While asking Stuart Skinner if popcorn was still one of his favorite snacks, Caleb Jones was walking by on his way out of the Penguins locker room, which turned out to be perfect timing.
“Actually, Jonesy can attest to this,” Skinner said. “We were movie buddies in Bakersfield. The order was always large popcorn and root beer.”
“We were dusting popcorn,” Jones said with a laugh.
Both players were both drafted by Edmonton and spent time together in the minors, so it was nice for Skinner to have a familiar face already in Pittsburgh when he was first acquired from the Oilers alongside Brett Kulak on Dec. 12.
“He's a fun guy to hang out with. Really good personality,” Jones said.
And it took no time at all for Skinner’s new teammates to learn the character they were getting with the 27-year-old goaltender.
“I mean, from the second he got here, just an incredible guy,” Rutger McGroarty said. “Super easy guy to root for. It makes it very easy once you're stepping in front of a puck or in a battle or whatever, it just motivates you that much more because of how good of a guy is.”
He’s a fantastic netminder as well, having backstopped Edmonton to a pair of Stanley Cup Finals before joining the Penguins. Now that Skinner is feeling settled in his new surroundings, it’s showing in his play, as he’s won four of five starts coming out of the holiday break.
“He’s been great,” his locker stallmate Blake Lizotte said after Skinner’s most recent victory on Thursday against the Flyers. “You know, it's hard to say good enough things about him. He's an awesome guy in the room, and he's been playing great as of late. The group is behind him fully and have full confidence in him. So, it's been a great addition for us, and we enjoy playing in front of him.”
Get to know Skinner a little better through this Q&A with Penguins team reporter Michelle Crechiolo.
I know we've been calling you Stu. Any other hockey nicknames?
Not from a fanbase. But locker room nickname, it would be Skins or Skinsy.
Then, where exactly did you grow up in Edmonton?
I’m from the south end of Edmonton, so, close to Terwillegar.
What NHL players did you look up to as a kid?
Yeah, so being from Edmonton, I looked up to Dwayne Roloson. Obviously, just as a goalie fan as well, I really looked up to Carey Price. I liked Corey Crawford's game, Henrik Lundqvist. Those were the guys that I was watching. But as a fan of the Oilers, I was a big fan of Dwayne Roloson, and I'd also put Devan Dubnyk in there as well.
I saw your brothers all played hockey. Were you the first goalie? Yeah. What inspired that? I don't know what inspired that, to be honest. I just really wanted to be a goalie. I remember playing Timbits hockey as a kid, where you rotate, and whenever I was a goalie, I was just having the most fun. So, I was begging my parents to do that, and they always said no. They got my brothers to shoot on me, to try to convince me not to be a goalie. But I ended up loving it. I didn't even give my parents a chance, really. They were a firm no, and then my tryout, I think it was my first year PeeWee, the goalie was sick, so he didn't come. And they're like, hey, anybody want to just hop in for today? So, I didn't even let my parents have a chance. I just completely went off their word, and I just strapped the pads on and I was skating, and that was it. I was a goalie for the rest of my life.
And the rest is history! What were the pros and cons, being the youngest of nine kids?
Pros, I think as you grow up, you obviously have a lot of siblings, so they take care of you. They bring you to a lot of fun events. So, I was able to go to the movie theaters and watch Star Wars, even though maybe I wasn't allowed to [laughs]. Revenge of the Sith, I still remember it, the whole thing. Playing video games, stuff like that. So, the pros were that you got spoiled as the youngest. I think the cons, you kind of get forgotten sometimes. Like, when there's a big Thanksgiving dinner, you get the last serving of food. So, you kind of got to fight for attention, right? I feel like that's probably a con for everybody, from the oldest sibling to the youngest.
You and I are actually birthday buddies, November 1st.
Oh, really? Scorpios!
Yes! So, I was curious about how much you loved Halloween growing up, having it back-to-back with your birthday.
I loved it, yeah. Because you got a huge bag of candy, and then the next day you're getting cake and presents. So, it was a great back-to-back. It was unreal.
What was your favorite candy?
When I was a kid, for Halloween, I was really excited whenever I got a Wunderbar for a chocolate bar. But for candy, I would probably say Fuzzy Peaches were my favorite as a kid.
Any good Halloween costumes that stand out, either then or now?
When my wife was pregnant with my firstborn, I was a disco dancer, and she was the disco ball. So, she was all sparkles, and obviously, she was very pregnant. That was her idea, it was genius.
Love it. Just a few quick hitters now. We usually ask guys about their hidden talents, and a video of you beatboxing was making the rounds when you first joined the team. Can you give us the story behind those skills?
[Laughs] That follows me everywhere. I was super, super young, and actually my brother Sheldon, we were just on YouTube being kids. And a beatboxing video came up, so him and I committed to learning how to beatbox. Then, we were watching a ton of videos, and we actually got really good. And by really good, I mean, not that good, but we got good by standards of Edmonton. And then over the years, I've slowly gotten worse and worse and worse. But it's still a thing, apparently.
