Getting to Know: Brock McGinn

While Brock McGinn and his fiancé Jamie were driving from Raleigh, North Carolina to Fergus, Ontario after last season ended, they made a pit stop in Pittsburgh.
They stayed with his Hurricanes teammate Vince Trocheck, an Upper St. Clair native, and his wife for a night before continuing on their way. Little did McGinn know that he'd be heading back, this time for good, after
signing a four-year contract with the Penguins
on the first day of free agency.

"It's a little ironic," McGinn said with a laugh. "I think his wife has been going back and forth with my fiancé giving us tips. We've got dog groomers; we've got everything figured out."
Pittsburgh had already held a special significance to McGinn, as it was the city where his draft was held. Carolina took him in the second round (47th overall) of the 2012 NHL Draft, and while McGinn wasn't there in person, it was a place he would come to enjoy visiting during his seven plus seasons in the Hurricanes organization.
"It's just a hockey city. It's a sports city," McGinn said. "You see jerseys every time you're there. I think it just hypes you up to go play there. And I think the experience in the arena is spectacular. The fans are always engaged. So I'm excited to get there and to start playing."
With training camp fast approaching, get to know more about the 27-year-old forward off the ice.

Brock proposed to Jamie this summer, with the wedding planned for next July, followed by a honeymoon in Italy.
The aforementioned dog groomers will be needed for their mini Labradoodle dog named Peanut, after Brock's allergy that was discovered when he was little.
"She's the only Peanut I can have, I guess," he said with a laugh. "So that's kind of where we came up with the name. She's a ball of energy and she's a piece of work, that's for sure."
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Brock's peanut allergy means he sometimes has to get creative in the kitchen, which is something that he and Jamie really enjoy. While they were quarantining during the NHL pause, the two of them drew inspiration from Food Network shows like 'Chopped' and 'Guy's Grocery Games,' where contestants have to get creative and turn random ingredients into meals during a certain timeframe.
"We'll be like, what are we having for dinner? We both don't know. And I'm like, okay, give me an hour, and I'll just have to go into the kitchen and kind of put something together," Brock said. "We did little competitions. So it's fun."
Lately, they've been watching a show on Netflix called 'Somebody Feed Phil.' It features the creator of 'Everybody Loves Raymond,' Phil Rosenthal, traveling the globe to take in the local cuisine and culture of cities like Bangkok, Lisbon, Mexico City and more.
"He's a comedian, and he just makes us laugh," Brock said. "You learn so much about different cultures and stuff like that, so it's something we enjoy watching."
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The family calls Brock's fiancée Jamie Lee, since his oldest brother is also named Jamie. Brock is the youngest of three boys born to Bob and Cori McGinn - Tye is in the middle - with all of them going on to play professional hockey.
Jamie, 33, was drafted by San Jose in the second round of the 2006 NHL Draft and appeared in 633 NHL games split between the Sharks, Colorado, Buffalo, Anaheim, Arizona and Florida. Tye, 31, was drafted by Philadelphia in the fourth round of the 2010 NHL Draft, and has played 89 games split between the Flyers, San Jose, Arizona and Tampa Bay. The forward is currently playing overseas in Germany with a team that is also called the Penguins, in the DEL.
The roots of their careers can be traced back to the outdoor rink their parents built in the backyard of their home in Fergus, Ontario.
"We would all go out there and battle each other. I think we spent more time on the ice than we did indoors," Brock said. "I think that's where we get our competitiveness. Whether we were skating or playing mini sticks or fighting over who got that first scoop at dinner, we tried to push each other in everything we did. I think that's one of the reasons we got to where we are today."
Brock still laughs thinking about how heated things would get between them, and as the youngest, admitted that Cori let him get away with a little bit more than the other two. But at the end of the day, it was all in good fun, and he always liked tagging along to their games as they progressed in their careers.
And during Jamie's first year of junior hockey with the OHL's Ottawa 67's, his team actually defeated Brock's future teammate Sidney Crosby and the QMJHL's Rimouski Oceanic in the 2005 Memorial Cup.
"Sid was always the top and the talk, so you always wanted to watch him," Brock said. "I watched them play against each other in the Mem Cup, so that was pretty cool."
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The family remains super close, as they all live on the same street back in Ontario, and even went into business together a few years ago.
The McGinns became the principal owners of the Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs, a member of the Southern Professional Hockey League (SPHL), back in 2015. They had flown around and checked out a few spots before landing on the city in southwest Virginia, which is about a six-hour drive from Pittsburgh. The team played its inaugural season in 2016-17, and it's been quite the eye opening experience for the family ever since.
"At the start, we really didn't know what we were getting into," Brock said with a laugh. "It's been fun for us. I think we're learning the other side of hockey as well while we're playing it. You don't really think about what all goes into a hockey team, whether it's the travel, the hotel situation, food, fans…there's just so much that goes into it, and so much time. We all appreciate both sides of hockey now."
Bob, a retired air conditioning company salesman, handles most of the responsibilities during the season while his sons are focused on playing themselves.
"I don't think he's really retired anymore, my mom will say," Brock said. "He puts a lot of effort into it, and I think he has a very big passion for the team."
And in the summers, the boys step in and run a youth hockey camp for local youth players in Roanoke, with the numbers increasing every year.
"It's nice to see the growth of hockey down south," Brock said. "Our family isn't going into Roanoke just trying to make money on a hockey team. We're trying to help a community; we're trying to build fans and get people to love the game that we love. So it's a fun experience for us, and we just hope for the best going forward."
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SNAP SHOTS

HERITAGE

Irish, with Brock joking that he got his red hair from his grandma.

HOCKEY NICKNAME

Ginner
SUPERSTITION
A two-hour nap on game days
INTERESTS OUTSIDE OF HOCKEY
Golfing with his brothers, with Pinehurst in North Carolina being the best course he's played. He also enjoys football, and is teaming up with Bryan Rust as co-GMs in the Penguins' annual fantasy football league.
JOB IF HE WASN'T A PRO ATHLETE
Graphic designer
TATTOOS
His family's initials, along with a blue jay and a cardinal in honor of his paternal grandparents, as they would always spot those types of birds at their home. And in honor of his maternal grandparents, the blue jay and cardinal are each holding a pair of birdhouse earrings, as his grandfather would make them for his grandmother. "She's got about 20 pairs," Brock said.
FAVORITE MOVIE
Stepbrothers
FAVORITE MUSIC
Country