Whale win over Sound Tigers

Published on November 27, 2010 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Connecticut Whale News Release


HARTFORD, Conn. - The second-largest crowd in franchise history, 13,089, watched the Connecticut Whale make its debut with a 3-2 shootout win over the Bridgeport Sound Tigers Saturday night at the XL Center.

The result, and the attendance, delighted Whalers Sports and Entertainment chairman and CEO Howard Baldwin.

Saturday's crowd was second only in franchise annals to an attendance of 14,115 for a game against Springfield on Jan. 24, 1998 - and Baldwin got special enjoyment when Jeremy Williams beat goalie Nathan Lawson high to the glove side to give the Whale a 3-2 shootout victory, their first in four tries this season.

"I'm thrilled, and the 3,200 walkup was about the biggest they've ever had," said Baldwin, the former owner and managing general partner of the New England and Hartford Whalers who visited the locker room after the game. "That's what made a really good crowd a great crowd. I was thrilled that the team won, but I wanted that feeling in the building that we kind of used to have with ‘Brass Bonanza' and the (green) uniforms and the fans having a great time.

"It was electric, there was a buzz in the building, and this was a big, big moment. Now we have to keep it going. We have a lot of work ahead of us, but it gives us the oomph to do it."

Ironically, the New England Whalers won their first game in overtime, 4-3 over the San Diego Mariners on Jan. 11, 1975 on a goal by Garry Swain, the newest member of the WS&E family as a sales director, who was one of six former Whalers players to drop the ceremonial first puck.

"That's very prophetic," Baldwin said.

More importantly, it helped atone for a 4-3 shootout loss to the Sound Tigers on Friday night, when they led 3-0 with less than 61/2 minutes left before Wes O'Neill scored his first of two goals on a penalty shot after a bad play by Williams in the offensive zone.

"I had a tough time (Friday), so tonight I just wanted to focus on being in the right spot, and I felt our line played really well," said Williams, who skated alongside newcomer Oren Eizenman and Brodie Dupont, who had a goal and an assist after missing four games with a leg laceration. "Eizenman stepped right up, was really good defensively, in the right spots and good at holding the puck down low. I think we worked really well together, and it was a nice win.

"I don't think people really can understand the difference with a big crowd. When you step out there and make a big hit and everyone goes bananas, it makes you want to do it again and again. It's a great feeling, and we're hoping to get some good fan support now. It really helps the guys, and I think it'll be really good for the city."

As for his winning shootout goal that came after Chad Kolarik scored and Chad Johnson stopped the Sound Tigers' first four attempts, Williams said he had had some success high to the glove side.

"I'm a shooter, and it's nice if you can get it off quicker than the goalie can react, then you have a better chance," Williams said.

The Whale (7-11-2-3) remain in last place in the Atlantic Division, one point behind the Sound Tigers (9-11-0-1), who lost their first shootout in four one-on-one competitions. The Whale is 3-1-0-1 in the 10-game GEICO Connecticut Cup.

But they likely have started a new trend. With things not going well most of the season, the players decided not to wear any helmets during the warm-up for the first time.

"When guys saw how big the crowd was, we discussed it before the game and said, ‘No buckets," Dupont said. "We wanted to look good for the crowd and put on a show, but it was maybe just something to change our mindset and make us have a little more fun.

"Everybody just went with it, and maybe it'll be a tradition now. I think it's a pretty safe bet that we'll do it tomorrow (before a game against the Adirondack Phantoms) unless something happens. But superstition is almost part of the religion of hockey."

With the large crowd watching, there seemed an extra jump in all the players, though the quality scoring chances were limited in the opening 10 minutes. Then with the Sound Tigers on their first power play, Johnson made a good glove save on Rhett Rakhshani breaking in off right wing at 10:30.

Defenseman Stu Bickel, acquired from the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday for Nigel Williams, won the first fight in Whale history with a takedown of the Sound Tigers' Olivier Labelle 29 seconds later.

With the Sound Tigers on their second power play, Johnson (19 saves) denied Robin Figren from the right circle with 4:02 left in the period. A minute later, Eizenman, making is Whale debut after being acquired from the Columbus Blue Jackets and Syracuse Crunch on Wednesday for future considerations, had a good turnaround bid from the right circle stopped by Nathan Lawson (43 saves).

The Whale started to dominate early in the second period, and Lawson had to be sharp to stop rebound bids by Dupont and Tim Kennedy. Johnson then made an alert save when a Sound Tigers shot ricocheted off the skate of Whale defenseman Tomas Kundratek and on the net.

