RETURN OF THE WHALE
With the bankrupcy of the Buffalo Sabres and no willing buyer to keep the team in the league, the NHL was
forced to look for a new franchise to keep the status quo of 30 teams. A familiar face Howard Baldwin
came to the front and brought with him a familiar logo: The Whale. Yes, NHL fans, Baldwin brought back
the Hartford Whalers who existed in the NHL between 1972 - 1997 under the names New England Whalers and Hartford Whalers, before relocating and becoming the Carolina Hurricanes is back. Baldwin was an original owner of the Whalers. Baldwin has leased out the Hartford Civic Center which was recently upgraded to house 19600 fans for the team to play in. He enlisted former ECHL GM Ray to handle the GM duties who subsequently hired Ted Nolan as head coach and re-hired a majority of the ex-Sabres front office and scouting staff.
Rather than simply hand over the ex-Sabres roster, the NHL decided to go one giant step forward which was
met with some criticism but also some excitement from NHL team staff and fans: a draft. Every player in
the NHL, included most prospects, were released from their current teams and placed in a draft. While a
lot of teams stayed loyal to their roster a lot of players found new homes in this draft.
Ray took an approach which will certainly pay dividends in the future, which as he stated in the draft,
"We're a new team and realistically the expectations should be to match that". Ray drafted a young roster
with his oldest player (eight in total) being only 25 years old. While there are some proven NHL talent
such as Milan Lucic, Zach Parise and Shea Weber in the roster, there is a lot of mid-range and high-level
prospects such as Evander Kane and Tyler Myers also.
The team begins it's innagrual training camp tomorrow morning and everyone waits with anticipation of what Ray and Nolan can bring as the Whale makes a long awaited return to the NHL.
Return of the Hartford Whalers
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madball1982
- Junior League
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- Joined: Mon Jun 14, 2010 5:34 am
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madball1982
- Junior League
- Posts: 40
- Joined: Mon Jun 14, 2010 5:34 am
HRF [10-Aug-2010]
With their innaugrual training camp now over, the Whaler's roster has finally taken
shape, with the final cuts having been made and players allocated to their respective
junior, college, European leagues or sent to Hartford's AHL affiliate, Portland Pirates.
There weren't too many shocks to the opening day roster, but with so many youngsters in
the organisation this came as no real surprise. Those players with NHL experience already
were pretty much a lock as the team needed as much experience as possible, however GM Ray
made certain that players didn't just rest on their laurels and coast through, he wanted
everyone to earn their spots in the squad.
Although the pre-season games mean little in the scheme of things and both Ray and head
coach Ted Nolan rotated many of the expected roster players with the prospects quite
regularly - no one player played more than four games before the final cuts - the results
were mixed. The Whalers played 11 pre-season matches achieving 3 wins, 5 losses and 1 OT and
2 shootout losses. They shut out two teams (one win and one shootout loss) but were also
shut out in two of their regulation losses including a 13-0 drubbing at the hands of the
Anaheim Ducks, although only one opening day roster player played in this game.
Said coach Nolan, "We had some games go our way and others which didn't, but our
first camp was definitely a success in my eyes. I got to see between scrimmages, drills and
exhibition games around 50 players show me what they've got. Some have made the team
now, some should in the coming years and others will move elsewhere, but it was great to see
so many kids come in and try their hardest. I am happy with the talent and potential that
Ray has drafted into this squad."
The opening night roster is listed below as the Whalers are playing, of all teams for their
opening game, the Carolina Hurricanes.
GOAL
J. Quick - T. Rask
DEFENCE
S. Weber (a) - T. Myers
M. Stuart - E. Johnson
M. Giordano - V. Hedman
P. Ranger - healthy scratch
FORWARDS
Z. Parise - R. Getzlaf (a)- B. Ryan
J. Neal - M. Richards (c)- D. Clarkson
S. Downie - S. Stamkos - C. Stewart
DJ. King - R. Stone - C. Janssen
M. Lucic - IR approx 3 weeks
shape, with the final cuts having been made and players allocated to their respective
junior, college, European leagues or sent to Hartford's AHL affiliate, Portland Pirates.
There weren't too many shocks to the opening day roster, but with so many youngsters in
the organisation this came as no real surprise. Those players with NHL experience already
were pretty much a lock as the team needed as much experience as possible, however GM Ray
made certain that players didn't just rest on their laurels and coast through, he wanted
everyone to earn their spots in the squad.
Although the pre-season games mean little in the scheme of things and both Ray and head
coach Ted Nolan rotated many of the expected roster players with the prospects quite
regularly - no one player played more than four games before the final cuts - the results
were mixed. The Whalers played 11 pre-season matches achieving 3 wins, 5 losses and 1 OT and
2 shootout losses. They shut out two teams (one win and one shootout loss) but were also
shut out in two of their regulation losses including a 13-0 drubbing at the hands of the
Anaheim Ducks, although only one opening day roster player played in this game.
Said coach Nolan, "We had some games go our way and others which didn't, but our
first camp was definitely a success in my eyes. I got to see between scrimmages, drills and
exhibition games around 50 players show me what they've got. Some have made the team
now, some should in the coming years and others will move elsewhere, but it was great to see
so many kids come in and try their hardest. I am happy with the talent and potential that
Ray has drafted into this squad."
The opening night roster is listed below as the Whalers are playing, of all teams for their
opening game, the Carolina Hurricanes.
GOAL
J. Quick - T. Rask
DEFENCE
S. Weber (a) - T. Myers
M. Stuart - E. Johnson
M. Giordano - V. Hedman
P. Ranger - healthy scratch
FORWARDS
Z. Parise - R. Getzlaf (a)- B. Ryan
J. Neal - M. Richards (c)- D. Clarkson
S. Downie - S. Stamkos - C. Stewart
DJ. King - R. Stone - C. Janssen
M. Lucic - IR approx 3 weeks
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madball1982
- Junior League
- Posts: 40
- Joined: Mon Jun 14, 2010 5:34 am
HARTFORD - DECEMBER UPDATE [23-Aug-2010]
The Whalers have stunned most of the hockey community by leading the eastern conference with 37pts after
26 games of the 06/07 season. Predicted to rank 27th by season's end by THN's pre-season rankings, the
Whalers have looked little like a cellar dweller and more like a champion team as the new year
approaches.
THN analyst Bob Brown wrote in his column today: "The Whalers were predicted to finish 27th based mostly
on youth and inexperience rather than lack of skill. When you have an abundance of talent like they do,
they were always going to be competitive, but it was the general inexperience of the team that we thought
would see them fall short most nights. When you have about 12 rookies in your roster, there's not a high
expectation even when those rookies include Jon Quick, Steve Stamos and Erik Johnson."
The Whalers inexperience has shown in one particular area which is goals against. Although leading the
league with 99 goals scored, they're 26th with 88 against. The rookie inexperience is showing in their
defence although it seems the Whalers are content to run with a similar approach as the Penguins when
they won their last Stanley Cup which is the belief that - we will score more than you no matter what you
score.
There have been some changes since opening night however. Both Mark Stuart and Tyler Myers were sent to Portland after 14 games to be replaced by Alexander Edler and Paul Ranger.
James Neal was sent to Portland once Lucic came off the IR, but is back with the team as of today due to
Lucic being injured again and expected out 2-3weeks. Parise will spend approximately a week on the sidelines with Devin Setoguchi due to get a handful of games, who got 2 games in late October due to a Mike Richards suspension. James Wisniewski gets his first NHL games in this season while Mark Giordano is on the IR for an expected 2weeks.
Ryan Getzlaf leads the team in both goals scored (17) and points (38) and is 4th and 3rd respectively in
the NHL in those categories.
As expected due to the lineup, Cam Janssen leads the Whalers in PIMs (101) which is good for 11th overall
while Lucic leads in fights with 8, good for 6th overall.
Quick leads Rask in the main categories of GP's (18 - 12), wins (12-5) GAA (3.00-3.72) and save percentage (0.903 - 0.875).
In Portland, Wayne Simmonds leads in both goals (15) and points (28), good for 3rd and 5th in the league, while goalie Corey Schneider leads the league in GAA with 2.12 in 28GP's. Defenceman Matt Corrente leads the team in PIMs with 36.
26 games of the 06/07 season. Predicted to rank 27th by season's end by THN's pre-season rankings, the
Whalers have looked little like a cellar dweller and more like a champion team as the new year
approaches.
THN analyst Bob Brown wrote in his column today: "The Whalers were predicted to finish 27th based mostly
on youth and inexperience rather than lack of skill. When you have an abundance of talent like they do,
they were always going to be competitive, but it was the general inexperience of the team that we thought
would see them fall short most nights. When you have about 12 rookies in your roster, there's not a high
expectation even when those rookies include Jon Quick, Steve Stamos and Erik Johnson."
The Whalers inexperience has shown in one particular area which is goals against. Although leading the
league with 99 goals scored, they're 26th with 88 against. The rookie inexperience is showing in their
defence although it seems the Whalers are content to run with a similar approach as the Penguins when
they won their last Stanley Cup which is the belief that - we will score more than you no matter what you
score.
There have been some changes since opening night however. Both Mark Stuart and Tyler Myers were sent to Portland after 14 games to be replaced by Alexander Edler and Paul Ranger.
James Neal was sent to Portland once Lucic came off the IR, but is back with the team as of today due to
Lucic being injured again and expected out 2-3weeks. Parise will spend approximately a week on the sidelines with Devin Setoguchi due to get a handful of games, who got 2 games in late October due to a Mike Richards suspension. James Wisniewski gets his first NHL games in this season while Mark Giordano is on the IR for an expected 2weeks.
Ryan Getzlaf leads the team in both goals scored (17) and points (38) and is 4th and 3rd respectively in
the NHL in those categories.
As expected due to the lineup, Cam Janssen leads the Whalers in PIMs (101) which is good for 11th overall
while Lucic leads in fights with 8, good for 6th overall.
Quick leads Rask in the main categories of GP's (18 - 12), wins (12-5) GAA (3.00-3.72) and save percentage (0.903 - 0.875).
In Portland, Wayne Simmonds leads in both goals (15) and points (28), good for 3rd and 5th in the league, while goalie Corey Schneider leads the league in GAA with 2.12 in 28GP's. Defenceman Matt Corrente leads the team in PIMs with 36.
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madball1982
- Junior League
- Posts: 40
- Joined: Mon Jun 14, 2010 5:34 am
HARTFORD - ALL-STAR BREAK UPDATE [26-Aug-2010]
As the league breaks for the annual allstar weekend it was a good time to see the status of the Whaler's
innaugral season. As no Whalers were selected for the Allstar game it gives the young team a good chance
to recupriate. Of most benefit to this is defenceman Erik Johnson who suffered a fractured jaw and was
expected to miss 1-2weeks anyway. With no games for a week due to both the allstar weekend and
scheduling, this bodes well for the Whalers as Johnson has been a key top 4 defenceman for the Whalers,
with 3g 15a in 57 games.
