By Bruce Berlet

HARTFORD, Conn. – Something had to change for the Connecticut Whale and Providence Bruins on Saturday night.

The teams entered the XL Center coming off shutout losses 24 hours earlier while missing key personnel via call-ups and injuries.

The Whale continued to have plenty of difficulty finding the net until a wild, final 21/2 minutes and dropped a 3-2 decision to the Bruins before 9,118, the Whale’s second-largest home crowd of the season.

Stellar goaltending by Matt Dalton (34 saves), and Maxime Sauve’s two goals, put the Bruins in command before the 6-foot-4, 235-pound Brian McGrattan received a 5-minute major and a double game misconduct for an illegal check to the head of 5-9, 177-pound Kelsey Tessier with 4:14 left.

“It was a cheap shot,” Whale coach Ken Gernander said.

Justin Soryal, upset with McGrattan’s reaction to Tessier lying on the ice, came to Tessier’s defense and received a double game misconduct for unsportsmanlike conduct and leaving the bench.

“I didn’t see him coming, not at all,” Tessier said. “I passed the puck to (Ryan) Garlock and wanted to go back to the bench because it was a long shift, but, boom, he came from that (blind) side a couple of seconds late, for sure. I’m lucky that I didn’t get anything wrong and didn’t get a concussion or didn’t get hurt.

“Those are the situations that have been going on in the NHL, the hits to the head that are a couple of seconds late like that.”

Bruins coach Rob Murray didn’t see anything wrong with the hit by McGrattan.

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“Tessier didn’t miss a shift and assisted on the (Whale’s first) goal,” Murray said.

Tessier got revenge when he set up Oren Eizenman’s tap-in goal with 2:30 to go, then the Whale got to 3-2 when Brodie Dupont converted a give-and-go with Michael Del Zotto on a 6-on-3 power play with 6.9 seconds left after the Whale pulled goalie Chad Johnson (15 saves).

But it was too late for the Whale (20-16-2-5) to atone for a 3-0 loss at Portland on Friday night thanks largely to Dalton, who made a series of spectacular saves through the first 571/2 minutes. The strong work earned Dalton the No. 1 star and enabled the Bruins (16-19-3-1) to end a 0-2-1-0 slide that had dropped them into the Atlantic Division cellar, six points behind the Springfield Falcons, who lost 6-3 to the Albany Devils.

Meanwhile, the Whale (20-16-2-5) lost two in a row for the first time since No. 21 and 26 and the first time in regulation since Nov. 5-6. The Whale dropped 10 points behind first-place Manchester, a 4-3 winner over Binghamton, and four points back of Portland, which beat Worcester 8-3. The Whale had won the previous three meetings with the Bruins, including 6-2 at the XL Center on Jan. 1. But the Bruins are 11-6-2-0 on the road.

“We had our chances, but we have to bear down,” said Eizenman, who assisted on Dupont’s goal. “You can’t let teams hang around in this league because they’ll make you pay. They made good plays for their goals, and we couldn’t get one until it was too little too late.

“A game like that is a little frustrating because they capitalized on their chances, and we didn’t. It’s one of those kinds that makes you want to scratch your head, but they’ll even out hopefully at some point, so you just have to keep working hard. You can’t get down over a game like that because the bounces even out in the end. It’s the team that’s willing to stick to their guns and try to get those chances and create those breaks that ends up doing well. That’s why it’s an 80-game season. In one or two games, anything can happen, but over an 80-game season, things usually even out.”

The Whale had most of the quality scoring chances in the first period but trailed off a bad turnover. Matt Dalton stopped Dupont off a 2-on-1 at 2:48, then Del Zotto’s shot from the right point hit the far post at 4:21.

Moments later, Whale defenseman Stu Bickel’s clearing attempt went off Tim Kennedy’s stick to Maxime Sauve, who broke in alone and put a backhander between Chad Johnson’s legs at 4:57.

But the Whale continued to press, and Dalton had to be sharp to get his glove on Chad Kolarik’s 30-foot shot in the slot off a pass from Jason Williams at 6:29, then 26 seconds later, defenseman Jared Nightingale scored a narrow decision over Lane MacDermid, the son of former Hartford Whalers right wing Paul MacDermid.

Dalton then sprawled to stop a rebound stuff by Devin DiDiomete. Dalton capped his stellar period with a left-pad save off Soryal, set up at the left post with 3:39 left on a diagonal pass from Chris Chappell, playing his second game since being called up from the ECHL’s Greenville Road Warriors.

Moments later, MacDermid got into his second fight, earning a draw with Soryal with 3:25 left in the period.

Johnson kept the Whale close through the midpoint of the second period, making bang-bang saves on Jamie Arniel and Sauve’s rebound bid at 4:57 and then denying Joe Colborne’s rebound stuff attempt at 10:28. Johnson and the Whale got fortunate when Jordan Caron hit the post on a power play with 7:34 left in the period, then 20 seconds later, Dalton stopped Evgeny Grachev’s point-blank, shorthanded bid off left wing off a perfect feed from Jason Williams.

With the Bruins on their third power play, the Whale got lucky again when Zach Hamill hit the post with 4:04 left. Dalton then denied two of the Whale’s sharpshooters in the final minute with glove saves off All-Star Jeremy Williams’ shot from the right circle with 51 seconds to go and Kolarik’s shot from the left circle with 14.4 seconds left.

Given those reprieves, Providence took a 2-0 lead early in the third period as Caron passed ahead to Hamill, whose shot was blocked by Bickel but rebounded to the Bruins center for a backhander that beat Johnson to the stick side at 1:33.

Then with the sides skating four a side, a possible Whale comeback turned dramatically when Dalton denied Tomas Kundratek’s close-in rebound at 6:05. Arniel immediately got the puck to Sauve, who raced around center Jason Williams, covering for Kundratek, and put home a forehand for his second goal of the game and what turned out to be the winner at 6:13.

The Whale and their followers then had to know it wasn’t their night when Grachev took a perfect lead pass on a 2-on-1 with Kolarik but missed the net from 20 feet in the slot at not-so-lucky 7:11.

The Whale then got their big chance after McGrattan’s hit on Tessier but couldn’t complete the comeback.

“I don’t think we were as sharp at the start as we were at the end,” Gernander said. “I think there seemed to be more desperation with that heightened sense of emotion. I thought we were a little crisper and more successful.”

Jeremy Williams agreed it was a matter of bearing down on shots.

“I thought we did a good job of getting our opportunities but not second chances where you get a rebound or really tire out the goalie,” Williams said. “If you just keep shooting out wide and just have to make one save, it’s not going to tire him out so he’s going to be able to play better.

“He made some good stops, but when we did get good shots from the slot, myself and others missed the net. It’s not like guys aren’t trying to hit the net, and it’s not like we didn’t play well as a team. We held onto the puck, got in the forecheck a bit, but when you get quick breaks and don’t score, you have to get some greasy goals, and that’s by getting guys to the net.”

Johnson had a hard time explaining how the Whale could have a 36-18 shot advantage and many more quality chances and still not be in the game until the final few minutes.

“It was just one of those nights where everything was kind of hitting (Dalton),” Johnson said. “He made some good saves because he was in good position, but we have guys who can put the puck in the net. We had corners but kept just missing the net. It’s deflating to be working hard and then just make a couple of mistakes.

“And I felt I was in position on all the goals, but it seemed like when they had chances they were just sniping on me. They just found ways to score, and that’s just how it going for me now. Shots are finding holes, so it’s not going my way right now.”

NEWBURY MAKES RANGERS DEBUT; WHITE MISSING FROM WHALE LINEUP

After being a healthy scratch for two games after being up called up by the New York Rangers for the first time on Monday, Whale center Kris Newbury, the team’s leading scorer with 35 points, made his Blueshirts debut Saturday night in a 3-2 loss to the host Montreal Canadiens. Newbury played 7:29 and had no shots and a first-period fight with Travis Moen. Former Whale wing Mats Zuccarello scored the Rangers’ second goal.

Newbury got his chance at the expense of rookie right wing Dale Weise, who is on his second recall to the Rangers.

Weise, scoreless in eight games with the Rangers while averaging 5:22 of ice time, was replaced by Newbury, who started his fifth NHL stint after previously playing for the Toronto Maple Leafs and Detroit Red Wings and was on a line with Rangers captain Chris Drury and Sean Avery. Meanwhile, the Whale again scratched injured defensemen Wade Redden and Jyri Niemi and center Todd White, injured Friday night. White was replaced by left wing Devin DiDiomete. The Bruins scratched defenseman Ryan Donald and forwards Wyatt Smith, Juraj Simek and David Ling. … The Whale’s eighth Tip-A-Player Dinner and Sports Carnival, presented by Aetna, is next Sunday at the XL Center from 4-7 p.m. Tickets are $30 for adults and $20 for children, and proceeds benefit Gaylord Specialty Healthcare at Gaylord Hospital in Wallingford. For more information, contact Lori Leniart at 860-728-3366.

FORMER BRUINS ENJOY MEETING WHALE FANS

Former Boston Bruins standouts Rick Middleton and Reggie Lemelin were a big hit while signing autographs before the game and then dropping the ceremonial first puck with former Whalers wing Garry Swain. Middleton, who played 12 seasons with the Bruins after two with the Rangers, and Lemelin also will play on the Bruins legends team that will face the Hartford Whalers legends Feb. 19 at 4 p.m. before the Whale plays the P-Bruins at 7 p.m. The doubleheader is part of the “Harvest-Properties.com Whalers Hockey Fest” at Rentschler Field in East Hartford on Feb. 11-23.

“This outdoor game is really exciting,” Middleton said between autographs while wearing his Bruins jersey with a letter C during his first visit to the XL Center since 1988. “There were more than 25,000 people for an alumni game we played the day after the Bruins Winter Classic game (against the Philadelphia Flyers) at Fenway Park, and I don’t think many people knew about it. It was the most people that I ever played in front of. We split up the alumni and had some celebrities on each team, but this will be the Bruins against the Whalers. It’ll be a fun game, but when it gets late, I’m sure the competitive juices will be rising.”

Other early commitments for the Bruins team are Hall of Fame defensemen Brian Leetch of Cheshire and Brad Park, who both also played for the Rangers, Ken Hodge, Don Marcotte, Rick Smith, Bob Sweeney, Lyndon Byers, Cleon Daskalakis, Jay Miller, Bob Miller (no relation) and Ken “The Rat” Linseman, who briefly was a member of the Whalers as he passed through in a multi-player trade with Philadelphia and Edmonton that included Mark Howe leaving Hartford for the Flyers. Early commitments for the Whalers team are WHA Hall of Famer Andre Lacroix, Jim Dorey, Jordy Douglas, Ray Neufeld, Gordie Roberts, Darren Turcotte, Nelson Emerson and the Babych brothers, Dave and Wayne.

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, Kevin Durand, Fred J. Dukes and Cameron Bancroft, along with Neal McDonough, Kevin Zegers 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.

POTTER RETURNS WITH NO. 1 PENGUINS SUNDAY AFTERNOON

Corey Potter, a long-time Wolf Pack defenseman, returns to the XL Center on Sunday at 3 p.m. as a member of the AHL’s best team.

