Crawford's Pack Report: Off-Season Update

Tuesday, July 10, 2007 - 3:30 PM

Hamilton Bulldogs - 2007 Calder Cup Champions

Now that we are into the teeth of the official off-season, congratulations and kudos to the newly-crowned kings of the AHL, the Hamilton Bulldogs, and to Al Coates and the Anaheim (no longer Mighty, but really oh so mighty) Ducks, for their capture of Lord Stanley's chalice.

You've got to feel good for the Bulldogs, a franchise that has been around for 10 years and had been to the Finals a couple of previous times but had never won the whole deal. It had sounded to me like there was no stopping Alex Giroux, Chad Wiseman, Dean Arsene and the Hershey Bears from taking a second straight cup, but Hamilton and 19-year-old goaltender Carey Price, fresh from the WHL, controlled the five-game final throughout.

The Bulldogs became the first Canadian team to rule the AHL since the 2001 Saint John Flames and only the third in the last 21 seasons. And it's pretty amazing, isn't it, that 39 years had been played since the NHL's first westward expansion and a West-Coast team had never won the Stanley Cup.

The passing of the month of June brought on the annual free-agent shopping period in the world of sticks and pucks. And what a frenzied start it was to the check-writing race! Maybe I'm fooling myself, but I don't remember a busier first weekend of free-agent signings than this year's, and the biggest splash was made by the Pack's parent club down in Gotham. Any team in the league would have been happy to get one of the center-ice duo of Scott Gomez and Chris Drury, the pride of Trumbull, CT, and the Rangers got both. Wow! That's got to be one of the better one-two punches down the middle the NHL has seen in the 30-team era.

The Atlantic Division gained another Dineen (and you can never have too many of those guys) when Gord Dineen signed on to join younger brother Kevin, as his assistant coach, with the Portland Pirates. Gord has spent the last three seasons out west, as Pat Conacher's assistant with Phoenix-affiliated clubs in Utah and San Antonio. Prior to that he got a taste of AHL life in New England with the Springfield Falcons, for whom he worked as an assistant coach in 2003-04, under Marty McSorley.

The Grand Rapids Griffins won 55 games in 2005-06 with Greg Ireland behind the bench, and went to the Western Conference Finals, and then lost to Manitoba in seven games in this year's first round. The parent Detroit Red Wings, however, decided that Ireland was no longer their man to groom their prospects and are searching for a new coach for the Griffins. Apparently, before this year the Griffins retained the right to choose their own head man, an arrangement that to my knowledge was unique in the AHL. The Red Wings are taking over responsibility for the coaching staff in Grand Rapids for 2007-08 and having not hired Ireland in the first place, will look for their own man. Interestingly, though, Assistant Coach Jim Paek, also a Griffins hire, is being retained in that role by the Wings.

The departure from the AHL of the Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben Knights (well, actually, their move to Quad City), a team the Wolf Pack have never played, got me thinking. How many other teams have left the league since the Wolf Pack have been in existence without the two teams ever having met?

The Cleveland Barons, for one, played five years in the AHL without ever crossing the Pack's path. The Toronto/Edmonton Roadrunners accounted for two seasons of existence with no games against Hartford. Additionally, among current AHL franchises, Grand Rapids (six years in the league), Iowa (two years) and Peoria (two years) have yet to see the Wolf Pack. How's that for trivia for your next cocktail party?

And now, some words from our readers…

Jason from Waterbury, CT writes, “My wife and I, as die-hard Wolf Pack fans, would like to give you and your family best wishes for a great offseason! Also, one question: I have heard that with Craig Weller heading off to Europe for next season, that a definite possibility for captain for next season would be Dale Purinton. How accurate is that rumor, and what are your thoughts on it? See ya next season!”

Thank you for the good tidings, Jason, all the same to you and yours.

As far as the captaincy for next year goes, Dale would be an obvious choice, if he is back with the Pack. He is unsigned at this point, however, and I don't know what the intentions of the organization are in terms of bringing him back for 2007-08. Of course, last year we heard he wasn't going to be back, and then he ended up being a key player all year for the Pack, so we'll see.

Emily from Winsted, CT asks, “What do you think is going to happen to Al Montoya? Do you think he'll be with the Pack, Rangers, or somewhere else?”

Emily, my speculation is that he will be back with the Pack. He is under contract for next season, and I imagine that the Rangers would rather have him playing regularly in Hartford than spending much of his time on the bench backing up Henrik Lundqvist in New York. With Kevin Weekes no longer a Ranger, I would assume that Steve Valiquette would again be the backup in Gotham, although I'm sure that Montoya and Chris Holt will battle hard for a piece of the NHL action. No matter who wins the battle for the number-two job with the big club, though, the Wolf Pack should be assured of having a solid number-one goalie here in the AHL.

Doug Kozak of Suffern, NY asks, “What's the status of Rangers Prospect Rick Kozak (no relation)?”

Rick is under contract for next season, Doug, and as the team continues to get younger at the AHL level, this year might present a chance for him to grab a spot with the Wolf Pack. Rick hasn't seen much action above the ECHL in his three years as a pro, and he's been beset by injuries as well, so the organization hasn't really had a chance to see him perform at his highest level of capability, I don't think. With a physical force like Craig Weller no longer at the Pack's disposal, if Rick can step it up a notch and grab that spot, he might find himself in a pretty good situation.

