WOLF PACK SIGN CASE McCARTHY TO TWO-YEAR DEAL

By: Alex Thomas: Hartford Wolf Pack Former Boston University Terrier Signs ATO for Remainder of 2023-24 Season HARTFORD, CT – New York Rangers Assistant General Manager and Hartford Wolf Pack General Manager Ryan Martin announced today that the club has signed defenseman Case McCarthy to a two-year, standard AHL player contract. The deal will begin with the 2024-25 campaign. Additionally, the club has signed McCarthy to an amateur tryout agreement for the remainder of the 2023-24 season. He will join the team immediately. McCarthy appeared in a career-high 39 games with the Boston University Terriers this season, scoring nine points (4 g, 5 a). He helped lead the team to the 2024 Frozen Four, the program's second straight appearance and their 24th all-time. McCarthy appeared in 144 games with the Terriers throughout five seasons, scoring 52 points (15 g, 37 a). He set career highs in assists with twelve and points with 15 during the 2022-23 season. His five goals during the 2021-22 campaign were his career-high in that category. The native of Clarence Center, NY, served as captain of the Terriers this past season. He also wore an "A" for the club during the 2022-23 season. McCarthy has represented the United States at both the Under-18 World Junior Championship and the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge internationally. The Wolf Pack wrap up the home portion of their 2023-24 season on Friday night when the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins come to town on Fan Appreciation Night. Join us for $2 drafts and $2 hot dogs until the end of the first intermission! The first 1,500 fans in attendance will also receive an Anton Blidh bobblehead, while one lucky fan will get the chance to win $100,000. Tickets are available at hartfordwolfpack.com. About OVG360: OVG360, a division of Oak View Group, is a full-service venue management and hospitality company that helps client partners reimagine the sports, live entertainment, and convention industries for the betterment of the venue, employees, artists, athletes, and surrounding communities. With a portfolio of more than 200 client partners spanning arenas, stadiums, convention centers, performing arts centers, cultural institutions, and state fairs around the globe, OVG360 provides a set of services, resources, and expertise designed to elevate every aspect of business that matters to venue operators. Service-oriented and driven by social responsibility, OVG360 helps facilities drive value through excellence and innovation in food services, booking and content development, sustainable operations, public health and safety, and more. ABOUT THE HARTFORD WOLF PACK: The Hartford Wolf Pack has been a premier franchise in the American Hockey League since its inception in 1997. The Wolf Pack is the top player-development affiliate of the NHL's New York Rangers and plays at the XL Center. The Wolf Pack has been home to some of the Rangers' newest faces, including Igor Shesterkin, Filip Chytil, and Ryan Lindgren. Follow the Wolf Pack on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok. HARTFORD WOLF PACK HOWLINGS Read the full article

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PROVIDENCE COLLEGE DOUBLED UP BY BOSTON U