Potter and the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (32-8-0-0) will make their only Hartford appearance this season after starting the weekend with a 2-0 victory over Providence behind All-Star Brad Thiessen’s 20 saves and a 4-2 victory over Adirondack in which Potter scored his first goal of the season. Potter, the Rangers’ fourth-round pick in 2003, had 21 goals and 81 assists in 246 games with the Wolf Pack. He played only eight games with the Rangers, getting one goal and one assist.

Now Potter will renew some old acquaintances, see some familiar faces in the XL Center crowd and get a look at the inside of the visitors’ locker room for the first time. And he’ll do it against the Connecticut Whale, which was the Hartford Wolf Pack the last time he was in Connecticut.

“It’s the same team,” Potter told Jonathan Bombulie of the Scranton Times-Tribune. “A few new players. Same building. I’m looking forward to getting back there and playing against them.”

Potter returns on a bit of a roll with one goal and six assists and a plus-8 rating in the last 11 games.

The high-powered Penguins, who have won seven in a row to open an 11-point lead over the Charlotte Checkers in the East Division, are led by center Dustin Jeffrey (15, 24), left wing Brett Sterling (13, 15), right wing Nick Johnson (14, 14), forward Eric Tangradi (16, 9), left wing Tim Wallace (11, 12) and center Joe Vitale (8, 14). All-Star Brad Thiessen (18-3-0, 1.97, .923, three shutouts) and John Curry (14-5-0, 2.33, .911, one shutout) have both excelled in goal.

“It will be a litmus test for us,” Eizenman said.

“They’re pretty much the benchmark of the AHL, so it will be a good measuring stick for us,” Jeremy Williams said. “It’ll be three games in three nights, so it’ll be the old cliché, keep it simple and make easy, smart plays.”

It also will be a Guida’s Family Value Day in which family value packages start as low as $48 and include three tickets, three hot dogs or pizza slices, three sodas and a Whale souvenir. Guida’s Family Value packs are available at the XL Center box office or online at www.CtWhale.com. Fans are encouraged to bring their skates for a free postgame skate, sponsored by Stone Academy.

SOMMER REACHES MILESTONE

Congratulations to Worcester coach Roy Sommer on joining a rather exclusive club Friday night.

Sommer’s Sharks fittingly scored three goals in 2:40 in the third period to rally for a 3-1 victory over the host Springfield Falcons in his 1,000th regular-season AHL game. Sommer, who has spent his entire 13-year career coaching the San Jose Sharks’ AHL affiliates in Kentucky (1998-2001), Cleveland (2001-06) and Worcester (2006-present ), became just the fourth coach to reach the milestone. He joined AHL Hall of Famers Frank Mathers (1,256), Fred “Bun” Cook (1,171) and John Paddock (1,107), who led the Wolf Pack to their only Calder Cup title in 2000.

Sommer has coached more than 80 players who have spent time in the NHL, including former Wolf Pack wing Mikael Samuelsson, Joe Pavelski, Devin Setoguchi, Doug Murray, Ryane Clowe, Logan Couture, Dan Boyle, Miikka Kiprusoff, Brad Boyes, Christian Ehrhoff and Johan Hedberg.

The first game that Sommer coached was a 4-4 tie against the Hershey Bears on Oct. 9, 1998, and his first victory was 6-4 over the Albany River Rats eight days later. David Cunniff, son of former Whalers assistant coach and scout John Cunniff, played for the River Rats that night and has been Sommer’s assistant since 2002.

Sommer ranks fourth all-time in AHL victories, and his teams have won three division titles and made the Calder Cup Playoffs seven times.

Sommer, a 53-year-old native of Oakland, Calif., played 10 pro seasons, including a two-year stay with the Maine Mariners that saw him win a Calder Cup in 1984. He appeared in three NHL games with the Edmonton Oilers in 1980-81 and scored a goal in his NHL debut. … A night after becoming the AHL’s all-time leading scorer among defensemen, Bryan Helmer got a goal and two assists to lead the Oklahoma Barons to a 4-1 victory at Peoria on Friday night. It gave Helmer back-to-back three-point games, as he had two goals and an assist in a 7-2 victory over Peoria on Thursday. Before that, the 38-year-old Helmer had not registered a three-point game since Nov. 30, 2006, when he was a member of the San Antonio Rampage. He had five goals and five assists in five games since being signed by the Barons on Jan. 7. Entering a game at San Antonio on Saturday night, Helmer had career totals of 122 goals and 398 assists for 520 points in 986 regular-season AHL games in an 18-year career.

He broke the record of 519 points set nearly four years by John Slaney. … South Windsor native Jon DiSalvatore scored in regulation and then got the only goal in a shootout as the Houston Aeros beat the host Chicago Wolves 4-3 Friday night. Former Wolf Pack wing Nigel Dawes scored his league-leading 21^st goal for the Wolves.

MCDONAGH EARNING PRAISE ON BROADWAY

It’s only four games into his NHL career, but you can add rookie defenseman Ryan McDonagh to the growing list of young players developed by Gernander and assistants J.J. Daigneault and Pat Boller who are receiving plaudits from Rangers coach John Tortorella.

“All I know is McDonagh, each game that he’s played, he’s getting better,” Tortorella told reporters in New York. “The thing I like about his game (in a 1-0 victory over league-leading Vancouver on Thursday night) was he wasn’t timid as far as the neutral zone, as far as his gaps, against a solid hockey club.”

The Rangers got McDonagh as part of the Scott Gomez trade after the 2008-09 season, and McDonagh signed with the Blueshirts on July 6 after deciding to forego his senior year at the University of Wisconsin, where he and Rangers center Derek Stepan helped lead the Badgers to the NCAA title game that lost they lost 5-0 to Boston College and the Rangers’ No. 1 prospect Chris Kreider.

McDonagh is scoreless but plus-2 while averaging about 11 minutes since being called up Jan. 3, and his quick development helped enable the Rangers to trade veteran defenseman Michal Rozsival for 24-year-old wing Wojtek Wolski, who scored the only goal on Thursday night.

“As far as the style and pace, it’s probably been what I’ve expected, the tempo and everything,” McDonagh said. “But I never expected it to be this fun, to be honest with you. We’re playing some big games and winning some big games. I’ve never had this much fun playing hockey.”

Stepan, who left Wisconsin after his sophomore year and has 12 goals and 12 assists in 45 games, isn’t surprised by the play of the 12^th overall pick in the 2007 NHL entry draft.

“Not one bit,” said Stepan, one of 12 players selected to participate in the NHL All-Star Rookie Skills Competition Jan. 30 in Raleigh, N.C. “Off the ice, he’s a quiet guy, real nice … (but) on the ice, he plays exactly the way the team’s identity is, so he fits in perfectly.”

Saturday night, McDonagh made his Montreal debut trying to help the Rangers gain some redemption for a 2-1 loss to the Canadiens on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden.

“I get up for every game,” McDonagh said. “Right now I’m still wide-eyed, so I don’t need any extra motivation to get up for a game. It’ll still exciting.”

Just like his game on Asylum Street and Broadway.

Providence Bruins 3, Connecticut Whale 2
XL Center, Hartford, CT

Providence     1 0 2 – 3
Connecticut    0 0 2 – 2

First period: 1. Prov, Sauve 8, 4:57. Penalties: MacDermid, Pro (roughing), 4:46; Nightingale, Ct (roughing), 4:46; MacDermid, Pro (fighting), 6:55; Nightingale, Ct (fighting), 6:55; MacDermid, Pro (fighting), 16:35; Soryal, Ct (roughing, fighting), 16:35.

Second period: No scoring. Penalties: Hamill, Pro (slashing), 6:06; Del, Zotto Ct (boarding), 11:19; Bickel, Ct (slashing), 15:27.

Third period: 2. Prov, Hamill 3 (Caron), 1:33. 3. Prov, Sauve 9 (Arniel), 6:13. 4. Conn, Eizenman 3 (Tessier, Grachev), 17:30 (pp). 5. Conn, Dupont 8 (Del Zotto, Eizenman), 19:53 (pp). Penalties: MacDermid, Pro (cross-checking), 1:54; Zimmerman, Pro (roughing), 5:28; Kennedy, Ct (roughing), 5:28; McGrattan, Pro (major-checking to the head, game misconduct-checking to the head, game misconduct-leaving the bench), 15:46; Soryal, Ct (game misconduct-unsportsmanlike conduct, game misconduct-leaving the bench), 15:46; Bodnarchuk, Pro (high-sticking), 18:15.

Shots on goal: Providence 10-4-4-18. Connecticut 9-13-14-36; Power-play opportunities: Providence 0 of 3; Connecticut 2 of 5; Goalies: Providence, Dalton 3-3-0 (36 shots-34 saves). Connecticut, Johnson 13-14-3 (18-15); A: 9,118; Referee: Jamie Koharski; Linesmen: David Spannaus, Luke Galvin

Hartford, CT …  Whalers Sports and Entertainment announced today that World Hockey Association pioneers, and ex-New England Whaler stalwarts, Jim Dorey and Andre Lacroix will join the group of Whaler legends for the Hartford Whalers legends vs. Boston Bruins legends game February 19, 2011 at Rentschler Field in East Hartford.

The legends game is 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.

Dorey was a main cog on the New England Whaler blueline for their first two-and-a-half seasons of existence, 1972-1974.  He led New England defensemen in scoring in both 1972-73 (7-56-63 in 75 GP), when he captured an AVCO Cup with the Whalers and was a Second-Team WHA All-Star selection, and 1973-74 (6-40-46 in 77 GP).  Dorey was traded by the Whalers to the Toronto Toros in December of 1974 and would remain in the WHA with the rest of its existence, through the 1978-79 season.  He won another AVCO Cup in 1976-77, with the Quebec Nordiques, and would finish his WHA career with 431 games-played, 52 goals and 232 assists for 284 points, and 617 penalty minutes.

Prior to making the move to the WHA, the Kingston, Ontario-born Dorey played four NHL seasons with the Toronto Maple Leafs and New York Rangers, totaling 25 goals and 74 assists for 99 points, along with 553 PIM, in 232 games.

Lacroix was the all-time leading scorer in the history of the WHA, led the league in points twice and put up better than 100 points in six of the loop’s seven years of existence.  Lacroix spent the last of those years, the 1978-79 WHA season, with the Whalers and finished second on the New England club in points, with 32-56-88 in 78 games.  Lacroix then made the jump to the NHL with the Whalers the next season and played 29 games, scoring three goals and adding 14 assists for 17 points, before hanging up his skates.

A native of Lauzon, Quebec, Lacroix topped all WHA scorers in the league’s inaugural season, 1972-73, as a member of the Philadelphia Blazers, with 50 goals and 74 assists for 124 points in 78 games.  He was also the WHA scoring champ in 1974-75 with the San Diego Mariners, with totals of 41-106-147 in 78 contests.  His league-record career totals in the WHA were 251-547-798 in 551 games, including time with the New York Golden Blades/Jersey Knights and Houston Aeros in addition to his Blazer, Mariner and Whaler action.

In addition to his WHA exploits, Lacroix played 325 NHL games during his 14-year pro career, with the Philadelphia Flyers, Chicago Blackhawks and Whalers, notching 79 goals and 119 assists for 198 points.

