Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins

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Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins
founding 1999
history Fredericton Express
1981 - 1988
Halifax Citadels
1988 - 1993
Cornwall Aces
1993 - 1996
Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins
since 1999
Stadion Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza
Location Wilkes-Barre , Pennsylvania
Team colors Black, gold, red, white
league American Hockey League
Conference Eastern Conference
division Atlantic Division
Head coach United StatesUnited States Clark Donatelli
General manager CanadaCanada Jim Rutherford
owner United StatesUnited States Ron Burkle Mario Lemieux
CanadaCanada
Cooperations Pittsburgh Penguins ( NHL )
Wheeling Nailers ( ECHL )
Calder cups no

The Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins are an American ice hockey franchise of the American Hockey League from Wilkes-Barre , Pennsylvania . The Penguins play their home games in the Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza and are the farm team of the National Hockey League franchise Pittsburgh Penguins and are therefore also known as Baby Pens .

The farm team of the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins are the Wheeling Nailers ( ECHL ). Although the team has been in the final series three times so far, the Penguins have so far been unable to win the Calder Cup .

history

The Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins were founded in 1999 as the American Hockey League farm team of the Pittsburgh Penguins from the National Hockey League . The team was created by the relocation and renaming of the franchises , which in Canadian Cornwall in the province of Ontario earlier than Cornwall Aces came into office in the AHL. A year before gaming began, the Pittsburgh Penguins sought bankruptcy protection while the finances were controlled by the courts. In September 1999, Mario Lemieux became the new owner of the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins.

The Penguins started their inaugural season with Glenn Patrick as their coach, who had previously worked as an assistant coach with the Syracuse Crunch . The team played the first 13 games away, as the home stadium in Wilkes-Barre could be completed later than planned. With 60 points from 80 games, the team finished last in the Empire State Division and missed qualifying for the playoffs. The 306 goals conceded in the regular season were the worst value in the league this season. John Slaney was the team's most successful player with 60 scorer points. In the course of the season, a total of six goalkeepers were used, none of whom managed a shutout .

Rob Scuderi was a long-time high performer with the Penguins

The following season 2000/01 brought improved athletic performance with it, which led to the first qualification for the playoffs. John Slaney, who had been a regular in the debut season, was honored with the Eddie Shore Award as best defender of the regular season . Toby Petersen , a rookie , was the best scorer in the regular season with 67 points. Rich Parent prevailed as a regular goalkeeper against his competitor Sébastien Caron , but left the team after the season and went to the Iserlohn Roosters . After a first round win against the Syracuse Crunch, the Penguins prevailed a round later in six games against the Philadelphia Phantoms . In the Conference Finals, the team faced the Hershey Bears . The first three encounters in the series were successfully completed through victories in overtime . With a final 3-1 win in the fourth game in the series, the sweep was completed and for the first time in franchise history, the final games of the Calder Cup were reached. The Penguins won the first game of the series 4-3 against the Saint John Flames , but the team fell behind with two defeats in a row, before the second victory was achieved in the fourth encounter with a 6-4 win. The following two encounters were narrowly lost and the Saint John Flames won the Calder Cup.

The Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza, home of the Penguins

In the 2001/02 season , the team remained far behind their previous year's figures and only reached 56 points at the end of the regular season, which meant the last place in the South Division . With Kostopoulos and Sonnenberg, important regulars remained in Wilkes-Barre, but with 274 goals conceded, the team had the worst defense in the league. A season later, they made it back to the finals. Rob Tallas guarded the Penguins' goal in 33 games and Jean-Sébastien Aubin set a new franchise record with a catch rate of 93.7%. In the first round of the playoffs, the team failed in four games at the Grand Rapids Griffins . Head coach Glenn Patrick was replaced by Michel Therrien in May 2003 .

The Penguins were again represented in the finals in the 2003/04 season . During the regular season, the team had set a negative record with only 197 goals scored, but the defensive line around Patrick Boileau , David Kočí , Ross Lupaschuk and Rob Scuderi was much better than last year. Goalkeeper Andy Chiodo had fought for a regular place in the Penguins' goal during the season, but was temporarily ousted by Sébastien Caron. Marc-André Fleury , later Stanley Cup winner with the Pittsburgh Penguins, played his first games for the Baby Pens in the playoffs . The team started the playoffs with two defeats against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers , before it was able to make up a 1: 3 series deficit with three wins in a row and thus prevailed in seven encounters against Bridgeport. The series against the Philadelphia Phantoms and Hartford Wolf Pack were also successfully survived and, as a result, reached the finals of the Calder Cup for the second time in franchise history. In four encounters, two of which ended in overtime, the series was decided in favor of the Milwaukee Admirals , who won their first Calder Cup.

