Chirps from Center Ice

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

Category Archives: The AHL

2014 Free Agency Recap: Day 1

Comments Off on 2014 Free Agency Recap: Day 1 Posted by on July 1, 2014

Like piranhas on a piece of flesh in a pond, NHL Free Agency began at 12 noon today. The moves and press releases were coming in virtually non-stop with who signed where. Here’s the lowdown surrounding the Penguins organization as a whole and the rest of the AHL East Division:

WBS     /     button_pit200

Wilkes-Barre / Pittsburgh

Nick Drazenovic re-signed. Certainly a case of unfinished business for Drazenovic, who could have easily gone elsewhere.

Goaltender Thomas Griess signed. He and Jeff Zatkoff will battle for the backup spot behind Marc Andre-Fleury with the loser most likely ticketed to Wilkes-Barre. Waivers being what they are, since both Greiss and Zatkoff need to pass through them, is something which will need to be dealt with at that time.

Pittsburgh also signed Blake Comeau and Christian Ehrhoff. Comeau is a solid bottom six addition, which could mean that a tweener would be shipped to Wilkes-Barre as a victim of numbers.

Defenseman Taylor Chorney, 65 on the Bombulie big board, 74 points over the last 3 AHL seasons. Chorney captained the Chicago Wolves this past season.

Marcel Goc has re-signed with Pittsburgh as well.

Not a bad day for new General Manager Jim Rutherford. I was worried that with the change in the regime in Pittsburgh that this would come as a detriment to Wilkes-Barre. That does not appear to be the case on Day 1.

Here’s Pittsburgh’s nice recap on the departures and additions.

Rome wasn’t built in a day, and you can’t win a Calder Cup in July.

Michael Cignoli had an update on Bombulie’s blog. Also, across town, Tom Venesky spoke with John Hynes, who expects less turnover than past years. System wise, it’ll be similar with slight changes, but the style will pretty much remain the same.

Here’s what everyone else in the division did, plus the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, who will be in the division next season:

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HER     /     button_wsh200

Hershey / Washington

Michael Latta re-signs. He gave Wilkes-Barre problems last year.

Goaltender Justin Peters signs. He will back up Braden Holtby in Washington while Philipp Grubauer and Eddie Pasquale (provided he signs his qualifying offer) tend the nets in Chocolatetown.

Jon Landry and Mike Moore. Landry, late of the AHL’s Iowa Wild, is described by Bombulie as a “puck mover with size.” Moore is a leader, has worn a “C” pretty much everywhere he’s been, most recently with the Providence Bruins.

Chris Conner. Needs no introduction. If he gets squeezed out by the Caps, Conner could give teams including Wilkes-Barre, problems in the East Division.

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Norfolk / Anaheim

Re-signed G Igor Bobkov and signed Jason Labarbera. Labarbera, 47 on the big board, is a veteran netminder, underrated and should help stabilize things for Norfolk in net.

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SYR     /     button_tb200

Syracuse / Tampa Bay

Re-signed Mike Angelidis. Angelidis has been the heart and soul of the Crunch now for a few years.

Mike Blunden. A bit of a homecoming for Blunden, as he had previously played with the Crunch. Blunden, late of Hamilton, is a power forward coming off 18 goals this year with the Bulldogs.

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BNG     /     button_ott200

Binghamton / Ottawa

Ottawa shipped Jason Spezza to Dallas for prospects. Those prospects are Nick Paul and Alex Guptill.

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button_lv200     /     button_phi200

Lehigh Valley / Philadelphia

Goaltender Rob Zepp. It was erroneously reported on Twitter that Zepp was headed to Pittsburgh. Zepp comes over from Germany, and has won five titles for his Berlin club. I am more disappointed at all the fun I could have had with the Zepp, if he was heading here, with his name and playing that into punny headlines for the blog.

Blair Jones. A depth forward, 55 on the Big Board, which was a point-a-gamer with Abbotsford last season.

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Departures:

I didn’t link off here. Trust me on these.