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).

Portland, ME, January 14, 2011 – Derek Whitmore scored a pair of goals, and David Leggio made 21 saves for his first career AHL shutout, to lead the Portland Pirates to a 3-0 win over the Connecticut Whale Friday night at the Cumberland County Civic Center.

The loss knocked the Whale (20-15-2-5, 47 pts.) down into third place in the Atlantic Division.  They had entered the game in a second-place tie with the Pirates, who improved to 22-12-4-1 for 49 points with their fourth win in five games.  It was the first win in three tries for Portland over the Whale, who had scored overtime wins in both of the previous meetings between the two teams.

Portland controlled much of the play in the first period, outshooting the Whale 10-5 and holding Connecticut without the shot until the 6:46 mark, by which time the Pirates had already put seven shots on Whale netminder Cam Talbot (26 saves).

The Pirates were not able to capitalize on their territorial advantage until there were only 26.8 seconds left on the clock.  That was when Matt Ellis whacked a second try past Talbot from right on top of the Connecticut goalie, after good digging work by linemates Dennis McCauley and Mark Mancari.  Mancari knocked Tim Kennedy off the puck in the right-wing corner and slid it below the goal line to McCauley, who played it toward the front of the goal as he was falling to the ice.

After that late goal, the Pirates got an early one in the second, at 4:25, as Whitmore scored his 12^th of the season.  Whitmore worked a give and go with Brian Roloff, who played the puck off the left-wing boards to Whitmore at the top of the circle.  Whitmore’s snap shot went cleanly past the catching glove of Talbot, who was screened by a teammate and appeared never to see the shot.

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Talbot, though, was able to make a big save later in the period, when Maxime Legault, who came into the game with four goals in the previous four games, found himself on a breakaway after great pressure by the Whale at the other end.  Legault broke down the left-wing side and tried to beat Talbot with a backhand, but Talbot stopped it with the right pad.

The Pirates kept the Whale effectively at bay through the third period, and put the game out of reach with Whitmore’s second of the game at 18:33 of the third.  Whitmore took a feed from Legault and was able to work his way past Michael Del Zotto on left wing and move in alone on Talbot.  Whitmore’s forehand shot went off the underside of the crossbar, hit Talbot in the back and trickled into the net.

The loss ruined the debut of the Whale’s new blue jerseys and dropped the team to 2-3-0 in its last five games, although it was only the fourth time in the last 21 games that the Whale had failed to gain a standings point (14-4-0-3).  For Talbot, who fell to 7-3-2 on his rookie year, it was the first non-shootout loss in his last eight decisions (6-1-1).  The shutout defeat was the Whale’s fifth in 42 games on the year.  Leggio improved to 10-4-0 on the season, in just his second appearance in nine games.

Friday’s game concluded a stretch of four straight road games for the Whale, who play three straight and seven of their next eight at the XL Center, starting Saturday night at 7:00 against the Providence Bruins.  That game will feature a special appearance by former Bruin stalwarts Rick Middleton and Reggie Lemelin, who will also play for the Bruins legends against the Whaler legends in the Harvest-Properties.com “Whale Bowl” at Rentschler Field February 19.  Middleton and Lemelin will be signing autographs in the XL Center atrium Saturday from 6:00-7:00 PM, and then will drop a ceremonial first puck.  The Whale are also home Sunday at 3:00, taking on the league-leading Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.  That day will feature a free postgame skate, sponsored by Stone Academy.

Connecticut Whale 0 at Portland Pirates 3
Friday, January 14, 2011 – Cumberland County Civic Center

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

1st Period-1, Portland, Ellis 7 (McCauley, Mancari), 19:33. Penalties-Bickel Ct (fighting), 8:05; Conboy Por (fighting), 8:05; Tropp Por (interference), 12:31; Gragnani Por (slashing), 13:10; Kennedy Ct (hooking, unsportsmanlike conduct), 13:14.

2nd Period-2, Portland, Whitmore 12 (Roloff, Crawford), 4:25. Penalties-Nightingale Ct (hooking), 1:41; Klassen Ct (high-sticking), 7:16; McCauley Por (holding), 10:55; Nightingale Ct (roughing), 15:37; Legault Por (roughing), 15:37.

3rd Period-3, Portland, Whitmore 13 (Legault, Persson), 18:33. Penalties-Dupont Ct (hooking), 11:56.

Shots on Goal-Connecticut 5-10-6-21. Portland 10-10-9-29.
Power Play Opportunities-Connecticut 0 / 3; Portland 0 / 5.
Goalies-Connecticut, Talbot 7-3-2 (29 shots-26 saves). Portland, Leggio 10-4-0 (21 shots-21 saves).
A-3,448
Referees-Geno Binda (22).
Linesmen-Jeremy Lovett (78), Landon Bathe (80).

By Bruce Berlet

After debuting their new blue road jerseys in the end of a four-game trip Friday night in Portland, Maine, the Connecticut Whale returns to the XL Center Saturday at 7 p.m. to face the Providence Bruins in the start of a three-game homestand.

The game will include former Boston Bruins standouts Rick Middleton and Reggie Lemelin signing autographs in the atrium from 6-7 p.m. and then dropping the ceremonial first puck. Middleton, who played 12 seasons with the Bruins after two with the New York Rangers, and Lemelin also will play on the Bruins legends team that will face the Hartford Whalers legends Feb. 19 at 4 p.m. before the Whale plays the P-Bruins at 7 p.m. The doubleheader is part of the “Harvest-Properties.com Whalers Hockey Fest” at Rentschler Field in East Hartford on Feb. 11-23.

Other early commitments for the Bruins team (with more to come) are Hall of Fame defensemen Brian Leetch of Cheshire and Brad Park, who both also played for the Rangers, Ken Hodge, Don Marcotte, Rick Smith, Bob Sweeney, Lyndon Byers, Cleon Daskalakis, Jay Miller, Bob Miller (no relation) and Ken “The Rat” Linseman, who briefly was a member of the Whalers as he passed through in a multi-player trade with Philadelphia and Edmonton that included Mark Howe leaving Hartford for the Flyers. Early commitments for the Whalers team are Jordy Douglas, Ray Neufeld, Gordie Roberts, Darren Turcotte, Nelson Emerson and the Babych brothers, Dave and Wayne.

Celebrities scheduled to play with one of the 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, Kevin Durand, Fred J. Dukes and Cameron Bancroft, along with Neal McDonough, Kevin Zegers 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.

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There also will be “a town hall meeting” Saturday starting at 6 p.m. in the atrium during which fans are encouraged to ask questions and make suggestions to Whalers Sports and Entertainment president and COO Howard Baldwin, Jr. The Whale has won the previous three meetings with the last-place Bruins (15-18-3-1), including 6-2 at the XL Center on Jan. 1. But the Bruins are 10-6-2-0 on the road.

Centers Jamie Arniel (14, 11), Zach Hamill (2, 21) and Joe Colborne (9, 11) lead a Bruins attack that has scored the third-fewest goals in the league (91) entering a game against the league-leading Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Friday night. Right wing Jordan Caron, the Bruins’ first-round pick in 2009 who had three goals and four assists in 20 games with the NHL Bruins earlier this season, scored his first AHL goal on New Year’s Day. Left wing Lane MacDermid, son of former Whalers right wing Paul MacDermid, has two goals, three assists and 72 penalty minutes, second on the team to enforcer Nathan McIver’s 111, in 35 games. Veteran Nolan Schaefer (6-11-1, 3.32, .894) is carrying the goaltending load.

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (30-8-0-0) completes this week’s action with a Sunday visit at 3 p.m. in the first of two meetings. Entering Friday’s game, the high-powered Penguins had a 13-point lead over Norfolk and Charlotte in the East Division. Leading scorer Dustin Jeffrey (15, 22) is on recall to the Pittsburgh Penguins, but other threats are right wing Nick Johnson (13, 13), left wing Brett Sterling (11, 15), forward Eric Tangradi (16, 7), left wing Tim Wallace (11, 12) and center Joe Vitale (8, 14). Corey Potter, the third all-time leading scorer among defensemen in Wolf Pack history (21 goals, 81 assists in 246 games), leads Penguins blueliners in points with 17 assists in 35 games. Brad Thiessen (17-3-0, 2.06, .921) and John Curry (13-5-0, 2.35, .910) have both excelled in goal.

It’s a Guida’s Family Value Day in which family value packages start as low as $48 and includes three tickets, three hot dogs or pizza slices, three sodas and a Whale souvenir. Guida’s Family Value packs are available at the XL Center ticket office or online at www.CtWhale.com. Fans are encouraged to bring their skates for a free postgame skate, sponsored by Stone Academy.

The three-game homestand concludes against another top team, the North Division-leading Hamilton Bulldogs (22-13-1-4) on Friday night at 7, when former Wolf Pack standouts and close friends Terry Virtue and Todd Hall of Hamden will sign autographs in the XL Center atrium from 6-7 p.m. and then drop the first puck. Virtue is an assistant coach with Owen Sound of the Ontario Hockey League, whose owners include Paul MacDermid. Hall is an assistant coach with the No. 1-ranked Hamden High hockey team, which won the state Division I title the last two years.

Virtue will be making a pit stop on his way from his home in Tara, Ont., to Worcester, Mass., where he’ll be one of the first six inductees into the Worcester Hockey Hall of Fame next Saturday night at the DCU Center in Worcester. It’s “Salute to the IceCats Night,” the name of the AHL franchise that preceded the Sharks in Worcester, and Virtue will be inducted with former Whalers wing Scott Young, Kelly O’Leary, Eddie Bates, Larz Anderson and Marvin Degon Sr., father of former Wolf Pack defenseman Martin Degon.

The Bulldogs’ top two scorers, center David Desharnais (10, 35) and former New Canaan High School and Taft School-Watertown star wing Max Pacioretty (17, 15), are on recall to the Montreal Canadiens. The remaining top offensive threats are right wings Aaron Palushaj (5, 17) and J.T. Wyman (10, 9) and defenseman Brendon Nash (2, 17). Center Ryan Russell, the Rangers’ seventh-round pick in 2005, has five goals and six assists in 39 games. Veteran Curtis Sanford (13-7-1) is fifth in the league in GAA (1.82) and save percentage (.936).

It’s a special Family Value Night at which New Britain Rock Cats mascot Rocky will be on hand with Whale mascots Pucky and Sonar. There will be a giveaway, a table setup and autograph session, and the New Britain High School marching band will perform the national anthem and during the first intermission. Tickets in the lower level are $16 and include a soda and pizza slice or hot dog. Visit www.ctwhale.com.

