Gear Up for Round 1 & The Race to 16

This bracket is from the AHL's league website.

The Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins canceled their on-ice practice this morning and I was told they were doing some off-ice work. I would guess this was done for many reasons. First off and probably most important, it gives some of the guys who missed action this weekend (Wallace, Wagner, Walker, Lerg and Curry)  an extra day to rest their ailments. It also serves as a day to go over game film of the opponent, the Norfolk Admirals. It all gives head coach John Hynes a chance to talk to his team and make sure they all know the deal on what they are going to work on the next two days.

So no updates on the guys today, unfortunately. I will still be attending practice Wednesday and Thursday and can try to get an update then.

After the jump I'll briefly analyze the first round series between the Pens and Admirals, a topic that will be looked at all week in anticipation of Game 1 on Friday.




For those who don't know the schedule, here it is via the team's website:

Game 1 – Friday, April 15, at W-B/Scranton, 7:05 p.m., Mohegan Sun Arena
Game 2 – Saturday, April 16, at W-B/Scranton, 7:05 p.m., Mohegan Sun Arena
Game 3 – Tuesday, April 19, at Norfolk, 7:15 p.m., Norfolk Scope Arena
Game 4 – Wednesday, April 20, at Norfolk, 7:15 p.m., Norfolk Scope Arena
Game 5* – Friday, April 22, at Norfolk, 7:30 p.m., Norfolk Scope Arena
Game 6* – Saturday, April 23, at W-B/Scranton, 7:05 p.m., Mohegan Sun Arena
Game 7* – Monday, April 25, at W-B/Scranton, 7:05 p.m., Mohegan Sun Arena
*If necessary

An important thing to note is that the Pens four home games are the first and last two games of the series, with Norfolk getting the three games in the middle. The distance between the two rinks is why you see the 2-3-2 series format.

Today we will look at the basics.

The Basics
Norfolk Admirals:  39-26-9-6, 4th East Division, 93 points
WBS Penguins: 58-21-0-1, 1st East Division, 117 points

Season series: WBS won series 5 games to 3.

An interesting thing to note about the season series with the Admirals. The Pens dropped the first three meetings before winning the rest of the matches between the two clubs.

Tomorrow I'll talk to a few guys and get their thoughts on the first round. Be sure to tune in for that.