Wolf Pack Rally for 4-3 Win Over Pirates

Lewiston, ME, February 25, 2014 – The Hartford Wolf Pack spotted the Portland Pirates a 3-0 first-period lead Tuesday night at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee, but rebounded to score the last four goals of the game for a 4-3 victory.

Hartford Wolf PackIt was the second straight come-from-behind win for the Wolf Pack, who erased a 3-1 third-period deficit in their 4-3 victory at Springfield on Saturday night.  Tuesday’s win allowed the Wolf Pack (21-26-0-6, 48 pts.) to move past the Adirondack Phantoms and into fourth place in the AHL’s Northeast Division, and to jump past both the Phantoms and the Pirates in the Eastern Conference standings.

Conor Allen had a goal an assist for the Wolf Pack, which also got goals from Andrew Yogan and Darroll Powe, and Jesper Fast scored the game-winner with 3:30 left in the third period.  Dov Grumet-Morris got the win in goal, stopping all 16 shots he faced in relief of starter David LeNeveu.

Lucas Lessio, Andy Miele and Rostislav Klesla scored the Portland goals in the first period, and Louis Domingue made 24 saves in the Pirate net.

“We started to skate in the second period,” Grumet-Morris said.  “We were standing around the whole first period and we kind of left David out to dry, it could have been 5-0 if it wasn’t for Lenny (LeNeveu).  I think once we kind of got our butts kicked a little bit in between periods, we started to skate, and when we do that we’re actually a very good team.

“We’re starting to develop some confidence about being able to come back, and that’s part of the learning curve for a younger team to learn how to win.  We’ve been talking about it for months now and it’s starting to come to fruition.”

The Pirates dominated the opening period, outshooting the Wolf Pack 14-7 on the way to building their 3-0 lead.

Lessio opened the scoring with a breakaway goal at 8:50, after a perfect pass from David Rundblad sent him into the Wolf Pack zone.  Lessio got behind Hartford defenseman Aaron Johnson and beat LeNeveu with a move to the forehand.

Miele, Portland’s leading scorer, made it 2-0 at 12:25 with his 21st of the year, just seconds after the Wolf Pack finished killing a penalty.  Powe had a pass blocked near the Hartford blue line, and Tobias Rieder moved it back down deep to an unguarded Miele, who snapped a shot into the top shelf on LeNeveu’s glove side.

The Pirates stretched the lead to 3-0 with 1:59 remaining, with Klesla scoring through a screen from the top of the circles.  Tim Kennedy played the puck from the right-wing side to Klesla, whose shot appeared to hit Wolf Pack defenseman Tommy Hughes in front of the net and re-direct past LeNeveu.

After Grumet-Morris replaced LeNeveu to start the second period, the Wolf Pack started to turn the tide with a pair of second-period goals, outshooting Portland 14-10 in the process.

Allen got Hartford on the board on a power play at 5:45, with Connor Murphy in the penalty box on a holding-the-stick call.  Marek Hrivik passed from the right circle to Allen high in the slot, and, with Powe screening Domingue, Allen’s snapshot got through and into the goal.

Then, at 9:32, Yogan scored for a second straight game to cut the margin at 3-2.  Kyle Beach found Yogan with a pass on left wing, and Yogan was able to open up an angle for himself and put the puck past Domingue on the stick side.

That was the last goal for more than a full period, until Powe lifted the Wolf Pack into a tie with his tenth goal of the season at 12:42 of the third session.  Allen fed a pass to Powe at the top of the right circle, and Powe’s one-timer cleanly beat Domingue.

Then, after being bottled up in their own end for most of a shift late in the period, the Wolf Pack broke out, led by Justin Vaive.  Vaive carried into the Portland zone on right wing and backhanded a pass toward the front of the net, and Fast, driving the middle, deflected it past Domingue at 16:30, for what turned out to be the game-winner.

The Wolf Pack’s next game is on home ice at the XL Center this Friday night, a 7:00 PM contest against the Hershey Bears.  All Wolf Pack Friday-night home games feature $1 hot dogs and $2 beers through the start of the second period, presented by Marc’s Appliance Warehouse, located at 75 Prospect Ave., Hartford, CT.

