Chirps from Center Ice

Sorry about the lack of coverage last weekend. These camping trips I do with my family are made months on advance. One thing about campgrounds is that they always tout Wi-Fi access but when it’s you and 75 other campers and their families, and those families have kids, it’s tough to get a good connection.

That’s why I have cats.

Anyway.

The Pittsburgh Penguins won’t be playoff bound, so Valtteri Puustinen, Ryan Shea, Jack St. Ivany and Radim Zohorna are all be Wilkes-Barre bound.

Things are still up in the air for the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins as far as seeding goes. Put it this way, if Providence finds a way to get one more point, the Penguins cannot catch the Bruins for second and the Bruins will have the first round bye. Also, the Penguins have to win out. If the Pens win out and the Bruins lose out, the Pens and Bruins would be tied in points, but since Wilkes-Barre has more ROW (regulation or overtime wins) they would get second place.

How do you feel about the Penguins and the bye? I am split. They can use the time to heal up key guys. But, you don’t want rust or any of those things creeping into the team.

I ultimately think the scenario of the Bruins losing out is more unlikely than the Penguins winning out. I will get to that in a minute.

Music to Set the Mood…

Once again this is another one of those, “type the headline for the blog post this week in youtube.com and see what happens. Here’s what I found.

Edinburgh based rock band with an exciting live presence, who write and perform their own material and at the time of writing , are looking to tour anywhere and everywhere in the next few months, before dropping a load of new songs via Infinite Hive.

I let it play a bit in the background when I was writing it. Not really my thing, but I played it longer than I would have.

A Quote…

Let ’em Cook
— Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins 

That’s your playoff theme this year. The puns if they don’t go all the way would be “cooked” or, “well done” among other things.

The Setup…

Hartford on the road Friday and Lehigh Valley on the road Saturday.

The Penguins ran the win streak to seven games with home wins over Bridgeport, 5-2 on Friday and Hershey, 4-1 on Saturday before losing in Hershey on Sunday 4-1. That was a bit of a bad loss for the Penguins because both Providence and Charlotte lost on Sunday.

Hartford snapped out of their funk with a pair of wins over Springfield, 5-3 on Friday and Charlotte, 5-2 on Sunday. The Wolf Pack clinched a playoff spot last weekend and will likely be the five seed.

Lehigh Valley lost 4-1 to Hershey in Hershey on Friday then beat Bridgeport 5-4 in overtime on Saturday. The Phantoms will be in Bridgeport on Friday.

Records

Penguins are 38-23-8-1 with 85 points and are third in the Atlantic.

Hartford is 32-27-7-3 with 74 points and are fifth in the Atlantic.

Lehigh Valley is 30-30-6-3 with 69 points and are sixth in the Atlantic.

Accomplishments

This happened Wednesday…

This is notable because Blomqvist plays in the same division as fellow rookie Clay Stevenson of the Hershey Bears who has an astonishing seven shutouts.

This happened on Thursday…

Oh, and this too.

It’s good to have a future in goal for the organization.

Check Your Surroundings…

Alright so Providence has a three in three weekend where they play a hapless but scrappy Springfield team at home Friday, a straight up hapless Bridgeport team on Saturday and host a not really much left to play for stuck in fifth place Hartford Wolf Pack team on Sunday. Remember that any point gained by Providence (or lost by the Pens) seals up a first round bye for the Bruins. That said, the records don’t really matter.

Charlotte is still buzzing around the face of the Penguins. The Checkers played Hershey own Wednesday and lost their game in hand on the Penguins with a 4-3 defeat to the Bears. They will rematch against the Bears on Saturday and then conclude their regular season against the Phantoms on Sunday.

Charlotte cannot get to second now and if the Penguins amass two more points, they can’t get to third either. If they tie, the Pens have one more ROW than the Checkers.

The Checkers are 38-25-7-0 and have 83 points in fourth place. The Checkers have 37 ROW also.

What can we learn about the Penguins this week?

The kids are alright, aren’t they? Avery Hayes has turned it up, Evan Vierling too. Beau Jelsma made his AHL debut last weekend and didn’t look out of place. When you are young, talented and hungry, you can go places. These kids may not know any better.

The issue for them this weekend is that a lot of their seeding fate is out of their hands. It’s unlikely they get the second seed. All they need is two more points out of their final two games and third is theirs, so there is some work to do. Alternatively, if Charlotte loses two points in any form or fashion over their next two games, third place is the Penguins.

Also, the reinforcements from Pittsburgh will likely push out some guys in the lineup. Here’s who I would bounce if I was J.D. Forrest.

Ryan Shea and Jack St. Ivany for Taylor Fedun and Isaac Belliveau. Let Belliveau eat minutes for Wheeling in ECHL playoffs.

Valtteri Puustinen and Radim Zohorna for Matt Filipe and Matt Quercia. Same story with Quercia, let him eat minutes in the ECHL in the playoffs.

Jonathan Gruden for Raivis Ansons once Gruden is healthy.

Eventually Marc Johnstone for Lukas Svejkovsky, etc. I would keep Mathieu De St. Phalle, Evan Vierling, Avery Hayes and Beau Jelsma in the lineup for asd long as possible and only replace them if you need to.

We may have a special team here. There’s scuttlebutt about a late 2000’s early 2010’s vibe about this team. Who knows. Gotta beat Hershey in Hershey, something they haven’t done all season.

Who’s Up? Who’s Down? Who’s Out?

