Wolf Pack Weekly, December 19-27
Dec 19, 2016The Wolf Pack (9-14-3-1, 22 pts., .407) played three of the top teams in the Eastern Conference this past week, and won two of the three games. After a 6-2 loss Wednesday at home to the league-leading Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, the Wolf Pack won back-to-back games, starting with a 2-1 shootout victory vs. the North Division pacesetters, the Syracuse Crunch, Friday at the XL Center. Adam Tambellini scored the only Wolf Pack goal in regulation in that one, and also scored in the shootout, and Brandon Halverson made 26 saves and was 2-for-2 in the shootout. Then on Saturday night at Hershey, the Wolf Pack handed the Bears only their second regulation loss in 19 home games on the year, prevailing by a score of 5-4. Philip McRae had the game-winning goal, and added an assist, in that contest, and Matt Carey and Ryan Graves had two assists apiece.
For the latest AHL standings, click here.
This week: The Wolf Pack’s schedule around the Christmas holiday includes a trip to Syracuse to take on the Crunch Wednesday (7:00 PM faceoff), and then a Monday visit to Bridgeport (7:00), before a return home to host the Providence Bruins next Tuesday at 7:00.
Wednesday, December 21 at the Syracuse Crunch (Tampa Bay) at the War Memorial Arena, 7:00 PM
- With this game the Wolf Pack wrap up their two-game season series with the Crunch, as the two teams battle for the second time in five days. Last year in their only visit of the season to Syracuse, the Wolf Pack downed the Crunch by a score of 4-3 on October 23.
- Following their 2-1 shootout defeat at the Wolf Pack on Friday, Head Coach Benoit Groulx’ Crunch club split a pair of additional road games Saturday and Sunday, winning 5-3 in Bridgeport and losing 3-1 at Providence. That loss to the Bruins was only Syracuse’s second regulation defeat in its last 12 games (8-2-0-2).
- The Crunch have an AHL-leading home-ice points percentage of .875, with a record of 10-1-0-1 in 12 home outings.
- Winger Brian Hart scored Syracuse’s only goal, his first of the season, in Friday night’s game in Hartford, and then scored again in Saturday night’s Crunch win at Bridgeport.
- Broadcast – live with Bob Crawford on-line at www.979espn.com and on iHeartRadio. Video streaming at www.ahllive.com.
Monday, December 26 at the Bridgeport Sound Tigers (Islanders) at the Webster Bank Arena, 7:00 PM
- This is the third meeting of the year between the Wolf Pack and their Nutmeg-State rivals the Sound Tigers, but only the Wolf Pack’s first road game in the series. The Wolf Pack, who suffered an overtime loss and a regulation loss in two earlier clashes with Bridgeport, were 1-4-0-0 in five trips to the Webster Bank Arena last season.
- The Sound Tigers are in the midst of their first losing streak of the season, a drought that grew to four games with a 5-3 home loss to Syracuse in Bridgeport’s last game.
- Eleventh-year pro Stephen Gionta, a veteran of 270 career NHL games, scored his first AHL goal since the 2012-13 season in Saturday’s Sound Tiger-Crunch battle. That was Gionta’s seventh game in Bridgeport’s lineup, after he missed the season’s first 20 games due to injury.
- Broadcast – live with Bob Crawford on News Radio 1410 WPOP, on-line at newsradio1410.iheart.com and on iHeartRadio. Video streaming at www.ahllive.com.
Tuesday, December 27 vs. the Providence Bruins (Boston) at the XL Center, 7:00 PM
- The first 2,000 fans through the doors for this game will receive a Wolf Pack winter ski hat, courtesy of Peoples United Bank.
- This is another Wolf Pack “Click It or Ticket Family Value Pack” game. The Family Value Pack includes two tickets, two sodas and two hot dogs, all for just $40.
- The Bruins were 3-1 winners at home over Syracuse in their last action, after seeing a streak of 13 games without a regulation loss (9-0-2-2) come to an end in a 7-1 defeat at Lehigh Valley Saturday night.
- The Wolf Pack are 1-1-0-1 on the year vs. Providence, including a 4-3 shootout win November 20 in their only previous home game in the season series.
- Bruin goaltender Zane McIntyre is 7-0-0 on the year, and leads the AHL in goals-against average (1.31) and save percentage (95.3).
- Tickets for this and all 2016-17 Wolf Pack home games are on sale now at the Agera Energy Ticket Office at the XL Center, on-line at www.hartfordwolfpack.com and by phone at (877) 522-8499. Tickets purchased in advance for kids 12 or younger are just $10 each, and all tickets will have a $2 day-of-game increase.
