A NEW DIVISION FOR THE WHALE

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. … American Hockey League President and CEO David Andrews announced that the league’s Board of Governors, convening this week for its Annual Meeting in Hilton Head Island, S.C., has approved the following division alignment for the 2011-12 AHL season (NHL affiliates in parentheses):

FROM THE CREASE with BRUCE BERLET

BY: Bruce Berlet

Hopefully NHL officials will again take notice of the Hartford market’s interest in hockey.

As in the Eastern Conference finals, the Insurance City region ranked fourth in the overnight ratings for Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals won by the Boston Bruins, though this time Hartford tied with Detroit at 8.7.

Overall, the game generated a 5.7 overnight rating for NBC, tying Game 7 of the 2003 finals between the New Jersey Devils and Anaheim Ducks for the most-watched Game 7 in NHL history, according to The Nielsen Company.

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.

FROM THE CREASE with BRUCE BERLET

BY: Bruce Berlet

Good news and bad news today on the “used to be on the local hockey market scene.”

First, the Phoenix Coyotes, who are NOT moving to Winnipeg, Manitoba, signed former Hartford Wolf Pack and New York Rangers goalie Jason LaBarbera to a two-year contract extension.

Terms weren’t disclosed, but the unrestricted free agent earned $1 million this season to be the backup to Ilya Bryzgalov, who made $4.2 million. So it’s safe to assume former Rangers assistant general manager/Wolf Pack GM Don Maloney gave LaBarbera at least some kind of raise after he was 7-6-3 with a 3.26 goals-against average, .909 save percentage and two shutouts in 17 games in his second season with the Coyotes.

TWO MINUTES with BRUCE BERLET

South Windsor native and Houston Aeros captain Jon DiSalvatore has had the season of his life while leading the Western Conference champions within two victories of their second Calder Cup title.

DiSalvatore had a career-high 28 goals in the regular season and scored with 1:13 left in Game 7 of the Western Conference finals to give the Aeros a 3-2 victory over the Hamilton Bulldogs and former Hartford Wolf Pack and New York Rangers wing Nigel Dawes.

TWO MINUTES for BRUCE BERLET

BY: Bruce Berlet

Connecticut hockey fans had more to cheer about Wednesday than just Hartford Whalers icon Kevin Dineen being named coach of the Florida Panthers.

South Windsor native and Houston Aeros captain Jon DiSalvatore scored only 68 seconds into the game and had the primary assist on Nate Prosser’s winner in a 2-1 victory over the host Binghamton Senators in Game 3 of the Calder Cup playoffs Wednesday night.

The Aeros took a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series, with Games 4 and 5 on Friday and Saturday nights at the Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena in Binghamton. Games 6 and 7, if necessary, on Tuesday and next Thursday nights in Houston.

DiSalvatore knocked in his own rebound for his sixth playoff goal, then Prosser picked up a loose puck and beat Senators rookie goalie Robin Lehner at 12:51 of the second period. Patrick O’Sullivan got his second assist of the game on the winner.

Senators captain Ryan Keller scored his ninth goal of the playoffs at 2:52 of the third period, but Aeros rookie goalie Matt Hackett (28 saves) shut down Binghamton the rest of the way to improve to 14-7 in the postseason. The Senators, who had 21 goals in a four-game sweep of Charlotte in the Eastern Conference finals, have only four games in the first three games against the Western Conference champion Aeros, who are seeking their first title since 2003.

But the fans thought the Senators had tied it with 24.5 seconds left on a goal by former Wolf Pack center Corey Locke, the AHL’s MVP and leading scorer (86 points) this season, during a late flurry after pulling Lehner. But referee Terry Koharski waved his arms to signal no goal, leading to many in a sellout crowd of 4,710 to rain plastic bottles and cups on the ice.

“(The puck) was on its edge, but it didn’t go over (the goal line),” Hackett said. “With the (Senators) goalie pulled, it was pretty intense. People were blocking shots with their faces, with any part of their body, and they did a great job.”

Senators coach Kurt Kleinendorst didn’t dispute the no-goal call but was upset his team wasn’t as intense as the Aeros.

“These are the Calder Cup finals, and you would expect your group would show up and give you an honest 60 (minutes),” Kleinendorst said. “I think we can do better. We have to give credit to Houston, but at the same time, I know this group, I know my guys, and we’re not quite where we need to be. We’re close, but close isn’t going to cut it. We’re going to have to fight for every little inch.”

And that’s about by how much the Senators failed to tie it late, but there is no video replay in the AHL because not all arenas in the 30-team league are equipped for it.

“That’s hockey,” Senators forward Mike Hoffman said. “Sometimes that happens. The chances were there, we just had to capitalize, and we didn’t. That’s why we lost the game.”

Instead, the Aeros regained the home-ice advantage and hope to return home with the Calder Cup. The Senators, now only 4-5 at home in the playoffs, hope to get back to Houston in a bid for their first title.

DiSalvatore was thinking otherwise.

“We’re striving for two more wins,” he said. “We can’t go flying high on this win and forget what we need to do. We have to look at tape from this game and look at things we can do to get better.”

DiSalvatore has been better than ever this season, having scored a career-high 28 goals during the regular season and now helping put the Aeros within two victories of another AHL championship. It has been 11 years since the Wolf Pack won the only title in Hartford hockey history, though Dineen had sure tried hard to get one earlier. After all, there are loads of reasons that his number (11) and that of Connecticut Whale coach Ken Gernander (12) are in the XL Center rafters.

FROM THE CREASE with BRUCE BERLET

BY: Bruce Berlet

The Manny Malhotra Miracle Saga took another major positive step Saturday.

And the former Hartford Whalers and New York Rangers forward had a difficult time hiding his emotions in his first media interview since a deflected puck to his left eye in a game against the Colorado Avalanche on March 16 seemingly ended his season and threatened his career.

Instead, the Vancouver Canucks center was cleared to play in the Stanley Cup finals against the Boston Bruins that begin Wednesday night in Vancouver, improving his status from a spiritual leader to a possible contributor for pro hockey’s most cherished prize.

FROM THE CREASE with BRUCE BERLET

BY: Bruce Berlet

Though NHL officials still deny a report the Atlanta Thrashers are about to relocate to Winnipeg, Manitoba, leading to the AHL’s Moose moving to St. John’s, Newfoundland, fans and officials in Atlanta might have already said and heard otherwise.

Only about 200 Thrashers fans showed up Saturday to tailgate outside Philips Arena for the team’s annual “select-a-seat” event held for current and potential season ticket holders to check out the seats, look at the ice and talk about the upcoming NHL draft. And it hardly helped that Harry the Hawk, the mascot of the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks that are also owned by the Atlanta Spirit Group, rode up on a scooter, hopped off and handed out high-fives before stopping to put his mouth over the head of a bystanders wearing a Thrashers jersey.

PUT AWAY YOUR CHECKERS

   VERSUS  

OT GOAL SENDS SENS TO FINALS, ENDS CHARLOTTE’S SEASON
Checkers finish with longest playoff run by Hurricanes AHL affiliate

BINGHAMTON, N.Y.  Despite a game-tying goal by Chris Terry with 1:24 left in the third period, the Binghamton Senators got a goal by Ryan Keller at 13:05 of overtime to win the game, 4-3, and Eastern Conference Final series, 4-0.

With the win, the Senators become the first Binghamton-based team to reach the Calder Cup Finals since the 1981-82 Whalers. Binghamton also becomes the first team since the 1974-75 New Haven Nighthawks to reach the Calder Cup Finals after finishing fifth in its division during the regular season.