Chirps from Center Ice

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

Category Archives: The AHL

2013-14 AHL Schedule Released

Comments Off on 2013-14 AHL Schedule Released Posted by on August 22, 2013

(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 26th.  They visit Norfolk again on March 28 and 29th with no games immediately before or after.

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

Answer: Here’s a nifty chart:

Month Oct. Nov. Dec. Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr.
Home 4 7 7 6 7 4 4
Road 3 6 3 8 4 8 4

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:

Day Sun. Mon. Tue. Wed. Thu. Fri. Sat.
Home 3 0 2 6 0 12 15
Road 9 0 0 2 0 14 9

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 15th 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.)

Pittsburgh, The AHL, WBS

The Tweet You’ve Been Waiting For…

1 Comment Posted by on August 21, 2013

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As you know, I won’t be around to dissect it as I’ll be en route to New York City. You guys are in good hands with my guest blogger who’ll break it all down for you / me.

So if you are here on the blog after 3 p.m.* and there’s no blog post yet, please be patient. Good things, as we all know, come to those who wait.

* – pending Board of Governor approval

The AHL

Pierre Letourneau or Luc Leblond? You Decide!

1 Comment Posted by on August 20, 2013

I am on vacation from my big boy job this week, but the AHL news cycle was as active today as its been in weeks.

No, the schedule isn’t out yet. More on that in a minute.

No, the AHL All-Star Classic venue hasn’t been announced yet either.

The Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins announced today the signing of Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond, a 6’2, 210 pound behemoth of a man that can absolutely throw. Some of his work…

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The signing creates a massive logjam in the toughness department because you have Steve MacIntyre, Zach Sill, Letourneau-Leblond and quite possibly Harry Zolnierczyk all under contract for the Penguins this Fall.

Anyway, Letourneau-Leblond played for the Norfolk Admirals last season and went 3-5-8, a +7 with 98 PIMs. 1-2-3 of that 3-5-8 came in a game from outer space against the Penguins in February that saw Letourneau-Leblond score a goal and assist on two others and tough guy Jay Rosehill score two goals and assist on another.

Both Rosehill and Letourneau-Leblond scored on goals which were assisted by the other.

Letourneau-Leblond was ranked 80th on the Jonathan Bombulie / Michael Cignoli big board, by the way.

The 2013 Offseason Moves List has been updated appropriately.

Not to be outdone, but our friends in Hershey were active on the wire today as well, signing Brandon Segal, which gives the Bears the top-six right wing need they were looking for. He’s a vet, putting Hershey one over to start the year (Derek Whitmore, Jeff Taffe, Jamie, Johnson, Dane Byers and Tyson Strachan being the others)

There were other Penguins related page two’s worth noting:

— Ian Altenbaugh’s story from the other day on WBS D Reid McNeill, who is training with Gary Roberts for this upcoming season.

— Mike Bales, who worked this season with the departed Brad Thiessen and current WBS goaltender Jeff Zatkoff, was promoted to Pittsburgh as their goaltending coach.

— On Zatkoff, he was spotted in North Carolina practicing with Carolina Hurricanes players / prospects. Photoset here. Zatkoff summers in Raleigh, N.C.

So on the, “You Decide” part of the blog headline. A question. Do you like the offseason haul that the Penguins have reared so far? Does it put Wilkes-Barre / Scranton among the league elite? Four players, Chris Conner, Nick Drazenovic, Andrew Ebbett and Brendan Mikkeslon are all in the Top 50 on the aforementioned Big Board. All quality players. But how do they matchup against the other divisional heavyweights in Syracuse and Hershey and the AHL overall? Vote…

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Finally, I have the sense that the AHL schedule will be released this week. Only problem is, I am traveling to New York City on Thursday for my brothers wedding for the weekend. I’ll likely not have enough time, enraptured with the marital activities, to tweet or blog up a proper analysis. So I have enrolled the services of Jenni Probst, head cook and bottle washer of the blog Chasing Checkers to pinch hit for me while I am away in the Big Apple. Look for her piece Thursday, or Friday, depending on how quickly or slowly Springfield gets its act together.

Stay cool.

Pittsburgh, The AHL, WBS

Hooray for 159th Place!

Comments Off on Hooray for 159th Place! Posted by on August 12, 2013

The annual Street & Smith’s Sports Business Journal 2013 Minor League Markets ranking is out. The Wilkes-Barre / Scranton area is ranked…..

…wait for it…..

159th.

That would be last among East Division teams, behind Hershey (3rd), Syracuse (6th), Binghamton (23rd) and Norfolk (76th).

Only Worcester (172nd), Rockford (205th) and Manchester (214) ranked lower than Wilkes-Barre / Scranton for AHL markets.

Wheeling, a standalone minor league town with just the ECHL affiliate in the Nailers, ranked 187th.

The top minor league market? Hint: It’s the home of Maxwell Klinger.

Here’s more detailed blurbs on the Top 10.

Here’s how the rankings were figured out. To summarize, each market was weighted in three categories. Tenure rank, Attendance rank and Economic rank.

