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Back Mountain and Wilkes-Barre chambers of commerce send letters in support of PennEast Pipeline

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Wilkes-Barre/Scranton metro area ranks 20th fattest in the country

<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; Minutes after newly-signed Jake Guentzel wrapped up his first practice with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Tuesday, one of his new teammates was lobbying to have the young winger on his line.</p><p>Guentzel, who was Pittsburgh&#8217;s third round pick in 2013, wrapped up his college career at the University of Nebraska-Omaha and signed an amateur tryout contract with the Penguins on Tuesday.</p><p>Guentzel reached double digits in goal scoring for the second time in his collegiate career and led the Mavericks in 2015-16 with 46 points (19G-27A) while serving as co-captain. Over the course of his three seasons at Nebraska-Omaha, the native of Woodbury, Minnesota, earned 40 goals and 79 assists for 119 career points, good enough for sixth all-time in program history.</p><p>Penguins coach Clark Donatelli, who coached Guentzel as a teenager with the USA Hockey program and development camps, called Guentzel a smart, skilled player.</p><p>&#8220;He&#8217;s a crafty guy out there. He can make really good hockey plays,&#8221; Donatelli said, adding Guentzel will be in the lineup for Wednesday&#8217;s game against Binghamton.</p><p>&#8220;Let&#8217;s get him going. It&#8217;s a whole new game.&#8221;</p><p>Josh Archibald was Guentzel&#8217;s linemate during his senior season at Nebraska-Omaha and he called him one of the smartest players he has played with. That season, Archibald led Nebraska-Omaha with 29 goals and 43 points with Guentzel as his linemate, and he&#8217;s hoping for the duo is reunited.</p><p>&#8220;We built a lot of chemistry, so hopefully they&#8217;ll give us a chance to play together here and see if we have any chemistry left,&#8221; Archibald said.</p><p>He&#8217;ll get his wish.</p><p>Donatelli said Guentzel will skate on a line with Archibald as the other wing and Kael Mouillierat centering.</p><p>Not only is the move what Archibald hoped for, it also suits Guentzel as well.</p><p>&#8220;(Archibald) helped me get to the player I am today,&#8221; Guentzel said. &#8220;Without him I don&#8217;t know where I&#8217;d be.&#8221;</p><p>Asked to describe his game, Guentzel said he&#8217;s a smart player who likes to make plays and play offense. He knows he&#8217;ll have to adjust to the pro game &#8212; namely the speed and competing against stronger players, but Guentzel is confident.</p><p>He&#8217;s also happy for a second chance this season after his Nebraska-Omaha team wrapped up their year without a postseason bid.</p><p>Guentzel will get that chance with the Penguins.</p><p>&#8220;You never want the season to end, but when you have an opportunity to come here like this and try to make an impact, it&#8217;s special,&#8221; Guentzel said. &#8220;Play with confidence and make an impact.&#8221;</p><p><strong>NOTES</strong></p><p>&#8226; Another new face will be arriving shortly to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. On Tuesday, Pittsburgh signed forward Teddy Blueger to a two-year, entry-level contract. The deal begins with the 2016-17 season but Blueger will join Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on an amateur tryout contract for the remainder of the current season.</p><p>Blueger, 21, completed his senior season at Minnesota State-Mankato, leading the Mavericks in points (35) and assists (24) while scoring 11 goals in 41 games as one of the team&#8217;s alternate captains. Seven of Blueger&#8217;s 11 tallies this year were game-winning markers. Those numbers earned him a spot on the WCHA First All-Star Team.</p><p>&#8226; Donatelli said Tristan Jarry will start in net on Wednesday.</p><p>&#8226; D Reid McNeill is day-to-day with an illness, while D Niclas Andersen is also considered day-to-day with a lower body injury.</p><p>&#8226; Archibald&#8217;s fight against Hershey&#8217;s Sean Collins on Sunday was his first scrap of the season. Archibald fought three times last season and said he isn&#8217;t shy about dropping the gloves.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;m smaller so I think a lot of guys overlook it. Smaller guys can be tough,&#8221; Archibald said. &#8220;When you look at guys like Sestito who fights a lot, and take a look at myself, there&#8217;s quite a bit of difference. It runs in my blood. My dad was a big fighter in college and pros. I learned a lot from him.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Winger Jake Guentzel joined Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on an amateur tryout contract on Tuesday and will play his first game in Wednesday&#8217;s contest against the Binghamton Senators. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/web1_guentzel-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Winger Jake Guentzel joined Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on an amateur tryout contract on Tuesday and will play his first game in Wednesday&#8217;s contest against the Binghamton Senators. </caption0><photoCredit0>Joe Sargent | Pittsburgh Penguins </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Tom Venesky</p><p>tvenesky@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p><strong>UP NEXT</strong></p><p>&#8226; Binghamton Senators (27-32-4-1, .461, 7th place in the North Division) at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (38-21-4-1, .633, 1st place in the Atlantic Division)</p><p>&#8226; 7:05 p.m. today at the Mohegan Sun Arena</p><p>&#8226; Listen live on 103.1FM-WILK</p><p><strong>Players to watch</strong></p><p>Binghamton: Phil Varone has 15 points in 10 games with the Senators.</p><p>Penguins: Carter Rowney has six goals and 14 points in his last eight games.</p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Tom Venesky at 570-991-6395 or on Twitter @TLTomVenesky</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Prospect Jake Guentzel joins Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins