I felt bad for the flock of pale, sad-faced rookies roosting in the section next to me, looking down on the game with barely concealed nausea. Aside from an animated Brandon Cullen chatting with Lucas Lawson in the front row, and David Liffiton holding court a few rows back, the kids sat slumped forward, looking like they’d just been collectively punched in the stomach. According to the Pack powers that be, the kids won’t actually be demoted until after Saturday night’s game against Bridgeport, but clearly these guys aren’t stupid. Without question that was the varsity squad out there on Friday night, and they looked good. You’d never have known it was a preseason game. Everyone was so professional, Jim Schoenfeld didn’t even react when it was announced that ref for the game would be Terry Koharski.

Lawrence Nycholat was wearing the “C” as Kenny Gernander watched the game from the runway, sidelined with an injured hip flexor. Kenny seemed to have magically appeared at the glass without my notice, and I left before he did, so I didn’t get a look at him walking to gauge the severity of the injury. Blair Betts, sporting a cut on his cheek that clearly came from having his visor mashed into his face, had one of the ‘A’s, and Chad Wiseman retained the other one from last year.

Jason LaBarbera backed up Steve Valiquette for this game, and both of them looked exactly the same as in past years. No complaints here.

The lines were interesting, if not particularly surprising. I’ve dubbed our scoring line the “Bleach Boys”, as we have a newly frosted and highlighted (apparently using a house paint brush) Layne Ulmer centering Jozef Balej and Alexandre Giroux. Divas on ice, as it were. You know they’ll do something exciting and entertaining every single shift, if only to ensure they make the highlight reel at the top of the next game. Alex looks to have filled out a bit, and even thinks he can fight, so don’t worry about someone hurting Jozef. Just make sure you don’t blink, or you’ll miss goals like the laser rebound Balej put past Jamie Storrs on Friday night. Jozef’s post goal celebrations are among the best out there, particularly when there is a camera nearby. Would be nice if we had someone a little less streaky (not referring to hair, here) than Layne as a our top center. He's probably our best face-off man now that Cory Larose is gone, but with the resurgence of Dominic Moore (2 goals and an assist on 5 shots on Saturday night?) perhaps he will lose that spot anyway.

Our second scoring line had a rejuvenated Dominic Moore centering Chad Wiseman and Craig Weller. Dom looked fantastic – focused, energetic, and seems to have found his hands, wherever he had misplaced them last year. The goal that is listed as Fedor’s was all Dominic’s, and actually may have been a mistake in the announcing – all the players went to Dom to congratulate him, and shrugged when the credit was given to Fedor. Craig must be there to protect the other two, but from what I’ve seen Dom can more than take of himself. I think fighting Dom would be like taking on a rabid weasel – you might win in the end, but you’d be so ragged, torn, and bloodied, who’d care? Chad looked old, even more easily knocked off the puck than before, and still trying to hurdle the blue line in the manner of Rico Fata rather than skate across it. He was skating bent over, and on more than one occasion I mistook him for Kenny on a quick glance. Craig Weller looked panicked and overeager, and not without cause. Clearly the weakest of the forwards, his spot is in jeopardy. He had a strong year last year, but that and the love of Ryan McGill from his days playing for him in juniors can’t cover up his slowness, fumbling of the puck, and that he hasn’t won a fight since March (including the preseason this year). Craig is one my favorite players off the ice, but I don’t think he’s going to be around much this year.

Betts centering Hollweg and Ortmeyer gives you your basic crash line, but wouldn’t it be more fun to insert Cuthbert in place of Betts, or move Hollweg back to center and let Cuthbert play on the wing? I assume that when Garth Murray returns from his broken thumb in another month, he’ll grab that LW spot. Hollweg centering Murray and Ortmeyer…chaos and panic every time they hit the ice. Opponents scattering in fear and refusing to jump over the boards… Back when Ryan and Garth were both in the system, we fished about for another wing to complete the line. Then Jed showed up, but by then the Rangers had cut Ryan loose after the head injury that Dr. Karen deemed career ending. But now everyone’s back in the fold, and thanks to the lockout, all in Hartford together. Perhaps our pocket-sized legion of doom will have a chance to grow together this year.