Harry Zolnierczyk joined the New York Islanders. The Islanders / Sound Tigers look like the real winners from an AHL perspective because they also picked up ex-Bears goaltender David Leggio and highly ranked Jack Skille as well as top AHL Free Agent TJ Brennan. With pending realignment on the horizon for the AHL, better hope that the Sound Tigers aren’t in the same division as the Penguins this upcoming year.

Penguins to sign elsewhere include Brooks Orpik and Matt Niskanen to Washington, Joe Vitale to Phoenix, Deryk Engelland to Calgary, Jussi Jokinen to Florida, Tanner Glass to the New York Rangers.

Of note, Shavertown product Patrick McGrath re-signed with the Wheeling Nailers.

Oh, also, the 2014 Offseason Moves List has been updated.

Live blog will be back up tomorrow at 8 am Wednesday, and will probably be up all day, as I am traveling to New York City to spend the Fourth of July with my brother and his wife. Depending on travel and relevant moves, I’ll do my best to update the blog at that time. If not, definitely Thursday morning. Latest on Twitter, as always.

Pittsburgh, The AHL, WBS

Mailing it In; Draft Recap

Comments Off on Mailing it In; Draft Recap Posted by on June 29, 2014

I wasn’t around Twitter much this weekend, which happened to be the weekend of the NHL Draft in Philadelphia, because family was in and we all went to the local Knoebel’s Amusement park Saturday and spent time together grilling and in the pool Sunday. So my coverage of the NHL Draft this year was nil to non-existent.

Not like I can say with certainty the winners and losers of the draft or even tell you who the players are after the first five picks. The NHL Draft is like the baseball draft, you never know the real winners and losers for another three or more years.

Pittsburgh did a great job of providing a tidy place to go as a one stop shop on all the picks selected. You can have a look here.

Attention turns this week to Free Agency, beginning Tuesday. What we do know is that all pending Unrestricted Free Agents will be allowed to test the open market. For Wilkes-Barre, that’s Brian Gibbons. All restricted guys (Jayson Megna, Bobby Farnham, Simon Despres and Philip Samuelsson) are getting offers, But if another, better one comes along, they can walk if Pittsburgh doesn’t match it.

Jonathan’s Big Board is out. It lists the Top 100 and alphabetizes the best of the rest. It’s a must have list for anyone tracking the free agent frenzy with an eye on the AHL.

One other move to note from our friends an hour south on I-81, Washington acquired the rights to goaltender Eddie Pasquale as what could be assumed a backup to Philip Grubauer in Hershey next season. Pasquale was with St. John’s this past year but had season ending surgery in January. He’s also a Restricted Free Agent, so he’ll need to be signed by the Capitals.

I’ll be back Tuesday morning with a live blog of sorts for the start of NHL Free Agency. My plan is a Twitter list of all 5 AHL East Division teams, their NHL parents along with the media that covers the AHL clubs plus bloggers. Also included this year will be Lehigh Valley, the old Adirondack Phantoms. Nothing has been announced with regards to realignment in the AHL yet, but it’s a foregone conclusion that the Phantoms will be in the Division next year.

Short of anyone taking a late jump to Europe, talk to you Tuesday.

Pittsburgh, The AHL, WBS

Preview of Coming Attractions…

2 Comments Posted by on June 24, 2014

So here is what I expect to happen this week…

I blog now about the lack of news on Coal Street (the end of June isn’t exactly the best time for blog clicks) and how there hasn’t been a single Penguin to bolt for overseas and a bunch of other AHL news and comings and goings.

Watch, this week, we will have our first defection. Or not, who knows.

Anyway, there isn’t much out there, but while you are here….

— Pittsburgh still doesn’t have a coach and it doesn’t look like John Hynes will get the job.

— Norfolk needs a new bench boss as Trent Yawney was promoted to Anaheim. This leaves Norfolk and Hershey both looking for head coaches for the Fall in the East Division as it stands now. Lehigh Valley is a lock to join the East come November, but nothing has been finalized on that front yet.

I advocated strongly for Hynes to get the Pittsburgh job, but now want him to stay.

— The following is week old news, but Pittsburgh does plan to qualify restricted Free Agents Bobby Farnham, Brandon Sutter, Jayson Megna, Philip Samuelsson and Simon Despres. Whether one or all re-sign with Pittsburgh remains to be seen.

