Chirps from Center Ice

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

Category Archives: WBS

Eastern Conference Quarterfinal Game 1: Hershey Bears

Comments Off on Eastern Conference Quarterfinal Game 1: Hershey Bears Posted by on April 20, 2012

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Eastern Conference Quarterfinal – Game 1

AHL Game: D1

Who: Hershey Bears

Where: Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza

When: 7:05 p.m.

Series: Tied 0-0 (best of five)

Media Kit

Season Series: Oct. 8: HER 3 @ WBS 2 — Oct. 22: WBS 3 @ HER 1 – Nov. 4: HER 0 @ WBS 4 – Nov. 11: WBS 5 @ HER 4 (OT) – Nov. 25: HER 3 @ WBS 2 (SO) – Dec. 10: WBS 4 @ HER 2 – Dec. 27: HER 6 @ WBS 0 – Dec. 28: WBS 6 @ HER 5 (SO) – Feb. 3: HER 3 @ WBS 4 – Feb. 5: WBS 3 @ HER 4 (SO) – Feb. 12: WBS 1 @ HER 5 – Apr. 6: HER 2 @ WBS 4

Top four scorers for the Penguins vs. the Bears: 1. Bryan Lerg (12 GP, 3-8-11, +3) 2. Ben Street (12 GP, 3-8-11, +7) 3. Colin McDonald (10 GP, 3-7-10, +12) 4. Jason Williams (8 GP, 3-5-8, +1)

Top four scorers for the Bears vs. the Penguins: 1. Ryan Potulny (9 GP, 6-6-12, -2) 2. Chris Bourque (12 GP, 2-10-12, -9) 3. Patrick McNeill (12 GP, 1-9-10, -7) 4. Keith Aucoin (8 GP, 2-5-7, -8)

Referees: Jean Hebert / Jamie Koharski

Linesmen: Jud Ritter / Bob Fyrer

What to Watch For: The Penguins have been average at home this season and historically stumble in opening round games. Tonight is going to be important vs. a depleted Hershey team to jump on them early and snuff out the explosiveness the Bears offense contains. Also paramount is to stay disciplined and out of the penalty box because of the Bears excellent special teams.

Twitter: @wbspenguins / @TheHersheyBears

Beat Writers: @CVBombulie / @timleone

Broadcasters: WBS: Tom Grace @TGracePens and Mike O’Brien @MikeOBrienWBS / HER: Scott Stuccio @ScottStuccio and Randy “Rock” Johnson @RRJ_Hockey

Fan Bloggers: @nafsnep / @SweetestHockey

Radio: For WBS: 102.3 The Mountain / For Hershey: WHP 580

Television: AHL Live

When is Game 2?: Tomorrow night, April 19, at 7:05 from Mohegan Sun Arena in Wilkes-Barre Township.

Gameday

Penguins / Bears Series Preview

Comments Off on Penguins / Bears Series Preview Posted by on April 19, 2012

The Penguins open up the first round of the Calder Cup Playoffs vs. their I-81 rival Hershey Bears tomorrow. It is time for me to do my best in breaking down the series.

Penguins were 7-3-0-2 vs. the Bears this season. The three regulation losses were a 3-2 loss opening night, a 6-0 whitewash after Christmas on December 27 and a 5-1 loss in Hershey February 12.

This series is going to be determined on variables. The most glaring one is the outcome of the Washington / Boston series currently underway in the NHL with the Bruins leading the series two games to one with Game Four tonight in the nation’s capital. If it goes Bruins in five or six, Braden Holtby, Dany Sabourin, Keith Aucoin, Dmitry Orlov and Cody Eakin (edit: Eakin was assigned to Hershey Thursday) could all potentially be dressed and in the lineup in time for Game 3; Game 4 if it goes seven games. Forget about the names above if the Caps win the series.

