Bonvie's last turn on ice memorable

Several final thoughts before we go into the summer sleep mode. I watched Dennis Bonvie leave the ice Tuesday, with the Calder Cup in the background, about to be awarded. He is one of the most memorable people to play, like Billie Tibbets, Fred Brathwaite and others I've written about.

It must have been painful to end his career without that ring, without that chance to hoist the cup. The enforcers are often the nicest people you meet in hockey. They are Samurai-like, living with a code that only they fully understand. It is understandable how, with the seventh man backing him, Bonvie was able to tip the games in Pennsylvania in favor of the Pens. The Wolves couldn't afford to pay attention to him because as a player he isn't a star, but they couldn't ignore him, because of the crowd.

We had a noted enforcer in Chicago several seasons ago and I remember his antics as he would head to the sin bin. It is the act and the movement of players and fans in ways that can be described, but not necessarily understood, that gives these players their power in the game.

There are purist who demand we end their reign. But the game will be poorer for it.

WOLVES WIN; WOLVES WIN!

The Chicago Wolves defeated the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins 5-2 Tuesday at the Allstate Arena, securing the 2008 American Hockey League Calder Cup Championship. Jason Krog, who was awarded the Jack A Butterfield Trophy as the post-season Most Valuable Player, had a hat trick and an assist, leading the Wolves to their victory.

The Wolves entered the game with a 3-2 series lead. A three game away stand in Wilkes-Barre had been split 2-1, with the Penguins getting the better end of the deal. The presence of veteran enforcer Dennis Bonvie on the ice, starting in game four, was credited with knocking the Wolves off-balance. The Chicago affiliate of the Atlanta Thrashers, which had played a disciplined game in the Toronto series and in the first three games of the Wilkes-Barre series, began to sputter under the weight of lack of discipline and also poor officiating.

Things reached a fever point after one of the away games when Wolves Coach John Anderson said the Wolves couldn’t cover the best Penguin on the ice, and referred to the number worn by Dean Morton, 36. But Morton’s calls were not an issue on Tuesday. He only made six penalty calls and awarded just four power plays in the game.

In fact, during the first of these special team advantages, due to a call on Bonvie, John Curry made a remarkable play that could have gotten into the Wolves head if it had been quickly followed by a goal. During the PK, the Penguin goaltender lost his stick. When he was handed a stick by one of the Penguin blue liners he decided he would prefer to play without it and flung it away, defending against the Chicago attack with his mitts only.

The Chicago power play rode along the edges of the PK unit, taking sniper shots at Curry, but without being able to put one past him. Finally, one of the WBS defenders was able to put a stick on the puck and send it clear of the zone, allowing Curry to retrieve his stick.

Chicago kept the momentum going throughout the first frame, taking the lead in shots 13 to 9 and finally, on a goal by Nathan Oystrick, going ahead at the 17:39 mark of the period 1-0. Early in the second frame, at the 2:05 mark, Krog made his first goal. The Penguins then shut down the crowd, battling back with a goal by Luca Caputi and then after being unable to convert a 5:3 advantage, getting a goal a second after the 5:4 advantage started, to make the game 2-2 going into the locker room for the break.

In the final period of play, Krog scored again at the 4:44 mark and then after a spirited WBS assault, again at 15:23. This last goal was a beautiful play, with Krog firing into the open side of the net while prone on the ice. With the game now 4-2, WBS played desperately to regain a final shot at the Calder Cup, but a goal by Brett Sterling at the 17:42 mark put the game out of reach.

The Penguin bench seemed to concede the inevitable as it allowed the face of the franchise for so many years, Bonvie, to play through the end of the game. Bonvie was the last player in the traditional handshake line and the last Penguin off the ice as numerous Pennsylvania television stations interviewed him on his way to the locker room. It was the final turn on the ice for the veteran who had announced his retirement from hockey at the end of the season. Bonvie, in all of his years, had never raised either a Calder or a Stanley Cup. For many players, he was the heart of the team and added reason for winning this championship.

But it was Chicago’s night, not Wilkes-Barre. Ondrej Pavelec, the rookie goaltender, is only the third goaltender in AHL history to have won 16 post season games. He is also the second rookie goalie in a row to win the trophy, following Hamilton Bulldog Carey Price last year. An informal on-line poll of a Wolves’ fan chat site, Wolfkeeper.org, indicated fans thought Pavelec should win the MVP, followed by vet Steve Martins.

Darren Haydar, the Wolves captain, has now won two Calder Cups, the previous cup being hoisted for the Milwaukee Admirals when Haydar captained their team successfully in 2004. The team the Admirals defeated that year was also the Wilkes-Barre Penguins.

Krog has also made two visits to Chicago for a Calder Cup championship. He was on the losing 2002 Calder Cup finalist, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, when they lost to Chicago that year. He went on to play in the Stanley Cup finals with the Anaheim Mighty Ducks in 2003. Krog was named the 2008 AHL Regular season MVP in addition to his post season MVP.

