If this were a NASCAR race, the crossed flags would be up at the start / finish line, signifying the halfway point of the race.
For a lot of teams, the half way point of the 2015-16 season came and went this past weekend. Some are in the drivers seat in the division; the passenger seat; the back seat and running to chase the car down.
I totally don’t even know if you can use multiple semicolons in one sentence like I did right there. If you are an English major and can help me out, the comments are open.
Anyway, getting back on track, the Toronto Marlies remain the number one team this week for the second week in a row, trailed by the best team we think in the Central Division right now. And in case you were wondering, it not the Grand Rapids Griffins or the division leading Rockford IceHogs.
Hit the jump to find out who and to see where your favorite team ended up this week.
Comments Off on AHL Power Rankings: Week 14
Posted by nafsnep on January 11, 2016
With Week 14, you normally know what you have if you are a fan of an American Hockey League team.
You either have a contender, a maybe, a maybe maybe or a see you next year.
We would like to think that the Week 14 version of the Chirps from Center Ice AHL Power Rankings, helps the casual fan see exactly how each team is painted while the calendar hits mid-January with All-Stars looming.
There is a new number one this week, as the Grand Rapids Griffins fall out of the top spot for the first time in what seems like forever. But you’ll need to click through the jump to find out who if you didn’t link in direct.
Forwards Kael Mouillierat, Tom Sestito and goaltender Tristan Jarry are all dangerously close to returning to the lineup. All practiced today. Head Coach Clark Donatelli told the media today that Tristan Jarry will probably get a game this weekend. The Penguins are in Allentown Friday and host Utica Saturday. My money is on Saturday.
Kael Mouillierat got good news on his upper body injury and should be back as well.
Tom Kuhnhackl and Bryan Rust were recalled to Pittsburgh, who sent Conor Sheary and Scott Wilson back to Wilkes-Barre. You are getting back your second and third leading scorer and swapping them for a guy like Kuhnhackl who has earned his call-up and Rust who is still working back from his broken hand suffered back in October.
A lot of questions on why Derrick Pouliot was selected to All-Stars. After thinking about it and looking at his statistics, it’s justified. Here’s why:
Teams are selected by division vs. conference. Among other Atlantic Division All-Star Defensemen Connor Carrick in Hershey, Ryan Graves in Hartford and Ryan Pulock on Bridgeport, he leads the group in points and is third overall among Atlantic Divison defensemen in points. The guys ahead of Pouliot, Alex Grant of Springfield and Andrew MacDonald of Lehigh Valley, weren’t named to the team. He’s also fifteenth overall in the AHL in points for defensemen.
He’s been on the ice for 46 goals scored so far by the Penguins through January 5. By far and wide, the best defenseman on the team in that category.
He’s still considered a prospect and this is an event that showcases the stars of tomorrow.
The Penguins are one of the best teams in the AHL, so you want to maximize and showcase the key components of that team. Sending a forward (Dominik Simon) a goaltender (Matt Murray) and Pouliot is logical considering that all three play major roles on the success of the Penguins, no matter how hard it is to watch Pouliot play defense sometimes. It is a developmental league for a reason. And also what people tend to forget is that Pouliot is only 21 years old.
Anyway, the Gamday setup for Lehigh Valley hits the blog Friday at 3.
For the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins, Goaltender Matt Murray, Defenseman Derrick Pouliot and rookie Forward Dominik Simon were selected. They will play under Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins Associate Coach Jay Leach in the new format announced by the AHL a few months ago.
Here’s what the format looks like:
–
The rest of the roster for the Atlantic Division is as follows:
G Anthony Stolarz, Lehigh Valley Phantoms
D Connor Carrick, Hershey Bears
D Ryan Graves, Hartford Wolf Pack
D Ryan Pulock, Bridgeport Sound Tigers
F Chris Bourque, Hershey Bears
F Nick Cousins, Lehigh Valley Phantoms
F Seth Griffith, Providence Bruins
F Dustin Jeffrey, Springfield Falcons
F Rob Schremp, Portland Pirates
F Joe Whitney, Bridgport Sound Tigers
Notes:
– All three Penguins representatives are 21 years old.
