Comments Off on Weekend Preview – Local Runs
Posted by nafsnep on December 27, 2024
Hard to believe it’s the end of the year and 2025 is nearly upon us.
For the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins, it’s walking into the final weekend of 2024 in a fairly better position then they were last season, in third place with 33 pointsand currently six points off first place Hershey with five games in hand.
So let’s set up the weekend.
Music to Set the Mood…
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I ran it last year in this same spot and for as long as I continue this silly little project it shall continue. Happy New Year.
A Quote…
This is a new year. A new beginning. And things will change.
– Taylor Swift
The Setup
A rematch against Lehigh Valley and Hershey. Home Friday and on the road Saturday.
The Penguins were shutout at home 3-0 to the Toronto Marlies on Wednesday, had the Friday off then throttled the Lehigh Valley Phantoms 7-2 Saturday and then shutout the Hershey Bears 1-0 on Sunday.
The Phantoms had won four straight before coming to Wilkes-Barre and beat Toronto 7-2 the night before (Friday) after being Providence at home on Wednesday in overtime.
Hershey has been struggling of late, due to some injuries and callups to Washington and saw their double digit lead on the Atlantic Division reduced to a few points this week with gains made by Charlotte, Providence and the Penguins.
The Bears had the entire week off and hosted the Toronto Marlies on Saturday. Toronto, coming into their third game in four days and after a curb stomping in Allentown the night before, turned the tide and put seven on the board in Hershey and won 7-3.
Then Sunday’s 1-0 setback to the Penguins.
Records
The Penguins are 16-8-1 and as stated above are in third place in the Atlantic Division with 33 pointsand currently six points off first place Hershey with five games in hand.
Lehigh Valley is 12-11-4-1, good for 29 points and sixth place in the Atlantic.
Hershey remains the division leader for now with a 18-9-3 record, good for 39 points.
Who’s Up? Who’s Down? Who’s Out?
Nate Clurman went up for the injured Owen Pickering. Mac Hollowell will be playing in the Spengler Cup this weekend in Davos, Switzerland. Sam Poulin took warmups Saturday but was a mystery scratch. Valtteri Puustinen was injured Saturday.
Right as this post was set to publish, Coal Street recalled forward Jagger Joshua and defenseman Mats Lindgren from Wheeling and signed defenseman David Drake out of Wheeling to a PTO. Read into that what you will. The Transaction Tracker page was updated. If you see anything incorrect or askew with it, please let me know.
I think they are still good. They are insulated because of all the firepower they have up front and on defense. But that’s starting to erode a bit on them as it does with any other team. It’s happening in Hershey, Charlotte and other places. Despite what you think, it doesn’t just happen here.
What can we learn about the Penguins this week?
Pretty much you are the better team against the Phantoms so you should have two more points against what’s probably going to be a surly Phantoms team which will be out for revenge. But Wilkes-Barre scored three power play goals last Saturday with relative ease.
Hershey is always the target. Don’t expect the same result against the Bears because they are extremely well coached and oh yeah, back to back champions.
As long as the Penguins stay out of suspension worthy stuff against the Phantoms (I would think retribution is coming) and come out of that unscathed, they should be in good shape to make up ground on Hershey because of the head to head aspect and the fact they have played the fewest amount of games in the division and Hershey has played the most.
Who’s in Goal?
I don’t see any reason to go Blomqvist – Blomqvist here. It will probably be Filip Larsson on Friday and then Joel Blomqvist Saturday in Hershey, unless you want to flip it and do Blomqvist Friday and Larsson Saturday like they did last week.
Cal Petersen and Hunter Shepard for the opponents in that order and yeah, if that holds, it’s both clubs number ones.
Who’s Running the Show?
Wow! New refs! Liam Maaskant and Sydney Harris are here Friday with Patrick Dapuzzo and Chandler Yakimowicz on the lines.
Harris made ECHL history a few weeks ago as the first female referee in league history to officiate a game at that level. I have seen her name on other AHL games this season, so she’s acquainted with this level. Maaskant has an NHL contract.
Harrison O’Pray and Rob Hennessey are the crew Saturday with Tommy George and Richard Jondo on the lines. We’ve seen these dopes before.
Looking Ahead…
Friday, January 3 against the Charlotte Checkers and then Saturday at home against Hartford. Two tough opponents. Then they hit Canada for four games, but that’s for next week.
Give us a bold prediction…
Power play goals in each, Wilkes-Barre sweeps its way into 2025.
