All about a notebook: Moose finds help on the internet, Athanasiou makes his way to Rockford

Let’s take a tour of the AHL with this week’s latest news and notes.

MANITOBA MOOSE

The wins continue to pile up for the Winnipeg Jets, who are off to a 15-1-0 start after a 6-3 loss to the New York Rangers on Tuesday night.

However, the first month of the season was much rockier for their AHL affiliate, the 3-7-0-0 Manitoba Moose. After losing back-to-back decisions 5-2 in Texas last weekend, the Moose have lost four straight and sit at the bottom of the Central Division. Her schedule doesn’t take much of the pressure off her either. They visit the 9-2-0-0 Milwaukee Admirals this morning before heading to stops in Rockford and Chicago this weekend.

They have allowed 3.30 goals per game, which ranks 21st in the AHL. So the Jets went out and bolstered their organizational strength Tuesday by bringing back goaltender Kaapo Käkhönen off waivers from the Colorado Avalanche. Because Colorado had claimed the 28-year-old Käkhönen on waivers from Winnipeg on Oct. 11, the Jets were able to deal him to the Moose immediately this time around without the need for waivers. This season, the Moose have split goaltending duties between 21-year-old Thomas Milic and 20-year-old freshman Domenic DiVincentiis.

Käkhönen had signed with the Jets in the offseason and was expected to compete with Eric Comrie for the team’s backup job. Comrie won that job and Käkhönen ended up in Colorado. He made one appearance for the Avs and two more for the Colorado Eagles. Last season he played 37 games between the San Jose Sharks and the New Jersey Devils (7-24-3 | 3.64 | .898).

While Käkhönen had his ups and downs at the NHL level with the Avs, Devils, Sharks and Minnesota Wild, he excelled in the AHL. He played two seasons with the Iowa Wild and won the Aldege “Baz” Bastien Memorial Award as the AHL’s top goaltender in 2019-20. This season with Iowa, he had a league-best seven shutouts and was 25-6-3 | 2.07 | .927 in 34 games.

ABBOTSFORD CANUCKS

Artūrs Šilovs, one of the top stars of the Stanley Cup playoffs last spring, gave a brief encore with the Abbotsford Canucks last weekend.

With just nine NHL games under his belt, Šilovs stepped into net for the Vancouver Canucks following injuries to Thatcher Demko and Casey DeSmith. He ended up playing 10 games (5-5 | 2.91 | .898) and had a 42-save night in Game 3 of Vancouver’s second-round series against the Edmonton Oilers.

Demko remains out and DeSmith is now with the Dallas Stars, so Šilovs had a chance to take control of the Vancouver goal. However, he immediately had problems and is 0-2-1 | .477 | .808. After he made a third-period relief effort last Saturday against the Oilers, his first appearance since Oct. 30, the club sent him to Abbotsford.

Šilovs started the next night against Bakersfield and his 23 saves contributed to a 4-2 home win. Vancouver recalled him last Monday and he assisted Kevin Lankinen in Tuesday night’s 3-1 home win over the Calgary Flames.

CALGARY WRANGLERS

Life at home suited the Calgary Wranglers well.

They posted a 6-2-0-0 record in eight games at home and have a league-best 11 wins (11-3-0-0). Now there is life on the road for the Wranglers, who have been based in Calgary for almost three weeks.

A seven-game swing begins Friday night in San Jose, while a two-game set begins with the Barracuda. The trip will include additional stops in San Diego, Tucson and Manitoba. They don’t return to the Scotiabank Saddledome until Dec. 6 against Tucson. Ten of their next 14 competitions will take place between now and December 18th.

PROVIDENCE BRUINS

The Providence Bruins unveiled a new third jersey on Tuesday that pays homage to the Boston Bruins’ parent company’s “Pooh Bear” logo from the 1990s.

