his first pro shutout, 3-0 on Oct. 17. Maxime Sauve has two goals in each of the last two games against the Whale, while none of his teammates have scored more than once.

All-Star center Jamie Arniel (14, 17) leads the Bruins in scoring, followed by center Zach Hamill (3, 25), who is on recall to the Boston Bruins, center Joe Colborne (12, 14), right wing Kirk MacDonald (10, 15) and Sauve (12, 6). Rugged left wing Lane MacDermid, son of former Hartford Whalers right wing Paul MacDermid, has four goals, seven assists and 105 penalty minutes. Matt Dalton (7-6-0, 2.51 GAA, .918 save percentage, two shutouts) is 1-1-0 against the Whale. Veteran Nolan Schaefer is 9-14-1, 3.06, .902, no shutouts.

After four days off, the Whale will make a second trip to Glen Falls, N.Y., to face the Adirondack Phantoms (16-30-2-3) on Feb. 18 before a quick bus ride home for the Whale Bowl. The Whale is at Portland on Feb. 21 at 1 p.m. and then will play their first two games in Charlotte, N.C., against the Checkers, their former ECHL affiliate, on Feb. 24 and 26. They finally return to the XL Center on March 2 to face Springfield. Their ensuing home game is March 11 against the defending Calder Cup champion Hershey Bears, ending the brutal stretch of 10 road games in 12.

FORMER WOLF PACK PLAYERS IN THE NEWS

Former Wolf Pack players scored key goals in victories on Wednesday night.

Alexandre Giroux had the winner, to back Martin Gerber’s 33 saves for his fourth shutout of the season, in the Oklahoma City Barons’ 2-0 victory over the San Antonio Rampage. The Rampage have scored one goal on 96 shots in their last three meetings with Gerber and the Barons, including two consecutive shutout losses.

Boyd Kane scored the lone shootout goal in the fifth round, lifting red-hot Hershey to a 2-1 road victory over the Atlantic Division-leading Manchester Monarchs. Todd Ford stopped 28 of 29 shots through regulation and all five of the Monarchs’ attempts in the shootout. The Bears swept the two-game regular-season series with the Monarchs and extended their points streak to 9-0-0-1. The Bears (32-14-1-3) have moved within eight points of Wilkes-Barre/Scranton for first place in the East Division. Despite the loss, the Monarchs extended their points streak to 4-0-0-3 and moved three points ahead of idle Portland for the division lead.

While Giroux and Boyd made news on the ice, former Rangers’ first-round picks Hugh Jessiman and Al Montoya were on the move off the ice.

Jessiman, the 12^th overall pick in 2003 and the only player from that first-round class not to have played in the NHL, was traded from the defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks to Florida with fellow right wing Jack Skille and center David Pacan for right wing Michael Frolik, the Panthers’ second-leading scorer, and goalie Alexander Salak. Jessiman, 26, had three goals and two assists in 25 games with the Rockford IceHogs. The 6-foot-6, 215-pounder had back-to-back, 20-goal seasons with more than 100 penalty minutes with the Milwaukee Admirals. The Blackhawks are in a battle for a shot to defend their title, while the Panthers are trying to avoid missing the playoffs for a 10^th consecutive season.

Montoya, the sixth overall pick in 2004, was traded by the Phoenix Coyotes for a sixth-round pick in June to the New York Islanders, who have been going through goalies like throat lozenges in the middle of this wild winter. The Islanders have had four goalies injured, including rookie Kevin Poulin, who caught a blade in a rut in the ice in warm-ups Tuesday night and will out for the season with a dislocated right kneecap that will require surgery.

Mikko Koskinen, who had a 5-15-0 record and 3.64 goals-against average with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, had to make an emergency first NHL start against the Maple Leafs and gave up two goals on the first two shots and three goals in the third period in a 5-3 loss. Koskinen, a 6-foot-6 Finn and the Islanders’ second-round pick in 2009, was the fifth goalie this season for the Islanders, who didn’t have a backup Tuesday night until Joel Martin got to Nassau Coliseum for the third period. The problem stems from Rick DiPietro, the first overall pick in 2000, leaving the crease to fight Pittsburgh goalie Brent Johnson 16 seconds from the end of a 3-0 Penguins victory on Friday night. DiPietro, who has appeared in only 13 games the past two seasons, sustained facial fractures and will miss at least 4-to-6 weeks.

Amazingly, the Islanders were scrambling for a goalie after having five under contract on New Year’s Day. But they traded 41-year-old veteran Dwayne Roloson to the Tampa Bay Lightning that night and called up Nathan Lawson. They claimed veteran Evgeni Nabokov off waivers on Jan. 22, after he signed with the Detroit Red Wings for $570,000, with the intention of using him as their starter for the remainder of the season. But Nabokov refused to report so the Islanders suspended the former San Jose Sharks star, who had started the season with St. Petersburg in the Kontinental Hockey League in Russia before returning home for family reasons.

DiPietro was in and out, but when he was in, Lawson was usually out so Poulin has been mostly with the Islanders since early January. Last week, Lawson was out with a sprained knee, and DiPietro took Johnson’s left to the face, so Koskinen was called up after a game at the XL Center on Friday night that the Whale won 3-2.

Now the Sound Tigers have Montoya, who was in Bridgeport on Thursday but is expected to join the Islanders on Friday, as Martin is reassigned to the Sound Tigers. He will join Riley Gill, signed to a professional tryout contract after spending the first half of the season with Kalamazoo and Victoria in the ECHL.

So the Islanders’ No. 1 goalie will be a former No. 1 pick of the hated Rangers. Only in hockey

Hartford, CT … Whalers Sports and Entertainment announced today that famed former NHL referee Paul Stewart will officiate during the Hartford Whalers legends vs. Boston Bruins legends game February 19, 2011 at Rentschler Field in East Hartford.

The legends game comprises part of the Harvest-Properties.com Whale Bowl, the featured event of the two-week outdoor Whalers Hockey Fest spectacular at Rentschler Field that will include numerous collegiate, high school, prep school and youth hockey games. The legends game will face off at 4:00 PM on February 19 and will be followed by the outdoor AHL game between the Connecticut Whale and the Providence Bruins at 7:00 PM.

Stewart, a native of Boston, Massachusetts, is most famous for officiating over 1,000 games in the National Hockey League during a 13-year career as a referee. On March 15, 2003, Stewart refereed his 1,000th game, becoming the only American-born official to accomplish that historic feat. Stewart also officiated during the Canada Cup in both 1987 and 1991.

Before beginning his career as an official in the NHL, Stewart enjoyed a lengthy professional playing career with teams in the NAHL, AHL, NEHL, CHL, WHA and NHL. Stewart skated in 65 career WHA games for the Edmonton Oilers and Cincinnati Stingers, as well as in 21 NHL games for the Quebec Nordiques during the 1979-80 season.

His career highlights include leading the NAHL’s Binghamton Dusters in penalty minutes from 1975-77, amassing 505 minutes during that two-season span. Stewart also led the Stingers in penalty minutes during the next season, registering 241 minutes in just 40 games. Stewart was also teammates with a 17-year-old Mark Messier on the 1978-79 Cincinnati team.

Tickets for the February 19 Harvest-Properties.com Whale Bowl, which include admission to both the AHL game and the legends game, are on sale now at Ticketmaster.com, as well as at the Bushnell box office from Monday through Friday, 12 noon-5:00 PM. Ticket prices range from $20 to $85 and can also be purchased by calling the Connecticut Whale at 860-728-3366. Tickets purchased online can be printed immediately (via Ticketmaster).

Photo credit: proamhockey.com

Hartford , CT … The historic outdoor Harvest-Properties.com Whale Bowl at East Hartford’s Rentschler Field February 19 is a Connecticut event, presented by Whalers Sports & Entertainment of Hartford , but it features a thorough and distinct New York Ranger flavor.

The most obvious New York connection is the Ranger affiliation with the AHL’s Connecticut Whale, which will be taking on the Boston Bruins’ top affiliate, the Providence Bruins, in an AHL version of an “Original Six” matchup at 7:00 on February 19, in the second outdoor game in American Hockey League history.

Top Rangers prospects such as Dale Weise, Tomas Kundratek , Chad Kolarik, Brodie Dupont , Chad Johnson and Jeremy Williams will all put their talents on display as they take on top Bruins prospects including Zach Hamill, Joe Colborne, Yury Alexandrov, Maxime Sauve and Jordan Caron.

In addition to the AHL tilt, Whalers Sports & Entertainment will present a Whalers legends vs. Boston Bruins legends game at 4:00 on February 19 at Rentschler Field, and a number of the legends game participants are also familiar names in Ranger lore.

Those include: Hall of Fame defensemen Brad Park, who was a three-time First-Team All-Star with the Rangers before being traded to the Bruins in 1975, and Brian Leetch, who finished his playing days in Boston after his legendary Ranger career; and Rick Middleton, the 1973 first-round Ranger pick who had a pair of 20-goal seasons in New York before his trade to Boston, as well as names like Pat Verbeek, Blaine Stoughton, Chris Kotsopoulos and Mark Janssens, all of whom spent time with the Rangers.

In addition to the on-ice talent, the Bruins legends team’s two coaches will be Derek Sanderson, who had a 25-goal year with the Rangers in 1974-75 and Gary Doak, who played with the Blueshirts in the 1972 Stanley Cup Finals.

Full legends game rosters, and other Harvest-Properties.com Whale Bowl information, are available on-line at www.ctwhale.com.

Tickets for the February 19 Harvest-Properties.com Whale Bowl, which include admission to both the AHL game and the legends game, are on sale now at Ticketmaster.com, as well as at the Bushnell box office from Monday through Friday, 12 noon-5:00 PM. Ticket prices range from $16 to $85 and can also be purchased by calling the Connecticut Whale at 860-728-3366. Tickets purchased online can be printed immediately (via Ticketmaster).

By Bruce Berlet

The season to forget could be over for Rangers captain and Trumbull native Chris Drury.

Drury, who missed 31 of the first 32 games this season with a twice-broken finger, will have surgery on his left knee that will keep him out an estimated six weeks.

Drury has tried to play through the pain of the ailing knee the past few weeks, but Rangers coach John Tortorella said after practice Wednesday that Drury would undergo surgery at a time to be determined. Drury had missed the last few games after having fluid drained from the knee on Friday.

“They’re gonna go in and scrape his knee and take a look at it,” Tortorella said. “They haven’t really pinpointed anything. That guy has played hard for a long time, and I just think it has worn on him. It certainly hasn’t been getting better. He tried like hell to keep on playing, but it has gotten to the point where he can’t.”

The twice-broken index finger and injured knee have caused the 34-year-old Drury to miss 33 of 56 games this season, after he missed only 20 games the past eight seasons. Drury, who signed a five-year, $35 million contract in 2007, has no goals and four assists this season and won’t be available as the Rangers try to hold onto a playoff spot.