Puustinen, St. Ivany and Zohorna were sent back from Pittsburgh Thursday. Ryan Shea needed waivers, so he will likely clear and be officially assigned Friday afternoon.

Out: Peter Abbandonato, Marc Johnstone, Sam Houde, Vasily Ponomarev, Joona Koppanen, Taylor Gauthier and Jonathan Gruden were unavailable this past weekend due to injury. The news on Ty Smith wasn’t positive, longer term lower body. The hope is that Johnstone and Gruden are back sooner than later and you see Ponomarev, Abbandonato and maybe Koppanen in a few weeks, if they are still around. I think some combination of those five are vital if they were to have a prayer against Hershey.

Who’s in Goal?

No reason to start Blomqvist in back to back games. I would get Ludovic Waeber in there Friday against Hartford and let Blomqvist go against the Phantoms.

Old buddy Louis Domingue for the Wolf Pack Saturday and Felix Sandstrom for the Phantoms if you make me guess, which you have all season.

Who’s Running the Show?

Mathieu Menniti and Austin O’Rourke are the referees Friday with Jeremy Faucher and Ryan Jackson on the lines. Saturday sees Chad Ingalls and Jake Kamrass as the referees with Shawn Oliver and Kirsten Welsh on the lines.

Looking Ahead…

They are in the playoffs, but won’t know until likely Sunday night who and when they are playing, so look for something here Sunday evening.

Give us a bold prediction…

They will end up as the three seed and will have a first round date with the Phantoms. Penguins in two.

As things stand, the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins are just four points away from the second place Providence Bruins. Yes, the Bruins have a game in hand on the Penguins and the Charlotte Checkers are tied with the Penguins in points with the same amount of games played. The Penguins, winners of five straight, seem to be heading in the right directions, all of them positive.

Wait, what’s that I smell? Chocolate. Oh, boy.

The reigning, defending, undisputed 12 time Calder Cup Champions are back on the Penguins schedule this weekend. And they are there twice.

The division and soon the entire AHL will need to run through Hershey, as the Bears locked up the Atlantic Division Championship early last week and are just three points away from winning the regular season title ensuring they have home ice against every playoff victim opponent the Bears may face this postseason.

For the Penguins, second place in the division is calling to them. The only issue is that the voice may be a wolf in sheep’s clothing which is actually a bear.

Music to Set the Mood…

Let’s hope that our road leads to a first round bye.

A Quote…

“Fire Forrest”
— a lot of us

There’s a reason we are fans and that decision makers are decision makers. No matter what happens here in the next month, month and a half if we are lucky, you got to hand it to J.D. Forrest and the coaching staff of the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins. He’s navigated choppy waters all season long in losing his top two leading scorers in Rem Pitlick and Alex Nylander to trade and possibly his current leading scorer in Ty Smith to injury.

I don’t think the Penguins are where they are under the tutelage of anyone else other than Forrest. I was wrong, you were too, and we gotta hand it to the guy.

The Setup

Another three in three weekend with Bridgeport here Friday then a home and home with the Hershey Bears Saturday here and Sunday in Hershey.

For the Penguins, they got all six points last weekend in a three in three. An OT thriller against Cleveland on Friday, a 6-3 drubbing of the last place Islanders on Saturday then a 5-1 beatdown of the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on Sunday. Newcomers Evan Vierling, Mathieu De St. Phalle and the regulars like Avery Hayes and Xavier Ouellet all stepped up huge and got this team all six points and at the doorstep of a possible first round bye.

The Islanders on Sunday lost in a shootout to the resurgent Rochester Americans 5-4. Hershey thumped the Iowa Wild 7-2 on Friday then beat the Wild in a shootout 3-2 on Saturday to continue to rack up points and get closer to the regular season title, a meaningless accomplishment for a franchise that measures itself on Calder Cups.

Records

Penguins are tied for third in the Atlantic with a 36-22-8-1 record good for 81 points and have 67 games played.

Bridgeport is last in the Atlantic with a 24-36-6-2 record good for 56 points and 68 games played.

Hershey is an astonishing 50-12-0-5 with 105 points and 67 games played.

Check Your Surroundings…

Providence is second in the Atlantic with a record of 38-19-6-3 with 85 points and 66 games played.

The Bruins came away with just two overtime loser points thanks to losses handed to them by Lehigh Valley and Rochester. The Bruins have a scrappy Utica Comets team twice at home Friday-Saturday and a flailing Springfield team in Western Massachusetts on Sunday.

The fourth place Charlotte Checkers have a 37-23-7-0 record and 81 points with 67 games played.

The Checkers swept the Hartford Wolf Pack this weekend by an aggregate score of 8-1. Old buddy Magnus Hellberg had a 20 save shutout for the Checkers on Saturday. Charlotte is in Springfield and Hartford Saturday and Sunday respectively, so on account of playing Friday, the Penguins will be in arrears to a game for the Checkers when the dust settles Sunday evening.

What can we learn about the Penguins this week?

I think this weekend is really the last stand they have against chasing down the first round bye because as I said Providence and Charlotte will have a game in hand on the Penguins heading into the start of next week. I think the guys in the room realize it is a very important weekend to get all six points again if they want to be contenders for the bye but playing the Category Five Superteam known as the Hershey Bears makes for a tall task.

That means Ludovic Waeber will likely see a start for the Penguins because I can’t see a scenario where Joel Blomqvist plays back to back with a travel day in between to Hershey on Sunday afternoon. Perhaps I am wrong. I very well may be.

