Most of the Penguins were able to get away for some rest and relaxation during the 4 Nations break before returning to practice earlier this week.
“It was a nice little reset... now, we get back into it and ramp it up, and just looking forward to a good push here coming out of the break.” Alex Nedeljkovic said.
We caught up with some of the guys over these last few days about what they were up to...
Evgeni Malkin went to Miami, where his family has a residence: “Good weather, I swim. I'm surprised, I never swim in February. But it's good for your body... See my friends, who I spend time with. Work out with my coach too. It's a fun time. I watched the national teams play. Great games. Go to dinner. (Alex Ovechkin and I) had dinner in Miami together. I see him, we talk a little bit. He just relaxed. I tried to ask him about goals. But he doesn’t want to talk too much. He wants to just enjoy it. He wants to just relax.”
Noel Acciari and Alex Nedeljkovic also went to Florida with former teammate Marcus Pettersson, and met up with Drew O’Connor. As Cookie put it: “OC came out for dinner one night. He said he was going to be in Fort Lauderdale, and we were like, the three of us are at the resort. Come by, hang out at the pool. We had a great time. Pool from 10 to 4 every day with the kids. Great weather. Eat a little dinner. Weather was 82 and sunny every day.”
Michael Bunting and Kevin Hayes went to the Dominican Republic: “We planned it about a month ago. It was good. Nice sunshine, a lot of beach. We didn’t touch the pool. We had a boat day, beach, and golf. That was good.”
P.O Joseph took a tropical visit into uncharted territory: “I got my first sunburn. I’m peeling all over. I was in Aruba. I’ve never been there before. We try to go to different places. Tulum, the first year, Dominican Republic last year, Aruba this year. Me, my brother (Mathieu), and three other buddies from home. Get out a little bit from the snow.”
Joseph’s fellow Quebec native Vincent Desharnais went back to the snow for a reset in Montreal: “Honestly, just to have a little bit of comfort. The last five months... playoffs last year ended late, Game 7, free agency... then after that, new team, new everything... things are not going the way you want to, so you get mentally and emotionally drained. Then get traded. Just, it’s a lot to deal with. So, I just went home, had some home-cooked meals and sat by the fireplace and watched movies. Just some normalcy. It was so nice and cozy. The only thing that was not great was the two snowstorms. Those were not great.”
Bryan Rust went home to Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario with his wife and two sons: “It was not warm or sunny, but it was fun. Kids played in the snow. Father-in-law had the outdoor rink going, so it was fun.”
Cody Glass obtained a legendary tan in Mexico: “Caught some rays. That was pretty much it. This is the most tan I’ve ever been. We were in Tulum, it was really nice. Good restaurants.”
Ryan Graves went home to Nova Scotia and enjoyed the tranquility: “Winter things, skating, outdoor rink once. A lot of walks, you can walk on the beach, you can walk in the snow. It's nice. There's no one out there, we live in a cottage area. In the winter there's like, no one around.”
Anthony Beauvillier took on some roller coasters: “I went to Cocoa Beach, chilled, went to Disney for a day, Universal for a day. I’m a big Harry Potter fan. Other than that, it was pretty quiet.”