John Anderson has led the Wolves to all of their championships: 1998 and 2000 in the International Hockey League for the Turner Cup and in 2002 in the AHL for the Calder Cup. He is the 12th AHL head coach to win more than one Calder Cup Championship.

The Wolves win capped a season in which they won the AHL West Division with 111 points. The Wolves defeated the Milwaukee Admirals 4-2 in the first post-season bracket, the Rockford IceHogs 4-3 in the second bracket, and the Toronto Marlies 4-1 in the semifinals. It was the third visit to the Calder Cup finals for the Wolves since the team joined the AHL in 2002.

Bonvie's last moments in WBS on ice/ in sin bin

Dennis Bonvie played two games on ice in the Calder Cup finals. It was unexpected, as he had only played five post-season games prior to the Chicago series. Bonvie is retiring at the end of the season, so last night was the final possible game for him on ice at the Wachovia Arena.

I don't know if it was Bonvie's presence on ice, but this series has changed since he began skating with his guys Friday. I'd wanted to see him play, wanted him to have a turn at Boris Valabik (I was convinced they'd agreed to fight during a shift last night) or perhaps even better, a rookie such as Arturs Kulda.

As the turn of the game became obvious, and the Pens had wrapped it up, the fans demanded something that Bonvie has rarely enjoyed, a turn on the ice during the power play. Over the television, you could hear the call of Bonvie, Bonvie, Bonvie. And the team responded.

I think that was point at which Bonvie, open on the near side, received a pass and let rip. The stats sheet indicates no shot on goal. It doesn't matter, that's how I'll remember it. Bonvie, in the closing moments of a winning effort, taking a shot on goal.

It might still happen that Bonvie will get a turn at Valabik or Kulda. But it won't happen in Wilkes-Barre. After playing what may have been the best game of the series for the Pens, Bonvie was given an equalizer penalty when the game was out of reach for the Wolves. He sat out the last minutes of his last game in a place he'd spent so much of his career: the sin bin.

Goodbye Dennis. I wish you well. I'm glad I saw you play.

Pens win 3-2; Wolves lead series 3-1

The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins won their first playoff game against the Chicago Wolves in the Calder Cup Championship, 3-2. The game at the Wachovia Arena at Casey Center was a nightmare of poor officiating marked by the Penguins being able to keep the Wolves off their game.

Dennis Bonvie, in a huge play, checked Boris Valabik on one end of the ice in the first period, cruised across the ice to smash Brett Sterling from behind. They were both clean hits and huge body crushing hits worthy of a man of Bonvie’s reputation. The Wolves immediately took two penalties giving the Pens a 5:3 power play. As the Wolves defended their goal Colin Stuart broke his stick. Only a miracle could have prevented the first goal, and the Pens didn’t allow the Wolves a miracle at this point, Chris Minard potted a beauty against Ondrej Pavelec.

Bonvie, who took a penalty apparently during the checks, finally took to the sin bin, but the damage was done. A second 5:3 followed in the second period, and the Pens scored again. The second unanswered goal came after the first power play expired. Again Stuart broke his stick. Then a shot from near the blue line was redirected off of Valabik’s foot and in.

The Wolves put two goals on the board, both power plays by Darren Haydar, before the end of the second period, tying the game at 2-2 at the end of the second frame. Seconds after Haydar was tripped, he was called himself for tripping, no there was no penalty for what happened to him. The resulting power play put the game winner in the net off of the foot of Wolves blue liner Brian Sipotz.

Although the Wolves pressured the Pens, no further goals could be scored. Steve Martins and Brett Sterling were both scratches. The next game in the best of seven series is in WBS on Saturday at 6:35 PM. The game is being broadcast on both the NHL Network and Comcast Sports Cable.

Wolves one win from Cup

The Chicago Wolves are one game away from winning the American Hockey League championship, the Calder Cup, following a romp, 6-1, over the Wilkes-Barre/ Scranton Penguins at the Wachovia Arena at Casey Center in Wilkes-Barre tonight. Jesse Schultz potted two goals and rookie Matt Anderson potted one of the Chicago goals in a game that marked the first Chicago victory ever in Wilkes-Barre.

Ondrej Pavelec let just one goal in, in fact the first goal of the game. He stopped 11 shots in the first game, telling Comcast that the Wolves were lucky to not be further down in the first period. Three regular players were scratched for the game, including Steve Martins, Brett Sterling and Joe Motzko. They were replaced by Matt Anderson, Guillaume Desbiens and Mike Hamilton. Those Black Aces stepped up in the game, each earning at least a point, with two goals between them.

On the Wilkes-Barre side, vet winger Dennis Bonvie played what may be his final professional game. Bonvie, known and respected as an enforcer, had no penalties, shots on goal or significant action with Wolves players. Rookie Alex Goligoski was sent down from the Stanley Cup contending Pittsburgh Penguins; he had an assist in the game. He now leads all AHL defensemen in points scored during the post season, at 27. He is just one point from tying a record for rookie points, 28, set by Mike Sillinger of the Adirondack Red Wings in 1992. (At posting time, the result of the Detroit v Pittsburgh game was not known.)