Comments Off on AHL Power Rankings — Week 11
Posted by nafsnep on December 23, 2024
So I shook things up a lot with this weeks version of the Chirps from Center Ice AHL Power Rankings.
First things first, the curse is very real and sorry Ontario Reign fans, you’re next on the list to get the number one spot in the Rankings after winning six straight and 9-1 in your last ten.
There is only one team (Calgary) left in the top five that wasn’t there last week. Brand new top five but for the Wranglers. Oh, and the Records are back! Let’s jump right in.
1. Ontario Reign
Last Week: 7th (up 6)
Record: 16-8
Sweep the Firebirds in a home and home series. The Reign have won six straight and are 9-1 in their last ten.
2. Calgary Wranglers
Last Week: 1st (down 1)
Record: 20-9-1
Uncharacteristically shutout at home to last place Henderson Sunday. When you have as big a lead as the Wranglers do, you can have a clunker every once in a while.
3. Tucson Roadrunners
Last Week: 18th (up 15)
Record: 16-10
Roadrunners have won six straight and are 8-2 in their last ten. Huge matchup looms this weekend at home against the Eagles.
4. Rochester Americans
Last Week: 8th (up 4)
Record: 17-9-3
Split with Syracuse and beat Cleveland. You take weeks like that if you are the Americans.
5. Chicago Wolves
Last Week: 12th (up 7)
Record: 14-9-2
Well look here, all of a sudden the Chicago Wolves are one of the hottest teams in the AHL. Points in eight straight and in a dead heat with Milwaukee for second in the Central, pursuing old IHL rival Grand Rapids.
Comments Off on Correct Hierarchy? — Pens WIN 1-0
Posted by nafsnep on December 22, 2024
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A couple weeks ago I openly questioned whether the right goalie was in Wheeling after questioning the play of Filip Larsson.
Well, I am wrong. They have the right hierarchy of goaltenders where they should be after a 1-0 win in Hershey Sunday afternoon and a 33 save shutout by Filip Larsson.
That’s Larsson’s third shutout and puts him in a seven way tie for the AHL lead with six other goaltenders.
Penguins take four out of possible six points out of the week, and close to within six points of the Bears with five games in hand on Hershey.
These teams will rematch this coming Saturday in Hershey.
Lineup Notes: Jonathan Gruden and Boko Imama for Valtteri Puustinen and Sam Poulin up front. No changes on defense. Back to the standard 12F/6D setup so that means no Justin Lee.
Defenseman Nikolai Knyzhov signed a standard players contract with the Penguins on Saturday.
Sam Poulin is day to day with an injury and Valtteri Puustinen has an upper body injury which needs to be evaluated. That, “needs to be evaluated” part is never a good thing.
First Period: Not a lot of shots. Boko Imama fought. I think that’s his fifth or sixth fight. Four more and he’s suspended a game. Bears had a later power play which carried over to the…
Second Period: Penguins got out of that penalty kill clean and received a bit of a charge under them as Tristan Broz cleaned up the loose change in front of Hunter Shepard’s net and scored his tenth goal of the season here:
The Broz, Ville Koivunen and Rutger McGroarty line was by far the best line of the night for the Penguins thus far, generating chance after chance.
Third Period: Penguins had a late power play to ice it away but couldn’t get anything going and then the Bears had an even later power play with Hunter Shepard pulled to tie it but the Penguins did not break and Larsson stood tall in net to preserve the lead and the win.
Three Stars: 3) Tristan Broz (goal) 2) Hunter Shepard (24 saves) 1) Filip Karsson (33 save shutout)
The Good: Nice to get a tough road win in Hershey, a place that has given the Penguins fits as of late, but they are now 2-0 in Giant Center this season.
The Bad: Let’s skip this, given the shutout win.
Turning Point: Seemed like there were a ton of them but that late penalty kill down two men gets it here as well as the win, most importantly.
Around the Division: Charlotte lays an egg at home against hapless Bridgeport and lose 4-1. The Checkers could have closed to within two points of Hershey’s lead in the division….Springfield loses 3-1 in Laval.
Standings: Hershey 39 – Charlotte 35 – Penguins and Providence 33 – Hartford and Lehigh Valley 29 – Springfield 27 – Bridgeport 16
Wheeling Update: Nailers lose in Kalamazoo 2-1. Taylor Gauthier took the loss with 28 saves. Peter Laviolette had the lone goal for the Nailers in the loss.
