Worcester, MA, March 13, 2011 – A third-period Connecticut Whale comeback fell just short Sunday at the DCU Center, and the Worcester Sharks held on for a 5-4 win to move back into a third-place tie with the Whale in the Atlantic Division standings.

Trailing 5-2 in the third, the Whale scored twice in the final 5:23, but could not manage an equalizer and saw a five-game winning streak in the season series against Worcester come to an end.  The two teams are deadlocked at 74 points with 13 games left in their respective seasons and their eight-game season series complete.

John McCarthy scored a pair of goals, his first two AHL goals of the season, to lead the Sharks, who earned a split of a home-and-home series with the Whale after losing 4-2 at the XL Center on Saturday night.  Worcester also got goals from Dan DaSilva, Tommy Wingels and Kevin Henderson, who had the game-winner early in the third.  Carter Hutton made 29 saves in his first appearance of the year against the Whale.  Kris Newbury, Brodie Dupont and Kelsey Tessier had a goal and an assist each for Connecticut, and Jeremy Williams upped his Whale-leading goal total to 28 with his third goal in two games.  Rookie defenseman Blake Parlett had his first career multiple-point game in the AHL with three assists.

Worcester opened the scoring at 5:29 of the first period, on DaSilva’s 14^th goal of the season.

Michael Swift pounced on a Whale turnover just outside the Connecticut blue line and moved left to right across the slot before feeding DaSilva, who fired a shot from the right faceoff dot past the glove of Whale goaltender Cam Talbot (24 saves).

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A major swing occurred about seven minutes later, when the Whale appeared to have tied the game at 12:19, with Francis Lemieux poking the puck past Hutton, but not only was the goal disallowed, Lemieux was also called for a high-sticking penalty, and Worcester scored only seven seconds into the resulting power play.

That goal was scored by Wingels, who had both Shark goals in Saturday night’s game.  Jamie McGinn sent the puck to Wingels between the circles and Wingels beat Talbot with a snap shot to the stick side.

The Whale narrowly missed going down 3-0 with about two minutes left in the first, when Talbot stopped DaSilva on a breakaway with a left-pad save.

The Sharks were able to extend the lead just 1:19 into the second, though, on a shorthanded goal by McCarthy, just the third shorthander given up by the Whale in 67 games on the season.  Williams had the puck trickle away from him at the left point, and McCarthy broke two-on-one with McGinn.  Using McGinn as a decoy, McCarthy unloaded a shot off of right wing that went underneath Talbot’s stick-side arm.  The goal was McCarthy’s first in 12 AHL games on the season.

Connecticut finally got on the scoreboard at 11:29 of the second, with Newbury getting his 14^th goal of the year and his fifth in the last six games.  Hutton made a pair of saves, and had a teammate bat the puck out of the air from in behind him, but couldn’t stop Newbury’s shot from the top of the circles, off of a pass from Tessier.

The Whale then got a shorthanded goal of their own at 17:04, as Newbury and Dupont broke in on a two-on-one.  Newbury passed to Dupont in the right circle, and even though Dupont didn’t get all of the shot, he still had enough room to get it by Hutton on the glove side.

The Sharks got that one back, however, just 1:55 later on McCarthy’s second of the game.  McCarthy took a pass from Sean Sullivan and circled the net, coming out to Talbot’s right.  McCarthy jammed the puck toward the crease, and it found its way past Talbot for a 4-2 Worcester lead.

Worcester gave itself a three-goal cushion only 1:49 into the third period, as T.J. Trevelyan won an offensive zone faceoff from Lemieux and Matt Irwin’s shot from the right point was deflected in by Henderson.

While that looked like it was going to be an insurance goal, it turned out to be the game-winner when Tessier and Williams scored 3:11 apart, starting at the 14:37 mark.

Connecticut cut the lead to 5-3 when Parlett brought the puck down right wing in the Worcester zone and centered it across the slot, and Tessier, who had been knocked down hard at the far side of the net, reached out with his stick while down on the ice and slid the puck into the goal.

That tally, Tessier’s eighth of the season, was followed at 17:48 by Williams’ goal, which came as a result of Tomas Kundratek finding Williams unguarded in front of Hutton.  Williams backpedaled to about 15 feet from the net and snapped the puck into the top corner over Hutton’s catching glove.

