CRANBERRY, Pa. -- As a Thanksgiving treat, Mike Sullivan had the day off from speaking with the media following the Penguins' practice here at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex.
Instead, the media got to speak with newly promoted Ty Hennes, who is now an assistant coach after four seasons of serving as the team's skills coach.
Before joining the development staff in 2018, Hennes, 43, was a skill development professional at the Lemieux Complex, working with the Penguins Elite AAA travel program, as well as doing some work for the Penguins' organization.
Hennes' role over the last four years has consisted of assisting the coaching staff with practices, skills sessions and on-ice rehab from injury. Before joining the coaching staff on the bench for games in 2019-20, Hennes was the team's eye in the sky for home games.
It's not uncommon for Hennes to run the first drill or two at practice, or even a chunk of it, and it's no mystery as to why when you witness the infectious energy he brings to the ice.
"I think any day that you have the opportunity to be in the NHL is a great day. Yesterday was great for my family and I couldn’t be happier to continue to be a piece to this puzzle for the Pittsburgh Penguins," Hennes said of his promotion. "I’m very grateful to Sully and the coaching staff for the opportunities that they’ve allowed me to evolve into over the last eight years, and more specifically the last four years. Anyway, I love coming to the rink with these guys, I love the opportunity to be part of the coaching staff and be part of the organization."
Hennes is loud out there. Like, really loud. And in the best possible way. That never wavers, either. I asked him how he's able to bring that every single day.
"Like I said earlier, any day that you can be a part of the NHL, it is a great day," he said. "And again on top of that, being a part of this group with the standard that Sid, Geno and Tanger have produced, it’s pretty easy to be excited coming to the rink every day."
Penguins players definitely feel like they benefit from his presence, let alone the knowledge and insight he brings to the table.
"He brings it every day, no matter what," Jake Guentzel told me. "It’s really impressive and just a lot of drills that he has, it’s been fun to see and I’m glad he got the assistant coach job. We’re all happy for him."
Brian Dumoulin also shared with me his sentiments on Hennes' energy dripping down throughout the entire team.
"He’s very positive, he has great energy when he’s on the ice, really good drills, and you can tell he loves it just as much as we do," Dumoulin said. "It’s always fun interacting with him because his energy kind of radiates off of you. It’s great for him and we’re very happy for him."
It's been an interesting path to this point for Hennes, and he even admitted that he never envisioned getting to where he is now.
"I had no idea it would ever evolve into this," Hennes said. "When I stopped playing, I went back to school for six years to become a doctor. Six years is a long time, and things kind of change along the way. I had started to get introduced to some youth coaching down in Dallas … Things just kind of evolved over the last 12 years in that coaching role. I stopped the doctor profession, so I think maybe that’s where the enthusiasm and excitement is. I love what I’m doing. I made that decision a while ago, so it never feels like work stepping out on the ice with these guys."
MORE FROM PRACTICE
• There were no absences on the ice among the players for practice on Thursday. The Penguins' workflow remained unchanged:
Jake Guentzel - Sidney Crosby - Rickard Rakell
Jason Zucker - Evgeni Malkin - Bryan Rust
Brock McGinn - Jeff Carter - Danton Heinen
Ryan Poehling - Teddy Blueger - Josh Archibald
Marcus Pettersson - Kris Letang
P.O Joseph - Jeff Petry
Brian Dumoulin - Jan Rutta
Kasperi Kapanen - Chad Ruhwedel
• The special teams personnel remained unchanged, as well ...
PP1: Crosby, Guentzel, Malkin, Letang, Petry
PP2: Carter, Rust, Zucker, Rakell, Joseph
PK1: Blueger, McGinn, Dumoulin, Rutta
PK2: Poehling, Archibald, Pettersson, Ruhwedel
• The formal portion of practice lasted just about 20 minutes. At the end, Sullivan addressed the group at center-ice in what seemed to be some positive reinforcement of the team's recent performance.
• Believe it or not, the Penguins' +7 goal differential ranks third in the Metro Division. After winning four in a row, they're right back in the thick of things.
• A good chunk of the players headed over to Crosby's house this afternoon for a Thanksgiving feast before the team left for Philadelphia tonight. Guentzel, in particular, seemed very excited for dessert, as his eyes lit up when I asked which dish he's looking forward to the most.
• The Penguins play the Flyers in Philadelphia on Friday night. Taylor Haase will have your coverage for that one. Puck drops at 5:38 p.m.
