Chirps from Center Ice

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

Category Archives: Not AHL

Certainly Not a Day Late…

Comments Off on Certainly Not a Day Late… Posted by on June 19, 2013

Consider this your Thursday Weekly Offseason update a day early….

— The Grand Rapids Griffins are the Calder Cup Champions. They closed out the Syracuse Crunch in Game 6 last night. Here are my words for Bob Howard’s blog from Game 5 and Game 6.

— The Hershey Bears have a new bench boss. His name is Mike Haviland. He’s won everywhere he has been. He started in the ECHL, won two league titles there, moved up to the AHL with Norfolk and was named AHL’s Coach of the Year in 2007, moved on to Rockford and coached the IceHogs in their maiden AHL season. The IceHogs haven’t won a playoff game since. He’s most recently been an associate coach with Admirals this past season on Hampton Roads.

— Chris Bourque is going back to Russia, with Ak Bars Kazan of the KHL.

— The Wheeling Nailers and the rest of the ECHL announced their 2013-2014 schedule today.

— 107 days to opening night. Probably 100 days till we get our schedule. Heh.

Keeping my eye in the transfer wires as more and more guys are jumping the pond to Europe and beyond. If any Penguin makes the jump, I’ll blog about it. If not, see you next Thursday!

Not AHL, The AHL

The Pack is Back Together

Comments Off on The Pack is Back Together Posted by on May 14, 2013

Just a few notes on the eve of Game 3…

— No idea who is starting in goal for Game 3 Wednesday for the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins. It’s a good problem to have really, when you have two Class A goaltenders to choose from. If I am Coach Hynes, I give the net to Brad Thiessen until Jeff Zatkoff gives me a reason to give it back to him. Providence scored 12 goals on Zatkoff. Say what you want about the situation, but the Penguins played a much calmer and overall better game in front of Thiessen in the second and third period. And oh, by the way, Thiessen didn’t allow a goal in 40 minutes played.

— No suspension for Warren Peters for his hit on Zach Trotman in Game 2.

— Dylan Reese will not be available for Game 3 tomorrow. He skated Tuesday but won’t tomorrow night at seven.

— Boston recalled D Torey Krug today. This leaves Providence with 5 defensemen. The issue that the Penguins have had in the series hasn’t been anything on the Providence blue line. It’s been Chris Bourque and the deadly Providence power play. The P-Bruins could have rolled out an ECHL blueline and still likely would have won Games 1 and 2.

Elsewhere outside of this series…

— The Hartford Wolf Pack are back. I don’t know why they switched from the Connecticut Whale to Wolf Pack midseason a few seasons ago. Seemed silly to me.

— The Vancouver Canucks, who bought the Peoria Rivermen franchise, will not skate a team full of prospects next season. That means that the Canucks prospects will be spread out all over the AHL next year and the league will retract back to 29 teams unless a last second Hail Mary is called.

— The aforementioned Peoria Rivermen are apparently taking the elevator down three levels to a league called the Southern Professional Hockey League (SPHL) with a team from the Central Hockey League (CHL) named the Bloomington Blaze. I know minor league team movement doesn’t interest nearly as many people as it does interest me, but there is a lot of movement below the AHL in the ECHL possibly gaining two if not three teams and the SPHL expanding and the CHL drying up completely.

Back to this P-Bruins / Penguins series finally, and an op-ed piece from yours truly. We have come way too far in the last couple of seasons for this to be the end of things for a fourteenth season. The summit is not and should not be second round of playoffs and out year after year after year. I am not going to Game 3 tomorrow expecting to lose. I am not going to Game 4 Friday to attend a funeral. This series has to be won on the road. Flashback to July last year and the boatload of talent signed by Pittsburgh earmarked for Wilkes-Barre in the Fall. This team here in the middle of May is still that same team, only better with additions of Derek Nesbitt and Chad Kolarik. We are not out of this series yet. We can, and I expect to win this series in either six or seven games.

Gameday for Game 3 will be here Wednesday afternoon at 3 p.m.

All in.

Just Rambling, Not AHL, The AHL, WBS

Seven on the Floor

Comments Off on Seven on the Floor Posted by on April 17, 2013

Here are a septuplet of topics on a Wednesday afternoon:

— The Penguins will be opening the 2013 Calder Cup Playoffs on the road in either Syracuse or Binghamton on April 27. Both clubs announced that the Conference Quarterfinal begins April 27 with Game 2 on April 28. Mark your calendars accordingly.

— The Peter Merth Effect is back in Wilkes-Barre. Merth signed a PTO this week and is yet another depth defenseman the Penguins have in their arsenal.

