The Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins will go into the second weekend of the season still seeking their first win of the season after a pair of setbacks last weekend.
Music to Set the Mood…
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One of Panic at the Disco’s major hits. They sometimes play this at the hockey games sometimes. I don’t particularly care for the song being used at a hockey game because it isn’t that deep at it’s base, but it kind of works here.
A Quote…
“Hope is a waking dream.” — Aristotle
The Setup…
Hartford Saturday and Providence Sunday, all on the road. It’s Hartford’s home opener!
Last week the Penguins mollywhopped Georgii Romanov to the tune of 45 shots, but Romanov stopped 43 of them and Springfield wins the game in overtime. The next night Hartford comes in and narrowly beats the Penguins 3-2 in regulation.
Records
That means the Penguins are 0-1-1 and in fifth in the seven team Atlantic with a point.
Hartford sits atop the division with a 2-0 record and 4 points.
Providence sits last in the division with an 0-2 record and 0 points.
The Rest of those Rascals…
Let’s start at the top and work our way down.
Springfield, after picking hockey rubber out of Georgii Romanov’s ears, take a red eye to Providence for a 3 p.m. start and shut the Bruins out 2-0 and are off to a hot 2-0 start with 4 points. The Thunderbirds host Laval Saturday, Charlotte Sunday.
Hartford beat Lehigh Valley and spoiled the Phantoms home opener on Saturday, then come to Wilkes-Barre and hang in there with the Penguins and walks away 3-2 winners. They, too, are 2-0 with 4 points. The Wolf Pack are in Providence Friday, home against the Pens then Laval comes to Hartford Sunday. They have a midweek meeting with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on the following Wednesday.
Charlotte and Hershey split regulation wins in Hershey this past weekend and are 1-1 with 2 points.
Charlotte is in Providence Saturday, Springfield Sunday.
Hershey hosts Texas for a pair Saturday and Sunday. Those guys have all the fun.
Lehigh Valley played just one game, lost and are 0-1 with 0 points. The Phantoms host the Cleveland Monsters this weekend, then head to Hartford on Wednesday.
The Providence Bruins have just 1 goal to show for their week after a 2-1 Friday setback to Utica and then getting shut out Sunday at home against a wary Springfield team. The Bruins have their first three in three weekend, all at home, against Hartford Friday. Charlotte Saturday, Wilkes-Barre Sunday.
Who’s Up? Who’s Down? Who’s Out?
No one is in Pittsburgh. Max Graham and Tiernan Shoudy went to Florida on Monday as the Everblades camp opened this week.
What can we learn about the Penguins this week?
Are they a different team then they were last weekend or is it going to be more of the same? I don’t think the first couple of shifts will answer this honestly, and we may not know the answer to the question until the end of the weekend. Go 0-4 (let’s just count the Springfield OTL as a regulation loss) and perhaps it is time to get in the same room as the panic button. If they win both, then which team is it?
Life’s great mysteries!
I think they have fixable issues except for the power play. That stinks and is beyond repair. Why, late Sunday, was Harrison Brunicke on the bench when the Pens were chasing one against the Wolf Pack?
So manage to fix the brakes on the car, but the A/C still doesn’t work. The car works and gets you from Point A to B, right?
Kirk MacDonald is a hell of a coach and it’s a good early test for the man.
Who’s in Goal?
Failed to mention opposition goaltenders in last weekend’s piece so I will go ahead and do so now. I think they see Hartford’s Callum Tung again Saturday and Simon Zajicek for the P-Bruins on Sunday.
Joel Blomqvist should go Saturday against Hartford and Taylor Gauthier Sunday against the P-Bruins.
Who’s Running the Show?
Cole MacDonald and Jordan Deckard have the Saturday assignment in Hartford with Cameron Carlson and Jake Herzog on the lines. Jack Young and Alex Lepkowski have the Sunday assignment in Providence with Jack McQuesten and Chris Martenet on the lines.
Looking Ahead…
They knock out their Cleveland trip next Friday and Saturday.
