Chirps from Center Ice

In keeping with passing out Second Quarter Grades yesterday to the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins, here are the Grades for the East Division.

Adirondack Phantoms: (12-27-2-2 28 points, 8th place) This team will not finish in last place. You read that here first. Despite the painfully slow start, the Phantoms have picked it up in the second quarter, going 9-9-0-2 since we last graded the teams in the East. Stefan Legein is back from injury, they have Michael Leighton tending nets and Denis Hamel breathes life into this team. I see them catching Syracuse for sixth and may, just may, catch Albany if the Devils are not careful. Will probably play spoiler as the season goes on. Stats aren’t great, but are better in some categories than Albany and Syracuse, thus the thinking that they may catch and pass the Crunch and Devils. Grade: C-

Albany Devils: (17-20-0-3 37 points, 6th place) 11 points out of fifth place right now. 9-15-0-2 vs. the East Division. 28th overall on power play and penalty kill. Is 10-2-0-1 when leading after 1, 7-1-0-1 when leading after 2, but when trailing after 1 is 2-12 and 2-14-0-1 after 2. Can be good when it wants to be, but doesn’t want to be. The Devils are out of it and if they don’t watch out will be battling Syracuse for last place in the division. Grade: D

Binghamton Senators: (21-18-2-2 46 points, 5th place) The Binghamton Senators are making the playoffs this year. You read it here first also. If it isn’t in the East Division they will cross over and play in the Atlantic Division. All-Star Corey Locke leads the league in points. Barry Brust has seen the brunt of the work and will continue to see the fair share of starts in net for the Senators. Whether he can stay healthy and sharp at the same time remains to be seen but all early signs point to yes. Needs to find more ways to beat Hershey in front of them as they are only 2-4 vs. the Bears this year. Beat them 2-1 Sunday and this was without Locke in the lineup. They are the leagues best power play unit. Eighth in the league in scoring, but Norfolk, Charlotte, Hershey and Wilkes-Barre are all ahead of the B-Sens in this department. Need to figure out how to win games on the road as they are 9-10-0-1. Only 14-13-1-1 against other teams in the East Division. These next 20 games are very important for the Senators and will establish them from contender to pretender. Grade: B+

Charlotte Checkers: (23-15-1-4 51 points, 3rd place) Really still trying to figure out this team. They somehow can’t beat the Penguins, are 5-2-0-1 vs. the Admirals, but can’t win at home when they play Norfolk and are 7-5-0-1 vs. the Atlantic. Have the best PK in the league and are third in the league in scoring. Against fourth place Hershey are 3-2-0-1. Got off to an awful start at the beginning of the year, made a run to second but seem to be sputtering. Of the top four in the division right now, are probably the leading candidate to fall out of playoffs by end of the season. Grade B

Hershey Bears: (23-14-1-2 49 points, 4th place) You do not want to face this team in the playoffs. Braden Holtby is a beast in goal and will steal a playoff series. That said, he can’t do it all by himself. Backup Dany Sabourin is 10-9-0-2 with a 0.903 SV% and a 2.55 GAA. By contrast, Holtby boasts a 0.937 SV% and a 1.82 GAA. Fifth highest scoring team in the AHL and third overall in team defense. Seventh overall power play and eleventh overall penalty kill. Keith Aucoin, Andrew Gordon, Lawrence Nycholat and Kyle Greentree remain lethal threats for opponents on a nightly basis. May not catch Wilkes-Barre for the East Division lead, but don’t be surprised if they don’t catch and pass Charlotte and Norfolk ahead of them. Grade: A-

Norfolk Admirals: (22-10-7-2 53 points, 2nd place) Currently in a battle with the Charlotte Checkers for second place in the division. Still highest scoring team in the league. Would actually be more established in second if it only could beat Charlotte at home. Is 10-3-3-1 against the Atlantic Division. Is 12-1-2-1 when it scores first, which puts them only behind Wilkes-Barre, Worcester and Manchester percentage wise in the Eastern Conference. Penguins finally figured out how to beat this team. Will probably solidify itself in second these next 20 games and keep Wilkes-Barre honest, but I don’t see them catching up. Grade A

Syracuse Crunch: (15-21-1-4 35 points, 7th place) Biggest disappointment in the Eastern Conference. Allows the most shots in the league at 34.02 a game. 27th in the league in offense, only marginally better in the offense category ranking 26th. Really can’t come up with much more here. Is 29th overall in the league. Can maybe play spoiler. Banished fan favorite Jon Mirasty to Elmira of the ECHL. Will battle the Devils for last place in the division, as it cannot beat the Adirondack Phantoms (0-4 vs. the Phantoms this year) Grade: F

Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins: (32-9-0-0 64 points, 1st Place) Identical 16-4 record in the Second Quarter to match the 16-4 put up by the first 20 games. Can coast from here into playoffs but won’t because players will not allow for the “back off” mentality. This team finds ways to win games. On pace to be the best AHL team points and percentage-wise ever. Power play and defense at times are areas of improvement despite being ranked #1 overall in team defense. Can really run away with division in first part of second half. Can beat any team in the division. As long as it stays healthy, will be odds-on lock for first ever Calder Cup. Grade A+

Banter welcome as always in the comment section.