⏪ Rewind to Retro ⏪ Get a first look at our brand new alternative sweaters launching on #AHLBruins Retro weekend (November 30th/December 1st) ⤵️
🟡 Reproduces the style of late 90s/early 2000s jerseys
🟡 Reverse color scheme: Gold 🔄 Black
🟡 Reverse logos: crest on front 🔄 Shoulder patch pic.twitter.com/j8QRaXOGQJ

— Providence Bruins (@AHLBruins) November 12, 2024

Providence won its only Calder Cup in 1999 with jerseys styled similar to this new look. Under the leadership of head coach Peter Laviolette, the P-Bruins posted a 70-point improvement over 1997–98 and a 37-win increase in their worst season. Randy Robitaille, named the league’s Most Valuable Player, scored 102 points in the regular season before the P-Bruins ultimately defeated Rochester in a five-game series to capture the Calder Cup. It was the city’s first Calder Cup title since 1956, when the Providence Reds won their fourth and final championship.

The Boston-Providence partnership has existed since 1992–93 and is the AHL’s longest-running uninterrupted association. Providence will debut its alternate appearance Nov. 30 at home against Utica.

ROCKFORD ICE PIGS

NHL veteran Andreas Athanasiou finds himself back in the AHL for the first time since the 2015-16 season.

At the time, Athanasiou was a 21-year-old prospect in the Detroit Red Wings organization and was finishing his time with the Grand Rapids Griffins. The forward has played 492 NHL games for Detroit, Edmonton, the Los Angeles Kings and the Chicago Blackhawks. It was the Hawks who signed him as a free agent in July 2022, and after he delivered a 20-goal season, he received a two-year extension in June 2023. However, he played in just 28 games for Chicago last season (2-7-9) and went scoreless in five games this season.

He had not suited up for Chicago since October 22nd. After clearing waivers on Tuesday, the Hawks assigned him to the Rockford IceHogs.

SYRACUSE CRUNCH

Friday night will be a homecoming as Alex Barré-Boulet and the Laval Rocket visit Syracuse for the first time this season.

Barré-Boulet spent six seasons with the Crunch, setting franchise records in goals (113), assists (189) and points (302). After playing 36 games for the Tampa Bay Lightning last season, he signed with the Montreal Canadiens on the first day of free agency. The 27-year-old forward was added to Montreal’s roster out of training camp, but was sent to the Rockets after just two games.

In seven games for the Rocket, he is second in team scoring with 3-8-11.

UTICA COMET

With only one game this weekend, the Utica Comets need to make this middle stretch of November count.

After a 4-0 home loss to Cleveland earlier in the week, the Comets are winless in their first 12 games (0-9-1-2). The chance for their first win evaded them last Saturday night in Lehigh Valley, where their one-goal lead vanished with 3:29 left in regulation and a 4-3 overtime loss to the Phantoms.

It’s been a busy month of hockey for the Comets, who already have a goal difference of minus-30 (51-21). Head coach Kevin Dineen was fired last Wednesday and replaced by Ryan Parent on an interim basis for the remainder of the season. Veterans Justin Dowling and Nick DeSimone will be recalled to New Jersey, although the Devils sent 20-year-old Simon Nemec to Utica for playing time and the Comets have struggled to get offensive production from much of their experienced core. Utica’s next game is this Saturday when it hosts Syracuse in the first meeting between the two teams since the Crunch’s 5-0 season-opening win. After that, the Comets won’t play again until November 22nd, which will give them plenty of practice time.

The 1987-88 Baltimore Skipjacks (0-19-2) hold the AHL record for longest winning streak since the start of a season at 21 games. This team had just lost its affiliation with Pittsburgh. Baltimore was forced to break away from membership, ultimately finishing 13-58-9.

WILKES-BARRE/SCRANTON PENGUINS

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins goaltender Filip Larsson makes his second play of the AHL count.

Larsson, then 20, moved to the AHL in 2019-20 after a standout performance as a freshman at the University of Denver. He was signed by Detroit and ended up playing only seven games for the Grand Rapids and another ten for their ECHL affiliate Toledo Walleye. So Larsson returned to Sweden and spent three seasons in the HockeyAllsvenskan as well as a brief stop in Denmark. Eventually he worked his way up to the SHL, where we went 19-9-0 | ended 1.93 | .920 last season for Leksands.

This work secured him a new two-year contract with the Pittsburgh Penguins. The 26-year-old is starting this season at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and has two shutouts in his first four appearances. After shutting out Rochester at home last Saturday night, he has now stopped 94 of the last 95 shots he has faced (.989).

Tristan Jarry, who appeared in five AHL games during his conditioning loan, is now back with Pittsburgh.

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