Chirps from Center Ice

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

Category Archives: The AHL

Tidbits 1/3

Comments Off on Tidbits 1/3 Posted by on January 3, 2013

Just a couple of things to cover…

–> The AHL Outdoor Classic is days away. The process to build the rink is in its genesis. In that link you will also see jerseys that the Bears will use in warmups and in the actual game.

–> I have seen on social media and been asked what Wilkes-Barre is planning jersey wise. I don’t have a clue. I would assume that an announcement on that as well as the roster for the Alumni Game the day before the Classic will be made by Coal Street in the coming days.

–> Friday we play the Binghamton Senators, who are celebrating 40 Years of Hockey in Binghamton that night. I apologize in advance to the Binghamton contingent of the readers here at Chirps from Center Ice. The Penguins are going to ruin your party.

–> Oh, those Penguins. They were bag skated fitness tested yesterday, then practiced Thursday morning at 8 a.m. They seem to be saying all the right things, too. Actions speak louder than words.

–> Going back to my Saturday morning blog post regarding the terrible numbers that the Penguins put up in the stretch, I did not mention the numbers by the goaltenders. There’s a reason for that. If you have been following me long enough you know that I am terrible at math. Anyway, the braintrust in Springfield isn’t. The numbers are in for Thiessen / Zatkoff for the month of December:

– Jeff Zatkoff: 2-5, 3.13 GAA, 0.871 SV%.
– Brad Thiessen: 0-4-1, 3.55 GAA, 0.884 SV%.

I went back to November, when the Penguins were the hottest team in the AHL going 10-2. Jeff Zatkoff won Goalie of the Month with an 8-1 record, 1.21 GAA and a 0.955 SV% including three shutouts. Comparatively, Brad Thiessen was 2-1, 3.18 GAA, 0.890 SV% in the same month.

I just wanted to go back and get an idea of the goaltending situation in December to complete the thought from Saturday.

Elsewhere, the ECHL All-Star rosters were announced over the last two days. Two familiar names to Penguins fans made that list. They are Casey Pierro-Zabotel and Nick Petersen. Pierro-Zabotel was actually named starter. No Wheeling Nailers were named. The ECHL is pooling together all-stars from all over the league to play the host Colorado Eagles. But it’s strange to me that in an event which is supposed to showcase the league, that not every team is represented in the event. Just strange.

Alright, going back, this seems to be more of just a “tidbits” entry. Eh, when I get on a roll, I get on a roll. I’ll stop now.

Gameday for Binghamton will be up Friday afternoon at 3.

Let’s Go Pens!

Not AHL, The AHL, WBS

Help Wanted

Comments Off on Help Wanted Posted by on December 10, 2012

No. Chirps from Center Ice is not looking for help in the blogger department.

But the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins and Wheeling Nailers may be looking for help in the goal tending department:

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https://twitter.com/Shawn_Rine/status/278170046801522688

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Bombulie had the update today, if you want to call it that. Too soon to speculate, but when have you ever heard a guy leave practice with the trainer then be back the next day as good as new? It just doesn’t happen.

With the unknown status of Killeen, this leaves Brad Thiessen as the lone healthy goaltender in the Penguins organization eligible to play.

Bombulie mentioned in his update that a reader had mentioned to him the possibility of bringing ex-PIT backup Brent Johnson in on a PTO. Apparently Johnson is working out in Pittsburgh with the rest of the locked-out players. What would it take to drive 300 miles East and help out the farm a bit? It makes too much sense, really, and that’s why I would be shocked that it come to fruition.

The ailments / injuries could not come at a more inopportune time for the Pens, who are about to embark in an eight game in twenty day journey, with seven of those eight against divisional opponents and looking more long term nine of ten against East Division foes. Albany Wednesday is the only non-divisional game on the Penguins immediate matrix.

