Poulin Family Makes Mad Dash to See Sam's NHL Debut

Annick Poulin was out for a walk with friends on this beautiful afternoon in Quebec when she received a phone call from a Pennsylvania number.
It was Penguins director of team operations Jason Seidling, calling with some incredible news about her son - Pittsburgh's first-round draft pick in 2019 - ahead of the team's matchup with the Flames in Calgary.

"He just told us that Sam didn't know yet, but he was playing tonight. They wanted us to fly out to be there for him," Annick said.
After hanging up, she made calls to her husband, former NHLer Patrick, and Sam's siblings - brother Nicholas and sister Kathryn - to let them know they had to quickly pack their things and make a mad dash to the airport. And the family, complete with Kathryn's 14-month-old son Liam in tow, managed to board their flight on time despite the chaotic turnaround.
"We found out around 1:30, and we were on the plane at 3:30," Annick said. "We just had to carry on, and we're going back tomorrow."
Meanwhile, back in Calgary, Sam found out that he would be making his NHL debut against the Flames about an hour after his mother did. After getting called up from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Sunday, he got the call tonight with Jason Zucker joining Jake Guentzel and Teddy Blueger on the injury list.
"It was certainly crazy. Learned this afternoon, right before the team meetings," he said. "It was probably 12 [Mountain time, two hours behind Eastern time] when I learned it. So quick turn of events, but I was glad to be here for my first game."
With this being the second half of a back-to-back set, the Penguins didn't hold a morning skate. So Poulin didn't have the chance to work off any of his nerves, instead just getting a stretch in at the hotel before coming to the rink.
When the 21-year-old forward took the ice for the traditional solo rookie lap ahead of warmups, "my legs were shaking," Poulin admitted with a smile. "But it was a great moment, for sure."
His parents and siblings weren't able to witness that in person, as they missed the first hour or so of the game while traveling, with the flight connecting through Ottawa. But they followed along as best they could, landing around 7:30 PM and getting into a car service that took them straight to the loading dock at Scotiabank Saddledome.
"We got some WiFi on the plane, and friends from home were sending us some highlights and what was going on. Then on the ride from the airport to here, we had the game on our cell phones," Annick said.
They got to their seats at about 8 PM to see Sam living out the dream he's had ever since he was a little boy.
"He's worked so hard to get here," Annick said. "I was just saying to my daughter, when he was about 5 or 6 years old, he said, 'Mommy, one day I'll play in the NHL, and I'll play with Crosby and Ovechkin.' They were the two top players. Now, he is on the ice with them. Oh, it's just crazy. It's unreal."

His godfather is former Penguins goaltender Jocelyn Thibault, who is close with Patrick, a veteran of 634 NHL games with Hartford, Chicago, Tampa Bay and Montreal from 1991-2002. He remembers how passionate Sam was about the sport from such a young age.
"Growing up, he was such a hockey kid. Every time we saw each other, we had to play mini sticks in the basement," Thibault said
in this feature from Poulin's draft year
. "Every time we had dinner with the family, Pat and I would talk hockey, and he would sit by us and wanted to hear everything we said."
These days, Sam is the one having those conversations with Patrick.
"We always talk about hockey," Patrick said. "We always talk about his game, and some of the plays that other players do when they play in the NHL."
That love for the game is something that's always stood out, along with his work ethic. That's a huge reason Poulin's progression from last year to this year, his second professional season,
Heading into the season, the Penguins were very excited about his potential, with head coach Mike Sullivan saying that Poulin would be challenging for time in Pittsburgh. That confirmed that Sam's family already believed.
"He's just someone who's been working hard in this fashion all his life. This year, there was something different about him in training camp," Annick said. "We were thinking that it might happen this year. We've been with him all the way, and we were so excited to be here tonight. We even brought the baby with us. So it's some good memories."
While Poulin said it was definitely a different level from a timing perspective, he had a really strong game, centering the third line between Brock McGinn and Kasperi Kapanen. Poulin registered his first NHL point, a secondary assist, on Pittsburgh's lone goal in their 4-1 loss. Jeff Carter got the primary assist on Evgeni Malkin's fourth of the year.
"I just got on the ice, and Geno passed me the puck," Poulin said. "I saw Carts in the middle there, so I just fed him the puck, and the next thing I knew, it was in. So it was pretty quick, actually."

Overall, Poulin finished with 12:17 minutes of ice time - including 2:20 on the second power-play unit - and went 5-5 in the faceoff dot.
"I thought Sam played well," Sullivan said. "He brought us a lot of energy, and obviously, your first NHL game - you never forget those experiences. That's a big deal. We're just really encouraged with how far he's come and how his game is evolving, and he earned the opportunity to play in this game tonight."