Tortorella defended Drury from what he considered doubts from the media about his captain’s motivation and will and that the surgery spares the Rangers from having to make difficult decisions about including him in the lineup once all of the injured forwards have returned.

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“It pisses me off that some things come out about Chris Drury, about him thinking that he might be out of the lineup or maybe he’s just giving in here a little bit,” Tortorella said. “But that’s certainly not what happening here with this guy. He tried to play on it, and we tried playing him. It didn’t work out. It’s a tough thing.

“You guys know him as well as I do, and it’s killing him. It came up in one of my press conferences, and it just bugs me so this is a good opportunity for me to say it because he’s not built that way and we all know that.”

It’s inconceivable that anyone would question the will of one of sports’ grittiest players and biggest winners, from being the winning pitcher and knocking in two runs in Trumbull’s stunning Little League World Series victory over Taiwan in 1989 to winning a Division I state hockey title at Fairfield Prep to a NCAA title and Hobey Baker Award as college hockey’s best player while at Boston University to a Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche to helping the United States earn a silver medal in the 2010 Winter Olympics.

And Drury didn’t publicly complain when he was relegated to the fourth line and penalty killing after returning in December.

Tortorella, whose team will try to end a season-high, five-game losing streak (0-4-01) in Atlanta on Friday night, said he isn’t sure if the six-week timetable ends Drury’s season.

Drury, who has tried to keep a low profile during this forgettable season, was not available for comment. This corner’s only comment is that Drury’s career certainly is on the downside, but it’s doubtful anyone has handled such trying times with more class, which is his middle name. I just hope Drury doesn’t try to come back too early again and jeopardize what’s left in a Hall of Fame career.

WHERE HAVE ALL THE GOALIES GONE?

The Bridgeport Sound Tigers found themselves without a goalie Tuesday night when recently-signed Joel Martin had to be called up to the parent New York Islanders on an emergency basis after rookie Kevin Poulin, on recall from the AHL, caught a blade in a rut in the ice and sustained a left-knee injury in WARMUPS.

Poulin, 20, flopped to the ice and had to be helped to the runway leading to the dressing room without putting any weight on his left leg. He left Nassau Coliseum on crutches and was to have a MRI on Wednesday.

So Mikko Koskinen, who had a 5-15-0 record and 3.64 goals-against average with the Sound Tigers, had to make an emergency first NHL start against the Toronto Maple Leafs and gave up two goals on the first two shots he faced. But the three goals he allowed in the third period led to a 5-3 loss.

“I didn’t even have time to be nervous,” Koskinen told reporters after the game. “I can’t be happy with the third period. I made a couple of mistakes that cost us the win.”

Koskinen, a 6-foot-6 Finn and the Islanders’ second-round pick in 2009, was the fifth goalie this season for the Islanders, who didn’t have a backup until Martin arrived for the third period. It was Martin’s 15^th hockey city, including juniors, and left the Sound Tigers scrambling for a goalie.

Some of the craziness was alleviated on Wednesday night when the Islanders acquired former Hartford Wolf Pack goalie Al Montoya, the Rangers’ first-round pick (sixth overall) in 2004, from the Phoenix Coyotes for a sixth-round pick in June. Montoya, who turns 26 on Sunday, was taken by the Rangers after two seasons at the University of Michigan but never played a game in New York while toiling for three seasons in Hartford.

On Feb. 26, 2008, Montoya was traded to the Coyotes with Marcel Hossa for Fredrik Sjostrom, David LeNeveu and Josh Gratton and spent most of the last three-plus season with the San Antonio Rampage. His only NHL playing time came in 2008-09, when he went 3-1-0 with a 2.08 GAA, .921 save percentage and one shutout in four games with Phoenix. Montoya was 11-8-0 with a 3.19 GAA and .891 save percentage in 21 games with the Rampage. He reportedly will report to Bridgeport and then be called up for a game against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday night.

Most of the maneuvering stemmed from former No. 1 pick Rick DiPietro leaving the crease to fight Pittsburgh goalie Brent Johnson 16 seconds from the end of a 3-0 Penguins victory on Friday night. DiPietro, who has appeared in only 13 games the past two seasons, sustained facial fractures and will miss at least 4-to-6 weeks.

It was the latest in a series of injuries for DiPietro, who signed a ground-breaking, 15-year, $65 million contract in 2006 but hasn’t played a full season since 2007, and ranks 41^st out of 42 NHL goalies in save percentage at .890, a major reason the Islanders are in last place despite a bit of a resurgence under interim coach Jack Capuano, who started the season behind the Sound Tigers’ bench.

“You’ve got to make the best of it, but for whatever reason, these things have happened to us,” Capuano said.

That sounded all too familiar to the Rangers’ situation, with a plethora of injuries to forwards that led to as many as eight Connecticut Whale players being called up at the same time. And two former Sound Tigers wings will be sidelined for awhile. Blake Comeau has been placed on injured reserve because of a concussion, and Trent Hunter, out since November, will undergo left-knee surgery to repair a torn MCL and will miss the remainder of the season.

So what did the Sound Tigers do to fill their void?  Right now they have only Riley Gill, signed to a professional tryout contract from Kalamazoo of the ECHL on Saturday. Their first-year equipment manager, Leni DiCostanzo, played goal in junior hockey and the Southern Pro, ECHL and AHL for four years.

And to think that on New Year’s Day, the Islanders had five goalies on NHL contracts. But they traded veteran Dwayne Roloson that night and called up Nathan Lawson. DiPietro was in and out, but when he was in, Lawson was usually out, so Poulin has been with the Islanders most of the time since early January. Last week, Lawson was out with a sprained knee, and DiPietro took Johnson’s left to the face, so Koskinen was called up after a game at the XL Center on Friday night that the Whale won, 3-2.

Then Poulin dislocates his knee, Martin has to be called up and the Sound Tigers are left with an empty net and the prospect of facing three of the AHL’s top teams this weekend – Friday vs. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Saturday at Manchester and Sunday vs. Portland.

Now don’t you just love hockey, especially when it comes to arguably the most important position in sports?

SOMETHING POSITIVE FOR SOMMER

Five days after taking a deflected puck to the face and sustaining a broken nose, Worcester Sharks coach Roy Sommer won the reGen Muscle Recovery Beverage/AHL Performance of the Month award for January.

And, no, it wasn’t for returning from the locker room minutes after the incident in a 4-3 shootout victory over the Manchester Monarchs on Friday night that earned Sommer the award.

No, it was for coaching his 1,000^th regular-season game as an AHL coach on Jan. 14 in a 3-1 victory over the Springfield Falcons. Sommer, whose 13 years is the longest current coaching run in the AHL, is only the fourth man in league history to reach that milestone.

The 53-year-old Sommer has a career record of 466-462-82 in 1,010 AHL games, all as the head coach of the San Jose Sharks’ top affiliates in Kentucky (1998-2001), Cleveland (2001-06) and Worcester (2006-present ). He ranks third behind AHL Hall of Famers Frank Mathers, Fred “Bun” Cook and John Paddock in games and victories. Sommer has coached more than 80 players who have played in the NHL. Before becoming a coach, Sommer had a 10-year playing career, including a Calder Cup championship with Maine in 1984.

Congratulations, Roy, from the entire Whale family. You’ve always been a straight shooter.

BALDWINS TO OPEN HOCKEY FEST 2011 ON THURSDAY AT 3 P.M.

The historic Harvest-Properties.com Whalers Hockey Fest 2011 will begin Thursday at 3 p.m., with Whalers Sports and Entertainment chairman and CEO Howard Baldwin and WSE president and COO Howard Baldwin Jr. officially opening the 12-day event with a ceremonial first skate. They also will unveil the legacy jerseys to be worn by the Hartford Whalers and Boston Bruins alumni teams in that portion of the Whale Bowl on Feb. 19.

The first of 30 outdoor youth, high school, prep school, college, celebrity/alumni and pro games will start at 5 p.m. as the Simsbury High School girls play the West Hartford girls, followed by a cthockeyleague.com game at 10 p.m.

“UConn Day” is Sunday, when the alumni plays at 9 a.m., followed by the men’s team facing Sacred Heart at 1 p.m. and the women meeting Providence at 4 p.m. Two days later, Feb. 15, is “Trinity-Wesleyan Day” as the schools’ women’s teams play at 4 p.m., their alumni teams at 6:30 p.m. and the men’s teams at 8 p.m.

The featured attraction is the Whale Bowl, when celebrities will mix in with the Whalers and Bruins legends at 4 p.m., followed by the Whale playing the Providence Bruins at 7 p.m. In case of bad weather, the Whale-Bruins game will be played Feb. 20 at 1 p.m. at the XL Center.

Hall of Fame defensemen Brian Leetch, a Cheshire native, and Brad Park headline the Bruins legends team. Other commitments are Enfield native Craig Janney, former captain Rick Middleton, who played 12 seasons in Boston and with the Rangers, Reggie Lemelin, Ken Hodge, Don Marcotte, Rick Smith, Bob Sweeney, Lyndon Byers, Cleon Daskalakis, Jay Miller, Bob Miller (no relation) and Ken “The Rat” Linseman, who was a member of the Whalers for a few moments as he passed through in a multi-player trade with Philadelphia and Edmonton that included Mark Howe leaving Hartford for the Flyers. Derek Sanderson will coach the Bruins team.

Commitments for the Whalers team are WHA Hall of Famer Andre Lacroix, John McKenzie, whose No. 19 is retired in the XL Center rafters, Blaine Stoughton, Pat Verbeek, John Anderson, Garry Swain, Bob Crawford, Chris Kotsopoulos, Jim Dorey, Jordy Douglas, Ray Neufeld, Gordie Roberts, Darren Turcotte, Nelson Emerson, Mark Janssens, Bill Bennett, Jeff Brubaker, Fred O’Donnell, Terry Yake, Scott Daniels, Ed Hospodar, Yvon Corriveau and the Babych brothers, Dave and Wayne. Norm Barnes and former captain Russ Anderson will be among the coaches.

Among the celebrities scheduled to play with one of the legends teams are filmmaker Bobby Farrelly, writer/director of such hit films as “Dumb and Dumber”, “There’s Something About Mary”, “Kingpin”, “Me, Myself and Irene”, “Outside Providence”, “The Heartbreak Kid”, “Stuck on You”, and “Shallow Hal”; and actor David Henrie, from “Wizards of Waverly Place” and “That’s So Raven”.

Tickets ($20 to $85) for the doubleheader can be purchased at Ticketmaster.com and the Bushnell box office in Hartford on Monday through Friday from noon to 5 p.m. or by calling the Whale at 860-728-3366. They also can be purchased online and printed immediately at Ticketmaster.com.

