TWO MINUTES FOR THOUGHTS: NOVEMBER 13TH, 2024

Nov 13, 2024

Home sweet home. On Friday night, the Hartford Wolf Pack will kick off the longest homestand of the season. Six straight games at the XL Center, where the Wolf Pack are 5-1-0-0 on the season, might be exactly what the doctor ordered for this club.

After a 0-2-0-0 weekend, let’s set the table for a big stretch of home tilts heading into the holiday season.

Onto the blog!

1. Let’s start with the milestones, shall we? Defenseman Matthew Robertson skated in his 200th career AHL game on Friday night in Rochester against the Americans. All 200 games of his career have come with the Wolf Pack, making him the 26th player in franchise history to play 200 games with the club. 

2. Alex Belzile hit the 600 game mark in his pro career in the same game on Friday night. It was Belzile’s 388th AHL game. He’s also suited up in 168 career ECHL games, and 44 career NHL games with his hometown Montréal Canadiens. 

After appearing in his 389th career AHL game on Sunday afternoon in Providence, Belzile is now slated to hit 400 career AHL games on Dec. 11, 2024, against the Hershey Bears at the XL Center.

3. Bo Groulx’ 100th career AHL point came on Sunday afternoon as a fortuitous bounce opened the scoring for the Wolf Pack 9:57 into the game. Groulx dumped a puck in from just outside of the offensive zone. The puck bounced off the boards behind the net, hit Providence Bruins’ goaltender Michael DiPietro in the back, and trickled into the net.

The goal was Groulx’s fifth of the season, and his team-leading tenth point (5 g, 5 a). In 157 career AHL games with the Wolf Pack and San Diego Gulls, Groulx has scored 44 goals and 56 assists for his 100 points.

4. Quietly, Chad Ruhwedel has provided the Wolf Pack with steady play on the blueline since he was assigned by the New York Rangers. It was nice to see Ruhwedel get rewarded with his first two points of the season over the weekend. 

He picked up an assist on Dylan Roobroeck’s goal on Friday night in Rochester in the first period, then tacked on another on Groulx’s tally on Sunday.

They were Ruhwedel’s first AHL points since Jan. 5, 2019, when he picked up an assist as a member of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins against the Milwaukee Admirals.

5. Cool moment on Friday night in Rochester seeing Nathan Sucese return home. The veteran forward had over 100 family and friends in attendance for the game. Following morning skate on Friday, Sucese spoke to the local media in Rochester and talked about how special the game was for him. After all, he grew up going to games at Blue Cross Arena and watching young players like Thomas Vanek and Jason Pominville begin their professional careers.

Although the result did not go in the favor of the Wolf Pack, Friday night was still a special evening for Sucese, his friends, and his family. 

6. One area to keep an eye on during the homestand is the second period. The Wolf Pack have been outscored 19-7 in the middle stanza to this point of the season. In their two regulation losses over the weekend, they were outscored 5-0. 

Over the past few seasons, we have seen the Wolf Pack adjust and correct things that have previously plagued them. Even this season, through 12 games, we have seen the club show an ability to adjust and fix things.

I suspect we’ll see an emphasis on this area. 

7. Roobroeck’s goal on Friday night was his fourth of the season and gave him points in five of six games entering Sunday afternoon. The rookie forward has adjusted quite well, and quickly, to professional hockey. That’s a good sign for the Wolf Pack, as he’ll only get better as the season progresses.

8. He also tacked on an assist on Brett Berard’s third period goal in Rochester. Roobroeck did an excellent job on that goal of forcing his way to a dangerous area and testing goaltender Michael Houser. Credit to Berard for being in the right place to pot his team-leading sixth goal of the season. 

9. Both Roobroeck and Bryce McConnell-Barker picked up their first career multi-point games in the 6-3 loss to the Americans. Both collected a goal and an assist in the defeat. Their line with Ryder Korczak has arguably been the best trio for Hartford at five-on-five over the last few games. 

10. With defenseman Ben Harpur suspended four games, the Wolf Pack recalled defenseman Case McCarthy from loan to the ECHL’s Bloomington Bison. McCarthy has had a strong season with the Bison, leading the team in points by a defenseman with four (2 g, 2 a) at the time of his recall.

Harpur will be eligible to return to action on Nov. 23 against the Springfield Thunderbirds. 

                                                                                                          # # #

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.