You need to play a perfect game against the Bears if you want to have hope you are in contention at the end. They have done that back when they were toiling and we were calling for a change at the head coach position. That means limiting power play opportunities given to the Bears and limiting turnovers and general errors made. Hershey forces a ton of that, their record and run of play shows that of late. You just have to execute and keep it close in the end.

Who’s Up? Who’s Down? Who’s Out?

Out: Peter Abbandonato, Marc Johnstone, Sam Houde, Vasily Ponomarev, Joona Koppanen, Taylor Gauthier and Jonathan Gruden were unavailable this past weekend due to injury. We don’t know the status of Ty Smith yet, injured Sunday.

Up: Ryan Shea, Jack St. Ivany, Valtteri Puustinen. Radim Zohorna went up Wednesday, Vinnie Hinostroza went up Thursday.

Sam Poulin was returned back to Wilkes-Barre Wednesday.

Down: Justin Addamo, Dillon Hamaliuk are in Wheeling.

Max Cajkovic, Matthew Quercia were released on Wednesday. Cajkovic was loaned to the Slovakian national team.

Lukas Svejkovsky and Taylor Gauthier are up from Wheeling and on the Coal Street roster.

More ATO’s: Emil Järventie, Kalle Kangas, Beau Jelsma were signed at various parts of this past week.

Who’s in Goal?

I think we see Ken Appleby for the Islanders and that two headed monster combo of Hunter Shepard and Clay Stevenson for the Bears. My gut says Ludovic Waeber Friday and Joel Blomqvist on Saturday and Sunday but my heart says otherwise.

Who’s Running the Show?

Jordan Deckard and Jordan Watt are the assigned refs Friday with J.P. Waleski and Tyler Loftus joining them on the lines.

Watt sticks around and has Taylor Burzminski join him with Bill Lyons and Jud Ritter on the lines.

Alex Łepkowski and Jordan Deckard are the assigned referees Sunday in Hershey with Justin Johnson and Richard Jondo on the lines.

A Note About Me…

I will not be at either home game this weekend due to a pre-planned camping trip to Lancaster this weekend. I’m likely not going to be able to watch Friday’s game on AHLTV, so I will do my best to cobble something together. I should have something Saturday and Sunday, though. I’ll be back for playoffs.

Looking Ahead…

Final weekend of the regular season with a stop in Hartford Friday and the season finale in Allentown against the Phantoms on Saturday.

Give us a bold prediction…

No reason to believe that they can’t run the win streak to eight and be a point or two off Providence for second. I think that if not, the Bruins and Checkers falter also and it all gets decided next weekend.

The magic number to sew up a berth in the 2024 Calder Cup Playoffs for the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins is two. A win Friday against Cleveland, whom the Penguins have mastered for years, will do it for them. If not, if the Springfield Thunderbirds lose in Belleville against the Senators, the Penguins are in as well.

I’m not looking at overtime or shootout losses, that’s too much math, even for me.

Music to Set the Mood…

All of this talk of them making the playoffs…the purpose of qualifying is to win it all. Do I think they qualify for the playoffs? Yeah, it’s inevitable. Do I think they win it all?

Someday…

A Quote

Some say
Better things will come our way
No matter what they try to say
– Lyrics from “Someday” – Sugar Ray

I think, if they do manage to qualify for playoffs, they would be favored against Hartford and/or Lehigh Valley. Charlotte I am not so sure about but of the four teams that are in position today, the Checkers make the least amount of sense because of seeding in the First Round.

As for being favored over the Providence Bruins or Hershey Bears?

Someday…

The Setup

Anyway, bloviating about playoffs is something we will save for the appropriate time, they have a three in three weekend they have to get through first starting tonight at home against Cleveland, then an afternoon Saturday visit to Bridgeport and then a Sunday home game against Lehigh Valley.

The Penguins played just one game last week, last Saturday against the Phantoms and won 4-3 in overtime after a third period game tying goal by Avery Hayes, his first AHL goal and then the game winning overtime goal from Corey Andonovski.

Cleveland dropped a pair against Rochester in a home and home which went Saturday in Cleveland (4-3 OT loss) and Wednesday in Rochester (6-1) loss. That was a big series for each because the Americans and Monsters are level on 77 points each, three off Syracuse, who leads the division.

Bridgeport has been quite active, losing 4-1 to the Checkers on Friday and then beating Charlotte 1-0 at home in overtime on Saturday, then losing 4-1 at home against Utica then winning 4-1 in Hartford on Wednesday. The Islanders are off Friday.

After losing in overtime against the Pens last Saturday as noted above, the Phantoms lost 1-0 in Hershey on Tuesday. Lehigh Valley will host Providence Friday then Cleveland on Saturday. A three in three for the Phantoms as well as they try to pursue Hartford for fifth and stay ahead of Springfield for the final playoff spot in the division.

Records

Pens are 33-22-8-1 with 75 points, good for fourth place in the Atlantic Division with 64 games played.

Cleveland is 35-23-4-3 with 77 points, good for third in the North Division with 65 games played.

Bridgeport is 24-35-6-1 with 55 points, good for last in the Atlantic with 66 games played.

Lehigh Valley is 28-27-6-3 with 65 points, good for sixth in the Atlantic with 64 games played.

