Faceoff Factor

WBS Penguins Report - 12/31/07

Kyle Dreibelbies | WBS "Baby" Penguins

Dec 31, 01:33 PM | Hype this story!

Time for the last 2007 Penguins report from the farm. The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins are on a seven-game win streak right now, so things appear good right now. Who’s hot and who’s cold? Read on…

HOT:

C Tim Brent – I don’t know that any WBS player has played as well in a seven game stretch as Brent has during this win streak. Brent has 13 points in the last 10, with no sign of letting up anytime soon. When that type of game is coupled with the injuries to Pittsburgh forwards Gary Roberts, Ryan Malone, Maxime Talbot, and illness of Petr Sykora, that may be a formula for a Tim Brent callup.

C Kurtis McLean – He has meant as much to this team as anyone during the win streak. In the first four games of the streak, he had three game-winning goals and drew a five-minute major penalty during which the game winning goal was scored. Although he has played very well, it is very doubtful that he would get called up due to his small size and lack of an NHL contract.

Gs David Brown and John Curry – It was easy to write off the Baby Pens when the only veteran goaltender on the roster, Ty Conklin, was called up. But, these two rookies have stolen at least three of the seven games by their outstanding play in this rookie season. The challenge for them will be coming up in the next month or so. Both came from college, where the season (including playoffs) is less than 40 games. Does one or both of them hit the “rookie wall”? We will find out soon.

COLD:

D Ben Lovejoy – Recently, the Penguins have played quite a few rivalry games. Because of this, Coach Todd Richards felt the need to dress recent ECHL callup D Paul Bissonnette instead of Lovejoy. Bissonnette is the tougher of the two, while Lovejoy has taken some questionable penalties while on the ice. He needs to show something that proves he belongs out there on the ice.

W Connor James – As much as I hate to put James on this list, especially with how well he was playing before his recent call up to Pittsburgh, he has only contributed two assists during the seven-game win streak. His high-energy game has not gone away, though, so he should start lighting up the stat sheet again soon.