
AHL Trade Created Interesting Circumstances For Hershey, Hartford
HERSHEY - It is very rare in professional hockey for a player to spend his entire career with one team. So when players decide to enter the league, at any level, there is an expectation that trades and moves will be made at some point.
Players expect those moves to come primarily during the off-season or right before the trade deadline, but Friday’s trade between the Hartford Wolf Pack and their parent club, the New York Rangers and the Hershey Bears and their parent club, the Washington Capitals, came as both teams were preparing for road contests.
Hershey’s Hubert Labrie and John Albert, who were not in Friday’s lineup in Allentown were traded to Hartford in exchange for Adam Chapie, who was preparing to play in Syracuse and Joe Whitney.
“I was definitely surprised,” recalled Chapie. “I was actually rolling out and stretching and coach McCambridge came up and asked to talk to me, pulled me aside and told me, ‘You’re traded to Hershey and we’ll see you on the ice tomorrow.’ It’s kind of funny I’ve heard great things about this place, so I was excited. Obviously it’s always a bummer to leave your friends, but it’s a fresh start and a new opportunity, so I was excited about it.”
The move left Hartford down a skater for the game and caused some anxiety for Whitney and Chapie, who had left Hartford intending to return after the team’s games in Charlotte Tuesday and Wednesday.
“It’s pretty crazy how it happened,” said Whitney. “It’s always tough on the road to figure out travel and clothing and the sorts of things like that, but it was nice to get on the ice (Saturday) and play the game.”
Chapie echoed Whitney’s thoughts saying, “I don’t really have any clothes to go out and get something to eat or to go to the mall, so that was the first thing that went through my mind, but there’s a lot of things running through your head. Don’t know who to call first whether it be your parents, your agent, or my girlfriend who’s close to me, so a lot of things run through your head, but first and foremost my career comes first and a lot of things hockey-related ran through my head.”
As it turned out, the travel arrangements from Syracuse to Hershey were not nearly as difficult or uncomfortable as they could have been if the pair had to hop on the Hartford bus.
“I mean that’s a whole story in itself,” laughed Chapie when asked how they arrived in Hershey. “It was quite the travel arrangement, but we were picked up by a nice man who traveled four hours from Syracuse, his hometown, all the way to Hershey and then all the way back. We didn’t have to travel with the Hartford team - that might have been a little awkward, but it was fine, a good trip.”
Whitney, who has been through this before, noted that it is a bit easier making the sudden transition with a teammate. “Chapie’s a good guy,” he said. “We’re good friends on the team. It’s good to travel with him here and have someone to share the experience with and maybe lean on if you need something or whatever. I think it’s a good opportunity for both of us.”
But the pair did not have much time to settle in as they joined their new teammates at Giant Center Saturday where the Bears were hosting the duo’s former team, Hartford.
For Labrie and Albert, it meant walking past the Hershey lockerroom to the smaller, visitors’ locker room at the end of the hallway, and for Chapie and Whitney, well, they got to experience the friendly confines of Hershey’s locker room, but that turned out to be the easiest part of the evening. For all four, the game involved yet more thinking, passing to new teammates.
“It was definitely weird for sure,” Whitney said of passing to the guys in Hershey jerseys, but he grew accustomed to it rather quickly, recording a pair of assists and the game-winning goal in Sunday’s victory over the visiting Rochester Americans.
Mann was certainly happy with what he saw. He said, “I think you can see Whitney is very crafty on the PP, real good skill set...Chapie, unfortunately I couldn’t get him as much ice time because he didn’t play any special teams today, but I thought he showed some good speed and he had some decent shifts there, so it will probably take a little bit longer to assess his talent situation or his talent level and what he can bring to our team. And Joe Whitney I think is certainly someone we know exactly what he’ll bring to the table here.”
With the Bears heading out on a roadtrip to Canada that includes stops in Laval, Belleville, and Toronto, Whitney admitted that there weren’t any plans to return to Hartford to pack up necessary possessions just yet, but added that he would reassess things once the Bears return from Toronto, after all, Hershey scheduled to play in Hartford on February 23.
“This isn’t so bad. It’s only 5 ½, 6 hours back to Boston so it shouldn’t be too hard of a transition,” he said. “I’m looking forward to getting my family here and settling in for the rest of the year.”
After all, it’s a fresh start to a season that, to that point, had failed to reach expectations for any of the four players. And, they all know that, in hockey, trades happen often.
“It’s part of the business and I kind of understand that now at this point in my career, but it is kind of weird to get on the ice and the other team is the team you just got traded from,” Whitney said. “I don’t know how often that happens, but it’s part of the business and it’s something you sign up for. I’m just looking forward to the remaining season here.”
After Sunday night’s performance, Hershey fans are too, Joe.