Tickets for all Wolf Pack 2013-14 home games are on sale now at the Public Power Ticket Office at the XL Center, on-line at www.hartfordwolfpack.com and by phone at (877) 522-8499.  Wolf Pack tickets start as low as $12 for youth 12 years old or younger.  To speak with a representative about season or group tickets, call (855) 762-6451.

Hartford Wolf Pack 4 at Portland Pirates 3
Tuesday, February 25, 2014 – Androscoggin Bank Colisee

Hartford 0 2 2 – 4
Portland 3 0 0 – 3

1st Period-1, Portland, Lessio 18 (Rundblad, Gormley), 8:50. 2, Portland, Miele 21 (Rieder), 12:25. 3, Portland, Klesla 3 (Kennedy, Yip), 18:01. Penalties-Stamler Hfd (cross-checking), 10:14; O'Donnell Hfd (fighting), 19:30; Jones Por (fighting), 19:30.

2nd Period-4, Hartford, Allen 6 (Hrivik, Lindberg), 5:45 (PP). 5, Hartford, Yogan 5 (Beach, O'Donnell), 9:32. Penalties-Allen Hfd (holding), 1:23; served by Louis Por (bench minor – too many men), 2:57; Murphy Por (holding the stick), 5:07; Vaive Hfd (tripping), 6:29; McIlrath Hfd (tripping), 10:39; Gormley Por (tripping), 11:23; Klesla Por (hooking), 13:35.

3rd Period-6, Hartford, Powe 10 (Allen, Stamler), 12:42. 7, Hartford, Fast 10 (Vaive), 16:30. Penalties-No Penalties

Shots on Goal-Hartford 7-14-7-28. Portland 14-10-6-30.
Power Play Opportunities-Hartford 1 / 4; Portland 0 / 4.
Goalies-Hartford, LeNeveu 4-6-0 (14 shots-11 saves); Grumet-Morris 9-11-5 (16 shots-16 saves). Portland, Domingue 7-9-2 (28 shots-24 saves).
A-1,358
Referees-Mark Lemelin (41), Terry Koharski (10).
Linesmen-Joe Ross (92), Pat Turcotte (10).

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Video: UConn Women Cruise Past SMU, 81-48

As we get towards the end of the 2013-14 regular season, we know the UConn Huskies women's basketball team is a little tired and bruised up. And with the different travel this season, there's one more reason the players may be a little road weary.

Connecticut Huskies guard Bria Hartley (14) shoots a free-throw against the Southern Methodist Mustangs during the first half of a women's basketball game at Moody Coliseum. However, the two game trip to Texas went well enough for them despite the slow start on Tuesday night.

UConn used a 15-0 run at the end of the first half to break the game open as the Huskies beat the SMU Mustangs 81-48 in front of 4,091 at Moody Coliseum in Dallas, TX.

The crowd was the largest to see an SMU women's basketball game.

The Huskies improve to 29-0 (16-0 American) while the Mustangs fall to 16-11 (7-9).

Bria Hartley led the way for UConn with 23 points and had seven rebounds. Breanna Stewart added with 23 points and nine rebounds with five assists and four blocked shots.

Stefanie Dolson narrowly missed a double-double with nine points and nine rebounds while Texas native Moriah Jefferson also had nine points and tied Stewart with a team-high five assists.

Keena Mays paced SMU with 13 points despite 4-of-18 shooting and pulled down seven boards. Akil Simpson added 11 points and six rebounds.

The Mustangs stayed close over the first four minutes of the game before the Huskies used an 8-0 run to take an eight point lead. They would get it down to five points at 22-17 before UConn used that 15-0 run to put the icing on the proverbial cake.

With a comfortable margin in hand, the Huskies methodically increased their lead over the second half to ensure their 29th win of the season.

Being short-handed hasn't hurt the Huskies. Then again when the only strong team in your conference is the Louisville Cardinals, you don't need to worry too much about it.

The UConn women close out the home portion of their schedule on Saturday afternoon when they host the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. It's Senior Day for Dolson and Hartley. Tip is is scheduled for 4 p.m.

