Comments Off on Preseason Game #1 — Penguins 1, Bears 5
Posted by nafsnep on September 26, 2017
Not going to go too far in-depth here with the first preseason game of the season for both clubs. Tonight was about fringe guys from both sides getting evaluated before inevitably being shipped away to the ECHL affiliate with the influx of talent coming down from the NHL. I counted a sum total of three regulars in the lineup for Wilkes-Barre. The Bears players didn’t wear nameplates.
One thing really quick, all the players Pittsburgh put on waivers yesterday cleared today.
Colin Stevens for the Penguins opposed Parker Milner in goal.
In the first, Hershey cashed early on a power play when Penguin killed Dustin Gazley pounded home rebound of a shot from the point.
Penguins chased a bit, more so by the Bears because there was a ton of icing penalties in the period.
Patrick McGrath laid the body on Andrew Cherniwchan legally on a big hit.
Penguins killed off 1:49 of a 5-on-3 after two consecutive slashing penalties :11 apart. Probably the cleanest part of the period for Wilkes-Barre. Most of the time were plays where the player cherry picked a bit and tried to sneak in for a breakaway. Parker Milner had none of it though, stopping all 9 shots.
In the second, the Bears continued to increase their lead with a transition goal set up by Cherniwchan. He led a rush after a Hershey icing down ice, put a shot on Stevens that Hampus Gustafsson put home for a 3-0 lead.
Dustin Gazley found an unmarked Jeremy Langlois in front of the net who made it 3-0.
Gazley later dangled through Kevin Schulze and was never picked up by Danny Fick to make it 4-0.
Penguins only had two shots on goal in the period, and I don’t think a single one came after the ten minute mark. Everything was a home run pass or a cherry pick attempt. Parker Milner was not challenged at all.
In the third, the Penguins finally were awarded a power play but could not score on it. Seconds after the Power play expired, the Penguins found themselves on the penalty kill again.
The Bears would score to make it 5-0 when Stephen Collins poked one past Will King who was on in relief of Colin Stevens in goal.
Connor Hobbs and Patrick McGrath got together for a fight which ended quickly when Hobbs got Pat’s jersey over his head:
Tom Mele went to the front of the net and was rewarded with a goal, ending Milner’s shutout bid which put Wilkes-Barre on the board.
Penguins got run around by a Hershey team that brought more established players with them. Perhaps the 21 players who showed up Tuesday took the air out of the players who dressed tonight, but it’s supposed to be about leaving an impression and there really wasn’t one to be had at all from anyone who dressed for Wilkes-Barre tonight.
There may be cuts Thursday and if so I will have an update. If not, check back Friday night after the second preseason game the Penguins will play against Binghamton.
Zach Aston-Reese
Teddy Blueger
Jean-Sebastien Dea*
Thomas Di Pauli
Adam Johnson
Sam Miletic**
Dominik Simon
Colin Smith
Daniel Sprong
Christian Thomas
Freddie Tiffels
Garrett Wilson*
Defensemen
Lukas Bengtsson
Frank Corrado*
Kevin Czuczman*
Ethan Prow
Chris Summers*
Jarred Tinordi*
Zach Trotman*
Goaltenders
Casey DeSmith
Tristan Jarry
Key
* – players who need waivers
** – Miletic signed a three year entry level contract with Pittsburgh on Monday. At age 20, he is eligible for and look for him a lot, with Wilkes-Barre this upcoming season.
Jonathan had some thoughts today regarding the roster spots still up for grabs. He believes, as do I, that the final roster spot comes down to Josh Archibald and Derrick Pouliot. Both need waivers. Pouliot is a bargaining chip that Pittsburgh could flip for a third line center, but that hasn’t happened yet. So if you are looking at it from a perspective of sending a guy out, it’s probably going to be Archibald because he’s less expendable in that he has less of a trade value vs. Pouliot.
Analysis
Wilkes-Barre’s camp stands at 49 players if no one goes claimed tomorrow at noon in waivers. There are no roster limits in the AHL, mind you.
Anyway, my thoughts on Pittsburgh are that they release Jay McClerment from his PTO and send Tom Sestito to WBS when he’s healthy after getting banged up in practice from a collision with Ryan Reaves. That leaves the Archibald / Pouliot decision to be made. I think it’s Archibald that gets the short end. My first three guys to go up after Archibald, and this is assuming that no one gets claimed on waivers, are Sprong, Aston-Reese and Johnson in that order. Sprong is going to get the Jake Guentzel treatment in Wilkes-Barre and go up full time in January. Johnson needs to learn the pro game. Depending on how he takes the demotion to the AHL and how he handles the pro game determines his success down here and future with Pittsburgh. I can’t wait to see a healthy Zach Aston-Reese tear up the Atlantic Division.
