Chirps from Center Ice

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

Thinking Too Hard…*

Comments Off Posted by nafsnep on April 27, 2014

If you know me or follow me on any kind of social media, you know that I struggle with mathematics.

I have to stop myself some nights after a Penguins win on a Wednesday in December from being too wordy and typing out 600, 700 or 800 words. But ask me what 45+27 is?

Hold, on. I need a calculator.

You may be seeing the term “Corsi” or “Fenwick” when it comes to this new fangled term they call “advanced analytics” in hockey. I don’t get it. It’s probably my own ignorance to the fact that I struggle with simple math. It also may be a hint of jealousy that those “advanced” statistics are available in the NHL but not in the AHL, which is my wheelhouse. Really, how hard is it to get ice time numbers between Wilkes-Barre and Hershey on a Friday night?

Anyway, I’m bloviating on a subject I ignore that I am making out of a blog post, courtesy of some charts that Joy Lindsay tweeted Sunday afternoon. Just some basic numbers inside of numbers next to more numbers on top of numbers.

First, for the B-Sens. Please click on the chart to enlarge for texture…

[tweet https://twitter.com/PuckJoy/status/460518609005977600]

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Then the Penguins, after I asked Joy if she had one for Wilkes-Barre….

[tweet https://twitter.com/PuckJoy/status/460533261593092096 hide_thread=’true’]

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More in depth even strength, power play and shorthanded numbers….

[tweet https://twitter.com/PuckJoy/status/460550956585738240 hide_thread=’true’]

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So what’s the immediate takeaway two games into a five game series?

— Tom Kostopoulos, Adam Payerl and Anton Zlobin have been the only players for Wilkes-Barre that haven’t been on the ice when a goal has been scored against the Penguins. Mark Stone for the B-Sens has been the only player for Binghamton that hasn’t been on the ice for the B-Sens when the Penguins have scored.

— Mike Carman had an immediate impact, scoring a goal and being on the ice for another.

— I didn’t want to believe what I was reading about Simon Despres on social media. The chart doesn’t lie.

— Patrick Mullen, a late add for the B-Sens blueline coming over from Utica, with some impressive numbers. The best statistical defenseman in the series so far based off of these charts.

— I don’t think we see Spencer Machacek for the rest of the series, and may be so brazen to say that we may have seen the last of him for the rest of the year.

— Anybody in Binghamton worried about the play of Alex Grant and Derek Grant? Two of your better players are getting beat up even strength.

Small snapshots, but something to watch going forward. If there is something else that you see in these charts that jumps out at you, please share it in the comments.

* – headline complements of a category that the great Michael Fornabaio uses occasionally when talking numbers, charts and things like this

The AHL, WBS

Even Stephane — Pens LOSE 4-3 (OT) — (Series tied 1-1)

Comments Off Posted by nafsnep on April 27, 2014

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You didn’t think it would be easy, did you?

For the Penguins, it nearly was. They were up 3-1 at one point but lost tonight in overtime 4-3. Stephane Da Costa’s goal at 11:07 of the first overtime completed the comeback for the B-Sens and evened the series at a game a piece as this Eastern Conference Quarterfinal series switches to Wilkes-Barre for Game 3 Wednesday and Game 4 Friday.

The Penguins can’t be happy that they let the B-Sens claw their way back into this series after the B-Sens were down 3-1 in the game. Don’t get it twisted, the Senators nearly lost this game. The Penguins for large stretches dominated the game with puck possession and aggressive forechecking and sticks in lanes.

Peter Mannino vs. Andrew Hammond

Lineup Changes: Mike Carman and Spencer Machacek for Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond and Nick Drazenovic for the Penguins and Corey Cowick and Darren Kramer for Matt Puempel and Ryan Dzingel. Puempel got hit hard into the boards by Zach Sill in Game 1, but should be ready for Game 3 Wednesday.

First Period: Brian Dumoulin shoots a puck at the net that Chuck Kobasew gets a piece of for an early 1-0 Penguin lead. Later, Adam Payerl takes a frustration tripping penalty and the B-Sens head to the power play.

