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It begins with 20 players. In two weeks, it will be the start of a new era.

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s training camp for the 2019-20 season opens Tuesday at Toyota SportsPlex. Six straight days of practices and preseason games are on the slate to prepare for the Oct. 5 opener and the debut of new coach and general manager Mike Vellucci.

Pittsburgh assigned nine players from NHL training camp on Friday and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton announced its initial 20-man camp roster on Saturday. The group will grow as Pittsburgh makes more cuts in the coming days.

Forwards (11): Jordy Bellerive, Chase Berger, Chris Brown, Jamie Devane, Jan Drozg, Brandon Hawkins, Yushiroh Hirano, Renars Krastenbergs, Myles Powell, Ryan Scarfo, Ben Sexton.

Defensemen (7): Matt Abt, Macoy Erkamps, Michael Kim, Jon Lizotte, Blake Siebenaler, Craig Skudalski, Aaron Titcomb.

Goalies (2): Alex D’Orio, Dustin Tokarski.

Bellerive, Berger, Drozg, Sexton, Abt, Kim, Lizotte and both goalies started off in Pittsburgh’s camp.

Joining the group again this year for camp is a local player in Skudalski, a 6-foot-6 blueliner from Wyoming and Wyoming Seminary who played 37 games in the organization last season for ECHL Wheeling.

The Penguins will hold their first practice on Tuesday ahead of Wednesday’s preseason opener against Lehigh Valley at 7:05 p.m. at Mohegan Sun Arena.

After another practice day on Thursday on Coal Street, the Penguins will play three games in three days, hosting Hershey at 7:05 p.m. Friday, traveling for a rematch against the Bears at 7 p.m. Saturday and then going on to Allentown for a 3:05 p.m. game against the Phantoms on Sunday.

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton opens the season on Oct. 5 in Hershey. The home opener will be Oct. 12 against Utica.

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By Derek Levarse

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