County man loses guns over PFA

Homeless programs get federal funds

First Posted: 3/19/2014 Zach Sill wasn&#8217;t happy with what he was wearing during practice on Wednesday at the Toyota Sportsplex.
The veteran center hasn&#8217;t played since being cut on the arm by a skate blade on Jan. 25. This week he joined his teammates for the first time in practice, but Sill was relegated to wearing the red &#8220;no contact&#8221; jersey. For a player who has spent the last five years tailoring his game on physical play, not being able to throw a hit goes against the grain.
&#8220;I hate the red jersey. I hate what it signifies,&#8221; Sill said. &#8220;Aside from that, it&#8217;s nice to be out there with the guys. I feel good.&#8221;
Head coach John Hynes said Sill is a ways off from returning but he hopes to get him back into action before the end of the regular season. That&#8217;s fine with Sill, who has spent the last few weeks doing some light skating and now practicing on a limited basis.
&#8220;It does help (that I could skate). You don&#8217;t lose as much as you would with a lower body injury,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I definitely want to come back before the playoffs and get a few games under my belt. Get the feeling back.&#8221;
The injury came at an inopportune time for Sill. He had just returned from his first NHL call-up - a 20-game stint with Pittsburgh, and scored a goal in his first game back with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton before suffering the injury the next night.
&#8220;It was upsetting coming back and feeling confident after a good run up top, but stuff happens in hockey and you just have to get through it and move on,&#8221; Sill said.
And that&#8217;s exactly what Sill is doing. He said his conditioning isn&#8217;t far off and his arm feels good. But what would feel even better is a chance to get back in a game and put the skate blade injury behind him once and for all.
&#8220;It&#8217;s terrible luck. It&#8217;s my first bad cut and hopefully it won&#8217;t happen again,&#8221; Sill said, adding there is time to salvage the season. &#8220;Playoffs is the time of year when everything counts. We&#8217;re working hard to get there and set ourselves up for a good run.&#8221;
&#8226; Newly-signed Conor Sheary, who just wrapped up his college career with the University of Massachusetts, has been practicing with the Penguins this week. Sheary describes himself as a small forward with speed and playmaking ability. He said a few other teams expressed an interest in signing him, but he chose the Penguins for their track record of being able to develop undrafted free agents into NHL players.
&#8220;That factored into it,&#8221; Sheary said. &#8220;I wanted to start my pro career off right and this seemed like a good fit for me.&#8221;
Sheary added that it&#8217;s nice to join a team in the middle of a playoff race and said there is a winning culture in the Penguins locker room. As far as getting into a few games down the stretch or even the postseason, Hynes said he wasn&#8217;t sure when Sheary would play. Still, just as important is Sheary&#8217;s first experience of being around and pro team and seeing how things work.
&#8220;He&#8217;s going to be with us next year, and we&#8217;ll have him at development camp this summer and then rookie camp,&#8221; Hynes said. &#8220;It&#8217;s about getting him familiar with how we do things, the players and staff and the environment created here.&#8221;
&#8226; D Barry Goers was signed to an AHL deal for the remainder of the season. Goers has bounced between Wheeling and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton all year and has posted five points in 12 games with the Penguins. &#8220;It&#8217;s a nice thing for Barry. He&#8217;s been up and down throughout the year and he deserves to be here,&#8221; Hynes said. &#8220;He&#8217;s a high-quality kid and he&#8217;s shown he can step into our lineup and play.&#8221;
&#8226; LW Harry Zolnierczyk sat out practice for the second day, but Hynes said he should be ready for the weekend.
&#8226; Pittsburgh reassigned C Jayson Megna to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Wednesday.

Sill seeing red