Chirps from Center Ice

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

Category Archives: WBS

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

Global Warming, IceCaps Melted – Pens WIN 5-3

Comments Off on Global Warming, IceCaps Melted – Pens WIN 5-3 Posted by on December 1, 2012

The tear continues.

The Penguins win again tonight, making it five in a row, and earn John Hynes his 115th all-time win as head coach, tying Glenn Patrick in that category. They do so by playing the system implemented by Hynes and his staff and skate away victors, 5-3 over the St. John’s IceCaps.

The game was exactly like last night’s vs. Syracuse, with the Penguins…. well, read on.

Jeff Zatkoff vs. Eddie Pasquale — Zach Sill was back from injury. Paul Thompson was scratched again.

First Period: Could best be described as a carbon copy to the first period last night vs. Syracuse. That is, the Pens jump out on the IceCaps early via goals from Simon Despres and Warren Peters via deflection, then clamp down and do not allow St. John’s one shot on goal until about six minutes to play in the first. Then a pushback by the IceCaps late, Jason Jaffray for the visitors scores while the teams were four-on-four.

First Period Notes: Penguins hit anything and everything that moved that period. Tom Kuhnhackl left the game with an apparent injury and did not return the rest of the game.

Second Period: Probably the flattest period the Pens have played in recent memory. You could see the St. John’s momentum shift with every shift. Finally, an IceCaps faceoff win in the WBS defensive zone is won to Julian Melchiori who fires it at the goal. Ray Sawada gets a stick on it to deflect it past Zatkoff to bring St. John’s to tie the game. Then, late while on a power play, Dylan Reese gets a goal which deflected off of St. John’s defenseman Derek Meech’s stick and slowly trickled past Pasquale to give the Pens the lead late. It was the lift that the team needed as the period was a very uncharacteristic period for the Penguins.

Third Period: Riley Holzapfel sets up Benn Ferriero for a goal from behind the net. I’ll let WBS beat writer Jonathan Bombulie describe this one as he was right on top of it:

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In keeping with last night’s game, Spencer Machacek scored to make it 4-3 with just under seven minutes to play, then the IceCaps got a late power play, pulled Pasquale, and the Penguins found an empty net goal via Riley Holzapfel, who had just been sprung from the penalty box to seal it.

Three Stars: 3) Benn Ferriero (goal, +1) 2) Riley Holzapfel (goal, assist, +1) and 1) Dylan Reese (goal, assist, +1)

Around the Division: Syracuse claws back from down 0-3 to win in Hartford tonight 4-3 in overtime vs. the Connecticut Whale. They get three third period goals to tie, then Mark Barberio scored the OT game winner. Norfolk beats Hershey 5-1 in Hershey. Braden Holtby took the loss for the Bears tonight. Hershey’s been riding him as of late, perhaps he was tired. But that’s me speculating. Binghamton, who has about 45 games in hand on the Penguins, were off tonight.

Standings: Syracuse 28 — Penguins 26 — Binghamton 24 — Hershey 19 — Norfolk 16

Conference: 1) SYR (28) 2) SPR (26) 3) MCH (23) 4) WBS (26) 5) BNG (24) 6) STH (23) 7) WOR (22) 8) BRI (21)

Wheeling Update: The Nailers were off tonight.

SendtoNews Highlights: Still going up as I am typing this, but here’s the link to all the good stuff you will want to see. Sucks that WordPress won’t allow for me to embed this on my site. Oh well, extra clicks for you!

Pens are off until next Friday vs. Hershey. I’ll see what I can drum up blog content wise for you this week. As always, catch me on Twitter and Facebook for all the latest cooing over redheads, indie rock discussion and random pictures of animals and still life.

Let’s Go Pens!

Postgamer

GAMEDAY: vs. St. John’s 12/1

1 Comment Posted by on December 1, 2012

vs. 

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Home Game: 11

AHL Game: 295

Who: St. John’s IceCaps

Where: Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza

When: 7:05 p.m. EST

Media Kit

Last Game: Last night vs. Syracuse the Pens won 5-3. Riley Holzapfel had a goal and two assists in the win and was named first star. For the IceCaps, they were in Albany last night and won 1-0. Zach Redmond scored the goal and Eddie Pasquale had a 24 save shutout.

