Bonino Between the Pipes

Towards the end of Thursday’s practice, Noel Acciari looked down the bench – and did a double-take.

“Is that Bones?!” he said with a big smile.

It was, in fact, Penguins assistant coach Nick Bonino – decked out in full goalie gear. He had left the ice a few minutes earlier to throw on his equipment. The boys absolutely loved having Bonino join them in that capacity.

“I think we were all excited about it,” Bryan Rust said. “We've been trying to make it happen ever since we knew he got the pads and was playing in the staff games. But just seeing him just kind of come out of nowhere for that last drill, it was fun.”

When Rust was serving his three-game suspension, he had watched from the bench with delight as Bonino tended the net for the staff games, which typically happen on game days and feature Penguins and UPMC Lemieux Complex staffers – including Jason Spezza and Amanda Kessel.

“I knew long before that (that Bonino had been playing,” Rust said. “He’d been talking up his game for a long time.”

Growing up, Bonino had always loved playing goalie during street hockey. As Bonino developed into a defensively responsible forward, he got his goalie fix blocking shots throughout an NHL career that spanned nearly 900 games and included a pair of Stanley Cup Championships with Pittsburgh.

After playing the 2023-24 season with the New York Rangers, Bonino decided to buy some goalie gear that summer. “While I still had my (Players’ Association) discount,” he joked. “I didn’t know if I was going to keep playing hockey.”

Bonino did play one more professional season, going overseas to Slovenia with HK Olimpija. He then joined the staff of Penguins head coach Dan Muse, who coached Bonino in both New York and Nashville.

“Decided after retirement that I would play a little goalie for fun,” Bonino said before adding with his trademark dry humor, “Didn’t know I’d be this good.”

He then headed to the bench and took the ice.

“I’m going to need your assessment of how Bones looks,” I said to Stuart Skinner as he took a water break before their drill began.

“Already it’s a 10 out of 10,” Skinner said.

The drill featured three nets set up in one zone – two across from each other and one facing out, with Bonino taking that crease. Players could score on any net they wanted, but not on a rebound. They had to make a pass before attacking again.

“They didn’t give me a warmup, so it’s going to be a bloodbath,” Bonino said before he went out.

A few guys did find the back of the net, starting with Evgeni Malkin, who celebrated like he had just scored the overtime winner in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final. Then the locker room opened, so we didn’t get to see the rest of Bonino’s performance.

“He’s got good instincts,” said Rust, who added that his low and post play needs work. Which is exactly what Bonino had said earlier.

“Hands are my strength. Weakness is post play,” Bonino said.

Muse said it’s nothing a few 1-on-1 sessions with goalie coach Andy Chiodo can’t fix.

“He's working hard out there. I think he's taking some steps. He’s got some work to do,” Muse said with a laugh.

All in all, it was great for the team dynamic to have Bonino out there with the guys.

“Talking about energy and talking about chemistry around the team and stuff, to be honest, it just gives a really good feeling – that we can have this much fun and still take it seriously,” Skinner said. “It just gives you kind of that feel that the team is really family-oriented.”