PHN Extra: Penguins Locker Room Swaps Summer Adventures

CRANBERRY TOWNSHIP, Pa. – Winger Patric Hornqvist was the first of 14 players on the ice Wednesday as the Pittsburgh Penguins held an informal skate just nine days before the start of training camp. Hornqvist also used the blade of his stick to “draw” up some drills for his teammates on a white board during short breaks in the session.

Don’t read too much into that, he said. He might be high-energy, but he wasn’t so keyed up that he made a point of being the first one out of the locker room. And he’s not getting a head start on a coaching career.

What kind of coach would he make?

“A bad one,” Hornqvist said with a smile. “I can (draw) up the drills, but other than that I don’t think I’d be good at it.”

With a second-round playoff exit last spring on the heels of back-to-back Stanley Cup titles, Hornqvist and his teammates found themselves with a longer offseason than they had had recently.

“It helps to get ready,” he said. “You have an extra month and a half. You’re not playing until June. We all wish we played until June, but it is what it is. I think everybody feels the same way I do – we’re ready to have a good season. We’re well rested and ready to go back at it.”