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.