Ugh. Another one who has to bite his old team. Can the Whale stop losing players who have the ability to come back and haunt them? (Photo: Bridget Samuels/flickr)

The Whale hoped to end 2012 on the right foot by finally beating the Portland Pirates on their third try. They were well on their way to doing so when disaster struck and to that this Whale fan has one thing to say – Good riddance 2012! Hopefully 2013 will be a better year for you boys!

As for the game, no lineup changes for the Whale…but that is probably because they have no extra players to switch out as the only player on the roster not playing at the moment is Dylan McIlrath, who is serving the second game of his two-game suspension.

The Whale got the first power play of the game a little over five minutes in and while they got a few chances, they weren’t able to get one past Chad Johnson. (Yes, the same Chad Johnson who manned the Whale net last season.) Six and a half minutes later, the Whale took their first penalty. Thirty seconds later, the Pirates went back to the box leading to a minute and a half of 4-on-4 hockey.

» Continue reading “Whale Fans: Good Riddance 2012!”

Who else would you expect me to put at the top of the last post of the year? I miss you. Please come back to NY soon! (Photo: Bridget Samuels/flickr)

I can’t believe it’s been eight months since I started this site. Thank you to all of you who read my babble each day (if there are any of you out there actually reading this).

I’m going to end 2012 with some tweets by our boys. It’s conversations like the one below which is why I love this team so much.

» Continue reading “A Little Twitter Fun”

Why is my lasting image of this game of you, Tomas Kopecky? (Photo: Bridget Samuels/flickr)

Throughout the lockout, many blogs are doing fake recaps of the games that should’ve been taking place. I’ve decided to go another route by doing real recaps…of the games that happened on that date one year ago.

My lasting memory of the game between the Panthers and Rangers on December 30, 2011? The crap that took place with eight seconds to go along with the ridiculous quotes that followed afterwards. I really hate when games are remembered for stuff like that rather than things that actually happened on the ice.

The good news was in their final tune-up before the Winter Classic, the Rangers did actually get back in the win column as they once again chased a Panthers goalie.

» Continue reading “One Year Ago Today: Boys End 2011 With A Win”

Someone finally decided to burn their ex-team rather than allowing the Falcons to do it to the Whale. (Photo: Bridget Samuels/flickr)

Tonight was a big game for the Whale as they might have figured out the way to beat Springfield this season – keep their ex-teammates off the scoreboard. It only took five games for them to realize that would help.

Here’s a stat to keep in mind for tonight’s tilt against the Falcons – in four games this season, the Falcons have outscored the Whale 19-5. Yes you read that correctly and no I have no intention of mentioning how many points Jonathan Audy-Marchessault and Tim Erixon have in the series. (Just assume it’s a lot and you would be correct.) Now we can make that 21-9 in five games.

» Continue reading “Whale Win By Doubling Up Falcons”

Not a good start to your season kid… (Photo: @dylan_mcilrath/twitter)

Dylan McIlrath returned to the Connecticut Whale lineup on Thursday night. Just 7:49 into the first period he decided to throw a high elbow at Bridgeports’ Marc Cantin. The AHL announced today that the elbow will cost McIlrath two games meaning he will miss tonight’s game at Springfield and Monday night’s game at Portland.

Anyone looking to watch tonight’s game against Springfield will be able to as the Blue Jackets announced last week they will be streaming it live on their website. This morning Blueshirts United announced they will be streaming it as well.

As for McIlrath, pretty sure that’s not what the coaching staff had in mind for his return. You can see the hit below.

» Continue reading “McIlrath Back Out Of Lineup”

Callahan & Tortorella discussing a move by Jagr during intermission. (Photo: screen shot from Episode 3 courtesy of Puck Daddy.)

Throughout the lockout, many blogs are doing fake recaps of the games that should’ve been taking place. I’ve decided to go another route by doing real recaps…of the games that happened on that date one year ago.