By: Shay Costa, Howlings PROVIDENCE, RI— The #2 Boston University Terriers (23-8-2, 17-4-2) got three points each from Macklin Celebrini (2 goals, 1 assist) and Shane LaChance (1 goal, 2 assists) and scored three times in the third period to turn back an upset bid by the #11/10 Providence College Friars (18-12-3, 11-9-3) and won 4-2 on Thursday in front of 2,498 at Schneider Area in Providence, Rhode Island. “We were a little loose in our gaps, and they made us pay,” said PC Head Coach Nate Leaman. The Friars hoped to win, move past UMass, and earn home-ice advantage in the first round of Hockey East playoffs. Trailing 2-1 entering the third period, the momentum favored PC. They'd scored twice and still had 49 seconds remaining on BU's Gavin McCarthy's spearing major penalty. McCarthy was given a game misconduct on the play with just over four minutes left in the second period. But things began to unravel for PC when winger Cal Keifiuk carelessly tripped Celebrini for a penalty at 1:27, which would be the game's turning point. On the resulting power play, Boston found Celebrini, who launched a rocket of a one-timer from the point to tie the game at 2-2 at 2:42. The unraveling continued 16 seconds later when PC's Jaroslav Chmelar was called for boarding on Boston’s Ty Gallagher. Even though BU failed to score, they'd clearly taken over control of the contest. LaChance would put BU ahead to stay, 3-2, at 9:26 after a juicy rebound of his own shot led to his second-chance attempt that he slipped past PC's netminder, Phillip Svedebäck. The Terriers would cap off the game's scoring less than two minutes later off the rush as Jack Harvey beat Svedebäck on helpers from Celebrini and Lachance. Celebrini, the team's freshman point leader, scored the game's opening goal came after he tripped over a Friars defenseman and had his forehand bid sail past Svedebäck at 8:42 of the first period. The Terriers totally dominated the first frame, outshooting the Friars 12-0. “We weren’t competing at all,” admitted Leaman. “We so many pucks.” Things would change in the second period as the Friars found their game. Opening the period skating 4-on-4, after Friar Clint Levens and Lachance were sent at the end of the first for matching unsportsmanlike conduct minors. Levens wasn’t alone in the box for long, as Guillaume Richard was called for holding just 21 seconds into the period, giving Boston over a minute of 4-on-3. Desperation proved to be a strong motivator as the Providence PK was desperate and effective. When a hooking call went to d-man Lane Hutson at 10:46, forward Nick Poisson found the stick of captain Chris Yoder, who went forehand-to-backhand and deked Boston netminder Mathieu Caron to knot the score at 11:37. Providence would take their only lead when a broken stick from BU defenseman Tom Willander gave Friars center Hudson Malinoski a solo opportunity against Caron, who was caught out too far from his net and was beaten on a wrap-around shot that put the Friars up 2-1. With one game left before playoffs, Leaman acknowledged the change his team needs for success in their final game. “ a better start. I think we have to manage the puck a lot better because I think we’re going to see a similar type of team that wants to transition on us.” Providence’s final game of the season is 4 PM on Saturday, March 9th, against Northeastern, and will compete in Hockey East playoffs the following week. PROVIDENCE COLLEGE HOWLINGS Read the full article