My second three are Dea, Simon and Garrett Wilson in no order. If you forced me, Simon, Dea and Wilson in that order. Competition in Wilkes-Barre camp and production in the first 20 games of the regular season can change first three and second three.
On defense, Jonathan likes Trotman a lot. I am going to defer in this category here because it is a large amount of players coming from all over with very high pedigrees. Competition here will only benefit the good of the order as far as a team perspective.
Finally, DeSmith and Jarry are going to probably split starts the first 10 games of the season and Pittsburgh’s management will leave the decision of who the number one starter will be here in Wilkes-Barre up to Clark Donatelli and his staff here. I would not want to be him in making that decision because it is going to be extremely tough with all of the firepower up front and the stacked blue line playing ahead of either Casey or Tristan.
Tyler had thoughts on Day 1 and Day 2. When he posts Day 3, I will edit it in.
Penguins host the Hershey Bears in preseason action Wednesday night. I would be very interested in seeing who plays in that contest.
In case you are new here, I don’t go full bore in setting up or recapping preseason action. I’ll be at the game and there will be a brief recap of the action and who stood out, who didn’t, etc. Penguins host Binghamton Friday before bussing down to Hershey Saturday and then up to Bingo Sunday.
So but for anything breaking here Wednesday morning / afternoon, check out the blog again Wednesday night after the first preseason game for a recap.
Riley Bourbonnais: Penguins signed him to an AHL contract over the summer. RPI product. Had a cup of coffee with Wheeling last year.
Jarrett Burton: Re-signed by the Penguins this summer. Was a depth guy last year, expect a big camp from him should he hope to stick around full time in 2017-18.
Cam Brown: Natick, Mass native who played 9 games and scored 3-4-7 after 34 games with the Maine Black Bears in the NCAA. Looks like a setup guy, he had 35 assists for Maine last year.
Hunter Fejes: Signed to an ECHL contract with Wheeling this past summer. had 18-20-38 with the Rapid City Rush last year.
Reid Gardiner: Penguins fans remember him as the guy that they signed last season who was released back to Kelowna of the WHL. Wilkes-Barre re-signed him again this summer and there is no going back to juniors for Gardiner, who had gaudy numbers (18-19-37) with Kelowna in 28 gamess.
Ryan Haggerty: Doesn’t need much of an introduction. Played a third / fourth line role with the Penguins last year. Has a big shot which he didn’t really use much last year.
Troy Josephs: Entering his first year pro and is looking to live up to the 20-13-33 he put up at Clarkson University last season. I don’t feel like he will be in competition for a spot, but if you sit and think about it for a while he may be.
Tom Kostopoulos: Only question is whether or not this is his final year.
Daniel Leavens: Robert Morris product signed with Wheeling late last year and then re-signed with the Nailers over the summer. 8 points in 7 games for the Nailers last year.
Pat McGrath: Doesn’t need an introduction. My big interest in him is whether he puts up more points since hockey is killing fighting.
Tom Mele: Second oldest player in camp. Mele is 31 and played 40 games with the Cincinnati Cyclones last year. He’s won a Central League championship with Fort Wayne when the Komets were in the CHL and an Kelly Cup Championship with Alaska.
Shawn O’Donnell: Mele plays LW and they have O’Donnell listed as a RW. He played 47 games with Cincinnati last year also, I wonder if they were linemates?
Justin Parizek: He attended a development camp with the Vancouver Canucks. He served as captain of the Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks last year. Researching him finds he is a two-way winger. He’s smart too, had a 3.79 GPA in college.
Gage Quinney: Wilkes-Barre signed him in August. 44 points in 45 games for Wheeling last year. Does he stick or go down to Wheeling?
Kenny Ryan: Went from San Diego in the AHL, to Cincinnati to Indy in the ECHL. I don’t think he is signed anywhere, so it may be a tryout of sorts for him for the Nailers or someone else.Shawn Rine corrected me on this to inform that Ryan is actually signed by the Nailers.
Nick Sorkin: Sorkin played three games with Wilkes-Barre last season. He captained the Nailers last year, where he played 57 games.
Cody Wydo: Another Wheeling reinforcement that the Penguins called on last season. He, like Sorkin, appeared in three games for Wilkes-Barre.
Defensemen
Danny Fick: Nailers re-signed Fick over the summer where he played 69 games for them. He also appeared in two games for the San Antonio Rampage.
