CANLTON’S CORNER: WOLF PACK OFF SEASON VOLUME 11 

CANLTON’S CORNER: Wolf Pack Off Season Volume 11

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings

HARTFORD, CT – NFL football camps are opening. In basketball, the free agent signing period is in full-swing while in the NHL, nothing seems to be slowing down as the summer moves along.

RANGERS SIGNING

Of the many problems that existed for the Hartford Wolf Pack last season, the most glaring concern was between the pipes as the goaltending was far beneath an acceptable level.

The theory was that with both Magnus Hellberg, returning off a solid season, and a healthy and seeming revitalized Mackenzie Skapski, who is now fully recovered from hip surgery, could be the foundation upon which the team could build as the team’s young members adjusted to life in pro hockey.

It’s pretty apparent, that never materialized.

Hellberg freely admitted at the end of the year that he was sub-par. He seemingly was always fighting the puck and had problems shoulder high to his glove side and getting beaten early in too many games. Skapski just never seemed to recover sinking deeper and deeper on the depth chart as the season progressed.

Skapski never seemed to recover and sunk deeper and deeper on the depth chart as the season progressed.

After such an impressive training camp in New York, Skapski had a terrible performance in an early season game in Providence. “The Buffalo Killer,” as Rangers head coach Alain Vigneault dubbed him in his rookie season after two wins against the Sabres, dropped to 0-4 and was getting beaten cleanly on long shots. He also was apprehensive in his decision making deciding to stay back in his net instead of getting to a loose puck that the Bruins Jake DeBrusk raced in to get before beating him to the top shelf. His performance earned him a return ticket to the ECHL and the Greenville Swamp Rabbits, where he remained except for a few emergency recalls. Skapski ended the year with his getting bombed in a 6-1 shellacking in his only playoff appearance. He did not even dress for the following game.

Hellberg has since signed in Beijing, China with the Kunlun Red Star, a KHL team there.

Skapski was cut loose and to date has yet to sign anywhere for the upcoming season.

The Rangers are left to protect the net with Brandon Halverson, who was not a favorite of the departed Ken Gernander. Halverson enters the second year of his three year entry level deal. He is joined by free agent signee Chris Nell out of Bowling Green (NCHC) who played admirably at the end of the season. The Rangers added some competition to the training camp mix for September.

The Rangers did not feel comfortable with that combination as their netminding tandem, so they added some competition to the training camp mix for September.

The team signed a 21-year-old, undrafted, Russian goaltender, Alexander Georgiev, who played the last four years in Finland, two in the Finnish junior league and the last two in the Elite League with TPS Turku. Georgiev played 27 games last year posting a 1.70 GAA, and .925 save percentage.

Georgiev impressed scouts with his play for the Russian World Junior squad last December/January. In eight games, the 6’1 and roughly 180-pound netminder booked a 2.25 GAA, and .911 save percentage in the short, but highly regarded tourney.

The Rangers/Wolf Pack have not had much success with Russians wearing the goalie pads. In 2000-01 Vitali Yeremev, who is a Kazakhstan/Russian, played 36 games and posted a 2.07 GAA and a .903 save percentage and with just eight games in Charlotte with the Checkers, who were the team’s ECHL affiliate at the time, was also the Wolf Pack’s AHL All-Star representative that season. He left after the season and never came back.

It is no guarantee that Georgiev will stay in America. The Russians offer friendly contracts, and in the KHL they limit the amount of foreign import goalies permitted to play in the league. These moves are made to keep more of their top flight home-grown goalies in Russia and not have them go elsewhere such as in Georgiev’s case.

To this point, the Rangers have been unable to bring their 2014 4^th round pick, goalie Igor Shestyorking, to the United States. The Rangers hope he will leave the KHL Gargarin Cup champion SKA St. Petersburg and come to the Big Apple. Like Gregoriev, Shestyorking is 21 and 6’1 and weighing in at about 190 pounds. His stats have been impressive with SKA St. Petersburg. In 39 games, Shestyorking has a 1.64 GAA and .937 save percentage with SKA St. Petersburg, who team sports five former top shelf NHL players on their roster.