In the following game year Marc-André Fleury prevailed as a regular goalkeeper in Wilkes-Barre, but was often represented by Andy Chiodo and Dany Sabourin . Fleury set a new franchise record with five shutouts in the regular season. With Michel Ouellet and Kris Beech two players scored more than 60 points and Ryan Whitney played his first full season as a professional after he had risen in the last year's playoff team regular. As in the previous year, the first playoff round was victorious and the Binghamton Senators were defeated in six games . In the second round, the team lost in five encounters against the Philadelphia Phantoms and was eliminated.

Michel Ouellet played in Wilkes-Barre from 2003 to 2006 and then went on the ice with Ryan Whitney in Pittsburgh

The 2005-06 season began with a new start record for the Penguins, who won 21 of 25 games and lost their head coach Michel Therrien, who was hired by the Pittsburgh Penguins to replace Ed Olczyk . Rick Kehoe was initially committed to three games as an interim solution before a coach with Joe Mullen was signed until the end of the season. With 178 goals conceded, the team had the statistically best defense in the regular season. As the best team in the East Division, the Penguins won the FG "Teddy" Oke Trophy for the first time in their history . With 51 wins in the regular season and 113 points, the team set new franchise records. Goalkeeper Dany Sabourin was honored with the Aldege "Baz" Bastien Memorial Award as the best goalkeeper of the season and the Harry "Hap" Holmes Memorial Award as the goalkeeper with the fewest goals against. The two rookies Jonathan Filewich and Ryan Stone made it into the regular squad straight away. In the playoffs, the team failed again in the second round after it had defeated the Bridgeport Sound Tigers in seven games in the division semi-finals, but was defeated in the following round with a sweep against the Hershey Bears.

For the 2006/07 season was Todd Richards committed as head coach in Wilkes-Barre. As in the previous year, 51 wins were achieved in the regular season, and a new franchise record was set with 276 goals this season. Micki DuPont returned to the Penguins after three years, the offensive department of the team was shaped this season by the rookies Kyle Brodziak , Rob Schremp and Tyler Kennedy . Defense attorney Matt Carkner received the Yanick Dupré Memorial Award for special commitment to society. In the playoffs, the team prevailed in the first round against the Norfolk Admirals , before another clash with the Hershey Bears followed in the Division Finals, which the Bears won in five encounters. For the 2007/08 season , the franchise hired Dan Bylsma as an assistant coach, who worked with head coach Todd Richards. In the course of the season, the newcomer John Curry prevailed in the position of goalkeeper. Defender Alex Goligoski , also a rookie, had an excellent season and was chosen to join the all-rookie team with John Curry as a reward for his good performance at the end of the season . Tyler Kennedy completed ten more games in the course of the season in Wilkes-Barre, before he was permanently stuck in the NHL squad of the Pittsburgh Penguins in the next few years. The team finished the regular season in first place in the East Division . This success came about thanks to the good defensive performance of the team around Deryk Engelland , Alex Goligoski and Ben Lovejoy . In the playoffs, the Penguins defeated the Hershey Bears and Philadelphia Phantoms in five games each in the first two rounds. In the Conference Finals, the team met the Portland Pirates . The team was in the series after five games 2: 3 behind before they won the final two matches and for the third time in franchise history reached the Calder Cup finals. After 2001 and 2004 the team was again unsuccessful and this time lost to the Chicago Wolves in six encounters .

Dan Bylsma was hired as head coach from July 2008 to February 2009. He then led the Pittsburgh Penguins to the Stanley Cup victory

At the end of the season, Todd Richards left the organization of the Penguins and accepted an offer from the San Jose Sharks to act as assistant coach there. The position of head coach was filled with Richard's previous assistant Dan Bylsma. After 54 games in the 2008/09 season , Bylsma took in mid-February 2009 an offer from the Pittsburgh Penguins to fill the vacant position of head coach after the dismissal of Michel Therrien. The management in Wilkes-Barre hired Todd Reirden , who had previously worked as an assistant to Bylsma. In the course of the season Janne Pesonen came to the fore, who finished the regular season with a balance of 82 points and thus exceeded the eight-year-old record for the most points in a season by Toby Peterson. After a first round win against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, the team failed in round two in seven games to the Hershey Bears, who subsequently won the Calder Cup. Reirden also worked as head coach in the 2009/10 season , although this season did not follow up on the success of the last six years. The Penguins narrowly made it into the finals with 87 points. In the first round, the team failed in four games at the Albany River Rats . Subsequently, Todd Reirden was no longer employed in Wilkes-Barre and hired by the Pittsburgh Penguins as an assistant coach.

