Chirps from Center Ice

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

AHL Power Rankings: Week 1

2 Comments Posted by on October 17, 2016

It’s the first weekend of AHL hockey for the 2016-17 season and the Week 1 AHL Power Rankings are due.

If you are new to this, it’s one guys attempt at ranking all the AHL teams, 1-30. It runs all season on Monday at 4 p.m. most times, right here on the blog.

In this weeks version, the defending champs sit at the top of the mountain after raising a banner and beating a division rival.

The Eastern Conference runner ups and their closest competition are 2 and 3 this week.

Every team played a game this week except for the Bakersfield Condors, who are ranked, you just have to find them.

I won’t keep you. The Rankings begin after the jump if you didn’t link in direct.

Read more of this post

Power Rankings

It’s Always Sunny on Opening Night — Pens WIN 6-2

1 Comment Posted by on October 15, 2016

button_hfd200          vs.          WBS

2                                              6

–

Welcome back.

For the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins, this was about as complete a game you will find.

Yes, I realize it is the first game, but these points matter as much in October as they do in January when you are slogging with half of your offense either hurt or on recall and defenders coming in on PTO’s and a bus load of Wheeling guys playing on a Wednesday night in Wilkes-Barre.

Penguins win this one 6-2. All of the players you come to expect to have big games did. Jake Guentzel had a four point night (1-3-4) but Oskar Sundqvist stole the show. Easily the best player on the ice by far tonight, Sundqvist was making all the plays you would expect of someone that spent the late part of last season in the NHL and in playoffs.

It was what appeared to be a knee on knee hit by Tanner Glass that took Sundqvist out of the game in the second period. He returned for the start of the third but went back to the room and was not seen the rest of the night when the game was already well decided for the Penguins. Penguins head coach Clark Donatelli on Sundqvist’s status…

–

Penguins are back in action next Friday when they host the Springfield Falcons Thunderbirds.

Tristan Jarry opposed Mackenzie Skapski.

Lines were…

Jake Guentzel – Carter Rowney – Tom Kostopoulos
Dominik Simon – Kevin Porter – J-S Dea
Scott Wilson – Oskar Sundqvist – Josh Archibald
Patrick McGrath – Sahir Gill – Ryan Haggerty

Cameron Gaunce – Chad Ruhwedel
Stuart Percy – Steve Oleksy
David Warsofsky – Tim Erixon

Tristan Jarry – Casey DeSmith

First Period: Relentless pressure to open by the Penguins. Josh Archibald scored the first goal of the season for the Penguins with a nifty backhand after he snuck past the Hartford defenders who were out of whack the whole night by their own right.

There were a lot of unsung heroes in this game and Tristan Jarry was one of them. He won’t garner much attention because of the offensive explosion put on by the Penguins tonight but his saves kept his team in the game when they needed him to. Example: After the Penguins scored, Hartford broke in on a 3-on-1 and Jarry closed the door on them and made the save. What could have been a back and forth offensive affair just wasn’t because of the key saves made by Jarry throughout the night.

Penguins were skating the Wolf Pack in circles. It was really refreshing and fun to see.

Jarry was needed again when he stopped a Marek Hrivik breakaway after a giveaway by Dominik Simon.

Later, after a successful Penguins penalty kill, Nicolas Jensen put home an excellent turnaround shot that beat Jarry that tied the game at one.

The period ended tied, but don’t let the scoreline fool you, the Penguins dominated the period but were beat by a great shot by Jensen that made it look closer than it appeared heading into the…

Second Period: Pens stepped on the gas and accelerated away from the Wolf Pack and put the game away.

Carter Rowney on the power play. Perfect screen by Ryan Haggerty and great shot by Carter putting the puck where the goalie can’t see it. 2-1 Wilkes-Barre / Scranton.

Oskar Sundqvist with an excellent power move that made it 3-1. Stuart Percy spinned off of a Hartford defender, fed Sundqvist who went straight to the crease and backhanded one in past Skapski for a 3-1 lead. Sundqvist went to the dirty area and cashed.

Sundqvist would later leave the game after a nasty collision with Tanner Glass. Here is slow motion video I took of the hit on Sundqvist by Glass off of AHL Live Sunday morning…

–

Knee on knee? No penalty was called on the play. Will the Penguins send tape to the League for discipline? Remains to be seen.

Anyway, immediately after that series of events, watch Jake Guentzel score this goal.

–

I mean, seriously?

