Gamel gets it done for RailRiders

Pokrinchak’s big night sends Nanticoke to next round

Tom Kostopoulos emptied out his locker stall on Thursday at the Toyota Sportsplex and put an official end to his 16th season of pro hockey.But was it the end of a career?The 36-year-old Kostopoulos said his body still feels good, his love for the game hasn&#8217;t waned and his family thoroughly enjoys living in Wilkes-Barre. But as far as retiring or coming back to play another season, the answer isn&#8217;t that easy.&#8220;It&#8217;s not just a sacrifice for me to play, it&#8217;s a sacrifice for my family as well. They give up a lot being away from family and friends,&#8221; Kostopoulos said. &#8220;We&#8217;ll talk it over, see what the organization is thinking and go from there.&#8221;But don&#8217;t expect a decision to take long and don&#8217;t look for Kostopoulos to don another team&#8217;s jersey if he does decide to keep playing. Of those two factors, Kostopoulos has his mind made up.He said he wants to make a decision &#8220;the earlier the better&#8221; and when asked if he would come back to play only with the Pittsburgh organization, Kostopoulos shook his head and said, &#8220;I don&#8217;t think I could play anywhere else.&#8221;The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton captain has shown no signs of slowing down on the ice. He played in 72 games this season and tallied 44 points. In eight playoff games he had three goals and five points.Head coach John Hynes said the team would like to have Kostopoulos back not only for his contributions on the ice but also for his qualities in the room.&#8220;He&#8217;s been a tremendous role model for our young players and you need to have that leadership and mentorship,&#8221; Hynes said. &#8220;He&#8217;s a huge part of the culture here.&#8221;While Kostopoulos will be pondering his future soon enough, on Thursday the sting of a playoff exit still dominated his thoughts. He wondered if the series would&#8217;ve turned out differently if the Penguins managed to win the triple overtime Game 1, but added Manchester is a team &#8220;that has everything going right now.&#8221;Kostopoulos also spoke about the lessons that the younger players can apply to their development even from a playoff exit.&#8220;The potential for the future in this room this year is exciting. Hopefully in a few years there&#8217;s a group of guys from here that are winning the Stanley Cup for Pittsburgh and they learned something from this,&#8221; he said.If the younger players did learn anything from this season, chances are a lot of the lessons came from being Kostopoulos&#8217; teammate.Those are lessons that may, or may not, be taught again next season.&#8220;I&#8217;m not sure what&#8217;s going to happen, but I still love the game,&#8221; Kostopoulos said.

Kostopoulos to ponder future over the summer