New York, December 22, 2010 – New York Rangers President and General Manager Glen Sather announced today that forward Mats Zuccarello has been recalled from the Connecticut Whale of the American Hockey League (AHL).

Zuccarello, 23, has registered a point in five of the last six games, tallying four goals and four assists over the span, and has recorded 22 points (11 goals, 11 assists) in the last 20 games.  In his first AHL season, Zuccarello has registered 13 goals and 11 assists for 24 points, along with 16 penalty minutes in 32 games with Connecticut.  He is tied for second among AHL rookies and ranks second on the team in goals, and is tied for third in the league among rookies and third on the Whale in scoring with 24 points.  He is also tied for second on the team with 97 shots on goal, fourth with three power play goals and ranks fifth in assists.  Zuccarello posted an AHL career-high, four points, including his first career hat trick in a 7-1 win vs. Bridgeport on November 7.  He made his AHL debut on October 9 vs. Charlotte, and tallied his first career point with a goal on October 15 at Albany.

Prior to joining Connecticut, the 5-7, 174-pounder skated in 90 games over two seasons with Modo of the Swedish Elite League (SEL), registering 35 goals and 69 assists for 104 points, along with 100 penalty minutes.  He led the SEL in scoring and captured the Guldhjalmen award as the league’s Most Valuable Player last season, establishing career-highs in goals (23), assists (41), points (64), and penalty minutes (62).  Zuccarello also represented Norway at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada, finishing third on the team in scoring with three points (one goal, two assists) in four contests.

The Oslo, Norway native signed with the Rangers as a free agent on May 26, 2010.

The Rangers return to action tomorrow when they will face-off against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Madison Square Garden (7:00 p.m.).  Prior to the game, the Blueshirts optional morning skate is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. at the MSG Training Center.  The contest will be televised live on MSG Network, and can be heard on 1050 ESPN Radio and at newyorkrangers.com.

Manchester, NH, December 21, 2010 – One game after being shut out 5-0 in Syracuse on Sunday, the Connecticut Whale saw a 4-0 slip away against the Manchester Monarchs Tuesday night at the Verizon Wireless Arena, and lost 5-4 in a shootout in their last game before the Christmas holiday.

The lost point cost the Whale (14-12-2-5, 34 pts.) a chance to move into a third-place tie with idle Worcester in the Atlantic Division.  Connecticut remains one point behind the Sharks, and is now two points ahead of fifth-place Bridgeport, which also was idle Tuesday.  The division-leading Monarchs (21-11-1-1, 44 pts.) increased their lead over second-place Portland to seven points.

Oscar Moller struck for two goals and an assist to lead Manchester’s comeback, Thomas Hickey had a goal and an assist and Andrei Loktionov added a pair of assists.  The other Monarch goal, which tied the game at four at 5:31 of the third period, was scored by Marc-Andre Cliché.  Whale goals were scored by Dale Weise, Chad Kolarik, Devin DiDiomete and Jeremy Williams.  Rookie defenseman Tomas Kundratek posted the first multiple-point game of his pro career with two assists.

The Whale got off to a fast start in Tuesday’s first period, after Sunday’s shutout-against, with two goals in a 24-second span starting at 3:24.

Weise, taking the place of Mats Zuccarello, suspended for the game by the AHL Monday, at right wing on a line with Kris Newbury and Brodie Dupont, scored his third goal in his last four games at 3:24 on a Whale power play.  Weise, a right-handed shot, took a pass from Wade Redden on left wing and snapped a shot over Monarch starting goaltender Jeff Zatkoff’s catching glove and into the top corner.  Kolarik then made it 2-0 at 3:48, with his 12^th goal of the season and eighth with the Whale.  Zatkoff stopped Ryan McDonagh’s point shot, but Kolarik was able to battle his way to the rebound in the slot and bang a high shot into the net.

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By Bruce Berlet

CROMWELL, Conn. – Connecticut Whale wing Mats Zuccarello, second on the team in goals (13) and third in points (24) in his first North American season, was suspended Monday by the American Hockey League for one game because of a check on the Sharks’ Jonathan Cheechoo that knocked the former 56-goal scorer with the San Jose Sharks off-balance and into the boards 34 seconds into the second period of the Whale’s 3-2 overtime victory Friday night.

Rod Pasma, AHL executive vice president of hockey operations, suspended Zuccarello under the provisions of AHL Rule 28.1 (supplementary discipline).

Zuccarello won’t play in the Whale’s final pre-Christmas game Tuesday night against the Atlantic Division-leading Manchester Monarchs (20-11-1-1), who swept three games over the weekend, including two against second-place Portland, to open a five-point lead on the Pirates.