The organization decided to sign John Hynes in the position of head coach. Under his leadership, the team started the 2010/11 season successfully and was in first place in the entire league at the AHL All-Star Classic at the end of January 2011. The team prevailed over the course of the season as the team with the highest points in the league and set a new franchise record with 117 points in the regular season. Brett Sterling was the only player to score over 50 points and the team was particularly noticeable for their defensive strength. With 183 goals conceded, the Penguins had the best defense in the league, which was mainly due to the constant goalkeeping performance of the duo John Curry and Brad Thiessen . Thiessen received several awards from the AHL after convincing with a catch rate of 92.2% and seven shutouts, and was accepted into the league's First All-Star team and was named the best goalkeeper of the year with the Aldege "Baz" Bastien Memorial Award.

In the playoffs, the team started with two defeats, before the Norfolk Admirals were defeated by four wins in a row . The second round, however, was not very successful and the team failed in six encounters against the Charlotte Checkers after the Penguins had led 3-0 in the sixth game of the series and lost their lead in the last ten minutes of the game .

Venues

The Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins have been playing in the Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza since 1999 , a multi-purpose arena that seats 8,050 for ice hockey games. The arena opened as the Northeastern Pennsylvania Civic Arena and Convention Center on November 13, 1999 when the Penguins played their first AHL game against the Kentucky Thoroughblades . In 2001 the AHL All-Star Classic was held in the arena.

Later the naming rights were bought by the First Union and the stadium was renamed First Union Arena at Casey Plaza . In addition to ice hockey games, concerts are held in the arena, with famous musicians such as Elton John and Cher as guests.

Audience numbers

season Home
games
Number of spectators		 Audience
cut		 workload Max.
capacity
1999/00 39 294,485 7,551 93.8% 8,050
2000/01 40 330.135 8,253 102.5% 8,050
2001/02 40 333.501 8,338 103.6% 8,050
2002/03 40 332.165 8,304 103.2% 8,050
2003/04 40 331.928 8,298 103.1% 8,050
2004/05 40 327,863 8,196 101.8% 8,050
2005/06 40 325.229 8,131 101.0% 8,050
2006/07 40 321.199 8,030 99.8% 8,050
2007/08 40 306,662 7,667 95.2% 8,050
2008/09 40 279,347 6,984 86.8% 8,050
2009/10 40 250,790 6,270 77.9% 8,050
2010/11 40 254.411 6,360 79.0% 8,050
2011/12 38 229.053 6,027 74.8% 8,050
total 517 3,916,768 7,575 94.1% -

The Penguins quickly gained a large fan base in the first few years after their settlement in Wilkes-Barre and always had one of the highest attendance figures in the entire minor league area under the National Hockey League in North America. With the first game on November 13, 1999 began the AHL record series of the Penguins, which reported a sold-out stadium in 144 games in a row. In some cases, the overall average attendance was well above the number of spectators actually intended for ice hockey games in the Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza . The great popularity of the fans was boosted by the sporting success of the team, which made it to the Calder Cup finals in 2001 and 2004 . Since the 2001/02 season , the number of spectators has steadily declined, initially hardly noticeable, but the average attendance between the 2007/08 season and the 2009/10 season fell by 1,397 per game. The occupancy rate fell from 95.2% to 77.9%. Even reaching the Calder Cup final in 2008 could not change that.

Farm teams

The Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins have been the farm team of the Pittsburgh Penguins from the National Hockey League since their founding in 1999 . The franchise even has a farm team with the Wheeling Nailers from ECHL . This cooperation has existed since 2000 and serves to promote players for whom there is no place in the Penguins AHL squad.

Miscellaneous

Logos

The Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins started their debut season with a main logo, which differs from the current main logo only by minimal changes in color. The representation of a penguin with an ice hockey stick in his hands has remained unchanged to this day. In the 1999 version, the circular logo has a mustard-yellow border. After a somewhat thicker white stripe, a section shown in red is followed by lettering in capital letters, which contains the name of the franchise, but omits the slash and the addition of penguins . The penguin depicted shows partial anthropomorphic features.

The current main logo, which has existed since the 2004/05 season, has only undergone minor changes compared to the 1999 version. The structure and symbolism have been preserved. A penguin also serves as the main logo of the franchise. Its shape remained unchanged while some minor color adjustments were made. The outline of the logo, the penguin's beak, the ice hockey stick and the inner lines are light gray.

  • Alternative logo for the tenth anniversary
    (2008–2009)

In addition to the two main logos, the franchise also has two so-called “secondary logos”. In these, the name of the team and the circular design are omitted.

