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As the Calder Cup playoffs get underway, there is a young team with high hopes entering the fold.
The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (WBS) Penguins - AHL affiliate of the Pittsburgh Penguins - are looking to make a deep run in this season's Calder Cup playoffs. They finished fourth in the Atlantic Division and are in the midst of a first-round, three-game series with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, who they were knocked out by in the first round of last season's playoffs.
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'He's Grown A Ton': Ponomarev Looks To Build On Learning Experience With PenguinsIt has been a whirlwind year for Pittsburgh Penguins' prospect Vasily Ponomarev. There are a lot of reasons for optimism with this group. And they believe the youth and energy in their locker room gives them a nice leg-up.
"We’re definitely really excited for the opportunity," said forward Rutger McGroarty, who is still out with a lower-body injury he sustained at the NHL level. "We have a young team, and everybody knows that. I feel like that’s another advantage. People can look at it like we’re immature, but I feel like we have a really good team, and our legs are gonna be going. And I feel like we’ll be ready to go for every game.”
That youthful energy is something that is palpable within the group, and it shows in the results, too. The Penguins have four 20-goal scorers on their roster, and two of them - Ville Koivunen and Avery Hayes - are age 22 or younger. In fact, five of their top-eight point producers are no older than 23.
“I think we just have a lot of fun," said forward Tristan Broz, who missed a month and a half of action due to mononucleosis. "We’re a pretty young team. We compete on the ice, and we have fun. We just have fun and push each other to win and be our best.”
Koivunen, 21, finished top-three in scoring among AHL rookies and paced WBS with 21 goals and 56 points in 63 games despite missing the last handful of AHL games due to a late-season call-up to the NHL club.
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WBS Penguins Reach 40 Wins After Splitting Weekend Games Against Bears & MonstersThe Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins are headed off to the Calder Cup playoffs following a 3-0 shutout victory over the Cleveland Monsters on Saturday night, Taylor Gauthier's first in the AHL. He also believes that the team is well-poised to make a run.
“It’s big," Koivunen said. "We have a really good team there, we have a great group, a lot of fun always together, and we’ve played pretty good all season. So, I’m really happy and excited [about] what’s going to happen.”
But it's not just the youth on the roster that has played an integral part in getting the Penguins to where they are now. The team has a good mix of veterans and younger players, and the veterans are doing a lot to help the younger guys gel.
"We have a good group of older players, and they know how to handle the younger players and to be close to us," defenseman Filip Kral said. "So I think that's the main thing. We support each other every day, and that's the biggest thing."
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And - as it's been repeated many times by several different WBS players - that support and closeness has been the foundation of the chemistry the team has built this season. They are close both on and off the ice, and it lends to the group's belief in its ability to have a deep Calder Cup playoff run.
"It’s the most important achievement in our league right now," forward Vasily Ponomarev said. "And that’s what we want. I think the whole team is passionate about the Calder Cup right now.
“One of the most important things is that we are really close as a team. Together, we are like a family inside the room, and outside as well, because I know we love each other, and I feel that everyone’s got the same passion."
And, hopefully, that passion can translate into the franchise's very first championship.
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'We Have A Close Team': WBS Penguins Practice In Pittsburgh, Talk Chemistry Of GroupThe Penguins took to the ice for practice on Thursday at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex in Cranberry, Pa. Bookmark THN - Pittsburgh Penguins on your Google News tab to follow the latest Penguins news, roster moves, player features, and more!
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