Chirps from Center Ice

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

Category Archives: Wheeling

One Goes Up, They All Come Up

Comments Off on One Goes Up, They All Come Up Posted by on November 18, 2013

I don’t think a Mohegan Sun Casino blackjack dealer can shuffle the cards like the brain trust on Coal Street did today.

At around 9 a.m. Monday, Brian Gibbons was recalled to Pittsburgh. It’s his first NHL call-up, and a well deserved one. Gibbons has flat out been the best player in Wilkes-Barre all season. He’s finally put together the equation of: Speed + Finish = NHL call up. Good for him.

That call up left Wilkes-Barre short one forward. Nick Drazenovic didn’t practice today per Jonathan Bombulie’s Monday update. Pierre Leblond hasn’t resumed practicing yet either. So the speculation began on who could get recalled from Wheeling.

Well, at around 3 p.m. today, Wilkes-Barre recalled FOUR players from Wheeling. G Eric Hartzell, D Dustin Stevenson and forwards Denver Manderson and Cody Sylvester.

Instead of trying to make sense of it, Jonathan already did…

Make that four call-ups. WBS called up C Denver Manderson, C Cody Sylvester, D Dustin Stevenson and G Eric Hartzell from the Nailers and sent G Peter Mannino down in Hartzell’s place. The more I think about it, Manderson and Sylvester could both play Wednesday. Payerl, Megna and Uher have played center, but not this year. So that leaves Andrew Ebbett and Mike Carman as the only true centers on the roster. Stevenson is a plus-9 for Wheeling, so he was an obvious call for defense depth.

The Hartzell situation is a little more interesting. He’s 2-2 and with a 2.58 GAA with Wheeling, but his save percentage is a healthy .922 and two starts back, he pitched a 37-save shutout against Elmira. I know I’m curious to see how he does in a real AHL game. Perhaps the decision makers feel the same way.

Mike O’Brien also chimed in with the following…

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It’ll be interesting to see if Hartzell gets a start either Wednesday in Rochester or this weekend vs. St. John’s. My guess is you aren’t recalling Hartzell just so he can make a trek across Pennsylvania and to Western New York this week. Mannino will likely start Wednesday for Wheeling in Reading. As for Stevenson, he’s probably a safety net for Reid McNeill / Nick D’Agostino. McNeill is still out with injury and D’Agostino is still too wet behind the ears for my liking to be slotted in full time in the bottom pairing.

But who knows. Things can get shuffled again in an instant. Let’s just hope the Pens don’t bust this week.

Pittsburgh, WBS, Wheeling

This Isn’t a Potpourri Factory

Comments Off on This Isn’t a Potpourri Factory Posted by on November 14, 2013

Well, maybe it is.

Here’s a catch-you-up from the week that was….

— Steven Stamkos was hurt Monday playing in Boston. As a result, JT Brown and Dmitry Korobov were called up from Syracuse to help fill the void. Brown has always killed Wilkes-Barre in one way or another, so we will see what his absence does for the Crunch heading into the weekend and beyond.

— Ex-Penguin Keven Veilleux was loaned to the Elmira Jackals by the Portland Pirates. The Pirates’ ECHL affiliate is the Gwinnett Gladiators. This is an interesting move. The Jackals are in Wheeling tonight.

— Ex-Penguin goalie John Curry was named ECHL Goaltender of the Week. Curry plays for the Orlando Solar Bears.

— Certified Penguin Killer Tomas Kundratek was sidelined Sunday in Hershey with an ACL tear. He will need surgery and is obviously out. The Bears come to Wilkes-Barre Saturday night.

— Coupla moves on Coal Street today. First, they got Jayson Megna back from Pittsburgh and sent Harrison Ruopp to Wheeling. Megna’s return means Paul Thompson most likely is back to eating popcorn in the stands.

Finally, I will not be able to tweet the Syracuse game tomorrow. But the blog will still be covered. I’m putting together a list of those who will tweet the game and will run it here Friday night. I will be able to listen to and most likely watch the game on AHL Live on my iPhone and most likely will have a recap here afterwards as always.

Let’s Go Pens!

Pittsburgh, The AHL, WBS, Wheeling

Thursday Tee Up

Comments Off on Thursday Tee Up Posted by on October 31, 2013

Heading into a home and home series with the Hershey Bears, here’s a few things to knock around.

— For Hershey, the top two leading scorers, C Micheal Latta and D Dmitry Orlov were called up to Washington on Wednesday.

— For Wilkes-Barre, G Eric Hartzell is healthy and he was assigned to the Wheeling Nailers on Wednesday also.

— For Hershey, Tim Leone’s piece on the Bears perspective heading into a big three in three, starting with the Penguins Friday and Saturday and ending with the Norfolk Admirals on Sunday.

— For Wilkes-Barre, Jonathan’s Thursday blog update. There’s blurbs on Hartzell, Dustin Jeffrey and most notably the news that Jeff Deslauriers will get the start for the Pens on Friday.

Elsewhere in the division, Dave Steckel signed a contract with the Norfolk Admirals. Some fans in these parts may remember Steckel when he was a part of the Hershey Bears a few years ago….The Syracuse Crunch have won four games in a row and are third in the East Division, just two points back of Wilkes-Barre….Binghamton gets Jean-Gabriel Pageau back from parent Ottawa.

I’ll have the Gameday setup for the first of the home and home with the Hershey Bears tomorrow on the blog at 3 p.m.

The AHL, WBS, Wheeling

This Crow is Tasty

Comments Off on This Crow is Tasty Posted by on October 29, 2013

I never thought I would see the day.

