Chirps from Center Ice

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

A Change Would Do You Good…

Comments Off on A Change Would Do You Good… Posted by on October 17, 2023

Full disclosure on this one, when I saw the news I thought it involved Ty Smith…

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But alas, it’s for Ty Glover.

I also thought of this banger…

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A change of scenery for all involved.

Jack Rathbone is a former AHL All Rookie Team defenseman, left handed. 64 points (18-46) in 86 AHL games for Abbotsford and Utica.

Some of his work…

Mark Friedman, an AHL vet, gets shipped out and shores up the vet issue somewhat with the Penguins who are busting at the seams with them.

The other guy, Karel Plasek, will report to Wheeling.

One other move, made earlier Tuesday morning by the braintrust on Coal Street…

Another left shot defensemen. Right frame of mind, I suppose. He was in Pittsburgh’s camp as a PTO.

I gotta start getting back to the news pieces of the blog, drive up the content and all.

More later this week with the preview setting up Hartford and Springfield.

Pittsburgh, WBS

Sunk by Santtu — Pens LOSE 4-1

Comments Off on Sunk by Santtu — Pens LOSE 4-1 Posted by on October 14, 2023

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I wouldn’t be surprised to see Checkers defenseman Santtu Kinnunen get some consideration for AHL Player of the Week honors.

Four assists for Kinnunen, two last Friday and two Saturday for the defensemen who loves playing the Penguins; 12 total points for him in to games against the Penguins as the Charlotte Checkers defeat the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins 4-1.

The Penguins power play went 0/4, and is 0/9 to start the season. It shouldn’t be that big of a problem, but when you are gifted a power play and want to use that moment to get some momentum and come up with nothing, the result like tonight is what you get.

Here’s how they lined up:

Lineup Notes: They cycled Joona Koppanen for Alex Nylander up front and Taylor Fedun for Xavier Ouellet on defense. Both veteran swaps.

First Period: Early issue is the start. They looked better Saturday as opposed to Friday, held Charlotte to a low shot count and stayed out of the box. They took a penalty (a Hinostroza hook at 14:19) then were outshot 3-1 and outpaced, slightly. Both teams hit posts; no scoring for either side, though.

Second Period: Seems like the Penguins got close, then the Checkers got down the ice and capitalized.

Mack Guzda with highway robbery on Vinnie Hinostroza and then Rasmus Asplund weaves through traffic and scores to put the Checkers up 1-0.

Then off a rush late, Santtu Kinnunen sets up Patrick Khodorenko to make it 2-0.

Penguins power play continues to sputter to this point, 0/5 last night and they missed on two chances here in the second period Saturday.

Third Period: Will Lockwood scores power play goal in a scrum which made it 3-0 and really put the game away for the home team.

Preceding this, the Penguins were given a power play but didn’t score. When it happened, Nick Hart said what I was thinking, which was the Penguins had to have it. They got nothing, and they fell further behind in the process.

Colin While busted up the would be Mack Guzda shutout bid with this goal…

This came with Joel Blomqvist pulled for the extra attacker.

But the Checkers would score on an empty net when Patrick Khodorenko scored his second of the contest to firmly put away any weird intentions the Penguins may have been cooking in their heads at the time regarding a comeback.

Three Stars: 3) Will Lockwood (goal, assist) 2) Patrick Khodorenko (two goals) 1) Mack Guzda (32 saves)

The Good: I can’t think of anything from this game, quite honestly. 62 total shots this weekend for the Penguins. The goals will come, I hope.

The Bad: The power play is a problem. 0/9 for the early season. Too soon to panic and ridiculous to even insinuate. See what next weekend in Hartford and home against Springfield brings, go from there. But it would have been nice if you could have connected a few times last night and even tonight, moreso in the game you were in till the end and lost.

