Chirps from Center Ice

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

Defenseman In, Defenseman Out

4 Comments Posted by on September 22, 2015

Couple signings to note as we edge towards the first round of cuts in Pittsburgh and the start of training camp here in Wilkes-Barre…

–> Coal Street announced the signing of 6’3 defenseman Evan Wardley. Wardley, late of the Seattle Thunderbirds of the Western Hockey League, debuted as a professional this past Spring with the ECHL Wheeling Nailers. He has a boatload of penalty minutes, which means he plays a physical game that he can back up with his fists. Admittedly, I am now just making up words about the guy to fill a paragraph, but Wilkes-Barre must have seen enough of him and liked him so much that they offered him an AHL deal.

–> Nick D’Agostino found a home. Remember him? He was arguably, in my opinion, one of the best defensemen here in Wilkes-Barre during the slew of callups to Pittsburgh. His non-tender of a qualifying offer by Pittsburgh this past summer (he was a restricted free agent) came as a shock to me. He signed with the South Carolina Stingrays of the ECHL today. If they name sounds familiar to you, they are the team that is the ECHL affiliate of none other than the Hershey Bears. Now D’Agostino signed an ECHL deal, meaning that he would need to sign an AHL deal with Hershey to play for them. Not saying that he would, but he could.

Goaltender Eric Hartzell remains the only member of last years team that remains unsigned.

That’s about it. Pittsburgh is in the midst of an eight game exhibition schedule. The hope here is not who wins or loses, it’s that no one gets hurt.

More later this week when the first round of cuts come down from Pittsburgh and when Wilkes-Barre announces a training camp roster.

Not AHL, WBS

A Camping We’ll Go, Just Don’t Be Late!

1 Comment Posted by on September 18, 2015

NHL training camps got going across the league this morning. The Pittsburgh Penguins started theirs today. Beat writers of old and new were in attendance. Start with Jonathan Bombulie, late of the Citizens Voice in Wilkes-Barre, and his observations of Day 1 of camp starting with Bobby Farnham. Farnham wants to make the team. I see it as a tough, if not impossible task, but Bobby is up to the challenge.

The new guy in town for the Voice, Seth Lakso, was there also with an emphasis on the players that will be joining Wilkes-Barre at some point. He also had a print version today of five things to expect this season of the 2015-16 version of the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins.

Cleaning up some leftovers….

–> Wilkes-Barre signed John McCarron to an AHL deal this week. He captained the Cornell squad last year. Nothing flashy offensively, but the brass on Coal Street must see something in McCarron to ink him to an AHL pact. They have had success with unheralded Ivy Leaguers in the past you know.

–> Single game tickets to all Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins hockey games go on sale Setpember 21.

–> Last weekend in London, Ontario, the Penguins posted a picture of ex-Captain and all around good fellow Dave Gove. Gove was in Penguins gear helping out. You gotta learn how to read tea leaves when it comes to things like this. Gove has been retired from professional hockey for years now. Why all of a sudden is he back on the ice, “helping out?” Well, the answer was made know today. The Wheeling Nailers, the Penguins ECHL affiliate, announced that they have hired Gove as assistant coach to Clark Donatelli. Hell, the former captain named assistant coach Alain Nasreddine went with John Hynes to New Jersey, why not plant a seed and home grow another assistant coach? It makes sense.

–> To my headline, the New York Islanders sent highly Joshua Ho-Sang back to his OHL team, the Niagra IceDogs of the Ontario Hockey League because he was late for training camp. You are a rookie taking the first step professionally in your career. You may not want to be late. First impressions are lasting ones.

–> Finally, some team an hour south of here was named number one AHL logo by The Hockey News magazine. You may have heard of them.

Have a great weekend.

Pittsburgh, The AHL, WBS, Wheeling

Jerseys, Training Camp Rosters, Oh My!

1 Comment Posted by on September 15, 2015

As we continue to edge towards the beginning of hockey season, some things are coming together…

–> Pittsburgh announced its training camp roster. The usual suspects were invited. Also invited were AHL contracted Barry Goers, Tom Kostopoulos and Carter Rowney. No surprises with guys signed to PTOs that you haven’t already heard of in some way or another. Full roster in pdf version is here. Camp opens September 17.

