Howlings

By: Alex Thomas, Hartford Wolf Pack HARTFORD, CT –  The Hartford Wolf Pack welcomed the Bridgeport Islanders to the XL Center for their final game of the calendar year on Saturday night. The Islanders jumped out to a two-goal lead in the first period, but  the Wolf Pack mounted a dramatic comeback to steal the 3-2 victory in front of 7,522 fans. It was Cristiano DiGiacinto coming up big for the Pack at the 6:57 mark of period three, deflecting a shot from the point off the stick of Connor Mackey that beat Ken Appleby to propel Hartford to a 3-2 lead. The hard work along the boards from Bobby Trivigno put Mackey in position to find DiGiacinto in front of the Islander net. The goal, DiGiacinto’s first of the season, proved to be the game-winning tally. The Wolf Pack took an early penalty as Nikolas Brouillard closed his hand on the puck at 3:09, giving the Islanders the game’s first-man advantage. A little over a minute into the Bridgeport powerplay, Samuel Asselin got alone i...

Olof Lindbom’s 36 saves not enough for Cincy By: Dana Grey, Cincinnati Cyclones     TOLEDO, OH –  The Cincinnati Cyclones lost to the Toledo Walleye 2-1 inside the Huntington Center on Saturday Night. Cincinnati drops to 1-4-0-0 against the Central Division foe this season. * Toledo opened the scoring just 2:12 into regulation when Sam Craggs stuffed in a shorthanded goal. The Cyclones responded ten minutes later when Zack Andrusiak beat Toledo goaltender John Lethemon with his 10th goal of the season. * Lee Lapid broke the 1-1 tie midway through the second period. Defensemen Steven MacLean crashed the net, then Lapid poked the puck over the goal line. * The Walleye equalized again, this time on the man advantage when Brandon Kruse steamed into the offensive zone and finished past Olof Lindbom. Adrien Beraldo scored the game-winning goal with 6:40 to play, while Orrin Centazzo finished it off with an empty-netter. Up next, Cincinnati welcomes the Icemen back to the H...

By: Alex Thomas, Hartford Wolf Pack HARTFORD, CT –  New York Rangers President and General Manager Chris Drury announced today that the club has recalled forward Adam Edström from the AHL's Hartford Wolf Pack. Edström, 23, has scored ten points (8 g, 2 a) in 24 games in his first full season with the Wolf Pack. Last season, Edström collected 19 points (9 g, 10 a) in 42 games with Rögle BK of the SHL. He scored his first career AHL goal in three regular-season games with the Wolf Pack before tacking on an assist in five games during the 2023 Calder Cup Playoffs. Before coming to North America, Edström appeared in 189 career SHL games in his native Sweden. He scored 48 points (23 g, 25 a) with Rögle BK and Mora IK. Edström made his NHL debut with the Rangers on December 15th at Madison Square Garden against the Anaheim Ducks. He scored his first career NHL goal in the game, becoming the first Wolf Pack player this season to both make his NHL debut and score his first career NHL goal....

By: Dana Grey, Cincinnati Cyclones Cincy uses three powerplay goals to skate past Jacksonville CINCINNATI, OH –  The Cyclones won their first meeting against the Icemen 3-2 at the Heritage Bank Center. Cincinnati improves to 14-12-1-0 and 1-1-0-0 against the South Division this season. Talyn Boyko kept Jacksonville off the board for most of the first period, but Matheson Iacopelli snuck in a wraparound with one minute to go in the frame. Cincinnati knotted the game up 1-1 on the powerplay in the middle stages of the 2nd period. After Bjørgvik Holm’s shot dented the post, Louie Caporusso found the rebound and potted his 8th goal of the season. In the third period, Cincinnati converted another PPG with just over six minutes to play when Lincoln Griffin roofed a rebound. Jacksonville drew even again at 2-2 with Jerry D’Amico’s first goal of the season. Cincinnati got another man advantage in the final minutes, and Patrick Polino delivered the game-winner with a blast from the slot. ...

By: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings SPRINGFIELD, MA -  The Hartford Wolf Pack extended their season-high losing streak to five games and dropped their sixth of their last seven in Wednesday's 3-1 loss to the Springfield Thunderbirds. At 5:58 of the third frame, the Thunderbirds would tally the game-winner when Joe Duszak sent a pass from his own blue line to Jamieson Rees that caught the Pack awkwardly in their own zone. Rees quickly moved it ahead to Drew Callin. For the second straight game, in a key moment, Matt Robertson decided to leave his position to go for the big hit, and it led to trouble. With Robertson out of position, Callin got off a nifty backhanded pass to the exposed right-wing side to Mikhail Abramov. Bobby Trivigno, who was on his knees and sliding back, and unable to get to Abramov on time before he fired in his fifth goal of the season just off Pack goaltender Dylan Garand’s glove, who made a valiant effort in a butterfly split, but couldn’t get all of it. GAME CENTER ...