In addition, a special alternative logo was created for the fifth anniversary in the 2003/04 season , which shows the penguin in the color combination of the main logo against a different background. The year in which the current franchise was founded is integrated on the left, and the year of its five-year existence on the opposite side. Behind the penguin and partly covered by it is a large “V”, which symbolizes the five-year existence of the franchise. An alternative logo was also put into circulation for the tenth anniversary of the penguins. The design of the penguin follows the main logo in the 2004 version. The background has been adapted to the new style. In keeping with the white and black style, the “X” in the background is light gray and framed with black borders. The year of foundation and anniversary can be seen on the sides of the letter. In contrast to earlier alternative logos, this one has an oval shape.

mascot

The team's mascot is Tux , an anthropomorphic penguin and namesake of the Linux mascot . It wears a jersey of the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins with the number 99 on the back. Since the start of the game operations in 1999, it has entertained the spectators at home games by performing various movements and dances, running around on the ice and fighting with other mascots. Tux can also be booked for various events such as sponsor meetings and public celebrations, but also for hospital visits and other occasions.

Season statistics

Abbreviations: GP = games, W = wins, L = defeats, OTL = defeats after overtime, SOL = defeats after shootout , Pts = points, GF = goals scored, GA = goals conceded, PIM = penalty minutes

season GP W. L. T OTL SOL Pts GF GA PIM space Playoffs
1999/2000 80 23 43 9 5 - 60 236 306 1684 5th, Empire State not qualified
2000/01 80 36 33 9 2 - 83 252 248 2295 2nd, Mid-Atlantic Victory in division semi-finals, 3-2 ( Syracuse )
victory in division final, 4-2 ( Philadelphia )
victory in conference final, 4-0 ( Hershey )
defeat in Calder Cup final, 2-4 ( Saint John )
2001/02 80 20th 44 13 3 - 56 201 274 2807 4th, South not qualified
2002/03 80 36 32 7th 5 - 84 245 248 1552 3rd, South Conference quarterfinals lost, 3-1 ( Grand Rapids )
2003/04 80 34 28 10 8th - 86 197 197 1767 3rd, East Victory in division semi-finals, 4: 3 ( Bridgeport )
victory in division final, 4: 2 ( Philadelphia )
victory in conference final, 4: 3 ( Hartford )
defeat in Calder Cup final, 0: 4 ( Milwaukee )
2004/05 80 39 27 - 7th 7th 92 227 219 1943 4th, East Victory in division semi-finals, 4: 2 ( Binghamton )
defeat in division final, 1: 4 ( Philadelphia )
2005/06 80 51 18th - 5 6th 113 249 178 2101 1st, East Victory in division semi-finals, 4: 3 ( Bridgeport )
defeat in division final, 0: 4 ( Hershey )
2006/07 80 51 23 - 2 4th 108 276 221 1763 2nd, East Victory in division semi-finals, 4: 2 ( Norfolk )
defeat in division final, 1: 4 ( Hershey )
2007/08 80 47 26th - 3 4th 101 223 187 1409 1st, East Victory in division semi-finals, 4-1 ( Hershey )
victory in division final, 4-1 ( Philadelphia )
victory in conference final, 4-3 ( Portland )
defeat in Calder Cup final, 2-4 ( Chicago )
2008/09 80 49 25th - 3 3 104 274 212 1422 3rd, East Victory in the division semi-finals, 4: 1 ( Bridgeport )
defeat in the division final, 3: 4 ( Hershey )
2009/10 80 41 34 - 2 3 87 239 229 1515 3rd, East Loss in division semi-finals, 0-4 ( Albany )
2010/11 80 58 21st - 0 1 117 261 183 1433 1st, East Victory in division semi-finals, 4: 2 ( Norfolk )
defeat in division final, 2: 4 ( Charlotte )
2011/12 76 44 25th - 2 5 95 235 215 1198 2nd, East Victory in the Conference quarter-finals, 3-2 ( Hershey )
defeat in the Conference semi-finals, 3: 4 ( St. John's )
2012/13 76 42 30th - 2 2 88 185 187 1590 3rd, East Conference quarter-finals win, 3-0 ( Binghamton )
Conference semi-finals win, Conference finals 4-3 ( Providence )
Conference final defeat, 4-1 ( Syracuse )
2013/14 76 42 26th - 3 5 92 206 185 1532 2nd, East Victory in the conference quarter-finals, 3-1 ( Binghamton )
victory in the conference semifinals, 4: 3 ( Providence )
defeat in the conference final, 2: 4 ( St. John's )
2014/15 76 45 24 - 3 4th 97 212 163 1338 2nd, East Conference quarter-finals win, 3-0 ( Syracuse )
Conference semi-finals defeat, 4-1 ( Manchester )
total 1264 658 459 48 55 44 1463 3718 3443 27349 14 playoff appearances
34 series: 20 wins, 14 defeats
185 games: 94 wins, 91 defeats

Achievements and honors

Sporting successes

trophy season
FG "Teddy" Oke Trophy 2005/06
2007/08
2010/11
Frank S. Mathers Trophy 2010/11
Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy 2010/11
Richard F. Canning Trophy 2003/04
2007/08
Robert W. Clarke Trophy 2000/01

The Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins have reached the Calder Cup finals three times in their franchise history , but they all lost. In 2001 the team won the Robert W. Clarke Trophy after defeating the Hershey Bears with a sweep in the Western Conference finals . Then the final series of the Calder Cup was lost in six games against the Saint John Flames . In the 2003/04 season, the team prevailed in the Eastern Conference final against the Hartford Wolf Pack and won the Richard F. Canning Trophy .