Another variable to consider is the fact that the Penguins have home ice advantage in the series and the fact that they are downright pedestrian at home, 18-16-2-2, which points wise is the worst home record amongst the sixteen teams participating in the Calder Cup playoffs. Meanwhile on the road, the Pens were 26-9-0-3 which was the second best record in the AHL amongst all thirty teams.

Let’s get to the breakdown.

Forwards

Hershey boasts perennial stars in Chris Bourque, Ryan Potulny and Jacob Micflikier buoyed by Kyle Greentree, Boyd Kane and Graham Mink. Tomas Kundratek came over from the Connecticut Whale and turned into a Penguin killer. Bourque won the scoring title. He and Potulny were the series leader in points vs. the Penguins (2-10-12 and 6-6-12 respectively) – Wilkes-Barre can’t stop all of these guys, they can only hope to contain them and limit their chances in key situations.

Wilkes-Barre has more of a balanced attack and never truly had a “top line” at any point in the season. Geoff Walker and Ben Street worked well as a pair on a line together. Lerg and Street both show 3-8-11 in the season series vs. the Bears.

Advantage: Hershey

Defense

Wilkes-Barre prides itself on defense. Led by Brian Strait, Robert Bortuzzo, Alexandre Picard and Joey Mormina with rookies Alex Grant and Simon Despres. The Penguins allowed the fewest shots allowed per game this season. They boast the fourth stingiest defense amongst the Eastern Conference Calder Cup contenders (based off of goals allowed.) The Bears have the seventh goals allowed average out of eight teams in the East. Simply, if the Bears had a better defense, they wouldn’t have lost their last eight games (0-6-0-2) and finished third in their division.

Advantage: Penguins

Goaltending

If it stays with Daren Machesney in goal for the Bears and Sabourin and Holtby stay up, it’s advantage Penguins with a capital P. The Pens boast experienced goaltenders in Brad Thiessen and Scott Munroe who have both been to the playoffs multiple times before. If by some chance Sabourin does return, he was 1-4-1 vs. the Penguins this season with a 4.07 GAA and a 0.855 SV%. Holtby, meanwhile, boasted a 4-2 record with a 2.00 GAA and a very respectable 0.926 SV%. Thiessen appeared in nine games vs. the Bears with a 5-3-1 record, 2.86 GAA and 0.884 SV%. Munroe was 2-0-1, 3.16 GAA, 0.889 SV%.

Advantage: Penguins, but that can shift to Hershey as the series goes on, depending on personnel moves.

Intangibles

The Bears had the best power play all season long in a runaway. The Penguins power play was anemic at times, but still finished tenth overall. The Bears had the fourth best penalty kill in the AHL, the Penguins only managed 22nd best. Hershey has a huge advantage on special teams. Coach John Hynes has only lost twice in Hershey. Some fans in Hershey have called for Mark French’s job this year. How can a lineup like the Bears’ finish third in its division? The Penguins get the advantage in coaching.

Coverage on Twitter

Penguins Official: @WBSPenguins
Radio: @MikeOBrienWBS / @TGracePens
Beat Writer: @CVBombulie
Fan Blog: @nafsnep

Bears Official: @TheHersheyBears
Radio: @ScottStuccio / @RRJ_Hockey
Beat Writer: @timleone
Fan Blog: @SweetestHockey

The Penguins must take advantage of something they took for granted this season and that is home ice. If they do not win BOTH games this weekend they face the potential of having the Washington cavalry returning to the Bears next week and no one wants to face that uncertainty. While the season series with both teams at full capacity has been almost even, Aucoin, et. al will not be available for the first two games. His absence is huge by itself. The Pens have to make sure they capitalize on the regulars not being in the lineup and win early.

Prediction: Penguins in four. They win both games Friday and Saturday, lose Wednesday, get it together and dispose of Hershey next Friday night at Giant Center.

It all unfolds tomorrow night. The blog Gameday setup will be up tomorrow at 3 p.m.

Let’s Go Pens!

