Hockeybird.com: Happy Heather On The Farm

As Bird has said more than once, I am in a much better mood this year now that the Pack is winning consistently. The only downside to this gluttony of “W’s” that we’ve been enjoying is that it’s kind of hard to write about the team these days. Here are some possible headlines:

(Not kidding on that last one. The whole team showed up last night for the game looking like they’d been marched into the barbershop by their mothers to ‘clean up’ for the holiday photos.)

I mean, really – where am I supposed to go with this? Complain that we have dared to lose 5 games in regulation out of 23, with only one of those losses coming at home?

With 32 points in 23 games, the Pack is in first place in the Atlantic Division (with three games in hand). They continue to challenge for first in the league, currently in fifth behind Grand Rapids (34 in 25), Hamilton (34 in 26), Bridgeport (32 in 22) and Hershey (32 in 25). As a team and individually, they lead the league in a number of statistics.

The Pack is second best in the league in goals against with 39, and has finally clawed its way out of the basement with 60 goals for. They have a league-leading 24 shots allowed per game, and are third in the league in goals allowed per game with 1.9. Labarbera and Osaer have combined for a league-leading 6 shutouts, with Jason racking up 4 in his 17 games and Phil bagging 2 in his 4 tries. Both have save percentages of 93% and goals against of 1.7.

Every active player has scored at least one goal, including Ortmeyer and Scott before they were called up to the Rangers. The only player on the roster who has not scored is recent call-up and current IR resident Lawson, and even he has 2 assists in his seven games this season. All but Healey and Lampman are plus; Gernander and Nycholat lead the team at +10, and seven other players are +5 or better.

Six different players have accumulated at least one fighting major this year. Most of those fights have been defending or avenging teammates, a new concept in Hartford. Some of the fighters have been those least expected, including Nycholat. With few exceptions, the rest of the team has earned several well-timed roughing penalties protecting the crease, fallen teammates or team pride.

I would give out first term grades, but I’m a teacher in real life and I spend enough time listening to people complain about the ones I give at school that I don’t care to do the same in my free time. So, rather than assign letters, I’ll go for ‘holistic analysis’ instead.

Chad Wiseman has 17 points, 12 of which are assists. He’s smart when he doesn’t have time to think – last night he ended up with the puck and no stick at the blue line, and dribbled it like a soccer ball towards the crease before kicking it (skate to tape?) to Ulmer on the far post, who slammed it home. But give him time and space to think, and he does dumb things. He also seems to aggravate opponents a great deal.

Jason MacDonald is everything PJ Stock always wanted to be, and couldn’t. Jason has the hands that PJ lacked, while still showing the courage, heart, and charm with young fans that PJ brought to the team. And he hits hard, both with checks and fists. How often do you have a player lead the team in both goals scored and PIM?

Cory Larose supposedly gets off to a slow start every year. He has finally started scoring 20 odd games into the season. He whines a lot to the refs, and seems to spend most of his time on the ice trying to draw penalties. Since sleeping beauty woke up, he has accumulated 15 points with 9 of them coming in the last 4 games. If he keeps scoring consistently now, I may find him more tolerable.

Layne Ulmer is the king of faceoffs – too bad we don’t keep percentages in the AHL, because I’d love to know just how dominant he really is. He also leads the league in game winning goals with 4. He has always been one of our best PK players, and now he is getting time on the power play as well. The most mellow player ever, Layne is also our team UN representative. Whenever there is a conflict on the ice, there’s Layne stepping in between and calmly separating the combatants. The day he snaps and finally punches someone instead of gazing peacefully at them, I’m buying an Ulmer jersey.

Ken Gernander continues to look like he just woke up in heaven. He’s got two game winners and an unusually feisty 10 PIM. He seems to have deferred most of his media responsibilities to other members of team, which may be a relief for him and also a rounding-out experience for future team leaders. But unlike past years in which he has looked tired and beaten down, Kenny is clearly up for every game.

Garth Murray continues to make me wonder if he is injured, as his physical game has tailed off once again. Although he does have 55 PIM, most of those came early in the season. Sense of déjà vu here….

Dominic Moore seems to have fallen far, as last night he was saddled with Bobby Andrews and Juris Stals as linemates. Dom only has three goals this season, and 20 PIM to go with them. He’s not shining as a scorer or a checker. Not quite sure what happened here, but I’m hoping he snaps out of it soon.

Fedor Tyutin is third on the team with 60 shots, and second with +8. My friend Dan believes that Sather gave Fedor a ‘To Do’ list of things to master before he would get called up to New York, and Fedor is working his way through them: Block shots? Yup. Score goals? Got it. Communicate with teammates? Da. Hit? No sweat. Run the power play? Yessir. Poke check? Yup yup. Talk to the media? No problem. He still makes dumb kid mistakes, but less often and he recovers better. He recently got run in almost a carbon copy of the hit that knocked him off balance emotionally a few weeks ago, and he shook it off quickly this time and rejoined the play.

