AHL Gap Between Hartford & Hershey Is Minimal

The Hartford Wolf Pack‘s season hasn’t gone to plan, and the March 21 game against the Hershey Bears, at least the start of it, reflected that. They were down 3-1, and considering they were facing the best team in the Atlantic Division, it was an uphill battle. However, the Wolf Pack battled back with two goals late in the second period to tie the game and then a third-period goal to complete the comeback and win the game 4-3.

The Wolf Pack are 26-29-5-2 and are seven points out of a playoff spot. For this team to secure a spot in the playoffs, a lot must work in their favor, and it would be nothing short of a miracle (with 10 games left in the season, they essentially must win all of them).

That said, the gap between the Wolf Pack and the Bears, the second-worst team and the best team in the same division, is minimal. “It shows you how tight this league is,” head coach Grant Potulny noted after the game, one where they went toe-to-toe with one of the league’s best. The Wolf Pack proved that in their recent victory, and will continue to show how slim the gap is in the American Hockey League (AHL) as they make a late-season push for the playoffs.

Hartford Battles and Plays With Structure

“This team doesn’t have any quit. You appreciate the fact that we continue to play through the end of the game,” Potunly remarked after a 6-3 Jan. 25 loss to the Rochester Americans. While that game was months back, the message and sentiment remain with the Wolf Pack. They don’t give up in games, and they’ll battle back to keep games close and give themselves a chance to win.

The Wolf Pack trailed by two goals early, and they didn’t give up. They continued to play their game and win puck battles while forcing turnovers in the offensive zone to create instant scoring chances. It’s how they scored the game-winning goal in the third period, as Blade Jenkins created a turnover and quickly found Bryce McConnell-Barker near the net for the goal. The play embodied how this team wins games. They don’t have the most skill, but they play the complete 200-foot game.

“We have to be a puck-pressure team, we have to create turnovers,” noted Potulny after the recent game. He continued, “You never know when that turnover is going to happen.” Against the Bears, that turnover came just when the Wolf Pack needed it. The Wolf Pack have rotated players throughout the season and skaters have been called up and down, but the message has remained the same and the team’s bought into it, resulting in come-from-behind wins like the latest one.

The Wolf Pack and the Bears play a similar style. They both forecheck and impact the game on both ends of the ice, while the focus is on discipline and structure. What separates the two teams is the talent and the minor details. It’s the small things that Potulny is learning in his first season behind the bench at the AHL level, where he’s learning in hopes of becoming the next great coach, something the Bears’ head coach has already established himself as.

Potulny & Nelson: Learning the AHL vs. Mastering It

The Bears stand out with how they play, not just with their offense and defense but with their play in every zone. They are the reigning back-to-back Calder Cup champions and are on track to make a run at the title again, for good reason. They are a complete team and the team to beat in the AHL.

It’s a reflection of how Todd Nelson coaches. The Bears play with structure and discipline but also take advantage of their opponent’s mistakes. They capitalized on poor puck handling from the Wolf Pack to build a 3-1 lead. When they get a power play, they often find the back of the net. Nelson has the Bears playing disciplined hockey and similarly, the team has great situational awareness. Every skater knows where to be on the ice in every in-game situation. This is his second full season and third year behind the Bears’ bench, and it’s made him a veteran coach at the AHL level and one of the prime candidates to become an NHL head coach someday.

Potulny, meanwhile, is in his first season in the AHL after coming over from the collegiate game. He’s still adjusting to the AHL but in his words, “Hockey’s hockey”, and the same style that worked at the amateur level can work with the Wolf Pack. “Whatever level you’re at, you have to do what you believe in, whether you’re an offensive coach, a defensive coach, you have to be true to who you are,” Potulny noted after the recent game. It’s the type of hockey that wins in the AHL.