— It cost the St. John’s IceCaps a ton to lose in five games to the Texas Stars in the Calder Cup Finals. No, literally.

— Developing Penguin Killer Dustin Gazley re-upped with Hershey.

— Wheeling and Pittsburgh already have their schedules for next year. On Wheeling, and the ECHL, they announced divisional realignment and a bunch of other things including hybrid icing Tuesday.

— NHL Draft is this weekend from Philadelphia and Free Agency starts July 1.

On the draft, I’ll have a recap of who Pittsburgh drafted probably this weekend. My “recap” is basically links to those who have heard of the players selected. On Free Agency, I haven’t decided what I am going to do for that, probably a live blog of sorts like I have in years past along with blog updates as long as long as the situation warrants.

See you tomorrow when the first Penguin bolts overseas to Yikhalvisk Nihmkahbortchalfski of the Borat League because I jinxed it.

Not AHL, Pittsburgh, The AHL, WBS

West is Best, Again

Comments Off on West is Best, Again Posted by on June 17, 2014

They have been the Category Five Hurricane since January.

The Texas Stars are the Calder Cup Champions, knocking out the St. John’s IceCaps in five games. The Stars won three games in overtime with Travis Morin netting the two game winning goals in Games 3 and 4 and Patrick Nemeth clinching the title for the Stars in Game 5.

Morin was named MVP.

Ex-Penguins Dustin Jeffrey and Toby Petersen will have their names etched on the Calder Cup this Summer.

Debated, had Wilkes-Barre made it to the Finals, how I would pick the series had it been Wilkes-Barre and Texas. Initial thought was Texas in 5. Heart said Pens in seven. Sadly, I never got to write that preview.

We’ll have our day.

Anyway, Jonathan had his Season in Review broken into parts: Highlights / Graduates / Quotable / Stock Up / Stock Down / Rookies – really worth your time to read.

Hasn’t been much else. WBS has been running a Top 10 Goals of the Year all over their social media platforms. The Gibbons Drop Pass to Conner early in the season, the Gibbons Goal in Game 7 vs. Providence, the Kobasew Goal from “The Shift” and the Zach Sill goal with 15.8 seconds left in Game 5 vs. St. John’s all got my vote.

Nothing on the Europe wire yet. Expect the first shoe to drop any day and then the domino effect to follow after that.

John Hynes interviewed for the Pittsburgh job Monday, according to Mark Divver. I’d expect an announcement from Pittsburgh within days.

That’ll probably be my next blog update. My money is on Hynes. We’ll see.

Keep cool.

Pittsburgh, The AHL, WBS

O’Neill Suspended, Monday Notes

Comments Off on O’Neill Suspended, Monday Notes Posted by on June 2, 2014

The AHL announced Monday afternoon that St. John’s IceCaps defenseman Will O’Neill has been suspended one game as a result of his cross-checking major assessed to him late in Saturday’s game. O’Neill will miss Game 6 tomorrow night vs. Wilkes-Barre.

The loss of O’Neill could potentially be crippling for the IceCaps. Going solely based off of the charts I blogged about Friday (and was too lazy to update this past weekend due to the nice weather) O’Neill is the IceCaps second leading scorer both overall and in this series vs. the Penguins. He’s also good on the power play, with the majority of his numbers being driven by the man advantage. It’s likely that Josh Morrissey slots in for O’Neill tomorrow night in Game 6.

Remember, Game 6 goes at 6 p.m. Wilkes-Barre time Tuesday. Adjust your schedules appropriately.

edit: Coal Street tweeted this afternoon that Game 6 will be carried locally on the CW Network (WSWB) in the Wilkes-Barre area.

Jonathan had a full practice update today. The team talked about power play and was lively and upbeat. If you were at the game Saturday night you could see it in their emotions after Sill’s goal and at the end of the game. Should be a helluva game tomorrow.

One note out of the Bombulie update was that D Reid McNeill practiced in a red no-contact jersey. McNeill, Dominik Uher and Nick Drazenovic have been ruled out for Tuesday.