UConn Huskies @ SMU Mustangs 2/25/14 box score

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photo credit: jim coswert

Rangers Recall J.T. Miller From Wolf Pack

NEW YORK, February 25, 2014 – New York Rangers President and General Manager Glen Sather announced today that the club has recalled forward J.T. Miller from the Hartford Wolf Pack of the American Hockey League (AHL).

Hartford Wolf PackMiller, 20, has recorded 17 points (three goals, 14 assists) in 18 games with Hartford since returning to the team on January 11th. He has established AHL career-highs with 10 goals, 16 assists, 26 points, and a plus-seven rating in 26 games with the Wolf Pack this season. Miller ranks fourth on the team in goals and assists, fifth in points, and is tied for first in plus/minus rating. His 1.00 points per game average also ranks second on Hartford. Miller, who represented the Eastern Conference as an AHL All-Star on January 28th, tallied a career-high, three assists, on January 26th at Adirondack, and posted a career-best, four points, with two goals and two assists on February 14th at Springfield.

The East Palestine, Ohio native returns to the Rangers where he has registered two goals and two assists for four points, along with 14 penalty minutes in 25 games this season. Miller notched his first goal of the season on November 10th against Florida.

Miller was originally selected by the Rangers as a first round choice, 15th overall, in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft.

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Wolf Pack’s Stamler Aspires to be Legal Eagle

Bretton Stamler

By Bob Crawford

Hartford Wolf Pack defenseman Bretton Stamler is a hard-edged type of player, the kind of guy who consistently brings a “lunch bucket” mentality to his on-ice work.

Off the ice, however, the 26-year-old Edmonton, Alberta native, who joined the Wolf Pack on a Professional Tryout January 4th from its ECHL affiliate, the Greenville Road Warriors, is of a distinctly intellectual bent.

Stamler already has a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the University of New Brunswick, and his ambition is to attend law school, with the goal of becoming a player agent when his own playing career is done.

When asked recently what motivated him to consider that path, Stamler responded, “Following the (NHL) lockouts, in particular the one (in 2004-05) with (then-NHL Players Association head) Bob Goodenow, and then reading up on some of the resumes of (former NHL GM) Brian Burke, (GM Peter) Chiarelli in Boston, and then also following the careers of (Detroit Red Wings head coach) Mike Babcock and (former Tampa Bay Lightning head coach) Guy Boucher, both educated guys, made me think that once I got my BBA from UNB., pursuing something beyond that when my career’s over and allowing me to transition into something different.”

Stamler played four seasons of Canadian University hockey at UNB while getting his bachelor’s, after a five-year Major Junior career in the Western Hockey League with the Seattle Thunderbirds, Edmonton Oil Kings and Swift Current Broncos.  Throughout all those years of hard-battling hockey, he always strove to keep academics and intellectual pursuits a priority.

“I think my parents instilled that in me when I was in grade school, that followed up through high school,” Stamler said.  “I didn’t take a ton of classes in Junior, and then going into college, I had good grades and had a high GPA, and that academic environment is something I really enjoyed, especially in my third and fourth years.  And I looked at a lot of different avenues beyond hockey, as far as doing a Masters in Finance or an MBA or going into law school, and those are all things that I’m still interested in, but I’ve narrowed my focus more so towards law school once I’m done playing.”

Academic interests and intellectual stimulation are obviously a big part of the university experience, but Stamler has found that he has been able to broaden his non-athletic interests in all of his various playing situations.

“It’s more difficult, in Major Junior and in pro, because the focus isn’t based upon your grades or that’s really not part of it whatsoever,” he said.  “In saying that, there’s definitely guys, on all teams that I’ve played on, that you can have conversations with them beyond hockey, or even on the business aspect of hockey, and that’s refreshing too.  It’s always nice to find a guy or two on each team that shares the same interests or is willing to talk about things other than X’s and O’s on the ice.”

With his bachelor’s work complete, the next step for Stamler will be to take the LSAT, the universal “entrance exam” for law school, which he hopes to do this June.  If he scores well enough, he will be qualified to begin law studies any time in the following five years.

“I don’t have a timeline where I want to go to law school specifically,” Stamler said, “but I do know hypothetically, worst case, say I was to sustain an injury and couldn’t play hockey, without the LSAT I still can’t apply to law school.  So if I get the exam out of the way, I can still continue to play hockey, but at some point if I want to return to law school, I can submit my application without having to wait a full year to write the exam and then get all my marks in.”

