Patrick WilliamsTheAHL.com Features Writer
Managing the holidays requires some care from NHL head coaches and their players.
Between the social events, cakes and cookies, lack of practice time, and changes to the standard weekly schedule, there are all kinds of potential pitfalls. Even two or three days away from the ice can disrupt some players’ sense of routine. You can also participate in trips home or entertain guests.
The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins looked pretty solid after defeating the Lehigh Valley Phantoms 7-2 at home on Dec. 21 and beating the Hershey Bears on the road a day later.
But the hockey schedule is only temporarily slowed down, and the Penguins hit a tough but familiar path on the other side of Christmas: another home game against the Phantoms, followed by a trip down the interstate to Hershey the next night.
So the head coach Kirk McDonald Some decisions need to be made about how to structure the week for players. Because the AHL/PHPA collective bargaining agreement requires a three-day break, McDonald elected to forego an evening practice on Dec. 26 and instead reconvened the club for practice on the morning of Dec. 27. Last week was time with family and friends, and some food freedom.
“These guys deserve a break,” McDonald reasoned.
When Friday morning arrived last Friday, MacDonald’s players were ready to work. They won the rematch with the Phantoms 3-2, then blew two Bears leads and managed to score a point in overtime, defeating Hershey 3-2. They also have some roster shortfalls on defense: Mike Hollowell are playing away in the Spengler Cup, and Nate Kluman Recalled to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
This is really nothing new. The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton lineup has been hampered by recalls and injuries for much of the first half of the season.
“I thought it was a good hockey game. The fans got their money’s worth,” McDonald said after Saturday’s overtime loss. “Credit to these guys. It’s hard to come back after halftime and play with some intensity.
It’s not an ideal situation for a hockey team to deal with injuries, recalls and outside distractions. But those factors are offset by the way the Penguins play hockey, a habit they need to develop late in games and into the Calder Cup playoffs. As President of Pittsburgh Hockey Operations and General Manager Kyle Dubas McDonald arrived in Wilkes-Barre as a key hire in the offseason, helping the AHL affiliate become a Calder Trophy contender again. After all, this is a team that made the Calder Cup playoffs for the 16th consecutive year but missed the opportunity in 2019. playoff series.
But MacDonald’s club is playing the kind of tight hockey now that they’ll need down the road. They have had at least one rookie goal in six of their past eight games. In the past six games, the team has made 12 of 13 shots in penalty kicks.
The Penguins have another challenging schedule to open the 2025 schedule as Charlotte and Hartford come to town this weekend. Then comes an eight-day stretch of four games through Toronto, Belleville and Laval.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (17-8-0-2) is five points behind first-place Hershey with five games remaining for the Bears. They have played the fewest games in the Atlantic Division. That means an opportunity to make up lost ground, but it also means a more taxing schedule.
The Penguins are ready. Their head coach gave them some leeway last week and they didn’t let disruption disrupt their game.
“That mentality is outstanding,” McDonald said.
About two decades in the American Hockey League, TheAHL.com feature writer Patrick Williams also currently covers the league for NHL.com and FloSports and is a regular contributor to SiriusXM NHL Network Radio . In 2016, he received the AHL’s James H. Ellery Memorial Award for outstanding coverage of the league.
