Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins

The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins are the American Hockey League affiliate of the NHL's Pittsburgh Penguins. They play in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania at the Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza.

History
The Pittsburgh Penguins' top minor league affiliate throughout the 1990s was the Cleveland Lumberjacks of the IHL. However, in the mid 1990s, the IHL began moving away from being a developmental league and more towards being a top independent minor league. For this reason, the Penguins wanted their top minor league affiliate in the AHL. The Penguins purchased the dormant Cornwall Aces AHL franchise from the Colorado Avalanche in 1996, but left the team inactive until the 1999–2000 season when it was placed in Wilkes-Barre. The team is affectionately referred to as "The Baby Penguins" by fans. The WBS Pens have gone to the Calder Cup Final three times in their first eleven years of existence, most recently in 2008 by way of beating the Portland Pirates in a thrilling seven game series in the Eastern Conference finals; the Penguins took game seven by a score of 3-2 after being down in the series three games to two. They went on to play the Chicago Wolves in the final, but lost the series 4-2.

Their mascot is Tux the penguin, who wears number #99 in reference to the team's first season in 1999. The team celebrated their 10th Anniversary Season in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in 2008/2009 with the catch phrase of "Making Memories". The team qualified for the Calder Cup Playoffs in 2009 for the seventh year in a row and attempted to make the Calder Cup Final for the third time in six years to try and win the franchise's first Cup. The Pens fourth drive to the Calder Cup Final came to end against the Hershey Bears in the conference semifinals. The series went to seven games with Hershey taking the final two at home by identical scores of 3-0 after the Pens won three in a row in Wilkes-Barre.

They began their 11th season of play on October 3, 2009. Their slogan for this season is "Where Champions are Born", a reference to their parent Pittsburgh Penguins, who won the 2009 Stanley Cup. In 2009, they also spawned an affiliated junior team, the Wilkes-Barre Junior Pens, which will play at the new Ice Rink at Coal Street Park, which will also serve as a practice facility for the Penguins.

The Baby Pens qualified for the Calder Cup playoffs for an eighth consecutive year in 2009-2010, but bowed out early, swept in 4 games by the Albany River Rats. It was the first time in club history that the team was swept in the first round of the playoffs, thus not making it to at least the second round for the first time in club history, excluding the team's two non-playoff years in 2000 and 2002. It was only the third time that the team got swept in a playoff series, first in 2003-2004 against the Milwaukee Admirals in the Calder Cup Final and in 2005-2006 against the Hershey Bears in the conference semifinals. The team is 14-9 in 23 playoff series all time in 11 seasons.



Single season

 * Goals: Chris Minard, 34 (2008–09)
 * Assists: Jeff Taffe and Janne Pesonen, 50 (2008–09)
 * Points: Janne Pesonen, 82 (2008–09)
 * Penalty minutes: Dennis Bonvie, 431 (2005–06)
 * Goaltending wins: Brad Thiessen, 35 (2010–11)
 * GAA: Jeff Zatkoff 1.93 (2012–13)
 * SV%: Rich Parent (2000–01), Dany Sabourin (2005–06) and Brad Thiessen (2010–11), .922

Career

 * Career goals: Tom Kostopoulos, 121
 * Career assists: Tom Kostopoulos, 176
 * Career points: Tom Kostopoulos, 297
 * Career penalty minutes: Dennis Bonvie, 1081
 * Career goaltending wins: John Curry, 103
 * Career shutouts: Brad Thiessen, 17
 * Career games: Tom Kostopoulos, 400

AHL records
As of the 2009–10 AHL Season. Data from the AHL Hall of Fame Website. 

Team

 * Most Road Wins, 80-Game Season: 28 (2010–2011) (tied)


 * Longest Road Winning Streak (one season): 13 games (October 9–December 3, 2005) (tied)


 * Longest Road Winning Streak (overall): 15 games (April 10–December 3, 2005)

Player

 * Most points by a defenseman, career: John Slaney, 486 (Baltimore, Portland, Cornwall, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Philadelphia)


 * Most goals by a defenseman, career: John Slaney, 157 (Baltimore, Portland, Cornwall, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Philadelphia)


 * Most goals by a defenseman, season: John Slaney, 30 (1999–2000)


 * Most PIM, career: Dennis Bonvie, 4,104 (Cape Breton, Hamilton, Portland, Philadelphia, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Providence, Binghamton, Hershey)


 * Most PIM, game: Steve Parsons, 64 (March 17, 2002 vs. Syracuse)


 * Most goals by a Defenceman, season: John Slaney, 30 (1999–2000)


 * Most PIM, career: 4,104 Dennis Bonvie (Cape Breton, Hamilton, Portland, Phila., W.B./Scr., Providence, Binghamton, Hershey)


 * Most PIM, game: Steve Parsons, 64 (March 17, 2002 vs. Syracuse)

AHL awards and trophies


Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy (AHL regular season champions)
 * 2010–11

Frank Mathers Trophy (Eastern Conference regular season champions from 2004-2011)
 * 2010–11

Richard F. Canning Trophy (Eastern Conference playoff champions)
 * 2007–08
 * 2003–04

F. G. "Teddy" Oke Trophy (East Division regular season champions from 2002-2011)
 * 2010–11
 * 2007–08
 * 2005–06

Robert W. Clarke Trophy (Western Conference playoff champions)
 * 2000–01

'''Eddie Shore Award (Best Defenseman)
 * John Slaney: 2000–01

'''Aldege "Baz" Bastien Memorial Award (Best Goaltender)
 * Brad Thiessen: 2010–11
 * Dany Sabourin: 2005–06

'''Harry "Hap" Holmes Memorial Award (Goalie(s) with lowest goals against avg)
 * Brad Thiessen & Jeff Zatkoff: 2012–13
 * Brad Thiessen & John Curry: 2010–11
 * Dany Sabourin: 2005–06

'''Yanick Dupre Memorial Award (AHL Man of the Year Service)
 * Matt Carkner: 2006–07

'''Louis A.R. Pieri Memorial Award (Coach of the Year)
 * John Hynes: 2010–11

Notable Penguins

 * Colby Armstrong
 * Kris Beech
 * Paul Bissonnette
 * Dennis Bonvie
 * Robert Bortuzzo
 * Jesse Boulerice
 * Tim Brent
 * Wade Brookbank
 * Brendan Buckley
 * Sven Butenschon
 * Toby Petersen
 * Daniel Carcillo
 * Matt Carkner
 * Sebastien Caron
 * Andy Chiodo
 * Erik Christensen
 * Ty Conklin
 * Greg Crozier
 * John Curry
 * Andrew Ference
 * Marc-Andre Fleury
 * Alex Goligoski
 * Dustin Jeffrey
 * Tyler Kennedy
 * Tom Kostopoulos
 * Kris Letang
 * Mark Letestu
 * Ryan Malone
 * Alain Nasreddine
 * Michel Ouellet
 * Brooks Orpik
 * Toby Petersen
 * Danny Richmond
 * Darcy Robinson
 * Dany Sabourin
 * Miroslav Satan
 * John Slaney
 * Ryan Stone
 * Maxime Talbot
 * Eric Tangradi
 * Ryan Whitney
 * Michel Therrien (Head Coach)
 * Dan Bylsma (Head Coach)
 * Mike Yeo (Assistant Coach)
 * John Hynes (Head Coach)