A couple of quick league notes before we get to a strong crop of reader contributions since the last column…
The last head coaching vacancy in the AHL was filled August 14th, when the San Antonio Rampage hired former Grand Rapids head man Greg Ireland. The Phoenix affiliation has not enjoyed a great deal of success in the standings the last number of years, whether it was San Antonio, Utah or Springfield. With the combination, however, of new Coyotes general manager Don Maloney and the strong background of player development he brings to the table, and the success Ireland had with the Griffins (109 wins in two-and-a-half seasons), that trend may be on the cusp on turning around.
And Mike “Buzz” Busniuk did not get the head coaching job in Binghamton, but happily Buzz and his lovely wife, Jan, will be staying in “Bingo”, a place where I know they enjoy life very much. Buzz and the Senators organization agreed to a two-year contract for him to remain Binghamton’s assistant coach.
Now we turn it over to our readers, and their unquenchable search for hockey knowledge…
Martin Boatwright of Cromwell, CT writes, “Can you inform me and your readers who has moved on in the off season, and which club they went to, and who will be back next season. Who has the Wolf Pack signed in the off season?”
Martin, here is a very unofficial list of what my understanding is of the various players’ status’:
Under contract for 2007-08: Ivan Baranka, Alex Bourret, Dane Byers, Ryan Callahan, Ryan Constant, Nigel Dawes, Brandon Dubinsky, Dan Girardi, Bruce Graham, Chris Holt, Hugh Jessiman, Darius Kasparaitis, Lauri Korpikoski, Rick Kozak, Mark Lee, Frank Lessard, Al Montoya, Greg Moore, Mike Ouellette, Hannu Pikkarainen, Corey Potter, Jake Taylor.
Signed with/traded to other organizations: Marv Degon (Montreal), Dwight Helminen and Jarkko Immonen (both JYP Jyvaskyla of Finland), Brad Isbister (Vancouver), Bryce Lampman (Tampa Bay), Dale Purinton (Colorado), Martin Richter (HC Pardubice of the Czech Republic), Craig Weller (Phoenix), Alex Westlund (Amur Khabarovsk of Russia).
New additions (either Wolf Pack signees or Ranger trade acquisitions or prospects under contract ready to turn pro): Artem Anisimov (C), Joe Barnes (C), Mike Busto (D), Brodie Dupont (C), Mitch Fritz (LW), Jordan Owens (LW), Tom Pyatt (C), Michael Sauer (D), Marc Staal (D), Miika Wiikman (G), Matt Zaba (G).
Players as yet unsigned: Zdenek Bahensky, Lee Falardeau (restricted free agent), Dave Liffiton (restricted free agent).
Greg from New Britain, CT says, “I held a ticket account last season for Wolf Pack games. With Northland AEG taking over management of the Hartford Civic Center, will pre-existing ticket accounts carry over from MSG or would I have to call the ticket office to start a new account?”
Greg, everything should carry over from the way it was before. Payment invoices have gone out, though, so if you have not received anything by now, please contact the Wolf Pack ticket office at 860-548-2000.
Jim from Avon, CT asks, “Is there any word on Al Montoya returning to the Wolf Pack for another season?”
He is under contract for this season, Jim, and set to head to Ranger training camp. Based on how last year finished, he would probably sit third on the Ranger depth chart behind Henrik Lundqvist and Steve Valiquette, but he may get some extra competition for that spot from Matt Zaba, whom the Rangers signed August 20th out of Colorado College.
Gary from New Britain, CT asks, “Did the Rangers or the Wolf Pack look into signing old players like Alex Giroux, Trevor Gillies or Jamie Lundmark?”
Gary I think as a general rule, once an organization has a player under its umbrella for two or three years and then decides not to bring him back, it signifies a judgment on both sides that it’s time to move on. There are exceptions, of course, like the case of Brad Smyth making a reappearance two seasons ago, but generally when a player and a team decide to sever ties they don’t look to get back together.
