AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins

Penguins open preseason with two wins

October 4, 2004 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins News Release


WILKES-BARRE, Pa. – The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins will close out their five-game preseason schedule this weekend with two games against the Binghamton Senators and one against the Syracuse Crunch. The Penguins, 2-0 in the preseason, will host the Crunch on Thursday and then play a "home-and-home" series against the Senators. The Penguins will visit Binghamton on Friday and then return home to host the Senators in their preseason finale on Saturday.

The Penguins open the regular season against the Manitoba Moose on Wednesday, October 13 at the Wachovia Arena at Casey Plaza.

UPCOMING GAMES TIX AVAIL. Thursday, October 7 vs. Syracuse (7:05 p.m.), Wachovia Arena at Casey Plaza 1391 left

Friday, Oct. 8 at Binghamton (7:05 p.m.), Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena

Saturday, Oct. 9 vs. Binghamton (7:05 p.m.), Wachovia Arena at Casey Plaza 492 left

LAST WEEK

The Penguins went 2-0 last week with wins over Syracuse and Hershey. The Penguins opened the preseason schedule with a 1-0 shootout win over the Crunch on Friday at the War Memorial at Oncenter. The Penguins and Crunch became the first teams to test out the AHL's new shootout rule. After playing 65 minutes of scoreless hockey, the Penguins defeated the Crunch, 1-0, courtesy of a 2-1 edge in the post-overtime shootout. Rookies' Erik Christensen and Michel Beausoleil recorded tallied shootout goals for the Penguins, while goaltender Joe Exter stopped four five shots to earn the win. Exter and Dany Sabourin combined to stop all 38 Crunch shots through 65 minutes, while Karl Goehring and Andrew Penner combined to stop all 19 Penguins shots before the shootout.

On Saturday, Guillaume Lefebvre scored two goals and Ramzi Abid added a goal and an assist as the Penguins skated to a 5-2 win over the Hershey Bears at the Wachovia Arena at Casey Plaza. Erik Christensen, Ryan Whitney and Ross Lupaschuk registered two assists each in the win. Special teams proved to be the difference in the game as the Penguins scored four power plays on eight chances, while the Bears were scoreless on five attempts. Andy Chiodo stopped 12 of 13 shots before giving way to Marc-Andre Fleury midway through the second period. Fleury made 15 saves in relief.

2004 PRESEASON SCHEDULE Date Opponent Time/Result

October 1 at Syracuse 1-0 W

Oct. 2 vs. Hershey 5-2 W

Oct. 7 vs. Syracuse 7:05 p.m.

Oct. 8 at Binghamton 7:05 p.m.

Oct. 9 vs. Binghamton 7:05 p.m.

"I-81 Puck Cup" TOURNAMENT

During the preseason, the Penguins will be competing against the Syracuse Crunch and Binghamton Senators in the first-ever "I-81 Puck Cup" Tournament. The preseason tournament, a round-robin challenge, will have each team playing the other two in a home-and-home series. The team with the most points at the end of the tournament will be presented with the inaugural "I-81 Puck Cup" Trophy.

"I-81 PUCK CUP" STANDINGS

TEAM POINTS

Penguins 2

Syracuse 2

Binghamton 0

BLACK-WHITE GAME

Michel Beausoleil recorded two goals and an assist to lead Team White to a 5-2 over the Black squad in Thursday's inaugural Black-White Scrimmage at the Wachovia Arena at Casey Plaza. Michel Ouellet and Glenn Zuck also scored for Team White. Cam Paddock and Colby Armstrong tallied goals for Team Black in the loss. A crowd of about 500 attended the inter-squad scrimmage, raising about $2,500 for Therrien's Tickets for Tots program.

2004-05 TRAINING CAMP ROSTER

With Sunday's moves, the Penguins training camp roster now stands at 30 - 18 forwards, nine defensemen and three goaltenders.

Of the 30 players, 15 played for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton last season and six players spent time in the NHL with Pittsburgh. Also, 21 of the 30 players still in camp were drafted by Pittsburgh.

RECENT TRANSACTIONS

October 3 – Penguins release forwards Michel Beausoleil, Brendon Hodge, Darcy Johnson and Glenn Zuck, defensemen James Laux, Curtiss Patrick and Randy Perry, and assign center Ed McGrane, defenseman Cliff Loya and goaltender Joe Exter to Wheeling (ECHL).

Sept. 29 – Penguins release forwards Bill Downey, Ken Goetz, Kevin Marsh, Gabe Perreault, Jake Riddle, Sean Robertson, defenseman Ben Blais and goaltender Mark Scally.