Cheechoo, 30, the Sharks’ leading scorer with 11 goals and 20 assists in 29 games this season, didn’t return Friday night.

Then after the Sharks lost their third consecutive game, 2-1 at Manchester on Sunday, Worcester head coach Roy Sommer said, “Cheechoo’s not good. He’ll be out for awhile.”

After losing his balance and sliding backwards into the boards, Cheechoo lay on the ice for about a minute as Sharks trainer Matt White attended to him. Cheechoo left the ice hunched over and didn’t return after sustaining a bruised kidney that led to blood in his urine. Zuccarello received a boarding penalty.

“My whole left side,” Cheechoo said when asked by longtime Sharks beat writer Bill Ballou of the Worcester Telegram & Gazette what hurt the most. “I don’t know how long it’ll keep me out. We’ll see how it feels (Saturday).”

Cheechoo obviously didn’t feel well all weekend as he missed the Sharks’ last two games. Meanwhile, Zuccarello, one of hockey’s quickest but smallest players at 5-foot-9, 170 pounds, said he had no intention of injuring the 6-foot, 200-pound Cheechoo.

“I just felt (Cheechoo) lost his balance,” Zuccarello said, “and the outcome was a lot worse than the hit. It wasn’t on purpose. I just didn’t want him to score a goal. I didn’t try to do anything, and I hope they’ll see it that way.”

Pasma obviously didn’t, and now the Whale (14-12-2-4) will be without one of their top players as they try to rebound from their worst loss of the season, 5-0 at Syracuse on Sunday, against a team that has beaten them three times in four starts.

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SPRINGFIELD, Mass. … The American Hockey League today announced that Connecticut Whale right wing Mats Zuccarello has been suspended for one (1) game as a result of his actions in a game vs. Worcester on Dec. 17.

Zuccarello was suspended under the provisions of AHL Rule 28.1 (supplementary discipline).

Zuccarello will miss Connecticut’s game Tuesday (Dec. 21) at Manchester.

Syracuse, NY, December 19, 2010 – The Connecticut Whale’s six-game winning streak, ten-game streak of games with at least a standings point (8-0-0-2), and nine-game unbeaten-in-regulation streak (8-0-0-1) since being re-branded from the Hartford Wolf Pack, all came to a resounding end Sunday afternoon at the Onondaga County War Memorial at Oncenter, in a 5-0 loss to the Syracuse Crunch.

J.P. Levasseur made 32 saves in the Crunch net for his second shutout of the season, Dan Sexton had two goals and an assist and defenseman Brett Festerling scored a pair of goals.  Matt Beleskey added a goal and an assist, and defenseman Mat Clark had two assists.

It was the Whale’s third shutout-against of the season, and their first on the road.

The Whale had Saturday night off, and the Crunch were coming off of a tough test, a 3-1 home win over the league-leading Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, but Syracuse appeared to be the fresher team from the outset.

The Crunch enjoyed a 13-11 shots advantage in a scoreless first period, and had the best chance of the period when Josh Green had a shorthanded breakaway at about the 18-minute mark.  Green, who had the overtime game-winner in a 2-1 Syracuse win in Hartford October 23, shot wide of Whale goaltender Chad Johnson’s glove side.

The Crunch continued to control play in the second, and were rewarded for their efforts with a goal in a four-on-four situation at 1:34.  Trevor Smith, Syracuse’s leading scorer (7-13-20 in 29 games), fed the puck up the slot from just inside the blue line, and Festerling switched down to head toward the net.  He beat Tim Kennedy’s check, took Smith’s pass and slipped a low shot underneath Johnson (29 saves).

Syracuse made it a 2-0 lead at 15:27, when the Whale’s Jyri Niemi gambled in the offensive zone to try to keep the puck in and was unable to do so.  Clark sent Sexton and Beleskey away on a two-on-one with only Wade Redden back.  Sexton, on the left-wing side, drew Redden to him and slipped a perfect pass to the left-shooting Beleskey on the right-wing side.  Beleskey one-timed the puck inside the post to Johnson’s right.

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By Bruce Berlet

When Chad Kolarik was asked how the Connecticut Whale had been able to make such a dramatic turnaround the past month, you could almost hear the surfer sounds of America’s band, the Beach Boys, reverberating through the XL Center.

“Catch the Wave, man,” Kolarik said, a wry smile filling his face.

Yes, Catch the Wave and you’re sitting on top of the world.

