Behind the Scenes of the 2023 Penguins Dads Trip

While the 2023 Highmark Dads Trip had a tough ending on Saturday in Toronto, ending the dads’ win streak at four games dating back to last season, it was still a wonderful experience overall. It's always so fun to reunite with the veteran dads, meet the new dads, watch how they bond and come together over the course of a trip, and see the similarities and resemblances between them and their sons.

Here are some stories and anecdotes from the trip, which began with the dads coming to Pittsburgh for the game against Arizona on Tuesday; flying with the team to Montreal for their matchup with the Canadiens on Wednesday; and having a couple of days between contests before playing the Leafs on Saturday.

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* The dads attended the team’s video session held at the team hotel before Friday’s practice at Ford Performance Centre, and Penguins President of Hockey Operations Kyle Dubas made a heartfelt address to the group on behalf of the organization.

“Most importantly, number one – the dads, billet dads, father in law's, whatever fatherly role you play in our players’ lives – thank you for making the trip. From my view of it, it's been great to see you guys have fun and also enjoy just being around your sons throughout the week,” Dubas said.

Dubas added that the trip came at a time when the players likely need their dads the most, as the team had been struggling going into the trip before picking up two wins in a row, and began struggling again going out of it.

“I think from my experience growing up, it's at those times when you have to lean on the person who provides you that advice (whenever there are ups and downs),” Dubas said. “We're trying to figure it out, and it helps to have those people that we can always go back to and seek their guidance and seek their help for how we get through these times.”

The dads' jerseys were autographed by the entire team, and they also received a framed photo of the group shot they took at Mount Royal Park in Montreal, courtesy of Sidney Crosby.

READ: Cheers to Another Victory - Dads Win Streak Continues in Montreal

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* After Friday’s skate, they visited the Hockey Hall of Fame Resource Centre, located inside that same building. It features the world's largest collection of hockey treasures, and the staff set aside some Penguins-related memorabilia for the dads and players to see, which included items like the jersey Jake Guentzel wore in Game 3 of the 2017 Stanley Cup Final against the Predators.

“I was told before I came that his jersey was hanging in the Hockey Hall of Fame, and I was like, no way,” Mike Guentzel said. “Brings back a lot of good memories.”

Jake also had a helmet from a Hockey Hall of Fame game there, with Mike taking a picture of both pieces of gear to show his wife Sally after returning home to Minnesota, along with his young grandson Charlie at some point in the future. “I'm going to show Jake’s kid one day,” Mike said.

The Guentzel jersey was beside Noel Acciari’s jersey from the 2017 Hockey Hall of Fame game, with the dads posing for a photo. There was a Mario Lemieux jersey on the other side of Noel’s, which had Mike Acciari shaking his head. “Like, give me a break!” he said.

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*It’s easy to see where Noel got the nickname ‘Cookie,’ as Mike Acciari certainly has a sweet tooth of his own. At one point, he made sure to track down the dessert cart at Bell Centre and loading up his plate.

“There's always room for sweets or dessert after dinner. I don't care how much you had to eat,” Mike said.

If the two of them ever had some sort of dessert-eating contest, Mike’s certain that he would emerge victorious.

“I’d beat him. Are you kidding? He got it from me,” Mike said. “His mom, she's a good baker. She makes a lot of cakes and cookies and things, so he's grown up with that stuff. So, he can eat. He’s got a good appetite.”

Mike, who is a jeweler by trade, was so delightful to chat with and had so many fantastic stories – like how Noel’s younger brother ended up signing up for karate so that he could hold his own whenever the siblings roughhoused.

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* The following day, the group went to the actual Hockey Hall of Fame, with a Marcus Pettersson jersey from the Stadium Series hanging in a display just inside the entrance. His dad Daniel said he got goosebumps seeing it.

“I couldn’t believe it. I had no idea,” Daniel said. “I went to the international part and came back and recognized the jersey. He wore it once at the outdoor rink, that’s why I recognize it. And nobody else would have 28.”

A lot of them had been there when the players were kids, or when the dads were kids themselves. Daniel said he had visited back when he was a teenager in the 80s and got a book about Wayne Gretzky and all of his records, and that he would read it constantly. To come back now that their sons are actual NHL players and have memorabilia of their own in there is just surreal.

Jonas Karlsson got to take a closer look at the Norris Trophy and his son’s name on it. He was the one who first told Erik he should play defense, as he could skate faster than anyone, and would be able to get back while still seeing the whole ice and getting to start the play.

Jonas is so proud of Erik, who “always had a smile on the face” as a kid, and just loves to play hockey. “He played so many hours when he was young. We have 1,500 people where we live in Landsbro, and we have an arena, and it was open every day. Hopped on skates and just go after school,” he said. “If it is closed, I'm calling from work, asking if they can open up so we can skate.”

Former Red Wings forward Johan Franzen is also from Landsbro, bringing the Stanley Cup home when Detroit won, and Golden Knights scout Anders Johansson also did so just this past year. Hopefully, Erik can return with the silver chalice at some point.

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It's always amazing to see all of the connections between the dads, particularly the ones that go back to youth hockey. Drew O’Connor and Marc Johnstone are a couple years apart and ended up playing for the same coach with the North Jersey Avalanche, a retired firefighter from Staten Island named Mark Lotito. Thomas and Shawn enjoyed reminiscing about Mark, calling him a character with a great hockey mind whose kids love playing for him.

“He is really the person responsible for both of us standing here today,” Thomas Johnstone said. “He gave Drew his break to get back in at a level that he needed to be at. He gave the two boys their break,” Shawn O’Connor added. “They did what they needed to do, too. But without Mark Lotito at those critical moments, neither one of them would be here.”

Drew had played AAA hockey for the New Jersey Colonials for 10 years, but when he got to high school, the coach there didn't want him to play travel as well. After Drew decided that being at Delbarton Prep wasn't working for him with extremely limited ice time that didn't help his development, and that he wasn’t going to play his senior year, “Coach Mark was the only guy that gave Drew a break, because he had been out of travel and he couldn't get into any other programs," Shawn said.

He’s also the one who helped Drew get his commitment at Dartmouth. “He calls me up one day and says, Mr. O’Connor, do you think Drew would like to go to Dartmouth?” Shawn said. “I said, Mark, we’ve been trying to get into a D3 school and can’t get in. Dartmouth is D1, and on top of it, it’s Ivy League. Yeah, I think he would like to go to Dartmouth!”

For Marc’s part, he had played AAA hockey for the New Jersey Rockets, who weren’t going to have a U18 team. After talking through his options, it sounded like going to Lotito was the best idea, because he’s a well-respected coach who has the players' best interests at heart, and he also sees a lot of things in players that maybe other scouts or coaches don't see.

“That was definitely the case with Marc. He was a little bit under the radar at that point, so we went with the Avalanche for that 18U year,” Thomas said.

That's just one example of how it takes an entire support system for players to make it to this level of the sport.

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Finally, we absolutely love hearing stories about the players as kids. Alex Nedeljkovic’s dad Nenad, who goes by Butch, shared a school project that his son had done in either kindergarten or first grade.

“It was like a career shield, and he had to put what his goals were or whatever. And on there, he said, play in the NHL,” Butch said. “You never think it’s gonna actually happen!"

Butch provided a lot of insight into his son - known as Ned within the hockey world, but Alex to his friends and family - that will be used in a future article. He and the rest of the dads were so gracious with their time throughout the course of the trip, always being such good sports with whatever the content team asked for. It was truly a pleasure to have them along, and we can't wait until next year!