Once he accomplishes passing the LSAT, Stamler does not have a specific law school targeted as his top choice.

“Most likely it would be in Canada, because in the U.S. I’d be considered an international student,” he said.  “I’d like to go back to the west, maybe the U of C (Calgary), a lot of good contacts out there and it’s a good school too.  U of A (Alberta), back to UNB, U of T (University of Toronto) is the top school in Canada, but tuition is extremely high, so that one I would have to wrestle with a little bit.  And Dalhousie, in Halifax (Nova Scotia), is another strong school and I really like the Maritimes.”

Throughout his hockey career Stamler seems never to have been intimidated by anything that happens on the rink, despite his fairly rough-and-tumble playing style.  One might well wonder, though, is the prospect of three years of challenging law school work intimidating?  According to Stamler, there is not an intimidation factor to the coursework itself, but there definitely is to another element.

“More so the financial commitment,” he chuckled, “because there’s a lot of outflow and not much inflow, but I’ve lived on a student budget for a while.  And I’ve actually tried to do that even in pro, because it helps you save money for later on.  So the financial commitment is probably the biggest deterrent to going back.”

The time commitment is huge as well, making it unlikely that Stamler will attempt to duplicate the feat of Hall of Fame goaltender Ken Dryden, who completed much of his law school work while simultaneously tending goal for the great Montreal Canadiens teams of the early 1970s.  That is not to say, though, that Stamler might not try to mix some academic work into his pro hockey routine.

“If my career were to be prolonged, I would definitely welcome the opportunity to take classes while playing,” he said, “because, as busy as we may tell people we are, we’re great at wasting time sometimes.  So I think I could fit some time into my day to take a few classes every semester.”

Assuming that Stamler does get through all the rigors of attaining a law degree, he would be excited to bring his varied experience into the field of player representation.

“In my opinion, and obviously I’m just a player at this point, in comparing the resumes of agents who are NHLPA certified, with a lot of them, there’s either agents that have the academic background, or there’s agents that have the playing background but don’t have the academic background,” Stamler said.  “So I think it would be a nice mix to be able to have some playing experience as well as having some academic background, meaning my law degree, because then I could relate to the player, obviously to their on-ice experiences, but could also serve them well with regards to contract negotiations and understanding the CBA and best representing my clients that way.”

It’s not hard to imagine that many high-level athletes would be eager for their agent to have that sort of nuanced perspective, and to have an individual like Bretton Stamler bring the same kind of battle level that he now shows on the ice, to the negotiating-table scrums at contract time.

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The Year Yaz Walked on Water

With spring training upon us a lot of the talk in social media has turned to baseball.  So far in the beginning of MLB camps we’ve found out that Derek Jeter is retiring, Ryan Dempster is taking the year off and David Ortiz wants an extension among other things around the leagues.

Carl YastrzemskiIn my interactions with other Red Sox fans it’s clear how we feel about Ortiz.  I wrote about him earlier this offseason and many feel he deserves the extension, he should be a Hall of Fame inductee and the immortalized at Fenway Park with a statue.  I say yes to all of this, as while being wildly revered he has been grossly underpaid.

When we talk of Ortiz you can’t help but mention the post seasons he has had and we were talking about where he fits in the pantheon of Red Sox legends and lore.  I said while Ortiz is great, Yaz resurrected baseball in Boston in 1967.  He walked on water. One of my twitter followers @notwallygm made this comment that rings very true, “Yaz resurrected baseball, Ortiz erased 1918.”  Fair enough.

I just feel like Carl Yastrzemski at times is forgotten in all the hoopla and hullabaloo surrounding Ortiz, much like Bill Russell is forgotten all too wrongly in NBA circles.  The problem is many are too young to have either seen 1967 or even Yaz in his prime at all.  Face it there isn’t a lot of video.

In 1967 Carl Yastrzemski played in 161 of 162 games with 158 starts.  The team in his 158 games started was 90-68.  He had a 13 game hit streak and reached base in 56 consecutive games.  He had 21 go ahead hits with the team either tied or behind in the 7th inning or later.  He drove in 121 runs in 680 plate appearances (579 AB’s) the MLB average in 1967 for RBI with 680 plate appearances was 62 runs driven in.