CANTLON: UCONN WINS FIRST PLAYOFF GAME

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings HARTFORD, CT - UCONN punched their ticket to the Hockey East semifinals with their first-ever playoff win in Hockey East, 3-1 over the #16 ranked Boston University Terriers on Saturday. The win gave the Huskies 19 on the season (19-15, overall) and established a school record for the most wins in a single season in school history. The win also ended an 0-9 record in post-season play. UCONN take on Northeastern, who were 3-2 winners over Boston College after another stellar Devon Levi performance. The game will be on Friday at 4:00 PM. Levi stopped 100-of-103 UCONN shots two weeks ago in a two-game series. CAVANAUGH EXCITED As the seconds ticked off the XL Center scoreboard, Huskies Head Coach Mike Cavanaugh turned around and, with both fists, slammed the glass behind the UCONN bench. Ten years of emotion poured out and let out a primal scream joining the frenzied scene at the UCONN bench. “It was raw emotion. When I came to UCONN, my goal was I wanted to build a blue-chip program, not a dot com (one with a transitory presence). Not win a few years and go back down again. A program that got better and better. Face it, we as a program hadn’t won a playoff game. We had great efforts, but we still hadn’t done it yet. So, when we finally did, it was raw emotion (that) came out.” THE FINAL SAVE A grad transfer from Union College, Darion Hanson, came to the Huskies with the second most playoff experience (19 junior A games) behind Jarrod Gourley (23 and a championship with Spruce Grove - AJHL) faced just one shot in the final 1:53. “It felt like more,” Cavanaugh said with a laugh. With the extra attacker on the ice for the Terriers, the last save for Hanson came off a left-wing circle face-off win by BU’s William Skoog. He got it back to Domenick Fensore at the left point and launched his fourth shot on the net. Hanson Hanson found the puck through a maze of players to make the save. “They won the face-off. So it’s my job as a goalie to follow the puck at their point. I saw the release from the point. I didn’t see it a little bit and lost it. It came through some skates, then it hit something, deflected and it hit me in the hip. I was down on the ice, on my hands, and looked over and saw it there. The rebound was there for anybody to take,” Hanson said, recounting the scene. “I didn’t see anything for a second, but then I saw (teammate) Marc Gatcomb came in and swept it away,” Hanson added. “When that happened I knew it was over. That’s something I’m not gonna forget for awhile.” Hanson set a school record for Division-1 wins (19). He made 38 saves, with 19 of them coming in the third period as BU put pressure on. BRADLEY BACK Chase Bradley missed the last six games with an injury. He had a sure goal late in the first period that rolled off his stick, but he would capitalize later with an empty-net tally to secure the win. He tugged his jersey as he skated around the BU net. The UCONN bench and the fans erupted in spontaneous joy at the win. “We missed him for six games and we were two-and-four without him. Having him and Nick Capone back in our lineup tonight created momentum for us. He’s a strong player, strong on the puck. He’s a strong presence for us.” GAME-WINNING GOAL Jonny Evans ended an eight-game goal-scoring drought with what proved to be the game-winner for UCONN. It was the game’s second goal and came off a strong play by Ryan Wheeler. Evans’ shot went off BU goaltender Drew Commesso. The rebound went to Wheeler after hitting BU defenseman Domenick Fensore. The puck caromed to Marc Gatcomb, who calmly corralled the loose puck and set it on the backdoor to Evans, who went to the forehand and buried his sixth of the season past Commesso at 10:26. Evans had no nervousness being around the semi-open net. “Honestly, I didn’t think about it. I just wanted to get it over his pad. It was a slight angle, but we got a good bounce.” Cavanaugh was very pleased with Evans. “His compete level was high and he was making plays in front of the net. He could have had a couple of goals and did all the little things to be successful.” Getting two, but especially getting that first past, Commesso was important. “We came out strong and that was a point of emphasis getting one by him. Sometimes you do all that work and have nothing to show for it. We got that goal and felt pretty good about ourselves going into the second period,” remarked Cavanaugh of an 18-shot first period. GOALS AND DEFENSE Vladislav Firstov circled back in the offensive, made a perfect tip of Jake Flynn’s shot from the right point for the first UCONN goal. The UCONN team defense limited Fensore and William Skoog to four shots apiece for the game and the lethal Luke Tuch to none. “I’m glad for us. We practiced this all week and that we had a game like this, this the way it’s gonna be like (in the semifinals) the further you go the greater it will be.” Fensore’s goal for BU (19-13-3) at 13:01 of the third period caused a tightening of UCONN’s neck collars. Fensore blasted a Jay O’Brien pass from the left-wing corner in the lower face-off circle. It would be the only puck to evade Hanson in the game. HANSON STRONG IN THE THIRD PERIOD Entering the third leading by two goals, Hanson was calm, cool, and collected as he evoked memories of another Connecticut goalie, Jeff Malcolm, who now finds himself just across the hallway as the goalie coach for the Hartford’s Wolf Pack (AHL). Malcolm led Yale to a national title in 2012. Malcolm also was calm, measured, and deliberate about facing that pressure heading into the third. “To be honest, it’s nothing noteworthy. A big piece of being successful in the playoffs is you just try to block out the noise. It’s the third period. We’ve got the lead. It’s not like something we haven’t seen before. They are playing great and I have trust in these guys. We just went out and were shaving off minutes, one by one.” Cavanaugh paid his goalie the props he deserved. “He made that big-time save at 2-1, and he’s been doing that all year long for us. He’s been steady as a rock and he’s a super kid. He’s better off the ice, than on if you can believe that, and glad he is in our goal.” Cavanaugh also didn’t shy away from the matchup of Jachym Kondelik, the conference’s Defensive Player of the Year, and BU’s Alex Vlasic. It’s a clash between two giant-sized players as Kondelik is 6’6 and Vlasic is 6’7. “I think they were matching Vlasic on him, not the other way around,” Cavanaugh said with a wry smile. Kondelik was double-shifted in the third period. “He was named as the best defensive forward for a reason. He’s a strong player, and wins puck battles. The thing I’m most proud of with Jachym is how he has grown into it and become a real leader for this team.” LINES Gatcomb-Evans-Turnbull Firstov-Kondelik-O’Neil Schandor-Schlaine-Tverberg Bradley-Capone-Veilleux Kinal-Spetz Wheeler-Rees Flynn-Gourley Berger Hanson Terness SCRATCHES Sasha Telguine John Wojciechowski Aidan Metcalfe Gavin Puskar Matt Pasquale Cassidy Bowes NOTES Somewhere in the heart of Kansas City, where defenseman Miles Gendron, the former Huskies captain, plies his trade professionally in the ECHL, saw his declaration from over three years ago come true for this group of Huskies. He and his old collegiate and current teammate, Zac Robbins, can celebrate the UCONN victory as they got the mountain peak a little later than they wanted, but they got there. UCONN HOCKEY HOME Read the full article

