Playing in Pittsburgh never old
As Saad goes back to roots, he appreciates opportunity to ‘get some home cooking’
PITTSBURGH — The 30 NHL cities the Blackhawks travel to during the season provide many benefits to players looking for ways to pass the time.
Los Angeles has sunshine and shopping. Washington has an endless number of historical landmarks. New York has Broadway shows and some of the best restaurants in the world.
But only Pittsburgh provides Brandon Saad with a home-cooked meal.
Whenver Saad comes to town to play the Penguins — the Hawks’ opponent Saturday night — he takes the opportunity to head to his parents’ house. After the Hawks arrived in Pittsburgh, he spent Friday night with his family and joined aunts, uncles and cousins for some of his favorite dishes.
“Not all of them come to the game, but it’s even nicer the day before seeing everyone, getting to chat,” Saad said. “Because the game is the game, you see them five to 10 minutes afterward, and then you’re back on the plane. It’s definitely nice to get that day before and see everyone and talk and have a good meal.”
By the time Saad played his first game in Pittsburgh, he already had a Stanley Cup ring and nearly two seasons under his belt. The 2012-2013 lockout cost the Hawks their only game in Pittsburgh when he was a rookie, and the next season the Hawks didn’t play at PPG Paints Arena — then called Consol Energy Center — until March 30.
Saturday’s game against the Penguins was just his ninth in Pittsburgh among his 545 career games, including his fifth in sixth seasons with the Hawks. Playing in his hometown is special for Saad, and he realizes not every player gets a chance to do so.
Robin Lehner isn’t likely to play any games in Gothenburg, Sweden, and the Hawks don’t have any games scheduled in Olli Maatta’s hometown of Jyvskyla, Finland, or where Ryan Carpenter grew up in Orlando, Fla.
“To be able to come back, it’s always fun playing hockey in front of the home crowd,” Saad said. “You have that connection. It’s pretty neat. You see (Dominik Kubalik and David Kampf ) get to do it in Prague, but a lot of guys don’t get to do it. So to have a team in your city — and usually a good team — it’s nice to compete with them and try to win and at the same time you’re in your hometown.”
“I always feel like I got a little more jump coming here. It’s nice and that excitement gets going. It’s nice to come home.”
Does playing in your hometown translate into success? For some, yes. For others, not so much.
Patrick Kane has 13 points in eight career games in his native Buffalo, N.Y. — and at least one point in every game — while Corey Crawford has been even better when going home. The goalie has a .971 saves percentage in eight games in Montreal against the Canadiens and has won his last five starts there, including two shutouts.
While Winnipeg, Manitoba, native Jonathan Toews has 12 points in 15 games before friends and family, he is scoreless in his last six games there, having last scored a goal in Winnipeg on March 29, 2015.
As for Saad, his numbers in Pittsburgh are on par with his career stats. He had five points in his first eight games in his hometown, a rate of .625 points per game. That’s a touch ahead of his career points rate of .589.
If Saad continues at his current career scoring rate, he’ll become the all-time leading scorer among Pittsburgh natives by the end of next season. With 321 points, he trails Ryan Malone (370) and R.J. Umberger, who finished with 392 points over an 11-year career.
At 27, the days of searching the stands for family and friends are long gone for Saad. He now has a much more businesslike approach when he returns for games his hometown.
“The chaos has kind of died down,” Saad said. “It used to be there’s tons of tickets (to get) and tons of people coming. And now it’s died down a little with being here seven or eight years in the league, but it’s good.
“It’s always nice to come home, see the family, get some home cooking.”
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