Whale Weekly

Published on January 9, 2012 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Connecticut Whale News Release


The Whale went 0-2-0-1 in three games this past weekend, but still maintained their grasp on first place in the Northeast Division. Connecticut was edged by the defending Calder Cup champion Binghamton Senators, 3-1, Friday in Binghamton. The Whale fell in a shootout, 5-4, to the Springfield Falcons on Saturday in the front end of a home-and-home series with their I-91 rivals, before dropping a 4-2 decision in Springfield to wrap up the week on Sunday. Kris Newbury gathered three goals and three assists in the week's action, as did All-Star Jonathan Audy-Marchessault.

AMERICAN HOCKEY LEAGUE STANDINGS

Atlantic Division

Rank Team GP W L OTL SL PTS PCT GF GA STK P10 S/O PIM

1 * St. John's IceCaps 34 21 8 4 1 47 0.691 121 100 2-0-0-0 6-3-0-1 1-1 462

2 Manchester Monarchs 38 21 15 0 2 44 0.579 99 99 0-3-0-0 5-5-0-0 5-2 690

3 Worcester Sharks 35 17 11 3 4 41 0.586 98 93 1-0-0-0 4-5-0-1 0-4 751

4 Portland Pirates 36 16 15 2 3 37 0.514 94 115 0-3-0-0 4-4-1-1 2-3 631

5 Providence Bruins 38 16 18 1 3 36 0.474 84 111 2-0-0-1 6-3-0-1 6-3 589

Northeast Division

Rank Team GP W L OTL SL PTS PCT GF GA STK P10 S/O PIM

1 * Connecticut Whale 37 19 12 2 4 44 0.595 117 111 0-2-1-1 3-4-1-2 4-4 668

2 Albany Devils 36 16 13 5 2 39 0.542 88 110 2-0-2-0 4-3-2-1 2-2 617

3 Adirondack Phantoms 35 18 15 1 1 38 0.543 100 98 0-1-0-0 4-6-0-0 2-1 625

4 Springfield Falcons 35 17 16 1 1 36 0.514 103 102 3-0-0-0 5-4-0-1 3-1 545

5 Bridgeport Sound Tigers 37 16 17 3 1 36 0.486 103 113 4-0-0-0 5-5-0-0 2-1 658

East Division

Rank Team GP W L OTL SL PTS PCT GF GA STK P10 S/O PIM

1 * Hershey Bears 36 21 8 4 3 49 0.681 137 105 5-0-1-1 7-1-1-1 3-3 877

2 Norfolk Admirals 36 21 12 1 2 45 0.625 129 102 0-1-1-0 5-3-1-1 1-2 757

3 Wilkes-Barre/Scr. Penguins 36 19 12 1 4 43 0.597 108 105 0-1-0-0 5-5-0-0 3-4 586

4 Syracuse Crunch 34 15 15 3 1 34 0.500 110 113 1-0-0-0 4-5-1-0 1-1 566

5 Binghamton Senators 39 16 21 1 1 34 0.436 100 117 0-1-0-0 6-4-0-0 1-1 649

North Division

Rank Team GP W L OTL SL PTS PCT GF GA STK P10 S/O PIM

1 * Toronto Marlies 37 19 13 3 2 43 0.581 102 95 0-1-0-0 4-5-0-1 0-2 542

2 Rochester Americans 36 16 13 4 3 39 0.542 105 108 1-0-0-2 5-2-1-2 2-3 496

3 Hamilton Bulldogs 35 16 14 1 4 37 0.529 86 102 4-0-0-1 6-1-0-3 1-4 561

4 Grand Rapids Griffins 34 15 13 4 2 36 0.529 104 107 3-0-3-0 5-2-3-0 2-2 611

5 Lake Erie Monsters 36 16 18 1 1 34 0.472 87 97 0-3-0-0 5-5-0-0 2-1 644

Midwest Division

Rank Team GP W L OTL SL PTS PCT GF GA STK P10 S/O PIM

1 * Charlotte Checkers 37 21 13 2 1 45 0.608 101 96 0-1-0-0 6-3-1-0 4-1 543

2 Chicago Wolves 35 19 12 1 3 42 0.600 102 94 3-0-0-0 7-3-0-0 0-3 557

3 Milwaukee Admirals 33 20 12 0 1 41 0.621 104 87 0-2-0-0 5-5-0-0 3-1 447

4 Peoria Rivermen 37 18 16 2 1 39 0.527 112 109 1-0-0-0 7-2-1-0 3-1 610

5 Rockford IceHogs 36 13 19 1 3 30 0.417 113 135 1-0-0-0 3-6-0-1 2-3 714

West Division

Rank Team GP W L OTL SL PTS PCT GF GA STK P10 S/O PIM

1 * Oklahoma City Barons 37 23 10 1 3 50 0.676 110 87 0-2-0-0 4-3-1-2 3-3 575

2 Abbotsford Heat 35 22 10 3 0 47 0.671 92 85 0-1-1-0 6-2-2-0 5-0 570

3 Houston Aeros 36 19 8 2 7 47 0.653 102 94 1-0-0-0 4-4-0-2 0-7 451

4 San Antonio Rampage 36 17 17 2 0 36 0.500 85 102 0-1-0-0 5-3-2-0 3-0 535

5 Texas Stars 34 15 16 1 2 33 0.485 102 106 1-0-1-1 4-4-1-1 0-2 474

This week:

The Whale heads to Virginia to face the Norfolk Admirals for two games this weekend, clashing with their East Division foe Friday and Saturday. It will be the only trip of the season to Norfolk for the Whale, who will host the Admirals Jan. 21 and Mar. 10 at the XL Center.

