CANTLON’S CORNER: WOLF PACK OFF SEASON VOLUME 4 PART 2 

Wolf Pack Off Season Volume 4 Part 2

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings

HARTFORD, CT – So much going on right now that one story wasn’t enough to cover it all.

PLAYER AND COACHING MOVEMENT

Magnus Hellberg is getting as far away from Hartford as he possibly can. The now ex-Pack netminder signed a one-year contract with the Kunlun Red Star in Beijing, China for the KHL team that is entering its second season. Hopefully, Hellberg got his yuans up front. Below is a story from the AP on the financial problems of the KHL.

MOSCOW (AP) — The Kontinental Hockey League has cut a Russian team as it tries to fix worsening financial problems, including debts to league players of over $17 million.

KHL president Dmitry Chernyshenko said Wednesday that the league is removing the Metallurg Novokuznetsk team, which had a 14-46 record and small crowds this season, as it bids to become leaner and more commercially successful.

Croatian team Medvescak Zagreb said in March it would withdraw to join the Austrian-based EBEL league.

Chernyshenko says the KHL — widely considered the world’s strongest league outside the NHL — has been hit by “unprecedented” wage delays to players totaling over 1 billion rubles ($17.7 million).

Seven of the KHL’s 29 teams are “regularly” late with salaries and some players have been waiting over six months for payment.

“The KHL will not stand for this,” Chernyshenko said.

From 27 teams next season, the KHL will cut three more for the 2018-19 season, Chernyshenko said. A statistical rating system measuring teams’ on-ice ability, their finances and crowd appeal will be used to determine who quits the league.

The league also plans to lower the salary cap and close some loopholes which help big spenders. That could make the league more competitive and reduce the dominance of wealthy teams like CSKA Moscow and SKA St. Petersburg, which are funded by state-owned oil and gas companies.

SKA won its second KHL championship in three years last month after posting a 46-14 record in the regular season and then winning all but two of the 18 games it played across four rounds in the playoffs.

Ahti Oksanen who played 15 games for the Wolf Pack filling in admirably during an injury stretch after being recalled from the Greenville Swamp Rabbits (ECHL) has decided to head back home to Finland. Oksanen signed a deal with SaiPa (Finland-FEL) for 2017-18. He signed a one-year AHL deal out of Boston University (HEA) with Hartford last summer.

The Rochester Americans announced via their parent club, the Buffalo Sabres, that their new ECHL affiliate will be the Cincinnati Cyclones. Cincinnati was an AHL affiliate of Buffalo in their early years of their franchise from 1971-74. The Cyclones replace the Elmira Jackels who folded at the end of the season.

The team also announced that they fired their head coach, Dan Lambert, after just one season. He was their third head coach relieved of their duties in three years.

Sacred Heart University grad Justin Danforth who played with Elmira (ECHL) plus the Bridgeport Sound Tigers and Rochester at the end of the season, signed an AHL deal for next season with the Americans.

The Chicago Wolves saw St. Louis promote Darryl Sydor to the Blues. That makes for an assistant coach opening in Chicago for Las Vegas, their new co-affiliate, to place their coach alongside current head coach, Craig Berube. Don’t be surprised if that person turns out to be Troy Mann, Hershey’s present head coach.

The Arizona Coyotes formally named Tuscon Roadrunners’ Craig Cunningham a Pro Scout as his career was ended prematurely when he suffered a yet unexplained major cardiac event in November.

Congrats to ex-Pack, Matt Gilroy. The defenseman will be honored on November 4^th by being inducted into the BU Hockey Hall of Fame.

Gilroy was a three-time All-American in his four years. He is just one of three BU players to ever do that. Gilroy helped lead to them to an improbable NCAA title (their fifth) with the Terriers in 2009. The team was down two goals  in the final minute of regulation against Miami of Ohio. Gilroy set up Farmington’s Nick Bonino for the game tying goal with 17.4 seconds left and they eventually won 4-3.

Gilroy was a walk-on who captured the Hobey Baker Award in his senior season where he was the second BU player to win the coveted title. The Pack’s new GM, Chris Drury, was the other. He finished his BU career with  25 goals 67 assists and 92 points.

Gilroy presently is a KHL All-Star with Spartak Moscow and played 223 NHL games with the New York Rangers, Tampa Bay Lightning, Ottawa Senators and Florida Panthers. He also played games with the Wolf Pack/CT Whale.

