Comments Off on Weekend Preview – Raking Leaves, Raking Points
Posted by nafsnep on November 6, 2024
So the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins always historically rake in points in October, November, and December. Just like raking leaves in your backyard, you pile them up and dispose of them. Only for the Penguins, they rake in points and use them to secure playoff spots.
I think they are fine. I liked the way they came out on Saturday night when they had a slim lead against the Wolf Pack, played like they were losing and came away with a big win.
Music to Set the Mood…
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Get out there and rake the leaves!
A Quote…
Procrastination is like a credit card: it’s a lot of fun until you get the bill.
— Christopher Parker
Staying with the amassing credit so you are there for a good payoff. Fun fact about me, I always pay my credit cards (I only have two) in full.
The Setup…
A couple more games with our $5M / year NHL All Star goaltender who is 3-0 on this conditioning assignment. A home and home with a surging Phantoms team Wednesday – Friday and Rochester drops in for their only visit this season on Saturday.
I don’t think Jarry will be on the bus headed to Allentown Friday but I am usually wrong about those things. Who knows.
Phantoms beat Hershey clean midweek last week and then beat up a depleting Springfield team so they are riding pretty high. As they should be. I think it’s a good club, I just don’t like their coach.
Rochester obliterated a very, very bad Utica team 8-2 Friday then 3-2 in a shootout Saturday. You think your club is bad? The Comets don’t have a win yet. The Americans are in Cleveland Wednesday then host Hartford Friday before having to bus 4+ hours to Wilkes-Barre for a 6 o’clock game.
Records
Penguins are 6-2, good for 12 points and third in the Atlantic. Phantoms are 3-3-1-1, on 8 points and fifth in the Atlantic and Rochester (coming into the week) are 5-3 and on 10 points, good for fifth in the North.
Who is Up? Who is Down? Who is Out?
They got Vasily Ponomarev back from Pittsburgh last week but their defensive corps is depleted. That’s causing a lot of the younger guys to step up and it’s a trial by fire. They are getting by OK because they have an NHL goaltender moonlighting in the AHL again, but that honeymoon is concluding.
My roster page is your best bet for up to the day-ish updates.
What can we learn about the Penguins this week?
The question becomes what happens when Jarry goes back up and the goaltending goes back in mortal hands?
That really becomes the bigger issue / question. Can they get three more wins this week? Sure, they can. But they are likely looking at having Filip Larsson in goal for them likely Friday and/or Saturday. How does that spell for a depleted defensive corps?
I guess that’s why you buy the ticket.
I see them as an above average team at this point, but you are obviously grading on a curve because Jarry is on a 3-0 heater heading into the last week of his AHL conditioning stint. They have Lehigh Valley, Bridgeport twice, Laval and Hershey to close out November. No pushovers. Something about that Bridgeport game last week makes me think the Islanders matchup better then you think. Laval may be better then Hershey, and Hershey won back to back Calder Cups.
Do they run the November table? No. That doesn’t happen in the AHL. Will they be competitive in all the games? Yes.
Who’s in Goal?
Tristan Jarry Wednesday, Filip Larsson on Friday in Allentown and maybe Taylor Gauthier? He’s on the roster, I don’t think he’s hurt, so why not?
For the opposition, some combination of Eetu Makiniemi and Cal Peterson for the Phantoms Wednesday / Friday and Michael Houser probably on Saturday for the Americans.
Who’s Running the Show?
Patrick Hanrahan and Samuel Heidemann dole out the discipline Wednesday with Josh Cleary and John Rey on the lines.
Friday sees Liam Maaskant and Casey Terreri doling out the penalties and Brandon Grillo and Jud Ritter on the lines.
Saturday sees Terreri and Grillo head north on the Turnpike and meet up with John Lindner (referee) and Chandler Yakimowicz (linesman)
Looking Ahead…
Another Phantoms game Wednesday in Allentown, then another Friday off (I will never complain) and then Bridgeport stops in Saturday night.
Give us a bold prediction…
5 out of a possible 6 points. Power play goals in every game and Tristan Jarry plays in Allentown on Friday.
Comments Off on AHL Power Rankings — Week 4
Posted by nafsnep on November 4, 2024
Well, last week I said that I thought the Hershey Bears would take residence at the top of the Chirps from Center Ice AHL Power Rankings and after one week, I was wrong.
The team that came to Hershey this weekend is the new number one team this week but there is a hard charging 8-1 Laval team that has my attention.
Bears didn’t go far, though, as you will read below.
1. Charlotte Checkers
Last Week: 3rd (up 2)
Record: 6-1-0-1
Three out of four points isn’t bad for Charlotte, taking these points out of Hershey. Toronto swings by this weekend.