WHALE TIP-A-PLAYER DINNER ON JAN. 23

The Whale’s eighth Tip-A-Player Dinner and Sports Carnival, presented by Aetna, is Jan. 23 at the XL Center from 4-7 p.m. Tickets are $30 for adults and $20 for children, and proceeds benefit Gaylord Specialty Healthcare at Gaylord Hospital in Wallingford. For more information, contact Lori Leniart at 860-728-3366. … Howard Baldwin Jr. has a new Twitter account accessible to Whale fans at howardbaldwinjr. … Former Wolf Pack wing Alexandre Giroux has been named winner of December’s reGen™ Muscle Recovery Beverage/AHL Performance of the Month award for recording his 600^th career AHL point in Oklahoma City’s win over the San Antonio Rampage. In the Barons’ Dec. 18 game, Giroux earned a second-period assist to become the 44th player in AHL history to reach 600 career points. The Quebec City native and two-time Calder Cup champion has 327 goals and 291 assists for 618 points in 677 regular-season AHL games over 10 seasons. Giroux, 29, won the AHL’s goal-scoring title and the Calder Cup each of the past two seasons with Hershey, including a career-best 103-point effort (50-53-103) for the Bears in 2009-10. Named to a fourth All-Star Game appearance on Tuesday, Giroux leads all active players with his 327 career goals. Giroux, who will captain the Western Conference All-Stars in Hershey on Jan. 30-31, ranks sixth on the AHL’s all-time postseason scoring list with 100 points (50-50-100) in 112 career Calder Cup playoff games.

HELMER SETS RECORD; SOMMER REACHES MILESTONE

Oklahoma City’s Bryan Helmer had two goals and an assist to become the AHL’s all-time leading defenseman scorer, as the Barons rolled to a 7-2 road victory over Peoria on Thursday night. Helmer, who has two goals and five assists in only four games since joining the Barons on Jan. 7, increased his career totals to 122 goals and 398 assists for 520 points in 986 regular-season AHL games during an 18-year career. Helmer broke the record of 519 points set nearly four years earlier by John Slaney. Helmer was already the AHL’s all-time leader among defensemen in assists and games played (986), and he has appeared in more Calder Cup games (138) than any player at any position. The native of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., is a three-time Calder Cup champion, winning with Albany in 1995 and captaining Hershey to back-to-back titles in 2009 and 2010. Giroux had two goals and two assists on Thursday. … Worcester coach Roy Sommer coached his 1,000th regular-season AHL game Friday night when the Sharks visited the Springfield Falcons. Sommer, who has spent his entire 13-year career coaching the San Jose Sharks’ AHL affiliates in Kentucky (1998-2001), Cleveland (2001-06) and Worcester (2006-present ), became just the fourth coach to reach that milestone, joining AHL Hall of Famers Frank Mathers (1,256), Fred “Bun” Cook (1,171) and John Paddock (1,107), who led the Wolf Pack to their only Calder Cup title in 2000. … Chris McKelvie and Brandon Wong, who started the season with the Whale, each had a goal as the Greenville Road Warriors ended a three-game losing streak with a 4-1 ECHL victory over the Florida Everblades on Thursday night. Wong, a standout at Quinnipiac University the last four seasons, scored his ninth goal to extend his point streak to four games and help the Road Warriors improve to the league’s second-best record at 24-10-2.

RANGERS PROVE COACH WRONG; WOLSKI AN INSTANT FAVORITE AT MSG

Much like wing Mats Zuccarello did when he first arrived from the Whale, wing Wojtek Wolski has become an instant folk hero at Madison Square Garden.

Playing in his second game since being acquired from the Phoenix Coyotes for defenseman Michal Rozsival on Monday, Wolski scored a power-play goal off Marian Gaborik’s rebound to back the 31-save performance of All-Star Henrik Lundqvist as the Rangers ended the Vancouver Canucks’ 17-game point streak with a 1-0 victory Thursday night in a playoff atmosphere at MSG.

So much for coach John Tortorella’s pregame assertion to the media and his team that the Rangers were “gonna need some goals” because there was “no way” they Rangers could beat the Canucks 1-0.

“I was hoping they’d tie it up there at the end just so we could win it in overtime and I wouldn’t have to hear from you guys,” Tortorella joked with the media after the game. “No, I was happy to eat those words, I’ll tell you.”

Yes, Lundqvist would have nothing of that sentiment, joking or not, as the Rangers notched their first 1-0 win since Nov. 9, 2009.

“It’s pretty funny (Tortorella) said that before the game,” said Lundqvist, who had 11 saves in the third period as the Canucks, especially countrymen Henrik and Daniel Sedin, pressed the attack but held on to tie the Bruins’ Tim Thomas for most shutouts this season. “But I didn’t expect a 1-0 game against the team either. That’s a really great team, a great skating team. Our guys worked so hard, we shut down their top line, we just did a really good job playing our game. It’s a great win for us.”

Wolski nearly scored several times in a 2-1 loss to Montreal Canadiens in his Rangers debut Tuesday night, but he converted at 7:18 of the second period against Cory Schneider 48 hours later and Lundqvist did the rest in recording his sixth shutout of the season and 30^th of his career before a raucous MSG crowd. The Rangers won fourth in five starts and improved to 9-3-2 in their last 14 games after handing the Canucks their first loss in regulation since a 3-2 loss to the St. Louis Blues on Dec. 5, a stretch in which they were 14-0-3.

“It was an incredible night,” Wolski told reporters. “The team played awesome, and I got my first goal and it was amazing to get a shutout. It was just so exciting. The fans were really into it, and our team was really into it. I’m just excited to get the win.”

The five-man unit of former Wolf Pack defensemen Dan Girardi and All-Star Marc Staal and the line of Brian Boyle, Ruslan Fedotenko and Brandon Prust were effective in shutting down the Canucks’ No. 1 line led by the Sedin twins, Henrik and Daniel, both of whom were named All-Stars.

The defensive work was most notable late in the first period, when the Rangers stopped the NHL’s top power play for 47 seconds on a 5-on-3 with Staal and captain/Trumbull native Chris Drury in the penalty box, thanks to Lundqvist, Boyle, Girardi and former Wolf Pack forward Brandon Dubinsky.

“That was a huge momentum swing right there for us,” Girardi said. “They’ve got a really good power play, and to shut them down on the 5-on-3 was a big spot for us in the game.”

Tortorella lauded the work of rookie defenseman Ryan McDonagh, playing his fourth games since being called up from the Whale and whose development helped enable the Rangers to trade the veteran Rozsival to get the 24-year-old Wolski.

“I watched (McDonagh) very closely as far as his mindset,” Tortorella said, “and he played very well as far as his arrogance standing up and playing with the right kind of strut.”

Of Enforcer Derek Boogaard, who sustained a concussion in a fight with Ottawa’s Matt Carkner on Dec. 9, Tortorella said, “We’re trying to stimulate him, trying to get him moving around, but he still doesn’t feel well. … We’ll see what happens. But he’s not close.”

Wolski’s arrival has kept center Kris Newbury out of the lineup for two games since he was summoned from the Whale on Monday. The Rangers visit the Canadiens Saturday night, and more thunderous roars are expected Sunday night, as the Blueshirts host the Atlantic Division-leading Philadelphia Flyers.

HARTFORD, January 14, 2011:  Whalers Sports & Entertainment president and COO Howard Baldwin, Jr. announced today that former Hartford Wolf Pack mainstays Todd Hall and Terry Virtue will be making a special appearance at the Connecticut Whale’s home game next Friday, January 21 at the XL Center against the Hamilton Bulldogs.

Fans can meet Hall and Virtue from 6:00-7:00 PM on January 21, when the two ex-Wolf Pack greats will signing autographs in the XL Center atrium.  They will also drop a ceremonial first puck before the 7:00 faceoff between the Whale and Bulldogs.

Hall, a forward who was raised in Hamden, CT, was a member of the original Wolf Pack squad in 1997-98 and remained with the team through the 2000-01 season.  A third-round draft pick of the Hartford Whalers in 1991, Hall played 299 games with the Wolf Pack, third-most in franchise history, and his 79 Wolf Pack assists are tied for tenth all-time.  Hall also scored 37 goals in a Wolf Pack uniform, for a total of 116 points.  He was a member of the Wolf Pack’s 2000 Calder Cup-winning team and scored the game-winning goal in the Pack’s cup-clinching, 4-1 win at Rochester in Game Six of the Finals.

Hall retired early in the 2001-02 season and now an assistant hockey coach at Hamden High School, his alma mater.

Virtue, a defenseman who was born in Scarborough, Ontario but raised in Western Canada, also scored one of the most famous playoff goals in Wolf Pack history.  It was his overtime strike in Game Seven of the 2000 Conference Finals against Providence that propelled the Wolf Pack past the defending-champion Bruins and into the Finals against Rochester.  In addition to that, Virtue played 214 regular-season games for the Pack, scoring 14 goals and adding 66 assists for 80 points, sixth all-time among Wolf Pack defensemen.

Virtue’s 16-year pro career was highlighted by four NHL games with the Boston Bruins in 1998-99 and one with the New York Rangers in 1999-00.  He also won a Calder Cup with Providence in 1998-99, before knocking his old team out of the postseason as a member of the Wolf Pack the following spring.  Virtue played a total of 888 AHL games in his career, seeing action with the Cape Breton Oilers, Worcester IceCats, Springfield Falcons, Utah Grizzlies, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, Grand Rapids Griffins and Binghamton Senators in addition to the Wolf Pack and Bruins.  He is currently an assistant coach with the Owen Sound Attack of the Ontario Hockey League.

Tickets for the January 21 Whale/Bulldogs contest at the XL Center, and all 2010-11 Whale home games, are available now at the XL Center box office, through Ticketmaster Charge-by-Phone at 1-800-745-3000 and on-line at www.ctwhale.com.  Tickets start at $7 each at the XL Center ticket office on game day.

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

By Bruce Berlet

Cleaning out the notebook after cleaning off the driveway and sidewalk in the wake of the record snowfall from Winter Storm Benedict before heading to Washington, D.C., for my first visit to Arlington National Cemetery and the memorial service of local World War II hero Billy Colls:

The Connecticut Whale is 2-1 on a four-game road trip that ends Friday night at 7 at Portland, where their new blue road jerseys will debut. The jerseys are available at the XL Center or The Hartford Store, 45 Pratt Street in Hartford. Prices, including sales tax, are $289 (authentic), $125 (senior replica) and $99 (junior replica).

The Whale (20-14-2-5) is in a second-place tie in the Atlantic Division with the Pirates (21-12-4-1), who had a three-game winning streak ended Tuesday night in a 5-2 loss to Binghamton as former Hartford Wolf Pack center Corey Locke celebrated his fourth consecutive AHL All-Star selection earlier in the day with two goals and two assists to increase his league-leading totals to 40 assists and 55 points. Locke’s production earned him a promotion to the Ottawa Senators on an emergency basis Wednesday, replacing former New York Rangers wing Alex Kovalev.

Whale leading scorer Kris Newbury (five goals, 30 assists) is on recall to the Rangers, so coach Ken Gernander will need even more contributions from All-Star wing Jeremy Williams (20 goals, 12 assists), wing Chad Kolarik (15, 14), center Tim Kennedy (8, 18), wing Brodie Dupont (7, 12) and his productive young defensive corps that now includes Michael Del Zotto, who has set up winning goals by Kennedy and Williams in his first three minor-league games. Forward Chris Chappell and defenseman Sam Klassen could make their Whale debuts after being called up from the Greenville Road Warriors of the ECHL this week because of the call-up of Newbury and several Whale injuries. After being delayed in getting to Hartford because of Winter Storm Benedict, Chappell and Klassen only practiced with the Whale on Thursday because practice was canceled on Wednesday. Chad Johnson (13-13-3, 2.49 goals-against average, .908 save percentage) and Cameron Talbot (7-2-2, 2.32, .922) have both performed well in goal. Talbot is 6-0-1 in his last seven decisions, including 38 saves Saturday night when the Whale increased their AHL-high total of overtime victories to five with a 3-2 win over the Norfolk Admirals.

