Chirps from Center Ice

The tombstone on the 2012-13 season of the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins will read from October 13, 2012 to June 1, 2013.

From the first game in Binghamton that cold Saturday night to the last game about 70 miles north in Syracuse, NY on a much warmer June day, the Penguins fourteenth season in the American Hockey League was a success.

The month of October started with a four game losing streak to the Binghamton Senators, the Springfield Falcons, the Brigdeport Sound Tigers and the Syracuse Crunch. It wasn’t until 4:46 of overtime on a Friday night in Wilkes-Barre vs. the Rochester Americans that Paul Thompson got the Penguins off the goose egg and into the win column.

I’ll remember that win especially, as it was the first time I worked press row as part of the Penguins “Social Media Night.”

The Pens would close out October with a win the very next night in Syracuse then a loss Sunday afternoon in Hershey where the new replay system installed by the AHL by all the member clubs would  bite the Penguins on a call they wanted reviewed and a call that was reviewed that was taken away.

November was a gangbuster month for the Penguins.

It started in New Hampshire when Jeff Zatkoff shut out his old club the Manchester Monarchs 3-0, followed by a Paul Thompson natural hat trick on a Sunday afternoon in Bridgeport. A 1-0 shootout win at home vs. the Binghamton Senators made it three in a row. Then the Bears came calling and dismantled what was at the time, the best penalty killing unit in the AHL by scoring three power play goals and winning 3-1.

How did the Penguins respond?

By winning seven of eight games to close out the month.

In there was work done by yours truly for Chris Roy and the Maine Hockey Journal, a 4-3 Penguin shootout win vs. the Portland Pirates and probably the highlight of the season for me, pinch hitting for the Great Jonathan Bombulie from the Citizens Voice, actually seeing my name in the paper writing the game story, a 4-1 Bears win.

Then came the month of December. Which was, by all rights as the song goes, a Long December.

After a 5-3 win vs. the St. John’s IceCaps and Jeff Zatkoff being named the AHL’s Goaltender of the Month for November, the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins would go on to lose six straight games. More work for Chris Roy from the Maine Hockey Journal in a 4-3 shootout loss to Portland, a clunker vs. Albany and an implosion on the Southern Tier.

Finally, John Hynes becomes the winningest coach in Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins history after a 3-2 win on a Saturday night in Syracuse.

The St. John’s win and the history making one up in Syracuse would be all the Pens would write home about in this month, going 2-8-2 to close out 2013.

January saw the NHL Lockout end and the AHL careers of Robert Bortuzzo, Simon Despres, Brian Strait and Eric Tangradi come to a conclusion.

The Month of January had everything, really. A bad loss to a 6’8 goaltender in Hartford, Conn. The NHL Lockout ending, Brian Strait later getting claimed off of waivers by the New York Islanders. The Outdoor Classic win at Hersheypark Stadium. The return of Tom Kostopoulous, the farewell to Benn Ferriero and the introduction to Chad Kolarik. The Mark Eaton Experiment. Some more press row work for Michael Cignoli from The Saratogian, culminating with the AHL All-Star Classic in Providence, RI and yours truly back in the papers, this time for Tom Venesky from the Times Leader.

February saw the Pens shake whatever funk was surrounding them and win nine of their thirteen contests. We saw the return of Chris Collins, the departure of Mark Eaton, me on press row for the final time for Cignoli, the eighteenth Captain in Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins history and this very blog being named PA Live!’s “Blog of the Week.”

Still fumbling towards the bottom of the East Division, the month of March saw Tom Kostopoulos claimed by the New Jersey Devils on waivers and Joe Morrow traded to Dallas for Brenden Morrow. A so-so month for the Pens, winning seven of thirteen.Two gritty wins in Portland and Manchester. An inert AHL trade deadline. My two part AHL bloggers summit which today, going back and reading it, was pretty spot on by all panel members. By the end of the month, the Pens had slowly glided to the middle portion of the East Division and the Conference.

April saw the permanent graduation of Beau Bennett, the arrival of Derek Nesbitt  and the Pens cement their status in the Calder Cup Playoffs by winning six straight games and making it eleven straight seasons that Wilkes-Barre has made it to the postseason.

Then the fun began.

A three game sweep of the Binghamton Senators in Round One, will all three games being decided by a score of 3-2.

A history making comeback vs. the Providence Bruins and what was likely the death knell for Wilkes-Barre, as no team had ever come back to win four straight games down 0-3 in a series and win the seventh one on the road.

That comeback took all the air out of the sails for the Pens. They’d ride the wave of emotion to a Game 1 win vs. the Syracuse Crunch in the Eastern Conference Finals but could advance no further, losing in five games.

The hopes of a Calder Cup live on in the minds of the Wilkes-Barre faithful, and so begins another offseason on Coal Street. One that will see guys leave for other teams via free agency. We will see new faces in the Fall and got a glimpse in the final three games vs. the Crunch with the debuts of Scott Harrington, Olli Maatta and Derrick Pouliot. We will see some big names likely beating the door down to play for the Pens in Wilkes-Barre, what with premier practice facilities, a devoted and dedicated fan base and the prosperity of postseason appearances, hungry yet again to make it twelve straight years in their quindecennial year.

The best is yet to come.

Let’s Go Pens!!!