WHALE OBJECTION OVERRULED

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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.”

FROM THE CREASE with BRUCE BERLET

BY: Bruce Berlet

Tommy Grant arrived in Hartford in late March unheralded but hardly bashful in his demeanor.

Grant had a bit of an edge from the get-go. Nothing cocky, mind you, just an air of confidence that he belonged in the AHL with the Connecticut Whale after his best of four seasons at the University of Alaska Anchorage.

Befitting the tenure of his attitude often accompanied by a wry smile, Grant had two assists in his pro debut, a 4-2 loss at the Providence Bruins on March 27 after signing an amateur tryout contract 24 hours earlier and 10 days after completing his senior year at UAA. The Whale brass thought so much of Grant so quickly that they signed him to a free-agent contract two days later.

1ST RD: GAME TWO – LIKE PARENT – LIKE AFFILIATE

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The Connecticut Whale lost Game Two of their first round playoff series at the Cumberland County Civic Center to the Portland Pirates 3-2 in overtime before 5,029 Saturday night.

GROOVIN ON A SUNDAY AFTERNOON

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If a movie producer was pitching a film to a studio about this past weekend’s Connecticut Whale games they’d likely say that it was equally part “Slap Shot,” part “Night of the Living Dead and a measure of “Sybil” or “Invasion of the Body Snatchers.”

Knowing Whale head coach Ken Gernander, he  is probably more interested in seeing the, “Coming Attractions.” But for the Whale players, they completed their blockbuster three-games in three-days weekend to good reviews for their performance in their Sunday afternoon matinee, a 4-2 win over the Atlantic Division leading Portland Pirates at the XL Center in front of 4,321.

“UGLY”

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“It was just an ugly goal, just a bad goal,” Connecticut Whale goaltender Chad Johnson said after TJ Breenan’s bad angle shot with just 3:12 remaining was the difference in a 3-2 win for the visiting Portland Pirates Sunday afternoon at the XL Center.

PIRATES HARPOON THE GREAT WHALE

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There’s a popular old saying that goes, “Better Late Than Never.” However if you asked the Connecticut Whale players what they thought about that saying and how it played a part in their Saturday night demise, a stunning 3-2 loss on a goal with just 7.5 seconds remaining, they’d likely vote to unanimously change it to, “Better Never Than Late.”

WHALE “GO-MOBY” AND SINK PIRATES

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(We apologize for the late posting…busy day in the office)

The Connecticut Whale have become more than the blue whale with a hockey stick like their logo suggests and become more like Moby Dick and are just trampling over their competition.

Wednesday night Tim Kennedy’s shot from the right circle just 36 seconds into overtime gave the Whale a 2-1 win over the visiting Portland Pirates. Kennedy’s game-winner came with the Whale on a 4-on-3 power play. The win raised the Whale’s record to 9-1-2 since making the switch from the Hartford Wolf Pack to their present incarnation as the Connecticut Whale on November 27th.