The Whale ended up with a 12-6 shots on goal in the third period, and a 33-29 edge for the game, but could not solve Hutton again, finishing the season series against the Sharks 5-2-0-1.  The loss was only the Whale’s fifth all-time regular-season regulation defeat in Worcester against the Sharks, in 21 total visits (14-5-0-2).  The Whale also had a three-game road winning streak, and a five-game win streak against Atlantic Division teams, snapped in the loss.

RARE DAILY DOUBLE FOR RANGERS ORGANIZATION

It’s not often the major-league team and top affiliate of two organizations face off in the same night, but that’s what happened Saturday with the New York Rangers and San Jose Sharks.

And the Rangers organization emerged with a much-needed daily double in a pair of tight playoff races.

First, the Whale grinded out a come-from-behind 4-2 victory over the Worcester Sharks behind two goals from All-Star right wing Williams, back after missing four games with an injury, steady goaltending from Dov Grumet-Morris and a successful, stand-up-for a-teammate fight by defenseman Jared Nightingale in the second period that turned the momentum of the game. The win helped ease the pain of a 2-1 loss to the two-time defending Calder Cup champion Hershey Bears the previous night.

About an hour after Dale Weise’s empty-net goal finished off Worcester, the Rangers set out to try to atone for a disappointing 5-2 loss in Anaheim on Tuesday night in the start of a two-game West Coast road trip. They responded with one of their most important victories of the season, a 3-2 shootout decision over the San Jose Sharks.

Henrik Lundqvist made 31 saves in regulation and overtime, including all 12 shots he faced in the third period, and then was 5-for-6 in the shootout. Former Hartford Wolf Pack forward Brandon Dubinsky scored the winner after Wojtek Wolski extended the shootout by beating Sharks goalie Antti Niemi in the third round with the Rangers on the verge of losing the game.

“It was huge how we responded after that game on Wednesday,” said Lundqvist, who made his 14^th consecutive start. “We needed to play well, but more importantly, we needed the points. And we got both. This was such an important win for us.”

The victory vaulted the Rangers past the Buffalo Sabres, who lost 4-3 to the Toronto Maple Leafs earlier in the evening, and back into seventh place in the Eastern Conference with 76 points. The Rangers are now 11-4 in overtime and 8-2 in games decided by the shootout, thanks largely to Lundqvist.

Erik Christensen and former Wolf Pack defenseman Michael Sauer scored for the Rangers in regulation.

“We knew how big it was with the other teams that lost tonight and where we’re at in the standings,” Dubinsky said. “It was a huge two points. We understood that we had to get back to who we are against a much better team in San Jose. We had to be that hard-working team that’s tough to play against, and we did that right from the get-go.”

With a split on the West Coast, the Rangers flew home Sunday and now play four of their next five games at home, starting Tuesday night against the streaking New York Islanders.

The Whale is in a similar situation. They are off for four days before playing at Manchester on Friday night and then having a five-game homestand, starting with games against Providence and Springfield on Saturday night and Sunday afternoon. Then it’s Springfield on March 23, Charlotte on March 25 and Bridgeport on March 26.

A TRIPLEHEADER: TWO GAMES AND PUCKY BOBBLEHEAD

The first Guns & Hoses Game between police and fire departments from Greater Hartford will be played Saturday at 4:30 p.m. before the Whale meets Providence at 7 p.m.

Plus, 3,000 lucky fans will receive a bobblehead of Whale mascot Pucky courtesy of Click It or Ticket.

So arrive early and enjoy a doubleheader of action and get a lasting memento that youngsters will enjoy for years.

HOCKEY MINISTRIES NIGHT AT WHALE GAME

Hockey Ministries International Northeast is sponsoring 2011 Faith & Family Night at the game against Charlotte on March 25. Upper bowl seats are $10, and Scarlet Fade will perform a postgame concert.

To order tickets, contact AHL Chapel Coordinator Rick Mitera at 860-817-6440 or rmitera@hockeyministries.org. When someone buys a ticket through Hockey Ministries, they receive a $2 coupon for parking. For more information on Hockey Ministries, visit www.hockeyministriesnortheast.org.