2. Hershey Bears
Last Week: 1st (down 1)
Record: 7-3-1-0
Bears salvage the week with a shootout win over Charlotte. This was a down week for the Bears with regulation losses to Lehigh Valley Wednesday and Charlotte on Saturday. Two with Springfield next.
3. Laval Rocket
Last Week: 10th (up 7)
Record: 8-1
Rocket are 8-1 and rocket (pun intended) up the rankings. There’s some daylight between them and Toronto and Belleville, too.
4. Calgary Wranglers
Last Week: 8th (up 4)
Record: 9-1
Wranglers are in the midst of an eight game home stand. Didn’t play this weekend but swept the Gulls last week.
5. Milwaukee Admirals
Last Week: 6th (up 1)
Record: 8-1
Sweep the Moose in Winnipeg which is exactly what you would expect from a good team like Milwaukee. Home and home with the Wolves this weekend.
I think it was more the lead pass from Blade Jenkins that set the thing up for Roobroeck to tap in. Also, is it fun to spell Roobroek or not?
Third Period: Uneventful for scoring, the Penguins outshot the Wolf Pack 15-5 and to MageBoy’s point in the open, played like they were behind and managed to win.
(they also didn’t score, but that may me overanalyzing)
Three Stars: 3) Tristan Jarry (30 saves) 2) Isaac Belliveau (goal) 1) Ville Koivunen (goal, assist)
The Good: Managed to get two points clean off a good Hartford club who are well structured.
The Bad: Is Jarry ever going to get a shutout?
Turning Point: That third period was something else, more I think of it. They stayed on the Wolf Pack and never let off.
Also, tip of the cap to refs Graedy Hamilton and Mason Riley, who stayed out of the way and let them play. There was a sequence where Domingue covered a puck, there was no whistle and Corey Andonovski took a couple jabs at it. Hartford didn’t like that and knocked Andonovski over. I think it was Hamilton who declined to penalize Hartford for the extracurricular because Andonovski knew what he was doing and knew what was coming. That’s good refereeing.
Standings: Hershey 13 – Charlotte and the Penguins 12 – Hartford 10 – Lehigh Valley 8 – Springfield, Providence and Bridgeport 6.
Wheeling Update: The Nailers had their home opener Saturday and beat the ECHL’s newest team the Bloomington Bison 2-1. The Bison happen to to be the ECHL affiliate of the Hartford Wolf Pack.. Jaxson Castor had the start and stopped 24. Atley Calvert had a goal.
Video Highlights:
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Back here Monday for the AHL Power Rankings then Wednesday afternoon setting up a Wednesday home game against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
Comments Off on Two, Any Way You Can Get It — Pens WIN 4-3 (SO)
Posted by nafsnep on October 30, 2024
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4 3
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So, that was interesting.
After blitzkrieging the Bridgeport Islanders for two goals in the games first three minutes, the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins see the offense dry up, the home team score three goals three different ways in the second period and need a Jonathan Gruden goal late in the third to force overtime and takedown Bridgeport 4-3 in a shootout.
Lineup Notes: Marc Johnstone for Boko Imama up front and Isaac Belliveau comes off the injured list to make his season debut on defense replacing the newly injured Sebastian Aho. Aho is day to day with a lower body injury.
First Period: They didn’t waste any time. Nick Hart mentioned on radio that the Penguins were waiting for their turn to play on a weekday and were looking forward to getting the opportunity to do so.
Before the Islanders had a shot on goal, the Penguins were up 2-0.
A pair of goals in less than 90 seconds apart is a good way to jump on an opponent.
Second Period: I didn’t count face-off wins / losses, but one thing I noticed was all the shots the Penguins took that went high or wide.
The Islanders responded in kind with a power play goal, a shorthanded goal and an even strength goal to overcome the 2-0 deficit and take a 3-2 lead heading into the third. Here were the goals.
Brian Pinho leads the AHL with shorthanded goals. This was his third. If I had to nitpick an NHL All-Star goaltender down on assignment making $5M a year, it would be this goal here. You have to do a better job here.
Overtime: Solved nothing. Penguins had a power play and again the. setup and execution were there but the game winning goal was not.
Shootout: Emil Bemström scored in the top of the first, Ville Koivunen in the top of the second. Matthew Maggio scored in the bottom of the second but Tristan Jarry stopped Alex Jeffries and Chris Terry. Tristan Broz also participated but was denied.
Three Stars: 3) Brian Pinho (goal, assist) 2) Jonathan Gruden (two goals) 1) Ville Koivunen (goal, shootout goal)
The Good: Found a way to battle back and win.
