WHALE WEEKLY: January 9 – 15, 2011

BY: Bob Crawford, Voice of the CTWhale

The Whale went 0-2-0-1 in three games this past weekend, but still maintained their grasp on first place in the Northeast Division. Connecticut was edged by the defending Calder Cup champion Binghamton Senators, 3-1, Friday in Binghamton. The Whale fell in a shootout, 5-4, to the Springfield Falcons on Saturday in the front end of a home-and-home series with their I-91 rivals, before dropping a 4-2 decision in Springfield to wrap up the week on Sunday. Kris Newbury gathered three goals and three assists in the week’s action, as did All-Star Jonathan Audy-Marchessault.

This week:

The Whale heads to Virginia to face the Norfolk Admirals for two games this weekend, clashing with their East Division foe Friday and Saturday. It will be the only trip of the season to Norfolk for the Whale, who will host the Admirals Jan. 21 and Mar. 10 at the XL Center.

THE LOST WEEKEND

      VERSUS     

In 1945, Ray Milland starred in a film called, “The Lost Weekend” about an alcoholic trying to get a hold of his issues only to succumb to a four-day bender where all of the issues that were plaguing him rise to the surface. In many ways, the Connecticut Whale have been flirting with disaster since early December. However, over these past four games, starting with Monday night’s game in Portland with the Pirates, through the loss in Binghamton Friday to the Senators and now back-to-back defeats Saturday and including Sunday’s 4-2 loss to the Springfield Falcons would certainly qualify at very least as a wake-up call that some sort of a hockey equivalent to a Twelve Step Program is necessary.

WHALE OBJECTION OVERRULED

      VERSUS     

If the Connecticut Whale are going to make a serious run at a Calder Cup championship they are going to have to learn how to play with a lead and that it takes a full sixty minutes to win. Friday night in Binghamton, New York the Whale took on the Ottawa Senators top farm team and surrendered goals to forwards Andre Peterrsson and Pat Carrone in exactly sixty seconds and ex-Hartford Wolf Pack center Corey Locke would add an empty net goal in the final minute and the Whale lost for the eighth time in their last thirteen games (5-6-1-1) and saw their record when leading after the first period to 5-4-1-3 as they dropped a 3-1 decision in front of 3,684 at the Brome County Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

“I thought in the third period, when we pushed harder, we got more consistent offensive output,” Whale head coach Ken Gernander told the team’s Brian Ring afterwards. “In the first two periods, we tried forcing plays, we turned down shots, we didn’t put pucks deep and consequently we didn’t generate much offense. I think that was the difference between the third period and the first two.”

WHALE WEEKLY: January 3-8, 2012

BY: Bob Crawford, Voice of the Connecticut Whale

The Whale finished out their run of five games in eight nights by going 1-1-1-0 in three games over the holiday weekend, including two on the road. Connecticut was foiled Friday in Worcester, as they lost 4-3 to the Sharks, but then rolled to a 5-2 home victory over the Springfield Falcons in Saturday night’s New Year’s Eve match-up. On Monday, the Whale traveled for the first time this season to Portland, where they were defeated in overtime by the Pirates, 5-4. Kris Newbury, last week’s Reebok/AHL Player of the Week, has run his Whale season-high point streak to eight games, in which he has tallied four goals and eleven assists. The Whale currently sit in first place in the Northeast Division, seven points ahead of second-place Adirondack.

WHALE WEEKLY: December 5-11, 2011

BY: Bob Crawford, Voice of the Connecticut Whale

The Whale took three out of four games this past week, posting wins over the Hershey Bears on Tuesday night, the Providence Bruins on Friday night and the Springfield Falcons on Saturday. After a 4-2 home victory over the Bears, Connecticut improved to 2-0 against the P-Bruins with a 4-1 win in Providence, before scoring five power-play goals in an epic third-period rally to defeat the Falcons, 6-3, on Saturday. The Whale fell in the weekend finale, losing to the defending Calder Cup champion Binghamton Senators, 4-3, on Sunday afternoon at the XL Center. Mats Zuccarello led the way offensively for the Whale during the week, with 3-4-7 in the four games.

YOU CAN’T WIN’EM ALL

      VERSUS     

Two goal leads and discipline have been the Connecticut Whale’s Achilles’ Heel to this point in the season and they both reared their ugly heads Sunday as the Binghamton Senators defeated the New York Ranger’s top minor league affiliate 4-3 in front of 2,669 at the XL Center.

WHALE WEEKLY: November 28-December 4, 2011

BY: Bob Crawford, Voice of the Connecticut Whale

The Whale took two out of three games this past week, defeating the Portland Pirates at home on Wednesday, 3-2 in overtime, before heading on the road for a pair of post-Thanksgiving tilts in Bridgeport and in Springfield. Connecticut was thumped, 6-2, by the Sound Tigers on Friday, but the team responded with a rousing, last-moment, 3-2 win over the Falcons on Saturday. Andreas Thuresson had two goals, including the game-winner with 21.6 seconds left, on Saturday, while Jonathan Audy-Marchessault tallied three points on the weekend (1-3-4).

DANBURY AND ELMIRA MARRY, SORT OF

Today at the Danbury Ice Arena in Danbury, Connecticut, the Danbury Whalers and the Elmira Jackals announced an affiliation agreement between the two organizations.

The Jackals are member of the East Coast Hockey League (AA) and are affiliated on the NHL level with the Anaheim Ducks and Ottawa Senators. Through those affiliations the Jackals are in agreements with the American Hockey League (AAA) affiliates of those clubs, the Syracuse Crunch and the Binghamton Senators.

FROM THE CREASE with BRUCE BERLET

BY: Bruce Berlet

An estimated 5,000 fans lined the streets of Binghamton, N.Y., on Wednesday to celebrate the city’s first pro hockey title.

Few enjoyed it more than two men with Connecticut ties, one of whom had to get reports in his hospital bed.

The first thing the victorious Calder Cup champion Binghamton Senators did after arriving home after a clinching 3-2 victory over the host Houston Aeros on Tuesday night was to bus to UHS Wilson Medical Center in nearby Johnson City where assistant coach Steve Stirling is recovering from an emergency quadruple bypass surgery on Sunday that prevented him from being behind the bench for Game 6.

FROM THE CREASE with BRUCE BERLET

BY: Bruce Berlet

The Binghamton Senators hadn’t even qualified for the Calder Cup playoffs the past five seasons, but Tuesday night they had extra incentive to win their first AHL championship.

With assistant coach and former Bridgeport Sound Tigers and New York Islanders head coach Steve Stirling back in central New York recovering from emergency quadruple bypass heart surgery Sunday night, the Senators rallied with third-period, power-play goals from Bobby Butler and captain Ryan Keller to beat the host Houston Aeros 3-2 and clinch the title before a record crowd of 10,125 at the Toyota Arena.