Friday, January 13 at Norfolk Admirals (Norfolk Scope), 7:30 PM

- The Whale head to Norfolk Friday for their first of four meetings on the season with the Admirals.

- The Admirals enter the week in second place in the AHL's East Division, four points behind the Eastern Conference-leading Hershey Bears.

- Norfolk is currently in a two-game skid, having dropped a pair of home games to the Albany Devils this past week.

- Richard Panik scored the only goal of the game for the Admirals in Saturday's 3-1 defeat to the Devils, and also collected a pair of assists in Friday's 5-4 overtime loss.

- Radio - CT Whale "Rockin' Hockey", live with Bob Crawford, on "The Rock", 106.9 WCCC-FM, and on-line at www.ctwhale.com.

Saturday, January 14 at Norfolk Admirals (Norfolk Scope), 7:15 PM

- The Admirals boast two of the league's top five leading scorers, with Trevor Smith carrying the team lead with 44 points (16-28-44). Cory Conacher is the league's top scoring rookie with 41 points on the season (21-20-41), and is tied for the overall league lead in goals with 21.

- Norfolk owns the second-best power-play in the league, clicking at a 22.2% rate. Their 38 power-play goals are second in the league to Hershey's 51.

- The Admirals' penalty-kill is ranked 23rd in the AHL, working at a 79.7% success rate so far this season.

- Dustin Tokarski is ranked 13th among qualifying goaltenders with a 2.45 goals against average, and he has the decision in 14 of the Admirals' 21 wins this season.

- Radio - CT Whale "Rockin' Hockey", live with Bob Crawford, on "The Rock", 106.9 WCCC-FM, and on-line at www.ctwhale.com.

"Whale TV":

- The following two special "Whale TV" selections will be available this week to Comcast Xfinity on Demand customers throughout New England, in the "Get Local" folder of Comcast's On Demand Service:

o Kris Newbury Interview (Whale Special Events folder) - the Whale's veteran scoring leader talks about his recent point-scoring run, and his Reebok/AHL Player of the Week honor.

o Game Highlights (Game of the Week folder) - the featured game is an exciting, back-and-forth skirmish between the Whale and their most familiar rivals, the Springfield Falcons, from January 7 at the XL Center.

- Every Tuesday night, CPTV Sports will air an edited re-broadcast of a Whale game from the previous week, on "Whale TV Replay".

o This Tuesday night, January 10 at 7:00 PM, Whale TV Replay will feature a re-broadcast of the game from this past Saturday night, January 7 vs. the Springfield Falcons.

- The second of five live Whale TV broadcasts on WCCT-TV, Connecticut's CW affiliate, presented by Webster Bank, is coming up Saturday, January 28, when the Whale host the Springfield Falcons at 7:00 PM.

Recent Transactions:

Jeff Prough - returned by the Whale to Greenville (ECHL) January 4.

Whale Tales:

The Whale will host a top-level professional women's hockey game prior to their home game Saturday, January 21 at the XL Center vs. the Norfolk Admirals. The "International Women's Hockey Challenge", presented by Aetna, will be a Canadian Women's Hockey League (CWHL) regular-season battle between the Boston Blades and Team Alberta. That contest will face off at 3:00 PM on January 21, before the Whale and Admirals lock horns at 7:00. Tickets for the Whale game will also be good for admission to the CWHL tilt.

Whale fans can pick up some collectible goodies at Whale home games January 27 and January 28, which will be "Trading Card Weekend" at the XL Center. Friday, January 27, when the Whale entertain the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (7:00 PM faceoff), 5,000 fans will receive the Whale's second set of player trading cards, sponsored by Webster Bank. The featured players for this set are All-Star Jonathan Audy-Marchessault, Cam Talbot, Ryan Bourque, Kelsey Tessier, Jordan Owens and, in a historical tribute, former Hartford Wolf Pack star Ryan Callahan, now captain of the parent New York Rangers. Then the next night, Saturday, January 28, when the Springfield Falcons visit the XL Center for a 7:00 game, will feature a giveaway of additional sets of the first group of Whale trading cards. That array included cards of All-Star Mats Zuccarello, Wade Redden, Kris Newbury, Chad Johnson and Carl Hagelin. Also, after the game on January 28, selected Whale players will conduct an autograph session to sign their cards.

The Connecticut Whale and the CT Hockey Hall of Fame will partner to hold a CT Hockey Hall of Fame night at the Whale's home game at the XL Center Saturday, March 10 vs. the Norfolk Admirals. That night will mark the enshrinement of a new class of 2012 inductees into the CT Hockey Hall of Fame, which has adopted eight members from the storied Hartford Whalers Hall of Fame. There will be an induction ceremony before the game, which faces off at 7:00 PM on March 10, and the new inductees will also be recognized on the ice during the first intermission. Fans can take home a special souvenir of the March 10 night, as 5,000 Hall of Fame posters will be given away, courtesy of SuperCuts. This will be the first class of inductees since 1990, and the 2012 class will be announced later this month. Further details are available at cthockeyHOF.org.

College students can get discounted tickets to Whale weekday games with the Whale's "Ditch the Dorms" deal. For Monday through Friday home games, students who show a valid student ID at the Public Power Ticket Office at the XL Center can get $2 off Upper Level tickets and $5 off Lower Level seats.

Save on your tickets, and get the best seats, with a ticket plan for the Whale's 2011-12 AHL campaign, which are on sale now. For information on season seats, mini plans and great group discounts, visit www.ctwhale.com, or call the CT Whale ticket office at (860) 728-3366 to talk with an account executive today.

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American Hockey League Stories from January 9, 2012


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