The official charity of the Hockey Fest is “Sam’s Race for a Place,” a fund-raising effort spearheaded by West Hartford resident Samantha Udolf that benefits the Ronald McDonald House. Since Udolf, a successful competitive skier, founded Sam’s Race for a Place in June of 2008, it has generated donations of more than $43,500.

The Ronald McDonald House is a non-profit charity operating since 1991 that helps hundreds of families and children enjoy the comforts of home while they await treatment at area medical facilities. Udolf became familiar with Ronald McDonald House and its good works while volunteering there, and she conceived Sam’s Race for a Place after learning it is independently-funded and depends on grass-roots campaigns for nearly all of its support.

For more information about Sam’s Race for a Place, visit www.samsraceforaplace.com. Donations also can be made through that web address. Besides the games, the Harvest-Properties.com Whalers Hockey Fest will include “Whale Town” featuring exhibitors, games and the Whalers Mobile Hall of Fame.

THREE WHALE PLAYERS AMONG PROSPECTS TRADING CARDS

Two Whale players, goalie Chad Johnson and forward Evgeny Grachev, and former Whale defenseman Ryan McDonagh, now on recall to the Rangers, are in the 150-card Heroes and Prospects trading card set by In the Game.

The three have all played with the Rangers, though Johnson’s five-game stint was last season. They are pictured on those cards in the uniform of the Hartford Wolf Pack, which was rebranded as the Connecticut Whale on Nov. 27.

In the Game has been making its Heroes and Prospects hockey set for several years, and it’s become a must-have for many hockey fans. This year’s 150-card set includes seven Hockey Hero cards, three international prospects, 90 Canadian major junior hockey league players and 50 AHL players. Many of the players have already been drafted, while others are expected to be early picks in upcoming NHL drafts.

There are a lot of memorabilia, autograph, jersey, game-used emblem and AHL 75^th Anniversary cards, including the one of AHL Hall of Famer John Paddock, who coached the Wolf Pack to their only Calder Cup title in his first of three seasons, 1999-2000.

Other notable player cards are Logan Couture and Alex Stalock (San Jose-Worcester), P.K. Subban (Montreal Canadiens-Hamilton Bulldogs), Tyler Ennis (Buffalo Sabres-Portland Pirates), John Carlson (Washington Capitals-Hershey Bears), John Moore (Columbus Blue Jackets-Springfield Falcons), Blake Geoffrion (Nashville Predators-Milwaukee Admirals), Jared Staal (Carolina Hurricanes-Charlotte Checkers) and Linus Omark (Edmonton Oilers-Oklahoma City Barons), as well as Calder Cup champion cards of Alexandre Giroux, Chris Bourque, Keith Aucoin, Andrew Gordon and Mathieu Perreault; non-memorabilia insert cards such as Taylor Hall, Cam Fowler and Eric Wellwood; and 75^th Anniversary cards Billy Smith, Brett Hull, Bruce Boudreau, Doug Harvey, Eddie Shore, Emile Francis, Gerry Cheevers, John Slaney, Carey Price, Jason Spezza, Larry Robinson, Les Cunningham, Martin Brodeur, Milt Schmidt, Patrick Roy, Pelle Lindbergh, Terry Sawchuk, Mitch Lamoureux, Willie Marshall and Zdeno Chara.

The card sets cost $94.99 and are available at www.theahl.com. All-Star Game jerseys and merchandise are also available.

Photo credit: Getty Images

Toronto, Ontario, February 9, 2011 – The Connecticut Whale tied a franchise record for goals-against Wednesday, in a 9-2 loss to the Toronto Marlies in a school-day special, 11:00 AM-start game at the RICOH Coliseum.

The Marlies, who were led by Christian Hanson’s five points (goal, four assists), built a 5-0 first-period lead and cruised from there.  In addition to Hanson’s big game, Alex Foster had a four-point day with two goals and two assists, Danny Richmond had four assists and was +5, Marcel Mueller, Simon Gysbers and Ryan Hamilton each chipped in a goal and an assist, and Mike Brennan had two assists and was +5.

Dale Weise and Tim Kennedy scored for the Whale, who dropped to 24-22-2-5 (55 pts.) on the season and remained one point behind the third-place Worcester Sharks in the Atlantic Division.

The first-period barrage began at 4:08, when Nazem Kadri scored on the rebound of a shot by Hamilton.  Hamilton broke around Pavel Valentenko on right wing and had his shot stopped by Dov Grumet-Morris with the left pad, but Kadri was unguarded going for the rebound and was easily able to slide it home.

The Marlies scored on a two-on-one at 10:22 to make it 2-0.  Foster sped down right wing and drew Jared Nightingale, the only Whale defender back, to him and slipped the puck across the slot to Mueller, who had an empty net.

That started a run of four Marlie goals in a span of 6:04, and Hamilton would make it a 3-0 game just 31 seconds after Mueller’s goal, at 10:53.  After Grumet-Morris made several strong saves, Gysbers found Hamilton all alone between the hash marks and Hamilton was able to bury the puck past Grumet-Morris.

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The Whale relieved Grumet-Morris with Chad Johnson after that goal, and Toronto would get two more on Johnson before the period was over.

Jeff Cowan scored on a rebound at 14:43 to make it 4-0.  Johnson stopped Mike Zigomanis’ shot from the left-wing side, but the carom went right to Cowan for the finish.  Then at 16:26, Gysbers scored a power-play goal from the right point, as his slap shot hit Wade Redden’s stick and deflected past Johnson’s glove.

The Marlies also made a goaltending change going into the second period, as starter Jonas Gustavsson, who is on a conditioning assignment to the Marlies from the parent Toronto Maple Leafs, and faced only four shots in the first, gave way to Jussi Rynnas.

The Toronto onslaught continued only 1:19 into the second frame, when Foster scored the first of his two goals in the period.  After a shot by Mueller went wide, Foster banged the rebound in from the left-wing boards, off of Johnson’s right arm.

Weise finally got the Whale on the scoreboard exactly three minutes later at 4:19, scoring a power-play goal that ended a Marlie streak of 30 consecutive successful penalty kills.  Weise took a feed from Jyri Niemi and slid toward the left side of the slot, before shooting back against the grain and getting it past Rynnas’ catching glove.

Toronto replied only 40 seconds later though, on a second Foster goal at 4:59.  That was off of another two-on-one, as Foster worked a give-and-go with Hanson, who set Foster up for an easy finish.

With the score 7-1 in favor of the Marlies, that brought Grumet-Morris back into the game, after four goals-against on 11 shots on Johnson.  That calmed things down until there were only 10.8 seconds remaining in the period, when Hanson scored on a tricky play for his fifth point of the game.  Richmond flipped the puck up in the air toward the Connecticut blue line and Hanson gloved it out of mid-air, knocking it past Redden, and picked it up again and blasted a high drive past Grumet-Morris.

Down 8-1 entering the third, the Whale split a pair of late goals with the Marlies in the final session.

Kennedy cut the Toronto lead to 8-2 at 17:35, as he exchanged the puck with Evgeny Grachev in neutral ice and moved down the left side of the slot before firing a shot past Rynnas’ stick glove.  Josh Engel then made the final margin 9-2 with 31 seconds left, tipping in a drive by Richmond from the left point.

Gustavsson got the win in net, despite playing only the first period, improving to 2-0-0 in AHL action, and Rynnas, who posted a 33-save shutout the first time the two teams met, a 4-0 Toronto win in Hartford November 9, stopped 20 of the 22 shots that he faced.  In the Whale goal, Grumet-Morris took the loss, with five goals-against on 30 shots in 45:27 of work.

Wednesday’s game marked the third time in franchise history the team has allowed as many as nine goals in a game.  The last was a 9-2 Hartford Wolf Pack loss in Hershey December 6 of last season.  The defeat also tied a franchise mark for largest margin of defeat, the fifth seven-goal loss in team history.

The Whale continue a stretch in which they play seven out of eight games, and 10 out of 12, on the road Friday night at Hamilton (7:00 PM faceoff, WTIC HD-2, www.ctwhale.com, www.wtic.com).

Connecticut Whale 2 at Toronto Marlies 9
Wednesday, February 9, 2011 – Ricoh Coliseum

Connecticut 0 1 1 – 2
Toronto 5 3 1 – 9

1st Period-1, Toronto, Kadri 10 (Hamilton, Brennan), 4:08. 2, Toronto, Mueller 9 (Foster, Hanson), 10:22. 3, Toronto, Hamilton 4 (Gysbers, Hanson), 10:53. 4, Toronto, Cowan 6 (Zigomanis, Brunnstrom), 14:43. 5, Toronto, Gysbers 6 (Richmond, Foster), 16:26 (PP). Penalties-Nightingale Ct (hooking), 5:29; Bickel Ct (fighting), 7:58; Scott Tor (fighting), 7:58; Lashoff Tor (interference), 12:26; DiDiomete Ct (fighting), 14:30; Brennan Tor (fighting), 14:30; Williams Ct (tripping), 15:47.

2nd Period-6, Toronto, Foster 6 (Mueller, Hanson), 1:19. 7, Connecticut, Weise 11 (Niemi, Dupont), 4:19 (PP). 8, Toronto, Foster 7 (Richmond, Hanson), 4:59. 9, Toronto, Hanson 12 (Richmond, Brennan), 19:49. Penalties-Caruana Tor (tripping), 2:40; Nightingale Ct (fighting), 5:46; Hamilton Tor (fighting), 5:46; Williams Ct (holding the stick), 6:27; Cowan Tor (goaltender interference), 8:47; Brennan Tor (high-sticking), 15:55.

3rd Period-10, Connecticut, Kennedy 11 (Nightingale, Grachev), 17:35. 11, Toronto, Engel 10 (Richmond, Caruana), 19:29. Penalties-DiDiomete Ct (boarding), 3:18; Nightingale Ct (cross-checking), 6:43; Newbury Ct (slashing), 7:32; Richmond Tor (hooking), 10:21; Lashoff Tor (high-sticking), 11:27.

Shots on Goal-Connecticut 4-14-8-26. Toronto 16-9-16-41.
Power Play Opportunities-Connecticut 1 / 6; Toronto 1 / 6.
Goalies-Connecticut, Grumet-Morris 1-2-0 (30 shots-25 saves); Johnson 15-18-3 (11 shots-7 saves). Toronto, Gustavsson 2-0-0 (4 shots-4 saves); Rynnas 9-13-3 (22 shots-20 saves).
A-7,779
Referees-Darcy Burchell (50), David Banfield (44).
Linesmen-Matt Traub (88), Jesse Wilmot (19).

By Bruce Berlet

Don’t ever say hockey players, or even coaches, aren’t some of the toughest hombres in all of sports.

Getting stitched up and returning to the ice by the next period is common for most players, but Worcester Sharks coach Roy Sommer earned special kudos Friday night.

