BREAKAWAY - Issue 14 - Game 29 - May 8, 2021 by Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins

COVER

Meet the team behind your team. Michael Moreland, DO Hans Olsen, MD Mark Pallis, DO David Ross, MD Geisinger is the official sports medicine and orthopaedics team that helps keep the Penguins on their skates. Because big dreams need all the support they can get. Learn more at geisinger.org/BigDreams.

TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGES 6-8: COVER STORY: Kasper Bjorkqvist PAGE 10: Opponents Roster PAGE TOC 11: Penguins Roster PAGE 13: This Day In Penguins History PAGES 16-17: Declassified - Nick Schilkey

BREAKAWAY: Issue 14 / May 8, 2021

ON THE COVER Hey, that guy looks vaguley familiar.... Kasper Björkqvist itroduced himself to Penguins fans at the start of the 2019-20 season, but was ushered to the sidelines due to injury. Now, after startig the 202021 season in his native Finland, Kasper is back in NEPA and looking to help the Pens down the stretch. Read more in our COVER STORY.

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2020-2021 SEASON

Dear Fans, It is my pleasure to welcome you to the 2020-21 American Hockey League season, the latest chapter in a tradition of excellence that can be traced back more than eight decades.

SCOTT HOWSON PRESIDENT AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

The last several months have been difficult in so many ways, and this season is going to look and feel different than what we are all used to. But we are looking forward to being back on the ice and continuing our role as the top development league for nearly all of the players, coaches, executives, trainers, broadcasters and officials in the National Hockey League today. Since we first dropped the puck in 1936, generations of our great fans have been able to cheer on future superstars and Stanley Cup champions, as well as more than 100 eventual members of the Hockey Hall of Fame. On behalf of all of our clubs across North America, thank you all for your continuing support of the AHL. Sincerely,

SCOTT HOWSON PRESIDENT & CEO | AMERICAN HOCKEY LEAGUE

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Björkqvist is Back

By Nick Hart

Given the current state of world affairs, you can imagine the undertaking of a transatlantic flight is a royal pain. Kasper Björkqvist was recently knighted into the chaotic court of international travel and can attest to its rigors. Quarantine requirements, work visa bureaucracy, connecting flights, making sure you pack enough underwear; those stressors and more stood in his path, but the Finnish forward was able to overcome them all in order to step foot on American soil for the first time in over a year. “It’s exciting times for sure,” Björkqvist said. “I’ve spent a lot of time here in the past five years, so it feels like a second home. It was good to cross the border and get into the country, to drive I-95 again.” Björkqvist is returning to the United States and rejoining the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins after a successful season in his native Finland. When the landscape of hockey in the U.S. was still cloudy in the fall, Pittsburgh and Björkqvist decided that he would start the season playing in the top men’s league in Finland, and he was reassigned by the Penguins to a team called Kouvolan Kiekko-65 (better known as “KooKoo”). With KooKoo, Björkqvist played in a top-six role, received time on the No. 1 power play, and ultimately posted 11 goals and 15 assists for 26 points. Those 26 points led all league rookies. His strong season was the culmination of a tremendous amount of work the 23-year-old put in during a long offseason. And before you say, “Well, there’s a pandemic. Everyone had a long offseason,” recognize that Björkqvist’s was even longer. Just six games into his first AHL season, the Providence College product suffered a devastating injury in WilkesBarre/Scranton practice. It was an ACL tear, and it knocked him out for the year before Thanksgiving.

Page 6 - BREAKAWAY 2020-21

Faced ADS with a long road to recovery, Björkqvist opted to stay in Wilkes-Barre for his rehab. When he wasn’t going through rigorous physical therapy at Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center or with Penguins’ strength and conditioning coach Mike Joyce, he was working on his skill. The injury have kept him off the ice, but Björkqvist stayed occupied by doing as many puckhandling and passing drills as he could on dry land. “That’s a tough injury to come back from. An ACL is no joke, but it’s also something where if you’re committed you can come back strong,” said Penguins head coach J.D. Forrest. “There’s no doubting his commitment to becoming a player and being a professional… So there was nothing surprising there for us in terms of how he handled the process.” Just as it seemed he was at a point in his recovery where he could reacclimate himself to the ice, the pandemic hit and whisked him back to Finland for an uncertain summer. When the Finnish Liiga decided to drop the puck in October, Björkqvist was ready to go. And he hit the ground running. If there were any concerns as to how Björkqvist would handle his return to game action after such a serious ailment, he assuaged them almost instantly. He produced