The Bad: 0/5 on the power play.
Turning Point: The Gruden goal that forced overtime gets it here.
Lots for the coaching staff to look at and work on with a Friday off. You can’t go up 2-0 that early against a last place team that was obliterated in Charlotte last weekend and let off and nearly lose. They should have had six or seven, but that’s a knock against Marcus Hogberg, who started in goal for Bridgeport and was fantastic after the first three minutes of the game.
Comments Off on Weekend Preview – What Does $5 Million Get You?
Posted by nafsnep on October 30, 2024
The Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins have the services of NHL All-Star goaltender and $5.3M / year man Tristan Jarry, down on a conditioning assignment, for this week and parts of next.
Music to Set the Mood…
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Playing in the minors while collecting ~$203,900 on a bi-weekly basis? Can I sign up for this to write my old high schools newsletter?
Oh wait, the Diocese of Scranton closed my high school. Anyway…
A Quote…
Everybody’s got a price! – The Million Dollar Man Ted DiBiase
The Setup
A Wednesday trip up to Bridgeport to take on the Islanders, a Friday off, then a Saturday home game against the Hartford Wolf Pack.
The Penguins split a series with the Syracuse Crunch where the home team won both game. The Pens were shutout in Syracuse 2-0 on Friday and then beat the Crunch at home 3-2 on Saturday.
The Islanders went to Charlotte last weekend and were obliterated by the high octane offense Checkers and lost 13-4 on aggregate (8-2, 5-2) – Bridgeport has allowed the most goals in the Division with 27. It’s looking like a long year again on the Sound Island.
Hartford beat Lehigh Valley 4-3 in overtime, had Saturday off and then got smashed by a Springfield club playing a third game of a three in three weekend 5-2. They will host the Grand Rapids Griffins on Wednesday, then travel to Syracuse on Friday.
Records
The Penguins are 4-2, on 8 points and third in the Atlantic Division. The Islanders are 1-5-1-0, on three points and in last place in the Atlantic. Hartford is 3-2-0-1, on 7 points coming into Wednesday and in fourth in the Atlantic.
Defensemen Dan Renouf and Filip Kral, forwards Jimmy Huntingdon and Jagger Joshua are the week to weekers that we know of.
Isaac Belliveau remains day to day, but he hasn’t played at all, and it’s been weeks, so is he really day to day?
Sam Houde remains in Wheeling. Sergei Musharov went to Wheeling in the Jarry transaction and I can’t tell you what the status is with Taylor Gauthier because the ECHL’s roster rules are more complex than they need to be. Compounding that, Coal Street signed G Luke Richardson, who was with the Pens in training camp, to a PTO on Monday.
Four points playing in front of an NHL All-Star goalie is a must, unless said goaltender malfunctions. I don’t think he will though. Going back to Saturday’s goals against, go ahead and find me a goaltender in the AHL or NHL that stops those scenarios. It’s unfair and nitpicking if you blame Jarry for those goals.
Bridgeport is a mess and unless a miracle happens expect the Penguins to win handily. Hartford should put up a bit more of an opposition but expect the Penguins to compete and have the edge. Provided they keep the power play clicking and stay healthy, they should be in a position to pick up two points with under ten minutes to play in the third period in each game.
Who’s in Goal?
Sometimes it’s fun having the answers before the test. Jarry isn’t here to be anyone’s back up. It’s him Wednesday and Saturday.
For Bridgeport, expect Jakub Skarek, who at this point should be getting hazard pay.
Hartford should probably roll out Dylan Garand, because you figure old buddy Louis Domingue will see the start against the Griffins Wednesday and again in Syracuse.
Who’s Running the Show?
Stephen Hiff and Austin Rook get the duties Wednesday in Bridgeport and Mitchell Hunt and Dylan Lewis are on the lines.
Graedy Hamilton and Mason Riley have the referee assignments on Saturday, with Jud Ritter and J.P. Waleski on the lines.
Looking Ahead…
Home Wednesday against Lehigh Valley, Friday in Allentown, then Saturday back home against the Rochester Americans who stop by for their only visit of the season.
Give us a bold prediction…
Tristan Jarry gets a shutout Wednesday in Bridgeport then beats the Wolf Pack in a seven round shootout on Saturday.
Comments Off on AHL Power Rankings — Week 3
Posted by nafsnep on October 28, 2024
There’s yet another team at the top of the Chirps from Center Ice AHL Power Rankings and I get a sense that they will be staying here for a bit.
Yeah, it’s the Bears.
