CANTLON: WOLF PACK OFF SEASON VOLUME 6 PART 2 

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings

HARTFORD, CT – Player and Coaches alike are making moves these days and more announcements are expected.

PLAYER AND COACHING MOVEMENT

Former Hartford Whaler, Dave Tippett, gave up a luxurious job of creating the new Seattle NHL team to hop behind the bench of the talented, but underachieving Edmonton Oilers as he signed a multi-year deal with the team’s new GM Ken Holland, who he himself was just hired from the Detroit Red Wings.

Ex Bridgeport Sound Tiger and ex-Hartford Wolf Pack, Chris Bourque makes his third foray to Europe signing with EHC Munich (Germany-DEL) for next season.

In 794 games, Bourque leaves the AHL with 746 points, good for tenth place in AHL history.  The son of Hall-of-Famer, Ray Bourque, has several scoring titles, made many All-Star teams, has been the regular season MVP, the playoff MVP, and won several Calder Cups. He is a sure-fire first ballot AHL Hall of Famer when he becomes eligible.

Ex-Pack Chris McCarthy re-signs with the Hershey Bears on a one-year AHL deal for next season.

Goalie Harri Sateri leaves the Grand Rapids Griffins for Sibir Novosibirsk (Russia-KHL). Grayson Downing, who split the year with the Colorado Eagles and the Utah Grizzlies (ECHL) signs with Esbjerg (Denmark-DHL). Tomas Hyka, who’s started the AHL Calder Cup Finals, leaves for Traktor Chelyabinsk (Russia-KHL) next season and Filip Pyrochta leaves the Milwaukee Admirals and heads back to HC Brno (Czech Republic-CEL).

Its official defenseman Adam Ollas Mattsson is leaving the Stockton Heat to go to Malmo IF (Sweden-SHL).

Brett Walchyka leaves the Rockford IceHogs for Esbjerg (Denmark-DHL). Mike McMurty leaves Stockton for HC Banska Bystrica (Slovakia-SLEL) and ex-Sound Tiger, David Ullstrom, leaves the Tucson Roadrunners and signs with Dynamo Riga (Latvia-KHL).

That makes for 32 AHL’ers that have left for Europe and 19 of 31 AHL teams have lost at least one player thus far to Europe.

Stephon Williams, an ex-Sound Tiger goalie, signs with SC Bietigheim-Bissen (Germany DEL-2) for next year.

Josh Norris has left Michigan (Big-10) after his sophomore year and signed a two-way, three-year ELC deal with the Ottawa Senators.

Ryan Black of Northern Michigan (WCHA) signs with HC Briancon (France-FREL). Joining him is Felix Chamberland of Canisius College (AHA) and Chris Moquin of Southern New Hampshire University (CCC). He heads to the Sydney Bears (Australia-AIHKL) that makes 31 collegians that have signed with European teams and 217 overall in total have signed pro deals.

There are college hockey coaching changes as well.

Merrimack (HE) hires the long-time Division III head coach of Plattsburgh State, (SUNYAC) Bob Emery, as their Director of Hockey Operations. Former AHL’er Karl Goehring was named the new assistant coach with North Dakota (NCHC)

University Alaska-Anchorage (WCHA) announces it’s moving its team’s home games from the Sullivan Arena to the on-campus Wells Fargo Center in a cost-cutting move with a state budget crisis in Alaska.

Ex-CT Whale Kelsey Tessier departs Vienna (Austria-EBEL) and heads back to Sweden. He will lace them up for Vasteras IK (Sweden-Allsvenskan) in the fall.

Ex-Sound Tiger Mike Halmo leaves Ilves Tampere (Finland-FEL) to Iserlohn (Germany-DEL). Ex-Pack David Stich leaves KLH Chomutov (Czech Republic-CEL) signs with HC Litvinov (Czech Republic-CEL) for next year. Ex-Pack, Kyle Beach, departs Tolzer Lowen (Germany DEL-2) for DVTK (Romania-EBEL).

Ben Lake (Sacred Heart University) stays in the Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL) going from Coventry (England) to Belfast (Northern Ireland).

