Crawford's Pack Report: Week in Review
Monday, March 3, 2008 - 6:13 PM
Last week was an interesting week, not only for the Wolf Pack but for the whole hockey world, with the NHL trading deadline passing Tuesday and the AHL “Clear Day” playoff roster deadline being Thursday.
The Pack saw their roster shaken up somewhat, as Al Montoya was swapped to Phoenix in a deal that brought David LeNeveu and Josh Gratton to the Wolf Pack, but there wasn't any major upheaval. And the parent New York Rangers organization sent a clear message of its faith that the group of Wolf Pack players that is here can go deep in the playoffs, as they did not slot any players from the NHL roster on to the Wolf Pack Clear Day list.
I think that's a solid move by the organization. I agree with the assessment that the likes of Nigel Dawes and Ryan Callahan have established themselves as NHL players, and I think it sends a positive message to them, and to the rest of the players in the organization, that management thinks they are all capable of being part of long playoff runs, both at the NHL and AHL levels.
As far as the trade that shuffled Montoya to San Antonio and brought LeNeveu and Gratton to the Pack, that looks to me like a good change of scenery for all of the individuals involved.
In my opinion, Montoya could definitely benefit from a new start with a different team, after his sixth overall draft status in 2004 never translated into a jump to the Rangers.
It's funny, Al is still such a young guy, but thinking about it, it seems like he had been around for a long time. He had amassed the second-highest win total, 66, of any goaltender in Wolf Pack history, and let's face it, in these days of player development, better than two-and-a-half years with the same team is quite a long time in the AHL.
It seems to me that, seeing as how Al was going to be stuck behind Henrik Lundqvist in the Ranger organization and thus was going to have very little shot at the number-one job with the big club, it made sense, both for him and for the team, to move him and get him a fresh start. He is reunited in Phoenix, too, with Don Maloney, now the Coyotes' GM, who played a big part in Al's selection by the Rangers.
LeNeveu is another fairly young backstop who was a high draft pick (second round by the Coyotes in 2002) and who had not been able to grab hold of a full-time NHL spot, so hopefully finding himself with a new team will be a tonic for his career as well. I understand that Rangers goaltending coach Benoit Allaire, who was performing the same role for Phoenix when they drafted LeNeveu, has great respect for LeNeveu, and vice versa. Allaire was on hand for LeNeveu's first Wolf Pack practice on Thursday, and there seemed to be a good deal of excitement all around.
The other acquisition, Gratton, a first cousin of long-time NHL'er Chris Gratton, to me is one of those guys whom you can never have enough of. He plays hard, takes the body and, he showed in his first two Wolf Pack games, is pretty handy in a scrap.
After all the excitement of the trade deadline and Clear Day, the Wolf Pack got their three-game week off to a flying start on Friday, drubbing the Norfolk Admirals at the XL Center by a score of 6-2.
The Admirals are a last-place club, but had been playing much better since about the middle of January, 10-4-1-2 in the 17 games prior to their visiting the Wolf Pack, but the Pack jumped out to a 2-0 lead early in Friday's first period and never looked back.
The power play, in particular, victimized Norfolk, scoring on its first three chances and going 4/6 on the night.
When the power play is on, Andrew Hutchinson is usually in the middle of it, and he had another big offensive night.
In a 7-5 Wolf Pack win February 8th in Providence, Hutchinson had become the first Wolf Pack defenseman ever to score a hat trick, and he followed up on that Friday by registering the first five-point game ever by a Pack blueliner. Hutchinson scored the first of the Wolf Pack's power play goals and would end up assisting on four other tallies, bumping him up to a point-a-game pace for the year, 52 points in 52 games. Also on the record front, his goal was his 15th of the year, tying Thomas Pöck's 2005-06 team mark for most goals in a season by a D-man.
P.A. Parenteau had a nice night also, against one of his former teams, striking for a goal and two assists and jumping up over the 60-point mark for the season.
As well as the offense flowed on Friday, though, it was just as hard to come by in Saturday's home battle with Manchester.