- Broadcast – live with Bob Crawford and Mark Bailey on News Radio 1410 WPOP, on-line at newsradio1410.iheart.com and on iHeartRadio. Video streaming at www.ahllive.com.
Wolf Pack Holiday Packs: Wolf Pack Holiday Packs, the perfect holiday gifts for any hockey fan, are now available, with three different packages to choose from. The “Hat Trick” package, priced at $149, includes eight Blue-Level Wolf Pack ticket vouchers, redeemable for any 2016-17 Pack home game, an autographed Wolf Pack mini-helmet, a Wolf Pack holiday ornament and the opportunity to have a photo taken at center ice at the XL Center or in the Wolf Pack locker room. The “Goal” package is priced at $99 and features six Blue-Level ticket vouchers, an autographed Wolf Pack puck, a holiday ornament and a signed 8x10 Wolf Pack photo. The “Slap Shot” package is only $49 and is comprised of two Blue-Level ticket vouchers and an autographed Wolf Pack puck. Wolf Pack Holiday Packs can be ordered on the Wolf Pack’s official website, at www.hartfordwolfpack.com, or by calling the Wolf Pack ticket office at (855) 762-6451.
Recent Transactions:
Nicklas Jensen – returned to the Wolf Pack by the New York Rangers December 14.
Practice: All Wolf Pack practices at Champions Skating Center in Cromwell are open to the public. Schedule is subject to change.
Tue., December 20 10:30 – 11:30 AM, Champions Skating Center
Wed., December 21 Game at Syracuse
Thurs., December 22 No practice
Fri., December 23 No practice
Sat., December 24 No practice
Sun., December 25 No practice
Mon., December 26 10:00 – 10:30 AM, XL Center (game at Bridgeport)
Tue., December 27 10:00 – 10:30 AM, XL Center (game vs. Providence)
Wed., December 28 10:30 – 11:30 AM, Champions Skating Center
Pack Tracks: The Wolf Pack have partnered with First Night Hartford 2017 to offer a special First Night ticket discount package for the Wolf Pack’s December 31 New Year’s Eve home game vs. the Albany Devils. The package is available for $25 for adults, and $12 for kids 12 or younger, and includes a Blue-Section ticket to the December 31 Wolf Pack game, which faces off at 5:00 PM at the XL Center, and a First Night wristband, good for admission to all of the multiple First Night Hartford New Year’s Eve Celebration activities. First Night package tickets will be available for pickup at the Agera Energy Ticket Office at the XL Center, and the wristbands at First Night. To order the special First Night package, go to www.hartfordwolfpack.com, visit the Agera Energy Ticket Office at the XL Center or call (877) 522-8499, and use the promo code FIRSTNIGHT.
Also at the Wolf Pack’s New Year’s Eve home game vs. Albany, the first 2,000 fans into the game will receive the third of four sets of Wolf Pack 20th-anniversary trading cards that will be given away during this 2016-17 season, presented by KOTA. The set will be comprised of the third group of the players chosen as the top 20 all-time in franchise history.
Once again this season, fans can enjoy $1 hot dogs and $2 beers at every Friday Wolf Pack home game, through the start of the second period. After this Friday, the next Friday-night home game is January 6, when the Pack host the Lehigh Valley Phantoms at 7:15 PM.
Each of the Wolf Pack’s Sunday and Wednesday home games, as well as the one Tuesday home date, will feature the Wolf Pack’s “Click It or Ticket Family Value Pack”. The Family Value Pack includes two tickets, two sodas and two hot dogs, all for just $40. The next Family Value Pack game after next Tuesday is Wednesday, January 25, when the Wolf Pack host the Hershey Bears in a 7:00 PM game.
At every Sunday Wolf Pack home game, the first 2,000 fans will receive a “hockey bingo” card. The spaces on these cards contain possibilities that might happen in the game, and if they do, fans can fill in the spaces to win Wolf Pack bingo prizes. The next Sunday Wolf Pack home date is February 19, a 5:00 PM game vs. the Springfield Thunderbirds.
Wolf Pack home game tickets can be purchased at the XL Center ticket office, on-line at www.hartfordwolfpack.com and by phone at (877) 522-8499. Tickets purchased in advance for kids 12 or younger are just $10 each, and all tickets will have a $2 day-of-game increase.
To speak with a Wolf Pack representative about season or group tickets, or any of the Wolf Pack’s many ticketing options, call (855) 762-6451, or click here to request more info.