Not a bad week for the Whale but not a good one either. (Photo: Doug Kerr/flickr)

Some nights during the past week, the Whale looked like a team that was ready to move into playoff contention in the Eastern conference standings. Other nights, they showed why they are where they currently are (12th place).

Over the past seven days, the boys had four games and managed to get four out of the possible eight points available.

Tuesday night was a good night for the boys as they headed to Portland for a game against the Pirates, a team they hadn’t beaten yet this season in three previous tries. Kelsey Tessier opened the scoring with a shorthanded goal at 13:57 of the first period. Blake Parlett, who apparently wasn’t suspended for his boarding penalty last weekend, got the lone assist.

» Continue reading “Whale Weekly: Mixed Bag Over Past Week”

This guy was called up from the Whale yesterday but will he play a game for New York? (Photo: PNLT_BX/flickr)

A couple of roster moves involving both the Rangers and Whale took place yesterday.

First, as I mentioned here, the Rangers called up Connecticut right winger Brandon Segal late yesterday afternoon. For those who have been following the site this season, you know that Segal has gotten on the scoresheet quite a number of nights. He currently has 9 goals and 7 assists in 38 games this season. Most assume the reason for his call up is to replaced Arron Asham on opening night since Asham can’t play. If so, I guess that means Stu Bickel as a forward didn’t work out.

» Continue reading “Additions & Subtractions At Both Levels”

This mans’ days with the Rangers are officially over. (Photo: CS Smith/flickr)

You know how we know the NHL season has official begun? The waiver wires are spitting out names by the dozen.

Yesterday, the Rangers placed Sean Collins, Michael Haley, Chad Kolarik, Kris Newbury, Logan Pyett, Brendon Segal, Mike Vernace, and Tommy Grant on waivers. Why, you might ask, did they put half of their AHL team on waivers? Because of a stupid little rule that said they had to.

All eight of those guys are actually on NHL contracts meaning at the start of the season, they need to be placed on waivers to be sent down to the AHL. Usually this happens in October and no one even notices. Unfortunately this year the season is starting in January meaning they technically need to be “sent” to the Whale in order to continue to play there after Friday. So basically this was a formality.

The good news is no one claimed them so the Whale roster will stay intact. The even better news is the new CBA abolished re-entry waivers which means any of these guys can still easily be called up at any time. (I’m not sure if they will have to go through waivers to be sent back down again, though.)

*UPDATE: It looks like one of those guys is leaving the Whale as according to the AHL transaction page, Brandon Segal has been recalled by the Rangers. No confirmation from either team but if he is indeed headed to NY, the recall is much deserved as he has been one of the best players for the Whale recently. (And before anyone worries what this means for the Rangers roster, they are shorthanded at forward to begin with. I wouldn’t read too much into it at the moment.)

**********

In other waiver news, Wade Redden was placed on waivers today in order to be bought out. After the Rangers stated that they planned to pay Redden to sit at home and the Canadiens decided to do the same thing with Scott Gomez, the NHL and NHLPA got together and worked out an agreement to allow teams to use one of their two compliance buyouts before the season begins. Originally those buyouts were only supposed to be used either this summer or next summer.

The new provision states that teams can only use one and the player it is to be used on has to be making more than $3 million a season as well as agree to the buyout. Honestly, I think the new edition to the rule should be called the “Fix Glen Sather Mistake” provision, especially since it’s only expected to be used on those two players.

To make a long story short, Redden will be bought out tomorrow after he clears waives and be allowed to sign with any team he wants. He will still get the remaining salary owed to him and the Rangers will be on the hook for his full cap for this season only. The cap isn’t an issue since the Rangers would’ve had to deal with that if he sat home so I’m glad he’s getting the chance to play.

And since I’m not sure if I’ve ever written it on here, here’s my take on Redden:

He never asked for any of this. Yes he signed the contract but if someone offered you that money, what would you do? The exact same thing he did. It didn’t work out here and for that I feel bad for him. It wasn’t that he was a horrible player. He just wasn’t a $6 million a year player. He has been amazing in Hartford the past two seasons so I really hope he gets another chance with another team and is able to end his career on a high note. I know I’ll be rooting for him.

I think the guys ate too much chocolate this weekend. Pucky, can you talk to them please? (Photo: Doug Kerr/flickr)

Welcome to our new feature that will run on Mondays through the remainder of the season. So what exactly is Whale Weekly? Well, it’s a weekly update of what has happened with the Whale the past week. Pretty self-explanatory. Obviously any big news will get a separate post but game updates can be found here.

So let’s get to it!

» Continue reading “Whale Weekly: Not A Sweet Weekend”

OT loss + Shutout Win = 3 out of 4 points and a deserving stick salute! (Photo: @kaboom23/twitter)

Yes the NHL lockout is over. That doesn’t mean we are going to stop talking about the Whale. It just means our recaps may become more weekly rather than daily. (Side note: If anyone is interested in covering the Whale full-time for the site, by all means contact me.)

Speaking of the Whale, it was a pretty good weekend for the boys as they grabbed five out of a possible six points. It started on Friday as they shutout the Adirondack Phantoms at home. You can read about that game here.

Saturday nights’ rematch against the Phantoms in Adirondack didn’t go as well as but it wasn’t a total loss. Lineup for the Whale remained the same with Cam Talbot back in net. The teams combined for 42 penalty minutes, which included two fights, so it was your typical Rangers-Flyers game.

» Continue reading “Whale Gain Points In Weekend Games”

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!”

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”

Call Henrik. He knows exactly how you feel after this weekend. (Photo: James DiBianco/flickr)

I want to start by saying our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families of the horrible tragedy that occurred in Newtown, Connecticut this past Friday. Two days later and I still can’t wrap my mind around someone killing innocent six and seven year old kids. And I know no words I type here will make anyone understand that so for anyone reading this who was affected, just know my thoughts are with you.

A few miles north in Hartford, Connecticut, the Whale still held their two games Friday and Saturday evenings. Unfortunately neither went well for the home team.

» Continue reading “Another Bad Weekend For The Whale”

Way to get back on the right track boys! (Photo: @irishecho1/twitter)

There is a saying that it’s not how you start, but how you finish. Tonight the Whale had a decent start against the Worcester Sharks. They had an even better finish.

A couple of lineup changes to note. First, the Whale made a roster change earlier in the day when they sent Jason Missiaen to the ECHL then signed Bryan Hince to a PTO and brought him up to backup Cam Talbot. Not sure if this move was related to Missiaen’s play or if they just wanted to get him some playing time.

There was also a change at forward as Shayne Wiebe replaced Tommy Grant. I missed the beginning of the game so honestly have no idea why Grant was out. He’s been playing well so I doubt he was a healthy scratch. Hopefully it’s minor and he’s back soon.

» Continue reading “Big Third Leads Whale To Victory”

That happened a lot tonight… (Photo: James DiBianco/flickr)

While many thought the AHL would capitalize on the NHL lockout, there is a negative side to it. Some teams have a handful or more guys who should be playing in the NHL while others have full teams who actually belong in the AHL. The Whale belong in the second category. Unfortunately their opponents tonight, the Manchester Monarchs, belong in the other.

The worst part? The Monarchs are the Kings affiliate meaning that some of these guys actually have Stanley Cup rings…and it showed as many fans should recognize some of the names listed in this post.

» Continue reading “Monarchs Embarrass Whale 9-2″