Photo: Hartford Wolf Pack.
After the morning practice on November 5th, the Boys Prep and Varsity teams got a massive surprise on the 1932 rink, when the AHL’s Hartford Wolfpack came on the rink after them to practice. The Prep team had the chance to watch the Wolfpack practice before heading back to school.
“I just really liked seeing how skilled everyone was, and they were all extremely dialled. They did not make any mistakes,” noted Charles Pigeon ‘26
The team’s reason for practicing in Lake Placid is unknown, but professional teams have been known to come into town to play on the Olympic rinks to try to break their losing streaks. The Wolfpack have started the season with a losing record of 3-6. So maybe this was a special trip to our local area to try to help out their season. Or it may be because they were making their way north to Montreal, Quebec to play the Laval Rockets on Friday night.
The Hartford Wolfpack is the AHL farm team for the New York Rangers. The team is pretty young, with several really well-known former junior and NCAA players on the Roster. Parker Thompson ’26 is a close family friend of Carey Terrance. “We always grew up together. Our parents are very close. We train together in the off-season, and I hang out with him a lot back home,” said Thompson. Terrance was the captain last season for the OHL’s Erie Otters and gold medal winner at the 2025 World Junior Championships for Team USA. Former OHL champion with the Peterborough Petes and 2023 World Junior Champion for Team Canada, Brennan Othmann, was also on the ice. As well as Gabe Perrault, last year’s Hockey East Champion with Boston College and teammate of Terrance on Team USA at the 2025 World Junior Championships. Perrault would be called up to the New York Rangers later that week.
The opportunity to watch these players up close is a unique experience. Thompson noted, “The main difference between their practice and ours was the nonstop communication between guys. They could also just do things at a lot higher pace.” It’s an opportunity to see up close what it takes to make it to the next level in pro hockey.
While their practice at the Lake Placid Olympic Center did not break their losing streak. The Wolfpack ended up losing 4-2 to the Laval Rocket on Friday night and 2-1 to the Belleville Sens on Saturday night, it hopefully was a fun experience for their players to get a taste of Lake Placid and learn a little bit about the history of the rinks.
