The AHL affiliate of the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, has signed Paul Crowder and Chris Barton to professional tryout deals.
Paul Crowder has spent a good part of the last three seasons with the Wheeling Nailers of the ECHL, being named team captain during the 2011-2012 season. In thirty-four games with the Nailers this season, Crowder has scored fifteen goals and put up thirty-one points. This is not the first time the twenty-seven year old center has seen action in the AHL. Crowder went straight from playing at the University of Alaska-Anchorage to the Hartford Wolfpack (currently known as the Connecticut Whale) in 2009, and he joined the Wolfpack once again for the 2009-2010 season. Crowder saw his most AHL action during that 2009-2010 season, appearing in seventy-nine games and registering twenty-six points.
Chris Barton also comes to Wilkes-Barre from Wheeling, having scored sixteen points in sixteen games this season. Like Crowder, this is not Barton’s first experience in the AHL, having spent five games with the Penguins last season and making an appearance with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers in 2011. Barton turned to the professional ranks after spending four years with the Merrimack College Warriors of the NCAA.
Both Crowder and Barton dressed for the Penguins tonight against the Adirondack Phantoms. Crowder wore number fourteen and Barton sported number sixteen. These moves were associated with six players going to Pittsburgh to participate in training camp for the Pittsburgh Penguins.
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