I’ll think worst case here: Zatkoff is out a while. Brent Johnson doesn’t come in on a PTO. The Pens sign some unknown kid. Let’s benchmark Wednesday, Pens are three points out of the division lead and tied for second with Binghamton. Where oh where will the Pens be at the end of this ten game slog? Time (and good goal tending) will tell.

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There are a few other things I want to briefly touch on:

–> Here’s my other game story I wrote for the Maine Hockey Journal on Saturday night. Can’t thank Chris Roy enough for the opportunity to serve.

–> More AHL games were added to SiriusXM NHL Network Radio with the axing of more NHL games thru December 30. The Penguins aren’t featured in any games other than the one already scheduled for this Friday vs. Binghamton.

–> From the ex-Penguin alumni file: Colby Armstrong signed an ECHL deal with the Utah Grizzlies and Chris Collins signed on with the Springfield Falcons.

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If anything breaks on news regarding Penguins / Nailers back stoppers, either in the form of new signings or health status updates, I will have retweets in some from from Mssrs. Bombulie / Rine on Twitter then probably a blurb here on the blog. If not, next update will probably run Wednesday at 3 for the Albany Gameday setup.

Not AHL, The AHL, WBS, Wheeling

Jeff Zatkoff Named Goalie of the Month

Comments Off on Jeff Zatkoff Named Goalie of the Month Posted by on December 3, 2012

This one came out of left field to me because I thought Abbotsford’s Barry Brust was a shoo-in for this award but Wilkes-Barre / Scranton’s Jeff Zatkoff was named the AHL’s Goaltender of the Month Monday afternoon.

Barry Brust broke a 55-year old AHL record earlier in the month when he did not allow a goal for 268 minutes and 17 seconds. The old record was 249:51 established in 1957. 55 years! Pretty impressive.

Brust appeared in five games, with a 0.59 GAA and a 0.976 SV% and went 5-0.

Zatkoff went 8-1 in nine games, with a 1.21 GAA and a 0.955 SV% and help re-establish the Penguins as one of the elite teams in the AHL.

You couldn’t go wrong either way in the selection.

This just in to the Chirps from Center Ice news desk…

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And to think I wouldn’t have fodder this week…

The AHL, WBS

Crunch / Penguins Notebook

Comments Off on Crunch / Penguins Notebook Posted by on November 30, 2012

Sitting here looking at some stats in advance of tonight’s huge tilt between Syracuse and the Pens and wanted to fire off a quick, “notebook” blog of material that would get lost in the shuffle of the live tweeting. Check out the Gameday setup if you haven’t already and enjoy the following notes:

  • Syracuse is the last team in the AHL to lose on the road in regulation. (9-0-0-1)
  • The Crunch are 10-1 when they score first. They are the first team in the AHL to achieve ten wins when they do score first.
  • Syracuse is first overall in the AHL in goals for with 3.82 goals / game.
  • The Penguins are third overall in the AHL in goals allowed with 2.22 goals against.
  • AHL Commissioner Dave Andrews will be in the house tonight.

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In other news today, the Wheeling Nailers were active on the transaction wire this afternoon. They received Dominik Uher and Keven Veilleux for tonight’s game at Elmira and traded for Andrew Hotham (from Cincinatti) and Chris Higgins (from Utah) in ECHL-related moves for future considerations. Nailers’ beat writer Shawn Rine tweeted that the Uher / Veilleux assignments were one night rentals.

Back later tonight for the postgame recap. Let’s Go Pens!

The AHL, WBS, Wheeling

A Chain Only So Strong…..

Comments Off on A Chain Only So Strong….. Posted by on November 27, 2012

So I have a bunch of links to share with you:

–> Jonathan Bombulie Tuesday blog update. He talks about Bobby Farnham, Jeff Zatkoff, Brian Gibbons and pot odds.

–> Michael Cignoli, who covers the Adirondack Phantoms like a snuggie for The Saratogian, had a nice feature on ex-WBS Penguin G Scott Munroe. Couple of interesting things there. His wife can probably kick his rear-end and Munroe was close to re-signing with WBS this past summer. Interesting.

