Tag Archives: Jonathan Audy-Marchessault

VALENTENKO HEADING HOME

Posted on May 17, 2012 | Leave a comment

According to the Avangard Omsk (KHL) website now former Connecticut Whale defenseman Pavel Valentenko has signed a two-year deal to play for the team.

Jaromir Jagr left the New York Rangers to play for four seasons at Avangard Omsk. This franchise is the same where on October 13, 2008,  then first round pick Alexei Cherepanov died after collapsing on the bench during a game against Vityaz Chekhov.

Valentenko said his goodbye with the following tweet from his twitter account:

“It was two great seasons for me here, in Hartford! I was proud to be one of the part of Wolfpack/Whale team! Thanks everyone for support!”

Valentenko’s wife recently had their first child, a beautiful baby girl, and that likely played a major factor in his decision to return home. The logjam of defensemen the franchise has now was also likely a determining factor as well.

Valentenko was acquired on June 30, 2009 as part of the trade that sent Christopher Higgins, Doug Janik, and star defenseman Ryan McDonagh to the New York Rangers for Scott Gomez, Tom Pyatt, and Michael Busto.

(Photo courtesy of newyorkrangers.com)

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Posted in AHL, Connecticut Whale, CTWhale, Hartford Wolf Pack, Hockey, New York Rangers, NHL, World Junior Championships

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WHERE’S EVERYONE GOING?

Posted on May 17, 2012 | Leave a comment

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 →

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Posted in AHL, Connecticut Whale, CTWhale, ECHL, Greenville Road Warriors, Hartford Wolf Pack, Hockey, New York Rangers, NHL, Sports

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REWARD FOR A JOB WELL DONE

Posted on May 15, 2012 | Leave a comment

This story only says six players, but in actuality it’s  nine members of the 2011-2012 Connecticut Whale roster will essentially get some viewing time in New York as well as some great seats for the Rangers’ playoff run to the Stanley Cup when they were recalled by the parent club today. Each has earned that spot.

Jonathan Audy-Marchessault, Marek Hrivik and Chad Kolarik will also be joining the six mentioned in this story in New York.

Here’s the official release: Continue reading →

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Posted in AHL, Connecticut Whale, CTWhale, Hockey, New York Rangers, NHL, Sports

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GAME SIX: WHALE ELIMINATED

Posted on May 11, 2012 | Leave a comment

     VERSUS     

EASTERN CONFERENCE SEMI-FINAL SERIES: GAME SIX

BY: Bruce Berlet

Despite a dramatic improvement over the previous game, the Connecticut Whale’s season ended Friday night at the Scope in Norfolk, Va.

Richard Panik returned after being hit in the face by a teammate’s shot in the third period to score his second goal of the playoffs on a breakaway at 13:01 of overtime, giving the regular season champion Norfolk Admirals a come-from-behind 2-1 victory over the Whale in Game 6 of their Eastern Conference semifinal.  Continue reading →

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Posted in AHL, College Hockey, Connecticut Whale, CTWhale, Hartford Wolf Pack, Hockey, New York Rangers, NHL, Sports

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GAME FOUR: A THING OF BEAUTY

Posted on May 8, 2012 | Leave a comment

     VERSUS     

EASTERN CONFERENCE SEMI-FINAL SERIES: GAME FOUR

BY: BRUCE BERLET (Special to Howlings)

After a tough one-goal loss to the Norfolk Admirals on Sunday night, Connecticut Whale coach Ken Gernander said he had few complaints, just a wish for his team to improve on the minutiae, those little things that can mean the difference in any sport, especially in the playoffs.

One night later, the Whale parlayed more aggressive goaltending by Cam Talbot and stellar penalty killing, especially late in the second period and early in the third, into a 4-1 victory at the XL Center that evened their AHL Eastern Conference semifinal at two games each.

