Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins

From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core
Jump to: navigation, search
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
2022–23 AHL season
City Wilkes-Barre Township, Pennsylvania
League American Hockey League
Conference Eastern
Division Atlantic
Founded 1981
Home arena Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza
Colors Black, gold, white, red
                   
Owner(s) Ron Burkle
Mario Lemieux
General manager Erik Heasley
Head coach J.D. Forrest
Captain Taylor Fedun
Media Wilkes-Barre Times Leader
Scranton Times-Tribune
AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh
WILK Newsradio 103.1
AHL.TV (Internet)
Affiliates Pittsburgh Penguins (NHL)
Wheeling Nailers (ECHL)
Franchise history
1981–1988 Fredericton Express
1988–1993 Halifax Citadels
1993–1996 Cornwall Aces
1999–present Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
Championships
Regular season titles 2: (2010–11, 2016–17)
Division Championships 4: (2005–06, 2007–08, 2010–11, 2016–17)
Conference Championships 3: (2001, 2004, 2008)
Calder Cups 0

The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League, and are the AHL affiliates of the National Hockey League's Pittsburgh Penguins. They play at the Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza in Wilkes-Barre Township, Pennsylvania, just outside the city of Wilkes-Barre. They have won the Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy twice for having the best record in the regular season.

History

The Pittsburgh Penguins' top minor league affiliate throughout the 1990s was the Cleveland Lumberjacks of the IHL. However, in the mid-1990s, the IHL began moving away from being a developmental league and more towards being an independent minor league. For this reason, the Penguins wanted their top minor league affiliate in the AHL. The Penguins purchased the dormant Cornwall Aces AHL franchise from the Colorado Avalanche in 1996,[1][2] but left the team inactive until the 1999–2000 season due to construction delays at their intended home–a new arena in Wilkes-Barre Township. The team is affectionately referred to as the "Baby Penguins" by fans. Their mascot is Tux the penguin, who wears number No. 99 in reference to the team's first season, in 1999.

The Penguins have gone to the Calder Cup final three times but have never won the championship. The team went all the way to the finals in their second season, losing to the Saint John Flames in six games. The Penguins returned to the finals in their fifth season, but were swept by the Milwaukee Admirals. They most recently made it to the finals in 2008 by way of beating the Portland Pirates in a seven-game series in the Eastern Conference finals. They went on to play the Chicago Wolves in the final, but lost the series in six games.

The WBS Penguins won the Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy for the best finish in the regular season, in 2011, with 117 points. Goaltender Brad Thiessen was named the recipient of the Aldege "Baz" Bastien Memorial Award, an award given to the AHL's most outstanding goaltender for each season. He posted a record of 35–8–1 in 46 appearances, along with a 1.94 goals-against-average and a .922 save percentage. Head coach John Hynes won the Louis A. R. Pieri Memorial Award, awarded to the most outstanding AHL coach of the season. Despite the best regular season finish in team history, the Penguins were eliminated in the second round of the 2011 playoffs by the Charlotte Checkers in six games.

The Penguins have made the playoffs in all but three seasons of their existence. As of the end of the 2019–20 season, the Penguins held a playoff streak of 16 seasons from the 2002–03 season to the 2017–18 season.

Prior to the 2009–10 season, they held the inaugural Penguins Black and Gold Game, an intra-squad game which featured members of the Pittsburgh and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins and was the first ever head-to-head meeting between Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. The game was a complete sellout and tickets never reached the general public. The Penguins organization held its second Black and Gold Game prior to the 2010–11 season on September 19, 2010.

In 2009, they also spawned an affiliated youth level organization, the Wilkes-Barre Junior Pens. The team is based out of the Ice Rink at Coal Street Park, which also serves as a practice facility for the Penguins.[3]

The Penguins' biggest rivals had been the Philadelphia Phantoms, the AHL affiliate of Pennsylvania's other NHL team, the Philadelphia Flyers. After that team moved to Glens Falls, New York, (as the Adirondack Phantoms) the Hershey Bears, also located in Pennsylvania, became the major rivals of the Penguins (they are currently the AHL affiliate of another rival of the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Washington Capitals). In 2014, the Adirondack Phantoms relocated back to eastern Pennsylvania as the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.