CANTLON: NHL DRAFT DAY 2 SUMMARY AND NEWS

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings HARTFORD, CT - The bulk of the selections in the NHL Draft come on day two. Due to the pandemic, the sample size for current video and seeing players in-person is much smaller. Therefore, there were far fewer than normal games played. In some cases, no games were played at all. College players had a much shorter-than-usual schedule. Most schools had conference-only matchups, except for a few schools that managed to get in a few non-conference meetings. In Canadian junior hockey, only the QMJHL was able to play a division-only schedule, albeit an interrupted one. The WHL played just 25 divisional games while over in the OHL. They didn't play at all. Meanwhile, in the United States, the highest junior league, the tier-1 USHL, played a 54-game schedule, with many players that weren't selected, but that should have been. The breakdown of the final draft numbers is a bit surprising. In the major junior category, the WHL had 31 players selected. The QMJHL saw 24 drafted. The inactive OHL saw 22 of its players chosen, the same for the USHL. Finally, the tier-2 NAHL had one picked. Outside of the three studs from Michigan taken in the first five picks, two (2) other collegiate players were taken in the remainder of the draft. There were 91 players selected from Europe. ASSESSING WHO TO SELECT In terms of the ever-critical development picture, so many scouts were making assessments on year-old games or based their opinions on an incomplete '20-'21 season, with video as their only guide. Players have grown physically and mentally, but their in-game reps and in-person scouting assessments were critically lacking. Like New York Rangers first-round pick Brennan Othermann, who holds dual citizenship in Europe (Switzerland), and Chase Stillman, the grandson of former New Haven Nighthawk and Ranger, ninth round (154th overall) 1975 draft choice, Bud Stefanski, took a chance. Instead, they played in Denmark as they sought a less affected COVID country and giving themselves a heightened chance of being scouted. Scouts were put to the test this draft to fill organizational needs with hidden gems that nobody else had found. As a result, the dice were tossed all over NHL Draft rooms. MORROW GOES IN ROUND TWO The town of Darien is becoming a CT hockey hotbed of late. First, goalie Spencer Knight was drafted. He now skates for the Florida Panthers. Then, when the Carolina Hurricanes made their second pick (40th overall), they chose the right-handed shooting defenseman, Scott Morrow. Steve Morrow, his father, was drafted by the Flyers as a tenth-round pick in the 1987 Draft (209th overall). He had a brief minor-league pro career with the Hershey Bears (AHL) and the Ft. Worth Texans (CHL). Recently, he coached in the Mid-Fairfield Rangers youth hockey program. He is named after his uncle, Scott, drafted by the Hartford Whalers in the fifth round (95th overall) in the 1988 NHL Draft. He never made it to Hartford but did play for their AHL farm team, the Springfield Indians. He had a ten-year minor league pro career. The younger Morrow has skated the last five years in the Shattuck’s St. Mary’s Sabres program (MNPREP), bypassing public and prep school hockey in the Nutmeg State. Instead, he's heading to play for the defending national champion UMASS-Amherst Minutemen (HE) program coached by Greg Carvel after de-committing from traditional hockey powerhouse, North Dakota (NCHC). Morrow sent a PowerPoint presentation to Shattuck’s-the modern-day version of the handwritten letter, which speaks about his commitment, use of modern technology, and maturity shown at a young age. Morrow was one of four Shattuck’s players drafted this weekend. He played with UCONN’s Artem Schlaine and will be his opponent this upcoming college season. He played two regular season USHL games with the Youngstown (OH) Phantoms, and he was traded twice. First, from Youngstown to the Sioux City (IA) Musketeers and had his rights dealt to the Fargo (ND) Force, he played six playoff games. He was also a 2018 QMJHL draftee of the Val d‘Or Foreurs. MORE SECOND ROUND The last pick of the second round, 64th overall, was Oliver Kapanen, nephew of Whaler favorite, Sami Kapanen, and the cousin of the Penguins' Kasperi. He played for the KalPa U-20 team and is slated to play for KalPa Kuopio (Finland-FEL) this season and is WJC eligible and played for Finland’s U-18 this spring. Sami, a fourth-round Whalers' draftee in 1988, is currently the