Penguins go stickless in practice to improve the penalty kill

In their final practice session before the season starts at PPG Paints Arena, the Penguins fine-tuned their special teams Wednesday.

And they did it with something of a handicap. At least for the penalty kill.

One of the team’s penalty killers intentionally left his stick near the bench in order to simulate the somewhat infrequent but highly frantic scenario of losing or breaking a stick during play.

“It happens enough that we felt it’s important that we prepare for it and prepare our team for it,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “I think the most important thing is that there needs to be a game plan in the event that it does occur so that all of us can be predictable for one another so that, as a group of four on the penalty kill, we have an understanding of what the game plan is in the event that that happens. That’s why we did it today in practice.

“It’s just one subtle detail that’s part of a penalty kill situation. We felt as though it’s important enough that we practiced it. The reason that we felt it was important enough that we practice it is because it’s a fairly frequent occurrence.”

Reserve forward Ryan Poehling was the most prominent member of the Penguins to be stricken with stick-related poverty Wednesday.

“It (stinks),” Poehling said, in reference to playing without a stick during games. “Even when you’re skating without a stick, you just feel out of place. The biggest thing is to get in the shooting lane and take a shot off the body.”

Often, if a defenseman loses his stick, a forward is obligated to pass his onto the blueliner.

“Usually, we have a plan, which guy is the guy that probably needs the stick the least,” defenseman Jan Rutta said. “Then you’re just trying to communicate. When it’s in the middle of the play, you just try to battle without a stick and not worry about ‘Who do I give my stick to?’”

Wednesday’s drill wasn’t just for the benefit of the penalty kill. It also served as refinement for the power play units on how to maximize the opportunity of attacking a limited foe.

“We’re helping out the power play in a sense where if that happens on the opposing team and they’re out there, what they can do,” Poehling said. “And for us (penalty killers), it helps out where to be at and working systematically on where to be at.”

As an attacking player, facing a stickless defender can be a salivating sensation.

“It’s excitement,” said forward Rickard Rakell, a member of the Penguins’ second power-play unit. “You see someone just breaks his stick and you just want to attack that guy. Try to get a one-timer off or just try to (exploit) him as much as you can.”

Sullivan, who largely used a wooden stick during his playing career in the 1990 and early 2000s as a checking center, suggests modern sticks, which are typically composed of artificial material, aren’t terribly durable.

“It happens different ways,” Sullivan said. “Sometimes a player drops his stick, but my experience has been, it’s more about with the nature of graphite sticks — they break a lot. If a shaft of a stick gets compromised because it gets hit with a shot, then the stick breaks. Now how do we all react? That was just something that we talked about as a coaching staff and we’re trying to make sure that all of our guys understand when that happens, here’s how we all react.”

Blueger still hobbled

Penguins forward Teddy Blueger remains “day to day” due to an undisclosed injury that has hindered him since Sept. 28. He participated in Wednesday’s practice in a non-contact jersey.

Sullivan declined to offer a status for Blueger with regards to Thursday’s season-opening contest against the Arizona Coyotes at PPG Paints Arena.

Note: The Penguins promoted Kerry Huffman to director of professional scouting. Previously, Huffman served as a professional scout after joining the organization in July of 2021. The previous director of professional scouting, Ryan Bowness, left the Penguins in June to join the Ottawa Senators as assistant general manager.