TWO MINUTES FOR THOUGHTS: JANUARY 16TH, 2025
Jan 16, 2025On Wednesday night, the Hartford Wolf Pack played their 36th game of the season at the Adirondack Bank Center in Utica, NY. The game marked the official halfway point of the season for the club.
The Wolf Pack concluded the first half of the campaign with a record of 16-17-2-1, good for a tie for sixth place in the Atlantic Division. They wake up this morning tied with the rival Springfield Thunderbirds for the final playoff spot in the Atlantic.
As I have said all throughout the first half of this season both in this space and on the air, the playoff chase is going to be intense in the second half.
The Wolf Pack are right there but will need to find more consistency in their game during the second portion of the season if they are to return to the Calder Cup Playoffs for the third season in a row.
This week, we change up the blog by looking at ten key storylines from the first half of the season as we get ready for game 37 in Charlotte on Saturday.
1. Dylan Garand has been outstanding for the Wolf Pack during the first half of the season. In 19 appearances, Garand has a record of 11-6-2 with a .919 save percentage, 2.41 goals-against average, and two shutouts.
The third-year netminder sits top-ten in the league in wins (T-7th), save percentage (T-7th), goals-against average (10th), and shutouts (T-8th).
He will attend his first career AHL All-Star Classic next month.
2. Alex Belzile will join Garand in Coachella Valley for the All-Star Classic in February. The veteran forward leads the Wolf Pack with 33 points (11 g, 22 a) in 33 games, playing at a point-per-game pace. He is tied for seventh overall in league scoring with Emil Bemström of Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Cole Guttman of Rockford, and Vinnie Hinostroza of Milwaukee.
Belzile led the Wolf Pack in scoring with 50 points a season ago and is on pace to break his career-high of 54 points, set during the 2018-19 season with the Laval Rocket.
3. Belzile’s usual centerman, Bo Groulx, is also on pace to turn in his best season in the AHL. Groulx leads the Wolf Pack in goals with 12 and sits second on the club in points with 30 (12 g, 18 a).
Groulx’s previous career-high in goals is 18, set during the 2022-23 season with the San Diego Gulls. That season, he also recorded a career-high 21 assists and 39 points. He’s looking at his first 50-point season in the AHL and has been a great addition at center for the Wolf Pack.
4. Anton Blidh tipped home his tenth goal of the season on Wednesday night. The veteran forward scored seven times a season ago and is on pace to blow by his previous career-high of 13 goals. Blidh scored 13 during the 2022-23 season, a campaign he split between the Wolf Pack and the Colorado Eagles.
Blidh’s first 15-goal season seems well within reach. Can he flirt with a 20-goal campaign in the second half? He’s on pace for exactly 20.
5. Adam Sýkora has broken through offensively in his second North American season. Sýkora has already matched his goal-scoring output from his rookie campaign, striking eight times in 36 games. He’s also just three assists away from last season’s total of 15, and three points away from his 23 of a year ago.
Can Sýkora record his first career 15-goal and 40-point season? He’s currently on pace to do just that.
6. Defensively, Matthew Robertson has enjoyed the best first half of his young career. Robertson recorded 14 assists in 34 games in the season’s first half, just four away from his career-high of 18 back during the 2022-23 season.
A 30-assist season from the blueline is well within reach for Robertson, who is also a +3.
7. Quietly, rookie forward Dylan Roobroeck sits fourth on the Wolf Pack in points with 15 in 36 games. He picked up his seventh goal of the season on Wednesday night, striking shorthanded.
A lot of times, rookies will take a step in the second half of the season as they adjust and adapt to professional hockey. Can Roobroeck turn his solid first half into a 15-goal rookie campaign? It certainly does not appear like that is out of the question. He’s been solid down the middle for the Wolf Pack.
8. The Wolf Pack have been dangerous when shorthanded this season, scoring five times. That has them tied for seventh in the AHL in shorthanded goals. Can the club find a way to finish in the top ten in that category?
They haven’t done so since the 2018-19 season, when they finished tied for fifth in the AHL with 12 shorthanded markers.
9. As mentioned in the opening of this week’s blog, the Wolf Pack will need to find more consistency in the second half of the season. At times, this club has looked like a team that can beat anyone. Remember, the Wolf Pack blanked the Hershey Bears 3-0 and doubled up the Laval Rocket 4-2 back in December. Those are two of the league’s best teams.
At other times, the club has struggled to play up to its standard, like on Wednesday night in Utica when they surrendered a season-high seven goals.
This is a solid Wolf Pack squad, but one that will need to play at a more consistent level in the second half.
10. What was your favorite game of the season’s first half? Personally, I have two. Despite a 3-0 loss, last Saturday night’s 10,000+ crowd was an amazing atmosphere, and it was an honor to be on the call for such a historic night in the history of Hartford Hockey as we celebrated 50 years of professional hockey in the city.
The other? Hartford’s 3-0 win over Hershey on Dec. 11. It showed us, at their best, just what this Wolf Pack team is capable of.
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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.