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Pack Look to Get Offense Untracked

November 2, 2010 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Connecticut Whale News Release


HARTFORD, Conn. - Unexplainable. Incredible. Unthinkable. Crazy. Unbelievable.

You name it, and the Wolf Pack players and coaches are thinking and saying it these days.

Not having three of their most skilled forwards - Evgeny Grachev, who is on recall to the New York Rangers, and injured Dale Weise and Tim Kennedy - didn't help the Wolf Pack in back-to-back losses to the Springfield Falcons and red-shot goalie David LeNeveu on Friday and Saturday nights. But they began to fall into a scoring funk while Grachev and Kennedy were still in the lineup and have only 20 goals in 11 games.

The Wolf Pack (3-5-2-1) have been outscored 16-6 while losing six in a row (0-5-1-0), and a major culprit has been the power play, which is 7-for-43 (16.3 percent). That's a respectable 15th in the 30-team AHL, but it was in the top five at 29.1 percent (7-for-24) in the first six games.

Returning to the XL Center on Wednesday night at 7 for the opener of a home-and-home set with the Manchester Monarchs (5-3-1-1) won't be an automatic elixir in the start of the Wolf Pack's first four-games-in-five-nights stretch of the season. The Wolf Pack is 0-5-1-0 at home since a season-opening, 4-2 victory over the Charlotte Checkers on Oct. 9.

But four of the last five losses have been by one goal, and the other by two, with an empty-netter. A productive power play could have made a major difference, so the Wolf Pack went back to the basics in practice on Monday and Tuesday.

"We have to simplify things," said assistant coach J.J. Daigneault, who handles the power play. "Obviously when your power play is in a funk and you're not scoring goals, sometimes the tendency is to try to do too much, try to take too many shots, try to force plays, so we focused on simplifying things. We've tried to do too much individually, and it just doesn't work.

"Execution is a big thing. We have to create 2-on-1s at every level, execute and move the puck well, so it's nothing specific. We went through this last year, when we were first in the league after a few weeks. A lot of the power play is structure and the product. I think the guys have to take charge, and once you get a lane, you have to take advantage of that."

Daigneault said there's no real secret to the power play, even with NHL teams such as San Jose and Chicago that have good ones. They have the high umbrella and body net-front for the screen, so it takes a lot of selflessness.

"If you're net-front, you'll often times celebrate with your buddies, but there is nothing on the scoring sheet for you," Daigneault said. "So we need (captain) Dane (Byers) to still be a good net-front presence, but we need the pucks to get to him. As of late, a lot of shots have been forced and don't make it to the net."

Daigneault said he encourages players to talk to each other during a power play.

"The power play is just not the coach, it's the players, too," he said. "It's especially important early in the season when you have guys coming from the Rangers and all over the place. I think sharing and communicating is a big force on the power play because the worst thing you can do is robotize. We want to pass it around instead of having a bunch of robots looking for plays instead of, 'Let's just play hockey.' "

Byers and Wade Redden, who mans the left point on the No. 1 power-play unit, concur that keeping it simple might produce that odd-man goal to turn the agony of defeat into the thrill of victory.

"Sometimes when the offense is struggling, you always revert back to the basics, getting pucks on net and everybody crashing and looking for tips and screens," said Byers, who specializes in such activities. "We've had some trouble getting shots through, but good teams block shots. So it's up to the guy shooting to maybe change the angle on a shot, make a quicker shot off the pass instead of handling it. But if we get back to the basics and get pucks to the net and have guys CRASH the net for rebounds, I think that can get us going."

Redden said eliminating the power-play struggles can start with a better flow.

"When you're struggling, you don't have the flow going so those little tap-tap passes and bang-bang goals usually aren't there," said Redden, who is scoreless in the six-game losing streak after getting one goal and five assists in a 3-1-0-1 start. "You have to shoot the puck, get rebounds and kind of get ugly goals and then things just seem to open up off of that.

"So we have to get back to basics, shooting pucks and getting bodies to the net. And we have to be quick. We're turning pucks over where we can be quick, make a pass, get a shot. Everyone has to think that way and read off each other. I think some guys are expecting that, and some guys are making passes, and then it switches.

