Pittsburgh Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas lauded 2025 first-round pick Bill Zonnon Tuesday afternoon. As part of Dubas’s wide ranging and transparent press conference, he reported Zonnon arrived in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins late last week fully prepared and he astounded coaches by already knowing the team’s system because he had been watching all the team’s games online.
Tuesday night, Zonnon immediately became a big-time contributor to the WBS Penguins playoff run as he scored the Penguins’ first goal of the game, which proved to be the game winner in the Game 1 win over the Springfield Thunderbirds, 2-0 at Mohegan Arena.
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Penguins top goalie prospect Sergei Murashov stopped all 24 shots he faced for the shutout win.
2024 second-round pick Tanner Howe scored the other Penguins goal at 7:19 of the third period when he potted a top-shelf wrister on a breakaway.
However, the story of the night was undoubtedly Zonnon, who made his pro debut. The Penguins selected the big forward with the 22nd overall pick in last June’s NHL Draft. After an impressive development camp, injuries forced him to miss Penguins training camp and a long portion of the QMJHL season with his junior team, the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada.
“Honestly, I don’t remember the last time I had this much fun playing,” Zonnon said. “That was the biggest thing for me coming in, just having fun, believing in myself, and I knew that good things were going to happen.”
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The 6-foot-2, 190 pound forward lined up at center between Atley Calvert and Boko Imama. And his goal was beauty as Calvert created a loose puck via the forecheck, then tapped it to Zonnon, who rushed toward the net, sweeping around goalie Georgii Romanov with a full speed backhand move.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton fans erupted when Zonnon scored.
“(The ovation) was great. That was one of the coolest moments of my entire life,” Zonnon said. “I didn’t expect anything else from this fanbase. I’ve heard so many great things about it.”
Bill Zonnon spoke following the game. @InsideAHLHockey is a worthy follow:
In 35 QMJHL games this season, Zonnon scored 14 goals and 46 points. However, he merely signed an amateur tryout agreement last week, so his future is still open as he could return to junior next season or he could turn pro, pending the Penguins’ decision.
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All reports of Zonnon’s performance were glowing. Coach Kirk MacDonald admitted he wished he could have found more ice time for Zonnon.
“Bill has been great. I probably should have gotten him more ice to be honest, but I thought he did a great job,” MacDonald said. “The goal was a great example for our group–we did a great job staying above the puck, creating a turnover, and then we attacked downhill. And Billy made a great play. It got us going; I thought we had created a ton of momentum, and he’s able to convert on a high end play.”
PHN contributor Sam Wismer assisted with this story.
The post Penguins’ First Rounder Zonnon Shines in Pro Debut; WBS Wins Again appeared first on Pittsburgh Hockey Now.
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