Whale Weekly

March 18, 2013 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Connecticut Whale News Release


The Whale (30-25-5-3, 68 pts.) started a six-game homestand with a pair of wins this past weekend, climbing to a high-water mark for the season of five games over .500. Jason Missiaen rang up his second shutout of the year in a critical 3-0 victory over the Manchester Monarchs on Saturday, helping the Whale jump back ahead of Manchester in the Eastern Conference playoff race. Then on Sunday against the Northeast Division-leading Springfield Falcons, Missiaen stopped 29 out of 31 shots as the Whale eked out a 3-2 win. In addition to Missiaen's heroics, Chris Kreider scored in both games, including his first career pro shorthanded goal, the game-winner, on Saturday.

AMERICAN HOCKEY LEAGUE STANDINGS

Eastern Conference

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

1 * Syracuse Crunch 62 37 17 3 5 82 0.661 214 168 3-0-0-1 5-3-1-1 3-5 1379

2 * Providence Bruins 62 38 19 0 5 81 0.653 178 157 3-0-0-0 7-2-0-1 9-5 1065

3 * Springfield Falcons 61 34 18 5 4 77 0.631 188 150 0-4-1-1 3-5-1-1 4-4 1009

4 Binghamton Senators 62 37 19 1 5 80 0.645 186 154 1-0-0-0 6-3-0-1 4-5 1192

5 Portland Pirates 61 34 22 3 2 73 0.598 181 184 0-1-0-0 4-3-2-1 4-2 1317

6 Wilkes-Barre/Scr. Penguins 63 34 26 2 1 71 0.563 150 148 2-0-0-0 6-4-0-0 6-1 1289

7 Hershey Bears 62 30 24 3 5 68 0.548 161 155 2-0-0-0 6-4-0-0 4-5 925

8 Connecticut Whale 63 30 25 5 3 68 0.540 181 187 3-0-0-0 5-3-1-1 1-3 1132

9 Albany Devils 60 27 22 1 10 65 0.542 159 170 0-2-0-0 6-3-0-1 3-10 942

10 Manchester Monarchs 62 29 26 3 4 65 0.524 178 171 0-2-0-0 6-2-1-1 2-4 857

11 Worcester Sharks 59 28 24 1 6 63 0.534 151 166 0-1-0-0 5-4-0-1 6-6 1218

12 Norfolk Admirals 61 29 27 4 1 63 0.516 152 169 0-1-0-0 7-2-1-0 7-1 1241

13 Bridgeport Sound Tigers 61 26 25 6 4 62 0.508 177 198 1-0-1-0 4-2-3-1 2-4 1419

14 St. John's IceCaps 62 25 32 1 4 55 0.444 153 191 2-0-0-0 3-5-0-2 1-4 989

15 Adirondack Phantoms 61 24 32 2 3 53 0.434 146 183 0-1-0-0 4-5-0-1 4-3 1244

Western Conference

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

1 * Texas Stars 62 35 16 5 6 81 0.653 186 161 2-0-1-1 4-3-1-2 5-6 806

2 * Grand Rapids Griffins 61 36 20 3 2 77 0.631 197 165 0-1-1-0 7-2-1-0 5-2 1020

3 * Toronto Marlies 60 34 20 2 4 74 0.617 193 158 4-0-0-0 8-2-0-0 3-4 974

4 Charlotte Checkers 63 36 22 2 3 77 0.611 191 167 1-0-0-0 5-5-0-0 3-3 784

5 Houston Aeros 61 31 22 4 4 70 0.574 166 158 0-1-0-0 5-4-0-1 5-4 795

6 Rochester Americans 60 32 24 3 1 68 0.567 192 173 0-2-0-0 5-4-1-0 5-1 881

7 Chicago Wolves 59 29 21 5 4 67 0.568 159 156 0-2-1-0 3-5-1-1 3-4 819

8 Abbotsford Heat 65 29 27 3 6 67 0.515 142 163 1-0-0-0 3-6-0-1 6-6 944

9 Oklahoma City Barons 59 29 22 2 6 66 0.559 186 195 2-0-0-0 6-3-0-1 4-6 945

10 Milwaukee Admirals 60 30 24 3 3 66 0.550 152 171 4-0-0-0 7-3-0-0 3-3 821

11 Rockford IceHogs 62 32 28 1 1 66 0.532 190 184 1-0-0-0 7-3-0-0 5-1 1495

12 Lake Erie Monsters 63 27 27 2 7 63 0.500 175 185 0-4-0-0 2-7-0-1 5-7 1136

13 San Antonio Rampage 60 27 26 1 6 61 0.508 159 174 1-0-0-2 5-3-0-2 3-6 954

14 Peoria Rivermen 62 27 28 4 3 61 0.492 151 181 2-0-0-0 4-6-0-0 5-3 875

15 Hamilton Bulldogs 61 24 31 1 5 54 0.443 129 181 0-3-0-0 4-6-0-0 3-5 1209

* Division leaders are seeded 1, 2, and 3 in Conference standings. Eight teams in each conference qualify for the playoffs: the three division winners will be seeded first through third in order of points, and the next five teams in order of points will be seeded fourth through eighth.

This week:

It's a busy weekend at the XL Center, with three Whale home games on tap. The Whale get a crack at the Hershey Bears, with whom they are tied for seventh place in the Eastern Conference, on Friday night at 7:00 PM, and then the Adirondack Phantoms come to town on "Hometown Heroes Night" Saturday night (7:00). The weekend wraps up with a Sunday matinee vs. the Binghamton Senators, with faceoff at 3;00.