WBS went ahead in the first period, and was able to hold the Wolves off the board in the period, dominating the Wolves, who had only five shots on goal for the first frame. However in the second frame, the Wolves launched a blistering rain of shots on goal, 19, recording five goals. For once, the Wolves power play unit was shut down, but it didn’t matter as a well rounded Wolves beat on John Curry, driving him from the net.

Only four penalties were charged in the game. A shell shocked Penguin team put minimum resistance up in the third frame as the Wolves scored a sixth and final goal. Only two teams have been able to come back from a 3-0 deficit, according to the AHL. This is the second series in this campaign that the Wolves have had a 3-0 advantage over their opponents. The Wolves and the Penguins face off again Friday. The game, played again at the Wachovia Arena, is being televised on Comcast and also by the NHL network, starting at 6:30 P.M. A game five, if necessary, is scheduled for Saturday at 6:30 P.M.

Penguins previewed

I reviewed all of the Wilkes- Barre/ Scranton Penguins video available on line. It really doesn’t tell much, as it consists of lots of fight highlights and very short clips of the Penguins goals against various opponents.

If you insist on showing, as a highlight, the final seconds of a goal and focus on the celebration, it is difficult for anyone to analyze what happened. Jane Rickard, whose blog Powderhornhockey, watched the clips with me and commented that the Penguins seemed, at one point, to be celebrating all of the high sticking penalties missed by the refs.

The coming series isn’t likely to see the Penguins taking a lot of penalties, illegal, or otherwise. I won’t argue that the Penguins aren’t a physical team, but in the post-season, the Chicago Wolves have averaged about 23 penalty minutes per game. Only the Syracuse Crunch have averaged more penalty minutes per game, in the post season, than the Wolves. The Penguins, despite the videos of fights and hits and high sticking, have averaged just 12 minutes in penalties per game.

The Wolves have done well in the post season against undisciplined opponents, notably against the Toronto Marlies. The Rockford IceHogs, who faced the Wolves in a very emotional series that proved to be a physical and emotional high for the season so far, were able to defuse the Chicago special teams, even taking advantage of the man advantages to beat the Chicago PK unit.

So, the first thing I expect, in this series, is that we’ll see fewer opportunities for the Chicago PP unit to score against a more disciplined team than they have faced before.

At the same time, the Penguins are accustomed to a physical form of hockey in the form of the Hershey Bears and the Philadelphia Phantoms. These two teams were unable to shock the Penguins. I don’t think Chicago physical play is going to be able to be used as an advantage against the Penguins.

Now there are two other things I saw in the videos. First, the practice video showed a play that we saw bits and pieces of in the highlights. The puck was taken across the blue line close to the left center of the ice. A cross-ice pass to the far right was immediately dumped down the right boards. The lively boards in Chicago are likely to let the puck leak into the left corner, although the video indicates the Penguins want to play the puck in the right corner.

The Wolves have fought very well in the corners and against the boards. Boris Valabik, in particular, can create plays behind the net that confound the opposition. The other thing I’m thinking about this play, it can be easily thwarted with defense in the neutral zone. It can be forced further to the point and cross ice presence can make it difficult to complete.

The other interesting feature of the video is a short piece, posted by the Penguins on YouTube of a recent practice. Is it for real or is it disinformation? Time will tell, but it shows the players practicing shots high, especially to the right side of the goalie.

I don’t recall any weakness by Ondrej Pavelec on the right side, but months ago he had a tendency to go down early. Looking at highlights from January is like examining fossils. Maybe it has some interest to the current situation. Maybe not. The Rockford IceHogs publicly said they planned to challenge Pavelec by shooting high, after drawing him to drop.

That didn’t work.

Now, the AHL will require the two teams to name 17 players. Here is a list of the players expected to play, based on the stats. I don’t believe any are currently injured.

Tim Brent C
Ryan Stone C
Kurtis McLean C
Nathan Smith C
Connor James C
Dave Grove C
Dustin Jeffrey C
Mark Letestu C
Now, that is 8 centers. I am mystified. Why does this team have so many centers? They must be playing wing.
Here’s a list of their wings, as you might expect, it is a light list, as there are so many centers.
Chris Minard LW
Tim Wallace LW
Luca Caputi LW

Finally, on the blue line:
Alex Goligoski D
Mark Ardelan D
Ben Lovejoy D
Alain Nasreddine D
Ryan Lannon D
Deryk Engelland D

And in net, John Curry.

Goligoski has had a great post season. He is a rookie and is averaging, as a blue liner, two points per game; He only averaged about half point per game in the regular season. Missing is Dennis Bonvie. He has appeared in five of the post season games.