Season-by-season results

Regular season Playoffs
Season Games Won Lost Tied OTL SOL Points PCT Goals
for
Goals
against
Standing Year Prelims 1st
round
2nd
round
3rd
round
Finals
1999–00 80 23 43 9 5 60 .375 236 306 5th, Empire State Div. 2000 Did not qualify
2000–01 80 36 33 9 2 83 .519 252 248 2nd, Mid-Atlantic Div. 2001 W, 3–2, SYR W, 4–2, PHI W, 4–0, HER L, 2–4, SJF
2001–02 80 20 44 13 3 56 .350 201 274 4th, South Div. 2002 Did not qualify
2002–03 80 36 32 7 5 84 .525 245 248 3rd, South Div. 2003 W, 2–0, UTA L, 1–3, GR
2003–04 80 34 28 10 8 86 .538 197 197 3rd, East Div. 2004 BYE W, 4–3, BRP W, 4–2, PHI W, 4–3, HFD L, 0–4, MIL
2004–05 80 39 27 7 7 92 .575 227 219 4th, East Div. 2005 W, 4–2, BNG L, 1–4, PHI
2005–06 80 51 18 5 6 113 .706 249 178 1st, East Div. 2006 W, 4–3, BRP L, 0–4, HER
2006–07 80 51 23 2 4 108 .675 276 221 2nd, East Div. 2007 W, 4–2, NOR L, 1–4, HER
2007–08 80 47 26 3 4 101 .631 223 187 1st, East Div. 2008 W, 4–1, HER W, 4–1, PHI W, 4–3 POR L, 2–4, CHI
2008–09 80 49 25 3 3 104 .650 274 212 3rd, East Div. 2009 W, 4–1, BRP L,3–4 HER
2009–10 80 41 34 2 3 87 .544 239 229 3rd, East Div. 2010 L, 0–4, ALB
2010–11 80 58 21 0 1 117 .731 261 183 1st, East Div. 2011 W, 4–2, NOR L, 2–4, CHA
2011–12 76 44 25 2 5 95 .625 235 215 2nd, East Div. 2012 W, 3–2, HER L, 3–4, STJ
2012–13 76 42 30 2 2 88 .579 185 178 3rd, East Div. 2013 W, 3–0, BNG W, 4–3, PRO L, 1–4, SYR
2013–14 76 42 26 3 5 92 .605 206 185 6th, Eastern Conf. 2014 W, 3–1, BNG W, 4–3, PRO L, 2–4, STJ
2014–15 76 45 24 3 4 97 .638 212 163 4th, Eastern Conf. 2015 W, 3–0, SYR L, 1–4, MCH
2015–16 76 43 27 4 2 92 .605 230 203 3rd, Atlantic Div. 2016 W, 3–0, PRO L, 3–4, HER
2016–17 76 51 20 3 2 107 .704 247 170 1st, Atlantic Div. 2017 L, 2–3, PRO
2017–18 76 45 22 6 3 99 .651 252 223 2nd, Atlantic Div. 2018 L, 0–3, CHA
2018–19 76 36 30 7 3 82 .539 232 228 6th, Atlantic Div. 2019 Did not qualify
2019–20 63 29 26 3 5 66 .524 164 193 5th, Atlantic Div. 2020 Season cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2020–21 32 13 13 4 2 32 .500 92 107 5th, North Div. 2021 No playoffs were held
2021–22 76 35 33 4 4 78 .513 209 225 4th, Atlantic Div. 2022 W, 2–1, HER L, 0–3, SPR

     Won Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy for the best record in the regular season
     Round not held

Players

Current roster

Updated July 14, 2022.[4]