head coach with HC Lugano (Switzerland-LNA). He played 831 NHL games with Hartford, the Carolina Hurricanes, and the Philadelphia Flyers. His grandfather Hannu played for the 1976 Finnish Olympic team and their World Championship squad. Other notables included the Arizona Coyotes, who were penalized by the NHL for their indiscretion in the NHL Combine process under former GM Jeff Chayka. They lost their first-round pick as a penalty imposed by the NHL took forward Josh Doan from the formidable Chicago Steel (USHL) program. Doan’s father, Shane, is the Coyotes all-time top player in every category for the troubled franchise’s history. He was passed over last year in the 2020 Draft, but a big season paid off. He was a 2017 Kamloops Blazers (WHL) draftee on his father’s team. He will skate for the Arizona St. Sun Devils, an NCAA Division-I independent program with no conference at this time. OTHER PICKS Samuel Helenius, a 6’6 center, was taken by the LA Kings 59th overall. He played for JYP (Finland-FEL) and is WJC eligible and played in the tourney last year. His father Sami was a 6’5 defenseman with 155 NHL games with the Calgary Flames, the Dallas Stars, and the Tampa Bay Lightning. He also played 296 AHL games with Saint John's, Utah, and Hershey, plus 56 IHL games with Las Vegas and Chicago. ROUND THREE With the first pick in the third-round (65th overall), the Rangers chose 6'3, 190-pound center Jayden Grubbe. Last year, he played only five games and was captain of the Red Deer Rebels (WHL), coached by NHL’er Brent Sutter of the famous hockey-playing Sutter family. In his rookie WHL season, he played 59 games with six goals and 23 assists. He has a younger 15-year brother Jordan playing in Alberta bantam hockey. The Rangers' second pick in the third round was another center, Ryder Korczak of the Moose Jaw Warriors (WHL). He played 17 games with three goals and 13 assists but was a minus-11. In 62 games in the 2019-20 season for the Warriors, Korczak had 18 goals and 67 points but was a startling minus-40. His older Kaedan is a member of the Vegas Golden Knights, a second-round draftee who split last year with Kelowna Rockets (WHL) and the Henderson Silver Knights (AHL). His father, Chad, is the general manager of their hometown Yorkton Maulers (SMAAAHL) team. With the 71st pick, the St. Louis Blues took Simon Robertsson, former Wolf Pack/Ranger Bert Robertsson's son. He played with three teams last year Skellefteå AIK (Sweden-SHL), Skellefteå AIK J-20 and Piteå HC (Hockey Ettan). He was sent home from the WJC Finland with a positive COVID test but did play for the WJC U-18 team. He is expected to play for the Skellefteå AIK (SHL and J-20) squads in the fall and remains WJC eligible. ROUND FOUR In the fourth round, the Rangers had three selections. Brody Lamb, taken 104th overall, is a University Minnesota Golden Gophers (Big 10) commit in the fall. He skated for three teams last season.  The Dodge County High School team in Kasson, MN, where, in 24 games, he had 52 goals and 87 points. The second team was a travel team TDS Construction (USSEHL). In 19 games, Lamb had 12 goals and 23 points. He also had ten games with the USHL Green Bay Gamblers, where he had two assists playing for former Beast of New Haven's Pat Miskesch, who is the head coach and GM of the Gamblers. In 53 games total, he had 64 goals and 111 points. He played three playoff games between TDS and Green Bay with one assist. His father, Jeff, played collegiately for the University of Denver Pioneers then in the WCHA and had a brief three-year minor pro career two with the original Maine Mariners (AHL) and his last season with the Phoenix Roadrunners (IHL). FINAL FOURTH-ROUNDER Then three picks later, at 107th, they selected their first European pick of this draft, 6’4 185 lb. 18-year-old LW Kalle Väisänen from TPS Turku U-20 team where he skated in 27 games with nine goals, 21 assists for 30 points and played one game with the U-18 team. He is slated to play for TPS Turku (Finland-FEL) this year and is WJC eligible. His father Markku played in the Finnish league professionally for eight years and coached at various times in four years in the lower levels of Finnish hockey. Then five slots later, at 112th overall, the Rangers' third pick in the round, the team went for a tall goalie and the biggest player in the draft. At 6’8, they chose Talyn Boyko from the Tri-City (WA) Americans (WHL). In his third season, he played 14 games with a 3.02 GAA, .901 save percentage, and had a record of 7-7-0. He turns 19 in