Give us a bold prediction….
Let’s hope this one goes better than last week where I am at least somewhat right. Here goes…
They win both games, one via shootout, that one comes in Providence.
Football at the Race Track
I’ll go a 2-2 draw for NYCFC against the Chicago Fire on Saturday and give me Tyler Reddick Sunday in Charlotte.
— Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (@WBSPenguins) October 4, 2026
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Lineup Notes: David Gustafsson cleared waivers and was in, along with Maleek McGowan, making his AHL debut. They replaced Brayden Edwards and Daniel Russell.
First Period: First shot of the game for the Pens hopes in off the stick of Jake Livanavage and Wilkes-Barre is off and running at 1:29….
— Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (@WBSPenguins) October 4, 2026
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But would get no closer.
Three Stars: 3) Cole Beaudoin (two assists) 2) Jake Livanavage (goal) 1) Taylor Raddysh (goal)
The Good: Coming out of opening weekend after playing back to back games with no wins to show for it stinks, but it seems like they have correctable issues.
The Bad: Power play stinks, and I don’t think that is correctable.
Turning Point: The Aspinall goal gets it here, as it stands up and the game winner.
Around The Division: The Springfield Thunderbirds had to travel overnight to Providence for a 3 pm start and shut the Bruins out 2-0. The Bruins had the best regular season record last season and are 0-2….Hershey gets in the win column with a 3-2 win over the Charlotte Checkers….Lehigh Valley was off.
Standings: Hartford and Springfield 4, Charlotte and Hershey 2, Penguins 1, Lehigh Valley and Providence 0
Everblades Update: Pay attention! I told you yesterday they don’t start for a few weeks.
Video Highlights:
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The entire AHL is off this week till Friday, which I find strange, and the Pens are off Friday, so we will still be back this Friday afternoon with the Weekend Setup setting the table for a road game in Hartford Saturday, Providence on Sunday.
Let’s hope I’m in the right universe with a bold prediction next week.
Wilkes-Barre puts up an eye popping FORTY-FIVE shots on net, but Springfield Thunderbirds goaltender Georgii Romanov stops 43 of them and it’s Springfield that walks away with a 3-2 overtime win on Saturday spoiling the Penguins home debut.
Let’s get this elephant in the room out of the way right now, the Penguins went 0/5 on the power play and that is what cost them the game. If you can’t execute on special teams, especially since the referees were giving them to you, you probably don’t deserve to win on most nights, no matter how many shots you put on the board.
— Springfield Thunderbirds (@ThunderbirdsAHL) October 3, 2026
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Owen Pickering should know better. T.J Tynan is a future AHL Hall of Famer. I didn’t like Pikcering’s game at all.
Second Period: Springfield goes on a power play but it ends up in disaster as Atley Calvert comes through for a shorthanded goal that leveled it at two.
— Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (@WBSPenguins) October 3, 2026
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The Penguins kept punching at Springfield and Romanov, but no dice as the score stayed 2-2 heading into the…
Third Period: No scoring. Both teams sweat through the others power play. Rutger McGroarty was hauled down late on a sticky tack hooking call from Adam Tobias and Mason Riley who I thought were fair tonight, and this put the Pens on a late power play but they failed to score in regulation.
Overtime: They didn’t score in overtime either and while four on four, Calle Rosen misses on the first attempt, but that just teed up his second attempt he didn’t miss.
— Springfield Thunderbirds (@ThunderbirdsAHL) October 4, 2026
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Ballgame.
Three Stars: 3) Georgii Romanov (43 saves) 2) Atley Calvert (two goals) 1) Justin Carbonneau (goal, assist)
The Good: Sucks to lose your first game and the power play is an abomination it would seem, but if your team puts 45 shots on goal night in and night out, I would venture that I like my chances.
The Bad: Again, 0/5 on the power play.
Turning Point: The Rosen goal in overtime gets it here, as an overtime game winner usually would.