Because there is not a transfer agreement between the Russian Hockey Federation and the NHL, and as per the CBA, the rights of Russian-drafted players is open ended unlike those of in Europe where an NHL team maintains the players’ rights for four years. North American players are different. The rights remain held until a player reaches age 21 or until they leave college. If they go unsigned by a specified date, the player obtains UFA status if several pieces of criteria are met. 

The Rangers now have three goalies for depth behind Henrik Lundqvist and the recently signed Ondrej Pavelec. Jeff Malcolm could become the fourth goalie. Malcolm was well paid and well-respected by coaches and players and would make a valuable insurance policy.

Ex-Pack Steve Moses has left SKA St. Petersburg and signed a one year AHL deal with Rochester.

On Tuesday, the Rangers surprisingly signed foward Daniel Catenacci to a one year two-way deal ($650K-NHL/$85K-AHL). He came to the Pack at the trade deadline for former captain, defenseman Mat Bodie. Catenacci played 18 games for the Wolf Pack.

AHL PLAYERS TO THE OLYMPICS

The NHL has elected NOT to participate in the 2018 Olympic Games in Pyeonchang, South Korea. This move means that the various countries will be reverting to the AHL to field teams in February. The US and Canada will not be the only team plucking players from their AHL teams. Other countries, including Russia, Sweden, Switzerland, Finland, Germany will do so as well.

Teams will also be filled out with players from the Europeans leagues.

Here is a story  from Associated Press.

Players on American Hockey League contracts will be eligible to play in the 2018 Winter Olympics. AHL President and CEO David Andrews confirmed through a league spokesman Wednesday that teams were informed they could loan players on AHL contracts to national teams for the purposes of participating in the Pyeongchang Olympics.

The AHL sent a memo to its 30 clubs saying players could only be loaned for Olympic participation from Feb. 5-26.

The Olympic men’s hockey tournament runs from Feb. 9-25. Like the NHL, which is not having its players participate for the first time since 1994, the AHL does not have an Olympic break in its schedule.

The AHL’s decision does not affect players assigned to that league on NHL one- or two-way contracts. No final decision has been made about those players.

NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly denied a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation report that the league had told its 31 teams that AHL players could be loaned to play in the Olympics. It was an AHL memo sent at the direction of that league’s board of governors.

When the NHL announced in April that it wouldn’t be sending players to South Korea after participating in five consecutive Olympics, Andrews said the AHL was prepared for Canada, the United States and other national federations to request players.

“I would guess we’re going to lose a fair number of players,” Andrews said in April. “Not just to Canada and the U.S., but we’re going to lose some players to other teams, as well. But we’re used to that. Every team in our league has usually got two or three guys who are on recalls to the NHL, so it’s not going to really change our competitive integrity or anything else.”

The U.S. and Canada are expected to rely heavily on players in European professional leagues and college and major junior hockey to fill out Olympic rosters without NHL players.

The last time there were no NHL players in the Olympics, it was the 1994 Games in Lillehammer, Norway. The US team that year finished seventh out of eight teams and lost a hockey game to Germany.

That year the US squad was coached by then Yale head coach, the late Tim Taylor. There were several CT Connections on that team including defenseman Matt Martin (Hamden, CT / Avon Old Farms). To date, three players from the Town of Hamden have had that honor. They include Jonathan Quick (2010 & 2014) who played at Hamden and Avon Old Farms as well and 1960 gold medal winner Bob McVey at Squaw Valley, CA.

Ted Drury (Trumbull, CT) played on the 1992 team and his brother Chris, now the Pack’s GM and assistant GM of the Rangers was on three US Olympic teams (2003, 2006 and 2012).

Dave Roberts (Old Lyme/Avon Old Farms), the son of former New England Whaler, Doug Roberts and his uncle Gordie Roberts, who were a New England and Hartford Whaler. There was also goalie Mike Dunham (Canterbury Prep) who until recently was the New York Islanders goalie coach.

Joining Taylor on the bench was the late John Cunniff as his assistant. Cunniff is a charter member of the New England Whalers and was a head coach and assistant coach for the Hartford Whalers in their early NHL years.