Record: For WBS: 12-7 (24 pts., 3rd place East Division) — For STJ: 11-9-0-1 (23 pts., 1st place Atlantic Division)

Why you should care: If things break the right way, the Pens could be tied with the East Division leading Crunch. IceCaps have won three straight. The Pens are on a tear right now. They don’t want to get “iced” by St. John’s tonight.

Referee(s): Ryan Hersey

Linesmen: Scott Pomento / Jud Ritter

Twitter: @wbspenguins / @IceCapsAHL

Facebook: /WilkesBarreScrantonPenguins // /stjohnsicecaps

Beat Writers: @CVBombulie / @telyrobinshort / @telybrendan

Broadcasters: For WBS: Tom Grace @TGracePens and Mike O’Brien @MikeOBrienWBS / For STJ: Brian Rodgers

Fan Bloggers: @nafsnep

Radio: For WBS: 102.3 The Mountain / For St. John’s: CJYQ 930

Television: AHL Live / My Network TV (WQMY-TV) in Wilkes-Barre

Promotion(s): Holiday Nutcracker (first 5,000 fans) – Tobyhanna Army Depot Teddy Bear Toss #1 – Christmas With A Twist

Other Game to Watch: The aforementioned Crunch are in Hartford tonight taking on the Connecticut Whale. A regulation loss coupled with any win by the Pens and there’s a tie for first in the East Division.

Next Five Games: HER 12/7, POR 12/8, @ ALB 12/12, BNG 12/14, @ SYR 12/15

Gameday

Hold Your Holzapfel’s – Pens WIN 5-3

Comments Off on Hold Your Holzapfel’s – Pens WIN 5-3 Posted by on November 30, 2012

Penguins are smoking right now. Just finished off a 10-2 month of November and sit two points back of the Syracuse Crunch after handing the Crunch their first regulation road loss of the season. Everything seems to be trending in the right direction, too. The Pens won the game 5-3.

Things seem to be clicking too. The Penguins were 6 for 7 on the penalty kill and 2 for 8 on the power play. The penalty kills came up huge as the Crunch have a unit which is deadly. The thing I liked the most about this game was the fact that the Penguins smothered the Crunch in the opening fifteen minutes of the game. Not only did they run with the “zoom zoom” that the Crunch are on the ice, they stifled them and held them to only one shot on goal for most of the first period. Winning games in the first period, then a “bend not break” mentality in the late stages and you have a recipe for a team on an absolute tear right now.

Jeff Zatkoff vs. Dustin Tokarski — Paul Thompson was a mystery scratch. You guys know, if you read the blog earlier, that Keven Veilleux and Dominik Uher were sent to Wheeling.

First Period: Strange sequence in the opening three minutes. A Philippe Dupuis backhander hits the crossbar and the Penguins fans in attendance start to celebrate a goal. Play continues, finally a Dylan Reese from the blue line is deflected in by Trevor Smith. Referees looked at the Dupuis offering, but it did hit the post. Late pressure by the Penguins, cycling the puck in the Syracuse zone for a good minute lead by Beau Bennett. No dice. Then, while four-on-four late, Syracuse finally scores when Radko Gudas set up Richard Panik for a slam dunk goal to even it at one.

Second Period: The description of what follows will not do justice to what actually happened. Beau Bennett scored an NHL quality goal in close over Tokarski’s left shoulder. There was literally no room for Bennett to shoot except for a small area above Tokarski’s shoulder in the corner of the net. Bennett fit it there for a 2-1 Penguins lead. Then, while on a power play (after multiple WBS kills of Syracuse power plays) Brian Dumoulin scored his first of the season to make it 3-1.

Penguins only allowed 5 Crunch shots on goal that period.

