Chirps from Center Ice

I really haven’t had much of anything to blog about since the last time I blogged in mid-May. To catch you up, here are eight things that have happened and below my takes on each….

1) Syracuse beat Providence in five games to advance to the Calder Cup Finals to face Grand Rapids, who did the same to San Jose in five games.

2) Grand Rapids leads Syracuse 2-0 in their best of seven as the series shifts to Syracuse for Game 3 Wednesday night.

3) You can stream the Calder Cup Finals for free on AHL Live by selecting the finals package and using the promo code “FINALS17”

4) Pittsburgh is tied 2-2 with Nashville in the Stanley Cup Finals with the series shifting back to Pittsburgh for a pivotal Game 5 on Thursday.

5) Doug Davidson and Kyle Moore are headed to Las Vegas. Moore served as a trainer and Davidson as strength and conditioning coach here in Wilkes-Barre.

6) Jason Botterhill is the new General Manager of the Buffalo Sabres. He had previously worked for Pittsburgh as an assistant general manager and had a hand in building the roster here in Wilkes-Barre.

7) Seth Lakso is returning to New England to continue his education. Tyler Picotti is the new Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins beat writer for the The Citizens’ Voice.

8) Finally, Patrick McGrath is back, having re-signed with the Penguins in June 7.

Analysis

1) Providence went through the meat grinder known as the Atlantic Division to get to the conference finals and didn’t have an answer to what Syracuse, who was tops in their division all season, brought to the table. The result was not surprising in hindsight. Makes me wonder if Wilkes-Barre, Hershey or Leigh Valley would have suffered the same fate.

2) Grand Rapids has been elite all season and has only lost twice in the postseason. It isn’t surprising to see them leading the Crunch like this. I picked them in six over Syracuse, but it could easily end in a sweep, or five games. Crunch desperately need a win Wednesday night.

3) Second highest hockey league in the world and they are relegated to giving away their games on the internet instead of being able to line up a broadcast partner. With that said, I fully realize that putting games on TV is easier said than done. However, everyone in Springfield and around the league gets upset when their league is passed over by a national audience, but it’s kind of hard to be taken seriously as a league when viewing said league is next to impossible for the casual fan.

4) The home team has won every game so far, with Pittsburgh and Nashville defending home ice. It isn’t a series until the home team loses.

5) The AHL develops much more than just players and coaches.

6) If you are thinking that losing Botterhill is going to be a big problem, don’t. I am not insinuating guys like him are a dime a dozen, but whoever Pittsburgh names as a replacement will be highly qualified to carry on the mission Botterhill created. Also, expect the list of candidates to be long as Wilkes-Barre is seen as a premier destination in the hockey world.

7) Seth admirably filled Jonathan Bombulie’s shoes and from what I have seen so far from Tyler, I am confident he will do the same.

8) No brainer for both involved. McGrath wasn’t going to sign any place else and get buried and forgotten about and Wilkes-Barre gets to boast home grown talent for another season.

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I am going to wait until the end of the Stanley Cup Finals to put out the Offseason Moves Chart. I am also going to get an early jump on the Offseason AHL Big Board. If you want to volunteer to help, please contact me.

Now, back to summer.

Figured I would drop a quick blog post here in light of what’s gone on this week around Coal Street and the rest of the Atlantic Division. Here goes…

Last night the Bridgeport Sound Tigers defeated the Springfield Thunderbirds 3-2. So that means that Wilkes-Barre cannot clinch a spot in the Calder Cup Playoffs Friday. The magic number remains at five. Pens get this Springfield team Friday in Springfield while Bridgeport visits Allentown. As with last Sunday when these two teams met, provided the Penguins win against the Thunderbirds Friday, you just want whichever team to win in regulation.

Word out of Coal Street Wednesday afternoon was that Stuart Percy is done for the year after having surgery on his upper body injury and that Garrett Wilson is expected back this weekend. Both Seth and Tom reported it, here’s Tom’s tweet capsulizing both. Percy’s biggest MO from the start was that he could never stay healthy. Wilson getting back will be a huge help.

Troy Josephs missed practice Wednesday as he went back to school to finish up a few classes. My guess is that with Wilson back in the picture, Josephs projects as that 13th forward who could be scratched.

Daniel Sprong’s Charlottetown Islanders swept Drakkar Wednesday. They are onto the second round. First ever sweep for Charlottetown.

Pittsburgh signed D Jeff Taylor for next year. In the interim, he has signed his ATO and has already joined Wilkes-Barre for practice. He’s one of the top offensive defensemen in college hockey and put up 33 points in 38 games played this season. I also think he kind of looks like Major League Baseball player Ryan Braun too.

