Sixty games down after yesterdays 5-4 win against the Springfield Falcons. Pens keep on keeping on, eyeing the prize at the end of the season, its first ever Calder Cup Championship.
The Pens doubled their loss total in the third quarter due to call-ups and a few minor injuries to role players, but the guys called up from Wheeling filled the roles nicely. One could argue that they truly are an extension of a fifth, sixth and seventh line.
Keeping with our Second Quarter and First Quarter grades which precedes the following, read nothing into these grades other than what some guy with an iPhone, a Twitter feed and a blog has to think about the players.
All stats are from the American Hockey League’s Daily Report from February 28.
Brett Sterling: Played in 14 games only due to recall to Pittsburgh where there he didn’t look out of place at all. Pittsburgh is healthy now and Sterling was brought in to help win a Calder Cup for Wilkes-Barre, not a Stanley Cup for Pittsburgh. 20-21-41 is second on the team in scoring. This is the time of year The Ticket gets hot, and with Pittsburgh finally getting healthy at forward look for Sterling to stick in Wilkes-Barre through the playoffs. Always is and will be the go to guy to get that big goal. Grade: A
Tim Wallace: Wallace did time in Pittsburgh too, and only played a dozen games for Wilkes-Barre in the third quarter. When he is out of the lineup, other players step in and fill his role nicely. Wally’s 16-17-33 puts him fourth on the team in scoring among those present. Does everything asked here and in Pittsburgh. What more can you ask? Grade: A
Chris Collins: Has not scored a goal since February 8 against the Manitoba Moose. Doesn’t need to, he’s more of a setup guy and his 10-16-26 tells that story. Is also a +18 which is best amongst the forwards. Role player is what he is. Grade: B+
Ryan Craig: The Captain even did time in Pittsburgh with all the injuries. Is sometimes on the ice when bad goals are scored, and his +6 reflects that, the game in Connecticut against the Whale he was a -5. Leader on the ice, teacher in the locker room, we have said it all along he is everything you want your Captain to be. 14-21-35 ain’t to shabby either. Grade: B
Robert Bortuzzo: Plays like a man possessed sometimes. Got named replacement for the AHL All-Star Classic and scored two goals. Is 4-19-23 and a +21. Can single-handedly shut down the other teams top offensive threats. If Wilkes-Barre does win a league championship this year, Bortuzzo will likely be fast tracked to Pittsburgh next year. Grade: A
Jesse Boulerice: Pointless thru these 20 games, but isn’t asked to score. Keeps the peace when the goons from the other team take liberties with the scorers. Does his job. Grade: C+
Steve Wagner: Still a defensive liability during spots of games but nothing to the point where it is vomit inducing. 5-21-26 and a +16. The +/- really defies all logic. Grade: B-
Brian Strait: Was in Pittsburgh due to the Brooks Orpik injury and is a left handed shot more than “he is better than Bortuzzo.” Is back in Wilkes-Barre and will go right back on the defensive line with Robert Bortuzzo. Strait is a rock at defense. Not a goal scorer, but when it goes in, man is it pretty. 2-6-8 in 55 appearances for Wilkes-Barre. The +16 tells the story though that he is on the ice when the goal is scored. Grade: A
Geoff Walker: Had to step up when half of Wilkes-Barre’s offense was in Pittsburgh. 5-11-16 and a +8. Definition of role player, but will always stick up for a teammate and will fight. Grade: B
Zach Sill: Has played in every game. Bombulie had a feature on him in yesterday’s Sunday paper about how he went from fourth line knucklehead to second line playmaker with all of the recalls to Pittsburgh. Despite the “oh he’s a fourth line goon” stereotype, is an extremely smart player and plays within his limits. 6-11-17 and a +9 thru 60 games played. Won’t score a ton of goals but will keep you honest if you take a run at the goaltender or one of the more polished players. Grade: B+
Keven Veilleux: Finally appears to be healthy. Looks like he is finding his game. I think everyone wants to see Keven blossom into a legit NHL sniper someday. Sometimes his head doesn’t know what his feet are doing and vice versa. Once he gets that fixed, he will be unstoppable. 8-12-20, +9 so far. Grade: B
Carl Sneep: Victim of a scratch which keeps him honest. A true rookie. Budding rock on defense with 4-10-14 and a +18. Going to be fun watch develop. Grade: B+