Pens could have responded with another fight, hung their heads or started making errors. Guentzel literally takes the puck off of the face off, skates in, its tripped, shoots in mid-air and while tumbling to the ice and scores to make it 4-1 Penguins and essentially ices the game away right there.

Third Period: Oskar Sundqvist returned to the game and played a bit in the third period before being taken off the ice when the game was already decided.

Period started with another big save by Jarry. He makes the initial save, leaves a rebound and gets over in time to deny the Wolf Pack a goal.

J-S Dea would find the back of the net on a defection of a Tim Erixon shot that made it 5-1 Penguins.

Patrick McGrath fought Tanner Glass for the hit earlier on Sundqvist:

–

That was McGrath’s second fight of the game and in today’s AHL that gets you ejected. McGrath has 8 more fights now before he is suspended.

I don’t like this rule. It totally allows for stuff like what happened to Sundqvist to go unanswered. You want to make the game safer? Call a penalty on Glass for the hit on Sundqvist (there wasn’t) and get Glass out of the game as soon as the hit happens. Fine and suspend for dangerous play. But no, police the game the wrong way by telling Patrick McGrath that he can no longer defend the valor of his teammates because he has fought twice in the game.

And if you are going to tell me that McGrath has no place in the game, I will tell you that Patrick himself had a hell of a showing for himself. He forechecked, caused turnovers and was generally raising (legal) hell out there tonight.

McGrath on his night and whether he knows about the 10 fight rule…

–

David Warsofsky scored on a power play that made it 6-1 Penguins. Wilkes-Barre was perfect on the penalty kill tonight (6/6) and perfect on the power play (2/2)

Tristan Jarry let in a late one on a lucky sequence featuring Matt Carey. Carey had a breakaway, Jarry made the initial stop. The puck hit the post back to Carey who banked the puck off of Jarry and in to make it a 6-2 game.

–

Three Stars: 3) Oskar Sundqvist (goal, assist, +2) 2) Carter Rowney (goal, assist, even) and 1) Jake Guentzel (goal, three assists, +3)

Around the Division: Bridgeport beat Providence 2-1 in their home opener. The P-Bruins are a surprising 0-2 to start the season…Binghamton shuts out Hershey 3-0 in their home opener. The Bears are an even more surprising 0-2….Lehigh Valley beats Springfield 4-2 in game that featured 15 power plays.

Standings: Pens / Wolf Pack and Phantoms will all lead the division with two points a piece. Everyone else is sitting on a big zero.

Wheeling Update: The Nailers lost in their home opener 3-2 in overtime to the Brampton Beast. I will link the box once the ECHL gremlins work their way out.

Video Highlights: 

–

Pens are in action next Friday. I will have the Week 1 AHL Power Rankings on the blog Monday at 4, a new feature called the “Wheeling Wrap” on Tuesday at noon and any newsworthy bits on the blog during the week.

Let’s Go Pens!

Postgamer

RAPID RECAP – Pens WIN 6-2

Comments Off on RAPID RECAP – Pens WIN 6-2 Posted by on October 15, 2016

The Penguins, boasting what will probably be their best lineup put forth all season due to inevitable call ups and injuries, completely obliterate the Hartford Wolf Pack by a score of 6-2. 

Power play scored twice, penalty kill was perfect. 

More in a bit. 

Rapid Recap

GAMEDAY: vs. Hartford 10/15

Comments Off on GAMEDAY: vs. Hartford 10/15 Posted by on October 15, 2016

vs.     hfd

–

–

Home Game: 1

AHL Game: 22

Who: Hartford Wolf Pack

Where: Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza

When: 7:05 p.m.

Media Kit

Last Game: This is the first game of the season for the Penguins. For Hartford, the Wolf Pack opened their season at home last night against St. John’s and won 6-3. 12 different Wolf Pack players recorded at least a point in the game.

Record: For WBS: First game of the season — For HFD: 1-0-0-0 (2 pts., 1st place Atlantic Division)

Why you should care: Penguins open their eighteenth season at home against the Hartford Wolf Pack. The Penguins boast a revamped defensive corps and have some firepower up front. Should be a good early test for both teams tonight in Wilkes-Barre.