Chris Wideman tied the game on the power play just like that. Hey, wait. Payerl takes an early penalty and the B-Sens score on a power play. Where did I see that before? Oh, that’s right. Last night.

Mike Carman from behind the net finds Tom Kostopoulos on the doorstep and the Penguins captain doesn’t miss to put the Penguins ahead 2-1.

Wilkes-Barre largely dominated the period and the scoreboard showed it.

Second Period: Mike Carman, who had himself a hell of a game, scores when the puck gets deflected to him off of a referees skate to put the Pens ahead 3-1. It caught everyone by surprise, as Hammond and company had their heads turned in another direction when the goal was scored.

Here comes Binghamton.

Zach Sill slashing at 15:13. At 16:34, Da Costa gets his first of the night when Mark Stone fires the puck off of the post, which caroms to Da Costa far side who slams it home to make it 3-2.

Third Period: Penguins take a lead heading into the third period. Good things, right? They only lost one game this year leading after two periods. I can’t remember who though….

Bad turnover by the Penguins to Mark Stone who scores to tie the game at three a piece.

Back it up for a second. Mistakes. A Sill penalty. Power play to Binghamton and a goal. A turnover at the start of the third period. Tie game. You cannot make a mistake against the Binghamton Senators. I just have to keep repeating it because it is being played out right before our eyes.

Overtime: Penguins looked strong to start. A gaffe led to a breakaway for Binghamton but it was broken up at the last second. Hammond made a few spectacular saves for the home team then Da Costa ended it to even the series at a game a piece.

Three Stars: 3) Mike Carman (goal, assist, +2) 2) Mark Stone (goal, three assists, +2) 1) Stephane Da Costa (two goals, +2)

Thought about this on the drive back from Binghamton. The Pens made some key mistakes in Games 1 and Games 2 which cost them. Moreso in Game 2 than Game 1. Adjust on those, with home ice now for Games 3 and 4, and put this Binghamton team away once and for all on your home ice.

Call it wishful thinking or what ever you like. The Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins have a lineup with over 1,000 games of NHL experience in the lineup. The Binghamton Senators have less than 300. This is a walk in the park for the Penguins more than it is for an unexperienced group of Senators. Do the B-Sens have what it takes to win the series? Absolutely they do. Do the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins? You betcha. When it boils down to situations like this, I like experience more than I do youth.

Alright, I am talking like I am down 0-2 in the series now. I would have given you $1,000 if you would have guaranteed me a split this weekend against Binghamton. A split is what we have and I will take it gladly and run to the Mohegan Sun Arena Wednesday for Game 3.

Elsewhere in the East: A lot of other teams got even tonight. The Albany Devils evened their series with a 4-2 win over the St. John’s IceCaps….the Norfolk Admirals scored three unanswered and stunned the Manchester Monarchs 3-2….the Springfield Falcons put the Providence Bruins on the brink of elimination with a 3-2 win.

The Nailers await their next opponent in the Kelly Cup Playoffs.

SendToNews Highlights: Scrapping that for the B-Sens Rewind….

[youtube http://youtu.be/yL2ejO8Q6Y4]

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No idea what content will run between now and Wednesday. I’ll try to come up with something.

Let’s Go Pens!!!

Postgamer

Eastern Conference Quarterfinal Game 2: Binghamton Senators (WBS leads 1-0)

Comments Off Posted by nafsnep on April 26, 2014

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Eastern Conference Quarterfinal – Game 2

AHL Game: C2

Who: Binghamton Senators

Where: Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena

When: 7:05 p.m.

Series: Tied WBS leads 1-0 (best of five)

Media Kit

Last Game: Last night, Anton Zlobin scored the overtime game winner to put the Pens ahead 1-0 in the series.

What to Watch For: Revenge. B-Sens want to split this series heading to Wilkes-Barre Wednesday.

