Chirps from Center Ice

With the start of WBS training camp now hours away instead of many days, today marks the last Tuesday things will be pretty quiet in the world of AHL hockey.

Here’s whats going on leading up to the start of camp this weekend….

—> Cuts. Pittsburgh made a few today. Paul Thompson, Tom Kostopoulos, Brian Gibbons, Dominik Uher, Clark Seymour, Reid McNeill, Nick D’Agostino were sent to Wilkes-Barre. Pittsburgh also sent guys back to their junior teams.

—> They also signed J-S Dea, who impressed at rookie camp. He’ll go back to his junior team.

—> Pittsburgh lost in their second preseason game to the Detroit Red Wings Monday night 4-1.

—> Here’s Jonathan’s updates on a few things from the past couple of days.

—> Here’s Seth Rorabaugh again catching up with not-so-newcomer Chris Conner.

—> A look at the AHL preseason schedule.

—> In what alternative world do we live in when something like this happens? Take a listen.

—> Mike Carman, late of Hershey, tweeted Monday that he is headed to Wilkes-Barre. Here are a couple of tweets on him from me and others…

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I’m sure I will have more this week with other Wilkes-Barre announcements.

The first day of training camp in Pittsburgh wrapped up today. Here’s a clearinghouse of links for your eyes:

— Jonathan Bombulie is on the ground in Pittsburgh and checks in with this entry.

— The venerable Eric Majeski had a note on Day 1 training camp, complete with lines.

It is widely known that Pittsburgh is about a million dollars over the salary cap. It’s also pretty common knowledge that the lines in Pittsburgh are about 90% set. So, what do you do? Trade a player? Send a player on a one way contract down? Demote Simon Despres or Beau Bennett? I don’t have an answer to this. Selfishly, send Despres / Bennett down, if you aren’t going to play them regularly. Time, always tells.

Oh, here’s an article on Tom Kostopoulos from Seth Rorabaugh from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Elsewhere…

— Individual tickets for all Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins home games go on sale September 20. 

— Scott Darling, who backed up Brad Thiessen in Game 3 vs. Binghamton in the Calder Cup Playoffs this past Spring, has signed with the Milwaukee Admirals. I have updated the 2013 Offseason Moves List.

Finally, the annual Chirps from Center Ice AHL Previews are 90% done. I just need the “case for” and “case against” each team. Tentative release looks like this:

– September 29: Last preseason game vs. Hershey
– September 30: West and Midwest Division Preview
– October 1: North Division Preview
– October 2: Atlantic Division Preview
– October 3: Northeast Division Preview
– October 4: AHL Opening Night // East Division Preview
– October 5: Start of regular season for WBS Penguins, @ Bridgeport.

If Day 2 Friday warrants a blog post, I’ll be back tomorrow with an entry.

Pittsburgh opens training camp tomorrow and today published their training camp roster. The only player on the list not familiar to the Penguin fan is that of Jean-Sebastian Dea. Dea had a really good Rookie Tournament this past weekend, so his invite should not come as a surprise.

Jonathan had a tweet today about how there be no room at the NHL inn for fringe guys.

Here’s a video of Tom Kuhnhackl putting a puck from this past weekend through a net.

Finally, the AHL has a big announcement planned for Tuesday, which I am 99.99% positive has something to do with the AHL All-Star Classic going to St. John’s, Newfoundland this February.

Regardless, I should have something to blog about Tuesday regarding that and the goings on in Pittsburgh. Check back tomorrow.

(blogger note: I am in New York City attending my brothers wedding. I needed to turn the keys of the blog over to the venerable Jenni Probst, who runs the blog Chasing Checkers covering the Charlotte Checkers. It wasn’t easy, but Jenni does solid work. These are my questions, this is her work)

It’s finally here! This afternoon, the AHL released its schedule for the 2013-2014 season. Click here for the league release, complete with links to all thirty teams schedules and a month by month breakdown.