Around the Division: Belleville blanks Hershey in Hershey and spoils the Bears banner raising ceremony with a 3-0 win…Syracuse beats Bridgeport 4-2…Cleveland uses 3 first period goals to beat Lehigh Valley 5-2 and Hartford continues their hot start out of the gate with a 3-1 win in Springfield.

Standings: Hartford 4, Charlotte, Penguins and Bridegport 2, Providence 1, Hershey, Springfield and Lehigh Valley 0.

Wheeling: Still in preseason. They get kicking next week.

Video Highlights: Will likely post as the rest of the finals roll in on Saturday so if I see them I will post them in here in the clean up edit.

I’ll probably post the Weekend Preview again on Thursday, depending on how the week goes. Talk to you then.

Let’s Go Pens!

Postgamer

Good Start — Pens WIN 4-2

Comments Off on Good Start — Pens WIN 4-2 Posted by on October 13, 2023

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Lots of talk about how the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins are rebuilt and rebuilt in a good way, in a contending way.

Cast aside the 3-1 preseason record, it means nothing. The real work started Friday in Charlotte..

For the first two periods, they looked like last years team. In fact in a lot of ways it was because there wasn’t any scoring by either team.

But finally, one of their offseason acquisitions, Austin Rueschoff scored to break the deadlock.

Then Jonathan Gruden scored a little over a minute later and it looked like they were off to the races.

But no, :14 later, Charlotte scores.

Normally, last years team starts scrambling and find ways to lose but this years team (so far) didn’t, and the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins are 1-0 with a 4-2 win in Charlotte.

Here’s how they lined up…

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Lineup Notes: They have a veteran problem. They will rotate vets in and out per Nick Hart on pregame. Don’t ask me to name the veterans. They right now also don’t have any injuries as anyone who didn’t dress Friday was considered a health scratch.

First Period: I got nothing. They had to kill two penalties and went on a power play of their own which looked really good.

Second Period: Penguins had a couple power play chances but didn’t get anything out of it. Checkers think they scored but the would be goal is immediately waved off by referee Morgan MacPhee, then Colin White is stopped by Spencer Knight of Charlotte.

Seemed like a goaltending duel was brewing between Magnus Hellberg and Spencer Knight heading into the…

Third Period: I was waiting for something to develop and in less than two minutes the floodgates opened.

I gave this to you at the top of the story, scroll up in case you forgot.

Penguins couldn’t ice the game away with the benefit of two power plays, coming nearly back to back, but time remained the enemy of the home team.

Charlotte pulled Spencer Knight and Xavier Ouellet scored from his own blue line into the empty net. About :45 later, and about 15′ further back, Dmitri Samorukov scored into the same empty net to make it 4-1.

But Charlotte would score with about :08 when Ryan McAllister scored off of a shot which Nick Hart may have deflected off of a Penguin in front.

Three Stars: 3) Will Lockwood (goal) 2) Jonathan Gruden (goal) 1) Magnus Hellberg (26 saves)

The Good: After that disaster of a season last, good to start the new one on a winning side.

The Bad: Power play went 0/5. If it weren’t for the flood of goals, a game this razor thin could be won with a special teams effort.

Turning Point: The Gruden goal gave the Penguins some scant breathing room. Hellberg and the rest of the defense carried them across the way for the first win of the season.

Around the Division: Hartford clips Providence 3-2 in a shootout. Bridgeport beats Rochester 4-3 in overtime. Everyone else gets going Saturday.

Standings: Early days, Penguins are sitting atop the Division with 2 points. Springfield, Hershey and Lehigh Valley were off, they get their seasons going Saturday.

Wheeling Update: The Nailers are still in preseason.

Video Highlights: 

Penguins and Checkers Saturday at 6. More after the rematch.

Let’s Go Pens!

Postgamer

Weekend Preview – Back on the Horse

Comments Off on Weekend Preview – Back on the Horse Posted by on October 12, 2023

Back for the (checks calendar) 13th season of the blog, hope everyone had a good summer. Mine is always too short. There’s nothing I like about cold weather, wearing shoes, being perpetually cold all the time and sunsets at 7. Give me sunsets after 8:30, flip-flops, humid weather, mid 80s, a heatwave sprinkled in and call it a season.