Continued ON Page 8 BREAKAWAY 2020-21 - Page 7

Continued From Page 7 eight points in his first eight games with KooKoo, quickly reestablishing his ads confidence. “‘Hey I still know how to play this game’,” he remembers thinking upon that point-per-game start. “A hot start is always nice, but in a lot of ways, those first few games brought back a lot of the joy that hockey gives me. The things that were taken away because of the injury.” All the hard work Björkqvist put in during his year-long absence was paying dividends. Now, he wants to see those signs of progress translate here to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. With only five games left in the season, Björkqvist recognizes that he has to be a quick study to get up to speed and make an impact. He admits that he will have to adjust to the pace of play and the smaller ice surface in North America, but based on what he’s shown in practice, he looks to be doing just fine. He looks faster. He looks agile. Those skills drills have reflected with some quick dishes. All of this has caught the eye of his coach. “He’s just getting everything going again and getting familiar with how we play. It’s a little bit different than what he’s been used to doing in Finland, but he’s a fast learner.” Forrest said. “He’s looked good out there. He’s fast, he’s added skill, and he’ll help us on the left side, for sure.” It took a long time – time filled with physical therapy, taxing workouts, a pandemic and some challenging travel for good measure – but Kasper Björkqvist is back.

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Binghamton RECORD 6-16-5-2 HEAD COACH Mark Dennehy ASST. COACHES Sergei Brylin, Ryan Parent NHL Affiliate New Jersey Devils

# 1 31 34

Pos. G G G

Player Mareks Mitens Gilles Senn Eva Cormier

GP MP 4 213:13 15 826:10 9 547:37

GA GAA W-L-OT SO 10 2.81 1-3-0 0 52 3.78 2-9-2 0 32 3.51 2-4-3 0

# Pos. Player GP G A PTS PIM +/2 D Michael Vukojevic 22 1 8 9 27 E 6 D Colton White 22 0 7 7 4 -11 9 F Alexander Holtz 6 1 2 3 0 -4 11 C Brett Seney 25 4 5 9 22 -5 13 C Cam Darcy 14 0 2 2 4 -32 14 RW Tyler Irvine 23 1 2 3 14 -1 15 F Tyce Thompson 8 1 2 3 9 -8 16 C Nate Schnarr 28 7 7 14 10 E 17 LW A.J. Greer 21 5 8 13 16 -16 19 C Travis St. Denis 26 4 4 8 36 -21 20 C Fabia Zetterlund 29 6 12 18 6 -17 21 RW Miles Koules 12 0 2 2 2 1 22 D Reilly Walsh 28 4 9 13 12 -8 23 C Mason Jobst 14 4 4 8 6 -5 25 LW Nolan Foote 22 6 10 16 6 1 26 C Ryan Schmelzer 10 2 3 5 6 1 27 RW Marian Studenic 22 3 4 7 14 -13 38 D Jeremy Groleau 18 0 0 0 6 -9 43 LW Ben Thomson 27 6 1 7 41 -6 55 D Matthew Hellickson 1 0 0 0 4 2 62 LW Danick Martel 23 6 8 14 34 -8 77 F Aarne Talvitie 14 1 2 3 0 1 82 D Nikita Okhotiuk 23 2 3 5 13 -6 92 RW Graeme Clarke 26 6 9 15 12 -6

