Crawford's Pack Report: Injuries Abound

Tuesday, November 27, 2007 - 5:44 PM

Another solid week for the Wolf Pack, celebrating Thanksgiving with two wins in three games.

A season-high four-game winning streak was snapped in a 3-2 home loss to Providence on Wednesday, the Wolf Pack squandering a chance to hold first place alone for the first time on the year, but the Pack rebounded to win in Bridgeport on Friday night by a score of 5-3 and knock off Lowell in overtime on Saturday by a count of 3-2.

Wednesday’s and Saturday’s games were more the tight, no-room-for-error contests that we have seen a lot of out of the Wolf Pack, and also the Rangers, this year, but Friday’s game was more of a free-flowing offensive contest, with the Pack showing some real offensive potency. It was interesting, too, that in Wednesday’s game a Wolf Pack comeback fell just short, as the Pack battled back from 3-1 down and came within inches of tying the contest, and then the Wolf Pack were the victims of a Lowell comeback on Saturday, the Devils tying the game at two with just 1:06 left in regulation. Providence pulled the game out of the fire on Wednesday night, and the Pack went on to dominate Saturday’s overtime and win that contest.

You have to feel for Nigel Dawes, finding himself back in the AHL after seemingly having a pretty good run in the parent Rangers’ lineup. He looked quite downcast when he arrived at Champions Skating Center after being assigned to the Pack on Tuesday. It seems as though Dawes is determined, however, to give himself every chance to get back to the Big Show real soon. I thought he was pretty darned good in Wednesday’s and Saturday’s games, and on Friday in Bridgeport he put on a dominating performance.

Dawes lit up the Sound Tigers for a four-point night, the Pack’s first of the season, with two goals and two assists on Friday. That was a type of game similar to that which he put together the last game before he was called up, a Wolf Pack win in Syracuse in which Dawes had a goal and two assists. He looked like he was a step ahead of everybody out there, intimidating with his speed, jumping into holes and giving the impression that he expected to score every time he got the puck…the look of a guy whose level of play has surpassed that of the AHL. With Ryan Callahan and Martin Straka coming back, all of a sudden forward spots are real hard to come by with the Rangers, but Dawes looks like he is going to make it very difficult for the big club to keep him off its roster.

Pierre Parenteau, too, had a real successful week, capped off by sniping the overtime game-winner in Saturday’s tilt.

Parenteau netted the only two Pack goals Wednesday, helping to give the Wolf Pack a chance to stay in that game, and he made a pretty pass to set up a Dawes goal that started the Pack’s offensive outburst Friday, just 2:40 into the game. When you saw Parenteau get the puck in the high slot with room to move and shoot in that Saturday overtime you kind of knew something good would happen, and, as one of the better big-goal men I’ve seen around this league in the last few years, he didn’t disappoint. His five-point week gave him a seven-game point-scoring streak, a Wolf Pack season high, and bumped him up past Greg Moore and into the team point-scoring lead.

Parenteau’s centerman, Artem Anisimov, made a good impact last week as well, continuing to show that he is making strides at figuring out what it takes to be consistently successful in the North American game. Anisimov won the draw that led to Parenteau’s game-winner Saturday, and scored a goal of his own earlier in the game that was a result of stationing himself right around the Lowell net. Anisimov had gone through a fairly healthy dry spell of 13 games without a goal, and with only four assists, but now finds himself on a five-game point-scoring streak.

Another significant note about this week was the number of players the Wolf Pack were missing from their regular lineup. In Friday’s game, eight of the 19 players, including both goaltenders, they had in uniform were guys that had spent time in the ECHL with Charlotte this year.

Missing both Al Montoya and Chris Holt from the goal crease could have spelled real trouble for the Pack, but Miika Wiikman, who hadn’t played a complete game in the AHL before Friday night, stepped in nicely. He wasn’t forced to stand on his head in either of the two games he started, Friday and Saturday night, but was steady and solid and showed none of the nervousness that seemed to shake him in his only previous AHL start. That was the Wolf Pack’s second game of the year, in which Wiikman was lifted after giving up three first-period goals in what would turn out to be a 5-4 shootout loss at Manchester.

In addition to Wiikman, the likes of Ryan Murphy, Ryan Constant and Matt Waddell all filled significant minutes for the depleted Wolf Pack, and Mike Ouellette, Bruce Graham and Mark Lee continued to carry good loads as well. None of the additions stood out with spectacular performances, but just the fact that the Pack won two out of three with so many regulars sidelined tells you that all of the guys called on to expand their roles were able to do that without missing a beat.

One last note of minutiae…Friday’s win was the Wolf Pack’s sixth straight victory at Bridgeport, and the Pack are now over .500 all-time at the Arena at Harbor Yard (14-13-1-3), and 11-4 with one overtime loss there since the start of the 2004-05 season. That’s quite a reversal from the first three years of the Sound Tigers’ existence, in which the Pack won just three of 15 visits to Bridgeport.

Now to some reader input…

Murray McCullough of Carleton Place, Ontario asks, “What is the current status of Tom Pyatt? I heard he has ankle problems. When is he expected to return?”

Murray, Tom sustained an ankle sprain in a game at Manchester November 4th. He is back skating hard in practice, so I would expect him to be back in the lineup soon. Unfortunately he got hurt just as he was starting to hit his stride offensively and was really flying around. Hopefully he’ll be able to rediscover that groove quickly when he gets back.

