Well, every good thing has to come to an end.

The Hartford Wolf Pack appeared to be peaking at just the right time, heading into the final 20 games of the season. Following a 8-2 shellacking at the hands of the Lowell Lock Monsters on January 27th, Hartford steamrolled the competition in their next 15 games, going 13-1-0-1 (W-L-OTL-SOL). During that stretch, their only regulation loss came at the hands of their in-state rivals, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. Sean Bergenheim scored four goals, a Sound Tigers franchise record, and Wade Dubielewicz stopped 40 Wolf Pack shots. That seems to be a pattern for the Wolf Pack, but I’ll touch on that later.

The Pack had pulled to within two points of first-place Portland in the Atlantic Division, and could tie them with a win on March 8th at the Hartford Civic Center. In what was perhaps the biggest game of the season thus far for the Pack, they simply did not show up to play. Portland simply outplayed them in virtually every aspect, though the Pirates were out shot 37-24. After the first period finished scoreless, Pack captain Craig Weller took a penalty just 1:54 into the second period, and the Pirates scored just four seconds after it expired to take a 1-0 lead. Geoff Peters would score his 18th and 19th goals of the season before the second period was halfway over, and the Pirates jumped out to a 3-0 lead. The lone bright spot on the Pack’s night came late in the second period, after Nigel Dawes broke into the Pirates zone shorthanded, lost the puck, and made a quick turnaround feed to Dwight Helminen who one-timed the puck past Jani Hurme for his career-high 24th goal of the season. As fans started to get back into the game, any hope of a third period comeback was quickly erased when the Pirates scored with just 5 seconds left in the second period. The Pirates weren’t finished, as Geoff Peters would complete his hat trick at the 4:50 mark of the third period. It was a difficult game to watch. The Pirates were without one of their top scorers, Dustin Penner, who was up with the parent Mighty Ducks of Anaheim at the time of the game. Penner always seems to elevate his game when the two teams meet, once recording a four goal game at the Hartford Civic Center. However in his absence, the rest of the team elevated their game and newly-acquired netminder Jani Hurme was amazing in net, stopping 36 shots. This was a game that the Pack probably could have won, had they not come out flat. The Pirates have already clinched a playoff spot. The parent club Mighty Ducks of Anaheim moved into a tie with the Edmonton Oilers for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference today. If the Ducks can stay in the playoff picture, then Portland may not get as much help down from their parent club as I originally thought they might. It will be interesting to see the names Portland puts on their Clear Day roster.

Heading into the weekend, the Pack had two relatively easy contests vs. the Springfield Falcons, and the Binghamton Senators. The Pirates had back to back contests against the Hershey Bears, the East Division’s second place team. Now, one would hope the Pack could rebound and cut back in to the Pirates lead on the division. Hartford had a notably easier schedule than the Pirates, as the Falcons and Senators both are sitting towards the bottom of their divisions. Hershey is a strong team with a lot of potential, and could possibly overtake the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins as the top team in the East. However, not only did the Pack lose on consecutive nights, but the Pirates split with Hershey, gaining two points on the Pack.

I don’t know what it is about the team, but it seems to be characteristic of Hartford. The team surges towards the playoffs, only to lose a big game which would propel them towards the top of the division. Last season it was against the Manchester Monarchs, who the Pack were chasing the entire season. Ultimately, they lost a couple key divisional games vs. the Monarchs down the stretch, only to surge later in the season and come up short of the division title on the final day of the season.

I viewed this past weekend as a chance to rebound for the Wolf Pack. They were blown out on home ice on Wednesday night, and the Falcons and Senators were both struggling. However, the Pack continued their recent losing ways, with poor games against poor teams. I don’t really know how to explain it. For some reason, the Pack tend to play good against teams they shouldn’t beat (for example, they swept the season series vs. the Houston Aeros), and lose to teams they should beat (this past weekend). In addition, whenever they shoot the puck on goal, they seem to lose. Twice this season the Pack have put up 50 shots, and twice this season they only scored one goal on those 50 shots. More recently, the past three games for the Pack have resulted in only three Wolf Pack goals. Jani Hurme, Gerald Coleman, and Kelly Guard combined to stop 103 of 106 Hartford shots, a 97.16% save percentage.

