Chirps from Center Ice

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

Category Archives: WBS

Back to Hockey

Comments Off on Back to Hockey Posted by on September 11, 2011

With all this chatter on my Twitter feed about football being back, I figured I would link you through to things brewing on the Pittsburgh hockey front.

I was away yesterday, but kept dibs on the Ottawa / Pittsburgh rookie game yesterday from Oshawa, Ontario yesterday. The Pens lost 4-0. Patrick Killeen was in goal and made 33 saves. Corey Cowick for Ottawa had two goals and an assist. Huge majority of the names listed in these games will be with their AHL affiliates. Brian Strait left the game early with a puck to the face. The Pens tweeted he was stitched up and is fine. Robert Bortuzzo, Simon Despres, Keven Veilleux and Zach Sill were scratched for the Penguins.

The Pens are back in action later from Oshawa taking on the Toronto Maple Leafs. John Hynes spoke about the prospects today. There will be live-blogging on the Pittsburgh site. You can watch the game on a 30 minute tape delay on the Maple Leafs website. I will be following along and retweeting others there on the Twitter side. My buddy Eric P from the Wilkes-Blog will be tweeting and live-blogging the affairs as well. So you are covered.

Let’s Go Penguins!

 

Pittsburgh, WBS

This Park is Flooded

Comments Off on This Park is Flooded Posted by on September 8, 2011

There has been rumblings all summer about the possibility of ex-NHLer and Pittsburgh Penguin Richard Park signing with the organization. If you believe the comment sections of other Penguin blogs people who know people have said that Richard Park was headed his way to Pittsburgh.

Well today, amongst potentially the worst flooding in Wilkes-Barre since 1972, the Pens have their man.

More on where Park projects between Wilkes-Barre and Pittsburgh later, I have to get to high ground because of the constant rain which has pummeled the I-81 watershed and from Binghamton to Hershey with Wilkes-Barre in between.

Keep chirpin’. Go Penguins!

Pittsburgh, WBS

Two Quick Things…

Comments Off on Two Quick Things… Posted by on September 6, 2011

Just enough fodder in the cannon to fire off another blog post. Here goes…

– The fourth preseason game is set. It’s the Adirondack Phantoms in Saratoga Springs on September 28. The venue is actually a high school and proceeds will go to the Saratoga Youth Hockey Association. The buzz on Twitter is that it is a small venue.

So the full preseason schedule is as follows:

September 28 @ Adirondack in Saratoga Springs at 7 p.m.
September 30 vs. Hershey at 7:05 p.m.
October 1 @ Hershey at 7 p.m.
October 2 vs. Adirondack at 5:05 p.m.

– The other half of this blog post is the Penguins unveiling on Twitter this morning what the Breast Cancer Awareness Jersey will look like when the Pens take on the Syracuse Crunch on Saturday January 7 at 7:05 p.m:

Sharp!

Keep Chirpin’. Go Penguins.

WBS

Stuccio to Hershey

Comments Off on Stuccio to Hershey Posted by on September 1, 2011

The Hershey Bears announced today that Scott Stuccio has been named the new broadcaster and media relations coordinator for the team. Stuccio replaces John Walton, who took the same position for the Bears parent team, the Washington Capitals a few weeks ago.

Scott had served as the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins Director of Communications and provided color commentary in the Penguins radio booth with the teams play by play voice, Tom Grace.

Kind words from former Bears voice John Walton here.

Bears beat writer Tim Leone caught up with both John and Scott for a story this afternoon.

I hate to say it, but I saw this developing all summer. When it was speculated that Steve Kolbe may not be back as the voice of the Capitals in early July, I knew that John Walton was the man for the job. When the Walton news became official, I knew Stuccio would be perfect for the job in Hershey. Walton and Stuccio are friends away from the rink. I have never heard a bad word muttered from a Bears fan regarding Stuccio so he was the perfect fit for the position.

The Penguins organization loses a huge, huge asset to the Hershey Bears organization. I would like to wish Scott the absolute best in his new endeavor with the rival Bears.

The AHL, WBS

Getting Closer…

Comments Off on Getting Closer… Posted by on August 30, 2011

Today, Pittsburgh announced details on the 2011 Rookie Tournament which will be held in Oshawa, Ontario in September. It is going to be held September 9-13 and feature prospects from the Ottawa Senators, Toronto Maple Leafs and Chicago Blackhawks.

