STRANGER THINGS HAVE HAPPENED: BUT NOT TOO MANY

      VERSUS     

There is something about the entire New York Rangers organization in 2011-2012…they just seem to dialed in to winning…even when they’re losing.

In New York, the Rangers are tops in the Eastern Conference and are three points behind the President’s Trophy leading Detroit Red Wings. The Rangers have four games in hand.

In Greenville of the ECHL, the Road Warriors are fifth overall in their conference and just five points out of the top spot in their conference and are 6-3-0-1 in their last ten games.

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 GIVE FALCONS CHEMISTRY LESSON

      VERSUS     

Both I-91 rivals are a mix of veteran and young talent, but after scoring four unanswered goals over the last two periods, the Connecticut Whale  showed how they have managed to hold onto first palace in the Northeast Division while the Springfield Falcons struggle to remain out of the division basement with a chemistry-led and convincing 5-2 win over in front of 5,448 at the XL Center on the last game of 2011.

Despite having strong talent like goaltender Manny Legace, AHL All-Star Martin St. Pierre, veteran Adam Mair, left winger Matt Calvert, ex-Wolf Pack captain Dane Byers and future AHL Hall-of-Famer Alexandre Giroux and young talent like Cam Atkinson and Tomas Kubalik the Falcons just seem adrift on the ice as they have lost all five games against the Whale this season.

For the Whale, Francois Bouchard, the game’s First Star, had a break-out game pacing the Whale with three assists. Kris Newbury extended his points scoring streak to seven games with two goals and Pavel Valentenko, quickly moving up the depth chart, had a goal and a helper, including what proved to be the game-winner for the Whale.

WHALE WHACK FALCONS – HARD

BY: Brian Ring

Hartford, CT, October 23, 2011 – The Connecticut Whale defeated the Springfield Falcons, 4-1, Sunday afternoon at the XL Center, completing a sweep of their set of three games in three days. The Whale beat Springfield for the second consecutive night, after winning 2-1 at the MassMutual Center Saturday night.

The Whale scored three goals in the second period to open the game up, and rookie Jonathan Audy-Marchessault earned First-Star honors with a goal and two assists on the night.