Barbecue and Bonding with Geekie, Poitras and DiPietro

DALLAS –– Morgan Geekie and Michael DiPietro carefully balanced their trays as they inched towards the table.

Mac and cheese, green beans, creamed corn, coleslaw, cornbread and onion and pickles filled Geekie’s red platter. DiPietro guessed he was carrying around six pounds of beef ribs, brisket, sausage and turkey.

​Matt Poitras made his way back from the drink station with a lemonade, eyes wide.

​“Do you guys have takeout containers here? There’s no way we’re eating all this food,” he said. “I don’t even know how to attack this.”

After sweeping the California road trip, with wins against the San Jose Sharks, Anaheim Ducks, and Los Angeles Kings, the Boston Bruins had an off-day in Dallas on Sunday. They play the Stars at American Airlines Center on Tuesday.

And, of course, what better thing to do in Texas than eat some barbecue? Geekie, Poitras and DiPietro chose Terry Black’s as their spot for lunch – and got a taste of nearly everything.

“If I have a heart attack at the table, it was really a pleasure being your teammate,” DiPietro said with a chuckle as he settled into his seat.

The 27-year-old goaltender is coming off his first NHL win on Friday in Anaheim; he posted a 26-save performance. Getting his dad and wife, Grace, on the phone was his priority following the career milestone.

“I was actually surprised my dad was still up, but it was good to talk to him. Grace was excited; I think our dog was pretty pissed off because she was still up and he didn’t know why. It was pretty cool to make those calls,” DiPietro said. “He was just like, ‘Finally, you were able to get the monkey off your back.’ He was just happy, sticking with it through the years. Obviously it means a lot, because he is my best friend. For me to be able to share it with him and the journey we’ve been on – hopefully we can have many more, but definitely happy to get the first one out of the way.”

As promised, DiPietro has not let his first-win puck out of his sight. The table was almost surprised that it didn’t make the trip to Terry Black’s with him.

“It is in my suitcase. I should’ve brought it. I did sleep with it the first night,” DiPietro said. “It’s going right at my bar at my house. Right front and center and probably won’t move for the rest of my life.”

While this is Geekie’s first time being on a team with DiPietro, Poitras spent parts of the last two seasons with him in the AHL with Providence. Poitras and DiPietro, along with Frederic Brunet and James Hagens, have been a key piece in adding new energy to the B’s lineup this season.

Poitras has three points (two goals, one assist) in his last three games and a total of five points through six games this year. After dealing with a lower-body injury during training camp, Poitras was activated from IR on Oct. 5 and has held a consistent, impactful spot in Boston’s forward group ever since.

“It obviously sucked to get hurt during camp. When you’re rehabbing and not skating with the team – it’s not very much fun,” Poitras said. “We’re all happy to be here. Spent the last couple of years together in Prov and had a lot of fun. We had great groups there. It is just awesome to be here together, and especially on this road trip. I feel like the team gets to bond a bit more on the road because we’re together a lot. It’s cool to experience it with those guys.”

The 22-year-old forward has centered both the fourth line between Tanner Jeannot and Mark Kastelic, as well as the second line between Marat Khusnutdinov and Geekie. The trio set up the game-winning tally against the Kings on Saturday.

​“I think just keeping it simple and trying to play hard and do whatever it takes to help the team win,” Poitras said. “I think sometimes when I just simplify that in my head, it helps me go out there and play and not worry about other things.”

The mountain of barbecue in front of Poitras helped keep hockey off his mind during the rest day. Not so dissimilar from the Bruins’ teamwork on the ice, the Terry Black’s crew commits to a collaborative effort all day, every day to strive for the best product. Nate Werner, the general manager of the Dallas location, is a hockey fan who grew up in Minnesota and landed in Texas.

“I actually have a Bruins jersey at home,” he said. “That was my first love way before the Dallas Stars moved here.”

Werner is the captain of Terry Black’s operation, and he holds his group to the highest standards.

“People come in, and if they get a bad piece of brisket or bad beef rib, they’re going to be like, ‘Oh, it’s not worth the hype.’ So I've got to make sure it is worth the hype. That’s what my team is built to do,” Werner said. “Right now, I am cooking 150 briskets. I’ll be cooking another 90 briskets once these come off because you can only cook about 30 briskets on a pit. As soon as those are done, I will put another cycle on, but they’ll take 12 hours to cook. That’s averaging about 20 to 25 pounds per brisket. In one week, I’ll be somewhere between six and seven thousand pounds.”

The pit room is cooking 24/7, Werner added. They have an overnight crew, and the next time the restaurant will fully close down is for one day on Thanksgiving. Werner is always thinking weeks ahead; preparation is the name of the game.

The brisket that Poitras, DiPietro and Geekie ate on Sunday took four days to be ready to be served. Werner and his unit got it in on Thursday, acclimated, trimmed it on Friday and cooked it on Saturday.

“There is no margin for error; overcooking, undercooking, burning, whatever it is. That’s what is so critical. The brisket trim sets the cycle for everything. We trim the fat and the beef off, and then at 3:00 p.m., I will have my sausage guy come in,” Werner said. “He will take all the trimmings. Basically, we are trimming today for what we’re going to serve on Tuesday, so we always have to be a couple days ahead. It’s really the logistical planning that goes into it.”

While Werner is making barbecue and the Bruins are playing hockey, they hold the same purpose: to pursue their passion and to do it to the best of their abilities. The deep care is evident in every bite at Terry Black’s, and every Boston shift on the ice.

​Geekie, Poitras and DiPietro thanked Werner for his time and hospitality. The final rankings came in. Geekie’s top three bites were the sausage, turkey and coleslaw. DiPietro went with beef ribs as number one, then mac and cheese and cornbread. Poitras simply enjoyed everything on his plate. It was an off-day well spent.

​“You get to know them a little bit during camp and stuff. I played with Potsy a long, long time ago, it seems now. Just to have Dipper around, too, full-time is great,” Geekie said. “I think the big thing is we’ve brought in a lot of good hockey players, but a lot of good people, too. I think you see that in the group and on the ice; it translates really well. It’s easier to play for guys who care for each other off the ice, especially.”