–> The AHL’s Weekly Release has WBS / Syracuse as one of the five games to watch this week. It will definitely be a litmus test for both teams.

–> Ex-WBS Penguin Luca Caputi was shipped to the ECHL’s Fort Wayne Komets today from Norfolk. I find that shocking, really.

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I’ll have the Penguins First Quarter Grades tomorrow. I wasn’t planning on bringing them back this year, but it was a matter of happenstance with the Penguins not playing until this Friday and me having nothing to really write about. Check those out Wednesday at noon.

Not AHL, The AHL, WBS

Ink on Your Fingers

1 Comment Posted by on November 18, 2012

I hope the local portion of the Chirps from Center Ice reading contingent had the ability to purchase a Citizens’ Voice today. My print story pinch hitting for Jonathan Bombulie was in it. I was selfishly hoping for upper fold of the front of the sports page, but I will settle for Page B4. Here is the story in internet format. Not exactly James Ellery worthy, but you all seemed to enjoy it from what you gave me feed back wise on Twitter and Facebook, and for that I cannot thank you all enough.

Two things that didn’t make it past the editing table I wanted to share from last night:

— Joe Morrow was involved in his first pro fight with heavyweight Matt Clackson.

— Of the eight penalty shots awarded in the AHL this season, Brad Thiessen has been involved in two of them. He stopped Bridgeport’s Nino Niederrieter on October 20 and did not stop Garrett Mitchell last night.

It was an honor sitting on press row with the likes of the great Tim Leone who covers the Bears for The Patriot News and my fellow fan bloggers Sweetest Hockey on Earth. More of an honor pinch hitting for one of the best in this business.

We will return you to regular scheduled fan blogging this Wednesday when the Pens revisit Giant Center vs. the Bears. I’ll try to have something Monday or Tuesday in between here on the blog.

About Me, Just Rambling, The AHL, WBS

Odds and Ends 11/12

Comments Off on Odds and Ends 11/12 Posted by on November 12, 2012

Stringing together the following links for you to enjoy:

–> Mohegan Sun Arena tweeted today that the gates will open at 6 p.m., like it has in the past. About a month ago, the Arena opened the doors at 5:30 in an effort to get people through the new security screening. They are reverting back to the old 6 p.m. way, effective immediately.

–> Keven Veilleux returned to the Penguins yesterday. This was planned. He should be in the lineup Wednesday vs. Springfield.

–> Yeah, about them Springfield Falcons. They are 8-1-0-2, with 18 points and lead the Eastern Conference. I always love “fun with numbers” breakdowns, so I offer the following for your viewing enjoyment regarding the opponent on Wednesday.

–> One more thing regarding the Falcons, G Curtis McElhinney was named AHL Player of the Week this afternoon after shutting out his opponents in two starts this past weekend. If my math is correct (stay with me here) he has a 138:40 shutout streak going which is most likely going to get built on come Wednesday as he will most likely start in goal for the Falcons vs. the Penguins.

–> Paying off this past weekends freelance work I did for Maine Hockey Journal, you can find the edited, finished version of my work here. ‘Twas fun, I hope to get to do that again sometime soon.

–> The AHL partnered up with a news outlet by the name of SendtoNews a few weeks ago. They provide video highlights to news outlets. I don’t consider myself a “news” outlet, but if you are here to get information on the Penguins, you are here for “news” – so starting Wednesday, I will start offering the highlights as part of the postgame blog updates.

The problem with that, unfortunately, is that the scripting and coding and all that technical computer jazz doesn’t play nice with my blog, which is hosted by WordPress.com. They don’t allow it, so you’ll need to click twice to see it, once on the link and then once to “play” when on the Send to News site.

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Probably won’t have anything Tuesday, but you can always find me on Twitter and Facebook for all the latest nonsense.

Let’s Go Pens!

The AHL, WBS, Wheeling

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