Chirps from Center Ice

So I just finished watching the Pittsburgh Penguins lose to the Columbus Blue Jackets Saturday evening and was reading up on Grand Theft Auto V before diving back into the only video game I play and saw the ESPN ScoreCenter alert light up on my iPad.

“Penguins G Tomas Vokoun out indefinitely after procedure to dissolve blood clot in pelvis” it read.

The NHL GameCenter alert a few minutes later confirmed:

“Penguins goalie Tomas Vokoun is out indefinitely after a procedure to dissolve a blood clot in his pelvis.”

All the confirmation I needed was right here.

Damn.

This, obviously, puts Wilkes-Barre in a bind in goal. They recently received G Eric Hartzell from Pittsburgh. It’ll be Hartzell / Mannino / possibly Chiodo batting for the nets in Wilkes-Barre.

Here’s the problem. Hartzell is an untested rookie. Mannino was hurt for the better part of last season for Manchester and didn’t practice today according to Jonathan Bombulie’s entry on day one of WBS camp. Andy Chiodo is in town as the latest nostalgic blast from the past trying to make the team. I’d say, with the 15th season of Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins hockey a mere two weeks away, there is reason to worry.

Why? The Pens pride themselves on stellar defense and goaltending. WBS will never lead the league in goals for per game. So they rely on defense and goaltending to win them games. Defense will be fine. Goaltending is off to a shaky start and the season hasn’t even started yet.

Pittsburgh has themselves a stellar backup in Jeff Zatkoff, who was downright stellar for Wilkes-Barre last season. There should be absolutely no reason to worry about the NHL backup in the Steel City.

Times like this tear me apart. The human side of it all. I feel great for Jeff Zatkoff, who will finally be able to achieve his dream of being a goaltender in the NHL. I pray for a speedy and complete recovery for Tomas Vokoun.

Wilkes-Barre may end up at the end of the day just fine. They have had great success with undrafted goaltenders. See: Thiessen, Brad and Curry, John.