Crawford's Pack Report: Dawes Leading the Way
Tuesday, December 11, 2007 - 10:44 PM
Throughout the past month or so, whenever I was asked about the Pack's recent run of success, my stock reply has been, “Well, they're not blowing anybody away, but they're doing just enough to win…yadda, yadda, yadda.”
Twice in the past two weeks, though, they have blown teams away.
The biggest statement was this past Saturday in Worcester, when the Pack erupted for a 7-1 win over the Sharks, which tied the Wolf Pack's largest margin of victory ever in a road game.
The biggest catalyst was Nigel Dawes. All he did was set a Pack regular-season franchise record for points in a single game in the pounding of the Sharks, scoring two goals and adding four assists for six points, after he had dropped a hat trick and four points on Springfield the previous Saturday in a 6-2 win, the Pack's most decisive prior victory.
Saturday's effort, combined with the game-winning goal and an assist in the Wolf Pack's 3-1 verdict over Lowell on Friday, earned Dawes AHL Player of the Week honors, in what sounds like was a pretty easy decision. Saturday's six-point explosion gave him three four-point-or-better games, and a wacky 19 points (8-11-19) in the last eight AHL games he has played, and exactly two points per game (9-15-24) in 12 games overall. Even though he had been in action for less than half of the Wolf Pack's games (12 out of 27), he was tied for the team lead in assists and was third on the club in points, just four off the lead. Unbelievable. I'd have to search the memory banks for a while to try and come up with a comparable stretch in which another Wolf Pack player was any more dominant, and I don't know if I could.
So if you're an opposing coach scouting the Wolf Pack, whom do you tell your team to concentrate on stopping? In addition to Dawes' six points on Saturday, linemate Greg Moore poured in his first pro hat trick and had an assist, and Alex Bourret, the other winger on that line, chipped in two helpers. Pierre Parenteau had a goal and two assists Saturday, giving him points in five straight games and 12 out of 13 (8-11-19), and with his line having Artem Anisimov in the middle and Brodie Dupont on the other side, the Pack have a group that is potentially as explosive as the Dawes-Moore-Bourret line. And even if you happen to shut both of those lines down, you still have to deal with Lauri Korpikoski's speed, and the bang and crash of Dane Byers and Hugh Jessiman, on the other line. Mike Ouellette had an empty-net goal Friday and an assist Saturday, and Tom Pyatt has shown flashes of first-line AHL skills. Who knows how long the Wolf Pack will have this group together, with as well as they are going, but for now, it's a difficult mix of different attributes to deal with trying to stop.
This past week was also interesting in that Al Montoya, out due to injury for the six games preceding Wednesday's 4-3 shootout loss in Providence, played all three games. That was after Miika Wiikman had been in net for the entirety of a five-game Wolf Pack win streak. It was a decision by the Wolf Pack coaching staff that defied convention, but the results were excellent. You certainly couldn't blame Montoya for the failure to win Wednesday's game, as he stopped a Wolf Pack season-high 40 shots in the contest, and although the one goal that got by him in the Lowell game was one he probably would want to have back, he was real sharp otherwise in that one. And it seems funny to say about a game that ended up in a 7-1 laugher, but Montoya had to come up with some big stops early on in Saturday's game to prevent Worcester from building a lead. That game was still scoreless going into the final five minutes of the first period, and Parenteau's goal that opened the scoring was immediately preceded by a Montoya heist on a point-blank opportunity for the Sharks' Mike Morris.
Providence fell to Portland as the Pack were lighting up the scoreboard in Worcester, so the Wolf Pack finished the week just two points behind the division leaders, making the evaporation of that 3-1 third-period lead in Providence Wednesday night, which created a three-point swing in the standings, even more frustrating. As well as the Pack have played since the beginning of November, they haven't been able to solve the Bruins, and they won't get another crack at them until past the middle of January. On the other side, though, the Bruins have lost only four in regulation in their first 25 games and only lead the division by two points, and I figure they must be shaking their heads a bit about that. My analysis is that watching each other's winning ways from afar has kept both teams sharp.
