I have three games to tell you about since the last report. Chris Minard continues his scoring hot streak, and the Pens are rolling.

In the final game of the seven, yes seven, game road trip, the Baby Pens come out on the short side of a 3-2 loss vs. the Bridgeport Soundtigers. Jeff Taffe started out the scoring for the Pens 9:34 into the 1st period from Minard and Pesonen. However, WBS Pens's defensemen T.J. Kemp and Joey Mormina picked up penaltys seconds apart and Bridgeport capitlized, scoring power play goals. Score 2-1. Aaron Boogaard was involved in a scrap but, 3 minutes left in the 2nd period Bridgeport scored again with the score 3-1. Early in the 3rd Chris Minard netted his 11th goal of the year, but the Pens fall 3-2. John Curry stopped 25 of 28 shots.

On Nov. 7 the Pens returned home to face the Lowell Devils. Adam Berkhoel in net. Three seconds into the game Tim Wallace dropped the gloves against Lowell to set the tone. Chris Minard scored goal 12 and 13 in the fisrt period. The first goal assisted by Reid Cashman and Bill Thomas and 2nd by Janne Pesonen and Bill Thomas (both on power play). Ryan Stone scored his 4th of the year assisted by Luca Caputi and Tim Wallace scored the final goal of the game assisted by Jonathan Filewich and goalie Adam Berkhoel. All goals scored in the first period. Berkhoel records his second shutout, again against the Devils.

In last nights home game versus the 2nd place Hershey Bears, the Pens picked up a win. Defenseman Danny Richmond came alive picking up three assists. Dustin Jeffrey scored first with the Richmond helper. Hershey scored to tie it at 1-1. Jonathan Filewich broke the tie with a goal assisted by Taffe and Lovejoy with the score 2-1. In the second Bill Thomas scored (Richmond and Wallace) and Jeff Taffe netted a goal (Richmond and Minard) with the score now 4-1. Hershey scored two but the Pens held on for a 4-3 victory. John Curry stopped 29 of 32 shots.

Interesting stat: I read on Penguins Insider that Chris Minard (WBS) Evgeni Malkin(PIT) and Tommy Goebel (Wheeling) are all the leading scorers in all three leagues (NHL, AHL, ECHL). Interesting to say the least! Thats amazing!

As you probally know Chris Minard was sent back down to Wilkes-Barre Scranton. Just to continue his dominance. This guy is on a mission, most likely to prove to everybody that he wants another chance at the big guys. And he will, in all likeliness, get called back up sometime. Now I will go to the game summaries to tell you more about him and other Pens:

Since the last report the Baby Pens have won two in a row. On Oct. 31 both Pens traveled, the Baby Pens traveled to San Antonio to take on the Rampage, the Phoenix Coyotes AHL team, and the big Pens traveled to Phoenix. Now WBS was without leading scorer Chris Minard, who got a call up from Pittsburgh. John Curry is in net for the Pens. With the Rampage on the board first the score was 1-0, but about three minutes after that, Connor James netted a shorthanded goal (assisted by Dustin Jeffrey) to make it tied 1-1. About four minutes into the 3rd period Tim Wallace, an unlikely source, made it 2-1 with his first goal of the season, off a redirected shot from Jeff Taffe. eight seconds after that Jeff Taffe scored his seventh goal of the year (unassisted). John Curry stopped 31 of 32 shots and the Pens won 3-1 and Jeff Taffe took down his former team, San Antonio.

Now last night (Nov 2nd) vs. the Houston Aeros, Chris Minard, who was reassigned earlier yesterday, continued his amazing hot streak. After a scoreless period Minard got the first goal of the game 1:10 into the second. Dustin Jeffrey and Janne Pesonen, who was also sent down yesterday, got the assists. Houston tied it 1-1 less then three minutes later. Tim Wallace tallied his second goal of the year (asisted by Taffe and Filewich) at 9:08. Minard scored again when Jeff Taffe set him up for a goal 6:40 later to make it 3-1. In the third the Aeros netted goals seconds apart to make the score even at 3-3. But none other then Chris Minard would get his third goal of the game, 24 seconds after Houston scored, to win the game. It's over, 4-3. John Curry picks up the win and Minard gets a hat-trick. Jeff Taffe has a streak of 5 games with at least two points.

Read on for player updates:

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I have read that Chris Minard and Janne Pesonen have been sent back down to the Pens minor league system, Wilkes-Barre Scranton. Minard played in two games posting three shots and three hits. He played solid in the absence of some of the Pens and probally will get a call back up at some point this year.He is the leading scorer on WBS. Pesonen played one game and played a nice first game, was actually more defensive, and played under ten minutes. I don't know if they were sent down because WBS has some games during the Pens long break or if the parent Penguins will be healthy enough come the Oilers game. Who knows.

