ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Here, in Minnesota, there are statues dedicated to Paul Bunyan, a larger-than-life mythical figure said to be responsible for the Land of 10,000 Lakes. He is a symbol of the state's strength and vitality.
In the Penguins' dressing room, some of the same sentiment holds true for Matt Cullen, a 42-year-old Minnesotan who has defied time.
How old is Cullen?
"He was born at a time when there wasn't phones or internet, really," 24-year-old teammate Zach Aston-Reese was telling me Sunday afternoon following the Penguins' practice at Xcel Energy Center.
No, there wasn't an internet on Nov. 2, 1976. But there were phones, plenty of them ... though some may have still been rotary dials.
Like anyone, Aston-Reese would love to play 1,472 games in the NHL, but only 24 others have played more games than Cullen.
"It's pretty crazy that we're playing together," Aston-Reese was saying.
After last year, Cullen doesn't disagree. He figured his career was over after 20 seasons, 258 goals and 711 points.
Following the Penguins' second consecutive Stanley Cup championship in the summer of 2017, Cullen decided to go back home, signing a one-year, $1 million contract to play for the Minnesota Wild.
Unfortunately for him, the swan song didn't go as planned. Cullen had his least productive season when not injured in 14 years. In 79 games, he posted just 11 goals and 22 points as Minnesota lost a five-game, first-round series to Winnipeg.
In hindsight, if he had to do it all over again, Cullen said he'd have done the same thing. There are no regrets:
"It was one of the unique opportunities and, truthfully, I thought that was going to be the last season," Cullen was saying. "So, it felt like with the age (my three) kids were at, and where I was at in life, it seemed the right thing to do.
"It was a good experience. I wouldn't trade it. It was fun coming back home and being able to share that with the boys. The ages the kids were at, it was pretty cool. We had a lot of nights on the outdoor rink in the backyard. A lot of great memories and a lot of good friends."
When Jim Rutherford came calling last July, Cullen felt he still had another season to give. That it would be in Pittsburgh, just made the transition easier. He already knew the city, the team and the system.
When Cullen makes his Minnesota return on Monday night, he says it will be exciting. There will be plenty of friends and family in the seats at Xcel.
In his second stint with the Penguins, he has just six points (three goals, one shorthanded) in 27 games, though he did miss 11 games due to a leg injury.
But since his return to the lineup on Dec. 12, the penalty kill has been outstanding. It has yielded just three goals and none in the last five games to rank third in the NHL. Tellingly, the Penguins have gone 7-2.
"It's been coming along," Cullen was saying. "I think the fourth line has been playing some pretty good hockey, especially since I came back from injury, and contributing on the scoresheet here and there. The penalty kill has been good. So kind of feel like, as we get closer to the second half of the season, things are progressing."
But stats and advanced metrics don't paint a true picture of what Cullen brings to the Penguins, says Mike Sullivan.
Really, how do you measure 1,472 NHL games experience and wisdom?
"It's hard for me to find the words for what Cully brings to our group," the coach said. "He's such a quality person. I know our players have so much respect for him as a person and as a player and what he's accomplished as a player. Our coaching staff, certainly does too. He's a calming influence on the bench, in the locker room; when things don't go the right way, he finds the right words to say to our players to continue to try to progress and get better as a team."
• As promised, Sullivan gave an update on Bryan Rust, but not much has changed for the top line right winger after leaving Saturday night's game in St. Louis after one period. Rust, who took in practice from the bench in sweats, was still being evaluated and is day-to-day.
Olli Maatta is also day-to-day with a lower body injury. Maatta, who played 18:33, looked to be injured after blocking a Robert Thomas shot with the inside of his foot midway through the third period. He could be seen limping outside the team's dressing room on Sunday.
With a 5 p.m. local start Monday, the Penguins will not hold a morning skate but Sullivan will update both players' status two hours prior to puck drop. If Maatta can't go, Sullivan will likely turn to Jamie Oleksiak, who has been cleared to play after suffering a concussion Dec. 19. Oleksiak skated on a defense pair with Juuso Riikola during Sunday's practice.
"It's a hard game and guys get nicked up," Sullivan said. "It takes more than six defensemen, 12 forwards and two goalies to win. That's why we feel confident in the depth that we have in our group. We feel we have capable guys who can help us win in the event certain guys can't play."
• When Rust went down, Sullivan said it was a pretty easy call to reunite Aston-Reese with Sidney Crosby and Jake Guentzel on the top line. Not only has he played there before, Sullivan says Aston-Reese's skill set is somewhat comparable with Patric Hornqvist, who has also seen extensive time on the Crosby line.
The biggest difference is that Hornqvist has scored 208 more goals in his career. But Sullivan says Aston-Reese has the skill set to put the puck in the net like he did Saturday vs. the Blues on a redirect.
"Zach's a good player, he has the ability to finish," Sullivan said. "We think he can score at this level more consistently than he has to this point. He certainly scored at a high level when he was at college. He showed he can score at the American League level. We believe he can score at this level as well."
Though Sullivan is not a big proponent of fighting, he believes that Aston-Reese's scrap against 6-foot-4, 215-pound Joel Edmundson can give Aston-Reese some confidence, particularly after suffering a concussion in last spring's playoffs on a hit to the head from Washington's Tom Wilson.
• Before coming to Pittsburgh last December, Oleksiak spent parts of six seasons in the Dallas Stars organization, the team that drafted him 14th overall in 2011.
Obviously, Oleksiak is well aware of the situation in Dallas where team CEO Jim Lites put his team's two best players -- Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin -- on blast in a profane on-the-record interview. Oleksiak says he can vouch for the work ethic of his former teammates.
"I think Chubbs is an unbelievable leader, a great guy in the locker room, an unbelievable player, same with Tyler," he said referring to Benn by his nickname. "I'm sure they want to win like anybody. They definitely push those guys. I can't question those guys and how hard they work and how good they are. Chubbs, you don't see many players like that. He's physical, can score, one of those guys in a Jarome Iginla kind of mold. Those guys are special players. They'll figure it out. They have a good team."
• Nearly 24 hours later, Riikola was still smiling about scoring his first NHL goal. The 24-year-old Finn said he has kept the puck and that, as expected, his phone was blowing up with congratulatory texts from family and friends.
• The Penguins took the ice at Xcel Energy Center 15 minutes sooner than scheduled. Apparently, they wanted to be done in time to watch some football. The practice lasted nearly 40 minutes and had a few eventful moments. Matt Murray took a shot to where no man would like to get hit by a puck or anything else. He was fine. So was Marcus Pettersson, who got bowled over by an unseen teammate while waiting to take his turn during 2-on-1 drills. Casey DeSmith had the save of practice with a sprawling, Andrei Vasilevskiy-like kick save that drew 'oohs' from his teammates.
• Without Maatta or Rust, the Penguins used the following lines and pairs:
Guentzel--Crosby--Aston-Reese
Simon--Malkin--Hornqvist
Pearson--Brassard--Kessel
Grant--Cullen--Sheahan
Dumoulin--Letang
Pettersson--Johnson
Oleksiak--Riikola