The team themselves sees them stting comfortably in 2nd place in the East. With 36 wins and 78 points in
57 games, the Whalers are 1pt behind conference leaders Pittsburgh and 13pts clear of the Senators, who
sit 2nd in the North-East division. The Red Wings lead the NHL with 82pts.
The Whalers currently lead the NHL with 214 goals scored, but their 185 goals against ranks as 23rd which
for such a highly placed team is insufficient.
Currently leading the team is still Ryan Getzlaf with 33 goals and 77pts, which is good for 6th and 3rd
overall respectively. Cam Janssen currently sits 6th in the NHL with 238PIMs and 5th for FMs with 16.
Pat Maroon has signed an Entry Level Contract which comes into effect immediately (December). He was
contracted to the Whaler's AHL affiliate in Portland, however had yet to dress. He has been loaned out to
Elmira.
Three junior players have also signed E/L deals effective in June, goalie Martin Jones, defenceman Colten
Teubert and winger Ian Schultz.
Several Portland players have had call-ups due to injuries to Whaler's regulars. James Wisniewski got
7GPs, scoring 4assists and 11PIMs. Jannick Hansen got the best results, replacing Bobby Ryan and Zach
Parise at different points, scoring 4g, 9a in 11 gp's. Devin Setoguchi got 6-1-1-2, Cal Clutterbuck 2
fights and 16PIMs in 5GP, James Neal 20-7-9-16 and Wayne Simmonds 1assist in 3GP's.
innaugral season. As no Whalers were selected for the Allstar game it gives the young team a good chance
to recupriate. Of most benefit to this is defenceman Erik Johnson who suffered a fractured jaw and was
expected to miss 1-2weeks anyway. With no games for a week due to both the allstar weekend and
scheduling, this bodes well for the Whalers as Johnson has been a key top 4 defenceman for the Whalers,
with 3g 15a in 57 games.
The team themselves sees them stting comfortably in 2nd place in the East. With 36 wins and 78 points in
57 games, the Whalers are 1pt behind conference leaders Pittsburgh and 13pts clear of the Senators, who
sit 2nd in the North-East division. The Red Wings lead the NHL with 82pts.
The Whalers currently lead the NHL with 214 goals scored, but their 185 goals against ranks as 23rd which
for such a highly placed team is insufficient.
Currently leading the team is still Ryan Getzlaf with 33 goals and 77pts, which is good for 6th and 3rd
overall respectively. Cam Janssen currently sits 6th in the NHL with 238PIMs and 5th for FMs with 16.
Pat Maroon has signed an Entry Level Contract which comes into effect immediately (December). He was
contracted to the Whaler's AHL affiliate in Portland, however had yet to dress. He has been loaned out to
Elmira.
Three junior players have also signed E/L deals effective in June, goalie Martin Jones, defenceman Colten
Teubert and winger Ian Schultz.
Several Portland players have had call-ups due to injuries to Whaler's regulars. James Wisniewski got
7GPs, scoring 4assists and 11PIMs. Jannick Hansen got the best results, replacing Bobby Ryan and Zach
Parise at different points, scoring 4g, 9a in 11 gp's. Devin Setoguchi got 6-1-1-2, Cal Clutterbuck 2
fights and 16PIMs in 5GP, James Neal 20-7-9-16 and Wayne Simmonds 1assist in 3GP's.
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madball1982
- Junior League
- Posts: 40
- Joined: Mon Jun 14, 2010 5:34 am
HARTFORD - END OF SEASON [13-Sep-2010]
Hartford closed their season on April 8th winning the North East division on 100pts (46w, 28L, 8 OTL).
This was a successful return season into the NHL that will continue in the Eastern Conference Quarter
Finals against division rival Ottawa.
However the season raised as many questions as it has answers. GM Ray was questioned when he drafted for this team by picking a squad who's average age was around 23. The Whalers finished second in the NHL with 298 goals scored but were a poor 27th with 281 against. GM Ray has already pointed out that this will be his first task during the off-season. He has said that he won't neccessarily be after under-25 players like he did to start this team off, said Ray, "We drafted under 25 to have a strong, young nucleus to build up from. Here on I'll be looking for the best fitting players, whether 20 or 40 as the boys we have will continue to mature and improve."
A further positive was the power-play, finished 5th at 18.1% and despite a high goals against the team finished with their PK at 11th with 85.6%.
Ryan Getzlaf lead the pointscoring finishing 6th in the NHL with 46 goals and 9th with 102 points. On the
other spectrum, Cam Janssen expectedly lead the Whalers with 366 PIMs which was only behind Steven MacIntyre in the NHL with 471.
Lucic and Janssen led the Whalers with 24 fighting majors each, 2 behind NHL leader Darcy Hordichuk with 26.
Goaltending was a positive and a negative at the same time for Hartford. Number one, Jonathan Quick in 53
games finished with 2.85GAA, 907 save percentage and 1 shutout. On the otherhand backup Tuukka Rask
finished with a disappointing 3.90 GAA and 872 save in 38 games. GM Ray said, "We expected a lot better
performance from Tuukka this season, but both tenders are young, so I don't think I'll be giving up on
them just yet."
Despite the seemingly vote of confidence from the GM, there are whispers going around the league that
Rask will be put on the trading block either in favour of Portland goalie Cory Schneider or via a trade.
Other players of note this season, Mike Richards finished with 75pts, Bobby Ryan 75-35-52-87 and
surprisingly hard-nosed power forward Chris Stewart tallied 68-23-38-61.
Milan Lucic was an intimidating force this season, not only with his 24FMs, but 71-27-40-67 and 257PIMs.
The defnce corps were lead by hard-hitting captain Shea Weber, 82-9-29-38-140PIMs and Alexander Edler 67-10-29-39. Rookie Victor Hedman had a strong season finishing with 82-4-18-22 with promises of bigger and better things in the coming years.
Down in Portland, the Whalers farm team, points leader Lars Eller (78GP-22G-37A-59pts) and top goal
scorer Wayne Simmonds (76-26-30-56) made strong impressions on the franchise and will surely be given a very strong look during the next training camp. Jannick Hansen, impressive in his call ups to Hartford
finished with 64-19-29-48. James Neal (20g), Cal Clutterbuck (32g) and Brad Marchand (32g) also made
their prescence felt.
On defence, last minute training camp cut Jeff Schultz had a strong season with 78-7-38-45 as did Tyler
Myers 57-6-31-37 who had been sent to Portland after failing to impress greatly in Hartford.
Unlike in the main team PIMs were not free-flowing in Portland with the leader Matt Corrente only having
82 in 78GPs. Although late season demotion to Portland DJ King took 58PIMs in only 16GPs after being sent
down from Hartford being replaced by Matt Kassian.
This was a successful return season into the NHL that will continue in the Eastern Conference Quarter
Finals against division rival Ottawa.
However the season raised as many questions as it has answers. GM Ray was questioned when he drafted for this team by picking a squad who's average age was around 23. The Whalers finished second in the NHL with 298 goals scored but were a poor 27th with 281 against. GM Ray has already pointed out that this will be his first task during the off-season. He has said that he won't neccessarily be after under-25 players like he did to start this team off, said Ray, "We drafted under 25 to have a strong, young nucleus to build up from. Here on I'll be looking for the best fitting players, whether 20 or 40 as the boys we have will continue to mature and improve."
A further positive was the power-play, finished 5th at 18.1% and despite a high goals against the team finished with their PK at 11th with 85.6%.
Ryan Getzlaf lead the pointscoring finishing 6th in the NHL with 46 goals and 9th with 102 points. On the
other spectrum, Cam Janssen expectedly lead the Whalers with 366 PIMs which was only behind Steven MacIntyre in the NHL with 471.
Lucic and Janssen led the Whalers with 24 fighting majors each, 2 behind NHL leader Darcy Hordichuk with 26.
Goaltending was a positive and a negative at the same time for Hartford. Number one, Jonathan Quick in 53
games finished with 2.85GAA, 907 save percentage and 1 shutout. On the otherhand backup Tuukka Rask
finished with a disappointing 3.90 GAA and 872 save in 38 games. GM Ray said, "We expected a lot better
performance from Tuukka this season, but both tenders are young, so I don't think I'll be giving up on
them just yet."
Despite the seemingly vote of confidence from the GM, there are whispers going around the league that
Rask will be put on the trading block either in favour of Portland goalie Cory Schneider or via a trade.
Other players of note this season, Mike Richards finished with 75pts, Bobby Ryan 75-35-52-87 and
surprisingly hard-nosed power forward Chris Stewart tallied 68-23-38-61.
Milan Lucic was an intimidating force this season, not only with his 24FMs, but 71-27-40-67 and 257PIMs.
The defnce corps were lead by hard-hitting captain Shea Weber, 82-9-29-38-140PIMs and Alexander Edler 67-10-29-39. Rookie Victor Hedman had a strong season finishing with 82-4-18-22 with promises of bigger and better things in the coming years.
Down in Portland, the Whalers farm team, points leader Lars Eller (78GP-22G-37A-59pts) and top goal
scorer Wayne Simmonds (76-26-30-56) made strong impressions on the franchise and will surely be given a very strong look during the next training camp. Jannick Hansen, impressive in his call ups to Hartford
finished with 64-19-29-48. James Neal (20g), Cal Clutterbuck (32g) and Brad Marchand (32g) also made
their prescence felt.
On defence, last minute training camp cut Jeff Schultz had a strong season with 78-7-38-45 as did Tyler
Myers 57-6-31-37 who had been sent to Portland after failing to impress greatly in Hartford.
Unlike in the main team PIMs were not free-flowing in Portland with the leader Matt Corrente only having
82 in 78GPs. Although late season demotion to Portland DJ King took 58PIMs in only 16GPs after being sent
down from Hartford being replaced by Matt Kassian.
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madball1982
- Junior League
- Posts: 40
- Joined: Mon Jun 14, 2010 5:34 am
HARTFORD PLAYOFFS & OFF-SEASON [14-Sep-2010]
Hartford started their finals campaign with a hard-fought 4-3 win over the Ottawa Senators, outscoring the Senators 24-18 in the seven game series.
In the semi's the Whalers were ground to a halt losing in four games to the NY Rangers. The Whalers were never in the series and were outscored 8-15.
Goalie Jonathan Quick played all 11 games during the playoffs finishing with a 2.82GAA, 903 save and one shutout. Sharing the lead on 9pts were Milan Lucic (1-8), Getzlaf (2-7) and Mike Richards (5-4). Steve Downie led with 42PIMs.