–> Wilkes-Barre announced their warmup and third jersey’s today on their Instagram page. If you don’t have Instagram or don’t know what I am talking about, look…

Thoughts on the new jerseys? Leave a comment.

Pittsburgh, WBS

Blog of the Year Nomination

2 Comments Posted by on September 4, 2015

Was notified this afternoon by the fine folks who run the annual NEPA BlogCon that this blog has been nominated again for Sports Blog of the Year. 

I want to personally thank first the people that nominated me again for consideration. I do this as a hobby. It’s not my profession. Just my observations of the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins put into words. How many people read, share or interact isn’t important to me because, again, it’s a hobby. I say that some people collect stamps. I write a blog. It’s a blog up for NEPA BlogCon’s Sports Blog of the Year again. 

If you’d like to vote, you can do so here. Thank you in advance for your consideration and your support.

About Me, The AHL, WBS

2015-16 AHL Schedule Released

3 Comments Posted by on August 27, 2015

Like kids at Christmas, fans, bloggers and media look forward to this date every summer. The 2015-16 AHL playing schedule was released Thursday afternoon. We all can’t wait to see who is playing who, when and where. So instead of being the parent that only lets you open one gift at a time, let’s rip into the schedule and break it all down.

Question 1: Who do the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins play first this season?

Answer: The Providence Bruins, on the road, opening night in the AHL on October 9.

Question 2: The home opener is Saturday, October 17. Who do we play?

Answer: Same team as last year, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.

Question 3: Any Western Conference flavor on the menu this year?

Answer: Keep in mind that Rochester, Toronto and Utica played in the Western Conference last season. They are all in the Eastern Conference this season. You’ll need to pretend that they are from the Western Conference because there are NO Western Conference teams on the schedule for the Penguins this season.

Question 4: What does the divisional breakdown look like against Bridgeport, Hartford, Hershey, Lehigh Valley, Portland, Providence and Springfield?

Answer: Twelve games against Hershey and Lehigh Valley, six against Bridgeport, Hartford, Portland, Providence and Springfield. Evenly split, home and away.

Question 5: What is the longest road trip? What about home stand?

Answer: Longest road trip of the season for the Penguins is January 12 through January 24 when the Penguins face off against St. John’s twice on January 12 and 13, Syracuse on the 16th, two against Portland on the 22nd and 23rd and one against Providence on the 24th.

The longest homestand for the Penguins is early on in the season, from October 24 through November 14 for a total of seven games.

Question 6: How many three games in three nights?

Answer: Eight, down from last seasons total of 9.

Question 7: My friend told me that you had charts of daily and monthly breakdowns. Let’s see them.

Answer: Here you go.

Home Road Total
Monday 0 0 0
Tuesday 3 2 5
Wednesday 6 3 9
Thursday 1 0 1
Friday 7 14 21
Saturday 16 9 25
Sunday 5 10 15

And the Monthly…

Home Road Total
October 4 4 8
November 6 4 10
December 7 5 12
January 5 9 14
February 4 8 12
March 7 5 12
April 5 3 8

Question 8: Any kids games?

Answer: Kids games are by definition games that start in the morning. The Penguins will not be partaking in any of those games this season.

Question 9: Where is the All-Star Classic at again this year?

Answer: Syracuse, New York. Skills Competition is January 31 and the All-Star Classic February 1.

Question 10: Are the Penguins playing in any special venues this season?

Answer: No. And by looking at the schedule from a league wide basis, it really isn’t happening a lot this year.

Question 11: What is the Penguins theme this season?

Answer: “Reinvented” which you can check out here. I like it, it matches well with the changes the team went through coaching wise. I’m looking forward to what they have cooked up this season.

Question 12: Anything else I need to know?

Answer: We play every team in the Conference at least twice. Rochester, Toronto and Utica, who weren’t on the schedule last year we play twice each. All 30 teams will be in action three times this season, on January 23, February 6 and April 9.

Penguins will announce a promo schedule soon, and I’ll have a blog about that when the schedule is released. Other than that, my yearly AHL Previews can begin to now form since I now know who the Penguins will be playing this season. You can look for those around the end of September or the beginning of August. I am planning on bringing back the AHL Power Rankings this season as well as the charting I did last season as well.