WHALE TO HONOR HOWE FAMILY ON MARCH 26

The Whale will host “Howe Family Night” on March 26 against Bridgeport. The No. 9 of “Mr. Hockey,” one of seven numbers in the XL Center rafters, will be lowered and then raised and re-retired as he and his sons, Mark and Marty, whom he played with for seven seasons in Houston and Hartford, look on. The matriarch of the family, Colleen Howe, who died in 2009, will be honored.

Howe’s No. 9 is in the rafters with the Whalers’ No. 2 (Rick Ley), 5 (Ulf Samuelsson), 10 (Ron Francis), 11 (Kevin Dineen) and 19 (John McKenzie). Gernander’s No. 12 is the only number to be retired in the 14-year history of the AHL team.

The Howes played together for the first time with the Houston Aeros in 1973 before coming to Hartford and signing with the World Hockey Association’s New England Whalers in 1977. Howe ended his legendary 32-year career in the Whalers’ first NHL season (1979-80), when he had 15 goals and 26 assists and was named an NHL All-Star for the 23^rd time while helping the Whalers make the playoffs at 52 years old.

Fans who did not attend the Whale’s game against Providence at Rentschler Field in East Hartford because of the frigid weather can redeem their tickets for one to “Howe Family Night” or another game of their choice. If fans want to redeem a ticket, they should contact Whalers Sports and Entertainment president and COO Howard Baldwin Jr. at hlb@whalerssports.com.

Connecticut Whale 4 at Worcester Sharks 5
Sunday, March 13, 2011 – DCU Center

Connecticut 0 2 2 – 4
Worcester 2 2 1 – 5

1st Period-1, Worcester, DaSilva 14 (Swift), 5:29. 2, Worcester, Wingels 15 (McGinn, Ferriero), 12:26 (PP). Penalties-Kundratek Ct (holding), 5:56; Schaus Wor (holding), 8:32; Irwin Wor (hooking), 10:15; Lemieux Ct (high-sticking), 12:19.

2nd Period-3, Worcester, McCarthy 1   1:19 (SH). 4, Connecticut, Newbury 14 (Tessier, Parlett), 11:29. 5, Connecticut, Dupont 14 (Newbury, Parlett), 17:04 (SH). 6, Worcester, McCarthy 2 (Davis, Sullivan), 18:59. Penalties-Moore Wor (boarding), 0:19; Kundratek Ct (interference), 3:01; Mitchell Ct (high-sticking), 12:53; Bickel Ct (cross-checking), 16:01.

3rd Period-7, Worcester, Henderson 7 (Irwin, Trevelyan), 1:49. 8, Connecticut, Tessier 8 (Parlett, Dupont), 14:37. 9, Connecticut, Williams 28 (Kundratek, Grachev), 17:48. Penalties-Petrecki Wor (cross-checking), 4:07; Grachev Ct (hooking), 9:16.

Shots on Goal-Connecticut 12-9-12-33. Worcester 10-13-6-29.
Power Play Opportunities-Connecticut 0 / 4; Worcester 1 / 6.
Goalies-Connecticut, Talbot 10-4-2 (29 shots-24 saves). Worcester, Hutton 6-3-2 (33 shots-29 saves).
A-4,247
Referees-Tim Mayer (19).
Linesmen-Todd Whittemore (70), Bob Paquette (18).

By Bruce Berlet

HARTFORD, Conn. – The celebrations started early and often in the Insurance City and throughout the rest of Connecticut and other parts of the world Saturday on St. Patrick’s Day.

Parades, green beer, shamrocks and lots of merriment and Irish music could be found everywhere, and the Connecticut Whale joined the festive mood Saturday night after registering a crucial 4-2 victory over the Worcester Sharks before 8,011 at the XL Center.

All-Star right wing Jeremy Williams, back after missing four games with an injury, scored two goals, including the winner, to back the 21-save effort of Dov Grumet-Morris as the Whale (33-25-2-6) won their fifth game in six starts to move two points ahead of the Sharks (30-24-4-8) in the battle for the third and final guaranteed playoff spot in the Atlantic Division. The win got the Whale even at home (14-14-2-2) compared to 19-11-0-4 on the road, where they will be Sunday afternoon as they visit the DCU Center in Worcester for a rematch with the Sharks.

