In their first season under the new name of the Connecticut Whale (formerly the Hartford Wolf Pack), the Whale enter Saturday’s outdoor game at Rentschler Field with a record of 27-22-7 and are currently 3rd in the conference. The Whale are an AHL product of the New York Rangers and play out of the XL Center in downtown Hartford, CT. As an organization (both Wolf Pack and Whale) since their first season in 1997-98, they have only missed the playoffs once and that was last season. The Whale are on pace to make the playoffs this year and they are led by points leader Jeremy Williams (43). The Whale recently just got back Kris Newbury who was on loan to the Rangers for a couple weeks and he has been an important piece to this Whale offense as he has contributed 33 assists and 9 goals on the year.
Chad Johnson has done an admirable job in net this season for the Whale, but newcomer Dov Grumet-Morris and Cameron Talbot have started to see more playing time and combined have a 12-5-4 record in net. The strong point of this team is their defense because when they have the lead late in the game, they rarely give it up. A perfect example of their defense is when they lead after the 2nd period their record is 16-1-2. The Rangers are built on defense and it all starts in the AHL with the Whale.
With the regular season end in sight, the Whale are poised to be back in the postseason and make a run at the Calder Cup.
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