Dan Milan: He was in camp last year. Nailers signed him for 2017-18. 73 PIMs for ECHL Fort Wayne last year.
Matt Petgrave: Played college in New Brunswick last year and then five games with Brampton.
Kevin Schulze: Another Wheeling signee in camp with Wilkes-Barre. 68 games last year for the Nailers, 60 points. Had one game with teh Penguins.
Craig Skudalski: Here is your local connection besides Pat McGrath. Skudalski is a Wyoming, PA native. He bounced around in the lower levels of the minor leagues with Roanoke of the Southern League and Danbury of the Federal League.
Kevin Spinozzi: Captained the Sarnia Sting of the OHL last year. 41 points in 58 games. Not signed anywhere, so he’s looking for a good first impression.
Jeff Taylor: Up to this point, every defenseman I listed feels like a warm body until the regulars filter down from Pittsburgh. Taylor isn’t one of them. He had 6 games with Wilkes-Barre last year and is heading into his first pro season. Those reinforcements will get here soon enough, Taylor wants to make a case that he belongs in that top six defensive pairing among them.
Dylan Zink: Same as Taylor. Will be interesting to watch the competition between the two at camp and in exhibition games.
Goaltenders
Sean Maguire: Most likely Wheeling’s number one goalie again this season with DeSmith – Jarry pegged as the opening night duo. Still though, he wants to make it a tougher decision than that.
Will King: Valencia, PA native played in Sweden’s third tier hockey league last year with OK numbers in 11 games (2.57 GAA, .915 SV%)
Colin Stevens: Wheeling’s other goalie, signed by the Nailers over the summer. 33 games split with Tulsa (24) and Manchester (9) of the ECHL last season.
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Nick and Obie held a two man advantage discussing some of the players invited to camp.
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So there you go. If you have something you’d like to add on any of these guys, please feel free in the comments below.
Tom Kostopoulos, Ryan Haggerty, Reid Gardiner, Gage Quinney, Dylan Zink, Jeff Taylor and goaltender Sean Maguire were sent down to Coal Street. Also released was Jordy Bellerive back to his junior team.
Wilkes-Barre should be announcing a schedule and roster for training camp very soon. There is a preseason game next Wednesday against Hershey, so look out for something soon.
Comments Off on First Round of Cuts
Posted by nafsnep on September 19, 2017
It’s probably a false headline because all of the roster cuts Pittsburgh made from its roster Monday were all players who they returned to their junior clubs. They were, Jan Drozg (Shawinigan Cataractes), Zachary Lauzon (Rouyn-Noranda Huskies), Connor Hall (Kitchener Rangers) and Alex D’Orio (Saint John Sea Dogs).
One junior player remains, and will actually play Tuesday night in Pittsburgh’s preseason game against Buffalo. His name is Jordy Bellerive, fresh off signing a three year entry level contract on Saturday.
Hershey signed five guys to PTOs. I thought at the time that they loaded up like Hershey always does but one name out of that quintet jumps out at me the most, the others are likely depth guys or heading to the Bears ECHL affiliate in South Carolina.
Matt Carey in case you were wondering, is the player that jumped out at me the most. He was good on a bad Hartford team last year. Put him on an offensive juggernaut like 11-time, watch out.
Comments Off on Rosters and Thirds
Posted by nafsnep on September 14, 2017
On Thursday afternoon, Pittsburgh announced its training camp roster. You can check out the roster here.
Nothing that jumps off the page, really. Rookie Jordy Bellerive impressed at this past weekends prospect tournament and earned the invite to the main camp. If you think he would be eligible for AHL work this year you’re wrong, he’s too young.
The other name is Sam Miletic, who could get a look in Wilkes-Barre if signed. Here’s Mike O’Brien with more…
Keeping an eye on 20-yo Sam Miletic. Had 37 Gs with London last year. Was at dev camp, rookie tournament. Now getting a look at the big camp https://t.co/txQt2BYiyJ
Big time signing here. Thomas co-led the Bears in goals with 24 last season, 12 coming on the power play which was fifth overall in the AHL in that department.
For a team like the Penguins in desperate need it seems every year of a power play punch, the Thomas signing shores up that doubt for a team which is improved in defense and forward. Mind you, the Pens won the regular season overall, so it is shaping up like the Penguins may be as good or better than last season, if that is even conceivable.
It’s an AHL contract for Thomas in case you were wondering. It may be a bit of a surprise to some that Thomas went to the middle of September to be signed by a team. He most likely was looking for full time NHL work but with camps opening this week took the next best option in signing with a good AHL team in Wilkes-Barre.
WBS News
Chirps from Center Ice 