The Whale is 5-1-0-1 against the Sharks, including a 7-2 drubbing at Worcester last Sunday that tied their season high for goals. Besides being eliminated from the playoffs two years ago, the Hartford Wolf Pack/Whale is 14-4-0-2 at the DCU Center, including 2-0-1 this season. Last Sunday was the Sharks’ second-worst loss at home to the 7-1 beating they got from the Wolf Pack on Dec. 8, 2007.

Williams’ first goal tied the game and was the first of two quick power-play strikes after defenseman Jared Nightingale came to the aid of teammate John Mitchell, who had been pushed to the ice from behind by Nick Petrecki.

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“That’s one of the roles that I think I can bring to this team,” said Nightingale, who became an assistant captain after Tim Kennedy was traded to the Florida Panthers on Feb. 26. “I’ve done it the last two years, and I have no problem doing it. I think there are 19 other guys who would be willing to do the same thing. Sometimes a fight can turn around a game. I’m not going to say that fight turned around the game. I think Dov made some big saves, and we just stuck with it, chipped away and just happened to score after the fight.

“We stuck to the game plan, and after the fight they took some penalties, and our power play won the game for us.”

Williams begged to differ, saying Nightingale’s fight influenced the outcome “big time.”

“Any time you’ve got a guy like Nightie, (Justin Soryal) and (Devin DiDiomete), they can change a game,” Williams said. “Getting a goal or one of our guys getting into a good fight is the same kind of momentum builder. That’s why there’s such a good mix of scoring and toughness. If we’re not scoring, we’ve got guys fighting to get everybody up. Nightie sticks up for Mitchell, and it ignites everybody. Everybody gets a little fired up, and from then on, we were pretty good.”

Grumet-Morris said Nightingale’s effort “had a significant impact on our team.”

“I thought it was the right place, right time,” he said. “Obviously we still maintained our power play because he did initiate a fight that the guy was looking for. I think it gave us a boost, and we obviously scored consecutive power-play goals and that clearly turned the game around.”

It started when defenseman Wade Redden made a terrific play to keep John McCarthy’s clearing attempt in the Sharks zone and got the puck to Williams, who moved into the high slot and fired a 40-foot laser that beat Tyson Sexsmith high to the glove side with 6:40 left.

“It was a pretty heady play,” coach Ken Gernander said of Redden’s effort. “He used his body to block the puck and then have the poise to collar the puck and made a good D-to-D pass when you’re getting forced (by McCarthy).”

Then on the ensuing 5-on-4, Kolarik passed in front to Evgeny Grachev and went to the net to convert the Russian’s rebound for his 21^st goal with 5:58 to go.

Williams wasn’t certain how he would perform after being out for 10 days.

“I was a little unsure how I was going to feel,” said Williams, who increased his team-leading goal total to 27. “It was kind of weird because we were playing so many games that it was tough to get into some practices where it was game-like and some battle drills. I pretty much waited until I had no pain and then (the coaches) skated me to get me into shape.

“I felt pretty good to be out there, though there were still a few things that I’m a little rusty on. There were a couple of shots that I would have blocked on both their goals and the guy gets it by me. But overall, I thought our line (with Kolarik and Francis Lemieux) and our defense played good. Our power play struggled at the start, but we got it back going and got some goals and momentum started coming. We all weren’t really on the same page. We weren’t really sure what we were doing.

“We were a little too individual, myself included, but don’t take away anything from them because they’re neutral zone on their penalty kill is really unique because they take away the outside and collapse on you when you go inside. You have to make good plays, and if you’re not ready and not bearing down, it’s going to look like our first two power plays. So I think it was a matter of shaking the rust off because we hadn’t played together for a while.”

The Whale came out with more zip than at the start of a 2-1 loss to Hershey on Friday night, but the Sharks took the lead on a deft play at 8:07 by Tommy Wingels, who scored both Worcester goals. Nick Schaus’ blueline shot was tipped by Brandon Mashinter and picked up by Wingels, who skated behind the net and flipped a shot that ricocheted off Grumet-Morris and into the net.