But back to the line at hand. Blair Betts did absolutely nothing useful that I noticed. Why is he here again? Hollweg has a killer, accurate shot, hard enough from the blue line that it almost knocked the not-so-small Steve Valiquette on his butt after he took it in the stomach. Ryan looked focused, composed, and ready to kill anyone who gets in his way of playing hockey. Jed was enthusiastic. I haven’t had a chance to see Jed play that much, and I am looking forward to it this year. Last night was like a sampling of classic Jed – I got to see a blocked shot and marvel at how his unique method of doing so lets him spring right back to his feet in full stride and chase down the puck he just blocked, several cannonball runs at opponents, and many incidents of dirty stickwork. The highlight, though, was when he was tackled by two opponents on a partial breakaway and slid into the net, knocking it off its moorings. Storrs blocked the loose puck, though, and it came out to Betts, who wound up and took a full slap shot at the loose net with Jed cowering inside. Not surprisingly, Jed had words for his laughing teammates on the bench and a swing at Betts for his stupidity.

Doubleshifting, Dominic also centered the fourth line with Michael Henrich and Trevor Gilles. Henrich was inoffensive. During warm-ups I noticed him mostly because he looked confident, and that carried over to the game, the little that he played. Trevor Gilles is highly entertaining – he looks and acts like Matt Barnaby. An agitator who takes on guys much bigger than him, the fight itself is half the entertainment as he has to lunge to reach his opponent's head. He doesn’t lack for a sense of timing, either – the Falcons had been trying to get Fedor into a fight and off the ice all night long, getting increasingly dirty as he refused to even acknowledge them. Gilles certainly took note, though, and the first of his fights was a direct effect of attempts to provoke Tyutin. Gilles was also used quite successfully in front of the net on the power play, driving Jamie Storrs to attempted murder with a goalie stick.

I still am amazed at Ryan Cuthbert’s quick release. He warmed up with the team, but then was a scratch for the game as the teams went with 17 skaters aside. Positive mention of him in the papers today gives me hope that he may still make the team, as you can’t have too many guys who will do absolutely anything for the team. “Human cannonball” is the term most often used for him, and it doesn’t hurt that he can move the puck well too. He eventually joined the guys in the stands after the game started, and sat there looking stunned.

Lawrence Nycholat was paired with Bryce Lampman as always. Lawrence was looking feisty, laughing and smiling on the ice while punching opponents in the face and generally being a brat. Bryce got an assist on the first goal, and then for the rest of the night pretended he was a forward. Nothing new from either of these two.

Second pairing was Fedor Tyutin and Maxim Kondratiev. Fedor looked even calmer and more collected than before, which I would have assumed was a physical impossibility. He was a target from the beginning of the game, not for physical play (I feel bad for anyone who thinks they can take Fedor out against the boards) but for aggravation. At one point, a Falcon kept getting a stick up on Fedor, who would brush him off. Finally the Falcon gave up and turned away, at which point Fedor quickly reached around the guy’s neck and yanked him backwards onto his butt. Fedor is still good for several “oh my god” cross-ice passes that go through several opponents before perfectly hitting a teammate in full stride each period.

Maxim looks overwhelmed. Yes, he is fast, but he has to be since he’s not in the right place at the right time and has to sprint to cover up for his mistakes. He’s getting manhandled by opponents and panics often as not when he has the puck. He did have one outstanding play when he challenged the point on the PK and succeeded in poke checking the puck to Chad Wiseman, who then was able to sprint in alone on the net. Of course, this was after he made a bad situation (Fedor had broken his stick, leaving only three men on the PK) worse by standing in the crease and attempting to throw the Falcon on to the Pack goalie. Later he lined up a huge slap shot from the circle and shattered his stick on the ice without even hitting the puck.

The third pairing was Martin Grenier and Jeff MacMillan. MacMillan seems to be this year’s John Jakopin – big, strong, defensively sound and not prone to wandering or to fighting but probably could if he had to. Not a bad guy to have on a team, his strong vet presence (and lack of mistakes) would make him a great partner for Pock or Kondratiev, much as Jakopin was for Tyutin for most of last year. On a roster loaded with young, flashy, offensive players, Jeff has his value. Last night, through, Martin Grenier was the star of the show.

