Calder Cup Performances Will Be Watched Closely
By Bob Grove

With no NHL playoffs in Pittsburgh, Penguins' management will turn its attention to the American Hockey League's Calder Cup playoffs, where the assessment of players in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton will carry added significance.

"There's always an emphasis on the playoffs. You look at playoff track records throughout a player's career," said Penguins' general manager Craig Patrick, "whether it's in junior or in college or the World Championships. You weigh that performance into any decision you make about a player.

"Every shift means a whole lot more, and numbers don't always give you the answer. It's the way a player performs, how they perform under pressure."

The Calder Cup playoffs will give Pittsburgh's prospects a chance to impress the management—the same opportunity given to the young players who finished the NHL season with the Penguins. Make no mistake, says Patrick, both environments mean more to a player's evaluations than training camp.

"You learn more in real competition," says Patrick, whose staff will soon be making some important decisions about the sudden glut of young talent in the organization. "Training camp, first of all. . . the overall effect is watered down since you have 18-year-olds in the mix. It's not a true test.

"Then you start playing exhibition games, and most teams only dress 10 regulars from the year before, and each game is a watered-down product. You really don't know until you get a chance to play in the real competition."

Fifteen of the 22 players on the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton playoff roster have no playoff experience at the minor pro level, including No. 1 picks Konstantin Koltsov, Brooks Orpik and Colby Armstrong as well as Kris Beech, Michal Sivek, Rob Scuderi and Matt Murley. Every player will have something of a clean slate, even if his regular-season performances weren't exactly memorable.

"What you want to see is whether a guy actually excels in pressure situations," says Glenn Patrick, Craig Patrick's brother and coach of the Baby Penguins. "Sometimes a guy who's only had a fair season becomes one of your best players when the playoffs come around. It's not that uncommon; you always have surprises.

"You learn a lot about them, just because of the pressure involved. It's a different sort of game. You have to be disciplined physically, and you can't make mistakes. You get to see how far they've come."

The Baby Penguins' playoff roster includes four players who finished the season in the NHL—Eric Meloche, Sebastien Caron, Guillaume Lefebvre and Tomas Surovy. Caron excelled in his one big playoff chance, helping Rimouski to the Memorial Cup championship in 2000.

The AHL regular season ends concurrently with the NHL regular-season, and the Calder Cup playoffs begin the following week. The bottom four playoff qualifiers in each conference play each other in a best-of-three series, with all three games played at the home of the higher seed. The remaining eight teams in each conference will participate in best-of-five quarterfinal series, with the semifinals and finals both best-of-seven competitions.

Much to the consternation of Glenn Patrick, the Baby Penguins had fallen to eighth in the Western Conference in mid-March, although the team was within striking distance of sixth place and was expected to return to the playoffs after missing the post-season last spring.

"We're still learning how to win as a team, because we've had quite a few changes this year," he said. "We've had a lot of movement, and it takes time to get used to each other."

Of course, missing the playoffs wouldn't mean the Baby Penguins failed to make an impression on Pittsburgh management. It just wouldn't be the impression for which they were shooting.

PSR Senior Writer Bob Grove has been covering the Penguins since 1981 and is author of "Pittsburgh Penguins: The Official History of the First 30 Years." He currently serves as a regular co-host on the Penguins Radio Network.