TWO MINUTES FOR THOUGHTS: OCTOBER 23RD, 2024
Oct 23, 2024A three-in-three weekend will put you into the swing of hockey season! After just one game between the end of Training Camp and last Friday’s home opener, this past weekend really made it feel like hockey season for the Hartford Wolf Pack.
The club completed their first three-in-three set of the season, posting a record of 2-1-0-0. While the weekend did not end the way the club hoped it would, the overall performance is one to build on. If you win two out of every three games you play over the course of a season, you’re likely destined for a strong campaign.
Onto the blog.
1. If you like offense, the first two home games of the season were for you! The Wolf Pack and Springfield Thunderbirds combined for 11 goals on Friday night, followed by nine goals between the Wolf Pack and Bridgeport Islanders on Saturday night. That’s 11 goals in two games at home for the Pack. That’s a positive.
At times last season, the Wolf Pack were challenged to score goals at five-on-five, but that hasn’t been an issue early this season. The club is getting contributions from throughout the lineup, which bodes well for the sustainability of their offensive attack.
The arrow is up for the Wolf Pack offensively through four games.
2. One area that Grant Potulny would like the team to improve in is giving up “freebies” to the opposition. Potulny spoke following the victory on Saturday night and told the local media that he’s looking for the team to make some better decisions with the puck and take care of it better as the games go along.
Through one period on Sunday in Bridgeport, the Wolf Pack did a great job of that. The second period featured some bumps in the road, but overall the Wolf Pack were better in this area.
That’ll be worth watching this weekend, as the club looks to cut down on the goals against early this season.
3. Through four games, the Wolf Pack has allowed 17 goals against, tied for 28th in the league in that category. They have not allowed fewer than four goals against in any of their four outings.
That’ll be an area of emphasis for the club moving forward. Cutting down on the “freebies”, as Potulny put it, will certainly help.
4. Remember, it’s early. The Wolf Pack have only played four games. Yes, there are things the team is looking to improve on, but they’ve still managed a record of 2-1-0-1 and points in three of their first four games. This is a good hockey team with a strong veteran core and great leadership.
Learning a new Head Coach, new wrinkles to the system, and some new players takes time.
I’m a firm believer that a ten-game sample size, at a minimum, is needed to determine what you have as a team.
5. Speaking of new faces, Bo Groulx certainly made an impression in his first two games at the XL Center this past weekend. Groulx picked up an assist and a +2 +/- rating on Friday night against the Thunderbirds before exploding for two goals, two assists, and nine shots on Saturday against the Islanders.
His four points and nine shots in the victory were both career-high marks.
Groulx, who spent last season in the NHL with the Anaheim Ducks, is a really good fit for this Wolf Pack team and is going to be a player that fans absolutely love this season. His instant chemistry with Alex Belzile and Brennan Othmann has been a lot of fun to watch.
6. A special encore could be brewing for Brett Berard. As a rookie a season ago, Berard led the Wolf Pack with 25 goals and finished second in the league among rookies in that category. This season, Berard has four goals in four games and both game-winning tallies for the Wolf Pack.
He’s scored in a variety of ways, too. His game-winning goal on Friday night was a great connection with Jaroslav Chmelař. On Saturday, his game-winning goal was a rocket from the right-wing circle on the power play. Earlier in the game, he scored on an effort play, wrapping around a goal to make it a 3-2 game.
Berard is scoring in a number of different ways and looks like one of the most dynamic players on the ice every single night.
Could his first career 30-goal season be on its way?
7. Louis Domingue is one of the good guys in the game, so it was great to see him hit 200 career AHL games played on Friday night. He celebrated the milestone appearance with a victory, his 95th in the AHL. There’s a very good chance he will hit the 100-win mark in the coming weeks.
Believe it or not, Domingue’s 76 games with the Wolf Pack are the most among his seven stops in the league.
8. Let’s make sense of Monday’s transactions, shall we?
Forward Brett Budgell impressed during Wolf Pack Training Camp, and now has an AHL contract to show for it. Budgell recorded an assist in two games with the Bloomington Bison this past weekend, providing an instant impact for the club’s new ECHL affiliate.
Budgell has AHL experience, playing in 19 games with the Iowa Wild last season, and will provide solid depth for the Wolf Pack.
9. Griffin Luce, who like Budgell attended camp on a tryout a few weeks ago, was solid on Sunday afternoon when called upon due to injuries. Luce was released from his PTO on Monday.
Case McCarthy, who scored a goal for the Bison on Sunday and is under contract with the Wolf Pack, was recalled from loan and joined the Pack for practice on Tuesday.
10. With both Domingue and Dylan Garand healthy, Hugo Ollas was reassigned to the Bison by the parent New York Rangers. Ollas backed up for all three games over the weekend, giving Domingue a night off on Saturday and Garand the afternoon off on Sunday.
As we mentioned on the broadcast Friday night, Garand entered the weekend day-to-day with a lower-body injury. Clearly, after playing on Saturday night, he’s good to go.
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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.