Check Your Surroundings…

– Providence, in second place in the Atlantic, beat Utica 7-4 last Friday then lost 4-0 in Syracuse last Saturday. The Bruins have the Phantoms in Allentown Friday then return home to face off against the Rochester Americans on Saturday.

The Bruins are second in the Atlantic with 83 points, with 64 games played.

– Charlotte, in third in the Atlantic, noted above split a series in Bridgeport last weekend and host Hartford for a pair this weekend.

The Checkers are third in the Atlantic with 77 points, with 65 games played.

The Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins have 64 games played and have a game in hand against the Checkers.

Hartford has been in free fall mode, losing 6-2 last Friday at home against Springfield, 2-1 in a shootout against Hershey on Saturday and 4-1 against Bridgeport on Wednesday. They have a pair in Charlotte Friday and Saturday.

The Wolf Pack are fifth in the Atlantic with 70 points, with 65 games played.

Who’s Up? Who’s Down? Who’s Out?

ATO season is upon us, with Coal Street adding Mathieu De St. Phalle, a forward out of Wisconsin and forward Logan Pietila out of Michigan Tech this week.

Joel Blomqvist went up then came back to and from Pittsburgh.

Justin Addamo and Dillon Hamaliuk were sent back to Wheeling.

Sam Poulin was recalled to Pittsburgh.

Remaining up in the NHL are Ryan Shea, Jack St. Ivany and Valtteri Puustinen.

Raivis Ansons, Owen Headrick and Lukas Svejkovsky are the longer term Wheeling recalls. I think we can consider Ansons up for good as well as Headrick to some extent.

Taylor Gauthier, Matthew Quercia, Max Cajkovic and Evan Vierling were the recalls made by Coal Street last week.

Peter Abbandonato, Marc Johnstone and Sam Houde remain out with injuries. Jagger Joshua and Vasily Ponomarev joined those three last week but I think Joshua may be good to go because he’s appearing at the last Pitt Stop next week, and they don’t normally send hurt guys to appearances.

What can we learn about the Penguins this week?

Do they lock up the playoff spot on their own or do they have someone do it for them? Can they make a push for third again and make any serious gains on Providence for second?

Their schedule is extremely favorable, a Cleveland team they own, especially at home, a last place Bridgeport team and a Lehigh Valley team barely hanging on to the final playoff spot in the Atlantic. Six points is not out of the realm of the reasonable this weekend for the Penguins.

Charlotte has Hartford at home twice, the Wolf Pack are one of the few teams that actually beat the Checkers in North Carolina, but the Wolf Pack can’t win to save their arse, so you use the game in hand you have on the Checkers and hope for a better fate next week, maybe.

Does Joshua return? Can they stay hot on the power play? Will there be any third period collapses again? If they are a playoff team, what kind of playoff team will they be?

Can they give any team in the division fits? Save for Providence, yeah. But this discussion is for another day.

Does Gauthier get a game this week and if so, how does he do?

Who’s in Goal? 

Joel Blomqvist will get both home games and his playoff backup will start Saturday. Who will that be?

Malcolm Subban, Jakub Skarek, Felix Sandstrom for the competition.

Who’s Running the Show?

Mike Sullivan and Mike Dietrich are your referees Friday, with Richard Jondo and Patrick Dapuzzo on the lines.

Mathieu Menniti and Michael Zyla have the officiating duties Saturday in Bridgeport with Dan Kovachik and Dylan Lewis on the lines.

Sunday sees a mix of a Friday ref (Sullivan) and a Saturday ref (Zyla) with Bill Lyons and Chandler Yakimowicz on the lines.

Looking Ahead…

Cripes another three in three. Home game Friday against Bridgeport, home Saturday against Hershey and Sunday in Chocolatetown against the Bears.

Give us a bold prediction…

I’ll try to keep the next Weekend Preview under 1000 words.

The Magic Number for the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins is in the single digits. Seemingly, it’s not a matter of if the Penguins will clinch a 2024 Calder Cup Playoffs spot, but when.

Well, it won’t be this weekend, at least.

The magic number coming into Saturday’s game against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms is eight so, like I said at the top, getting closer.

Music to Set the Mood…

I don’t know. I just type in random stuff that tries to fit the theme, and this is what YouTube gives me this time.

A Quote…

I’m such a dope because I forgot to add this in.
— Jason Iacona

I can’t tell how long it has been since I last added in a quote with these. What sparked my reminder? I was looking at some older Weekend Previews and reminded myself that I used to run quotes here. I have to write stuff down to remember apparently.

The Setup

Just one this weekend with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.

Last week, the Penguins played in a three in three weekend and salvaged the weekend with a Sunday win in Allentown after getting shutout at home against Utica and losing up in Syracuse. Question I would have for the masses would be which do you remember most about the weekend past, the win in Allentown or the two losses the night before?

For me, it’s an in between. You expected them to beat a last place Utica team but they didn’t. You expected them to stay competitive with a good Syracuse team and they did and you expected them to be hungry against a Lehigh Valley team and they dominated. I think at this time of year it’s all about just getting to playoffs. The Penguins are walking a fine line of trying to chase down second place Providence and fend off Charlotte, Hartford and the rest trying to protect third place and balance chemistry with a seemingly whirlwind amount of call ups to Pittsburgh and Wheeling this we will get to in a minute.

For the Phantoms, in addition to losing to the Penguins last week, they lost to the Bridgeport Islanders 2-1 on Saturday. They were in Syracuse just yesterday and won 6-4. They remain in the sixth and final spot in playoffs positioning in the Atlantic.