Standings: Charlotte, Hartford and Springfield 2, Penguins 1, Providence Hershey and Lehigh Valley 0
Florida Update: I have to come up with a better name for this section and will, but for now the Everblades don’t get going with their regular season until October 17 when they host the Orlando Solar Bears.
Video Highlights:
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More Sunday evening after the Wolf Pack come calling.
Afternoons by the pool. After 8 p.m. sunsets. Walking around the backyard in bare feet. What are shoes? What are socks?
Music to Set the Mood…
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This song slaps, and I broke records listening to this on walks and out by the pool….
Yeah you can have Spring, Fall and Winter. Like, take them away. I want my summer back.
I used to think Seasonal Affective Disorder was a joke. Nah, buddy, I’m the living embodiment of it today.
Sigh.
Anyway, back and marginally better for the god-knows-how-long-it’s-been time (16 years?), I’m back in full time blogging up the local hockey team. You can’t get rid of me that easily!
A Quote…
Summertime is always good. It is what it is. — Oscar Peterson
The Setup….
Out of the box I expect them to contend this year better than they did last year. They normally hit the ground running in October and the first parts of November, but they finally have a fully stocked prospect system which, barring trades and the plague affecting the team in Pittsburgh, should keep a large cadre of hungry, good prospects here chomping at the bit keeping the wheels going on the farm.
Oh, opening night Friday off, they open with Springfield on Saturday and then are (sigh) right back at it Sunday at home against Hartford, the first of EIGHT Sunday home games this season.
Records
Neither Springfield or Hartford play Friday. Hartford is in Allentown Saturday.
Ch-ch-changes…
So here’s the major hits in case you have been under an umbrella at the beach or out by the pool all summer, like I have been….
– They have a new ECHL affiliate. It’s the Florida Everblades who have won three straight Kelly Cups. The Hoffmann Family, who, now owns the Pittsburgh Penguins, already had the Everblades in their portfolio. Yeah, it sucks losing Wheeling as an affiliate, but it’s a business. Get ready for a lot of Reading, Trenton, Adirondack, etc. PTOs if bodies are needed in a pinch. Closest Florida comes up to these parts is Cincinnati, I think. And, yes, airplanes exist. I am aware!
– The Nailers partnered with the Columbus Blue Jackets, so they landed on their feet, so to speak.
– The Pens have a new radio home, moving to Fuzz 96.1 FM
– Big offseason adds from Coal Street include Hugh McGing, late of Springfield, Ryan Mast, late of Rockford and Rafael Harvey-Pinard, who needs no introduction, to straight up AHL deals.
The Rest of those Rascals…
Charlotte is in Hershey for a pair to start the season….Lehigh Valley only has one game against Hartford Saturday….Providence hosts Utica Friday, Springfield Sunday.
It’s too early for this!
Give me a bunch of sentences on the rest of the division…
Boy you are asking a lot just coming off a summer break, but here goes….
Providence: I would expect them to contend again with the Pens for tops in the division all season. Hartford: Biggest unknown. Same thing with them year after year, they look great on paper in October but are out of it by Christmas. Springfield: Could contend / could surprise. How do they survive playing Providence a thousand times with Bridgeport gone will be the answer, I think. Hershey: Scrambling late, because they lost Clay Stevenson to waivers this week and don’t have a bonafide number one goaltender. They will play the Pens tight, as always. Lehigh Valley: I don’t see them as a playoff team. Jonathan Gruden plays for them now. Could be a pain in the ass team, as per usual. Charlotte: I expect them to contend but in no way do I think they are better then the Penguins or Providence.
Records
Everyone is 0-0. Again, it’s too early for this!
Who’s Up? Who’s Down? Who’s Out?
Tristan Broz made the NHL team but Broz is banged up, so he remains up.EDIT: In staying in ‘this always happens after I publish these things’ Pittsburgh sent Broz and new acquisition Oliver Okuliar (late of Charlotte) toWilkes-Barre Friday afternoon … Owen Pickering, Harrison Brunicke are down. Rutger McGroarty joined them Thursday. Wilkes-Barre sent a bunch of bodies to Wheeling, err, Florida, (where’s that fine jar?) earlier in the week.
