REDEMPTION

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(I feel like I need to apologize to the readers of Howlings. I haven’t written my normal stories for the games on Friday and last night. This is as some of you may or may not know, started as a hobby for me but has progressed to the point where it has become a non-paying — and actually I pay quite a bit of money for all of it — part-time job. Well the job that does pay me, my employment agency Crossroads Consulting, has had an explosion of business the past three days and frankly it was difficult to find the time to even get to the games at all. I am also having incredible computer problems that are messing up both “jobs” so I haven’t had the time to dedicate to this as I should. So for that I apologize. We’ll get it right again this coming week…once again, I apologize.)

BY: Bruce Berlet

After being shut out by the Springfield Falcons at home for the first time in 15 seasons on Saturday night, Connecticut Whale coach Ken Gernander almost completely shuffled his deck Sunday afternoon.

Gernander changed all four lines, two of the three defensive pairings and started Cam Talbot in goal for the first time in 11 games since Feb. 19.

THE ROAD AHEAD

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The Connecticut Whale currently sit in the third position in the AHL standings. How they’re doing that is a testament to the character of this team, because based upon the way they played at the XL Center Saturday night in a 3-0 loss to the Springfield Falcons, a team fighting just to make it into the post-season, you’d have thought it was the other way around.

“We didn’t give much, I thought and that’s disappointing.  We never really got anything going,” team captain Wade Redden said in his post game assessment. “We had a couple power plays in the first (period) that we didn’t do anything on, didn’t get a spark.

“You guard against (emotional let downs)…it just seemed like we were flat. We had a big win (Friday) night, we just weren’t making plays. We were just a little slower to pucks than them. They just played harder than us…We just put this behind us and get ready for tomorrow.”

WHALE WEEKLY: March 12 – 18, 2012

BY: Bob Crawford, Voice of the CTWhale

The Whale won two out of three games again this past weekend, starting off with a key 4-3 shootout victory at home Friday over the Bridgeport Sound Tigers in Northeast Division action. The Whale would fall to the league-leading Norfolk Admirals Saturday at the XL Center, 3-1, on Connecticut Hockey Hall of Fame night, but would rebound nicely with a 5-3 road win over the Manchester Monarchs on Sunday. Casey Wellman had two goals and an assist in Sunday’s game, and both Jonathan Audy-Marchessault and Kris Newbury cracked the 20-goal mark over the course of the three games. Chad Johnson recorded his 20^th win of the season in goal Sunday, after earning a First-Star nod in Friday’s win over the Sound Tigers.

WHALE WEEKLY: February 27 – March 4, 2012

BY: Bob Crawford, Voice of the CT Whale

The Whale split two games this past week, easily handling the Portland Pirates, 5-1, at the XL Center on  Friday, before dropping a 2-0 decision to their I-91 rivals, the Springfield Falcons, on Saturday. Connecticut’s blanking on Saturday was the first against the Whale since Oct. 9 at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Five different Whale players scored in Friday’s victory over the Pirates, with ten different players receiving a point in the contest. Tommy Grant had a goal and an assist and Kelsey Tessier had two helpers on Friday, while Chad Johnson stopped 52 of 55 shots in goal on the weekend.

WHALE FRUSTRATED IN SPRINGFIELD

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There are a multitude of ways to lose in any sporting event, and the Connecticut Whale have certainly explored many of them this season, but Saturday night’s 2-0 loss to the Springfield Falcons at the MassMutual Center in front of 5,003 was in no small part due to some of the most bizarre officiating certainly of the season and possibly longer than that.

BLAKE PARLETT REASSIGNED TO ECHL GREENVILLE

BY: Bob Crawford, Voice of the Connecticut Whale

Connecticut Whale general manager Jim Schoenfeld announced today that the parent New York Rangers have reassigned defenseman Blake Parlett from the Whale to its ECHL affiliate, the Greenville Road Warriors.

Parlett, a second-year pro, has skated in 50 games this year with the Whale, scoring four goals and adding 10 assists for 14 points, with 34 penalty minutes.  He signed with the Rangers as a free agent June 2, 2011, after playing last season with the Whale on an AHL contract.

WHALE SINK PIRATES SHIP

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BY: Bruce Berlet

Special teams often are the difference at all levels of hockey these days, and the Connecticut Whale proved that again Friday night against the Portland Pirates.

Andre Deveaux and Brendan Bell scored the game’s first two goals with the man advantage, then the Whale got three tallies from secondary sources in a 5-1 victory before 4,722 at the XL Center.

WHALE WEEKLY: February 21 – 26, 2012

BY: Bob Crawford, Voice of the Connecticut Whale

The Whale posted another successful week as they entered the third weekend in February, winning two out of three games on their slate. Connecticut began the weekend with a 6-3 defeat of the Springfield Falcons on Friday at the XL Center, before winning a home-ice thriller against the Worcester Sharks, 3-1, on Saturday night. The Whale closed out the weekend’s action Sunday in Providence, where they dropped a narrow 4-3 decision to the P-Bruins. Andre Deveaux was on fire this past weekend, scoring four times and adding an assist for five points in three games. Kris Newbury led the team in scoring over that span with a goal and five assists, and Jonathan Audy-Marchessault tallied four assists.

JOHNSON INJURED, MISSIAEN RECALLED

Chad Johnson was injured late in the first period of Friday night’s 6-3 Connecticut Whale victory over the Springfield Falcons at the XL Center. The injury has resulted in the immediate recall of Jason Missiaen from the Greenville Road Warriors as a backup for Cam Talbot.

Including Friday night, Johnson had started the last seven games for the Whale and while he didn’t figure in this decision, he has won five of those seven.

Missiaen has had a good season with the Road Warriors. In 26 games, Missiaen, the tallest goaltender in North America at 6’8” and 220 pounds, has a 13-10-2 posting a 3.16 goals-against average and a 90.3% save percentage with three shutouts. Missiaen is tied for second-most in the ECHL in the shutout category.

The extent of Johnson’s injury is unknown as is the length of time he will be out.

Here’s the official release:

SPOTLIGHT: WADE REDDEN

BY: Bruce Berlet

In 13 seasons in the NHL, Wade Redden never missed more than 18 games. In fact, in 10 of those seasons, the defenseman played at least 75 of 82 games.

So the 22 games that Redden has had to sit out since he was injured in the Connecticut Whale’s 2-1 shootout loss to the Providence Bruins on Dec. 17 have been uncharted territory. Not to mention being rather agonizing and a bit boring at times, though it did provide more time at home with wife Danica and 17-month-old daughter Leni.