Inside Scoop: 2025.26 Dads Trip

THAT'S A WRAP

While it was a tough trip for the Penguins results-wise, the dads stayed undefeated. The sentiment around the dads is that this was a good group of guys - one of the best ones we've had. It's such a blast spending time with them, and we're sad to see them go! Can't wait until next year.

BELL CENTRE TOUR

The players had a day off the ice on Friday, but the dads still went to the rink. They got a behind-the-scenes tour of the Bell Centre in the afternoon.

“Iconic franchise,” said Steve Kindel, who was a Canadiens fan even though he is born and raised in British Columbia. He joked that happened out of spite on a family trip.

“My dad's side of the family, a lot of them grew up in the prairies,” Steve explained. “My dad came from a farmer's family in Saskatchewan, and he still had siblings in Saskatchewan and Calgary. We were together for a family function in the spring of ‘86, and one of my favorite uncles from Calgary, he was just a diehard Flames fan. He just couldn't stop talking about Flames. And it was sort of the first time, I guess it was nine, I was watching hockey, and so I just started cheering against the Flames. And Patrick Roy had that outstanding rookie run, and they won that year. And then I just stayed a Canadiens fan since then.”

When Ben was little, he would sit on Steve’s lap and watch Montreal’s games with him. When he truly started getting into hockey, Brendan Gallagher was breaking into the league, and Ben always admired his work ethic and passion. He also liked P.K. Subban, Carey Price, Jake Evans and Nick Suzuki.

In 2015, Steve’s wife Sara had a work trip to Montreal, so the family tagged along. Steve and Ben actually did the same tour that the dads did, and then went to that year’s home opener against the New York Rangers. Kevin Hayes was a member of that Blueshirts squad.

“I was talking to Hayesy about it. He was like, that’s crazy!” Steve said. “He’s been good for Ben, taking him to dinner. Obviously, he’s a veteran senior guy and he’s kind of seen it all.”

He can only imagine what it will be like to see Ben play in an NHL game here tonight, especially after being at Bell Centre for the preseason opener for both the Penguins and Canadiens.

“It’s going to be emotional,” Steve said. “Like, I never cry about anything. But at the exhibition game, it was like, sold out. The crowd was so into because it was the first game back of any hockey. So, the fans were into it. The American anthem played, and then the Canadian anthem started, which I've heard a thousand times. But it was the French version. So, as soon as it started playing, for some reason, it hit home we’re in Montreal. And I was welling up a bit.”

DADS TRY CURLING

After morning skates on these trips, the dads typically leave the hotel so that their sons can go through their normal preparation (namely naps) without distractions. Today’s activity in Ottawa was curling.

“We had fun today, learning how to curl,” said Justin Brazeau’s father Greg. “We had some great instructors, some great volunteers that taught us how to be in the hack and push out of the hack and throw in turns and out turns and learn how to sweep. Lot of good old curling terminology used today, and lots of fun.”

Jimmy McGroarty said Greg was the No. 1 star of their game, as he actually has some experience with curling. Rumors of his ability spread throughout the locker room before they even started.

“I have played the last two years, three years, every Wednesday night back home in Ontario,” Greg said before adding with a laugh, “Got to give them a little shoutout if this gets on there, because they need all the attention they can get.”

The staff split the dads into groups of four as they walked in, “so it worked out good. And you know what? The guy’s a genius, because one group tied 2-2 and the other group tied 4-4,” Jimmy said. “Everybody went home happy. We tied. We were waiting for overtime, shootout.”

Not surprising from a group of men who helped raise professional athletes.

“It’s kind of funny curling, because a lot of these guys have never curled before, and you can actually see where their sons get it because of the competitiveness in them. You can see how it is for fun. But some of the boys actually threw a little bit more effort into it, and it was quite exciting to see that.”

DIGICAM DOES TEAM DINNER

After landing in Ottawa, everyone quickly dropped their bags off at the hotel before bussing to dinner at Fratelli Kanata, a fantastic local spot.

Kris Letang told Rutger McGroarty in the morning that he'd have to address the group and welcome the dads and family members before the meal was served, and the rookie forward did a nice job.

After that, the digital camera made a comeback after going overseas to Sweden. I went around to each table for group shots, and the subjects were all great sports.

There's a Dairy Queen across the way, and it's not uncommon for guys to stop there and get ice cream for dessert after a delicious Italian meal. This time, the Blizzards were delivered directly to the players and their family members, with rookies Rutger McGroarty, Ben Kindel, and Ville Koivunen passing them out to each table.

ROOKIE DADS

With the youth movement in Pittsburgh, there are more rookie dads than usual on this trip.

A couple of them have been around sports their whole lives. Steve Kindel played professional soccer and now works as Senior Technical Director of the North Vancouver Football Club; while Jimmy McGroarty played professional hockey with stops in the ECHL and overseas, and now works as general manager of the Muskegon Lumberjacks (USHL). But it’s still an eye-opening experience to see what their sons are doing on a day-to-day basis.

“After the video meeting, he was like, ‘That was awesome,’” Rutger said. “I feel like the attention to detail that it takes in the NHL and just little things that he can take back home to his job and maybe share with his team, that's really cool for him. But also, I think he's just taking it all in. I think he just loves the opportunity, loves seeing his boy live out his dreams, and he's just loving it.”

MUSE WELCOMES THE GROUP

The annual Dads Trip presented by Highmark began with the group having breakfast in the players lounge before sitting in on the video meeting ahead of Wednesday’s practice at UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex.

At first, Dan Muse wasn’t sure if it made sense to bring in all of the dads (along with some fathers-in-law and brothers) to watch the tape, as there’s a lot to go over coming off another tough outing. Pittsburgh’s loss to Edmonton left them with a 0-2-3 record on their season-long five-game homestand before hitting the road for this two-game trip to Ottawa and Montreal.

“But everybody that's getting on that plane, we're all in the fight together, so we might as well start off the right way and jump right in,” the Penguins Head Coach said. “I think everybody in this room can help play a role to get things started and get us some points on this trip.

“Obviously, as of late, as of the last week or so, we've been in one a little bit, we've been dipping. And I think these trips are always fun when things are going well. It gets even better right now, just calling in the big guns... having some family with us, and people that have played a major influence on obviously all the players in this room. And so, I think the timing of this, everybody joining, couldn't be any better.”