Sydney from Cheshire, CT asks, “Do you think Lauri Korpikoski will be back with the Pack this upcoming season? I'm counting down the days until opening night. I can't wait!!”
I’m with you, Sydney, I can’t wait either. For Lauri’s sake, I hope he gives himself a good shot to make the Rangers. The team is pretty deep at forward, though, so I certainly think there is a good chance that he will spend some time, if not the whole season, with the Wolf Pack. At the tender age of 21, that definitely would not be a bad thing for him.
Michael Dyer of Framingham, MA asks, “Who do you see coming out of the Atlantic Division, and what team could make some noise if teams like Manchester, Hartford and Providence aren’t careful?”
Mike, these days, with the AHL being so young, it’s really hard to handicap the league going into the season. It used to be you could look at which teams had signed the most quality veterans and at least make a somewhat-educated prediction as to who would have a good chance to be strong, but now a lot of it comes down to whose youngsters develop faster and whose parent club has drafted better.
Right off the top of my head, I’d say it will certainly be interesting to see how Edmonton’s prospects perform in Springfield, after a couple of seasons in which the Oilers have not had a single affiliate, and I’ll be intrigued to see how Manchester fares without the security blanket of Jason LaBarbera carrying the load in net.
Rich from Croton, NY writes, “Here's the way I see how the Pack line-up might appear: Line1: Dawes-Dubinsky-Bourret, Line 2: Korpikoski-Dupont-Moore, Line 3: Byers-Anisimov-Jessiman, Checking Line: Fritz-Pyatt-Lessard, D pairing: Baranka/Staal, D#2: Potter/Degon, D#3: Liffiton/Taylor, with Owens and Sauer being played occasionally. In net, Montoya/Wiikman... I think that Holt will be better served getting the minutes for the Checkers. Your thoughts?”
Wow, Rich, that’s some pretty exhaustive depth-charting.
Right off the bat I can tell you that Marv Degon has signed with Montreal, so he won’t be with the Pack. I would guess that Michael Sauer would have a shot at grabbing a regular turn in the rotation, and I think the organization likes Mike Busto, another Western League-groomed blueliner, quite a bit as well. Matt Zaba could very well be in the mix in net, and I would imagine that Tommy Pyatt would be looking at something a little more than a checking-line role.
I have a hunch that Nigel Dawes might stick with the big team this year, and I think that Joe Barnes, the big centerman who was acquired in the Matt Cullen trade, is a decent bet to be with the Wolf Pack.
Other than that, I can’t find a whole lot to argue with your lineup. One thing it certainly points up, the Pack are going to be very young, but very deep as well.
Tamara from Terryville, CT asks, “What ever happened to Darin Olver? Is he still part of the NY Rangers organization and will he be playing for the Pack in 2007-2008?”
Tamara, as far as I know the Rangers elected not to sign Darin, and I have not seen his name on any lists I have access to of players coming to training camp. Also, he is no longer listed in the “In the System” section of the Rangers’ official website, newyorkrangers.com.
The website eurohockey.net has a transaction posted with a date of June 2nd saying that Darin had joined the German club REV Bremerhaven, but I have known those transaction reports in the past to be occasionally erroneous.
David McLeod of Willimantic, CT asks, “Is the Atlantic Division arguably the most competitive in the AHL? Is there a significant difference between New England hockey and say, West or Midwest hockey that seems to make our division that much tighter in the standings?”
It does seem, David, that the Atlantic is nip-and-tuck every year, but I don’t know if you can fairly say that it is the most competitive. As I said in my response earlier to Michael from Framingham, as the league gets younger and younger, it has become harder and harder for teams to separate themselves from one another, and all the divisions seem to be fairly tightly packed.
Having said that, one of the things I’ve heard from my counterparts who work for the few western teams we ever see is that the play tends to be more intense and physical when they encounter teams from the east. One explanation I’ve heard offered for that is that because the geographical closeness of the teams out this way translates into less time spent on the road in other team’s cities and arenas, there is less familiarity among the players among opposing teams in the east, and thus, I guess, less empathy, for lack of a better way of putting it. I don’t know if that is true or not, but on the surface it sounds somewhat reasonable.
