Every Wednesday we’ll take a look at the status of the
Rangers’ AHL affiliate. Top prospects Mats Zuccarello, Ryan Bourque and
Tim Erixon are key players for the Whale this season - we’ll check on how
they’re doing and how the team performs as the season progresses.
- Connecticut has struggled against the rival Bridgeport Sound
Tigers this season, but on Friday the Whale crushed the
Sound Tigers 6-3. Many of Bridgeport’s
best players have been recalled by the Islanders, but the Rangers have plucked
away several of Connecticut’s stars as well.
Connecticut went three-for-five on the power play and received two goals
from Jonathan Audy-Marchessault and Brendan Bell and one each from Jared
Nightingale and Andreas Thuresson. Kris
Newbury tallied four assists for the Whale and Andre Deveaux had three helpers.
- On Saturday the Whale fell to the Providence
Bruins in a shootout 2-1. Newbury scored Connecticut’s only goal off a feed from Audy-Marchessault. Chad Johnson made 29 saves for Connecticut. Wade Redden was involved in a major collision
involving the goalpost and left the game.
- Connecticut continues
to lead the Northeast Division by four points.
- Audy-Marchessault ranks
third among AHL rookies with 25 points in 28 games. He is tied for 18th in the league overall.
- The Rangers recalled defensemen Stu Bickel and Tim Erixon from
the Whale to fill in for injured players, but Connecticut made a slew of
transactions of its own.
- Last Wednesday the Whale recalled
forward Jeff Prough from the Greenville Road Warriors. Prough was Greenville’s leading scorer with 25
points (12 goals, 13 assists) in 21 games.
- On Thursday the Whale recalled
forward Brendan Connolly from Greenville.
But on Saturday Connecticut deleted
Connolly’s PTO.
- Without Redden, Bickel and Erixon, the Whale recalled
defenseman Lee Baldwin from Greenville on Monday. Connecticut also recalled
defenseman Sam Klassen yesterday.
- Mitch Beck believes that since Baldwin and Klassen were
recalled, the Whale is “finished” with Jyri Niemi.
- Check out this profile of Bickel.
- Bruce Berlet did a profile of Kelsey Tessier. Berlet also profiles Newbury.
- The week ahead: Connecticut will host the Adirondack
Phantoms tonight at 7:00 p.m. The Whale
is then off until Monday when Connecticut will visit the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. Connecticut will play again on Tuesday, home
against the Albany Devils.
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 >
The
Whale Week That Was – November 23, 2011 >
The
Whale Week That Was – November 30, 2011 >
The
Whale Week That Was - December 7, 2011 >
The
Whale Week That Was - December 14, 2011 >
The Whale Week That Was – December 21, 2011 >
Click
here for our full 2011-2012 Season Archive >
Follow us on Twitter (@NYRBlueBulletin and @kevinbaumer) and on Facebook.