Third Period: Bennett springs Riley Holzapfel on a 100′ saucer pass that Holzapfel had all day to skate in and score to make it 4-1. Big goal at the time because you could almost feel the Crunch pushback coming. It did come, via a Brett Connolly goal, then a Philip-Michael Devos goal. Score is now 4-3. With Tokarski pulled and an extra attacker on, Cory Conacher fans on a bouncing puck. It then finds its way to Trevor Smith who fires a 180-foot dart to seal it.

Three Stars: 3) Brian Dumoulin (goal, even) 2) Beau Bennett (goal, assist, even) and 1) Riley Holzapfel (goal, two assists, even)

Around the Division: The Binghamton Senators have won seven straight. Oh, they also have two games in hand on the Penguins. They hang seven on the Adirondack Phantoms tonight and win 7-4. The Hershey Bears are also righting the ship, winners of three straight, as they cut down the Bridgeport Sound Tigers 5-2. Norfolk was off.

Standings: Syracuse 26 — Binghamton 24 — Penguins 24 — Hershey 19 — Norfolk 14

Standings: 1) SYR (26) 2) SPR (26) 3) STJ (23) 4) BNG (24) 5) WBS (24) 6) MCH (21) 7) BRI (20) 8) POR (20)

Wheeling Update: Nailers win 4-2 over the rival Elmira Jackals 4-2. Keven Veilleux had a goal.

SendtoNews Highlights: Are here. The Bennett goal is there. Hold onto your stomachs. That goal was a beauty.

St. John’s is in tomorrow. Should be an interesting matchup. If things break the right way, the Pens could be in first place in the division at the end of the night. But then there’s games in hand, percentage points, etc. Gameday for that will be up tomorrow at 3 p.m.

Postgamer

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

GAMEDAY: vs. Syracuse 11/30

Comments Off on GAMEDAY: vs. Syracuse 11/30 Posted by on November 30, 2012

vs. 

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Home Game: 10

AHL Game: 282

Who: Syracuse Crunch

Where: Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza

When: 7:05 p.m. EST

Media Kit

Last Game: Sunday in Atlantic City vs. The Albany Devils, the Pens won in a shootout 5-4. Both Brian Gibbons and Tom Kuhnhackl had three point nights. For Syracuse, the Crunch were in Worcester last Sunday and beat the Sharks 6-1. Crunch winger J.T. Brown had a hat trick and an assist in the win.

Last Meeting: October 27 in Syracuse, the Pens won 4-1. Eric Tangradi had two goals.

Record: For WBS: 11-7 (22 pts., 3rd place East Division) — For SYR: 12-3-1-1 (26 pts., 1st place East Division)

Why you should care: Syracuse has won nine straight road games and are looking to make it ten. Wilkes-Barre is a team on a roll looking to get to where Syracuse is. The Penguins can get to two points out of the division lead with a regulation win.

Referee(s): Darrcy Burchell / Ryan Murphy

Linesmen: Scott Adams / Bob Fyrer

Twitter: @wbspenguins / @SyracuseCrunch

Facebook: /WilkesBarreScrantonPenguins // /syracusecrunch

Beat Writers: @CVBombulie / @PSCrunchHockey

Broadcasters: For WBS: Tom Grace @TGracePens and Mike O’Brien @MikeOBrienWBS / For SYR: Dan D’Uva @Dan_DUva

Fan Bloggers: @nafsnep / @Allovimo

Radio: For WBS: 102.3 The Mountain / For Syracuse: The Score 1260

Television: AHL Live

Promotion(s): None

Other Game to Watch: The last time the Sharks and Pirates squared off they racked up 143 penalty minutes. They rematch tonight in Portland.

Next Five Games: STJ 12/1, HER 12/7, POR 12/8, @ ALB 12/12, BNG 12/14

Gameday

First Quarter Grades

Comments Off on First Quarter Grades Posted by on November 28, 2012

Quarterly Grades are back for another year. Didn’t plan on bringing these back this year, but it was a matter of me not having nothing to really write about this week. Yay fodder!

The Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins sit third in the East Division, fifth in the Conference after 18 games. Their record is 11-7, good for 22 points. This is after starting the season 0-4, so take away the first four games and the Pens are 11-3 in their last 14 games. Impressive.