I don’t remember Martin from before he came to Hartford, except that there was a guy named Grenier who, with Gilles, made playing Springfield a bloody affair. He left Springfield and landed in Manitoba, and while there was assaulted viciously while leaving a bar by a mob while on the road with his team in Texas. Left with a severe concussion, he didn’t play for quite a while, and then landed in Hartford at the deadline. Fans who remembered him from Springfield more clearly than I did said he wasn’t the same guy, that he looked dazed and slow compared to the guy they remembered from before. All I knew was that the guy we had wasn’t effective as a brawler or as a player, and I didn’t like him. From my point of view, it was immaterial what had led him to play this way – if this is how he played now, he wasn’t of any help to us. Rumors of discord in the locker room didn’t help matters either. My main hope was that somehow over the summer he would go away.

I suppose, in a manner, that’s what happened. I watched warm-ups from behind the goal last night, and I can’t overstate the change. Now Martin looks alert, focused, much quicker on his skates and more confident with the puck. Fascinated by the abrupt change (and wondering what souls go for these days) I watched him for most of warm-ups. He was talking to his teammates (something else new) and actually looked to be enjoying being back out on the ice. Later on someone mentioned how much happier he seemed now that Gilles was here, and I have to admit that I had never made that connection.

If you saw the box score, you likely wondered what on earth happened in Springfield last night. We were all surprised that the game was half over before the first fight broke out. Grenier and Packard were the first to go, as Grenier took a roughing penalty to start that one off. My impression was that this was just a run-of-the-mill fight, no big deal, just some kid trying to make the team and using Grenier as a tool. Four minutes later, Gilles fought Deveaux as Tyutin took that roughing penalty for trying to remove the Falcon’s head. It wasn’t until the third period, though, that things got personal.

Steve McLaren has been around the New England AHL, most recently with Worcester. He’s a surprisingly successful fighter for a small guy, and is known for taking on the biggest enforcer the other team has and winning. Grenier and he have history – I have photos of Grenier destroying McLaren in a game in Hartford last April. Jumped by McLaren by the boards last night, Grenier fought back and drew the power play for the Pack, succeeding at the same time in removing McLaren from all but the last minute of the game as McLaren took 17 minutes of penalties on that one. Completely overpowering him, Grenier continued to throw even after he had beaten McLaren to the ground, as fans pleaded with him to stop. As he backed off from the humiliated McLaren, Grenier held up two fingers and then dramatically dusted his hands off as he skated to the box. The crowd, both Springfield fans who remembered him and Hartford fans who now adored him, went wild.

If I can get Bird to post the pics below, check them out. This fight went much longer than the one in Hartford, and was much nastier. Upon looking at the pictures, though, now I think I know what the “two” was about – I assumed that it was in reference to this being Martin’s second win over a Falcon that night, but I bet it was in reference to the second ass-beating he’s given McLaren in as many meetings. One of the hallmarks of Grenier’s fighting is that he doesn’t go to the take down – perhaps he doesn’t feel there’s honor in it. He always wants to win by big, heavy punches that make you wince even sitting up in the seats. For entertainment value in a fight, it can’t be beat.

With two seconds left in the game, all hell broke loose. Grenier was on the ice along with Hollweg and MacMillan (Weller was in the box) and Wiseman. McLaren, finally out from his 17 minutes of penalties, showed up as well. McLaren got Grenier to go, and then turtled immediately. Enraged, Grenier kept throwing at the balled up McLaren as he held him in the air with one arm, before he was tackled by Ryan Craig and slammed to the ice. As in Grenier’s previous fight, it took all the officials and some players to pry them apart, as both kept throwing even after being separated. The October 24th meeting between these two teams in Hartford will be exciting to say the least.

And the kids? I’m sad to see guys like Juris Stals, Ryan Cuthbert, and David Liffiton go to Charlotte. McGill likes to run this team on a very tight roster, so unlike in the Paddock years, there won’t be another team’s worth of players sitting in the stands each night. There will be injuries (6 already) and if the NHL season starts, a complete overhaul of the team. Perhaps we’ll see them soon anyway. In the meantime, the Pack season opens for real in a week against Philly.

Heather

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