The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins are presently tied for first place in the AHL Atlantic Division under coach Clark Donatelli with a record of 17-5-3 (37 points). The Baby Pens have scored 82 goals (fourth-best in the league) and allowed 52 (third fewest).
Youngsters Oskar Sundqvist and Jake Guentzel are tied for the team lead in scoring with 23 points each, followed by captain Tom Kostopoulos (18 points). Sundqvist and Guentzel pace the club with 11 and 10 goals, respectively. Kostopoulos and third-year pro Jean-Sebastien Dea are next in line with eight goals apiece. Guentzel heads the pack with 13 assists.
Newcomer Chad Ruhwedel and holdover David Warsofsky lead the defense with three goals and 13 points each. Guentzel has the best plus/minus (+14), with Cameron Gaunce, Sundqvist and Garrett Wilson a notch behind at plus-13. Wilkes-Barre native Patrick McGrath is the most penalized (44 PIM).
Tristan Jarry leads the goalies in games (17), minutes (1024), shutouts (1) and wins (11). Backup Casey DeSmith boasts the lowest goals against average (1.84) and best save percentage (.929).
| SCORING | ||||||||||||
| Player | Age | Pos | GP | G | A | PTS | PIM | +/- | ||||
| Oskar Sundqvist | 22 | C | 23 | 11 | 12 | 23 | 16 | 13 | ||||
| Jake Guentzel | 21 | C | 20 | 10 | 13 | 23 | 4 | 14 | ||||
| Tom Kostopoulos | 37 | RW | 25 | 8 | 10 | 18 | 19 | 5 | ||||
| Kevin Porter | 30 | C | 23 | 6 | 10 | 16 | 8 | 1 | ||||
| Dominik Simon | 22 | C | 22 | 4 | 11 | 15 | 8 | -1 | ||||
| Garrett Wilson | 25 | LW | 25 | 4 | 11 | 15 | 39 | 13 | ||||
| Carter Rowney | 27 | RW | 18 | 5 | 8 | 13 | 9 | 8 | ||||
| Chad Ruhwedel | 26 | D | 25 | 3 | 10 | 13 | 10 | -1 | ||||
| David Warsofsky | 26 | D | 16 | 3 | 10 | 13 | 12 | 4 | ||||
| Josh Archibald | 23 | RW | 25 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 15 | 12 | ||||
| Jean-Sebastien Dea | 22 | C | 24 | 8 | 3 | 11 | 19 | 2 | ||||
| Cameron Gaunce | 26 | D | 25 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 26 | 13 | ||||
| Reid Gardiner | 20 | RW | 20 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 4 | -5 | ||||
| Ryan Haggerty | 23 | F | 15 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 13 | -1 | ||||
| Sahir Gill | 24 | C | 14 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 2 | -3 | ||||
| Ethan Prow | 23 | D | 16 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 1 | ||||
| Steve Oleksy | 30 | D | 10 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 12 | 1 | ||||
| Stuart Percy | 23 | D | 10 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | ||||
| Tim Erixon | 25 | D | 12 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 3 | ||||
| Teddy Blueger | 22 | C | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | -2 | ||||
| Danny Kristo | 26 | RW | 8 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | -2 | ||||
| Reid McNeill | 24 | D | 14 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 21 | 2 | ||||
| Tom Sestito | 28 | LW | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | -2 | ||||
| Lukas Bengtsson | 22 | D | 8 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | ||||
| Jarrett Burton | 25 | F | 12 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 10 | -1 | ||||
| Thomas DiPauli | 22 | F | 8 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1 | ||||
| Bobby Goers | 30 | D | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | ||||
| Tristan Jarry | 21 | G | 17 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Patrick McGrath | 23 | RW | 11 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 44 | -2 | ||||
| Casey DeSmith | 25 | G | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Adam Krause | 24 | C | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Derrick Pouliot | 22 | D | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -4 | ||||
| GOALTENDING | ||||||||||||
| Player | Pos | GP | MIN | GA | SH | AVE | SVPCT | W-L-OT | ||||
| Casey DeSmith | G | 8 | 488 | 15 | 0 | 1.84 | 0.929 | 6-0-2 | ||||
| Tristan Jarry | G | 17 | 1024 | 36 | 1 | 2.11 | 0.923 | 11-5-1 | ||||
Hey Rick
WBS Pens have always done well and it totally amazes me.Dan and Mike have gone thru their system as well as Mike Y and others on to the NHL.
I think it is a credit to Mario and his previous GM’s who realized the importance of a good farm system.
Remember Mario growing up in Quebec and watching Montreal he learned some valuable lessons.Montreal had an AHL in Halifax for many years then moved to Fredericton and finally to Sherbrooke Quebec. While in Fredericton the AHL baby Habs sponsored all the competitive hockey teams from mites to Junior. Then GM Serge Savard made the comment that they spend a million dollars a year in Fredericton on minor Hockey.I know we miss them.They were golden years for us.
I understand Mario does similar things with his Pens. He is to be commended for that. That is not cheap to do and the benefits are not always immediate. Good for WBS.