“I was trying to find the puck and ‘get big,’ but Wingels saw I was off my post because I couldn’t see,” Grumet-Morris said. “He knew what he was doing. That was a purposeful goal and a very skillful goal.”

Grumet-Morris kept it close through the remainder of the period thanks to a nifty glove save on Benn Ferriero on a 2-on-1 at 11:58 and denying Michael Swift breaking in off left wing with 3:52 left.

Sexsmith had to be especially sharp at the start of the second period when Kris Newbury stole the puck 20 feet in front at 35 seconds and Kolarik had two excellent rebound bids at 1:12.

Off of the confrontation with Nightingale, Petrecki got an extra minor for slashing, and after Williams was stopped breaking in off right wing, Schaus was whistled for slashing, giving the Whale a 5-on-3 power play for 48 seconds and changing the fortunes of the game.

After the Whale scored the two power-play goals, Grumet-Morris kept them ahead when he made a good glove stab on T.J. Trevelyan’s shot from 20 feet in the slot with the Sharks on a power play with 2:11 left in the period.

The Whale then made it 3-1 at 1:34 of the third period as Pavel Valentenko passed ahead to defensive partner Blake Parlett, who threaded the puck between Schaus and Petrecki to Williams for a breakaway and shot that beat Sexsmith high to the glove side.

“I looked up, and (Williams) is the first guy I saw,” said Parlett, who has been a strong addition since being called up from Greenville of the ECHL on Feb. 17. “He made a good play to get open, and there’s no one else I’d rather give the puck to than him.”

But the Sharks quickly retaliated as Wingels converted the rebound of Petrecki’s shot from the left point 3:04.

Sexsmith kept the Sharks in it when he gloved Dale Weise’s bid from the doorstep off Newbury’s setup with 5:40 left. But after the Sharks pulled Sexsmith for a sixth attacker with 1:20 left, Weise made them pay when he took a pass from Brodie Dupont and scored into the empty net with 41.2 seconds to go.

“I thought we had a very strong game defensively,” Grumet-Morris said. “We had only 23 shots against, and we had only (22) against (Friday) night. So the consistency of our defensive corps and our team defense has been really good.”

Gernander thought likewise of Grumet-Morris, who is 7-3-1 with a 2.02 goals-against average and .920 save percentage since being recalled from Greenville of the ECHL.

“It has been his MO of late (to make timely saves,” Gernander said. “Lots of nights it’s not the workload you have, it’s the save at the big moment. It’s not the volume of work.”

But now that they’ve protected their home ice, the Whale has to continue to excel on the road, where they’ve won three in a row and were 7-3-0-0 during a recent stretch in which they played 10 of 12 games away from the XL Center.

“It’s a six-period game, especially with this weekend being a potential eight-point swing,” Williams said. “They’re going to be hungry (Sunday), so we’re really going to have to match that. We’re going into their building, and we build off what we did in the third period.”

Nightingale said it’s “a great opportunity to widen the gap.”

“This is the last time that we play Worcester, so we have to go in with a must-win and playoff attitude and really separate ourselves from them,” Nightingale said.

WILLIAMS, KUNDRATEK RETURN FOR WHALE

Williams and defenseman Tomas Kundratek returned after missing four and 10 games, respectively. Williams was injured when hit from behind by the shoulder of Kyle Neuber during the Whale’s 3-2 victory over the Springfield Falcons on March 2. Kundratek hadn’t played since a 4-1 victory at Providence on Feb. 13.

Williams replaced DiDiomete, and Kundratek replaced Lee Baldwin and was paired with Bickel. The Whale also scratched center Todd White, wing Chris McKelvie  and defensemen Michael Del Zotto and Jyri Niemi.

