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WVC football: A team-by-team breakdown of the new schedule

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Misericordia University’s Relay For Life scheduled for April 15 and 16

<p>The hardest part about being injured isn&#8217;t the pain.</p><p>For Tyler Biggs, who has been sidelined since early December, the difficulty with being injured is the time away from his Wilkes-Barre/Scranton teammates.</p><p>&#8220;People don&#8217;t realize when a guy&#8217;s hurt he&#8217;s staying back from road trips. He&#8217;s in the rink earlier and not around the boys as much as if he were playing,&#8221; Biggs said. &#8220;Getting back and establish chemistry again with linemates and the team in general, that&#8217;s a battle in itself.&#8221;</p><p>It&#8217;s a battle that Biggs is anxious to begin.</p><p>On Thursday he shed the red &#8220;no-contact&#8221; jersey and practiced in full for the first time in months. Penguins coach Clark Donatelli said Biggs is ready to return to the lineup and that could happen this weekend as the team plays three games in three days.</p><p>For Biggs, who has been limited to five games this season due to injuries and being a healthy scratch, he&#8217;s anxious to return.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s been a long year,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I&#8217;m so anxious. Been waiting for this for a while.&#8221;</p><p>The former first round pick (Toronto, 2011) admitted that coming back from an injury can be a tricky thing. While the health does return, a player also to be mentally prepared to get back in a game and not worry about the injury acting up or limiting how he plays, Biggs said.</p><p>&#8220;They do a pretty good job here about making sure you&#8217;re ready to go mentally as well as physically,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Once that red jersey&#8217;s off, it&#8217;s just do what you need to do and you&#8217;ll be fine.&#8221;</p><p>If Biggs does what&#8217;s expected of him, Donatelli said he will bring a power forward element to the lineup. At 6-foot-2, 220 pounds Biggs has the build of a power forward although he&#8217;s had very little opportunity to prove it to the Penguins.</p><p>&#8220;We&#8217;re looking for some energy and a guy that can get in there and bang,&#8221; Donatelli said. &#8220;He&#8217;s tough as nails, skates fast, finishes checks and can give us energy on the third or fourth line.&#8221;</p><p>Biggs&#8217; return is timely as the Penguins are missing a lot of regulars due to call-ups and injury. Although he&#8217;s practiced with the red jersey prior to Thursday, Biggs knew that plenty of opportunity existed and he had to show what he can bring to the table, even if it wasn&#8217;t in a game.</p><p>&#8220;If you&#8217;re not in the lineup, practice is your opportunity and it&#8217;s important to treat it like a game,&#8221; Biggs said. &#8220;There are a lot of guys out and gone for long periods of time right now. Coming back now is a great opportunity for me to maybe play in some situations I haven&#8217;t played in yet this year.&#8221;</p><p><strong>NOTES</strong></p><p>&#8226; As the Penguins traveled to Hartford immediately after Thursday&#8217;s practice, Donatelli confirmed that injured forwards Dominik Uher and Matia Marcantuoni remain out and are considered &#8220;week-to-week.&#8221;</p><p>Forwards Sahir Gill and Dominik Simon are day-to-day and Jean-Sebastien Dea, who missed Thursday&#8217;s practice with an illness, is a game-time decision.</p><style>
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<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Tom Venesky</p><p>tvenesky@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>UP NEXT</strong></p><p>&#8226; Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (31-14-1-1, .681, 1st place in the Atlantic Division) at Hartford Wolf Pack (24-21-2-0, .532, 6th place in the Atlantic Division)</p><p>&#8226; Friday, 7:15 p.m. at the XL Center in Hartford, CT</p><p>&#8226; Listen live on 103.1FM-WILK</p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Players to watch</strong></p><p>Hartford: AHL All-Star Ryan Graves has two goals in his last three games.</p><p>Penguins: Carter Rowney has four goals and six points in his last three games.</p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Tom Venesky at 570-991-6395 or on Twitter @TLTomVenesky</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Penguins forward Tyler Biggs anxious to make his return