Chirps from Center Ice

Lots to get to. I wasn’t going to make AHL News a big part of the blog, but: 1) I am hockey starved and, 2) Now that I have a blog this is an itch which needs scratched every couple of days.

So here goes:

• The Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins announced the guests at Pensfest. An old name and a name we’ll be familiar with this fall.
• The Binghamton Senators have a new head coach. B-Sens beat writer Michael Sharp has it covered here. Bingo is going to look a ton meaner this season with the signing of Francis Lessard, who is 6th all time on the AHL’s PIM list with 2,357.
• There are only two open spots left for AHL bench boss gigs. Albany and Norfolk still need coaches. To follow along with the coaching Silly Season, go here.
• The Worcester Sharks re-signed defenseman Derek Joslin and center Steven Zalewski.
• The Rochester Americans signed Mike Santorelli who skated with the Milwaukee Admirals last season. The Santorelli signing may be a band-aid on a bullet wound for Amerks fans, as I read this week that many fans upset with the current situation there were turning in their season tickets. Sad. Kevin Oklobzija has a well thought out gospel here on the current situation going on in Rochester.
• Nice write-up on the Santorelli-to-Rochester signing from the Milwaukee perspective.
• Speaking on the Milwaukee Admirals, I follow way too many of them on Twitter. A forward, a goaltender, their radio guy and the team. They also debuted new black road jerseys, which I approve.
• The Oklahoma City Barons have a new GM.
• You can waste away your time waiting for the AHL schedule to be released playing AHL-related games on Sporcle. One of them was name all the cities the AHL were ever in. Past, present and future. I was able to get 38 out of a possible 67.
• I am not a goalie geek by any stretch of the imagination, but there are many people who are. The folks over at The Goalie Guild put out a Monthly Scouting Journal on their website. I only got to look at only perhaps 10% of it so far, but it is a fantastic read. I am already looking forward to the next issue.
• As to the name of this blog post, I was lucky enough to be followed on Twitter today by the Goalie Guild, the Binghamton Senators and the Providence Bruins. This makes five AHL teams that I count off the top of my head which follow me over on Twitter. OKC, WBS, Houston and the aforementioned Providence and Bingo. It is my goal to one day have the actual American Hockey League follow me. I once openly begged them on Twitter once, but have since stopped. They have much more important things to worry about rather than where I am debating on going to lunch at on a Tuesday.

Two more points which need their own paragraphs versus bullet points.

I am working on putting together an East Division Preview sometime in September.  This would recap each teams offseason, and look at what to expect this upcoming season. EDIT: No I’m not. Pens beat writer Jonathan Bombulie already beat me to it. I’ll be working on player capsules for all of the players who should hypothetically be doing time in WBS this season. Finally, I’d also like to just to a quick thumbnail preview of all the other teams outside of the East Division.

Finally, I am looking for suggestions on what to name this blog of mine. I petitioned for ideas on Twitter last night. I have a few that I like so far. I may even put up another poll and put up some I like to a vote. If you have an idea for what you’d like me to call this blog, leave it in the comments section. I will credit you.

That is all. Have a safe weekend!