By: Dana Grey, Cincinnati Cyclones Josh Burnside’s two goals pace the ‘Clones. Toledo, OH –  The Cyclones picked up two points on the road with a 4-3 shootout victory against the Walleye. Cincinnati got the best of its Central Division rival for the first time this regular season in the fourth meeting. Cincy defenseman Josh Burnside scored his first goal of the season just 54 seconds into regulation off a rebound from a Zack Andrusiak shot. Trenton Bliss responded just over a minute later on the man advantage. While down a man again, Patrick Polino scored his league-leading 5th shorthanded goal on a breakaway to put the ‘Clones up 2-1. In the middle period, Burnside found the scoresheet again with a backhander past Toledo’s Jan Bednar. Sam Craggs cut into the Cyclones' lead in the final few minutes of the second frame to make it 3-2. With just five minutes to go in the game, Brandon Hawkins riffled in his 16th goal of the season on the powerplay. After a scoreless overtime period, ...

By: Mark Shelley, Greenville Swamp Rabbits SHREWSBURY, NJ  – The ECHL announced on Thursday that Everett Sheen of the Idaho Steelheads and Andrew Lord of the Greenville Swamp Rabbits have earned the right to serve as the coaches for the 2024  Warrior /ECHL All-Star Classic presented by  Gulfstream  on Monday, January 15, 2024, at Enmarket Arena in Savannah, Georgia. The game will air LIVE  exclusively on NHL Network  and be streamed via  FloHockey In this year's All-Star event, the host Savannah Ghost Pirates will take on a team of ECHL All-Stars representing the other teams in the League and feature several Skills events, which will count as a goal towards the winning Player's team score. The 2024 ECHL All-Star Skills Competition will occur between periods of the game, with results counting towards the cumulative score. The game's first two periods will be 5-on-5, while the final period will consist of 3-on-3. Sheen and Lord receive the coaching honor...

By: Alex Thomas, Hartford Wolf Pack HARTFORD, CT –  Hartford Wolf Pack General Manager Ryan Martin announced today that the club has recalled forward Cristiano DiGiacinto from loan to the ECHL's Cincinnati Cyclones. DiGiacinto, 27, has appeared in one game with the Wolf Pack this season, suiting up in the club's visit to Place Bell to take on the Laval Rocket on December 9th. The native of Hamilton, ON, is in his third season with the Wolf Pack organization. He has appeared in 84 games with Hartford during that time, scoring 25 points (9 g, 16 a). In addition to his time with the Wolf Pack this season, DiGiacinto has appeared in 19 games with the Cyclones. He has recorded 15 points (4 g, 11 a) and 31 PIMs. DiGiacinto was selected in the sixth round, 170th overall, by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft. He signed as a free agent with the Wolf Pack on September 23rd, 2021. The Wolf Pack returns to the XL Center on Saturday night when they welcome the Bridgeport I...

By: Mark Shelley, Greenville Swamp Rabbits GREENVILLE, SC –  Luke Richardson's 31 saves paved the way for the Greenville Swamp Rabbits to top the Savannah Ghost Pirates 5-2 on Saturday night at Bon Secours Wellness Arena. GAME SHEET:  Click HERE Greenville started the game with a similar opening to the previous night's meeting with the Orlando Solar Bears, as Jake Smith gave the Rabbits the 1-0 lead just 5:52 into the game with a power-play one-timer for his ninth of the season. Just beyond the midway point, Smith snapped the puck to Tanner Eberle, who added to Greenville's advantage with his fifth of the season at 10:20. In the second period, Greenville extended its lead to 3-0 at 4:24, as Brannon McManus one-timed his fifth of the season into the Savannah net. Later, at 14:56, Eberle's shot was left loose in the crease for Colton Young to poke his third of the season into the Ghost Pirates net. The fourth goal saw the night end for Savannah goaltender Kaden Fulcher,...

By: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings HARTFORD, CT -  The Hartford Wolf Pack dug an early hole. Despite a furious Pack rally, the Bridgeport Islanders got a last-second save from Ken Appleby to earn his team their first regulation win of the season and sent the Wolf Pack to their fourth straight defeat before 5,587 at the XL Center on Friday night. The Pack trailed throughout the entire contest but never quit, and looked like they were going to tally the equalizer in the last moments of regulation. Anton Blidh was behind the Islanders' net and out the puck in front of the net. It hit either the Pack's Adam Edström or an Islanders' defenseman’s skate, putting a bouncing biscuit right there loose in the blue paint. Brett Berard was there on the left side of the cage and tried to elevate the puck over Appleby, but he extended his right leg and was able to deny his bid with 3.8 seconds left in regulation. All that remained was a last-second faceoff, which saw the Pack's Riley Nash wi...