Referees: Darcy Burchell / Jon McIsaac

Linesmen: John Grandt / Francis Trempe

Twitter: @wbspenguins / @BSens_Hockey / @WBSGameday

Facebook: /WilkesBarreScrantonPenguins // /binghamtonsenators

Instagram: wbspenguins / bsens_hockey

Beat Writers: @CVBombulie / @PSBSens

Broadcasters: WBS: Mike O’Brien @MikeOBrienWBS / BNG: Grady Whittenburg @BSensRadio

Fan Bloggers: @nafsnep / @PPPShow

Radio: For WBS: 103.1 WILK-FM / For Binghamton: Oldies 96.9

Television: AHL Live

When is Game 3?: Wednesday night in Wilkes-Barre at 7:05.

Gameday

Posts! Replays! Overtime! Oh My, Zlobin! — Pens WIN 3-2 (OT) — (WBS leads 1-0)

1 Comment Posted by nafsnep on April 26, 2014

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A Penguins fan will tell you that they had the Binghamton Senators all the way tonight.

A Binghamton Senators fan will say the same thing too, probably with a few expletives in there, after the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins defeated the B-Sens tonight by a score of 3-2 in overtime, on Anton Zlobin’s goal 8:40 into the first overtime.

So the Penguins beat the Sens 3-2 in a playoff game. Where have I read this before? Oh, right, last year when the Pens did it three straight times last year and swept the B-Sens out of the playoffs.

Tonight though, was a much more even game than what the Penguins are accustomed to in prior meetings to the Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena this season. The home rink for the East Division Champion B-Sens has been nothing short of a house of horrors for the Penguins.

Peter Mannino vs. Andrew Hammond. Spencer Machacek was the veteran scratch. Mike Carman was scratched too. Conor Sheary took warmups. Matt Murray backed up Mannino.

First Period: Matt Puempel was sprung on a mini breakaway on a long stretch pass. Mannino made the save but in the ensuing chaos of reacting to what just happened and who had who, Adam Payerl was whistled for tripping and the B-Sens were off to the power play. Cody Ceci pumped one home for a 1-0 B-Sens lead early.

Here is what defined the Binghamton Senators to this point. You make a mistake of letting Puempel get in behind your D, you take a penalty and on the power play it ends up in your net. Actually, two mistakes. Fool me once, shame on me, fool me twice, shame on you. Or something like that.

The Ceci power play goal jumpstarted the Penguins after that. Wilkes-Barre controlled about two thirds of this period. Brendan Mikkelson and Stephane Da Costa traded shots which rang loudly off the pipe but stayed out. The first ended with a 1-0 Binghamton lead but felt like the Penguins should be leading if not tied.

Second Period: Alex Grant wanted him some pipe too. He rang one off the post at the beginning of the period. Then Zach Sill popped Puempel into the boards on what may end up being some bad collateral damage for Binghamton. Puempel scored 30 goals for the B-Sens this season. He tried to give to a go in the third period but was not seen in overtime.

Harry Zolnierczyk scored to even the game at one for the Pens on the doorstep of Hammond.

But, just like that, Jean-Gabriel Pageau put the home team back ahead less than 90 seconds later.

Remember mistakes? Anton Zlobin boarded Mark Borowiecki and the B-Sens were headed to the power play. Time to step on the throats of the Pens and put this away, right? No! You’re wrong!

Andrew Ebbett scored shorthanded on a firecracker slapshot that beat Hammond glove side to even things again at two a piece.

Third Period: Pens had 1:51 of 5-on-3 time late in the second and some leftover in the third but were unable to capitalize on it.

Here’s where the “replay” part of my headline comes in.

Carter Rowney appears to have scored to put the Pens up 3-2. But it was ruled no goal on interference on the goaltender. After a conference between the four man officiating crew, the call stood. No goal.

Shot off of a face-off for Binghamton surprises Mannino. Nearly goes in, or does it? Goal light comes on. Officials look at it on replay and the tape doesn’t lie, no goal.

No one scored in this period. So it was off to…

Overtime: Shane Prince, a certified Penguin killer, appears to have scored to give the B-Sens the overtime winner. But referee T.J. Luxmore washes it out and rules it was kicked in. To replay!

Luxmore was joined in the booth by the second man in the arm bands, Keith Kaval. After a conference, it was confirmed as no goal.