There’s a Game 6 out West tonight. Texas leads Toronto 3 games to 2 in the best of seven series in the Western Conference Finals. A win tonight puts the Stars in the Finals.

But I’m not looking past Game 6 tomorrow, and potentially Game 7 Wednesday.

Let’s Go Pens!

The AHL, WBS

Is That a White Horse I See?

Comments Off on Is That a White Horse I See? Posted by on May 30, 2014

It’s rare that anything on social media stops me in my tracks.

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That stopped me in my tracks on my way to lunch today.

Could it be, that Andrew Ebbett and Chuck Kobasew could be heading back into the lineup for Game 5 with Wilkes-Barre on the ropes, one loss away from the postseason?

Depends. Jonathan blogged today with quotes from Coach Hynes that nothing has changed as of yet.

Jonathan had a ton of good stuff in his post today which included a chart examining power play success with and without guys.

Anyway, the purpose of today’s post here is to refresh the charts I have been keeping. I’ve been keeping aggregate charts for both Wilkes-Barre and St. John’s as well as head-to-head ones. In updating these, I felt that the head-to-head charts would be more useful to share. I could update them all, but the easiest way for me to get these over here on the blog is to tweet them, and I really don’t feel like clogging up everyone’s timelines on a Friday afternoon with 8 separate tweets with 8 separate charts. If you’d like to see them, just tweet me and I’ll send you a copy. Otherwise, remember to click to enlarge for texture.

— Brendan Mikkelson is having a bad defensive series. On the ice for seven goals scored against and none for. He was 50% overall before the series started, and his total GF / GA percentage is 40.7%

— The total differentials show a lot of negatives. That 5-0 loss on Wednesday didn’t help.

— Imagine what Conor Sheary’s potential is going to be next season for Wilkes-Barre. His numbers defy logic.

— Wilkes-Barre should make it a point of business to try and re-sign Barry Goers. Undersized, my nose. He’s been a rock for Wilkes-Barre in the playoffs and has the top GF / GA percentage overall at 55.6%.

Now St. John’s…

— Basically the exact opposite percentage wise for Wilkes-Barre. Andrew Gordon and Will O’Neill are your big killers.

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We will see what happens Saturday night. I think that the Penguins send this series back to St. John’s regardless of whether Ebbett or Kobasew play. Get one back increases those chances exponentially. Getting both back would be huge.

Gameday setup for game 5 hits the blog Saturday at 3 p.m.

Let’s Go Pens!

The AHL, WBS

Penguins / IceCaps Series Preview

Comments Off on Penguins / IceCaps Series Preview Posted by on May 23, 2014

2012_WBSahl142012_STJ

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For the second time in three years, the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins and the St. John’s IceCaps will battle in the Calder Cup Playoffs. Two years ago, in the Semifinals, the IceCaps took out the Penguins in seven games. The IceCaps would then go on to face off against the Norfolk Admirals, who swept the IceCaps out of the Playoffs then sweep their way to their first Calder Cup in Norfolk.

Syracuse last year. Norfolk the year before. Binghamton before that. Hershey before that.

The trend of an East Division team representing the Eastern Conference in the Calder Cup Finals has been on a ten year streak. The Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins are looking to make it eleven.

Standing in their way, are the solid St. John’s IceCaps.

The IceCaps have been a consistent team all season long. Playing in the Atlantic Division they finished second behind the division and conference winner Manchester, but owned the Monarchs head-to-head, going 6-3-0-1 against them.

The Penguins took out the East Division Champion Binghamton Senators in four games in the Conference Quarterfinals. St. John’s did the same to the Albany Devils. The IceCaps needed six games to oust the Norfolk Admirals while the Penguins were pushed to the brink of elimination vs. the Providence Bruins.

So what you have is a mirror image. Both teams dispatched their first round opponents in four games and struggled but managed to get past their second round opponent. Wilkes-Barre went 2-2 against the IceCaps in the regular season.