– Matt Murray leads all AHL goaltenders with a .942 SV%, tied for first in shutouts with four and has a 1.74 GAA that is second in the AHL.
– Dominik Simon leads all AHL rookies in points and is first on his own team in points. He’s overall ninth in the AHL in points (12-17-29)
– This is Derrick Pouliot’s second All-Star selection. He’s third among his Atlantic Division All-Star defensemen brethren in points and tied for 15th in the AHL overall with 18 points (5-13-18)
Comments Off on AHL Power Rankings: Week 13
Posted by nafsnep on January 4, 2016
As the calendar flips to 2016 and people put the holidays in the rear view mirror as a new week begins, there is still a Griffin in the drivers seat. Winning 17 of 19 games will do that for you.
As always, there are teams on the up and teams on the down this week.
If you didn’t click through direct, hit the jump to see where your you favorite team ended up in Week 13.
Comments Off on Saturday Quick Hits 1/2
Posted by nafsnep on January 2, 2016
Three things you simply must know heading into tonight’s game against the Springfield Falcons.
First, and most importantly, Matt Murray was reassigned by Pittsburgh back to Wilkes-Barre with Marc-Andre Fleury coming off of injured reserve and ready to play again. Murray’s assignment is an obvious huge boost to the Wilkes-Barre goaltending corps which consisted of Brian Foster and Casey DeSmith.
The question on the status of Tristan Jarry should be answered with the next move that the Penguins make. If it’s Brian Foster down to Wheeling, then my guess is that Jarry isn’t too far away from returning. If it’s DeSmith, it may be a bit longer.
Personally, I think it will be DeSmith just because, but Franky Palazzese has played in every game since the recalls of Foster and DeSmith for the Nailers, nearly 300 minutes worth. Wheeling hosts Brampton tonight and Norfolk tomorrow and ideally you’d like to see Palazzese start one of those two and get a break, but who knows.
Second, Patrick McGrath was recalled yesterday and Harrison Ruopp was reassigned back to Wheeling. The reason for this is simple. With Adam Clendening down on conditioning and Ruopp essentially your eighth defenseman, you call-up McGrath to make room for Ruopp since there are roster limits in the ECHL. McGrath is your thirteenth forward, depending on the health and status of Kael Mouillierat.
Finally, Jay Leach was named coach of the Atlantic Division All-Star team in Syracuse later this month. He gets this opportunity because the Penguins had the best percentage in the Atlantic Division on December 31. Leach joins Toronto’s Sheldon Keefe, Milwaukee’s Dean Evanson and Ontario’s Mike Stothers.
More in a bit, as the Springfield Falcons are in town tonight at 7. The Gameday setup hits the blog at 3.
Comments Off on AHL Power Rankings: Week 12
Posted by nafsnep on December 28, 2015
Welcome to bizarro world here in Week 12 of the Chirps from Center Ice AHL Power Rankings.
Down is up, up is down. The Binghamton Senators and the Iowa Wild are on winning streaks and the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins didn’t score a goal all weekend and the Grand Rapids Griffins win streak was snapped.
I buried an Easter Egg in one teams capsule as to whom the Politburo here thinks is the favorite to lead the Pacific Division. Read carefully.
Oh, I owe the city of Utica and their fans an apology for dropping their team two spots this week to tenth. The Charlotte Checkers didn’t play a game this week. I wasn’t going to penalize them for that so I kept them seventh and just really forgot about them with the benefit and bump Bridgeport gets with Wilkes-Barre and Hershey losing and by dropping the Pacific Division Reign down to ninth. I’ll try and be better next week, Comets fans.
Anyway, if you didn’t link in direct, you should know what to do. If not and this is your first time, welcome and please hit the jump to continue.
WBS News
Chirps from Center Ice 