We were just looking at the list of free agents for next season that the Rangers/Whale will be dealing with.
Here’s a quick guess as to who they will resign and why. It’s not based upon ANY inside information or any such thing as that, just our guesses.
After looking at it, let’s here what you think.
The following guys are already signed and will be back with either the Rangers, the Whale or Greenville: Continue reading
BY: Bob Crawford (Voice of the CTWhale)
The Eastern Conference Semifinal series matching the Connecticut Whale against the Norfolk Admirals is a matchup of two clubs that have made excellent use of their depth in winning their first-round series’.
The Whale swept the Northeast Division-champion Bridgeport Sound Tigers while getting a total of only one goal from their top two regular-season scorers, Kris Newbury and Jonathan Audy-Marchessault. Similarly, the regular season league-champion Admirals were able to knock off the pesky eighth seeds, the Manchester Monarchs, despite having half of their dynamic rookie forward duo, Tyler Johnson, miss the last three games of the series due to injury, and the other half, AHL MVP and Rookie of the Year Cory Conacher, held without a goal. Continue reading
Posted in AHL, College Hockey, Connecticut Whale, CTWhale, ECHL, Greenville Road Warriors, Hockey, New York Rangers, NHL, Sports
Tagged American Hockey League, Bridgeport Sound Tigers, Connecticut Whale, Cory Conacher, Jonathan Audy-Marchessault, Ken Gernander, Kris Newbury, Manchester Monarchs, Norfolk Admirals, Quebec Major Junior Hockey League
BY: BRUCE BERLET (Special To Howlings)
Three weeks earlier, Chris Kreider was helping Boston College win a second national championship in three years.
Saturday, a raucous sellout crowd at Madison Square Garden in New York was chanting his name in his sixth Stanley Cup playoff game with the Rangers.
Who says New Yorkers can’t root for star athletes from Beantown?
Kreider certainly earned the adoration with another performance belying his 20 years. Continue reading
Posted in AHL, College Hockey, Connecticut Whale, CTWhale, ECHL, Greenville Road Warriors, Hartford Whalers, Hartford Wolf Pack, Hockey, New York Rangers, NHL
Tagged Artem Anisimov, Brian Boyle, Chris Kreider, John Tortorella, Kreider, Madison Square Garden, National Hockey League, Ottawa, Ranger, Washington Capitals
BY: BRUCE BERLET (Special to Howlings)
If the Connecticut Whale’s first-round American Hockey League playoff series against the regular-season Norfolk Admirals reaches Game 5, it will played at the Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport on May 9.
The sixth-seeded Whale, who completed a sweep of the third-seeded and Northeast Division champion Bridgeport Sound Tigers on Sunday, might have to play a home game on the road because of scheduling conflicts at the XL Center in Hartford, which is booked Wednesday, Thursday, next Saturday and May 9-13. Continue reading
Posted in AHL, College Hockey, Connecticut Whale, CTWhale, Greenville Road Warriors, Hartford Whalers, Hartford Wolf Pack, Hockey, New York Rangers, NHL, Sports
Tagged AHL, American Hockey League, Bridgeport Sound Tigers, Connecticut Whale, Friday, Manchester Monarchs, Norfolk Admirals, Webster Bank Arena, Whale, XL Center
BY: BRUCE BERLET (Special to Howlings)
The Connecticut Whale has advanced to the second round of the playoffs for the first time in six years but will have to play at least one home game away from the XL Center in Hartford because of scheduling conflicts.
The sixth-seeded Whale completed a three-game sweep of the third-seeded Bridgeport Sound Tigers on Sunday but likely will play in their home, the Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport, because the XL Center is booked Wednesday and Thursday, as well as May 5, 10, 11, 12 and 13. Plus, May 9 is unavailable because that’s setup day for Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey circus. 
Continue reading
Posted in AHL, Connecticut Whale, CTWhale, ECHL, Greenville Road Warriors, Hartford Wolf Pack, Hockey, New York Rangers, NHL, Sports
Tagged American Hockey League, Bridgeport Sound Tigers, Bruce Berlet, Cameron Talbot, Casey Wellman, Connecticut Whale, Friday, Ken Gernander, New York Ranger, Saturday, Wade Redden, Webster Bank Arena, Whale, XL Center
BY: BRUCE BERLET (Special to Howlings)
Who would have ever thought there would be bed sheets proclaiming “Hip, Hip Hrivik” in large green letters being displayed in the XL Center in Hartford?
Heck, a month ago, Connecticut Whale rookie left wing Marek Hrivik of Slovakia didn’t even know where Connecticut was located until he found it on a map.