Washington Capitals were the eventual Stanley Cup champions ousting the Calgary Flames, 3-1.
At the 06/07 entry draft Hartford chose defenceman Brandon Gormley with the 20th overall pick.
James Wisniewski (RFA), Cam Janssen (Waived, UFA), Phillip Gogulla (waived, UFA), Paul Ranger (waived, Florida pick-up), Justin Soryal (waived, bought out) were the subtractions at July 1.
Shock announcement was that head coach Ted Nolan opted not to renew his contract despite repeated attempts by GM Ray. Said Nolan, "It doesn't feel right here for me, I've decided to move on. Ray has done a good job with this first year roster but I feel that I need a different team."
GM Ray completed the search early-July by finalising his choices down to Kevin Constantine, Scott Arniel, Joel Quenneville and Dallas Eakins. The final choice was announced on the 17th July where Kevin Constantine, formerly the AHL's Houston Aero's head coach was announced as the Whaler's second coach. Said GM Ray, "The four finalists were very qualified to coach but upon discussing it with my assistant and also the remaining coaching staff that Kevin was the best suited given his ability to work with a young roster successfully and his general knowledge. In saying that it was not an unanimous decision and there was much debate as all four coaches all had their pro's."
As to why he decided not to promote one of his assistant coaches Ray had this to say, "I asked the assistants and the general consensus was that an external search was best as a first choice. As a final result of either no interest or no acceptable choices a couple said that they'd do it if asked to."
The Whalers made their first off-season move on July 12th by signing gritty defenceman Shane O'Brien. O'Brien played for the Canucks during the 06/07 season and is expected to help shore up Hartford's defensive capabilities and hopefully improve their goals against. O'Brien was signed via an offer sheet to a 2yr, $2.5M contract which cost the Whaler's their 2008 2nd round draft pick.
Their next signing was agitator Tim Sestito, formerly a Devil's prospect who spent last season playing for Lowell Devils in the AHL scoring 80-17-15-32pts-186PIMs. Sestito is not initially expected to crack the Whaler's lineup but should give a bit more sandpaper to Portland's lineup. Sestito was signed to a one-year/two-way deal at league minimum.
To make way for O'Brien the Whalers traded Mark Giordano to the Pittsburgh Penguins for a 2nd round draft pick, which simply brings back what was lost to sign him.
On the 14th July however the Whalers made their first marquee announcement. After a deal with the Tampa Bay Lightning fell through, GM Ray announced that Chris Pronger would be joining the Whalers on a 3yr/$14M deal. Said Ray, "Chris brings an all-star ability and great leadership to our team. He can be a good leader for the young players in our squad as well as give us the elite defenceman we didn't have last season. This will be a great mentor for our young studs such as Myers and Hedman."
As for returning to the team that originally drafted him in 1993, Pronger was quite happy, "It was a shame when the Whalers relocated to Carolina and I was happy to see them return and even happier to return to the newly-reinstated franchise. I'm hoping now to retire as a Whaler."
Matt Corrente was subsequently placed on waivers and bought out. Corrente spent the 06/07 season in Portland registering 78-8-14-22-82.
Lars Eller (Portland, 78-22-37-59-46) was also traded along with a 3rd round draft pick to Edmonton for 2007 34th overall pick winger Jordan Weal who registered 69-21-47-68-48PIMs last season in the WHL.
James Wisniewski's rights were traded to Colorado for Cameron Gaunce a defenceman from the OHL who registered 64-12-53-65-118 in the 06/07 season.
In the semi's the Whalers were ground to a halt losing in four games to the NY Rangers. The Whalers were never in the series and were outscored 8-15.
Goalie Jonathan Quick played all 11 games during the playoffs finishing with a 2.82GAA, 903 save and one shutout. Sharing the lead on 9pts were Milan Lucic (1-8), Getzlaf (2-7) and Mike Richards (5-4). Steve Downie led with 42PIMs.
Washington Capitals were the eventual Stanley Cup champions ousting the Calgary Flames, 3-1.
At the 06/07 entry draft Hartford chose defenceman Brandon Gormley with the 20th overall pick.
James Wisniewski (RFA), Cam Janssen (Waived, UFA), Phillip Gogulla (waived, UFA), Paul Ranger (waived, Florida pick-up), Justin Soryal (waived, bought out) were the subtractions at July 1.
Shock announcement was that head coach Ted Nolan opted not to renew his contract despite repeated attempts by GM Ray. Said Nolan, "It doesn't feel right here for me, I've decided to move on. Ray has done a good job with this first year roster but I feel that I need a different team."
GM Ray completed the search early-July by finalising his choices down to Kevin Constantine, Scott Arniel, Joel Quenneville and Dallas Eakins. The final choice was announced on the 17th July where Kevin Constantine, formerly the AHL's Houston Aero's head coach was announced as the Whaler's second coach. Said GM Ray, "The four finalists were very qualified to coach but upon discussing it with my assistant and also the remaining coaching staff that Kevin was the best suited given his ability to work with a young roster successfully and his general knowledge. In saying that it was not an unanimous decision and there was much debate as all four coaches all had their pro's."
As to why he decided not to promote one of his assistant coaches Ray had this to say, "I asked the assistants and the general consensus was that an external search was best as a first choice. As a final result of either no interest or no acceptable choices a couple said that they'd do it if asked to."
The Whalers made their first off-season move on July 12th by signing gritty defenceman Shane O'Brien. O'Brien played for the Canucks during the 06/07 season and is expected to help shore up Hartford's defensive capabilities and hopefully improve their goals against. O'Brien was signed via an offer sheet to a 2yr, $2.5M contract which cost the Whaler's their 2008 2nd round draft pick.
Their next signing was agitator Tim Sestito, formerly a Devil's prospect who spent last season playing for Lowell Devils in the AHL scoring 80-17-15-32pts-186PIMs. Sestito is not initially expected to crack the Whaler's lineup but should give a bit more sandpaper to Portland's lineup. Sestito was signed to a one-year/two-way deal at league minimum.
To make way for O'Brien the Whalers traded Mark Giordano to the Pittsburgh Penguins for a 2nd round draft pick, which simply brings back what was lost to sign him.
On the 14th July however the Whalers made their first marquee announcement. After a deal with the Tampa Bay Lightning fell through, GM Ray announced that Chris Pronger would be joining the Whalers on a 3yr/$14M deal. Said Ray, "Chris brings an all-star ability and great leadership to our team. He can be a good leader for the young players in our squad as well as give us the elite defenceman we didn't have last season. This will be a great mentor for our young studs such as Myers and Hedman."
As for returning to the team that originally drafted him in 1993, Pronger was quite happy, "It was a shame when the Whalers relocated to Carolina and I was happy to see them return and even happier to return to the newly-reinstated franchise. I'm hoping now to retire as a Whaler."
Matt Corrente was subsequently placed on waivers and bought out. Corrente spent the 06/07 season in Portland registering 78-8-14-22-82.
Lars Eller (Portland, 78-22-37-59-46) was also traded along with a 3rd round draft pick to Edmonton for 2007 34th overall pick winger Jordan Weal who registered 69-21-47-68-48PIMs last season in the WHL.
James Wisniewski's rights were traded to Colorado for Cameron Gaunce a defenceman from the OHL who registered 64-12-53-65-118 in the 06/07 season.
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madball1982
- Junior League
- Posts: 40
- Joined: Mon Jun 14, 2010 5:34 am
HARTFORD S2: CAMP to DECEMBER UPDATE [19-Sep-2010]
Shane O'Brien partially torn ACL out for 3months during training camp means that the Whalers will be without one of their free agent signings until at least, the new year.
Training camp standout Jamie Benn signs an E/L deal and plays 10 games scoring 2 goals before being sent back to Kelowna in the WHL. James Neal is called up from Portland to replace him.
Jeff Schultz replaces O'Brien in the Whaler's lineup for his first chance at the big team. Schultz was pencilled in last season to be top-6 d'man this season until off-season pick-ups Pronger and O'Brien were brought into the fold.
The Hockey News surprisingly ranks the Whalers #1 in the NHL coming into the season. GM Ray comments, "It's flattering but we need to make sure it doesn't go to our heads. We have a strong team here and I expect results, but April is a long way away still."
Nov 21, Joe Colborne rights to Boston for 2nd round pick as GM Ray decides not to sign the prospect. On the same day the Whalers lose Milan Lucic for 3mths with an MCL injury which will be a big loss as the bruising forward had 5goals, 10assists in 19 games.
The Whalers look to pick up their season as in the first 12 games, a .500 win which was respectable was brought down by an uncharacteristic 3.96GAA from Jon Quick in 8 games. Helping the Whaler's was an improved Rask with 2.90GAA, however this was an unacceptable amount of goals being allowed in by the defence which brought the ire of GM Ray, "Our players are much, much better than this and it's really embarrassing to be losing games against bottom rung teams like Montreal 6-1. We've had a few injuries but nothing that I would consider excessive and should really be showing much more composure."
Questioned if he would be making any roster moves to try and pick up the Whaler's season, "It's still early, I give us until December to pick our game back up. It's a rough patch, but I'm hoping we'll get through it."
Defencemen Nick Ross, Michael Stone, Brayden McNabb, John Moore and Simon Despres, winger Zach Kassian, agree in November to Entry Level deals effective June. The Whalers have a total of eleven rights-expiring prospects this season (ten less traded Joe Colborne, five remaining after these deals) with fourteen free agents including key players Shea Weber and Zach Parise to make decisions. Expect to see more transactions as Ray will try to minimise the damage by getting picks or prospects in return so as to not lose out completely.
The Whalers were hit hard during December with their best performing defenceman Alexander Edler going down with a partially torn MCL taking him out for 3months. This injury comes just three days after Shane O'Brien returned from the long-term IR.
As the X-Mas roster freeze approaches the Whalers sit 3rd in the east with a 33-18-14-1 record. Their goals scored is 4th in the NHL with 3.52 however again their goals against is a woeful 3.36, 27th overall.
Top scorer is Ryan Getzlaf with 19-20-39, 13th in the NHL. PIM leader, DJ King with 153, also leads the NHL but has surprised the team by already earning 5 goals and 5 assists with limited playing time.
Unexpected call-up Brad Marchand has impressed the coaching staff with his composure, despite only having 12-1-3-4 numbers he has played more a defensive role on the team. Chris Stewart has continued his developing offensive flair this season gaining 30-7-12-19 to go with 56PIMs.
Despite strong performances, Chris Pronger has disappointed on one level having not scored a goal in 33 games this season, although definitely a top-three performer on defence with 10 assists, Pronger has yet to find the back of the net.