Sommer, whose 13 seasons in the San Jose organization is the AHL’s longest coaching run, sustained a broken nose when a deflected puck hit him in the face during the first period of a 4-3 shootout victory over the Atlantic Division-leading Manchester Monarchs. Sommer immediately went to his knees and was escorted to the locker room, where he was treated by trainer Matt White. Sommer soon returned to the bench with Q-tips sticking out of his nostrils and a piece of tape across his nose for the rest of the game.

“Never saw it coming,” Sommer told Worcester Telegram & Gazette writer Bill Ballou. “Even if I had, I’m not sure I could’ve gotten out of the way, not with the cat-like reflexes I’ve got.”

Sommer said it wasn’t his worst injury behind the bench. An opposing player once tried to tomahawk one of his players and missed.

“I got El-Kabonged,” Sommer said.

Sommer was back behind the bench Saturday night when the Sharks beat Providence 2-0 behind 20 saves from rookie Carter Hutton, who notched his first pro shutout in his 16^th pro game, and first of the season for Worcester, after serving as Antti Niemi’s backup in the San Jose Sharks’ 2-0 victory over the Boston Bruins on Saturday afternoon. Hutton was playing because Worcester’s No. 1 goalie, Alex Stalock, is out for the season after his left knee was injured when it was stepped on by Monarchs forward Dwight King with 31/2 minutes left Friday night.

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Stalock, who set an AHL rookie record with 39 victories last season, has a sliced nerve that will require surgery. His injury came only five days after he picked up a relief win in his NHL debut, a 5-3 victory over the Phoenix Coyotes. He stopped all nine shots he faced after replacing Niemi midway through the game with San Jose trailing 3-0.

“It’s great to get the win (Saturday night), but a shutout’s always a bit of a bonus,” Hutton told Ballou. “We played a really solid game, I thought, and (Providence) didn’t have many good chances until the third period.”

Sommer, his nose still scarred from the puck incident the previous night, said, “Hutton handled the puck well, was aggressive challenging the shooters and made some big saves. He deserves his chance to play. He’s worked his (butt) off all year.”

Hutton had Stalock in the back of his mind after Worcester’s fourth straight victory, its longest winning streak since March.

“Before the third period, I said that we should win this one for Al,” Hutton said. “His injury is a big loss for us, but this was a big win for him.”

The doubleheader sweep by the Sharks organization probably isn’t unprecedented, but it must be rare that the NHL and AHL teams play in the afternoon and at night – and only 40 miles apart.

WHALE START TOUGH ROAD STRETCH

The Whale got a much-needed day off Monday and then left at 7 a.m. Tuesday on the start of a stretch of 10 road games in their next 12. They practiced at Cicero Twin Rinks in suburban Syracuse on Tuesday morning and then finished the bus ride to Toronto for a Wednesday game against the Marlies at 11 a.m. The Whale will be trying to avenge a 4-0 loss at home in the teams’ first meeting on Nov. 9, when rookie goalie Jussi Rynas made 33 saves. The Marlies have the most road points in the league (15-11-0-5, 35 points) but rank 27^th among 30 teams at home (9-9-0-2). They’re the only team that has neither won nor lost in overtime this season.

The Marlies (24-20-0-7), battling for a playoff spot in the North Division, are led by veteran center Mike Zigomanis (eight goals, 24 assists), who had a goal and an assist in the first meeting with the Whale, left wing Fabian Brunnstrom (14, 13), rookie center Nazem Kadri (9, 16) and defenseman Matt Lashoff (7, 18). Rynnas is 9-13-3 with a 2.79 goals-against average, .920 save percentage and one shutout, but the Whale likely will face Jonas Gustavsson, who began a conditioning stint from the Toronto Maple Leafs by stopping 24 of 25 shots in a 3-1 victory over the Rochester Americans on Saturday night. He had a shutout until Bill Thomas scored with 13:19 to go. The Marlies have killed off 29 consecutive shorthanded situations in the last eight games, lifting their overall penalty-killing percentage to second in the AHL (87.1 percent).

It will be a “homecoming” for veterans Kris Newbury and All-Star Jeremy Williams, who played five seasons together in the Toronto Maple Leafs organization – St. John’s and the Marlies in the AHL and the Maple Leafs in the NHL – before signing with the Detroit Red Wings last season and then ending up with the Rangers and Whale this season.

Right wing Dale Weise will return to the Whale lineup after missing three games with an undisclosed illness, but goalie Cam Talbot (high ankle sprain) won’t play, and center Todd White (concussion) and wing Chris McKelvie (foot surgery) didn’t make the trip.

The Whale will complete their only venture into Canada this season with a game at Hamilton on Friday night and then play at Providence on Sunday at 4:05 p.m.

Entering a game against Abbotsford on Tuesday night, Hamilton (28-16-1-4) had lost three of its last four games to fall one point behind the North Division-leading Manitoba Moose, but the Bulldogs were still on a 7-3-0-0 run that included six consecutive wins from Jan. 12 to 26. They won the first meeting with the Whale 7-3 on Jan. 21 at the XL Center, as rookie defenseman Brendon Nash had one of his three goals and three of his 30 assists this season. The Bulldogs’ best player has been veteran goalie Curtis Sanford, who is 19-10-1 with a 1.74 goals-against average, second in the league, .938 save percentage and five shutouts. The Bulldogs’ No. 1 and 3 scorers, All-Stars David Desharnais (10 goals, 35 assists) and former New Canaan High-Avon Old Farms standout Max Pacioretty (17, 15), are on recall to the parent Montreal Canadiens. Hamilton’s current top scorer is center Ben Maxwell (9, 24), followed by right wing Aaron Palushaj (8, 21) and Nash.

Entering a game against Charlotte on Tuesday night, the Bruins (23-23-3-1) had lost their last two games and were tied for fifth in the Atlantic Division with Springfield, five points behind the Whale. The Bruins had lost three in a row on the road and have won five consecutive home games after being 5-13-1-1 at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center and 13-7-2-0 on the road. The Bruins have won the last two games with the Whale at the XL Center after Talbot backstopped three consecutive Whale wins, including his first pro shutout, 3-0 on Oct. 17. Maxime Sauve has two goals in each of the last two games against the Whale, while none of his teammates have scored more than once in the season series.

All-Star center Jamie Arniel (14, 17) leads the Bruins in scoring, followed by center Zach Hamill (3, 25), who is on recall to the Boston Bruins, center Joe Colborne (12, 14), right wing Kirk MacDonald (10, 14) and Sauve (12, 6). Rugged left wing Lane MacDermid, son of former Hartford Whalers right wing Paul MacDermid, has four goals, seven assists and 103 penalty minutes. Matt Dalton (7-5-0, 2.38 GAA, .922 save percentage, two shutouts) has a win and a loss against the Whale. Veteran Nolan Schaefer is 9-14-1, 3.06, .902, no shutouts.

After four days off, the Whale will make a second trip to Glen Falls, N.Y., to face the Adirondack Red Wings on Feb. 18 before a quick bus ride home for the Harvest-Properties.com Whale Bowl game against Providence on Feb. 19 at 7 p.m. at Rentschler Field in East Hartford. That follows the Army-AIC game at 1 p.m., and celebrities mixing in with the Hartford Whalers legends and Boston Bruins legends at 4 p.m. If the Whale-Bruins game is postponed because of bad weather, it will be played Feb. 20 at Rentschler Field at 1 p.m.

The Whale is at Portland on Feb. 21 at 1 p.m. and then will play their first two games in Charlotte, N.C., against the Checkers, their former ECHL affiliate, on Feb. 24 and 26. They finally return to the XL Center on March 2 to face the Springfield Falcons. Their ensuing home game is March 11 against the defending Calder Cup champion Hershey Bears, ending the brutal stretch of 10 road games in a dozen.

BALDWINS TO OPEN HOCKEY FEST 2011 ON THURSDAY AT 3 P.M.

The historic Harvest-Properties.com Whalers Hockey Fest 2011 is scheduled to begin Thursday at 3 p.m. with Whalers Sports and Entertainment chairman and CEO Howard Baldwin and WSE president and COO Howard Baldwin Jr. officially opening the 12-day event with a ceremonial first skate.

The first of 30 outdoor youth, high school, prep school, college, celebrity, alumni and pro games will start at 5 p.m. as the Simsbury High girls play the West Hartford girls, followed by a cthockeyleague.com game at 10 p.m.

“UConn Day” is Sunday, when the alumni plays at 9 a.m., followed by the men’s team facing Sacred Heart at 1 p.m. and the women meeting Providence at 4 p.m. Two days later, Feb. 15, is “Trinity-Wesleyan Day” as the schools’ women’s teams play at 4 p.m., their alumni teams at 6:30 p.m. and the men’s teams at 8 p.m.

The featured attraction is the Harvest-Properties.com Whale Bowl on Feb. 19. Hall of Fame defensemen Brian Leetch, a Cheshire native, and Brad Park headline the Bruins legends team. Other commitments are Enfield native Craig Janney, former captain Rick Middleton, who played 12 seasons in Boston and with the Rangers, Reggie Lemelin, Ken Hodge, Don Marcotte, Rick Smith, Bob Sweeney, Lyndon Byers, Cleon Daskalakis, Jay Miller, Bob Miller (no relation) and Ken “The Rat” Linseman, who was a member of the Whalers for a few moments as he passed through in a multi-player trade with Philadelphia and Edmonton that included Mark Howe leaving Hartford for the Flyers. Derek Sanderson will coach the Bruins team.

Commitments for the Whalers team are WHA Hall of Famer Andre Lacroix, John McKenzie, whose No. 19 is retired in the XL Center rafters, Blaine Stoughton, Pat Verbeek, John Anderson, Garry Swain, Bob Crawford, Chris Kotsopoulos, Jim Dorey, Jordy Douglas, Ray Neufeld, Gordie Roberts, Darren Turcotte, Nelson Emerson, Mark Janssens, Bill Bennett, Jeff Brubaker, Fred O’Donnell, Terry Yake, Scott Daniels, Ed Hospodar, Yvon Corriveau and the Babych brothers, Dave and Wayne.  Norm Barnes and former captain Russ Anderson will be among the coaches.

Among the celebrities scheduled to play with one of the legends teams are filmmaker Bobby Farrelly, writer/director of such hit films as “Dumb and Dumber”, “There’s Something About Mary”, “Kingpin”, “Me, Myself and Irene”, “Outside Providence”, “The Heartbreak Kid”, “Stuck on You”, and “Shallow Hal”; and actor David Henrie, from “Wizards of Waverly Place” and “That’s So Raven”.

Tickets ($20 to $85) for the doubleheader can be purchased at Ticketmaster.com and the Bushnell box office in Hartford on Monday through Friday from noon to 5 p.m. or by calling the Whale at 860-728-3366. They also can be purchased online and printed immediately at Ticketmaster.com.

The official charity of the Harvest-Properties.com Hockey Fest is “Sam’s Race for a Place,” a fund-raising effort spearheaded by West Hartford resident Samantha Udolf that benefits the Ronald McDonald House. Since Udolf, a successful competitive skier, founded Sam’s Race for a Place in June of 2008, it has generated donations of more than $43,500.

