Penguins Refreshed and Ready to Hit the Reset Button After Break
While Sidney Crosby represented the Penguins at the NHL All-Star Weekend festivities in Sunrise, Fla., Rickard Rakell (Palm Beach) and Jake Guentzel (Alys Beach) also spent their time off along coasts of the Sunshine State.
Guentzel cherished the opportunity to get to take his six-month-old son Charlie, who’s “just discovering things in life,” to the beach for the first time.
“Putting him in the water, in the pool,” Guentzel said. “First time in Florida, so it was pretty cool for us, and it was very cool to see.”
Bryan Rust was at the center of Florida in Orlando, which included time spent at Disney World with his family. He hadn’t been to theme park since he was a child, but enjoyed his experience.
“It was actually pretty fun,” Rust said. “They had some pretty cool stuff in there, so it’s definitely cool to see. And it was nice that it was kind of a down time there, so there weren’t too many people.”
Perhaps the highlight of Rust’s trip was seeing his young son, Hunter, enthralled by the park. He said that Hunter “went bananas” while they were there. “He loves Mickey big time,” Rust said. “Loves Winnie the Pooh and loves Mickey. He’s getting pretty into it.”
Jan Rutta and P.O. Joseph found themselves across the Gulf in Mexico. Joseph, who traveled with family and friends from back home in Quebec, described his visit to Tulum as a good “getaway week,” filled with “great meals” and plenty of time at the beach and on the golf course.
“I probably played my worst [games of golf] ever,” Joseph said. “But I think it’s good for your mental health to get away from it, and enjoy your friends that you don’t see as often as you would like sometimes. Just good company and meeting new people over there, and trying out different cultures, seeing a different culture. That’s definitely a good week.”
A large contingent of the team – including Teddy Blueger, Jeff Carter, Danton Heinen, Kasperi Kapanen, Brock McGinn, Jeff Petry, Ryan Poehling and Jason Zucker – all ended up in the Bahamas.
“A couple of the guys had the kids there, too, so we were at the waterpark with all the kids, enjoying a good time,” said McGinn, who celebrated his 29th birthday on Feb. 2. “So it’s nice for everybody to get away.”
Blueger said that “the whole thing was really fun,” particularly because it was “good to go with a big group,” a band of teammates that chose to stay together, even during a week off.
“I think that brings another fun element,” Blueger said. “Spending a lot of time with each other outside the rink and dinners and all that was a lot of fun. There was one day we rented a boat, so we were out on a boat all day. Just went to a couple of islands and a couple deserted beaches, which was pretty cool.”
When asked how the trip came about, Blueger said their significant others played a part.
“I think the girls probably planned it more than we did,” Blueger said. “But we had a small group going, and then more and more guys wanted to join, so it just kind of happened like that. Ended up with a pretty decent-sized group.”
After a few days spent back at home in New England, Brian Dumoulin was also on his way to the Caribbean. However, he was with his family in Turks and Caicos.
No matter where he was, Dumoulin said that the biggest thing about the break was that it was “good to think about other things” aside from hockey.
“Obviously, get out of the grind, get some good night’s sleep, steady night’s sleep, which is always nice,” Dumoulin said. “That’s one of the biggest things in the season, where our sleep schedule is always changing. So it was just nice to get into a little bit of a routine and get into a rhythm.
“It was nice. It was great to spend time with family. Besides the summer, that’s the most time I get to spend with them consistently. It was good to be with them.”
Evgeni Malkin opted for colder weather and went skiing with his wife Anna and son Nikita in Mont-Tremblant. It’s in the Montreal area, which is home for Kris Letang.
“I think sometimes, when you’re caught in the grind of the season, you don’t feel it as much, how worn down you get,” Letang said. “But to get a full break, to get away from it and just think about different things other than hockey, sometimes it’s good for the mind. It’s good for the body. Now, in the upcoming weeks, we’ll see who wants to win and who wants to go far.”
With the break in the rearview mirror, Dumoulin knows that the intensity of the remaining 31 games on the schedule will be palpable.
“We’ve got to try to get on a run, feel good about our game going into it,” Dumoulin said. “And when we get on that run, we’ve got to feel good about it and believe in each other and stay healthy, too. Obviously, that’s a big thing. So we’ve got to stay on top of things and try to get some wins.”
Although the time away was enjoyable, Joseph noted that it felt good to be back on the ice.
“Seeing the guys here, everyone’s been happy with coming back,” Joseph said. “Getaways are fun, but after a couple days, you miss the game, you miss the boys. And I think that’s what the mentality here has been for the last couple months. So we’re happy to be here, and we’re going to work hard to come back into the game shape.”
Blueger joked that when returning to the ice after a week away, it “feels like you haven’t skated for two months,” but that it felt good to be “refreshed.”
“It was good to check out and get away,” Blueger said. “Come back with a new mindset.”
