TWO MINUTES FOR THOUGHTS: FEBRUARY 15TH, 2024
Feb 15, 2024Usually, proclaiming a certain part of a team’s schedule as the most difficult is a subjective exercise. That’s not the case for the Hartford Wolf Pack, not this season at least. Tomorrow, the Wolf Pack will kick off their most difficult portion of the season. The team will play six games in just eight nights. It’s a stretch that will feature two segments of three-in-three’s.
The Wolf Pack will be tested both mentally and physically over the next eight days. Staying fresh will certainly be a challenge, as the Pack faces a grind arguably more grueling than the Calder Cup Playoffs.
The good news is that Hartford will play three of those six games at home. The other three games? All at relatively close rivals in Bridgeport, Providence, and Springfield.
Onto the blog!
1.) Six games in eight days won’t be easy. You don’t need to be a doctor to determine that. If the Wolf Pack can come out of this stretch with four or five victories, one would have to call it a successful run. Even going .500, 3-3-0-0, would be a victory considering the circumstances.
After this stretch, the Wolf Pack will have 23 games remaining on the schedule. 18 of them will come against the Atlantic Division.
Yes, the stretch will be grueling. A good eight-day run, however, could set up Hartford quite nicely for a playoff berth.
2.) Here is how the six-game in eight-day stretch breaks down for the Wolf Pack. They’ll host the Laval Rocket tomorrow night (7:00 p.m.), then visit the Bridgeport Islanders on Saturday night (7:00 p.m.) and Providence Bruins on Sunday afternoon (4:05 p.m.).
After a well-deserved day off on Monday, the Pack will use Tuesday to prepare for another trio of games. They’ll host the Islanders on February 21st (7:00 p.m.) and the Cleveland Monsters on February 22nd (7:00 p.m.) before wrapping up the stretch in Springfield on February 23rd (7:05 p.m.).
3.) There is scheduled to be one major milestone achieved during the upcoming six-game in eight-day stretch. Should he play the first four games, Wolf Pack forward Artem Anisimov will suit up in his 1,000th professional game in North America on Thursday, February 22nd. That, of course, would be the Wolf Pack’s fifth game in this stretch.
Anisimov has appeared in 771 career NHL games and 224 career AHL games thus far. He’d hit the 1,000 professional games in North America milestone with 229 games in the AHL.
4.) Tyler Pitlick took the ice with the Wolf Pack on Thursday morning, wearing his familiar #71. Pitlick cleared waivers on Wednesday afternoon and was assigned to the Wolf Pack by the parent New York Rangers shortly after.
Pitlick has 420 games of NHL experience under his belt with the Rangers, St. Louis Blues, Montréal Canadiens, Calgary Flames, Arizona Coyotes, Philadelphia Flyers, Dallas Stars, and Edmonton Oilers.
He’s also appeared in 196 career AHL games with the Bakersfield Condors and Oklahoma City Barons while a member of the Oilers organization.
If Pitlick suits up on Friday night, it’ll be his first AHL action since the 2015-16 season with the Condors.
5.) Pitlick’s addition is a welcome one for the Wolf Pack. The club saw forward Adam Edström get recalled by the Rangers on Saturday night, then saw leading scorer Alex Belzile get the call on Wednesday. When you factor in the earlier recall of captain Jonny Brodzinski and the injury to veteran Riley Nash, the Pack needs the spark. It comes at a perfect time too, with the busiest stretch of the season set to begin.
6.) Recalls are far from a bad thing, though. Sure, Wolf Pack fans would love to see Brodzinski, Edström, and Belzile in the lineup this weekend. At the end of the day, however, all three players are in the NHL and helping the Rangers lead the Metropolitan Division.
When an AHL club can provide the NHL team with helpful talent and developed prospects, that’s the hallmark of a successful relationship. The fact the Wolf Pack is providing these players to New York while both teams are in a playoff spot? That’s a success story.
7.) So far during the 2023-24 season, eight forwards have been recalled by the Rangers from the Wolf Pack. Those eight forwards are Brodzinski, Nash, Edström, Belzile, Matt Rempe, Jake Leschyshyn, Anton Blidh, and Brennan Othmann.
Connor Mackey and Matthew Robertson have also been summoned to the NHL, along with both Louis Domingue and Dylan Garand.
That means twelve players have received the call from the Rangers this season, with eight of them playing in a game. You can make it nine when adding in Garand serving as a backup to Domingue in November.
If Belzile draws in during his current recall, that will be ten Wolf Pack players dressing in a game for the Rangers this season. That’s strong organizational depth and a healthy relationship between the NHL and AHL clubs.
8.) This is all to say that the Hartford-to-New York pipeline is alive and well. In addition to the twelve players who have been recalled from Hartford this season, two prospects made the jump from the Wolf Pack to the Rangers this season.
Will Cuylle led the Wolf Pack in goals last year, while Zac Jones represented the Wolf Pack at the AHL All-Star Classic in Laval during the 2022-23 campaign. Both players are now full-time members of the Rangers.
9.) Back on the ice, the Wolf Pack have two rookie players making a huge impact as we barrel towards the stretch drive. Brett Berard currently sits tied for fifth in the AHL in goals among rookies with 14. He’s tied with Calgary’s Matt Coronato, Manitoba’s Nikita Chibrikov, and San Jose’s Ethan Cardwell.
Othmann, meanwhile, is tied for fourth in points among rookies with 33 (13 g, 20 a). He’s tied with Chibrikov and Ontario’s Brandt Clarke. Othmann’s eight powerplay goals are tied for the league lead among rookies with Texas forward Kyle McDonald.
10.) I wanted to take a second to thank Bob Crawford, the voice of the Hartford Wolf Pack. Bob took the time to join me during the first intermission of our broadcast on AHLTV and Mixlr on Friday night during the Wolf Pack’s 2,000th game in franchise history.
It was great to see ‘Hawk’ back in the building and to hear him talk about his 24 seasons behind the mic. He’s a legend in Hartford hockey, and it wouldn’t have felt right to celebrate such a milestone without the man whose voice was the soundtrack to so many great moments in Hartford hockey history.
I also want to thank Terry Virtue, Stefan Cherneski, Todd Hall, and Jed Ortmeyer for taking the time to sign autographs on the concourse and be part of the weekend’s festivities. You can tell Hartford is a hockey town when you talk to these five gentlemen, who all care deeply about this franchise and this fanbase.
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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.