His free agent deal out of college spouted, “The Gilroy Rule,” exploiting a hole in the CBA contract that was used ironically by Jimmy Hayes and Jimmy Vesey of the Rangers when they declined to sign with their draft teams Chicago and Nashville respectively.

Gilroy was inadvertently the subject of a comical mishap.  The XL Center jumbotron sported a team trivia question. The answer stated he played for Boston College–the Terriers archrival. It led to an embarrassing and comical profanity laced tirade by Gilroy regarding the error.

Three very close former Whalers maybe riding together again in the NHL in the Windy City. Published reports have current Charlotte Checkers (AHL) head coach, Ulf Samuelsson, the former Ranger, Wolf Pack and Avon Old Farm assistant coach, joining his ex-Whaler teammates Blackhawks head coach Joel Quenneville and assistant coach Kevin Dineen after the team’s other assistant coach, Mike Kitchen, was let go by Chicago.

If they could find a way they would have Ron Francis in Chicago too to complete the quartet of friends.

Former Wolf Pack defenseman Thomas Pock has hung up his skates and is getting into the coaching game.

Pock was named the new head coach for the Boston Pride (NWHL). He is second ex-Wolf Pack to be coaching in the National Women’s Hockey League. Chad Wiseman, of the New York Riveters (NWHL), is the other. They were also teammates on the 2004-05 Wolf Pack team with now ex-Pack Head Coach, Ken Gernander who played that year in his last season.

Pock and his wife reside with their three children in Massachusetts.

Pock played for EC Graz 99’ers (Austria-AEHL) in his native Austria last season playing 44 games with six goals and 30 points. He played 204 career games in Austrian Elite League (known as EBEL) with 30 goals, 82 assists and 112 points.

He played for Hartford from 2004-2008. His best season was 2005-06 when he tallied 61 points in 67 games. He played 257 AHL with games 34 goals and 145 points.

One other interesting fact, in his retirement and head coaching announcement, they noted his last name has been misspelled since he played in North America starting with his time at UMASS-Amherst (HEA). The correct spelling of his name is Poeck. The “e” with two dots above the o.

His is the 63^rd ex-Wolf Pack player to be coaching hockey as a head or assistant coach in pro, minor, college juniors or in Europe.

Cory Stillman, the son-in-law of ex-New Haven Nighthawk Bud Stefanski, was named head coach of Sudbury (OHL). Stillman’s son and Stefanski’s grandson  Riley plays with Oshawa (OHL).

Ex-Pack Bobby Saguinetti changes teams in the Switzerland LNA league going from EHC Kloten to HC Lugano.

Former CT Whale Casey Wellman goes from Frolunda HC (Sweden-SHL) to HK Sochi (Russia-KHL).

Ex-Pack Devin Didiomete re-signs with SHC Fassa (Italy-AlpsHL) for 2017-18.

Ex-Sound Tiger Tyler Mosienki goes from Frederickshavn IK (Denmark-DHL) to HC Epinal (France-FREL).

Ex-Sound Tiger Chad Costello leaves Allen (ECHL) for Islerlohn (Germany-DEL)

Tim Wallace, who played seven games at the end of the season in his second tour with the Sound Tigers and after playing in Fischtown (Germany-DEL) to start the year and then most of the season played in his native Alaska with the now defunct Alaska Aces (ECHL), has signed with Sheffield (England-EIHL) for next year.

Nick Sorenson leaves San Diego and is heading to his native Sweden to play for Linkopings HC (Sweden-SHL). Anton Lander (Bakersfuield/ Edmonton-NHL) leaves for AK Bars Kazan (Russia-KHL). Combine those two with Hellberg’s departure from the AHL grows the list of departees to Europe to 19.

Former Salisbury Prep player Philippe Paquet goes from Fife (Scotland-EIHL) to HC Rouen (France-FREL).

IIHF WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

Sweden captured the gold medal with a 2-1 shootout win. The Rangers’ Henrik Lundqvist was in net for the big game.

Side note: Eight new inductees to the IIHF Hall of Fame. Choate Rosemary Hall graduate, Angela Ruggiero, became one of just six pro hockey players to have to be have inducted in the both the Hockey Hall of Fame and international Hockey Hall of Fame.

Ruggiero won Gold for Team USA at the Nagano Games and a Silver in 2002 and four World Women’s championship titles.

