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AHL

By Tom Venesky tvenesky@timesleader.com
Sports Reporter
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JENKINS TWP. — It’s kind of hard to get through your first professional hockey practice on the right foot if you don’t even have the right skates.

That’s the dilemma that Dustin Jeffrey, 20, found himself in Monday as he reported to the Ice Box for his first practice with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. The scoring sensation from the Ontario Hockey League was signed by the Penguins to an amateur tryout contract on Monday.

Jeffrey flew in from Ontario, but his skates didn’t make it in time for Monday’s practice. Not wanting to miss his first opportunity to skate with the team, Jeffrey hit the ice with a pair of used skates from the equipment room.

He held his own, even if the skates weren’t up to par.

“I was using newer ones, they were stiff,” he said. “These are broken down. They’re backup skates for a reason.”

Head coach Todd Richards admitted it was tough to give Jeffrey a fair assessment because he didn’t have his own skates, but he is fully aware of his ability.

Jeffrey was selected by Pittsburgh in the sixth round of the 2007 NHL draft. He registered 97 points (38 goals, 59 assists) in 56 games with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds this season, and totaled 252 points (100 goals, 152 assists) in 246 games in the OHL.

“He had a great season,” Richards said, adding it’s important that Jeffrey practice with the team.

“We have some days off, so we can teach him more during the drills,” he said.

Notes

•Richards and assistant coach Dan Bylsma are taking a tag-team approach to get the Penguins ready for the second round of the playoffs.

•The Penguins will face the winner of the Albany-Philadelphia game, which starts tonight at 7. No matter whom the opponent is, Games 1 and 2 will be played at the Wachovia Arena on Thursday and Saturday.

Richards has to get his players ready to face one of the teams on Thursday. To do that, Richards will scout Philadelphia, and Bylsma will handle Albany.

“We’ll spend the next few days preparing for both teams,” Richards said.

Goaltender John Curry said although he’ll watch the Albany-Philadelphia game tonight, he’s not too worried about which team the Penguins face.

“We have to focus on our game,” Curry said. “We already know them from playing them all year, so there won’t be a lot of surprises.”

So what does Curry know?

Philadelphia has a lot of skilled players who like to shoot the puck, he said. Albany has a stingy defense in front of goaltender Michael Leighton, who has a miniscule 1.06 goals against average and a .972 save percentage in the playoffs.

Philadelphia and Albany battled each other for five overtime periods on Thursday before the Phantoms won 3-2. Leighton stopped 98 of 101 shots in the game. Curry said the most saves he ever made in a game was around 50.

Of Leighton’s totals, he said, “One of the most ridiculous things I’ve ever seen in sports. Period. If I saw the boxscore without hearing about the game first, I wouldn’t have believed it.”

•Ryan Stone, Chris Minard and Jonathan Filewich didn’t practice on Monday. Richards said Filewich won’t play in Game 1 of the second round, but Minard and Stone will be fine.