RISING TO THE OCCASION
Andy O’Brien saw first-hand how the Pittsburgh Penguins elevated their game en route to second Stanley Cup in two years
Islander Andy O’Brien saw first-hand how the Pittsburgh Penguins elevated their game en route to second Stanley Cup in two years
Andy O’Brien was preparing electrolyte drinks inside the Pittsburgh Penguins dressing room Sunday night when the Stanley Cup-winning goal was scored.
The Charlottetown native and the Penguins director of sport science and performance was getting set to help the team’s players refuel for overtime with Game 6 tied 0-0 and about three minutes to play in the third period.
Penguins winger Patric Hornqvist batted the puck off of Nashville Predators goalie Pekka Rinne and into the net with 1:35 to play.
“I had my back turned to the TV in the locker room making these drinks, and then I heard the reaction of the players and I think I threw one of the drinks in the air and there was powder going everywhere,” O’Brien recalled Monday night after returning to Pittsburgh.
The Penguins were leading the best-of-seven series 3-2 and looking to win the Cup on the road.
The night was filled with tension, O’Brien said, until the team secured the victory.
“You really deny yourself the indulgence of trying to feel like you’re going to win until it becomes final,” he said. “Once that happens, then it all kind of comes up and that’s why it’s so intense.”
The Penguins became the first team to repeat as Stanley Cup champs during the salary cap era.
O’Brien, who has worked for the Pens for two seasons, said it was a different journey this year compared to the first Cup victory. Pittsburgh got off to a slow start in 2015-16, made a coaching change and took off.
“This year was totally different,” O’Brien recalled. “I think our team came in with a lot of
expectations.”
The team dealt with injuries to key players, including defenceman Kris Letang, and had a short off-season after a long Cup run and the World Cup of Hockey in the summer. The team played an NHL-record 49 playoff games during the past two years.
“We saw the physical wear and tear, (but), I think, we really showed up and performed at key times in the series,”
O’Brien said.
“We were really strong, and had the energy we needed, when it counted. I think that’s one of the characteristics of clutch players, . . . they have the ability to elevate their game in spite of the physical workload.”
There was also the delicate goalie situation between longtime starter Marc-Andre Fleury and Matt Murray, who backstopped them to the 2016 Cup as a rookie.
But none of the outside noise would derail a Penguins team which won Game 7s in series with the Presidents’ Trophywinning Washington Capitals and Ottawa Senators before defeating a hot Predators club in a raucous Nashville, Tenn.
“Our ability to overcome . . . that adversity comes with a belief in our group and a belief in our ability to win as a team, and I think that starts with our captain,” O’Brien said of Sidney Crosby.
He is looking forward to today’s Stanley Cup parade and spending some time with the players and staff before they each go their own way for the off-season.
O’Brien had the Cup for a day last summer and brought it back to Charlottetown. He is unsure if he will get the Cup this time around as the team had more players in and out of the lineup during the championship run.
O’Brien was busy Monday night returning messages from friends and family who had contacted him after the series ended.
“Having the Cup last year and bringing it to P.E.I. and the community definitely connected a lot of people to it,” he said. “Hopefully, we’ll be able to get that back to the Island this summer.”