October, so he will likely return for the fourth season of junior hockey. Then forward, Ethan Cardwell was taken 121st overall by the San Jose Sharks. He is the nephew of former New Haven Knights (UHL) player Matt Cardwell. He plays with the Barrie Colts (OHL),  but last year laced them up for Surahammers IF (Sweden HockeyEtttan Division-1 third tier) and had 27 points in 18 games and had a team-best plus-10. ROUND FIVE With the 144th overall pick, the Rangers chose forward Jaroslav Chmelar, an 18-year native of the Czech Republic. He played in Finland for the Jokerit U-18/U-20 teams and played for the Czech national J-18 team in the J-18 tournament held in Canada. He stands at 6’4 and weighs 198-pounds. He shoots right-handed. Detroit took Oscar Plandowski, a Selects Academy at South Kent team member, in 2018-19. He played last season for the Charlottetown (PEI) Islanders. His father, Darryl, is the Director of Amateur Scouting for Arizona. From the Saint John Sea Dogs (QMJHL), Cameron MacDonald was selected with the last pick in the round (160th) by the  Standley Cup Champions, the Tampa Bay Lightning.  He also played for the Selects Academy at South Kent Prep program in 2018-19 and out in a game with the CT Jr, Rangers (NCDC) that season. Other interesting players of note who were taken in the round include the Carolina Hurricanes selection of Robert Orr, no relation to the great Robert Gordon Orr, aka Bobby Orr. This Orr playing for former Hartford Wolf Pack assistant coach J.J. Daigneault with the Halifax Mooseheads (QMJHL). The Hurricanes also took Justin Robidas, born in Plano, Texas, and is the son of former NHL’er Stéphane Robidas (937 games). Arizona took Manix Landry, the son of long-time AHL and European player Éric Landry, who had a brief NHL career with the Montreal Canadiens. ROUND SIX Selecting 186th overall, the Edmonton Oilers took Shane LaChance, the son of Bristol-born Scott LaChance. His father was drafted out of BU in the 1st round (4th overall) by the New York Islanders in the 1991 Draft. His uncle Bob LaChance skated for the Bridgeport Sound Tigers (AHL) and Danbury Trashers (UHL). His grandfather is legendary long-time Boston University head coach Jack Parker. LaChance played last year for the Boston Jr. Bruins (NCDC) and is enrolled and has played for Tabor Academy (MAPREP). He is a 2022-23 commit to the Boston University Terriers (HE), to no one's surprise. ROUND SEVEN The Rangers' last draft selection was a defenseman—Hank Kempf from the Muskegon Lumberjacks (USHL), who was taken 208th overall. In 26 games, the 6’2 190-pound rearguard had four goals and 10 points and was a plus-5. He is a Cornell Big Red (ECACHL) commit in the fall. Early in the last round Ryan McCleary, the son of former New Haven Senators and NHL’er Trent McCLeary, was selected 194th by Pittsburgh. McLeary was the fifth-youngest taken at age 17 and the fifth lightest at 154 lbs. TRADES After nine seasons in Columbus with the Blue Jackets, right-wing Cam Arkinson (Riverside/Avon Old Farms) was moved to the Philadelphia Flyers for defenseman Jakub Voracek. NOTES The Rangers announced that defenseman Tony DeAngelo had cleared waivers. His buyout is now complete and his turbulent Rangers career is finished. He is now a free agent. The 6’8 240-pound goalie, Hugo Ollas, a draft pick last year from Sweden, commits to Merrimack College (HE) in the fall. He is WJC eligible. The AHL Henderson Silver Knights will have 61 games next season at their present temporary home of Orleans Arena. They will play their final home games and post-season hockey in their brand-new Dollar Loan Center starting April 2, 2022. The Springfield Thunderbirds had two big signings from the parent St. Louis Blues. First, Australian veteran winger Nathan Walker signed a two-year two-way deal at $750K-NHL/$300K-AHL. The other is a one-year, two-way for winger Nolan Stevens. The deal pays him $700K for play in the NHL and $100K in the AHL. Stevens comes to Springfield, where his AHL Hall of Fame father, John Walker, played for the Springfield Indians. He won a Cader Cup in 1990-91 and is currently an assistant coach with the Dallas Stars. The parent clubs of the Ontario Reign and Tucson Roadrunners conducted an AHL trade. Los Angeles (Reign) sent Cole Hults and Bokondji Imama to the Arizona Coyotes (Roadrunners) for Brayden Burke and Tyler Steenbergen. The Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning signed Gemel Smith to a two-way, two-year deal paying $750K-NHL/$250K-AHL. NHL HOME Read the full article

