Family Activities Surrounding Winter Classic Filled with Love

Jeff Petry doesn't have too many memories of being on the field with his dad Dan, who was a Major League Baseball pitcher from 1979-90, since he was so young at the time.
"But we have pictures of me when I was crawling to 3 years old, standing out on the baseball field," said Jeff, who was born in 1987. "They're special memories, and things you look back on," he said.
Even though Jeff couldn't play in the Winter Classic between the Penguins and the Bruins at Fenway Park in Boston, he's still so grateful that he got to make memories like that of his own now that he's a father, and experience everything else that occurred during the past few days with his family - his wife Julie, their four boys, and their parents.
"The weekend itself was just the experience of a lifetime," Julie said. "The Penguins spared no expense to make it amazing for us. It's just really cool."

The team traveled like they usually do, and continued on to Vegas this morning. In addition to that, the Penguins coordinated travel for the players' families - chartering their significant others, children and other family members round trip from Pittsburgh to Boston, and taking care of every single detail in between.
In addition to handling the logistics - like accommodations, meals, tickets for immediate/extended family and friends, and getting to and from the stadium - director of team operations Jason Seidling and the Penguins went above and beyond to make this unique experience even more special.
"We have such an appreciation for what went into this, and the amount of effort that the Penguins have put in to take care of us all," Chad Ruhwedel's wife Elle said.
It started with a New Year's Eve party at the team hotel on Saturday evening. There were TVs that had the bowl games on; all sorts of snacks and finger food, including some lobster roll sliders; face painting and someone making balloon animals for the kids, along with games for them to play; and of course, a photo booth.
"It feels like it was like a welcome party for a wedding weekend," Julie said with a laugh. "That's what everybody needed."
P.O Joseph's mom France loves to dance, with the defenseman saying she's taken salsa lessons with his dad Frantzi. At first, she told P.O she wouldn't go out on the floor because he's a rookie.
"But we made it out there at the very end!" France said. "We had so much fun at the party. He's brand new to the league, so we had some time to meet everybody. We were very welcomed all weekend. And just being with P.O, we love it. We're all together and creating some memories."
The players had most of New Year's Day to spend however they chose before a late afternoon practice at Fenway. Afterward, they were joined by their families on the ice so that their loved ones could have the experience of skating outdoors at the iconic stadium.
There were so many special moments from that event. Boyd and Barrett Petry might have been looking forward to it the most out of everyone, with Julie rating their excitement level an 11 on a scale of 1-10. Because not only do they play hockey - Boyd loves Aaron Judge and the Yankees, while Barrett loves Freddie Freeman and the Dodgers.
"They were excited when they found out about the outdoor game, being able to skate. Then being on a baseball field, they're really big baseball fans. So they asked me if they could bring their gloves," Jeff said. "They wanted to get close to the Green Monster and throw, but with all the stuff around it, we decided just to go on the ice with it."
As Jeff tossed a baseball around with his boys, Alex Letang and Nikita Malkin were down at the other end passing a puck to each other. "He's practicing, he's a good skater," Evgeni said of his son. "He skates with (assistant coach Ty Hennes) sometimes, you know. I hope he plays hockey someday."
Elsewhere, Brian Dumoulin's dad Pete, who drove in that day from Maine with his wife Deb, made faces at his grandson Brayden, trying to get him to smile for pictures.
Pete has been around the team for a long time, so he's well-versed in events like this, having gone on a number of Dads Trips over the years in addition to outdoor games. So he was thrilled for his daughter-in-law's parents to go through that this weekend as well.
"Kayla's parents were able to come, so I was so excited for them to experience the fun that the Penguins create for people," Pete said. "It's just awesome. To be right up close to Brian skating around and watching Brayden's excitement, it was really fun."

That's the part that stood out the most to Kelsey Rust, was Bryan taking their son Hunter around the rink.
"Just watching your children and seeing it from their eyes, they're just looking around and being in awe of their dads," she said. "It's so special."
All of the players' significant others wore special long cream-colored coats inspired by Pittsburgh's Winter Classic jerseys, with their partner's number on the front and the logo on the back.
They'd been working on them for a couple of months, with Julie - who founded the clothing line Line Change with Carey Price's wife Angela while their husbands played together in Montreal - able to offer her expertise. Then, the local company Pro Knitwear - who does the players' jerseys - brought their vision to life.
"She has such an eye for it," Kelsey said. "With Line Change and everything, we were like, you're the perfect person for this."
The ladies rocked those jackets at the game itself, along with cute black beanies that also had their partner's number. The weather was perfect - "it's cold enough, but we're not miserable," Julie said - and there was a family warming area for anyone who needed a break from the action. She brought Boyd and Barrett to the game, with the younger two - Bowen and baby Blake - staying back, as the Penguins provided entertainment for the children at the hotel.
"The other little kids that aren't here were back there, having a blast," Julie said. "Bowen was having the time of his life there."
The guys tried to be as stylish as the girls, donning Boston scally caps to go along with their jerseys when they took the ice for practice on Sunday, and then arriving at the rink in baseball uniforms that paid homage to the
1925 Pittsburgh Pirates
. Some of them even brought bats, while goaltender Casey DeSmith put on some catcher's gear.

Everything about the weekend was perfect, except for the result. But as Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan said, sometimes, when you look back on times like this 20 years from now, the memories are what will stand out.

"You're not too sure how many of these you're going to get, so just try to enjoy it as you go," said Jake Guentzel, who was there with his wife Natalie and their infant son Charlie. "And to have your family here, it's a special time for all of us. It's something we can look back on in the future, and just realize how special it is."