The guys that cover the B-Sens for the Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin tweeted this post game about the disallowed goal:

[tweet https://twitter.com/PSBSens/status/459882621544435712]

[tweet https://twitter.com/PSBSens/status/459882782651871233]

[tweet https://twitter.com/PSBSens/status/459883475085312000]

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Replay is new to the AHL. Well, actually it is in its second year. It’s an inexact science. I can say that from what I saw, it looked inconclusive really. I didn’t see a kick but then again the puck was deflected off of the man skating forward.

Zlobin ended it. Jonathan describes it best in his blog post game recap:

The play started after a neutral zone faceoff. Binghamton won it, but Zlobin and linemate Chuck Kobasew pursued defenseman Mark Borowiecki as he backpedaled with the puck, forcing a turnover. Zlobin raced toward the left half-wall to recover the loose puck. Kobasew screened off the other Binghamton defender, allowing Zlobin to walk pretty much unmolested to the slot.

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Three Stars: 3) Cody Ceci (goal, -1) 2) Patrick Mullen (two assists, even) 1) Anton Zlobin (overtime game winning goal, +1)

Elsewhere in the East: Providence evened its series with Springfield at a game a piece with a 2-1 overtime win tonight….St. John’s got a late goal to stun Albany 2-1 to go up 1-0 in that series and Manchester shut out Norfolk 2-0 to go up 1-0 in that series.

Wheeling Update: The Nailers are on to the next round after sweeping the South Carolina Stingrays by a score of 4-2 tonight. Denver Manderson had a goal in the win.

SendToNews Highlights: How about YouTube, courtesy of the Binghamton Senators?

[youtube http://youtu.be/Uzd1-AYmTKU]

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Reactions after seeing the video: Awful call on the Rowney no goal. Contact was made with Hammond to his left. He goes down to make a save but the puck never gets through then Rowney slams it in two seconds AFTER contact on his right……the Prince goal in overtime should have counted, having looked at it in front of my computer screen. No kick. At all.

The washout on Rowney was made without replay. I don’t think those plays are reviewable. So both teams dodge bullets. You just shake hands and move on.

Game 2 is tomorrow night at 7:05 in Binghamton. I’ll make the trip and have it all covered. Gameday hits the blog Saturday at three.

Let’s Go Pens!

Postgamer

Eastern Conference Quarterfinal Game 1: Binghamton Senators

Comments Off Posted by nafsnep on April 25, 2014

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Eastern Conference Quarterfinal – Game 1

AHL Game: C1

Who: Binghamton Senators

Where: Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena

When: 7:05 p.m.

Series: Tied 0-0 (best of five)

Media Kit

Season Series: Oct 25: WBS 3 @ BNG 4 (SO) — Nov 29: BNG 0 @ WBS 1 — Jan 5: BNG 1 @ WBS 4 — Feb 14: WBS 2 @ BNG 6 — Feb 19: BNG 4 @ WBS 3 (OT) — Apr 6: WBS 2 @ BNG 6 — Apr 12: BNG 1 @ WBS 2 — Apr 18: WBS 4 @ BNG 5

Top four scorers for the Penguins vs. the Senators: 1. Nick Drazenovic (7 GP, 2-6-8, even) 2. Harry Zolnierczyk (7 GP, 3-2-5, +3) 3. Tom Kostopoulos (7 GP, 1-3-4, +2) 4. Brian Gibbons (4 GP, 0-4-4, +1)

Top four scorers for the Senators vs. the Penguins: 1. Mark Stone (3 GP, 2-5-7, +2) 2. Cole Schneider (8 GP, 3-3-6, -1) 3. Jean-Gabriel Pageau (4 GP, 4-1-5, +3) 4. Matt Puempel (7 GP, 4-1-5, -1)

What to Watch For: Mistakes. Those who capitalize on them made by the opponent win tonight.