Penguins HD Radio will actually have the games live.

Full schedule and roster breakdown here.

My buddy Eric P from the Wilkes-Blog who will actually be at the tournament in a few weeks went and provided his readers (me included) brief one line capsules with last years stats from that player. You can find his summary here.

Thoughts: Openly debated the exclusion of Joe Vitale from the tournament on the Twitter side this afternoon and what it means / what it says for guys like Keven Veilleux and Eric Tangradi. These two must perform with big numbers by the end of 2011 or else they will be traded away and will no longer be a part of the organization, in my opinion. The great thing about the Penguins top to bottom is that they are stacked with talent from the NHL level all the way down to this years entry level draft class. I truly believe that time is running out on guys like Eric Tangradi and Keven Veilleux.

Keep chirpin’. Go Penguins.

Pittsburgh, WBS

Blogging in the Dark

Comments Off on Blogging in the Dark Posted by on August 29, 2011

Hurricane Irene knocked out the power at the house Sunday at 8 a.m. and I have been without it for going on 36 hours and counting…

I am moonlighting things at my sisters house. All I really ask for is the ability to take a hot shower, drink cold beer and blog. So sitting here I saw that the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins Booster Club released its 2011-2012 trip schedule for the upcoming season:

October 22, 2011 To Hershey (Based on interest)

November 18-20, 2011 To Portland, Me, Manchester, NH and Worcester, Ma.

December 10-11, 2011 To Long Island, NY Big (Pittsburgh)* Pens V.S. Islanders (yes, overnight)

January 22, 2012 To Syracuse (Our Annual Trip where Booster Club Youth members travel for just the cost of the ticket)

February 18-19, 2012 To Albany, NY

March 9-11, 2012 To Providence RI., Bridgeport, Ct., and Springfield, Ma.

April 15, 2012 To Bridgeport

They are, based off of the information listed on the page, looking at a Pittsburgh trip too but that may or may not happen.

I’d be looking at the Portland trip and the Providence trip. I would be doing all of those on my own anyway, what with tickets, gas, hotels and such it is likely more cost effective to make the trip with the Club versus on my own. However, if I am not able to get on one of the buses to go with the Club, I will just go myself. There is no way I miss these trips.

I really hate blogging from a place that is not my home. Such is my current state of affairs.

Keep chirpin’. Go Penguins.

* – blogger edit. I hate with a passion the “big” and “little” descriptions between Pittsburgh and Wilkes-Barre. It’s a long story.

About Me, Travel, WBS

Signings, Tickets, Promos and Old Faces

Comments Off on Signings, Tickets, Promos and Old Faces Posted by on August 24, 2011

Smattering of small news stories shall compile the following blog post…

– Binghamton signed two defensemen yesterday, Bobby Raymond and Josh Godfrey. Raymond actually played a little with the B-Sens last season before he got injured. Godfrey apprenticed in the ECHL with South Carolina and appeared in a few Hershey Bears games.

– Speaking of the Bears, they signed forward Stanislav Galiev to an entry-level contract today. He won’t play for the Bears this year as it’s either NHL or juniors for him due to his age. Even if he were able to, I wouldn’t project him seeing any ice for Hershey with how stacked the 11-time Champions are going to be up front.

– Ex-WBS Penguin Ryan Stone is off to play in Finland next year. He had played last year with the Calgary organization.

– The Pens tweeted that sale dates for individual tickets for the upcoming season will be announced this week along with the promotional schedule. Always a hit with the fans, I can’t wait to see what the brain trust on Coal Street has planned this season.

– I have some inquiries out to a few teams on ticket prices at center ice for my yearly look at what a season ticket at center ice costs for every AHL team. Look for that post very, very soon here. Some interesting data.

– The fourth road game for the Pens preseason game hasn’t been announced yet. There is no news on this front whatsoever. Norfolk is actually playing a trio of games versus the St. John’s IceCaps, so the Admirals as a potential opponent is out. I still think it will be Syracuse. However I have nothing to back up my speculation.

– You can follow every AHL team on Twitter by going here and clicking “Follow this List” or you can follow every AHL team individually. While you are at it, if you are new to Twitter, follow this guy too.

Keep Chirpin’. Let’s Go Pens!

The AHL, WBS

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