"Guys just aren't on the same page, so we've got to get everyone thinking simple and go execute, then I think things will come. The mindset is the same all the time, but you've just got to execute the simple things. That's usually what it comes down to. That's where you kind of get some momentum going, get some pressure, get some chances, and then goals will come."

It also would be beneficial if the Wolf Pack didn't wait until feisty Devin DiDiomete got into two fights to get going. That was especially true Saturday night in a 3-2 loss to the Springfield Falcons. DiDiomete and coach Ken Gernander each said it shouldn't take a fight by someone playing in only his fifth game since extensive hip surgery on May 7 to energize a team. Each hopes internal motivation is present Wednesday night and continues into a rematch with the Monarchs on Friday night at 7 in New Hampshire.

"It's incredible what's been happening," center Ryan Garlock said. "With the guys we have and the numbers they have put up in the past, it's unexplainable that we haven't scored more than we have. I know it's just a matter of time before we start putting numbers up like we can.

"When things are going wrong, they're going wrong, but as long as you keep plugging away and working hard, eventually you get through it and out of it together. Then we'll get a game where everything starts going right and everything starts going in. I'm just waiting for that breakout."

So is every Wolf Pack forward, especially the veterans. Brodie Dupont doesn't have a goal and only one assist. Grachev had one goal and one assist in nine games before being called up. Kris Newbury has one goal, though eight assists give him the team scoring lead. Byers, Kennedy and Mats Zuccarello, who was the leading scorer and MVP of the Swedish Elite League last season after getting 23 goals and 41 assists in 55 games with MoDo, have two goals each. Jeremy Williams leads the Wolf Pack with four goals.

"We could easily have scored five or six goals, but the hockey gods are mysterious sometimes," Garlock said after Saturday night's game. "But we've got five games coming up in seven days, and it's a great opportunity to start putting goals on the board."

DiDiomete also said it's time to look forward and take what positives that there have been during the recent scoring drought.

"It's been crazy, but our work ethic is there and we're trying to do the right thing, so once a few guys start to score, the team is going to get pretty hot," said DiDiomete, who scored his first goal in his fifth game since returning to the lineup and first in the AHL since April 1, 2009 against Portland.

"The five games in seven nights are going to be a big test for our character. If you come out of there with four or five wins, you're right back in it. That's the beauty of this sport.

"And once we start capitalizing on some of the chances on the power play, we're going to be able to get that extra goal that can put us over the hump and get us some wins," added DiDiomete, whose spirited play earned him some ice time with the man advantage late in Saturday night's game. "All we can do is to keep working harder and just kind of fight through this slump. The guys don't want to just give up. They want to work hard and get out of this funk. It's a team game, so if one guy is not good, then the whole team is not good. You have to hold everyone accountable, and everyone has to be there for each other."

Maybe some of that was discussed Tuesday in a post-practice meeting between the coaches, players and general manager Jim Schoenfeld.

"The last two games I thought (Falcons goalie David) LeNeveu played really good, but we want to get everybody on the same page again," Byers said. "It's a long season, so you're going to have those dips, and sometimes in a meeting, you get everyone back on the same page and regroup again. We've got five games in seven nights and have to start scoring some goals. We're getting shots and not giving up a whole lot defensively, but we've got to get more quality scoring chances."

Former Wolf Pack Defenseman Excelling With Rangers

While the line of former Wolf Pack players Ryan Callahan, Brandon Dubinsky and Artem Anisimov and goalie Henry Lundqvist have been largely responsible for the Rangers' 6-4-1 start, former Wolf Pack defenseman Dan Girardi has been No. 1 on the blueline. He plays with second-year pro Michael Del Zotto until the latter stages of games, when he usually reunites another former Wolf Pack and partner, Marc Staal.

Many Rangers insiders say Lundqvist has been the Rangers' top player again, followed by Callahan and close friend Girardi. As usual, Girardi tries to deflect credit when given such lofty status, but being tied for the NHL lead with 41 blocked shots and sharing the team lead in plus-minus (plus-6) with Del Zotto emphasizes how Girardi often makes his mark in an unglamorous manner.

