Colin White Has Pittsburgh Roots

Colin White may have grown up in Boston, but the household supported Pittsburgh sports, as dad Mark and mom Christine are both from Upper St. Clair.

After the couple graduated from their respective colleges – Mark played football at Georgia Tech, and Christine played tennis at Florida State – Mark’s job eventually landed them in Massachusetts, where they stayed true to their roots.

As a kid, Colin loved Mario Lemieux and the Penguins, so when the organization invited White to training camp on a professional tryout contract, he jumped at the opportunity - and ended up signing a one-year deal.

“There’s so much history here, and there’s so many good things people say about it, and the culture here is great,” White, 26, said. “It was a good opportunity for me too, being in the spot that I’m in. It also helps, I have some family here, too, so it makes it feel a little more home-y.”

White’s maternal grandparents, Jeff and Barb Joyce, still live in the area. So, when White got recalled from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton over the weekend, Jeff promptly invited his grandson to come over and watch the Steelers play in their Wild Card matchup on Monday against Buffalo.

White ended up watching the game with a few of the guys, as Jeff was a little sick, and he didn’t want Colin to catch anything before the team headed on the road to Vegas and Arizona. But Jeff and Barb have plans to head down to PPG Paints Arena for Pittsburgh’s weekend back-to-back next Friday and Saturday against Florida and Montreal.

“My grandpa’s always texting me and now that I’m here, he’s already asking me to come and watch NFL football, things like that. So it’s pretty awesome just to have that outlet, him here,” White said with a smile. “They’re such a good support system.”

They’ve cheered him on every step of the way, with the Ottawa Senators drafting White in the first round of the 2015 NHL Draft. He found success early in his career playing with Brady Tkachuk and Mark Stone, producing well – scoring 14 goals in his first full NHL season in 2018-19 – before hitting a bit of a lull in his development.

White ended up in Florida after five seasons with the Senators organization, and helped the Panthers advance to the Stanley Cup Final, appearing in 21 games during their playoff run after playing in 68 regular-season games.

“It was unreal. It was an experience you won’t forget and to play in those big games, it kind of settles your nerves for any other game,” White said.

He had a strong training camp with Pittsburgh, which led to him getting a contract, as Penguins President of Hockey Operations and GM Kyle Dubas said they like his all-around game, and are hopeful they could help White find his way back offensively.

White started the 2023-24 campaign with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League, where he dealt with some upper-body injuries early on, which wasn’t ideal – “but I just stuck with the process and rehab. As of late, it’s been getting better and better. So I'm finding that confidence, and I'm happy to be here now.”

White made his Penguins debut on Jan. 13 at Carolina with Noel Acciari a late scratch due to an upper-body injury, and has remained with the team since then, traveling with the Penguins on their road trip to Vegas and Arizona. If White does end up slotting back into the lineup, especially with Radim Zohorna going on waivers, he’ll try to keep playing a simple game with plenty of attention to detail.

“We just think that the versatility with him, I think he's very reliable for the coaching staff and can play both special teams if needed, but especially on the penalty kill, play all three forward positions as well,” Dubas said. “Especially if we're going out on the road, we don't have many games, so it's important to give the coaching staff flexibility and some versatility in the lineup, and we're hopeful that Colin can get rolling here quickly.”