Chirps from Center Ice

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The most wonderful time of the year can also be the most frustrating time of the year.

For the eleventh straight season, the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins have qualified for the Calder Cup Playoffs. With the amount of roster turnover that goes on year to year, team to team, making playoffs eleven consecutive times as a minor league hockey franchise is a remarkable achievement.

For these Penguins, its been ten years in and ten years out with no Calder Cup. Meanwhile Hershey, Norfolk and the opponent in our way in Binghamton have all lifted the championship trophy in recent years. The Penguins started off the season with a strong lineup and fine-tuned as the season wore on with the additions of Chad Kolarik and Derek Nesbitt. The journey begins tomorrow night in Binghamton and hopefully ends in June with a party.

But before we let visions of grandeur enter into our psyche too vividly, there is a series to breakdown.

The Penguins open the 2013 Calder Cup Playoffs Saturday night on the Southern Tier of New York vs. a Binghamton Senators team which defied expectations all season long. The B-Sens have used the term “pesky” to describe themselves and played their way to a 4 seed and nearly snuck up on the East Division Champion Syracuse Crunch.

The Penguins went 4-6 vs. their closest rival this season but some of that is obscured by the NHL lockout that ended in January. Goaltender Robin Lehner was called up to Ottawa shortly after the labor strife ended peacefully and then the Penguins started having success. Lehner is not available for Binghamton this go around.

And now it’s time for the breakdown:

Forwards:

The B-Sens have three rookies in Mark Stone, Shane Prince and Cole Schneider who are among the top five in scoring for the team. Their best players are first year guys who are going to be experiencing Calder Cup playoffs for the very first time.

Wilkes-Barre has Chad Kolarik, Trevor Smith, Riley Holzapfel and Derek Nesbitt which pace the team in points. Nesbitt was a late add and only has a game with the team. Smith, who won a Calder Cup last year with the Norfolk Admirals centers Kolarik and Holzapfel.

The Penguins are the lowest scoring team in the Calder Cup Playoffs. The Penguins look like a one line team on paper. Shutdown one or two of the top line if you are Binghamton and you have a good chance of winning.

Advantage: Binghamton

Defense:

Both teams play stingy defense and were both in the top five in goals allowed. Wilkes-Barre has allowed the fewest goals in all the AHL and that defense has flat out won games for the Penguins this season.

Advantage: Push

Goaltending:

The Penguins have Brad Thiessen and Jeff Zatkoff, winners of the Hap Holmes award for fewest goals allowed. Yes, the defense for the Penguins has been the best all year long in the League but the duo of Zatkoff and Thiessen have been better.

Binghamton has Nathan Lawson and Marc Chevrie. Pens fans may remember Lawson from the Bridgeport series a few years ago. Lawson has been dealing with an injury this week and has not practiced. The backup to Chevrie is Scott Greenham, who has played 11:00 of AHL hockey in mop up duty Sunday.

Advantage: Penguins

Intangibles:

John Hynes is the winningest coach in Penguins history. Luke Richardson some say is the primary reason why the B-Sens are where they are. Coaching advantage goes to Hynes slightly, only because the Pens have been to and have had success in the Calder Cup Playoffs with him at the helm in the past. The B-Sens and Penguins won’t be putting on any clinics on how to score on the power play, both teams were in the bottom third in the League in this category. To make up for this, the Penguins have been at the top of the penalty kill all season long and the B-Sens are top ten. Special teams may be a push, but could slide to either side as the series goes on.

Social Media Coverage:

For the Penguins…

Twitter: @WBSPenguins
Radio: @MikeOBrienWBS // @TGracePens
Beat: @CVBombulie
Facebook: /WilkesBarreScrantonPenguins
Fan Blogger: @nafsnep

For the B-Sens…

Twitter: @BSens_Hockey
Radio: @BSensRadio // @PPPShow
Beat: @PSBSens
Facebook: /binghamtonsenators
Front Office: @KateKrenzer

Prediction: Penguins in four. The Penguins have to get the advantage in the series early because the longer that the “pesky” B-Sens stick around the more dangerous they become. I don’t think anyone in Wilkes-Barre wants to see this series go the distance.

Gameday setup for Game 1 drops tomorrow at 3 p.m.