Referees: T.J. Luxmore / Keith Kaval

Linesmen: Peter Peola / Tim Kotyra

Twitter: @wbspenguins / @BSens_Hockey / @WBSGameday

Facebook: /WilkesBarreScrantonPenguins // /binghamtonsenators

Instagram: wbspenguins / bsens_hockey

Beat Writers: @CVBombulie / @PSBSens

Broadcasters: WBS: Mike O’Brien @MikeOBrienWBS / BNG: Grady Whittenburg @BSensRadio

Fan Bloggers: @nafsnep / @PPPShow

Radio: For WBS: 103.1 WILK-FM / For Binghamton: Oldies 96.9

Television: AHL Live

When is Game 2?: Tomorrow night, April 26, at 7:05 from Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena.

Gameday

Penguins / Senators Series Preview

Comments Off Posted by nafsnep on April 24, 2014

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Eleven times walking up to the window, eleven times walking away from the window empty handed. Such has been the case for the past eleven postseasons for the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins.

You can debate for days on what matters more, winning the championship of your league and becoming an obscure afterthought or being a constant in the postseason year after year after year.

For the Penguins and Binghamton Senators, neither is a stranger to the postseason. The B-Sens won it all in 2011 were a playoff team last year, facing these same Penguins. Binghamton was swept last year by the Penguins. Will it happen again? Read on.

The Penguins went 3-3-1-1 against the Senators this past season and winless at the Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena up in Southern New York. The B-Sens have home ice in this series so if the Penguins want to have success and get past their closest East Division rival, they must win at least one game on the Southern Tier.

The B-Sens were led in points this year by Mike Hoffman. Hoffman paced the B-Sens with 30 goals this season. However, Hoffman was recalled to Ottawa and hasn’t been seen since. Good news for the Penguins, right? Wrong. Binghamton isn’t led by just one, but by a pack. That pack mentality dooms opponents because if you make a mistake against this team, usually you are fishing that mistake out of the back of your net.

The Binghamton Senators led the AHL in scoring with 3.63 goals per game. The Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins led the AHL in defense, limiting opponents to 2.43 goals per game.

It’s the unstoppable force vs. the immovable object.

Time to break it all down.

Schedule

Eastern Conference Quarterfinals – Series “C” (best-of-5)
3-Binghamton Senators vs. 6-W-B/Scranton Penguins
Game 1 – Fri., Apr. 25 – W-B/Scranton at Binghamton, 7:05
Game 2 – Sat., Apr. 26 – W-B/Scranton at Binghamton, 7:05
Game 3 – Wed., Apr. 30 – Binghamton at W-B/Scranton, 7:05
*Game 4 – Fri., May 2 – Binghamton at W-B/Scranton, 7:05
*Game 5 – Mon., May 5 – W-B/Scranton at Binghamton, 7:05

* – if necessary

Forwards

Penguins captain Tom Kostopoulos leads Wilkes-Barre with 47 points. The B-Sens have six players that have more points than Kostopoulos. This should tell the tale as to who has the advantage. Wilkes-Barre’s “X-Factor” is a one-two punch of playmaking center Andrew Ebbett and NHL veteran Chuck Kobasew. Kobasew set the AHL on fire by scoring 11 goals in 12 games after being outcast by Pittsburgh late in the year. Ebbett had a 12 game point streak at the end of the year. You get this duo rolling in the right direction and you are going to win a lot of playoff games.

Advantage: Binghamton. Relying on Kobasew and Ebbett to get hot as a game plan is a recipe for failure. There’s just too much firepower up front for the B-Sens.

Defense

The Penguins have again led the American Hockey League in defense, giving up the fewest goals allowed (185) in the 30 team league. The B-Sens gave up 232 goals and seemed to win games by way of firefights. That doesn’t happen often in the playoffs.

Advantage: Penguins

Goaltending

For the Penguins, it started out with Jeff Deslauriers and Eric Hartzell and ended with Peter Mannino. Hartzell won AHL Goaltender of the Month honors in January. Mannino was named in March. For Binghamton, it started with Nathan Lawson and Andrew Hammond and ended with Hammond playing 48 games. You think that with Hammond, in his first year in the League that he would be over matched, wide and starry eyed. Hammond won 25 games. He also lost 19 of them, probably due in large part to the fact that Binghamton was, again, involved in a 8 or 9 goals scored game. How Hammond holds up in his first postseason run could define this series.

