CANTLON’S CORNER: WOLF PACK OFF-SEASON VOLUME 7, PART 2 

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings

HARTFORD, CT: So much news going on around the hockey world that it requires another report.

AHL CALDER CUP FINALS

The hockey season that just won’t end.

However, there’s only one more professional hockey game between North America and Europe and it will be for the AHL Calder Cup Championship on Thursday night at 7 pm (NHL Network) between the Texas Stars and the Toronto Marlies.

Goalie Mike McKenna, who played the last seven years in Springfield and Portland, turned in a spectacular 38 save performance in a 4-1 win on Tuesday night. The win evened the series at three and forced a decisive game seven.

McKenna showed early on that it was going to be a tough night for the Marlies. He stopped 16 shots in the first period as the Marlies pursue becoming the first Maple Leafs farm team to win a Calder Cup since the 1981-82 New Brunswick (Moncton) Hawks who were a dual affiliate with Chicago that year.

Right from the outset, the Marlies used their speed to take control of Game 5 from the Texas Stars en route to a 6-2 win and set up Game 6 on Tuesday night (8 pm on the NHL Network) in Toronto. The Marlies will be seeking to clinch the Calder Cup. This series is the only pro hockey still being played in North America and Europe.

The Marlies’ Calle Rosen scored two goals in the second period. The second goal was a spectacular end-to-end rush moving from the right to the left wing side and allowed the Marlies to pull away.

The Marlies were strong in the game led by Chris Mueller. The ex-Pack connected on a short pass in traffic to Colin Greening, who in turn wasted little time and put it in the net for what proved to be the game winner.

Game 1 was a wild affair to kick off the championship series. The game was a 6-5 win for the Marlies.

Mueller, a former Texas Stars player who won the Calder Cup against a Keith McCambridge coached St. John’s Maple Leafs, was the star of Game 1 registering a goal and two assists. The second helper came as he gained control of a loose bouncing puck and with his head up spotted Travis Dermott. The Marlies defenseman moved in and snapped the game winner midway thru the third period.

If Toronto wins Tuesday night, they will be just the fifth Canadian based team to win the top AHL prize in the last 40 years.

The Hamilton Bulldogs won the Calder in 2006-07. The Saint John Flames won it in 2000-01. Back in 1992-93, the Cape Breton Oilers, behind the league’s record holding scoring leader, Bill MacDougall, who had 52 points in 23 games, a record that will likely never be broken. The 1984-85 Sherbrooke Canadiens and the 1981-’82 New Brunswick Hawks were the remaining two teams.

The only other Canadian-based Calder Cup champions were the very formidable, Nova Scotia Voyageurs in the early 1970’s. They won three titles in five years and featured many future Stanley Cup champions and a few Hockey Hall of Famers.

KELLY CUP FINALS

It all came down to Game 7.

The Colorado Eagles exited the ECHL in style winning their second consecutive title. They are the fourth team in the ECHL’s 30 year history to exit the ECHL after doing so.  The Eagles did this on the road with a 3-2 win over the Florida Everblades. The Eagles’ Gabriel Versplaent scored a shorthanded goal with 2:29 left in regulation and four seconds remaining on Michael Joly’s penalty.

Joly, an ex-Pack, had an excellent post-season in which he earned MVP honors. Joly scored 13 goals and had 29 points, including the first Eagles goal in Game Seven. He played in all 24 post season matches and had nine points in the Kelly Cup Finals.

Before an SRO crowd in Loveland, CO, the Eagles won Game 6 to force the decisive game 7 in what would be their last ECHL home game before moving to the AHL next season as the Colorado Avalanche’s top affiliate .

Joly had two goals and assist to pace the 4-2 victory.

STANLEY CUP FINALS

Congrats to the Washington Capitals in capturing their first Championship in their 44-year franchise’s history. The victory ends reputation of pretenders to the hockey’s highest throne.

Two former New Haven Nighthawks will get their named on the Cup as well as a ring. SVP/GM,Brian MacLellan and Director of Pro Scouting, Steve Richmond.

The very first Capitals team won just eight games the entire season and just one on the road. On that very first team was former New Haven Blade, and Nighthawk, Gordie Smith, a West Haven resident. Smith played the first three years of the Caps franchise and is the younger brother of Islander great, and four-time Cup winning goalie, Billy Smith.

