Wolf Pack: Fontaine Could be Out for Season, Cunniff Leaves Coaching Staff

Fontaine’s shoulder injury might end his 2019-20 season

A report has surfaced that Hartford Wolf Pack forward Gabriel Fontaine, 22, could miss the remainder of the 2019-20 AHL season with a shoulder injury. Fontaine left a game on Nov. 9 against the Belleville Senators with an upper-body injury and hasn’t been in the lineup since.

In 13 games with the Wolf Pack this season, Fontaine has one goal and two assists; he had 26 points in 72 games in the 2018-19 season. The Rangers selected the Montreal-native in the sixth round of the 2016 Draft (171st overall). He’s in the last season of his ELC.

In other Wolf Pack news, assistant coach David Cunniff — who joined Hartford’s coaching staff this season and was one of the coaches behind the Rangers’ bench at the Traverse City Prospect Tournament — has left his position to serve as the general manager and head coach of the Worcester Railers (ECHL). The Railers are the ECHL affiliate of the New York Islanders. This will be Cunniff’s first head coaching position at the professional level, he turned 49 in October.

The Wolf Pack’s next game is on Nov. 30 against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Hartford is first in the AHL standings in points but is currently on a three-game losing streak. Prior to this slide, the Wolf Pack had just a single regulation loss through the first 17 games of the season.