Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins' Mike Vellucci recalls 'crazy' season

Would Mike Vellucci have liked his team to have a better record? Sure.

However, that’s not the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins coach’s biggest takeaway from a season in limbo.

Vellucci touched on a couple of topics during a video call with reporters Tuesday, namely how he and his team are trying to stay safe with the American Hockey League shut down by the coronavirus pandemic.

With arenas and rinks across the country unavailable, much of the focus is away from hockey.

“(Hockey’s) not on a lot of the guys’ minds,” Vellucci said. “They want to know what’s going on with everything in the world, and they’re worried about their families. When I call them and talk to them, I just ask how they’re doing, how their families are doing.”

Despite initial optimism play could restart at some point, it appears more likely the AHL season is in jeopardy. Myriad states have enacted shelter-in-place orders since the pandemic took hold, and Tuesday the city of Toronto banned all public gatherings through June.

The NHL’s self-isolation guidelines for players were extended through mid-April.

Given those circumstances, Vellucci was asked how he would encapsulate the Penguins’ season if they have played their final game. The team was 29-26-3-5 and chasing a playoff spot when play was stopped March 12.

“It was a crazy season from all the call-ups to Pittsburgh and all the injuries we had,” he said, pointing out that nine players scored their first AHL goal. “It was a tough stretch at times. We were on a roll early on when we were healthy, and then the injuries hit and we had some struggles.

“When I look back on that part of it and say, ‘OK, what did we accomplish?’ We got our young guys better. There were a lot of first-year players that got better and more experience and are ready to either get called up and play for Pittsburgh if they need them to or to come back and have a good year for us.”

It’s a complete 180 for Vellucci, who last year at this time was gearing up for his run to the Calder Cup with the Charlotte Checkers.

After a few days of no hockey at his home in Michigan, he said he has been watching seminars from the NHL Coaches Association and putting together all of the Penguins’ power-play goals into a video package. He also has talked to assistants J.D. Forrest and Jarrod Skalde about what kind of system tweaks the team might be able to implement next season.

No matter what happens this spring and summer, he said he is thankful for a fun year with his new organization following the initial shuffling of roles and responsibilities that accompanied his arrival.

“(The Penguins) do a lot of things first class here, and that’s what I’ve appreciated the most,” Vellucci said. “They give the players all the tools to make them a National Hockey League player, and that’s our goal.”