Chirps from Center Ice

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

Category Archives: The AHL

Weekend Setup 12/19

Comments Off on Weekend Setup 12/19 Posted by on December 19, 2013

I am off from my real job for these next two days so I got a large majority of my Christmas shopping done Thursday afternoon. I could not believe the amount of people out and about. My brother got me a $25 Panera gift card for my recent birthday and Panera, on a Thursday afternoon after the standard 12-1 lunch hour, was packed with people. Doesn’t anybody work anymore? Or are the standard 9-5 workdays a thing of the past and everyone has a .com, work-from-home business empire that they call their bread and butter? Baffles the mind…

Fontina Grilled Cheese with a baguette and a medium Mountain Dew, if you are scoring from home. Fontina Grilled Cheese from Panera is the bees knees.

Anyway…

Couple of things you know, then a few things you might not if you aren’t tuned into the M*A*S*H East Division like I am. Let’s get with the things that you may know…

— Brian Gibbons was recalled in wake of Jayson Megna’s injury, yet the Penguins keep winning.

— Jonathan’s Thursday update. In it, news that Eric Hartzell is starting tomorrow, Bobby Farnham on the 2nd power play unit and Reid McNeill’s unavailability. Jonathan had a Tuesday update that revealed that Dom Uher should be back this weekend, skating with a full shield.

— Wilkes-Barre will be donning Christmas jerseys this weekend. They had a big Twitter reveal on Tuesday, but it went totally over my head that the Holiday Nutcrackers they handed out Saturday actually had the jerseys painted on them. What slacking by me, I could have had an “exclusive” story on the Christmas jerseys before anyone else.

Outside of Wilkes-Barre, but staying in the East….

— Hershey released Jamie Johnson from his standard playing contract and let him go back overseas to the Kontinental Hockey League. Johnson found himself a veteran scratch more than he saw himself of the ice, so it’s a move that was mutual, if I had to guess.

— Syracuse gets an offensive shot in the arm with the announcement this week that they have signed Jon DiSalvatore to an AHL deal. DiSalvatore had been playing in Munich, and much like Johnson in Hershey, wasn’t seeing as much ice as he wanted to so he was let out of his deal and returned here to play for a Syracuse team desperate for offense with much of their team in Tampa Bay on recall.

— Syracuse does get some help with the re-assignments of Matt Taormina and Dana Tyrell back from Tampa Bay.

— Ol’ buddy Chris Collins was released by Norfolk and goes back to his ECHL club in Bakersfield.

Sorry Binghamton, no news out of you this week.

Anyway, Worcester in in town already for the 7:05 Friday start tomorrow in Wilkes-Barre. Gameday for this will be here on the blog tomorrow at 3.

Let’s Go Pens!

About Me, Just Rambling, Pittsburgh, The AHL, WBS

Week 11 AHL Power Rankings

6 Comments Posted by on December 16, 2013

Microblog: Harry Zolnierczyk and Philip Samuelsson were recalled from Wilkes-Barre Monday morning. Dustin Stevenson was recalled from Wheeling by Wilkes-Barre Monday afternoon.

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I really want teams to show me something.

For example, the Penguins. They lose to the elite Falcons, then beat the “meh” Bears and score just one goal and beat last place Utica.

For example, the Stars. Yes, Texas is up five spots from tenth this week in the Week 11 Chirps from Center Ice AHL Power Rankings, thanks to a five game winning streak. But the teams they beat in this streak are no better than 23rd in this weeks rankings.

The Hershey Bears play the Binghamton Senators five times a week it seems.

See what I mean?

Sorry, Devils fans. I buried the fact that your team is tops in this weeks Rankings in the sixth paragraph. The Devils are an offensive juggernaut.

Biggest gainer? Your Portland Pirates. They’ve taken 7 of 8 points like Pirates in the night.

Biggest loss? A tie between Worcester and Binghamton, both down ten. You’ll see why when you get to the capsules for each.

Alright, enough of me. Click through the jump to see all the pretty AHL logos if you didn’t link in here directly.

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Power Rankings

Weekend Setup

Comments Off on Weekend Setup Posted by on December 12, 2013

Nothing much out of Coal Street today. They skated for over an hour at Mohegan Sun this afternoon. A big weekend looms…

…for the Penguins and Binghamton Senators, both who are at risk of not being at the top of the East Division when the zambonis make their final cuts Sunday evening across AHL rinks. The Penguins got some help with the return of Nick Drazenovic from injury Wednesday night while the Senators lose J-G Pageau and Cody Ceci to recall to Ottawa Thursday.

…for the Hershey Bears, who may see a familiar face in Michal Neuvirth in net for them Friday in Wilkes-Barre. The 2009 Calder Cup MVP was sent to Hershey today for a conditioning assignment. The Bears are a team that seems to be spinning in the right direction these days and would eagerly enjoy starting a winning streak in Wilkes-Barre.