That success was repeated four years later when the team prevailed against the Portland Pirates in the Conference Finals . The subsequent clash in the Calder Cup final against the Chicago Wolves was unsuccessful and the Penguins lost the series in six encounters. In the 2005/06 season, the team had won the FG "Teddy" Oke Trophy for the first time after it had completed the regular season as the winner of the East Division . Two years later, the team was again ranked first in the East Division .

In the 2010/11 season, the team won the Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy for the first time , after the Penguins had booked a new record number of wins in the regular season and after 76 matches were no longer ousted as the best-point team in the league. With 117 points they achieved a franchise record at the end of the season and for the first time received the Frank S. Mathers Trophy as the team with the highest points in the Eastern Conference .

AHL Awards and All-Star Team Nominations

Award Surname season
Aldege "Baz" Bastien Memorial Award Dany Sabourin 2005/06
Brad Thiessen 2010/11
Eddie Shore Award John Slaney 2000/01
Harry "Hap" Holmes Memorial Award Dany Sabourin
John Curry
Brad Thiessen 		2005/06
2010/11
2010/11
Louis AR Pieri Memorial Award John Hynes 2010/11
Yanick Dupré Memorial Award Matt Carkner 2006/07
All-rookie team Toby Petersen 2000/01
Michel Ouellet 2003/04
John Curry 2007/08
Alex Goligoski
First All-Star Team John Slaney * 2000/01
Dany Sabourin 2005/06
Micki DuPont 2006/07
Brad Thiessen 2010/11
Second all-star team Ben Lovejoy 2008/09
Janne Pesonen

* also played for the Philadelphia Phantoms during the 2000/01 season

Since the franchise was founded , five players from the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins have won one of the individual AHL awards . In addition, six players made it into one of the All-Star teams and four more into the All-Rookie team .

Dany Sabourin was the best goalkeeper of the regular season in the 2005-06 season

John Slaney won in 2001 as the first player in the franchise history, an individual award and was named best defender of the regular season with the Eddie Shore Award excellent. In the 2005/06 season, the Penguins finished the regular season with a record 113 points and conceded 178 goals, the best defense in the league. The goalkeeper Dany Sabourin , who achieved a catch rate of 92.2% and was honored with the Aldege "Baz" Bastien Memorial Award as the best goalkeeper of the season , played a decisive role in this success . In the same season he was also given the Harry "Hap" Holmes Memorial Award for the goalkeeper with the fewest goals against. In 2007 Matt Carkner , who had stood out for his special commitment to the public, received the Yanick Dupré Memorial Award . In April 2011, Brad Thiessen was the second goalkeeper in franchise history to receive the Aldege "Baz" Bastien Memorial Award after posting a record number of wins during the 2010/11 season. By this time he had won 34 of 44 regular season encounters with the Penguins and achieved a catch rate of 92.2% and seven shutouts. A few days later, head coach John Hynes was honored with the Louis AR Pieri Memorial Award as Coach of the Year after leading the team to first place in the East Division in its inaugural season and winning the Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy as the team with the highest points of the regular season .

John Slaney was elected to the AHL First All-Star Team as the first player of the team in the 2000/01 season . In his first two seasons at Wilkes-Barre he was by far the team's most dangerous defender. The same honor went to goalkeeper Dany Sabourin in the 2005/06 season and defensive player Micki DuPont one season later. In the 2008/09 season, Ben Lovejoy and Janne Pesonen were elected to the AHL Second All-Star Team . At the end of March 2011, goalkeeper Brad Thiessen was elected to the First All-Star Team of the 2010/11 season, after he had stood in the goal of the Penguins in 42 games and achieved a catch rate of 92.4% and seven shutouts .

In addition to Toby Petersen in the 2000/01 season, Michel Ouellet in the 2003/04 season and John Curry and Alex Goligoski were accepted into the AHL All-Rookie Team four years later .

AHL All-Star Classic nominations

A total of 30 Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins players were voted into the All-Star Classic by fans because of their popularity or were nominated by the coaches because of their performance. In the franchise's inaugural season, defenseman John Slaney was nominated as the only player on the team for the 2000 All-Star Classic. A year later, the All-Star Classic was held in the First Union Arena at Casey Plaza in Wilkes-Barre. On the side of the Penguins, the record number of five players was nominated, of which Toby Petersen and John Slaney were in the starting lineup. All four players used scored at least one point, Slaney and Greg Crozier each collected three points. In addition, Slaney was named the game's Most Valuable Player . In 2002 Tom Kostopoulos was considered for the All-Star Classic and he was also successful with two points for the Canadian AHL All-Stars team . After three Penguins players, Ross Lupaschuk , Tomáš Surový and Milan Kraft , had been nominated for the All-Star Classic in 2003, but Kraft had not been used, Matt Murley and Michel Ouellet set up the franchise in the following two years one player each for the All-Star Classic.

