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W-B Area “design team”: $2.1 million spent, little to see

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Former Yankees starter Luis Severino sparkles for RailRiders, takes no-hitter into sixth inning

<p>A lifetime in hockey couldn&#8217;t prepare Clark Donatelli for what he was about to experience.</p><p>Moments after the Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the San Jose Sharks in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals on June 13, Donatelli, who was with Pittsburgh overseeing the black aces, made his way to the ice where he got a moment to raise the Stanley Cup.</p><p>For someone who began his career playing for Boston University in 1984 and entered the coaching ranks in 2010, it was a surreal moment for the current Wilkes-Barre/Scranton head coach.</p><p>&#8220;As a player and a coach, you dream about the Stanley Cup your whole life. Now, it was finally real,&#8221; Donatelli said. &#8220;Just knowing you played a small part in it, and being there to touch the Cup and raise it. Just a great experience.&#8221;</p><p>Donatelli contributed to Pittsburgh&#8217;s championship as the head coach of the ECHL&#8217;s Wheeling Nailers for the last five years and this season leading Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.</p><p>Pittsburgh won the Cup in part to the contributions of players who were just called up from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, and Donatelli had a role in their development, especially penalty-kill specialist Tom Kuhnhackl.</p><p>Kuhnhackl credits Donatelli with changing his game to one of a defensive forward while he was in Wheeling during the 2013-14 season.</p><p>For Donatelli, seeing Kuhnhackl become a key contributor to Pittsburgh&#8217;s playoff run was especially satisfying.</p><p>&#8220;He is someone who wasn&#8217;t going to be denied in his career,&#8221; Donatelli said. &#8220;He came down to Wheeling and honed his craft, and now he&#8217;s a Stanley Cup winner. I couldn&#8217;t be more happy for him.&#8221;</p><p>Donatelli, who said he didn&#8217;t notice if the Cup was heavy when he lifted it because there was so much excitement from the win, said having Pittsburgh as the Stanley Cup champions serves as even more motivation for the players who will be in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton next season.</p><p>They&#8217;ve seen former teammates such as Kuhnhackl, Conor Sheary, Bryan Rust and Matt Murray get an opportunity in Pittsburgh and go on to raise the Cup.</p><p>&#8220;These are guys that were in the locker room with them just a few months ago. It shows the players that the opportunity in this organization is real,&#8221; Donatelli said.</p><p>And just like the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton call-ups inspire other players, so does Donatelli&#8217;s moment with the Cup.</p><p>&#8220;There are a lot of great coaches out there, young guys just starting out in their careers, and this shows them that you just have to stick to it,&#8221; he said. &#8220;When you&#8217;re starting out in coaching, you&#8217;ve got to put your time in the trenches. There are ups and downs, long bus rides, four games in five nights - it&#8217;s a grind but when you&#8217;re goal is making players better, you will get better as well.&#8221;</p><p>Now that Donatelli is back from Pittsburgh, he&#8217;ll have little time to reflect on his Stanley Cup experience.</p><p>Next week he&#8217;ll head to Buffalo to begin selecting young players to play for the USA in the Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament. Donatelli will coach the U.S. team and the tournament begins on July 30 in the Czech Republic.</p><p>At the end of the month, he&#8217;ll head back to Pittsburgh for development camp before he goes over to Europe to coach the U.S. squad.</p><p>There won&#8217;t be much time to reflect this summer, but for Donatelli the memory of the Stanley Cup is still fresh in his mind.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s starting to sink in now that I was there, that I raised it and these players earned it,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Just being around it and the entire atmosphere was unlike anything I experienced.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Donatelli </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/web1_TTL051916LockerCleanOut4.jpg</photo0><caption0>Donatelli </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>

Stanley Cup a dream come true for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins head coach Clark Donatelli