Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
2016–17 AHL season
City Wilkes-Barre, 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 Jason Botterill
Head coach Clark Donatelli
Captain Tom Kostopoulos
Media Wilkes-Barre Times Leader
Scranton Times-Tribune
Root Sports Pittsburgh
WILK Newsradio 103.1
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 1 (2010–11)
Division Championships 3 (2005–06, 2007–08, 2010–11)
Conference Championships 3 (2000–01, 2003–04, 2007–08)

The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins are the American Hockey League affiliate of the National Hockey League's Pittsburgh Penguins. They play in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania at the Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza. They were the 2011 winners of the East Division and the Eastern Conference (in terms of regular season titles), winning their first Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy. The Penguins serve as a professional hockey team to the people of Scranton, Pennsylvania and Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. The Penguins are located in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre metropolitan area.

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 a top 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, but left the team inactive until the 1999–2000 season, due to delays in construction of the local arena in Wilkes-Barre. The team is affectionately referred to as "The Baby Penguins" by fans. Their mascot is Tux the penguin, who wears number #99 in reference to the team's first season in 1999.

The WBS Pens have gone to the Calder Cup Final three times but have never won the championship. The team first made the finals in their second season playing, losing to the Saint John Flames in six games. The Baby Pens 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 4-2.

The WBS Penguins won the Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy for best finish in the regular season in 2011 with 117 points. Goaltender Brad Thiessen was also 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 their best regular season finish in team history, the WBS Penguins would be eliminated in the second round of the 2011 playoffs by the Charlotte Checkers in six games.

As of the 2016–17 season, the WBS Penguins currently hold the longest streak for qualifying for the Calder Cup playoffs at 14 straight seasons.

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.[1]

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 developing rival of the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Washington Capitals). In 2013, the Adirondack Phantoms relocated back to eastern Pennsylvania as the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.

Season-by-season results

Players

Current roster

Updated November 21, 2016.[2]

# Nat Player Pos S/G Age Acquired Birthplace Contract
15 United States Archibald, JoshJosh Archibald RW R 24 2014 Regina, Saskatchewan Pittsburgh
32 Sweden Bengtsson, LukasLukas Bengtsson D R 22 2016 Stockholm, Sweden Pittsburgh
20 Canada Burton, JarrettJarrett Burton C L 25 2016 Echo Bay, Ontario W-B/Scranton
9 Canada Dea, Jean-SebastienJean-Sebastien Dea C R 22 2014 Laval, Quebec Pittsburgh
1 United States DeSmith, CaseyCasey DeSmith G L 25 2016 Rochester, New Hampshire W-B/Scranton
38 United States Di Pauli, ThomasThomas Di Pauli C L 22 2016 Caldaro, Italy Pittsburgh
4 Sweden Erixon, TimTim Erixon D L 25 2015 Port Chester, New York Pittsburgh
46 Canada Gardiner, ReidReid Gardiner RW R 20 2016 Prince Albert, Saskatchewan W-B/Scranton
24 Canada Gaunce, CameronCameron Gaunce D L 26 2016 Sudbury, Ontario Pittsburgh
21 Canada Gill, SahirSahir Gill C/LW L 24 2016 Terrace, British Columbia W-B/Scranton
41 United States Goers, BarryBarry Goers D R 30 2013 Ivyland, Pennsylvania W-B/Scranton
39 United States Haggerty, RyanRyan Haggerty RW R 23 2016 Stamford, Connecticut W-B/Scranton
35 Canada Jarry, TristanTristan Jarry G L 21 2015 Surrey, British Columbia Pittsburgh
29 Canada Kostopoulos, TomTom Kostopoulos (C) RW R 37 2013 Mississauga, Ontario W-B/Scranton
7 United States Kristo, DannyDanny Kristo RW R 26 2016 Edina, Minnesota Pittsburgh
13 United States McGrath, PatrickPatrick McGrath RW R 23 2013 Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania W-B/Scranton
10 Canada Percy, StuartStuart Percy D L 23 2016 Oakville, Ontario Pittsburgh
11 United States Porter, KevinKevin Porter C L 30 2015 Northville, Michigan Pittsburgh
6 United States Prow, EthanEthan Prow D R 24 2016 Sauk Rapids, Minnesota Pittsburgh
17 Canada Rowney, CarterCarter Rowney (A) RW R 27 2013 Grande Prairie, Alberta Pittsburgh
2 United States Ruhwedel, ChadChad Ruhwedel D R 26 2016 San Diego, California Pittsburgh
49 Czech Republic Simon, DominikDominik Simon C R 22 2015 Prague, Czech Republic Pittsburgh
40 Sweden Sundqvist, OskarOskar Sundqvist C R 22 2015 Boden, Sweden Pittsburgh
5 United States Warsofsky, DavidDavid Warsofsky D L 26 2016 Marshfield, Massachusetts Pittsburgh
19 Canada Wilson, GarrettGarrett Wilson LW L 25 2016 Elmvale, Ontario Pittsburgh

Team Captains

Notable Penguins

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, 121
Career assists: Tom Kostopoulos, 176
Career points: Tom Kostopoulos, 297
Career penalty minutes: Dennis Bonvie, 1081
Career goaltending wins: John Curry, 103
Career shutouts: Brad Thiessen, 17
Career games: Tom Kostopoulos, 400

AHL records

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

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 (Baltimore, Portland, Cornwall, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Philadelphia)
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

See also

References

  1. "Wilkes-Barre Jr. Penguins Youth Ice Hockey Club". Retrieved November 21, 2016.
  2. "Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins Roster". Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. Retrieved January 18, 2014.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 12/1/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.