SUDBURY, Ontario -- The Penguins got loud ovations from the Sudbury fans on Sunday, with "CROS-BY! CROS-BY" chants ringing out from the many children in attendance.
And that was just to greet them as they got off the team bus.
The Penguins and Senators play at Sudbury Community Arena on Sunday night as part of the Kraft Hockeyville celebration to benefit Elliot Lake, Ontario. With no usable rink in Elliot Lake, the game was moved to the home of the OHL's Sudbury Wolves, roughly a two-hour drive down the road ... and over four hours away from the closest NHL team in Toronto, which hasn't exactly been known to be an affordable ticket. For a lot of these fans, this will be their first chance to see an NHL team live.
Michael Bunting spoke with a couple of kids after the Penguins' practice who were among those seeing an NHL game for the first time.
"It's special for them," Bunting said. "I remember growing up I was fortunate enough to be in Toronto where an NHL team was, so I got to see a few games. And they were the best nights I've had and memories I had as a kid. Hopefully we can make some memories for them tonight."
Of the kids in the crowd outside the rink on Sunday, there were a ton of Crosby jerseys. When the players were coming off the bus, kids were reaching anything they could in Crosby's direction in hopes he'd sign it -- yeah, jerseys and hats ... but also the shoes off their own feet.
The best sign might have been this one, referencing Crosby's refusal to take a penny more than $8.7 million on his recent contract extension:
SYDNEY BLACKMAN / PENGUINS
When Crosby took the ice for practice, even the parents of a lot of those kids were having giddy conversations about how cool it was to have him their small community rink. Down at ice level in the concourse that overlooks the path to the Penguins' locker room, parents were standing their kids up on their shoulders so they could get a passing glance at Crosby for a second as he left the ice.
Mike Sullivan has been on a number of trips to Canada with Crosby over the years, whether it be in actual NHL markets, neutral site games like this one, or last years' game in Crosby's hometown. The reception is always the same.
"It's like The Beatles," Sullivan said. "I think it's so impressive to watch him interact with kids when he comes to these environments. He understands the influence that he can have and what it means to kids and in environments like this. He makes sure he gives his time to all of these opportunities, and so it doesn't surprise me. I think he's very deserving of it. He just represents everything that's right about hockey."
Crosby will make his preseason debut at 7 p.m. tonight in what will be the Penguins' third game of the exhibition season. And while it's just exhibition, and the main goals are to stay healthy and making sure they're prepared for the real games, an environment like this one gives players a little extra incentive to show up for the fans who came out.
MORE FROM THE SKATE
• The Penguins used these lines and pairings. It looked like Ville Koivunen and Owen Pickering were the odd ones out, but it's impossible to say for sure because they were rotating:
Anthony Beauvillier - Sidney Crosby - Bryan Rust
Blake Lizotte/Ville Koivunen - Evgeni Malkin - Rickard Rakell
Michael Bunting - Kevin Hayes - Cody Glass
Jonathan Gruden - Sam Poulin - Boko Imama
Matt Grzelcyk - Kris Letang
Marcus Pettersson - Harrison Brunicke
Dan Renouf/Owen Pickering - Nathan Clurman
• Top power play: Kris Letang, Evgeni Malkin, Crosby, Bryan Rust, Rickard Rakell
• Second power play: Matt Grzelcyk, Anthony Beauvillier, Kevin Hayes, Bunting, Cody Glass
• Tristan Jarry will start, Filip Larsson will come in at the midway point.
• The original plan was all the players playing in this game and Saturday's game would fly to Detroit on Saturday, then come to Sudbury. But mechanical issues on the Penguins' Delta chartered flight on Saturday made it impossible to get to Detroit in time on Saturday, so the coaching staff readjusted the game groups, one group came to Sudbury, and another group stayed back in Pittsburgh and will go to Detroit for Monday's rescheduled game. The rescheduling gives the Penguins games in three straight days, and games in five of six days. That's a lot of hockey, but the Penguins are still carrying roughly two full teams' worth of players to make it work.
"It's more than likely going to impact the game on Tuesday at home, because it's changed a lot," Sullivan said. "We had sketched out some skeleton rosters for all these games, and then the game yesterday gets canceled. Now, all of a sudden, we've got three games in three nights, and we're trying to be selective and do our best to set guys up for success. We might have to have some guys play back-to-back now, for example, which we were trying to avoid, this early in the season. But we'll have to see how that goes. But it's a little bit of a logistical challenge."
• On that note: Anyone complaining about a certain player or players not skating in this game needs to breathe, my God. Again, three straight games and games in five of six nights. Nobody lost opportunities. The opportunities were just moved around. Nobody playing in this game is taking anything away from a young player. They can't run Rutger McGroarty into the ground over this next week. Players have to take some of the games off.
• This building was built in 1951, and it shows. I say that in a good way. It looks to be maintained well, but it does have that old-barn feel. Only part of that comes from the Queen Elizabeth II portrait invoking memories of the Winnipeg Jets' old barn:
TAYLOR HAASE / DKPS
"It brings everybody back to the grassroots," Sullivan said of playing in a building like this. "We've all as players come through experiences like this, whether you're playing in college hockey in a small college hockey barn, or you're playing in junior hockey in Canada. All of us have made this step on the way, and when you have an opportunity to come back, I think the players love it. I certainly do. It's a close environment that the fans are right on top of us. It's a similar experience when we went to Halifax last year, I thought it was really cool. I know our players really enjoyed that experience. We've got another one here tonight. It's awesome. It's a lot of fun."
• Tim Hortons is just better in Canada than the locations in the U.S., and I re-confirmed this with the free donuts at the skate.
