Pens’ Sheary knows winning formula
The Bruins’ plan of action for the 2017-18 season seems pretty clear: take some of their highend draft picks, add them to their veteran core and watch the magic happen.
There is no guarantee this methodology will work, mind you.
But Conor Sheary was back in some of his old Melrose haunts yesterday toting tangible proof that it, at least, can work.
Sheary brought the Stanley Cup he won with his Pittsburgh Penguins teammates last spring — the organization’s second straight championship — to the gym in which he’s trained for the past decade, Athletic Evolution in Woburn. He then took part in a golf outing in Ipswich with family and friends.
When Sheary was promoted from Wilkes-Barre/ Scranton two years ago, along with head coach Mike Sullivan, he was part of a youth movement that included Matt Murray, Bryan Rust and Tom Kuhnhackl and was added to the veteran nucleus of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Phil Kessel, injecting speed into a roster that had been stuck in the mud under former coach Mike Johnston.
Making the process work was the buy-in from the vets, Sheary said.
“We all had Sully in the AHL,” he said. “So it was a pretty easy transition for us, and the core group of leaders that we have in the NHL from our top guys all the way down, they just made it such a welcoming experience and made sure that we knew we were a big part of our team and that we were comfortable in the room and on the ice. That made it all so easy for us.
“To make two Cup runs like that, we had a closeknit group and a lot of character in the room.”
With the Penguins now 2-for-2 under Sullivan, it might seem like the turnaround was easy. That wasn’t the case. Unlike the Bruins under new coach Bruce Cassidy, who won seven of his first eight games, the Pens were 1-5-1 in their first seven under Sullivan.
But once things got rolling, the combo of speed and skill was hard to stop.
“He had a very different system than the other coach, and I think it was hard for some guys to transition. For the younger guys, it was a little easier. But you can’t complain about any of that,” Sheary said.
The 25-year-old Sheary has been a big part of the Pens’ success, often riding Crosby’s left wing. His 23-goal season in 2016-17 helped him land a tidy three-year, $9 million contract this summer. Not bad for a kid who went undrafted and was unsure about what he was going to do after four years at UMass.
“I just wanted to get a few games in the NHL, and to now be a full-time NHL player and have two Cups, I can’t even put that into words,” said Sheary, now a top-six NHL forward. “That’s always the kind of player I wanted to be, but you never know how far it can take you. But with the help of Sid, not just on the ice but with his leadership off the ice and how welcoming he is to players, it makes you feel comfortable and allows you to play your game.”
Yesterday, Sheary shared the fruits of his labor — showing off the Stanley Cup — with some of the people who have helped him along the way.
“It’s cool,” he said. “I’ve been working out here for 10 years, and to be able to share some of my success with my trainer Erik (Kaloyanides) is pretty cool. Obviously, there are a lot of people around here who’ve been coming here as well, it’s cool to share it with them.”