Now to some reader input…
Paul from Flushing, NY writes, “It seems that Hugh Jessiman is (so far) having a pretty good season with the Pack. Could you give me your take on his season, and his progress, this year? Plus, I can't remember his name, but when I listen to your broadcasts on the internet, who is it that is your usual color partner?”
Paul, the guy whose voice you hear on color for home games is Mark Bailey. He has been with me for a number of years, helping out on pregame shows and in intermissions, and a couple of seasons ago I worked him in on color commentary. He is a great student of the game and, more importantly, a guy who harbors a deep passion for the sport. I think that shines through on the air and makes him great fun to share the broadcast booth with and, I trust, to listen to.
As for Hugh, I agree with you, he has had a positive season thus far and is making solid progress in his career. Ken Gernander consistently says in reference to Hugh that all of his success flows from the physical game, and it seems to me that Hugh is absorbing that message. When he moves his feet and uses that imposing physical stature really to bull his way around, he is a handful for the opposition. Hopefully he will continue to improve his consistency in doing that, and if he does, I think his developmental curve will stay on a sharp upswing.
Chris the Pack Man from West Hartford, CT asks, “Can the Rangers assign players to and from the ECHL or can they only do it through Hartford”
They can if the player in question is under NHL contract, Chris. For example, a player like goaltender Matt Zaba, who is signed to a Ranger NHL contract, could theoretically be moved back and forth directly from the ECHL to the NHL. A guy like, say, Mark Lee, on the other hand, who is on an AHL deal, would have to be signed to an NHL contract before he could be called up to the NHL.
It's very rare that you see players move directly between the ECHL and the NHL, but it's not unheard of, particularly in the case of goaltenders. When teams hit a run of injuries, you sometimes see them having to delve down into the ECHL to bolster that position.
Bryan from West Haven, CT asks, “How does a city get picked for the AHL all star game? Hartford has been around longer then Binghamton, Wilkes-Barre and Manchester, and they got the event first.”
Bryan, the organization has to submit a bid to be considered by the league. A lot of factors go into the decision about whether it makes sense to bid for the event. The main things are the cost of putting it on in the particular city and how well the league and the bidding team feel the All-Star Classic would sell in the market being considered.
Mico from Kokkola, Finland writes, “Now that Al Montoya is back, do you think that Miika Wiikman will get more games, or will the Wolf Pack send him back to Charlotte?”
I think that considering that Miika is 6-0-0 in the AHL and backstopped all of the Pack's wins in their recent season-high five-game winning streak, he has earned a chance to stay here in Hartford, Mico. Al played all three games last week and did well, but I think Miika has also solidly earned the coaching staff's confidence. It is good to have a healthy competition in the goal crease, and I think Miika has proven that his level of play is more than competitive in the AHL.
Kris from Cheshire, CT asks, “Do you know how long Chris Holt will be out? I know it has been a couple of weeks since he got the injury, but how bad is it?”
Kris, the injury is a knee sprain, and Chris is back on the ice doing light skating, but not yet practicing in pads. I was originally told that the time frame would be 4-6 weeks, and the injury occurred November 21st, so that would put the return date somewhere probably shortly after Christmas if things continue to progress well.
Tim Arestou of Lindenhurst, NY asks, “Is Bourret ready for an NHL call-up with Dawes? They seem to be suited for one another.”
Those two guys do seem to have some pretty good chemistry, Tim, going back to last year's playoffs, when they both tied a Wolf Pack record for most points in a playoff series, with 11 apiece in the seven-game, first-round loss to Providence. They both play the game hard and at a quick pace, and both seem to have a knack for finding the openings in the prime scoring areas of the ice. I think Dawes is a little further along in his development, mostly because of his greater experience, but both of them seem to me to have the tools to make an impact at the NHL level.
Thanks for the questions and I’ll continue to poke my pen into this space whenever I can put together enough material!