What can we learn about the Penguins this week?
First impressions are lasting ones. I don’t see any reason why they can’t win both of these games easily, but I really haven’t paid attention to what they did in the offseason or preseason. They only had one scheduled home game which was last Friday but that got cancelled due to “mechanical” issues at the arena.
(Guess the ice wishes it was a pool, too)
No reason to think however, based off of the current roster construct, that they can’t pick up where they left off last season and run at the top of the division.
They will be strong on defense, probably the deepest corps in the Atlantic to start, Conference to challenge and League to be seen.
Only question I have is how AHL ready Taylor Gauthier is. He set every record imaginable in Wheeling last year in goal and is more than ready. But the AHL is a level up and it’s own animal.
Also, some of the rookies and first year guys may be tested. It’s 72 games and a grind of a season, after all, but the defense is elite and goaltending is more than capable, so we will see.
Are they better then they were last year? Let’s temper our expectations on this no matter what happens this weekend, or this month.
Who’s in Goal?
Joel Blomqvist should start Saturday and then Taylor Gauthier should make his debut Sunday.
Who’s Running the Show?
Mason Riley and Adam Tobias don the orange arm bands with Dominic Moore and Onni Hautamäki running the lines on Saturday. Sunday sees Mathieu Menniti and Graedy Hamilton in town with Moore and Hautamäki sticking around and keeping them onside.
Looking Ahead…
They aren’t home again until October 23, next weekend takes them to Hartford next Saturday and Providence on Sunday. They knock out their Cleveland trip in a fortnight.
Give us a bold prediction…
They win both games, handily, and at the end of the weekend they will be in the top five on the power play.
YOU DIDN’T THINK I WOULD FORGET DID YOU!
NASCAR: I don’t see any reason why Yung Money can’t continue his run of form and win in Vegas, but give me Denny Hamlin.
MLS: New York City Football Club is off till October 10. They need points if they are to make playoffs. A trip to Chicago October 10 isn’t going to be easy, but you can never count the pigeons out.
I was traveling when the schedule was announced Thursday at 2, so after taking a look at it after I set up camp deep in South Central Pennsylvania, here’s some thoughts:
1) Do you have a schedule matrix of opponents? Anyone in the Conference we are not playing?
Nope. We play all eight (yes, eight, more on that in a minute) teams in the North once at home and once on the road but for Cleveland who we play twice at home and twice on the road. Rockford, Milwaukee and Chicago are also on the schedule, once at home and on the road.
2) Longest road trip? Longest home stand?
Longest road trip is in March, when they start in Providence on March 13, travel to Hartford the next day, then Toronto, Hamilton, Rochester followed by a road game against Lehigh Valley. There are three separate four game home stands.
3) How many three in threes?
Three, if I counted right, up from two last year.
4) How many work night and Sunday home games?
Eight, yes, eight Sunday home games, up from four the year prior. They must see something in these that I don’t, cause I don’t like ’em. On top of that, as if to make it more agonizing, they start at various times of 3, 5 and 6 p.m.
No Monday games, two home Tuesday games, one road, six Wednesday home games, eight on the road and no Thursdays.
5) Any off the wall schedule time quirks?
There’s a Tuesday road game on December 8 in Charlotte that starts at 10:30 a.m. The Wednesday, March 17 game in Toronto against the Marlies starts at 1:30 p.m. and will be played at Scotiabank Arena, the home of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Oh, and the midweek games start at 6:35, a half hour earlier for some reason.
6) Where’s the All-Star Classic this year?
Cleveland, Ohio.
7) Playoff structure?
Will likely be different this season with only seven teams in the division. That means you take the three highest seeds in the division and give them byes to the second round. The four seed plays the five seed in a best-of three with the winner getting the one seed. Two and three play each other from there.
8) What about preseason games?
No word on that yet.