You may have noticed the lack of updates here this past summer. Well, I was outside.

There wasn’t any type of preview this season either. Sorry! I was outside.

I’ll take a stab though.

1 Providence – I think the Bruins will be good again this year.
2 Hershey – Bears are defending champs and may have gotten better in the offseason.
3 Hartford – I think they are for real this year, really.
4 Springfield – I think they will be fine, not a door mat and not a contender.
5 Charlotte – Same as Springfield but slightly worse.
6 Penguins – I don’t think they miss the playoffs this year because the new management won’t allow it. More on that in a minute.
7 Lehigh Valley – Flyers are a mess, and that crap runs down hill.
8 Bridgeport – see Lehigh Valley, Islanders aren’t that much better either.

Music to set the mood…

Poison was such a good band.

A Quote…

High expectations are the key to everything…
– Sam Walton

This offseason, the Coal Street signed a bunch of guys to AHL contracts. With every signing, I just said, “Sign a bunch of guys, but make it a different year.”

Part of me wants to thing that its more crap coming in for the crap that was going out.

I think there is hope, but we were fooled last year thinking that that team was going to build off of their fourth place showing and compete. Quickly, it was discovered that the team was one dimensional and when the injuries and callups happened, what faint hope of a late push went straight down the drain.

I think Garret Sparks is just another Dustin Tokarski. A good goalie from yesterday playing out what’s left of his career here in Wilkes-Barre. The rest of the signings (made by Wilkes-Barre) are just a bunch of guys. We’ll see.

I do think that new GM Kyle Dubas did a good job of supplying NHL contracted players destined for the AHL. I don’t like, however, the amount of waiver claims (thus far two) by Pittsburgh because in the tea leaves it reads to me that there is a pile of junk at the AHL level that can’t help the NHL team. Trying to solidify your NHL franchise dumpster diving in waivers claims is a bit of a bold move. We will have to see how it pays off.

The AHL Penguins could be good and historically start strong. But we have all seen this fish before.

Also, on coaching, I think J.D. Forrest escaped the housecleaning by Pittsburgh but if the AHL team stumbles out of the gate he’s out of here by December.

The Setup

Two in Charlotte this Friday and Saturday. A good test for this Penguins team, I’d say.

Records

Everyone is undefeated. These are the first games of the season.

Who’s Up? Who’s Down? Who’s Out?

Full strength, I think. Again, I haven’t paid much attention because I was outside.

Wheeling got a boatload of players Tuesday.

At the end of last season, those guys are probably our top six. Somewhat surprised to see Svejkovsky get sent down, but he will get the reps he needs vs. 12-15 minutes a night buried on some fourth line.

What can we learn about the Penguins this week?

Discount everything you saw in preseason. It doesn’t matter. Sure, they went 3-1 and only lost 1-0 to Hershey with an ECHL lineup, but as a famous wresting promoter said once, “we’re live, pal.” None of that matters. If they run out to a 2-0 start, then sure, there’s promise. But remember, this last place team from last year was the last AHL team to be dealt a regulation loss, and that wasn’t until November. I don’t want to say October is meaningless, but there’s no way you can tell if you have a championship caliber team after two games in Charlotte, much less in the month of October.

Who’s in goal?

Unless they send Joel Blomqvist down, we are doing the whole carrying three goalies thing again. Magnus Hellberg and the aforementioned Garret Sparks are here also. My guess is Blomqvist is their horse and Hellberg and Sparks are the veteran backups. Blomqvist starts Friday and Hellberg goes Saturday.

For Charlotte, I have no idea. It took me 15 minutes to how to learn how to embed a tweet since Elon bought Twitter and renamed it X, or whatever. Bear with me.

Who is running the show?