…for the Norfolk Admirals, who get an army back from Anaheim with the returns of Alex Grant, Dave Steckel and Nolan Yonkman. They also signed Chris Collins to a PTO. Collins had been in the ECHL with the Bakersfield Condors and was their leading scorer. The Admirals are all of a sudden thin at goal however, with John Gibson’s status in question.

…the Syracuse Crunch, who are spiraling down to the AHL East Division basement and do not under any circumstances want to go there. The Crunch are as pillaged by injuries as we are, and the Crunch lineup is what it is.

…for new opponents. The Utica Comets make their debut in Wilkes-Barre Saturday night. The Comets are last in the AHL with 14 points, but have received 11 of those points on the road.

…for the AHL in general. Another outdoor game, this time the Lake Erie Monsters and the Rochester Americans at Frontier Field in Rockester, NY Friday night.

Gameday setup for the Friday evening tilt with Hershey will hit the blog Friday afternoon at 3 pm.

The AHL, WBS

Week 10 AHL Power Rankings

1 Comment Posted by on December 9, 2013

No change to the top two this week (!!!) so that means your Grand Rapids Griffins and Albany Devils remain top dogs in the Week 10 Chirps from Center Ice Power Rankings.

Everyone else, for the most part, moved around. I struggled with 21-30 this week. So let me know if your team is ranked there if I did a good job ranking your team.

Biggest gainer this week are your Bridgeport Sound Tigers while the biggest losers this week are the Binghamton Senators. Sound Tigers vault up 11 spots, while the B-Sens drop 11.

If you didn’t link through, hop through the jump to see the rest:

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Power Rankings

Week 9 AHL Power Rankings

Comments Off on Week 9 AHL Power Rankings Posted by on December 2, 2013

Blogger note: If you missed the news of the day regarding recalls, demotions and additions, click here.

Being number one is like a kiss of death in the Chirps from Center Ice AHL Power Rankings. The number one team hasn’t stayed number one for consecutive weeks since the first two weeks of the season when all the teams hadn’t played yet and I had no idea what I was doing and if I was even going to continue to rank 30 AHL teams, half of which I don’t see live.

But the reception to date has been positive, so we continue.

Anyway, your Grand Rapids Griffins are the number one team this week and this homer this blogger changes the positions of all teams except the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins, which remain fifth in the Rankings.

If you didn’t click through via link, hop through the jump to see where everyone else ended up this week:

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Power Rankings

Back for More

Comments Off on Back for More Posted by on December 1, 2013

Blog pal Scott from Norfolk sent me some audio of last night post game media scrum with Norfolk Admirals goaltender Brad Thiessen.

Boy, that feels weird. Putting another name that isn’t “Penguins” in front of Thiessen’s name.

Anyway, Scott was kind enough to send me the audio to use. So here it is, it’s about five minutes. If you like Van Halen and KT Tunstall, you are in for a treat too, as the Admirals had a post game skate last night after their 4-3 loss to the Providence Bruins and those artists were playing at the time loudly in the background.

Here’s the audio:

Just breaking down what was said here, Norfolk was not a target destination. It just happened to be right place at right time. Thiessen got back from Finland last Wednesday with no plan in place. Then, Viktor Fasth gets hurt in Anaheim and his phone rings. It’s Norfolk. They are interested. So he goes there, skates some this week, tells Norfolk Head Coach Trent Yawney he is ready to go and plays Saturday night.

Thiessen last played in a real game a month and a half ago.

He was glad to see a lot of shots by the Bruins (43 total) so it was good for him to get back into things and it did feel good playing after not playing in a while.

Asked about the role on the club, what with John Gibson seemingly as the #1 guy, Thiessen conceded that Gibson is the guy who is a young prospect that has a lot of talent. His job is someone who can help him along and teach him how it is to be a professional. When Thiessen’s services are called upon, he just wants to give the team a chance to win.

Finland was a tough experience for Thiessen and he is glad to be back in North America in the AHL playing with John Gibson and the Norfolk Admirals. He feels more comfortable on the smaller ice compared to the bigger ice in Finland.

You can read the game story that ran in the Virginian-Pilot here if you want to as well.

Thanks again to Scott for sending me the audio.

The AHL

Thiess in the Wrong Crease – Brad Signs With Norfolk

1 Comment Posted by on November 28, 2013

When I blogged about a week ago about the release of Brad Thiessen from his Finnish obligations, I had a funny feeling the ex-Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguin net minder would be headed back over here to North America.

Specifically, the American Hockey League.

More specifically, somewhere in the East Division.

I was right.

One of the greatest goaltenders to ever come through Wilkes-Barre has signed with the Norfolk Admirals, a division rival. I said at the start of the year that the Admirals boasted the East Division’s best goaltending. This further cements my point as Norfolk gets a Grade A net minder to go with John Gibson, who has been very good for the Admirals this season.

Ironically enough, if Thiessen plays this weekend, he’ll face the Providence Bruins, who he did this to last postseason.

Wilkes-Barre hosts Norfolk December 27.

I’ll have the First Quarter Grades up on the blog here at 3 p.m. I had to take them down to make room for the Thiessen news.

Happy Thanksgiving!

The AHL

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