The Ronald McDonald House is a non-profit charity operating since 1991 that helps hundreds of families and children enjoy the comforts of home while they await treatment at area medical facilities. Udolf became familiar with Ronald McDonald House and its good works while volunteering there, and she conceived Sam’s Race for a Place after learning it is independently-funded and depends on grass-roots campaigns for nearly all of its support.

For more information about Sam’s Race for a Place, visit www.samsraceforaplace.com. Donations also can be made through that web address. Besides the games, the Hockey Fest will include “Whale Town” featuring exhibitors, games and the Whalers Mobile Hall of Fame.

SOUND TIGERS’ TAKEOVER OF WEBSTER BANK ARENA STILL IN WORKS

The Bridgeport Sound Tigers have a tentative agreement to take over operations of Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport from Centerplate, and it was referred to the contracts committee during a city council meeting Monday night. Sound Tigers president Howard Saffan, who is also the senior vice president of operations for the parent New York Islanders, said last week that the tentative agreement had been reached after six months of negotiations.

“With the New York Islanders going into the entertainment business with Nassau Coliseum, which we took over the management of last year, we wanted to take advantage of our relationships and pursue the entertainment industry in Fairfield County,” Saffan told Mike Fornabaio of the Connecticut Post.

If the Sound Tigers win approval, they would take over the original lease, which runs until 2021. Mayor Bill Finch’s office said Centerplate will continue to provide food and beverage services while the team will book the arena. A 4-1 loss to the Falcons on Saturday night was the Sound Tigers’ sixth in a row and dropped them to 1-11-2-1 in 2011. … The Springfield Falcons postponed their scheduled game Tuesday night against the Sound Tigers to Feb. 16 at 7 p.m. It was rescheduled to allow crews time to remove snow and ice from the MassMutual Center roof and the surrounding area. The rescheduled date also gives the crews more time to completely execute the changeover from the Disney on Ice Show that occupied the building last week back to the original ice surface. … Former Wolf Pack goalie Al Montoya relieved Matt Climie in the third period, made 13 saves in regulation and overtime and then stopped all five Lake Erie shootout tries to lead visiting San Antonio to a 5-4 victory Saturday night. Defenseman Garrett Stafford scored the only shootout goal as the Rampage won their fourth consecutive game.  The Rampage are on a 6-0-1 run to tie the Milwaukee Admirals for first place in the West Division. … Rookie center Nick Bonino, who excelled at Farmington High and Avon Old Farms, scored twice as Syracuse beat league-leading Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 4-2 Saturday night. … Former Wolf Pack wing Nigel Dawes scored his 23^rd goal and Stratford native Jaime Sifers had two assists to help the Chicago Wolves beat Peoria 4-2 Saturday night. … The Monarchs (31-16-1-4), who got 26 saves from rookie All-Star Martin Jones in a 4-0 victory at Albany on Saturday night, are 11-1-1-0 against the two Connecticut teams (5-0-1-0 vs. Bridgeport and 6-1-0-0 vs. the Whale) and 20-15-0-4 against the rest of the league.

THREE WHALE PLAYERS AMONG PROSPECTS TRADING CARDS

Two Connecticut Whale players, goalie Chad Johnson and forward Evgeny Grachev, and former Whale defenseman Ryan McDonagh, now on recall to the Rangers, are in the 150-card Heroes and Prospects trading card set by In the Game.

The three have all played with the Rangers, though Johnson’s five-game stint was last season. They are pictured on those cards in the uniform of the Hartford Wolf Pack, which was rebranded as the Connecticut Whale on Nov. 27.

In the Game has been making its Heroes and Prospects hockey set for several years, and it’s become a must-have for many hockey fans. This year’s 150-card set includes seven Hockey Hero cards, three international prospects, 90 Canadian major junior hockey league players and 50 AHL players. Many of the players have already been drafted, while others are expected to be early picks in upcoming NHL drafts.

There are a lot of memorabilia, autograph, jersey, game-used emblem and AHL 75^th Anniversary cards, including the one of AHL Hall of Famer John Paddock, who coached the Wolf Pack to their only Calder Cup title in his first of three seasons, 1999-2000.

Other notable player cards are Stalock, Logan Couture (San Jose-Worcester), P.K. Subban (Montreal Canadiens-Hamilton Bulldogs), Tyler Ennis (Buffalo Sabres-Portland Pirates), John Carlson (Washington Capitals-Hershey Bears), John Moore (Columbus Blue Jackets-Springfield Falcons), Blake Geoffrion (Nashville Predators-Milwaukee Admirals), Jared Staal (Carolina Hurricanes-Charlotte Checkers) and Linus Omark (Edmonton Oilers-Oklahoma City Barons), as well as Calder Cup champion cards Alexandre Giroux, Chris Bourque, Keith Aucoin, Andrew Gordon and Mathieu Perreault; non-memorabilia insert cards such as Taylor Hall, Cam Fowler and Eric Wellwood; and 75^th Anniversary cards Billy Smith, Brett Hull, Bruce Boudreau, Doug Harvey, Eddie Shore, Emile Francis, Gerry Cheevers, John Slaney, Carey Price, Jason Spezza, Larry Robinson, Les Cunningham, Martin Brodeur, Milt Schmidt, Patrick Roy, Pelle Lindbergh, Terry Sawchuk, Mitch Lamoureux, Willie Marshall and Zdeno Chara.

The card sets cost $94.99 and are available at www.theahl.com. All-Star Game jerseys and merchandise are also available

Hartford, CT … Whalers Sports and Entertainment announced today that Yvon Corriveau and Ed Hospodar will join the group of featured players for the Hartford Whalers legends vs. Boston Bruins legends game February 19, 2011 at Rentschler Field in East Hartford.

The legends game comprises part of the Harvest-Properties.com Whale Bowl, the featured event of the two-week outdoor Harvest-Properties.com Whalers Hockey Fest 2011 spectacular at Rentschler Field that will include numerous collegiate, high school, prep school and youth hockey games. The legends game will face off at 4:00 PM on February 19 and will be followed by the outdoor AHL game between the Connecticut Whale and the Providence Bruins at 7:00 PM.

The Whalers legends team already features a roster consisting of players such as Blaine Stoughton, Nelson Emerson, John McKenzie, and Wayne and Dave Babych. They will be taking on a Bruins legends group that includes the likes of Craig Janney, Brian Leetch, Brad Park, Lyndon Byers and Rick Middleton. More legends roster additions are still to be announced.

Corriveau played parts of five seasons with the Whalers from 1989-90 through 1993-94. The Welland, Ontario-born winger’s Whaler tenure totaled 114 games, in which he scored 22 goals and added 15 assists for 37 points and amassed 90 penalty minutes. A first-round draftee (19th overall) of the Washington Capitals in 1985 out of the Ontario Hockey League, Corriveau was acquired by the Whalers from the Capitals for Mike Liut March 6, 1990. After being dealt back to Washington in August of 1992, Corriveau was re-acquired by the Whalers from the San Jose Sharks in October of that year, days after San Jose had claimed him from the Capitals in the Waiver Draft.

Corriveau’s NHL time with the Whalers, Capitals and Sharks totaled 280 games, in which he registered 48 goals and 40 assists for 88 points, along with 310 PIM. Corriveau also saw significant time in the AHL and IHL, as well as in Germany’s DEL, during his 19-year pro career.

Hospodar, a defenseman whose hard-charging, rough-and-tumble style of play earned him the nickname “Boxcar”, played the 1982-83 and ’83-’84 seasons with the Whalers as part of a nine-year NHL career. Hospodar’s 199 penalty minutes in 1982-83 were second-most on the Hartford team, and the Bowling Green, Ohio native also chipped in one goal and nine assists for ten points in 72 games. The next season, Hospodar had nine assists in 59 games with the Whalers and was again second on the club in PIM, with 163.

A second-round pick of the New York Rangers in the 1979 NHL Entry Draft out of the Ontario Hockey League, Hospodar played three seasons with New York before being acquired by the Whalers, and went on to play with the Philadelphia Flyers, Minnesota North Stars and Buffalo Sabres in his post-Hartford career. All told, Hospodar suited up for 450 career NHL contests, scoring 17 goals and adding 51 assists for 68 points and serving 1,314 minutes in penalties.

Tickets for the February 19 Harvest-Properties.com Whale Bowl, which include admission to both the AHL game and the legends game, are on sale now at Ticketmaster.com., as well as at the Bushnell box office from Monday through Friday, 12 noon-5:00 PM. Ticket prices range from $20 to $85 and can also be purchased by calling the Connecticut Whale at 860-728-3366. Tickets purchased online can be printed immediately (via Ticketmaster).

By Bruce Berlet

AHL president and CEO Dave Andrews called last week’s All-Star Classic “awesome” for a number of reasons, starting with two nights of sellout crowds for the skills competition and All-Star Game at the Giant Center in Hershey, Pa.

Then there was a record turnout of nearly 1,000 at the Hall of Fame induction ceremony that had free-spirited Hall of Famer/former Hershey Bears coach/current Washington Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau as a major hit as keynote speaker, and AHL grad and legendary announcer Doc Emrick as the emcee. And both the skills competition and All-Star Game drew record television ratings.

“It’s amazing the feedback we got from our fans and guests,” Andrews said about the Eastern Conference’s 11-8 victory over the Western Conference.  “There were just glowing reports from the people who were there. Fans who spent a lot of money to go were all very positive, and we got great response to the throwback uniforms.”

Andrews said the AHL likely won’t do a Fantasy Player Draft as the NHL did for the first time this year.

“I thought (the draft) was pretty neat, but I think it would get old in a hurry,” he said. “I’m not sure it works every year.”

But the AHL is exploring the potential of a change to its format. One idea would be a two-game series against an elite team from a European league, which would play one game each against the Eastern Conference and Western Conference All-Stars.

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“We’re working on it to find out if those federations would allow a team to leave at that time of the year and come over and play,” Andrews said. “I think it would be great for our league and great for our players. I talked to some of the players at the All-Star event, and they thought it was great. It would be a lot of fun and a good challenge for our players. We’re always trying to come up with something new, and it could be like Rendez-vous.”

Andrews referred to Rendez-vous ’87, a two-game exhibition series between the NHL All-Stars and Soviet national team in Quebec City. It replaced the usual NHL All-Star festivities that had been hosted by the Hartford Whalers the previous year. It was a follow-up to the Challenge Cup series in 1979, hoping the NHL All-Stars would turn the tables and beat the Soviet team. This time, the series was two games instead of three.

The games were highlighted by Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux playing on the same line, often with Brian Propp, who ended his 15-year career with the Whalers. The NHL team also included former Whalers star and captain Kevin Dineen. Former Whalers/Philadelphia Flyers standout Mark Howe also was on the team but was injured and couldn’t play.