Okay, so the Penguins have only played 18 games. 19 games is technically “one quarter” – close enough.

Below is my humble take on the players that have skated for the team so far:

Forwards

Beau Bennett – (4-9-13, -2, 18 GP) – Looked at a score sheet the other day and saw that the first year rookie was leading the team in points. He’s exceeded expectations at this point. That’s all you really can ask for. Grade: A+

Philippe Dupuis – (2-5-7, +1, 18 GP) – Came over from Toronto in free agency. Solid player who centers between a second and third line. I’m projecting a big second quarter for him. Grade: A

Bobby Farnham – (0-2-2, +1, 9 GP) – When Zach Sill went down with injury, Farnham was recalled from Wheeling and signed to a PTO. Constantly plays like his hair is on fire. Is prone to a stupid penalty from time to time. Look up “rat” in the hockey dictionary and Farnham’s name is there. Grade: B

Benn Ferriero – (1-12-13, -1, 18 GP) – Another big free agent get, has surpassed last years assist total with Worcester. (11 in only 20 games) – Ferriero is another player I am projecting a big second quarter from. Grade: A

Brian Gibbons – ( 3-5-8, +2, 13 GP) – Was scratched last 5 games before finally getting in the lineup Sunday vs. Albany. Turned in a three point night, (1-2-3) and played like he never wants to be scratched again. Coaching staff looking for this from him on a nightly basis. If he can sustain that, this team will go far. Grade: B

Riley Holzapfel – (5-5-10, -1, 18 GP) – Prototypical third or fourth line center who plays a balanced game. Holzapfel is currently in a three way tie for second in points on the team. Sometimes sees second line duty, depending on production and situation. Has met expectations so far. Grade: A

Tom Kuhnhackl – (2-2-4, +3, 9 GP) – Before Sunday’s 2-1-3 performance vs. Albany had only one point. I don’t want to say that he’s getting lost in the shuffle with the talent that is currently here on the team because of the lockout, but if he doesn’t shine like he did Sunday, he will get lost in the shuffle with the talent that his here on the team because of the lockout. Grade: C

Steve MacIntyre – (0-0-0, even, 10 GP) – Is a deterrent for other teams goons and rats. Gives the rookies and point producers more room. You aren’t looking for him to produce more than you are to protect. He’s done that so far. Grade: B+

Warren Peters – (2-1-3, +1, 18 GP) – Faceoff stats aren’t registered as a statistic by the AHL, but if they were, Peters would be at the top of the list. Why is this important? When you need to win a big faceoff late in the game, Peters in your guy. He’ll probably be named captain soon. Grade: A-

Trevor Smith – (5-5-10, -1 ,18 GP) – Biggest free agent that the Penguins have landed in recent times. Moonlights between top line and second line. Always a threat to score. Can easily lead the team in goals scored by the end of the year. Grade: A

Eric Tangradi – (9-1-10, -5, 18 GP) – Depending on the camp that you are in, Tangradi either belongs in Pittsburgh or belongs on another team. Needs to put up video game numbers at the AHL level and has so far. If he continues this pace, with the improved projection of Dupuis and Ferriero in the second quarter, the Penguins will be at the top of the division at the halfway point. Grade: A+

Paul Thompson – (6-3-9, -2, 18 GP) – No sophomore slump here. Natural hat trick at Bridgeport upgrades him slightly in the grade department. Yet another I am projecting a big second quarter from. Grade: B+

Dominik Uher – (0-2-2, +1, 12 GP) – This rookie has been in and out of the lineup. Draws penalties like a veteran. Plays with a rat side to him. Will continue to improve. Grade: B

Defensemen

Robert Bortuzzo — (0-1-1, +4, 11 GP) – One of the steadiest defensemen Wilkes-Barre has ever seen. Another stat not kept by the league is blocked shots. Bortuzzo has a ton, and the best part about it is he’s fearless when the other teams sniper is loading up to shoot. Grade: A

