HARTFORD, January 11, 2011: Connecticut Whale general manager Jim Schoenfeld announced today that the parent New York Rangers have reassigned defenseman Sam Klassen to the Whale from the club’s ECHL affiliate, the Greenville Road Warriors.
Klassen, a 6-2, 199-pound rookie out of the Western Hockey League, has skated in 34 games for the Road Warriors this year and has scored one goal and added six assists for seven points, while serving 36 minutes in penalties. Klassen’s plus/minus rating of +11 ranks second among Road Warrior defensemen and tied for fourth overall on the team.
The Rangers signed Klassen as a free agent July 27, 2009. In four WHL years with the Saskatoon Blades Klassen, a 22-year-old native of Watrous, Saskatchewan scored seven goals and added 74 assists for 81 points, and had 345 PIM, in 249 games.
The Whale finish off a stretch of four straight road games this Friday night, January 14 in Portland against the Pirates (7:00 PM faceoff, WTIC HD-2, www.ctwhale.com, www.wtic.com). That is followed by a pair of home games at the XL Center, this Saturday night, January 15 and Sunday, January 16.
Saturday’s game vs. the Providence Bruins faces off at 7:00 and features a special appearance by former Boston Bruin greats Rick Middleton and Reggie Lemelin. They will be meeting and greeting fans, and signing autographs, in the XL Center atrium from 6:00-7:00 PM to promote the February 19 Harvest-Properties.com “Whale Bowl” at Rentschler Field. Sunday the Whale will take on the league-leading Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins at 3:00, and there will be a free postgame skate.
Tickets for all 2010-11 Whale home games are available now at the XL Center box office, through Ticketmaster Charge-by-Phone at 1-800-745-3000 and on-line at www.ctwhale.com. Tickets start at $7 each at the XL Center ticket office on game day.
For information on Whale ticket packages, group sales and VIP packages, call (860) 728-3366.