Referee(s): David Banfield / Guillaume Labonte

Linesmen: Matt McNulty / Luke Murray

Twitter: @wbspenguins  and @WBSGameDay / @WolfPackAHL

Facebook:  /WilkesBarreScrantonPenguins // /HartfordWolfPack

Instagram: wbspenguins / hartford_wolfpack

Beat Writers: @CVSethLakso and @TLTomVenesky / @HowlingsToday

Broadcasters: For WBS: Mike O’Brien @MikeOBrienWBS and Nick Hart @_NickHart // For HFD: Bob Crawford  @HawkCrawford

Fan Bloggers: @nafsnep

Radio: For WBS: WILK NewsRadio / For Hartford: Fox Sports Radio 1410

Television: AHL Live / WYOU TV in Wilkes-Barre

Promotion(s): Opening Night, Geisinger Health System 2016-17 Season Magnetic Schedule (First 5,000)

Other Game to Watch: How good are the Phantoms going to be? They kickoff their campaign at home against the new look Springfield Thunderbirds.

Next Five Games: SPR 10/21, SYR 10/22, @ HER 10/23, ALB 10/26, @ SPR 10/29

Gameday

Did You Pay the Gardiner?

Comments Off on Did You Pay the Gardiner? Posted by on October 13, 2016

Well, the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins did.

Thursday afternoon, Coal Street announced the signing of Reid Gardiner to an AHL contract for this season.

When I previewed the training cap roster about two weeks ago, I had this to say about Gardiner…

Reid Gardiner – Played with Prince Albert Raiders in the WHL last season. 92 points last year for the Raiders in 71 games. Big strong kid who works hard, is good on the puck and not a defensive liability. Could be a diamond in the rough type player.

Admittedly, it was a shot in the dark by me. We’ve seen several players come in from juniors with gaudy numbers come and go around here. But something about 90 points in juniors isn’t anything to sneeze at.

–

Now to see if Gardiner can produce when it counts.

Here were the lines in practice today…

–

Yes, that’s Josh Archibald on the third line wing. He practiced today and could play this weekend.

The AHL Previews are out. Scroll down on the blog if you missed them.

May not have any news Friday. If not, the game day setup for the home opener against Hartford hits the blog Saturday afternoon at 3.

WBS

Atlantic Division Preview

2 Comments Posted by on October 13, 2016

ahl14_200

–

On the final day of the 2016-17 Chirps from Center Ice AHL Previews, we find ourselves in familiar territory. It’s the Atlantic Division and the division where the Penguins will play the most amount of games. The only changes here is the old Portland Pirates team being sold to the Florida Panthers and their relocating the prospects to AHL League Headquarters residing in Springfield, Massachusetts. In keeping with yesterday’s North Division, home games for the Penguins are listed in bold.

eastconf

15atlantic

–

14bri_500

NHL Affiliation: New York Islanders

Record: 40-29-4-3 (87 pts., 5th place Atlantic Division)

Playoffs: Played as the five seed out of the Atlantic Division on account of having a higher points percentage than fourth place Syracuse in the North Division and were swept by the Toronto Marlies in the North Division Semifinals.

Head Coach: Brent Thompson

Arena: Webster Bank Arena

ECHL Affiliation: Missouri Mavericks

Offseason Moves: Kellen Jones

The Case For: In this division, with the caliber of teams in it, I’m not finding one.

The Case Against: Please keep reading.

Media Coverage: The Great Mike Fornabaio for the Connecticut Post

Twitter: @TheSoundTigers

Facebook: /soundtigers

Instagram: soundtigers

Broadcaster: Alan Fuehring

vs. WBS: 11/5, 11/18, 11/25, 11/26, 12/11, 4/15

—

14hfd_500

NHL Affiliation: New York Rangers

Record: 41-32-3-0 (85 pts., 6th place Atlantic Division)

Playoffs: Did not qualify.

Head Coach: Ken Gernander

Arena: XL Center

ECHL Affiliation: Greenville Swamp Rabbits

Offseason Moves: Michael Paliotta, Philip McRae, Matt Carey, Sean Sullivan

The Case For: Solid veteran signings made by Hartford here.

The Case Against: Four teams make the playoffs. Pennsylvania is a lock. That leaves room for one more team. Is Hartford it?

Media Coverage: Mitch Beck for the blog Howlings Today

Twitter: @WolfPackAHL

Facebook: /HartfordWolfPack

Instagram: hartford_wolfpack

Broadcaster: Bob Crawford

vs. WBS: 10/15, 11/13, 12/14, 1/3, 3/5, 3/10, 3/21, 4/8

—

14her_500

NHL Affiliation: Washington Capitals

Record: 43-21-5-7 (98 pts., 1st place Atlantic Division)

Playoffs: Played as the one seed playing out of the Atlantic Division and were swept by the Lake Erie Monsters in the Calder Cup Finals.

