NEW YORK RANGERS vs. OTTAWA SENATORS
2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs – Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, Game One
Thursday, Apr. 12, 7:00 p.m.
Madison Square Garden – New York, NY
BY: Bob Crawford, Voice of the CTWhale
Steve Thomas, who would go on to score 421 goals and 933 points in 1,235 NHL games over 20 seasons, was overlooked coming out of an outstanding Ontario Hockey League Junior career. That was largely due to one factor, size, or more accurately, lack thereof. Thomas, who was nicknamed “Stumpy” for his lack of height, checked in at 5-9 and 170 pounds, distinctly undersized for the NHL of the early ‘80’s, when he was graduating from Junior. As it turned out, though, every NHL team who passed on chances to select him in several drafts, or sign him as an undrafted free agent, would go on to regret it, after Thomas quickly proved himself with the Toronto Maple Leafs as a free agent and became one of the grittier goal-scorers of his era. Continue reading
Posted in AHL, Connecticut Whale, CTWhale, ECHL, Greenville Road Warriors, Hartford Wolf Pack, Hockey, New York Rangers, NHL, Sports
Tagged Bob Crawford, Christian Thomas, Junior, Ken Gernander, New York Ranger, NHL, Steve Thomas, Thomas, Whale
BY: Bruce Berlet
The New York Rangers’ highly expected signing of standout left wing Chris Kreider of the NCAA champion Boston College Eagles became reality Tuesday.
The 6-foot-3, 230-pound Kreider agreed on an entry-level contract with the Rangers and will join the team for practice Wednesday, the eve of their first-round Stanley Cup matchup with the Ottawa Senators. By signing with the Rangers instead of inking an amateur tryout contract with the Connecticut Whale and playing a few regular-season games and in the Calder Cup playoffs, Kreider burns up the first year of his deal regardless of whether he plays in the playoffs. That means he’s a year closer to restricted free agency and arbitration eligibility.
Kreider, who will be 21 on April 30, reportedly signed a three-year deal with a $1.3 million cap hit that becomes two years when he reports Wednesday. He did not get any signing bonus this season or salary for the playoffs but will receive some games played bonuses for the playoffs. Continue reading
Posted in AHL, College Hockey, Connecticut Whale, CTWhale, ECHL, Greenville Road Warriors, Hartford Whalers, Hartford Wolf Pack, Hockey, New York Rangers, NHL, Olympics, Sports, Traverse City Tournament, World Junior Championships
Tagged Blake Parlett, Chris Kreider, Connecticut Whale, Eagles, Jeff Gorton, Kreider, New York Ranger, Ranger, Ryan McDonagh, United States
WHALE RECALL 6 ROAD WARRIORS
* * * *
Connecticut Adds a Goaltender, Two Defensemen and Three Forwards
Connecticut Whale general manager Jim Schoenfeld announced today that six players have been added to the Whale roster from Connecticut’s ECHL affiliate, the Greenville Road Warriors. Continue reading
ROAD WARRIORS END OF SEASON REPORT
BY: Ray Schmitt, Voice of the Greenville Road Warriors
The Greenville Road Warriors have concluded their second season of play in the ECHL. Preparations are now underway for the 2012-13 season which will begin in October.
Final Regular Season Record: 41-25-6, 88 pts., 2nd place South Division
Playoff Record: 0-3-0 Continue reading
BY: Bob Crawford, Voice of the CTWhale
The Whale clinched its 14th playoff berth in 15 seasons of existence this past weekend, winning two out of three games. Connecticut improved to 5-0-0-0 against the Manchester Monarchs this season with a 2-1 overtime win Friday night at the XL Center, but struggled again against Scott Munroe and the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins Saturday in a 3-0 loss on the road. Connecticut would rebound with a solid 1-0 victory over the Hershey Bears Sunday afternoon, allowing the Whale to clinch a playoff spot thanks to Cam Talbot’s shutout in goal and Pavel Valentenko’s game-winning tally. Casey Wellman had a hand in two important goals this weekend, scoring the overtime winner on Friday and assisting on Valentenko’s goal on Sunday. Continue reading
VERSUS 
BY: Ray Schmitt, Voice of the Greenville Road Warriors
The Greenville Road Warriors were defeated 3-2 by the Florida Everblades on Friday night at the BI-LO Center. The win gave Florida a 3-0 series win over Greenville.