Bryan Lerg: 9-9-18. Scores big goals. Plays on a checking line and is +10. More recently has played top and second line with the rash of call-ups. Grade B
Corey Potter: His +26 is tops in the league in +/-. Yes, I said tops in the league. Yet somehow, is not who I want on the ice when the game is on the line. 2-25-27 is a good mix of shut down defenseman and set up man. Grade: A-
Joey Mormina: Never a liability on the ice. +15 is a solid number. 1-7-8 is more luck than it is anything else. Key asset to the defensive corps. Grade: B
Ben Street: The second coming of Dustin Jeffrey minus the penalty killing prowess. Will be a fan favorite real soon. 9-3-12 and a +5 in an extremely limited role. I do not see Street returning to the Wheelhouse, rather he will get the spot and a guy like Geoff Walker may get the scratch. Grade: A
Andrew Hutchinson: Back from a knee injury. 4-17-21 and one of the rare Penguins in the minus at -3. Brought in to be a rock defensively. From what I have seen of recent appears to be invisible at times. I don’t know. I don’t think he is still hurt. Grade: B
Joey Haddad: Another call-up from Wheeling. Is 1-3-4 and a -1. I think he is behind in his development. Haddad knows this too. Joey tries and at this stage is all that can be asked of him. Will take a dumb penalty and may turn the puck over at inopportune times. Needs to watch Veilleux and learn from mistakes already made by Keven to fix them quick. Has the potential to be huge at the AHL level. Grade: C+
Dustin Jeffrey: Was returned to the Penguins yesterday afternoon from recall. Played only 4 games this quarter and still leads the team with 17-28-45 and +13. We are grading the players third quarter performance. Jeffrey was in Pittsburgh making a name for himself and did not look out of place while up there. Good on him. For the purposes of this exercise though, we give him, Grade: Incomplete, but well deserved.
Joe Vitale: Was returned to Wilkes-Barre yesterday also. He may stick around, while Jeffrey may go up again. Vitale finally showcasing his skills to all of Pittsburgh that he never gives up on the play, ever. 8-19-22 and +12. Wilkes-Barre can use his faceoff dot prowess. Played 12 games in Wilkes-Barre this quarter, but we’ll still give him a, Grade: B-
Nick Johnson: Nick is on Pittsburgh’s injured reserve with a concussion. Played 12 games for Wilkes-Barre in the third quarter. Is 20-19-39. I hope he gets better quick and gets back here to help us for the stretch / playoff run. Grade: B-
Eric Tangradi: Another one hurt with a concussion, his second. Played 8 games in the third quarter. Is 18-15-33. You hope Eric gets better and gets back here and back to his scoring ways. Grade: Incomplete.
Jason DeSantis, Andrew Orpik, Ryan Schnell, David Marshall, Tyler Murovich, Nick Petersen: Combined games for this half dozen in the third quarter are a sum total of 26 games, 2 goals, 5 assists and a combined +4. With the call-ups and the madness going on in Pittsburgh, the development of these players is fast tracked a bit. Out of the six, Nick Petersen shows the most potential to really be good. I am grading all 6 together as a group. Grade: C+
Brad Thiessen: Will be the horse come playoff time. Is the best goaltender in the American Hockey League. Leads wins, shutouts, and GAA. All-Star goaltender. Stats are a 1.90 GAA and a .0924 SV%. Has caught and passed John Curry on the depth chart. Wilkes-Barre will likely ride Thiessen all the way to a Calder Cup. Grade: A+
John Curry: No longer Pittburgh’s goaltender of the future but remains a legit AHL goaltender and you have to think that he’d fit on some NHL team somewhere. When his WBS career is over, will probably own every record there is to own. His stats are 2.50 GAA and a 0.903 SV%. May see a start or two between now and playoffs, but Thiessen is the man at this point in Wilkes-Barre. Grade: B
So that’s all for the Third Quarter! Comments are open, or you can always e-mail me your thoughts. Have at it!
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Chirps from Center Ice 
So as not to mess with the original content of the Grades, astute reader Tony Androck from Pensburgh corrected me on the Hutchinson capsule. Hutch is the only offensive D-Man we have and his four goals this year so far are well off of the 18 goals he had with Hartford 2 years ago and 9 he had with Texas last year. The reason the power play has been so bad is that Hutchinson has not put up the offensive numbers while quarterbacking the PP unit. The Grade stays at “B” and I thank Tony for pointing this out to me.