A few other notable names on that team were Dunham’s battery guard in net from college at Maine, Garth Snow, who is now the Islanders’ GM. Peter Laviollette was the team captain and is now coaching his third NHL team, the Nashville Predators. Lastly, there was a future Wolf Pack, Peter Ferraro.

The announcement of that Olympic team took place in Cromwell at Champions Skating Center.

PLAYER & COACHING MOVEMENT

The AHL to Euro list keeps growing now up to 58.

Fresh adds to the list are Hershey’s Tom Gilbert, who played mostly with Hershey and a cup of coffee with Ontario after starting the year with Los Angeles. Gilbert heads off to Nuremburg (Germany-DEL).

Joining Gilbert in the last week include the Wolf Pack’s Chris Brown, who signs with Iserlohn (Germany-DEL). Mike Zalewski departs Utica for EHC Straubing (Germany-DEL) and ex-Pack, Julien Brouillette, goes from St. John’s to EC Salzburg (Austria-AEHL).

Tanner Richard leaves Syracuse for Switzerland where his family lives. He will play for HC Geneve-Servette (NLA). Stanislav Galiev leaves Hershey for AK Bars Kazan (Russia-KHL) and goalie Jhonas Enroth, who split the year with San Diego and Toronto after three games with the Maple Leafs, heads to Dynamo Minsk (Belarus-KHL).

David Shields leaves Utica for EC Villacher SV (Austria-AEHL) and Matt Frattin goes from Stockton to Kunlun (China-KHL)..

Two now ex-Rangers have also headed to Europe. Defenseman Kevin Klein and foward Brandon Pirri join ZSC Zurich and will play against ex-Pack and Ranger, Raphael Diaz (EV Zug).

Austin Smith, who played at Gunnery Prep (Washington, CT), switches teams in Austria. He goes from HC Innsbruck to HC Bolzano (Italy-AEHL).

A fast rising star in the coaching ranks is former Yale University assistant (2009-2013), Dan Muse. He was named an assistant coach with last spring’s Stanley Cup runner-up, the Nashville Predators.

Muse left Yale just two years ago as one of their primary recruiters to go to the Chicago Steel (USHL) where he won the Clark Cup title in May. Now, in three months, he and his entire staff have moved on to new positions, among them is ex-Sound Tiger goalie Peter Mannino who went to the University Nebraska-Omaha (NCHC).

Muse was an assistant coach with the Sacred Heart University (AHA) in 2008-09.

Mike Paliotta has left the Pack and heads to Toronto to play with the Marlies. Also joining him is now ex-Sound Tiger, Josh Winquist. Only four Wolf Pack remain from last year’s squad that are unsigned. They are all UFA’s, Matt Carey, Tommy Hughes, Skapski, and Malcolm.

Stratford native Jamie Sifers, who played his high school hockey at Fairfield Prep (public school) and Taft Prep (prep school), and who is now 34, leaves Cleveland and signs a two year AHL deal with Utica.

Former Yale goalie, Alex Lyon, signed another one-year, one-way deal with Philadelphia/Lehigh Valley (AHL) at $650K.

Former Kent Prep player Derek Army signs another one year deal with Milwaukee.

Former Sound Tiger Griffin Reinhart signed a two year one-way money with Las Vegas ($750K/$850K).

Barry Goers, an ex-Sound Tiger goes from Wilkes Barre/Scranton to Rochester.

Former UCONN Husky, Shawn Pauly, re-signs with the Kansas City Mavericks (ECHL). Another UCONN grad, goalie Garrett Bartus, was re-signed by the Ft. Wayne Komets (ECHL).

Mitch Jones, son of ex-New Haven Nighthawk Brad Jones, goes from defunct Alaska (ECHL) to Utah (ECHL).

Colin Sullivan, a Milford native who played his high school hockey at Fairfield Prep (public) and Avon Old Farms (prep school), signs with Atlanta (ECHL).

The Vancouver Canucks have a new ECHL affiliate for their AHL Utica team. Replacing Alaska, which folded after the season, is the Kalamazoo K-Wings on a one-year agreement.