— Pittsburgh signed goaltender Eric Hartzell to a one year contract for this season. Hartzell just completed a season at Quinnipiac, runners-up to champion Yale in the Frozen Four which was held in Pittsburgh last week.

— Wilkes-Barre signed a pair of players to ATOs this week. They are forwards Anton Zlobin and Matia Marcantuoni. They will practice, get a taste of what it is like to be a professional hockey player and likely take that knowledge home with them for the summertime.

— The AHL announced more award winners. Sportsman of the Year and Coach of the Year. Neither one play in the Eastern Conference.

— You like outdoor games? Next year is your year then, as the NHL will be announcing a “Stadium Series” next year to be held in outdoor baseball or football stadiums. The Penguins and Chicago Blackhawks are scheduled to play at Soldier Field next March.

— Dollar Drafts are back this Friday at Mohegan Sun Arena. Drink responsibly.

Look for the next blog update Friday, which will be the Gameday setup for that night’s game vs. Worcester.

Let’s Go Pens!

Not AHL, Pittsburgh, The AHL, WBS

NHL Trade Deadline Wrap

Comments Off on NHL Trade Deadline Wrap Posted by on April 3, 2013

The NHL trade deadline came and went Wednesday afternoon at 3:00 p.m. Here’s how things affect the AHL’s East Division:

HER-WSH

Washington / Hershey

– D Garrett Stafford for LW Dane Byers. Byers comes over from Oklahoma City. It’s an AHL vet for an AHL vet, so the Bears will remain one over the legal limit to dress each game. Byers was 6-4-10 in 58 games with the Barons this season. Moving Stafford left a hole on the Bears back end but later in the day Washington sent back Dmitry Orlov and Tomas Kundratek.

– Matt Clackson for Joel Rechlicz. Rechlicz returns to Hershey, where he is immensely popular, Clackson goes to Portland, which is his second tour with the club.

– Prospect Filip Forsberg for Martin Erat and Michael Latta. Latta will report to Hershey. He comes over from Milwaukee, where he was second on the Admirals in points and first in assists. Latta is a non-vet and a physical, aggressive player. Latta was a fan favorite in Milwaukee, too.

SYR-TBL

Tampa Bay / Syracuse

– Prospect D Kirill Gorovets for LW Philippe Paradis. Paradis is just coming off of a concussion suffered February 20 and was just medically cleared to play.

– Cory Conacher for Ben Bishop. What this means for the Crunch is to expect G Cedrick Desjardins back to Syracuse in the forseeable future.

NOR-ANA

Anaheim / Norfolk

– Jay Rosehill for Harry Zolnierczyk. Zolnierczyk actually played for the Admirals against the Penguins yesterday.

– Jeff Deslauriers for future considerations to the Minnesota Wild. The one time WBS Penguin Deslauriers was buried in the Anaheim goaltending system. He’ll join AHL Houston.

BNG-OTT

Ottawa / Binghamton

– Ben Bishop for Cory Conacher. What this means for Binghamton is Robin Lehner stays up for good as Craig Anderson’s backup and the AHL nets belong to Nathan Lawson and Marc Chevrie.

WBS-PIT

Pittsburgh / Wilkes-Barre

– Conditional draft pick for Jussi Jokinen from the Carolina Hurricanes. This is strictly a Pittsburgh move and has no bearing on Wilkes-Barre. The indirect effect may be that Beau Bennett stays in Wilkes-Barre for the remainder of the season, although he could still hypothetically go back up at anytime. Here’s Jonathan Bombulie’s take on this and more.

– Patrick Killeen to Columbus for future considerations. Killeen fell off the radar way back in the beginning of the season when he wasn’t even invited to Pittsburgh’s prospect camp. He’ll likely join the Springfield Falcons as a Black Ace.

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Analysis

I don’t see a clear winner here. I also don’t see a huge loser either. Hershey got better, but nothing that makes you say, “wow.” Maybe you can say that Binghamton lost more in having Lehner graduating full time. You also would not be wrong in asserting that Syracuse is structurally stronger in getting their number one goalie back for the playoff run. Time tells all.

There were other, “paper” moves to get players assigned to the AHL for the purposes of playing in the postseason. A notable name not on that list was Simon Despres, which means that he is with Pittsburgh for the duration. (edit: Jonathan tweets that Despres indeed has been sent to WBS to make him eligible for AHL playoffs if by chance Wilkes-Barre lasts longer than Pittsburgh in the postseason)

Let’s Go Pens!