Dupont then earned the distinction of scoring the first goal in a Whale game at 15:00 when he deflected in a screen shot from the right point shot by Bickel, who had been given the puck by Devin DiDiomete.

"I've just been a spectator the last 10 days, and I didn't want it to end the way it did (Friday) night," said Dupont, who scored his second goal in 19 games. "It (stinks) when you're sitting the stands and can't do anything about it. All the guys played pretty good, and the fans were into it and sparked the team pretty good. It was fun and the guys were excited. It wasn't too hard to get up for the game. As a professional, you have to be up no matter what, but the crowd definitely had a pretty good effect.

"My legs felt good, and the crowd was awesome. I felt like I had a lot of adrenaline. That set the bar, and now hopefully the points will come. I was fortunate to get a couple tonight, but I have to play like that to help the team."

The Sound Tigers nearly tied it with 39 seconds left in the period, but Johnson flicked out his right pad to stop a wide-open Rakhshani at the left post.

But at 6:22 of the third period, the Sound Tigers made it 1-1 when Micheal Haley's pass from behind the net ricocheted off a Whale skate to Rakhshani, whose wrist shot went in off Johnson.

The Whale then picked up the pace, and Lawson had to make strong stops on Dale Weise's wraparound at 9:12 and Kolarik's 20-foot shot in front with 8:05 left.

But with 5:55 to play, Eizenman redirected Dupont's shot from the left circle past Lawson on the stick side to give the Whale a 2-1 lead.

"It was a great pass by Dupont between the defenseman's legs," Eizenman said. "I was able to make the deflection, but I wasn't sure if I got it over his stick or pad, but it went in. I was happy to send our fans home happy. We deserved (the win)."

Johnson made a brilliant glove save on Brandon Svendsen's rebound with 4:37 left, but he was helplessly out of position when Anton Klementyev beat Kris Newbury to David Ulmstrom's rebound and put in a backhander with 2:12 to play.

The Whale had three of the four shots in overtime, but the most important were the successful shootout efforts of Kolarik and Williams.

"We found a way to get our two points, and three out of four Friday and Saturday is a pretty good start (to the weekend)," Whale coach Ken Gernander said. "And the atmosphere was great and really encouraging. Aside from just sheer numbers, I think the people were really into it, and it was a pretty exciting game. It's nice when a guy gets a scoring chance or makes a good play and you can kind of hear a roar from that end of the building.

"It was nice to see the building full and such a good atmosphere. It's about promoting hockey in Hartford and supporting the guys in the room. You can't necessarily hear individual comments, but you can feel the energy. When a big play is made, it just enhances the game."

EIZENMAN DEBUTS ALONGSIDE DUPONT AND WILLIAMS

Eizenman made his Whale debut on a line with Dupont and Williams. "Brodie had a strong all-around game, and Eizenman hopped right in there and didn't skip a beat," Gernander said.

The Whale scratched Lee Baldwin, Tyler Donati, Chris McKelvie, Jyri Niemi and Kelsey Tessier. The Sound Tigers scratched injured Dustin Kohn, Justin DiBenedetto, Rob Hisey, Jeremy Yablonski, Mark Katic, Andy Hilbert and Jean Bourbeau. Former Wolf Pack defenseman Dylan Reese, veteran left wing Jon Sim and defenseman Travis Hamonic were listed on the AHL transactions as sent down, but did not play. ... Hartford Courant columnist Jeff Jacobs, who covered the Whalers from 1984 to 1995 and is in his 26th year at the state's largest newspaper, was the first guest of Whale play-by-play announcer Bob Crawford on a new segment of a pregame Jumbotron hit that is replacing "Coaches Corner" with Gernander and assistants J.J. Daigneault and Pat Boller. The coaches continue to give their thoughts on the pregame radio show with Crawford and occasionally will participate in the Jumbotron discussions.

A WHALERS FEEL TO THINGS

The first Connecticut Whale game had a definite Hartford Whalers feel.

Former Whalers players Swain, Gerry McDonald, Norm Barnes, Yvon Corriveau, Doug Roberts and captain Russ Anderson signed autographs in the XL Center atrium for more than an hour before participating in pregame ceremonies that included dropping the ceremonial first puck. And Tony Harrington, who sang the national anthem for years before Whalers games, did the honors again after the Whale players were introduced in the first of three new uniforms that they will wear the rest of the season.

