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Our Opinion: Luzerne County Fair gets its zest from blue ribbon-vying entrants

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Wilkes-Barre still plans to take over Hawkeye camera surveillance system

<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; On Friday afternoon, Tom Kostopoulos went through a high-tempo session on the ice at the Toyota Sportsplex and wrapped it up by skating laps around the rink until his legs burned.</p><p>Today, he&#8217;ll spend his time watching his kids compete in two soccer tournaments in the area and then he&#8217;ll hit the ice again.</p><p>For a player entering his 17th season of pro hockey, the 36-year-old Kostopoulos has learned to balance preparing for training camp and spending time with his family by making the most of both opportunities.</p><p>But he doesn&#8217;t accomplish the juggling act alone.</p><p>&#8220;You&#8217;ve got to have a good wife that&#8217;s patient and knows that you have to be at the rink, and my kids are very adaptable as well,&#8221; Kostopoulos said as he sat in the locker stall he occupied the last two seasons inside the Toyota Sportsplex.</p><p>It also helps that Kostopoulos, who served as the team captain the last two seasons and is an obvious choice to fill the role again, is coming back to a place that&#8217;s been home for more than seven seasons of his career.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s nice for us to get back here and get the kids in school and settled in with their activities,&#8221; Kostopoulos said.</p><p>The familiarity with Wilkes-Barre &#8212; the place where Kostopoulos began and will likely end his long career &#8212; has allowed the veteran forward to approach the upcoming training camp with a renewed focus despite a massive amount of change.</p><p>The entire coaching staff from last season, from head coach John Hynes and assistant Alain Nasreddine, to conditioning coach Joe Lorincz and video coach Samson Lee, have all moved on to the NHL.</p><p>Many of his teammates from last season have also gone elsewhere, leaving Kostopoulos as one of the few familiar faces in the Penguins locker room this year.</p><p>But change is something Kostopoulos has experienced many times in his career, and for him, there&#8217;s one thing that will remain the same with the Penguins.</p><p>&#8220;The one constant is this team always wants to make the playoffs and always wants to play well,&#8221; Kostopoulos said. &#8220;They brought in a character staff and character players, and I think everyone&#8217;s on the same page.</p><p>&#8220;What will be important is the guys that have played here a few years show the new guys the atmosphere and how we work here. And the new guys can benefit us by bringing in things that have worked with their old teams.&#8221;</p><p>For now, all Kostopoulos can do is prepare himself for training camp - which opens Sept. 18 in Pittsburgh, and push himself on the ice the way he will push his teammates to work hard during the season.</p><p>&#8220;For me personally it usually takes a little while to get the legs going again. Everyone has their own goals with training camp and I don&#8217;t want to embarrass myself out there,&#8221; Kostopoulos said. &#8220;I still want to play well and compete well, and we all know it takes a lot of hard work.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins Tom Kostopoulos and Carter Rowney celebrate a goal against Lehigh Valley in February. Despite an offseason of big change, the 36-year-old Kostopoulos remains the one biggest constant heading into the season. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/web1_pens_lv1_faa.jpg</photo0><caption0>Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins Tom Kostopoulos and Carter Rowney celebrate a goal against Lehigh Valley in February. Despite an offseason of big change, the 36-year-old Kostopoulos remains the one biggest constant heading into the season. </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>WBS Pens veteran leader has been skating at the Toyota Sportsplex to prepare for camp</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Tom Venesky</p><p>tvenesky@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Tom Venesky at 570-991-6395 or on Twitter @TLTomVenesky</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Training starts now for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins’ Tom Kostopoulos