You are all caught up, I think. Gameday setup for Friday’s game at Springfield hist the blog Friday afternoon at 3.

During all the snow Tuesday (I am still snowed in Wednesday as the office at my big boy job is closed) the Pittsburgh Penguins went out and signed Zach Aston-Reese to a two-year deal which kicks in next year. For the time being, he will report to Wilkes-Barre on an amateur tryout contract.

As of five minutes ago, you may not have known who Zach Aston-Reese was. I know that five minutes before I read about the news, I didn’t know who he was either.

But that’s what the power of the internet is for. Here are some reactions…

It’s a big deal when Jonathan calls the guy the top undrafted college free agent on the market…

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Derrick Graffius pays a lot more attention to the college kids than I do…

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I don’t suppose that you can use the kids name without also using, “big signing”

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Reaction around the division?

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Ok, ok, but what about a scouting report?

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Words from Seth, a Q&A with Jonathan and a nice article on the Penguins site.

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My reaction?

The signing certainly helps. Don’t look for him to jump right in and start playing all of a sudden. He will probably use this week to acclimate himself to Wilkes-Barre, have a couple of video sessions, practice this week and take in the two games this weekend with Lehigh Valley. Hobey Baker finalist and leader in whichever category you prefer, I don’t think they are going to trot the kid out there Saturday in Allentown, in the thick of a playoff race. If he gets in a game at all, it will most likely be next Tuesday at home against Hartford.

The one game to watch Wednesday night is Lehigh Valley hosting the North Division leader Syracuse Crunch. This is the game in hand that the Phantoms are burning against the Penguins and a Lehigh Valley win would put them two points behind Wilkes-Barre for tops in the Atlantic with a home and home series between the two sides starting Friday in Allentown. I’ll have a blurb on Twitter later Wednesday mentioning the final score.

Next blog recap should be the Gameday setup against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms Friday at 3.

The NHL trade deadline came and went at 3 p.m. Eastern today and here is what shook out for the Pittsburgh Penguins and here is how it affects the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins…

   Pittsburgh / Wilkes-Barre   

Jim Rutherford flipped Steve Oleksy and Eric Fehr for Frank Corrado from Toronto and acquired Mark Streit from Tampa Bay for a draft pick. Streit was briefly with Tampa Bay, having been acquired there from Philadelphia hours before.

In related moves, Pittsburgh recalled, reassigned then recalled Derrick Pouliot and assigned Corrado and Cameron Gaunce to Wilkes-Barre. They also papered Carter Rowney and Jake Guentzel making them eligible for the rest of the AHL season and playoffs, if applicable.

Wilkes-Barre defense is as follows…Cameron Gaunce, David Warsofsky, Frank Corrado, Brett Stern, Stuart Percy, Ethan Prow, Stuart Percy and Barry Goers. It was announced today after practice that Ethan Prow should be good to go this weekend from his injury and that Lukas Bengtsson is done for the year after still dealing with the symptoms of Lyme Disease.

Pittsburgh has a wealth of defensemen now. Ian Cole, Trevor Daley (hurt) Brian Dumoulin, Ron Hainsey, Kris Letang (hurt) Olli Maatta (hurt) Derrick Pouliot, Chad Ruhwedel (not waived yesterday, will not return to Wilkes-Barre) Justin Schultz and Mark Streit. You figure that as soon as Letang, who is the closest to returning as his status is simply day to day, gets healthy that Pouliot will be back in Wilkes-Barre lickety split.

This season, Wilkes-Barre’s strength has been through its blue line.

On Corrado, he’s been buried on the depth chart in Toronto. He is 1-11-12 with the Marlies. He’s recently started playing again with the Marlies and they are 13-1-1-0 since January 22. He’s played on the top pairing there and its no surprise that the Marlies are on the precipice of overtaking the Syracuse Crunch for tops in the North Division. Here’s more long form on Corrado if you’d like to read up on the Penguins latest asset and a Q&A.

In my opinion it’s a step up for the Pens. They lost Steve Oleksy who was a glue guy and a good quote to the papers and was 1-4-5 for Wilkes-Barre vs. a diamond in the rough player in Corrado.

Moving Eric Fehr means that we will have to wait a bit longer for Carter Rowney in Wilkes-Barre. Conor Sheary is days away, so you are looking at getting Bryan Rust back first before seeing Rowney back here.

Here’s what else happened in the AHL’s Atlantic Division…

   Florida / Springfield   

Dylan McIlrath to the Detroit Red Wings for Thomas Vanek.

Mike McKenna to Syracuse for Adam Wilcox.

Shane Harper to Albany for Reece Scarlett.