Friday, March 22 vs. the Hershey Bears at the XL Center, 7:00 p.m.

* The first 3,000 fans into this game will receive a free T-shirt, courtesy of Call Before You Dig.

* At this and all Whale Friday-night home games, fans can enjoy $1 hot dogs and $2 beers until the end of the first intermission.

* The Whale and Bears (30-24-3-5, 68 pts.) enter the week tied for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Hershey starts a stretch of four straight road games with this contest, after back-to-back home wins, Saturday over Bridgeport (1-0 in overtime) and Sunday vs. Adirondack (5-2).

* Former Whale/Hartford Wolf Pack forwards Jeff Taffe (2-2-4) and Casey Wellman (1-1-2) combined for six points in the Bears' 5-2 home win over Adirondack Sunday.

* This is the last game of a four-game season series between the Whale and Hershey. Connecticut is 1-1-0-1 in the first three and won the only previous meeting in Hartford, 3-1 on October 26.

* For this and all Whale home games, tickets start as low as $10 each ($12 each when tickets are purchased on the day of the game), at the Public Power Ticket Office at the XL Center, through TicketMaster Charge-by-Phone at 1-800-745-3000 and on-line at www.ticketmaster.com.

* Radio - live with Bob Crawford and Mark Bailey on "Beethoven Radio" AM 1290, and on-line at www.ctwhale.com. Video streaming at www.ahllive.com.

Saturday, March 23 vs. the Adirondack Phantoms at the XL Center, 7:00 p.m.

* This is "Hometown Heroes Night" at the XL Center. Various Connecticut police and fire departments will take the ice for "Guns vs. Hoses" games prior to the Whale/Phantoms battle, to celebrate and honor those brave individuals who keep Nutmeg State hometowns safe and secure.

* The Whale are 2-1-1-0 thus far on the year against the Phantoms, and are 7-0-0-0 all-time at home vs. Adirondack. The last time the Phantoms visited the XL Center, January 23, the Whale saw a 5-1 lead slip away, but recovered to win 6-5 in overtime.

* The Phantoms are 24-32-2-3 for 53 points on the season and trail the field in the Eastern Conference, two points behind St. John's and 15 points out of a playoff spot.

* Adirondack scoring leader Jason Akeson (13-25-38 in 47 GP) struck for a hat trick against the Whale in the last meeting between the two teams, a 4-3 Phantom home win March 9.

* For this and all Whale home games, tickets start as low as $10 each ($12 each when tickets are purchased on the day of the game), at the Public Power Ticket Office at the XL Center, through TicketMaster Charge-by-Phone at 1-800-745-3000 and on-line at www.ticketmaster.com.

* Radio - live with Bob Crawford and Mark Bailey on "The Rock" 106.9 WCCC-FM. All Whale Saturday night games this year will be beamed on The Rock 106.9 WCCC's 50,000 watts of power. Also available on-line at www.ctwhale.com. Video streaming at www.ahllive.com.

Sunday, March 24 vs. the Binghamton Senators at the XL Center, 3:00 p.m.

* For this game, and all Whale Sunday home games, fans can purchase "Click It or Ticket Sunday Family Value Packs", which include a ticket, a hot dog or a slice of pizza and a soda, for just $18 each ($20 each on the day of the game).

* The Senators (37-19-1-5, 80 pts.) are two points behind the league-leading Syracuse Crunch in both the Eastern Conference and East Division standings.

* This is Binghamton's lone visit of the season to the XL Center, and the second game of a two-game season series between the Whale and Senators. Binghamton blanked the Whale at home March 8, 3-0.

* Nick Craven, who recently completed his third season of play at Wesleyan University, has skated in four games for Binghamton since signing an Amateur Tryout (ATO) agreement with the Senators March 5.

* For this and all Whale home games, tickets start as low as $10 each ($12 each when tickets are purchased on the day of the game), at the Public Power Ticket Office at the XL Center, through TicketMaster Charge-by-Phone at 1-800-745-3000 and on-line at www.ticketmaster.com.

* Radio - live with Bob Crawford and Mark Bailey on "Beethoven Radio" AM 1290, and on-line at www.ctwhale.com. Video streaming at www.ahllive.com.

Whale Community Appearances:

The Whale have the following appearances scheduled this week. For further information on these, or any other Whale community initiatives, contact Whale community relations manager Frank Berrian, at (860) 541-4728:

* Friday, March 22, 5:00-7:00 PM, XL Center Atrium

The excitement of the Labatt's Blue Bubble Hockey Tour culminates in the championship, which will be contested in the XL Center Atrium before the Whale take on Hershey.

* Saturday, March 23, 10:00 AM, Downtown Hartford

Pucky, the Whale's lovable mascot, cheers on participants in the Sandy Hook 5k.

Recent Transactions:

None.

Whale Tales:

Whale fans can present their Whale ticket stub at the Russian Lady, which is located at 191 Ann Uccello Street, directly across from the XL Center, and not only skip the line at the door, but get in with no cover charge as well.

Before and after Whale games, fans showing their Whale tickets at the Tavern Downtown, located just steps from the XL Center at 100 Allyn St. in Hartford, can enjoy $3 Bud and Bud Lights.

For information on season seats, and all of the Whale's many ticketing options, visit www.ctwhale.com, or call the CT Whale ticket office at (860) 548-2000 to talk with an account executive today.



American Hockey League Stories from March 18, 2013


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