The Sharks were still minus All-Star right wing Jonathan Cheechoo (18 goals, 29 assists), a 56-goal scorer for the San Jose Sharks in the 2005-06 season who missed his seventh consecutive game because of an ailing back that he’s resting at his home in California. The Sharks also scratched Alex Stalock, Joe Loprieno, Tony Lucia, James Marcou, Jody Pedersen and Cam MacIntyre. …After Sunday’s game, the Whale is off for four days before playing at Manchester on Friday night. They then have a five-game homestand, starting with games against Providence and Springfield on Saturday night and Sunday afternoon. Then it’s Springfield on March 23, Charlotte on March 25 and Bridgeport on March 26. … The Bears’ victory over the Whale on Friday night enabled Mark French to become the coach to reach 100 wins faster than any coach in the AHL’s 75-year history. French reached 100 in only 147 games (100-39-1-7) and is already the 10^th Bears coach to achieve the plateau in less than two seasons. The Bears (40-22-1-4) also reached the 40-win mark for the sixth consecutive season, extending the longest stretch of 40-win seasons in the team’s 73-year AHL history. They have reached 40 wins in every season of an affiliation with the Washington Capitals that began in 2005-06. Hershey’s 3-2 overtime victory over Adirondack on Saturday night moved French within one victory of former Bears and current Capitals’ coach Bruce Boudreau (102-45-11-11) on the team’s all-time wins list. … In a trade that was technically a reassignment, goalie Jared DeMichiel of Avon, who signed an AHL contract with the Bears on July 15 after leading upstart Rochester Institute of Technology to the Frozen Four for the first time last year, was sent from South Carolina to Elmira for the rights to forward Brock McBride, currently with the AHL’s Milwaukee Admirals. DeMichiel, the Atlantic Hockey Association goaltender of the year and NCAA East Regional Most Outstanding Player in 2010, was 2-1-0 with a 3.65 goals-against average and .873 save percentage in five games with the Bears and 14-10-0, 2.66, .913 with one shutout in 26 games with the Stingrays this season. He joined former Whale forwards Tyler Donati and Oren Eizenman in Elmira.

A TRIPLEHEADER: TWO GAMES AND PUCKY BOBBLEHEAD

The first Guns & Hoses Game between police and fire departments from Greater Hartford will be played next Saturday at 4:30 p.m. before the Whale meets Providence at 7 p.m.

Plus, 3,000 lucky fans will receive a bobblehead of Whale mascot Pucky courtesy of Click It or Ticket.

So arrive early and enjoy a doubleheader of action and get a lasting memento that youngsters will enjoy for years.

HOCKEY MINISTRIES NIGHT AT WHALE GAME

Hockey Ministries International Northeast is sponsoring 2011 Faith & Family Night at the game against Charlotte on March 25. Upper bowl seats are $10, and Scarlet Fade will perform a postgame concert.

To order tickets, contact AHL Chapel Coordinator Rick Mitera at 860-817-6440 or rmitera@hockeyministries.org. When someone buys a ticket through Hockey Ministries, they receive a $2 coupon for parking. For more information on Hockey Ministries, visit www.hockeyministriesnortheast.org.

WHALE TO HONOR HOWE FAMILY ON MARCH 26

The Whale will host “Howe Family Night” on March 26 against Bridgeport. The No. 9 of “Mr. Hockey,” one of seven numbers in the XL Center rafters, will be lowered and then raised and re-retired as he and his sons, Mark and Marty, whom he played with for seven seasons in Houston and Hartford, look on. The matriarch of the family, Colleen Howe, who died in 2009, will be honored.

Howe’s No. 9 is in the rafters with the Whalers’ No. 2 (Rick Ley), 5 (Ulf Samuelsson), 10 (Ron Francis), 11 (Kevin Dineen) and 19 (John McKenzie). Gernander’s No. 12 is the only number to be retired in the 14-year history of the AHL team.

The Howes played together for the first time with the Houston Aeros in 1973 before coming to Hartford and signing with the World Hockey Association’s New England Whalers in 1977. Howe ended his legendary 32-year career in the Whalers’ first NHL season (1979-80), when he had 15 goals and 26 assists and was named a NHL All-Star for the 23^rd time while helping the Whalers make the playoffs at 52 years old.

Fans who did not attend the Whale’s game against Providence at Rentschler Field in East Hartford because of the frigid weather can redeem their tickets for one to “Howe Family Night” or another game of their choice. If fans want to redeem a ticket, they should contact Whalers Sports and Entertainment president and COO Howard Baldwin Jr. at hlb@whalerssports.com.

