Hockey Fever Rises

COVELLI CENTRE IN YOUNGSTOWN

Penguins’ Kennedy attracts quite a gathering

Phantoms vs Stampede

Gallery

By TOM WILLIAMS

VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF

YOUNGSTOWN — Hockey players are known for their toughness, but there are limits.

Last July during his day with the Stanley Cup, Penguins forward Tyler Kennedy was celebrating at a lake near his hometown of Sault St. Marie, Ontario, Canada, when his cousin found a snake and put it into hockey’s championship trophy.

Asked how much grief his teammates (who later received the sanitized Cup and used it for eating, drinking and celebrating) gave him for that adventure, Kennedy said, “I don’t think they found out until after summer.

“That [story] sort of sat in the weeds, which is good,” the third-year Penguins forward said Friday during an autograph signing appearance at the Covelli Centre before the Youngstown Phantoms’ game against Sioux Falls.

Kennedy, 23, said his girlfriend, Kelsey, has recovered from the close encounter with nature.

“She wasn’t too excited because she knew she was going to drink out of it later that night,” Kennedy said. “She got over it — if [you] want to drink out of the Cup, you’ve got to deal with things.”

Kennedy is in his third season with the Penguins and plays on the third line with Jordan Staal and Matt Cooke.

Shortly after the Covelli Centre doors opened, several hundred fans were in line to get Kennedy’s autograph. The Phantoms say Friday’s ticket presale (1,600) was the most for the USHL expansion team.

Kennedy’s appearance was sponsored by Fox Sports Pittsburgh, which is hoping to persuade Time Warner to add the regional cable channel to its Youngstown system. FSN Pittsburgh broadcasts 70 Penguins games and 120 Pittsburgh Pirates games per year.

Last weekend during the Penguins-Philadelphia Flyers game, NBC hockey analysts Pierre McGuire and Mike Milbury praised the Staal line as the best third line in the NHL.

“Matt Cooke is great at finishing checks,” Kennedy said. “Everyone knows when he’s out there because he’ll rock you if you’re not paying attention. And he has some skill, too.

“Jordan Staal is one of the best up-and-coming stars,” Kennedy said. “He has great hands and a big body. He’s hard to move.”

In last June’s Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final, Staal and Kennedy scored the goals in the Pens’ 2-1 victory. Three nights later, the Pens won, 2-1, in Detroit for their third Stanley Cup Championship.

Coming off of Thursday’s 4-1 loss to the streaking Ottawa Senators, Kennedy said the Penguins are anticipating Sunday’s rematch against the Red Wings at Mellon Arena.

“The media loves to pump things up but it’s going to be an exciting game,” Kennedy said. “They have a good team this year and so do we. It’s going to be a great game.”

The Pens (33-21-1) are in fourth place in the Eastern Conference, three points back of Atlantic Division leader New Jersey.

Desperate for points, the Red Wings (26-19-9, 61 points) are tied for eighth in the Western Conference.

Kennedy admitted he’s looking forward to spending some time at home during the NHL’s two-week break for the Winter Olympics.

“I think we get eight days [off], which is great,” Kennedy said. “I’m going home — there’s nothing like ice fishing in the middle of winter back home.”

Kennedy said he considered making a trip to Vancouver.

“You always have in the back of your mind that it would be unbelievable to go out there,” Kennedy said. “The hockey is going to be unbelievable — I know the guys are getting excited. Canada right now just can’t wait for it.”

Five of Kennedy’s teammates — Sidney Crosby and Marc-Andre Fleury for Canada, Sergei Gonchar and Evgeni Malkin for Russia and Brooks Orpik for the United States — will play in the Olympics.

In addition to hockey, Kennedy said downhill skiing is the Winter Olympic sport he’d go out of the way to watch.

Unless he’s ice fishing.

williams@vindy.com