Hilton Hartford

LaBarbera turned aside 43 shots as Hartford downed the Springfield Falcons 2-1 before 7,042 at the Hartford Civic Center on Friday.
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Hartford entertains the Chicago Wolves at the Hartford Civic Center tonight at 7:35 p.m.

Friday's victory might mean nothing by next weekend because Hartford has been so inconsistent.
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Hartford got a fortuitous power play with 1:37 left in regulation and won when Chebaturkin crashed the net and knocked home a rebound for his second goal of the year.
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Richard Lintner scored his third goal in four games to give Hartford a 1-0 lead 1:31 into the game.
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Hartford was able to hold the lead thanks to LaBarbera, the Wolf Pack's most consistent goalie before the holidays.
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The Falcons peppered Hartford's young netminder with 28 shots in the first two periods but were unable to score.
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And it could not have come at a better time for Hartford.
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In four games with Hartford, he has an assist and four PIM's.
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Hartford captain Ken Gernander missed his fifth straight game with a quadriceps injury suffered 10 days ago.
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Hartford takes on Chicago in the second-annual "Scout Sleepover" Night.
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HARTFORD -To the very end, Mike Mottau remained politically correct.
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The 24-year-old has been Hartford's best defensemen when healthy this season.He had 17 points and a plus-9 rating in 29 games.He missed 16 games due to knee and quadriceps injuries.Since joining the organization for the 2001 season, he skated in 19 games with the Rangers, registering three assists and 13 penalty minutes.

"He was a big part of our hockey team," Hartford coach Ryan McGill said after a 6-0 loss to the Houston Aeros on Wednesday.
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HARTFORD - In terms of effort, the Hartford Wolf Pack improved on several of its recent performances on Friday night.

But, in terms of results, it was same old, same old as the Springfield Falcons scored three unanswered goals to beat Hartford 3-1 at the Springfield Civic Center.
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Newcomer Jay Henderson scored for Hartford and Johan Holmqvist made 26 saves for the Wolf Pack.
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Hartford, which has now lost three straight games, plays host to the Falcons tonight at 7:05 p.m.The Wolf Pack then entertains the Providence Bruins at 4:05 p.m. on Sunday.

Coming off a 5-1 loss to Providence on Wednesday, Hartford coach Ryan McGill was looking for a more consistent performance from his team.
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Hartford, which out-shot Springfield 34-30, had more than its fair share of chances in the final period to tie the score.
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First things first, though, Hartford needed to start playing better and it took a baby step in that direction on Friday.
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Pelletier has been Hartford's biggest nemesis so far this season.
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In his last performance against Hartford, he made 44 saves to beat the Wolf Pack by a goal at the Hartford Civic Center.
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Hartford's offense has been struggling the last few weeks.
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The former Boston Bruins reserve, who scored a goal against Hartford on Wednesday, was acquired for a ninth-round draft pick on Friday.
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HARTFORD - Hartford Wolf Pack players have one hope: It can't get any worse.

Hartford's 5-1 loss to the Providence Bruins before 4,040 at the Hartford Civic Center on Wednesday was the low point in an already-disappointing season.Every Wolf Pack weakness was exposed and no burgeoning strengths were discovered.Providence played better and harder than Hartford, which responded with curse words and frustration-borne penalties.
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For Hartford, Benoit Dusablon tallied its lone goal with 5:29 left in regulation.
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Hartford's only recourse was to match Providence's dominance with fists.Both Billy Tibbetts and Garrett Burnett dropped their gloves to inject energy into Hartford's game.
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"We felt we owed them, it wasn't something you can take lightly," Hartford captain Ken Gernander said.
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Still, Hartford did.
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HARTFORD - Here's how bad it is: The AHL's worst team owns the Hartford Wolf Pack.

