Tim Gettinger hopes solid season with AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack catches Rangers’ eye | Sports

HARTFORD, Conn. — In an ordinary year, Tim Gettinger would be well on his way to putting up career-highs in every major statistical category.

This, however, is not an ordinary year. Not at all. Not for anyone.

So, while you could make the case that the Hartford Wolf Pack forward’s strong, albeit abbreviated season has been largely overlooked — he’s the team’s fifth-leading scorer with 13 points on seven goals and six assists in just 18 games — if you were to take those numbers and stretch them out to the pace of a 76-game schedule in a standard American Hockey League season, and the just-turned-23-year-old would be in line for about 30 goals this year.

Instead, the numbers seem smaller than they should be at this time of the year, which is tough for Gettinger, who has earned call-ups to the parent New York Rangers in each of the two previous seasons totaling six games, but has yet to be able to do so this year. However, he refused to use that as an excuse when asked if a shorter season has affected his chances at a call-up and if it’s affected player development as a whole.

“I think the coaching staff here has done a great job with us this season,” Gettinger told The Trentonian via Zoom. “It’s tough too, you’re playing the same two teams all season, but the coaching staff has been great. Even if we’re only playing a game a week or two games a week, it’s kind of still helping us develop during practice, whether it’s on the ice or off the ice in the gym. They’ve been doing great work with us.”

The Wolf Pack were only able manage to put together a 24-game schedule this year, one in which they’ve faced only the Bridgeport Sound Tigers and Providence Bruins. Home games remain at the XL Center, but no fans have been allowed to attend all season; the aging, but spacious former NHL building is one that feels even more empty on a game day given its size, and it’s taken some getting used to for Gettinger, who is in his third season in Hartford.

“It’s definitely different,” he said. “I think right now, we’re probably used to it, but at the beginning of the season, it was different. Our first game was here at the XL, and there was no one there, and it was just different. But even now, it’s still kind of weird, going out there thinking there will be fans or whatever, and with nobody out there, it’s definitely been different.”

Gettinger has still been able to make the most out of playing in the challenging environment, however, and has seen steady improvement since making his professional debut with Hartford back in 2018-19, which came after a four-year run with the Soo Greyhounds of the junior-level Ontario Hockey League in which he was a very prolific scorer.

“I think from that first year until now, it’s been about learning that pro style of play,” he said. “Coming from juniors to pro, it’s a big jump. You’re playing more games here, and you can’t take any nights off. It was learning that, at all times, I’ve got to be moving my feet, be physical, use my size. That’s something from my first year, on to this year, I’ve learned that night in and night out, that I have to do.”

Using his 6-foot-6, 218 pound frame to his advantage was something that particularly came in handy at the National Hockey League level; Gettinger recorded his first NHL point, an assist, in a two-game stint with the Blueshirts last season.

“Getting that time there was, obviously, a dream come true,” he said. “I learned a lot while I was up there, and I tried to bring that all back with me to Hartford and continue to do what I need to do to improve and try to get back up there.”

So far, so good, as Gettinger has put together a year that should keep him on the Rangers radar as their rebuild has seemingly approached its final steps.

“I’ve been pretty happy with my season so far,” he said. “At the beginning of the season, we kind of got off to a slow start, but the last eight to ten games, we’ve been playing really well as a team. We switched up some lines, and got some new line combos that have been clicking lately. For me personally, I’m happy with how my season’s gone, but as a team, we’ve been playing really well lately.”