Crawford's Pack Report: A Week of "Firsts"
Monday, October 29, 2007 - 10:17 PM
Several good “firsts” for the Wolf Pack this past week. They got past .500 for the first time, got their first home win, and scored their first back-to-back victories of the season.
And to think, it took last year's 47-win, 98-point team until after the First of the Year to get to the .500 mark…
Last week didn't start real well for the Pack, however, as they lost their first battle with arch-rival Providence, 4-3, at the Hartford Civic Center on Wednesday. The Bruins have a real good club this year, and the Wolf Pack had them on the run for one period, up 3-1 in the first, but in terms of territorial play Providence was in control for much of the game.
Brodie Dupont found the scoresheet for the first time in his pro career 3:27 into the first period, with the Wolf Pack's first shorthanded goal of the season. Former Wolf Pack tough guy Steve MacIntyre, of all people, answered for the Bruins just 1:39 later though, and that should have been an indication to the Wolf Pack of how the night was going to come out. No disrespect to MacIntyre, who is one tough hombre and a real good guy, but he had a grand total of one AHL goal prior to Wednesday.
The Pack recovered from that to get quick goals from Pierre Parenteau and Dane Byers only 1:55 apart, but shortly thereafter Providence resumed controlling play. T.J. Trevelyan cut the lead to 3-2 with 1:42 left in the first, Brandon Bochenski, who had 22 points in 31 games with Boston last year and was playing his first game in a Providence uniform, scored the only goal of the second to tie the score, and Petteri Nokelainen converted a Bruin power-play chance at 14:37 of the third to complete the Bruin comeback.
The Wolf Pack were outshot 30-17 in the game, marking their lowest shot total in a game since New Year's Eve of 2002, and their fewest shots in a home game since February 21, 2001.
If there is one thing that has been a hallmark for the Wolf Pack in this early season, it has been that they have tended to rebound from their poorest efforts with strong ones, and that was again the case on Friday night when Springfield came to town.
The Falcons' new group of Edmonton prospects came into that game sitting atop the Atlantic Division with a 5-2-0-1 record, but in contrast to Wednesday night, I thought it was the Wolf Pack who dictated most of the play in this contest. It was a good, back and forth game, not with a ton of good scoring chances, but enough so that both goaltenders, the Pack's starter Al Montoya and Springfield's Jeff Deslauriers, had to be sharp. A scoreless tie was finally broken 32 seconds into the third period, when Ivan Baranka scored the Pack's second shorthander in as many games. It was a nice rush, with Baranka electing to shoot from his off-wing side on a two-on-one and putting it cleanly past Deslauriers. It appeared to me as if Baranka fooled Deslauriers by making it look like he was going to pass to Brodie Dupont instead of shoot, but Ivan laughingly told me the following day that was not the case, he just shot.
Montoya had aggravated a back injury late in the second period, so by the time Baranka snapped the deadlock, Chris Holt had been summoned out of the bullpen. Holt had acquitted himself well Wednesday, when he was pressed into a starting role immediately after having been recalled from Charlotte, with Montoya not 100% and Miika Wiikman nursing an injury as well. And Friday it looked for all the world like Holt was going to finish off what would have been only the second shared shutout in Wolf Pack history (can you name the two Wolf Pack goalies who have shared a bagel?), when Springfield rookie Colin McDonald, a Wethersfield native and son of long-time Whaler and Wolf Pack color commentator Gerry McDonald, picked a big spot in which to score his first pro goal. Coming down the right-wing side, McDonald tried to throw the puck in front to a net-crashing teammate. Holt began to move to his right, anticipating a shot from in front off the pass, but the puck never got to the front of the net, finding a spot between Holt's legs and settling into the cage.
That was certainly a maddening way to see a late lead slip away, but give Holt and the Wolf Pack credit, they righted the ship in a big hurry. The Pack dominated the overtime, helped by a penalty call against the Falcons, and the shootout was one-sided. Holt denied three of Springfield's top offensive threats, Patrick Thoresen, Rob Schremp and Liam Reddox, and after Artem Anisimov was stopped by Deslauriers, Pierre Parenteau, Alex Bourret and Greg Moore all scored, giving the Wolf Pack the win. They certainly would have been a lot happier if they had been able to keep divisional rival Springfield from getting any points, but getting two for themselves made it easier to swallow.
After sending their fans home happy for the first time in three tries, the Pack then traveled to Worcester to take on the 4-0-1-0 Sharks. Coming into the game, Worcester had allowed a total of only 11 goals, a league low, so it's certainly not surprising that, while Friday's game was a crisp, entertaining contest, the Saturday game was more of a grind-it-out trench war.
Nearly half this game was scoreless, after the Wolf Pack and Falcons had played two full periods Friday night without producing a goal, and again it would be the Pack scoring first, as they have done in seven of their eight games. Parenteau did the honors, at 8:33 of the second, with a pretty shot up under the crossbar behind Worcester rookie goaltender Taylor Dakers. You almost couldn't blink, however, before it was tied again, as Mike Iggulden scored only 36 seconds later for Worcester, off a centering pass from Craig Valette.