As coach Ken Gernander pointed out, the Whale is “a long way from home” in a quest for the franchise’s 13^th playoff berth in its 14^th AHL season. But Whale players felt on top of their hockey world Friday night after Kolarik converted a 2-on-1 with Wade Redden with 29.5 seconds left in overtime to beat the Worcester Sharks, 3-2.

The players seemingly surfed across the XL Center ice to mob Kolarik as “Brass Bonanza” blared after the skillful right wing patiently picked his spot and beat Alex Stalock high to the glove side for his seventh goal and first winner in 15 games since being acquired for former Wolf Pack captain Dane Byers on Nov. 11.

Kolarik’s 11^th goal of the season enabled the Whale (14-11-2-4) to extend their winning streak to six games, the franchise’s longest since the Wolf Pack won seven in a row from Feb. 20 to March 4, 2009. The Whale also has a 10-game point streak (8-0-0-2) and is 8-0-0-1 since being rebranded from the Wolf Pack on Nov. 27 and making Catch the Wave the marketing theme.

The catchy phrase is part of a new website, and several players implore fans to hop aboard the wave as their faces flash across the video board before every home game. The only thing missing seemed to be the Brian, Dennis and Wilson brothers, cousin Mike Love and friend Al Jardine strumming guitars, beating the drum and belting out lyrics with California girls dancing in the background. Or maybe Carrie Underwood, who beat Taylor Swift in a most popular singer contest among Whale players.

The Wolf Pack didn’t become the Whale until three weeks ago because of protracted negotiations between Whalers Sports and Entertainment and AEG and the New York Rangers, delaying Wolf Pack blue from becoming Whale(rs) green again. The new blue uniforms are scheduled to be shipped Dec. 22 and arrive Dec. 27, two days before the Whale’s next home game against the Portland Pirates, coached by former Whalers captain Kevin Dineen.

But by then the Whale could be on a 13-game point streak, so why bother ditching the lucky green?

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By Bruce Berlet

Connecticut Whale right wing Dale Weise likely didn’t need a plane to fly from Hartford to Philadelphia on Friday afternoon.

With former Hartford Wolf Pack right wing Ryan Callahan sidelined 6-to-8 weeks with a broken left hand sustained when he blocked a shot in a 4-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday night, the New York Rangers called up Weise, who hoped the second time was a charm for making his NHL debut.

“I’m totally pumped up for the opportunity to play in the next level,” Weise told Howlings.net before his flight. “It’s been a tough start to the season, but I’ve working really hard and feel like I’m ready.”

Weise, 22, missed 18 of the Whale’s first 30 games because of injuries but still had six goals and five assists, including the winners in the last two games against the Adirondack Phantoms. It was part of a three-game point streak that included three goals and two assists. Weise averages 0.92 points, which ranks second on the team, and is tied for third with three power-play goals and ranks fourth with six goals despite two lengthy absences.

Ironically, Weise got his first call-up at the end of last season because of an injury to Callahan but was a healthy scratch for four games. By all accounts, he’ll be in the lineup Saturday at 1 p.m. when the Rangers face the Atlantic Division-leading Philadelphia Flyers.

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By Bruce Berlet

HARTFORD, Conn. – Chad Kolarik’s goal with 29.5 seconds left in overtime lifted the Connecticut Whale to its sixth straight win Friday night, a 3-2 victory over the Worcester Sharks before 5,307 at the XL Center.

After Whale goaltender Chad Johnson kicked out Sean Sullivan’s screened bid, the goalie cleared the puck to Wade Redden, who tossed a pass that found Kolarik and took off on a 2-on-1 against Sharks defenseman Mike Moore. After getting some unexpected help from Sharks coach Roy Sommer, Kolarik calmly skated in on Alex Stalock and fired a 30-foot wrist shot that beat the goalie high to the glove side for his seventh goal and first winner in 15 games since being acquired from the Columbus Blue Jackets and Springfield Falcons for former Wolf Pack captain Dane Byers on Nov. 11.

“I actually missed the block on (Sullivan’s) shot, Johnny made a good save and Reds just chipped it up to me and beat his man up the ice,” Kolarik said. “That’s great hustle by him making it a 2-on-1 because if it’s 1-on-1 it doesn’t happen. I thought I’d let (Redden) catch up a little bit to have that 2-on-1 and actually heard their coach say, ‘Give him the shot.’ ”

Kolarik paused and smiled.

“I’m like, ‘All right,’ ” Kolarik continued. “As a shooter, that takes all the options away from me, which is actually probably better because you’re not thinking about it. I was going for that high glove. If you ask the goalie, that’s my bread and butter, a little chip shot. I think (Sommer) was just yelling at his (defenseman), but I happened to cross by the bench at the same time. It was good information.”