Here’s what I think: Springfield gets pillaged. They get nothing in return for the McIlrath trade since Vanek is an NHLer, lose a future Hall of Famer in Mike McKenna for Wilcox, whose numbers aren’t anything to write home about. (19-9-2, 2.87, .895 SV%) and get a slight upgrade in Scarlett over Harper. The Thunderbirds aren’t making playoffs and are just playing for pride at this point.

   NY Rangers / Hartford Wolf Pack   

Justin Fontaine for Taylor Beck. Beck was the Bakersfield Condors leading scorer with 50 points. It’s a bandaid on a bullet wound for a Hartford side who will probably finish last in the Atlantic Division.

   Washington / Hershey   

Washington sent Joe Cannata packing to the San Antonio Rampage in exchange for Cody Corbett. Cannata was the odd man out for the Bears crease after the reacquisition of Phoenix Copley on Monday night. Corbett is a depth defenseman.

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As for the rest of the division, Lehigh Valley and Providence didn’t make any moves. Neither did Bridgeport, who still have G Jaroslav Halak. If you want a dark horse to make it out of the Atlantic, it’s Bridgeport. Personally, I’m not buying it. Wilkes-Barre is the best team in the division, Lehigh Valley, Providence and Bridgeport are on the same tier, Hershey is a step below then you have Springfield and Hartford. A lot can happen in this final quarter of the AHL season.

Pens are off Friday, so but for anything breaking between now and Saturday, look for the next blog update to come Saturday afternoon for the Gameday setup at Hershey.

We are just under 24 hours from the NHL Trade Deadline and there have been some moves made and some moves setting up future moves which I would like to discuss in some capacity.

Focusing only in the AHL’s Atlantic Division, here’s what happened so far…

   Pittsburgh / Wilkes-Barre   

Eric Fehr is on waivers. $2,000,000 salary is all yours if you claim him by noon Wednesday. If not, Pittsburgh can assign him to Wilkes-Barre and save $950,000 in cap money and frees up a roster spot with Pittsburgh.

Here’s what I think: Fehr goes unclaimed and isn’t immediately assigned to Wilkes-Barre. Depending on what moves GM Jim Rutherford tries to swing in either trying to move Marc-Andre Fleury or trading for another defensemen, Fehr goes unclaimed, stays in Pittsburgh with the option of being moved to Wilkes-Barre if the need arises. Do I think we ever see Fehr in Wilkes-Barre? It’s a possibility. I hope so, the pun possibilities for this blog would increase exponentially.

You needed to be on waivers today in order to be assigned to the AHL Wednesday for the playoff run. The only every day name Wilkes-Barre fans are familiar with which was not waived was Chad Ruhwedel. Consider him up for good with Pittsburgh as the seventh defenseman.

Steve Oleksy and Cameron Gaunce are still technically waiver exempt. They should be papered down along with Carter Rowney, who should be assigned for real this week with the news that Conor Sheary participated in full at practice Tuesday as well as Jake Guentzel. Guentzel getting papered down is risk free, and keeps him developing playoff skills if Pittsburgh should get knocked out of the playoffs before Wilkes-Barre.

   Washington / Hershey   

Late Monday, Washington swung a trade with St. Louis for the services of unrestricted free agent defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk. There were picks involved which I didn’t pay attention to. The other bodies involved were Zach Sanford, who was 4-1-5 against Wilkes-Barre this season, Brad Malone, who was a veteran scratch from time to time for the Bears and goaltender Pheonix Copley.

If you remember Copley, that’s because he was with Washington / Hershey last year. I think they moved him in a trade for someone and got him back.

Here’s what I think: Copley will get the lion share of starts for the Bears for the stretch run as told by Bears Head Coach Troy Mann to Kyle Mace Tuesday. Copley is a giant step up over whatever the hell Hershey tried in goal this season with a combination of Vitek Vanecek, Joe Cannata and Parker Milner. Milner and Vanecek are better served as backups and Cannata, who won 20 games with Utica last year, just never got comfortable with Hershey this year. Consider it Copley’s crease now for the 11 time Champs. Hershey has a long way to go and a short time to get there if they want to make the playoffs and they are going all in with the hope that Copley will be the bus that gets them there.

   NY Rangers / Hartford Wolf Pack   

The Rangers made a trade with the Buffalo Sabres Tuesday that saw Wolf Pack captain Mat Bodie get traded for Daniel Catenacci. Catenacci is a center with 13 points in 50 games for a bad Rochester team. So it’s a lateral move for Catenacci from one bad team to another.

Here’s what I think: Hartford is in last place in the Atlantic and it looks like they will finish there.

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Trade Deadline is at 3 Wilkes-Barre time tomorrow. Depending on moves made which are notable I’ll have another blog post here Wednesday night breaking it all down.