TWO MINUTES FOR THOUGHTS: OCTOBER 19TH, 2021
Oct 19, 2021
Hello, Hartford. That was a fun weekend, wasn’t it?! A party 583 days in the making completely lived up to the hype this past Friday night as Morgan Barron scored the winning goal in a 2-1 victory over the Bridgeport Islanders to both welcome fans back to the XL Center and to kick off the 2021-22 AHL season. Follow that up with another comeback win on Sunday, and the Wolf Pack have to be feeling good with a 2-1-0-0 record with the dust settling after a wild weekend.
Before we go any further, I want to welcome you to my blog! “Two Minutes For Thoughts” is going to be my space throughout the 2021-22 season to talk about the week that was for the Pack, the week ahead, and, well, anything else I feel like. We’ll roll this out every single Tuesday, so be sure to mark that down on your weekly calendars. You can even feel free to send along some questions (@Alex_Thomas14 on Twitter) and I’ll do my best to answer them in this space as the season goes along.
So, let’s get to it, shall we?
Pack Take Two From Weekend
Let’s start by saying this: the Atlantic Division is the AHL’s deepest, most talented division in the eyes of this observer. It’s nearly impossible to look at this division and find a weak roster. The fact that the Wolf Pack came away with a 2-1-0-0 record is made that much more impressive when looking at the competition that they faced.
On Friday night, a Bridgeport Islanders team with an extremely deep forward group came to town. Lauri Pajuniemi and Barron converted great chances, while Keith Kinkaid slammed the door shut. Although the Pack fell by an identical 2-1 score the next night in Springfield, they still impressed with five massive penalty kills and some great looks down the stretch.
On Sunday, however, Hartford turned in their most impressive performance of the young season. The Providence Bruins rolled out a dynamic top-line that scored just 100 seconds into the game, but the Pack weren’t deterred. Even after the momentum swung back to the Bruins late in the first period, thanks to Samuel Asselin’s goal, Hartford kept battling.
Jonny Brodzinski was on another level in the second period, setting up Tim Gettinger’s first goal of the season and sniping home the team’s first shorthanded goal later in the period to give the Pack the lead. Even after Chris Wagner tied it late on the powerplay, Hartford felt in control in the final forty minutes.
Gettinger’s goal in the sixth round of the shootout was a thing of beauty, and Kinkaid stood tall on all six Bruin attempts to secure the win.
Getting four of a possible six points early in the season in a three-in-three, to me, is a great sign. You can’t make the playoffs in October and November, but you can certainly fall out of them. Was this weekend Hartford’s best hockey? Probably not, this team still has another level they can hit. That said, they still managed to bank four points and they proved that they can persevere and keep fighting even when falling behind early in games. That’s a great trait to have. This group can battle adversity, and that should serve them well as the season rolls along.
Roster Changes Abound
The good news is that the Wolf Pack are healthy after the three-in-three weekend. The bad news? The parent New York Rangers are battling injuries early and often. Forwards Ryan Strome and Kaapo Kakko are both out of the Ranger lineup, and as a result the club recalled both Greg McKegg and Barron from Hartford.
As coach Kris Knoblauch said postgame on Friday, McKegg is expected to be a key part of the penalty kill this season in Hartford and will be part of the leadership core. He’ll be a big addition if/when he returns from the NHL.
As for Barron, it’s not a surprise that he was on the Rangers’ radar. He had a strong NHL training camp with the club and scored two goals in as many games to kick off the AHL season. Barron has proven to be an impact player at the AHL level and has earned this recall.
With Barron and McKegg in New York, Alex Whelan was recalled from loan on Tuesday morning. Whelan, who was loaned to Jacksonville (ECHL) last week, appeared in ten games with the Pack last season while scoring three points (2 g, 1 a). He impressed in training camp in Hartford and is part of the depth that Knoblauch mentioned on media day that will be counted on during the course of the season.
This N’ That
If you are a hockey fan, you’ll want to be at the XL Center in six days when the ‘My Why Tour’ comes to town. It’ll be the second of three exhibition games between Team USA and Team Canada’s Women’s National Teams in advance of the 2022 Winter Olympic this February. This should be one terrific hockey game. You can discover more details on the event here.
Speaking of women doing big things in hockey, stick taps to Katie Guay, who became the first woman to referee an AHL game this past weekend when she worked the Lehigh Valley Phantoms and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins game on Saturday night. Hockey is a terrific sport, but it has been way too far behind in the advancement of women in the sport. This is a huge step. If you can see it, you can be it, and you better believe that this will have a positive impact.
Not to be lost in Katie’s debut, Kelly Cooke worked her first game on Sunday when the Utica Comets met the Rochester Americans. More glass ceilings being shattered, and quite frankly we love to see it.
Speaking of the Phantoms and Penguins, they are next up for the Wolf Pack. It’ll be the first true road trip for Hartford since the 2019-20 season, as the Pack will head out on the road Thursday afternoon. They’ll visit the Penguins on Friday night (7:05 pm) and the Phantoms on Saturday (7:05 pm) before returning home to host the Penguins next Friday night at 7:00 pm at the XL Center.
Be sure to tune in to AHLTV for all the action this weekend.
Lastly, I just wanted to take a quick moment to thank everyone who tuned in over the weekend on AHLTV and Mixlr for my call of the two Wolf Pack home games. Calling professional hockey for a living is an absolute dream come true for me, and I’m so excited to be a part of this great organization and to bring the action to all of you throughout the season. This is a terrific hockey market with so much passion, and I look forward to being your voice moving forward. Let’s have a year!
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ABOUT THE HARTFORD WOLF PACK: The Hartford Wolf Pack has been a premier franchise in the American Hockey League since the team’s inception in 1997. The Wolf Pack are the top player-development affiliate of the NHL's New York Rangers and play at the XL Center. The Wolf Pack has been home to some of the Rangers newest faces including Igor Shesterkin, Filip Chytil, and Ryan Lindgren. Follow the Wolf Pack on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok.