As soon as Kevin Hayes learned that his locker stallmate Connor Dewar saw Noah Kahan in concert last summer, he broke into song.
“It’s the season of the sticks!”
Hayes could provide vocals while Dewar plays the guitar, as Connor picked up the skill during the pandemic and stuck with it. “I find it kind of comes and goes based on if we’re home,” Dewar said during a recent getting-to-know interview. “I play a lot during the summers. I play acoustic.”
The artist Dewar would most like to see live is Paul McCartney, who actually performed a grand opening concert when PPG Paints Arena opened its doors on Aug. 18, 2010. Which tracks, after learning Dewar named his 7-month-old basset hound puppy Ringo.
“I like the Beatles, and I thought we needed kind of a goofy name,” said Dewar, whose parents currently have two basset hounds. "It's my favorite dog, I guess, favorite temperament."
Connor grew up in The Pas, Manitoba, about six hours south of Winnipeg. Connor, who has a younger brother, didn’t have much of a choice when it came to playing hockey.
“In The Pas, it’s really, like, the only organized sport there is,” the 25-year-old forward said. “The winters there are like, eight months long. It’s naturally cold. Half the kids in town have an outdoor rink in their backyard.”
Connor didn’t grow up a Jets fan, however, as the team didn’t return to Winnipeg until 2012. Instead, he cheered for the Montreal Canadiens.
“Because I was such a big Habs fan, my favorite player was Saku Koivu. He had a great story about coming back from cancer, was a great leader,” Dewar said.
Dewar’s first time at Bell Centre didn’t come until he was in the NHL himself, which was a surreal experience. “That’s still one of the hardest places to play for me. I just feel a little bit nervous and a little bit starstruck there,” he said.
His parents relocated to just outside of Winnipeg, so he goes back there in the offseason. You can find Connor on the golf course or catching up with friends he hasn’t seen all year, but definitely not on a beach vacation.
“I get sick of putting sunscreen on every day... I find that it ends up wearing off towards the end, and I’m sunburnt,” said Connor, who inherited his reddish hair from his mom. “I burn very easily. I’m a little bit Irish.”
During the season, when Connor isn’t at the rink, he reads, plays video games, watches TV and movies – “anything that allows me to lounge around.” Which, honestly, same.
Currently, he’s reading Keith Richards’ autobiography, titled ‘Life,’ and watching the HBO series ‘The Pacific.’
And when he’s on the ice, Dewar brings life, energy and spirit.
“As we continue to work our way through this, it’s important to have those types of people here,” Penguins President of Hockey Operations and GM Kyle Dubas said. “Connor’s much younger. He’s under team control with his status. We’ll give him a good run. We’re excited about him.”