I have read from various sources (Pittsburgh Trib and Pens site) that Pascal Dupuis has been placed on IR. Now this just means that he will not count against the roster until activated, so no players will need to be sent down to Wilkes-Barre since Janne Pesonen has been called-up. I guess Janne will replace Dupuis instead of Crosby like I thought. Ruslan Fedotenko might not play and Defenseman Mark Eaton will likely be a healthy scratch. I would think Sydor is playing to try and show him off to other teams, but maybe there is something here. Nothing is for sure though with any of these line changes with Michel Terrein as coach. More to come......

In my last report I left you guys with a win at Hershey. Since then the Baby Pens have won one, lost two and now stand at 3-3-0-1. In their win, veteren goaltender Adam Berkhoel was outstanding stopping all 46 of the Lowell Devils shots and getting a 5-0 shutout win. Jeff Taffe lead the offense with two goals and remained solid on defense with a plus-3 rating. Janne Pesonen had the first assist on the Taffe goal (first goal of game) and had a goal of his own in the 3rd period. Chris Minard and Luca Caputi also scored one a piece.

In the next game, versus the Manchester Monarchs, the Baby Pens dropped a 3-2 loss, despite a late run at a comeback. The Pens were down 3-0 going into the 3rd period when defenseman Ben Lovejoy netted his 2nd goal of the year and Jeff Taffe added another, but the comeback fell short and they lost. Adam Berkhoel stopped 26 of 29 shots, Ryan Stone, Chris Minard, and Janne Pesonen added 1 assist each.

Last night vs. the Portland Pirates the WBS Pens lost once again to the score of 5-4. John Curry was in net and only stopped 17 of 21 shots. After getting off to another slow start they were down 3-0 but, midway into the 2nd David Gove scored a short-handed goal to make it 3-1. But Portland wouldn't stay quiet for long.  They scored again shortly after and the late rally by Jeff Taffe and Chris Minard was shattered by Portland once again.   The score was 5-3 when Taffe scored once again late in the game but it was too late. Bill Thomas had one assist and Janne Pesonen was scoreless. 

The Baby Pens sit 4th in the conference with 7 points.

Read on for player-by-player updates.

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The Baby Pens recorded a 4-3 shootout loss and a 5-4 win since my last report and are now 2-1-0-1. Versus the Bridgeport Soundtigers in the shootout loss Janne Pesonen had a solid night, netting a goal and adding two assists. He was also the only one to score in the shootout. Jeff Taffe and Chris Minard were the other two to score a goal.

In the win vs. the Hershey Bears, the Pens' Chris Minard scored two goals and added an assist. Connor James had a very good night with a goal and an assist and a plus-2 rating. Ryan Stone continues to be strong with 1 goal and 1 assist with a plus-3 and a fight on the record. Pesonen had 1 assist and strictly minor leaguer  D-Man J.P. Cote scored a goal.   Also worth mentioning, goalie John Curry left the game with a back injury, though not serious.

Now here is a review of the major prospects so far:

Janne Pesonen- Has 6 points (1 goal and 5 assists) through 4 games and really seems to be adjusting nicely. He has a plus 5 rating and is playing a very nice defensive game as well (0 PM). The goals will come with so more time.

Jeff Taffe- A goal and 2 assists in 3 games. Ready if needed.

Chris Minard-  The Baby Pens leading scorer has 8 points (5 goals and 3 assists). I think its between him or Pesonen for the first callup. He has 3 powerplay goals a plus 6 rating 0 PM. This guy seems to get it done in the minors but lack of speed might hinder his ability to score with the big boys. But if he keeps up his solid defensive game he will be fine if called up.

Connor James- Has 2 goals and 2 assists in 4 games and remains a solid penalty killer.

Ryan Stone- Has 3 goals and 2 assists. Playing very good and might bring some extra grit towards the middle of the season.

Jonathan Filewich is struggling with 1 goal and a minus 7 rating in 4 games. It is very early though.

Thats all for now, but I will bring back a lot more next week.

After the Pens very dissappointing shooting performence last night, and not to say at all that any changes will be made in terms of callups, I just wanted to let people know about some young guys in the minors.

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The Pittsburgh Pens have aquired Mike Zigomanis in exchange for future considerations (most likely a low pick). I don't know much about Zigomanis, other then he played for Phoenix last year.  Check it out.

I was wondering if they would pick any one up and they did. He is a role player-type/penelty killer I think, though I think the Pens had plenty of those down in Wilkes-Barre (Stone, James, Filewich, Minard, others) but he seems to have more experience. Any thoughts about Mike Z?

Also Jeff Taffe appears to be heading to WBS.