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The Whale won back-to-back meetings with the Pirates on Dec. 29 (2-1) and Dec. 31 (5-4) on goals by Kennedy, a member of the AHL all-rookie team in 2008 while playing for Portland. Former All-Star right wing Mark Mancari leads the Pirates (12-3-3-1 at home) in goals (17), assists (20) and points (37). The best of the rest for coach Kevin Dineen, the former Hartford Whalers star right wing and captain, are center Paul Byron (13, 14), center Matt Ellis (7, 18), defenseman Marc-Andre Gragnani (7, 17) and left wing Colin Stuart (7, 17). Rookie forward Maxime Legault scored in each of the Pirates’ three victories last week, registering four goals after tallying four in his first 32 games. Jhonas Enroth (12-11-1, 2.93 goals-against average, .907 save percentage) and David Leggio (9-4-0, 2.98, .908) split the goaltending.

The Whale returns to the XL Center Saturday at 7 p.m. to face the Providence Bruins in the start of a three-game homestand that will include former Boston Bruins standouts Rick Middleton and Reggie Lemelin signing autographs in the atrium from 6-7 p.m. and then dropping the ceremonial first puck. Middleton, who played 12 seasons with the Bruins after two with the Rangers, and Lemelin also will play on the Bruins legends team that will face the Hartford Whalers legends Feb. 19 at 4 p.m. before the Whale plays the P-Bruins at 7 p.m. The doubleheader is part of the “Harvest-Properties.com Whalers Hockey Fest” at Rentschler Field in East Hartford on Feb. 11-23.

Other early commitments for the Bruins team (with more to come) are Hall of Fame defensemen Brian Leetch of Cheshire and Brad Park, who both played for the Rangers, Ken Hodge, Don Marcotte, Rick Smith, Bob Sweeney, Lyndon Byers, Cleon Daskalakis, Jay Miller, Bob Miller (no relation) and Ken “The Rat” Linseman, who briefly was a member of the Whalers as he passed through in a multi-player trade with Philadelphia and Edmonton that included Mark Howe leaving Hartford for the Flyers. Early commitments for the Whalers team are Jordy Douglas, Ray Neufeld, Gordie Roberts, Darren Turcotte, Nelson Emerson and the Babych brothers, Dave and Wayne.

Celebrities scheduled to play with one of the 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, Kevin Durand, Fred J. Dukes and Cameron Bancroft, along with Neal McDonough, Kevin Zegers 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.

There also will be “a town hall meeting” Saturday starting at 6 p.m. in the atrium during which fans are encouraged to ask questions and make suggestions to Whalers Sports and Entertainment president and COO Howard Baldwin, Jr. The Whale has won the previous three meetings with the last-place Bruins (15-18-3-1), including 6-2 at the XL Center on Jan. 1. But the Bruins are 10-6-2-0 on the road.

Centers Jamie Arniel (14, 11), Zach Hamill (2, 21) and Joe Colborne (9, 11) lead a Bruins attack that has scored the third-fewest goals in the league (91). Right wing Jordan Caron, the Bruins’ first-round pick in 2009 who had three goals and four assists in 20 games with the NHL Bruins earlier this season, scored his first AHL goal on New Year’s Day. Left wing Lane MacDermid, son of former Whalers right wing Paul MacDermid, has two goals, three assists and 72 penalty minutes, second on the team to enforcer Nathan McIver’s 111, in 35 games. Veteran Nolan Schaefer (6-11-1, 3.32, .894) is carrying the goaltending load.

The league-leading Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (30-8-0-0) complete the week’s action with a Sunday visit at 3 p.m. in the first of two meetings with the Whale. The high-powered Penguins have a 13-point lead over Norfolk and Charlotte in the East Division. Leading scorer Dustin Jeffrey (15, 22) is on recall to the Pittsburgh Penguins, but other threats are right wing Nick Johnson (13, 13), left wing Brett Sterling (11, 15), forward Eric Tangradi (16, 7), left wing Tim Wallace (11, 12) and center Joe Vitale (8, 14). Corey Potter, the third all-time leading scorer among defensemen in Wolf Pack history (21 goals, 81 assists in 246 games), leads Penguins blueliners in points with 17 assists in 35 games. Brad Thiessen (17-3-0, 2.06, .921) and John Curry (13-5-0, 2.35, .910) have both excelled in goal.

It’s a Guida’s Family Value Day in which family value packages start as low as $48 and includes three tickets, three hot dogs or pizza slices, three sodas and a Whale souvenir. Guida’s Family Value packs are available at the XL Center box office or online at www.CtWhale.com. Fans are encouraged to bring their skates for a free postgame skate, sponsored by Stone Academy.

The three-game homestand concludes against the North Division-leading Hamilton Bulldogs (22-13-1-4) on Jan. 21, when former Wolf Pack standouts and close friends Terry Virtue and Todd Hall of Hamden will sign autographs in the XL Center atrium from 6-7 p.m. and then drop the first puck. Virtue is an assistant coach with Owen Sound of the Ontario Hockey League, whose owners include Paul MacDermid, and Hall is an assistant coach with the No. 1-ranked Hamden High hockey team, which won the state Division I title the last two years.

The Bulldogs’ top two scorers, center David Desharnais (10, 35) and former New Canaan High School and Taft School-Watertown star wing Max Pacioretty (17, 15), are on recall to the Montreal Canadiens. The remaining top offensive threats are right wings Aaron Palushaj (5, 17) and J.T. Wyman (10, 9) and defenseman Brendon Nash (2, 17). Center Ryan Russell, the Rangers’ seventh-round pick in 2005, has five goals and six assists in 39 games. Veteran Curtis Sanford (13-7-1) is fifth in the league in GAA (1.82) and save percentage (.936).

It’s a special Family Value Night at which New Britain Rock Cats mascot Rocky will be on hand with Whale mascots Pucky and Sonar. There will be a giveaway, a table setup and autograph session, and the New Britain High School marching band will perform the national anthem and during the first intermission. Tickets in the lower level are $16 and include a soda and pizza slice or hot dog. Visit www.ctwhale.com.

Virtue will be making a pit stop on his way from his home in Tara, Ont., to Worcester, Mass., where he’ll be one of the first six inductees into the Worcester Hockey Hall of Fame on Jan. 22 at the DCU Center. It’s “Salute to the IceCats Night,” the name of the AHL franchise that preceded the Sharks in Worcester, and Virtue will be inducted with former Whalers wing Scott Young, Kelly O’Leary, Eddie Bates, Larz Anderson and Marvin Degon Sr., father of former Wolf Pack defenseman Martin Degon.

WHALE NOTES

Right wing Dale Weise, on his second recall from the Whale, skated on the Rangers’ fourth line with Sean Avery and captain and Trumbull native Chris Drury Tuesday night. … Former Wolf Pack Marc Staal is the first Rangers defenseman other than Leetch to be named to an All-Star roster since Kevin Lowe in 1993. The 23-year-old Staal, the Rangers’ first-round pick (12^th overall) in 2005, said he was told by his older brother, Eric, captain of the host Carolina Hurricanes who is likely to captain one of the teams in the pick-up game, not to select him in the Fantasy Draft that will be conducted two days before the All-Star Game on Jan. 30. “I don’t think I could handle being on his team,” Marc Staal told the New York media. “He’s too mouthy.” Take that, bro!!! Staal, who turned 24 on Thursday, is considered by most to be the Rangers’ MVP in the first half of the season after averaging 25:29 a game, leading defensemen with six goals, being plus-9 while usually playing against the opposition’s best players while paired with former Wolf Pack defenseman Dan Girardi and playing the power play. Another former Wolf Pack, gritty right wing Ryan Callahan, led the MVP voting until he broke his left hand while blocking a shot by Pittsburgh Penguins All-Star defenseman Kris Letang on Dec. 15 while leading the team in scoring. He has resumed skating but is expected to be sidelined another three weeks. Goalie Henrik Lundqvist was named to his second All-Star Game (his first was in Montreal in 2009), and center Derek Stepan was one of 12 rookies chosen to participate in the skills competition Jan. 29. … The Whale’s eighth Tip-A-Player Dinner and Sports Carnival, presented by Aetna, is Jan. 23 at the XL Center from 4-7 p.m. Tickets are $30 for adults and $20 for children, and proceeds benefit Gaylord Specialty Healthcare at Gaylord Hospital in Wallingford. For more information, contact Lori Leniart at 860-728-3366. … Howard Baldwin Jr. has a new Twitter account accessible to Whale fans at howardbaldwinjr. … Barb Underwood, a former Canadian national skating champion who now specializes in strength skating, was back with the Whale before and after practice Tuesday. She was especially interested in watching and recording data on players that she hadn’t previously seen such as forwards Oren Eizenman and Jason Williams.

SOMMER, HELMER NEAR MILESTONES

Worcester coach Roy Sommer will coach his 1,000th regular-season AHL game Friday night when the Sharks visit the Springfield Falcons. Sommer, who has spent his entire 13-year AHL career coaching the San Jose Sharks’ AHL affiliates in Kentucky (1998-2001), Cleveland (2001-06) and Worcester (2006-present ), will become just the fourth coach to reach that milestone, joining AHL Hall of Famers Frank Mathers (1,256), Fred “Bun” Cook (1,171) and John Paddock (1,107), who led the Wolf Pack to their only Calder Cup title in 2000. … Veteran defenseman Bryan Helmer, who signed with the Oklahoma City Barons last Friday night, is closing in on another milestone. With four assists in his first three games with the Barons, Helmer had 517 points (120 goals, 397 assists), two shy of tying John Slaney’s career record for a defenseman, entering a game at Peoria on Thursday night. Helmer is already the AHL’s all-time leader among defensemen in assists and games played (985), and he has appeared in more Calder Cup games (138) than any player at any position. The native of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., is a three-time Calder Cup champion, winning with Albany in 1995 and captaining Hershey to back-to-back titles in 2009 and 2010. … The Albany Devils are proving to be quite the anomaly this season. Goalie Mike McKenna posted a 26-save shutout and Michael Swift scored twice Tuesday in a 2-0 victory at Worcester as the Devils improved to 10-7-0-1 on the road. But they’re 5-13-0-2 at home. And Swift has nine goals in the last 11 games, including at least one in eight of those games. You figure it out. … Only two AHL games this season have been scoreless through 65 minutes (regulation and overtime), and Milwaukee’s Mark Dekanich has been the winning goaltender in both of the shootouts, including a duel with Toronto’s Ben Scrivens on Saturday. … Springfield erupted for a season-high seven goals in a 7-3 win over Charlotte on Saturday, but the Falcons still have not had an eight-goal game since back-to-back 8-4 and 14-2 victories over Providence on Dec. 29-30, 1999. … Adirondack, which became the last team in the AHL to play a shootout game on Dec. 31, has gone to the skills competition in five of its last six outings, winning against Rochester and Albany twice before losing twice at Abbotsford.