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Twelve games (6 home / 6 road) with Hershey and Lehigh Valley, eight with Charlotte, six with Hartford and Springfield and only four again with Providence, who apparently are fine with continuing to fill up their schedule with Hartford (12 times) and Springfield (14 times) but I gotta hand it to them, they also have Rockford, Milwaukee and Chicago on their schedule. That’s the first time in a while I have seen the Bruins venture out into the Western Conference.
Comments Off on Home Opener Announced – Full Slate Thursday
Posted by nafsnep on July 8, 2026
It’s that time of year again. The 2026-27 AHL schedule will be released Thursday and on the eve of the big event, the 32 AHL teams announced their home openers. For the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins, it’s October 3 vs. Springfield. They are the Hartford Wolf Pack’s opener a week later.
The Penguins will host their home opener to the 2026-27 season on Saturday, Oct. 3 against the Springfield Thunderbirds.
I’ll be traveling to my next camping destination so I’ll check out the Penguins schedule after I get camp setup and settled Thursday evening. With one less opponent in the Atlantic with Bridgeport moving to the North as the Hamilton Hammers, expect even more dates with the Hershey’s and the Lehigh Valley’s of the world, buddy.
Wilkes-Barre loses 2-1 in overtime and their season is over in the Eastern Conference Finals in six games. The Marlies, a four seed in the North Division, will advance to the Calder Cup Finals.
Don’t get it twisted, this was their best chance to win a Calder Cup in 27 years. They had it all. They had hot shot prospects at forward, they have a goalie that will be in the NHL next season and they had a solid defense that was tested and next man up. They had no pressure from in front with Pittsburgh making a recall either.
All that goes away when Avery Hayes, Rutger McGroarty, Harrison Brunicke and Sergei Murashobv graduate to full time NHL work next season. My knee jerk reaction is that they are lucky to be a playoff team next season but there’s a whole ECHL team that lost in their Easter Conference Finals that are loading, so all may not be lost.
Still, a disappointing end to a promising postseason ends in heartbreak and disappointment. Again.
Saw a younger fan, maybe in his 20s, utterly gutted and distraught and weeping after the game. I felt like going upon to him and saying, “get used to it kid.”
But that would be rude.
So we have, albeit a shorter summer, to wonder what might have been for this team and this franchise.
Aidan McDonough scored for Wilkes-Barre just six seconds into a power play to give the Pens an early 1-0 lead.
The teams stayed cool and Beau Halkidis and Mike Sullivan let them decide it on their own which is admirable, but some things got let go where maybe they shouldn’t have. In Game 6 of an Eastern Conference Finals game is no time to be trying to settle scores on teams full of fake fighters.
In the third, it seemed like the Penguins were on the front foot the entire period but were stymied time and time again by Artur Akhtyamov in net for Toronto.
In overtime, Sergei Murashov bailed his club out twice, but couldn’t save them deep in overtime after an offensive face off from the Marlies which ended up on the tape of Alex Nylander and into Murashov’s net to end the season.
Three stars were Easton Cowan with a goal, Artur Ahktyamov with 39 saves and Alex Nylander with the series clincher in that order Thanks for the fish.
For posterity and old times sake, here’s how they lined up:
— x – Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (@WBSPenguins) June 7, 2026
Alex Alexeyev returned from injury. They also swapped Tristan Broz and Gabe Klassen at center.
Here’s the highlights…
101 points and a first round bye is good and all and playoff wins over Hershey and Springfield are fun times, but running into a “hot team” at the “wrong time” always seems to happen here for the Penguins.
I don’t want to complain, because when I complain I start to get sour and when I get sour I question why I do it all. I don’t want to do that. Congrats to the Marlies, the were the better team. Congrats to the Pens on a hell of a season. Them’s the breaks sometimes.
Thanks for reading and following along this season as always if you have been for a while or for the first time. I’m just trying to capture the spirit of the thing.
Talk to you next month on the schedule release, sooner if there is news on realignment which is worth noting and we will do this all again in the fall.
WBS News