Simon Despres – (2-3-5, even, 18 GP) – Despres is streaky. One night he is the best player on the ice, the next he looks lost. I think a lot of it has to do with who he’s paired with defensively. He’s a pedigree that is just biding his time in the AHL while the NHL labor strife gets worked out. Grade: B

Brian Dumoulin — (0-5-5, -2, 16 GP) – It’s okay, I’ll say it for you. I’m not impressed at all with Dumoulin. Granted, this is his first year of professional hockey, but he seems lost out there defensively. Coaching staff wants him to get AHL minutes, so that is why you see more of him than say, Alex Grant or Joey Mormina. Grade: D

Alex Grant — (0-1-1, -2, 6 GP) – Is a scratch more often than not. Guys like Brian Dumoulin and Joe Morrow are getting extended looks over him. I don’t know how, with the cannonade that Grant has in his stick, you justify scratching Grant. But, such is life in the locked out NHL version of the AHL. Grade: C

Joey Mormina – (0-1-1, -2, 7 GP) – Same as Alex Grant. A scratch more often because the younger guys are getting looks. Victim, really, of the NHL lockout because Mormina is too valuable an asset to sit while other guys constantly turn the puck over at the blue line. Grade: C

Joe Morrow – (1-2-3, -5, 14 GP) – You only get better by playing. You learn from your mistakes with experience. Morrow is certainly getting this. A trip to Wheeling would be a waste of his talent. By no means is he NHL ready, though. Grade: B

Dylan Reese – (2-6-8, +3, 15 GP) – Next to Bortuzzo and Brain Strait, one of the more steadier defensemen. May be emerging as a power play quarterback, as four of his points (2-2-4) have come on the man advantage. Grade: A

Philip Samuelsson – (0-1-1, +4, 10 GP) – Samuelsson is improving and not regressing, which is something that young defensemen in their second year are prone to. The lockout isn’t helping him, because he belongs in the lineup on a consistent basis. Grade: B-

Brian Strait – (0-0-0, even, 14 GP) – At his best when paired with Reese or Bortuzzo on defense. Has been a scratch recently. Don’t know what that is all about. Grade: B+

Goaltenders

Brad Thiessen – (3-2, 3.25 GAA, 0.884 SV%, 5 GP) – Has been relegated to backup. Will need to be stellar in order to re-gain number one status again. With the way Jeff Zatkoff is playing, may never happen. Has only been average and the grade that follows is reflective of that. Grade: C

Jeff Zatkoff – (8-5, 1.62 GAA, 0.938 SV%, 3 shutouts, 13 GP) – Said in the newspaper that he wanted to win thirty games this season. If the team in front of him keeps playing the way they are, and he continues to play the way he’s been playing when offense is scarce, will eclipse that easily. Is the teams MVP right now. Grade: A+

I’m sorry, who are you again?

Players with five or less games played fall into this category. No grades given out, just blurbs.

Jayson Megna – (0-2-2, +1, 4 GP) – Is coming off an ankle injury. Impressed enough in training camp to earn a contract to stay. But those games didn’t count, so we are left with an unsigned tryout with a bad ankle. Will need to have a huge second quarter, obviously.

Adam Payerl – (1-0-1, even, 5 GP) – Instead of letting him sit and not play, the Penguins sent him to Wheeling to get minutes. He got hurt, and currently is not playing for the Nailers, who are struggling.

Carl Sneep (0-0-0, even, 1 GP) – played one game then was shipped to Wheeling. If the lockout goes all year, may be there all season.

Zach Sill – (0-0-0, +1, 2 GP) – Injured in the second game. Will slot back into the rotation again when healthy (probably within days) but may have to have a bare knuckles fight with Bobby Farnham to get back in. Imagine that.

Keven Veilleux (0-0-0, -1, 4 GP) – To be fair, Veilleux is coming off of a massive knee injury he suffered in preseason last season and just recently was medically cleared to play. The coaching staff wants to be careful with him, because if he damages it again, it may end his career as a Penguin.

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Feel free to disagree with me in the comments. In fact, I want you to. If I don’t get any comments, it tells me that the reader (you) agree with the grades. That’s not what I am looking for. Let’s embrace debate!

Quarterly Grades

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