Morgan McPhee and Harrison O’Pray are your debut referees Friday with Sean D’Loughy and Felix-Antoine Voyer on the lines. On Saturday, MacPhee, O’Pray and D’Loughy are back and Tyler Willie replaces Voyer on the lines.

Looking ahead…

Leaf raking, daylights saving time, having to turn the light on at 4:30 to see the last half hour of your work day. Snow. Oh wait….

Visit to Hartford next Friday then the home opener against Springfield.

Give us a bold prediction…

Three power play goals scored by the Penguins and a shutout and we will quickly forget that sorry abomination of last season.

Weekend Preview

2023-24 AHL Schedule Released

2 Comments Posted by on July 12, 2023

Another year, another schedule release.

League release here. Penguins release here.

Let’s just cut and paste last year’s questions in this years blog post.

1) Do you have a schedule matrix of opponents? Anyone in the Conference we are not playing?

Same as last year. No Western Conference teams.

2) Longest road trip? Longest home stand?

Road trip: Looks like five in a row in mid-November and another in February.

Home stand: Four games in December, and a bunch of threes in a row, scattered about in different months.

3) How many three in threes?

There were two last year. The benefit of a 72 game schedule. There are four this year; one in January, one in March and two in April. Yeah, it doesn’t make any sense to me either.

4) How many work night and Sunday home games?

Per the chart, 10 Wednesday home games and three (two in January and one in April) Sunday home games.

5) Any off the wall schedule time quirks?

No.

6) Where’s the All-Star Classic this year?

Do you know the way to San Jose? If so, head there in the beginning of February 2024.

7) Playoff structure?

Nothing official yet. Assume the same 23 team structure from this past year.

8) What about preseason games?

From the Penguins release…

The Penguins will also play four preseason games to prepare for their 25th season. The first exhibition contest will be on Tuesday, Oct. 3 against Lehigh Valley at PPL Center. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton returns home for its next exhibition game Wednesday, Oct. 4 against Hershey at 10:30 a.m. The Black and Gold wrap up their preseason schedule by visiting the Bears on Friday, Oct. 6 and then hosting the Phantoms on Saturday, Oct. 7 at 6:05 p.m.

Another 10:30 a.m. preseason game! Yippee!

Back to summer. Talk to you in the Fall.

The AHL

2023-24 Schedule Tomorrow, Home Opener Announced

Comments Off on 2023-24 Schedule Tomorrow, Home Opener Announced Posted by on July 11, 2023

It’s the most predictable time of the year.

Teams announce their home opener date, time and opponent and then the following day the full schedule is released.

Rinse and repeat, change the date on the calendar only.

This go around, it’s the Springfield Thunderbirds.

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Sticking with the 6:05 Saturday start times for some weird reason. Callback to when the first 6:05 start date was announced in 2021 from Pens CEO Jeff Barrett,

“We made a conscious effort to move our Saturday home games to an hour earlier in order to accommodate our many families who come to the games with young children,” said Penguins CEO Jeff Barrett. “Down the line, we hope to have the opportunity to host some post-game events for these nights, too. Fans should stay tuned on that front.”

Yeah, nothing on that since. Sure COVID had something to do with it, but nothing yet I have seen on this front. It’s still early however.

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Opening night is October 13 league wide, and the Penguins will be opening on the road against Charlotte.

The assumption here is a Friday – Saturday matchup against Charlotte, if not then Friday – Sunday.

Pens are Hartford’s home opener on Friday, October 20, before opening at home on the 21st against Springfield.

Full league release here on who opens where with whom. Not easy to read, almost need a decoder that comes in a cereal box to make sense of it all.

Back Wednesday to breakdown the same opponents we saw last year, complain about the lack of schedule variety, then back to summer vacation.

The AHL, WBS

2023 Calder Cup Playoffs Preview

2 Comments Posted by on April 18, 2023

Everybody’s favorite time of year, it’s the Calder Cup Playoffs. 23 teams will be vying for the Championship in June.

