The wheel of development continues to turn, and two highly significant figures in Wolf Pack history are taking new steps in their respective careers, with Jim Schoenfeld becoming Assistant General Manager of the parent New York Rangers and Kenny Gernander moving up from Assistant Coach to succeed Schoeny as Wolf Pack head coach.
It makes all the sense in the world, I think, for Jim to slide into Don Maloney’s old job. He’s now proven himself to be an excellent success as an executive, the only end of the hockey business he hadn’t fully conquered prior to his coming to the Wolf Pack. And he can certainly keep a weather eye on the Pack as its GM while handling all of the parent club’s assistant GM duties, as Don used to do prior to the Al Coates Wolf Pack regime.
And it is certainly an appropriate continuation in Wolf Pack history for the man who you could argue really is the Wolf Pack, in Ken Gernander, to assume the head coaching reins. Nobody in the game was more prepared than Kenny as a player, and I feel safe in saying no coach in hockey will outdo him in that respect either.
When the Rangers hired Ryan McGill to coach the Wolf Pack he was the youngest head man in the AHL, and Ken now becomes the second-youngest, just a little over two months the elder of new Binghamton Senators hire Cory Clouston. We went from really experienced in E.J. McGuire and John Paddock to new talent in McGill, back to real experienced in Schoeny, now back to a young “prospect”. It’s your show now, G, good luck!
Speaking of coaches, and good wishes, I have been remiss in not previously wishing J.J. Daigneault and his lovely wife, Janie, congratulations on the birth of the newest addition to their family. New daughter Juliette joined sisters Gabrielle and Valerie on the Daigneault roster June 22nd. Mazel tov and good health!
Another interesting recent coaching development was the New Jersey Devils’ hiring of Brent Sutter out of the Western Hockey League as their new Head Coach. Apropos of that, did you know that none of the six Sutter brothers has ever coached in the AHL? That surprised me when Brent’s move from WHL to NHL prompted me to look it up. Darryl and Duane both coached in the old IHL, but a Sutter has never piloted an AHL club. With hockey being such a small universe and that such a big hockey family, you’d think one of those guys would have been a coach somewhere in the sport’s most prominent development league.
On now to some messages from our readers…
Peter from the great city of New Britain, CT writes, “Hey Bob, hope to see you again this season at the Wolf Pack get-togethers. Also, I heard that Alex Westlund signed with a team in Russia. And what are the chances of Ryan Callahan and Daniel Girardi staying in New York?”
Thanks, Peter, I look forward to seeing you too.
I also saw the note about Westlund signing with Amur Khabarovsk. He played two previous seasons of his career with that team, so it certainly wouldn’t be a big surprise if he headed back there. He had fairly positive things to say about his earlier Russian experience, and with his Yale education, he struck me as somewhat of a man of the world, so I’m sure it’s pretty stimulating for him to play in a place where he exposed to a different language and culture.
As far as Callahan and Girardi, I said in my last column that I would be surprised if Callahan didn’t stick in New York, and I’d say the same about Girardi. They appeared to be a couple of real key cogs for the parent club by the end of last season, with Girardi averaging nearly 20 minutes of ice time per game in the playoffs.
Andrew Saltarella of South Windsor, CT has this to say, “Bob, of course you have seen the trade in which the Rangers received the rights to restricted free agent forward Mitch Fritz from the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for the rights to restricted free agent free agent defenseman Bryce Lampman. I was a big Lampman fan and I felt that he was a very valuable part of our defense. I can not help but think that this trade is not a very good deal for the Wolf Pack. However I would love to hear what you think about it, why it may or may not work out for the Pack.”
Certainly two very different types of players, Andrew. When he is at the top of his game, Lampman is, I agree, a top-drawer AHL defenseman. You hate to lose those types of guys, but I get the impression that he had no intention of coming back to the Ranger organization anyway, as it had been reported that he had agreed to a deal with a team in Finland. So if you’re going to lose him anyhow you might as well get something for him, and Fritz is a guy who, while he doesn’t have nearly as high a skill level as Lampman does, brings a definite asset to the table in terms of his size and toughness. With possibly having both him and Frank Lessard, the Wolf Pack could be suiting up two of the most intimidating players in the AHL on the same roster. Also, when you talk to people around the league about Mitch, they always tell you he’s a great team guy, as most legitimately-tough players are. On top of that, he was the 2005-06 winner of the AHL’s Yanick Dupre Memorial Award for Community Service, so he is terrific person to have out in the community as well.
It is my understanding that, after the trade, Lampman agreed to terms with Tampa. With their affiliation having moved from Springfield down to Norfolk, though, at least the Wolf Pack won’t have to face Lampman as a divisional rival, if he doesn’t make the NHL roster.