Lawrence Nycholat… wow. I didn’t think it was possible to have such a dramatic reversal of opinion on a player. Nycholat had played well this year, hitting, battling around our net, and chipping in on offense, but when I never expected him beat the crap out of Chris Ferraro – even dragging the turtling agitator back to his feet for additional punishment. Then, just when we thought it might be a freak occurrence, Nycholat fought again in Bridgeport. I don’t know, but now I’m kind of scared of the rather sweet-faced Lawrence. In between playing at team enforcer, Nycholat has maintained a team leading +10 and continued to display his ready-for-NHL defensive skills. If the Rangers had to call someone up, it should be Lawrence.

Paul Healey is crap. He finally scored his fourth goal last night, giving him a rather un-NHL-vet-like 6 points on the year to go with his team low –3 and 10 PIM. What is he doing here again?

Bobby Andrews has to be on his last legs with this organization. He tries really hard, but doesn’t really accomplish anything as the checker he is supposed be. Bobby does run around the ice a lot, but usually misses his checks and ends up chasing the play. He also has the fewest shots of any forward, just 27 in 20 games.

Juris Stals still has not given us any indication of what exactly he is supposed to be bringing to the team. He can’t pass, can’t score, can’t hit, can’t skate, and doesn’t carry the puck well either. We’re mystified as to why he continues to play, except that a) he’s a kid, so they are trying to be patient and b) we don’t have enough forwards as is, having to dress a defenseman as wing most nights.

John Jakopin has developed a new spark in his game since opposing teams has started to target his young ward, Fedor Tyutin. Now, not only is John mentoring Fedor, but he seems to have appointed himself as Fedor’s protector as well. Every time someone hits Fedor, before the end of the shift that same guy will have been introduced to the glass with all the force that the 6-6, 245 lb Jakopin can muster. John has always played a very responsible defensive game, while also keeping an eye on Fedor and cleaning up after his mistakes. Recently he has started to fight, and even managed to pop in a goal the other night. Only his skating holds him back from an NHL job.

Jayme Filipowicz has had a black eye since the beginning of the season. Not the same one, naturally, but three successive ones to the same eye, which has suggested the continuity. Another smart, dependable defenseman, Jayme has also shown a tendency to fly into a murderous rage and attempt to kill players who have taken on his teammates. He handed down a decisive beating to one opponent who took a whack at Moore, and on another occasion got his own back at a player for boarding him – he immediately knocked the other guy down, jumped on top of him and strangled him, banging the guy’s head into the ice. Jayme is certainly thorough, you can say that for him.

Matt Kinch is still invisible, just like you want a good defensive defenseman to be. Just don’t expect anything physical from him, and you’ll be happy.

Bryce Lampman isn’t the same force he was last year, making me wonder whether he is still injured. He still is good for driving players away from the net and their sanity at the same time, but it almost seems as though he is doing so with less strength than in the past. His skating seems to have fallen off as well. Bryce still plays dirty and rarely gets caught, and he’s still young, so hopefully he will shake it off and get back to his previous level of play.

Craig Weller had his first goal of the season in the last game, after picking up the puck at the red line and muscling his way down the boards, casting off opponents along the way, before stuffing the puck under the rather alarmed goalie. Craig is an interesting parallel to Dale, particularly as he has recently made the switch to wing to fill a need on the team and earn a spot that he was unlikely to get in our very crowded defense corps. After his goal, he was lavished with ice time for the rest of the night, and did well with it. Only getting to play in half of the games thus far, he has managed to use his size (6-4, 224) well without drawing penalties.

Jason Labarbera has improved with each year he has been in Hartford, but his loss with the Rangers against Colorado seemed to set him back significantly in terms of confidence. I watch the goalies closely from my seat behind the net, and that first game back in Hartford he looked like he was going to throw up before the end of warm-ups. He had a number of shaky games after that, getting pulled in one, before finally getting it together as Phil spelled him for a few games. Jason seems to be still fighting a groin injury, but his improved skill level has kept him and the team in the game even through it.

Phil Osaer is the perfect backup. He continues to excel whenever he does play, and seems to enjoy being Jason’s cheerleader when he’s on the bench. The rapport between the two netminders is obvious and clearly benefits them both. Phil also does a damn good job of door duty.

Ryan McGill, Nick Fotiu and Jim Schoenfeld continue to do an excellent job of nurturing and motivating this group of talented and passionate kids. Several people, including Sather, have commented on how easily call-ups slide into the team, being perfectly prepared by the uniform system throughout the organization.

"Layne Ulmer is the king of faceoffs – too bad we don’t keep percentages in the AHL, because I’d love to know just how dominant he really is. He also leads the league in game winning goals with 4. He has always been one of our best PK players, and now he is getting time on the power play as well. The most mellow player ever, Layne is also our team UN representative. Whenever there is a conflict on the ice, there’s Layne stepping in between and calmly separating the combatants. The day he snaps and finally punches someone instead of gazing peacefully at them, I’m buying an Ulmer jersey."

I'll pay for half of it....
Great article. Nice to know the kids are continuing their progression. Happy that Kenny is in a better position as captain and leader than last year.

Posted by: ortsfan2002 on December 8, 2003 01:52 AM

Sounds like a farm even Paris Hilton could like.

Thanks for the updates !

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Posted by: Bird on December 8, 2003 09:54 AM