Advantage: Penguins. Mannino hadn’t let in more than two goals since November but was torched by Binghamton this past Saturday. That’s probably not going to happen consistently in this series.

Intangibles

John Hynes and Luke Richardson are going to be behind NHL benches some day. No one gets more out of his players than Richardson. Hynes prepares his group for this moment from the first meetings in September. Advantage Penguins, slightly here. Binghamton was top five in the AHL in power play this year. The Penguins power play has been a joke all season. Wilkes-Barre has slightly better success on the penalty kill than the B-Sens, but Binghamton led the league with 16 shorthanded goals. The Penguins were second with 14. Playoffs are a different animal though, so it’s a push, for now. Special teams is an ever evolving beast so the first team to take advantage will probably have it for this brief five game series.

Social Media Coverage

For the Penguins…

Twitter: @WBSPenguins / @WBSGameDay
Radio: @MikeOBrienWBS
Beat: @CVBombulie
Facebook: /WilkesBarreScrantonPenguins
Instagram: wbspenguins

For the B-Sens…

Twitter: @BSens_Hockey
Radio: @BSensRadio
Beat: @PSBSens
Facebook: /binghamtonsenators
Instagram: bsens_hockey

Prediction

Penguins in five. In order for this to come to fruition, the Penguins must get at least a split this weekend on the Southern Tier. Limiting mistakes and what chances the opposition throws at you with steady defense and goaltending, something that the Penguins have had all season long, and the Penguins are on to the next round.

But they don’t play these games on cyberspace. They play then in brick and mortar buildings filled with rabid fans. Game 1 is tomorrow. The Gameday Setup hits the blog Friday at 3 p.m.

The AHL

Calder Cup Playoff Preview — Eastern Conference

Comments Off Posted by nafsnep on April 23, 2014

Welcome back to the Calder Cup Playoff Previews. Yesterday we looked at the Western Conference. If you missed that, you can click here to go there direct.

Anyway, we are here in familiar territory with teams that the Penguins see on a pretty regular basis. In keeping with what I gave yesterday, I provide capsules on each team that made it this year.

Here we go…

Albany Devils

Record: 40-23-5-8 // 93 pts., 2^nd place Northeast Division (5 seed)

Power Play: 21^st // 16.2%

Penalty Kill: 14^th // 82.7%

Top 3 Scorers: Joe Whitney 22-31-53 / Kelly Zajac 12-32-44 / Mike Sislo 23-18-41

Overview: Devils hung around and were relevant all season. Defense is what got them here. Defense is what they are going to need in stopping St. John’s, who was the third highest scoring team in the AHL at 3.39 goals per game.

First Round Opponent: St. John’s IceCaps

Record vs. the IceCaps: Did not play.

Odds to win the Calder Cup: 20:1

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Binghamton Senators

Record: 44-24-3-5 // 96 pts., 1^st place East Division (3 seed)

Power Play: 5^th // 20.7%

Penalty Kill: 23^rd // 80.6%

Top 3 Scorers: Mike Hoffman 30-37-67* / Stephane Da Costa 18-40-58 / Cole Schneider 20-34-54

Overview: Binghamton has been the best overall team in the East Division all season. This is a team that has excellent coaching, superb penalty killing (16 SHGF led the AHL) and is the highest scoring team in the AHL. You cannot make a mistake against this team.

First Round Opponent: Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins

Record vs. the Penguins: 5-3-0-0

Odds to win the Calder Cup: 8:1

* – Hoffman is on NHL recall

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Manchester Monarchs

Record: 48-19-3-6 // 105 pts., 1^st place Atlantic Division (1 seed)

Power Play: 19^th // 16.3%

Penalty Kill: 19^th // 81.5%

Top 3 Scorers: Jordan Weal 23-47-70 / Linden Vey 14-34-48* / Brian O’Neill 26-21-47

Overview: Monarchs dominated the Atlantic and the Eastern Conference for months. Not an overly flashy team, but consistent on all levels and the results of a 1 seed show. Despite this, some have Manchester as a longshot Cup favorite.

