Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Game: Pick A Team From Only 4 Teams

Here are the rules... You can only pick four teams to choose players from. My teams are Pittsburgh, Chicago, Anaheim, and Tampa Bay, you may chose 4 teams of your own. 
You need to fill four lines at forward with one extra attacker, as-well-as three defensive pairings with an extra defenseman and two goalies.

...Talk amongst yourselves.

Staal, Crosby, Malkin
Kane, Toews, Hossa
St. Louis, Stamkos, Malone
Selanne, Getzlaf, Ryan
X-Perry  

Martin, Orpik 
Letang, Keith 
Michalek, Hedman 
X-Goligoski  

Fleury 
X-Hiller

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Friday, October 1, 2010

Baby Pens Send Players On the Road to Wheeling


The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins sent a few more players to Wheeling earlier today.
WBS sent forwards Mikael Bedard, Andrew Lord, David Marshall, Andrew Orpik,  Alex Smigelski, and Ben Street to Wheeling.
Joining them in Wheeling will be defensemen Kyle Bushee and Jason DeSantis as-well-as goalie Patrick Killeen.
Those players will meet up with forward Marc Rechlicz, defensemen Drew Dobson, Peter Merth, and Nick Tuzzolino as-well-as goalie Nevin Hamilton as they were sent to Wheeling's camp yesterday. The Wheeling Nailers could be set for a very good season.
Also, something else to keep in mind with the Nailers, is that they have a duel affiliation this season. So they are expecting more players sent to them from the Hamilton Bulldogs of the AHL.

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Cuts Part Deux


The Pittsburgh Penguins made their training camp roster smaller earlier today by sending 11 players to AHL affiliate, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

Forwards included in the cuts are Chris Conner, Nick Johnson, Brett Sterling, Joe Vitale, and Tim Wallace. The defensemen that were sent down include Robert Bortuzzo, Corey Potter, Brian Strait and Steve Wagner. Goaltenders John Curry and Brad Thiessen were  also assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

Out of the 11 cuts six of the players will have to clear waivers by Thursday at noon before they can join the Baby Pens… Those players who need to clear are Conner, Curry, Potter, Sterling, Wagner, and Wallace.

The Penguins have 30 players remaining on their roster after the cuts.   18 forwards; 10 defensemen; and two goaltenders.

I fully expect a team like Philly or Minnesota take a chance on John Curry as both teams have keepers who are hurt and Curry is coming off of a decent training camp.  Also, the New York Islanders could potentially be a candidate for a player like Brent Sterling after losing Kyle Okposo until December. 

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Training Camp Roster

A couple of familiar names appear on Wilkes-Barre/Scranton's first announced training camp roster, Drew Fata and Pascal Morency

Fata, brother of former Pittsburgh Penguin, Rico Fata, played with the WBS Penguins and Wheeling Nailers between 2003-2006 and Morency played with WBS and Wheeling from 2004-2006.  Both players will bring an edge with them to training camp for sure as they are both known to mix it up a little.  

One one player that will be hard to miss on the ice will be Taylor Vichorek being 6'8" 245 pounds. It'll be interesting to see if he has the wheels to play forward as a pro. There are not many 6'8" forwards out there. 

Training Camp Roster (As of September 23, 2010)
FORWARDS (17)  
  Mikael Bedard 
  Jesse Boulerice
  Chris Collins  
  Joey Haddad  
  Andrew Lord  
  David Marshall 
  Pascal Morency
  Andrew Orpik  
  Nick Petersen 
  Marc Rechlicz
  Ryan Schnell  
  Zach Sill  
  Alex Smigelski 
  Ben Street
  Keven Veilleux 
  Taylor Vichorek 
  Geoff Walker  

DEFENSEMEN (9)  
  Kyle Bushee
  Jason DeSantis
  Drew Dobson  
  Drew Fata  
  Peter Merth 
  Derek Peltier 
  Carl Sneep 
  Eric Tallent 
  Nick Tuzzolino 

GOALTENDERS (2)  
  Nevin Hamilton 
  Patrick Killeen 

Wheeling Nailers Try Outs
Played with WBS or Wheeling Last Season

...and It Cuts Like a Knife


The first round of cuts were made today by the Pittsburgh Penguins. Returning to the Wilkes Barre/Scranton Penguins of the American Hockey League are forwards Jesse Boulerice, Chris Collins, Joey Haddad, Nick Petersen, Ryan Schnell, Zach Sill, Alex Smigelski, Kevin Veilleux, and Geoff Walker. 

