Richards?

[HomerPenguin]

For the folks who follow WBS, what's the consensus on how Richards has done this season in terms of player improvement? One of the Therrien threads got me wondering how his replacement has been faring.

[eastonpensfan]

Richards already had a lot of respect in Wilkes-Barre when he came. After all, he was the assistant coach of the Milwaukee Admirals, who beat the Pens in their last Calder Cup final appearance 4 games to none.

He switches up lines a lot to reward good or bad performance and also is not afraid to make a star player a healthy scratch if he didn't show enough effort in practice or the previous game. As annoying as that can be to watch as a fan, it has proved to be the smart thing as it has helped this team tremendously now that players are missing due to callups or injuries.

It's also very notable that both goalies are spending their first full year in the AHL this year and are playing very well. No doubt, that's at least partly due to confidence in coaching.

Players who have progressed very well under him:
C Erik Christensen
C Rob Schremp
C Marc-Antoine Pouliot
C Kyle Brodziak
RW Jonathan Filewich
C Kurtis McLean
C Tyler Kennedy
D Noah Welch
D Tom Gilbert
D Ryan Lannon
G Andrew Penner
G Jeff Deslauriers

Players who haven't progressed (and reason):
LW Daniel Carcillo (originally did well then started taking dumb penalties)
C Ryan Stone (severe hand/wrist injury)
RW Dennis Bonvie (age/deterioration of limited skills)

[HomerPenguin]

Richards already had a lot of respect in Wilkes-Barre when he came. After all, he was the assistant coach of the Milwaukee Admirals, who beat the Pens in their last Calder Cup final appearance 4 games to none.

He switches up lines a lot to reward good or bad performance and also is not afraid to make a star player a healthy scratch if he didn't show enough effort in practice or the previous game. As annoying as that can be to watch as a fan, it has proved to be the smart thing as it has helped this team tremendously now that players are missing due to callups or injuries.

It's also very notable that both goalies are spending their first full year in the AHL this year and are playing very well. No doubt, that's at least partly due to confidence in coaching.

Players who have progressed very well under him:
C Erik Christensen
C Rob Schremp
C Marc-Antoine Pouliot
C Kyle Brodziak
RW Jonathan Filewich
C Kurtis McLean
C Tyler Kennedy
D Noah Welch
D Tom Gilbert
D Ryan Lannon
G Andrew Penner
G Jeff Deslauriers

Players who haven't progressed (and reason):
LW Daniel Carcillo (originally did well then started taking dumb penalties)
C Ryan Stone (severe hand/wrist injury)
RW Dennis Bonvie (age/deterioration of limited skills)

As always, thanks for your WBS insight. I think part of the consequence of having an NHL team playing well is that most folks pay less attention to how the farm club is faring, so stuff like this is very welcome.

[Ron`]

Thanks Easton, I'm finally coming off nights and should catch some games down the stretch.

[eastonpensfan]

Thanks Easton, I'm finally coming off nights and should catch some games down the stretch.

You're coming back at a rough time. The team is playing a bit inconsistent lately. It could be because of the injuries to their top scorers (Brodziak, Kennedy) or role players (Wallace, James) or perhaps callups (Pouliot, Jacques, Gilbert), but whatever the reason, this team just went through a weekend where they won 7-0 and then lost 1-0 to a poor Phantoms team 2 days later.

Thorburn will be there for the next 2 weeks. That should help stabilize them. Also, Stone is back and Kennedy is close. James is day-to-day and Brodziak and Wallace are a couple weeks away.

[canaan]

this is off topic but...do the penguins get compensation (monetary or otherwise) for 'training' other teams prospects (pouilot in that player list made me think of it)?

thanks for any help

[eastonpensfan]

I don't know the details of the deal signed with Edmonton, but I don't think so. This is a mutually beneficial arrangement for Edmonton and Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh didn't have enough AHL-ready prospects to field a decent AHL team this year. Edmonton doesn't have an AHL team. So, it was a natural fit. Edmonton also uses Grand Rapids for some of their prospects.

The reason it works for both teams is that the competition for playing time benefits both teams' prospects and their success as a 'stacked' AHL team will help their confidence. It would be tough to imagine the Baby Pens without Deslauriers as a goalie, Tom Gilbert on the power play point, and Pouliot, Jacques, and Brodziak up front. If you look at what those players have been able to do this year, you'll see what I mean.

[canaan]

ah, i didnt think about it like that...i got ya...thanks east