“We had some great shot blocks,” Whale coach Ken Gernander said. “The defensemen had good anticipation, and we had real good all-around penalty killing. Jordan Owens and Ryan Bourque had those shots, and those are the plays that can rally a team when they see guys lay it on the line like that to get their job done.”  Continue reading →

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Posted in AHL, Connecticut Whale, Hartford Wolf Pack, Hockey, New York Rangers, NHL, Sports, Uncategorized

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GAME TWO: WHISTLES WHACK WHALE

Posted on May 5, 2012 | Leave a comment

     VERSUS     

EASTERN CONFERENCE SEMI-FINAL SERIES: GAME TWO

Looking to build off a tremendous performance in Game One of their Eastern Conference semi-final series, the Connecticut Whale returned to The Scope in Norfolk, Virginia Friday for Game Two of their Best-of-Seven series with the number one seeded Norfolk Admirals. But, everything that went right for the visitors in Game One seemed to abandon them in Game Two as they dropped a 4-1 decision evening the series with the Admirals at a game apiece.

The Whale’s ultimate undoing was a combination of outrageously bad refereeing, exacerbated by a lack of overall team discipline and most importantly, a failure to capitalize on their scoring chances.  The Admirals meanwhile received strong performances from several players including Mike Kostka and Tyler Johnson who each had a goal and an assist. The big difference was the out-of-this-world goaltending Norfolk got from Dustin Tokarski (3-1-0, 27 saves) en route to their victory in front of 4,859. Continue reading →

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Posted in AHL, Connecticut Whale, CTWhale, Hartford Wolf Pack, Hockey, New York Rangers, NHL, Sports

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CTWHALE RD 2: GAME ONE – ANDREAS THE GIANT

Posted on May 2, 2012 | Leave a comment

     VERSUS     

GAME ONE

A thrilling first round series concluded for the Connecticut Whale knocking off their intra-state and franchise rival Bridgeport Sound Tigers in dramatic fashion with a 4-3 in overtime completing the three game sweep on April 22nd at the XL Center.  For the New York Rangers’ top farm club that meant travelling to Virginia to battle the AHL’s top seeded team, the red hot Norfolk Admirals. Despite a franchise record ten-day break between games, the Whale responded by posting their fourth straight win, second straight in overtime on Andreas Thuresson fluke goal at 2:53 of overtime at The Scope in front of 3,223 Wednesday night.

“Owie (Jordan Owens) was driving good to the net,” Thuresson told the Whale’s Bob Crawford about the game-winner. “I just shot it through (Owens’) legs and through the defenseman’s legs, hopefully for a rebound for him or for Bourqueie (Ryan Bourque) driving the net, and it ended up going in.  That’s what happens in playoffs.” Continue reading →

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Posted in AHL, Connecticut Whale, CTWhale, Hartford Wolf Pack, Hockey, New York Rangers, NHL, Sports

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HAWK’S EYE: WHALE AND ADMIRALS

Posted on May 1, 2012 | Leave a comment

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 →

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Posted in AHL, College Hockey, Connecticut Whale, CTWhale, ECHL, Greenville Road Warriors, Hockey, New York Rangers, NHL, Sports

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BERLET SPOTLIGHT: MAREK HRIVIK

Posted on April 26, 2012 | Leave a comment

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 →

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Posted in AHL, College Hockey, Connecticut Whale, CTWhale, ECHL, Greenville Road Warriors, Hartford Wolf Pack, Hockey, New York Rangers, NHL, Sports

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HAWK’S EYE ON: RYAN BOURQUE

Posted on April 25, 2012 | Leave a comment

BY: Bob Crawford

That the Connecticut Whale swept division-champion Bridgeport, a team that had played better than .700 hockey since the turn of the New Year, was surprising enough.  That they did it without their regular-season scoring leader, Kris Newbury, registering a point, and with second-leading scorer Jonathan Audy-Marchessault being held to one goal, borders on amazing. Continue reading →

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Posted in AHL, Connecticut Whale, CTWhale, Hartford Whalers, Hartford Wolf Pack, Hockey, New York Rangers, NHL, Sports

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