Defenseman Ben Lovejoy re-called by Pittsburgh

by Hooks Orpik on Nov 11, 2009 8:06 PM EST in News

It looks like Brooks Orpik may be missing some time, as the Penguins have (or will soon) call up defenseman Ben Lovejoy from Wilkes-Barre. Jonthan Bombulie reported just earlier tonight on his twitter account:

Ben Lovejoy is not on the ice for warm-ups. Safe to assume he's going up.

For salary cap reasons the move may not be official until tomorrow, but Pittsburgh wouldn't hold Lovejoy out if they didn't need him in the NHL.

Brooks Orpik's undisclosed injury was being looked at today, no official word on what the prognosis was, but without Orpik the Pens would only have five defenseman, making another minor league call-up a necessity for tomorrow night's game against the New Jersey Devils.

Lovejoy recorded a plus/minus of +42 last season in the AHL, top in the league. He was limited in training camp by a shoulder injury that shelved him early in the regular season. However he has played the last seven games in Wilkes-Barre, posting 2 goals, 1 assist and a +2 rating. Lovejoy has two career NHL games (both last season).

If Orpik is knocked out of the lineup, your starting six Penguin defenseman tomorrow night will only include one member of the Stanley Cup winning team from just five months ago (Mark Eaton). The other five will be Lovejoy, 1 game NHL veteran Deryk Engelland, Alex Goligoski, Martin Skoula and Jay McKee.

Tweet Comment 5 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

I wonder what the pairings will look like. Do you put a guy like Lovejoy with Goligoski? Do you pair Lovejoy and Engelland together? This is going to get interesting.

Follow the Penguins on SBN @ Pensburgh.com and twitter.

by FrankD on Nov 11, 2009 8:15 PM EST reply actions

Bylsma has kept McKee and Gogo together nearly all season… so I bet they stay as one of the pairings… the other two… I’d say one veteran + one rookie:

Eaton – Engelland
Lovejoy – Skoula

You have to see it for yourself...

by Bla Razor on Nov 12, 2009 3:12 PM EST up reply actions

Agreed. With McKee and GoGo seeing the lion’s share (25+ each). My concern is if the upcoming games get sloppy for the Pens. Will Bylsma trust either of the new guys on the PK?

by Ulf Murphy on Nov 12, 2009 4:11 PM EST up reply actions

Engelland didn’t look half bad on the PK during the preseason. I think you can trust him in a situation like that. He’s a hungry AHLer looking to make an impression on someone. Put him in a PK position where you have to hustle every second and I thin it will pay off.

Follow the Penguins on SBN @ Pensburgh.com and twitter.

by FrankD on Nov 12, 2009 6:26 PM EST up reply actions