Chirps from Center Ice

A fan blog about the AHL's Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins

Category Archives: Pittsburgh

Simon Returns 2/13

Comments Off on Simon Returns 2/13 Posted by on February 13, 2012

edit: WBS also announces they signed Cody Chupp to an SPC

Announced today that Simon Despres has returned to Wilkes-Barre / Scranton after being taken off of injured reserve in Pittsburgh.

Currently, there is no one on recall to Pittsburgh. Tremendous news defensively. When Carl Sneep gets back healthy Wilkes-Barre will have nine defensemen available and ten when Boris Valabik is finally ready to go.

Here is a look at what I think is the defense pairs shake out to be depth chart wise:

Picard-Despres
Bortuzzo-Strait
Grant-Mormina / Wild / Sneep

Who then, gets sent to Wheeling? The Penguins have seven defensemen who are left handed. Here’s a chart I made:

Player

Shoots
Alex Grant Right
Philip Samuelsson Left
Joey Mormina Left
Brian Strait Left
Robert Bortuzzo Right
Alexandre Picard Left
Carl Sneep Right
Simon Despres Left
Cody Wild Left
Boris Valabik Left

The ideal pairing of defensemen would be a lefty and a righty on the blueline. An overabundance of southpaws would lead me to believe that Philip Samuelsson and possibly Cody Wild get sent to Wheeling. I think with his most recent good performances the Penguins would have a very hard time sending Alex Grant to Wheeling, so that’s why I say Wild because you’d slot Joey Mormina or Carl Sneep in as your fifth or sixth defenseman.

With bodies getting healthier by the day, an overabundance of players fighting for a jersey is most certainly a good problem to have.

Let’s Go Pens!

Pittsburgh, WBS

Schnell / Chupp to Wheeling; Other Tidbits

Comments Off on Schnell / Chupp to Wheeling; Other Tidbits Posted by on February 10, 2012

Announced by Wilkes-Barre this morning that Cody Chupp and Ryan Schnell were sent to Wheeling.

The official read is Schnell was reassigned and Chupp was released from his PTO and will report to Wheeling.

Elsewhere, Simon Despres did not practice today in Pittsburgh. Scuttlebutt is that he tweaked his knee.

No recall to Pittsburgh seems imminent as Jordan Staal will return to the lineup tomorrow.

I’ll be a casual observer tonight on AHL Live taking in Bears / Crunch and Phantoms / Admirals. I’ll also keep tabs on tomorrow’s opponent Portland as they are in Providence tonight.

I’ll have a RT of a final score for both the Bears and Admirals games later on the Twitter side.

Gameday for Portland tomorrow will be here at 3 p.m. on the blog.

Let’s Go Pens!

Pittsburgh, The AHL, WBS

A Good Problem to Have

Comments Off on A Good Problem to Have Posted by on February 9, 2012

Perused Jonathan Bombulie’s Thursday practice update today wherein he noted 26 players were on the ice taking part in practice. He likened it to a training camp scenario.

Certainly a good problem to have.

Here’s JB’s lines from practice. You’ll note that Alex Picard’s name is slotted in there. He’s probably going to play this weekend. If Simon Despres comes back for this weekend’s action, move Joey Mormina down one and scratch Cody Wild:

McDonald-Lerg-Williams
Tangradi-Street-Thompson
Craig-Sill-Walker
DeFazio-Rust-MacIntyre

Strait-Bortuzzo
Picard-Mormina
Wild-Grant

Jordan Staal and the aforementioned Simon Despres took part in practice again in Pittsburgh today. Depending if Staal can play this weekend, a body will most likely go up to Pittsburgh tomorrow. In the same update, it was revealed that Tyler Kennedy has high ankle sprain and will miss 4-6 weeks of action.

I have no idea if Wilkes-Barre is practicing tomorrow or not. Regardless, I will have something on whether or not there is a call up or re-assignment to Wheeling.

Let’s Go Pens!

Pittsburgh, WBS

Coattails and Cuff Links

Comments Off on Coattails and Cuff Links Posted by on February 7, 2012

Riding on the coattails of beat writer Jonathan Bombulie Tuesday update with an update of my own:

–> Nick Petersen is back from his Wheeling excursion. From the Bombulie update, Coach John Hynes wanted Petersen to get game action with important minutes. He did, and thrived. Nine points in seven games. Not too shabby. Petersen is up because…

–> Jason Williams was recalled to Pittsburgh. The Pittsburgh link has Arron Asham on long term IR to make room for Williams. He’s not expected to play tonight in Montreal.

