Whale Weekly

Published on January 30, 2012 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Connecticut Whale News Release


The Whale finished out the first month of 2012 with a pair of home games at the XL Center, and despite two hard-working efforts, the squad could not get themselves into the win column as they endured a pair of narrow defeats. Connecticut hosted the Eastern Division-leading Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Friday night, dropping a 3-2 overtime decision before resuming their I-91 rivalry with the Springfield Falcons on Saturday. The Whale drew a season-best 11,181 fans to the XL Center, the ninth-largest XL Center crowd in regular-season franchise history, but the home squad was defeated, 2-1. Jonathan Audy-Marchessault had a goal and an assist in the weekend's action, and goaltenders Chad Johnson and Cam Talbot combined to stop 64 of 69 shots in the two games.

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 44 27 11 5 1 60 0.682 150 129 4-0-0-0 6-3-1-0 3-1 603

2 Manchester Monarchs 47 25 20 0 2 52 0.553 125 128 1-0-0-0 4-6-0-0 5-2 823

3 Worcester Sharks 42 20 13 4 5 49 0.583 113 110 0-1-1-1 4-3-1-2 1-5 869

4 Portland Pirates 44 21 18 2 3 47 0.534 121 137 0-2-0-0 5-5-0-0 3-3 737

5 Providence Bruins 45 20 20 2 3 45 0.500 104 128 4-0-1-0 6-2-1-1 6-3 687

Northeast Division

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

1 * Bridgeport Sound Tigers 44 22 17 3 2 49 0.557 129 130 10-0-0-1 9-0-0-1 3-2 783

2 Connecticut Whale 44 19 16 4 5 47 0.534 130 134 0-6-3-2 0-6-2-2 4-5 818

3 Albany Devils 43 19 16 5 3 46 0.535 111 129 1-0-0-0 5-3-1-1 2-3 729

4 Springfield Falcons 44 21 20 1 2 45 0.511 130 133 3-0-0-0 5-4-0-1 3-2 694

5 Adirondack Phantoms 44 21 21 1 1 44 0.500 123 132 0-5-0-0 3-7-0-0 2-1 760

East Division

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

1 * Wilkes-Barre/Scr. Penguins 45 26 13 2 4 58 0.644 145 133 0-1-0-0 7-2-1-0 3-4 749

2 Hershey Bears 44 25 12 4 3 57 0.648 163 131 1-0-0-0 6-4-0-0 4-3 1015

3 Norfolk Admirals 45 26 16 1 2 55 0.611 157 130 0-1-0-0 5-5-0-0 2-2 936

4 Syracuse Crunch 42 19 17 3 3 44 0.524 139 138 1-0-0-1 5-3-0-2 2-3 664

5 Binghamton Senators 46 20 24 1 1 42 0.457 126 143 4-0-0-0 6-4-0-0 1-1 774

North Division

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

1 * Toronto Marlies 45 23 17 3 2 51 0.567 126 113 0-2-0-0 5-5-0-0 0-2 669

2 Rochester Americans 44 19 17 5 3 46 0.523 120 132 1-0-0-0 4-4-1-1 3-3 603

3 Grand Rapids Griffins 43 18 17 4 4 44 0.512 136 138 1-0-0-0 4-4-0-2 2-4 742

4 Hamilton Bulldogs 43 19 19 1 4 43 0.500 105 128 0-1-0-0 5-5-0-0 1-4 678

5 Lake Erie Monsters 45 20 22 2 1 43 0.478 107 125 1-0-0-0 4-5-1-0 2-1 806

Midwest Division

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

1 * Charlotte Checkers 46 26 16 2 2 56 0.609 133 123 0-1-0-0 5-4-0-1 5-2 672

2 Chicago Wolves 44 24 16 1 3 52 0.591 128 115 3-0-0-0 6-4-0-0 0-3 668

3 Peoria Rivermen 45 22 20 2 1 47 0.522 135 133 0-1-0-0 5-5-0-0 3-1 714

4 Milwaukee Admirals 42 22 18 1 1 46 0.548 120 112 0-4-0-0 2-7-1-0 3-1 580

5 Rockford IceHogs 46 20 21 1 4 45 0.489 137 154 6-0-0-1 7-2-0-1 2-4 841

West Division

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

1 * Oklahoma City Barons 45 29 11 2 3 63 0.700 135 100 6-0-0-0 6-3-1-0 3-3 678

2 Houston Aeros 44 21 11 3 9 54 0.614 120 120 0-3-1-2 3-4-1-2 1-9 522

3 Abbotsford Heat 44 25 16 3 0 53 0.602 109 108 0-2-0-0 3-6-1-0 5-0 728

4 San Antonio Rampage 44 24 18 2 0 50 0.568 112 119 7-0-0-0 8-2-0-0 4-0 644

5 Texas Stars 43 20 20 1 2 43 0.500 128 132 0-2-0-0 5-4-1-0 1-2 585

This week:

The Whale will enter February with a pair of post-All-Star Break games, hosting Northeast Division foes the Albany Devils on Friday (7:00 faceoff), before heading to Hershey to face the Bears on Saturday (7:00).