Khris from West Hartford, CT asks, “When making the season schedule, do the teams have input on where they want to travel to, or are the teams assigned opponents based on what the league thinks is best?”
Khris, the teams do have input into it. At the league’s spring meeting, all the teams are consulted about how often they would like to play their big rivals (an attendance consideration) and how extensively they are willing to travel to diversify the lineup of teams they play. The league office’s challenge then is to digest those requests, which sometimes conflict, and then come up with a schedule format, and ultimately the actual schedule. Not an easy task!
Travis from Suffield, CT asks, “Do you think we will be seeing Alexei Cherepanov in a Pack jersey next season or is he going to be spending more time developing before he goes pro?”
I would imagine, Travis, that Cherepanov is going to stay over in Russia, at least for this coming year. Articles in the New York press say that the reason why he fell to where the Rangers were picking in the first round (17th) is because he still has two years left on his contract with his Russian team, and with the Russian federation not having agreed to a new transfer agreement with the NHL, getting him over to North America could present a financial and operational nightmare. Thus, I would suspect that if the organization puts in the resources to get him across the pond, it would be with the intention of his playing in New York, not in Hartford. I’ve seen stranger things happen, though.
Eric from Avon, CT says, “I read in the paper that Dwight Helminen signed on with a Finnish Elite League team. I'm upset that ol' ‘Dewey’ won't be here next year. Will that leave openings for guys like Mark Lee?”
Eric, according to eurohockey.net, the Courant is correct. Both Dwight and his younger brother Lars have signed with the Finnish club JYP Jyvaskyla. Most of those European deals have escape clauses in case the player gets an offer from a North American team prior to a certain date (see: Craig Weller), but all indications are that Dewey’s days with the Wolf Pack are over. I agree with you that that’s too bad, as I found him to be a very nice fellow, and I think that he has the wheels and the drive to play in the NHL. As you alluded to, though, one guy’s moving on always presents an opportunity for someone else, and a player like Mark Lee could definitely be the beneficiary of a center spot being open on the Wolf Pack roster. He’s not going to upgrade the team’s size up the middle at all, but he sure plays hard and, as his numbers from Charlotte last year attest, can generate some offense as well.
Kevin O'Brien of East Hartford, CT writes, “First, I would like to say that I am a huge fan of yours and listening to Wolf Pack games on the radio just wouldn't be the same without you. I have three questions. One is, when should we expect to see Tom Pyatt or Marc Staal in a Wolf Pack or Rangers uniform? Do you think that when Alexei Cherepanov comes over from Russia that he will spend time with the Wolf Pack or just go straight to Broadway? Lastly, with Lundqvist in New York and the Rangers selecting Antoine Lafleur in the second round of this year’s draft, do you think that says anything about the future of Al Montoya with the Blueshirts or do you see a trade involving Montoya, who is a very high prospect in the near future?”
I very much appreciate your compliments, Kevin. Thanks much for listening!
You’ve already seen my comments about Cherepanov in the answer to Travis from Suffield’s question above, so I’ll go straight to your two others. Both Staal and Pyatt have reached their 20th birthdays and thus are no longer considered underage juniors, meaning that both could play for the Wolf Pack starting this coming season.
Staal is so highly regarded that I would expect the Rangers to give him every opportunity to make the big club. Still, though, the Rangers currently list seven defensemen on their roster, assuming that Darius Kasparaitis isn’t back, so if he does stay up, the youngster Staal would be in a pretty good battle for ice time. Pyatt, on the other hand, I would think would really have to wow the Rangers to make the team out of training camp, with the Blueshirts having signed NHL-stalwart centermen Scott Gomez and Chris Drury on the free-agent market, although they did open up a center spot with the Matt Cullen trade. If he does end up with the Pack, considering his body of work at the Junior level and his bloodlines, I would expect Pyatt to be a key player for the Pack, even at his tender age.
Good question about Montoya, too. Lafleur is only 18, so he is at least two seasons away from being eligible for a spot with the Wolf Pack, but just the fact that the Rangers picked a goaltender that high (only the third time in the last 13 years that they have taken a goalie as early as the second round) indicates that the clock is ticking on Montoya’s development. That’s nothing he isn’t aware of, though, nor is the fact that I’m sure that the big club would listen to trade offers for Al, who I think still has a lot of upside. That’s the harsh nature of the business…you don’t get very many years to justify your draft status and start contributing in the Big Show.
Steve Taylor of Charlotte, NC asks, “Do you think we will see Chris Holt or Miika Wiikman in Charlotte this year? Does the Wolf Pack have Alex Westlund under contract for this year? With Weekes gone and Steve Valiquette possibly being the backup in New York, would the Wolf Pack have anybody to send to Charlotte?”
