Every Wednesday we’ll take a look at the status of the
Rangers’ AHL affiliate. Top prospects Ryan Bourque and Carl Hagelin will
be key players for the Whale this season - we’ll check on how they’re doing and
how the team performs as the season progresses.
- Former Ranger Aaron Voros has signed a
professional tryout (PTO) with the Whale.
Voros, 30, played two seasons with the Blueshirts, registering 11 goals
and 12 assists in 95 games with the team.
Prior to last season the Blueshirts traded Voros to Anaheim in a deal
for defenseman Steve Eminger. Voros
played just 12 games for the Ducks and failed to score a point. Paul Doyle of The Hartford Courant reports
that Voros actually called Rangers GM Glen Sather asking for
an opportunity and Sather agreed. He’s
obviously hoping for another shot at the NHL, but it’s likely that Voros is
just another body for Connecticut at this stage of his career.
- The Whale fell to the AHL-leading St. John’s IceCaps in
consecutive days over the weekend, first losing 8-4 on Saturday and then 4-3 on
Sunday. The IceCaps beat Connecticut 6-3
in the first meeting of the season between these times nearly two weeks ago.
Saturday’s game featured a
bizarre set of circumstances. With
4:41 left in the second period, a collision between Patrice Cormier and Brendan
Bell shattered a glass pane and the referees sent both teams to their dressing
rooms. The Whale was up 4-3 at the time,
but when the teams emerged to play the final 4:41 as an add-on to the start of
the third period, St. John’s seized the momentum. The IceCaps scored twice during that time-span
and three more times in the actual third period for five unanswered goals. CT Coach Ken Gernander was displeased by
several Whale turnovers. Chad Johnson replaced Cam Talbot, who allowed three goals on 15 first period shots, before
the first frame was over. Johnson
stopped 21 of 26 shots. John Mitchell scored twice for the Whale and Tim Erixon picked up his first professional
goal. Carl Hagelin also scored on a
penalty shot.
On Sunday Connecticut twice surrendered two-goal leads to
fall to the IceCaps 4-3. Mitch Beck
reports that the Whale has blown
leads in six of its 14 games this season.
Mitchell scored again, this time on the power play. Tommy Grant and Hagelin also scored; the
latter deflected a Pavel Valentenko point shot with his face. Blake Parlett picked up three assists in the
contest. Johnson made 23 saves on 27
shots.
- Francois Bouchard did not factor into the scoring over the
weekend and was a minus-2.
- Mitchell has five goals and an assist in Connecticut’s last
five games. He’s the Whale’s leading
scorer.
- Hagelin is just behind Mitchell with six goals and five
assists. He’s also an impressive plus-9.
- Erixon has a goal and two assists in five games with the
Whale, but he’s a minus-4.
- Talbot and Johnson have matching .903 save percentages this
season.
- The two losses dropped Connecticut to third
place in the Northeast Division. The
team has scored 44 times and given up 44 goals this season.
- Last Wednesday the CT Whale assigned
defenseman Jyri Niemi to the Greenville Road Warriors. Niemi’s demotion and the trade of Kundratek
eased Connecticut’s logjam on defense.
- Speaking of Kundratek, The Patriot-News spoke with the
defenseman following his trade last week and Kundratek revealed that he
requested a trade from the organization.
“I was asking for a trade because it was kind of a tough position in New
York and Hartford,” Kundratek said, presumably referring to the logjam of
defenders in the system.
- Nick Perri examines how Bouchard will fit in with the Whale over
at SNYRangersblog.com. Bruce Berlet
also spoke with Bouchard following
the deal.
- Berlet also has a great piece on how the Rangers’ attitude
toward developing young players has
changed in recent years.
- The week ahead: The Whale will host the Bridgeport Sound
Tigers, the AHL affiliate of the New York Islanders, on Friday at 7:00 p.m. and
also play Monday on the road against the Portland Pirates in a matinee at 4:05
p.m.
Past editions of The Whale Week That Was:
The
Whale Week That Was - October 5, 2011 >
The
Whale Week That Was – October 12, 2011 >
The
Whale Week That Was – October 19, 2011 >
The
Whale Week That Was – October 26, 2011 >
The
Whale Week That Was – November 2, 2011 >
The
Whale Week That Was – November 9, 2011 >
The Whale Week That Was – November 16, 2011 >
Click
here for our full 2011-2012 Season Archive >
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