Records

That thing I said about protecting third? Well, during the week the Penguins were passed for third by Charlotte, who shutout Hartford Wednesday. The Checkers made that game in hand they had on the Penguins count.

The Checkers played Friday against the Islanders and won 4-1 and are now in third ahead of the Penguins by three points, with 76 points.

The Penguins are 32-22-8-1, good for fourth in the Atlantic with 73 points.

The Phantoms are 28-26-5-3, good for sixth in the Atlantic with 64 points.

Check Your Surroundings…

Moving this up a few spots because I think moving from the records to this jives.

Providence beat Hershey this past Tuesday 4-1 and then traveled to Utica on Friday and won 7-4. They have Syracuse on Saturday. The Bruins have 83 points and are on even games played with the Penguins and both the Bruins and Wilkes-Barre have a game in hand on Charlotte. Providence also qualified for a playoff spot yesterday, making them the second team behind Hershey who have qualified out of the Atlantic.

The Checkers have soared to third thanks to their 8-2 in their last ten run. They have 76 points and have one more game played than the Penguins (64 to 63).

Hartford is on the other end of the spectrum with a 1-7-1-1 run and have fallen off. They hosted Springfield on Friday and lost 6-2 and have 63 games played and 69 points.

Providence is in Syracuse Saturday.

Charlotte is in Bridgeport on Saturday.

Hartford has Hershey at home Saturday, then host Bridgeport Wednesday.

Who’s Up? Who’s Down? Who’s Out?

Sam Poulin was recalled Tuesday, Jonathan Gruden was recalled Tuesday but sent back Friday, Ryan Shea was recalled Friday. So it’s Shea and Poulin up to Pittsburgh with Jack St. Ivany and Valtteri Puustinen.

Up from Wheeling are perpetuals Justin Addamo, Raivis Ansons, Owen Headrick and Lukas Svejkovsky. Scooter Brickey played in his AHL debut on Sunday in Allentown after completing his education at The Ohio State University.

Transactions this week from Wheeling were a quartet. Taylor Gauthier and Matthew Quercia on Wednesday, Max Cajkovic and Evan Vierling on Thursday.

No idea on the Gauthier recall. I don’t think Blomqvist or Waeber are sick or injured. I don’t think it would be wise to “save” Blomqvist for playoffs, so I don’t know.

Peter Abbandonato, Marc Johnstone and Sam Houde remain out with injuries. Newly added are Jagger Joshua, who missed all three games last week and Vasily Ponomarev, who missed the last two.

And that’s the only ones we think we know.

What can we learn about the Penguins this week?

If they get back to third and Lehigh Valley squeaks in, it’s Pens-Phantoms in the First Round of the Calder Cup Playoffs. Or, should they dip to fourth, they get a stumbling Hartford team.

Ideally, they can get to second and have a first round bye, but that ship I think has sailed barring a Providence collapse.

They should have the same vim and vigor and “empty the tank” attitude they had Sunday in Allentown and keep that with them Saturday in Wilkes-Barre.

They know they are close to sewing up a berth. Every game at this point is a battle with every point so important with the balancing act that I mentioned in the open.

Who’s in Goal?

Barring a surprise, Joel Blomqvist for the Penguins and Parker Gahagen again for the Phantoms.

Who’s Running the Show?

Austin O’Rourke and Mason Riley are the assigned referees Saturday with Chandler Yakimowicz and Robert Peterkin on the lines.

Looking ahead…

April! Yes!

Home against Cleveland Friday, a trip to Bridgeport Saturday and a Sunday home game (no comment) Sunday.

I am camping the following weekend, so that Sunday home game will be my last regular season home game. See you all in playoffs, hopefully.

Give us a bold Prediction….

Penguins are a playoff team by the time the clock strikes midnight next Saturday.

The Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins have 12 games left in their regular season and in those 12 games they play three three in threes or nine games. The first of those three in threes are this weekend starting in Syracuse Friday.

Music to Set the Mood…

Let’s hope this weekend turns up three roses for the Penguins.

The Setup

Three this weekend; road game in Syracuse, home against Utica, on the road in Allentown starting Friday.

The Penguins took three out of a possible four points in Cleveland this weekend. It should have been four because they gave up a late extra attacker goal to the Monsters on Sunday and lost in overtime. They are in good shape however and solidified themselves for third place while keeping the heat on Providence for second and a first round playoff bye.

I think they played exact duplicates of the two games in Cleveland, but had the breaks go more their way Monday, specifically in the third period, and won easily. I don’t think that Cleveland posed much of a threat to the Penguins at any time during the two games out in Cleveland.

The Monsters are dueling with Syracuse for tops in the North Division. The Crunch went 1-2 last week, dropping a close contest with Rochester last Wednesday, beating Belleville Friday and losing to Hershey on Saturday.

Utica went 2-1 last week, losing to Belleville Wednesday while beating Hershey in a shootout on Friday and beating a slumping Hartford side clean on Saturday. The Comets host Bridgeport Friday before taking the trip down I-81 Saturday.

Lehigh Valley were shutout by the Penguins last Wednesday, then went to Providence and took 3 out of 4 points, losing in a shootout on Friday.

This past Wednesday, the Phantoms hosted a regressing Springfield side and beat them 3-1.

Records

The Penguins are third in the Atlantic with a 31-20-8-1 record, good for 71 points.

