Crawford's Pack Report: Week in Review

Tuesday, February 19, 2008 - 2:31 PM

A great week this week, except for Sunday, a day that saw the Wolf Pack experience more frustration at the hands of the Bridgeport Sound Tigers.

The Pack had cranked the offensive machine up to warp speed by Sunday’s visit to Bridgeport, having scored a total of 23 goals in the preceding four games. The machine ground to a halt at the Arena at Harbor Yard in a 4-1 defeat, but that does not erase the positives from what was a very entertaining stretch of games prior to that.

Before being held scoreless in six opportunities Sunday, the power play had exploded for 10 goals in 22 chances over the span of four games. Captain Andrew Hutchinson was the kingpin of that power-play potency, and I don’t think it’s any coincidence that he was hurt Sunday and the PP misfired.

Hutchinson had two assists in Friday’s 6-1 throttling of the Falcons in Springfield, and then scored a howitzer of a power-play goal in Saturday’s first period against Portland. He also picked up an assist in that period, wristing a shot that Marcel Hossa, on his first Wolf Pack shift, deflected into the Pirate cage. Those points pushed Hutchinson, already tops in the league in scoring among defensemen, up to an AHL career-high 13 goals and 46 points on the year. The seventh-year pro has 4-4-8 in his last four games, 5-7-12 in his last seven and 7-10-17 in his last 12 outings.

This year certainly could have been a real bummer for Hutchinson, who seemingly had proven all that he needed to prove at the AHL level before spending the last two seasons all in the NHL with Carolina. And as one of the few veterans on this Wolf Pack team, if he had allowed himself to sulk and feel sorry for himself, it could have been poisonous for the locker room. Hutchinson, to his credit, has not only played hard and been a good soldier all year, you could make a good argument that he has taken even a further step in his career, what with the terrific offensive numbers he has put up and with getting his first opportunity to fill a captain’s role at the pro level.

P.A. Parenteau, too, continued to improve his already-impressive numbers last week, highlighted by his two-goal, one-assist performance against one of his old teams Saturday, in the Pack’s 6-3 triumph over Portland. That was a huge “swing” game between two teams separated by only two points in the Atlantic Division, and Parenteau had as dynamic an outing as we have seen out of him all year. The skilled Frenchman scored one goal on a booming, one-timed slapshot that was past Pirate ‘tender Mike McKenna before he had time to react, and another on a sweet move out of the corner and a nifty bit of dangling. Six points on the week lifted Parenteau to 21 goals and 54 points on the year, the latter total ranking him tied for eighth in the league.

A rather quiet, but key, contributor to the power play success was Parenteau’s fellow French Canadian, Alex Bourret. He was an important catalyst to a pair of key third-period goals Wednesday, as the Pack got the week off to a good start with a 4-3 home victory over Springfield, and two-assist games Friday and Saturday gave him four straight two-assist outings.

Bourret proved himself last year to be a solid stretch-drive and playoff performer, and he is starting to have the look of a guy who is getting that same kind of bounce in his step. He had a bit of a hiccup with a -3 Sunday, but most of the team was off its game in that one, and prior to that Bourret had worked his way all the way up into plus territory, after languishing at a double-digit minus not too long ago.

Hutchinson’s point partner on the first man-advantage unit, Thomas Pöck, may not have the numbers that Hutchinson does, and probably won’t threaten the franchise-record 61 points he rolled up off the Wolf Pack blueline in 2005-06, but he has continued to pose a dangerous threat in the offensive zone. The Austrian import chalked up two helpers in both Wednesday’s and Saturday’s games, giving him seven goals and 29 points in 49 games on the year. Bet on him to score more as the season goes down the stretch, too, as he has put the second most shots on net of any defenseman in the league.

“Mr. Consistency” for the week was Dane Byers, who scored the Pack’s only goal in Sunday’s game to surpass his own Wolf Pack season high for longest goal-scoring streak. That tally gave Byers lamplighters in five straight and was his 18th of the year, putting him one ahead of the 17 he netted all of last season. He scored his four on the week every which way, a power-play tip-in to open the scoring Wednesday, a shorthanded breakaway in Friday’s game that capped a four-goal second-period outburst by the Pack, another man-advantage tip-in for the last goal of the game Saturday and a rebound in a delayed penalty situation Sunday. The goal against Portland had to be doubly satisfying, as Byers had drawn the power play by taking a cross-check from Pirate leading goal-scorer Geoff Platt that sent Byers falling into the end boards. His five-game streak has given Byers eight goals and 13 points in his last 10 games.

And now to answer some reader inquiries…

Chris from West Hartford, CT asks, “If a fight happens during the pre-game warmup, who stops them? The refs aren’t out there at that time.”

They aren’t, Chris, but if an honest-to-goodness scrap broke out during warmups, they would be summoned from their locker room, by the off-ice officials, to deal with it. And the home team is required to videotape the warmup, so that if any nonsense occurs, the league can sort out who was responsible. Luckily, that kind of stuff doesn’t happen much anymore.

Eric from Avon, CT asks, “Is there a certain type of stick a player has to use? I see a lot of Reeboks out there. Also, is there a dress code for the AHL?”