Sadly, Ruggiero couldn’t attend the ceremonies with the passing of her father Bill Ruggiero. Our condolences to the family.

The other inductees include Teemu Selanne and Saku Koivu, both eligible to enter the HHOF this year. Joe Sakic, Dieter Kalt and German great Uwe Krupp, one of the first successful big men who wasn’t a fighter at 6’5 245 lbs and first German to play in the NHL. Krupp played with Buffalo, the New York Islanders, the Colorado Avalanche (scored cup clinching goal in triple OT) and the Detroit Red Wings in his career.

STANLEY CUP FINALS

Is now officially set after Pittsburgh’s dramatic 3-2 double overtime victory over the Ottawa Senators Thursday night.

The Penguins the defending Stanley Cup champions look to become the first repeat champion since the Red Wings in the mid-1990’s

The Ottawa loss means Canada’s Stanley Cup drought becomes 24 years. The last Canadian based team in the final was Vancouver in 2011.

When the finals start Monday night the Penguins feature CT natives in Nick Bonino (Farmington) and Ron Hainsey (Bolton), who was acquired at the trade deadline from Carolina by current Penguins GM Jim Rutherford, a former Whalers GM and one time Nighthawks player. Two other players with CT connections Carl Hagelin the ex-CT Whale and Jake Guentzel, son of former Nighthawk, Mike Guentzel, who is the head coach at the University of Minnesota.

Nashville features Greenwich native Colin Wilson, ex-Pack Pierre Parenteau, Calle Jarnok, the cousin of former Nighthawk, Mikael Lindholm, and former Sound Tiger, Harry Zolnierczyk. Parenteau and Zolnierczyk are a part of Nashville’s Black Aces.

The Predators GM is former Nighthawk and Whaler, Paul Fenton. Their scouting staff includes a former Nighthawk now the Predators Pro Scout, Shawn Dineen.

AHL CALDER CUP FINALS ARE SET

The Syracuse Crunch defeated the Providence Bruins and they will face the Grand Rapids Griffins in the Calder Cup Finals. The Griffins knocked off the San Jose Barracuda in the Western Conference Final.

Ex-Packs Dylan McIlrath and Matt Ford are on the Griffins roster.

Game one of the Calder Cup Final begins Friday night June 2nd at 7 pm in Grand Rapids.

ECHL KELLY CUP FINALS

The ECHL Kelly Cup Finals are also all set. The Colorado Eagles will meet the South Carolina Stingrays starting Friday night in Colorado. Game two will be Sunday. The teams take a week off before resuming the series in South Carolina will be a 2-3-2 best of seven format.

Players with local ties for South Carolina is their goalie Parker Millner (Sound Tigers/Avon Old Farms), defenseman Danny Federico (Quinnipiac University) and forwards Scott Tanski (CT Whale) and Trevor Gillies (Wolf Pack/Sound Tigers).

Colorado has ex-Sound Tiger, Darryl Bootland in the lineup along with another ex-Sound Tiger goalie, Kent Simpson. Behind the bench the Eagles assistant coach is ex-Wolf Pack Ryan Tobler.

Ryan Warsofsky (South Carolina) and Aaron Schneekloth (Colorado), are the first head coaches in their first year in that role to meet in the finals since Year One of the league in 1988. That year the title was called the Riley Cup and it was between the Carolina Thunderbirds and the Johnstown Chiefs, who were coached by former New England Whaler, Steve Carlson.

They also join three other coaches in ECHL history to coach a team to the finals in their first season. One of those three was former Ranger, Don “Murder” Murdoch, in his one and only season of coaching with Louisiana in 1999-2000.

MEMORIAL CUP

The host Windsor Spitfires knocked off the Erie Otters 5-2 Wednesday night to advance to Memorial Cup final against the winner of Friday night’s semifinal meeting between the Saint John Sea Dogs and Erie with the winner advancing to play Windsor.

The Spitfires feature Ranger defenseman prospect, Sean Day.

The semi-final game Friday and Sunday’s final is on the NHL Network both at 8:00pm.

RBC CUP

The host Cobourg (Ontario) Cougars captured the Canadian Junior A title with a 3-2 overtime win over the Brooks (Alberta) Bandits.

Nick Minerva (New Brunswick, NJ) scored the game winner at 8:21 of the extra ssession.

Brooks Tyler Carangelo (Hamden/Avon Old Farms) who came back from a serious mid-season concussion played in all six tournament games with a one goal scored.

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