After the Caps, Smith spent time with the Winnipeg Jets and did two tours with the Nighthawks. He played his last season as a pro in the Elm City. He did play on the last Blades in the Eastern Hockey League that closed out the New Haven Arena on Grove Street.

Smith coached West Haven High in the early 1990’s for three seasons.

SEATTLE NHL EXPANSION

The red-hot Seattle dish has been set aside for a few months before it will be served up.

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, in his Stanley Cup Final media interviews, said the application for a 32^nd franchise by Seattle would likely be voted on in the fall by the NHL Board of Governors. Once that happens, and that is more likely than not, the Seattle group will likely then name a Team President to begin attending league meetings and begin to start formulating an organization. He’ll interview for a GM, head coach, and of course, a scouting staff.

The Key Arena renovations are slated to begin in the fall.

A monorail system will be built in a two phase setup slated to be ready for 2020 when the arena is scheduled to be ready.

The monorail would allow fans from Seattle Center to take the one-mile trip to the Key Arena as part of Seattle’s desire to reduce car congestion in the area.

The second phase would be done by 2024. They are developing a light rail system to suburban areas of Seattle permitting fans go to the Seattle Center and then transfer.

Once also a franchise application is granted by the NHL BOG, the process for a 32^nd AHL franchise for the team and the AHL Pacific Division will begin.

Bettman was called out on a live segment of the CBC’s Coaches Corner by Don Cherry and host Ron MacLean. They wanted to speak to Bettman about the lack of movement concerning the NHL potentially returning to Quebec City.

Bettman opened the door a bit.

The Commissioner stated Quebecor, who filled out an expansion application at the same time as Las Vegas, wasn’t a problem. He said the currency exchange rate between the US and Canadian dollar which Quebecor, the applicant, has no control over, affected their bid. However, Quebec built a brand new state-of-the-art 18,000-plus seating $450 million gem of an arena in the Videotron Centre. They built it on time and under budget. The building now houses the QMJHL Quebec Remparts, who outdraw four NHL teams on a per game basis.

The city government under the leadership of current Mayor Regis Lebeaume, who is not running for reelection in the fall, has maintained radio silence on an NHL future in Quebec City, a major component that Bettman requires of any bidder.

ISLANDERS NEW HOME

The brand new Belmont Park Arena, which will become the future home for the New York Islanders, is slated to break ground in the spring of 2019. It is on schedule and a preliminary opening date will be the 2021-22 season.

This arena opening, once the shovels are filled with dirt and construction begins, will have an impact on the future of the XL Center as another regional venue to compete with. It could also potentially change the future of the Sound Tigers. Lou Lamoriello is in charge as the team’s President and GM, and relieved (fired) Garth Snow and head coach Doug Weight earlier in the week.

When he was with the New Jersey Devils, Lamoriello was never a fan of either Albany, NY or Lowell, MA  as homes to their farm teams. He was much more concerned about the player development side than the business side of the AHL team.

Once Jon Ledecky, and Scott Malkin, became the majority owners of the Islanders, they said that the Sound Tigers would not be moved to Long Island to play at the renovated Nassau Coliseum.

Starting this fall, the Islanders will play half of their home games at Nassau Coliseum and the other half at the Barclay’s Center in Brooklyn. That requires ice making equipment and staff at the Nassau Coliseum. At the same time as the Islanders make their move into the new arena at Belmont, the Sound Tigers onerous 20-year lease at the Webster Bank Arena will be expiring.

The current CBA agreement has given rise to NHL teams moving their farm team’s closer to the parent club’s locale. It has cut down on player recall expenses and development expenses. That document is coming due for renegotiation. The end result on that new CBA in terms of relation to this matter is anyone’s guess. It’s likely to remain much the same in this matter with a few tweaks here and there.

PLAYER MOVEMENT

Hartford Wolf Pack goaltender, Marek Mazanec, has been signed by the New York Rangers to a one year, two-way deal ($650K-NHL/$200K-AHL) for 2018-19. Mazanec was signed away from HC Slovan Bratislava (Slovakia-KHL). He made his Wolf Pack debut on December 10^th against the Springfield Thunderbirds and posted an 11-6-2 record with a 2.97 GAA and a .905 save percentage. He missed two months with a groin injury.

Chris DiDomenico is the 19th, and the latest AHL’er to sign in Europe. He returns to the same team he played for two years ago inking a deal with SC Langnau (Switzerland-LNA).