The night was presented by Xfinity, and the first 3,000 fans received a green Whale T-shirt. As part of the Whale segment of the season, ticket packages are available from $638 ($242 savings) for blue seats to $290 ($110 savings) for kids (any seat except blue) and yellow seats. The offer includes 29 regular-season games, one voucher for Whalers Hockey Fest 2011 at Rentschler Field in East Hartford on Feb. 11-23 and 20 vouchers for games at the XL Center. For more information, call 860-728-3366 or visit www.ctwhale.com.

Individual game tickets are also on sale at the XL Center ticket office, all Ticketmaster locations and can be charged by phone at 1-800-745-3000 or online at www.ctwhale.com. Tickets start at $7 at the XL Center ticket office on game day. For information on Whale ticket packages, group sales or VIP packages, call 860-728-3366.

Game 2 of the Whale era Sunday at 5 p.m. will be against the Phantoms and coach John Paddock, who led the Wolf Pack to their only Calder Cup title in 2000 and was inducted into the AHL Hall of Fame in February. Fans can get three tickets, three hot dogs and three soft drinks for $48, and those who bring skates can participate in a postgame skate. ... McDonald's son, Colin, led Oklahoma City to a 3-2 overtime victory over Lake Erie on Friday night. McDonald, a Wethersfield native, tied the game with 4:45 left in regulation and then scored the winner at 3:01 of overtime as the Barons improved to 10-2-0-1 in their last 13 games. On Saturday afternoon, McDonald extended his goal-scoring streak to four games in which he has five goals, but the Barons lost 5-3 to Lake Erie. The Monsters' first goal by Mark Olver was assisted by two former Wolf Pack players, Patrick Rissmiller and Dave Liffiton, the Lake Erie captain. Rissmiller also assisted on the Monsters' second goal by Ryan Stoa. Another former Wolf Pack player, Matthew Ford, also plays for Lake Erie. McDonald's teammates include two former Wolf Pack players, defenseman Jake Taylor and wing Alexandre Giroux, whose second assist of the game came on McDonald's goal. Giroux won Calder Cups with the Hershey Bears in 2007 and 2009, and in the last two seasons, he scored 110 goals, including 60 in 2008-09 when he was named the AHL's MVP. ... Former Wolf Pack goalie Al Montoya made 22 saves to improve his record to 6-2-0 as the San Antonio Rampage beat the Houston Aeros 5-3 on Friday night. The Rampage (15-4-1-0) set a season high with their seventh consecutive victory and moved to 14-2-0-0 in their last 16 games. Their 29 points are the second most in the AHL and give them a three-point lead over Oklahoma City for first place in the West Division. They failed to extend the lead Saturday night in a 5-2 loss to the Texas Stars on Saturday night. Former Wolf Pack and Rangers wings Jed Ortmeyer and assistant captain Ryan Hollweg are also on the Rampage. ... Nigel Williams assisted on Syracuse's only goal in a 2-1 loss to the Toronto Marlies on Saturday.

FORMER WOLF PACK AND RANGERS WING PRUCHA BACK IN AHL

The Rangers assigned then-rookie Petr Prucha to the Wolf Pack five years ago to get him some playing time and hopefully rejuvenate his game. It proved a good move. Prucha had two goals and one assist in two games, returned to the Rangers and finished with 30 goals and 17 assists in 67 games.

The next three seasons Prucha got diminished playing time, and was eventually traded to the Phoenix Coyotes with former Wolf Pack wing Nigel Dawes and Dmitri Kalinin for Derek Morris on March 4, 2009, reuniting him with former Rangers assistant general manager Don Maloney, who had become Coyotes GM.

On Friday, Prucha was again headed to the AHL, with Maloney demoting him from the Coyotes to the San Antonio Rampage, where he was reunited with Montoya.

"First of all, with the way we're structured and if we, knock on wood, stay healthy, there's really no place for him right now," Maloney told reporters Friday. "With two extra forwards, he could be sitting for quite a while. So we said let's put him down in San Antonio and let's get him playing. ... Second, some of our younger players down there are playing very well and we might want to look at some of them at some point, so this move creates a little more roster room."

The Coyotes placed Prucha on waivers on Thursday, but the Czech right wing wasn't claimed, enabling the Coyotes to send him to the minors and have his salary cut from their salary cap. Prucha, 28, the Rangers' eighth-round pick in 2002, had only one assist in 11 games and been a healthy scratch 10 times, but he'll play quickly and often with the Rampage, who had three games in three days this weekend.

"Petr is a good player," Maloney said. "If he can gain a little confidence with the puck, he'll be ready to help us when we bring him back, which I'm sure we will at some point. ... When we need somebody and he's the best guy down there, he'll come back. But if somebody else is the best player down there, then it will be somebody else we'll bring up."

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