The Monarchs came in desperate for points, trailing Springfield by four points for the Atlantic's final playoff spot, and they played like a desperate team. Their team speed is far superior to Norfolk's, and they were able to get the early lead and make the Wolf Pack play from behind. It was 1-1 for better than a period, but a disputed goal by Manchester's Matt Moulson at 6:27 of the third ended up being the difference in what would turn out to be a 2-1 win for the visitors.
It was a frustrating night for the Pack in terms of dealing with the officials, as the Wolf Pack felt that Moulson batted his winning goal in with his hand, which, if it is true, should have caused the goal to be disallowed. Prior to that, Dane Byers, who would score the only Wolf Pack goal of the contest with his 19th of the season, had an earlier apparent tally waved off, after referee Nygel Pelletier conferred with his linesmen and determined that Byers had deflected the puck in with a high stick.
I felt bad for LeNeveu, too, on Saturday night, which was his debut in a Wolf Pack uniform. He played plenty well enough to win, earning Second-Star honors with 30 saves, but had the misfortune to be in there on a night during which the Pack's scoring touch deserted them. I'm sure that LeNeveu badly wanted to make a good impression on his new team, and really and truly he did, but ended up with a tough L on his record.
The frustration carried over into Sunday's trip to Portland, a game that matched the Wolf Pack against the team directly behind them in the Atlantic standings. Depending on who got the two points out of that contest the Wolf Pack were either going to be breathing a lot easier or really looking over their shoulders at the Pirates, and unfortunately for the Pack, it turned out to be the latter.
And they failed for a second straight game to take advantage of a strong goaltending performance. This time it was Miika Wiikman between the pipes, and he did everything he could to give the Wolf Pack a chance to win, in a game in which they looked more than a bit fatigued for most of it.
The Pack were forced to play a man short in Sunday's tilt, with Alex Bourret unable to play due to injury, and aside from the first half of the third period, when they really took the play to the Pirates, they were unable to mount much of any sustained offensive pressure. Only a couple of second and third-chance goals got by Wiikman in the first two frames, so the Wolf Pack were never out of it, but they were never able to dent the armor of 11th-year pro goaltender J.S. Aubin, a trade-deadline acquisition by parent-club Anaheim, in the Portland net.
The final was 3-0, and Kevin Dineen's Pirates had crept to within four points of the Pack in the race for second place in the Atlantic.
Now, some reader thoughts…
Chris from West Hartford, CT asks, “What goaltender holds the record for most points in pro hockey, and how many points does he have?”
Chris, the NHL record for most points in a career by a goaltender is 48, by Tom Barrasso, achieved in 777 games over 19 seasons. The single-season record is Grant Fuhr's 14, from the 1983-84 Edmonton Oilers' season, and the record for a single game is three, by Calgary's Jeff Reese in a 13-1 (ouch!) win over San Jose February 10, 1993.
The AHL does not list a career record for goaltender points, but the single-season record is seven, achieved twice by Rochester's Darcy Wakaluk (one goal and six assists in 1987-88 and seven assists in 1989-90) and once by David Littman of Rochester (1990-91).
Kevin O'Brien from East Hartford, CT writes, “You said that a player from juniors in Canada can come and play for the Wolf Pack at the end of their season. Would the same rule apply for Alexei Cherepanov in Russia? Is there any chance that he can come over here after his season is done?”
Technically, Kevin, Cherepanov could come over at the end of his Russian team's season and play for the Wolf Pack on a tryout contract, like Lauri Korpikoski did two springs ago. I have not heard, however, any rumblings of that happening.
Brittany Walsh of Wethersfield, CT asks, “What are the different types of contracts the Wolf Pack players have? Are they owned by the Rangers? I see some have AHL contracts, some are on tryouts contracts. Could you shed some light on this? Also is it true that only the referee can call penalties? If the linesmen see something really obvious can they fill in the ref as to what happened?”
Brittany, the majority of the Wolf Pack players are on standard NHL contracts with the Rangers, allowing them to be recalled at any time. Most of those NHL contracts are “two-way” deals, meaning that the player gets paid at a different pro-rated salary when he is in the NHL than when he is in the AHL.
