Crawford's Pack Report: Winning Ways Continue
Monday, December 3, 2007 - 8:44 PM
The Wolf Pack sport their longest winning streak of the season, and the longest active win streak in the AHL, after sweeping three Atlantic Division games this weekend.
After fighting through recalls and injuries and patching their lineup with reinforcements the week before, the Pack started to get some of their missing pieces back in the puzzle, and took full advantage.
With Alex Bourret coming back from injury and Greg Moore back down from the Rangers, Ken Gernander had some great depth to work with. He put together lines of Moore centering Nigel Dawes and Bourret and Lauri Korpikoski between Hugh Jessiman and Dane Byers, and kept together the threesome of Artem Anisimov at center alongside Brodie Dupont and Pierre Parenteau, to create three really balanced lines. I was down at Champions Skating Center to watch some of a practice early last week, and I thought, “man, those are three nice lines”, and sure enough, the combinations made the Wolf Pack really hard to match up against.
Bourret came out jumping in Friday's visit to Worcester, after eight games on the shelf, and did a great job of getting himself open. Dawes found him twice for goals on quickly released shots, and then Dawes went off in Saturday's battle with Springfield.
Saturday was looking like one of those games that would end up in frustration for the Pack, with the team spending much of its time killing penalties and never being able to establish some momentum. Once the Wolf Pack got on the board, though, with a Pierre Parenteau goal that cut a Springfield lead to 2-1 just shy of the 12:00 mark of the second period, the offense got untracked, and it swamped the Falcons in the third session.
Dawes was the main catalyst, firing home the Pack's first hat trick of the season and adding an assist, giving him a pair of four-point games in a span of four outings (no other Wolf Pack player has yet hit the four-point mark this season). He was by far the best player on the ice, again showing that his minor pro development is probably nearing its completion, making plays at a pace that only NHL caliber talents are capable of and shooting the puck with dead-eye accuracy. His centerman, Moore, picked up a pair of assists and Bourret started the four-goal third-period barrage with what turned out to be the game-winning goal, his league-leading fourth gamer out of the five goals he has scored. Three of the four Wolf Pack tallies in that third period came in a span of only 2:18, and the whole blitz took less than seven minutes, as the Pack offense showed some definite quick-strike capability.
That Saturday-night tilt with the Falcons had a little bit of everything…plenty of exciting offensive play, lots of speed, some sharp saves and plenty of dislike, with eight games still left between the two clubs. This year's Springfield team is a much quicker, hungrier and younger team than was housed up the road the past few years, so keep your eyes on the schedule for the rest of the battle of I-91. Saturday's game, although it ended up looking like a blowout by the final score, was well worth the price of admission.
The Portland Pirates did a good job against the Dawes-Moore-Bourret troika on Sunday, holding them off the scoresheet, but the Wolf Pack's depth came to the forefront. Korpikoski scored a goal on a beautiful rush (if there's a faster skater in the AHL, I haven't seen him) and had an assist, Tom Pyatt scored on a nice backhand in only his second game back in the lineup after 10 contests on the injured list, and Ivan Baranka contributed a goal and an assist off the backline.
The Pack led by margins of 2-0 and 3-1, but the Pirates hadn't played Friday and thus had the fresher legs, and they were strong in wearing the Wolf Pack down in the third. By the 10:26 mark it was tied at two, but the Pack had one more big play left in the bag of tricks. Mike Ouellette would pick up his second assist of the game, for his first multiple-point outing in the AHL, when his shot hit Byers in front of the net (where else?) and dropped perfectly down for Byers to pop in behind a helpless Portland netminder Gerald Coleman.
It was the second goal, and third point, of the weekend for Byers, who had gone the previous 11 games without finding the scoresheet. There aren't too many regular-shift forwards who can go that many games without recording a point and say that they're still contributing mightily to the team, but he is one of them. He was certainly due for a few breaks like the empty-netter he scored Friday and Ouellette's shot hitting him and dropping to his feet in a big spot Sunday, and it was good to see him cash in on them.
Miika Wiikman played all three games in goal and continued to look solid and under control. He's now 6-0-0 in AHL play, and although he hasn't had a game yet where he has had to play out of his mind, his success certainly sets up an interesting situation when Al Montoya and Chris Holt get ready to come back out of injury dry-dock.
Now to bring in some reader input…
Chris Blanchard of Columbia, CT asks, “Any word on Joe Barnes? He was on the injured list to start the season, was sent down to Charlotte, and then doesn't seem to appear on either the Pack or Checkers' roster- did I miss a transaction?”
You didn't, Chris. Unfortunately for Joe and the organization, he has a knee injury, and I'm told he is probably out for the season. Terrible luck for him, after he lost most of last year to injury as well.
Ed Walsh of Breezy Point, NY asks, “Why doesn't Mark Lee get more ice time?”
It's purely a numbers game, Ed. While Mark is skilled enough to put up some points in the AHL, the Wolf Pack have enough even more skilled players to create offense that there really isn't room on a scoring line for him right now. And Mike Ouellette seems to have moved a bit past Mark in the role of a third-line center, as he gives the Pack a little more size in that spot. Mark is a great team guy, though, and always plays hard, so I feel safe in saying that whenever the Pack coaching staff has an opportunity for him, they will be eager to work him in.
