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Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins’ Will O’Neill ready for his first NHL call

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Ceremony remembers those ‘who gave all of their tomorrows for our wonderful todays’

<p>Tyler Biggs has lived in the big city in Toronto and he grew up in a small town in Ohio.</p><p>He prefers the latter.</p><p>Biggs&#8217; hometown of Loveland is one that many in northeastern Pennsylvania can relate to. Flanked by neighborhoods, the downtown is a focal point as is the river that flows through the middle of town, complete with hiking and biking trails.</p><p>Biggs has seen Toronto and his hockey career will likely take him to other major cities, but in the end, Biggs says he&#8217;ll always return to his small-town home in Ohio.</p><p><strong>Player:</strong> Tyler Biggs</p><p><strong>Hometown:</strong> Loveland, Ohio</p><p><strong>Type:</strong> Small town</p><p><strong>Population:</strong> 12,326 (2013)</p><p><strong>Distance from Wilkes-Barre: </strong>547 miles</p><p><strong>What kind of place is Loveland? </strong>&#8220;It&#8217;s a smaller town. You have the river, the bike trail, the downtown and a couple of parks and that about sums it up. It&#8217;s nice.&#8221;</p><p><strong>The Little Miami River flows through Loveland like the Susquehanna in Wilkes-Barre. Are the two places similar?</strong> &#8220;There are some similarities. Loveland also has a downtown with some things coming in that are new. It&#8217;s just pretty cool being around a small town after being in Toronto the last two years and coming back it has the same feel. I don&#8217;t think they will be a place that&#8217;s like home.&#8221;</p><p><strong>Cincinnati isn&#8217;t far from Loveland. Did you go there often?</strong> &#8220;A lot of my friends went to school there and just graduated. We still go there a lot when I get to see them during the short time I&#8217;m home in the summer. It&#8217;s definitely a place we all go to.&#8221;</p><p><strong>Bengals and Reds fan?</strong> &#8220;They are all huge Bengals and Reds fans in Loveland. I&#8217;ve been back-and-forth on the Bengals. I was a big Bengals fan with Carson Palmer and Chad Johnson, when he was actually known as Chad Johnson. I&#8217;ve never been a big baseball fan but we enjoyed going to games and having a good time.&#8221;</p><p><strong>Aside from playing hockey in Loveland, what else is there to do?</strong> &#8220;There&#8217;s all sorts of things to do as far as sports. It&#8217;s a small town so our high school has track and field, basketball, soccer, lacrosse. We&#8217;d always pick up some games. It doesn&#8217;t take long for a small game to turn into a big game.&#8221;</p><p><strong>Would you like to go back to Loveland one day?</strong> &#8220;Absolutely. I got a taste of the big city and I got a taste of the small town, and I&#8217;d choose small town any day.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Biggs </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_Biggs.jpg</photo0><caption0>Biggs </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></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>

My hometown with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins: Tyler Biggs prefers small-town life