The organization is finally getting healthy, with only Sidney Crosby (concussion), Tyler Kennedy (ankle) and Brent Johnson (illness 2/24) out of the lineup in Pittsburgh and Carl Sneep (upper body) , Scott Munroe (lower body), Boris Valabik (hand) and Keven Veilleux (knee) out in Wilkes-Barre.
After the jump, stats and grades for everyone who suited up this month. The player of the month for February is...
Bryan Lerg - Grade: A
Season Stats: 56 games played, 22G, 22A, +6, 26 PIM
February Stats: 11 games played, 4G, 6A, Even, 2 PIM
Lerg is the team's leading goal scorer and is back to his old self, producing at almost a point per game clip during the month of February. Noone had more goals or assists this month than Lerg, but more importantly Lerg is a great option to have on the ice in any situation.
Forwards
Colin McDonald - Grade: B+
Season Stats: 50 games played, 12G, 31A, +14, 18 PIM
February Stats: 9 games played, 0G, 5A, +1, 2 PIM
The former 42 goal scorer didn't net any goals this month. But look for McDonald to light the lamp in March with the addition of Cal O'Reilly to the team.
Ben Street - Grade: B+
Season Stats: 53 games played, 18G, 22A, +11, 22 PIM
February Stats: 12 games played, 2G, 5A, +1, 2 PIM
Street is another guy who got back on track in February. A top six forward the entire season to this point.
Jason Williams - Grade: A-
Season Stats: 44 games played, 10G, 25A, +3, 22 PIM
February Stats: 12 games played, 4G, 4A, Even, 8 PIM
First full month of AHL duty for Williams, and the veteran proved his worth in February. Takes lazy penalties on occasion but has helped the power play and is a good offensive weapon to have on your bench.
Geoff Walker - Grade: A
Season Stats: 50 games played, 15G, 17A, +1, 83 PIM
February Stats: 12 games played, 3G, 6A, Even, 9 PIM
Walker has become a legitimate top six forward since returning from injury and getting to fine form the last two months.
Eric Tangradi - Grade: B+
Season Stats: 37 games played, 15G, 16A, +1, 40 PIM
February Stats: 4 games played, 0G, 2A, -1, 0 PIM
Only played four games, but Tangradi is still the classic "tweener" player. Currently on recall to Pittsburgh. Could this be his last NHL audition?
Brian Gibbons - Grade: A-
Season Stats: 53 games played, 9G, 16A, +4, 14 PIM
Febraury Stats: 12 games played, 3G, 5A, +2, 2 PIM
Gibbons had a great first month of the season and then slowly trailed off. Is he back to finish the season the way he started it? I know I'm not the only one who hopes so!
Ryan Craig - Grade: B
Season Stats: 50 games played, 7G, 14A, -5, 64 PIM
February Stats: 12 games played, 1G, 4A, -2, 18 PIM
Craig continues to plug away and do the dirty work that often goes unnoticed.
Paul Thompson - Grade: B
Season Stats: 48 games played, 8G, 12A, +5, 26 PIM
February Stats: 12 games played, 2G, 3A, Even, 12 PIM
Thompson is a hard working forward who has had to play in a lot of different roles this season and I think the experience he is gaining in his first full season of pro hockey will pay big dividends in the future.
Nick Petersen - Grade: B+
Season Stats: 33 games played, 8G, 8A, +8, 17 PIM
February Stats: 5 games played, 2G, 2A, +2, 2 PIM
Petersen has to be in the doghouse. The injury didn't help but the offensively gifted forward should be getting back into fine form just in time for the postseason, one can only hope.
Zach Sill - Grade: B
Season Stats: 50 games played, 10G, 3A, -3, 35 PIM
February Stats: 11 games played, 1G, 1A, -2, 6 PIM
Sill continues to be a bottom six forward, the perfect 4C who kills penalties, bangs bodies and creates havoc on the forecheck. Consider the goal and assist this month an added bonus.
Brandon DeFazio - Grade: B+
Season Stats: 51 games played, 8G, 5A, +1, 79 PIM
February Stats: 10 games played, 3G, 2A, Even, 31 PIM
DeFazio is another rookie on the roster that slots into a power forward/grinder type rather easily. His hard working efforts are starting to pay off with the jump in his offensive numbers in February.
Matt Rust - Grade: B
Season Stats: 36 games played, 4G, 7A, +2, 14 PIM
February Stats: 9 games played, 2G, 1A, +2, 4 PIM
Rust is good in the face-off dot and his abilities on the PK make him a viable 4C option when needed.
Cody Chupp - Grade: B
Season Stats: 15 games played, 1G, 4A, +4, 14 PIM
February Stats: 5 games played, 1G, 1A, +2, 4 PIM
A good role player that can fill out the bottom six with no worries.