The Whale’s (14-11-2-4) six-game winning streak is the franchise’s longest since the Wolf Pack won seven in a row from Feb. 20 to March 4, 2009. The Whale also has a 10-game point streak (8-0-0-2), is 8-0-0-1 since being rebranded from the Wolf Pack on Nov. 27 and is three games above .500 for the first time this season.

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By Bruce Berlet

No Nick Fotiu, no Jack Carlson, no Curt Brackenbury, no Gilles Bilodeau from the New England Whalers days in the World Hockey Association.

No Stu Grimson, no Jim McKenzie, no Dave Schultz, no Torrie Robertson from the Hartford Whalers days in the National Hockey League.

No Dale Purinton, no Richard Scott, no Francis Lessard, no Brandon “Sugar” Sugden from the Hartford Wolf Pack days in the American Hockey League.

No problem, no problem, no problem, no problem for the new Connecticut Whale.

No, the Whale doesn’t have any heavyweights or major-league enforcers from yesteryear. Oh, Justin Soryal is a borderline candidate, and Devin DiDiomete is willing to toss ’em with the best and biggest of ’em even though he’s in the middleweight division.

So how in the name of Ed “Boxcar” Hospodar are the Whale’s 751 penalty minutes 86 more than the AHL runner-up Norfolk Admirals?

Well, just call the Whale Team Toughness. In 30 games this year, and especially since the Wolf Pack became the Whale on Nov. 27, Soryal and DiDiomete have been faithfully backed by Jared Nightingale, Kris Newbury, newcomer Stu Bickel and even Wade Redden.

While not known as a physical force during two seasons with the New York Rangers, Redden has engaged in fights twice in the past few weeks, once when he came to the defense of defensive partner Pavel Valentenko after the Russian was slammed into the boards, and another when rookie defenseman Tomas Kundratek and veteran center Kris Newbury came to Redden’s aid after he was run by the Springfield Falcons’ Nick Tarnasky, who has played 245 games in the NHL. Valentenko is trying to earn a NHL job that Redden is trying to regain, but that didn’t stop the 34-year-old from helping a teammate 11 years younger.

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By Bruce Berlet

GLENS FALLS, N.Y. – The Connecticut Whale hasn’t had the problem scoring goals lately that they had early in the season, but they outdid themselves Wednesday night.

The Whale needed only eight shots to score four goals in the second period and then survived several ill-advised penalties in the third period to hold on for a 6-4 victory over the Adirondack Phantoms before 2,170 at the Glens Falls Civic Center.

Kris Newbury, Wade Redden, Tim Kennedy and Kelsey Tessier helped the Whale bat .500 in the second 20 minutes and score their most goals in a period this season, including two of their three on the power play. But they needed Mats Zuccarello’s empty-net goal off Newbury’s second assist with 25.8 seconds left to extend their season-high winning streak to five games and improve to 7-0-0-1 since being rebranded from the Wolf Pack on Nov. 27.

“We got our two points, but we weren’t as disciplined as we should be and can’t take that many penalties (four minors) in the third period,” Whale coach Ken Gernander said. “These were some penalties we didn’t need to take and some calls you don’t always agree with, but if you’re in the offensive zone and playing sound and on the right side of your checks, then more times than not, you’re not going to take penalties. If not, you tend to play loosey-goosey.

“But they came at us hard in our building (in a 4-3 victory Sunday), and they came at us hard in the third period here. I don’t think their record (4-23-2-0) is indicative of the kind of team they have. They’re going to create chances and opportunities on their own, but you have to make them earn all of them. We can’t give them advantages as far as manpower.”

The numerous turnovers on both sides made life miserable for the goalies, who allowed nine goals on 47 shots, plus Zuccarello’s empty-netter. The Whale was 3-for-6 on the power play and the Phantoms 3-for-7, including 2-for-4 in the third period.

Whale goalie Cameron Talbot made 19 saves to notch his fourth consecutive victory in his first back-to-back starts to improve to 5-2-0-0 with a 2.24 goals-against average and .924 save percentage. The Whale (13-11-2-4) notched their second victory over the AHL’s worst team in three days, increased their point streak to nine games (7-0-0-2) and are two games above .500 for the first time since they were 3-1-0-1 after a 3-0 victory over Providence on Oct. 17.

That win was followed by a 1-9-2-1 slide, but the Whale have completely turned it around with a total team effort to climb into fourth place and only four points behind division co-leaders Portland and Manchester.

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