Ron from Vernon, CT writes, “With the way Andrew Hutchinson has played here in Hartford, do you feel the Rangers should have kept him in New York? He is obviously an NHL defenseman, which shows in his play here every time he is on the ice.”
Ron, similar to Mark Lee's situation one level down, I think Andrew is just caught in an unfavorable numbers situation with respect to the Ranger blueline. Like you said, you can see on a nightly basis in the AHL what a sharp guy he is on the power play and how well he moves the puck. The stats don't lie, he's a real good offensive D-man.
When you look at the Ranger D corps, though, there really just isn't a spot for him right now. They have several solid puck-moving guys up there, players like Michal Rozsival, Dan Girardi, Fedor Tyutin, etc., and if they were looking to shake up the mix, I would think they would be looking to add more of a banging, physical guy. There's no question, though, if one of the Rangers' more offensive-minded blueliners gets injured, Andrew has made a statement here that he is poised to step in.
Nate from Enfield, CT says, “It was a surprise that Dale Purinton left the team this year, especially with the rumors he would have been team captain. Any chance of him coming back to the Wolf Pack?”
I doubt it, Nate. I think Dale's moving on to sign with Colorado was a mutual decision, and he is currently serving a long AHL suspension for an incident that occurred October 17th, when he was playing for the Avalanche's affiliate, the Lake Erie Monsters.
Tyrone Lane of Waterbury, asks, “Is Francis Lessard injured? If so when will he be back? What kind of injury does he have?”
Tyrone, Frankie suffered a knee injury November 17th in Lowell, just when he was scoring some goals and playing some of his best hockey. Unfortunately, all indications are that he will be out for an extended period of time.
Eric from Freehold, NJ writes, “It has seemed over the last few years that neither Al Montoya nor Chris Holt are in the future plans of the Rangers. With many goalie prospects in the system, do you think one of them will be traded at the end of the season, rather than having them waste away splitting time in Hartford?”
I hardly think either one of them is “wasting away”, Eric. The AHL is a great league, and both of those guys have made solid strides in their development with the Wolf Pack. There's no denying, though, that Henrik Lundqvist has a stranglehold on the number-one job with the big club, and I don't know if the Rangers would want a relatively young guy sitting for long periods of time behind him. So if an enticing trade offer came their way for either Montoya or Holt, I imagine that they would be in a position at least to consider it.
Steve from Houston asks, “Will any of the Pack's games be on FSN? I always attend their game here in Houston.”
Steve, as of right now there are no plans to televise any Wolf Pack games this season. We'll see you, though, at the beautiful Toyota Center in Houston March 7th.
TJ Cahill of Hartford writes, “I remember the missed hit that resulted in the concussion for Alex Bourret. He was flying. He has an unorthodox hitting style and plays with an edge and reckless abandon. His skill is such that maybe management would prefer he play more conservatively. Any thoughts? Any update on Dave Liffiton's injury situation? Also, it looked like Hugh Jessiman was injured against Lowell, but he returned late in the game. Any news? Lastly, any news on Bobby Sanguinetti? He played with poise and maturity late last year? Is he still with his junior club?”
TJ, I haven't heard anyone on the Pack coaching staff or in Ranger management express hope that Alex Bourret would tone down his hitting and physical style. My personal analysis is that the edge and reckless abandon you talk about is a big part of how he gets himself into the game and generates scoring chances for himself and his linemates.
Big Hugh did go off to the locker room seemingly doubled over late in that Lowell game. I talked to him about it, and he said that he experienced a “stinger”-type of pain effect, but once he took a few minutes in the room, it subsided, and he was able to finish that game and play all three of this week's games, so hopefully he's OK. Dave Liffiton is still off skates for now.
Bobby Sanguinetti, at least according to his stats, is having a huge year this year in the OHL. He was traded this summer from Owen Sound to Brampton, and as of December 3rd he was the Battalion's leading scorer, with 17 goals and 40 points in only 28 games. That easily led all OHL defensemen in goals and points.
He is clearly a terrific offensive defenseman, and I agree, he showed a lot of poise in his stint last spring with the Pack. I think if he gets a little bigger and stronger, and progresses in his play in his own end, he could end up making the organization very happy.
And finally, Kevin Kelly of Parlin, NJ asks, “What happened to Jarkko Immonen? Is he still in the Rangers' system? I remember he had a good year with the Wolf Pack last year and did well in a few appearances with the Rangers.”
Kevin, Jarkko elected this summer not to accept the Rangers' qualifying offer and signed with JYP Jyvaskyla, the team he played for in his native Finland before he came over to North America. According to hockeydb.com, he is having a good year for JYP, leading the team in scoring with 13 goals and 32 points in 28 games. JYP also boasts the talents of another former Wolf Pack, Dwight Helminen.
Thanks for the questions and I’ll continue to poke my pen into this space whenever I can put together enough material!
