Patrick Williams, TheAHL.com Options Author
Managing the vacation season requires a little bit of look after American Hockey League head coaches and their gamers.
Between the social occasions, the desserts and cookies, a scarcity of follow time, and the change to the usual weekly schedule, all kinds of potential traps exist. Even being off the ice for 2 or three days can disrupt some gamers’ sense of routine. Combine in journey again house or internet hosting friends as nicely.
The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins went into their break trying fairly stable, dispatching the Lehigh Valley Phantoms at house, 7-2, on Dec. 21, after which shutting out the Hershey Bears on the highway a day later.
However the schedule in hockey solely slows down quickly, and the Penguins had a troublesome – but acquainted – path popping out of the opposite aspect of Christmas: One other house recreation in opposition to the Phantoms, one other journey down the interstate to Hershey the following evening.
So head coach Kirk MacDonald had some selections to make on tips on how to construction the week for his gamers. With the AHL/PHPA collective bargaining settlement requiring a three-day break, McDonald opted in opposition to a late follow Dec. 26 and reconvened his membership with a morning skate on Dec. 27 as an alternative. Final week was for time with household and mates and a few dietary latitude.
“The blokes deserve a while off,” MacDonald reasoned.
When final Friday morning got here, MacDonald’s gamers arrived able to work. They banged out a 3-2 win within the rematch with the Phantoms, then broke two Bears leads and managed to get a degree in a 3-2 time beyond regulation defeat in Hershey. And so they did it with some lineup shortages on protection, too: Mac Hollowell was away on the Spengler Cup, and Nate Clurman had been recalled to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
It’s nothing new, actually. Recollects and accidents have hit the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton roster for a lot of the primary half of this season.
“I assumed it was a terrific hockey recreation. Followers bought their cash’s price,” MacDonald stated after Saturday’s OT loss. “Credit score to the blokes. It’s onerous to come back again after the break and play with some depth.”
It’s hardly very best to cope with accidents, recollects and out of doors distractions for a hockey staff. However these elements are offset by the Penguins enjoying the kind of hockey that they might want to make second nature down the stretch and into the Calder Cup Playoffs. As Pittsburgh president of hockey operations and common supervisor Kyle Dubas and his employees proceed to place their imprint throughout the group, MacDonald got here to Wilkes-Barre within the offseason as a key rent to assist make the AHL affiliate a Calder Cup contender once more. In any case, this can be a staff that certified for the Calder Cup Playoffs 16 years in a row earlier than lacking out in 2019. As soon as a deep-spring postseason staple, the Penguins have solely received one playoff sequence since 2016.
However MacDonald’s membership is enjoying that sort of tight hockey now that they are going to want later. They’ve gotten no less than one aim from a rookie in six of their previous eight contests. The penalty kill is 12-for-13 prior to now six video games.
The Penguins open the 2025 portion of their schedule with one other difficult slate, as Charlotte and Hartford come to city this weekend. Then comes a four-game, eight-day trek via Toronto, Belleville and Laval.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (17-8-0-2) sits 5 factors behind first-place Hershey with 5 video games in hand on the Bears. They’ve performed the fewest video games of any staff within the Atlantic Division. Meaning an opportunity to make up floor, but additionally a heavier schedule.
The Penguins have set themselves up nicely. Their head coach gave them some leeway final week, and they didn’t let distractions disrupt their play.
“The mindset,” MacDonald stated, “was excellent.”
On the American Hockey League beat for 20 years, TheAHL.com options author Patrick Williams additionally presently covers the league for NHL.com and FloSports and is an everyday contributor on SiriusXM NHL Community Radio. He was the recipient of the AHL’s James H. Ellery Memorial Award for his excellent protection of the league in 2016.