In 1967 Yaz had 5 multi-homerun games, 48 games with 2+ hits including 12 with 3 hits, 4 games with 4 hits and 5 hits in one glorious 18 inning April game at Yankee Stadium.

In that 18-inning game Yaz was 5 for 8 with a walk, he scored two runs, had a double, 2 triples and 1 RBI in a 7-6 loss.

His 1967 as a whole Yaz hit .326 with 44 HR and 121 RBI.  He had 189 hits, 31 were doubles and 4 were triples. He scored 112 runs in 579 official at bats.  He walked 91 times, was intentionally walked another 11, was hit by 4 pitches and struck out just 69 times and hit into only 5 double plays.  His slash line was .326/.418/.622/1.040 and he was named the American League MVP and he put asses in the seats at Fenway.  Oh and he won the Triple Crown and was the last player to do so until Miguel Cabrera in 2012.

In the 1967 World Series he hit .400 he was 10 for 25 with 2 doubles, 3 homeruns and 5 RBI.  He also scored two runs, had 4 walks and struck out just one time.  His World Series slashline was .400/.500/.840/1.340. If the Red Sox had beaten the Cardinals he would have been the MVP of the Series.

He also won a Gold Glove in ’67 playing all of his innings but 6 in left field.  Those other 6 innings came in CF for 1 game. He made just 7 errors, threw out 13 runners and had a .977 fielding percentage.

The 1967 Red Sox were much like their 2013 brethren in that they weren’t expected to do much of anything much less compete.  Like last year they faced the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series but unlike 2013 the Red Sox weren’t able to get to Cardinal pitching in key times and the great Bob Gibson shut them down with 3 complete game wins and a 1.00 ERA in 27 innings.

In ’67 the Red Sox were only in first place for 21 games.  Their largest lead was just 1.5 games on August 30th; the biggest deficit was 7 games back on July 8.  Until July they were just an average team being just 3 games over .500 going into July.

Starting with July 8 until the season’s end Yaz had 315 AB, scored 65 runs, had 104 hits of which 16 were doubles, 1 triple and 26 homeruns.  He drove in 64 runs, walked 44 times, was intentionally walked 6 times, struck out 35 times and was hit by 3 pitches. His slashline from July 8 to October 1 was .330/.426/.635/1.061.  In those 84 games the team went 52-32 to claim the American League pennant on the season’s last day when Minnesota lost.

Yaz was positively deadly down the stretch.  In the last two weeks of the season (13 games) he had 48 at bats and 24 hits for you math majors the dude hit .500 over a two-week period in crunch time. He had 5 doubles and 5 homeruns and drove in 18 runs.  Once again that’s in the last 13 games of the season when they absolutely needed every win. His slashline in those 13 games was absolutely ridiculous .500/.647/.916/1.564.

In those last 13 games he had hits in all but 1 game, he finished with a 10-game hitting streak and in those final two weeks he had 6 multi-hit games (2 games with 2 hits, 2 games with 3 hits and 2 games with 4 hits).  In the last two games in which the Red Sox HAD TO WIN, Yaz was 7 for 8 with a double, a homer and 6 RBI along with a walk and only 1 strike out.

In 2004, 2007 and 2013 David Ortiz helped us erase 1918 and longing for a title to come to Fenway to becoming a three-time champion.  But without 1967 and Carl Yastrzemski resurrecting a fan base I am not sure we can say what would have happened to Boston baseball.  Would they be what they are today? Would those loses in ’67, ’75 and ’86 as well as ’78 and ’03 meant as much and hurt as much? Or would they have been a version of say the Texas Rangers or Cleveland Indians? Baseball is king in Boston, even with the recent sustained success of the Bruins and Patriots and the selective runs by the Celtics in the last 25 years. Would that be the case without ’67?

My contention isn’t that Ortiz is better than Yaz or Yaz is better than Ortiz but that they both walk hand in hand with what they mean to Boston baseball and history.  1967 laid the foundation for the next generations of baseball fans in Boston and there’s no doubt we have Carl Yastrzemski to thank for it.