Jon Quick has seen his GAA improve dropping to 3.38 with a .899 save in 24 appearances. Tuukka Rask sees his sit at 3.21 in 16 appearances with 891 save.
The team has found an ability again this season to win games and stay in contender-talk but the relying on scoring-more-goals-than-you-do is starting to become a worrying trend amongst staff and fans. "Aggressive, attacking hockey is great," Stated GM Ray, "But we still need to improve our defence and goal-tending. If we run into a brick wall performing goalie, especially in the playoffs, we could be in trouble."
When asked again about moving youngsters or prospects for more veteran help, Ray was non-commital. "I have a plan for this team and we're still in our growing years as a franchise so I'm not sure what I'll be doing just yet. I don't want to sacrifice our future just yet, but then at the same time I want to win now. We're doing better than anticipated in a lot of areas already, so I'll see as the deadline moves closer."
Training camp standout Jamie Benn signs an E/L deal and plays 10 games scoring 2 goals before being sent back to Kelowna in the WHL. James Neal is called up from Portland to replace him.
Jeff Schultz replaces O'Brien in the Whaler's lineup for his first chance at the big team. Schultz was pencilled in last season to be top-6 d'man this season until off-season pick-ups Pronger and O'Brien were brought into the fold.
The Hockey News surprisingly ranks the Whalers #1 in the NHL coming into the season. GM Ray comments, "It's flattering but we need to make sure it doesn't go to our heads. We have a strong team here and I expect results, but April is a long way away still."
Nov 21, Joe Colborne rights to Boston for 2nd round pick as GM Ray decides not to sign the prospect. On the same day the Whalers lose Milan Lucic for 3mths with an MCL injury which will be a big loss as the bruising forward had 5goals, 10assists in 19 games.
The Whalers look to pick up their season as in the first 12 games, a .500 win which was respectable was brought down by an uncharacteristic 3.96GAA from Jon Quick in 8 games. Helping the Whaler's was an improved Rask with 2.90GAA, however this was an unacceptable amount of goals being allowed in by the defence which brought the ire of GM Ray, "Our players are much, much better than this and it's really embarrassing to be losing games against bottom rung teams like Montreal 6-1. We've had a few injuries but nothing that I would consider excessive and should really be showing much more composure."
Questioned if he would be making any roster moves to try and pick up the Whaler's season, "It's still early, I give us until December to pick our game back up. It's a rough patch, but I'm hoping we'll get through it."
Defencemen Nick Ross, Michael Stone, Brayden McNabb, John Moore and Simon Despres, winger Zach Kassian, agree in November to Entry Level deals effective June. The Whalers have a total of eleven rights-expiring prospects this season (ten less traded Joe Colborne, five remaining after these deals) with fourteen free agents including key players Shea Weber and Zach Parise to make decisions. Expect to see more transactions as Ray will try to minimise the damage by getting picks or prospects in return so as to not lose out completely.
The Whalers were hit hard during December with their best performing defenceman Alexander Edler going down with a partially torn MCL taking him out for 3months. This injury comes just three days after Shane O'Brien returned from the long-term IR.
As the X-Mas roster freeze approaches the Whalers sit 3rd in the east with a 33-18-14-1 record. Their goals scored is 4th in the NHL with 3.52 however again their goals against is a woeful 3.36, 27th overall.
Top scorer is Ryan Getzlaf with 19-20-39, 13th in the NHL. PIM leader, DJ King with 153, also leads the NHL but has surprised the team by already earning 5 goals and 5 assists with limited playing time.
Unexpected call-up Brad Marchand has impressed the coaching staff with his composure, despite only having 12-1-3-4 numbers he has played more a defensive role on the team. Chris Stewart has continued his developing offensive flair this season gaining 30-7-12-19 to go with 56PIMs.
Despite strong performances, Chris Pronger has disappointed on one level having not scored a goal in 33 games this season, although definitely a top-three performer on defence with 10 assists, Pronger has yet to find the back of the net.
Jon Quick has seen his GAA improve dropping to 3.38 with a .899 save in 24 appearances. Tuukka Rask sees his sit at 3.21 in 16 appearances with 891 save.
The team has found an ability again this season to win games and stay in contender-talk but the relying on scoring-more-goals-than-you-do is starting to become a worrying trend amongst staff and fans. "Aggressive, attacking hockey is great," Stated GM Ray, "But we still need to improve our defence and goal-tending. If we run into a brick wall performing goalie, especially in the playoffs, we could be in trouble."
When asked again about moving youngsters or prospects for more veteran help, Ray was non-commital. "I have a plan for this team and we're still in our growing years as a franchise so I'm not sure what I'll be doing just yet. I don't want to sacrifice our future just yet, but then at the same time I want to win now. We're doing better than anticipated in a lot of areas already, so I'll see as the deadline moves closer."
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madball1982
- Junior League
- Posts: 40
- Joined: Mon Jun 14, 2010 5:34 am
HARTFORD S2: DEADLINE UPDATE [21-Sep-2010]
After a 3-6-1 10GP stretch, Hartford GM Ray has fired head coach Kevin Constantine on 19th January and hired Scott Arniel. Disappointed with a defensive system that has allowed 171 goals in 48 games and a team that has played unmotivated, dropping from a high of 2nd in the east to the current 9th place, Ray felt a change was needed.
The Whalers responded with a 7-3 victory over calgary on the same night.
The Whalers had made a couple of call-ups to try and get out of their funk with Steve Stamos (4GP, 2G), Eric Tangradi (4GP, 2G), Greg Moore (4GP, 2A) getting bottom-six roles within the line-up. Mark Stuart was brought back into the line-up from IR with Shane O'Brien having been rather disappointing since his return from injury a healthy scratch. Jannick Hansen and James Neal were returned to Portland.
Since the coaching change the Whalers have gone 8-1-1 and are now sitting in 8th position only 2pts from division leaders the Maple Leafs.
As February began and the trade deadline approached, GM Ray started making his moves. In a deal that would initially only impact the AHL, Portland defenceman Roman Polak (48-2-10-12) was traded to Philly for prospect Ryan Parent, also a defenceman. The big trade came on Feb 9th when Devin Setoguchi (20-3-7-10) was traded, also to Philly, for power forward Scott Hartnell.
In other trades, Shane O'Brien (19GP, 0pts, 39PIMs) was sent to Boston for hardhitting defensive enforcer Eric Cairns. About trading one of his newer acquisitions Ray had this to say, "Shane never really fit in to our team despite being of the pedigree I am most fond of. His play was actually quite disappointing compared to his normal ability and with some of our upcoming defensive prospects his salary and experience was too much to be sitting as a 7th d-man which is what he would've ended up being quite possibly. Eric is in the final year of his current deal and is a lot more defensively responsible than people give him credit for. There's little risk with this move I believe."
A smaller prospect trade was made with the rights to centre Tyler Ennis sent to Atlanta for Dannick Pacquette's rights. Pacquette was then signed to an Entry Level deal, effective in June.
Several deals fell through and that was the end of deadline deals for Hartford. Now the run to the playoffs starts, with Hartford still sitting at 8th position 62-34-26-2-70pts.
Ryan Getzlaf still leads the Whalers with 62-25-43-68 and DJ King leading Hartford and the NHL with 242PIMs.
Since taking over the team, Arniel has led the Whalers to 9wins, 4losses, 57GF and 50GA.
The Whalers are still confident of making the playoffs and with Milan Lucic back from injury (5-1-3-4-6PIMs since return), new addition Scott Hartnell playing 2nd line minutes with 5GP, 2G, 2A and Eric Cairns having one game while Victor Hedman nurses an injury all playing well.
The Whalers responded with a 7-3 victory over calgary on the same night.
The Whalers had made a couple of call-ups to try and get out of their funk with Steve Stamos (4GP, 2G), Eric Tangradi (4GP, 2G), Greg Moore (4GP, 2A) getting bottom-six roles within the line-up. Mark Stuart was brought back into the line-up from IR with Shane O'Brien having been rather disappointing since his return from injury a healthy scratch. Jannick Hansen and James Neal were returned to Portland.
Since the coaching change the Whalers have gone 8-1-1 and are now sitting in 8th position only 2pts from division leaders the Maple Leafs.
As February began and the trade deadline approached, GM Ray started making his moves. In a deal that would initially only impact the AHL, Portland defenceman Roman Polak (48-2-10-12) was traded to Philly for prospect Ryan Parent, also a defenceman. The big trade came on Feb 9th when Devin Setoguchi (20-3-7-10) was traded, also to Philly, for power forward Scott Hartnell.
In other trades, Shane O'Brien (19GP, 0pts, 39PIMs) was sent to Boston for hardhitting defensive enforcer Eric Cairns. About trading one of his newer acquisitions Ray had this to say, "Shane never really fit in to our team despite being of the pedigree I am most fond of. His play was actually quite disappointing compared to his normal ability and with some of our upcoming defensive prospects his salary and experience was too much to be sitting as a 7th d-man which is what he would've ended up being quite possibly. Eric is in the final year of his current deal and is a lot more defensively responsible than people give him credit for. There's little risk with this move I believe."
A smaller prospect trade was made with the rights to centre Tyler Ennis sent to Atlanta for Dannick Pacquette's rights. Pacquette was then signed to an Entry Level deal, effective in June.
Several deals fell through and that was the end of deadline deals for Hartford. Now the run to the playoffs starts, with Hartford still sitting at 8th position 62-34-26-2-70pts.
Ryan Getzlaf still leads the Whalers with 62-25-43-68 and DJ King leading Hartford and the NHL with 242PIMs.
Since taking over the team, Arniel has led the Whalers to 9wins, 4losses, 57GF and 50GA.
The Whalers are still confident of making the playoffs and with Milan Lucic back from injury (5-1-3-4-6PIMs since return), new addition Scott Hartnell playing 2nd line minutes with 5GP, 2G, 2A and Eric Cairns having one game while Victor Hedman nurses an injury all playing well.
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madball1982
- Junior League
- Posts: 40
- Joined: Mon Jun 14, 2010 5:34 am
HARTFORD S2: END OF SEASON UPDATE [24-Sep-2010]
Hartford finished their season with a 7-3-0 run to finish in 8th and final playoff spot with a 44-36-2 record, 90pts. Their 291 goals for were 4th in the league however their defense still suffered with 297 goals against, dead last in the league which may serve for a quick exit in the more defensive-orientation of the playoffs. Hartford's 19.1% on the PP was 3rd and their 83.5% PK was unsurprisingly low at 21st.
Bobby Ryan led the Whalers and 8th in the league with 45goals and shared the points lead at 86 with Ryan Getzlaf (33-53-86), good for 22nd in the league.