Video Highlights: Save for a few saves here and there, I don’t know what much else you could expect here but if I see them I will run the edit here.
Power Rankings Monday afternoon. Have a great holiday otherwise.
Comments Off on Ethan Ran a 5K, Then Scored A Touchdown — Pens WIN 7-2
Posted by nafsnep on December 21, 2024
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I suppose you can say that when it rains it pours.
But when it doesn’t rain, man.
A seven goal eruption for the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins in an extremely testy game between the two sides and a 7-2 win over the visiting Lehigh Valley Phantoms on Saturday night. In a game where there were nine goal scored and the highlights already up, I m going to run those here now:
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Oh, and in case you are wondering about the headline. I wore the allegedly cursed Ethan Prow Christmas sweater again but mixed it up with the Penguins 5K hat that I got for running this summer in (finished third in my age group and medaled, thanks) and apparently it broke the jinx. Do I wear it again when these two teams meet next Friday?
Lineup Notes: The Penguins lineup graphic was wrong. Sam Poulin did not dress in the game. He took warmups I was told but was a late scratch for Justin Lee. The Penguins went with 11 forwards and 7 defensemen.
Otherwise, as it stated, Sebastian Aho returned from injury as did Avery Hayes. Nate Clurman returned also and Boris Katchouk was in also. Boko Imama and Jonathan Gruden up front, Mats Lindgren all were out from Wednesday.
First Period: Wilkes-Barre scores two power play goals in the period from Emil Bemström and Tristan Broz and they were off and running. Those goals should be in the highlights package above.
Second Period: Boris Katchouk scored shorthanded to make it 3-0 off a nice feed from Marc Johnstone in the neutral zone.
Then Massimo Rizzo scored on the power play for the Phantoms. Here’s where you thought that the next goal would be huge.
The Penguins get that goal when a Joona Koppanen shot rings Parker Gahagen’s goal post but drops in front of March Johnstone who sweeps it in and it’s a 4-1 lead.
Seconds later, Corey Andonovski tips in a Mac Hollowell shot and it was 5-1.
It was at this point that the game was getting out of hand for the Phantoms who then started taking post whistle liberties. These two teams don’t respect one another at all. The Penguins and Bears respect each other to some extent. Lehigh Valley and Wilkes-Barre do not, in my opinion.
But it was a good thing that the AHL assigned one of its best referees, Jim Curtain, to handle the ensuing mess.
Third Period: Brandon Furry scores his first goal of the season shorthanded. Two shorthanded goals in the game, one for each team.
But soon after, Avery Hayes scores in his return from injury and it’s 6-2.
Jim Curtain said goodbye to the following players at the following times:
– Garrett Wilson and Filip Kral at 10:36
– Hunter McDonald, Mac Hollowell and Rutger McGroarty at 11:08
– Zayde Wisdom (from the bench) at 11:17
Six players, three a side. That’s how you prevent stuff from bubbling over.
Ville Koivunen scores a power play goal to kick the extra point, and then this happens:
Yes, that’s head coach Kirk MacDonald and Ian Laperriere getting into a verbal jousting match.
Laperriere has been out of his depth at this level for years. How he keeps getting brought back year after year is beyond me. Having to go up against Todd Nelson in Hershey and now Kirk MacDonald 12 times a year has to suck for the guy, but he had his team tied in points with MacDonald’s Penguins.
Anyway, a Saturday crowd of casuals loved it.
Three Stars: 3) Boris Katchouk (goal, two assists) 2) Corey Andonovski (goal, assist) 1) Emil Bemström (goal, two assists)
The Good: Nice to see them take the yardstick out and beat the crap out of a rival.
The Bad: Out of all those penalty minutes, 132 minutes in total, no one was credited with a fighting major.
Turning Point: The Andonovski goal that put the lead back to four gets it here. Lehigh Valley was out of it and yo could see that with all the pushing and shoving.
Standings: Hershey 39 – Charlotte 35 – Providence 33 – Penguins 31 – Hartford and Lehigh Valley 29 – Springfield 27 – Bridgeport 14
Wheeling Update: Nailers had their long winning streak stopped in Toledo Friday but start a new one Saturday after a 5-2 win over the Walleye. Sergei Murashov stopped 34. Sam Houde had a pair of goals. Matty De St. Phalle had two assists.
Video Highlights: Pay attention! I gave them to you above!