I imagine it will be either Holt or Wiikman, Steve. As I indicated in the answer to Peter from New Britain’s question, it looks like Westlund is headed back over to Russia, but unless there are injuries or further moves, that still leaves three goalies, Montoya, Holt and Wiikman, for two spots in Hartford. So I would assume whoever is the odd man out of those three will be headed to the Checkers.
Rich from Croton, NY asks, “What do you think will happen to Jarkko Immonen and Dwight Helminen, two very good parts of past Pack teams? Will they be playing with Hartford again or go to Europe?”
Rich, as stated earlier, Helminen appears destined for Europe, and I believe Jarkko is headed back to his home country of Finland as well, although my understanding is that the Rangers did tender him a qualifying offer to retain his North American rights.
Steve Baker from Middletown, CT writes, “Bob, I've enjoyed your Wolf Pack broadcasts over the past four seasons. I'm surprised you’re not doing NHL broadcasts for some team. I've followed hockey since 1971 and listened to many of the great announcers, and in terms of keeping the fan informed and interested, you’re major-league caliber. Keep up the good work.
Do you think this will be a breakout year for Hugh Jessiman? He needs to play with a better sense of urgency and more desire, in my opinion. I'm not sure if he really wants to play in the NHL at some point. How do you feel about his play, Bob?”
First of all, thank you for the nice compliments, Steve, I very much appreciate that! Maybe someday an NHL job might come my way, but even if one doesn’t, I feel very lucky to be able to work in a great market like Hartford, and for a great organization like the Wolf Pack, for as long as I have.
In regards to Hugh, I find it hard to be objective about his career, quite honestly, because he is such a likable, friendly guy. I guess I always want to see the positive in his on-ice performance, and I definitely have seen flashes that make me think that he could be a pretty good power forward in the NHL at some point. There’s no doubt, however, that those flashes have to start becoming game-in-game-out consistency sooner rather than later, for Hugh to make it to that level. I personally don’t think that he suffers from any lack of desire, I think he was a bit overwhelmed by how big a step it was to go from the ECAC to the pros, and he is still in the process of recovering from that shock. Hopefully for him, he will be able to make a quantum leap this year, as I have to figure that the organization’s patience is going to start wearing thin fairly soon.
Steven Davis of Norway, MI has this to say, “Having been a die-hard CT hockey fan since the early 60's (Blades, Nighthawks, Senators, Beast, Knights then Wolf Pack), my move to the U.P. (Upper Peninsula of Michigan) has been bitter-sweet, as I no longer can attend games in the Nutmeg State. Will the Pack be playing in Milwaukee this coming season?”
Unfortunately not, Steven. The AHL added Hamilton, Toronto and Syracuse to the Wolf Pack’s schedule this year, but the Pack won’t be playing any teams from the West Division except for Houston and San Antonio. Maybe in the Calder Cup Finals…
Courtney from Branford, CT asks, “What do you think is going to happen with Brandon Dubinsky? Is he coming back to the organization, and if he is, do you think he will be with Hartford or the Rangers? And is Ivan Baranka coming back next year as well? What do you see in store for him in the future? Will he get any playing time in the NHL?”
Courtney, both of those guys are under contract for this upcoming season, so unless they are traded, they will be back in the organization.
Brandon certainly is an up-and-comer in the Rangers’ future. Even as a rookie last year, he was drawing more than one mention in the New York press as a guy who could step in and help the Rangers immediately. I get the impression that he learned a lot in his first season with the Wolf Pack, and he should be well-positioned to put some pressure on some older players in the competition for jobs in training camp. As I said earlier in this masterpiece in reference to Tom Pyatt, the Gomez and Drury signings and the subsequent Cullen trade certainly ensured that Rangers are going to look a lot different up the middle this year.
As for Baranka, I think this is a key year for him. Hopefully he can shake off that injury bug, which is one thing that has certainly held him back. He has really good tools, with his skating speed, size and strong shot, and if he can bring those to the table in their sharpest form on a nightly basis, and stay healthy, I look for him to be a prime callup option for the big club in 2007-08.
Julie Jackson from Charlotte, NC says, “Getting antsy here in the off season....my sister and I are ‘southern’ hockey fans, and follow the ECHL's Charlotte Checkers. Just wondering, what is the status of players Mark Lee and Zdenek Bahensky...will there be a chance we may see them on loan to Charlotte in the upcoming season?"
I’m told, Julie, that the Pack have picked up the AHL option on Mark Lee’s contract, so unless he pursues some other opportunity, he will be back under the Wolf Pack banner. Bahensky, on the other hand, is a free agent, and I don’t know if the organization has made a determination about whether to pursue re-signing him.
