Chirps from Center Ice

As you read this I am out stumping for votes for a friend of mine. By this time I have done my civic duty and voted. If you are of age, please vote today.

Now then, onto some quick links:

• The league formally acknowledged both John Curry and Brad Thiessen as AHL goaltenders of the month for October. Both are undefeated, both are top five in goaltending stats and both boast miniscule GAA. So why not give both the award?
• The Phantoms signed Denis Hamel. Hammer is Binghamtoms all-time leading scorer. I liked his work ethic. Yes, he’s older, but I think he’ll fit in just fine in the Phantoms locker room.
• The Syracuse Crunch are loading up. Yesterday they received Nathan Paetsch, All-Star Defensemen, on loan from Vancouver. Syracuse arguably boasts the best blue line in the AHL. For more on this, please visit this article written by Chairman How.
• More on the Crunch, Kyle Palmieri was named player of the week for going 5-1-6 in three games last week. Oh yeah, we play Syracuse at home Saturday.
• Check this out: AHL Calls of the Week.

That’s all for now. I may not be around the blog later if for some reason there is a call-up to Pittsburgh because the team in decimated with injuries. Jonathan Bombulie gets paid to report this stuff. Check him out later. Stay with me over on Twitter for reactions as news happens.

We are only eight games into a 80 game schedule, but I thought since we are unblemished in these eight contests to see how Wilkes-Barre / Scranton stacks up to the rest of the league. The AHL has this tab buried within its “Stats” bar called “Daily Report” which basically breaks down any kind of stat you’d like to chew on. I poured over the stats current thru November 1st and came across some stats which may surprise some, especially in the goaltending department, so here goes – after the jump:

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Happy Halloween to all of you from the staff at Chirps from Center Ice! (me)

Let’s get to some Sunday Reading…

• The win last night got top billing over at the AHL’s Saturday roundup. Debate amongst yourselves whether getting press from Abbotsford to Worcester and every place in between is good for this team. I want to say that I sense a swagger about the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins almost to a level that Hershey had last year. Now some may say that Hershey wasn’t at 100% last night, but I say would it have mattered? Teams will be gunning for Wilkes-Barre for sure, and I say bring it.
• Late late last night, Bombulie dropped his postgame wrap at his blog. I nearly jumped out of my bed for joy when I saw what he wrote. Go ahead and read it. It’s also in print.
• No one likes a sore loser. Dave Eminian covers the Peoria Rivermen and he had a story about how after losing 3-1 to the Oklahoma City Barons last night the team locked themselves in their locker room for 40 minutes. Thing is, they were wearing special breast cancer awareness jerseys and there was an on-ice auction to be had afterwards. Classless. Just classless. The Rivermen sit currently 12th in AHL attendance.  We’ll see if that changes.
• The Carolina Hurricans recalled Jonathan Matsumoto from Charlotte and assigned Drayson Bowman and Zac Dalpe. I remember Bowman and Dalpe and what they did to us first round when the River Rats were still around.

Loyal reader Dylan Harrison corrected me in my postgame wrap from last night that Pittsburgh already had 7 defensemen, not 8. (Letang, Goligoski, Lovejoy, Engelland, Orpik, Martin and Michalek) – so there hypothetically isn’t a chance once Michalek gets healthy that we’ll ever see Derek Engelland or Ben Lovejoy around here unless Pittsburgh decides to only skate with 6 D. My bad.

That’s all for today. I’m off to watch NASCAR at Talledega. Probably the last NASCAR race I will watch from start to finish this year.

We are just outside of 24 hours of the puck dropping in Wilkes-Barre for the 2010-2011 AHL season. (Happy 75th, league!)

Couple links to get to today. See, if you follow me on Twitter, you get all these things as they happen.

• Another AHL beat writer has decided to follow me. Welcome Tim McManus, covering the Adirondack beat in Glens Falls.
• A bunch of teams announced Captains today. Not WBS. We’ll rotate some Alternates for a couple weeks, then name one probably by November. If you are new WBS fan, this is the modus operandi.
• Bombulie reported that Drew Fata and Bryan Lerg signed PTOs today. Brad Thiessen will start the season in net v. Hershey. He also has projected lineup / lines for tomorrows home opener.
• Check out Jonathan’s Penguins Season Preview. JB, if you lurk my blog, first thank you. Second I am bringing questions for you Monday for the booster club meeting. Get ready.
• Tim Leone tweeted that Sheldon Souray is in Titletown, practicing, but will not play v. WBS tomorrow night.
• How fast can you name the 30 teams in the league?*
• The AHL and Professional Hockey Players Association ratified a new Collective Bargaining Agreement. If there is a lockout above us, we keep playing.
• WBS posted its rosters today.
• Up Interstate 81, Joy Lindsay tweeted that Ryan Keller is the Captain of the Binghamton Senators. On the other end of I-81, the aforementioned Tim Leone tweeted that Andrew Joudrey is the new captain of The Champs.
• I’m starting to despise the Charlotte Checkers, as TSN’s Bob McKenzie tweeted that Justin Pogge and Brett Carson are on waivers.
• I found a blog that covers the Charlotte Checkers. It looks like it is team run, but look to your left. Or if you are too lazy, just click here.
• The AHL did a nice team-by-team capsule rundown.

Since I have the AHL Live All-Access Pass, I’m going to get a look at San Antonio / Chicago, start the night with Abbotsford / Grand Rapids and maybe a bit of Binghamton / Adirondack.

Tomorrow morning I’ll post what to expect on the Gameday posts I have brewing for 80 games this year. Check me out then. Later.

* – I missed Lake Erie and Milwaukee.