WBS

Fourth Quarter Grades

Comments Off on Fourth Quarter Grades Posted by on April 16, 2012

The Penguins closed out the season with a 3-2 loss to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers yesterday and a 44-25-2-5 record good for 95 points, second place in the East Division and slotted fourth in the Eastern Conference Finals where they will open Friday night in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals against the Hershey Bears.

The Penguins, for the most part, were pretty much undented this year with major injuries or massive call-ups. In the rough times when they had to call in guys from outside the organization (see: Henningson, Dan) they weathered the storm. Would things had been different if Norfolk didn’t win 28 in a row to close out the season for the Division lead? Who knows. That Admirals team looks unbeatable right now and the odds on favorite to win the Calder Cup in June.

But it’s a new day. All 16 teams in the Calder Cup Playoffs are 0-0, with a magic number of 15.

Before we look ahead to the Playoffs opening this weekend, it’s time to pass out final regular season grades. As has been the case all year long, anyone who played in a game this season gets a grade. Here we go… after the jump:

Read more of this post

Quarterly Grades

Pens Drop Season Finale – LOSE 3-2

Comments Off on Pens Drop Season Finale – LOSE 3-2 Posted by on April 15, 2012

In a game that was meaningless in the large scope of things, really a good game to watch as a fan. Back and forth, fluid action with little stoppages. The Penguins lose this one 3-2 and look forward to the “second season” opening Friday in Wilkes-Barre vs. Hershey.

The Penguins and Bridgeport Sound Tigers have had wars in the past with one another when the Sound Tigers once resided in the East Division. I wasn’t around for any of it, but wouldn’t it be fun to see these Sound Tigers again this season?

That paragraph is disrespectful to both Hershey Bears fans and Connecticut Whale fans alike. Both are formidable clubs and will not be pushovers for the two teams which played today.

Scott Munroe vs. Kevin Poulin – laundry list of lineup changes with Black Aces shuffling in for a lot of regulars who weren’t on the trip.

First Period: Lots of good flow, back and forth action to open the game. It appeared to me that both clubs were playing good, conservative hockey. A shot saved by Munroe trickled away from him and very slowly towards the net but was shoved away by Peter Merth. Teams would eventually go 4 on 4 with no scoring in the period.

Second Period: Brandon DeFazio would open things in the scoring department when he picked the pocket of a Sound Tiger at his blue line, skated in and scored top shelf on Poulin falling down. Later, Penguin killer Tyler McNeely would tip home a Steve Oleksy shot from the blue line. McNeely has 4 goals and an assist in the series with the Penguins. Later, Tomas Marcinko scored a really weird goal. He fanned on a shot, didn’t get what he wanted on it and the puck just rolled past everyone and into the net. Then Zach Sill was high sticked and cut open and the Penguins had a 4:00 power play to toy with but soon after Cal O’Reilly took a penalty.

Third Period: All that penalty mess from the second period was killed off then Bryan Lerg scored in a scrum to even things. Then, Robert Bortuzzo high sticks David Ullstrom and in the power play Matt Donovan shot a pass to Rhett Rakhshani and Rakhshani scored from a ridiculously low angle. Penguins had a power play late, best chance coming when Andrew Hotham stickhandles through a couple of guys and dishes to Ben Street who fanned on an open net. Penguins never got Munroe to the bench and the game was over.

Three Stars: 3) Kevin Poulin (31 saves on 33 shots) 2) Tyler McNeely (goal, +1) and 1) Rhett Rakhshani (goal, assist, +1)

Around the Division: Hershey loses in Worcester 3-2. The Bears finish the season on a 0-6-0-2 streak but none of that matters come Friday. Norfolk finishes off a season with it’s 28th consecutive win. Cory Conacher scores late to push the Admirals to victory over the Adirondack Phantoms 4-2. Syracuse wins and is in, defeating Albany 2-1 this afternoon.

Final East Division Standings go as follows: Norfolk 113, Penguins 95, Hershey 88, Syracuse 84, Binghamton 65.