DJ King led the team in PIMs with 308, 5th in the NHL behind Vancouver's Steve Kelly on 341, while David Clarkson took FM honours with 23, 4th in the league behind Ben Eager of Chicago on 25.
In goal Jonathan Quick finished with a 3.46GAA and 895 save in 52 games. Tuukka Rask who suffered a February knee injury keeping him out for the rest of the season finished with 3.80GAA and 871 save in 34gp's. Portland goalie Cory Schneider filled in as back-up getting 11 games and a 3.27GAA, 877 save. In Portland Schneider finished with 59GPs, 2.46GAA and 894 save. Quick had two shutouts and Rask had one.
The other professional goalie in the Whalers system, Leland Irving was lent to the Adirondack Phantoms AHL side for the entire season seeing 65GPs with a 2.60GAA, 891save.
In an injury-shortened season, defenceman Alexander Edler was a standout getting 44-6-25-31 and was only bested in points by a full season of Erik Johnson 80-10-30-40. Chris Pronger, the star UFA recruit finished with a strong 82-8-26-34. Deadline addition Scott Hartnell got 25-6-22-28-57 and Eric Cairns saw 5 games with no points and 11PIMs.
On the forwards Wayne Simmonds in his rookie season saw a better-than-expected 77-14-29-43 to finish 2nd in rookie scoring, his 107PIMs were to be expected however. Mike Richards joined the 80pt club with 30goals and 51 assists while high-flying forward Zach Parise, missing time due to injury was disappointing by expectations getting 67-27-45-72.
Another rookie impressed greatly in Greg Moore, playing mostly a defensive role in the team he finished 27-4-4-8. Steve Stamkos saw his first regular action during the second half of the season posting reasonable 39-7-7-14.
In Portland goal scoring was done by committee with Cal Clutterbuck and Vladimir Sobotka sharing the lead with 47pts. Matt Kassian unsurpisingly led the team with 124PIMs in 59GPs.
The Whalers open their playoffs tomorrow.
Bobby Ryan led the Whalers and 8th in the league with 45goals and shared the points lead at 86 with Ryan Getzlaf (33-53-86), good for 22nd in the league.
DJ King led the team in PIMs with 308, 5th in the NHL behind Vancouver's Steve Kelly on 341, while David Clarkson took FM honours with 23, 4th in the league behind Ben Eager of Chicago on 25.
In goal Jonathan Quick finished with a 3.46GAA and 895 save in 52 games. Tuukka Rask who suffered a February knee injury keeping him out for the rest of the season finished with 3.80GAA and 871 save in 34gp's. Portland goalie Cory Schneider filled in as back-up getting 11 games and a 3.27GAA, 877 save. In Portland Schneider finished with 59GPs, 2.46GAA and 894 save. Quick had two shutouts and Rask had one.
The other professional goalie in the Whalers system, Leland Irving was lent to the Adirondack Phantoms AHL side for the entire season seeing 65GPs with a 2.60GAA, 891save.
In an injury-shortened season, defenceman Alexander Edler was a standout getting 44-6-25-31 and was only bested in points by a full season of Erik Johnson 80-10-30-40. Chris Pronger, the star UFA recruit finished with a strong 82-8-26-34. Deadline addition Scott Hartnell got 25-6-22-28-57 and Eric Cairns saw 5 games with no points and 11PIMs.
On the forwards Wayne Simmonds in his rookie season saw a better-than-expected 77-14-29-43 to finish 2nd in rookie scoring, his 107PIMs were to be expected however. Mike Richards joined the 80pt club with 30goals and 51 assists while high-flying forward Zach Parise, missing time due to injury was disappointing by expectations getting 67-27-45-72.
Another rookie impressed greatly in Greg Moore, playing mostly a defensive role in the team he finished 27-4-4-8. Steve Stamkos saw his first regular action during the second half of the season posting reasonable 39-7-7-14.
In Portland goal scoring was done by committee with Cal Clutterbuck and Vladimir Sobotka sharing the lead with 47pts. Matt Kassian unsurpisingly led the team with 124PIMs in 59GPs.
The Whalers open their playoffs tomorrow.
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madball1982
- Junior League
- Posts: 40
- Joined: Mon Jun 14, 2010 5:34 am
HARTFORD S2: PLAYOFFS, DRAFT, FREE AGENCY [25-Sep-2010]
The Whalers were surprise winners 4-1 in their quarter final matchup. Despite being beat 3-1 and outscored 20-10 during the regular season, the Whalers outclassed and outworked the 1st place NJ Devils and outscored them 20-13.
In the Semi-Finals the Whalers faced North-East division champs the Maple Leafs. After losing the first game the Whalers went on to win the series 4-2, outscoring the Leafs 25-16 in the process. The Whalers during the playoffs thus far have finally looked like the team that they teased fans with at times during the regular season and seemed to have found some consistency to their performances.
On May 15th Hartford signed unsigned prospect Kyle Clifford to an entry level deal from Barrie in the OHL.
In the Eastern Conference Finals the Whalers went up against Tampa Bay, who had won the season's series 2-1-1.The Whaler's run in the Finals came to a sudden end losing the series to Tampa 4-0. The Whaler's were outscored 18-13 in what can only be described as a defenceless series for both teams.
After the elimination GM Ray made the following comment, "Coming into the season I had the goal of at least making the EC Finals but with our performance this season I would have been happy just to win a quarter final game. So I'm proud that the boys were able to end up in the conference finals. I have some work to do this off-season."
Leading the charge for the Whalers in the playoffs was Mike Richards with 13-5-13-18 with Bobby Ryan leading the goals with 8. Shea Weber led the PIMs with 36.
Standout during the playoffs was defensive forward Greg Moore with a suprising 15-6-4-10. Top d-man was unsurprisingly Alexander Edler with 15-3-3-6 although Victor Hedman led the points with 15-2-5-7.
Jonathan Quick played in all 15 games with 8wins, 3.08GAA, 887 save and one shutout. In limited action Cory Schneider saw backup action rather than Tuukka Rask playing
2games, 1 loss with 2.28GAA and 917 save.
Prior to the draft defensive prospect Ryan Parent was traded to Washington for Anton Gustafsson and an unsigned prospect from the QMJHL. They also traded their 1st round pick 16th overall and 6th round pick to Boston for the 12th overall pick.
In a not-so-surprising move, Tuukka Rask was sent to the Predators for prospect right wing Jordan Caron. This move opens up the back-up spot for either Leland Irving or Cory Schneider pending any further trades or a free agent pick-up.
With the 12th overall pick the Whalers selected left wing Sean Couturier.
To compensate for the added E/L deals coming into effect the Whalers had to make some moves on June 26. David Clarkson and a 7th round pick was traded to New Jersey for 2010 1st round pick; Pat Maroon to the Islanders for 2009 5th round pick; Janick Hansen and 2009 5th round pick to Pittsburgh for 2009 1st round pick. Cameron Gaunce was traded to Dallas for a 3rd round pick; Vladimir Sobotka and 2009 5th & 7th picks to Detroit for 2011 1st round pick
Despite some tense negotiations, Zach Parise finally re-signed a 1yr deal with the Whalers on June 30th, preventing him becoming an RFA.
The following players left the team on July 1 - Eric Cairns (UFA), Tim Sestito (UFA), Ryan Stone (UQ RFA) and DJ King (UQ RFA).
The Whalers, hard up against the allowed contracted number of 50 made no moves during free agency and move closer to training camp. GM Ray made the following statement, "We made a few offers for some of the free agents out there and would have made the moves neccessary if they came through - but they didn't. I had quite a few unsigned prospects who I wanted to bring into the organisation this summer and it made a difficult time to fit them all in without losing too many of the important, established pieces here."
In the Semi-Finals the Whalers faced North-East division champs the Maple Leafs. After losing the first game the Whalers went on to win the series 4-2, outscoring the Leafs 25-16 in the process. The Whalers during the playoffs thus far have finally looked like the team that they teased fans with at times during the regular season and seemed to have found some consistency to their performances.
On May 15th Hartford signed unsigned prospect Kyle Clifford to an entry level deal from Barrie in the OHL.
In the Eastern Conference Finals the Whalers went up against Tampa Bay, who had won the season's series 2-1-1.The Whaler's run in the Finals came to a sudden end losing the series to Tampa 4-0. The Whaler's were outscored 18-13 in what can only be described as a defenceless series for both teams.
After the elimination GM Ray made the following comment, "Coming into the season I had the goal of at least making the EC Finals but with our performance this season I would have been happy just to win a quarter final game. So I'm proud that the boys were able to end up in the conference finals. I have some work to do this off-season."
Leading the charge for the Whalers in the playoffs was Mike Richards with 13-5-13-18 with Bobby Ryan leading the goals with 8. Shea Weber led the PIMs with 36.
Standout during the playoffs was defensive forward Greg Moore with a suprising 15-6-4-10. Top d-man was unsurprisingly Alexander Edler with 15-3-3-6 although Victor Hedman led the points with 15-2-5-7.
Jonathan Quick played in all 15 games with 8wins, 3.08GAA, 887 save and one shutout. In limited action Cory Schneider saw backup action rather than Tuukka Rask playing
2games, 1 loss with 2.28GAA and 917 save.
Prior to the draft defensive prospect Ryan Parent was traded to Washington for Anton Gustafsson and an unsigned prospect from the QMJHL. They also traded their 1st round pick 16th overall and 6th round pick to Boston for the 12th overall pick.
In a not-so-surprising move, Tuukka Rask was sent to the Predators for prospect right wing Jordan Caron. This move opens up the back-up spot for either Leland Irving or Cory Schneider pending any further trades or a free agent pick-up.
With the 12th overall pick the Whalers selected left wing Sean Couturier.
To compensate for the added E/L deals coming into effect the Whalers had to make some moves on June 26. David Clarkson and a 7th round pick was traded to New Jersey for 2010 1st round pick; Pat Maroon to the Islanders for 2009 5th round pick; Janick Hansen and 2009 5th round pick to Pittsburgh for 2009 1st round pick. Cameron Gaunce was traded to Dallas for a 3rd round pick; Vladimir Sobotka and 2009 5th & 7th picks to Detroit for 2011 1st round pick
Despite some tense negotiations, Zach Parise finally re-signed a 1yr deal with the Whalers on June 30th, preventing him becoming an RFA.
The following players left the team on July 1 - Eric Cairns (UFA), Tim Sestito (UFA), Ryan Stone (UQ RFA) and DJ King (UQ RFA).
The Whalers, hard up against the allowed contracted number of 50 made no moves during free agency and move closer to training camp. GM Ray made the following statement, "We made a few offers for some of the free agents out there and would have made the moves neccessary if they came through - but they didn't. I had quite a few unsigned prospects who I wanted to bring into the organisation this summer and it made a difficult time to fit them all in without losing too many of the important, established pieces here."
