Chirps from Center Ice

The Thursday Jonathan Bombulie blog update revealed today that defenseman Boris Valabik is done for the season with hand surgery.

Jonathan had the grim line on Valabik’s duty in Wilkes-Barre: 3 games, 7 penalty minutes, -4.

I went back to the blog post I ran on July 3 when the Pens made this move. If you read between the lines at the time, I was openly questioning the move. The bottom line on this is the Pens took a chance on a guy who couldn’t stay healthy and it backfired on them.

I’m not going to rail on a guy who did what he could. I wish him the best.

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In perusal of the Bombulie comment section from last nights wreckage game vs. Norfolk, a commenter by the name of Joe mentioned that with a full accompaniment of bodies, the Penguins at times seemed overmatched in these last two games against their biggest rivals. In today’s blog Jonathan shook it off as simply an ebb and flow of an ever diverse lineup. I would tend to disagree with that and agree with what he stated further that a hungrier lineup performs better than a lineup of regulars. I think we all remember the games that should have lost with a lesser lineup more than we remember the games that we should win with the lineup at the start of the season.

Out of Binghamton, here is the Thursday update from their beat reporter Joy Lindsay complete with lines. Robin Lehner will be on the hill tomorrow vs. a determined Wilkes-Barre team. Gameday for the affair will be up here at 3:00 p.m. as always.

Let’s Go Pens!