A Whale of an update

OK, so I haven't been as good about writing on here as I would have liked. Sorry about that. However, that means there's plenty to write about!

The Connecticut Whale are in first place right now in the AHL's Northeast Division, seven points clear of the second place team, Albany, who they just beat on Tuesday. This is in spite of missing half the roster. You know, of course, that John Mitchell and Carl Hagelin have been up in New York, along with cult hero Stu Bickel and fellow defenseman Tim Erixon. To that, add injuries to Chad Kolarik (ACL), Mats Zuccarello (ankle) and Wade Redden (knee). There goes seven of the best players the team has. Kolarik told me he'll be back in mid-March, while Redden and Zuccarello are both due back before the end of January. Still, the Whale are hurting.

Into the gap, however, have stepped faces old and new. Kris Newbury continues to dominate up front, along with linemate Andre Deveaux. Both have missed time with the Whale to call-up and suspension, but in their roughly 20 games each, they have been point-per-game players. Both have 10 goals, and Newbury has a team-best 16 assists while Deveaux has 10 helpers. Eight of Deveaux's 10 tallies have been with the man advantage. Veterans like Brendan Bell (5 G, 11 A) and Andreas Thuresson (7 G, 4 A) have been welcome additions, while returners like Kelsey Tessier (4 G, 7 A) and Pavel Valentenko (3 G, 7 A) have done their jobs well.

Most impressive, however, has been rookie Jonathan Audy-Marchesseault. Somehow, they fit this guy's name onto his jersey, and he's responded by fitting a lot of pucks into the net. JAM has 10 goals and 18 assists for a team-best 28 points through 31 games, playing on all kinds of random lines. At all of 5'9" and 175 pounds (and that's generous), he is very much like Zuccarello--impossible to hit, speedy, fearless, and ultimately the sort of energetic player you need. He has held the team together offensively despite being bounced around lines as Ken Gernander tries to pair him with players worthy of his skill but also able to protect him (here's a hint, Ken: Newbury and Deveaux are plenty good enough and big enough. It works. Keep it that way!)

In all, the team has done well. Chad Johnson has been decent in net, though at times he can make absolutely bone-headed decisions that cost the team points (I'm thinking specifically of the awful turnover that led directly to the only goal Providence would need to score about two weeks ago) as the primary starter, while the underutilized (and in my opinion, better) Cameron Talbot has done well when called upon--he carried the team with 35 saves on 37 shots in Connecticut's 3-2 win over Albany on Tuesday and was snubbed by whoever in Hartford picks the three stars. They're cohesive, they're winning the majority of their games, and they've put a hurting on divisional opponents, including a 4-0 record against the hated Springfield Falcons that they will put on the line on New Year's Eve, and then twice more the next weekend.

So, there you have the analysis. Now, let's have some fun, shall we?

See, the Whale players aren't merely damn good hockey players. They're also personable folk who love their fans. A few days before Stu Bickel was called up to New York, I happened to be sitting down in Section 108. If you've been to the XL Center for a game (and you have, RIGHT?) you'll know that's where the tunnel that the players enter from is located. Standing in this little area for most of the game was none other than Chad Kolarik. As Stu Bickel chased an opposing player up the ice looking for a scrap, I yelled out, "What's the matter, you scared of Stu?" Chad looked at me and, with a huge grin on his face, said, "He absolutely is, can you blame him?"

Then again on Tuesday, I sat in 108, and who should be in the tunnel this time but Wade Redden? He popped out about midway through the first and asked me how the team was doing. I gave him the gist of it--we were outhitting and outworking them, and the Albany goalie, Keith Kincaid, was awful. "Obviously, we're outscoring them," was his response to that, with a smile. He chatted a bit with me about his leg--his recovery is going well and he's hoping to be back within a month. He came back out during the second intermission just in time for a weak wrister to get by Albany's goalie, and then doubled over laughing when I said, "I told you this guy is a sieve!" Wade's really a great guy, and I'm glad that Glen Sather made the so-called 'mistake' of signing him. He's been phenomenal on the ice and in the community.

One last fun little story. A friend of mine (who you should follow on Twitter at @kweennikki, even though she's a Penguins fan) absolutely loves Brendan Bell. She always asks me to take pictures of him, which I don't mind doing at all. So for her birthday present, I took my camera down underneath the XL Center to where the players park, and waited about forty minutes for him to come out. My camera has the option to take a little bit of video (30 seconds or so), so I asked him if he wouldn't mind recording a quick little message for her. He was happy to oblige. "Hey Nicole, it's Brendan Bell. Merry Christmas, have a happy holiday, and go Whale!" That nine seconds of video made my friend very happy--she has probably watched it over nine thousand times by now.

So, there you have it--not only are the kids alright on the ice, they're all pretty good folks off of it too. There's a lot of good people playing for the Whale. I hope reading this gives you another reason to come up to Hartford for a game!