Beneath the Elms: The Beast of New Haven

By Michael Horn

In its second season of play, the Beast of New Haven, the Elm City's AHL team, is off and speed skating. Through five games, the Beast are 3-2. They are in third place in the New England Division and fifth in the Eastern Conference. Ahead of the Beast are the Hartford Wolf Pack (4-0) and the Worcester Ice Cats (4-1), the only teams to have beaten the Beast thus far.

"We've had a real strong start," Beast owner and general manager David Gregory said. "After the opener, we won really strong against Lowell." Gregory added that he believes this year's team is improved from last year's playoff team.

The Beast dropped their opener to Hartford, 6-3. The next night they defeated Lowell, and faced Worcester the next night. The Beast dominated this game, but had trouble finding the net, losing 1-0. "We could easily be 4-1 instead of 3-2," Gregory said.

On Sat., Oct. 17, the Beast defeated the Lowell Lock Monsters for the second time this season, this time by a score of 5-2. The Lock Monsters jumped on top of the Beast 2-0 early in the game, but with 2:29 left in the first period, rookie defenseman Peter Ratchuk scored for the Beast. The Beast then tied the game with 11 seconds remaining in the first period on a goal by forward Scott Levins. Levins leads the team in scoring with four goals.

The Beast finished off the Lock Monsters in the third period with three goals. "It took us a while to get going. But then we dominated after that point," Gregory said. "Our style is that we can use the body, but we also have the speed. When we combine these two, we can be tough to beat."

The game also marked the return of Beast center Ryan Johnson, who came back to the lineup after missing two games because of a concussion. Johnson was second on the team last year in points and made his presence felt against Lowell with two points. "Last year he was one of the top forwards in the league," Gregory said. He added that Johnson was not yet at full strength in the Lowell game. "He'll be getting stronger game by game."

The Beast will get a chance to avenge their two losses this weekend when they play Hartford on Fri., Oct. 23, and Worcester on Sat., Oct. 24. Both games are road contests making the task all the more difficult. A win against either of these teams, according to Gregory, should establish the Beast as an Eastern Conference force for the rest of the season.

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