I expect these to be wrong in parts and right in parts. Just hope to have the Conference Finals right and maybe the Calder Cup Finals participants correct.

I think it’s a wide open field, but the favorites are the favorites because they have played that way all season long.

Let’s pour one out for the San Jose Barracuda, Henderson Silver Knights, San Diego Gulls, Grand Rapids Griffins, Chicago Wolves, Cleveland Monsters, Belleville Senators, Bridgeport Islanders and (sigh) the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins as teams which missed the postseason. Better luck next year, guys.

Here’s how the concept works, the first round is best of three, division semifinals and finals best of five then best of seven for the conference finals and Calder Cup Finals.

Let’s start in the Pacific and work our way east.

First Round Bye: Calgary Wranglers

First Round, best of three.

(2) Coachella Valley Firebirds vs. (7) Tucson Roadrunners: Coachella Valley lost their final two games of the season, handing the regular season title to rival Calgary and have to face an extremely game but equally slumping Tuscon Roadrunners team. I’m not buying the hype though, Coachella Valley in two.

(3) Colorado Eagles vs. (6) Ontario Reign: Likely the most even matchup in the first round. Not a lot separates these teams, so go with the hotter team, Colorado who have won four straight coming in, vs. an Ontaio team who hit a ton of cold spells, losing their final three. Eagles in three.

(4) Abbotsford Canucks vs. (5) Bakersfield Condors: All of these games are going to be played in Abbotsford, which doesn’t bode well for Bakersfield who won 23 games at home. In these scenarios, you take the team with the home ice advantage. Abbotsford in three.

Division Semifinals, best of five.

(1) Calgary Wranglers vs. (4) Abbotsford Canucks: I think that Bakersfield gives the Canucks a run, and using all that energy up is really bad when you are facing a buzzsaw team in Calgary, who won the Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy as the AHL’s best team in the regular season. Dustin Wolf is Him in goal, AHL’s best goaltender. Wranglers puts these other pretender teams on notice and win in a sweep to advance.

(2) Coachella Valley Firebirds vs. (3) Colorado Eagles: Tough one to call. Eagles are good, Coachella Valley played better. Colorado has been here before, the Firebirds have not. I think it goes five. I’m trusting my gut and picking Colorado to advance. Eagles in five.

Division Finals, best of five.

(1) Calgary Wranglers vs. (3) Colorado Eagles: These two teams met in the Pacific Division Finals last year, only the Wranglers were the Stockton Heat. The Heat won that series in four. This Wranglers team is better than that Heat team. Colorado has used up a lot so far, in getting past Ontario and Coachella Valley in the maximum allowable games. I think history repeats itself here, but it’s yet another Wranglers sweep.

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First Round Bye: Texas Stars

First Round, best of three.

(4) Iowa Wild vs. (5) Rockford IceHogs: Both teams clinched on the final day of the regular season and needed wins to get there. Iowa went 7-3-1-1 against the IceHogs in the regular season. Let’s not overthink things here. Iowa in three.

Division Semifinals, best of five.

(1) Texas Stars vs. (4) Iowa Wild: Texas’ only loss to the Wild came on the final day of the regular season, when Texas had already wrapped up the Central crown that got them the first round bye. Stars say bye to the Wild via sweep.

(2) Milwaukee Admirals vs. (3) Manitoba Moose: This is a bad matchup for the Admirals. I’d like the Moose if this were best of three. It’s not. Admirals survive a real scare here. Milwaukee in five.

Division Finals, best of five.

(1) Texas Stars vs. (2) Milwaukee Admirals: One of the reasons Texas was one of the final teams to sew up the division crown was the peskiness of the Milwaukee Admirals. I don’t think any of that matters in a tight series here. Stars in four.

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First Round Bye: Toronto Marlies

First Round, best of three.