Click here for tonight’s box score. Continue reading
ROAD WARRIORS UNVEIL 2012-13 SEASON TICKET PACKAGES
BY: Ray Schmitt, Voice of the Greenville Road Warriors
GREENVILLE, SC - The Greenville Road Warriors announced today that season tickets for the 2012-13 season are on sale and that they have rolled back prices by as much as 20 percent.
Approaching their third season in the ECHL, the Road Warriors have reduced season ticket prices in most of their seating tiers. The price reduction applies to both the full 36-game season ticket plans and the new Weekend package that includes tickets to 18 of the Road Warriors’ weekend home games. Season ticket plans offer Road Warriors fans the greatest savings option and start as low as $7.22 per game. Continue reading
BY: Ray Schmitt, Voice of the Greenville Road Warriors
The Greenville Road Warriors host the Florida Everblades tonight in Game Three of their best-of-five Eastern Conference quarterfinal series. Faceoff is scheduled for 7:35 p.m. at the BI-LO Center.
The Road Warriors (88 pts., 4th place Eastern Conference) host Florida (85 pts., 5th place Eastern Conference) tonight for the third game of their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series. Fans can follow the action by watching live on America One or listening at www.greenvilleroadwarriors.com. Greenville trails the series 2-0 after falling 4-2 in Game Two in Florida on Wednesday night. Florida was 2-for-4 on the power play and led the game wire-to-wire. Marc-Olivier Vallerand was flying high for the Road Warriors and scored a pair of goals; one on the power play and the other one second after a successful penalty kill. The two goals were a career high for Vallerand in the playoffs and, including last season, gave him five goals in his last five Kelly Cup Playoff games. Chris McKelvie has a point (1G, 1A) in each of the first two games in the series and now has four points (2G, 2A) in his last six Kelly Cup Playoff games dating back to last season.
Who: Greenville Road Warriors vs. Florida Everblades
What: Eastern Conference Quarterfinal Game 3: Florida leads 2-0
When: 7:35 p.m.
Where: BI-LO Center, 650 N. Academy St., Greenville, SC 29601
NOTEWORTHY:
Click here for the Series Sheet
Click here for Game Notes Page 1
Click here for Game Notes Page 2
Click here for Road Warriors player info
Click here for Everblades player info
Be there for the Road Warriors’ run to the Kelly Cup! Greenville’s next home game of the opening round is Saturday, April 7 at 7:05 p.m. at the BI-LO Center against Florida. There are discounted tickets and preferred seating based on availability for any group of 10 or more that books in advance. Call 864-674-PUCK (7825) to book your group.
BY: Bruce Berlet
The Hershey Bears’ dynamic duo of center Keith Aucoin and left wing Chris Bourque were named to the American Hockey League’s first team on Thursday.
Aucoin is fourth in the league in scoring (11 goals and 59 assists) despite playing in only 43 games while spending much of the season with the parent Washington Capitals. Bourque, whose younger brother Ryan is a rookie wing with the Connecticut Whale, leads the AHL with 90 points (26 goals and 64 assists) in 67 games. Continue reading
Recognized as the Top AHL blog by SportsMemorabilia.com readers! Mitch Beck was a standup comedian and radio personality for over 25 years. His passion for hockey started with Team USA in 1980 when they defeated the Soviets at Lake Placid. He is now self-employed and has been reporting on the New York Rangers, and exclusively on the Hartford Wolf Pack / Connecticut Whale since 2005.