First Round Opponent: Norfolk Admirals

Record vs. the Admirals: 2-2-0-0

Odds to win the Calder Cup: 10:1

* – Vey is on NHL recall

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Norfolk Admirals

Record: 40-26-3-7 // 90 pts., 3^rd place East Division (8 seed)

Power Play: 22^nd // 16%

Penalty Kill: 1^st // 88.1%

Top 3 Scorers: Emerson Etem 24-30-54 / Andre Petersson 23-31-54 / Devante Smith-Pelly 27-16-43*

Overview: Admirals were up and down all season but never were a serious threat to the division title. Norfolk is here thanks to superb goaltending by John Gibson and in his absence, Brad Thiessen. Best penalty kill in the AHL too.

First Round Opponent: Manchester Monarchs

Record vs. the Monarchs: 2-2-0-0

Odds to win the Calder Cup: 25:1

* – Smith-Pelly is on NHL recall

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Providence Bruins

Record: 40-25-2-9 // 91 pts., 3^rd place Atlantic Division (7 seed)

Power Play: 6^th // 20.5%

Penalty Kill: 21^st // 80.9%

Top 3 Scorers: Alexander Khokhlachev 21-36-57 / Seth Griffith 20-30-50 / Craig Cunningham 25-22-47

Overview: P-Bruins were led by rookies in Khokhlachev and Griffith all season long. Rookie G Malcolm Subban was in the top five amongst AHL goaltending leaders. Bruins are a dark horse whom are looking to atone the 0-3 blown series lead against Wilkes-Barre last year.

First Round Opponent: Springfield Falcons

Record vs. the Falcons: 4-5-0-1

Odds to win the Calder Cup: 20:1

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Springfield Falcons

Record: 47-23-1-5 // 100 pts., 1^st place Northeast Division (2 seed)

Power Play: 12^th // 18.8%

Penalty Kill: 2^nd // 86.9%

Top 3 Scorers: Carter Camper 12-39-51 / Michael Chaput 19-26-45 / Sean Collins 16-25-41

Overview: Springfield couldn’t catch Manchester all season for tops in the East. Goalies Mike McKenna and Jeremy Smith split time in goal for the Falcons. Springfield is the fourth highest scoring team in the league, scoring 3.25 goals per game.

First Round Opponent: Providence Bruins

Record vs. the Bruins: 2-1-1-0

Odds to win the Calder Cup: 12:1

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St. John’s IceCaps

Record: 46-23-2-5 // 99 pts., 2^nd place Atlantic Division (4 seed)

Power Play: 13^th // 18.1%

Penalty Kill: 9^th // 83.5%

Top 3 Scorers: Jason Jaffray 18-41-59 / Jerome Samson 27-29-56 / Andrew Gordon 23-33-56

Overview: St. John’s is led by future hall of famers in Jaffray, Samson and Gordon. Third highest scoring team in the AHL. Goaltending has been a bit of a carousel for the IceCaps, with four goaltenders appearing in 10 or more games.

First Round Opponent: Albany Devils

Record vs. the Devils: Did not play.

Odds to win the Calder Cup: 14:1

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Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins

Record: 42-26-3-5 // 92 pts., 2^nd place East Division (6 seed)

Power Play: 28^th // 13.7%

Penalty Kill: 13^th // 83.1%

Top 3 Scorers: Tom Kostopoulos 22-25-47 / Nick Drazenovic 13-29-42 / Andrew Ebbett 13-27-40

Overview: Top defensive team in the League is back for the twelfth time in a row looking to ascend to the ultimate summit of a Calder Cup Championship. With things as wide open in the East with no clear cut number one team, Wilkes-Barre is as good as any other team if not better. Tepid power play needs to come alive. Team plays well with a lead vs. trailing.

First Round Opponent: Binghamton Senators

Record vs. the Senators: 3-3-1-1

Odds to win the Calder Cup: 12:1

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So there you have it. I return tomorrow with my Series Preview for the Penguins and Senators and break it all down for you as well as offer my prediction.

The AHL

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