In 2006 Surový and Ouellet were invited to the game as representatives of the penguins for the second time, but not used. Dany Sabourin and Noah Welch played in the game and Sabourin, who stood between the posts in the last third for the Canadian AHL All-Stars , became the first goalkeeper in the history of the Penguins to be used in an All-Star Classic. Head coach Joe Mullen , supported by assistant coach Al Sims , stood on the gang for the PlanetUSA team , who lost the game 4-9.

A year later, the pens again provided the head coach of PlanetUSA with Todd Richards . Richards received assistance from his assistant, Dan Bylsma . In 2008 only Alex Goligoski was in action for the Penguins because Jeff Taffe had to sit out due to an injury. A year later, Taffe was allowed to play for the PlanetUSA AHL All-Stars team and set a new franchise record with three goals and five points. Ben Lovejoy and Chris Minard were also in action in this game and had no scorer point.

At the 2010 All-Star Classic Dustin Jeffrey was in the starting line-up and scored two points for the Canadian AHL All-Stars . A year later, the format of the All-Star Games was changed and John Hynes was nominated together with Jared Bednar from the Peoria Rivermen as head coach of the Western Conference All-Stars , as the two teams were leading the Eastern Conference and Western Conference at the time of the deadline . In addition, goalkeeper Brad Thiessen was considered for the All-Star Game and was nominated for the starting line-up of the AHL Eastern Conference . A few days before the game, however, he had to cancel due to an injury and was replaced by the later nominated John Curry . As a further representative of the Penguins, Dustin Jeffrey received his second nomination in a row for the All-Star Game.

Franchise records

Selected player records of the franchise over the entire career as well as over individual seasons are listed below.

Tom Kostopoulos holds various franchise records for penguins
Brad Thiessen holds the record for most goalkeeper wins this season

Career

Surname number
Most games Tom Kostopoulos 318 (in five seasons)
Most goals Tom Kostopoulos 97
Most templates Tom Kostopoulos 149
Most of the points Tom Kostopoulos 246 (97 goals + 149 assists)
Most penalty minutes Dennis Bonvie 1284
Most wins as a goalkeeper John Curry * 103
Most shutouts Brad Thiessen * 11

* active player; Status after the end of the 2010/11 season

season

Surname number season
Most goals Chris Minard 34 2008/09
Most templates Jeff Taffe
Janne Pesonen 		50 2008/09
Most of the points Janne Pesonen 82 (32 goals + 50 assists) 2008/09
Most points as a rookie Toby Petersen 67 (26 goals + 41 assists) 2000/01
Most points as a defender John Slaney 60 (30 goals + 30 assists) 1999/2000
Most penalty minutes Dennis Bonvie 431 2005/06
Most wins as a goalkeeper Brad Thiessen 35 2010/11

Trainer

The Penguins started their debut season with Glenn Patrick as head coach . With a record of 23 wins and 43 defeats, the entry into the finals was clearly missed. In the following season, the team was much improved and failed only in the finals of the Calder Cup in six games against the Saint John Flames . After failing in the first playoff round of the 2002/03 season , Patrick was released from his duties. Michel Therrien , who had previously worked as head coach of the Montréal Canadiens , was introduced as his successor .

Abbreviations: GC = games, W = wins, L = defeats, T = draws, OTL = defeats after
overtime , Pts = points, Win% = win rate

Surname season Regular season Playoffs
GC W. L. T OTL / SOL Pts Win% GC W. L.
Glenn Patrick 1999 / 2000–2002 / 03 320 115 152 38 15th 283 .442 25th 14th 11
Michel Therrien * 2003/04/2004/05 185 94 56 12 23 223 .602 35 17th 18th
Rick kehoe ** 2005/06 3 2 1 0 0 4th .667 - - -
Joe Mullen * 2005/06 52 28 16 3 5 64 .615 11 4th 7th
Todd Richards 2006/07/2007/08 160 98 49 0 13 209 .653 34 19th 15th
Dan Bylsma * 2008/09 54 35 16 1 2 73 .676 - - -
Todd Reirden * 2008 / 09–2009 / 10 106 55 43 2 6th 118 .556 16 7th 9
John Hynes 2010 / 11–2014 / 15 384 231 126 - 27 489 .637 64 33 31
Mike Sullivan 2015/16 * 23 18th 5 - 0 36 .783 - - -
Jay Leach since 2015/16 *

* Change during the current season; ** Interim trainer

Therrien led the Baby Pens in its first season to the Calder Cup Finals, in which the team was defeated in a sweep by the Milwaukee Admirals . The 2005/06 season began very successfully and of the first 25 games of the regular season 21 games were won, before Therrien was promoted to head coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins in December 2005 after the dismissal of Ed Olczyk . Rick Kehoe was interim coach at Wilkes-Barre for three games before he was replaced by Joe Mullen for the rest of the season .

