Brian Boyle grateful for another chance at the NHL with the Penguins

For Brian Boyle, not playing in the NHL during the 2020-21 season was far from enjoyable.

But he found something far more fulfilling to fill that void in his life.

Family.

A veteran of 13 NHL seasons, Boyle got a chance to go to his son’s hockey games and his daughter’s dance recitals last winter and spring instead of flying into Raleigh or Chicago or San Jose for the first leg of a multicity road trip.

“Spent a lot of time with my kids,” said Boyle, 36. “just being present with them at a fun age. My son started hockey. Being around him, he just started it. He went from being scared to kind of liking getting a snack afterward. Now, he really likes it and wants to go to the rink. That was a cool, really, really fun, fun year for me watching my daughter go to dance.

“There were a lot of great memories and great opportunities to spend a lot of time with some people at home that I haven’t been able to do for a while.”

Boyle’s abundance of free time last season wasn’t necessarily voluntary. He simply never received any offers to play.

Aside from suiting up for the United States in 10 games during the International Ice Hockey Federations (IIHF) World Championship tournament during the spring, the Hingham, Mass., native looked after his family and trained, waiting for another chance to skate in the NHL.

“I was training and trying to stay ready and it was disappointing not getting the call,” Boyle said. “I thought I had a pretty good (2019-20 season) then I got hurt then came back in the (quarantined zones established for the 2020 postseason). I thought I was OK. Didn’t think I was done.”

Neither did the Penguins who invited the 6-foot-6, 245-pound center to training camp on a professional tryout contract.

Given the injuries that will sideline Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin to open the season, they need centers. Plus, there’s a fairly profound history between Boyle and coach Mike Sullivan.

A first-round pick of the Los Angeles Kings in 2003, Boyle’s first substantial action in the NHL came in 2009-10 with the New York Rangers. The fiery John Tortorella was the head coach while Sullivan an assistant on that staff.

“He was always there to help me,” Boyle said of Sullivan in a 2016 interview. “Tell me what I needed to hear. Not necessarily was it what I wanted to hear.”

Sullivan saw a player rife with potential who needed some guidance.

“At the time when we received Brian, he was a young player in the league,” Sullivan said. “He was trying to establish himself as an NHL player and figure out what his strengths are and what his niche is and how he could carve out a role or an identity as a player in this league. We went through a process with Brian to try to help him understand that and what we felt was important for him and how he could play to his strengths and potentially maximize his career. We worked with Brian a lot on the defensive side of the game. With his size and his skating ability and his reach, we thought he could be a guy that could be a real good conscientious player.

“You look at the length of the career that he’s had to this point. He’s been very good on all the teams that he’s been on. At his age, he’s still continuing to play.”

On Monday, Boyle logged 14 minutes, 44 seconds of ice time on 18 shifts and recorded one shot while going 9 for 14 (64%) on faceoffs as the Penguins lost their preseason opener to the Columbus Blue Jackets, 3-0, at PPG Paints Arena.

A cancer survivor who won a bout with leukemia in 2017, Boyle also has played for the Tampa Bay Lightning, Toronto Maple Leafs, New Jersey Devils, Nashville Predators and New Jersey Devils during his career. He realizes adding the Penguins to that list is hardly a guarantee.

He’s just grateful for another chance to play in the NHL.

“There’s things that I can still do,” Boyle said. “If I get an opportunity, I’m going to try to do it. There’s not going to be any regrets at the end of it, no matter what.”

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