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Penguins Sweden Practice Day 1: Shootout Practice, Beware the Fish
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- Penguins Sweden Practice Day 1: Shootout Practice, Beware the Fish
Penguins Sweden Practice Day 1: Shootout Practice, Beware the Fish
STOCKHOLM —After giving away a few points this season by badly losing shootouts after hard-fought regulation efforts, the Pittsburgh Penguins had a little fun on the Hovet Arena ice with some shootout practice Tuesday.
After their plane was delayed getting out of Pittsburgh Monday night, practice was delayed by a little more than 90 minutes as the team raced to the arena to get practice underway.
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Their practice began the week in Sweden as the NHL's Global Series, in which they'll practice for a couple of days and play a couple of games against the Nashville Predators . It's a little bit of a different hockey atmosphere in Sweden, even much is the same.
Penguins defenseman Kris Letang was also part of the Penguins' last trip at the start of the 2008-09 season. He remembered one thing about the last trip, and he wanted to share it with the rest of his teammates.
"The food in general is pretty close to Canadian. It's not that far off, but (I remember) the different traditional stuff–I asked ( Erik Karlsson ) for that can of fish ( Surströmming )," Letang said with a growing smile. "I want the team to try it on video."
For the curious, Surströmming is a can of fermented herring, for those who believe pickled herring isn't pungent enough. You can enjoy, but even the native Swede, Karlsson, won't be pranking his teammates or indulging in it with them.
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"I think the word is out that it's … not good," Karlsson said to laughter in his press conference.
The Penguins had a good time at practice on Tuesday. They also enjoyed the shootout practice, though no media witnessed it, as the NHL PR had a miscommunication with the Penguins and believed the practice to be over. We all rushed from the practice arena to the press conference area in the main arena across the street to begin the media conversations.
The Penguins appeared to be wrapping up practice, as stretches began. Only afterward did we learn of the shootout festivities.
There was talk that Ryan Graves took a slapshot against Arturs Silovs , which Silovs stopped. In fact, the media availabilities were also late as the Penguins' shootout practice and competition continued for an extended time.
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That was our can of fish. Pittsburgh Hockey Now will be going to dinner on Tuesday, probably in Old Town, though it's been more than 24 hours since departing Pittsburgh. The hotel mattress is also making a strong case for attention.
Plenty of Penguins were yawning, too. The team took a charter plane with beds and left later in the evening to shortcut the jet lag and time adjustment, but a few players fought off tired eyes, admitting they couldn't sleep on planes.
The Penguins will be off on Wednesday with some team activities.
Sergei Murashov
Penguins rookie goalie Sergei Murashov got a chuckle from a few of us on Sunday when he thanked fans for coming to the game and supporting him, despite there being a Steelers game.
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He thought the game was in the afternoon. He later saw the game was in primetime, but Steelers fans might want to skip ahead.
Does Murashov enjoy football and the Steelers?
"It's not my game," he admitted.
Murashov has seen a couple of football games, including last year's Super Bowl (please tell me he didn't watch for Taylor Swift!), but it hasn't grabbed him.
However, his quick thinking after the game is another sign of his advanced maturity, even when dealing with the media.
Penguins Lines
Coach Dan Muse kept the top of his lineup cohesive and kept his defense pairings unchanged.
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Bryan Rust- Sidney Crosby -Ben Kindel
Tommy Novak-Evgeni Malkin-Anthony Mantha
The bottom six were in rotation, something akin to what Muse has done in the games. Flipping Danton Heinen from center to wing and Philip Tomasino in and out of rushes.
Defense
Parker Wotherspoon-Erik Karlsson
Ryan Shea- Kris Letang
Ryan Graves-Connor Clifton
Matt Dumba-Harrison Brunicke
Goalies 3:
Arturs Silovs, Sergei Murashov, Filip Larsson
The post Penguins Sweden Practice Day 1: Shootout Practice, Beware the Fish appeared first on Pittsburgh Hockey Now .
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