The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins finished up their first practice of the season Friday with some 5-on-5 competition at Toyota SportsPlex.
Ben Mandell | For Times Leader
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Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins players gather in a circle at center ice at the conclusion of their first practice under new coach J.D. Forrest on Friday.
Ben Mandell | For Times Leader
WILKES-BARRE – The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins were on the ice Friday for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic stopped the AHL season last March.
The team held its first practice of a delayed training camp at the Toyota SportsPlex under new head coach, J.D. Forrest.
“I thought the guys did a good job. It’s not an easy situation coming in from doing nothing to doing what we are aiming for as far as effort, pace and overall work ethic,” Forrest said. “For a first day, I couldn’t be happier with what we saw on the ice today.”
For the first day of practice, there were more changes made to the roster after multiple players were called up to Pittsburgh and its taxi squad. Defenseman Kevin Czuczman was forced into the NHL lineup on Thursday night on an emergency basis, while forwards Sam Lafferty, Anthony Angello and Frederick Gaudreau as well as defensemen Will Reilly and Yannick Weber have been assigned to Pittsburgh’s taxi squad.
To fill the spots, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton recalled Félix Robert from ECHL Wheeling and signed forward Michael Joly and defenseman Dylan MacPherson to professional tryout agreements. Goaltender Brett Brochu was also added on an amateur tryout agreement.
As far as Friday’s practice, it had moments that showed some rust, but the players flew around the ice at a fast pace and high level of intensity, making for good competition when the teams played 5-on-5 and 3-on-3.
“It’s day one, but I’m familiar with many of the guys, and some of the new guys were able to be at the Pittsburgh training camp. I’ve had conversations with just about everybody,” Forrest said. “Also some of the guys who were in Wheeling that are here now have been playing a similar style to what we have now.
“As far as the guys coming together, it’s day one. I’m really happy with the leadership guys that we have here. They’ve already been front and center as far as setting the tone.”
The Penguins practiced for close to an hour and a half, working on defensive zone breakouts, odd-man rushes and other drills. Forrest had players do push-ups if they were on the losing team during competitions.
“We made a little bit of an adjustment based off the fact that guys were off for so long, what we want to establish is the overall pace and set the tone for how we are going to practice throughout the season,” Forrest said. “Whether it’s breakouts, neutral zone or forecheck, whatever it is we are working on, we just want to make sure the mindset is that we are doing it fast, doing it with a purpose and we are making are making every single rep count.
“It’s not so much what we did today. It’s more how we wanted to do it, and that will carry over throughout the season as we go here.”
The Penguins return to the ice Saturday morning and will have another practice Sunday before the team’s preseason games against the Binghamton Devils and Lehigh Valley Phantoms on Monday and Tuesday.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton opens the regular season on Feb. 6, hosting Binghamton. Spectators will not be allowed to attend the game because of COVID-19 restrictions.