CANTLON: UCONN LOSES 6-1 AT H-E QUARTERS

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings STORRS, CT - Six different Providence College (11-8-5) players scored with four having multiple-point games as the Friars dominated UCONN 6-1 on Sunday afternoon at Freitas Ice Forum. The Friars advance to the Hockey East semifinals on Wednesday against UMASS-Amherst. With the loss, UCONN is eliminated from the postseason. UCONN season ends with a sub-.500 record (10-11-2) and failed again to advance beyond the quarterfinal round. “It just wasn’t our night tonight,” said a clearly disappointed UCONN Head Coach, Mike Cavanaugh. "I give credit to Providence (College). They played a great game tonight. They came out in the first and jumped us, and I thought we survived that and played OK, but it wasn’t our night.” UCONN had a momentum swing chance in the third period, but despite taking 20 shots (41 for the game) on goal they couldn’t get one past Jaxon Stauber (40 saves), who surprisingly, was not selected as a Hockey East All-Star team selection.

THE DAGGER

At 7:52 UCONN had an apparent goal wiped out. Despite appearing on the video replay to have fully crossed the goal line,  Carter Turnbull, with Artem Shlaine there at the net, had his shot go off the back skate of Stauber and into the net. The referees decided otherwise. Following the overturned goal, what followed Cavanaugh felt was the dagger to the Huskies. PC’s Tyce Thompson early third-period goal (1:25) epitomized the afternoon of frustration for UCONN. After Tomáš Vomáčka stopped him, the loose puck was between his pads. Thompson just chipped it and it rolled over the UCONN netminder's pads and went past him. As he reached back to try and stop it from crossing the goal line,  Vomáčka's own elbow inadvertently knocked it in. The goal was Thompson’s 11th of the season. “We had a good shift to start and then come down and scored and I haven’t seen the replay yet, that was a backbreaker. I don’t think we came out slow, it was just the way the puck bounced. It was a microcosm of how our night went and the second goal our guy got a piece of it and it knuckles over Tomas into the net and things didn’t go our way.”

VOMACKA

Cavanaugh was not displeased with Vomáčka's (37 saves) performance and explained just how courageous his goaltender's last month has been. “I have to look over the goals in the third period, but you got to understand something, he's played the last month with a torn meniscus (cartilage in the knee) and has been grinding it out.  I gotta give that kid all the credit in the world. He has fought through a lot of pain to finish this season. I wouldn’t have wanted another goaltender in the net the way he competes and what he went through for this team.”

MORE FRIAR GOALS

Providence College followed with two more goals. The Huskies' Marc Gatcomb turned over the puck to Patrick Moynihan. He made a quick entry into the UCONN zone and Nate Yoder took his backhanded pass and zipped a shot that was initially stopped by Vomáčka. PC’s Brett Berard, a New York Rangers draftee, tallied off the rebound for his fifth goal of the season making it 5-1 at 10:53. Max Crozier closed out the scoring with an easy tap in goal after  Vomáčka made a spectacular save a Yoder’s shot. In the second period, Providence College continued its dominance scoring two goals a minute apart in the first five minutes of the period. At 1:58, the Friars' Chase Yoder won the draw from Hudson Schandor. John McDermott (Darien/Westminster Prep) shipped the puck back to defenseman Cam McDonald. He sent it over to Uula Riukka at the right point, and he clanked it off the post into the net as McDermott and Berard were in front creating traffic. “We thought one of the keys to the game was winning face-offs and winning the battles in our house, and they won more battles in the house than we did,” commented Cavanaugh, The Friars won a one-on-one battle behind the net. The puck stayed inside the UCONN zone as Ben Mirageas (Avon Old Farms) launched a left-point shot that Vomáčka made the save on, but there was a rebound, and Nick Poisson, who had inside position, buried it for his fourth goal and a 2-0 lead for Providence College.

MCDONALD'S RETURN

McDonald’s addition was very important to PC head coach Nate Leaman. “We lost him to COVID and having him back in the lineup helped settle things down and he gave us the help we needed and the fact we stayed out of the box in the first helped.” Vomáčka made three critical stops that prevented the Friars from running away from UCONN early and kept his team in the game. UCONN narrowed the gap to 3-1 at 9:20 when, on his second whack at it, Jachym Kondelik at a rebound of a Jonny Evans shot went off Stauber’s body and the puck flipped up and nestled in the upper right corner, a greasy goal that UCONN's hard work earned. Kondelik who's been without a goal in 21 games, tallied his fourth in two games.