Paw Prints – The Daily UConn Roundup – 2/25

UConn Huskies Daily Roundup

Paw Prints is our daily look at the happenings for the UConn Huskies football, men's basketball and women's basketball teams as well as the other sports the student-athletes engage in. We will do our best to bring you the links from all of the media that covers the Huskies on a daily basis. As always, links can be found by clicking on the read more button below if you're on the home page.

Thank you for stopping by and making SOX & Dawgs your home for UConn Huskies news.

It's game day for the UConn Huskies women's basketball team as they continue their Texas two-step. Tonight they'll take on the SMU Mustangs at in Dallas, TX. Tip is scheduled for 8 p.m. and the game will be broadcast locally in Connecticut on SNY. You can also catch the game on WatchESPN outside of the SNY footprint. If you can't catch the broadcast locally, you can always listen to Bob Joyce and Debbie Baer-Fiske on the UConn IMG Sports Radio Network.

To open the links up in a new tab or window, use Control+click

UConn Women's Basketball links

Saniya Chong Named American Athletic Conference Freshman of the Week [sox & dawgs]

UConn's Hartley, Jefferson Named Among 22 Finalists for Nancy Lieberman Award [sox  & dawgs]

Eyes of Texas again on Huskies’ Jefferson [carl adamec – snyuconn.com]

Kristal Dolson Talks About Her Daughter, Stefanie [john altavilla – hartford courant]

UConn's Jefferson not concerned about foot issue [jim fuller – new haven register]

Time for UConn overseas report [jim fuller – new haven register]

No. 1 UConn Visits Dallas for Tuesday Tilt With SMU [uconnhuskies.com]

UConn Finds These Blowouts Challenging, Too [hartford courant]

Dolson, Hartley are Honor-bound [journal inquirer]

Big picture is always in focus [journal inquirer]

UConn's Moriah Jefferson enjoying time in Texas [new haven register]

UConn women finish Texas two step tonight [the day]

UConn Men's Basketball links

Video: 1999 UConn National Champions & Khalid El-Amin Inducted Into Huskies Of Honor [sox & dawgs]

'Requiem for the Big East' to Air on ESPN on Selection Sunday [david borges – new haven register]

AAC report: Louisville chasing top spot; UConn struggles vs. top teams, falls out of polls [william paxton – ct post]

UConn Running Out Of Time To Redefine Itself [hartford courant]

Told Ya So [scott gray – cbsconnecticut.com]

Bulls rested, motivated for UConn rematch [tampa bay times]

UConn Football links

UConn Football To Open 2014 Vs. BYU On Friday, August 29 On ESPN [sox & dawgs]

Key NFL Combine Results In For Stephen, Smallwood [desmond conner – hartford courant]

Other UConn related link

M. Golf. Zaback Leads Huskies At Snowman Getaway [uconnhuskies.com]

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UConn Football To Open 2014 Vs. BYU On Friday, August 29 On ESPN

BYU Cougars @ UConn Huskies

STORRS, Conn. (February 24, 2014) – The University of Connecticut football team will kick off its 2014 season before an ESPN national television audience on Friday, August 29 against BYU at Rentschler Field. Kickoff time will be 8:00 p.m.

The announcement reflects a date change for the game as it was originally scheduled to be played on Thursday, August 28. 

“It is a great honor to be selected by ESPN to be the Friday night national game to begin the 2014 college football season,” said UConn head coach Bob Diaco. “The matchup between two nationally-recognized teams with UConn vs. BYU will provide an electric game day atmosphere at Rentschler Field.  The excitement created with our new UConn team and fan experience will prove to make August 29th an unforgettable night at The Rent!”

UConn will play a return game at BYU on October 31, 2015.

The following is a summary of all future non-conference UConn football game under contract.

2014: August 29, BYU, 8:00 p.m. (ESPN); September 6, Stony Brook; September 13, Boise State; November 8, Army (Yankee Stadium).

2015: September 5, Villanova; September 12, Army; October 31, at BYU.

2016: September 17, Virginia.

2017: September 16, at Virginia.

2018: September 8, at Boise State.

2019: September 7, Illinois. 2020: September 12, at Illinois.