Forward Janne Pesonen was sent to the Pens minor league team, Wilkes-Barre Scranton. Read it here

lso the story said the roster was finalized. 24 players in all. However, they still have to make cuts, right? I mean they will have to scratch 4 players and a goalie if this is the "final roster". I am pretty sure this is only for the Sweden games. Question: What is the max. amount of players allowed on roster? Bill Thomas, the Pitsburgh native (yeah), made the team and so did Bissonnette. GoGo made it. But they will probaly still have to cut more guys, right? If so Curry,Bissonnette, even Thomas will probaly go. to WBS. Thoughts and Answers? Thanks

The season is finally here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just to update you guys on Andre Frazier's injury it is thankfully not as serious as it looked. He actually was on the field (not in uniform of course) in the second half but that is a good sign. Tomlin actually said the special teams ace could be back for the next game. check it out: http://news.steelers.com/article/96862/

Other notes if McHugh starts he performed well as a blocker Monday. I think that the Steelers should have kept John Kuhn a few years back, remember him. He now is on the Packers and actually started some games this year.

Like always the atmosphere at the game was awesome. And I wasn't even there. Then Andre Frazier got hurt. Ten minutes later the fans are still crazy. Now Frazier has a spine injury and I am assuming that he is done for the year not career threating, but maybe season. But this game was emotional throughout. The defense played great I think. Again keeping the Steelers in the game. It was not perfect, allowing frusterating completed passes, but we have all gotten used to this. Every D-Lineman played outsanding: Aaron Smith played hard and other then that Flacco escape, he played solid. He and Troy hold this D together. Hokey and Kirscke filled in nicely and I DO NOT miss Fats Hampton. All linebackers played sweat and exciting. Harrison loves monday nights Woodly is gonna be good. Foote really stepped it up (He see's Timmons over his shoulder.). What else can you say about these backers!!! Now the D-Backs were shaky, but held their own in the clutch. Troy had a blunder, probally played his worst game this year, but that is not saying alot since his first 3 games were amazing.

Now offense, well I will not point out the obvius O-Line problems, but they did play better with Simmons out. (By the way when Simmons went out I cheered with joy. Hey good guy, but man when do you take the guy out. 4+years of sucking?). Now I also don't want to say much about the Offense, so I will just mention so good things and bad ones.

Ben sucked in the first half, you can blame most on him some on line. He came through on one play to Holmes (which capped off an amazing comeback.) But Arians calls at the goaline are just stupid. Why run with Moore at the goaline. Throw to Heath Miller or Spaeth or even McHugh!!! Miller is 6-5 - Spaeth is freaking 6-7!!! Arians is an idiot. Mendy out= that sucks.

McHugh made some sick blocks. He is a good H-Back. Berger didn't punt good. As I said a while back a punter is very important when your team is struggling and need good field position. Patrick Bailey!!!! I knew it this dude is a special special teamer. He made like three tackles and has four in just two games. Also Madison was good on ST too.

Finally Jeff Reed is one of the best kickers in the NFL. He is one of my favorite Steelers also. What a nail-biter though i had a feeleing we would pull out a W. Was it a bad sign we had a nailbiter against the Ravens? Well its a rivalry and it should be tough but maybe not that close. I wonder what will happens when we play the Cowboys, Colts or Patr-cheat-iots?

                        GO STEELERS!!!!!!!

Gary Russell has been signed to the Practice Squad. Patrick Bailey just swapped positions on the PS with him. It is good to keep Russell he is a good back to have especially since Fast Willie went down.

gg gg gg gg gg gg gg ggg gg gg g g g g g g g g g g   gggg  gg oooo  o o o o ooo o o o o  oo o o o o o o o o o o o o o o  o o o  o o o steelers!!

QB Dennis Dixon, WR Limas Sweed, CB Deshea Townsend, LB Bruce Davis, T Tony Hills, T Trai Essex, DE Brett Keisel,  LB Donovan Woods.

Looks like a chance to see Roye as well as Patrick Bailey. Sweed still not dressing. Deshea is hurting still. Almost Game Time.

Out for the Eagles: QB AJ Feeley, Joe Mays, Bryan Smith, William Andrews, Mike McGlynn, Kevin Curtis, Matt Schobel, Victor Abiamiri.

GO STEELERS! Go Steelers Go Steelers. That should be enough words!

As of 9/19 there are 42 players left in camp. I looked at the Penguins site and there are 14 defenseman left. Gonchar, Orpik, Letang, Gill, Scuderi, Eaton, and Sydor are there and Whitney injured, but here are some guys still left you might not have known: 

Deryk Engelland, Ben Lovejoy, T.J. Kemp, Joey Mormina, Danny Richmond, and Alex Goligoski. Out of those Goligoski is the only one who has a chance to make it out of camp, but if injuries occur Richmond and Lovejoy are names to remember. The other will return to WBS.