Wednesday night? A 3-0 shutout loss to the Toronto Marlies. Sure, they had Matt Murray (yeah, that one) tending the nets for the Marlies but it’s a ridiculous trend that if a player on the Penguins doesn’t score a hat trick, it results in a shutout. All or nothing, if it were.
I don’t really have much to offer you here on a work night. They were in it until 8:00 into the second period when Roni Hirvonen scored on a rocket of a shot ticketed for the roof of the net that Joel Blomqvist was tending for the Penguins and Toronto was off to the races.
Alex Steeves added a second goal about six minutes later. There was a Toronto player in the crease but not impeding Blomqvist enough. I thought referees Mason Riley and Adam Tobias were fine, they let them play and only awarded three power plays all night.
Toronto is quick and by that I mean quickest team I have seen all season quick.
But so to to some extent are the Penguins and it felt like a heavyweight bout out there and likely was.
I am filling up space when I shouldn’t be. Penguins had some brief leftover third period power play time to work with but were unsuccessful. Fraser Minten put the proverbial nail in the proverbial coffin at 15:18 when he scored to make it 3-0.
It wasn’t like the shots from the offensive weapons weren’t getting through, Emil Bemström had five, Vasiliy Ponomarev had six. Filip Kral was everywhere also, and his one shot was probably the best look the Penguins had all night, a setup in the slot that Murray made the save on.
It’s just when the offense isn’t there it isn’t there. It’s a troubling trend.
Lineup wise. Corey Andonovski replaced Boris Katchouk. Katchouk wasn’t listed as injured so I think he’s nicked up or possibly attending to a family thing. Who knows. Nate Clurman was reassigned because Pittsburgh traded for P.O. Joseph with St. Louis for future considerations. Mats Lindgren replaced Clurman in the lineup Wednesday.
Okayish night out of town. Sure, the Penguins don’t capitalize on one of the seemingly endless games in hand they have on the Bears and the rest of the division. Lehigh Valley beats Providence 4-3 in overtime. The Bruins were up 2-0 in the third. Charlotte gets a late goal from Wilmer Skoog to beat Springfield clean 4-3.
Standings wise, Hershey 39, Charlotte 33, Providence 31, Penguins 29, Springfield, Hartford and Lehigh Valley 27, Bridgeport 14.
Depending on how you see things the Penguins are either two points out of a playoff spot or 10 points off Hershey with five games in hand.
Wheeling was off and no one wants to see highlights of this abomination. Talk to you Saturday.
Comments Off on Weekend Preview — Do You Need a Push?
Posted by nafsnep on December 18, 2024
After an up and down week where they spilt with a team they are tied in points with in Charlotte and a thrilling overtime, oh-my-god-they-nearly-blew-it game against Springfield, the Penguins are where they were last week, and the week before and the week before that and…you get the idea. In a group that is locked in tight with one another pursuing a Bear off in the distance that seems like it is getting away, despite the Bears run of play in these recent weeks.
It would appear that one of the teams would need a bit of a push. Hell, it may as well be the Penguins, right?
Music to Set the Mood…
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A Quote…
No matter the circumstances that you may be going through, just push through.
– Ray Lewis
I don’t think you need to go that deep, just saying.
The Setup…
A midweek visit from the Toronto Marlies then a Friday off, but that comes at the expense of a Saturday home game against Lehigh Valley and a 5 o’clock visit to Hershey on Sunday.
Wilkes-Barre split with Charlotte last week and won a nail biter in OT against Springfield on Saturday. In the games that they won, Boris Katchouk had a hat trick plus a goal Wednesday then Emil Bemström had a hat trick with the OT game winning goal on Saturday. Prior to that, Vasily Ponomarev had a hat trick in Hartford.
In games where hat tricks were not scored resulted in all losses. 4-0 blanking by Charlotte Friday, 5-0 shutout loss last Sunday to Providence and a 6-1 throttling by the Hershey Bears on December 4.
The trend of, “a hat trick gets you a win, otherwise you lose” seems a bit far fetched. Or does it?
Toronto comes in after hosting the Pacific Division’s Bakersfield Condors this past weekend. I have always wanted to do the AHL’s version of six degrees of separation. If the Penguins beat the Marlies, are they then better than the Condors who also beat the Wranglers? I should start with the worst team and work my way to the best team one day and see. I don’t think I will, though.
Lehigh Valley had a run up in Canada against the Marlies and lost 6-3 then split a pair of 3-2 decisions in Cleveland against the Monsters.
Hershey had a down week by their standards, losing 3-0 in Hartford, needing a late goal and some heroics to tie and win in sorry Syracuse and lost to a Charlotte club 2-1 Saturday night.
