I am on vacation from my big boy job this week, but the AHL news cycle was as active today as its been in weeks.
No, the schedule isn’t out yet. More on that in a minute.
No, the AHL All-Star Classic venue hasn’t been announced yet either.
The Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins announced today the signing of Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond, a 6’2, 210 pound behemoth of a man that can absolutely throw. Some of his work…
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The signing creates a massive logjam in the toughness department because you have Steve MacIntyre, Zach Sill, Letourneau-Leblond and quite possibly Harry Zolnierczyk all under contract for the Penguins this Fall.
Anyway, Letourneau-Leblond played for the Norfolk Admirals last season and went 3-5-8, a +7 with 98 PIMs. 1-2-3 of that 3-5-8 came in a game from outer space against the Penguins in February that saw Letourneau-Leblond score a goal and assist on two others and tough guy Jay Rosehill score two goals and assist on another.
Both Rosehill and Letourneau-Leblond scored on goals which were assisted by the other.
Not to be outdone, but our friends in Hershey were active on the wire today as well, signing Brandon Segal, which gives the Bears the top-six right wing need they were looking for. He’s a vet, putting Hershey one over to start the year (Derek Whitmore, Jeff Taffe, Jamie, Johnson, Dane Byers and Tyson Strachan being the others)
There were other Penguins related page two’s worth noting:
— Ian Altenbaugh’s story from the other day on WBS D Reid McNeill, who is training with Gary Roberts for this upcoming season.
— On Zatkoff, he was spotted in North Carolina practicing with Carolina Hurricanes players / prospects. Photoset here. Zatkoff summers in Raleigh, N.C.
So on the, “You Decide” part of the blog headline. A question. Do you like the offseason haul that the Penguins have reared so far? Does it put Wilkes-Barre / Scranton among the league elite? Four players, Chris Conner, Nick Drazenovic, Andrew Ebbett and Brendan Mikkeslon are all in the Top 50 on the aforementioned Big Board. All quality players. But how do they matchup against the other divisional heavyweights in Syracuse and Hershey and the AHL overall? Vote…
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Finally, I have the sense that the AHL schedule will be released this week. Only problem is, I am traveling to New York City on Thursday for my brothers wedding for the weekend. I’ll likely not have enough time, enraptured with the marital activities, to tweet or blog up a proper analysis. So I have enrolled the services of Jenni Probst, head cook and bottle washer of the blog Chasing Checkersto pinch hit for me while I am away in the Big Apple. Look for her piece Thursday, or Friday, depending on how quickly or slowly Springfield gets its act together.
The hire was an obvious choice, as O’Brien served as the departing Tom Grace’s right hand man on color commentary for the past two seasons. O’Brien has done this before, back in 2008-09 for the defunct Lowell Devils, where he started on color then took over play-by-play duties for the 2009-10 season.
Some of the other voices in the AHL offered their congratulations on Twitter…
Congrats to @MikeOBrienWBS as he is named the new voice of @WBSPenguins.
I’m not about to turn this into a Social Studies discussion making arguments for or against how Wilkes-Barre can rank higher / lower. It’s worth mentioning though since it is a list ranking all of the minor league markets in America and Wilkes-Barre is a minor league market.
Cleaning up news that is not related to the cesspool of Sidney Crosby / DMV articles:
— Wheeling keeps signing guys. Mike Ratchuk joins the Nailers and 2009 draft pick Alex Velischek returns.
Merth and Minella need no introduction. Stevenson, a defenenseman, is a former Washington Capitals prospect and is coming off of a Kelly Cup Championship with the Reading Royals last season. Reader Jason L. offered this scouting report on him:
@nafsnep Stevenson reminds me of Engelland....obviously years younger, but yeah.
Manderson seems like he’s been around forever, but hasn’t had an impact at all in the AHL. When I mentioned this on Twitter, Nailers beat writer Shawn Rine chirped in with this:
Comments Off on There Will Be News….
Posted by nafsnep on August 7, 2013
A handful of player signings will be announced on Thursday morning. Be sure to check out http://t.co/XQqFUrxgLI for all of the info.
— Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (@WBSPenguins) August 8, 2013
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Cliffhangers on Coal Street was an alternative blog headline.
So how many is a “handful” ? My guess is a re-signing of a Christian Minella or someone of equal or lesser value.
The Big Board has been picked over. A couple of names still remain. Christian Hanson, Krys Kolanos, Dean Arsene to name three. Warren Peters is still unsigned. Would he sign an AHL only deal to stay in Wilkes-Barre another year?
I’m speculating too much, which is something I never like to do on the blog. The purpose of this entry was to tease the preview of coming attractions and to off some more news since the last time we did this.
— Here’s the print story from The Citizens’ Voiceon the Grace to Florida news. A mention that the position for the new, “Voice of the Penguins” is open. While Mike O’Brien is a strong candidate for the job, it doesn’t look guaranteed. For what it’s worth, I would love to see Obie land the job.
Comments Off on Grace Moving On
Posted by nafsnep on August 6, 2013
In news that shocked most, including yours truly, it was announced today that long time voice of the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins Tom Grace is moving up to the NHL to take a position with the Florida Panthers as their Manager of Team Services within the next two weeks.
Grace had his many detractors in the AHL, but for as many there were against him it seemed that there were double for him. Say what you want about him, I don’t think I have ever come across someone who loved the Penguins more than he did. I wish him the best in Sunrise, Florida.
There’s been a few other things rolling around the tumbler that is summertime hockey blogging. I’ve done my best to corral them for you and now present them for your reading enjoyment:
— Our ECHL affiliate. the Wheeling Nailers, had a lot of news. First, they extended head coach Clark Donatelli for another year. Second, they announced their first signing. He’s Chaz Johnson. Johnson was with Elmira of the ECHL last season. He will be in Wilkes-Barre in the Fall, per his Twitter. Finally, the Nailers signed Barry Goers, a big offensive defenseman late of the Las Vegas Wranglers of the same league.
— Tampa Bay signed goaltender Kristers Gudlevskis to a contract. With an overflow of bodies in the crease in Syracuse, Gudlevskis looks tabbed for Florida of the ECHL this Fall.
WBS News
Chirps from Center Ice 