Syracuse is second in the North with a 34-19-4-2 record, good for 74 points.

Utica is 26-24-4-4 and last in the North with 60 points.

Lehigh Valley is 27-24-5-3 and sixth in the Atlantic good for 62 points.

Who’s Up? Who’s Down? Who’s Out?

Valtteri Puustinen is up and will likely be back at the end of Pittsburgh’s regular season.

Jonathan Gruden was recalled by Pittsburgh Tuesday, after being held out Monday in Cleveland. Jack St. Ivany was returned to Wilkes-Barre Monday and played against the Monsters in Game 2 and had three assists. Gruden was sent back and St. Ivany was recalled on Thursday. I would expect this trend to continue.

Up from Wheeling remain Justin Addamo, Raivis Ansons, Owen Headrick and Lukas Svejkovsky.

Coal Street signed defenseman Scooter Brickey to an AHL contract which starts next season. He’s with the team currently on an ATO. He is from The Ohio State University.

Peter Abbandonato, Marc Johnstone and Sam Houde remain out with injuries. There’s hope from the chatter revealed this past weekend that Abbandonato and Johnstone are back at some point. Forget about Houde who has upper and lower body injuries.

What can we learn about the Penguins this week?

How quickly they can close out the 13 point gap they have to sew up a playoff spot and work on either pursuing second place or preserving third place.

Syracuse was an active team at the trade deadline, adding ex-Penguin Jordy Bellerive. They are a good team and likely better than Cleveland, so that should be a decent enough of a test for the Penguins on Friday. The Penguins split a pair of games with the Crunch back in November. Taylor Gauthier picked up a shutout then lost the next night. The Crunch are 6-3-1 in their last ten and trending towards better, with these acquisitions made.

Utica is above .500 but in last place but the North Division is very competitive. The Comets are 6-3-0-1 in their last ten. Don’t expect “last place team, easy win” vibes with this team. This is a trap game of all trap games for the Penguins.

Lehigh Valley is who we think they are, a mercurial team that can run with the Penguins but can be beat. They are to us what the Penguins are to the Hershey Bears. We always think we can beat Hershey and expect to, if we play the right way, but Hershey breaks down the Penguins and it’s usually the Bears winning. Same thing applies with the Phantoms, but the Penguins are the better team in this example.

Same thing that applies though, get good goaltending, score a power play goal, stay disciplined, get depth scoring. It sounds cliché but it’s simple really and fundamental.

Check Your Surroundings

Providence hosts Charlotte and Syracuse Saturday and Sunday respectively. At the end of the weekend, the Bruins will have two games in hand on the Penguins so if that deficit to second is smaller at the end of the weekend, it may be a bit of a mirage because the Bruins will have two games in hand.

Charlotte will have Springfield and Providence on the road this weekend and the Checkers will have a game in hand on the Penguins at the end of the weekend. Springfield is a bit of a mystery. Seems like they are fading, worse then Lehigh Valley for the six seed, so we will see.

Hartford is in a slump. If they don’t watch Lehigh Valley could catch them. Unlikely, but I’m more attentive to what Charlotte is doing vs. Hartford because remember the Wolf Pack had five games in hand on the Pens, and lost most of them.

The Wolf Pack played in Rochester on Wednesday and scored five goals but lost clean 6-5. They will have Toronto Saturday and Belleville Sunday. At various points in the season, they had five games in hand on the Pens, now they just have one, and are four points behind the Pens for the third seed.

Here’s a look at the standings coming into Friday:

2. Providence, 59 games played, and 77 points.
3. PENGUINS, 60 games played and 71 points.
4. Charlotte, 60 games played and 68 points.
5. Hartford, 59 games played and 67 points.

Who’s in Goal?

I would have expected Ludovic Waeber last weekend but J.D. Forrest threw a curve at me and everyone else and went Blomqvist for his fifth straight start and a back-to-back appearance out in Cleveland. Waeber will have to start a game in this three in three. My guess is Saturday.

Brandon Halverson, Akira Schmid, Cal Petersen if I had to guess for the competition, which I kind of am here.

Who’s Running the Show?

Justin Kea and Johnathan Daniels have the assignment in Syracuse with Dylan Blujus and Jarrett Burton on the lines.

Mathieu Menniti and Casey Terreri will be in the orange arm bands Saturday with Richard Jondo and Tyler Loftus on the lines.

Sunday in Allentown sees Brendan Schreider and Mike Dietrich with Robert Peterkin and Michael Magee on the lines.

Looking ahead…

One game next week, a Saturday game at home against, you guessed it! The Lehigh Valley Phantoms.

Give us a bold prediction…

Magic number dips to single digits, Ludovic Waeber stands on his head with a 35+ save performance and a win for the Pens in his debut Saturday and Jagger Joshua picks up AHL Player of the Week honors with five goals and three assists. The Penguins score a power play goal in each game, including a game where they score two.

The Penguins get an extremely rare Friday and Saturday off in the AHL and are out in Cleveland for a pair of games on Sunday afternoon and Monday evening against the North Division leading Cleveland Monsters.

Music to Set the Mood…

Sigh, there’s always a bear.

The Setup

Two in Cleveland against the Monsters while trying to maintain the third spot in the Atlantic Division and watching second place Providence run off in the distance. The Bruins are now nine points, as of Saturday afternoon, ahead of the Penguins.

