TWO MINUTES FOR THOUGHTS: OCTOBER 26TH, 2023
Oct 26, 2023
Victories, milestones, and fun. If you had to pick three words to describe the start of this Wolf Pack season, those would likely be the selections. The Hartford Wolf Pack are 4-0-0-0 to start a season for the first time since 2004, and the club looks like it has all of the elements needed to enjoy a successful season.
The Pack outscored opponents 10-1 over the weekend, winning both games to kick off the home slate. It was a victorious weekend both on and off the ice. It should come as no surprise, but once again Wolf Pack fans showed up in a big way to kick off the season.
This weekend, the Pack will wrap up a three-game homestand before heading on the road for the start of a five-game road trip. It’s the first three-in-three of the season, so there will be lots of hockey over the 72 hours between Friday night at 7:00 p.m. and Sunday night at 7:00 p.m.
The blog rolls on with another six-pack of Wolf Pack thoughts to get you set for the weekend ahead!
1.) Brett Berard was noticeable during training camp and the preseason, and he’s been noticeable to start his rookie campaign. Berard’s speed and skill were on display early in camp, and he’s used the momentum he built during that stretch to start his rookie season off right.
Berard was rewarded on Friday night with his first career goal, which stood as his first career game-winning tally in the 5-0 victory over the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. Berard then sniped home the opening goal the very next night in the club’s 5-1 victory over the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
He’s had a good jump in the club’s first four games and has earned himself time on a featured line with Riley Nash and Brennan Othmann. On a team with a strong mix of both veterans and young players, Berard has fit in quite well early this season. He’s a player to keep an eye on this year.
2.) Bobby Trivigno also impressed this weekend. After not playing in the home opener on Friday night, Trivigno was inserted into the lineup on Saturday and scored his first goal of the season as part of a three-goal outburst in the final frame. Trivigno was a lot to handle for the Phantoms, as he drew two penalties in the victory and was involved in some of the rough stuff we saw after the whistle.
The hard-working forward again impressed on the forecheck as well, something he’s earned a reputation for during his young professional career. His ability to provide a well-rounded game will be quite valuable to the Wolf Pack this season, just as it was down the stretch a year ago.
3.) Saturday night’s 5-1 victory over the Phantoms stands out for two reasons. First off, it pushed the club’s record to 4-0-0-0, which marks the best start to a season since the 2004-05 campaign. That year, the Wolf Pack went 9-0-0-0 to start the season, finishing with a 50-24-3-3 record (106 points) and a second place standing in the Atlantic Division.
Secondly, the victory was the 1,000th in franchise history. The club became the ninth team in league history, current or defunct, to hit that mark. The only other current teams in the league to win 1,000 games, as of this writing, are the Hershey Bears, Rochester Americans, Providence Bruins, Syracuse Crunch, and the Philadelphia/Adirondack/Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
Fittingly, the club’s 1,000th win came against the Phantoms, the same team the club gained their first victory against. Hartford’s inaugural victory came on October 10th, 1997, in Philadelphia against those same Phantoms.
4.) 7,038. That was the attendance at the home opener on Friday night at the XL Center. It was the highest attended home opener since the 2014-15 season, when 7,389 fans walked into the building on October 18th, 2014.
This represented a 2,000-fan increase from the 2022 home opener, which saw 5,001 fans on October 22nd, 2022. This also would have been the second-highest crowd a season ago, falling behind only the 7,808 that attended the game on March 5th, 2023, against the Charlotte Checkers.
Hartford is a hockey town. It always has been, and it always will be. Wolf Pack fans are some of the most passionate in the league and have been creating headlines in other markets over the last year for how big this resurgence has been. Friday night had a terrific atmosphere, and it was great to see such a big crowd to welcome the team back home.
5.) This will be a challenging weekend for the Wolf Pack. The club will face the rigors of a three-in-three for the first time this season and will also deal with their first true road trip of the campaign. The weekend opens with a home tilt against the always-tough Thunderbirds and then shifts to Pennsylvania.
The Pack will face the Penguins in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton at 6:05 p.m. on Saturday night, then battle the Phantoms in Allentown on Sunday evening at 5:05 p.m.
All three teams will have revenge on the mind too, as the Wolf Pack have already claimed victory against this trio of foes. They defeated the T-Birds 3-1 at the MassMutual Center on October 14th, then knocked off the Penguins 5-0 last Friday and the Phantoms 5-1 last Saturday.
It’s hard to beat teams multiple times in a row, and it’s hard to play three games in three days while traveling. Every team in the league deals with this situation, though. That’s why it will be a good test.
6.) A couple of milestones will be celebrated this weekend. On the ice, defenseman Ben Harpur is slated to play his 400th professional game on Friday night. Harpur has played 197 AHL games with the Wolf Pack, Milwaukee Admirals, Toronto Marlies, Belleville Senators, and Binghamton Senators, 198 NHL games with the New York Rangers, Nashville Predators, and Ottawa Senators, and four ECHL games with the Evansville IceMen.
On Sunday, Head Equipment Manager Craig Lewis will work his 1,000th professional hockey game with the Wolf Pack. Lewis began his career as the visiting dressing room attendant, before shifting to a full-time position as the Assistant Equipment Manager in time for the 2009-10 season. Lewis took the reigns as the Head Equipment Manager at the start of the 2018-19 season and remains in the role today.
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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.