Not AHL, The AHL, WBS

Watching the World Go By

Comments Off on Watching the World Go By Posted by on March 14, 2013

There’s a couple of leftover and fresh trades and moves made in the East Division that I figure I would pay off and use to break up the monotony of the Penguins on the road.

None of these moves surround or involve the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins who are either watching the world go by or too busy with their longest road trip of the season.

SYR-TBLNOR-ANA

Dan Sexton for Kyle Wilson. Sexton goes from the the Norfolk Admirals to the Syracuse Crunch and Wilson goes from the Crunch to the Admirals. This happened last week.

BNG-OTT

Matt Kassian for a pick. Kassian comes over from the Minnesota Wild and went straight to the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday. This indirectly affected the Binghamton Senators who today, received Mark Stone back from the Canadian capital.

HER-WSH

Chay Genoway from Minnesota for a pick as well as Nicolas Deschamps for Kevin Marshall. Genoway and Deschamps report straight to Hershey.

So far, the Penguins haven’t made a move. Do you think they need to make a trade to help WBS?

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My take: Depends. Are they a playoff team a week from now? Two weeks from now? If, at any point, the answer is no, then I think a move is made. I’m interested in what the readers think.

Elsewhere in the AHL, Saturday’s opponent the Portland Pirates added an old face to Penguins fans. Nick Johnson cleared waivers today and was assigned to Portland and is expected to be in the lineup Saturday vs. the Penguins.

Elsewhere in the NHL, realignment is a comin’. 16 Eastern Conference teams and 14 Western Conference teams. What does this mean for the AHL? Normally they mimic what the NHL does. Will there be 16 Eastern teams and 14 Western teams? Could happen. Just shift Rochester and either Toronto or Lake Erie and call it a day. Take the Atlantic Division and leave it alone, just add all teams from the Northeast Division except Albany and Adirondack where they join Rochester, Lake Erie or Toronto with the East Division. When Adirondack moves from Glens Falls, NY to Allentown in a few years there’s no need to worry about divisional disruption.

Finally, I saw the Pens messing around today with something called Pheed. So I did some research on it and joined. pheed.com/nafsnep is where I am at. Like Vine and Instagram, how I get it all to play with WordPress, Twitter and Facebook remains to be seen. Pheed seems to be a conglomeration of Twitter, Facebook, Vine and Instagram so that’s why I signed up.

Anyway, Gameday for tomorrow’s rematch with Worcester will be up at 3 p.m. tomorrow.

Let’s Go Pens!

Not AHL, The AHL

Camping in January

1 Comment Posted by on January 13, 2013

NHL Labor strife is over. Hockey is back!

Apparently, what I have been doing and everything going on in the AHL the past three and a half months has gone unnoticed, like it didn’t even happen. Meh. Consider me bitter that I’m not blogging up the highest level of hockey anymore. Whatever. I’m not here to vent.

Training camps are opening all across the NHL.  While focusing on the effect on the AHL’s East Division, I offer the following:

Wilkes-Barre / Scranton / Pittsburgh
WBS-PIT

No real shockers here. Robert Bortuzzo, Simon Despres, Brian Strait, Beau Bennett, Jayson Megna and Eric Tangradi are in camp. 9 defensemen, 15 forwards and two goaltenders.

Bortuzzo and Strait must clear to be re-assigned to Wilkes-Barre. I have a gut feeling Pittsburgh doesn’t want to lose them to waivers, so they may stick. Despres doesn’t need to clear, so I would assume he will be back sooner rather than later.

Tangradi will never be seen in Wilkes-Barre again. This is his time. He either makes something of it or is traded. Bennett is either top-six in Pittsburgh or top-six in Wilkes-Barre. Him toiling on a third line in Pittsburgh getting thirteen minutes a game will do nothing for his development. Third line is not his style.

Megna getting an invitation to camp was a shock to me. But Jonathan Bombulie had some great insights on Megna getting the invite which, if you sit back and think, make sense.

Now what’s left is what becomes of Brad Thiessen, Jeff Zatkoff and Steve MacIntyre, who are currently on waivers, per TSN’s Bob MacKenzie.

Hershey / Washington
HER-WSH

Braden Holtby and Cameron Schilling were invited to camp. For Holtby, he was playing in the AHL because he could. He is Washington’s #1 in goal and will never be heard or seen again in the AHL.

