Chirps from Center Ice
A fan blog about the AHL's Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins
Category Archives: Wheeling Enforcements
What’s Up Ace?
Wilkes-Barre announced the signings of four players to its Black Ace squad this morning.
Joining the club is F Chris Barton, the Wheeling Nailers second leading scorer this year with 23-20-43 in 47 games this season. Barton has played four games for the Penguins this season.
Also coming in is D Harrison Ruopp, who was part of the trade this past offseason with the Phoenix Coyotes. Ruopp completed his junior season with the Prince Albert Raiders of the Ontario Hockey League and plays a very physical game. He was 1-15-16 in 65 games for the Raiders.
Goalies Scott Darling, who was 13-12-3 in 31 games for the Nailers with a 2.80 GAA and a .906 save percentage and Matt Murray from the Sault St. Marie Greyhounds of the Ontario Hockey League who posted 26-19-4 record in 53 games with a 3.67 GAA and a .894 save percentage round out the additions made today.
Barton and Darling signed professional tryout agreements (PTOs) and Ruopp and Murray signed amateur tryout agreements (ATOs)
A name not on the list is Keven Veilleux. The often injured Veilleux was sent to Wheeling when he finally got healthy then found himself in trouble when he used a racial slur in a game that got him suspended 10 games. I would assume that his playing days for the Penguins organization are over.
So that’s that. Penguins take host the Albany Devils tonight at 7 p.m. Gameday for that affair will be up here at 3 o’clock.
Let’s Go Pens!
Moving. Shaking. Not a Lot of Bacon.
Yeah, I have no idea how that headline correlates with this post.
Anyway, gobs of moves in Penguins land. You all by now know about some guy by the name of Iginla. So I am not going to bore you with the details on that acquisition. To start…
– Jeff Zatkoff was recalled to Pittsburgh. A well deserved call up to a player who had never dressed for an NHL game. It’s expected that he backs up Tomas Vokoun tonight.
– Marc Andre-Fleury took morning skate today and was still “questionable” to back up tonight. I feel much better seeing him take the skate this morning than say, 36 hours ago after the initial injury happened. That would lead me to believe that Zatkoff’s stay will be a brief one. He could be back as soon as this weekend, if not Friday.
– In the wake of the Zatkoff recall, Wilkes-Barre recalled Scott Darling to a PTO. Darling was on an ECHL contract with the Wheeling Nailers. He’s 13-12-1-2 with a 2.80 GAA and a 0.906 SV% in 31 appearances this season in the ECHL.
– Evgeni Malkin is off of injured reserve and will presumably play tonight, therefore Beau Bennett was returned to Wilkes-Barre. Now it is perceived that Bennett could hypothetically return to Pittsburgh after the trade deadline when there is no roster limits. But with the new arrivals of Brenden Morrow and Jarome Iginla, I don’t see it. Bennett on a fourth line would be a waste of his talents. Pittsburgh has made it clear that they are “all in” for a Stanley Cup. While Bennett is in the long term plans, the short term chance of winning a Stanley Cup is too much to pass up for the Penguins who are serious contenders.
Time, as it has in the past, always tells.
Gameday for tomorrow’s giant test vs. the Providence Bruins will be up at 3 p.m. Friday.
Let’s Go Pens!
Over the Hump and Out the Door
It hit the ECHL wire Tuesday night that Reid McNeill was recalled to Wilkes-Barre. The Penguins made it official today.
Also in the release from the Penguins, was the announcement that D Mark Eaton was released from his PTO. Eaton was then spotted in Pittsburgh’s morning skate. He hasn’t signed yet with the Penguins.
Eaton didn’t set the world on fire when he was with Wilkes-Barre. He played six games, had one assist and was a -5. His departure eliminates the veteran overload for the Penguins.
With Eaton out of the picture, the McNeill recall makes sense if Alex Grant can’t go in this weekend’s three in three.
My final thought about Eaton is that if he does sign with Pittsburgh, the Penguins would then have eight defensemen on the roster. Only Simon Despres could come back to the Penguins without having to clear waivers. I wouldn’t rule out that actually coming to fruition.
Unless there is roster movement or I get another crazy stat breakdown idea that jumps into my head, look for the next blog update on Friday, which is the gameday setup for that night’s game in Philadelphia vs. Adirondack.
Call-Ups, Call-Downs, Collins
Busy Monday morning on Coal Street.
Joe Morrow’s NHL cup of coffee lasted one day. He was returned to Wilkes-Barre almost to the second since when he was recalled. He was scratched in the 4-1 loss to New Jersey last night.
Reid McNeill was recalled from Wheeling. He’s a defenseman. He may be enjoying his AHL cup of coffee today, as with him on town, WBS has 8 D on the roster (B. Dumoulin, M. Eaton, A. Grant, R. McNeill, J. Mormina, J. Morrow, P. Samuelsson, C. Wild) unless one of the d-men are still hurt, I can’t see McNeill sticking around.
Chris Collins was signed to a PTO today by Wilkes-Barre. You may remember Collins from a few years ago playing on the team in 2010-11 that collapsed in the second round of the playoffs won the AHL’s regular season title. I checked the Chirps from Center Ice archives (900+ posts strong, by the way) and found him to be more of a quiet role player who killed penalties. Collins ranked second in points for his DEL team overseas last season, and bounced around North America this season playing for the ECHL’s Las Vegas Wranglers and the AHL’s Springfield Falcons.
Jonathan will have more later most likely. Hell, Tom might even have something too.
Let’s Go Pens!
Carl and Cody’s Reunion Tour
News out of Coal Street this morning was the return of defenseman Carl Sneep and the signing of defenseman Cody Wild from the ECHL’s Wheeling Nailers.