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madball1982
- Junior League
- Posts: 40
- Joined: Mon Jun 14, 2010 5:34 am
HARTFORD S3: SEASON RECAP [05-Oct-2010]
The Whalers had a horrible start to the season with Jonathan Quick suffering an ACL tear which would keep him out of the line-up for four months on the last pre-season match-up. The Whalers started the season with Cory Schneider and Leland Irving as their goalies. To strengthen their roster with the lose of Quick, the Whalers traded a 5th Round pick to Calgary for Anti Niemi. The move itself was adequate with Niemi recording (35GP, 3.35GAA, 866 save) before being a healthy scratch but remaining on the roster for the remainder of the season. The Whalers chose to hold onto Niemi rather than waive or trade him in case of anymore injuries and to allow Irving to develop further in Portland.
Brad Marchand, Matt Kassian, Kyle Beach and Greg Moore all made the opening night roster however Beach would soon find himself in Portland.
Defencemen Stephen Johns and Brandon Gormley along with wingers Emerson Etem and Jordan Weal signed Entry-Level deal for the next season.
Prior to the trade deadline gritty forward Cal Clutterbuck (28-1-3-4-37) was traded along with a 4th round pick to Florida for the rights to goalie Jacob Markstrom. The Whaler's GM Ray made the comment, "We're sticking again with our current line-up until the off-season. I've spoken about making moves before but have not felt moves needed to be made. Now though I think there's a few things needing to charge."
The Whalers finished the season 5th in the East with a 44-31-7 record, 316GF (1st overall), 301 GA (28th). Their PP was 16%, 13th in the league and their PK a disappointing 82.6% which was 27th.
Ryan Getzlaf led the Whalers with 82-39-63-102 which was 6th in the NHL. Matt Kassian led the Whalers with 261PIMS - 6th in the NHL behind George Parros on 322 but he led the league in FM's with 25.
Four other players had 30 goals with Hartnell 33, Parise 32, Ryan 36 and Richards 32. Both Wayne Simmonds (80-18-22-40) and Steve Downie (82-13-21-34) were high scorers despite mostly seeing bottom-six minutes. Greg Moore who earnt a call-up last season but started the year in Hartford produced a very surprising 82-27-38-65 despite being mostly a defensive-orientated player. Chris Stewart was the let-down of the season only playing in 40GPs with 3-5-8.
Rookie Brad Marchand posted respectable numbers with 73-10-13-23 and Matt Kassian surprised with his offence earning 82-6-14-20.
Unsurprisingly Milan Lucic (243), Steve Downie (212), Wayne Simmonds (184) and Shea Weber (154) were the other PIM leaders.
On defence Edler again led the goals with 12, 43pts but was ursuped in points by Erik Johnson 82-5-46-51. No other defenceman scored 10goals with Pronger being the closest on 7.
In goal, the other two Jon Quick (27GPs, 3.64GAA, 874sv) and Cory Schneider 33GPs, 3.75GAA, 862sv posted average numbers.
Moving to the playoffs, the Whalers disposed of the Florida Panthers in the quarter-finals beating them 4-1 and outscoring 26-18. Despite a close 7-6 OTL and a 4-3win in game three, the Panthers could do little to match the high-flying, hard-hitting Whalers.
The Semi-finals would be against the NY Rangers who split the season series 2-2. The Rangers however were left floundering in this series, not only being shut-out 4-0 but also being outscored 21-4. The Whalers could not be stopped as they embarrassed their competition. Milan Lucic and Sean Avery had a trilogy of fights in the series and not even Avery could score a win.
The Eastern Conference Finals were against the Maple Leafs but they still couldn't prove any competition to the Whalers, also shut-out 4-0. The Whalers were still dominant outscoring the Leafs 17-10.
The Whalers went on to face Vancouver in the Stanley Cup Finals. The two teams faced each other once in the regular season with the Canucks winning 6-1.
The Whalers disposed of the Canucks in a similar fashion as their other opponents not allowing the Canucks to win a game, closing the series 4-0 with a 6-1 victory. The Whalers outscored the Canucks 19-7.
The ease in which the Whalers cleaned out the playoffs was astonishing especially when the 27th ranked defence only allowed 39 goals against in 17 games @ 2.29 average. The offence was no surprise scoring 83 goals at 4.88 average. The Whalers only lost once in their run.
GM Ray after the end of game four, "I'm extremely proud of the boy's efforts during these playoffs especially our defence. There's been a lot of criticisms about our d's capabilities but they proved everyone, including myself, wrong by a stingy approach. I'm proud of our coaching staff who managed to get the right tactics and motivation in the team. I can't be prouder."
Jonathan Quick led the goaltenders, winning all 14 games he played in and achieving a 1.93GAA and 935sv. Niemi played in three winning one and losing one and 3.87GAA, 836sv.
Bobby Ryan led the scoring with 17goals and 31pts. Also leading the charge, Getzlaf 10-17-27 and Zach Parise 8-16-24. A pleasant surprise was injury call-up (Brad Marchand and Chris Stewart missed the playoffs) Eric Tangradi who pitted 2-13-15pts. Steve Downie led the charge accruing 51PIMs.
Brad Marchand, Matt Kassian, Kyle Beach and Greg Moore all made the opening night roster however Beach would soon find himself in Portland.
Defencemen Stephen Johns and Brandon Gormley along with wingers Emerson Etem and Jordan Weal signed Entry-Level deal for the next season.
Prior to the trade deadline gritty forward Cal Clutterbuck (28-1-3-4-37) was traded along with a 4th round pick to Florida for the rights to goalie Jacob Markstrom. The Whaler's GM Ray made the comment, "We're sticking again with our current line-up until the off-season. I've spoken about making moves before but have not felt moves needed to be made. Now though I think there's a few things needing to charge."
The Whalers finished the season 5th in the East with a 44-31-7 record, 316GF (1st overall), 301 GA (28th). Their PP was 16%, 13th in the league and their PK a disappointing 82.6% which was 27th.
Ryan Getzlaf led the Whalers with 82-39-63-102 which was 6th in the NHL. Matt Kassian led the Whalers with 261PIMS - 6th in the NHL behind George Parros on 322 but he led the league in FM's with 25.
Four other players had 30 goals with Hartnell 33, Parise 32, Ryan 36 and Richards 32. Both Wayne Simmonds (80-18-22-40) and Steve Downie (82-13-21-34) were high scorers despite mostly seeing bottom-six minutes. Greg Moore who earnt a call-up last season but started the year in Hartford produced a very surprising 82-27-38-65 despite being mostly a defensive-orientated player. Chris Stewart was the let-down of the season only playing in 40GPs with 3-5-8.
Rookie Brad Marchand posted respectable numbers with 73-10-13-23 and Matt Kassian surprised with his offence earning 82-6-14-20.
Unsurprisingly Milan Lucic (243), Steve Downie (212), Wayne Simmonds (184) and Shea Weber (154) were the other PIM leaders.
On defence Edler again led the goals with 12, 43pts but was ursuped in points by Erik Johnson 82-5-46-51. No other defenceman scored 10goals with Pronger being the closest on 7.
In goal, the other two Jon Quick (27GPs, 3.64GAA, 874sv) and Cory Schneider 33GPs, 3.75GAA, 862sv posted average numbers.
Moving to the playoffs, the Whalers disposed of the Florida Panthers in the quarter-finals beating them 4-1 and outscoring 26-18. Despite a close 7-6 OTL and a 4-3win in game three, the Panthers could do little to match the high-flying, hard-hitting Whalers.
The Semi-finals would be against the NY Rangers who split the season series 2-2. The Rangers however were left floundering in this series, not only being shut-out 4-0 but also being outscored 21-4. The Whalers could not be stopped as they embarrassed their competition. Milan Lucic and Sean Avery had a trilogy of fights in the series and not even Avery could score a win.
The Eastern Conference Finals were against the Maple Leafs but they still couldn't prove any competition to the Whalers, also shut-out 4-0. The Whalers were still dominant outscoring the Leafs 17-10.
The Whalers went on to face Vancouver in the Stanley Cup Finals. The two teams faced each other once in the regular season with the Canucks winning 6-1.
The Whalers disposed of the Canucks in a similar fashion as their other opponents not allowing the Canucks to win a game, closing the series 4-0 with a 6-1 victory. The Whalers outscored the Canucks 19-7.
The ease in which the Whalers cleaned out the playoffs was astonishing especially when the 27th ranked defence only allowed 39 goals against in 17 games @ 2.29 average. The offence was no surprise scoring 83 goals at 4.88 average. The Whalers only lost once in their run.
GM Ray after the end of game four, "I'm extremely proud of the boy's efforts during these playoffs especially our defence. There's been a lot of criticisms about our d's capabilities but they proved everyone, including myself, wrong by a stingy approach. I'm proud of our coaching staff who managed to get the right tactics and motivation in the team. I can't be prouder."
Jonathan Quick led the goaltenders, winning all 14 games he played in and achieving a 1.93GAA and 935sv. Niemi played in three winning one and losing one and 3.87GAA, 836sv.
Bobby Ryan led the scoring with 17goals and 31pts. Also leading the charge, Getzlaf 10-17-27 and Zach Parise 8-16-24. A pleasant surprise was injury call-up (Brad Marchand and Chris Stewart missed the playoffs) Eric Tangradi who pitted 2-13-15pts. Steve Downie led the charge accruing 51PIMs.
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madball1982
- Junior League
- Posts: 40
- Joined: Mon Jun 14, 2010 5:34 am
HARTFORD S3: DRAFT, FREE AGENCY UPDATE & SEASON 4 PRE-SE
Bobby Ryan took home the Conn Smythe Trophy.
There was some anger amongst Whaler's fans when Jeff Schultz was traded to Ottawa for OHL's John McFarland just prior to the Entry Draft. Schultz had played in Hartford for two seasons compiling 123-3-15-18-79 and during Hartford's innagrual season in Portland registering 78-7-38-45-52. In response to the outrage, GM Ray made the following statement, "Jeff has been a solid player for us but he only played 41 games this season due to being outplayed. We have a couple of prospects nearly ready to make the permanent jump to the NHL such as Alex Pietrangelo and Tyler Myers, unfortunately for Jeff, he was who we decided to move to make room."
At the draft the Whalers had two 1st round picks, their's at 30 and Pittsburgh's at 8th. With the Pen's pick they chose big German defenceman Sven Schweiger and with their's, Russian sniper Vladislav Kocherov.
At the start of free agency the Whalers let go of Portland enforcer Eric Neilson (UQ RFA), Anti Niemi (UQ RFA) and Chris Stewart (RFA). The Whalers traded Stewart's rights to Toronto on July 2 for a 2nd round pick.