Norfolk / Anaheim
NOR-ANA

Emerson Etem, Peter Holland, Patrick Maroon, Kyle Palmieri, Devante Smith-Pelly and Nate Guenin are among some of the names invited who helped out the struggling Norfolk Admirals, who presently sit last place in the division. To try and put a band-aid on things, the Admirals recalled six players from their ECHL affiliate Fort Wayne. (edit: Norfolk brought a hodgepodge of ECHL players, not all from Fort Wayne, thanks to reader Kim in the comments who now knows I am illiterate ~) )

Syracuse / Tampa Bay
SYR-TBL

Mike Angelidis, Cory Conacher, Pierre-Cedric Labrie Keith Aulie, Matt Taormina get invites along with Tyler Johnson, Mark Barberio, J.T. Wyman and Radko Gudas. Dustin Tokarski does not.

With the lead Syracuse has padded on the rest of the division, it may not matter who goes up. Here’s Lindsay Kramer from The Post-Standard in Syracuse’s take on things which include some names recalled from ECHL Florida. Also, blog buddies Chairman How’s Glorious Army give their take, and aren’t scared. Nor should they be.

Binghamton / Ottawa
BNG-OTT

No team in my mind has been looted as much as the Binghamton Senators. Yes, last night they won with a patchwork lineup. But they beat the last place Norfolk Admirals team, equally victimized by NHL camp invites.

Here is Ottawa’s training camp roster. Ben Bishop and Robin Lehner go up leaving Nathan Lawson to tend the nets on the Southern Tier. Common knowledge seems to think that Lehner will be back.

Patrick Wiercioch, Andre Benoit and Mark Borowiecki are the defensemen that get invites. Jakob Silfverberg and Mike Hoffman go up from the forward corps. I have always believed that Binghamton was going to be a huge beneficiary of the NHL lockout, which they have thus far, so time will tell if the B-Sens could ride the momentum of a hot start all the way to the finish. Here’s the Press & Sun-Bulletin take on things.

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I’m sure these moves will be analyzed backwards and forwards all this week. It’s a light week for the Penguins this week as they are in Norfolk on Tuesday then they play the Bears in the Outdoor Classic a week today. So more than enough time for players to return from camps or players to get called up from their ECHL affiliates. I’ll do the best I can on staying on top of it all for you as the week progresses. Always, latest news can be found on Twitter. Then maybe Facebook, but never Instagram.

Not AHL, Pittsburgh, The AHL, WBS

Tidbits 1/3

Comments Off on Tidbits 1/3 Posted by on January 3, 2013

Just a couple of things to cover…

–> The AHL Outdoor Classic is days away. The process to build the rink is in its genesis. In that link you will also see jerseys that the Bears will use in warmups and in the actual game.

–> I have seen on social media and been asked what Wilkes-Barre is planning jersey wise. I don’t have a clue. I would assume that an announcement on that as well as the roster for the Alumni Game the day before the Classic will be made by Coal Street in the coming days.

–> Friday we play the Binghamton Senators, who are celebrating 40 Years of Hockey in Binghamton that night. I apologize in advance to the Binghamton contingent of the readers here at Chirps from Center Ice. The Penguins are going to ruin your party.

–> Oh, those Penguins. They were bag skated fitness tested yesterday, then practiced Thursday morning at 8 a.m. They seem to be saying all the right things, too. Actions speak louder than words.

–> Going back to my Saturday morning blog post regarding the terrible numbers that the Penguins put up in the stretch, I did not mention the numbers by the goaltenders. There’s a reason for that. If you have been following me long enough you know that I am terrible at math. Anyway, the braintrust in Springfield isn’t. The numbers are in for Thiessen / Zatkoff for the month of December:

– Jeff Zatkoff: 2-5, 3.13 GAA, 0.871 SV%.
– Brad Thiessen: 0-4-1, 3.55 GAA, 0.884 SV%.

I went back to November, when the Penguins were the hottest team in the AHL going 10-2. Jeff Zatkoff won Goalie of the Month with an 8-1 record, 1.21 GAA and a 0.955 SV% including three shutouts. Comparatively, Brad Thiessen was 2-1, 3.18 GAA, 0.890 SV% in the same month.

I just wanted to go back and get an idea of the goaltending situation in December to complete the thought from Saturday.

Elsewhere, the ECHL All-Star rosters were announced over the last two days. Two familiar names to Penguins fans made that list. They are Casey Pierro-Zabotel and Nick Petersen. Pierro-Zabotel was actually named starter. No Wheeling Nailers were named. The ECHL is pooling together all-stars from all over the league to play the host Colorado Eagles. But it’s strange to me that in an event which is supposed to showcase the league, that not every team is represented in the event. Just strange.

Alright, going back, this seems to be more of just a “tidbits” entry. Eh, when I get on a roll, I get on a roll. I’ll stop now.

Gameday for Binghamton will be up Friday afternoon at 3.

Let’s Go Pens!

Not AHL, The AHL, WBS

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