After picking up a fifth straight win on Sunday afternoon in Columbus, the Penguins were grateful for a short flight home, as they got back just in time to watch the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Baltimore Ravens to make the NFL postseason. Bryan Rust and his wife Kelsey had decided right before the weekend that they would host the group.
“It was good. It was fun. Everybody was into it,” he said. “With how packed the schedule has been, we haven’t had too many opportunities to get together as a team. It was an opportunity that my wife and I saw, like, hey, let's just get everybody over our house. We don’t have a babysitter [laughs], so let’s just have everybody come over here.”
Bryan pulled into his driveway in time for kickoff, while everyone else arrived during the first quarter. They were greeted with quite a spread.
“Since we had a few days between games, we decided to go with some cheat meals there,” Bryan said. “Had some Shake Shack, some wings, pizza, Condado Tacos. Then some cinnamon rolls as well.”
I asked if he took any tips from Sidney Crosby, who typically has people over for American Thanksgiving and the Super Bowl.
“I've learned what not to do,” Rust quipped. “That’s all I’m going to say! I’ve learned what not to do.”
The captain got a kick out of that.
“I would love to hear what that is,” Crosby said with a laugh. “I thought he did a great job (hosting). It's great when you get together and get a big win. We were watching both games [also Canada’s loss to Czechia in the World Junior Championship semifinals], so we got one result that we wanted, and not so much the other one. For me, anyway. But it was great to have the guys together, and nice of him and Kels to host.”
It was particularly appreciated by Stuart Skinner, one of the newer additions to the group.
“I haven't watched a ton of football this year. But once I obviously got traded over here, I was pretty excited,” the Penguins goaltender said. “And I want to go see a game! Happy to see them win. But yeah, it was great being able to go and meet up with the team, and meet the wives and everyone's other half. And I think it's just a good way to really meet the guys and sit down and not be in a situation where it's all hockey, and actually talk and be human.”
He's certainly starting to get a feel for how much of a sports town Pittsburgh is.
“It’s unreal,” Skinner said. “Like obviously, being able to play and hearing all the noise that the fans make and how incredible this fan base is, it's honestly so fun. And then obviously, we've got some amazing teams here. So yeah, it's pretty cool. Like, I'm pumped.”
