April 18, 2005
By PAUL DOYLE, Courant Staff Writer
Six grueling months ended with a frenetic surge over the weekend.
The Wolf Pack stumbled against the Manchester Monarchs in the 77th game of the season, apparently undermining their hopes of finishing first in the Atlantic Division and Eastern Conference. But they won their next two games while Manchester was losing, giving their season-ending game significance.
A victory in Game 80 - coupled with a Manchester loss to Worcester - and the Pack would be division and conference champions.
It didn't happen, but no one was lamenting the way the Wolf Pack's regular season ended. Hartford lost to Springfield 3-1 before 8,222 on a sunny Sunday afternoon while Manchester clinched the conference and division with a victory over Worcester.
So the second-place Wolf Pack (50-24-3-3) will face Lowell in the first round of the playoffs. If they had finished first, they would have drawn Providence. They were 5-5 against the Bruins.
Does it matter?
"We know that we have to be prepared for anybody," coach Ryan McGill said. "It doesn't matter who we play."
McGill was keeping tabs on the Manchester-Worcester game but he purposely kept the score from his players. The players understood what was at stake, but McGill didn't want them focused on an out-of-town game.
"We just needed to worry about ourselves," McGill said. "You know what? It didn't matter."
The Wolf Pack were 5-2-0-1 against Lowell this season, winning the last three in a row against the Lock Monsters. They last played April 3, with Hartford winning 5-1 at Lowell.
"It doesn't make any difference," Alexandre Giroux said. "The season is over. Everybody is on the same level."
The playoffs begin Thursday at the Civic Center. The second game is Saturday in Hartford and the series shifts to Tsongas Arena in Lowell for Game 3 Sunday.
The Wolf Pack outplayed Springfield in the season finale, but Falcons goaltender Brian Eklund had 44 saves. Springfield took a 1-0 lead in the first, when Derek Bekar beat Steve Valiquette at 15:45.
Valiquette, who shared team-MVP with fellow goalie Jason LaBarbera, had 32 saves, including 12 in the second period. But he allowed the game-winner to Nikita Alexeev just 2:13 after the Wolf Pack tied it in the third.
Dominic Moore made it 1-1 when he scored off a give-and-go with Giroux at 4:31 of the third for his 19th goal. But the momentum was quickly lost when Alexeev scored to give Springfield the lead.
The Falcons added an empty-net goal by Shane Willis.
"I thought we had chances to win the game," McGill said. "Obviously their goalie was excellent. Our goalie was excellent. Obviously we had a tough time burying our chances."
The Wolf Pack had only 16 skaters because of injuries and suspensions after a brawl with Springfield Saturday. But Hartford continued to pressure Springfield - the Wolf Pack had 19 shots in the third period.
"We still generated a lot of good chances in the third period and that's what we need to do in the playoffs," McGill said.
Awards Presented
LaBarbera and Valiquette won the AHL's Harry "Hap" Holmes Memorial Award, given to the goaltender who appears in at least 25 games for the team that allows the fewest goals. The Wolf Pack allowed 160 goals, tied for third lowest ever in an 80-game season. Valiquette had a 1.77 goals-against average in 35 games and LaBarbera had a 1.84 GAA in 53 games.
Moore was awarded the Mary Lynn Gorman Community Service Award, newly named for the longtime Whalers and Wolf Pack community relations manager. Jed Ortmeyer won the Bob Girouard Character Award and Ryan Hollweg won the Unsung Hero award. The Booster Club presented the Fan Favorite Award to Trevor Gillies.
Before the game, Hartford mayor Eddie Perez presented captain Ken Gernander with the Connecticut Cup to recognize Hartford's 6-2-2-0 record against Bridgeport. Jamie Lundmark received the "Hot Shot" Award from The Hartford for the most points (31) in the second half of the season. The Hartford made a $1,000 donation to the Connecticut Children's Medical Center in Lundmark's name.