Mullen led the team to a franchise record of 113 points in the regular season and won the FG "Teddy" Oke Trophy as the best point team in the East Division . For the 2006/07 season , Todd Richards followed as head coach of the Penguins. During its two seasons in Wilkes-Barre, the team finished the regular season with at least 47 wins and reached the finals of the Calder Cup for the third time in franchise history in the 2007/08 season . In July 2008, Richards accepted an offer from the San Jose Sharks and worked there as an assistant coach. The vacancy as head coach at Wilkes-Barre was filled by Dan Bylsma , who had been assistant coach at Baby Pens under Todd Richards during the 2007-08 season . After 54 games, he left the farm team in February 2009 and accepted an offer from the Pittsburgh Penguins to replace Michel Therrien on the gang.

Todd Reirden replaced Bylsma after his departure in Wilkes-Barre. Reirden, which was originally intended as an interim solution, led the team in the 2008/09 season to the second playoff round, in which the Penguins were defeated in seven games by the eventual Calder Cup winner Hershey Bears. In July 2010 he accepted an offer from the Pittsburgh Penguins and together with Tony Granato filled the role of assistant coach. The vacant position of head coach in Wilkes-Barre by this departure has been filled with John Hynes .

Former Penguins player Alain Nasreddine has been Hynes' assistant coach since the 2010/11 season . Previously, Mike Yeo , Dan Bylsma, Todd Reirden and John Hynes had filled this position. Hynes left the Penguins after a total of six seasons when he was introduced as the new head coach of the New Jersey Devils in June 2015 . His successor was Mike Sullivan , who replaced Mike Johnston after 23 games in the NHL, as a result of which his assistant Jay Leach took over on an interim basis.

player

Team captains

year Surname
1999-2000 Tyler Wright
Steve Leach
John Slaney
2000-2001 John Slaney
Sven Butenschön
2001-2002 Jason MacDonald
2002-2003 Tom Kostopoulos
2003-2004 Tom Kostopoulos
Kris Beech
Patrick Boileau
year Surname
2004-2005 Alain Nasreddine
Rob Scuderi
2005-2006 Alain Nasreddine
2006-2007 Micki DuPont
2007-2008 Nathan Smith
2008-2009 Dave Gove
Connor James
2009-2010 Wyatt Smith
2010–2012 Ryan Craig

In the history of the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins, there were 16 different players who held the office of team captain until 2011 .

Ryan Craig was the crew's captain from 2010 to 2012

In the franchise's inaugural season, Tyler Wright , Steve Leach and John Slaney, three seasoned players, took turns wearing the "C" on their jerseys. Wright, Leach and Slaney had previously played in the National Hockey League for a number of years . Only Slaney stayed in Wilkes-Barre in the 2000/01 season and with Sven Butenschön a second team captain was placed at his side. After they both left the team after a season, Jason MacDonald was elected team captain, who was known for his tough style of play. Although MacDonald also played for the team in the 2002/03 season, the "C" was withdrawn from him and passed on to Tom Kostopoulos . The right winger was already on the ice in his fourth season at Wilkes-Barre and also began the following season as captain.

The position as team captain was filled after his departure by the duo Kris Beech and Patrick Boileau , before Alain Nasreddine , an experienced player, was again promoted to captain for the 2004/05 season . In the meantime, he was replaced by defender Rob Scuderi before Nasreddine was used as sole captain for the following season. His successor for the 2006/07 season was Micki DuPont , who performed his office for one season before moving to St. Louis in July 2007. The center Nathan Smith was also only one season as captain, since he then went to Colorado. In the 2008/09 season, the Penguins started with David Gove as team captain, who was not convinced and was replaced by Connor James . After this had also left the crew, the management gave the center Wyatt Smith confidence and appointed him captain. For the 2010/11 season he was followed by Ryan Craig .

Franchise top point collector

The top ten points collectors in the history of the franchise through the end of the 2010-11 regular season and the 2011 playoffs .