I think that the concept of the question and answer session I did for last years schedule was well received. So I am bringing it back again this year. Here it goes…

Question #1: Who is the first opponent the Penguins play this season?

Answer: The first opponent the Penguins will play this season will be the Bridgeport Sound Tigers on Saturday, October 5 at 7pm at the Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport, Connecticut.

Question #2: We know the Penguins home opener is on October 12. Who are they playing?

Answer: The Penguins open the doors of the Mohegan Sun Arena for their 15th season and welcome in the Hershey Bears at 7 p.m.

Question #3: Are the Penguins playing any Western Conference teams this season?

Answer: Yes.  They will face four Western conference teams, all out of the North Division.  The Utica Comets will play the Penguins for the first time in either team’s history.  The Rochester Americans, Toronto Marlies and Hamilton Bulldogs will also play the Penguins for a total of 10 games this season. Utica is on the schedule four times, Toronto, Rochester and Hamilton are on the schedule twice.

Question #4: How many games against in division foes will the Penguins play this year?

Answer: 38 total, or half the schedule.  Hershey 12; Binghamton 8; Norfolk 8; Syracuse 10.  These are split home and away.

Question #5: What is the longest roadtrip of the season?

Answer: January 17-26.  They play six games on the road.  The first half is a swing of three games against Atlantic division teams, followed by three games against Hershey and Norfolk.

Question #6: When is the longest homestand of the season?

Answer: Six games from December 11-27.   

Question #7: How many times do the Penguins play three games in three nights?

Answer: They will have eight three-in-threes this season.  One in October, two in January, two in February, two in March and two in April.

Question #8: The furthest in-division rival the penguins play are the Norfolk Admirals. How are those away games against the Admirals set up for the Penguins this season?

Answer: They play in Norfolk January 24 and 25, followed by Hershey on the 26^th.  They visit Norfolk again on March 28 and 29^th with no games immediately before or after.

Question #9: How many times do the Penguins play each month?

Answer: Here’s a nifty chart:

Question #10: You have a daily breakdown of games, too, oh chart master?

Answer: Your guest blogger probably shouldn’t have had a beer while dissecting the schedule, because this question was challenging, but here you go  The Penguins don’t play any games on Monday or Thursday:

Question #11: Where is the All-Star Classic this year?

Answer: To be announced.

Question #12: How many times are all thirty AHL teams playing on the same night?

Answer: Only twice this year. Saturday, January 11, Saturday, February 22, 

Question #13: What’s the theme that the Penguins are going with this season?

Answer: Yep.  The 2013-14 motto for the Penguins 15^th Anniversary is, “Honoring the Past. Envisioning the Future.” Click here for the printable schedule and a look at the logo.

Question #14: Do the Penguins play in any special venues?

Answer: Yes.  They play two games in Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall on March 1 and 23 against the Albany Devils.

Question #15: Are the Penguins doing a PensFest like they did last year?

Answer: Details to be announced soon.

Question #16: When will the soon-to-be famous Chirps from Center Ice AHL Team Previews be out this year?

Answer: You have to ask Jason.

Question #17: How disappointed are you that the Penguins don’t face the Charlotte Checkers this year?

Well, despite the fact their last meeting was less-than-stellar for the Penguins, and ended their 2010-11 Playoff run, I really wish those two teams were going to meet up, mostly because Jenni over at Chasing Checkers is awesome, and the Charlotte Checkers are a lot of fun to watch!

Hey, how the heck did that last question get in there. What the?

Underscoring the AHL schedule release, Pittsburgh announced Rookie Tournament details, complete with roster and bios. Jonathan Bombulie had a blurb on newly minted Penguin Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond as well as his own thoughts on the schedule and the Rookie Tournament.

Dissection complete for another year. If you have any questions, leave them in comments or hit me on Twitter or Facebook.

Can’t wait to get going. Let’s Go Pens!

(would again like to thank Jenni for taking time out of her busy schedule to step in and blog for me as I am in the Big Apple for my brothers wedding. Please be sure to check out her work during this season.)