With the Pack killing a penalty going into the final minute of the period, it was looking like the best they could hope for would be to head into the third session tied at one. Moore, though, chipped the puck past Devin Setoguchi, a forward playing one of the points on the power play, and was able to blow down the ice, fight Setoguchi off and snap a high shot into the back of the net. It went into the books as an even-strength goal, coming just as Parenteau was stepping out of the box, and it would hold up as the game-winner. The Sharks dictated play in the third period, and the Wolf Pack bent but did not break and salted away a second straight 2-1 win.
It was a real good week for Moore, who continues to lead the club in scoring and has been by far the club's most consistent forward to this point. He is using his outside speed tremendously well, and is showing a sniper's confidence around the net. Holt, too, came up big, with both Montoya and Miika Wiikman being bothered by injuries. After his interesting finish to Friday night's game, Holt had a calm, controlled outing in Worcester and seemed to give the whole team a feeling of confidence.
And the two Wolf Pack goalies who combined on the only shared shutout in Wolf Pack history? J.F. Labbe and Milan Hnilicka, in a 4-0 win at Philadelphia March 24, 2000.
Now to a few contributions from our readers…
David Durlach of Cheshire, CT asks, “What do you think of Dale Purinton's 25-game suspension?”
I haven't seen the play, David, so I really can't render a good opinion on whether the 25-game sentence was justified. People that I have come across who did see it have told me it was pretty bad (Purinton punched Iowa's Marius Holtet in the back of the head in a recent Lake Erie Monsters game), and Purinton certainly does have a history of running afoul of the disciplinarians in whatever leagues he has played in, so I'm not surprised that, having identified what they considered a seriously dangerous play, they came down hard on him.
John from West Hartford, CT asks, “What happens if both goalies on a team get hurt during the game? What would the team have to do?”
John, that's a great question. The AHL Rule Book states that if a team does not have a backup goaltender available going into a game, the team must designate to the officials, prior to the start of the game, one of their players in uniform to serve as the substitute goaltender in case of an injury to the starter. And if both listed goaltenders become unavailable to play, then a team is allowed to “dress and play any available goaltender who is eligible”.
Kenny Gernander told me a story once about a game when he was with Moncton, where they were on the road, had one of their goaltenders get hurt and couldn't get a replacement to the road city on time. Kenny told me that he was scratched for that game, but the coach said to him, “Don't go far, if our starting goaltender gets hurt, you're in!”
Chris Dennis of Newington, CT writes, “In your last report you answered a question by Brad Roueche as to John Tripp's location. I was pleasantly surprised to see a few other names (playing for the same team in Germany) that also wore Wolf Pack sweaters in the past. That list would include Tripp, Brad Smyth (I have a replica Brad Smyth Berlin Freezers Jersey), Francois Fortier, and Marty Wilford. Also on the roster are two former Pack foes from the North, Andy Delmore and Jean-Marc Pelletier. It is nice to see a group of veterans such as this together. My question is in relation to the "veteran rule". I know one existed in the AHL in the past, but is there still one in place? How will it affect players like Andrew Hutchinson, Darius Kasparaitis and Dave Scatchard getting into the line-up?”
Chris, there is still a limitation on veteran players in place in the AHL. It states that teams must dress at least 11 players (non-goalies) that have played in fewer than 260 NHL, AHL, IHL or European Elite League games prior to the start of the season and one player who has played in fewer than 320 games prior to the start of the season. That leaves five slots open for the normal allotment of 17 skaters for a game, and as of right now, that is not an issue for the Wolf Pack. Even at its most veteran-laden, the Wolf Pack were never over that limit, and with Scatchard now having been released, they have even more breathing room.
Gary Bourgoin of New Britain, CT asks, “What do you think of the goalies on the roster, and do you think we'll see Stephen Valiquette this season in Hartford?”
It's been an interesting year already for goalies, Gary, with three different guys already having seen action and both Al Montoya and Miika Wiikman having to battle through injuries. Haven't been able to get a good read on Wiikman, who has yet to play a full game. In his first start, in Manchester, the whole team had a terrible first period, and he certainly wasn't able to bail them out and was gone by the start of the second period. He was sharp for the most part in his one decision, a shootout win in Toronto in relief of Montoya, but as of this writing hasn't played since.
Montoya always seems to me on the verge of a big breakthrough, but it hasn't come yet. He can't be accused of having a real bad game yet, but I don't think he's had a real sharp one either. Ironically, I think he was in the midst of his best outing so far when he had to leave Friday's game after two periods. He didn't face a huge number of shots in that game, but I thought he made several difficult saves, in situations where the game could have turned quickly against the Wolf Pack if the Falcons had scored.
As for Holt, he has stepped in and done some pretty yeoman work the last couple of games, with both Montoya and Wiikman hurting. I think he might have wanted to have that tying goal against Springfield back, but other than that, I can find no fault with his play. Like Montoya, to me Holt seems always to be knocking on the door of a Jason LaBarbera-like leap forward, from a guy who maybe can win a big game or two here and there to, at the very least a reliable, every-day starter at the AHL level. Hopefully one or both of those guys will solidify that growth spurt over the course of this year.
And I would be surprised if we saw big Steve Valiquette here this year. You never say never, but to send him down they would have to get him through waivers, and I would think he would be an attractive pickup for a team needing goaltending depth.
Thanks for the questions and I’ll continue to poke my pen into this space whenever I can cobble together enough material.