I’m not about to turn this into a Social Studies discussion making arguments for or against how Wilkes-Barre can rank higher / lower. It’s worth mentioning though since it is a list ranking all of the minor league markets in America and Wilkes-Barre is a minor league market.

Cleaning up news that is not related to the cesspool of Sidney Crosby / DMV articles:

— Wheeling keeps signing guys. Mike Ratchuk joins the Nailers and 2009 draft pick Alex Velischek returns.

–Syracuse re-signed Carl Nielsen.

Schedule should be out soon.

The AHL, WBS, Wheeling

There Will Be News….

Comments Off on There Will Be News…. Posted by on August 7, 2013

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Cliffhangers on Coal Street was an alternative blog headline.

So how many is a “handful” ? My guess is a re-signing of a Christian Minella or someone of equal or lesser value.

The Big Board has been picked over. A couple of names still remain. Christian Hanson, Krys Kolanos, Dean Arsene to name three. Warren Peters is still unsigned. Would he sign an AHL only deal to stay in Wilkes-Barre another year?

I’m speculating too much, which is something I never like to do on the blog. The purpose of this entry was to tease the preview of coming attractions and to off some more news since the last time we did this.

— Here’s the print story from The Citizens’ Voice on the Grace to Florida news. A mention that the position for the new, “Voice of the Penguins” is open. While Mike O’Brien is a strong candidate for the job, it doesn’t look guaranteed. For what it’s worth, I would love to see Obie land the job.

— Look for the AHL schedule within the next 2-3 weeks.

— Hershey continues to add depth, inking Josh Brittain and Dustin Gazley to contracts today,

— Wheeling signed Chris Rooney today. He did time with them late last year.

— Ottawa re-signed Stephane DaCosta.

— Anaheim / Norfolk have a new ECHL affiliate. They are the Utah Grizzlies.

Check back tomorrow for the announcements on the new bodies.

The AHL, WBS, Wheeling

Grace Moving On

Comments Off on Grace Moving On Posted by on August 6, 2013

In news that shocked most, including yours truly, it was announced today that long time voice of the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins Tom Grace is moving up to the NHL to take a position with the Florida Panthers as their Manager of Team Services within the next two weeks.

Grace had his many detractors in the AHL, but for as many there were against him it seemed that there were double for him. Say what you want about him, I don’t think I have ever come across someone who loved the Penguins more than he did. I wish him the best in Sunrise, Florida.

There’s been a few other things rolling around the tumbler that is summertime hockey blogging. I’ve done my best to corral them for you and now present them for your reading enjoyment:

— Mike O’Brien had a podcast with newly minted WBS goalie Peter Mannino last week. I listened. Mannino sounds like an intriguing fellow and excited to be coming here.

— Our ECHL affiliate. the Wheeling Nailers, had a lot of news. First, they extended head coach Clark Donatelli for another year. Second, they announced their first signing. He’s Chaz Johnson. Johnson was with Elmira of the ECHL last season. He will be in Wilkes-Barre in the Fall, per his Twitter. Finally, the Nailers signed Barry Goers, a big offensive defenseman late of the Las Vegas Wranglers of the same league.

— The Nailers also announced a preseason schedule of their own on Tuesday.

— Tampa Bay signed goaltender Kristers Gudlevskis to a contract. With an overflow of bodies in the crease in Syracuse, Gudlevskis looks tabbed for Florida of the ECHL this Fall.

— The Hershey Bears add depth, signing G Riley Gill and F Tyler Ruegsegger to deals on Tuesday.

— Cody Wild has found work in a much warmer climate, inking a deal with the Orlando Solar Bears of the ECHL Monday. I have already updated the 2013 Offseason Moves List.

— Ian Altenbaugh from HockeysFuture.com has a Penguins prospects ratings page that he published recently. Have a look.

That’s all for now.

Pittsburgh, The AHL, WBS, Wheeling

Thursday Mop Up

Comments Off on Thursday Mop Up Posted by on July 25, 2013

The signing of Peter Mannino yesterday shoved these minor topics to the back of the line. So here they are in the Thursday Summer blog update:

— Here’s Jonathan’s takeaway from the prospect / development camp from last week. Worth your time if you are always looking around the corner for the next crop of bodies to come through Wilkes-Barre.

— Washington re-signed Nicolas Deschamps.

— There’s a report out there that Scott Darling has a deal to play for the Milwaukee Admirals next season. Darling was a Wheeling Black Ace last season for Wilkes-Barre and backed up Brad Thiessen in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals vs. the Binghamton Senators.

— Adam Payerl’s name showed up on the NHL.com site the other day. Sooner or later, I’ll be blogging about Payerl’s call up to Pittsburgh. But for now, he is going to be a valuable piece for Wilkes-Barre in the Fall.

— Corey Cowick re-signed with Ottawa. Cowick split time on the Southern Tier between Elmira of the ECHL and Binghamton.

I haven’t heard anything about the release of the AHL schedule, any preseason schedule for the Penguins or the venue for the AHL All-Star Classic yet. Twitter will have it first, then Facebook then here.

Have a great weekend if news worth blogging up doesn’t happen before or during then.

The AHL, WBS

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