So take the month of September to gear yourself for another six months (or more, hopefully) of fun.

Let’s Go Pens!

The AHL, WBS

A Rabbit and a Sestito Walk Into a Matrix…

1 Comment Posted by on August 26, 2015

The moment we have all been waiting for is nearly here. It was announced today that the 2015-16 AHL playing scheduled will be released Thursday at 1 p.m. I’ll have a full dissection of the schedule of opponents the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins will face starting in October here on the blog Thursday afternoon. Same workup as prior years with a question and answer session. If I think of any new wrinkles between now and then I will work them in. Fun times ahead.

Elsewhere, the Pittsburgh Penguins signed Tom Sestito to a professional tryout agreement. Sestito is a journeyman and part of a dying breed of one trick ponies who know nothing other than how to fight. You can take this news any which way you like. A protector for Sidney Crosby / Evgeni Malkin / Phil Kessel, or Daniel Carcillo redux. As you recall, Pittsburgh signed Carcillo to a similar professional tryout agreement last year before releasing him. Carcillo later signed on with the Chicago Blackhawks, the team that won the Stanley Cup last year. What I don’t see is Sestito a replacement for the currently unsigned Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond here in Wilkes-Barre. Sestito I don’t think is willing to settle for the AHL, as evidenced last season when his prior team, Vancouver, tried to send him to their AHL affiliate Utica. He refused and Vancouver sent him home. I think Sestito comes in with the intention of making the Pittsburgh roster and if not, he packs his bags and heads in another direction.

Pittsburgh also announced Tuesday the roster for the rookie tournament. Notable names like Derrick Pouliot, Bryan Rust, J-S Dea, Connor Sheary and Anton Zlobin are among the participants who will face off against the Canadiens, Maple Leafs and Senators prospects in London, Ontario in September.

In other minor league hockey news, the Greenville Road Warriors are no more in the ECHL. Instead, they reincarnated as the Greenville Swamp Rabbits. No, I am not joking. Link to the official news from the ECHL here. Yes, the logo includes an angry rabbit holding a carrot that is also being used as a hockey stick. The Wheeling Nailers will face off against the Swamp Rabbits just once this upcoming season, February 26 in Wheeling.

Check back tomorrow for full dissection on the Penguins schedule Thursday afternoon. Hockey season will be here before you know it.

Not AHL, Pittsburgh, The AHL

American Top 40

Comments Off on American Top 40 Posted by on August 17, 2015

Today, the Sports Business Journal released their biannual rankings of the Minor League Markets. Out of 212 U.S. markets reviewed, the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton market came in 37th, up 122 spots from 159 two years ago.

There are a number of factors that go into how they develop the rankings. One of them is tenure. The Penguins have been playing at the Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza since 1999 and the RailRiders / Yankees / Red Barons have been around longer than that, since 1989.

Remember that the Rankings only look at Markets who do not host a major league franchise. So teams that host NBA franchises (i.e. Charlotte, Milwaukee, etc.) are not ranked.

The top markets from an AHL perspective ahead of Wilkes-Barre / Scranton are Des Moines, Iowa (home of the Iowa Wild) Inland Empire, California (home of the Ontario Reign, but the study included the team as an ECHL franchise) Hershey-Harrisburg, PA (home of the 11-time Calder Cup Champion Hershey Bears) Grand Rapids, MI (Grand Rapids Griffins) Bakersfield, California (Bakersfield Condors, but same criteria apply to the Ontario Reign as an ECHL franchise the year prior) Binghamton, Rochester, Austin (the Texas Stars play out of Cedar Park, TX, part of the Austin market) Providence then Wilkes-Barre.

Personally, I consider most of the towns ranked ahead of Wilkes-Barre larger towns. Des Moines, Harrisburg, Austin and Providence are all State Capitals, for example.

Can Wilkes-Barre ever be a Top 10 minor league market? I don’t think so, personally, but Top 40 is a pretty decent accomplishment.

The AHL schedule should be out some time next week, so but for other major breaking news this week, check back then.

The AHL, WBS

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