I’ll let the Rankings below explain myself. Again, if you disagree or whatever, the comments below are open and active. Here we go.
1. Hershey Bears
Last Week: 2nd (up 1)
Record: 6-1-1
Bears were featured on the AHL website this weekend as a target on everyone’s radar and documented their hellish three in three road trip through New England this weekend. Well, there’s a new number one in the Rankings this week as the Bears sweep the weekend and are picking up right where they left off last June. Don’t let this team get on a roll.
2. Toronto Marlies
Last Week: 1st (down 1)
Record: 6-0-0-1
Were finally handed a loss (shootout) against Belleville but are still near the top overall in the AHL. Just one with Cleveland this Saturday.
3. Charlotte Checkers
Last Week: 5th (up 2)
Record: 5-1
Blew out the Islanders this past weekend and are looking very strong, very potent. We wonder if they have the dates scheduled with the Bears this week circled on their calendar.
4. San Jose Barracuda
Last Week: 6th (up 2)
Record: 5-1
The Barracuda are the only team to not make the expanded playoffs since its inception but are off to a good start as one of the two teams in the Pacific (Calgary) to hit double digit points in October. Not a bad start and with Iowa on the docket this weekend it looks to continue.
5. Grand Rapids Griffins
Last Week: 8th (up 3)
Record: 6-1
So far, the Griffins have swept through the Atlantic Division, taking down the Thunderbirds and sweeping the Phantoms. Midweek battle with the Wolf Pack before hosting Rockford and then traveling to Cleveland. Hell of a week of travel for Grand Rapids.
The plan is to have Jarry here for the whole two weeks allowable and to have him start every game. That’s at Bridgeport this Wednesday, Hartford at home next Saturday, then a home vs. Lehigh Valley the following Wednesday. at Lehigh Valley that Friday.
Well if Saturday’s game against the Crunch was any indicator, I think Jarry will be fine, for now.
Syracuse is a BIG team. They look like a bunch of linebackers and wide receivers. They jammed up the Penguins Friday in Syracuse and shut them out. Saturday Kirk MacDonald made the necessary adjustments and the Penguins held on to win 3-2.
— Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (@WBSPenguins) October 26, 2024
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Lineup Notes: Raivis Ansons in for Marc Johnstone up front was the only change from Friday.
First Period: Nothing much to report here, the teams were both 0/1 on the power play.
Second Period: Wilkes-Barre gets bang bang goals from Sam Poulin and Avery Hayes on the power play and take a 2-0 lead over the Crunch who battle back to within one when Steven Santini scores off a face-off win (a theme for the Crunch all night) on a hell of a shot then Tristan Broz scores a power play goal with .4 left in regulation to make it 3-1 Penguins heading into the third.
Saying Tristan Jarry, an all-star $5M a year goaltender should have stopped that is insulting to Steven Santini, who had a hell of a shot there to score the goal. Long distance, trajectory, deflection, whatever, still a hell of a shot.
I initially thought it wasn’t going to count but after video review, the goal stood with time remaining.
Third Period: Syracuse created chaos at the net front of Jarry and Gemel Smith chipped one past the Penguins goaltender to bring the visitors back within one.
I mean nothing you really can do there with guys buzzing all around you.
Penguins would hold on through a Syracuse too many men call late and hang on to win.
Three Stars: 3) Emil Bemström (two assists) 2) Tristan Broz (goal, assist) 1) Tristan Jarry (32 saves)
The Good: They battled all night and found a way to stay in front due to their NHL All-Star goaltender and won. Tristan Jarry was fine Saturday. This was the exact type of game that he needed, one where he was challenged a bit, especially at the end where he made a big save to preserve the win, and his team in front of him did the rest. Build off of that and see where this goes. They also scored two power play goals, which is always a bonus.
The Bad: For the love of god, win a face-off. I think next home game provided I remember, I am going to track the face-offs.
Turning Point: I kind of had a feeling that the Broz goal at the end of the second would get it here and out turns out I was right. We just didn’t know it at the time.
Standings: Herhsey 11 – Charlotte 10 – Penguins 8 – Hartford 7 – Providence and Springfield 4 – Bridgeport and Lehigh Valley 3
Wheeling Update: Nailers won a wild one in Reading 5-4. Matty De St. Phalle, Sam Houde and Logan Pietila among the ones with goals. Sergei Musharov and Mats Lindgren were sent down to Wheeling this afternoon by Coal Street. Musharov stopped 16.
Video Highlights:
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Back at it Wednesday in Bridgeport. Power Rankings sometime Monday and I will be here again Wednesday around lunch for the Weekend Preview.
WBS News
Chirps from Center Ice 