Head Coach: Troy Mann

Arena: Giant Center

ECHL Affiliation: South Carolina Stingrays

Offseason Moves: Hubert Labrie, Dominic Monardo, Joe Cannata, Darren Dietz, Christian Thomas

The Case For: Bears return the Bourque brothers in Ryan and Chris, Zach Sill, along with these solid signings. The Bears are the division champion favorites until another team comes and knocks them off.

The Case Against: Is this an upgraded Bears team that got swept by the Monsters in the Calder Cup Finals or baseline upgrades to a team in whose in-state rivals upgraded big time?

Media Coverage: Kyle Mace for the blog Chocolate Hockey

Twitter: @TheHersheyBears

Facebook: /TheHersheyBears

Instagram: thehersheybears

Broadcaster: Zack Fisch

vs. WBS: 10/23, 11/19, 11/23, 12/9, 12/10, 1/6, 1/8, 1/18, 1/21, 2/10, 3/4, 4/14

—

14lv_500

NHL Affiliation: Philadelphia Flyers

Record: 34-35-4-3 (75 pts., 7th place Atlantic Division)

Playoffs: Did not qualify.

Head Coach: Scott Gordon

Arena: PPL Center

ECHL Affiliation: Reading Royals

Offseason Moves: T.J. Brennan, Will O’Neill, Andy Miele, Greg Carey

The Case For: Brennan and Miele were 1-2 in the offseason AHL Big Board ran here on the blog in the summer. The Phantoms can’t mess up the season with these all-stars can they?

The Case Against: If history is any indicator, Lehigh Valley will find a way to mess things up and be irrelevant by January.

Media Coverage: Stephen Gross for The Morning Call and @KRAM209 for The Horn and Bell blog.

Twitter: @LVPhantoms

Facebook: /LehighValleyPhantoms

Instagram: lehighvalleyphantoms

Broadcaster: Bob Rotruck

vs. WBS: 11/16, 1/20, 2/4, 2/14, 2/25, 3/8, 3/17, 3/18, 3/25, 4/1, 4/7, 4/12

—

14pro_500

NHL Affiliation: Boston Bruins

Record: 41-22-9-4 (95 pts., 2nd place Atlantic Division)

Playoffs: Played as the two seed out of the Atlantic Division and were swept in three games by the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins in the Atlantic Division Semifinals.

Head Coach: Kevin Dean

Arena: Dunkin’ Donuts Center

ECHL Affiliation: Atlanta Gladiators

Offseason Moves: Alex Grant, Anton Khudobin, Tim Schaller

The Case For: Veteran defense and goaltender added to the mix for Kevin Dean. Bruins have been around for a bit, but this feels like a dawning of a new era in Providence.

The Case Against: We’ll believe the hype when we see the Bruins in the second of the playoffs.

Media Coverage: Mark Divver for the Providence Journal

Twitter: @AHLBruins

Facebook: /providencebruins

Instagram: ahlbruins

Broadcaster: Craig Durham

vs. WBS: 11/6, 11/12, 12/30, 2/19, 3/11, 4/9

—

16spr_500

NHL Affiliation: Florida Panthers

Record: 41-27-6-2 (90 pts., 4th place Atlantic Division playing as the Portland Pirates)

Playoffs: As the Portland Pirates and playing as a four seed out of the Atlantic Division, lost in five games to the Hershey Bears in the Atlantic Division Semifinals.

Head Coach: Geordie Kinnear

Arena: MassMutual Center

ECHL Affiliation: None.

Offseason Moves: Ryan Horvat

The Case For: Should be a better campaign for Springfield fans as Florida moves their prospects in. Panthers have been trending upwards, so maybe the Thunderbirds can play upset.

The Case Against: Healthy doses of Providence, Hershey, Wilkes-Barre and we’ll go ahead and throw Lehigh Valley in for the Thunderbirds can’t bode well for Springfield’s playoff chances.

Media Coverage: MassLive.com

Twitter: @thunderbirdsahl

Facebook: /thunderbirdsahl

Instagram: thunderbirdsahl

Broadcaster: Ryan Smith

vs. WBS: 10/21, 10/29, 12/17, 12/27, 2/18, 3/31

—

14wbs_500

NHL Affiliation: Pittsburgh Penguins

Record: 43-27-4-2 (92 pts., 3rd place Atlantic Division)

Playoffs: Playing as the three seed out of the Atlantic Division, lost in overtime in Game Seven in the Atlantic Division Finals to the Hershey Bears.