The teams split the two games, with the NHL All-Stars winning the first 4-3, as Dineen scored and Flyers teammate Dave Poulin got the winner with 1:15 left. The Soviets won the second game 5-3, as former Rangers forward Valeri Kamensky and Vladimir Krutov each scored twice, earning them the overall victory by an 8-7 aggregate score. Gretzky assisted on the NHL All-Star goals by Mark Messier, Doug Wilson and Ray Bourque.

Dineen said he likes the AHL-Europe setup.

“It’s a much better idea than the current format,” Dineen said via email. “It would put the AHL front and center for a few days, so I hope they can put it together. They would be real games and highly entertaining.”

The one-line specialist then couldn’t resist one final funny line.

“Our guys had to bus to the All-Star Game from Hartford (to Hershey), so I hope they don’t make the Euros take a boat,” Dineen said.

Jeremy Williams, the Whale’s lone representative in the All-Star Game, didn’t talk with Andrews but agreed with Dineen that the AHL-Europe series would be a good opportunity for a lot of parties.

“I think it’s a really interesting idea,” said Williams, who had a goal and an assist in his All-Star debut with the winning team. “In one sense, it would probably give everyone a little more time off, and the guys playing in it would benefit most. The season is a tough grind, and having a few extra days off gives guys time to regroup and heal up a little.

“Plus it would be a great experience for guys who never got to play in a World Junior Championship or World Championship. Both sides would be showcased, so it would be great to be on the world stage. Funding is always a consideration, but I think it would be taken care of because of the benefits for everyone.”

WHALE HEADS OFF ON TOUGH ROAD STRETCH

The Whale got a much-needed day off Monday and left at 7 a.m. Tuesday on the start of a stretch of 10 road games in their next 12. They will practice at Cicero Twin Rinks in suburban Syracuse on Tuesday morning and then finish the bus ride to Toronto for a Wednesday game against the Marlies at 11 a.m. The Whale will be trying to avenge a 4-0 loss at home in the teams’ first meeting on Nov. 9, when rookie goalie Jussi Rynas made 33 saves.

The Marlies (24-20-0-7), who are battling for a playoff spot in the North Division, are led by veteran center Mike Zigomanis (eight goals, 24 assists), left wing Fabian Brunnstrom (14, 13), rookie center Nazem Kadri (9, 16) and defenseman Matt Lashoff (7, 18). Rynnas is 9-13-3 with a 2.79 goals-against average, .920 save percentage and one shutout, but the Whale likely will face Jonas Gustavsson, who began a conditioning stint from the Toronto Maple Leafs by stopping 24 of 25 shots in a 3-1 victory over the Rochester Americans on Saturday night. He had a shutout until Bill Thomas scored with 13:19 to go.

It will be a “homecoming” for veterans Williams and Kris Newbury, who played five seasons together in the Toronto Maple Leafs organization – St. John’s and the Marlies in the AHL and the Maple Leafs in the NHL – before signing with the Detroit Red Wings last season and then ending up with the Rangers and Whale this season.

“My fiancee’s family lives in Hamilton, so it’ll be nice to see them,” said Williams, whose future in-laws drove from Hamilton to Hershey for the All-Star Classic. “And my younger sister is flying in from Saskatchewan, so that’ll be nice, too. Plus, I still have a bunch of buddies still in the area.”

Right wing Dale Weise will return to the Whale lineup after missing three games with an undisclosed illness, but goalie Cam Talbot (high ankle sprain), center Todd White (concussion) and wing Chris McKelvie (foot surgery) won’t make the trip.

The Whale will complete their only venture into Canada this season with a game at Hamilton on Friday night and then play at Providence on Sunday at 4:05 p.m. After four days off, they’ll make a second trip to Glen Falls, N.Y., to face the Adirondack Red Wings on Feb. 18 before a quick bus ride home for the Harvest-Properties.com “Whale Bowl” game against Providence on Feb. 19 at 7 p.m. at Rentschler Field in East Hartford. That follows the Army-AIC game at 1 p.m., and celebrities mixing with the Hartford Whalers legends and Boston Bruins legends at 4 p.m. If the Whale-Bruins game is postponed because of bad weather, it will be played Feb. 20.

The Whale is at Portland on Feb. 21 and then will play their first two games in Charlotte, N.C., against the Checkers, their former ECHL affiliate, on Feb. 24 and 26. They finally return to the XL Center on March 2 to face the Springfield Falcons. Their ensuing home game will be March 11 against the defending Calder Cup champion Hershey Bears, ending the brutal stretch of 10 road games in a dozen.

BALDWINS TO OPEN HOCKEY FEST 2011 ON THURSDAY AT 3 P.M.

The historic “Harvest-Properties.com Whalers Hockey Fest 2011” is scheduled to begin Thursday at 3 p.m. with Whalers Sports and Entertainment chairman and CEO Howard Baldwin and WSE president and COO Howard Baldwin Jr. officially opening the 12-day event with a ceremonial first skate.

The first of 30 outdoor youth, high school, prep school, college, celebrity, alumni and pro games will start at 5 p.m. as the Simsbury High girls play the West Hartford girls, followed by a cthockeyleague.com game at 10 p.m.

“UConn Day” is Sunday, when the alumni plays at 9 a.m., followed by the men’s team facing Sacred Heart at 1 p.m. and the women meeting Providence at 4 p.m. Two days later, Feb. 15, is “Trinity-Wesleyan Day” as the schools’ women’s teams play at 4 p.m., their alumni teams at 6:30 p.m. and the men’s teams at 8 p.m.

The featured attraction is the Harvest-Properties.com “Whale Bowl” on Feb. 19. Hall of Fame defensemen Brian Leetch, a Cheshire native, and Brad Park headline the Bruins legends team. Other commitments are Enfield native Craig Janney, former captain Rick Middleton, who played 12 seasons in Boston and with the Rangers, Reggie Lemelin, Ken Hodge, Don Marcotte, Rick Smith, Bob Sweeney, Lyndon Byers, Cleon Daskalakis, Jay Miller, Bob Miller (no relation) and Ken “The Rat” Linseman, who was a member of the Whalers for a few moments as he passed through in a multi-player trade with Philadelphia and Edmonton that included Mark Howe leaving Hartford for the Flyers. Derek Sanderson will coach the Bruins team.

Commitments for the Whalers team are WHA Hall of Famer Andre Lacroix, John McKenzie, whose No. 19 is retired in the XL Center rafters, Blaine Stoughton, Pat Verbeek, John Anderson, Garry Swain, Bob Crawford, Chris Kotsopoulos, Jim Dorey, Jordy Douglas, Ray Neufeld, Gordie Roberts, Darren Turcotte, Nelson Emerson, Mark Janssens, Bill Bennett, Jeff Brubaker, Fred O’Donnell, Terry Yake, Scott Daniels and the Babych brothers, Dave and Wayne. Emile “The Cat” Francis, a coach and general manager with the Rangers and Whalers, will be back behind the bench again, and Norm Barnes and former captain Russ Anderson will be assistant coaches.

Among the celebrities scheduled to play with one of the legends teams are filmmaker Bobby Farrelly, writer/director of such hit films as “Dumb and Dumber”, “There’s Something About Mary”, “Kingpin”, “Me, Myself and Irene”, “Outside Providence”, “The Heartbreak Kid”, “Stuck on You”, and “Shallow Hal”; and actor David Henrie, from “Wizards of Waverly Place” and “That’s So Raven”.

Tickets ($20 to $85) for the doubleheader can be purchased at Ticketmaster.com and the Bushnell box office in Hartford on Monday through Friday from noon to 5 p.m. or by calling the Whale at 860-728-3366. They also can be purchased online and printed immediately at Ticketmaster.com.

The official charity of the Harvest-Properties.com Whalers Hockey Fest 2011 is “Sam’s Race for a Place,” a fund-raising effort spearheaded by West Hartford resident Samantha Udolf that benefits the Ronald McDonald House. Since Udolf, a successful competitive skier, founded Sam’s Race for a Place in June of 2008, it has generated donations of more than $43,500.

The Ronald McDonald House is a non-profit charity operating since 1991 that helps hundreds of families and children enjoy the comforts of home while they await treatment at area medical facilities. Udolf became familiar with Ronald McDonald House and its good works while volunteering there, and she conceived Sam’s Race for a Place after learning it is independently-funded and depends on grass-roots campaigns for nearly all of its support.

For more information about Sam’s Race for a Place, visit www.samsraceforaplace.com. Donations also can be made through that web address. Besides the games, the Hockey Fest will include “Whale Town” featuring exhibitors, games and the Whalers Mobile Hall of Fame.

ADMIRALS GEOFFRION REPEATS AS AHL PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Milwaukee Admirals center Blake Geoffrion was named Reebok/AHL Player of the Week after getting two goals and five assists and being plus-5 in two games. He became the first AHL player to win back-to-back awards since Pirates goalie Jim Carey on Oct. 30 and Nov. 6, 1994.

After turning 23 on Thursday, Geoffrion had the game-winning goal and three assists in a 4-2 victory over Rockford on Friday night. He then had a goal and two assists in a 6-2 victory over Grand Rapids that kept the Admirals atop the West Division and Western Conference. Geoffrion has 13 points and is plus-8 in four games the last two weeks. He’s a rookie out of the University of Wisconsin, where he won the 2010 Hobey Baker Award as the top player in collegiate hockey while playing with Rangers center Derek Stepan and defenseman Ryan McDonagh, who started the season with the Whale. They led the Badgers to the NCAA title game but lost 5-0 to Boston College and Rangers top prospect Chris Kreider. Geoffrion is the grandson of former AHL coach and Hockey Hall of Famer Bernie Geoffrion and son of former AHL forward Dan Geoffrion.

The Whale nominated right wing Chad Kolarik, who had three goals in two games. Other nominees included Jones, Gustavsson, Hutton and former Wolf Pack wing Jeff Taffe (Rockford).

MILFORD NATIVE QUICK CONTINUES WINNING SHOOTOUT WAYS

Hamden native Jonathan Quick continued to build on a stellar season Saturday night as he stopped five consecutive shootout attempts, two with help from a post, as the Los Angeles Kings beat the Calgary Flames 4-3 to improve to 2-0-1 on a 10-game road trip.

After allowing two goals in the skills competition, the Flames couldn’t score again on Quick, who made a spectacular, falling-backwards glove stop on Curtis Glencross in the fourth round on the way to going 6-0 in shootouts and ending Calgary’s six-game winning streak. Quick (24-14-1, 2.14 goals-against average, .921 save percentage, career-high five shutouts) is only the third goalie in Kings’ history to win 20 games in a season, joining Rogie Vachon and Kelly Hrudey.