After being the only player in Chirps from Center Ice history to get an “F” in the Quarterly Grades blog feature, Jayson Megna has proved me wrong.

Big time.

Megna scored his first NHL goal Monday night, along with his first NHL assist and was named first star of the game when the Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Carolina Hurricanes 3-1.

What a night and day turnaround from last year for the undrafted Megna. I have polished off my plate of crow in record time.

Elsewhere…

— Jonathan’s Tuesday update. Tom Kostopoulous is back and Eric Hartzell is poised to start his pro career.

— What do you mean Tux isn’t a real person? Our own flightless fowl was part of a series called “Behind the Mask” which you can watch on Hulu.com

— Wheeling beat writer Shawn Rine’s piece for The Intelligencer on Wilkes-Barre native Patrick McGrath.

— The AHL has this new weekly feature called, “The A-List” worth taking a look at.

Also, if you haven’t yet, take a look at the Week 4 AHL Power Rankings.

Pittsburgh, The AHL, WBS, Wheeling

The Wilkes-Barre Elevator Company

Comments Off on The Wilkes-Barre Elevator Company Posted by on October 24, 2013

News out of Coal Street today was that Jayson Megna was called up to Pittsburgh and Dustin Stevenson was sent down to Wheeling.

The Megna news really isn’t surprising. Megna to date has been night and day better from last year.

Jonathan had an update today that would lead me to believe that there is going to be a rotation of call-ups between what we have seen already in Chris Conner and Harry Zolnierczyk going up and being sent back, Megna the latest to go up and guys like Zach Sill and Brian Gibbons, who are worthy enough right now to go up. I can certainly see that being the case going forward for as long as James Neal and Beau Bennett are banged up for Pittsburgh.

For Stevenson, it’s a numbers game. Kris Letting is ready to come back for the Penguins, Olli Maatta is staying with the team and Simon Despres is in Wilkes-Barre. It’s an overabundance of blue liners right now so instead of sitting watching, Stevenson will go to Wheeling and play meaningful minutes.

Short of earth shattering news, Gameday for tomorrow’s tilt in Binghamton will be here Friday on the blog at 3 p.m. I will be making the trek up to the Southern Tier. The Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena went through a renovation this summer so it will be nice to see the updates.

EDIT: I hate when they do this. Literally one second after I hit “Publish” on my post, I saw that Coal Street announced a 10 game home TV schedule. The dates are:

Norfolk on 10/26
Hershey on 11/16
Utica on 12/14
Syracuse on 12/21
Manchester on 1/4
Hartford on 1/11
Providence on 2/22
Norfolk on 3/15
Utica on 3/22
Binghamton on 4/12

The immediate takeaway from this is the fact that the Pens don’t play Hershey that much at home on Saturdays, in fact, the 11/16 game will be the only time this year that the Pens and Bears play at the Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza.

Pittsburgh, WBS, Wheeling

Who Changed These Questions?

Comments Off on Who Changed These Questions? Posted by on October 10, 2013

Just when we thought we had the answers to the goaltending situation here in Wilkes-Barre, the questions change.

Reported yesterday by Jonathan that Eric Hartzell is day-to-day. Peter Mannino’s trip to Wheeling was a brief one.

Mannino stuck around and played in the Nailers exhibition game last night, playing two periods and stopping 21 of 22 shots, getting beat once shorthanded.

My guess is that Jeff Deslauriers starts Saturday for the home opener. If he does well and wins, he gets it again Sunday in Syracuse. If he loses, Peter Mannino makes his debut.

Of course I could be wrong and the roles could be reversed, or Deslauriers and Mannino split weekend games no matter what happens. We just have to wait and see.

Bombulie also reported today that Bobby Farnham is ready to go this weekend as well. This should make for a fun couple of days for fans as Farnham doesn’t know anything other than 110%. Check out the quote from Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond on Farnham.

Finally, the AHL announced it’s 2014 Hall of Fame class today. One of the names on the list is John Slaney, who is up for another Hall of Fame nomination here in Wilkes-Barre. I believe that Slaney will be the first player enshrined to the AHL Hall of Fame with Wilkes-Barre ties. A great honor for him and the City of Wilkes-Barre, no doubt.

Unless there is more newsworthy stuff Friday, the next update here won’t be until Saturday afternoon, which will be the Gameday setup for the home opener vs. Hershey.

Let’s Go Pens!

The AHL, WBS, Wheeling

Mannino to Wheeling

Comments Off on Mannino to Wheeling Posted by on October 8, 2013

Announced today that G Peter Mannino was assigned to Wheeling of the ECHL.

Color me shocked that this transaction occurred. I would have never imagined this to come to fruition.

Jonathan had some quotes today from John Hynes on the goaltending competition.

It’s actually a good thing, really. If Jeff Deslauriers or Eric Hartzell falter in Wilkes-Barre and Mannino dominates in Wheeling (like I expect him to) then you have that option of a call-up and you can feel good about it. So we will see. When was the last time that anyone felt confident with a goaltender in Wheeling as a reliable call-up option?

With two games this weekend vs. Hershey Saturday and at Syracuse Sunday, expect Deslauriers and Hartzell both to get a game. Wheeling is in preseason right now.

Some Page Two’s….

— Out of the same Bombulie from today, Brian Dumoulin is practicing again. Dumoulin is also involved in a case of mistaken identity. (h/t, Russ Hryvnak)
— Carter Rowney was assigned to Wheeling Monday.

That’s all for now. Take a look at the first ever AHL Power Rankings I put together yesterday. I’m hoping these become a regular thing every Monday.

The AHL, WBS, Wheeling

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