Monday's Catch Up & Lunch Links 9/1

Carter Rowney winds up a one-timer in a game against the Portland Pirates last season. Photo credit: @ItsJacki.

That's right, it's September now.

We are less than two weeks away from the rookie tournament and just three weeks away from the Penguins' first NHL preseason game (home vs. DET 9/22). Local high school and college football starting up their respective seasons over the weekend is just another reminder that hockey season is right around the corner.

There will be plenty of American Hockey League (AHL) coverage this season in a multitude of places.

First and foremost, this hockey column (Highland Park Hockey) - The Town & Country Gazette's source for daily AHL coverage. Here at HPH, the plan is to focus on the AHL affiliates of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers while also mixing in some league-wide news and information.

I'll be back for another season covering the AHL for Hockey's Future and with increased league-wide coverage for the 2014-15 season I couldn't be more anxious to get things started.

A look at some things you might have missed and what's coming up this week and the month of September.

• On Thursday, the Penguins announced their 24-man roster for the rookie tournament in London, Ontario. Since I have talked to a majority of the roster, I felt qualified in writing an in-depth look at those on the Rookie Camp Roster. 

• Heading into September, here's a look at the Penguins organizational depth and some position battles going into main NHL training camp - Organizational Depth.

• The AHL Schedule for the 2014-15 season was released on Wednesday. The Penguins open the season at home against the new Lehigh Valley Phantoms on Saturday, October 11th, at 7:05 p.m. ET. Here's my writeup of the WBS Pens schedule specifics.

• 30 AHL Coaches in 30 Days from Bob Howard of the Power Play Post Show took a look at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins head coach John Hynes on Friday. Howard is planning a 30 AHL Arenas in 30 Days feature for September, so I'll be sure to share the Phantoms new arena PPL Center and the Penguins Mohegan Sun Arena when they are posted.

• Pens Initiative making a case for forward Zach Sill in the NHL bottom six.

• From Ian Altenbaugh at Hockey's Future, Oskar Sundqvist making major strides in his development over in Sweden.

• I didn't post any player features last week with all the news about the schedule and rookie tournament roster news coming out. I plan on posting the 6th summer feature sometime this week, so stay tuned for that. Here's the first five I have posted this summer:

• Conor Sheary Aims to Make an Impression
• Harrison Ruopp Fighting For Full-Time AHL Role
• Matt Murray Looks to Make the Most of His Rookie Season
• Clark Seymour Takes a Step in the Right Direction
• Josh Archibald Looking to Translate Collegiate Success to the Pros