HOWARTH SERIOUSLY HURT

After a series of penalties, UCONN was able to create some space for an Evans wraparound chance that was stopped but saw the Huskies suffer a tough player loss. Winger Kale Howarth was battling in front of the net with PC’s Jason O’Neil at 15:33. He fell forward and with his left leg twisted awkwardly behind him O’Neill, who was behind him, came down and fell with his full body weight on the back of his knee. Howarth was writhing in pain and clutching his left knee while kicking his right skate into the ice. He was escorted off the ice with the assistance of the team trainer and John Spetz putting no weight on the leg. Needless to say, his game was finished. Cavanaugh did not provide an update on Howarth's condition in his post-game press conference.

FIRST PERIOD

The first period saw PC’s hold a 19-8 advantage in shots with only Vomáčka’s superb goaltending keeping the game close. Michael Callahan, Mitch Crozier were stopped before the Friars scored the game’s first goal. Riukka, a PC d-man, was at the right point and fired a shot. Parker Ford was able to get a piece and the puck evaded Vomáčka. The best chance for UCONN came from the stick of Carter Berger coming in all alone off the left-wing, he got Stauber to commit, went around him, and tried for the open short-side, but ran out of space and Stauber reached back to swallow the puck at 10:15. A 3-on-1 saw Greg Printz got behind Yan Kuznetsov, but Vomáčka shut the door. Evans had one of his few chances of the night a right-wing toe drag that Stauber was square on and made a right pad stop. Crozier and Printz of the Friars made another chance for the Friars, but Vomáčka kept them at bay.  Ford hit the post at 14:02.

LINES:

Marc Gatcomb-Jachym Kondelik-Jonny Evans Vladislav Firstov-Hudson Schandor- Ryan Tverberg Kale Howarth-Artem Shlaine-Carter Turnbull Zac Robbins-Brian Rigali-Eric Linnell Yan Kuznetsov-Adam Karashik Carter Berger-John Spetz Roman Kinal-Harrison Rees Jake Flynn

INJURED:

Nick Capone (lower body)

SCRATCHED:

Ryan Wheeler

NOTES:

In Hockey East playoff action, UMASS-Lowell knocked off the favored Boston University Terriers 2-1. UMASS-Amherst defeated Northeastern 4-1, and the nation's number one ranked team, Boston College, held on for a 3-2 over UNH. Hockey East semifinals will be on Wednesday with PC playing UMASS-Amherst and Boston College hosting UMASS-Lowell. In the Big 10 tournament,  after being sidelined 34 days because of COVID-19 protocols and missing eight games, the Penn State Nittany Lions doubled-up on Notre Dame, 6-3. Minnesota avoided a major upset and squeaked by Michigan State 2-1 in overtime. Michigan beat Ohio State 5-1, and Niagara University tripped up Robert Morris, 2-1. Saturday saw Sacred Heart University eliminated by Army in the 9th longest game in NCAA post-season history, losing 4-3 in triple overtime.

SIGNINGS

Several college players have signed pro deals. The latest to sign is Josh Dunne of Clarkson University (ECACHL). He puts his name to a contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets (NHL) and was sent on loan to the Cleveland Monsters (AHL). Bryce Misley of the University Vermont (HE) signs with the Iowa Wild (AHL). Division-III's Adam Parsells of the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire (WIAC) signs with the Utah Grizzlies (ECHL). Two Connecticut players make college commitments.  Max Phillips of the CT Chiefs (EHL) will head to Division III's Southern New Hampshire University (Northeast-10) which was formerly known as New Hampshire College. Alex Mosian (Greenwich/Hotchkiss Prep) makes a commitment to Division III's Trinity College (Hartford) Bantams (NESCAC). Micah Gernander, the Connecticut-born (Newington) son of former Hartford Wolf Pack head coach and player, Ken Gernander, has made a commitment to Gustavus Adolphus (St. Peter, MN) for 2021-22. He currently is skating with the Rochester (MN) Grizzlies (NA3HL). UCONN HOCKEY HOME Read the full article