"I feel like I've had a pretty good start, but I just try to play my game blocking shots and trying to make a good first pass," Girardi said. "It's keeping the game simple, but at the same time making sure I'm not happy just making a pass. I want to make sure I get up the ice and create some offense, which is something (coach John) Tortorella wants us to do.

"I've tried to do that more this season because it helps you win the puck and cut down the spacing for the opposition so they can't really do anything. When you do that, it's easier to win a turnover because you're already right in front of the (other team's) forwards."

But Girardi has had trouble handling Callahan, Dubinsky and Anisimov, 1-2-3 in scoring for the Rangers, in practice for a multitude of reasons: an ability to block shots in the defensive end, get pucks out of the zone, get in on the forecheck, move their feet well through the neutral zone, cycle the puck hard in the offensive zone, shoot the puck well and be playmakers.

"They're just a great line, and I'm happy that I pretty much match up with them against the other team's top line," Girardi said. "They make the game pretty easy for me because we know they're going to be back blocking shots against the top lines and they're going to convert chances when they come."

A Different Subject Worth Noting and Supporting

Stories at this site are usually only about pro hockey, but special occasions deserve recognition. Two such events will occur Saturday and Nov. 12, when the Yale men's and women's hockey teams will hold fundraisers for Mandi Schwartz, a 22-year-old center on the women's team who continues her courageous, two-year battle with leukemia.

The Yale Club of New Haven, in cooperation with the athletic departments of Yale and Quinnipiac universities, will present several events Saturday to support Schwartz (Wilcox, Saskatchewan) and her family. The day begins between 10 and 11 a.m. with "Mandi's March," a 7.5-mile walk along the historic Farmington Rails-to-Trail Linear Park between the schools' hockey rinks. The annual Yale Club Hockey Night Dinner will be at 5:30 p.m., and the game begins at 7.

The schools' alumni, students, faculty, staff, parents, friends and guests are welcome, with the walk ending at 3,500-seat Ingalls Rink at Yale. Entry will be by donation, with prizes for each 10th finisher and a special event T-shirt for each participant. A minimum donation of $15 is suggested. The dinner is across from Ingalls Rink at Sage-Bowers Hall, 205 Prospect Street. To sign up for any of the events, visit http://www.yalebulldogs.com/mandi/.

Then on Nov. 12, "Whiteout for Mandi," with everyone wearing white, will take place as the women's team hosts Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Hamden. A special pregame ceremony will start at 6:45 p.m., the game at 7. There will be no admission, but donations will be accepted at the door, as pledges from various donors are based on the attendance at Ingalls Rink that night, so the more fans who attend, the more funds will be raised. Sam Rubin of Yale sports publicity said he hopes to break the women's attendance record of 1,539, set Nov. 1, 2005, when the Team USA women's team played an exhibition game against the ECAC Women's Hockey All-Stars. The women's team will auction several items, including autographed jerseys of Bobby Orr, Mark Recchi, David Ortiz and Jason Varitek and tickets to Boston Bruins and Red Sox games.

"It's so cool that other major league teams are joining us in support of Mandi," Yale junior forward Aleca Hughes told NHL.com. "Everyone has been so supportive and all of the sports teams at Yale have been tremendous. It's been very rewarding. When we told Mandi about the game, she became so excited. She won't be at Ingalls Rink in person, but we know she'll be watching online (the game will be streamed via yalebulldogs.com) and loving every minute of it."

Schwartz can't attend any events because she's in the engraftment stage of her remarkable recovery from a stem cell transplant. Engraftment is needed in order for the stem cells to begin growing in her bone marrow and manufacture new blood cells and immune cells. Her life-saving transplant at the Seattle (Wash.) Cancer Care Alliance's in-patient transplant unit at the University of Washington Medical Center on Sept. 22 utilized blood from two anonymous umbilical cord blood donations.

"The weeks since the transplant have been physically tough on Mandi, and there have been several scary moments, but she continues to fight," Mandi's mother, Carol, told Rubin. "She remains focused on her goal of overcoming every challenge and getting her health back. We are all inspired by the support we have received from so many different people throughout this process."