# Nat Player Pos S/G Age Acquired Birthplace Contract
25 Finland Niclas Almari D L 25 2019 Espoo, Finland Pittsburgh
14 Canada Justin Almeida C L 25 2019 Kitimat, British Columbia Pittsburgh
18 Canada Corey Andonovski RW R 25 2022 Uxbridge, Ontario W-B/Scranton
12 United States Matt Bartkowski (A) D L 35 2021 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania W-B/Scranton
Canada Shaw Boomhower LW L 25 2021 Belleville, Ontario W-B/Scranton
23 Canada Jamie Devane LW L 33 2021 Mississauga, Ontario W-B/Scranton
4 Canada Taylor Fedun (C) D R 35 2021 Edmonton, Alberta Pittsburgh
72 Canada Ty Glover C L 23 2022 Salford, England, Great Britain Pittsburgh
44 United States Jonathan Gruden LW L 23 2021 Rochester, Michigan Pittsburgh
51 Sweden Filip Hallander C L 23 2021 Sundsvall, Sweden Pittsburgh
United States Clay Hanus D L 23 2022 Minnetonka, Minnesota W-B/Scranton
47 Canada Samuel Houde C L 24 2021 Blainville, Quebec W-B/Scranton
57 Canada Pierre-Olivier Joseph (A) D L 24 2019 Laval, Quebec Pittsburgh
34 Canada Nathan Legare RW R 23 2021 Montreal, Quebec Pittsburgh
31 Finland Filip Lindberg G L 25 2021 Espoo, Finland Pittsburgh
United States Jon Lizotte D L 29 2022 Grand Forks, North Dakota W-B/Scranton
24 United States Josh Maniscalco D R 25 2021 Perkiomenville, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh
5 Canada Christopher Merisier-Ortiz D L 23 2021 Boisbriand, Quebec W-B/Scranton
37 United States Tommy Nappier G L 25 2021 St. Louis, Missouri W-B/Scranton
19 Sweden Alexander Nylander LW R 26 2022 Calgary, Alberta Pittsburgh
39 Canada Kyle Olson RW R 25 2020 Calgary, Alberta W-B/Scranton
22 Canada Samuel Poulin RW L 23 2021 Laval, Quebec Pittsburgh
48 Finland Valtteri Puustinen RW R 24 2021 Kuopio, Finland Pittsburgh
7 United States Mitch Reinke D R 28 2021 Stillwater, Minnesota W-B/Scranton
42 United States Colin Swoyer D R 25 2022 Hinsdale, Illinois Pittsburgh
9 Czech Republic Radim Zohorna C L 27 2021 Havlíčkův Brod, Czech Republic Pittsburgh

Team captains

<templatestyles src="Div col/styles.css"/>

Notable alumni

Players listed have played at least 100 games with the Penguins and 100 games in the NHL.

<templatestyles src="Div col/styles.css"/>

Team records

Single season
Goals: Chris Minard, 34 (2008–09)
Assists: Jeff Taffe and Janne Pesonen, 50 (2008–09)
Points: Janne Pesonen, 82 (2008–09)
Penalty minutes: Dennis Bonvie, 431 (2005–06)
Goaltending wins: Brad Thiessen, 35 (2010–11)
GAA: Jeff Zatkoff 1.93 (2012–13)
SV%: Rich Parent (2000–01), Dany Sabourin (2005–06) and Brad Thiessen (2010–11), .922
Career
Career goals: Tom Kostopoulos, 181
Career assists: Tom Kostopoulos, 269
Career points: Tom Kostopoulos, 450
Career penalty minutes: Dennis Bonvie, 1081
Career goaltending wins: John Curry, 103
Career shutouts: Brad Thiessen, 17
Career games: Tom Kostopoulos, 627

AHL records

As of the 2009–10 AHL Season. Data from the AHL Hall of Fame Website.[5]

Team

Most road wins, 80-game season: 28 (2010–2011) (tied)
Longest road winning streak (one season): 13 games (October 9 – December 3, 2005) (tied)
Longest road winning streak (overall): 15 games (April 10 – December 3, 2005)

Player

Most points by a defenseman, career: John Slaney, 486 (Baltimore, Portland, Cornwall, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Philadelphia)
Most goals by a defenseman, career: John Slaney, 157
Most goals by a defenseman, season: John Slaney, 30 (1999–2000)
Most PIM, career: Dennis Bonvie, 4,104 (Cape Breton, Hamilton, Portland, Philadelphia, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Providence, Binghamton, Hershey)
Most PIM, game: Steve Parsons, 64 (March 17, 2002 vs. Syracuse)

AHL awards and trophies

Per the AHL Hall of Fame:[6]

See also

References

  1. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links