Abbreviations: Pos = position, GP = games, G = goals, A = assists, Pts = points, P / G = points per game

Regular season

Surname Item season GP G A. Pts P / G
Tom Kostopoulos RW 1999 / 00–2003 / 04 318 97 149 246 0.77
Tomáš Surový LW 2001/02–2005/06 239 89 88 177 0.74
Toby Petersen C. 2000/01/2003/04 215 72 105 177 0.82
Shane Endicott C. 2001/02–2005/06 292 73 93 166 0.57
Dustin Jeffrey C. since 2008/09 180 52 101 153 0.85
Kris Beech C. 2002/03–2004/05 171 53 97 150 0.88
Michel Ouellet RW 2002 / 03–2005 / 06 182 71 73 144 0.79
Eric Meloche RW 2000/01/2003/04 249 61 77 138 0.55
Tim Wallace RW 2006 / 07–2010 / 11 304 75 62 137 0.45
Ryan Stone C. 2005 / 06–2008 / 09 219 41 95 136 0.62

Playoffs

Surname Item GP G A. Pts P / G
Tom Kostopoulos RW 51 11 27 38 0.75
Alex Goligoski D. 32 5 29 34 1.06
Ryan Stone C. 44 11 22nd 33 0.75
Eric Meloche RW 50 16 16 32 0.64
Chris Kelleher D. 43 7th 23 30th 0.70
Tomáš Surový LW 41 10 19th 29 0.71
Toby Petersen C. 48 10 19th 29 0.60
Kris Beech C. 38 14th 13 27 0.71
Tim Brent C. 23 12 15th 27 1.17
Chris Minard C. 35 17th 9 26th 0.74

Former players

As the farm team of the Pittsburgh Penguins , the team has served as a training facility for young players since its inception and as a place for players for whom there is no place on the NHL roster in Pittsburgh. These are supplemented by those actors who recommend themselves for a promotion in the Wheeling Nailers team and, if possible, are sent to Wilkes-Barre. When the Pittsburgh Penguins won their third Stanley Cup in the 2008/09 season, the winning squad included Marc-André Fleury , Alex Goligoski , Kristopher Letang , Brooks Orpik , Rob Scuderi , Tyler Kennedy and Maxime Talbot , all of whom had previously been in Wilkes- Had played barre. In addition to the record player Tom Kostopoulos , only Rob Scuderi has so far made over 300 appearances in the regular season for the team in Wilkes-Barre. With Dave Karpa and Steve Leach , long-time NHL players were also active for the team, both of whom went on the ice for the Penguins towards the end of their careers. When the Penguins won their fourth Stanley Cup in the 2015/16 season , Matt Murray , Jeff Zatkoff , Brian Dumoulin , Tom Kühnhackl , Beau Bennett , Bryan Rust , Conor Sheary , Ben Lovejoy , Derrick Pouliot and Oskar Sundqvist were again in the game Squads who previously worked for Wilkes-Barre. It was similar with the fifth Stanley Cup victory of the Penguins in the 2016/17 season : In addition to many players from last year's squad , the former Wilkes-Barre players Jake Guentzel , Chad Ruhwedel , Carter Rowney and Josh Archibald were also in the squad.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ pittsburghlive.com, 2 Baby Pens goaltenders picked for all-star game ( Memento of the original from February 3, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.pittsburghlive.com
  2. ↑ wbspenguins.com, Back to the Beginning: Penguins History, 1999–2000 ( Memento of August 5, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
  3. ↑ a b nytimes.com, Transactions
  4. ↑ a b nytimes.com, Michel Therrien, biography  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.nhl.com  
  5. ↑ a b nytimes.com, NHL ROUNDUP; For DiPietro, Bad Game After Good News
  6. ↑ a b nhl.com, Pens replace Therrien with Bylsma
  7. ↑ a b penguins.nhl.com, Penguins Name John Hynes Head Coach Of Wilkes-Barre / Scranton
  8. ↑ wachoviaarena.com, Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins
  9. ↑ wachoviaarena.com, About the Arena
  10. ↑ timesleader.com, It's all in the game ( Memento from January 3, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
  11. ↑ mib.org, Multi-League Attendance Chart
  12. ^ Hockeydb.com, Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins Affiliates
  13. ↑ wbspenguins.com, Tux honored with key to the city
  14. ↑ penguins.nhl.com, Theissen, Jeffrey Named to AHL Eastern Conference All-Star Team
  15. ↑ wbspenguins.com, Despres, McDonald selected to AHL Eastern Conference All-Star Team ( Memento from January 11, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
  16. ↑ penguins.nhl.com, MULLEN AND SIMS TO COACH PLANET / USA ALL-STAR TEAM
  17. ↑ theahl.com, Seven added to All-Star rosters
  18. ↑ a b hockeydb.com, Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins player list
  19. ↑ findarticles.com, The Virginian-Pilot and The Ledger-Star, Norfolk, VA
  20. ↑ Pens' AHL coach Richards leaves. Retrieved November 20, 2018 .
  21. ^ Todd Reirden Named Head Coach of Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins. In: nhl.com. Accessed November 20, 2018 .
  22. ↑ wbspenguins.com, Ryan Craig named Penguins' Team Captain  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as broken. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.wbspenguins.com  

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