Schwartz, the sister of St. Louis Blues' first-round pick Jaden Schwartz, has been in and out of chemotherapy since being diagnosed with leukemia in December 2008.

"Her number (17) is everywhere in our locker room," Hughes said. "We wear T-shirts with her favorite quote on the back, 'Struggle and emerge.' We all can't wait to have her back in the weight room and on the ice with us at some point down the road. We're all absolutely confident in her making a full recovery."

The event will also help awareness about the need for bone marrow/umbilical cord donors. For more information, contact Rubin at 203-432-1456 or sam.rubin@yale.edu. For more details and other fund-raising events that will take place at the game, visit yalebulldogs.com.

To all involved in all the activities, best of luck raising lots of money. To Mandi, best of luck winning the biggest game of your life.

Former Yale Standout Meckler Tied for Monarchs Scoring Lead

In keeping with the Yale theme, former Bulldogs forward David Meckler (six goals, three assists) is tied for the Monarchs' scoring lead with Brandon Kozun (5, 4). Meckler and Kozun are one point ahead of Dwight King (5, 3), Corey Elkins (4, 4) and Alec Martinez (2, 6). HiHiCenter Marc-Andre Cliché, the Rangers' second-round pick in 2005 who never played in the organization before being traded to the Los Angeles Kings with Jason Ward and Jan Marek for Sean Avery and John Seymour on Feb. 5, 2007, was named the Monarchs' captain last week. Jeff Zatkoff has done most of the goaltending and has a 3-3-1 record with a 3.16 goals-against average and .892 save percentage. ... Wolf Pack rookie defenseman Tomas Kundratek notched his first pro goal in Saturday's loss to the Falcons. ... Kyle Palmieri of the Syracuse Crunch leads AHL rookies in goals (seven), and teammate Nick Bonino of Avon is tied for league rookie lead in assists (seven). ... If the Wolf Pack think they're having trouble scoring on the power play, consider Lake Erie has scored more shorthanded goals (two) than power-play goals (one). They're 1-for-41 (2.1 percent) with the man advantage but have managed to play .500 at 5-5-0-1. ... Nic Riopel of the Greenville Road Warriors, who share their ECHL affiliation with the Rangers and Philadelphia Flyers, was named ECHL goaltender of the week after having a 1.50 GAA and .944 save percentage in two victories over South Carolina. Riopel, 21, who is under contract to the AHL's Adirondack Phantoms, is 3-1-1 with a 2.76 GAA and .905 save percentage. He was a fifth-round pick of the Flyers in 2009.

Voting for All-Wolf Pack Team Ends Monday

Voting for the All-Time Wolf Pack Team, to be announced Nov. 13 before a game against the Falcons, runs through Monday. Former players are being invited back for the finale, and there will be several special events commemorating the 13-plus years of the Wolf Pack, who will be re-branded as the Connecticut Whale on Nov. 27 against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers.

Fans can vote for one goalie, two defensemen and three forwards at CTWhale.com and various retailers, courtesy of Hartford Distributors and Bud Light. The candidates for the team are goaltenders Jason LaBarbera, J.F. Labbe and Steve Valiquette, defensemen Dan Girardi, Mike Mottau, Thomas Pock, Corey Potter, Dale Purinton and Terry Virtue and forwards Gernander, Byers, Derek Armstrong, Nigel Dawes, Alexandre Giroux, Greg Moore, P.A. Parenteau, Richard Scott, Brad Smyth, P.J. Stock, Craig Weller and Hamden native Todd Hall.

Wolf Pack Bowl-a-Thon on Nov. 14

The Wolf Pack will host their annual Bowl-a-Thon on Nov. 14 at the AMF Silver Lanes, 748 Silver Lane, East Hartford. There will be sessions at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.

All Wolf Pack players will be bowling with teams of four bowlers, who have collected pledges to benefit Special Olympics Connecticut Eastern Region. A minimum pledge of $200 is required for a team to enter, and the top fund-raising teams will win prizes, including the use of luxury suites at Wolf Pack home games.

To register, contact Jackie Turro at Special Olympics at www.jackiet@soct.org . For more information, call 877-660-6667.

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