The New Blueline 2/7

Thursday, February 7, 2013
The organization has seen a lot of faces come and go on defense this past offseason, and the numbers have increased since the season has started as the Penguins traded former WBS and current Pittsburgh Penguin Ben Lovejoy to the Anaheim Ducks for a 5th round draft pick in 2014.

The Penguins also called up Pittsburgh native Dylan Reese from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (AHL) to carry seven healthy defensemen heading into this weekend. I would expect Reese will be on his way back when Matt Niskanen returns from injury.

Add that to Zybnyek Michalek (PHX), Brian Strait (NYI) and Carl Sneep (DAL) as moves made by the Pens organization. Throw the graduation of Simon Despres and Robert Bortuzzo to the NHL and that's quite a bit of shuffling for the AHL Penguins. So far it's worked out quite well.

The WBS Penguins head into this weekend having won four in a row and nine of their last ten games. In those nine wins, the Penguins have given up just seven goals. Four of those games were Brad Thiessen shutouts. It's no surprise when you're playing that well defensively that you better your chances of winning every night. 

With Bortuzzo, Strait, Despres and now Reese unavailable to the AHL Penguins, guys will have to continue to step up. Joey Mormina and Mark Eaton anchor a young but talented core in Philip Samuelsson, Joe Morrow, Brian Dumoulin, Alex Grant and Cody Wild. 

The Penguins practice this morning then immediately get on the bus and head out of town for Norfolk, Virignia, the site of two road games against the Admirals this weekend.

Highland Park Hockey will be making the trip down for the weekend and will have all the latest on the WBS Penguins for their Friday and Saturday night action. Be sure to follow on Twitter (@H_P_Hockey) for up to the minute news and updates.

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