2007-08 YEAR IN REVIEW

The 2007-08 regular season proved to be another success for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, who recorded their third consecutive 100 point season, captured their second division championship in three years, and qualified for the Calder Cup Playoffs for the sixth consecutive season.

The following notes give a look at some of the high points of the recently completed regular season:

300:  The Penguins posted the 300th win in franchise history with a 3-2 decision at Hamilton on November 28.  Ironically, it was in Hamilton that the Pens recorded their first win back on November 10, 1999.

ROAD WINS RECORD:  The Penguins finished the season with 25-13-0-2 record away from the Wachovia Arena at Casey Plaza, setting a new team mark for road victories in a season (previously 23 by the 2005-06 and 2006-07 squads).  The 25 road wins were tied for second most in the league this season (Providence – 28; Hartford – 25), while the 52 road points were third (Providence – 59; Hartford – 56).

NINE IN A ROW – TIMES TWO:  The Penguins posted a pair of nine-game win streaks during the 2007-08 regular season, tying the team mark set at the start of the 2005-06 campaign (October 5-29).  Wilkes-Barre/Scranton reeled off nine wins in a row between December 15 and January 2, and again from March 2 through March 19.

HATS OFF TO MINARD:  Chris Minard opened the season on the right foot, netting three goals in a 5-4 victory against the Hershey Bears on October 3.  He went on to post a second hat trick on January 2 in a 6-3 win versus the Syracuse Crunch.  Minard became just the second player in Penguins history to record multiple hat tricks in one season, joining Michel Ouellet, who accomplished the feat during the 2004-05 campaign.

The Penguins also picked up hat tricks from Jeff Taffe and Dave Gove on the season:

Minard, Chris      vs. HER                   5-4                October 3, 2007
Taffe, Jeff             @ BRI                      6-1                October 20, 2007
Minard, Chris       vs. SYR                   6-3                January 2, 2008
Gove, Dave           vs. NOR                  5-3                March 12, 2008

A PAIR OF WINNERS – Kurtis McLean set a new team record for game-winning goals in a season with eight.  That surpassed the mark of seven set by Michel Ouellet in 2003-04 and tied by Matt Hussey in 2005-06.

Dave Gove didn’t join the Penguins until the beginning of February, but still managed to record 15 goals in 36 games with the club – including five game-winners.  He wasted little time in making an impact on his new teammates.  Gove recorded the decisive goal in his first game with the club, a 5-3 victory vs. Bridgeport on February 1.  Combined with his totals from Albany, Gove recorded nine game-winning goals this season, second in the league only to Chicago’s Brett Sterling (10).

SHORT WORK – Dave Gove recorded shorthanded goals in back-to-back games (February 9 vs. Hershey, February 13 @ Norfolk), and finished the season as the team’s leader in shorthanded goals with three.

MINARD PACKS THE POWER – Chris Minard led the Penguins with 25 goals on the season, despite appearing in just 56 games with the AHL club.  Minard also tied the team record for power play goals in a season, picking up 13 tallies on the man advantage.  That evened the mark set by Greg Crozier during the 2000-01 season.

CURRY, GOLIGOSKI EARN ROOKIE HONORS – Goaltender John Curry and defenseman Alex Goligoski were both named to the AHL’s All-Rookie Team, as voted on by players, coaches and media members from around the league.

Curry, signed by the Pittsburgh Penguins as a free agent out of Boston University, posted a 24-12-3 record with a 2.23 goals against average, a .915 save percentage and three shutouts.  His 2.23 GAA was fifth best in the entire AHL this season, and was the second-best mark posted in a single season by a Penguins’ netminder (Dany Sabourin 2.22 in 2005-06).  The native of Shorewood, Minnesota was named the league’s rookie of the month for December and helped Team USA to a silver medal at the Deutschland Cup tournament.

Goligoski led all rookie defensemen with 38 points (10+28) while appearing in 70 games with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.  The Grand Rapids, Minnesota native posted four game-winning goals for the Penguins, and represented the club at the 2008 AHL All-Star Game, sponsored by Rbk Hockey.  He was originally selected by Pittsburgh in the second round (61st overall) of the 2004 entry draft, and played three seasons at the University of Minnesota.

HELPING HANDS – Tim Brent tied the team record for assists in a game when he picked up four against the Binghamton Senators on November 24.  Not to be outdone, Alex Goligoski recorded his own four-assist game on December 31 against the Norfolk Admirals.

Brent and Goligoski became the fifth and sixth players in team history to record four assists in a game:

                PENGUINS FOUR ASSIST GAMES
                     4      Dennis Bonvie            11/5/99 @ Syracuse
                     4      John Slaney               1/21/00 vs. Hershey
                     4      Ryan Whitney            10/5/05 vs. Bridgeport
                     4      Kurtis McLean            1/18/06 vs. Syracuse
                     4      Tim Brent                   11/24/07 @ Binghamton
                     4      Alex Goligoski            12/31/07 vs. Norfolk

EIGHT IS ENOUGH:  The Penguins posted eight goals against the Albany River Rats on December 15, equaling the team mark for goals in a game.  The victory marked the 10th time in team history that the team has put eight goals on the scoresheet.

DATE                                       OPPONENT                             SCORE
January 25, 2000                   vs. Syracuse                          8-4
February 6, 2001                    @ St. John’s                          8-6
January 13, 2002                   vs. Milwaukee                        8-5
February 4, 2005                    vs. Hershey                            8-2
October 5, 2005                     vs. Bridgeport                         8-1
October 23, 2005                   @ Bridgeport                          8-3
December 26, 2005               vs. Hershey                            8-1
January 6, 2007                      vs. Hershey                            8-4
March 28, 2007                       vs. Binghamton                     8-1
December 15, 2007               @ Albany (Glens Falls)       8-1

The victory against the River Rats also equaled the largest margin of victory in team history, and set a new standard for largest margin of victory on the road. 

TODD TAKES OUT THERRIEN – Head coach Todd Richards picked up his 95th victory behind the Penguins bench on March 29 at Bridgeport, passing Michel Therrien for second place on the team’s all-time wins list.  Glenn Patrick holds the team mark with 115 victoris.

IRON ENGELLAND:  Deryk Engelland was the only player to appear in all 80 Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins games this season, becoming just the 14th player in team history to suit up for all 80 games in a season.

However, Engelland was outdone by Dave Gove who, due to a midseason trade from Albany, actually appeared in 81 AHL games this season (45 with Albany, 36 with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton).  Steven Goertzen (59 games with Syracuse, 22 games with San Antonio) was the only other player in the league to appear in 81 games this season.

MISCELLANEOUS MARKS:
The following team records were set or tied during the 2007-08 season:

TEAM RECORDS – SEASON
OVERTIME LOSSES
Most at Home                          3
Fewest on Road                     0

SHOOTOUT LOSSES
Fewest Overall                       4
Fewest on Road                     2

GOALS
Fewest Against, Road            91

TEAM RECORDS – PERIOD
ASSISTS
Most for Road                         8 (Dec. 15 @ Albany – 1st)

SHOTS
Fewest for Road                     0 (Jan. 26 @ Manchester – 3rd)