–> Jordan Staal and Simon Despres should be back “within 5-10 days.” Out of this, I would expect Despres and either Williams, Colin McDonald or both back in Wilkes-Barre, hopefully by this weekend.

–> On the subject of this weekend, Bombulie noted that Alex Picard could play this weekend ad Eric Tangradi could also go too.

Here’s some links for you:

–> PA Puck had a nice article on the March of the Penguins.

–> The 2013 AHL All-Star Classic is headed to the Divine City. Announcement Wednesday.

–> Goaltender Antero Niittymaki was loaned to Syracuse today from San Jose. He’s been injured and has only played five games this season. Does Niittymaki make Syracuse contenders? Not necessarily. Does he make them relevant? Absolutely.

–> Non hockey link for you. This ship never sailed.

St. John’s hosts the Providence Bruins tonight and tomorrow. St. John’s is playing its two games in hand on Wilkes-Barre. They are a a point behind the Pens for the overall lead in the Eastern Conference.

Leading the Conference in February is irrelevant to the players and in the ultimate scope of things. However, leading the Conference is important to me, as a fan.

Penguins aren’t planning on practicing tomorrow, so I’ll be updating again possibly Thursday, as long as content allows.

Let’s Go Pens!

Pittsburgh, The AHL, WBS, Wheeling

Say Hey to Cal

Comments Off on Say Hey to Cal Posted by on February 1, 2012

Today, the Pittsburgh Penguins claimed center Cal O’Reilly off of re-entry waivers from the Phoenix Coyotes.

The Penguins only really have four true centers on the team in Tyler Kennedy, Evgeni Malkin, Jordan Staal and Joe Vitale. Five, if you count a healthy Sidney Crosby.

Here’s O’Reilly’s numbers from NHL.com.

What does this mean for Wilkes-Barre you ask? One could assume the following: 1) Colin McDonald gets re-assigned here soon, although I thought he played a solid game yesterday vs. Toronto. 2) Eric Tangradi gets moved at the trade deadline. Although Tangradi is more of a winger. Dustin Jeffrey plays more center. Who knows. Speculation on these kinds of things makes my head spin.

One thing is for certain. If the Penguins try to send O’Reilly here to Wilkes-Barre, he would most certainly get re-claimed by Phoenix who then can send him to their minor league affiliate, the Portland Pirates.

The Penguins are back at practice tomorrow, by the way.

Let’s Go Pens!

Pittsburgh

Heavy Lifting Done by Others

Comments Off on Heavy Lifting Done by Others Posted by on January 24, 2012

I offer no original content in this blog post other than links from other writers on other websites. They have done all the “heavy lifting” and I am just collecting what I find interesting and linking you through:

–> Steve MacIntyre was recalled to Pittsburgh today. I have no idea what to make of this recall. Call him up for hired muscle? Call him up to get him a rest for the All Star break which starts tomorrow for Pittsburgh?

–> Alex Grant was not named the AHL’s Player of the Week. They gave it to Rockford Goaltender Carter Hutton instead. Hutton went 4-0 last week for the IceHogs. Alex Grant was, however, mentioned in Jonathan Bombulie’s blog update this afternoon. Bombulie spoke on Grant’s emergence on the scene and how he could have been named as a potential replacement for Simon Despres at the All-Star Classic Monday.

–> Grant was not named as a replacement, but these guys were.

–> Pennsylvania Puck had a midseason analysis of all Pennsylvania pro teams at the midway point, including the Penguins and Bears.

–> Finally, the fellows at Faceoff Factor had an interesting commentary on Eric Tangradi which is worth a read.

Providence in town for their only visit tomorrow. Gameday will be up Wednesday afternoon at 3 p.m.

Let’s Go Pens!

Pittsburgh, The AHL, WBS

Here’s What’s Up

Comments Off on Here’s What’s Up Posted by on January 11, 2012

Two things, really.

–> Simon Despres is out 2-4 weeks with a sprained knee. He’ll miss the AHL All-Star Classic at the end of this month in Atlantic City.

–> Steve MacIntyre is on waivers. If he clears he’ll most likely be assigned to Wilkes-Barre. If Steve does clear, I wonder if he will join the team on it’s trip to Newfoundland.

–> ECHL transactions page was quiet today on any recalls / re-assignments.

Not much, but worthwhile enough to document here. Every blog post can’t be a novel.

Pittsburgh

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