There were a lot of smiles at the Memorial Centre Wednesday morning and none bigger than on the face of Matt Puempel.
The Peterborough Petes forward enjoyed a spirited practice with his OHL mates then happily talked about his return to the club after serving an eight-game suspension. He will be in the lineup for his first on-ice game action in a month when the Petes host the Kingston Frontenacs at the Memorial Centre at 7 p.m. Thursday. They pay a return visit to Kingston Friday.
Puempel said it wasn't easy sitting out and he was eager to get back with his teammates and contribute to the team.
"I'm excited to be back and get this over with," he said after the Wednesday morning practice.
"It's never fun sitting out. It's tough because you want to be part of everything. If the team is losing you want to be there to help fix it. If they are winning you just to be part of that. I was eager to get back with the team again."
It's not that he sat idly by during the suspension as he practised consistently with the team and did some work on his own. Still, it's not the same as game competition and that's something he missed.
"It's tough mentally," he said. "You are not playing and I'm looking forward to get back to that. I was able to look at things though and learned a lot. I always practised and did a lot of extra skating and some off-ice work to gain strength and improve flexibility. I worked out every day to stay in shape."
During his time away, Puempel signed a three-year entry level NHL contract with the Ottawa Senators. It was also something he was happy to get done as he aims to move forward.
"The weight is off my shoulders and the pressure is off," he said. "I had peace of mind to get it done now. I can focus on playing for the Petes and helping them as much as I can. I was very happy to sign because it has always been a dream (to play in the NHL)."
Petes coach Mike Pelino is happy to have him back in the lineup.
"Any time you can add a player like him, as a leader and a person, is an asset," he said. "He has worked hard to get himself in even better shape and will hopefully bring even more (to the team)."
NOTES: As of Wednesday morning, Petes coach Mike Pelino didn't know the exact timetable for the return of Austin Watson, Lino Martschini and Peter Ceresnak from the world junior championships or Nick Ritchie, Stephen Nosad and Trevor Murphy from the world under-17 championships but it looks very much like the former three won't be in the lineup when the Petes host Kingston Thursday. Pelino said they were all scheduled to leave Calgary Friday and the latter three were scheduled to be bused home Thursday.
Story Courtesy of www.peterboroughexaminer.com
