Bissonnette set to return after serious wrist injury

When Paul Bissonnette suffered a severe cut to his wrist in May during Game 3 of the playoff series against the Hershey Bears, he didn’t know if he would be able to play hockey again.

Now, three months later, Bissonnette has an answer.

“I’m 100 percent sure that I’ll be ready for training camp,” he said on Tuesday from Toronto. “I guess I heal really well.”

The injury resulted when Hershey defenseman Greg Amadio unintentionally stepped on Bissonnette’s wrist, severing a nerve, a tendon and an artery.

At the time, doctors told Bissonnette it would be at least four months before any feeling would return to his hand.

But when the two-month mark arrived this summer, Bissonnette was already back to lifting weights. Bissonnette said his wrist is about 85 percent and he is a month ahead of schedule with his recovery.

“When I got the cast off five or six weeks after the injury happened, it was pretty much dead and the muscle was gone,” Bissonnette said. “I had to do exercises to get those small muscle groups back.”

Although the feeling in his hand has started to come back, it’s not 100 percent. And during summer skating sessions Bissonnette said his stickhandling and shot are still a little bit off. Just as important, Bissonnette doesn’t know how the wrist will respond in a fight or even when he’ll be able to drop the gloves.

Still, Bissonnette said he is more concerned about getting his stickhandling and shot back. At the very least, he said, the injury won’t change his aggressive style of play.

“Pittsburgh told me they’ll be patient with me and we’ll see how the wrist is in camp,” Bissonnette said.

Just the fact the Bissonnette will be able to participate in camp at all is a major accomplishment. Doctors told him if the cut was three to four millimeters deeper, it would have ended his career.

“That was a big wake-up call,” he said. “But it’s been exciting to see it heal and improve. I wanted to be ready for camp because you don’t want to get behind the eight ball.”

Although he hasn’t spoken to Amadio since the injury, Bissonnette said Hershey defenseman Grant McNeill did contact him to see how he was doing.

Bissonnette, who is entering his fifth season with the organization, said he has received letters at home from fans and tons of messages on his Facebook page.

“I appreciate all of it, and it’s nice to know the community cares,” Bissonnette said. “I can’t respond to all of them, but I want them to know I will be back when training camp starts.”

Berkhoel returns

The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins signed goaltender Adam Berkhoel to an AHL contract on Tuesday.

Berkhoel, 28, returns for his second season with the Penguins. He appeared in 28 regular-season games last year, posting a record of 15-11-2, a goals against average of 2.53, and a save percentage of .910.

In November 2008, Berkhoel posted a franchise-record shutout streak of 202:44 with three consecutive clean sheets, just 47 minutes shy of the AHL shutout streak record. Berkhoel also appeared in six Calder Cup playoff contests, going 3-2 with a .937 save percentage.

Penguins sign Ganzak

The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins also signed defenseman Mitch Ganzak to an AHL contract on Tuesday.

Ganzak, 25, appeared in 64 games with Wheeling (ECHL) last season, scoring 40 points and finishing with a plus-minus rating of plus-13, tied for second on the team. He also appeared in three AHL contests with Norfolk and Albany in 2008-09.