So, keeping with the theme, the Penguins could use a push because seemingly they are better than all the teams I just mentioned above, save for the Marlies, who they will see for the first time Wednesday.
Records
The Penguins are 14-7-1, good for 29 points and third place in the Atlantic Division.
Toronto is 13-4-2-3, with 31 points and in fourth in the North.
Lehigh Valley is 10-10-4-1, with 25 points and seventh in the Atlantic Division, but will have played Providence and the Marlies Wednesday and Friday respectively.
Hershey leads the Atlantic with a 18-7-3 record and 39 points. The Bears will have played Toronto Saturday before playing the Penguins, so they will be the fresher of the two teams when they meet Sunday.
Who’s Up? Who’s Down? Who’s Out?
No better time to check out the Roster Page for all of the latest and where everyone is. They are seemingly in good shape and doing alright, personnel wise. Nate Clurman went up to Pittsburgh on Tuesday.
What can we learn about the Penguins this week?
Will they make a push or is it going to be like this for a few weeks with Providence, Charlotte, Springfield and maybe Lehigh Valley?
Someone has to step up and take the second seed and be there if the Bears falter hard enough to be caught for the lead. The Penguins have played consistent enough to be considered but, one could argue, that so have the Bruins, Checkers, Thunderbirds and even the Phantoms.
Like, how are the Phantoms only four off of the Penguins when they haven’t looked good at all? Imagine if the Penguins don’t get that key power play goal that gives them the two points or say, more recently, that they don’t have a player like Vasiliy Ponomarev get them a hat trick.
But they have and to date but for some clunkers, are finding ways to win. That’s what I would expect this week. They find a way to win all three games.
Who’s in Goal?
Blomqvist – Larsson – Blomqvist is what I would go with. Or, call up Murashov and have him get the start in Hershey.
Really good point was made by someone this week was that Murashov is just eating starts in Wheeling which helps acclimate him to the North American game vs. playing backup to Joel Blomqvist.
Artur Akhtyamov, Cal Petersen and Hunter Shepard for the opposition if you made me guess.
Who’s Running the Show?
Mason Riley and Adam Tobias will hand out discipline and Ryan Knapp and Jud Ritter will keep them onsides on Wednesday. Bobby Jo Love and Jim Curtain with Chandler Yakimowicz and Tommy George are here Saturday and Curtain will take the trip down I-81 to meet up with Jake Kamrass with Jeremy Faucher and Richard Jondo on the lines.
I don’t mind seeing Jim Curtain, he’s one of my favorite refs. Calls it straight, let’s them play.
Looking Ahead…
The Penguins close out 2024 with a Friday home game against the Hershey Bears and then a Saturday trip to Hershey.
Give us a bold prediction…
They win a game this week without the requirement of a hat trick being scored for them.
Comments Off on AHL Power Rankings — Week 10
Posted by nafsnep on December 16, 2024
So, the curse is very real.
I put Hershey at the top of the Power Rankings last week and they were shutout in one game and only scored a goal in the other. In the game that they won, they needed a late goal and overtime to win against a team they had no business losing to.
I think the curse is real. Sorry Wranglers fans, but you get the dubious number one distinction this week after being skipped over for weeks due to my ineptitude or East Coast bias, one or the other.
Oh, a note about the records section of the Rankings. Those will return next week. Too many games played on Sunday for me to wait until 10:30 p.m. to fill all of them in with an 8 p.m. start and work in the morning. The Penguins and Bears are the last team out of the gate Sunday, they will return in the Week 11 version. Apologies in advance.
Let’s go!
1. Calgary Wranglers
Last Week: 2nd (up 1)
We will see if the Chirps from Center Ice #1 curse is real or not. Wranglers get the dubious distinction this week.
2. Grand Rapids Griffins
Last Week: 6th (up 4)
I’d say that was a productive trip out to Loveland, getting points in every game in a hostile environment.
3. San Jose Barracuda
Last Week: 5th (up 2)
Barracuda look good but still some flaws with this club.
4. Cleveland Monsters
Last Week: 10th (up 6)
Monsters are in the middle of an eight game homestead and looking pretty good leading the North Division.
5. Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins
Last Week: 9th (up 4)
Up and down week for the Penguins who split with Charlotte and win a nail biter against Springfield. A midweek date with Toronto seems like a nice measuring stick.
WBS News
Chirps from Center Ice 