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# 30 33 38

WBS RECORD HEAD COACH Assistant Coach NHL Affiliate Pos. G G G

11-11-4-2 J.D. Forrest Kevin Porter Pittsburgh Penguins

Player Brett Brochu Alex D’Orio Tommy Nappier

GP MP GA GAA W-L-OT SO 0 0:00 0 0.00 0-0-0 0 10 598:52 23 2.30 5-3-1 0 1 57:28 5 5.22 0-1-0 0

# Pos. Player GP G A PTS PIM +/2 D Dylan MacPherson 10 0 1 1 6 3 4 D Zach Trotman 8 0 2 2 4 -3 6 D Billy Sweezey 18 0 3 3 22 E 7 D Kevin Czuczman 24 0 4 4 4 -3 8 D Will Reilly 23 3 3 6 23 -5 10 LW Drew O’Connor 16 6 10 16 10 -1 12 D Jesper Lindgren 0 0 0 0 0 E 13 RW Jan Drozg 26 5 2 7 6 -1 14 LW Justin Almeida 8 2 0 2 0 -4 15 C Jordy Bellerive 25 10 6 16 40 -5 17 LW Anthony Angello 8 5 3 8 13 1 18 C Josh Currie 20 9 12 21 17 -7 20 RW Kasper Bjorkqvist 1 0 0 0 0 E 21 LW Luke Stevens 12 0 0 0 4 -4 24 D Josh Maniscalco 7 0 0 0 4 2 26 RW Zach Nastasiuk 21 1 2 3 2 -8 28 D Cam Lee 27 1 11 12 10 E 34 C Chase Berger 26 4 3 6 12 -14 36 C Felix Robert 24 5 7 12 10 3 37 LW Sam Miletic 19 2 3 5 2 -4 39 RW Kyle Olson 23 2 4 6 15 -2 44 C Jonathan Gruden 28 4 6 10 8 4 47 RW Nick Schilkey 28 5 12 17 4 -14 55 D Jon Lizotte 28 3 6 9 16 -5 57 D Pierre-Olivier Joseph 18 1 12 13 22 -11 59 C Tim Schaller 28 10 7 16 14 -9

BREAKAWAY 2020-21 - Page 11

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THIS DATE IN PENGUINS HISTORY MAY 8, 2004 - ‘ANDY CHIODO FOR PRESIDENT’! The Penguins’ goaltender stopped all 18 shots he saw doing the game, then pummeled Antero Niitymaki at center ice, as Wilkes-Barre/Scranton posted 3-0 win over the Philadelphia Phantoms in Game Three of the East Division Finals, and a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series. Colby Armstrong, Michel Ouellet ad Shane Endicott provided the scoring for the home club, but the real fireworks stared as the final buzzer sounded, with the teams combining for 136 penalty minutes after the win was recorded. MAY 8, 2009 - Janne Pesonen posted four points (1+3), while Mark Letestu and Nick Johnson each pitched in with three points (1+2), as the Penguins downed the Hershey Bears, 6-3, in Game Four of the East Division Finals. With the win WilkesBarre/Scranton evened the best-of-seven series at two games apiece. Luca Caputi, Dustin Jeffrey and J.S. Daoust also scored for the Pens, while Adam Berkhoel stopped 23 shots in net. MAY 8, 2012 - Simon Despres scored at 12:08 of the second overtime, giving the Penguins a 3-2 win over the St. John’s IceCaps in Game Five of the Eastern Conference Semifinals. The victory kept Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s playoff hopes alive, with the IceCaps holding a 3-2 series lead after the contest. Paul Thompson and Alex Grant recorded the regulation goals for the Pens, and Brad Thiessen picked up the win in net. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU - Grant McNeill (May 8, 1983) appeared in two games with the Penguins during the 2006-07 season, going scoreless with two penalty minutes. He spent the remainder of the season with the Wheeling Nailers, recording seven points (3+4) in 63 games, and ranking second in the ECHL with 254 penalty minutes.

BREAKAWAY 2020-21 - Page 13

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NAME: Nick Schilkey Hometown: Marysville, Michigan Family: Glen (father), Michelle (mother), Kyle (brother), Jessica (sister) Pet: Female Bluetick/Treewalker Coonhound named Kona What Age Did You Start Skating: 2 years old Favorite NHL Team Growing Up: Detroit Red Wings Favorite NHL Player Growing Up: Pavel Datsyuk Your Greatest Hockey Accomplishment: Being a part of a Calder Cup winning team in Charlotte. If you were shipwrecked on a deserted island, but all your human needs (food, water, etc) were taken care of, what two items would you want to have with you? A boat and a fishing pole What is the best Disney or Pixar movie? Finding Nemo If you had a choice between two superpowers, being invisible or flying, which would you choose and why? Flying, for the freedom and the view Crunchy or Creamy Peanut Butter? Crunchy Page 16 - BREAKAWAY 2020-21

Have you ever walked out of a movie because it was so bad? If yes, which movie? Yes but it was so bad I forget what it was. If you could visit any place in the world for a day, where would you go? Australia. But I‘d push for a few extra days. Do you believe in ghosts? Yes. Spirits of some sort. What would be the coolest animal to scale up to the size of a horse? My dog when convenient. How do you feel about putting pineapple on pizza? I don‘t understand the rave. You just bought a brand new boat. What do you name it? I have an unnamed boat. So still working on it. If You Could Eat Only One Food For The Rest Of Your Life What Food Would You Choose? Tacos What household chore do you hate doing the most? Taking out the trash. What movie can you watch over and over without ever getting tired of ? Superbad What food have you never eaten but would really like to try? Puffer Fish Which charity or charitable cause is most deserving of money? St. Judes Children’s Research Do you eat food that’s past its expiration date if it still smells and looks fine? Yes (for the most part)

BREAKAWAY 2020-21 - Page 17

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