Enrico Longobardi from River Edge, NJ writes, “I have been following Brodie Dupont's career, and his stats have gotten more and more impressive every year. What do the Rangers have planned for him? I think he could be a future captain, he is a leader on the ice and plays the physical game just as well.”

Enrico, I think the organization is looking for Brodie to step in and play a major role with the Wolf Pack next season, as fellow WHL products Dane Byers and Brandon Dubinsky did as rookies this past season. I imagine that the scouts are thrilled that since the Rangers drafted Brodie in the third round in 2005, he has, as you mentioned, ratcheted up his offensive production steadily each year, and he helped lead his Calgary Hitmen team deep into the WHL playoffs this spring. He has good size, listed by the Hitmen at 6-2 and 206 pounds, and according to an old Calgary Sun article that I found on-line, he has a bit of an agitating element to his game as well. Definitely a guy I'm looking forward to seeing in a Pack uniform. Of course, he could catch lightning in a bottle and grab a spot in the Ranger lineup, but that's going to be a tall order, with the group of forwards that they have on the depth chart.

Kaitlyn Fisette of Berlin, CT says, “I am a BIG Ryan Callahan fan. Do you think he will spend any time with the Wolf Pack? I hope he will. My family just got season tickets and I would be really sad if he was up with the Rangers.”

I would love to tell you, Kaitlyn, for your sake and for the sake of our ticket sales department, that I think Ryan will be spending lots of time with the Wolf Pack this coming year, but I'd by lying to you. You never know what might happen, but judging by how key he was to the Rangers' success late last season and in the playoffs, I would say he has probably secured himself a spot in New York for the foreseeable future.

Don't be sad, though. I don't know if you've ever met Ryan, but he is a great kid who deserves every bit of success he has had. I know he really appreciated the great support fans like yourself here in Hartford gave him, and I feel pretty secure in saying that support played a big role in his fast rise to the NHL. You can be real happy for Ryan's success, follow his Ranger career on television, and I'm betting there will be one or two of the other young guys on this next year's team that will be a lot of fun to root real hard for and might become new favorites.

Mark Finn from Bristol, CT writes, “Bob, keep up the good work! Deb and I look forward to chatting with you and enjoying season XI of Wolf Pack hockey. Any changes to the weekly radio show? Still at Little Mark's?”

Mark, thanks for writing, and for the kind words. We haven't yet renewed the radio show deal with Little Mark's, but I have been given no indication that the show won't be back at its familiar home, with much the same format. (For those of you who might be reading this from outside the Hartford market, I do a talk show on Tuesday nights during the hockey season from a fine barbecue establishment called Little Mark's Big Barbecue, located at 279 West Main St. in Avon, CT. The show airs from 7-8 PM on the radio home of Wolf Pack hockey, ESPN Radio 1410, and can also be heard on-line through this very website, www.hartfordwolfpack.com)

I also look forward to renewing acquaintances with you folks and all the good people who regularly enjoy the great barbecue with us on Tuesdays.

John from West Hartford, CT asks, “When will they announce Game Package and prices for the season next year?”

John, I don't have a specific date, but I'm told it will be real soon. Keep an eye peeled here on hartfordwolfpack.com, and the details will be announced as soon as they are finalized.

Rich from Manhattan says, “I have heard rumblings that Darin Olver has signed a contract in Europe and is no longer a Ranger, is this true?”

Rich, the website eurohockey.net has a transaction posted that indicates Darin has signed with a German club called REV Bremerhaven. He is still listed on the Rangers' site, though, as being “In the System”, and I have known those European signing indications to have been erroneous in the past. I have no confirmation either way, but that German deal might be just a fall-back in case he isn't offered the level of contract that he wants in North America.

Austin Myers of Moodus, CT writes, “Why is it that the Hartford Courant does such a lackluster job of covering the Hartford Wolf Pack? No matter what happens the Wolf Pack never wind up on the front page of the sports section. You find an article occasionally on page 12, if you get that far. The Wolf Pack is the only legitimate pro sports team in the Central Connecticut area, yet gets the least coverage in the Courant and only very skimpy coverage on WTIC. It has seemed to me that these news outlets are anti-hockey. Is there anything you all can do to get some of the writers to attend some of the games and get some interest there? Maybe a nice bunch of complimentary seats for the WTIC and Courant sports news people would help. In closing, may I suggest starting times for the games during weekdays should be 7:30 PM rather than 7:00 PM. A Ranger fan since 1939! Have a nice summer."

It's a constant battle, Austin, for a team like the Wolf Pack to try to improve its lot in the area of media coverage. The Courant has an excellent beat writer, Bruce Berlet, assigned to cover the Pack, and the Wolf Pack actually gets more coverage in the Courant than some other AHL teams in some of the league's bigger markets do in their local newspapers. That having been said, the p.r. staff here at the Wolf Pack is always searching for ways to get the Courant and the other local media outlets more interested in covering the team, and we're constantly badgering the various editorial staffs to feature the Pack more prominently. What the newspapers and stations are really doing, though, is servicing what they perceive their readers' and audience's preferences to be. Thus, any input that you and other Wolf Pack fans like yourself would see fit to give those editorial decision-makers would have a greater impact than the regular badgering that they get from those of us who are paid to try to get the team more coverage.

As far as the start times go, weekend games started at 7:30 when the team first came to Hartford, but feedback from fans strongly indicated that the earlier 7:00 start time was preferred. So the non-Sunday games became 7:00 across the board.

And you have a great summer too!

Have a great offseason, and I’ll continue to poke my pen into this space whenever I can cobble together enough material.