There are 24 forwards left Sid, Geno, Sykora, Satan, Fedotenko, Talbot, Kennedy, Staal, Dupuis, Cooke, Godard are either major FA signings or locks to make the team. Kris Beech, Jeff Taffe, Jonathan Filewich, Ryan Stone, Conor James, Chris Minard, Janne Pesonen, and Bill Thomas are trying to be an extra forward or first injury call-up (hopefully not). Paul Bissonette, Aaron Boogaard, Dave Gove, Adam Heinrich, and Tim Wallace are most likely gonna be playing on Wilkes-Barre.

Four Goalies left: Fleury is a lock. But, is Dany Sabourin. They have John Curry and David Brown still in camp and is it possible that Curry could be the number two netminder. I don't think so but you never know. I like Sabourin and he is a good number two.

Comments: who do you think will make the team?

Mewelde Moore looked pretty bad yet again this week. He is an accident waiting to happen. I think sometime this season he will pull a Colclough or a Rossum season. We need a return man not a third down back returning kicks. Does anyone think the Steelers will look for a new return man. Berger looked good. McHugh blocked good. Batch looked bad one the sidelines! A pretty good game since the winds were like 70 miles an hour.

One more thing: Can someone please tell me what our home fans cheer when Heath Miller catches a pass? I have been wondering this for a while.

Hi. I am new to this site, but I am a diehard Pens fan. With training camp approaching I just want to ask you guys who you think we should look out for (some suprises making the roster Pesonen, Caputi, Goligoski) and also when Will Daryl Sydor be traded before the season starts (if at all) ???

Also Jordan Staal can fit the role of a Ryan Malone. I would love to see him up on the line of Malkin or Crosby as a winger instead of a trird line center (which he quietly did a fantastic job at especially in the playoffs)

I have mixed feelings about the roster. First I have to say I am thrilled to have gotten rid of Willie Reid, Baker is the better choice. However, why in the world is Tyrone Carter still here. I know why because of his "experience". Why don't we just sign Mel Blount and convert him to saftey if thats what we want. He could probally play better then Carter. Grant Mason and Roy Lewis and even Mundy when he was healthy worked and played hard. I would rather see Mason then Carter. Also Woods played good, but I think Patrick Bailey played outstanding on special teams and thats exactly what the Steelers need. Hope to see Bailey on the Practice Squad. I hope they find a punter on the waiver wire and pick one up. Berger isn't it.

Now why is Eason still here, and just two TEs, and what the #$%@ is Tony Hills doing on the final roster??? Now who do you guys think will land on the Practice Squad?     The roster is NOT set yet. Look for some moves on O-line and punter

The Steelers made three roster moves. waived/injured TE Jon Dekker, waived Kevin Huntley, and signed TE Lee Vickers. Minor moves but, I dodn't see this posted anywhere else so....

I saw Dekker getting carted of the field in the BIlls game. In one of the replays I noticed he was in the camera running a route and then just fell out of the picture. He was trying to be the 3rd TE. I liked Vickers when we had him in 06. He was a DE then but moved to TE. I think we need 3 tight ends so he could be 3. Huntley failed his physical.

Now a couple notes from the game. I noticed alot less players playing. I know the reserves play less, but where were Fox, Bloom, and others. Humpal and Mundy were hurt and so were others but it just seemed like some of starters and regulars were in the game in the 4th quarter. Also the return game and coverage units on ST looked pretty shaky. Not alot of good returns and the kickoff coverage was bad. Still need to see more from Berger and Ernster. The kick Reed missed could have been the result of the new holder Berger. They should stick with Ernster. Sorry for the length.

I read the earlier post about Culpepper and Leftwich. I was shocked. The Steelers never should have drafted Dixon in my opinion. They passed on some guys like Colt Brennan. If they keep both Leftwich and Culpepper they will most likely not keep 4 QBs. Dixon will never make it through waivers to the Practice Squad. Mike Potts was a handoff specialist the will probaly cut him soon though he didn't get much of a chance. Dixon is a project and reminds me too much of Kordell to even take a chance on him. However what if another team needs a QB. I doubt the looser of the number two battle will want to stay as a 3. By that time another QB will have gotten cut so we could pick one up. As for the punter I heard from KDKA blog that Mitch Berger was practicing punts with the Steelers. Ernster wasn't that bad. Was he?? Also I will cut Jeremy Bloom some slack. He had no oppurtunity to make any returns. Every punt was either high and 30 yards or in the end zone. Drummond had one good play on a punt return.I am not a Bloom fan or anything but he looks pretty fast. Lets see how it plays out. I am a bit confused as to what they are doing here so what do you guys have to say???