FORMER WOLF PACK WING ON THE MEND FROM STROKE

Still, this writer and everyone else in the Whale family wish former Wolf Pack wing Nils Ekman a speedy recovery from a stroke he suffered on Dec. 28, when the Djurgardens IF right wing was hospitalized in Stockholm, Sweden, after complaining of a migraine headache, poor balance and numbness on one side of his body when he woke up in the morning. Doctors diagnosed that the 34-year-old former AHL/NHL/European player had suffered the stroke after a restricted blood vessel had stopped carrying normal blood flow to his brain.

Fortunately, Ekman’s long-term prognosis is promising, although he will need at least three months of rest and almost certainly will miss the remainder of the Elitserien season. Ekman was released from the hospital last weekend to be with his family and then was moved to an in-patient rehabilitation facility to begin the road to recovery. After a short period, he will start out-patient therapy. He still is suffering from double vision and physical unsteadiness but has regained some use of his motor functions and is communicative.

“It has been an extremely positive week,” DIF team doctor Bengt Gustavsson told Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet.

Ekman, who played 264 NHL games in parts of five seasons with the Tampa Bay Lightning, Sharks and Pittsburgh Penguins, returned to Sweden this season for his third stint with Djurgarden. He had spent the previous three seasons playing in Russia.

Ekman played for the Wolf Pack in 2002-03, when he had career highs for goals (30) and points (66) in 57 games.

After one season in Hartford, Ekman was traded to the Sharks for wing Chad Wiseman, who is now with Albany.

Ekman’s loss for the season was a major blow to DIF as he was one of the team’s most accomplished offensive players. But recovery from the stroke for the Calgary Flames’ fifth-round pick in 1994 is paramount these days. May it be as speedy as Ekman is on his skates.

Hartford, CT …  Whalers Sports and Entertainment announced today the entertainment-world celebrities who will be skating alongside Hartford Whalers and Boston Bruins alumni in the legends game February 19, 2011 at Rentschler Field in East Hartford.

The legends game is 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.

The group of skating celebrities is highlighted by Michael Keaton, whose hit roles have included the portrayal of the title character in Tim Burton’s “Batman” and “Batman Returns”, as well as such comedic smashes as “Night Shift”, “Mr. Mom”, “Johnny Dangerously” and “Beetlejuice”, and Canadian actor, singer, songwriter, and talk and game-show host, Alan Thicke, best known for his role as Jason Seaver, the patriarch on the ABC series “Growing Pains”.

Also strapping on the blades and hitting the ice with the Whaler and Bruin alumni February 19 will be David E. Kelley, writer of the 1999 film hit “Mystery, Alaska”, which was produced by Howard and Karen Baldwin.  In addition to his “Mystery, Alaska” credit, Kelley, son of legendary New England and Hartford Whalers coach and general manager Jack Kelley, is a celebrated television producer and creator of such hits as “Picket Fences”, “Chicago Hope”, “The Practice”, “Ally McBeal”, “Boston Public” and “Boston Legal”.

Several cast members will also play in the legends game from “Mystery, Alaska”, which tells the story of an Alaskan amateur hockey team whose hometown of Mystery becomes the focus of a national-television extravaganza when the team is challenged to a game by the New York Rangers.

Michael Buie, who starred as player Connor Banks in the film, will be in the mix for the legends game, along with fellow Mystery Alaskan player Scott Richard Grimes, who portrayed character “Burdie” Burns.  Grimes is also well known for playing Dr. Archie Morris in “ER”, Will McCorkle in “Party of Five”, Technical Sergeant Donald Malarkey in “Band of Brothers”, and as the voice of Steve Smith in the popular animated sitcom “American Dad”.

Jason Gray-Stanford, Bobby Michan in “Mystery Alaska” and Lieutenant Randy Disher in the TV show “Monk”, is also on the celebrity roster, as is Kevin Durand, who played “Tree” Lane in “Mystery Alaska” and was also Joshua in “Dark Angel”, Martin Keamy in “Lost”, Fred J. Dukes in “X-men Origins: Wolverine”, the Archangel Gabriel in “Legion” and Little John in “Robin Hood”.  Cameron Bancroft, who followed his stint as Joe Bradley on the TV series “Beverly Hills 90210” with a turn as “Tinker” Connolly in “Mystery Alaska”, also is slated to play in the legends game.

Other well-known celebrities who will be on the ice with the Whaler and Bruin alumni include:

The Hanson Brothers – played by ex-pro hockey players Steve and Jeff Carlson and Dave Hanson, the brawling Hanson brothers were the comedic linchpins of the 1977 cult classic movie “Slap Shot”.

Neal McDonough – veteran character actor who played Lt. Hawk in “Star Trek: First Contact”, and whose numerous television credits include roles on “Desperate Housewives”, “Tin Man”, “Traveler”, “Medical Investigation”, “Boomtown” and “Band of Brothers”, among others.

Kevin Zegers – Canadian actor and model, who played leading roles as Josh Framm in the “Air Bud” series.

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).

Hartford, CT …  Whalers Sports and Entertainment president and COO Howard Baldwin, Jr. announced today that Cheshire, CT-bred Hall of Famer Brian Leetch, and former Bruin fan favorite, and current media sensation, Lyndon Byers have been added to the Boston Bruins legends roster for the Hartford Whalers legends vs. Boston Bruins legends game February 19, 2011 at Rentschler Field in East Hartford.

“We are thrilled to be able to offer fans the chance to catch two such bigger-than-life icons at the Harvest-Properties.com Hockey Fest,” said Baldwin, Jr..  “Brian Leetch was truly one of the greatest defensemen ever to play the game, and the best player the state of Connecticut has ever produced.  And Lyndon Byers, in addition to being as tough as they come on the hockey rink, has legitimately become a crossover star in the media world after his on-ice career.”

The legends game is 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.

Leetch played prep school hockey at Avon Old Farms before going on to Boston College and an 18-year NHL career.  Drafted ninth overall by the New York Rangers in 1986, Leetch would go on to become the highest-scoring defenseman, and second-highest-scoring player overall, in Ranger history.  Leetch skated in 1,129 games for the Broadway Blueshirts in 17 seasons and totaled 741 assists, a franchise career record, along with 240 goals and 981 points, second only to Rod Gilbert’s 1,021 in Ranger history.

Leetch was captain of the Rangers from 1997-98 to 1999-00, and captured the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP in 1994, the year the Rangers ended a 53-year championship drought by winning the Stanley Cup.  Following his Ranger tenure, and 15 games with Toronto in 2003-04, Leetch finished his career with the Bruins in 2005-06.  He was Boston’s leading-scoring defenseman that year, with five goals and 27 assists for 32 points in 61 games.

Leetch was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2009.

Byers, a native of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, played 261 games in a Bruin uniform over nine seasons from 1983-84 through 1991-92, after being selected in the second round of the 1982 NHL Draft.  He saw action in 261 games in his Bruin career, totaling 24 goals and 42 assists for 66 points, along with 959 penalty minutes, ninth all-time in franchise history.  Byers also played 18 NHL games with the San Jose Sharks in 1992-93, scoring four goals and adding an assist for five points and serving 122 minutes in penalties.

Always a fan favorite in Boston, Byers has achieved even greater fame in the media world in his post-hockey career.  He is a co-host of the “Hil-Man Morning Show” on WAAF-FM in Boston and also makes television appearances on NESN.  Byers’ non-sports credits include appearances on several episodes of Denis Leary’s “Rescue Me” and film roles in “Shallow Hal”, “Stuck on You”, “Monument Ave.”, “Freedom Park” and “Oxy-Morons”.

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).

Hartford, CT …  Whalers Sports and Entertainment announced today the current Boston Bruins legends roster for the Hartford Whalers legends vs. Boston Bruins legends game February 19, 2011 at Rentschler Field in East Hartford.  More Bruins are expected to be announced this week.

The legends game is 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.

Highlighting the group of featured Bruins legends are Hall of Fame defenseman Brad Park, along with all-time great forwards Rick Middleton, Ken Hodge and Ken Linseman.

Park, who was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1988, was a seven-time NHL All-Star and scored 213 goals and added 683 assists (an NHL record for defensemen at the time of his retirement in 1985) for 896 points in 1,113 career NHL games over 17 seasons.  Eight of those years were spent with the Bruins, and Park is fourth all-time in franchise history in points among defensemen.  His 417 Bruin points included 100 goals 317 assists, in 501 total games.  In addition to his time with Boston, Park also saw NHL action with the New York Rangers and Detroit Red Wings.

Middleton, who earned the nickname “Nifty” for his deft puckhandling touch, played 12 seasons in a Bruin uniform from 1976-77 through 1987-88, and is the fourth-leading all-time scorer in franchise history, with 402 goals and 496 assists for 898 points in 881 games.  Prior to being acquired by Boston via trade in May of 1976, Middleton played two seasons with the New York Rangers.  In 1005 career NHL games, the Toronto native scored 448 goals and added 540 assists for 988 points.

Hodge was a Bruin for nine seasons, from 1967-68 through 1975-76, and won Stanley Cups with Boston in 1970 and 1972.  A two-time First-Team All-Star selection, Hodge’s tenure with the Bruins was highlighted by 105-point seasons in 1970-71 and 1973-74.  He also hit the 50-goal mark, a career high, in ’73-’74 and is sixth all-time in Bruin franchise history in goals (289), and seventh all-time in points (674), in 652 games in a Boston uniform.  Hodge’s NHL career also included stints with the Rangers and the Chicago Blackhawks, and totaled 881 games, with 328 goals and 472 assists for 800 points.

Linseman, whose smallish stature belied his feisty nature, spent six years with the Bruins during a 14-year NHL career that spanned from 1978-79 through 1991-92.  After going to the Stanley Cup Finals with the Philadelphia Flyers in 1980 and winning a Cup with the Edmonton Oilers in 1984, Linseman was acquired by Boston in June of 1984.  He would go on to play 389 games with the Bruins, scoring 125 goals and adding 247 assists for 372 points and amassing 746 penalty minutes.  He would help lead the Bruins to the Cup Finals in 1988 and was the team leader in playoff points and goals that year, with 11-14-25 in 23 games.  Following his departure from Boston in January of 1990, Linseman would have second stints with both Philadelphia and Edmonton, and also play two games with the Toronto Maple Leafs.  His overall career NHL totals show 860 games, with 256 goals and 551 assists for 807 points, as well as 1,727 PIM.

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Additional members of the Bruins Legends team for the Whale Bowl include:

Don Marcotte – spent his entire 15-year NHL career with the Bruins, winning Stanley Cups in 1970 and 1972.  His games-played total of 868 ranks seventh all-time in franchise history, and he scored 230 goals and 254 assists for 484 points with the Bruins.

Rick Smith – defenseman who had two separate stints with the Bruins, and won a Stanley Cup with the club in 1970.  NHL career totaled 687 games, 513 of which were with Boston.

Reggie Lemelin – goaltender, who ranks tenth all-time in Bruin franchise history in wins (92) and games-played (183) and played a total of 507 career NHL games over 15 seasons, also seeing time with Atlanta/Calgary.