Eric, per a marketing and sponsorship agreement between the AHL and Reebok, all AHL players are required to use Reebok’s “Rbk”-brand sticks. Each team does have three “exempt” slots from that rule for each game, but the rest of the guys are bound to use the Rbk sticks, which are cutting-edge products.

And yes, there is a dress code in the AHL, and pretty much throughout hockey. Teams generally require their players to wear a jacket and tie to games, to project an image of class and professionalism.

Rich from Croton, NY asks, “When is the CHL (Canadian Hockey League) regular season over? Will we be seeing Bobby Sanguinetti in Hartford this season for the playoffs? Would a player such as Bobby, a Junior player, have to be placed on the clear day playoff roster in advance? If his team does go far in the playoffs, is another Junior player then eligible to take his roster spot?"

The Major Junior leagues, Rich, wrap up their regular seasons right around the middle of March. An underage (under 20) Junior player is ineligible to play in the AHL until his Junior team has ended its season (i.e., is done with playoffs). Bobby Sanguinetti’s team, the Brampton Battalion of the Ontario League, is in first place in its division and has clinched a playoff berth, so it is likely to be a while before Bobby might be available to play for the Pack, like he did at the end of last season.

If and when a Junior player joins an AHL team, he does not have to be accounted for on the team’s “Clear Day” playoff roster.

Eric from Freehold, NJ writes, “The Rangers have been reluctant to recall veterans from Hartford, putting Wolf Pack team captains in a tough situation. Ken Gernander accepted his role, and was content staying in the AHL for eight seasons. Craig Weller, however, realized he had no future with the Rangers and left the organization after one season as captain. Andrew Hutchinson may do the same, and sign with another team to try to get back in the NHL. It would seem like a great thing for the Wolf Pack if they were able to keep a veteran (such as with Ken Gernander) around for a few seasons.”

The league, as a whole, is really moving away from that, Eric. With the salary cap and such at the NHL level, player development is such an important element of success in the NHL, that NHL teams really need to develop as many players as they can as quickly as they can. Also, there is so much money to be made in Europe that it would be a tough call these days for a veteran player to stick around the AHL for too many years in a row, when he could make a lot more money overseas.

I think the ideal, right now, is to identify strong leaders among players who are still relatively young. It would be great to have another Gernander whom you could count on for eight years, but just as good is to have a guy like a Weller, who can grow his career by wearing the “C” for a year-and-a-half, or to find yourself with a player like Hutchinson, who has the experience of a much older player but is still on the upside of his career at 27 years old.

Jonathan from New York City writes, “I just want to know how the re-entry waiver rules work. From what I understand, Pöck and Hutchinson can't return to the Rangers this season because they would have to clear waivers and would be at risk of being claimed by other NHL teams. How about next season, if they make the club out of training camp (as Pöck did this year but Hutchinson did not)? Would they still have to clear, or do they start over from scratch at the beginning of a new season? Thanks a lot for your insight into what seems to be a very complicated rule!”

Jonathan, veteran players like Hutchinson and Pöck always have to clear waivers when they are assigned to the AHL. Guys who are making above a certain amount of money, and both of those players are above the threshold, have to be put through re-entry waivers when they are recalled to the NHL. That means that all of the other NHL teams have an opportunity to claim them, and if they are claimed, then their original team is responsible for half of their NHL salary, which counts against their cap.

This doesn’t mean they cannot return to the big club, only that there is a certain element of risk associated with the decision to call them up. If they were making seven-figure salaries, which I don’t believe they are, then this would be a big issue, as half of that level of a salary would seriously impact the Rangers’ cap situation. If the parent club was only going to be responsible for half of a lower-end NHL salary, though, and with the season well past its halfway point and not that many paydays left, I don’t think the prospect of losing a player on re-entry waivers would prevent the Rangers from calling a guy up, if they thought that he could help them in the event he cleared. And it starts over from the start of a new season. So if Thomas and/or Andrew made the Rangers out of training camp next year, they would not have to clear re-entry waivers at that point.

Kenny from Charlotte, NC asks, “What is your opinion on Jordan Owens? When he was here in Charlotte playing for the Checkers, he was a real fan favorite because of his strong work habits. I still follow him in Hartford on hartfordwolfpack.com, and he really seams to be doing well for the Wolf Pack. Do you feel like Jordan has what it takes to move up to the next level, and how long do you estimate it will take him?”

I wouldn’t try to put a time frame on it, Kenny, but I do feel that Jordan has the makeup that could carry him to the NHL level. You mentioned his work habits, and those are definitely real good, and he plays the game hard, with solid intensity. I think his foot speed is fine, but where I think he needs to get better is in reading and anticipating the play. Things happen a lot faster at the pro level than they do in the OHL, and whenever I’ve noticed Jordan making a mistake, it’s not from lack of effort, just from not making quite the right read.

From his numbers, it looks like he was a first-line offensive player for much of his Junior career, and if he makes it to the next level it will probably be as more of an energy guy. He’s fairly thin, so he probably needs to ratchet up his strength, but if he does that, with the way he applies himself and the spirit with which he plays the game, I would see no limit to how far he could go.

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