A DAY TO REMEMBER FOR QUENNEVILLE AND REST OF BLACKHAWKS

Former Hartford Whalers defenseman Joel Quenneville had a day to remember Friday, as the coach of the Chicago Blackhawks and other team officials and players enjoyed about a 20-minute shift visiting President Barack Obama at the White House.

Obama was especially light on his skates – er, feet – likely because he’s a native of Chicago.

“We have hosted a lot of teams at the White House over the last two years, but this one is a little sweeter, pretty special,” said Obama, who referred to Quenneville as “Coach Q.”

The Blackhawks presented Obama with a team jersey with 44 on the back (he’s the 44^th president) and a silver replica of the Stanley Cup complete with engravings. He also got to try on a Stanley Cup ring a day after the Blackhawks took the Cup on a visit to some Wounded Warriors.

“I thought the President had a great attitude,” said Quenneville, who didn’t seem to stop grinning while on the South Lawn to recognize the Blackhawks’ first Stanley Cup since 1961, when, Obama quipped, a movie cost 69 cents, he was still in diapers and “legendary” goalie Glenn Hall played with a wooden stick and no mask. “He seemed really genuine, a regular guy, bubbly and enjoyed meeting all the guys. Going through and meeting all the players, we had some guys who were bandaged up, some guys missing teeth — we had a tough looking group.”

Obama’s speech lasted seven minutes, and he spent about another 15 minutes talking to Blackhawks family members and more than 70 local kids on hand to participate in First Lady Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move” street hockey clinic on the front lawn.

“It would be unbelievable to do it again,” said wing Patrick Kane, who scored the Cup-clinching goal and was called out by Obama that it was time to grow another “playoff mullet” and come back to the White House next year.

Kane, a 22-year-old Buffalo-area native who manned a Flip-cam for the visit, was awed.

“When it’s happening it’s kind of surreal that it’s really going on,” he said. “You don’t really believe you’re actually meeting the President. A lot of us … were saying, ‘This is probably one of the cooler things we’ve done.’ ”

Quenneville got the last word between the leaders of the ’Hawks and the United States of America.

“It makes you want to win the Cup again,” Quenneville said. “This was the culmination of the celebration. We should all feel fortunate to be here. But at the same time once you win it, you can’t wait to do it again.”

After losing 11 players because of salary cap problems, the Blackhawks will be hard pressed just to make the playoffs next month. But if anyone deserves to be a repeat winner, it’s Quenneville, truly one of the great people and classiest acts anywhere.

WHALE 4, SHARKS 2

Worcester      1 0 1 – 2
Connecticut   0 2 2 – 4

First period: 1. Wor, Wingels 13 (Mashinter, Schaus), 8:07. Penalties: Petrecki, Wor (slashing), 9:49; Moore, Wor (holding), 17:47.

Second period: 2. Conn, Williams 26 (Redden), 13:20 (pp). 3. Conn, Kolarik 21 (Grachev, Mitchell), 14:02 (pp). Penalties: Irwin, Wor (delay of game), 1:16; Nightingale, Ct (cross-checking), 4:07; McLaren, Wor (hooking), 6:21; Petrecki, Wor (slashing, fighting), 11:29; Nightingale, Ct (fighting), 11:29; Schaus, Wor (slashing), 12:42; Valentenko, Ct (tripping), 15:19; Bickel, Ct (cross-checking), 17:23.

Third period: 4. Conn, Williams 27 (Parlett, Valentenko), 1:34. 5. Wor, Wingels 14 (Petrecki, McCarthy), 3:04. 6. Conn, Weise 14 (Dupont, Newbury), 19:18 (en). Penalties: Soryal, Ct (high-sticking), 6:36; Wingels, Wor (roughing), 19:55; served by Lemieux Ct (bench minor-unsportsmanlike conduct), 19:55.

Shots on goal: Worcester 8-5-10-23. Connecticut 10-13-10-33; Power-play opportunities: Worcester 0 of 4; Connecticut 2 of 6; Goalies: Worcester, Sexsmith 2-3-1 (32 shots-29 saves). Connecticut, Grumet-Morris 7-3-1 (23-21); A: 8,011; Referee: Keith Kaval; Linesmen: Paul Simeon, Kevin Redding.