The Penguins get reintroduced to contact in preparation for upcoming tournament
The Penguins have been avoiding contact.
It’s not because they’re averse to a confrontation with longtime nemesis Tom Wilson of the Washington Capitals or mixing it up with New York Islanders checking machine Cal Clutterbuck.
It’s more literal than that.
They’ve been social distancing, like many, for the past four months because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. That means limited trips to grocery stores or restaurants.
And to the corner boards.
At least until Tuesday.
On the second day of their training camp in preparation for the NHL’s postseason tournament set to open in August, the Penguins worked extensively on battle or combat drills in tight spaces on the ice.
During the first approximately 20 minutes of the session at their Cranberry complex, they broke off into groups of three and worked on close passes while facing tight physical defense from their teammates.
It wasn’t exactly the Penguins and Flyers waging a Roman-Greco wrestling match while cycling in the corner during a Game 7, but it was pretty intense, especially for a group that has largely not experienced competition, albeit internally, like this in several months.
“We’ve got a pretty competitive group, and I think it comes natural to them,” coach Mike Sullivan said. “Something that we talked about on the ice (Tuesday) was just recapturing the edge that our team plays with. We’ve got to bring that when we play against one another. That’s going to make us better when we bring that certain edge to our own respective game.”
Many of the Penguins have been skating since June as part of the NHL’s second phase of returning to play during informal sessions. But those sessions had heavy restrictions when it came to the number of players on the ice as well as contact.
On Monday, Sullivan lauded the overall conditioning of the team but noted there is a different element of hardiness required for battling an opponent directly.
“We’ve got a pretty fit group,” Sullivan said. “I do think there are aspects of the fitness that we have to address in order to get our guys game ready, and we’re trying to do that. Most specifically, it’s the belligerence, the combative drills, the tight-area space. That’s a different type of conditioning. That’s really only the aspect of their conditioning that they haven’t been able to address up until this point because they’ve been trying to adhere to the guidelines the league has set out and making sure that there was social distancing taking place as best they could on the ice through the informal skates.
That’s not anything out of the ordinary for a normal training camp in September during ideal circumstances, let alone a pandemic.
“Every summer that you come back, that’s the area of our game that usually training camp is focused on, battle drills,” defenseman Kris Letang said. “Because in the summer, you try to be careful of each other and try not to injure anyone. That’s the process we’re into right now. We’re putting a lot of focus on that. At the same time, we have guys that have a lot of energy. They have a lot of enthusiasm out there on the ice. It’s been a fun process out there so far, especially (Tuesday).”
Obviously, putting an opponent wearing a Capitals or Flyers sweater — or, if all goes as planned over the next few weeks, a Montreal Canadiens sweater — into the boards is much different than doing that to someone donning the same practice jersey as you.
Penguins coaches remind their players to have some, but not total, restraint, during combat drills.
“When you’re playing a game that’s belligerent in nature, there’s risk associated with it,” Sullivan said. “We’re going to compete hard out there. Our guys are respectful when players are in compromising positions. And certainly, that’s something that we encourage our guys to be aware of out there. But when you’re playing the game hard, and you’re playing the game in a physical manner, there’s going to be risk associated with it. That’s just the nature of the sport.”
Added defenseman Marcus Pettersson: “It’s a different type of conditioning when you get into bodies and stuff like that. We’ve been working that for a few days now. We’re going to get better at that as camp goes. It’s a big aspect coming back when you haven’t really seen that part of the game.
“It’s been a grinding couple of days, and I’m sure it’s going to keep grinding. But it’s something that we need and something that’s going to help us.”
Seth Rorabaugh is a TribLive reporter covering the Pittsburgh Penguins. A North Huntingdon native, he joined the Trib in 2019 and has covered the Penguins since 2007. He can be reached at srorabaugh@triblive.com.
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