If the Philadelphia Flyers earned the nickname the “Broad Street Bullies,” then the Hartford Wolf Pack could have earned a similar nickname after their weekend games (I’d suggest the Trumbull Street Bullies). The theme of their back-to-back was the fighting, certainly with two five-on-five line brawls on Friday night against the Bridgeport Islanders.
Related: Is The Fix-Wolansky Move to Center Repairing Hartford’s Offense
Many will note that back in the day, these line brawls in the American Hockey League (AHL) were common occurrences. Teams don’t drop the gloves as often, which is why the Wolf Pack physicality stands out. It’s something Trey Fix-Wolansky mentioned after Friday night’s game, stating that he’s never been a part of a team that’s gotten into so many line brawls.
The Wolf Pack are playing a tougher brand of hockey. That doesn’t result in wins. What does is the buy-in, and it shows when scrums break out. The Wolf Pack look like a team where they stand up for each other, and it’s why they’ve won five of their last seven games.
The Compete & Physicality Stands Out
Early in the season, the question was what would change. How would the Wolf Pack improve and save what was becoming a lost season? “Players are going to play the way that they should play. The system didn’t change between the second period and the third, it’s the want, the will, and the compete,” head coach Grant Potulny mentioned after a Nov. 14 loss to the Rochester Americans.
That game, paired with a loss the next night to the Laval Rocket, was a low point for the Wolf Pack. The Wolf Pack hosted back-to-back home games where they gave the fans nothing to cheer about. It was a rough time but the players knew if they stuck to the plan, eventually the wins would follow.
With the season in the homestretch, the Wolf Pack are prepared for it. “We’ve played a lot of good hockey lately, and maybe we weren’t winning as much early on but we’ve been building this brand of hockey. This is a brand that can have success in the playoffs,” Potulny noted after a 5-2 Saturday night win over the Hershey Bears. The Wolf Pack have played playoff hockey for a while, and it wears teams down, especially in a time of the season when opponents are tired.
This physical style, where the Wolf Pack checks and wears teams down, has gotten to teams. They force teams into mistakes and also drop the gloves or lose their composure. It’s given them an edge both mentally and physically.
Wolf Pack Are Finally Connecting on Offense
The Justin Dowling injury put Potulny in a bind. Without the top-line center, the Wolf Pack needed another top-six option to keep the offense going. The injury resulted in an adjustment that unlocked the offense.
Potulny moves Trey Fix-Wolansky from wing to center while playing Brendan Brisson and Adam Sykora on the wings. That line has been a threat to score every time they’ve been on the ice. The chemistry stands out, and the move to the center has unlocked Fix-Wolansky. The veteran has always had the skill but now he can do it all up the middle, and it’s allowed him to score seven goals and six assists in the last six games. “The area you don’t know if how you’re going to do in your own end, can he stop the puck, is he committed to stopping the puck, and I would say check, check to all of that,” Potulny added after a 6-0 win over the Bridgeport Islanders.
The chemistry stands out on the Fix-Wolansky line, and it was discovered with the Carey Terrance, and Aidan Thompson duo. Thompson was acquired at the trade deadline and was an unknown as a 24-year-old winger who flamed out with the Rockford IceHogs. The two forwards connected twice in the 5-2 win over the Bears. “I think as a centerman being slow for him underneath, just being patient for him underneath,” Terrance noted afterwards on what makes their duo connect.
The Thompson add was questioned by the fans and the media, since the Wolf Pack traded away Brennan Othmann and replaced him with an older and less skilled player. Othmann had more skill but the hockey sense favors the veteran AHLer. “I think he’s a smart player, he’s good on his stick. When you do what he’s done before getting here, usually, scorers find a way to score,” Potulny stated after the game. It’s that intelligence in particular that the Wolf Pack have lacked all season, and now have it on the ice. “Every level you go up, players are more skilled, so mistakes become more costly,” Thompson added after the game.
The Wolf Pack have struggled to connect all season. It’s why they average under 2.7 goals per game. Now, they have multiple lines that can score. It’s why they have 29 goals in their last seven games and have looked great lately.
Suddenly, the Wolf Pack is back in it
It’s been a rough season for the Pack, and there’s no sugarcoating it. They have the worst record in the Atlantic Division, and the fans look at this team as a reflection of an organizational failure with their NHL affiliate New York Rangers, also sitting in last place in their division.
Yet, they’ve kept themselves alive for a playoff push. The buy-in has allowed the Wolf Pack to turn a corner and put themselves within striking distance of a playoff spot. There are only 17 games left in the regular season, yet they are only four points out of a playoff spot and have games in hand over the teams they are chasing.
The Wolf Pack don’t have the best roster to close out the season. The prospects aren’t there, and they aren’t adding any late in the season either. This is the team they’ve got for better or worse, something Spencer Martin discussed after the Friday night game. That said, they are playing like a team, as cliché as that sounds, and it’s allowing them to make a late-season push.