Alaska was purchased by Comcast and was moved to Portland, ME and will have an ECHL team there starting in 2018-19.

Ryan Equale (Wilton/UCONN) was named the new head coach for the Connecticut Whale (NWHL). He is UCONN’s third all-time leading scorer with 188 points on 79 goals and 109 assists from 1992-96 when the Huskies were a Division III program. He earned First-Team All-American status in his senior season and wore the C. Equale led Division II in scoring with 21 goals and 62 points in 25 games.

Equale played four years of minor pro hockey in the ECHL with the defunct Roanoke Express and Chesapeake Icebreakers and with the defunct Western Professional Hockey League (WPHL) with the Odessa Jackalopes and Lake Charles (LA) Ice Pirates. The WPHL merged with the Central Hockey League (CHL) which eventually folded too.

Prior to college, Equale was an All-State player with the Wilton High Warriors.

Zach Malik, the son of former Whaler and Beast of New Haven and Ranger defenseman, Marek Malik, was selected in last months CHL Import Draft. An announcement stated he will play for the Sudbury Wolves (OHL) this season.

Patrick Kyte, the son of ex-New Haven Senator and NHL’er Jim Kyte, goes from Pembroke (CCHL) to Halifax (QMJHL) for a year before going to Lake Superior St. (NCHC) in 2018-19.

Matt Steinburg, the son of the former Nighthawk and current St. Mary’s University (AUAA) head coach, Trevor Steinburg, goes from Halifax (NSMMHL) to St. Andrews College (CAPREP), a Canadian prep school outside of Toronto. He is also a Saint John (QMJHL) 2016 Draftee.

Three former Sound Tigers have new Euro addresses. Jake Newton goes from HK Hradec Kralove (Czech Republic-CEL) to Kookoo (Finland-FEL), while Kael Mouillieratt leaves Lulea HF (Sweden-SHL) for ERC Ingolstadt (Germany-DEL) and Ben Walter leaves Nippon (Japan-ALIH) to EC Villacher SV (Austria-AEHL)..

Former Sound Tiger, Bruno Gervais, hangs up the skates at age 32 after playing for Eisbaren Berlin (Germany-DEL) the last two years.

The Rangers have signed two of their draft picks, their first-round pick and #7 overall; Lias Andersson signed a standard three year entry level deal. Andersson is under contract with Frolunda HC (Sweden-SHL) for next season and his Canadian junior rights are currently held by Kitchener (OHL).

Also signed is 18-year-old Czech, Filip Chytil. He inked an entry level deal as well and is under contract to play with HC Zlin (Czech Republic-CEL). His Canadian junior rights are the property of North Bay (OHL).

If they do not make the Rangers squad out of camp, neither is eligible to play in Hartford and could only join the Wolf Pack when either the regular season or playoffs are ended this year.

To date, the Rangers only have 21 of the CBA allowed 23 NHL contracts and 47 of 50 total contracts permitted.

Ex-Wolf Pack, Brock McBride, 30, hangs up the skates to become a head coach with the Cornwall Colts (CCHL), one of the ten Canadian Junior A leagues and where he got his playing career. Last year, McBride finished his playing career with EC Villacher SV and Dornbirner EC (Austria-AEHL). There are now 69 former Wolf Pack players who are coaching hockey at some level in North America and Europe.

Another NCAA signee, junior Mason Appleton, leaves Michigan State (Big 10) early and signs with Winnipeg. Appleton’s departure makes 38 Division I underclassmen (one in Division III) to have left and a total of 158 NCAA Division I players who have signed in the off season. Add in Division III signees, and you have 180 in total.

The latest Division I players include Alex Sakellaropoulos of Union College (ECACHL). Sakellaropoulous signed a contract with Ft. Wayne (ECHL). Nick Roberto of Boston University (HE) signs with South Carolina (ECHL). 36 players have signed in Europe. The latest is Ben Foster (Darien/Choate Prep) of Princeton University (ECACHL). Foster signed with Milton Keynes (England-EIHL).

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