Head Coach: Clark Donatelli

Arena: Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza

ECHL Affiliation: Wheeling Nailers

Offseason Moves: Stuart Percy, Cameron Gaunce, Chad Ruhwedel, Garrett Wilson, Thomas DiPauli, Ryan Haggerty

The Case For: Deepest blue line in the division, if not the conference, if not in all of the AHL. Penguins will win a lot because the other team may not score.

The Case Against: Shallowest forward corps in the division. Beyond the top two lines, who will score? Penguins may not win a lot because they can’t score.

Media Coverage: The best in the business. Seth Lakso for the Citizens Voice, Tom Venesky for the Times Leader, and you know who for you know what blog. Probably the most covered AHL team in the league with two daily newspapers and a full time blog covering the team from every angle.

Twitter: @WBSPenguins

Facebook: /WilkesBarreScrantonPenguins

Instagram: wbspenguins

Broadcaster: Mike O’Brien with Nick Hart on color.

—

If you have a team going Friday, good luck. Pens open their eighteenth season Saturday at home against Hartford. The Gameday setup for that will hit the blog Saturday afternoon at 3.

The AHL

North Division Preview

Comments Off on North Division Preview Posted by on October 12, 2016

ahl14_200

–

Rolling right along here on Preview Week here on the blog and today we find ourselves in the North Division. We looked at the Pacific Division on Monday and the Central Division Tuesday. Today, we find ourselves in a more familiar territory.

eastconf

15north

No affiliation changes for any teams in this division. The Penguins play everyone in this division at least twice, once home and once away. Home games will be listed in bold.

Let’s get started.

14alb_500

NHL Affiliation: New Jersey Devils

Record: 46-20-8-2 (102 pts., 2nd place North Division)

Playoffs: Played as the two seed out of the North Division and lost in seven games to the Toronto Marlies in the North Division Finals.

Head Coach: Rick Kowalsky

Arena: Times Union Center

ECHL Affiliation: None.

Offseason Moves: Carter Camper, Andrew MacWilliam, Karl Stollery, Brian Gibbons

The Case For: This Devils team put up 102 points last season and if they were playing in any other division they would have won that division. Expect Albany to contend again this season.

The Case Against: I think the Devils biggest obstacle this season is the same team that knocked them out of the playoffs last year, Toronto.

Media Coverage: Pete Dougherty for Albany Times Union and Tracey Lake for the blog Thoughts Inside the Box.

Twitter: @AlbanyDevils

Facebook: /AlbanyDevils

Instagram: albanydevils

Broadcaster: Josh Heller

vs. WBS: 10/26, 2/17

—

14bng_500

NHL Affiliation: Ottawa Senators

Record: 31-38-6-1 (69 pts., 7th place North Division)

Playoffs: Did not qualify.

Head Coach: Kurt Kleinendorst

Arena: Floyd L. Maines Veterans Memorial Arena

ECHL Affiliation: Wichita Thunder

Offseason Moves: Chad Nehring, Mike Blunden

The Case For: Ottawa brought back and Binghamton re-signed a lot of key contributors for the B-Sens last season while adding Nehring and Blunden. Sens should be more competitive this season.

The Case Against: Goaltending has to improve vastly or else it will be another long season on the Southern Tier.

Media Coverage: Matt Weinstein for The Ithaca Journal

Twitter: @SenatorsAHL

Facebook: /binghamtonsenators

Instagram: senatorsahl

Broadcaster: Grady Whittenburg

vs. WBS: 11/4, 12/26, 12/31, 1/7, 1/28, 2/11

—

14rch_500

NHL Affiliation: Buffalo Sabres

Record: 34-38-3-1 (72 pts., 6th place North Division)

Playoffs: Did not qualify.

Head Coach: Dan Lambert

Arena: Blue Cross Arena

ECHL Affiliation: Elmira Jackals

Offseason Moves: Justin Falk, Erik Burgdoerfer, Taylor Fedun, Derek Grant, Tyson Strachan

The Case For: See above. The incoming crop of signings made by parent Buffalo, should they make it down to Rochester, should bolster the Amerks into a contending team in 2016-17.

The Case Against: John Muse better eat his Wheaties. Amerks fans can’t be too confident in any combination of Jason Kasdorf and / or Linus Ullmark in goal for any extended period of time.

