WBS Pens Weekly Report - 10/29

[eastonpensfan]

3 games in 3 nights and 3 wins! The only downside to it was that they were all away games.

GOOD:
C Stephen Dixon - Besides his usual hard work on the defensive end, he put in 2 goals over the weekend. Good job for him!

C Erik Christensen - He was benched for half of the 2nd period in Friday's game (when down 3-1), and rightfully so, for being lazy. Came back in the 3rd by scoring 2 goals to tie the game so Brodziak could win it. Finished the weekend 2+1.

C Kyle Brodziak - Has been quiet for most of the year, but made his presence known, especially on Friday. Besides the GWG, he played outstanding defense and was very good taking Talbot's place on the PK. No goals in 12 chances for the opponents in the 3 games!

D Tom Gilbert - I think this is the first time I have him listed here. He has improved a lot in this first month of the season. He has started to show his offensive prowess that he was known for before coming to WBS. Had 2 assists and was a +1 for the weekend.

Gs Andrew Penner and Jeff Deslauriers - Both were instrumental in this weekend. Anytime there are close games like this, you have to look at the goalie. They were the team's best PK'ers. Penner was not tested much until the shootout on Thursday (17 saves-19 shots, 1 in SO), J.D. looked better than his stats showed Friday (23 saves-26 shots), and then Penner had an excellent night on Saturday (38 saves-40 shots).

UNDECIDED:

LW Daniel Carcillo - He has been playing well and led the team in shots for 2 of the games, but was out of position a little too much defensively and when taking the body, which shows with him being a -1 after 3 games where his team won.

BAD:

RW Dennis Bonvie - Only Penguin skater on Saturday without a shot and only 1 of 2 Penguins without a shot on Thursday (the other was a D-man making his AHL debut). Somehow got an assist out of the weekend though by dumping in a shot which was buried by Kennedy. Was a healthy scratch on Friday. I know you are supposed to find good things to say about people, so here is all I have on Bonvie: He was a +1 on the weekend.

D Eric Cairns - Needs his conditioning assignment extended. He looked out-of-place in the D zone, slow, and missed a lot of checks. AHL forwards were making him look bad, which shouldn't happen to an NHL d-man that big, even if he is only in the NHL for his fists. His final AHL line for the 2 games: 2 shots, -4, 10 PIMs. How do you get a -4 rating when your team wins both games you play while only allowing 5 goals???

Next game is against the hated Phantoms in Philly on Saturday and then they return home to host Norfolk and ex-Pens David Koci and Sebastian Caron (if he is returned from Chicago). I'm not a fan of the fighting, but there will be a lot of it in those 2 games if that's what you like.

Still only 1 loss on the year!

[psubar12]

Thanks again EastonPens, great report.

It sounds like Eric Cairns is pretty bad. I'm not looking forward to his impending 2006 NHL debut. Are there any rules for how long Cairns can be kept in the AHL?

The Pens are bringing lots of AHLers up lately, so the Baby Pens are clearly producing quality talent. One thing that can be said about Craig Patrick is that he built a complete organization. You talked about depth for WB last week and that is surely being tested now. Hopefully, they can keep the momentum rolling.

[netwolf]

If Cairns looks slow at the AHL level, how bad will he look with NHL forwards bearing down on him? I don't think he gets into the lineup much and if and when he does dress, I suspect it will be as a 7th defenseman getting maybe 1 shift a period. He might not even get that much.

[eastonpensfan]

Thanks again EastonPens, great report.

It sounds like Eric Cairns is pretty bad. I'm not looking forward to his impending 2006 NHL debut. Are there any rules for how long Cairns can be kept in the AHL?

The Pens are bringing lots of AHLers up lately, so the Baby Pens are clearly producing quality talent. One thing that can be said about Craig Patrick is that he built a complete organization. You talked about depth for WB last week and that is surely being tested now. Hopefully, they can keep the momentum rolling.

Thanks. The rules for a voluntary conditioning assignment in the AHL for an NHL player without having to travel through waivers is 2 weeks. Theoretically, that means Cairns could play 2 more games, the next 2 (@ Philly, and vs. Norfolk). It's irrelevant now since they recalled him but he really looked out of place. If they didn't have nameplates and you had to guess the NHL D-man in the lineup by watching the games, he would have been your last choice this weekend.