Two depth recalls, which to me mean that Simon Despres may be getting an extended look in Pittsburgh at least through this weekend. The alternative could mean that a trade is in the works for one of the three D-men that went up (Brian Strait, Robert Bortuzzo and Despres) or an existing Pittsburgh defenseman. We just don’t know.
Here’s the lineup for the Black and Gold game tonight. An interesting name that jumps out at me is one of Patrick Killeen. It’s interesting because Killeen has been injured and hasn’t played for the Wheeling Nailers in quite some time. It’s equally shocking to me because the Nailers left this afternoon for Orlando, where they play the Solar Bears this weekend.
The scrimmage will be shown live on ROOT Sports Pittsburgh.
Keven Veilleux was suspended 10 games for his use of inappropriate racial comments on Sunday. Per Nailers beat writer Shawn Rine, Veilleux has been ordered sensitivity training.
My Second Quarter Grades are still being put together. My plan is to put the finishing touches on them tomorrow and have them here. Stay tuned for that.
Dribs & Drabs 1/15
Some things to catch you up on if you haven’t seen them already:
– Steve MacIntyre, Brad Thiessen and Jeff Zatkoff cleared waivers today. That’s great news, because we have muscle and guys that are very good at stopping opponents pucks headed their way.
– Jonathan Bombulie’s entry today touched on the above and also mentioned Tom Kuhnhackl had season ending upper body surgery. Sounds funny, doesn’t it? Season ending upper body surgery. At this point, the Penguins should just come out and say what he had operated on and be done with it. But, if you don’t have to, the Penguins don’t. We all have to live with that.
– Jonathan also mentioned Benn Ferriero practiced today, joined the team this morning on the bus to Norfolk and may or may not play tomorrow. My guess is he doesn’t, but we will see.
– Pittsburgh is planning on calling a few more guys up after the Norfolk game tomorrow for a scrimmage Wednesday which will be shown on ROOT Sports Pittsburgh. Some AHL teams are doing this with their NHL parents. Even some ECHL teams too, so it’s not a surprise to me that the Pens are among the ones that have this planned.
– Regarding call ups, Carl Sneep is still a Wheeling Nailer according to today’s ECHL Transactions.
– This next story is not feel good at all. Keven Veilleux was suspended indefinitely by the Wheeling Nailers yesterday for the alleged use of a racial slur in a game yesterday vs. the South Carolina Stingrays. You can read Nailers beat writer Shawn Rine’s story here. If the ECHL gets involved and suspends him, the AHL reviews any players status automatically should Veilleux get recalled back to WBS. I’m not about to turn my blog into a social studies lecture, so this is all I will offer on the matter.
– On a much lighter note, Eric Majeski has been writing about the Penguins and training camp since when I had hair. Here are his Day One and Day Two thoughts on Pittsburgh’s NHL training camp complete with practice lines.
Gameday for tomorrow’s game vs. Norfolk will be here on the blog at 3 p.m. Tuesday afternoon.
Let’s Go Pens!
Help Wanted
No. Chirps from Center Ice is not looking for help in the blogger department.
But the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins and Wheeling Nailers may be looking for help in the goal tending department:
Jeff Zatkoff left the ice with trainers a few minutes ago. I don't expect to get many details about it after practice, but I will ask.
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Jonathan Bombulie (@CVBombulie) December 10, 2012-
Killeen is at the doctor having his hand checked out.
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Shawn Rine (@Shawn_Rine) December 10, 2012-
Bombulie had the update today, if you want to call it that. Too soon to speculate, but when have you ever heard a guy leave practice with the trainer then be back the next day as good as new? It just doesn’t happen.
With the unknown status of Killeen, this leaves Brad Thiessen as the lone healthy goaltender in the Penguins organization eligible to play.
Bombulie mentioned in his update that a reader had mentioned to him the possibility of bringing ex-PIT backup Brent Johnson in on a PTO. Apparently Johnson is working out in Pittsburgh with the rest of the locked-out players. What would it take to drive 300 miles East and help out the farm a bit? It makes too much sense, really, and that’s why I would be shocked that it come to fruition.
The ailments / injuries could not come at a more inopportune time for the Pens, who are about to embark in an eight game in twenty day journey, with seven of those eight against divisional opponents and looking more long term nine of ten against East Division foes. Albany Wednesday is the only non-divisional game on the Penguins immediate matrix.
I’ll think worst case here: Zatkoff is out a while. Brent Johnson doesn’t come in on a PTO. The Pens sign some unknown kid. Let’s benchmark Wednesday, Pens are three points out of the division lead and tied for second with Binghamton. Where oh where will the Pens be at the end of this ten game slog? Time (and good goal tending) will tell.
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There are a few other things I want to briefly touch on:
–> Here’s my other game story I wrote for the Maine Hockey Journal on Saturday night. Can’t thank Chris Roy enough for the opportunity to serve.
–> More AHL games were added to SiriusXM NHL Network Radio with the axing of more NHL games thru December 30. The Penguins aren’t featured in any games other than the one already scheduled for this Friday vs. Binghamton.
–> From the ex-Penguin alumni file: Colby Armstrong signed an ECHL deal with the Utah Grizzlies and Chris Collins signed on with the Springfield Falcons.
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If anything breaks on news regarding Penguins / Nailers back stoppers, either in the form of new signings or health status updates, I will have retweets in some from from Mssrs. Bombulie / Rine on Twitter then probably a blurb here on the blog. If not, next update will probably run Wednesday at 3 for the Albany Gameday setup.