The Penguins took 4 of 6 points away from the Lehigh Valley Phantoms in a trio of games, most recently shutting them out on Wednesday 3-0 for the first North American shutout of Joel Blomqvist’s career. Long overdue in my opinion. Jagger Joshua netted a pair of goals in the win and is on the cusp of bagging a hat trick in my mind.

Cleveland lost a pair in Laval last weekend and beat Grand Rapids 3-2 in overtime at home Tuesday. They will host the Penguins for a pair this weekend before greeting the Hershey Bears next weekend.

Monsters fans are maybe wondering if this could be an Eastern Conference Finals Preview of some type. Penguins fans are dreaming of it, Bears fans are kind of expecting it.

Records

The Penguins are third in the Atlantic coming into Saturday night’s action in the AHL with a 30-20-7-1 record, good for 68 points.

The Monsters are currently tied with the Syracuse Crunch at the top of the North Division with 34-18-3-3 record good for 74 points.

Who’s Up? Who’s Down? Who’s Out?

Valtteri Puustinen and Jack St. Ivany are up in Pittsburgh. St. Ivany was recalled Friday and it’s well deserved in my book. He’s really blossomed into a dependable defender. It will be interesting to see what, if any shot, he is given in Pittsburgh while the Penguins wind down their, what seemingly appears to be, a forgotten season.

Last time we did this Joona Koppanen and Jonathan Gruden were up, but they are back in the AHL now.

Dillon Hamaliuk and Tanner Laderoute were sent back to Wheeling Nailers of the ECHL.

Justin Addamo, Raivis Ansons, Owen Headrick and Lukas Svejkovsky remain up with Coal Street after being recalled from the Nailers.

Coal Street signed defenseman Philip Waugh out of Mercyhurst University to a two year AHL deal. They assigned him to the Nailers this week.

The injured guys remain Peter Abbandonato, Marc Johnstone and Sam Houde. Jack Rathbone and Lukas Svejkovsky were on this list last time we did this but are back healthy and playing.

What can we learn about the Penguins this week?

They seem to master playing against the Cleveland Monsters, beating them 5-3 in their only game of the season back in December so far out of the four they will play, so it’s four points seemingly there for the taking.

The power play is an abomination these days. They scratched Svejkovsky in favor of the new guy Vasily Ponomarev, but went 0/4 on the power play Wednesday against the Phantoms. They will need to capitalize on the opportunities given to them at the time if they want to have success on this road trip. I think they know this. Can they execute? That remains the question.

You will also see newly acquired goaltender Ludovic Waeber get a start in one of these two games against the Monsters, so you want him to show something in the form of being an upgrade to Magnus Hellberg, who I thought declined a bit as the season wore on, being outshined by Blomqvist’s play. Will it be more of the same from the backup goaltending position or can Waeber win you games when you put him out there?

Continue to get depth scoring from Jagger Joshua, Corey Andonovski and get Ponomarev, Radim Zohorna, Vinnie Hinostroza and Sam Poulin going.

Check Your Surroundings

Providence is in the midst of a weekend hosting the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. The Bruins beat the Phantoms Friday in a shootout and host them again Saturday in a rematch.

Hartford had Friday off. They only took one point out of their trip to North Carolina against the Charlotte Checkers midweek and kind of put the Checkers back in the discussion. The Wolf Pack have Utica at home Saturday night then embark on a four game road trip starting Sunday in Hershey.

Charlotte hosts Springfield for a pair of Saturday and Sunday games. Springfield is fighting to stay in the playoffs and will probably battle the Phantoms to the end for the six seed it would seem, so this is a huge weekend for the Thunderbirds.

Here’s a look at the standings coming into Saturday’s action:

2: Providence, 58 games played and 77 points.
3: PENGUINS: 58 games played, 68 points.
4: Hartford: 56 games played, 67 points.
5: Charlotte: 58 games played, 66 points.

Couldn’t be tighter.

Who’s in Goal?

Don’t oversimplify. Blomqvist Sunday, Waeber Monday. For the Monsters, Jet Greaves Sunday and newly acquired from Springfield Malcolm Subban on Monday.

Who’s Running the Show?

Graedy Hamilton and Stephen Hiff have the referee assignment with Kirsten Welsh and Luke Stork on the lines on Sunday.

Monday sees Justin Kea and Adam Tobias work the game with Welsh sticking around joined by Mitchell Hunt on the lines.

Looking ahead…

Another three in three, I think it’s the last of them against Syracuse on the road Friday, home against Utica Saturday then on the road Sunday against Phantoms.

Give us a bold prediction…

Jagger Joshua nets a hat trick before the end of the season.

The Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins have three straight games with their in state rival Lehigh Valley Phantoms this weekend and next Wednesday. Two, (Saturday and Wednesday) are in Wilkes-Barre. Gotta protect that home ice.

Music to Set the Mood

I don’t know what this is. I typed in “three ghosts” into YouTube and the came up, so let’s roll with it.

We Have a Trade to Announce…

Jake Guentzel was traded to Carolina with Ty Smith. In return, Pittsburgh got Michael Bunting, Ville Koivunen, Vasily Ponomarev, Cruz Lucius and a bunch of draft picks. Out of  that group, Ponomarev has spent time in the AHL with the Chicago Wolves and would have the most impact, as he has 29 points with the Wolves currently.

Pittsburgh has traded away its AHL clubs leading scorer now three times this season. Rem Pitlick in the Fall, Alex Nylander a few weeks ago and now Smith. Jonathan Gruden, you’re next!

