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Because of the strong response to Bill Ratay's Mellon Arena memories printed in the Q&A recently, similar submissions from other readers interested in sharing their recollections will be posted in the Penguins area of PG-Plus. Those pieces can be sent via the Q&A submission form or to DMolinari@Post-Gazette.com

Q: How is Eric Tangradi coming along in Wilkes-Barre, and how do you view the Ryan Whitney trade? With the Pens' lack of scoring on the wing (Mike Rupp's output notwithstanding) and the fact that Chris Kunitz has been somewhat underwhelming on the score sheet since coming to Pittsburgh, I believe that the trade ultimately will be judged on how Tangradi develops. While I know that Whitney was an excellent whipping boy, he was also a desired commodity around the league who could have probably brought some other pretty skilled wingers.

Marcel Verbaas, Orlando, Fla.

MOLINARI: Tangradi has appeared in just 15 of Wilkes-Barre/Scranton's first 23 games because of injuries and illness, and has generated relatively modest statistics -- four goals and two assists.

Penguins officials profess to be quite satisfied with his development but, given that he is coming off major surgery during the offseason and is in his first year of pro hockey, those who suggest Tangradi should be considered for promotion when the Penguins need to replace someone on the major-league roster probably are getting a bit ahead of themselves. There's no question that he's high on the short list of the Penguins' top prospects, but that doesn't automatically mean that he's NHL-ready.

There is no question that the Penguins, when they put Kunitz on Sidney Crosby's left side, expected him to contribute more goals than he has -- none in the first 11 games this season, and three in 19 games before he left the lineup a month ago with an undisclosed injury -- and his inability to find the net on a regular basis is a major shortcoming for a guy in a top-six role. Especially one who's playing alongside one of the game's top set-up men.

He was, however, executing the rest of his duties effectively, which is why he didn't lose his place on Crosby's line. If the rest of Kunitz's game had slipped to the level of his goal-scoring during the first month of this season (as well as in the Stanley Cup playoffs, when he got one in 24 games), he might not have had to get injured to find himself in street clothes on game nights.

For all of Whitney's critics among the Penguins' fan base, he skates well and moves the puck better, and those qualities are in high demand in the post-lockout NHL. At the time Whitney was sent to Anaheim for Kunitz and Tangradi, they had a bounty of skilled defensemen -- Sergei Gonchar, Kris Letang and Alex Goligoski were on that list -- which made such a player one quality asset they could surrender without doing serious damage to their lineup.

Whether general manager Ray Shero had other offers for Whitney, and what they might have included, isn't known, but he got one guy they believe is a top-six winger and another who has the potential to become a big-time power forward in the deal, so it's hard to argue with the return. And if Tangradi develops the way the Penguins expect him to, there probably won't be many questions about whether the return for Whitney made the deal worthwhile.

Q: Has the sellout streak ended at Mellon Arena? I haven't heard much about it this season. It got over 100 games, but how high did it actually get?

Richard Rosenberg, Westbury, N.Y.

MOLINARI: You probably haven't heard much about the sellout streak because it lost its novelty quite a while ago. The Penguins have attracted capacity crowds to Mellon Arena 134 times in a row.

It's pretty much a given that they will sell out every game for the rest of this season, even though they stopped season-ticket sales at 14,000 so that so individual-game tickets would be available. And moving into the Consol Energy Center next season shouldn't threaten their streak, considering that over 3,000 people have made a $200 per seat deposit to secure a place on the season-ticket waiting list.

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