Pam Lawson of Charlotte, NC writes, “I was wondering if Mike Ouellette is in the Hartford training camp this season? I will miss watching him play with the Charlotte Checkers, but I wish him the best of luck there if he is in Hartford.”
Pam, Mike is scheduled to attend Wolf Pack training camp, and I know the organization was impressed with the strong season he put together in Charlotte last year, in his first year as a pro. Hopefully for him he can take another step forward in 2007-08, although Kenny Gernander and company have a pretty deep group to choose from up front.
Tim from Farmington, CT asks, “What are the chances Ryan Callahan plays a game with the Pack this season, since he had such a great post-season with the Rangers?”
I’d say it’s pretty slim, Tim, unless he really disappoints the big club in training camp, which I would say, based on what we’ve consistently seen out of him, is quite unlikely.
Ben from Berlin, CT asks, “How good do you see the Wolf Pack being this upcoming season due to some pretty big losses like scoring and leadership?”
It definitely doesn’t look like there is going to be much of a veteran presence on this team, Ben, but that was true of last season’s club as well, and that team ended up doing more than all right. We’ll have to hope that a rookie or two can help pick up some of the scoring slack from the departures of Jarkko Immonen and Dwight Helminen, and the very real possibility of Callahan and Dawes not being here. And hopefully the group of second-year guys that will be returning will be ready to assert themselves as leaders.
Bob Boyer of Bethpage, NY asks, “If Bobby Sanguinetti doesn't make the Rangers this season, is he eligible to play in Hartford?”
He is not, Bob. Sanguinetti has a 1988 birthday, and thus is still considered an underage (under 20) Junior player. Underage Juniors who were drafted out of the Junior ranks are not eligible to play in the minor leagues until their Junior teams have completed their seasons.
Aaron Gerstein of West Hartford, CT asks, “Do you think the Wolf Pack can get more than one new experienced AHL player. I would like that a lot.”
Aaron, I don’t know how likely that is. The potential roster is so loaded with young players, all considered fairly strong prospects for the Ranger organization, that there is not a lot of room to go out and fill in veteran players. You never know, though, if the team starts out struggling and a void is perceived that an experienced player could fill, they might go ahead and shop for one or two.
Jim from Peekskill, NY asks, “What is the deal with Darius Kasparaitis? Is he on the NY Rangers’ roster/the Pack roster or is he a UFA (unrestricted free agent)? As of now I see the Rangers carrying eight defensemen (Malik, Rozsival, Tyutin, Girardi, Strudwick, Mara, Hutchinson, Pöck) without Kasparaitis. No room for Marc Staal to make the team. Would Staal be eligible to play in Hartford then?”
As of right now, Jim, Kasparaitis is under contract to the Rangers and is scheduled to come to training camp. I believe the Rangers could still buy him out of the last year of his contract, but I am not certain about that. And you’re right, if the D corps stays as it looks right now, it is going to be hard for anyone to crack the top eight you listed. My suspicion is that if Staal really impresses in camp and exhibitions, they will make a trade to open a spot for him. If that does not happen, though, yes, he is eligible to play for the Wolf Pack, being that he turned 20 this past January.
And finally, our buddy Ahmed from over in Vienna, Austria writes, “Just thought I'd let you know that a couple of former Wolf Pack players now play for my hometown team, the Vienna Capitals (www.vienna-capitals.at). In goal, J.F. Labbe will be working his magic. And although he only played three games with the Pack, Pascal Rheaume will be a center in Vienna for 07-08. Can't wait for the season to start! Regards from Europe.”
Ahmed, good to hear from you and thanks for the updates! Those are two great players and great guys that you’re going to get a chance to watch there. Sounds like an exciting season is on tap for the Capitals. Enjoy it, and please let us know if you hear any other interesting stuff about our old friends plying their trade on that side of the Pond.
Have a great offseason, and I’ll continue to poke my pen into this space whenever I can cobble together enough material.
