Hartford , CT … The historic outdoor Harvest-Properties.com Whale Bowl at East Hartford’s Rentschler Field February 19 is a Connecticut event, presented by Whalers Sports & Entertainment of Hartford , but it features a thorough and distinct New York Ranger flavor.
The most obvious New York connection is the Ranger affiliation with the AHL’s Connecticut Whale, which will be taking on the Boston Bruins’ top affiliate, the Providence Bruins, in an AHL version of an “Original Six” matchup at 7:00 on February 19, in the second outdoor game in American Hockey League history.
Top Rangers prospects such as Dale Weise, Tomas Kundratek , Chad Kolarik, Brodie Dupont , Chad Johnson and Jeremy Williams will all put their talents on display as they take on top Bruins prospects including Zach Hamill, Joe Colborne, Yury Alexandrov, Maxime Sauve and Jordan Caron.
In addition to the AHL tilt, Whalers Sports & Entertainment will present a Whalers legends vs. Boston Bruins legends game at 4:00 on February 19 at Rentschler Field, and a number of the legends game participants are also familiar names in Ranger lore.
Those include: Hall of Fame defensemen Brad Park, who was a three-time First-Team All-Star with the Rangers before being traded to the Bruins in 1975, and Brian Leetch, who finished his playing days in Boston after his legendary Ranger career; and Rick Middleton, the 1973 first-round Ranger pick who had a pair of 20-goal seasons in New York before his trade to Boston, as well as names like Pat Verbeek, Blaine Stoughton, Chris Kotsopoulos and Mark Janssens, all of whom spent time with the Rangers.
In addition to the on-ice talent, the Bruins legends team’s two coaches will be Derek Sanderson, who had a 25-goal year with the Rangers in 1974-75 and Gary Doak, who played with the Blueshirts in the 1972 Stanley Cup Finals.
Full legends game rosters, and other Harvest-Properties.com Whale Bowl information, are available on-line at www.ctwhale.com.
Tickets for the February 19 Harvest-Properties.com Whale Bowl, which include admission to both the AHL game and the legends game, are on sale now at Ticketmaster.com, as well as at the Bushnell box office from Monday through Friday, 12 noon-5:00 PM. Ticket prices range from $16 to $85 and can also be purchased by calling the Connecticut Whale at 860-728-3366. Tickets purchased online can be printed immediately (via Ticketmaster).