Cal O'Reilly - Grade: Incomplete
Season Stats: 7 games played, 1G, 1A, +4, 2 PIM
February Stats: 2 games played, 0G, 0A, -1, 2 PIM
Only played two games with his new teammates but his playmaking ability is unquestionable. Only a matter of time before he ignites this team.
Steve MacIntyre - Grade: C+
Season Stats: 16 games played, 0G, 0A, -3, 38 PIM
February Stats: 6 games played, 0G, 0A, -3, 7 PIM
MacIntyre isn't fighting much this season but that's more because there's no one who will stand up to him. Opponents behave like choir boys when Big Mac is in the lineup.
Defensemen
Alex Grant - Grade: A-
Season Stats: 43 games played, 6G, 23A, +10, 52 PIM
February Stats: 12 games played, 3G, 4A, -1, 13 PIM
January's player of the month had a great February too. The team's leading scorer on the blue line. Has a heck of a shot that he is beginning to use more regularly
Joey Mormina - Grade: B+
Season Stats: 45 games played, 6G, 12A, -7, 53PIM
February Stats: 12 games played, 1G, 6A, Even, 6 PIM
Mormina has had a great season to this point. Continues to surprise many with his offensive upside. Known more as a shutdown defender.
Alexandre Picard - Grade: B+
Season Stats: 25 games played, 4G, 9A, +9, 16 PIM
February Stats: 9 games played, 3G, 2A, +2, 2 PIM
In his first game back from injury, Picard scored an overtime game winning goal. Hasn't played much at the AHL level this season but he needs to be the cornerstone of the defense heading into the postseason. A lot of experience with this blue liner.
Brian Strait - Grade: B
Season Stats: 33 games played, 3G, 9A, +3, 18 PIM
February Stats: 12 games played, 1G, 2A, +2, 2 PIM
Strait is a shutdown defender who eats up a lot of minutes against good offensive skilled players on the opposing team night in and night out.
Robert Bortuzzo - Grade: B
Season Stats: 33 games played, 3G, 7A, +4, 39 PIM
February Stats: 12 games played, 1G, 3A, -1, 13 PIM
Offensive numbers are down a bit this season, but some of that has to do with emergence of Grant, Despres and Picard as offensive defensemen.
Carl Sneep - Grade: Incomplete
Season Stats: games played, 0G, 9A, +5, 21 PIM
February Stats: 1 game played, 0G, 0A, +1, 0 PIM
Sneep has only played in 3 games in the 2012 calendar year. He might be able to play this weekend, which would be a plus.
Philip Sameulsson - Grade: C
Season Stats: 41 games played, 1G, 7A, +3, 20 PIM
February Stats: 3 games played, 0G, 0A, -3, 4 PIM
Samuelsson started the season off strong but has diminished lately, leading to his demotion to Wheeling. Played a lot earlier in the season when the organization's defense was paper thin. Losing the numbers game now that almost everyone is healthy.
Simon Despres - Grade: C
Season Stats: 29 games played, 3G, 4A, -2 , 32 PIM
February Stats: 4 games played, 0G, 0A, -3, 4 PIM
Hasn't gotten back to 100% since the recent knee injury. Looking for more from Despres in both zones.
Cody Wild - Grade: B-
Season Stats: 42 games played, 0G, 5A, +6, 28 PIM
February Stats: 7 games played, 0G, 3A, +2, 6 PIM
Earned his standard player contract as an AHL regular. Like Samuelsson, headed to Wheeling because of the sheer number of defensemen in the system.
Goalies
Brad Thiessen - Grade: C+
Season Stats: 37 games played, 20W-14L, 2.88 GAA, .885 SV%, 2 SO
February Stats: 5 games played, 3W-2L, 3.00 GAA, .881 SV%, 0 SO
A shaky month for Thiessen, but he did get in his first NHL game at the end of the month and got his first NHL win, a 4-2 decision over the Columbus Blue Jackets. Still in Pittsburgh currently but should be the WBS #1 guy in the post season.
Scott Munroe - Grade: C+
Season Stats: 25 games played, 12W-4L, 2.75 GAA, .898 SV%, 3 SO
February Stats: 6 games played, 3W-1L-1SL, 3.06 GAA, .885 SV%, 0 SO
Munroe played well enough to win and has been a reliable backup all season long. Hoping his recent injury doesn't keep him out of the lineup for too long.
Patrick Killeen - Grade: C
Season Stats: 2 games played, 0W-2L, 3.17 GAA, .857 SV%, 0 SO
February Stats: 2 games played, 0W-2L, 3.17 GAA, .857 SV%, 0 SO
Killeen was thrown into the middle of a game due to Munroe's injury and played well against a tough Norfolk team in the midst of a 9 game win streak. Could get to show his stuff this weekend if Munroe isn't good to go.
0 comments:
Post a Comment