Bob Sweeney – former Boston College Eagle who had a pair of 20-goal seasons among six years in a Bruin uniform in the late ‘80s.  Totaled 639 games in his NHL career, with Boston, Buffalo, the New York Islanders and Quebec.

Jay Miller – Wellesley, MA-born University of New Hampshire product who was one of the NHL’s most respected tough guys during a 446-game NHL tenure.  Had 33 points and 858 PIM in 216 games with the Bruins from 1985-89.

Bob Miller – Billerica, MA native who played 263 games with the Bruins over four seasons, part of a 404-game NHL career.

Cleon Daskalakis – Boston-born goaltender who played 12 games with the Bruins over three seasons from 1984-87, as part of a five-year pro career out of Boston University.

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

An autographed Toronto Maple Leafs prospect trading card of Jeremy Williams showed up on eBay on Tuesday morning.

Its value likely increased by day’s end after Williams, the Connecticut Whale right wing tied for the AHL goal-scoring lead, was named to the AHL’s Eastern Conference All-Star team that will face the Western Conference on Jan. 30-31 at the Giant Center in Hershey, Pa.

“I really wasn’t sure if I’d make the team,” said Williams, named an All-Star for the first time after only playing with a group of Western Hockey League players against a touring top Russian junior team when he was with Swift Current in 2001. “A couple of guys mentioned it over the last few days, but I didn’t really think that I’d be the one going. But it’s nice and obviously an honor and a privilege to be named.”

Williams then paused, smiled and added, “Now I get to go Hershey, which obviously has great fans and great chocolate. All the guys are asking me to bring back some chocolate bars, so I might just get the team credit card and bring a wheel barrel when I get back.”

Williams’ 20 goals share the top spot with Wethersfield native Colin McDonald of the Oklahoma City Barons and the Charlotte Checkers’ Jerome Samson, who also was named to the Eastern Conference team.

Williams’ 20^th goal on Saturday night was a beauty, a strong finish of his own rebound after a brilliant rush and pass by 20-year-old defenseman Michael Del Zotto with 37.2 seconds left in overtime that gave the Whale a 3-2 victory over the Norfolk Admirals.

But that kind of goal shouldn’t be all that surprising. Williams is believed to be the only person to score a goal in each of his first three NHL games – in a different season. His NHL debut was April 18, 2006, when he scored on his first NHL shot in the Toronto Maple Leafs’ season finale, a 5-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins. After the Leafs failed to qualify for the playoffs, Williams was sent down to the Toronto Marlies and then recalled Feb. 23, 2007, when he scored off Mats Sundin’s rebound for his second NHL goal in a 5-4 loss to the Montreal Canadiens. Then after being called up a third time on Feb. 27, 2008, Williams completed his unique hat trick against the Florida Panthers.

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Since then, Williams has one more goal, on Dec. 8, 2008 in a 4-2 victory over the New York Islanders. So in the first four seasons in which he was called up from the minors, Williams scored in his first NHL game of the season. But that streak ended when he failed to score in his one game with the New York Rangers on Oct. 24, when he played only 3:43 in a 3-1 victory over the New Jersey Devils.

But accuracy is nothing new for Williams, who credited the trait to his early days playing hockey on a family farm in Glenavon, Saskatchewan, pop. 600, located about an hour outside Regina. Williams’ father, Kevin, made ice for Williams and his younger brother, Tristan, every winter, but it wasn’t exactly like Madison Square Garden.

“If you missed the net, there were no boards, so you’d better be hitting the net or we’d be searching for pucks in the snow,” Williams said with a wide smile. “He would go out with the hose and spray it down for me and my younger brother. And if he didn’t have time to build a rink, he would clean off an area of farm water so it would freeze over. He would wait until he could drive on it with the tractor, push all the snow off and then spray it down with a little water.”

Williams also played baseball for a year and dabbled in rodeo with the rest of his family. His 15-year-old sister, Hailee, recently won the Canadian junior women’s championship in barrel racing with horses, which came long after Jeremy chose hockey over team roping.

Good thing because Williams quickly became a scoring machine with Swift Current, capped by career highs of 52 goals and 101 points in 68 games in his final season (2003-04) with the Broncos. The Maple Leafs’ seventh-round pick in the 2003 NHL entry draft then played his first full pro season with St. John’s, getting 16 goals and 20 assists in 75 games. Williams spent the next four seasons playing mostly with the Marlies but also getting a shot with one of the NHL’s Original Six teams.

But Williams and center Kris Newbury, on recall from the Whale to the Rangers for the first time, then signed with the Detroit Red Wings last season, when Williams had pro career highs of 32 goals and 63 points in 77 games with Grand Rapids. But the Griffins failed to make the playoffs, and the Red Wings decided to start shedding veteran players, including trading Newbury to the Rangers for wing Jordan Owens on March 3.

When the Red Wings didn’t re-sign Williams, he and his agent, Craig Oster, began looking for employment and decided on the Rangers, who paid Williams a nice AHL salary of $250,000 on July 12.

“We just felt like it was a good fit,” said Williams, who will turn 27 on Jan. 26. “I wasn’t sure where I was headed this year after sitting around free agency for a bit, and my agent and I knew what we wanted in a contract, and opportunity-wise, where I wanted to be. He thought the Rangers might need secondary scoring and might get a chance to help out. I had a few offers from other teams, but it’s one thing to get a contract to play in the AHL, but I was looking for a place to play in the NHL.”

Williams has had what he calls his most consistent start as he continues to try to improve on the defensive end, which has kept him from more time in the NHL.

“Aside from my first season, I’ve had injury problems, and it’s kind of hard to be consistent and score goals if you’re not playing,” Williams said. “So staying healthy and being able to play the last few years has helped a lot. Being good defensively never came naturally for me. I play puck possession, so I’m more dangerous in the offensive zone. I figure if you’re in the offensive zone all the time, then you don’t have to play defense.

“But the last seasons, especially last year after leaving Toronto, I was trying to work on my defensive play in Grand Rapids, and I think that helped me out a lot. And coming (to Hartford), the same thing.”

Whale coach Ken Gernander said Williams was quite deserving of the honor that Gernander received twice.

“He was a legitimate candidate,” Gernander said. “He has been a big part of our success and has lots of positives going for him. I thought we had a couple of guys who would make real good candidates, and they chose Jeremy. Congratulations.”

Some of Williams’ nine goals in 32 NHL games have been highlight-reel material, and he has duplicated some of those this season.

“He’s a shooter, so if he’s playing well, he’s going to get goals,” Gernander said. “There are always areas of improvement, especially if you’re at the American League level and there’s something that the NHL teams would like to see you improve upon. I think he has worked hard and brought us success helping out offensively and been a pretty good part of our team.

“He’s obviously a capable goal-scorer, so he’s going to have to bring a little bit more to catch the eye of an NHL squad that says this special talent that he has not only translates to the NHL level, but he can also bring (something else) to the game. I don’t want to say he’s a specialist, but he has a shot that kind of separates him from a lot of players in that he’s a very effective shooter. That’s how he scores a lot of his goals with the one-timer or from the slot with a good slap shot or snap shot with his good release. He’s maximizing one of his strengths or key components.”

Williams’ NHL-type shot is a major reason he is again being used on the point on the power play, which is handled mainly by assistant coach J.J. Daigneault.

“J.J. had gone to the library and watched some of Williams’ previous games and seen that he had a big shot that he can bring and discusses it with him,” Gernander said. “He figured it might be a good spot where he might fit on our power play, and it has worked out well. He does have a really good release and is a good goal-scorer.”

The Eastern Conference starters, selected by an online fan vote, include Bridgeport Sound Tigers defenseman/captain Mark Wotton and two players named to All-Star teams while with the Wolf Pack, center Corey Locke (Binghamton) and defenseman Lawrence Nycholat (Hershey). The other starters are goalie Brad Thiessen (Wilkes-Barre/Scranton) and forwards Andrew Gordon (Hershey) and Jonathan Cheechoo (Worcester). The Western Conference starters include captain and former Wolf Pack wing Alexandre Giroux (Oklahoma City), and the squad also includes former New Canaan High and Taft School-Watertown star Max Pacioretty (Hamilton), who is on recall to the Montreal Canadiens and had 20 family and friends from New Canaan at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night for a game against the New York Rangers. A committee of AHL coaches chose the balance of the teams, with all 30 AHL teams having to be represented.

Rookie head coaches John Hynes of Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and Jared Bednar of Peoria will be co-coaches of the Western Conference team because their teams had the best record in their conferences as of Sunday. By virtue of winning the 2010 Calder Cup, Bears coach Mark French and assistant Troy Mann will coach the Eastern Conference team for the second consecutive year.

The Hall of Fame Class of 2011, to be inducted Jan. 30 at 11 a.m., is Mitch Lamoureux, Larry Wilson and the late Harry Pidhirny and Maurice Podoloff, who grew up in New Haven and graduated from Yale. AHL Hall of Famer Bruce Boudreau, former coach of the Hershey Bears and now coach of the Washington Capitals, will be the keynote speaker, and AHL graduate and 2008 Foster Hewitt Award winner Mike Emrick will be master of ceremonies.

Tickets for the All-Star Classic, which includes admission to the skills competition (3 p.m., Jan. 30) and All-Star Game (7 p.m., Jan. 31), are nearly sold out. Tickets remain for the post-skills party (6 p.m., Jan. 30) and Hall of Fame induction and awards ceremony (11 a.m., Jan. 31). For information, contact the Giant Center box office at 717-534-3911.

WHALE GET TWO PLAYERS FROM GREENVILLE

Defenseman Sam Klassen, reassigned by the Rangers from the ECHL’s Greenville Road Warriors to the Whale, couldn’t get to Connecticut because his flight was canceled. And Klassen might not be able to make practice on Wednesday as the storm that dumped more than a foot of snow on the Southeast hit New England overnight. Ditto for forward Chris Chappell, who was reassigned from Greenville to the Whale on Tuesday night.

The 6-foot-2, 199-pound Klassen had one goal, six assists and was plus-11 in 34 games with the Road Warriors. He signed a free-agent contract with the Rangers on July 27, 2009 after getting seven goals and 74 assists in 249 games with the WHL’s Saskatoon Blades.

The 6-4, 212-pound Chappell had four goals and seven assists in 24 games with Greenville. Last season, he was scoreless in six games with the Hartford Wolf Pack after being limited to 11 games in an injured-riddled season with the Charlotte Checkers in which he had one goal and three assists. The Rangers signed Chappell as a free agent on July 2, 2009 after he had 70 goals and 84 assists in 248 games with the Saginaw Spirit of the Ontario Hockey League.

Wojtek Wolski, acquired from the Phoenix Coyotes for defenseman Michal Rozsival on Monday after it was learned that Alex Frolov would need season-ending knee surgery this week, made his Rangers debut Tuesday on a line with Marian Gaborik and former Wolf Pack center Artem Anisimov.

Rozsival’s departure left the Rangers with only six defensemen, including rookie Ryan McDonagh, who played his third NHL game Tuesday night.

Twenty-year-old defenseman Michael Del Zotto has played well in his first three minor-league games setting up game-winners by Tim Kennedy and Williams.