Playoffs are set in the East. They look like this. 1-Norfolk vs. 8-Manchester; 2-St. John’s vs. 7-Syracuse; 3-Bridgeport vs. 6-Connecticut and 4-Wilkes-Barre / Scranton vs. 5-Hershey.

Four East Division teams make the playoffs. One likely to make it to the Calder Cup Finals. Maybe one to win the Calder Cup?

Schedule for content this week is lively! Original content from me each day with piggybacking any major news from the professionals. Schedule will look something like this:

Monday: Final Grades
Tuesday: Western Conference Calder Cup Preview
Wednesday: Eastern Conference Calder Cup Preview
Thursday: Penguins / Bears Series Preview with a prediction.
Friday: Eastern Conference Quarterfinal Gamday vs. Hershey!

Now the real fun starts. Buckle up.

Let’s Go Pens!

Postgamer

GAMEDAY: @ Bridgeport 4/15

Comments Off on GAMEDAY: @ Bridgeport 4/15 Posted by on April 15, 2012

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Away Game: 38

AHL Game: 1132

Who: Bridgeport Sound Tigers

Where: Webster Bank Arena at Harbor Yard

When: 3:00 p.m. EST

Media Kit

Last Game / Last Meeting: Penguins won 3-2 last night. Steve MacIntyre had a goal and was named first star of the game.

Record: For WBS: 44-24-2-5 (95 pts., 2nd place East Division) For BRI: 40-26-3-6 (89 pts., 1st place Northeast Division)

Why you should care: Both teams want to end the regular season on a strong note as both teams are heading to the playoffs. Could we be watching a potential second round Calder Cup playoff preview and not even know it yet?

Referee(s): Chris Brown

Linesmen: Kevin Redding / Brent Colby

Twitter: @wbspenguins / @TheSoundTigers

Beat Writers: @CVBombulie / @fornabaioctp

Broadcasters: WBS: Tom Grace @TGracePens and Mike O’Brien @MikeOBrienWBS / BRI: Phil Giubileo @philgpbp

Fan Bloggers: @nafsnep

Radio: For WBS: 102.3 The Mountain / For Bridgeport: AHL Live *

Television: AHL Live

Other Game to Watch: On the last day of the season, there is still a lot on the line. Charlotte is in Milwaukee in a huge game for the Checkers. They need a point or a Houston Aeros loss of any kind (they are hosting Oklahoma City) in order to advance to the playoffs.

* – Bridgeport really doesn’t have a true “radio” broadcast. The Sound Tigers-centric radio feed is going to be found on AHL Live under the “radio” tab.

Gameday

RECAP: Pens 3 – Sound Tigers 2

Comments Off on RECAP: Pens 3 – Sound Tigers 2 Posted by on April 14, 2012

Could have went a number of different ways with the post game recap headline tonight. “Pens Tame Tigers” or “MacIntyre Smacks Tigers” or something else silly, but just the standard recap headline tonight.

Steve MacIntyre scores his first goal in 125 games, and the Penguins hold on to win 3-2.

Penguins dressed a number of Black Aces tonight as well as Adam Payerl, who impressed in his pro debut. So too, Bridgeport, with goaltender Kenny Reiter seeing his first pro action as well.

Brad Thiessen vs. Kenny Reiter. Brian Gibbons, Ben Street, Zach Sill, Robert Bortuzzo, Bryan Lerg, Geoff Walker among the notables scratched for the Pens tonight.

Before the game, the Penguins held their team awards ceremony. Heres who won what:

Media Award: Colin McDonald
Community Service Award: Paul Thompson
Rookie of the Year: Simon Despres
Most Valuable Defensemen: Brian Strait (accepted by Zach Sill)
Most Improved Player: Alex Grant
Herb Brooks Award: Ryan Craig
Fan Favorite: Zach Sill
Penguin Award: Brandon DeFazio
Leading Scorer: Ben Street
Three Stars Award: Ben Street
Team MVP: a tie between Ben Street and Bryan Lerg

First Period: :22 in, Mike Halmo scored to put the Sound Tigers up 1-0. Then, Steve MacIntyre muscles his way to the front of the net and jammed it in on Kenny Reiter. Primary assist went to Adam Payerl. Late, with Steve Oleksy in the box for interference, Paul Thompson would center a pass to Colin McDonald from behind the net McDonald would cash on.