Defenceman Nick Ross was then bought out of his contract due to numbers after not gathering any interest in the trade market.
As expected Cory Schneider was put on the block getting immediate interest from the other teams. The Whalers ended up trading him to the Islanders for a 2nd round pick.
Prior 1st round pick Sean Couturier signed an Entry Level deal as the Whalers watched their targeted free agents sign with other teams.
The Whalers continued making deals during July, first signing recently released enforcer Mitchell Callaghan then trading on-the-outer winger Claude Giroux to San Jose for defenceman Taylor Doherty and a 3rd round pick. Anton Gustaffson was traded to Atlanta for a 4th round pick.
Simon Despres was then traded to Chicago for back-up goaltender Hannu Toivonen.
Two days before the start of the season due to salary cap restrictions, Scott Hartnell was traded to Atlanta for a 1st and 5th round pick. The trade angered fans, GM Ray receiving a lot of flack for the trade, however he simply replied, "Sometimes we have to make moves that we don't want to. Scott was the high-salary player that I felt we could lose without too many major impacts at this stage. Players such as Parise, Pronger, Richards and Lucic were other players eligible, but I felt we needed them just a little more."
There was some anger amongst Whaler's fans when Jeff Schultz was traded to Ottawa for OHL's John McFarland just prior to the Entry Draft. Schultz had played in Hartford for two seasons compiling 123-3-15-18-79 and during Hartford's innagrual season in Portland registering 78-7-38-45-52. In response to the outrage, GM Ray made the following statement, "Jeff has been a solid player for us but he only played 41 games this season due to being outplayed. We have a couple of prospects nearly ready to make the permanent jump to the NHL such as Alex Pietrangelo and Tyler Myers, unfortunately for Jeff, he was who we decided to move to make room."
At the draft the Whalers had two 1st round picks, their's at 30 and Pittsburgh's at 8th. With the Pen's pick they chose big German defenceman Sven Schweiger and with their's, Russian sniper Vladislav Kocherov.
At the start of free agency the Whalers let go of Portland enforcer Eric Neilson (UQ RFA), Anti Niemi (UQ RFA) and Chris Stewart (RFA). The Whalers traded Stewart's rights to Toronto on July 2 for a 2nd round pick.
Defenceman Nick Ross was then bought out of his contract due to numbers after not gathering any interest in the trade market.
As expected Cory Schneider was put on the block getting immediate interest from the other teams. The Whalers ended up trading him to the Islanders for a 2nd round pick.
Prior 1st round pick Sean Couturier signed an Entry Level deal as the Whalers watched their targeted free agents sign with other teams.
The Whalers continued making deals during July, first signing recently released enforcer Mitchell Callaghan then trading on-the-outer winger Claude Giroux to San Jose for defenceman Taylor Doherty and a 3rd round pick. Anton Gustaffson was traded to Atlanta for a 4th round pick.
Simon Despres was then traded to Chicago for back-up goaltender Hannu Toivonen.
Two days before the start of the season due to salary cap restrictions, Scott Hartnell was traded to Atlanta for a 1st and 5th round pick. The trade angered fans, GM Ray receiving a lot of flack for the trade, however he simply replied, "Sometimes we have to make moves that we don't want to. Scott was the high-salary player that I felt we could lose without too many major impacts at this stage. Players such as Parise, Pronger, Richards and Lucic were other players eligible, but I felt we needed them just a little more."
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madball1982
- Junior League
- Posts: 40
- Joined: Mon Jun 14, 2010 5:34 am
HARTFORD S4: SEASON UPDATE [07-Nov-2010]
On Oct 24th the Whalers made a waiver claim for Drew Doughty from the Tampa Bay Lightning. Doughty was unhappy in Tampa and no trades had been forthcoming so waivers was his destination. On getting the struggling but still highly rated prospect GM Ray commented, "Anytime you can add a top prospect like Drew and have to give up nothing is a good day. Yes he's struggled this season and last both through injuries and performance but I feel he's a risk worth taking."
The move however has the Whalers with 8 defencemen on their roster in Weber, Myers, Pronger, Hedman, Edler, Stuart, Johnson and now Doughty, so moves are expected. The popular thought initially is that 38 year-old Pronger, in a contract year, will be the one moved however struggling Shea Weber, who has been demoted to the third pairing lately is also a strong candidate to be moved. Both also have high salaries.
Daniel Catenacci and Todd Fiddler, both prospects were signed to Entry Level deals.
After enforcer Matt Kassian was sent to Portland, the Whalers picked up enforcer David Koci off waivers from Colorado.
Taylor Doherty was placed on waivers and released to make way for Koci's new addition.
The Koci-Whalers relationship was brought to a swift end when Koci requested a move two weeks after arriving in Hartford. Rather than try to accomodate the enforcer's request for more ice-time, GM Ray placed him on waivers and bought him out. Koci played 5-0-0-0Pts-23PIMs.
A day later the Whalers picked up a new enforcer Steven MacIntyre from Columbus waivers as Matt Kassian was in-transit back to Hartford. Kassian would be sent back to Portland immediately.
As the trade deadline approached the Whalers traded a 2011 5th round pick to Montreal for centre prospect Ryan Spooner.
A further trade sent defenceman Luca Sbisa, currently playing in Portland to San Jose for OHL forward prospect Jared Knight and a draft pick.
To clear a roster spot the Whalers also traded Mark Stuart (18-0-3-3-59) to Vancouver for a 1st round pick in 2012.
The Whalers finished the season with a record of 49-28-5-301GF-246GA-103pts which only 3pts behind the East leaders Boston, was good for 5th. Their 301goals lead the NHL once again which was no surprise but where the surprise came was that the goals against were 8th in the NHL. This was a marked improvement for Hartford compared to year's past. Part of the reason for this was the phenomenal play of goalie Quick who had a break-out year playing 66games for 41wins, 2.56GAA, 905 save and 5 shutouts. His backup for the year Toivonen finished with a respectable 8 wins in 22games, 3.65GAA and 872 save.
It is expected that Portland goalie Jakob Markkstrom will undertake back-up duties next season as in Portland he posted 78GPs, 46wins, 2.21GAA, 910sv and 5 shutouts. Leland Irving spent the season on loan again to Adirondack playing 63games, 26wins, 2.61GAA, 893sv and 1 s/o.
Leading the Whalers again in both goals and points was Ryan Getzlaf who finished with 82-41-56-97 and 164PIMs. His goals were 15th and pts 13th in the NHL.
Bobby Ryan also pulled in 40 goals and 94pts and while no other player hit 30goals the Whalers had three players close with Lucic (26), Tangradi (28) and Parise (29). Steve Stamkos pulled in strong numbers 78-22-37-59 despite mostly playing third line minutes and again Wayne Simmonds (82-17-33-50-136) and Greg Moore (77-18-22-40-61) pulled solid numbers despite playing mostly defensive style games.
Mike Richards was disappointing this season, by his standards, only pulling 82-18-39-57-140, which has led to rumours of an impending trade. If this trade does happen it opens up room for Stamkos to see added minutes and open a roster spot for Evander Kane, currently playing for Portland. However such a trade would likely see a negative backlash to GM Ray.
Enforcer Steve MacIntyre posted expected numbers playing 50-2-4-6-256PIMs, with 20FMs. His PIMs despite not playing a full season were good for 7th and FMs 5th, both numbers behind Darcy Hordichuk who notched 378PIMs and 25FMs playing for Detroit.
Leading defencemen in Hartford again was Alex Edler (82-14-34-48) and Erik Johnson (82-11-26-37). Victor Hedman had 24assists but no goals despite 118 shots on goal. Despite this though he still had a strong season. Chris Pronger (82-9-14-23-104) and Tyler Myers (78-1-11-12-52) had good seasons but were disappointing by their standards.
As expected Steve Downie (171), Lucic (234), Getzlaf, Richards and Simmonds (136) also held high PIM totals as the Whalers continued their aggressive style of hockey.
In Portland, Zack Kassian 74-19-40-59 (who finished the season in Hartford), Evander Kane 74-34-24-58, John MacFarland 73-22-41-63 and defenceman Alex Pietrangelo 78-11-47-58 all posted good totals. Ian Schultz 74-25-28-53-137 and Danick Paquette (73-23-34-57-102) had high points and also excelled as being Portland's designated enforcers. Kyle Clifford (71-11-16-27-115) also kept high PIMs. Demoted Matt Kassian played 65 games in the AHL with 9FMs and 96PIMs, not forgetting his role despite no longer in the NHL.
The Whalers will open their playoffs against division rival Montreal.
The move however has the Whalers with 8 defencemen on their roster in Weber, Myers, Pronger, Hedman, Edler, Stuart, Johnson and now Doughty, so moves are expected. The popular thought initially is that 38 year-old Pronger, in a contract year, will be the one moved however struggling Shea Weber, who has been demoted to the third pairing lately is also a strong candidate to be moved. Both also have high salaries.
Daniel Catenacci and Todd Fiddler, both prospects were signed to Entry Level deals.
After enforcer Matt Kassian was sent to Portland, the Whalers picked up enforcer David Koci off waivers from Colorado.
Taylor Doherty was placed on waivers and released to make way for Koci's new addition.
The Koci-Whalers relationship was brought to a swift end when Koci requested a move two weeks after arriving in Hartford. Rather than try to accomodate the enforcer's request for more ice-time, GM Ray placed him on waivers and bought him out. Koci played 5-0-0-0Pts-23PIMs.
A day later the Whalers picked up a new enforcer Steven MacIntyre from Columbus waivers as Matt Kassian was in-transit back to Hartford. Kassian would be sent back to Portland immediately.
As the trade deadline approached the Whalers traded a 2011 5th round pick to Montreal for centre prospect Ryan Spooner.
A further trade sent defenceman Luca Sbisa, currently playing in Portland to San Jose for OHL forward prospect Jared Knight and a draft pick.
To clear a roster spot the Whalers also traded Mark Stuart (18-0-3-3-59) to Vancouver for a 1st round pick in 2012.
The Whalers finished the season with a record of 49-28-5-301GF-246GA-103pts which only 3pts behind the East leaders Boston, was good for 5th. Their 301goals lead the NHL once again which was no surprise but where the surprise came was that the goals against were 8th in the NHL. This was a marked improvement for Hartford compared to year's past. Part of the reason for this was the phenomenal play of goalie Quick who had a break-out year playing 66games for 41wins, 2.56GAA, 905 save and 5 shutouts. His backup for the year Toivonen finished with a respectable 8 wins in 22games, 3.65GAA and 872 save.
It is expected that Portland goalie Jakob Markkstrom will undertake back-up duties next season as in Portland he posted 78GPs, 46wins, 2.21GAA, 910sv and 5 shutouts. Leland Irving spent the season on loan again to Adirondack playing 63games, 26wins, 2.61GAA, 893sv and 1 s/o.