But playoffs often make for intriguing, career-changing stories.
The most obvious lately for Whale fans – and hockey aficionados everywhere – is goalie Cam Talbot, a surprise starter to outsiders for the first-round playoff match-up with the Northeast Division champion Bridgeport Sound Tigers. But anyone who had been paying attention knew Talbot was sharper down the stretch than Chad Johnson, who was 4-2-1 against the Sound Tigers compared to 0-2-1 for his backup most of the season. Continue reading
Posted in AHL, College Hockey, Connecticut Whale, CTWhale, ECHL, Greenville Road Warriors, Hartford Wolf Pack, Hockey, New York Rangers, NHL, Sports
Tagged Brent Thompson, Connecticut Whale, Hrivik, Jonathan Audy-Marchessault, Ken Gernander, Moncton, Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, Ryan Bourque, Slovakia, Whale, XL Center
BY: Bob Crawford
The Connecticut Whale now “hurry up and wait”, as they enjoy the rewards of having won their first-round series against Bridgeport in three straight games, and in a span of only four days.
Since completing their sweep of the Sound Tigers on Sunday, the Whale have been joined by the Toronto Marlies, Oklahoma City Barons and Abbotsford Heat as AHL teams to have advanced out of the first round, but the Whale-Bridgeport series remains the only Eastern Conference matchup to have been concluded. Continue reading
Posted in AHL, College Hockey, Connecticut Whale, CTWhale, ECHL, Greenville Road Warriors, Hartford Wolf Pack, Hockey, New York Rangers, NHL, Sports
Tagged Bob Crawford, Brendan Bell, Cameron Talbot, Connecticut Whale, Eastern Conference, Friday, Hershey Bears, Jared Nightingale, Saturday, Toronto Marlies, Whale, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
BY: Bruce Berlet (Special to Howlings)
The Connecticut Whale officially added to their youth movement Friday when the New York Rangers reassigned forward J.T. Miller to their American Hockey League affiliate.
Miller, the Rangers’ first-round pick (15th overall) in 2011, practiced with the Whale for the first time and could make his pro debut Saturday night at the Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport, where the Whale will shoot for a 2-0 lead in their best-of-five Eastern Conference quarterfinal series with the Northeast Division champion Sound Tigers.
Posted in AHL, College Hockey, Connecticut Whale, CTWhale, ECHL, Greenville Road Warriors, Hartford Whalers, Hartford Wolf Pack, Hockey, New York Rangers, NHL, Sports
Tagged American Hockey League, Brent Thompson, Bridgeport Sound Tigers, Chad Kolarik, Connecticut Whale, E.J. McGuire, Ken Gernander, Miller, New York Ranger, New York Rangers, Plymouth Whalers, Ranger, Tony Romano, Whale, XL Center
BY: Bruce Berlet (Special to Howlings)
So how close were the Bridgeport Sound Tigers and Connecticut Whale this season?
Even closer than the 58 miles separating the Webster Bank Arena and XL Center.
In 10 games between the intrastate rivals, the Sound Tigers scored 33 goals, the Whale 30, with each team getting an extra goal via a shootout win.
In the often odd era of three-point games, each team had winning records against the other. The Sound Tigers were 6-2-1-1 against the Whale, winning all five games at home; the Whale was 4-2-3-1 against the Sound Tigers, winning the last four at the XL Center after a shootout loss in their home opener Oct. 15. Continue reading
Posted in AHL, Connecticut Whale, CTWhale, ECHL, Greenville Road Warriors, Hartford Whalers, Hartford Wolf Pack, Hockey, New York Rangers, NHL, Sports
Tagged Andre Deveaux, Bridgeport Sound Tigers, Connecticut Whale, Jonathan Audy-Marchessault, Ken Gernander, New York Ranger, Sound Tigers, Wade Redden, Webster Bank Arena, XL Center
BY: Bob Crawford, Voice of the CTWhale
The Whale (36-26-7-7, 86 points) finished up the regular season with three games this past week, earning two points with a pair of shootout losses. Connecticut began the week with a 2-1 road defeat to the Portland Pirates Wednesday night, before dropping a 5-4 shootout decision to the Manchester Monarchs Friday night in Hartford, in the regular-season home-ice finale. The Whale finished the regular-season slate with another shootout, falling short in a 2-1 road matchup with the Syracuse Crunch. The Whale will now prepare for their first round playoff matchup with their GEICO Connecticut Cup rivals, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, in their first-ever playoff series. The series begins Thursday at the Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport, and the Whale’s first home game in the set is Sunday at 5:00 PM. 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.