DiDomenico played with four teams this season. He started with the Ottawa Senators (NHL) then went to the AHL and Belleville, then spent three games with the Syracuse Crunch and ended the year with the Rockford Ice Hogs.

Syracuse’s Carter Verhaeghe (58-17-31-48), a former Sound Tiger, signed a one-year, one-way NHL deal with the Tampa Bay Lightning ($650k).

David Norris of Arizona St. (NCAA) has signed with Milton Keynes (England-EIHL) for next season making 18 collegians have signed to play in Europe and 198 players in total in Division I have signed pro deals.

Ex-Pack, Steve Delisle, who started last year with Norfolk (ECHL) moved on to HC Banska Bystrica (Slovakia-SLEL). He signs for next season with HC Sparta Prague (Czech Republic-CEL).

Sacred Heart University Pioneers (AHA) assistant coach, Joel Beal, has signed to be one of the two new assistant coaches with Miami (OH) Red Hawks (NCHC) starting this fall.

Former Danbury Trasher, Bruce Richardson, was named the new head coach for the Blaineville-Boisbrand Armada (QMJHL) to replace the departing former Wolf Pack and Sound Tiger, Joel Bouchard, who will coach Laval (AHL) next season.

IN MEMORIAM

Sad news on the announcement of the passing of former New England Whaler, Boston Bruin great, and an ex-Ranger as well, of 80-year-old, Johnny “Pie” McKenzie.

McKenzie was confined to a bed due to illness. During his career, McKenzie couldn’t be constrained and was a fearless player battling on the ice while putting up some points as well.

He played in St. Catherine’s in the OHA (the precursor to the OHL). He played in Calgary when it was in the Western Hockey League. McKenzie then went on a senior semi-pro circuit on a team called the Stampeders, which is also the name of their current CFL team. McKenzie also played on a Gordie Howe led Red Wings team for a year-and-a-half in the early 1960’s. He was sent to the AHL where he played with the Hershey Bears for two years. He won an AHL Calder Cup with the Buffalo Bisons, who would help pave way for the Sabres entrance into the NHL.

McKenzie played for the Blackhawks with little success, and was on the Rangers roster for just 35 games where he tallied just 11 points. McKenzie was dealt to Boston where his career took off.

The diminutive Irishman in Boston, a part of the Big Bad Bruins, was a large part of the explosive growth of hockey in New England. While Bobby Orr caught everybody’s eye and attention, in his seven years in Beantown, McKenzie averaged 24 goals, 56.5 points and 100 PIM and won two Stanley Cups.

Then, along came the WHA and big money. McKenzie, along with Derek Sanderson, and Bernie Parent in Philadelphia all left their NHL teams to become part of the Philadelphia Blazers. McKenzie was a player coach the first season for 13 games. The renegade league gave him a second act where he played all seven years of the league’s existance.

When Philly moved the team, he went to Vancouver where he skated for the Minnesota Fighting Saints. There he played with another band of crazy characters, The Carlson Brothers, Jack, Steve, and Jeff. They would became the inspiration for The Hanson Brothers in the original Slapshot movie. McKenzie made a brief stint with the Cincinnati Stingers before heading back to Minnesota before making his last stop via a trade to the New England Whalers, owners of the great Kelly green uniforms and harpoon logo.

He played well enough for the Whalers. He was skating again with Howe, and joined by Bobby Hill, and Dave Keon. Those three legends of the game called Hartford home. There he played 189 games with 67 goals, 48 assists for 105 points and 201 PIM. His NHL-WHA numbers 1,168 games 339 goals and 887 points and 1,540 PIM.

McKenzie kept battling too. In the Whalers final WHA playoff series against their fierce rival, the Quebec Nordiques, he had his last fighting major. The fight was against Robbie Ftorek at the end of the regular season and ended his long 21-year pro career. He was a first team and second team All Star in each league.

McKenzie’s number 19 was retired by the Hartford Whalers which caught the fans by surprise. The number still hangs in the rafters of the XL Center. Many NE Whalers fans felt McKenzie getting the nod before Tom Webster, one of their top goal scorers, or perhaps Larry Pleau’s number should have been retired after they went to the NHL, was premature.

McKenzie battled alcoholism and a cigarette addiction eventually getting a handle on both. The damage however combined with two divorces was tough on him. The Boston Globe reported that McKenzie was able to reconcile with his family in his later years.

Rest in Peace, Pie McKenzie.