Chirps from Center Ice

I used to hate in school when the professor would give the class raw data to analyze and try and determine finishing order.

Anyway, I present to you tables of remaining opponents for the following teams: Hershey, Norfolk, Charlotte and Binghamton. Any of the four can be Wilkes-Barre’s first round opponent. On top of these teams, I present you with tables for the Portland Pirates, Manchester Monarchs and the Milwaukee Admirals which can still mathematically pass Wilkes-Barre / Scranton for first overall. I beleive that WBS only has to go 4-3 over it’s next seven games and home ice through the Calder Cup playoffs is wrapped up.

It’s a ton of raw data for you to analyze. After the jump…

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Wilkes-Barre had the day off after yesterday’s travel. Bombulie reports today that neither Joe Vitale, Carl Sneep, Joey Mormina or John Curry will play this weekend but nothing is serious enough to be season ending.

So I watched like, five AHL games tonight. Here are the highlights:

• Connecticut beat Manchester 1-0. Why is this important? Manchester is locked in a battle with Hershey and Portland for second overall in the AHL.
• Charlotte beat Bridgeport 3-2 in a shootout. Why is this important? Charlotte and WBS are a potential first round matchup in the Calder Cup playoffs.
• Portland beat Binghamton 3-2. Why is this important? For one, Portland now draws to one point behind Manchester for first in the Atlantic. For another, the B-Sens have lost 8 of their last 10. With the success the Sens have have had this year against the Pens, you don’t want to face Binghamton in the playoffs from a WBS perspective.
• Norfolk beat Albany 4-1. Why is this important? Norfolk is 6 points ahead of fifth place Binghamton right now and three points behind Charlotte for third. Norfolk is making the playoffs, barring an implosion.
• Hershey beat Springfield 4-1. Why is this important? Huck-puh. The Bears get to seven behind the Penguins. The Pens have three games in hand, but golly, the Bears will continue to keep the Pens on their toes. They also go Andrew Gordon back tonight.
• Providence beat Worcester 4-1. Why is this important? The Sharks are a point behind the B-Sens for the final what will likely be guaranteed playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Further, Providence needed to win this game to stay in consideration for a playoff spot. In winning, the Peebs held the Sharks to 22 shots on goal, while firing 56 shots at Worcester goaltender Carter Hutton.

Pens take on the Sharks tomorrow. From here on out, Chirps from Center Ice will be monitoring these AHL teams for implications which will either indirectly or directly affect WBS come playoff time.

Go Pens.

Traveling home from New Jersey this afternoon but stayed current on the action in the AHL via Twitter. Two games interested me the most.

First, the Manchester Monarchs defeated the Portland Pirates 4-2 for sole possession of first place in the Atlantic. Monarchs are five points behind WBS for the overall top spot in the AHL. Wilkes-Barre has four games in hand against ManchVegas.

Finally, the Hershey Bears earned a point in a shootout loss this afternoon in a 3-2 loss. The Bears are within five points of WBS for the East Division lead. The Penguins have four games on the Bears also.

This week: Hershey is off until Friday and the Pens give two games in hand back as they take on the Manitoba Moose on Tuesday and Wednesday. Manchester hosts Springfield on Wednesday.

Let’s Go Pens!

Penguins traveled to Western Canada today for Friday and Saturday’s games vs. the Abbotsford Heat. Meanwhile, I kept tabs on two East Division games on AHL Live:

• The Hershey Bears lost 3-2 to the Worcester Sharks in regulation. The seven point lead is intact and the Penguins have three games in hand over the Bears.
• The Norfolk Admirals beat the Binghamton Senators tonight in Hampton Roads by a score of 5-1. The top ranked B-Sens power play went 0 for 5 tonight and the Sens were held to 22 shots on goal.

Elsewhere, in games which indirectly affect Wilkes-Barre:

• The Manchester Monarchs earned a point in a 3-2 shootout loss to the Providence Bruins. If you had the under at 13 rounds in a shootout tonight you lost. It went 14 rounds! The Monarchs reclaim first in the Atlantic and overall second in the AHL with 84 points. The Pens also have three games in hand on the Monarchs.
• The Portland Pirates were idle tonight. It is also worth mentioning so too was the Charlotte Checkers.
• The Checkers parent team, the Carolina Hurricanes, were in action tonight and lost in overtime 3-2. They earn a point and are in the playoffs right now as the 8 seed in the NHL Eastern Conference (the playoff format between AHL and NHL is different) The Hurricanes are battling the Buffalo Sabres for the last spot. The Sabres have two games in hand. Why is this important? We here at Chirps from Center Ice want to see the Hurricanes make the NHL playoffs so as not to send down all of their prospects to load up the Charlotte Checkers. Go Canes Go!

Can’t promise a Thursday post. So if not, look for the late Friday night Gameday post to publish around 5 p.m. or 6 p.m. as the Pens game is not until 10 p.m. Wilkes-Barre time. If you are wondering if I am going to live tweet and recap it the answer is yes.

Check out this cool AHL Playoff Primer the League is going to make a daily feature. Very informative. Act like you know come playoff time.

Go Pens!

Bears draw within six points of Wilkes-Barre / Scranton with a hard fought 3-2 win over the Norfolk Admirals tonight in Titletown. Bears get two first period goals from Brian Willsie only to have the game get tied on them late in the second on a controversial goal. Replay clearly showed the puck go in, but there never was a goal light that went on and little explanation from the two referees. One of them was Marcus Vinnerborg who is working the game tomorrow in Hershey solo. Bears battled the Admirals all period until Brian Willsie centers a puck to Mathieu Perreault who goes five-hole on goaltender Mathieu Perreault.

Elsewhere, the Charlotte Checkers were shutout by the Worcester Sharks 2-0. The Checkers travel to Manchester for a game vs. the Monarchs tomorrow afternoon.

The bigger news is the fact that Keith Aucoin took a shot to the head it appeared after being high sticked. There was no penalty called. Aucoin left the game and did not return. Whether he plays tomorrow remains to be seen.

Outside of the AHL, Dustin Jeffrey won the game for the Pittsburgh Penguins in overtime. Jeffrey had two goals in the game.

I am making the trip to Hershey tomorrow and will have the tweet by tweet for you tomorrow at 5 p.m. from GIANT Center.

Go Pens.