Chirps from Center Ice

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

Hooray for 159th Place!

Comments Off on Hooray for 159th Place! Posted by on August 12, 2013

The annual Street & Smith’s Sports Business Journal 2013 Minor League Markets ranking is out. The Wilkes-Barre / Scranton area is ranked…..

…wait for it…..

159th.

That would be last among East Division teams, behind Hershey (3rd), Syracuse (6th), Binghamton (23rd) and Norfolk (76th).

Only Worcester (172nd), Rockford (205th) and Manchester (214) ranked lower than Wilkes-Barre / Scranton for AHL markets.

Wheeling, a standalone minor league town with just the ECHL affiliate in the Nailers, ranked 187th.

The top minor league market? Hint: It’s the home of Maxwell Klinger.

Here’s more detailed blurbs on the Top 10.

Here’s how the rankings were figured out. To summarize, each market was weighted in three categories. Tenure rank, Attendance rank and Economic rank.

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.

–Syracuse re-signed Carl Nielsen.

Schedule should be out soon.

The AHL, WBS, Wheeling

It’s Gettin’ Deep Around Here

1 Comment Posted by on August 8, 2013

Wilkes-Barre announced today the re-signings of Christiaan Minella, Peter Merth and Denver Manderson as well as the signing of Dustin Stevenson.

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:

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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:

https://twitter.com/jetpack/status/365477450676834304

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These guys are all depth signings. The Penguins are keeping up with what Hershey has done this week in adding depth of their own.

I’ve updated the 2013 Offseason Moves List.

WBS

There Will Be News….

Comments Off on There Will Be News…. Posted by on August 7, 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’ Voice on 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.

— Look for the AHL schedule within the next 2-3 weeks.

— Hershey continues to add depth, inking Josh Brittain and Dustin Gazley to contracts today,

— Wheeling signed Chris Rooney today. He did time with them late last year.

— Ottawa re-signed Stephane DaCosta.

— Anaheim / Norfolk have a new ECHL affiliate. They are the Utah Grizzlies.

Check back tomorrow for the announcements on the new bodies.

The AHL, WBS, Wheeling

Grace Moving On

Comments Off on Grace Moving On Posted by 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:

— Mike O’Brien had a podcast with newly minted WBS goalie Peter Mannino last week. I listened. Mannino sounds like an intriguing fellow and excited to be coming here.

— 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.

— The Nailers also announced a preseason schedule of their own on Tuesday.

— 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.

— The Hershey Bears add depth, signing G Riley Gill and F Tyler Ruegsegger to deals on Tuesday.

— Cody Wild has found work in a much warmer climate, inking a deal with the Orlando Solar Bears of the ECHL Monday. I have already updated the 2013 Offseason Moves List.

— Ian Altenbaugh from HockeysFuture.com has a Penguins prospects ratings page that he published recently. Have a look.

That’s all for now.

Pittsburgh, The AHL, WBS, Wheeling

The Schedule is Out!

Comments Off on The Schedule is Out! Posted by on August 5, 2013

Well, sort of.

Wilkes-Barre announced their 2013-2014 preseason schedule Monday morning. Here it is:

Date Opponent Time Venue
Wednesday, September 25 Rochester Americans 7:05 pm Bill Gray’s Regional Iceplex
Friday, September 27 Rochester Americans 7:05 pm Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza
Saturday, September 28 Hershey Bears 7 pm GIANT Center
Sunday, September 29 Hershey Bears 5:05 pm Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza

It doesn’t look like we are getting a matrix of opponents for this season, like last off season.

Depending on the news cycle, I will be back later this week with what I scraped up from last week as far as other newsworthy items go.

WBS

Gibbons is Back (or) Gibbons’ Back

Comments Off on Gibbons is Back (or) Gibbons’ Back Posted by on July 29, 2013

Announced today by Pittsburgh was the re-signing of restricted free agent Brian Gibbons. It’s a one year deal.

Gibbons has put up 30 points in his last two seasons in Wilkes-Barre. He’s probably the fastest skater on the team.

Gibbons reminds me of Tyler Kennedy. Flashes of brilliance, but never consistent.

The headline for this blog entry serves two purposes. One, to inform the reader that Brian Gibbons is indeed back for another year of Penguins hockey and two, what the opponent will hopefully see when the, “Brian Gibbons Breakaway of the Game™” appears in a future Chirps from Center Ice post game blog recap.*

The 2013 Offseason Moves List has been updated.

Some other Page Twos:

— A feature piece on the Richards brothers, who are both on their way up to the NHL. Teddy to Pittsburgh, Josh to Dallas.

— Link through the link, but Eric Hartzell is going to be paid handsomely next season.

— ECHL affiliate Wheeling re-ups with Pittsburgh – Wilkes-Barre / Scranton.

— Ottawa loves their Karlsson’s.

If anything else rolls out of the tumbler this week, I’ll have words on it. The last week of July is like a desert island for hockey news. It’s the half way point to the start of meaningful hockey again. Hopefully there’s schedule news sometime soon.

WBS

Thursday Mop Up

Comments Off on Thursday Mop Up Posted by on July 25, 2013

The signing of Peter Mannino yesterday shoved these minor topics to the back of the line. So here they are in the Thursday Summer blog update:

— Here’s Jonathan’s takeaway from the prospect / development camp from last week. Worth your time if you are always looking around the corner for the next crop of bodies to come through Wilkes-Barre.

— Washington re-signed Nicolas Deschamps.

— There’s a report out there that Scott Darling has a deal to play for the Milwaukee Admirals next season. Darling was a Wheeling Black Ace last season for Wilkes-Barre and backed up Brad Thiessen in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals vs. the Binghamton Senators.

— Adam Payerl’s name showed up on the NHL.com site the other day. Sooner or later, I’ll be blogging about Payerl’s call up to Pittsburgh. But for now, he is going to be a valuable piece for Wilkes-Barre in the Fall.

— Corey Cowick re-signed with Ottawa. Cowick split time on the Southern Tier between Elmira of the ECHL and Binghamton.

I haven’t heard anything about the release of the AHL schedule, any preseason schedule for the Penguins or the venue for the AHL All-Star Classic yet. Twitter will have it first, then Facebook then here.

Have a great weekend if news worth blogging up doesn’t happen before or during then.

The AHL, WBS

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