Chirps from Center Ice

The Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins break into the second half of the AHL schedule with a lot of work to do.

No, they aren’t out of a playoff spot. To the contrary, they have the fewest amount of games played in the Atlantic Division and are going to be very busy making up all of the games in hand.

It starts Friday against the lowly Bridgeport Islanders, continues Saturday against the Cleveland Monsters and keeps going Tuesday in Hershey where, the Penguins dropped not five, not six, but NINE goals on the Bears the last time these teams met.

Music to Set the Mood…

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I always consider myself a Skynyrd fan. Don’t for whatever like this song.

A Quote…

Tuesday is a day to finish what’s left undone on Monday and prepare for what’s coming on Wednesday.
— Unknown

I always like Tuesday. They aren’t Monday’s, Wednesday’s get a rap because, “hump day” Thursday isn’t a Friday and Friday is what we all look forward to.

The Setup…

They dropped nine on the Bears last Wednesday in a 9-0 throttling of the back to back Calder Cup Champions. They went to Charlotte and split against a team they don’t match up well with in my opinion.

This week, as mentioned above, they have Bridgeport, Cleveland and Hershey. All winnable.

The Islanders had nine goals dropped on them last Wednesday by the Lehigh Valley Phantoms and then went to Hershey and lost two close games by a score of 5-4.

Cleveland split a pair of games at home against the Providence Bruins last week and will be in Allentown Friday.

Hershey, mentioned above, lost 9-0 to the Penguins, narrowly beat Bridgeport 5-4 on back to back nights and will host Syracuse Saturday.

This Week in Baseball…

— The Atlantic Division lost in the championship game to the Central Division in a shootout in at the All-Star Classic on Monday in Coachella Valley, California.

— Ville Koivunen, conspicuously absent from the Games via snub, was named AHL Rookie of the Month.

— Jesse Puljujarvi was re-assigned back to Wilkes-Barre on Wednesday.

— Emil Bemstrom was recalled to Pittsburgh Friday morning.

Records

Wilkes-Barre is fourth in the Atlantic Division with a 24-11-4 record and 52 points.

Bridgeport is dead last in the Atlantic with a 10-30-2-2 record and 24 points.

Cleveland is 24-13-3-3 and in fourth in the North Division with 54 points.

Hershey, despite their recent flaws, remain the gold standard in the League and lead the Atlantic Division with a 28-12-5 record and 61 points.

Who’s Up? Who’s Down? Who’s Out?

Puljujarvi was sent back Wednesday. Boko Imama remains up. Owen Pickering is an AHL All-Star and is still rostered. This page has up to date-ish information.

What can we learn about the Penguins this week?

If they obliterated Hershey 9-0, they should beat Bridgeport by one hundred on Friday. With their current form, they should beat the Cleveland Monsters and should expect a battle when they get off the bus Tuesday in Hershey.

We are at the point of the season where they are primed to make a push and it’s time to start moving. 5 out of 6 points is an absolute must if they want to make a push for first place and start eyeing a first round bye in about eight weeks.

Who’s in Goal?

As long as Sergei Murashov is the first Penguin to touch the ice Tuesday around 6:20 p.m., I think the rest takes care of itself.

Wanna give Tristan Jarry an ego boost? Put him out there against the team with the fewest amount of goals scored in the Division and start him Friday. Give Murashov the Saturday start against slightly stiffer Cleveland competition. Hope that he gets through that game OK and run him out there again Tuesday.

Henrik Tikkanen, Zach Sawchenko, Clay Stevenson is me taking a shot in the dark for the opposition.

Who’s Running the Show?

Casey Terreri was one of the referees selected to officiate the All Star Classic (Jordan Samuels-Thomas the other) and will be here Friday and Saturday. On Friday, he’s paired with Bobby Jo Love with Dylan Blujus and Jud Ritter on the lines. On Saturday, Will Kelly joins him in the orange arm bands. Blujus and Ritter stick around on the lines.

Again. 88 referees employed in this League with 146 linespeople and they can only swap out one on back to back nights in Wilkes-Barre. They must really get good hotel rates in Wilkes-Barre.

Nothing on the Tuesday crew yet. If you hear a scream Tuesday morning, it was me because some combination of Terreri, Kelly, Love, Blujus or Ritter have the assignment in Hershey.

Looking Ahead…

Next three in three. Friday and Saturday at home against Lehigh Valley and Hershey respectively then a Sunday trip to Allentown which starts a seven game road trip.

Give us a bold prediction…

Six points this weekend, six different referees for next weekends three in three.