UConn and Tennessee have a two-game home-and-home series under contract with dates to be determined.

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Wolf Pack “Tip-a-Player” Event Nets $10,000

HARTFORD, February 24, 2014:  Global Spectrum, operators of the XL Center and Hartford Wolf Pack, today announced that the Wolf Pack’s tenth annual “Tip-a-Player” Dinner and Sports Carnival event Tuesday night at the XL Center raised $10,000 for its beneficiary, Gaylord Specialty Healthcare of Wallingford, CT.

Hartford Wolf PackTip-a-Player involved the Wolf Pack players serving dinner to event guests, who dined on great food donated by area restaurants, and enjoying the fun of the sports carnival’s various diversions.  The players also competed for “tips” in “puck bucks”, by engaging in all manner of good-natured fun. 

Among the highlights of the evening were Wolf Pack players showing off their vocal talents by serenading a young lady with “Happy Birthday”, vying to show who could shove the most bubble gum into his maw at one time, and competing to be the player who could leap the highest on the “velcro wall” while clad in a “velcro suit”.

Gaylord Specialty Healthcare provides specialty care for people with spinal cord injuries, traumatic brain injuries, stroke and pulmonary disease. 

The Wolf Pack are back in action tomorrow night, Tuesday night, February 25, when they travel to the Androscoggin Bank Colisee in Lewiston, Maine to take on the Portland Pirates.  Faceoff is 7:00 PM, and all of the action can be heard live on Fox Sports Radio 1410, and on-line at www.foxsportsradio1410.com and iHeartRadio.  Video streaming is available at www.ahllive.com.

The Wolf Pack’s next home game is this Friday, February 28, a 7:00 PM contest against the Hershey Bears.  All Wolf Pack Friday-night home games feature $1 hot dogs and $2 beers through the start of the second period, presented by Marc’s Appliance Warehouse, located at 75 Prospect Ave., Hartford, CT.

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UConn’s Hartley, Jefferson Named Among 22 Finalists for Nancy Lieberman Award

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – UConn senior guard Bria Hartley (North Babylon, N.Y.) and sophomore guard Moriah Jefferson (Glenn Heights, Texas) have been named among 22 finalists for the 2014 Nancy Lieberman Award as announced by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on Monday morning. The award is bestowed annually on the top point guard in women's NCAA Division I college basketball. From this list, the candidates will be narrowed down to five finalists in March and the winner will be announced at the NCAA Final Four in April.

Nancy Lieberman AwardSince its inception in 2000, three Huskies have taken home the award a total of six times. UConn point guards earned the honors in the first five consecutive years of its existence, with Sue Bird earning it the first three years (2000-2002) and Diana Taurasi receiving the accolades in the subsequent two years after Bird (2003, 2004). Renee Montgomery was the last Husky to net the award in 2009.

The red-hot play of Bria Hartley helped the senior guard continue on as a finalist after being named to the watch list in January. Overall this season Hartley is averaging 16.3 points per game and 4.3 assists per contest. In the last two months alone her numbers have been phenomenal. Hartley has hit double-digit points in twelve consecutive contests dating back to a 19 point performance against Temple on Jan. 11 in which the senior set a career-high with 11 assists and recorded her first-ever double-double as a Husky. Over that twelve-game span she has averaged 20 points and 3.8 assists, shooting 51.5 percent from the floor and 44.5 percent from 3-point range. On two separate occasions Hartley has racked up American Athletic Conference Player of the week laurels, taking home USBWA National Player of the Week honors on Jan. 21 after setting a career-high with 30 points against Rutgers.

Against Central Florida on Feb. 19, Bria Hartley became just the third Husky to reach 1,500 points/500 assists/500 rebounds, joining the ranks of UConn greats Maya Moore and Diana Taurasi.

Moriah Jefferson appears on the Lieberman Award radar thanks to a breakout sophomore season in which she has emerged as a key starter in the UConn lineup. Jefferson averages 10.1 points and leads the squad with 5.3 assists per game and 2.6 steals per contest. Her 147 helpers lead the American Athletic Conference and her assists to turnover ratio of 3.1 ranks seventh in the nation. That ratio is on pace to shatter  numbers posted by some of UConn's most accomplished point guards in their respective sophomore seasons, including past Lieberman Award winners Diana Taurasi (2.51 in 2001-02), Sue Bird (2.00 in 1999-2000), and Renee Montgomery (1.72 in 2006-07).