Does this series go the distance? Keep reading…

Schedule

Eastern Conference Finals – Series “M” (best-of-7)
4-St. John’s IceCaps vs. 6-W-B/Scranton Penguins
Game 1 – Sat., May 24 – W-B/Scranton at St. John’s, 6:00
Game 2 – Sun., May 25 – W-B/Scranton at St. John’s, 6:00
Game 3 – Wed., May 28 – St. John’s at W-B/Scranton, 7:05
Game 4 – Thu., May 29 – St. John’s at W-B/Scranton, 7:05
*Game 5 – Sat., May 31 – St. John’s at W-B/Scranton, 7:05
*Game 6 – Tue., June 3 – W-B/Scranton at St. John’s, 6:00
*Game 7 – Wed., June 4 – W-B/Scranton at St. John’s, 6:00

* – if necessary, all times Eastern

Forwards

The IceCaps are lead by experienced wingers Jason Jaffray, Andrew Gordon and Jerome Samson in the regular season. You already know the names Tom Kostopoulos, Nick Drazenovic, Andrew Ebbett and Harry Zolnierczyk. Gordon is joined by Eric O’Dell and Zach Redmond at the top of the post season list in point production while the Penguins have Chuck Kobasew and surprising rookie Conor Sheary at the top of the postseason scoring list. The Penguins get points by committee it seems. Jayson Megna, Brian Gibbons and Josh Archibald all came in late and provided an immediate impact.

Advantage: Push. The IceCaps look like a four line offensive threat but the Penguins big guns can go off at a moments notice as evidenced in the five goal explosion exhibited Wednesday in Game 7 vs. Providence. Whoever emerges as the favorite in this matchup as the series wears on will, obviously, have the advantage.

Defense

Penguins defenders aren’t molded to put up a ton of points, but rather shut an opponents top line forwards down. Surprise! Surprise! The IceCaps are the same way! In playoffs, Will O’Neill, Zach Redmond and rookie Josh Morrissey are at the tops of the IceCaps postseason scoring. Brian Dumoulin has really emerged as a offensive force on the Penguins blue line and is tied with Chuck Kobasew for the postseason team lead in scoring.

Advantage: Since it’s really a tossup, but I don’t want to push for the second time in a row, I’ll go Penguins, based solely on experience.

Goaltending

Peter Mannino and Michael Hutchinson are the goaltenders in this series. The Penguins will not be facing a two-headed monster in goal like they did with Niklas Svedberg and Malcolm Subban in the Providence series. Hutchinson’s 1.77 postseason goals against average is better than Mannino’s, which hovers around two. Hutchinson’s .941 save percentage is 40 percentage points higher than Mannino’s (.901)

However, I don’t think that this series is going to be won on the strength of any goaltender’s performance.

Advantage: Penguins. Mannino kept the Penguins in games against offensive juggernauts in the postseason against Binghamton and Providence and his numbers were better than Hutchinson’s in the regular season. Hutchinson faced two teams in Albany and Norfolk that are known for playing more defense than offense.

Intangibles

John Hynes and Keith McCambridge will be in the NHL someday. I don’t see an advantage here. On special teams, there’s virtually no difference either. If you made me, I’d go Penguins based off of Chuck Kobasew’s five points on the power play and the fact that Brendan Mikkelson hasn’t really busted out yet and is due…

Social Media Coverage

For the Penguins…

Twitter: @WBSPenguins / @WBSGameDay
Radio: @MikeOBrienWBS
Beat: @CVBombulie
Facebook: /WilkesBarreScrantonPenguins
Instagram: wbspenguins

For the IceCaps…

Twitter: @IceCapsAHL
Radio: Mr. Brian Rodgers does not dabble in 140 characters.
Beat: @telybrendan / @telyrobinshort
Facebook: /stjohnsicecaps
Instagram: stjohnsicecaps

Prediction

Penguins in six. Could easily be seven, or five, but I like the Penguins chances here. Wilkes-Barre made a lot of mistakes in the Providence series which nearly cost them the series. The tying goal by Ryan Spooner with .6 left in Game 4 comes to mind. Nearly blowing a 5-0 lead in Game 7 comes to mind too. I think the Penguins have seen it all this postseason and will use these experiences to dispatch the IceCaps and advance to the Calder Cup Finals.

It begins to unfold Saturday night in St. John’s. Gameday hits the blog Saturday at 2 p.m., for the 6 p.m. start in Newfoundland.

The AHL

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