3 Things: Hextall/Burke Reaction, Petterson Practices and More

Here are the 3 biggest takeaways from the Penguins' Wednesday practice at UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex.

1. Sullivan and Crosby react to Hextall and Burke hirings
After the Penguins named Ron Hextall as general manager and Brian Burke as president of hockey operations on Tuesday, both men got in touch with head coach Mike Sullivan and captain Sidney Crosby.
"We had good conversations," Sullivan said. "I'm looking forward to the opportunity to work with these guys. I know they're excited to work with our team."
Sullivan has an established relationship with Burke, as the two of them worked together in the past with USA Hockey, most recently at the 2016 World Cup. And while Sullivan doesn't know Hextall quite as well, they did face each other during their playing days in the NHL.
"My recollection of Ron as a goalie was that he was ultra-competitive," smiled Sullivan, who was a forward. "I'm sure that his competitive spirit is part of what he brings to the management team as well. I just have a ton of respect for what he was able to accomplish in Philadelphia. And I think he's going to bring his experience to Pittsburgh."
Sullivan said he thinks the group is aligned as far as what the objective is for the Penguins moving forward.
"That's to do our very best to win the Stanley Cup with the core that we have here," he said. "Trying to surround these guys with the best possible people and play a style of play that gives us the best chance to be successful."
Crosby's conversations with Hextall and Burke weren't quite as in-depth, as he said they both called mostly to introduce themselves and say hello.
"They're excited to be part of the team and join us here shortly," Crosby said.
Crosby said he's crossed paths with both of them over the years. Burke joked yesterday about how every time he sees Crosby, he talks about just missing him in the 2005 NHL Draft Lottery, which made the captain smile when it was brought up.

"I don't know them particularly well, but heard great things," Crosby said. "With our situation, there's a process going on. And with those two being named, I think everyone's excited to meet them and move forward."
Especially with everything else that has going on around the team from an injury standpoint and with games being shifted and moved. The players have been trying to focus simply on hockey, and now that these hires have been made, it will be even easier to do just that.
"I think it's something where we understand that there's other people within the organization that do the interviews and conduct this sort of stuff," Crosby said. "Our mindset, our mentality has just been on playing games and making sure that we're getting better."
2. Pettersson joins practice
Defenseman Marcus Pettersson, who has missed the last seven games with an upper-body injury, joined team practice for the first time wearing a gray no-contact jersey.
Pettersson rotated in during line rushes and even took some contact from teammates after practice officially wrapped up. Sullivan said the fact that Pettersson took part in the session is encouraging, and that they'll take each day as it comes with him.
"I'm feeling good," said Pettersson, who had been skating with skills coach Ty Hennes and the taxi squad. "Getting better every day. Feels really good to be back out there with the team and get some reps in. As much as I love Ty, it's always fun to get out with the team and skate with them."
Pettersson was injured on Jan. 19 against Washington on a hit from Capitals forward TJ Oshie in the neutral zone.
"I know I got to keep my eyes up a little bit more," Pettersson said. "I didn't expect him to come from there, but those things happen. I haven't really watched it over again, but I just know that you can't be staring at the puck when you make a pass. So I learned from that."
3. More practice notes and injury updates
Sullivan said that Jared McCann, who was injured in the Penguins' last game on Feb. 6 against NY Islanders, is now week-to-week with a lower-body injury.
He was absent from the session while Evgeni Malkin left midway through because of an eye irritation that was bothering him.
"We took him off the ice just out of caution," Sullivan said.
The Penguins used the following workflow after Malkin went to the locker room...
Guentzel-Crosby-Rust
Zucker-Lafferty-Kapanen
Aston-Reese-Blueger-Tanev
O'Connor-Jankowski-Sceviour
Joseph-Letang
Matheson-Marino
Ruhwedel-Ceci
Czuczman-Weber
Pettersson rotated in.
BONUS: Going old-school with wooden sticks
The Penguins spent part of Tuesday's practice using wooden sticks, and the idea behind bringing them out started with some of the players chirping their captain.
"Guys were giving me a hard time about how long I used a wood blade," laughed Crosby, who entered the league in 2005 and didn't make the switch to a one-piece composite stick until 2010. "A group of us were talking, and I realized there were actually a few guys that hadn't used a wood stick at any point. Some had used a two-piece, and some younger guys mostly used a one-piece growing up."
So the players figured that with so much practice time recently, it was a unique opportunity to try them out, and the coaching staff was all for it.

"I thought it was fun to watch them," Sullivan said. "I had conversations with those guys just a little bit about kind of the benefits of a wooden stick where the puck doesn't pop on your stick as much when you're receiving passes. The properties of wood are very different than the properties of graphite."
Sullivan said that he has always been a proponent that the NHL should be like the MLB, which doesn't allow aluminum bats and requires the players to use wooden bats.
"Maybe the NHL should have wooden sticks, or at least wooden blades," Sullivan mused. "It would be an interesting concept, anyway."
While Crosby is certainly on board with that, he may not have a lot of support.
"I don't think there's too many guys that are looking to switch after that experience, but at least they can say that they tried it," Crosby said.