One thing that’s worth considering is that Carolina doesn’t have a bonafide AHL team to stash its prospects and Chicago is independent. If Ty Smith isn’t earmarked for the NHL, where does he end up? Does he stay with Wilkes-Barre as a Carolina property (awkward) or go to the NHL with the Canes or the island of misfit toys out in Chicago? I guess we find out soon.

The Setup

Three straight with the Phantoms, starting this Friday in Allentown.

Last weekend, the Penguins split with the Charlotte Checkers with a 4-1 win Friday and a 4-2 loss Saturday, when on Saturday they were up 2-0. Sam Poulin returned from injury and had five assists across two games but that wasn’t enough to get him AHL Player of the Week honors.

Lehigh Valley were shutout in Utica 3-0, lost to last place Bridgeport 2-1 at home Saturday and then at the tail end of their three in three weekend grit out a 1-0 shootout win over the Category 5 superteam known as the reigning, defending, undisputed 12 time Calder Cup Champion Hershey Bears. Go figure.

One thing to note, the Phantoms will travel to Bridgeport on Sunday, completing yet another three in three weekend, then head back to Wilkes-Barre Wednesday, which starts an hour earlier because on the drive up to Connecticut, the Phantoms (and everyone else) will lose an hour when everyone turns their clocks forward one hour this Sunday. Just brutal.

Records

The Penguins are in third place in the Atlantic Division with a 28-19-7-1 record, good for 64 points.

The Phantoms are in seventh place in the Atlantic Division, currently out of a playoff spot with a 23-22-5-2 record, good for 53 points.

The Penguins (55 games played) are chasing second place Providence Bruins, who have also played 55 games. Providence leads the Penguins by 9 points.

The Penguins are trying to ward off the Hartford Wolf Pack (52 games played) and the Charlotte Checkers (54 games played) – Hartford has 63 points and the Checkers have 60.

Who’s Up? Who’s Down? Who’s Out?

Valtteri Puustinen and Jonathan Gruden are on NHL recall. Joona Koppanen joined them on Tuesday. They all will need to be “papered” back to the AHL by Friday in order to be eligible for the Calder Cup Playoffs.

Justin Addamo, Dillon Hamaliuk, Raivis Ansons, Owen Headrick and Lukas Svejkovsky remain on recall from Wheeling.

Max Cajkovic was returned to the Nailers on Monday. Tanner Laderoute was signed to a PTO Thursday morning. He has 20 goals and 41 points.

Injured are Svejkovsky above along with Peter Abbandonato, Sam Houde, Marc Johnstone and Jack Rathbone. I think it’s Rathbone, Abbandonato, and then you’re guess is as good as mine after that as to who returns from injury first.

What can we learn about the Penguins this week?

I think they should beat the Phantoms handily. If they want to remain in the faint discussion for a first round bye, they need at least 5 out of a possible 6 points out of this three game set with the Phantoms. How do they do this?

– Get good goaltending from their backup Magnus Hellberg, who should start Friday or Saturday.
– Limit turnovers. Radim Zohorna had his pocket picked behind his own net Saturday which led to the Michael Benning go ahead goal for the Checkers late in the game Saturday.
– Get a power play goal in each game. I know it’s a heavy lift, but before that Benning goal Saturday they had a power play they squandered in a tie game. If they score there, it’s probably a different outcome.

I mean I think that’s it. What do you think? Everything else should take care of itself. Joel Blomqvist will get two of the three starts here. The defense should take care of itself also. How hurt is Jack Rathbone, who is good on the power play and blocks a boatload of shots?

Force the Phantoms into mistakes, press the issue cautiously and there’s no reason why they can’t beat this team clean for a full six points.

Check Your Surroundings

New feature this week till the end of the season or as I see fit will look at the teams ahead of and behind the Pens in the standings.

Providence has Hartford Friday and Springfield Sunday. You just don’t want overtime Friday and want a Springfield win of some type.

Hartford has the Bruins Friday and Bridgeport Saturday, so no eating into the games in hand.

Charlotte hosts Hershey Friday and Saturday.

So it’s a positive schedule week for the Penguins I think, and important that they handle business against a Lehigh Valley team which is a consistent model of inconsistency.

Who’s in Goal?

Blomqvist Friday, Hellberg Saturday, Blomqvist Wednesday is what I would do if I were running things.

Parker Gahagen and Cal Petersen are the Phantoms current goaltending duo. Figure you see each this weekend and the better of the two Wednesday. It was Petersen who shutout the Bears on Sunday.

Who’s Running the Show?

Mike Sullivan (no, not that one) and Austin O’Rourke are scheduled to be in Allentown Friday with Brandon Grillo and Bill Lyons on the lines.

Saturday, Sully (do they call him that?) and O’Rourke make the drive up the Turnpike and are with us again live and in person Saturday with Grillo in tow and Chandler Yakimowicz on the lines.

Wednesday in Wilkes-Barre sees Jake Kamrass and Jordan Watt as the assigned referees and Yakimowicz again on the lines joined by J.P. Waleski.

Looking ahead…

No games Friday or Saturday for the Penguins. A Sunday game which starts at 3:00 p.m. in Cleveland followed by a Monday game at 7.

I haven’t decided when I put the Weekend Preview out yet. To be determined…

Give us a bold prediction…

Blomqvist finally gets a shutout, or I drop the notion of same in this spot altogether.