Rick Gusmano from Huntington, NY writes, “As a long time fan of the parent club, I'm most interested in how the prospects are developing and the lines that they play on. Additionally, in your prior updates, I've noticed that Alex Bourret had at one point been benched. Is he injured or has he been a healthy scratch the last several games? I was hoping to see him in New York this season, perhaps playing on a line with Nigel Dawes. Any insight?”

Alex was injured November 10th in a game against Albany, Rick, and has been out since. Like Pyatt, he has been going hard in workouts, so hopefully he’s not far away from a return.

Alex struggled the first few games of the season, suffering, I think, from some disappointment that he didn’t get a longer look from the big club. His production was picking up, though, when he got hurt, and he is a very skilled player who plays with a lot of grit, so I wouldn’t bet against him finding his way to the NHL before too long. In the immediate future, though, as I wrote earlier in this piece, it’s going to be a challenge, as Dawes and Greg Moore have already spent some time up, and the Rangers are very deep up front.

Amy from Stateville, NC writes, “I am a season ticket holder of the ECHL Charlotte Checkers, and I am looking for some insight on Hartford's goalie situation. I understand things happen and players are called up, as this is a developmental league. However, it seems the goalies assigned here are on a constant yo-yo. Hartford just called up BOTH of our goalies, leaving us to find some from the SPHL and elsewhere. Are Hartford's goalies consistently getting injured or are they not playing up to expectations? I would appreciate your take on the situation.”

Amy, these recent callups were strictly due to injuries. Al Montoya has been battling a nagging back problem, which flared up again Wednesday morning, necessitating the recall of Miika Wiikman. Then Chris Holt injured a knee in a goalmouth get-together with a Providence forward in Wednesday night’s game, causing a need to send for Matt Zaba.

I do know that the Wolf Pack coaching staff is sensitive to, and sympathizes with, Derek Wilkinson’s situation there in Charlotte. The Pack guys go through the same thing one level higher up. Jim Schoenfeld, Ken Gernander and Co. make every effort to get players back to the Checkers the moment there is no longer an immediate need, and you rarely see the Wolf Pack carrying more than one or two extra guys. With goaltenders, though, it’s a tough situation, with there being so few of them in an organization. You certainly can’t do without them and you have to get them from somewhere. It’s just been one of those years so far, hopefully the injury situation will improve as the year goes along.

Scott Clark from New Britain, CT says, “I was at the Providence game last Wednesday and saw no penalty called against the Bruin who took out goalie Chris Holt. Why was there no interference call against the Bruin and what is the status of Holt after the game with the knee injury? And are the referees double checked after a game with so many disputed calls?”

Scott, I can definitely tell you that the referees in this league are being tutored constantly by NHL officiating personnel, to help them improve and progress in their own work. This is a development league for officials, just like it is for players and coaches, and the people who run the game are very eager to foster that development and to help the guys that you see wearing the stripes to progress and to learn from whatever mistakes they might make.

As for Holt, he sustained a knee sprain on the play you are referring to, and according to what I am told, may be out for a month or so.

Marissa from Torrington, CT asks, “How did Alex Bourret and Al Montoya sustain their recent injuries? Alex Bourret is my all time favorite player, so I was disappointed not seeing him play at November 24th’s game!”

Alex was injured when he missed a hit in the game November 10th against Albany, Marissa, and crashed into the boards, sustaining a concussion. Al was originally hurt October 21st in Toronto, when the Marlies’ David Ling kicked him in the back while in the course of crashing the net.

Al’s injury keeps seeming to flare up on him, so I don’t know what the picture looks like for him, but as I wrote in my answer to Rick’s question above, Alex has been going full-speed in practice, so hopefully he’s not too far away from getting back in the lineup.

Janice from Yorktown, NY asks, “Do you think that Pierre Parenteau will be the next to get called up to play for the NY Rangers, since he has been one of the best players with the Hartford Wolf Pack this season? I really like his play, as he always seems to find himself on or around the puck. He plays a very solid puck possession game, which the Rangers brass just loves. Your thoughts as to who might make the AHL all-star game from the Wolf Pack (Moore, Parenteau, Dawes)? Any defensemen?”

Janice, I don’t know what Pierre’s prospects for a callup are, with Dawes and Moore back down and so many good forwards in New York, but Pierre certainly is making a strong bid to be next in line. You’re absolutely right, he is one of those guys whom the puck just seems to follow around, and who appears out of nowhere when a scoring chance develops. The thing I like about him, too, is that he always seems to play his best when the situation is biggest, when the game is on the line, Saturday night being a case in point. He’s the kind of player whom you might keep in check for most of the game, and you might not notice him too much, and then when you need a big goal late, there he is.

As for potential Wolf Pack all-stars, I think you listed three good candidates there, although Dawes might be hurt, ironically enough, by the fact that he spent so much of the first quarter of the season in the NHL. On the blueline I think Ivan Baranka might get some consideration for the Planet USA team, as might Andrew Hutchinson, with the numbers he has put up. You never know, too, somebody like a Corey Potter might get recognized…he’s put up 10 points in the first 21 games and has played very steady, as his +7 rating would attest.

Thanks for the questions and I’ll continue to poke my pen into this space whenever I can put together enough material!