Scranton teachers end strike, ratify new contract

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Wycallis Elementary School students in Dallas Twp. learn about fire safety

<p>It&#8217;s a small sample size, but so far, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins players like what they see in the new system implemented by head coach Mike Sullivan.</p><p>Especially the forwards.</p><p>Sullivan has preached the importance of being a high-tempo team and allowing his players to be a little creative offensively, and that fits right into the style of last season&#8217;s leading scorer Conor Sheary.</p><p>The second-year pro quickly established himself as an offensive threat in the first two games of the season last weekend. Sheary set up Scott Wilson&#8217;s game-winner in overtime against Providence and he currently ranks third in the AHL with 11 shots.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s been good so far,&#8221; Sheary said. &#8220;There&#8217;s a little more freedom to play offense. (Sullivan) wants us to make plays and get pucks to the net, so it&#8217;s good for us.&#8221;</p><p>Through two games, the Penguins have averaged 33 shots. Last season&#8217;s team averaged 27 shots a game. While it&#8217;s still early, Sheary said he wouldn&#8217;t be surprised if this season&#8217;s squad puts more shots to the net.</p><p>&#8220;When our offense is moving and we get pucks to the points and they get shots through, we&#8217;ll get rebounds and more shot opportunities,&#8221; he said. &#8220;That&#8217;s when our offense is working.&#8221;</p><p>Tuesday&#8217;s practice featured a heavy dose of conditioning along with a focus on neutral zone play.</p><p>&#8220;It was a hard practice by design. We don&#8217;t play until Saturday, so we&#8217;re going to continue to build on the conditioning element of our program,&#8221; Sullivan said. &#8220;It&#8217;s still early in the season, but we want to make sure we&#8217;re physically fit so we can play the style we want to play.&#8221;</p><p>It didn&#8217;t take long for the first call-up of the season. Kevin Porter went to Pittsburgh the day before the season opener. It&#8217;s an early reminder to the players that call-up opportunities will occur, and the players are well aware of it.</p><p>&#8220;They know what&#8217;s up in Pittsburgh and where the challenges might be,&#8221; Sullivan said. &#8220;What happens down here matters. Their effort and attitude every day, that stuff matters. The management team in Pittsburgh pays attention to what goes on down here and every one knows it.&#8221;</p><p>NOTEBOOK</p><p>- Scott Wilson didn&#8217;t practice on Tuesday. Sullivan said Wilson has a bruise that needed to be checked, and he didn&#8217;t expect him to miss any games.</p><p>- Injured forward Tyler Biggs resumed skating on his own on Tuesday, but no word on a return date.</p><p>- Sullivan on the neutral zone: &#8220;It&#8217;s an under-valued zone,&#8221; he said. &#8220;It doesn&#8217;t get a lot of attention from the media standpoint, but for me it decides what end of the rink you&#8217;re going to play in.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Conor Sheary (left) of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins takes a break during practice Tuesday morning. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/web1_TTL101415penspractice.jpg</photo0><caption0>Conor Sheary (left) of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins takes a break during practice Tuesday morning. </caption0><photoCredit0>Clark Van Orden | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Tom Venesky</p><p>tvenesky@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div>

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins liking coach Mike Sullivan’s system