As I said above in answering Eric from Avon, I could definitely see Lee pressuring hard for a job with the Wolf Pack, especially with centers Dwight Helminen and, presumably, Jarkko Immonen gone. I don’t know how much he has left to prove in the ECHL, but if things don’t fall right for him in Hartford, I would imagine that the organization would want him to be playing in all situations in Charlotte and continuing to diversify his game. And if Bahensky is re-signed, he would be expected to take a step forward in his career this season, I’d say, and hopefully spend more time with the Wolf Pack, but I would definitely stop short of saying, at this point, based on what I saw last year, that he is ready to spend a full season in the AHL.
Rich from Crugers, NY writes, “Now with Matt Cullen gone to the ‘Canes, who will best fill that #3 center position…Dubinsky, Immonen, Helminen if they are resigned? Can Lauri Korpikoski play center? I know the organization was really excited about his capabilities. Looking forward to reading your column comments for the upcoming year. Keep up the good reporting and have a great summer too.”
Thanks very much, Rich!
As you have read earlier in this space, neither Helminen nor Immonen figures to be back in the organization this year, but I would imagine that Dubinsky will have a big opportunity to grab some of Cullen’s ice time. And yes, Korpikoski did play center for a lot of last year’s second half, and seemed to thrive pretty well at it. I’ve got to think that Blair Betts would be the most logical candidate to move up the depth chart and take on a bigger role than his 14 minutes of playing time per game of last season, but if either Dubinsky or Korpikoski makes a big splash in camp, I’m sure the big club would love to give them the chance to step up.
Gary Jarossy of New Britain, CT asks, “What happened to Johan Witehall? I was a big fan of his and when I got my jersey lettered with his name, he got traded to Montreal. And will P.J Stock still be doing T.V. games with you?”
Gary, as of the 2005-06 season, Johan was still playing in Sweden’s top league, the Swedish Elite League. The year he was traded by the Rangers, 2000-01, was his last year in North America, and the next season he headed back to Sweden. I can’t find any evidence that he played this past year, but even if he didn’t, that makes five solid years of European play since he was over on this side of the Pond.
No word yet on any Wolf Pack t.v. plans for this upcoming season, but if we are able to put a deal together, I’m pretty certain that we’ll make every effort to have P.J. continue to be involved. He definitely adds quite a bit to the entertainment value of the telecasts!
Dave Marks from South Windsor, CT writes, “There are some games that just stick in my head forever. Two of them are Game Sevens against Providence, and I have to say about the last one, the 5-4 loss...everyone showed up to win that night except Al Montoya, he let us down.
These past two years watching Al have been quite frustrating. When he started he would let in soft goals and let the team down when we needed him. There have been times when he has looked solid and like a reliable goaltender, but he continues to let the team down when we need him. I can remember so many times being upset with him, way more than times I have been happy with him.
Do you see this insecurity that I see, as well as many fans around me? Is he really going to turn into a reliable goalie? I have seen NHL goalies come through here, and he looks more like a back-up or a ECHL goalie when I see him. He needs years and years of practice.”
Dave, first of all, to say Al Montoya didn’t show up to win in a Game Seven is absurd. He had a bad night, no question about it, and if he played a better game maybe the Wolf Pack win, but it’s not fair to him to claim he didn’t show up to win. Believe me, he was as fired up to win that game, and emotionally devastated when it didn’t happen, as anybody on the team.
Having said that, I grant you that Al clearly has not achieved the consistency that is required of an NHL-level goaltender. Being such a high draft pick and coming into pro hockey with the hype that he brought with him, he faced very high expectations, and those expectations have not been met. The science of player development is a tough read, though, and is highly inexact. In 19 seasons of covering the AHL, I have seen number of goalies come through this league who, when they first came in, were just awful and you were wondering “who ever thought this guy was going to be player?”, and went on to become pretty darned good NHL ‘tenders.
The thing that you keep hearing scouts and player-development guys saying they look for, especially in a highly-talented player, is consistent improvement. And when you look at Al’s two years, there has been improvement. Sure, he had a bad game in a real big spot in this spring’s Game Seven, but he pitched a 1-0 shutout on the road two games before to put the Pack in position to win the series, and he did win 27 games and chalk up six shutouts during the regular season. He’s got some real skill and athleticism, but the real hard call from an organizational standpoint that you have to make is, what do you now think is his real upside? If he is going to continue improving, his confidence is sure to blossom and those soft goals in key situations will become a distant memory. If he has reached a plateau, though, or if he is close to one, then there’s no sense in keeping him around and you might as well try to get something for him. Another thing to consider is, really no one has surpassed him on the Rangers’ depth chart. Maybe a Chris Holt will at some point, or maybe Antoine Lafleur will be the guy, but right now, Al would still rank as the top goaltending prospect in the organization.
Have a great offseason, and I’ll continue to poke my pen into this space whenever I can cobble together enough material.