Jefferson has started every game of her sophomore season and posted career numbers in points, steals, assists and rebounds. In a complete 40 minute effort against No. 4 Louisville on Feb. 9, the sophomore recorded a career-high 18 points against the Cardinals in a rematch of the 2013 National Championship game. Jefferson continued her trend of playing stingy defense against some of the nation's top scorers, holding Louisville's Shoni Schimmel to 4-15 shooting.  Texas native added another personal best against Temple on Jan. 28, dishing out a dozen assists for the fourth highest individual performance in program history. Her nine steals against Memphis on Jan. 22 fell just one shy of tying the program record.

Hartley and Jefferson have been crucial in pacing a Connecticut offense that leads the nation in assists (22.3 per game), assist to turnover ratio (1.93), and ranks second in field goal percentage (50.9). The UConn offense outscores its opponents by an NCAA-best 36.5 points per game, while the defense holds opponents to an NCAA-low 47.7 points per game.

The Huskies return to action in Dallas, Texas tomorrow evening at 8pm ET, when Connecticut faces SMU at Moody Coliseum in the squad's penultimate regular season road game.

2014 Nancy Lieberman Award Candidates

Odyssey Sims              Baylor University

Jerica Coley                  Florida International University

Yashira Delgado           Florida State University

Damika Martinez            Iona College

Ashley Deary                Northwestern University

Tiffany Bias                  Oklahoma State University

Fantasia Hilliard             Sacramento State University

Amber Orrange              Stanford University

Natasha Cloud              St. Joseph's University

Joanna Harden              Troy University

Brittany Boyd                University of California, Berkeley

Bria Hartley                  University of Connecticut

Moriah Jefferson            University of Connecticut

Samanta Logic              University of Iowa

Valencia McFarland       University of Mississippi

Lindsay Allen                University of Notre Dame

Jamierra Faulkner          University of Southern Mississippi

Heather Butler               University of Tennessee at Martin

Jennifer Newsome         University of Tennessee at Martin

AndolaDortch                University of Toledo

Jennifer Schlott             Utah State University

Dequesha McClanahan Winthrop University

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Forward Michael St. Croix Rejoins Wolf Pack from Greenville

HARTFORD, February 24, 2014:  Hartford Wolf Pack general manager Jim Schoenfeld announced today that the parent New York Rangers have reassigned forward Michael St. Croix to the Wolf Pack from its ECHL affiliate, the Greenville Road Warriors.

Hartford Wolf PackSt. Croix, a rookie out of the Western Hockey League and a fourth-round (106th overall) draft pick by the Rangers in 2011, is scoreless with two penalty minutes and seven shots on goal in nine games this season with the Wolf Pack.  In 37 games with Greenville, the 5-11, 179-pound Winnipeg, Manitoba native has 13 goals and 27 assists for 40 points, which is good for second among ECHL rookie scorers.  The 20-year-old St. Croix also ranks second on the Greenville club in assists and tied for third in points.

The Wolf Pack are back in action tomorrow night, Tuesday night, February 25, when they travel to the Androscoggin Bank Colisee in Lewiston, Maine to take on the Portland Pirates.  Faceoff is 7:00 PM, and all of the action can be heard live on Fox Sports Radio 1410, and on-line at www.foxsportsradio1410.com and iHeartRadio.  Video streaming is available at www.ahllive.com.

The Wolf Pack’s next home game is this Friday, February 28, a 7:00 PM contest against the Hershey Bears.  All Wolf Pack Friday-night home games feature $1 hot dogs and $2 beers through the start of the second period, presented by Marc’s Appliance Warehouse, located at 75 Prospect Ave., Hartford, CT.

Tickets for all Wolf Pack 2013-14 home games are on sale now at the Public Power Ticket Office at the XL Center, on-line at www.hartfordwolfpack.com and by phone at (877) 522-8499.  Wolf Pack tickets start as low as $12 for youth 12 years old or younger.  To speak with a representative about season or group tickets, call (855) 762-6451.

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