The team has potential to score goals, but these past three games seem to tell otherwise. Obviously, the team is going through a slump. Hopefully they can find a way to break out of it, I just hope its sooner than later. The one thing that Hartford has got going for them this season is offense, though the new rules do contribute to that in some sense. However, the Pack have five players with 20 or more goals, I believe that’s the highest such total in the league, though I’m not entirely sure. Jarkko Immonen and Alexandre Giroux are tied for the team lead in goals, both with 29 goals. Rookie forward Nigel Dawes is only one goal behind them, he’s got 28 goals on the season. The other two members of the Wolf Pack’s top line, Dwight Helminen and Colby Genoway, have 24 and 21 goals respectively. Immonen and Dawes are probably the two most talented players out of the bunch, and both have legitimate shots to crack the Rangers lineup at some point during the next season. I honestly don’t think they’ll be ready for opening night, but injuries may arise at some point, and Immonen and Dawes are probably the go-to guys for the Rangers in the future. I’ve been a fan of Immonen since opening night, he’s a real talented center who’s good with the puck, which explains his current ranking of tied for 11th in the AHL in goals. Dawes struggled to start the season, but since the establishment of the Dawes-Helminen-Genoway line, he’s been solid. Both of them are rather effective on the powerplay, Immonen (15) and Dawes (11) have combined for 26 out of the Wolf Pack’s 76 powerplay goals thus far.

Another player I feel deserves a look in New York is Alexandre Giroux. While his preseason may not have been all that impressive, he’s improved every season that he’s been in the American Hockey League. Last season he put up 32 goals in 78 games, this season he has 29 goals in 59 games. I think that he could be a good player for the Rangers on the third line, paring him with Dominic Moore and Jed Ortmeyer might pay off for the Rangers. Giroux not only can score, but he adds a physical presence as well. He’s respectable at both ends of the ice, though I’m not entirely sure he could crack the top two lines in New York. With Prucha and Dawes likely being the top two prospects at left wing for a long period of time, it seems as if Giroux might be the odd man out. Before the seasons over, and after the Rangers secure a playoff spot, I wouldn’t mind seeing him in New York for a couple of games to give the star players a rest.

The defensive prospect in Hartford that seems to draw the most attention from the Rangers fan base is Thomas Pock. As much as I like Pock’s offensive ability, he hasn’t really improved much on defense over the course of the season. There is absolutely no question that he’s a talented player offensively, but all other aspects of his game are lacking, to say the least. Yes, he’s spent some time in New York, and I agree with his call ups. The Rangers at the time needed a puck moving defenseman who could quarterback the powerplay, and Thomas Pock was the closest thing to that in the system. Ultimately, I have to say the Rangers made the right call when they traded for Sandis Ozolnish at the deadline, instead of keeping Thomas Pock up. If Pock works on his defense, there’s no question in my mind he’d be able to stick in New York. He’s got time to do that in Hartford, that’s why the Wolf Pack are here in the first place. The Pack are here to develop players for the New York Rangers, and I think they’ve done a very good job at doing that. He’s not ready for the NHL just yet, but I think he will be in a couple seasons.

One kid on the Pack who doesn’t get enough credit is Daniel Girardi. He may not have an NHL contract, but he definitely deserves one. When he was first called up to Hartford, he earned a lot of fans with his first couple of games, he was very solid on defense and put up three assists. He basically played himself onto the team, I don’t think he gave the coaches any reason to send him back to Charlotte. He’s a very disciplined defenseman, he rarely loses his temper. In fifty games he’s taken all of nine penalties, nothing more than a minor a game. In fact, he went 21 consecutive games without once visiting the penalty box. To further pad his resume, he’s a right handed defenseman, something the Rangers don’t have too many of in their system. Girardi also has a knack for scoring timely goals. If my count is right, six out of his seven goals have broken a tie and given the Wolf Pack the lead, and the only one that hasn’t was an insurance marker in the 5-1 victory over Houston. He’s probably the best all around defenseman in Hartford, offensively and defensively.

Rangers fans should be glad to hear Hugh Jessiman is improving as the season progresses. Since he was recalled from Charlotte on January 17th, he’s recorded 14 points in 24 games. His physical presence isn’t as great as some of the other players on the team, such as Craig Weller, but he definitely is more noticeable than he was before his stint in the ECHL. He looks more confident along the boards, and even got into a fight once. I think that he and Jake Taylor should just stop fighting.

I think that pretty much covers it. It’ll be interesting to see how the Pack’s next couple of games pan out, whether they continue to struggle or get back on track. They travel to Philadelphia to take on the Phantoms on Wednesday, before heading further south to take on the Norfolk Admirals on consecutive nights. Then, the Pack return home to take on the Manchester Monarchs at 11 AM on Wednesday, March 22nd.

- Calder

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