Leading the Whalers again in both goals and points was Ryan Getzlaf who finished with 82-41-56-97 and 164PIMs. His goals were 15th and pts 13th in the NHL.
Bobby Ryan also pulled in 40 goals and 94pts and while no other player hit 30goals the Whalers had three players close with Lucic (26), Tangradi (28) and Parise (29). Steve Stamkos pulled in strong numbers 78-22-37-59 despite mostly playing third line minutes and again Wayne Simmonds (82-17-33-50-136) and Greg Moore (77-18-22-40-61) pulled solid numbers despite playing mostly defensive style games.
Mike Richards was disappointing this season, by his standards, only pulling 82-18-39-57-140, which has led to rumours of an impending trade. If this trade does happen it opens up room for Stamkos to see added minutes and open a roster spot for Evander Kane, currently playing for Portland. However such a trade would likely see a negative backlash to GM Ray.
Enforcer Steve MacIntyre posted expected numbers playing 50-2-4-6-256PIMs, with 20FMs. His PIMs despite not playing a full season were good for 7th and FMs 5th, both numbers behind Darcy Hordichuk who notched 378PIMs and 25FMs playing for Detroit.
Leading defencemen in Hartford again was Alex Edler (82-14-34-48) and Erik Johnson (82-11-26-37). Victor Hedman had 24assists but no goals despite 118 shots on goal. Despite this though he still had a strong season. Chris Pronger (82-9-14-23-104) and Tyler Myers (78-1-11-12-52) had good seasons but were disappointing by their standards.
As expected Steve Downie (171), Lucic (234), Getzlaf, Richards and Simmonds (136) also held high PIM totals as the Whalers continued their aggressive style of hockey.
In Portland, Zack Kassian 74-19-40-59 (who finished the season in Hartford), Evander Kane 74-34-24-58, John MacFarland 73-22-41-63 and defenceman Alex Pietrangelo 78-11-47-58 all posted good totals. Ian Schultz 74-25-28-53-137 and Danick Paquette (73-23-34-57-102) had high points and also excelled as being Portland's designated enforcers. Kyle Clifford (71-11-16-27-115) also kept high PIMs. Demoted Matt Kassian played 65 games in the AHL with 9FMs and 96PIMs, not forgetting his role despite no longer in the NHL.
The Whalers will open their playoffs against division rival Montreal.
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madball1982
- Junior League
- Posts: 40
- Joined: Mon Jun 14, 2010 5:34 am
HARTFORD S4: PLAYOFFS, DRAFT [10-Nov-2010]
The Whalers played Montreal in their quarter-final matchup. In the regular season the Whalers won the series 3-0-2-26-15. Hartford made quick work of Montreal winning the series 4-1 and outscoring their rivals 18-12.
In the semi's Hartford faced off with another division rival in Ottawa, who beat the Whalers during the season 3-2-0-19-15. Ottawa posed little threat to the Whalers as they were dispatched 4-1, being outscored 22-11.
Moving to the Eastern Conference Finals for the 2nd year in a row, the Whalers faced off against the NY Islanders whom the Whalers beat 3-1-0 in the regular season, scoring 15-11. Despite losing Jon Quick after game 4, the Whalers took out game five 6-4 to take out the series 4-1, outscoring the Islanders 18-14.
Moving to the Stanley Cup Finals against the Calgary Flames whom Hartford beat 3-2 in the team's only regular season matchup. Hartford lost the 1st game 7-3 and their were doubts that Toivonen could win the series but he silenced the doubters as he recorded two shut-outs leading the Whalers to a 4-2 series win, scoring 23-21 and won their 2nd consecutive Stanley Cup!
Toivonen finished with 8GPs, 5wins, 3.32GAA, 879sv and 2 s/o, Quick 14GPs, 11wins, 2.11GAA and 921sv. Leland Irving saw limited minutes as Toivonen's backup playing in 2 games, 4.29GAA and 864sv.
Unsurprisingly Ryan Getzlaf led the Whalers in scoring 21-13-28-41 with Zach Parise having a strong playoffs getting 21-20-16-36. Bobby Ryan was also strong with 21-12-19-31 and Edler led the defencemen with 21-5-11-16. Steve MacIntyre continued bruising his opponents and spending lots of time in the box finishing 21-1-3-4-145. MacIntyre did most of the legwork in this department as Milan Lucic was the next highest with 81PIMs, Getzlaf a distant 3rd with 39.
Scott Arniel took home his first Jack Adams award and Ryan Getzlaf took the Conn Smythe at the annual NHL Awards ceremony. Jon Quick, Alex Edler and Bobby Ryan narrowly missed winning awards also and Getzlaf almost won a couple more.
Can't-miss goalie prospect Martrin Stepanek was signed to an Entry-Level deal prior to the draft.
At the draft, thanks to trades made over the last couple of seasons the Whalers had three picks. At pick #11 they took right winger Brennan Piche from the QMJHL; pick #20 saw the USHL's defenceman Tanner Stafford and with the final pick of the 1st round they took Fraser Belyk a right-winger from the OHL.
Henrich Vizvary and Sven Schweiger, former Whaler 1st round picks were signed to Entry Level deals.
In a trade that shocked the NHL, the Whalers traded Zach Parise to Columbus for Rick Nash. Both players were coming off strong seasons however Nash was becoming concerned with the culture at the Blue Jackets which put him on the block. With a much higher salary than Parise, this move would likely force GM Ray to make some more moves.
At July 1st the Whalers lost the following players - Chris Pronger (UFA), Drew Doughty, Steve Downie, Leland Irving, Matt Kassian, Adam McQuaid, Shea Weber and James Neal all RFA's and Richard Clune an unqualified RFA.
The Whalers then traded Neal's rights to LA for a 4th round pick. The rights to Steve Downie were traded to St Louis for the rights to Ryan Strome.
James Wright was traded to Dallas for defenceman Ryan O'Connor.
Shea Weber's rights were traded to Boston for a 2013 & 2014 1st Round picks.
Part of the Whaler's plans came into effect when on July 5th Drew Doughty agreed to a new two-year deal which was signed at $905k/yr. GM Ray made this comment, "I was always going to bring Drew back, but when we picked him up on waivers he was earning $3.8M. I told Drew that I would qualify him and trade him if he didn't accept a more reasonable salary and here we are. He wanted to stay and for now at least, I want to keep him."
On July 8th the Whalers as expected traded Mike Richards. He was sent to Pittsburgh in return for Bert Falk, 2015 1st & 5th Round picks.
The Whalers were ranked 9th in the annual Hockey News pre-season rankings. They signed grinding forward Zenon Konopka to a one-year deal after an impressive tryout. Konopka is expected to centre the fourth line.
In the semi's Hartford faced off with another division rival in Ottawa, who beat the Whalers during the season 3-2-0-19-15. Ottawa posed little threat to the Whalers as they were dispatched 4-1, being outscored 22-11.
Moving to the Eastern Conference Finals for the 2nd year in a row, the Whalers faced off against the NY Islanders whom the Whalers beat 3-1-0 in the regular season, scoring 15-11. Despite losing Jon Quick after game 4, the Whalers took out game five 6-4 to take out the series 4-1, outscoring the Islanders 18-14.
Moving to the Stanley Cup Finals against the Calgary Flames whom Hartford beat 3-2 in the team's only regular season matchup. Hartford lost the 1st game 7-3 and their were doubts that Toivonen could win the series but he silenced the doubters as he recorded two shut-outs leading the Whalers to a 4-2 series win, scoring 23-21 and won their 2nd consecutive Stanley Cup!
Toivonen finished with 8GPs, 5wins, 3.32GAA, 879sv and 2 s/o, Quick 14GPs, 11wins, 2.11GAA and 921sv. Leland Irving saw limited minutes as Toivonen's backup playing in 2 games, 4.29GAA and 864sv.
Unsurprisingly Ryan Getzlaf led the Whalers in scoring 21-13-28-41 with Zach Parise having a strong playoffs getting 21-20-16-36. Bobby Ryan was also strong with 21-12-19-31 and Edler led the defencemen with 21-5-11-16. Steve MacIntyre continued bruising his opponents and spending lots of time in the box finishing 21-1-3-4-145. MacIntyre did most of the legwork in this department as Milan Lucic was the next highest with 81PIMs, Getzlaf a distant 3rd with 39.
Scott Arniel took home his first Jack Adams award and Ryan Getzlaf took the Conn Smythe at the annual NHL Awards ceremony. Jon Quick, Alex Edler and Bobby Ryan narrowly missed winning awards also and Getzlaf almost won a couple more.
Can't-miss goalie prospect Martrin Stepanek was signed to an Entry-Level deal prior to the draft.
At the draft, thanks to trades made over the last couple of seasons the Whalers had three picks. At pick #11 they took right winger Brennan Piche from the QMJHL; pick #20 saw the USHL's defenceman Tanner Stafford and with the final pick of the 1st round they took Fraser Belyk a right-winger from the OHL.
Henrich Vizvary and Sven Schweiger, former Whaler 1st round picks were signed to Entry Level deals.
In a trade that shocked the NHL, the Whalers traded Zach Parise to Columbus for Rick Nash. Both players were coming off strong seasons however Nash was becoming concerned with the culture at the Blue Jackets which put him on the block. With a much higher salary than Parise, this move would likely force GM Ray to make some more moves.
At July 1st the Whalers lost the following players - Chris Pronger (UFA), Drew Doughty, Steve Downie, Leland Irving, Matt Kassian, Adam McQuaid, Shea Weber and James Neal all RFA's and Richard Clune an unqualified RFA.
The Whalers then traded Neal's rights to LA for a 4th round pick. The rights to Steve Downie were traded to St Louis for the rights to Ryan Strome.
James Wright was traded to Dallas for defenceman Ryan O'Connor.
Shea Weber's rights were traded to Boston for a 2013 & 2014 1st Round picks.
Part of the Whaler's plans came into effect when on July 5th Drew Doughty agreed to a new two-year deal which was signed at $905k/yr. GM Ray made this comment, "I was always going to bring Drew back, but when we picked him up on waivers he was earning $3.8M. I told Drew that I would qualify him and trade him if he didn't accept a more reasonable salary and here we are. He wanted to stay and for now at least, I want to keep him."
On July 8th the Whalers as expected traded Mike Richards. He was sent to Pittsburgh in return for Bert Falk, 2015 1st & 5th Round picks.
The Whalers were ranked 9th in the annual Hockey News pre-season rankings. They signed grinding forward Zenon Konopka to a one-year deal after an impressive tryout. Konopka is expected to centre the fourth line.