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<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; It was a different scene for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins head coach Clark Donatelli when he walked into the locker room on Wednesday.</p><p>The stalls were empty, bags packed and there were no players to address. No more pregame speeches, talks before practice or team meetings to conduct.</p><p>It&#8217;s the day that every coach dreads, but knows is inevitable.</p><p>Two days after the Penguins were eliminated in an overtime loss in Game 7 to Hershey, players filed into the Toyota Sportsplex to clean out their locker stalls, have one final meeting with Donatelli and then head home for the summer. For Donatelli, who took over as the team&#8217;s third coach of the season during the Christmas break, it was a bittersweet day.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s always tough saying goodbye and not coming to the rink for practice,&#8221; Donatelli said. &#8220;At the end of every season if you don&#8217;t win there&#8217;s always that that feeling of if you only had one more game. We have a good nucleus here and most of the guys will be back.</p><p>&#8220;But this same team will never be on the ice (again).&#8221;</p><p>The 2015-16 Penguins may have fallen short of the Calder Cup in their 14th consecutive postseason, but Donatelli acknowledged there are many positives to take from the year. Young players such as Casey DeSmith, Jake Guentzel, Teddy Blueger and Ethan Prow stepped up down the stretch and during the playoffs, cementing a bright future for the Pittsburgh organization.</p><p>The team also hit a high note by sweeping Providence in the first round - via three overtime wins, to advance and push Hershey to seven games.</p><p>And for Donatelli, he finally got his shot to coach in the AHL after spending four years behind the bench in Wheeling. The Penguins posted a 22-22-4-1 record after Donatelli took over despite a rash of callups to Pittsburgh that drastically changed the roster.</p><p>&#8220;Our team then to the team earlier in the year, it was completely different,&#8221; veteran defenseman Steve Oleksy said. &#8220;That was one of the things (Donatelli) had to deal with and it took us a couple weeks to find our stride with him. He did a great job in bringing everybody together and we saw the results in the playoffs.&#8221;</p><p>Now, after spending Wednesday meeting with each player individually before they left for the summer, Donatelli won&#8217;t be able to take a break from hockey right away. He&#8217;ll spend the next few days working with the &#8220;Black Aces&#8221; practice squad while Pittsburgh continues it&#8217;s postseason run.</p><p>After that, Donatelli has his mind made up how the rest of his time will be spent.</p><p>&#8220;Going fishing,&#8221; he said.</p><p>NOTES</p><p>- Donatelli said the influence of John Hynes, who served as head coach for the five previous seasons, still remains with the team. &#8220;We lost so many players from the start of the year, and that&#8217;s a tribute to the entire organization of how we develop our players. It&#8217;s a tribute to John too. He was here and had a lot to do with those guys developing. That&#8217;s how it&#8217;s supposed to work,&#8221; Donatelli said.</p><p>- Will O&#8217;Neill missed Game 7 against Hershey with a finger injury he suffered late in Game 6 during a fight with Bears&#8217; forward Nathan Walker. Casey DeSmith said he was battling a knee injury that he suffered in the regular season and lingered in the playoffs.</p><p>- Kael Mouillierat said the playoff series against Providence was a highlight of his season, but he didn&#8217;t include the lacrosse-style goal he scored at Hershey in March. &#8220;I&#8217;ve done that three times now. No one cares about that anymore,&#8221; he joked.</p><p>- Daniel Sprong reflected on a season that began in the NHL, continued in juniors and ended with the Penguins in the AHL postseason. &#8220;In all three leagues I learned something different. In the NHL I learned the ropes and got to see how it is to be an NHL player everyday. In juniors I learned how to be more of a leader. That was really good for my development here in seeing the older guys and getting the playoff action,&#8221; he said.</p><p>Sprong believes the experience has made him more NHL ready for next season.</p><p>&#8220;I think so. You never know what happens in training camp,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I have a big summer ahead of me, and I have to get bigger in the gym, stronger and faster.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/web1_TTL051916LockerCleanOut3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Penguins defenseman Niclas Andersen (left) gets help from equipment assistant David Hughes taking his gear out on locker clean out day at the Toyota Sportsplex on Wednesday. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/web1_TTL051916LockerCleanOut3.jpg</photo0><caption0>Penguins defenseman Niclas Andersen (left) gets help from equipment assistant David Hughes taking his gear out on locker clean out day at the Toyota Sportsplex on Wednesday. </caption0><photoCredit0>Sean McKeag | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/web1_TTL051916LockerCleanOut4.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins head coach Clark Donatelli talks to the media during locker clean out day at the Toyota Sportplex in Wilkes-Barre on Wednesday. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/web1_TTL051916LockerCleanOut4.jpg</photo1><caption1>Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins head coach Clark Donatelli talks to the media during locker clean out day at the Toyota Sportplex in Wilkes-Barre on Wednesday. </caption1><photoCredit1>Sean McKeag | Times Leader </photoCredit1></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>

WBS Pens bid farewell