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Marshall
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguin Ben Street is getting an opportunity to play on the team’s top lines after a handful of regulars were promoted to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Jennifer wychock/for the times leader
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins center Ben Street walked into the locker room after Thursday’s practice and saw his number penciled in on the team’s top line, between wingers Eric Tangradi and Tim Wallace.
Not bad for a player who had only eight games of AHL experience after spending the last five years playing college hockey.
“It’s exciting to be playing with two guys that were just in the NHL,” Street said. “All year I’ve tried to get ready for this, and now that it’s here I have to take advantage of it.”
All season, winger David Marshall bounced around different teams. After spending training camp with the Penguins, Marshall opened the season with the Wheeling Nailers, then appeared in 21 AHL games with the Rochester Americans and Worcester Sharks before being returned to Wheeling where he spent the last three weeks before being loaned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
“It’s crazy but it’s the nature of the game,” Marshall said. “All you can hope for is to make your mark when you come up to a great team like this.”
Street and Marshall are getting that chance thanks to a rash of call-ups by Pittsburgh that took six of Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s top seven forwards, the latest being Tangradi who was called up Friday . In Wheeling, both players proved they have a scoring touch that is exactly what the Penguins need right now.
Street posted 24 goals and 51 points in 38 games, while Marshall registered 10 goals and 21 points in 26 games.
Head coach John Hynes said both players were impressive during the Penguins training camp in September, and while that certainly helped them earn a call back there was another factor at play.
“Training camp was a good first impression. What we saw in training camp is what they’ve been doing in Wheeling during the regular season,” he said.
Street’s path to the AHL – not to mention pro hockey – almost didn’t happen. During the 2008-09 season with the University of Wisconsin, Street tore his ACL in the fourth game of the year. He missed the rest of the season before returning for his senior year to post 30 points in 43 games.
Still, Street found that his successful comeback wasn’t enough to convince a team to give him a chance in pro hockey.
“That was tough. The injury set me back because I had to take a year off and people were a little tentative to sign me to a contract,” he said. “I had a lot to prove.”
Street started that quest at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s training camp, where his play resulted in an AHL contract.
“I worked hard in camp to gain their trust, to make sure when it came time for a call-up I was the guy at the forefront of coach Hynes’ mind,” Street said. “A lot of that is coming true now.”
Marshall said his successful training camp was just a small step to get to where he is now. Although he admits that it’s important to open eyes during training camp, the effort can’t end there.
“You have to play well when you’re not here too,” Marshall said. “That’s the only reason they’re going to give you a shot.”
Marshall was a top offensive threat during his four years with Quinnipiac University, where he led the team in goals for two seasons.
After he graduated in 2009, Marshall spent the last two seasons bouncing between the AHL and ECHL. The Penguins are the third AHL team he has played with this season.
“I had to learn at least 60 different names this year. That might have been the hardest thing about it,” Marshall said. “But I enjoyed it. I got the opportunity to play in different cities and the opportunity to play in the AHL. A lot of guys don’t even get that.”
Judging by his stats, Street has had little trouble adjusting from the college to the pro game this season. He said starting the season in Wheeling helped him adjust to the differences, such as protecting the puck along the wall and clearing it out of your zone on the first attempt.
“I needed to learn some things,” he said.
But some parts of Street’s game just come natural.
Mainly, his offense.
Hynes described Street as having a good stick, quick hands and a great shot. Now, he said, Street’s hockey sense is catching up to his talent.
“You’re starting to see his hockey instinct with those little plays he makes in a game,” Hynes said. “Part of that is his shooting. When he’s in a shooting situation, he takes the trigger instead of passing.”
So now that Street and Marshall are both in the AHL, they hope to mimic the success they had in training camp and make an impression that’s good enough to keep them here.
Marshall said it does create pressure, but he isn’t letting it get to him.
“They know how I play, now it’s up to me to go out and be a consistent player and use my energy and speed,” Marshall said. “There is pressure, but it’s the guys that can deal with it and play well who are the ones that stay around.”
Street already has shown he can handle the pressure. Heading into Saturday, he had four goals in nine games with the Penguins, including a two-goal performance against Albany last week.
“That gave me confidence,” he said. “It makes me realize I can play at this level, that I can be at this level. That takes the pressure off.”