Defensemen who were sent Wilkes Barre/Scranton today include Jason DeSantis, Derek Peltier and Carl Sneep. Goaltender Patrick Killeen was also sent to WBS.

Meanwhile, forward Tyler Brown was sent back to the Plymouth Whalers of the Ontario Hockey League and goaltender Alex Pechurskiy was sent to the Tri-City Americans of the Western Hockey League. 


Wilkes-Barre opens up camp this Saturday, so you can expect more cuts to be made by then as well as some camp invites, because 13 guys are not enough to have a full camp. 

Saturday, September 18, 2010

2010-2011 WBS Penguins Free-Agent Acquisitions

With the 2010-2011 season rapidly approaching, what better time to get to know the new potentially new players in the WBS Penguins system.

Chris Collins – 5’8” | 202 lbs | Forward | Shoots Left |
Collins spent his last two professional seasons playing in Germany with the Augsberg Panthers.  During those two seasons he posted 79 points (37G, 42A) and 150 penalty minutes over 80 games.  Despite playing the past two seasons overseas, Collins is no stranger to the AHL. As a member of the Providence Bruins, Collins notch 43 points (24G, 19A) in 99 regular-season games from 2006-2008.

Ryan Craig – 6’2” | 220 lbs | Center | Shoots Left |
You can never have enough depth at center, Shero adding more depth down the middle by signing Craig to a two-way deal in July. Craig spent the last 4 seasons in the Tampa Bay Lightning organization. Craig is no stranger to the NHL either with 32 goals and 31 assists in 184 NHL games. Last season Craig played in 73 games scoring 23 goals and added 22 assists with Norfolk in the AHL.

Jason DeSantis – 5’11” | 185 lbs | Defense | Shoots Right |DeSantis played two years with the Philadelphia Phantons before he played overseas last season with Liberec Bili Tygri HC in the Czech Republic.  Last season with Liberec Bili Tygri HC DeSantis recorded five points (2G, 3A) and 10 penalty minutes in 14 games.

Andrew Hutchinson – 6’2” 198 lbs | Defense | Shoots Right | 
Hutchinson was major contributor to the Texas Stars last season. 
He posted nine goals and 38 points during the regular season and was a big factor in the Calder Cup playoffs where he posted 16 points (5G, 11A ) in 21 games during their Calder Cup Finals run.  Hutchinson also has 135 games played in the NHL between Nashville, Carolina, Tampa Bay, and Dallas.

Andrew Orpik – 6’3” | 200 lbs | Forward | Shoots Right | By now you probably realized that Andrew Orpik is Brooks Orpiks’ brother. Beyond that you probably don’t know much else about him.  Orpik spent most of last season with the Las Vegas Wranglers of the ECHL where he posted 22 points (10G, 12A) and 38 penalty minutes in 35 games. Orpik posted five points in 22 games in the AHL last season with the San Antonio Rampage, (1G, 4A).

Corey Potter – 6’2” | 195 lbs | Defense | Shoots Right |One of many veteran depth signings, Potter is one of 3 free-agent acquisitions who spent time in the NHL. Potter played in eight career NHL games with the New York Rangers, recording two points (1G, 1A). Potter also has plenty of AHL experience playing in 246 games and posting 102 points (21G, 81A)

Brett Sterling – 5’7” | 175 lbs | Left Wing | Shoots Left |
His numbers don’t lie… 
263 points (144 goals, 119 assists) in 254 AHL games. Sterling is a HUGE offseason signing for an AHL team. In WBS, he may be the biggest named free agent signing ever in the history of the team.  Sterling is another off season pickup who has NHL experience in his resume as he played in 19 games with Atlanta over two seasons notching four points (2G, 2A).

Ben Street – 5’11” | 185 lbs | Center | Shoots Left | Street completed his collegiate career last year with the University of Wisconsin. He put up 30 points (14G, 16A) in 43 games for the Badgers

Geoff Walker – 6’3” | 225 lbs | Right Wing | Shoots Right |
Walker split time last season with the Ontario Reign of the ECHL and the Manchester Monarchs of the AHL. Walker has a big frame and a decent wingspan. Last season Walker posted 14 points (5G, 9A) in 37 games with Manchester and 23 points (7G, 16A) in Ontario.