Penguins use St. Patrick's Day for skills competition

CRANBERRY TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- While PPG Paints Arena was still playing host to March Madness and the streets around it were awash in a sea of green-clad St. Patrick's Day revelers, the Penguins reported to work at their practice facility 25 minutes to the north, business as usual.

Oh, but they still had their fun too.

Maybe not as much fun as some of those downtown but, judging by the whooping and hollering by Penguins players during Saturday's practice, this one was a blast.

During their 45-minute practice at the Lemieux Sports Complex, there wasn't a single line rush or battle drill to be had, at least not in the traditional sense.

This was more "American Ninja Warrior" than the typical practice. The ice was littered with pylons and obstacles that the players had to weave pucks under and blocking dummies to shoot through.  Under Mike Sullivan, the Penguins routinely work in small area drills in practice, but not as small as this:

The Penguins conduct these skill sessions only a few times a season, usually to reward the players after a difficult stretch or long break in the schedule. With the Penguins having four days between last Thursday's game against the Canadiens in Montreal and Tuesday's against the Islanders in Brooklyn, Sullivan thought it was only appropriate to conduct a lighter practice.

Here, he explains:

The sessions are run by Ty Hennes, a Skill Development coach at the Lemieux Complex and, according to Bryan Rust, it's just as much fun as it looks.

"You don't get too many opportunities like this through the year to kind of work on some skill stuff," he said. "Just do something that you don't normally do. I think the only time you're doing that during the season is when you are injured and you never like when you're injured, so it's fun."

And it serves a practical purpose too. For a defenseman like Olli Maatta, who doesn't usually handle the puck much, it's a chance to show what he can do.

"Just gets the confidence with the puck up, which is good," Maatta said. "Sometimes you change the practice up a bit, it refreshes things."

 MATT SUNDAY GALLERY