Penguins Recall Taffe and Stone

[Thrillhouse]

The Pittsburgh Penguins have recalled forwards Jeff Taffe and Ryan Stone to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of the American Hockey League (AHL), it was announced today by Executive Vice President and General Manager Ray Shero.

Taffe tallied one assist in three games on his previous stint with Pittsburgh. He began the season with the Pittsburgh Penguins appearing in one game on Oct. 4. The 27-year old ranks second on the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins with 29 points (14 goals, 15 assists) and a plus-8 rating in 25 games this season.

The 6-3, 215-pound forward played 45 games with Pittsburgh last season, scoring 12 points (five goals, seven assists) along with eight penalty minutes. Taffe registered 21 points (11 goals, 10 assists) and 22 penalty minutes in 27 games for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in 2007-08. He has played 149 career games in the NHL over parts of five seasons with the Pittsburgh Penguins, Phoenix Coyotes and New York Rangers, tallying 41 points (20 goals, 21 assists) along with 36 penalty minutes.

The native of Hastings, Minnesota was originally drafted by St. Louis in the first round (30th overall) of the 2000 Entry Draft. He signed with the Penguins as a free agent on July 13, 2007.

Stone, 23, has registered 18 points (six goals, 12 assists) in 28 games for Wilkes-Barre, ranking fourth on the team. His 47 penalty minutes also rank fourth among the Penguins.

The Calgary, Alberta native played six games over three stints with the Penguins during the 2007-08 season. He made his NHL debut on January 10th vs. Tampa Bay and registered his first NHL point on March 12th vs. Buffalo. The 6-2, 207-pound forward tallied 39 points (11 goals, 28 assists) and 129 penalty minutes in 65 games with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (AHL) during the 2007-08 season. He was sixth on the club in scoring and tied for third in assists.

Stone also appeared in all 23 games for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton as the team advanced to the Calder Cup Finals. He scored 17 points (five goals, 12 assists) and led the team with a plus-nine rating in the postseason.

Stone was originally selected by the Penguins in the second round (32nd overall) in the 2003 NHL Draft. He has played three seasons in the AHL for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton recording 108 points (32 goals, 76 assists) and 324 penalty minutes in 181 games. Stone has also played 44 playoff games, registering 33 points (11 goals, 22 assists) and 66 penalty minutes.

[chilly666]

i hope stoner doesnt whine anymore now that he got his chance to prove his worth to the pens

[FightingIsGood]

About time Stone got called up - the Pens can definitely use his grit in the lineup. I felt he should have made the team out of TC, but they chose Biz Nasty instead. He won't be here long, so hopefully he leaves a good impression.

[thepolishkid88]

Originally Posted by FightingIsGood

About time Stone got called up - the Pens can definitely use his grit in the lineup. I felt he should have made the team out of TC, but they chose Biz Nasty instead. He won't be here long, so hopefully he leaves a good impression.

NO WAY should he have made it out of training camp, there were 5-10 better players then him and biz nasty was one. Stone along with Filewich just expected to make the roster which is a dumb thing to do. I agree with the grit part he can at least skate to and my guess they were both called up because Talbot and Ziggy are a no go tommorrow. Apparently Ziggy's shoulder may require surgery, and is a lot worse then expected. That's a terrible blow for us and a guy who was having a career year.

Hopefully Stone dosen't go and dare people to go streaking.

[cowboy]

Stone was pretty invisible in the game I went to in Norfolk last week.

[Wadubbin]

Originally Posted by chilly666

i hope stoner doesnt whine anymore now that he got his chance to prove his worth to the pens

I agree.He better put up or shut up.MT and gang are really trying to get something out of the minors.James,Minard,Stone,Taffe,Filewich,Wallace,i n my opinion are all one and the same.They haven't made an impression by now.Most likely they aren't ever going to.

[FightingIsGood]

Originally Posted by thepolishkid88

NO WAY should he have made it out of training camp, there were 5-10 better players then him and biz nasty was one. Stone along with Filewich just expected to make the roster which is a dumb thing to do. I agree with the grit part he can at least skate to and my guess they were both called up because Talbot and Ziggy are a no go tommorrow. Apparently Ziggy's shoulder may require surgery, and is a lot worse then expected. That's a terrible blow for us and a guy who was having a career year.

Hopefully Stone dosen't go and dare people to go streaking.

I felt he should have made it because the Pens could have used his toughness, but they chose Biz Nasty for that, which of course was fine with me. I know Stone felt he was guaranteed a roster spot and played like it, and got a major reality check. So now here's his chance to prove he belongs.

That is not good news about Ziggy, and if it's the same kind of injury that Gonchar has, then his season is over if he has surgery. I hope it's not the case.

[thepolishkid88]

Originally Posted by FightingIsGood

I felt he should have made it because the Pens could have used his toughness, but they chose Biz Nasty for that, which of course was fine with me. I know Stone felt he was guaranteed a roster spot and played like it, and got a major reality check. So now here's his chance to prove he belongs.

That is not good news about Ziggy, and if it's the same kind of injury that Gonchar has, then his season is over if he has surgery. I hope it's not the case.

Stone had 2 years as did Filewich and both failed to impress. I dont feel sorry for him, he needs to get his head out of his ass and play with a chip on his shoulder. Ziggy has been skating and such but cant take part in practice. They are worried as to the extent of the injury. It's more of a waiting game.

[chilly666]

Originally Posted by Wadubbin

James,Minard,Stone,Taffe,Filewich,Wallace,in my opinion are all one and the same.They haven't made an impression by now.Most likely they aren't ever going to.

its kind of hard to make that big of an impression when you get called up and stuck on the 4th line every night when your used to being on the top line. the only way a minor leaguer on a call-up can succeed is if you stick them in a position to succeed. putin them on the 4th line, sets them up to feel like they failed and have the fans riding their ass every time they get called up.

[ciccone4life]

Yeah , I agree somewhat with some of the comments about the pen's recalling stone . Eric Godard has done a fantastic job this year , but he cannot do it alone , and teams realize that . The need for a big , nasty power forward is certainly what the Doctor ordered for the pens, but I think we've been down the "Stone" road before a it's proven to be a bust. God he couldnt' even whip Steve Downie, so this really isn't going to put the fear in the heart of anyone the Pen's are playing against . I think if the pen's are going to dip into the tough guy stash in WB, i think biz-nasty is a better fit for sure !

[chilly666]

Originally Posted by ciccone4life

Yeah , I agree somewhat with some of the comments about the pen's recalling stone . Eric Godard has done a fantastic job this year , but he cannot do it alone , and teams realize that . The need for a big , nasty power forward is certainly what the Doctor ordered for the pens, but I think we've been down the "Stone" road before a it's proven to be a bust. God he couldnt' even whip Steve Downie, so this really isn't going to put the fear in the heart of anyone the Pen's are playing against . I think if the pen's are going to dip into the tough guy stash in WB, i think biz-nasty is a better fit for sure !

oh boy here we go with another one... read my post above yours and well that will partially explain why ahl'ers when called up fail. also stone is a tough guy, and the fight with downie doesnt mean a thing in this conversation.