Inside Scoop: Pens Support Staff Going Above and Beyond

On Thursday, the Penguins returned to practice as usual at UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex. It was a welcome return to some semblance of normalcy after a road swing through Boston and New York City filled with distractions, uncontrollables and inconveniences - from injuries to inclement weather to COVID-related issues - that made it feel more like nine years instead of nine days.

The players can't say enough about the job the support staff - across the medical, training, strength and conditioning, hockey operations, communications and video departments - has done to step up and keep everything running smoothly through all of the moving parts so that they can just focus on hockey.
Head athletic trainer Chris Stewart and assistant athletic trainer Patrick Steidle have been the team MVPs in that regard, because not only are they dealing with the influx of injuries that have decimated the Penguins - they are also making sure the team is complying with the NHL's COVID-19 Protocol, which is a huge amount of responsibility.
"The whole organization is great to us," Kris Letang said. "They put everything in place for us to be successful and have to worry only about performing on the ice. It's crazy for all the people that surround us and do everything for us. It's a first-class organization that cares about winning."
The support staff has been doing this since the NHL first pressed pause last March, but faced their biggest challenge yet on this road trip, which began when the Penguins flew to Boston on Monday, Jan. 25 and played the Bruins the following night. It was that Wednesday when everything started to get chaotic.
In the midst of Jim Rutherford resigning as general manager of the Penguins for personal reasons, the team had to figure out how to safely get defenseman Yannick Weber, signed to a one-year contract to provide some much-needed help to the depleted blue line, from Nashville to Pittsburgh to Boston.
In order for Weber to be eligible to play on Thursday against the Bruins, he couldn't fly commercial. So Weber and his fiancé packed up their car and started driving, with hopes of arriving in Pittsburgh that night, him getting a car service to Boston at 6 a.m., and being cleared in time for the 5 p.m. roster deadline. Associate head equipment manager Jon Taglianetti contacted Weber to ask what jersey number he wanted (No. 3), with assistant equipment manager Danny Kroll sending a box filled with everything he needed to Boston.
But around 7:45 p.m., Weber got in touch with staff and told them he wasn't even in Cincinnati yet; that he had been driving 30 MPH the entire day through snowy conditions and already had to pull off twice to scrape his windshield. So the team told him to find a hotel where he could stay the night, resume the trip on Thursday and plan to meet the team in New York for their game against the Rangers on Saturday. That way, Weber would get plenty of rest and be in a good spot to play.
The team also had to get Anthony Angello, Frederick Gaudreau and Will Reilly from Wilkes-Barre to New York after they were assigned to the taxi squad on Thursday. And since the players had to ride separately because of COVID-19 protocols, the Regency Global Transportation Group came through with three vehicles despite being undermanned.
In addition to fully outfitting Reilly in Penguins equipment since he didn't attend Pittsburgh's training camp, the team also had to get Reverse Retro jerseys made for all four players, with Kroll and shipping and receiving coordinator Brett Hart handling that task and getting them to the Big Apple.
As weather reports started coming in over the weekend that the New York area would be hit hard with a winter storm, the Penguins started making contingency plans ahead of that first matchup of the series, getting in touch with the airline about any potential issues.
The airline said while they would most likely be able to get the team a plane, a lengthy de-icing might be necessary. So the staff adjusted their plans before the Rangers series began to prepare for a quick departure from Madison Square Garden to the Newark Liberty International Airport after the second game on Monday to allow for that extra time.
However, once the snow started to fall, it quickly became apparent that the Penguins probably wouldn't be traveling back to Pittsburgh Monday night, especially after NYC mayor Bill de Blasio issued a State of Emergency for the city. That meant all vehicles were restricted on local roads except for essential and emergency travel, so the Penguins made the final call Monday morning to stay over.
It clearly was the right call, as evidenced by the mountain of snow that piled up around the team bus before the game Monday night. A perfect example of the support staff going above and beyond is strength and conditioning coach Alex Trinca leading the charge to grab shovels and start digging it out.
After making sure that there would be enough tests for the Penguins to do their mandatory morning COVID-19 testing on Tuesday, the hotel - doing the best they could with limited staff - had to confirm they could accommodate the team while abiding to their own COVID-19 protocols in terms of thoroughly cleaning and disinfecting the rooms ahead of the next club's arrival. The airline also had to confirm that they would have a plane available.
After all of that was squared away, the original plan was for the Penguins to get their testing done at the hotel first thing in the A.M. before flying back to Pittsburgh, with the specimens being driven 40 minutes away to the lab in New Jersey that the team uses to get processed in time for their game against the Devils on Tuesday night at PPG Paints Arena.
But in the midst of all that, the Penguins got word that the New Jersey game would be postponed as an influx of Devils players were added to the COVID Protocol Related Absences List. So as the Penguins were trying to decide if they should practice in New York or Pittsburgh on Tuesday instead, they were told that the plane they were originally supposed to take wasn't available. They ended up scheduling a 12 p.m. practice at Madison Square Garden to give the airline enough time to get another plane.
The team then found out they couldn't fly out of Newark because of the weather, and would have to drive an hour away to an aiport in White Plains, New York. The bus arrived at the same time the plane did, so they had to wait a while to start loading.
After getting on the plane, team staff handed food and beverage items to the players instead of the flight attendants for safety reasons. That's one of the tasks they had been stepping up to do the entire trip in addition to their own job responsibilities, along with loading luggage on the buses, as people outside of the Penguins' traveling party are supposed to limit interactions as much as possible.
The team finally arrived back in Pittsburgh on Tuesday around 5:30 p.m., with a much-deserved (somewhat) day off on Wednesday - after their mandatory morning COVID-19 testing was finished, of course.
"They're an amazing group," Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan said. "They're so invested in trying to help the Penguins win games, and the support staff is just a vitally important part of the overall team that makes the Penguins what they are. I know on behalf of the players and the coaches, we're certainly grateful for these people that work so hard behind the scenes to try to make our lives as smooth as possible. It's been a challenge through this difficult time."