Flames goalie Miikka Kiprusoff also allowed two quick goals and then stopped four shots before Justin Williams beat him after getting a goal and two assists in regulation. It was the Kings’ first win in Calgary in 11 tries since Dec. 21, 2005, and moved them into the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference, one point ahead of the Flames.

By Bruce Berlet

HARTFORD, Conn. – It was hardly a super goal on Super Bowl Sunday, but the Portland Pirates were more than happy to accept it.

The Connecticut Whale would have been, too.

Instead, defenseman T.J. Brennan picked up a loose puck near the blue line, skated toward the corner and fired a bad-angle shot that hit goalie Chad Johnson, then the post and the keeper’s leg before trickling into the net with 3:12 left to give the Pirates a 3-2 victory over the Whale before 3,458 at the XL Center.

“As I was skating in, I saw two guys (Colin Stuart and Corey Tropp) crashing the net, so I just wanted to get the puck on the net, and that’s what I did,” Brennan said. “When I skated around (the net), I saw the puck was over the goal line because (Johnson) never had control of it. Thank God it counted.”

Much like Derek Whitmore’s power-play goal with 7.5 seconds left that gave the Pirates a 3-2 victory in their previous visit to the XL Center on Jan. 29.

Brennan’s score decided a fifth one-goal game between the teams this season, with the Pirates (30-15-4-1) evening the series at three after blowing an early 2-0 lead. It helped alleviate the pain of a 4-3 loss at home Saturday night, when the Pirates surrendered three one-goal leads. But this time they prevailed and moved within two points of idle Atlantic Division-leading Manchester.

The loss prevented the Whale (24-21-2-5) from passing Worcester for third place in the Atlantic Division, but they remained five points ahead of fifth-place Providence, which lost 4-3 to Charlotte. The Whale have lost five of their last six games at home, fell to 12-13-2-1 overall at home, and are 12 points behind Manchester and 10 back of the Pirates.

No one felt worse about Brennan’s fortuitous goal than Johnson.

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“It was just an ugly goal, just a bad goal,” Johnson said. “(Brennan) just came down the wing, hit the post and the puck kind of went on my right pad. I really didn’t get a good look at it, but it was just kind of sitting on my leg. I tried kind of leaning forward because I could feel it kind of rolling down the side of my leg. I didn’t know if it was over the line or not. I heard the whistle, and then I saw the ref coming into the picture and he’s pointing goal, goal, goal.

“It’s a tough goal. There are (three) minutes left in the game, and it was one I probably have to play a lot differently. I felt I was in good position, it just somehow got by me and hit the post. I didn’t really give him anything to shoot at except the post, and it got by me. Then it was a play down by feet, so I just tried to cover up all the holes that I could wherever I thought the puck was, and when I looked behind me, the puck was sitting right over the line a little bit.

“All these games (with the Pirates) seem to come down to the last five minutes, when teams obviously pick it up because it’s kind of like an overtime atmosphere. It’s tough because we had our chances and played good in a back-and-forth game, but it just comes down to a bad goal. I’ve got to have those. This time of year it cost the team getting a point, so it’s just disappointing.”

Pirates coach Kevin Dineen, who saw his share of good and bad goals during his years as a standout right wing and captain with the Hartford Whalers, wasn’t about to complain about his team passing another survival test.

“It wasn’t a masterpiece, but you never critique the two points,” Dineen said. “We were in a game where we got so badly outplayed in one period (the second), but I liked our response in the third. I’m just so respectful of the talent over there that you’re trying to weather the storm sometimes. Some of the play over there, specifically (former Pirates center) Tim Kennedy, who’s NHL-worthy, playing fabulous hockey and making a pretty good career against us, is a credit to their team.

“But we didn’t play a great game, didn’t respond to the amount of effort and pressure they were putting on us. We looked like the team that played three games in three days, but I liked our last seven or eight minutes. There was a lot of emotion that went into that game, and I think we responded well. Their best players were the best players and hardest-working guys this weekend, and I can’t say the same thing about my group. But that’s the nature of the beast. Sometimes your identity comes from your worker-bees, and they certainly got it done for us this weekend.”

After Brennan got the tie-breaker, David Leggio (33 save) made stellar stops on Wade Redden and Evgeny Grachev with 1:43 and 1:32 left. The Whale then pulled Johnson for a sixth attacker, and Leggio preserved the victory when he stopped Jason Williams cruising in off left wing with 1:02 left. After a Whale timeout, Williams’ deflection with eight seconds to go went just wide right.

But fortunately for the Pirates, Brennan’s shot somehow found its way into the net.

“It’s really tough when you feel after those first two goals that you really took control of the game,” said Kennedy, who scored the Whale’s first goal. “It’s just one of those kind of fluke goals that can beat you and leaves a sour taste in your mouth. We didn’t have the best start, but after that, they had their chance here or there, but I thought we really carried the play.

“It’s just a tough loss because we’re trying to catch those guys, and that’s two points that I think we should have.”

As for his success against his former team, Kennedy smiled and said, “I think they (the parent Buffalo Sabres) are still paying me. I’ve definitely had some pretty good games against (the Pirates), but I think that’s just because when you’ve played for a team and are playing against your own friends, you get up a little more for it. We’ve had some pretty good games against them, but it still hurts not to win.”

The Whale might have won if they hadn’t gone without a power play for only the second time in 14 seasons, the other being on Nov. 17, 2007, when they won 3-2 at Lowell. But they were fortunate Johnson was ready at the start as he made a big save off Brian Roloff just 15 seconds into the game and a good right-pad stop on All-Star Luke Adam at 1:32. Leggio then had a right-pad save on Whale All-Star Jeremy Williams at 4:13 before the Pirates scored twice in 2:31.

Justin Bowers broke a scoreless tie at 13:47 when he cruised through the slot and deflected Igor Gongalsky’s shot from the right circle past Johnson. A few shifts later, Adam dropped a pass to NHL veteran Mark Parrish, whose shot from 30 feet in the slot deflected off the stick of Whale center Kris Newbury and past Johnson with 3:42 left in the period.

But just 46 seconds later, Kennedy again haunted his former team. Defenseman Jyri Niemi passed from the left point to the right circle to Kennedy, who maneuvered into position and beat Leggio to the far stick side for his third goal in six games against the Pirates this season. The previous two were overtime game-winners on Dec. 29 and 31.

“It was a nice pass from Jyri, but this time the goalie took away the glove side so I had to go stick side and caught him cheating a little bit,” said Kennedy, named to the AHL all-rookie team in 2008-09 when he led all rookies in assists (49) and points (67) while with the Pirates.

Johnson kept it a one-goal game with glove save on Roloff at 1:36 of the second period, then Leggio denied Chad Kolarik breaking in off right wing at 7:09. The Whale then lost a bid to tie when Kelsey Tessier lost the puck on a breakaway at 9:14.

On the ensuing shift, Johnson robbed Roloff in the slot and redirected the puck to Kolarik, who raced down right wing on a 2-on-1 and took a shot from the top of the circle that beat Leggio to the far stick side at 10:04 for his 20^th goal. It was his third goal in two days against the Pirates and fourth in six games against Portland since being acquired from the Columbus Blue Jackets and Springfield Falcons for Hartford Wolf Pack captain Dane Byers on Nov. 11.

Johnson, who got his second assist of the season on Kolarik’s goal, kept it tied when he stopped Dennis McCauley in close with 3:26 left in the period before Leggio denied Jason Williams in front with 1:58 to go. A backhander by the Pirates’ Tim Conboy found the net moments after the second-period horn sounded.

Kolarik threatened again off a pass from Kennedy 3:32 into the third period, but Leggio came out to keep the game tied. After the teams sparred for several minutes, Johnson got his shoulder on a right-circle blast with 7:48 left by Mark Mancari, who leads the AHL with 28 goals.

The teams then searched for the slightest opening that might make the difference, and Brennan found it.

“You have two pretty equally matched teams, and your start isn’t up to par and the last shot on goal is one I’m sure Chad would like to have back,” Whale coach Ken Gernander said. “I guess that can be the difference, can’t it?

WHALE SCRATCH SAME FOURSOME

The Whale again scratched goalie Cam Talbot (high ankle sprain), center Todd White (concussion) and wings Dale Weise (undisclosed injury) and wing Chris McKelvie (foot surgery). The Pirates scratched forward Travis Turnbull (shoulder) and two defensemen, All-Star Drew Schiestel (knee) and Alex Biega (knee). … This was the Whale’s last game at the XL Center until March 2, when they play the Springfield Falcons. They host the Providence Bruins on Feb. 19 at 7 p.m., but that’s at Rentschler Field in East Hartford and follows a 4 p.m. between the Hartford Whalers legends and the Boston Bruins legends in the start of the Harvest-Properties.com “Whale Bowl.” Army plays AIC in a college game at 1 p.m.

The Whale’s ensuing home game is March 11 against the defending Calder Cup champion Hershey Bears, as they play 10 of their next 12 games on the road, including their only trips to Toronto, Hamilton, Ontario, and Charlotte, N.C. They leave Tuesday for Toronto, where they face the Marlies on Wednesday morning at 11:00, trying to avenge a 4-0 loss at home in the teams’ first meeting on Nov. 9, in which rookie goalie Jussi Rynas made 33 saves. The Marlies (24-20-0-7), who are battling for a playoff spot in the North Division, are led by veteran center Mike Zigomanis (eight goals, 24 assists), left wing Fabian Brunnstrom (14, 13), rookie center Nazem Kadri (9, 16) and defenseman Matt Lashoff (7, 18). Rynnas is 9-13-3 with a 2.79 goals-against average, .920 save percentage and one shutout. … The Whale’s Tip-A-Player Dinner and Sports Carnival raised $32,000 for the Gaylord Specialty Healthcare at Gaylord Hospital in Wallingford. Center Ryan Garlock and defenseman Jared Nightingale collected the most “Puck Bucks” for doing various activities as the team increased its eight-year take for Gaylord to about $285,000. The Whale and Gaylord families thank all the fans who attended, all the volunteers who donated their time and all the restaurants that provided the food and drink. As usual, it was “A Whale of a Time” for a terrific cause that has benefitted so many people. … Sunday was the 31^st anniversary of the first NHL game in the rebuilt and enlarged Hartford Civic Center, a 7-3 Whalers’ victory over the Los Angeles Kings.

WOMEN HUSKIES, HUSKIES TIE IN PRELIM

The recent record snowfall gave several local college teams, especially UConn, a chance to practice and play in the XL Center. And they even got to hear the Whalers’ famed theme song, “Brass Bonanza,” as the UConn teams skated out before each period.

The UConn men’s and women’s teams began working out in Hartford on Wednesday when the Freitas Ice Forum on the UConn campus was deemed unsafe until snow and ice was removed from the roof. The teams will practice at the XL Center at least one more day before hopefully staying on campus.