Some other players, like Mike Ouellette and Miika Wiikman, for example, are on AHL contracts, which means that technically they are under contract to the AHL team, although those contracts are really still administrated and paid by the NHL affiliate in most cases. If the NHL club wanted to call a player up who was on an AHL deal, they would have to sign him to an NHL contract prior to calling him up.
The other type of contract that you'll see players on in the AHL is the tryout agreement. That is basically just a short-term deal, limited to 25 games, that can be terminated by the team or the player at any time. Players who aren't under AHL contracts and join AHL teams from other pro leagues will sign a Professional Tryout (PTO), and guys coming in at the end of the year from various non-North American pro levels will go on an Amateur Tryout (ATO).
And while the referee is in charge of doling out penalties, he can take input from his linesmen on infractions. Often if a ref happens to miss a particularly egregious foul, you'll see a linesman who might have seen it report to the referee and the ref assess a penalty on the linesman's input.
Dean from Apex, NC writes, “Please comment on the progress of David Liffiton and Jake Taylor. Personally, I love their size and toughness, an element I believe the Rangers are missing on the D-line. Outside of Hutchinson and Pöck, do you consider them 'next in line'?”
That's hard to say, Dean, as I think Corey Potter, Ivan Baranka and Michael Sauer are right in the mix as well, as far as whom the Rangers might call if they need someone.
Having said that, though, I agree with your affection for those two guys' gritty styles. There is no doubt, either, that the Ranger blueline is not exactly overrun with physical players. Unfortunately for Pöck and Hutchinson, that seems to be really what is holding them back, that the parent club already has more than a full complement of offensive-minded, puck-moving defensemen. If the Rangers get into a black-and-blue playoff series and feel like they need to change up the mix a bit, I certainly wouldn't be surprised to see either Liffiton or Taylor get the call, although Liffiton has had a terrible time trying to stay healthy this year.
Rich from Croton, NY asks, “With Al Montoya now gone to the Coyotes organization, who will the #1 goalie be? Will it be shared? What will happen to Chris Holt's development since there are now two other goalies that he must deal with (LeNeveu and Wiikman)? Josh Gratton brings toughness, which is always needed come playoff hockey.”
Rich, I expect Wiikman and LeNeveu to push each other hard for the number-one job. They are both relatively new to the organization, and neither carries any sort of peripheral weight in terms of draft status or anything that might figure into the decision. My guess is they will rotate unless and until one of them clearly outplays the other.
And it would seem that Holt's situation really hasn't changed, as before he was battling Wiikman and Montoya for action with the Wolf Pack, and now it's Wiikman and LeNeveu.
Jeff Garrigan from Bradenton, FL asks, “Since the Rangers didn't add a 'quarterback' for the PP, any chance 'Hutch' could fill that role? Straka's not really a point man. Also, in New York I'd catch some games on t.v.. Any chance of seeing any down here in FLA?”
The way things have shaken out this season, Jeff, I would suspect that the Rangers would give more time to one of their young D-men, like Marc Staal, on the power-play point if they decided to take Straka out of that role, rather than call Andrew up. If there was an injury, though, I would hope that, with all Andrew has done this year with the Pack, and how good a soldier he has been, that they would give him a look, even if it was only to play on the power play.
And no, for this season there are no plans for televising any Wolf Pack games out of Hartford, although the Pack's game in Houston this Friday, March 7th is being telecast on FSN Houston, if you have a satellite dish.
Arthur B. Roueche of Spencer, MA writes, “Could you tell what has happened to linesman Marty Demers? I haven't seen him around much this season.”
Arthur, even though Marty has not worked many Wolf Pack games this year, the classy veteran zebra is still handling a full AHL schedule, and we have seen him a couple of times.
And Gilles from Rocky Hill, CT asks, “Do you think that Francis Lessard will be ready for the play off as a surprise?”
As much fun as that would be, Gilles, to see him come wheeling out for the postseason alongside the likes of Josh Gratton and Mitch Fritz, I don't think it's going to happen. All indications I get are that Frankie's rehab from his knee surgery is going to keep him out until next season.
Thanks for the questions and I’ll continue to poke my pen into this space whenever I can put together enough material!