Second Period: Teams would trade power plays with the Penguins getting a late 5 on 3 with 1:21 to work with but they could not score. Three good chances on the power play though, two by Alex Grant slapshots and one by Jason Williams on the far circle.

Third Period: The aforementioned Williams would skate in and wrist a shot past Reiter using a Sound Tiger as a screen. Tyler McNeely would be the recipient of a tic-tac-toe pass and score to make it 3-2. Pens would clamp down the rest of the way, get a few good chances offensively, but would hold on to win. Bridgeport had an empty net late but never found the equalizer.

Three Stars: 3) Jason Williams (goal, +1) 2) Colin McDonald (goal, +1) and 1) Steve MacIntyre (goal, even)

Around the Division: Norfolk wins again. 27 in a row. 3-2 in Binghamton. In other news, the sun will be up tomorrow. Hershey lost 5-1 in Manchester this afternoon. Syracuse wins in a shootout 2-1 at home vs. Connecticut.

Standings: Norfolk 111 / Penguins 95 / Hershey 88 / Syracuse 82 / Binghamton 65

Conference: 1-NOR (111) 2-StJ ( 94) 3-BRI (89) 4-WBS (95) 5-HER (88) 6-CT (86) 7-SYR (82) 8-MCH (81)

Penguins end the regular season on the road back at it again vs. these Bridgeport Sound Tigers. Game is at 3 p.m., so Gameday on the blog will be up at 11 a.m.

Let’s Go Pens!

Postgamer

GAMEDAY: vs. Bridgeport 4/14

Comments Off on GAMEDAY: vs. Bridgeport 4/14 Posted by on April 14, 2012

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Home Game: 38

AHL Game: 1128

Who: Bridgeport Sound Tigers

Where: Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza

When: 7:05 p.m. EST

Media Kit

Last Game: Last night at home vs. Binghamton the Pens lost 3-1. Ryan Craig had the lone goal for Wilkes-Barre on the power play. For Bridgeport, the won 4-1 in Providence vs. the Bruins. Rhett Rakhshani had a goal, two assists and was named the first star of the game.

Last Meeting: March 10 in Bridgeport the Pens won in a shootout 5-4. Colin McDonald had a goal in regulation and in the shootout and was named first star of the game.

Record: For WBS: 43-24-2-5 (93 pts., 2nd place East Division) For BRI: 40-25-3-6 (89 pts., 1st place Northeast Division)

Why you should care: Really an insignificant game for both sides tonight with the Pens locked in at the four seed and the Sound Tigers in at the three. Both sides may dress Black Aces. Penguins will want to bounce back regardless after last nights clunker vs. Binghamton.

Referee(s): Terry Koharski

Linesmen: Jud Ritter / Scott Pomento

Twitter: @wbspenguins / @TheSoundTigers

Beat Writers: @CVBombulie / @fornabaioctp

Broadcasters: WBS: Tom Grace @TGracePens and Mike O’Brien @MikeOBrienWBS / BRI: Phil Giubileo @philgpbp

Fan Bloggers: @nafsnep

Radio: For WBS: 102.3 The Mountain / For Bridgeport: AHL Live *

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

Promotion(s): Awards Night

Other Game to Watch: Going to go completely off the wall here and pick Albany and Providence. Both eliminated from playoff contention, both playing for pride at this point.

Remaining Game: @ BRI 4/15

* – Bridgeport really doesn’t have a true “radio” broadcast. The Sound Tigers-centric radio feed is going to be found on AHL Live under the “radio” tab.

Gameday

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