With the month of February among us, the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins (WBS) are more than halfway finished with the American Hockey League (AHL) season.

The Pens record is currently 20-16-5. The Penguins were 5-5 going into their final two games in the month of January.

The end of January also brought a game night dedicated to the Hockey Fights Cancer foundation. Each season there are teams in many professional hockey leagues that dedicate a game night to supporting the foundation, including the WBS Penguins.

During the game on Jan. 28, the WBS Penguins wore purple and white colored jerseys that will be auctioned off to benefit the charity. There were many ways to help the cause during the game including the ability to purchase a purple colored Pens hat at the Penguins Goals Foundation table in which portions of the proceeds will be donated.

February not only brings an exciting month of regular season hockey but will also host the AHL All Star game in Laval, Canada. The Penguins player participating in this season’s All Star weekend is

Alexander Nylander, who replaced the first All Star pick, Xavier Ouellet, who is out for injury. This will be Nylander’s second season with the Penguins. The AHL All Star weekend will be held Feb. 5 and 6.

The Penguins are beginning to look more toward the end of their season, which is currently a very close matchup between most teams in the Atlantic division. The Pens are fifth in the Atlantic Division and eighth overall in the Eastern conference. There are currently six out of eight teams in the Atlantic division that have a win percentage between .5 and .6, making the Atlantic division have the highest current mobility in the AHL.

There are only two teams above a .6 win percentage in the Atlantic Division. The Penguins in-state rival, the Hershey Bears, are currently first in the division and first overall in the AHL. The Providence Bruins are currently second in the division. The closely matched up race will be one that makes every win even more important with the end of the season approaching.

The month of February will bring another set of challenges for the Penguins: The Penguins play 11 games in the month of February with six at home and five away. The Pens currently have a record of 8-8-3 at home. The Pens away record is currently 11-7-2. The Penguins February schedule

also has a nine-game matchup that will showcase Atlantic division matchups.

The end of the regular season is fast approaching, which makes every win all the more important. The Penguins will

finish the regular season off at home on April 15 when they take on the Charlotte Checkers.

The AHL regular season overall comes to a close on April 16.