(4) Utica Comets vs. (5) Laval Rocket: It’s a matchup which favors the Rocket, who went 5-1 against the Comets this season, but I don’t like Laval’s inconsistency here and it’s not a good matchup in the present day vs. a whole season, Utica takes this three games and advances.

Division Semifinals, best of five.

(1) Toronto Marlies vs. (4) Utica Comets: Toronto stumbled, in a big way, as the season ended, 1-6-2-1 in their last ten. I think it’s a scenario where either team can advance and you can make a strong case either way, but I think that the players lock in and get past the Comets in a series which will go the distance which sees the Marlies advancing in five.

(2) Syracuse Crunch vs. (3) Rochester Americans: It’s a matchup that favors the Crunch, and I think it’s one that they win in easily, but not without a few scares here and there. Crunch in four.

Division Finals, best of five.

(1) Toronto Marlies vs. (2) Syracuse Crunch: Toronto’s inconsistency at the end of the regular season is their undoing and the Crunch advance in five here.

 

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First Round Byes: Providence Bruins, Hershey Bears

First Round, best of three.

(3) Charlotte Checkers vs. (6) Lehigh Valley Phantoms: All games will be played in Charlotte with Lehigh Valley getting last change in Game 2 as the de facto “home” team. Phantoms give the Checkers a scare, but it’s the Checkers advancing as the most consistent non-top two team as they have played all season long, Checkers in three.

(4) Springfield Thunderbirds vs. (5) Hartford Wolf Pack: Hartford lost a cadre of really good players to recall on Saturday, how many of those players make it back in time for this series against Springfield will really determine how this one goes. In the end though, I think the Thunderbirds advance in three.

Division Semifinals, best of five.

(1) Providence Bruins vs. (4) Springfield Thunderbirds: Bruins tore through the division en route to their third division title in four years. I think Springfield gives them a run, with a few games making it to overtime, but the best team advances here, Bruins in four.

(2) Hershey Bears vs. (3) Charlotte Checkers: Bears inconsistency in the season cost them a chance at the number one seed in the division. I think the Bears inconsistency befells them eventually, but not here in a nail biter of a series, Bears in five.

Division Finals, best of five.

(1) Providence Bruins vs. (2) Hershey Bears: Hershey went 1-5 against the Bruins in the regular season. I think that plays a small role here, but Providence is too good of a team to get knocked out this early. Bruins in four.

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Eastern Conference Finals, best of seven.

(1) Providence Bruins vs. (2) Syracuse Crunch: Bruins make this look easy I think, and are just getting going, Providence in five.

Western Conference Finals, best of seven.

(1) Calgary Wranglers vs. (1) Texas Stars: Stars cut the Wranglers, but I just can’t see Calgary having any issues in this series. Wranglers in five.

Calder Cup Finals, best of seven.

Hold up, am I really picking chalk all the way here? I guess I am. I can’t see any viable path for any other team to get to this point other than Providence and Calgary unless there’s a major, major upset. Go back and look. Can Lehigh Valley get here? Conceivably, sure, but they need to beat Charlotte twice in a three game series in North Carolina to do so. Can Colorado get here? Sure, but they went 2-4-1-1 against Calgary, and the Wranglers will have a fully stocked team. I just don’t see how the two best teams in their conferences don’t end up here. On paper. They don’t play games on paper though, so we’ll see!

(1) Calgary Wranglers vs. (1) Providence Bruins: Calgary runs into a really good, really deep, really talented Providence team. But the Wranglers have played at such a high  level all season long, that it’s nothing really they can’t handle. There’s a few scares here. I think Providence takes Game 1 in Calgary, the Wranglers win in overtime in Game 2 to make it 1-1 heading back to Rhode Island. Wranglers win games three and four, Providence wins Game 5 in double OT to send it back to Calgary but it’s the Wranglers winning in a blowout to win the Calder Cup in six games.

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That’s how I see it. Let’s see how wrong I am. Congrats on the Calder Cup IceHogs fans!

The AHL

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