This one is actually one year ago today last night as episode 3 aired on December 28th right after the Caps game. I actually remember hoping the post game didn’t run over because I didn’t want to miss any of 24/7. I’m pretty sure I ended up missing the end of the post game.

Episode 3 was based mostly on the game between the Rangers and Flyers that took place right before Christmas – the one the Rangers won so we knew the episode would be good for Rangers fans.

Little didn’t we know what else we were in store for as our boys also took us to their personal Christmas party and we got to watch one of them buy a Christmas tree. Of course, they showed the Flyers too as the game where Laviolette had a run in with a Dallas player took place during this week as well so lot’s of videos to get to.

» Continue reading “One Year Ago Today: HBO 24/7 Episode 3″

You’re supposed to be making us laugh while “playing the bongos” not scoring goals. (Photo: Bridget Samuels/flickr)

Throughout the lockout, many blogs are doing fake recaps of the games that should’ve been taking place. I’ve decided to go another route by doing real recaps…of the games that happened on that date one year ago.

The Caps had lost four of their past six and were sitting out of a playoff spot this far into the season for the first time since April 2008. The Rangers were on a five game winning streak sitting at the top of the East, with their last loss coming 13 days ago but the signs were there in their last win. So what do you think happened when these two teams met on December 28, 2011? I’ll let Torts tell you:

“I wouldn’t say it’s the defense, I would say it’s some brain-dead plays at our blue line as far as turnovers,” Tortorella said. “It’s unfortunate with Del Z (Michael Del Zotto) — he loses the puck on the first one. But a turnover by Mitch (John Mitchell) and a turnover by Richie (Brad Richards), not against their third or fourth line, but against their top line. It kills us. That’s what’s frustrating. I thought we beat ourselves a little bit there in those situations.”

Yes, it was one of those games.

» Continue reading “One Year Ago Today: Not A Memorable Game”

Things aren’t good right now, Pucky. Can you help? The boys are desperate… (Photo: Doug Kerr/flickr)

Throughout a season teams goes through good and bad stretches. During the good, fans dream of championships. During the bad, they pray it doesn’t get too bad as they look for anyone possible to blame. Right now it is just plain ugly for the Whale. I don’t want to be one of those fans who starting trying to place blame but something has to change soon. Don’t know what but something. I know winning isn’t everything at this level but I can tell something is missing even by just listening to the games. It’s not good.

» Continue reading “Whale Lose Third Straight As Sound Tigers Sweep Home-And-Home”

Are we actually going to get to see you on the ice finally? (Photo: @dylan_mcilrath/twitter)

Injury updates are hard to come by for AHL players so when something like this hits twitter, it’s kind of a big deal:

If I am reading that correctly (and there’s no reason to believe I’m not), the Whale defense will have a new look this evening as Dylan McIlrath makes his season debut. Against the hated Bridgeport Sound Tigers, I’d say he might have his first fight too. Nothing has been confirmed by the team just yet so we’ll have to tune in to the pregame tonight to see if our suspicions are correct.  If they are…

WELCOME BACK DYLAN!

The guy in blue is in the AHL right now. Being that he was going against the Rangers top defense pair last year, something tells me he shouldn’t be. Him scoring two goals in the first 7 minutes of the game tonight confirms that thought. (Photo: Robert Kowal/flickr)

Tonight the Whale were in Bridgeport for a Wednesday night game against the Sound Tigers. Unfortunately their best Wednesday night scorer the past few weeks is in Ufa, Russia at the moment. Looks like they needed him.

Couple of roster changes as Jason Missiaen returned from Greenville to backup Cam Talbot with Bryan Hince heading back down without playing a single minute. On defense, Mike Vernace replaced Logan Pyett. The forward lines remained the same.

As for the game itself, the Sound Tigers were wearing their jerseys dedicated to the victims of the Sandy Hook shooting. You can see pictures here. The Whale will be wearing these patches on their jerseys for the remainder of the season. To say this game had a little more meaning would be an understatement.

» Continue reading “Third Period Comeback Falls Short”