By BRUCE BERLET, Courant Staff Writer
Most of the hockey followers attending the Whalers FANniversary at Mayor Mike's Restaurant Wednesday night didn't bother to walk across the street to see the successor to their beloved team.
Maybe they knew something.
In one of their poorest showings of the season, the Wolf Pack lost to the Manchester Monarchs, 5-1.
Only 3,574 showed up at the Civic Center to watch two of the AHL's top three teams.
But, as Pack wing Jed Ortmeyer said, "We definitely laid an egg." He later said it was "a lemon."
Take your pick. The Pack's worst home loss this season all but eliminated them from contention for the Atlantic Division and Eastern Conference titles.
Ken Gernander was as visibly upset as he has been in eight seasons as Pack captain.
"I don't have any revelations," Gernander said. "They came out hungrier, and it has been quite a frustration point for us this season. Play good. Play bad. Play good. Play bad. We've stressed consistency and have all kind of points on the board that are written down before the game that we emphasize, and we're not seeing it night in and night out.
"It's not asking anybody to do anything superhuman like make unbelievable plays. It's competitiveness, smart decisions, responsibility, all the character things. We've addressed it several times, even after Jason [LaBarbera] saved us in Worcester last week because we knew we had a big weekend coming up against Providence and then had a good one and a bad one.
"We've had meetings with coaches, GMs, captains, players, starting even before the last 10-game stretch. We said this was our time to address [bad] things and get them out of our game. Now we're down to three games and want to develop good habits. When you watched last year's team, no one worried about bad penalties or bad turnovers. This year it's good one night but, geez, keep your fingers crossed for tomorrow night. It's getting to crunch time, and it's become quite frustrating."
The Monarchs (50-19-4-4) got off to a quick start when two lesser lights, David Steckel and Ryan Kinasewich, scored off mistakes in the opening 8:55, a span in which the Pack (48-23-3-3) were outshot, 13-4.
Then Michael Cammalleri showed why he deserves to succeed LaBarbera when the AHL's MVP is announced Friday.
Cammalleri had a goal and two assists, increasing his point total to 109. He set up Dustin Brown for a power-play goal to the short side at 3:18 of the second period, and that sent LaBarbera to the bench.
LaBarbera, who allowed three goals on 19 shots, had been 4-0-1 with a 1.72 goals-against average against the Monarchs.
Cammalleri scored off former Pack wing Brad Smyth's second assist at 1:09 of the third. After Jamie Lundmark converted Bryce Lampman's rebound to end the shutout bid of Mathieu Garon (26 saves) at 2:15, Tom Kostopoulos scored the Monarchs' second power-play goal at 8:43.
"We have a lot of respect for them because they've had their share of wins against us," said Cammalleri, alluding to the Pack's 4-3-0-1 record against the Monarchs. "We knew we had to play harder than them, which is hard to do, but we talked about what it takes to do well in the playoffs and did it."
Pack coach Ryan McGill lauded the Monarchs' All-Star center.
"The willingness and competitiveness the last two games against them has been deeper on the other side," McGill said. "I wasn't concerned about the two points. I was concerned about us competing against one of the best teams in the league and one of the best players in the league, if not the best.
"Here's a guy who is 5-foot-8 and absolutely competes hard on every shift. He has talent but adds a competitiveness that makes him successful. Talent doesn't get you anything unless you have grit, determination and heart with it. And Cammalleri has got it."