Media Coverage: Kevin Oklobzijia for the Democrat and Chronicle

Twitter: @AmerksHockey

Facebook: /RochesterAmericans

Instagram: amerkshockey

Broadcaster: Don Stevens

vs. WBS: 12/16, 1/13

—

15stj_500

NHL Affiliation: Montreal Canadiens

Record: 32-33-8-3 (75 pts., 5th place North Division)

Playoffs: Did not qualify.

Head Coach: Sylvain Lefebvre

Arena: Mile One Centre

ECHL Affiliation: Brampton Beast

Offseason Moves: Zach Redmond, Philip Samuelsson, Jeremie Blain

The Case For: Solid defensive signings made by St. John’s here should help the IceCaps this season.

The Case Against: St. John’s was a mediocre team in a division filled with heavyweights. Don’t expect that to change this season.

Media Coverage: Brendan McCarthy for the St. John’s Telegram

Twitter: @IceCapsAHL

Facebook: /stjohnsicecaps

Instagram: stjohnsicecaps

Broadcaster: Brian Rogers – only broadcaster in the AHL who is not on Twitter and this is a shame. Rogers would be an instant classic.

vs. WBS: 12/3, 12/4, 2/3, 2/8

—

14syr_500

NHL Affiliation: Tampa Bay Lightning

Record: 32-29-11-4 (75 pts., 4th place North Division)

Playoffs: Did not qualify. Were beat out by the Bridgeport Sound Tigers for the crossover spot, on percentage points.

Head Coach: Benoit Groulx

Arena: Oncenter War Memorial Arena

ECHL Affiliation: Kalamazoo Wings

Offseason Moves: Adam Comrie, Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond, Gabriel Dumont, Mike Halmo, Jeremy Morin, Michael Bournival

The Case For: I like these offseason signings made by Syracuse, which got beat out on percentage points due to a silly crossover postseason rule last season. Syracuse can push Albany and Utica for the top team in New York.

The Case Against: After Kristers Gudlevskis in goal the Crunch have Adam Wilcox and Nic Riopel in goal. Gudlevskis better be built for 40+ starts this year.

Media Coverage: Lindsay Kramer for The Post-Standard and Brandon Curtis for the blog Raw Charge

Twitter: @SyracuseCrunch

Facebook: /syracusecrunch

Instagram: syracusecrunch

Broadcaster: Dan D’Uva

vs. WBS: 10/22, 10/30, 1/14, 1/16, 1/25, 3/24

—

16tor_500

NHL Affiliation: Toronto Maple Leafs

Record: 54-16-5-1 (114 pts., 1st place North Division)

Playoffs: Played as the one seed out of the North Division and lost in five games to the Hershey Bears in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Head Coach: Sheldon Keefe

Arena: Ricoh Coliseum

ECHL Affiliation: Orlando Solar Bears

Offseason Moves: Marc-Andre Cliche, Colin Smith, Spencer Asuchak

The Case For: Pencil Toronto in as another playoff contender. You just don’t fall off after putting up a league best 114 points last season.

The Case Against: Said this about Albany and will bring it back here, the biggest threat for the Marlies may be Albany. Also, the way Hershey disposed of Toronto in the playoffs may give teams a blueprint on how to solve this Marlies machine.

Media Coverage: Kyle Cicerella for The Canadian Press

Twitter: @TorontoMarlies

Facebook: /TorontoMarlies

Instagram: torontomarlies

Broadcaster: Todd Crocker

vs. WBS: 11/11, 1/11

—

14uti_500

NHL Affiliation: Vancouver Canucks

Record: 38-26-8-4 (88 pts., 3rd place North Division)

Playoffs: Played as the three seed out of the North Division and lost in four games to the Albany Devils in the North Division Semifinals.

Head Coach: Travis Green

Arena: Utica Memorial Auditorium

ECHL Affiliation: Alaska Aces

Offseason Moves: Derek Hulak, Jayson Megna, Michael Chaput, Borna Rendulic

The Case For: Call the offseason signings made by Vancouver / Utica an upgrade.

The Case Against: Are these upgrades enough to contend with Albany / Toronto and enough to collect maximum points out of rival Syracuse? Maybe, but consistently?

Media Coverage: Ben Birnell for The Observer-Dispatch

Twitter: @UticaComets

Facebook: /UticaComets

Instagram: uticacomets

Broadcaster: Andy Zilch

vs. WBS: 1/27, 2/24, 3/26, 4/2

—

—

Back to wrap it up tomorrow with the Atlantic Division Previews Thursday at noon.

The AHL

← Older posts

Newer posts →