The UConn men lost 5-3 at the XL Center on Saturday night, and the UConn women tied Northeastern 2-2 in the preliminary to the Pirates’ 3-2, win thanks largely to junior goalie Alexandra Garcia of Pointe-Claire, Quebec. Garcia had 33 saves but didn’t take a loss when Taylor Gross’ 30-foot shot from the slot trickled through Northeastern goalie Leah Sulyma’s legs at 5:08 of the third period. Stephanie Raithby, who scored UConn’s first goal, missed the net on a breakaway 18 seconds into overtime, and Kristi Kehoe, who scored Northeastern’s first goal on a nifty backhander, hit the crossbar at 1:24.

UConn, coming off a 3-2 overtime loss at Boston College on Saturday, is 12-16-2 overall and 8-7-2 in Hockey East. Northeastern is 14-9-5, 6-7-4.

The UConn teams will be part of the historic “Harvest-Properties.com Whalers Hockey Fest 2011” that is scheduled to begin Friday at Rentschler Field in East Hartford. “UConn Day” is Sunday, when the alumni plays at 9 a.m., followed by the men’s team facing Sacred Heart at 1 p.m. and the women meeting Providence at 4 p.m. … UConn freshman forward Alexandra Vakos of Hamden was named Pro Ambitions Rookie of the Month for the month of January. Vakas had three goals, all game-winners, and three assists in nine games. She had a career-high three points (one goal, two assists) in a win over Robert Morris.

HARVEST-PROPERTIES HOCKEY FEST 2011 STARTS THIS WEEK

The “Harvest-Properties.com Whalers Hockey Fest 2011” is scheduled to begin Friday at 4 p.m. with the first of 30 outdoor games between the girls’ teams from Hotchkiss School (Lakeville) and Cushing Academy (Ashburnham, Mass.), the opener of a tripleheader.

The featured attraction is the Harvest-Properties.com “Whale Bowl” on Feb. 19, when celebrities will participate in a game between the Whalers legends and Bruins legends at 4 p.m., followed by the Whale-Providence game at 7 p.m. In case of bad weather, the Whale-Bruins game will be played Feb. 20.

Hall of Fame defensemen Brian Leetch, a Cheshire native, and Brad Park headline the Bruins legends team. Other commitments are Enfield native Craig Janney, former captain Rick Middleton, who played 12 seasons in Boston and with the Rangers, Reggie Lemelin, Ken Hodge, Don Marcotte, Rick Smith, Bob Sweeney, Lyndon Byers, Cleon Daskalakis, Jay Miller, Bob Miller (no relation) and Ken “The Rat” Linseman, who was a member of the Whalers for a few moments as he passed through in a multi-player trade with Philadelphia and Edmonton that included Mark Howe leaving Hartford for the Flyers. Derek Sanderson will coach the Bruins team.

Commitments for the Whalers team are WHA Hall of Famer Andre Lacroix, John McKenzie, whose No. 19 is retired in the XL Center rafters, Blaine Stoughton, Pat Verbeek, John Anderson, Garry Swain, Bob Crawford, Chris Kotsopoulos, Jim Dorey, Jordy Douglas, Ray Neufeld, Gordie Roberts, Darren Turcotte, Nelson Emerson, Mark Janssens, Bill Bennett, Jeff Brubaker, Fred O’Donnell, Terry Yake, Scott Daniels and the Babych brothers, Dave and Wayne. Emile “The Cat” Francis, a coach and general manager with the Rangers and Whalers, will be back behind the bench again, and Norm Barnes and former captain Russ Anderson will be assistant coaches.

Celebrities scheduled to play with one of the legends teams include Michael Keaton, Alan Thicke and David E. Kelley, son of New England and Hartford Whalers coach and general manager Jack Kelley and the writer of the 1999 hit film “Mystery, Alaska,” which was produced by Whalers Sports and Entertainment president and CEO Howard Baldwin and his wife, Karen. “Mystery, Alaska” cast members slated to appear are Michael Buie, Scott Richard Grimes, Jason Gray-Stanford and Cameron Bancroft, along with Neal McDonough, Kevin Zegers, Bobby Farrelly, David Henrie and the Hanson brothers – Steve, Jeff and Dave –  who were the comedic linchpins of the classic movie “Slap Shot.”

Tickets ($20 to $85) for the doubleheader can be purchased at Ticketmaster.com and the Bushnell box office in Hartford on Monday through Friday from noon to 5 p.m. or by calling the Whale at 860-728-3366. They also can be purchased online and printed immediately at Ticketmaster.com.

The official charity of the Hockey Fest is “Sam’s Race for a Place,” a fund-raising effort spearheaded by West Hartford resident Samantha Udolf that benefits the Ronald McDonald House. Since Udolf, a successful competitive skier, founded Sam’s Race for a Place in June of 2008, it has generated donations of more than $43,500.

The Ronald McDonald House is a non-profit charity operating since 1991 that helps hundreds of families and children enjoy the comforts of home while they await treatment at area medical facilities. Udolf became familiar with Ronald McDonald House and its good works while volunteering there, and she conceived Sam’s Race for a Place after learning it is independently-funded and depends on grass-roots campaigns for nearly all of its support.

For more information about Sam’s Race for a Place, visit www.samsraceforaplace.com. Donations also can be made through that web address. Besides the games, the Hockey Fest will include “Whale Town” featuring exhibitors, games and the Whalers Mobile Hall of Fame.

MR. TOUGH GUYS

Don’t ever say hockey players or even coaches aren’t the toughest hombres in all of sports. Getting stitched up and returning to the ice by the next period is common for most players. But Worcester Sharks coach Roy Sommer earned special kudos Friday night.

Sommer, whose 13 seasons in the San Jose organization is the AHL’s longest coaching run, sustained a broken nose when a deflected puck hit him in the face during the first period of a 4-3 shootout victory over Manchester. Sommer immediately went to his knees and was escorted to the locker room, where he was treated by trainer Matt White. Sommer soon returned to the bench with Q-tips sticking out of his nostrils and a piece of tape across his nose for the rest of the game.

“Never saw it coming,” Sommer told Worcester Telegram & Gazette writer Bill Ballou. “Even if I had, I’m not sure I could’ve gotten out of the way, not with the cat-like reflexes I’ve got.”

Sommer said it wasn’t his worst injury behind the bench. An opposing player once tried to tomahawk one of his players and missed.

“I got El-Kabonged,” Sommer said.

Sommer was back behind the bench Saturday night, when the Sharks beat Providence 2-0 behind 20 saves from rookie Carter Hutton, who notched his first pro shutout in his 16^th pro game. Hutton was playing because the Sharks’ No. 1 goalie, Alex Stalock, was injured late in Friday night’s game.… Former Wolf Pack goalie Al Montoya relieved Matt Climie in the third period, made 13 saves in regulation and overtime and then stopped all five Lake Erie shootout tries to lead visiting San Antonio to a 5-4 victory Saturday night. Defenseman Garrett Stafford scored the only shootout goal, as the Rampage won their fourth consecutive game and are on a 6-0-1 run to tie Milwaukee for first place in the West Division. … Rookie center Nick Bonino, who excelled at Farmington High and Avon Old Farms, scored twice as Syracuse beat league-leading Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 4-2 Saturday night. … Former Wolf Pack wing Nigel Dawes scored his 23^rd goal and Stratford native Jaime Sifers had two assists to help the Chicago Wolves beat Peoria 4-2 Saturday night. … The Monarchs (31-16-1-4), who got 26 saves from rookie All-Star Martin Jones in a 4-0 victory at Albany on Saturday night, are 11-1-1-0 against the two Connecticut teams (5-0-1-0 vs. Bridgeport and 6-1-0-0 vs. the Whale) and 20-15-0-4 against the rest of the league. … The Sound Tigers will take over operations of Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport from Centerplate if they receive approval from the city council Monday night. Sound Tigers president Howard Saffan, who is also the senior vice president of operations for the parent New York Islanders, said the tentative agreement was reached after six months of negotiations. “With the New York Islanders going into the entertainment business with Nassau Coliseum, which we took over the management of last year, we wanted to take advantage of our relationships and pursue the entertainment industry in Fairfield County,” Saffan told Mike Fornabaio of the Connecticut Post. If the Sound Tigers win approval, they would take over the original lease, which runs until 2021. Mayor Bill Finch’s office said Centerplate will continue to provide food and beverage services while the team will book the arena. A 4-1 loss to the Falcons on Saturday night was the Sound Tigers’ sixth in a row and dropped them to 1-11-2-1 in 2011. … The Falcons postponed a scheduled game Tuesday night against the Sound Tigers to Feb. 16 at 7 p.m. It was rescheduled to allow crews time to remove snow and ice from the MassMutual Center roof and the surrounding area. The rescheduled date also gives the crews more time to completely execute the changeover from the Disney on Ice Show that occupied the building last week back to the original ice surface.

MILFORD NATIVE QUICK CONTINUES WINNING SHOOTOUT WAYS

Hamden native Jonathan Quick continued to build on a stellar season Saturday night as he stopped five consecutive shootout attempts, two with help from a post, as the Los Angeles Kings beat the Calgary Flames 4-3 to improve to 2-0-1 on a 10-game road trip.

After allowing two goals in the skills competition, the Flames couldn’t score again on Quick, who made a spectacular, falling-backwards glove stop on Curtis Glencross in the fourth round on the way to going 6-0 in shootouts and ending Calgary’s six-game winning streak. Quick (24-14-1, 2.14 goals-against average, .921 save percentage, career-high five shutouts) is only the third goalie in Kings’ history to win 20 games in a season, joining Rogie Vachon and Kelly Hrudey.

Flames goalie Miikka Kiprusoff also allowed two quick goals and then stopped four shots before Justin Williams beat him after getting a goal and two assists in regulation. It was the Kings’ first win in Calgary in 11 tries since Dec. 21, 2005, and moved them into the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference, one point ahead of the Flames.

PIRATES 3, WHALE 2

Portland          2 0 1 – 3
Connecticut    1 1 0 – 2

First period: 1. Port, Bowers 4 (Gongalsky, McCauley), 13:47. 2. Port, Parrish 8 (Adam, Tropp), 16:18. 3. Conn, Kennedy 10 (Niemi), 17:04. Penalties: Nightingale, Ct (slashing), 0:15; Kolarik, Ct (unsportsmanlike conduct, misconduct-unsportsmanlike conduct), 7:11.

Second period: 4. Conn, Kolarik 20 (Johnson), 10:04. Penalties: None.

Third period: 5. Port, Brennan 6 (Stuart, Tropp), 16:48. Penalties: None.

Shots on goal: Portland 15-9-8-32. Connecticut 12-10-13-35; Power-play opportunities: Portland 0 of 2; Connecticut 0 of 0; Goalies: Portland, Leggio 14-4-0 (35 shots-33 saves). Connecticut, Johnson 15-18-3 (32-29); A: 3,458; Referees: Francis Charron, Geno Binda; Linesmen: Paul Simeon, Derek Wahl.