“It’s been good, and a great group of guys to play with,” said Del Zotto, the Rangers’ first-round pick (20^th overall) in 2008. “The first period of the first game (a 2-0 victory over Worcester last Wednesday) was a bit different because there are different systems, and (the Whale) play a bit differently. But the guys have been great, jelled pretty quickly, and I’ve got along with everyone. That’s the biggest thing, to make sure you get along with everybody, and everything has gone pretty smoothly.”

The Whale (20-14-2-5) lost the opener of a two-game set in Norfolk 5-2 on Friday night, when the Admirals scored three goals in 68 seconds, one less than the franchise record for three fastest goals allowed. But the Whale rebounded from that unwanted record for a 3-2 overtime victory that improved their run to 13-3-0-2.

“The floodgates opened, but we got the two points the next night and four of six on the road, so we’ll take it,” Del Zotto said.

Del Zotto said he has achieved the No. 1 objective of Rangers president and general manager Glen Sather and coach John Tortorella after the young defenseman had two goals and seven assists in 35 games.

“They wanted me to come down and play a lot of minutes, and that definitely happened in all areas of the game,” said Del Zotto, who averaged more than 30 minutes for three games, similar to the time of the Rangers’ Marc Staal, named to the NHL All-Star Game for the first time on Tuesday. “Once you get that going, then you feel more comfortable. I’m just trying to get my confidence back, and playing a lot of minutes and being out there every other shift is the only way you’re going to get any better and into the swing of things.

“That’s what has happened so far, so I’m just taking it a day at a time. All I can do is control how hard I work. The rest is out of my control.”

On Jan. 3, Del Zotto, a member of the NHL all-rookie team last season, switched places with 21-year-old rookie Ryan McDonagh, who more than held his own in his first two NHL games, victories over the tough Dallas Stars and St. Louis Blues, and was in the lineup again Tuesday night alongside former Hartford Wolf Pack defenseman Matt Gilroy.

“We’ve been trying to build this team around the youth,” Sather said during a teleconference call Monday night. “And when a player like this, who’s 24 years old, who’s 6-foot-3 and 215 pounds and has been a very good, prolific goal scorer in the past, and you’re moving a guy that’s 32 years old with this year and next year left on his contract, it was a good opportunity for us to get younger and bigger and give the kids the opportunity in defense to play.”

The trade also gives the Rangers additional salary cap space, as Wolski has a $3.8 million hit for this season and next season, while Rozsival’s hit is $5 million.

Wolski, the Colorado Avalanche’s first-round pick in 2004, had six goals and 10 assists in 36 Coyotes games this season but only three points in his last 17 games. But the Rangers hope he can regain his touch from last season, when he had 23 goals, 42 assists and was plus-21 in 80 games with the Avalanche and Coyotes. He had six goals and 12 assists in 18 regular-season games with the Coyotes last season and then scored four goals and had one assist in seven playoff games.

“He’s got all the talent in the world,” Sather said. “The opportunity is gonna be here for him to play in a pretty good position, and we look forward to seeing him play.”

Former Wolf Pack All-Star right wing Ryan Callahan, one of six injured Rangers forwards, resumed skating Sunday after sustaining a broken left hand when he blocked a shot by Pittsburgh Penguins’ defenseman Kris Letang in a 4-1 victory Dec. 15. Drury broke a finger for the first time in the very first scrimmage in training camp and again in practice, and other casualties have been Rozsival, Frolov, Gaborik (separated shoulder), center Erik Christensen (sprained MCL) and enforcer Erik Boogaard (concussion).

Tortorella lauded Gernander and his assistants for preparing so many reinforcements when he called them “a lifeline, especially in a (salary) cap world.”

WHALE’S NEW ROAD JERSEYS DEBUT FRIDAY

The Whale is 2-1 on a four-game road trip that ends Friday night at 7 at Portland, where their new blue road jerseys will debut. The jerseys are available at the XL Center or The Hartford Store, 45 Pratt Street in Hartford. Prices, including sales tax, are $289 (authentic), $125 (senior replica) and $99 (junior replica).

The Pirates (21-12-4-1) had a three-game winning streak ended by Binghamton on Tuesday night as Locke celebrated his fourth selection to the All-Star team with two goals and two assists. Locke, who is the All-Star scoring leader with nine points, got the winner with his first goal 19 seconds into the second period while increasing his league-leading totals to 40 assists and 55 points. The loss kept the Pirates in a second-place tie in the Atlantic Division with the Whale, who has played three more games. The Pirates are 12-3-3-1 at the Cumberland County Civic Center for a winning percentage of .737, third best in the AHL.

Former All-Star right wing Mark Mancari leads the Pirates in goals (17), assists (20) and points (37). The best of the rest for coach Kevin Dineen, the former Hartford Whalers star right wing and captain, are center Paul Byron (13, 14), center Matt Ellis (7, 18), defenseman Marc-Andre Gragnani (7, 17) and left wing Colin Stuart (7, 17). Rookie forward Maxime Legault scored in each of the Pirates’ three victories last week, registering four goals after tallying four in his first 32 games. Jhonas Enroth (12-11-1, 2.93 goals-against average, .907 save percentage) and David Leggio (9-4-0, 2.98, .908) split the goaltending.

The Whale returns to the XL Center Saturday at 7 p.m. to face the Providence Bruins in the start of a three-game homestand that will include former Boston Bruins standouts Rick Middleton and Reggie Lemelin signing autographs in the atrium from 6-7 p.m. and then dropping the ceremonial first puck. Middleton, who played 12 seasons with the Bruins after two with the Rangers, and Lemelin also will play on the Bruins legends team that will face the Whalers legends Feb. 19 at 4 p.m. before the Whale plays the P-Bruins at 7 p.m. The doubleheader is part of the “Harvest-Properties.com Whalers Hockey Fest” at Rentschler Field in East Hartford on Feb. 11-23. Middleton will be on “The Rock 106.9 WCCC” Wednesday at 8:30 a.m. to discuss the Whalers Hockey Fest and his appearance with Lemelin.

Early commitments for the Whalers team are Jordy Douglas, Ray Neufeld, Gordie Roberts, Darren Turcotte, Nelson Emerson and the Babych brothers, Dave and Wayne. 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.

There also will be “a town hall meeting” starting at 6 p.m. in the atrium during which fans are encouraged to ask questions and make suggestions to Whalers Sports and Entertainment president and COO Howard Baldwin Jr. The Whale has won the previous three meetings with the last-place Bruins (15-18-3-1), including 6-2 at the XL Center on Jan. 1. But the Bruins are 10-6-2-0 on the road.

Centers Jamie Arniel (14, 11), Zach Hamill (2, 21) and Joe Colborne (9, 11) lead a Bruins attack that has scored the third-fewest goals in the league (91). Right wing Jordan Caron, the Bruins’ first-round pick in 2009 who had three goals and four assists in 20 games with the NHL Bruins earlier this season, scored his first AHL goal on New Year’s Day.

The league-leading Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (30-8-0-0) complete the week’s action with a Sunday visit at 3 p.m. in the first of two meetings with the Whale. The high-powered Penguins have a 13-point lead over Norfolk and Charlotte in the East Division. Leading scorer Dustin Jeffrey (15, 22) is on recall to the Pittsburgh Penguins, but other threats are right wing Nick Johnson (13, 13), left wing Brett Sterling (11, 15), forward Eric Tangradi (16, 7), left wing Tim Wallace (11, 12) and center Joe Vitale (8, 14). Corey Potter, the third all-time leading scorer among defensemen in Wolf Pack history (21 goals, 81 assists in 246 games), leads Penguins blueliners in points with 17 assists in 35 games. Brad Thiessen (17-3-0, 2.06, .921) and John Curry (13-5-0, 2.35, .910) have both excelled in goal.

It’s a Guida’s Family Value Day in which family value packages start as low as $48 and include three tickets, three hot dogs or pizza slices, three sodas and a Whale souvenir. Guida’s Family Value packs are available at the XL Center box office or online at www.CtWhale.com. Fans are encouraged to bring their skates for a free postgame skate, sponsored by Stone Academy. … Goalie Cam Talbot is 6-0-1 in his last seven decisions, including 38 saves Saturday night when the Whale increased their AHL-high total of overtime victories to five. Two of those OT wins have been against the Pirates. In successive games, the Pirates were done in by center Tim Kennedy, a member of the AHL all-rookie team in 2009 after leading all first-year players in assists (49) and points (67) while with the Pirates. Kennedy beat the Pirates 2-1 at home on Dec. 29 and 5-4 in Maine on Dec. 31. … Barb Underwood, a former Canadian national skating champion who now specializes in strength skating, was back with the Whale before and after practice Tuesday. She was especially interested in watching and recording data on players that she hadn’t previously seen such as forwards Oren Eizenman and Jason Williams.

MORE IN COMMON FOR GERNANDER AND KEANE

Whale coach Ken Gernander and Mike Keane have plenty in common. During their playing days, they were gritty, intelligent, hard-trying forwards who were captains of their teams and wore No. 12 during lengthy careers that included brief stays with the New York Rangers.

Gernander became the only Hartford Wolf Pack/Connecticut Whale player to have his number retired and raised to the rafters on Oct. 8, 2005, three months after he announced his retirement. Keane will have his No. 12 retired and sent to the rafters of the MTS Centre by the Manitoba Moose on Mike Keane Tribune Night on Feb. 12, when the San Antonio Rampage is in town.

Keane was a three-time Stanley Cup champion with three teams (Canadiens, 1993; Colorado Avalanche, 1996; Dallas Stars, 1999) and played 1,230 NHL games before playing 443 AHL games in five seasons with the Moose. He received the AHL’s Fred T. Hunt Award for sportsmanship, determination and dedication to the game of hockey in 2007, an award that Gernander won in 1996 and 2004. Also like Gernander, Keane was named an AHL All-Star captain. Keane led the Canadian team in 2007 in Toronto, Gernander the PlanetUSA team in 1999 in Philadelphia, where he was joined by former Wolf Pack wing Johan Witehall and defenseman Rich Brennan. The Canadian team included former Wolf Pack center Derek Armstrong and former Yale defenseman Ray Giroux.

WHALE’S TIP-A-PLAYER DINNER ON JAN. 23

The Whale’s eighth Tip-A-Player Dinner and Sports Carnival, presented by Aetna, is Jan. 23 at the XL Center from 4-7 p.m. Tickets are $30 for adults and $20 for children, and proceeds benefit Gaylord Specialty Healthcare at Gaylord Hospital in Wallingford. For more information, contact Lori Leniart at 860-728-3366. … Howard Baldwin Jr. has a new Twitter account accessible to Whale fans at howardbaldwinjr. … The Professional Hockey Players Association has agreed to a new five-year contract with Larry Landon to serve as executive director of the PHPA through June 30, 2016. Next season will be Landon’s 30^th with the association. … Two former Wolf Pack and Rangers forwards are now in Europe. Center Jamie Lundmark has left the Milwaukee Admirals for Timra in the Swedish Elite League, and wing Petr Prucha has gone from the San Antonio Rampage to SKA St. Petersburg in the Kontinental Hockey League in Russia.