TWO MINUTES FOR THOUGHTS: DECEMBER 7TH, 2023
Dec 7, 2023
The Wolf Pack’s six-game winning streak came to an end on Wednesday night, but it’s not all bad news for the club. The Wolf Pack were able to find a way to secure a point despite trailing 3-2 through two periods of play. The club now has a season-long seven-game point streak and will hit the road for the first time in nearly a month.
As the club makes the trek north to Laval, we give you ten Wolf Pack thoughts from the bus!
Onto the blog!
1.) Mac Hollowell became the first player in the AHL to hit the 20-assist mark on Wednesday night. He picked up the secondary helper on Brennan Othmann’s first-period powerplay goal. Hollowell, a defenseman, leads the AHL in assists through Hartford’s first 21 games of the season.
We’ve said it before in this space, and we’ll say it again. Hollowell has been an impact addition to the Hartford defense corps and has paid massive dividends in all areas. He’s been a key cog on the powerplay but has also been key to the team’s five-on-five success. His ability to help Hartford transition the puck from defense to offense has been key.
2.) Hollowell isn’t alone on the blueline in producing, however. Fellow newcomer Nikolas Brouillard has been outstanding lately, with assists in five straight games. Brouillard is getting more and more comfortable by the game and has been impacting Hartford in a variety of ways.
With a bit of a roster shuffle lately, namely Jonny Brodzinski being recalled by the parent New York Rangers, Brouillard has stepped into a role on the top powerplay unit. He teed up Othmann for his goal on Wednesday night.
3.) How good has the Wolf Pack powerplay been? They have scored a goal in nine straight contests, dating back to Steve Smith’s first game behind the bench on November 12th. After going 1-for-4 on Wednesday night, the Pack is converting on 25.3% of powerplays this season. That ranks second in the AHL behind only the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
Even with changes in personnel, like Brodzinski in New York and Riley Nash being unavailable on Wednesday night, Hartford still finds ways to produce. Full marks to assistant coach Jaime Tardif, who has his two powerplay units clicking in a big way, regardless of any adversity faced.
4.) The Wolf Pack’s depth on the powerplay was on full display in their 7-3 victory over the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on Friday night. Nash notched a powerplay goal for the top unit, but Adam Sýkora, Anton Blidh, and Ryder Korczak all scored for the second unit in the win.
The four powerplay goals were a season-high (4-for-6) for the club.
Some teams are a one-unit show on the powerplay, but that’s not the case in Hartford. That makes the Wolf Pack dangerous with the skater advantage regardless of the circumstances.
5.) You may have noticed a new face on the Wolf Pack bench on Wednesday night. Earlier in the week, the New York Rangers named Paul Mara as an assistant coach with the club. Mara joined the Rangers in August as a Player Development Assistant, a role he will continue to serve in.
Mara has plenty of coaching experience, serving as the head coach of the NWHL/PHF’s Boston Pride for five seasons. The Pride won two Isobel Cup Championships during Mara’s tenure and won a regular season championship in 2019-20.
He also served as an assistant coach for the U.S. Women’s National Team at the 2018 Winter Olympics. Team USA won gold that year, defeating Team Canada in a thrilling gold medal game.
Selfishly, it’s nice to see another Boston area guy in the house too, as Mara played his high school hockey at Belmont High.
6.) Interim head coach Steve Smith has mentioned a few times in postgame availabilities since taking over that he felt the goals would come for Othmann. The biggest thing, in Smith’s opinion, was making sure that Othmann was doing the little things right.
Well, Smith wasn’t wrong. Othmann has goals in four straight games, the longest streak by a Wolf Pack player this season. He’s got six goals in that span and now sits tied for second in rookie goal-scoring with nine on the year.
You can see Othmann’s dynamic shot, and you can see him gaining comfort with the pro game on a nightly basis. Sometimes, people tend to forget that it’s a process and the adjustment from junior or college hockey to the pros can be a big one.
He’s also got a flare for the dramatic too, as Othmann has twice tied the game with an extra attacker this season. He’s also got the Teddy Bear Toss goal, and an overtime winner to his name.
7.) Speaking of Othmann, what a nice moment on Tuesday for him at Connecticut Children’s Hospital. Othmann, who sent the teddies flying on Saturday night, brought the bears to the hospital and helped deliver them to some of the kids battling illness and disease.
Sometimes, it’s hard to remember that there are things bigger than hockey and sports. This is one of those things. It says a lot about a young man to understand and embrace that. It’s something both Othmann and the kids will never forget.
8.) Is there a tougher line to play against in the AHL right now than Karl Henriksson between Anton Blidh and Adam Sýkora? The trio has been together for eight games and generated at least one goal in seven of those contests.
Not only are they producing offensively, but they are a handful for the opponent as well. It’s become a line that can change the momentum of a game and keep a team in their defensive zone. Even with roster change all around them, Steve Smith has elected to continue to run with the trio.
9.) Ownership is so important, and that line has it. All three of Henriksson, Blidh, and Sýkora have told me that they love playing together and love the role they have. The trio enjoys playing with each other and takes pride in being an all-European line. They feel they work off of each other quite well and want to play together. You can see it every single shift. They don’t want to be broken up by any means.
10.) In five prior trips to Place Bell in Laval, the Wolf Pack are 0-4-0-1. The good news? Over the last year, the Wolf Pack has made a habit of breaking bad trends. Last season, the club won their first-ever regulation game in Charlotte and beat the Syracuse Crunch for the first time in a handful of years.
This season? The Wolf Pack picked up their first home win in franchise history over the Belleville Senators. They’ll have two chances to break another streak this weekend against a high-octane Laval team.
We’ll have both games for you on AHLTV and Mixlr, with pregame coverage starting 15 minutes before the puck drop. We’ll hit the airwaves at 6:45 p.m. on Friday, and 2:45 p.m. on Saturday. We’ll also bring you the tribute for former Laval Rocket captain Alex Belzile live on AHLTV just before the puck drop on Friday night. You won’t want to miss it!
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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.