PRACTICE SCHEDULE

All practices are open to the media; practices held at the Wachovia Arena are closed to the public.)

Tuesday, October 5 10:30 a.m. (Practice and off-ice-training)

Wachovia Arena at Casey Plaza

Wednesday, October 6 10:30 a.m. (Practice and off-ice-training)

Wachovia Arena at Casey Plaza

Thursday, October 7 10:00 a.m. (Practice – players in game)

Wachovia Arena at Casey Plaza 11:15 a.m. (Practice – players not in game)

Friday, October 8 10:00 a.m. (Practice – players in game)

Wachovia Arena at Casey Plaza 11:15 a.m. (Practice – players not in game)

Saturday, October 9 10:00 a.m. Practice

Wachovia Arena at Casey Plaza 11:15 a.m. (Practice and off-ice-training)

Sunday, October 10 Off

COMMUNITY RELATIONS/PLAYER APPEARANCES

• Chris Kelleher, Alain Nasreddine, head coach Michel Therrien, assistant coach Mike Yeo, broadcaster Tom Grace and Tux will be visiting the CYC in Wilkes-Barre (South Washington Street) on Tuesday, October 5 at 5 p.m.

• The fifth annual Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins' Goal In One Golf Classic will be held on Monday, October 11 at Huntsville Golf Club. All proceeds from the tournament benefit the Mario Lemieux Foundation and the Penguins/United Way Charity Fund.

TICKETS ON SALE

Individual game tickets for the 2004-05 season are now on sale. Tickets can be purchased at the Wachovia Arena Box Office and all Ticketmaster locations and telephone outlets. Tickets to all 40 regular-season home games are available. Ticket prices for the season are set at $29.75 (Yellow zone), 19.75 (Red zone), 17.75 (Gold zone) and 13.50 (Blue zone).

The Wachovia Arena Box Office is open Monday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and on Saturday, from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., except on event days when it will be open until one hour after the event. Payment accepted at the Arena Box Office includes cash, American Express, Discover, MasterCard and Visa. The Wachovia Arena Box Office does not accept telephone orders or personal checks. Tickets can also be charged over the phone by calling Ticketmaster at (570) 693-4100, (215) 336-2000 and (607) 722-7272 and via the Internet at www.ticketmaster.com.

TELEVISION GAMES

Adelphia 63, WNEP-TV's 24-hour News Channel will air 15 home games live during the season with each game being re-broadcast on Saturday afternoons. Billed as "Hockey Night in Northeastern Pennsylvania", the package will feature a weekly live game from the First Union Arena at Casey Plaza that will be broadcast into the homes of 90,000 Adelphia Cable subscribers. Tom Grace will handle the play-by-play for the games, which will be simulcast from the radio broadcast.

2004-05 TV SCHEDULE

DATE OPPONENT TIME Wed., October 13 vs. Manitoba 7:05 PM

Sat., October 23 vs. Norfolk 7:05 PM

Sat., November 6 vs. Norfolk 7:05 PM

Wed., November 24 vs. Hartford 7:05 PM

Fri., December 10 vs. Albany 7:05 PM

Wed., December 15 vs. Albany 7:05 PM

Sat., January 8 vs. Philadelphia 7:05 PM

Sat., January 22 vs. Bridgeport 7:05 PM

Sat., February 5 vs. Philadelphia 7:05 PM

Fri., February 11 vs. Hershey 7:05 PM

Wed., February 23 vs. Manitoba 7:05 PM

Fri., March 4 vs. Springfield 7:05 PM

Sat., March 26 vs. Providence 7:05 PM

Wed., April 6 vs. Binghamton 7:05 PM

Sat., April 16 vs. Norfolk 7:05 PM

RADIO BROADCASTS

Fans can listen to the exciting action all season long on the Penguins' radio flagship station, Oldies 92 and 100 (92.1) FM. Tom Grace hosts the pregame show, which begins 25 minutes before each game except during TV simulcasts.

INTERNET BROADCASTS Fans of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins can follow the play-by-play action live all season long on the internet. To listen to the broadcast, simply log on to the Penguins' website, www.wbspenguins.com, or to the Oldies 92 website, www.oldiesfm.com.

PENGUINS REPORT

The Penguins' weekly radio show "The Penguins Report" will be broadcast on ESPN Sports Radio (WEJL 630 AM and WBAX 1240 AM). Each Thursday at 7:00 p.m., the hour-long show, "The Penguins Report," will be held at the Arena Bar and Grill in Wilkes-Barre. The first radio show of the season will be on October 14. Tom Grace's guest is TBD.

Check out the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins Statistics



American Hockey League Stories from October 4, 2004


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