Defenseman Mike Cichy of New Hartford and born in New Britain, has re-signed with GKS Tychy (Poland-PZIHL).

The lowest level of minor league hockey, the Federal Hockey League (FHL), has added two more teams in addition to the Danbury Colonials. The latest team is the Columbus (GA) River Dragons. The city last had a minor pro team, the Columbus Cottonmouth of the SPHL, but that team ceased operations in 2016.

The new team hired the old team’s head coach/GM as former New Haven Nighthawk, and Whaler draft pick, Jerome Bechard, joins as the VP of Public Relations. No coaching staff has been hired yet. The other team that will be joining the league will be the Delaware Thunder who also have no coaching staff but does have a mini-roster listed with Ray Boudiette (Redding) on the roster.

The Canadian National Junior A tournament concluded in Brooks, Alberta. The host Brook Bandits (AJHL) took home the title winning the series and the final game by the same score. They beating the Prince George Spruce Kings 4-3 in the final and won the series 4-3 as well.

Six teams competed and some familiar names were involved, the Oakville Blades (OJHL) have Jamie Storr, the former LA King, as head coach and his two player development coaches are former player Jamie Allison and ex-Sound Tiger Rob Hisey. The Ottawa Jr. Senators (CCHL) has Ethan Manderville on the roster. He’s the son of former Whaler, Kent Manderville, and the team’s assistant coach is former CT Whale, Ryan Garlock.

Former Nighthawk Mark Ferner has stepped down GM/head coach of the Vernon Vipers (BCHL).

The QJAAAHL has renamed and they saw former Danbury Trasher, Dustin Traylen, sell the team which was once known as the St. Lazare Revolution. They moved last year and become the Lac (Lake) St. Louis Revolution and are now under new ownership and will be called the West Island Shamrocks.

The league is also relocating a team to St. Georges-de-Beauce which is along the Maine and Canadian border.

The Hershey Bears have signed Steve Whitney, the younger brother of former Wolf Pack captain and Sound Tiger, Joe Whitney. They’ve also added goalie Parker Milner (Avon Old Fames) to one year AHL deals for 2019-20.

Michael McCosh, the son of former New Haven Nighthawk and Senator Shawn McCosh, commits to the New Mexico Ice Wolves (NAHL) for next year.

Remember former Yale University (ECACHL) assistant coach, Dan Poliziani Sr.? He who served under the late Tim Taylor for 11 years in the late 1980s and in the 1990s. His son, Dan Poliziani Jr., graduated from a Canadian college, Ryerson University (OUAA), and signs a deal with Dunkirk (France-Division-2).

The elder Poliziani is a head coach with the Canadian high school team called Stanstead College in Quebec (CAHS/MPHL) which is just over the Vermont-Canada border on I-91. Their arena is called the Pat Burns Arena. Prior to his passing, Burns was present for the groundbreaking to make a new hockey rink at the school and sadly passed away a month later in November 2010.

Poliziani Sr. played for Yale for four years (1978-1982) was the captain his senior year and had 131 points in 101 games.

THE BALDWINS

If you think Howard Baldwin Sr. has learned his lessons and changed his ways read these astonishing accounts of their shenanigans that dates back to their CT Whale days. Simply amazing! Read it HERE

With that background in mind, we can now return to the facts of this case. In the district court, the Baldwins did not dispute that the amended 2005 tax return they claim to have mailed in June 2011 was never received by the IRS. The Baldwins, therefore, sought to rely on the common-law mailbox rule to establish that the document was presumptively delivered to the IRS in June 2011, shortly after they mailed it. They offered the testimony of two of their employees, who had been tasked with mailing the document on the Baldwins’ behalf. The employees explained that they deposited the amended 2005 return in the mail at the post office in Hartford, Connecticut, on June 21, 2011. Under the common-law mailbox rule, that testimony, if credited by the court, would give rise to a rebuttable presumption that the amended return was delivered to the IRS well before the October 15, 2011, deadline.

The district court credited the testimony of the Baldwins’ employees and found, on the basis of the common-law mailbox rule, that the Baldwins’ claim for a refund had been timely filed.