Monday, January 30 - The 2012 AHL All-Star Game, at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, NJ

Whale forwards Jonathan Audy-Marchessault and Mats Zuccarello will take the ice for the Eastern Conference team in the 2012 AHL All-Star Game at historic Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, NJ. The game faces off at 7:00 PM tonight and can be seen live on Comcast SportsNet New England.

Friday, February 3 vs. Albany Devils at XL Center, 7:00 PM

- This is the the fourth and final meeting of the regular season between these two divisional opponents.

- Connecticut has won two of the first three meetings with the Devils this season, including the last, a 3-2 win over Albany at the XL Center back on Dec. 27.

- Kris Newbury has gathered five points against the Devils (1-4-5) to lead the Whale, while Joe Whitney leads the Devils with three points versus Connecticut (2-1-3).

- Albany defeated their New York capital-region rival, the Adirondack Phantoms, 3-0 on Saturday night to close within one point of the Whale, three back of the division-leading Bridgeport Sound Tigers.

- Goaltender Keith Kinkaid recorded his third shutout of the season on Saturday, making 30 saves against the Phantoms.

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

Saturday, February 4 at Hershey Bears (Giant Center), 7:00 PM

- This game marks the third of four meetings on the year between the Whale and Bears, and the first of two in Hershey. The teams have split the first two meetings, with the Whale winning on Nov. 29, 4-2, before dropping a 5-3 decision on Dec. 9.

- Mats Zuccarello has picked up three points for the Whale against the Bears (2-1-3), while league-leading scorer Keith Aucoin has notched five assists for the Bears in the season series.

- This will be the third professional battle between the Bourque brothers, Ryan and Chris. Hershey's Chris has tallied four points against the Whale (2-2-4), while Ryan has earned one assist.

- Hershey snapped a four-game losing streak Saturday with a 3-2 win over Norfolk. Ryan Potulny scored twice and both Aucoin and Bourque had two assists in the contest.

- Aucoin had a 16-game point streak (5-24-29) snapped in Friday's 2-1 loss to the Admirals.

- 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 special new "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 Anders Hedberg Feature (Whale Special Events folder) - Bob Crawford, the voice of the Whale, chats with the legendary Anders Hedberg, now a New York Rangers scout. One of the first Europeans to make his mark in North American pro hockey, the Swedish-born Hedberg starred in the World Hockey Association with the Winnipeg Jets, playing on an illustrious line with countryman Ulf Nilsson and superstar Bobby Hull, and later went on to great success in the NHL with the Rangers.

o Game Highlights (Game of the Week folder) - highlights of both of this past weekend's home games are available, down-to-the-wire battles with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and Springfield.

- 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 31 at 7:00 PM, Whale TV Replay will feature a re-broadcast of this past Friday night's overtime skirmish with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.

- The third of five live Whale TV broadcasts on WCCT-TV, Connecticut's CW affiliate, presented by Webster Bank, is coming up Saturday, February 18, when the Whale host the Worcester Sharks at 7:00 PM.

Recent Transactions:

Chad Johnson - Recalled from the Whale by the New York Rangers January 24, and returned later that same day.

Erik Christensen - Recalled from the Whale by the NY Rangers January 24

Whale Tales:

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. The new inductees are: Connecticut-bred Hockey Hall of Famer Brian Leetch, ex-Hartford Whalers 56-goal scorer Blaine Stoughton, former Whalers goaltender Mike Liut, former Whalers captain Pat Verbeek, Connecticut Whale/Hartford Wolf Pack franchise icon, long-time captain and current head coach Ken Gernander, three-time Olympic medalist for Team USA and all-time NCAA women's leading scorer Julie Chu, and one of the founders of the New England Whalers, William E. Barnes. 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. There will also be a special meet-and-greet event on March 10, details of which will be announced soon. This will be the first class of inductees since 1990, and 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 30, 2012


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