For the second time in a week, a Lowell Lock Monsters goalie had his way with the Wolf Pack.
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Nils Ekman scored the lone goal for Hartford, which visits the Bridgeport Sound Tigers at the Arena at Harbor Yard tonight at 7 p.m.
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Friday's game was summarized, however, by Hartford's play during a three-minute stretch of the third period.
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Hartford got one scoring chance on a Mike Mottau wrist shot gloved by DesRochers, and another when Dixon Ward's one-timer hit his goalie pad.
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The only area where Hartford has been untouched has been between the pipes.
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HARTFORD - Finally, at long last, the Hartford Wolf Pack is accomplishing its mission.
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This was all done by design, Hartford general manager Al Coates says.
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"You don't want guys in Hartford who can't help the Rangers.
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With Donato gone, Hartford won't have its most consistent offensive player in the lineup.
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To Hartford coach Ryan McGill, a weakened lineup is not a concern.
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Thus it is so with Hartford.When players like Donato and Tibbetts go up, young players need to step into Hartford's lineup and do their job just as well.
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Hartford was eight points behind the division-leading Bridgeport Sound Tigers last week with four games in hand.Now, the Wolf Pack stands six points back with only two fewer games played.

"Games in hand don't mean anything unless you win them," he said.
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Wolf Pack coaches E.J. McGuire, John Paddock, and McGill have all said one reason players should play well in Hartford is that NHL scouts are always in the building.
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Former No. 1 overall draft pick Alexandre Daigle, who spent time in Hartford during its Calder Cup-winning season in 2000, joined the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins last weekend.
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Lundmark, frequently a healthy scratch in his last few stays with the Rangers, was sent to Hartford on Tuesday.
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HARTFORD - If, and more likely when, Ryan McGill becomes an NHL coach, media folk on the wash and rinse sides of the spin cycle will adore him.
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Comments made during a recent mini-slump by Hartford, though, have angered certain Wolf Pack players in a way only Tony Soprano can understand.
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In a 2-0 loss to the Lowell Lock Monsters at the Hartford Civic Center on Saturday, Hartford competed for 60 minutes, allowed only 22 shots, and faced just two shorthanded situations.
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Chalking up defeat to "a bad night" would ease the pressure and help certain players in Hartford's lineup refocus.
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HARTFORD - Someone please tell the New York Rangers about John Tripp.
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The Hartford Wolf Pack forward scored his third hat trick this season in Hartford's 3-2 victory over the Albany River Rats before 5,624 at the Hartford Civic Center on Thursday.The Wolf Pack tries for two straight when it faces the Providence Bruins at the Dunkin' Donuts Center tonight at 7 p.m.

The AHL's second-leading goal scorer possesses a muscular build and soft hands, a rare combination.Yet the 25-year-old has not gotten a sniff from Hartford's parent club.

Isn't this frustrating?
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On Hartford's first-goal 1:14 into regulation, Tripp was on the doorstep and tapped home Nils Ekman's pass to give Hartford a 1-0 lead.
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On Hartford's first-goal 1:14 into regulation, Tripp was on the doorstep and tapped home Nils Ekman's pass to give Hartford a 1-0 lead.
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After Greg Crosier tied the game 6:41 into the second period, Tripp put Hartford up for good with two goals in a span of 4:08.
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Hartford held the advantage through 40 minutes, which is normally good news.
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The River Rats were held to seven shots in the final 20 minutes, Jason LaBarbera made a crucial save or two, and Hartford snapped a two-game winless streak.
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Tripp's third hat trick puts him on pace to break Hartford's single-season record for three-goal games.Brad Smyth, the Wolf Pack's all-time leading goal scorer, also had three hat tricks in Hartford's inaugural season.
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Hartford's first-year coach places a great emphasis on solid work habits and said Ulmer had those bases covered against the River Rats.
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HARTFORD - Jay Henderson finally understands.
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HARTFORD - Apparently, when the Hartford Wolf Pack hit rock bottom during a 5-1 loss to the Providence Bruins last Wednesday, the bottom was mad