We’d be remiss if we failed today to congratulate the Chicago Wolves on doubling the pleasure of our Schadenfreude Spring, in sending yet another Penguins’ team — last night it was Pittsburgh’s affiliate in Wilkes Barre-Scranton — to a playoff finals disappointment. The Wolves claimed the American League’s Calder Cup 4 games to 2 over the mini-mullets. Added to the parent club’s Stanley Cup shortcoming last week, this is doubly delicious. Could there be a crunch-time character issue rampant in the Penguins’ organization, in so uniformly failing in finals’ play?
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Since they are my hometown team (having been born and raised in Wilkes-Barre), I’ll rebut…
That team had no business making the playoffs, let alone making the Calder final. Last year, they shared prospects from the Edmonton Oilers, who this year started up an affiliation with Springfield.
Last year, guys like Robert Nilsson, Rob Schremp, J-F Jacques had prominent roles. This year, the cupboard should have been bare.
And, the Penguins were the first team in AHL history to force a game six in the final after losing the first three games.
I don’t see many on that Penguin team having a secure future in Pittsburgh. Outside of Alex Gologoski, there might not be anyone who will be drawing a regular paycheck from an NHL team. But they had a pretty good year, certainly better than one might have thought they’d have last autumn.
I was at Game 6, and it was great to see the Wolves win (I root for them and Hershey), and the Pens lose. And kudods to ex-Caps Joel Kwiatkowski and Joe Motzko for winning the Calder Cup. Kiwi was a force for the Wolves this year. The Wolves now have 4 titles (2 IHL, 2 AHL) in 11 years, and 5 finals appearances. This is a franchise that expects nothing less than a title every year.
SpartyCuse, right you are about Kiwi. He finished 5th in the A in postseason scoring, with I think 27 pts. in 24 games. He may have played himself into another big-league contract with his performance this spring.
He played 18 games with the Thrash this year. I see him more as a career AHL’er, who will get the spotty NHL call due to injuries. Nevertheless, he played well for the Wolves, and was a key in helping them win the cup.
Have the caps ever won a cup? How about a game in the stanley cup finals?
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