Oscar, Jake and Tristan ( can not forget Daniel Sp.) will all play for the big club soon. That is a positive factor for us moving forward. ☺
Cheers.
Hey Jim,
Thanks for your take on the Pens’ prospect pipeline, and for sharing a bit of hockey history regarding the Canadiens’ farm system. Not to mention your fond memories of their time in Fredericton … 🙂
Back in the dynastic days of Sam Pollock and Guy Lafleur, the Habs stockpiled draft picks like few teams before or since. Then they’d routinely trade off spare talent–good but not great players like Pat Hughes, Peter Lee and Rod Schutt–to fill in the missing pieces and/or acquire more picks.
Small wonder they were so good for so long!
Rick
Hey Rick, Hey Jim,
Rick you make a great point about maintaining a top team over a span of years; a point that often stirs up a firestorm, at least for me when I actually make that suggestion in real terms. Like everyone, I have my favorite players that I would love to see retire a Penguin but not every star can retire that way, not if you want to see the team stay on top year after year. I also understand why some people get angry when someone actually suggests those types of trades; to get any real value in return, you have to trade while the player is still hovering at the top of their game, just starting to decline. If you wait until it is apparent that they are on the back end, you get nothing in return.
Of course, even when you make those trades it doesn’t always work out the way you want. A perfect example is your favorite story Rick; Montreal trading lucky Pierre to Hartford to try and position themselves to get Mario.
Jim, I for one can’t wait for some of those guys to make it up here, particularly Geuntzel and Sundqvist. I really like Sprong but we are so stacked on the Right side he may not really get a chance to play for a bit.
Get it back tonight against the Leafs
Hey Coach,
Good old fashion game last night.1-nil over time. The effort was certainly there even though the result was not and both goalies did their job. As the old saying goes,” You can’t win them all”. ( We sure miss Letang ).
With regards to the acquiring of Mario you were absolutely right that Montreal wanted # 66. I remember reading in the local Quebec media a story of Montreal offering ” a million dollars plus any player in the Montreal organization ,( they protected 10 players the report said),and their first round pick, for the rights to draft Super Mario.” In the Quebec Junior league Mario had a phenomenal career scoring 562 points,247 goals and 315 assists in three seasons. They had 15,000 fans turning up to see him play as a seventeen year old in junior hockey. This guy was the next Rocket Richard !
So credos to the owners and management of the Pen’s for selecting Mario. Many would have taken the money.
I think Sprong will be in Pittsburgh next year, if he stays healthy because he is a natural goal scorer, ala Phil K. where Byran Rust is not.
Great stuff guys.
Cheers
Hey Jim,
The Goalies did a great job controlling rebounds. If Kessell doesn’t break his stick, the game probably goes to a shoot-out. If Murray could get a Mulligan, he may want to play that shot a little higher in his crease, then probably makes the save, but a 3 on 1 is tough to stop. But he still got a point for the team.
Also, that was a game where a bigger Hedman type D may have helped.
I can’t wait to see Sprong on a full time basis even though he may have to spend a season or two on the third line like Jags did, if for no other reason than Kessell and Hornqvist but he is a top 6.
I some respects I do envy you, getting to see a lot of these kids coming up through the Jrs and trying to play arm chair scout, tryng to project which ones will be blue-chippers.
Hey Coach, Rick,
Do not envy me my friend,your the one’s that can watch our beloved Pen’s live every night, while I can only see their ” shadow ” on Television.Hockey is a game where you need a FULL arena of screaming fans, ( 2000 seat or 22,000 seat arena, it does not matter, just let it be full ) to feel the full impact of the game. TV can not do it justice. Basket ball is the same way. Also I envy YOU because God gave you the ability other Rick and opportunity to see the game as few can….As a Coach.
Secondly,by watching Junior and even University players,( the UNB Mens Hockey team has won several National Championships) can drive you crazy trying to predict with certainty who will make it to the NHL.
Case in point is Jake Allen of the Blues. I know his grand father well and his father from the rinks. There were several kids who could stop the puck as well as Jake in High school, but for other reasons they never made it.(This is not a criticism of Jake, he is a terrific kid who earned thru hard work what he has now.)
Another one is Greg Malone. He grew up in Chatam, a small community of 2500 hundred people and a two hour drive away from Fredericton.He had to move to Fredericton and live with his grand parents during high school in order to make it to the NHL.Fredericton had a Tier one Hockey program, (was a perennial Provincial Champion because the school was the largest in Canada at that time), while Chatam played in a smaller Tier two Program.
Greg was a great guy, very quiet, and smart in school, but he knew he had to succeed or go back to Chatam and work in the Paper mill. So Greg was determined to get to the NHL, or at least get a scholarship to attend an American University any way he could.
Coach I guess it is all from one’s viewpoint at that time.Thanks for the kind words.
Will post later about the TO game last night. We almost lost MAF to a nasty skate to the throat accident. He is lucky to be alive today !!
Cheers guys.