WILKES-BARRE, Pa. — The Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins welcomed tons of fans into Mohegan arena for their pre-season home opener. Even though it was a 10:30 a.m. puck drop Thursday morning, the Penguins were still greeted by bus loads of fans ready to experience a new era of Penguins hockey.
The game served as the Penguins’ annual “Learn With Hockey” School & STEM Game as the team welcomed nearly 3000 students from across Northeast and Central PA.
“I am so excited to be here today because I'm here in our school field trip too and I can't wait to hang out and see what's going to happen,” said Fairview Elementary student, Zoe Bellzer.
“Me and Jackson have been waiting like five years for this field trip and I, I just want to see a fight. That's all I want to do,” said Jacob Nealon, another Fairview Elementary student.
The players kept the fighting limited in their 4-3 preseason win over the Hershey Bears, but many of them are fighting for contracts.
“We're all trying to prove ourselves and trying to play to the best level possible,” said right winger, Jordan Martel. “I think every guy in that room are trying to stay here,” he said.
Martel is one of many players on the Penguins pre-season roster who are not signed to an AHL or NHL contract. The players use this time in the exhibition games to show they deserve a spot on the roster by the time the regular season comes around.
The Penguins welcome new head coach, Kirk MacDonald, to take ahold of the team this year. MacDonald most recently led the Dubuque Fighting Saints to the best record in the United States Hockey League's Eastern Conference. Assistant coach, Sheldon Brook Bank has been with this team since 2022 and says the transition to coach MacDonald has been seamless.
“So far, so good. You know, we miss not having him here right now. He's up in Pittsburgh, but, uh, it's been going well-- you know, he's a passionate guy and I think that's going to help the team,” said Brookbank. “We’re a young team, so I think you need someone to kind of, you know, drop the hammer on them a little bit and I think he's going to do that this year.”