TimesLeader.com

Turnaround shot

Healthy again, Henrich looks for big finish to season

By Tom Venesky tvenesky@timesleader.com
Sports Reporter

When Adam Henrich walked into the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins locker room for the first time during training camp, he had already met several of his new teammates.

click image to enlarge

Battling injury problems, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins left wing Adam Henrich has had a frustrating season. He hasn’t scored a goal in 25 AHL games this season after scoring 31 points in 43 games with Norfolk last season.

click image to enlarge

Finally skating with two healthy knees, Adam Henrich has time to salvage his season. Known as a goal-scoring power forward, he has no goals in 25 AHL games.

Don carey photos/the times leader

Select images available for purchase in the
Times Leader Photo Store

But not in a way that most people would become acquainted with each other.

Henrich, 25, who signed with the Penguins as a free agent last summer, met several of his current Wilkes-Barre/Scranton teammates by dropping the gloves with them as an opponent.

As a member of the Springfield Falcons in 2004, Henrich fought Danny Richmond (who was with the Lowell Devils) twice.

Last season with the Norfolk Admirals he fought Paul Bissonnette, Ben Lovejoy and Jonathan Filewich.

So when the 6-foot-4, 235-pound Henrich walked to his new seat in the locker room last September, no introductions were needed.

“It’s funny. I was a little worried about it when I came here,” Henrich said.

Considering Henrich and Bissonnette went to dinner together the same night they fought each other, there really wasn’t much to worry about.

“Everyone respects each other and they all know it’s part of the job. There aren’t any grudges and nothing to worry about,” he said.

Nor was their time to worry about the past. Henrich was about to embark on a season that would begin with frustration and would last until the halfway mark.

After a successful camp in Pittsburgh, Henrich came to Wilkes-Barre full of optimism.

But as he began the process of adjusting to a new team, a knee injury that Henrich developed in Pittsburgh began nagging him more and more.

The pain began to show on the scoresheet.

In the first game of the season against Hershey Oct. 8, Henrich was a minus-3. He missed the next game against Philadelphia, only to return and post a minus-2 against Bridgeport.

Henrich was scratched the next 12 games and returned to the lineup intermittently to fill the spots of players recalled to Pittsburgh.

Still, when he did get an opportunity to play, Henrich’s knee acted up.

“It was a huge letdown,” he said. “I tried to play through it and it got worse, so (head coach) Dan (Bylsma) decided I needed some time off.”

Being a scratch and getting time off wasn’t something Henrich was used to. Throughout his career he was a point-per-game player who skated on his team’s top two lines. Before he came to the Penguins, Henrich posted his best AHL season with Norfolk scoring 31 points (14 goals, 17 assists) in 43 games.

But now Henrich said his knee is completely healed and he is ready to become the player he once was.

There are signs that it’s happening.

Last Tuesday against the Phantoms, Henrich created three scoring chances on one shift while centering a line with Bissonnette and Aaron Boogaard.

And now that Henrich has been a regular in the lineup, there is one more hurdle he wants to overcome – getting his first goal of the season.

That zero on the stat sheet is something Henrich, who has always been a goal-scoring power forward, desperately wants to erase.

“It’s February already and I played in (25) games, so it is frustrating,” he said. “You want to be a player that scores and helps the team.”

With two healthy knees, Henrich now drives to the net with more authority and uses his large frame to overpower opponents in the corners.

And most importantly, he doesn’t let the quest for goal number 1 deflate his confidence.

“I’m not worrying about scoring that goal as much as I am doing things to help the team win. The chances are coming now,” Henrich said.

And Bylsma has noticed.

“In the last five games he’s skating much better, attacking the puck and driving the net,” Bylsma said. “He’s a big body that’s hard to handle, especially in the net area. Adam is making a statement that he can play and add to this team, and he is earning more opportunities because of it.”

At this point, an opportunity is all Henrich wants.

“We have a lot of time to go here and I’m not giving up,” he said.