When Jack St. Ivany reached out to his parents Darin and Tricia to let them know he’d be making his NHL debut on Friday in Dallas, he didn’t share the big news right away.
“He's always really calm about things. Whenever he calls you, if he's got big news, we talk about how he likes to bury the lead,” Darin said with a smile. “He just called real casual, like, what's going on? And after I started talking, he's like, yeah, I got called up. So that, of course, stops the conversation.”
The flight for Jack’s mom, dad, and girlfriend Sydney Hill got delayed a couple of hours, so they had to rush pretty quickly to get from the airport to American Airlines Center, but they made it in time to see the Penguins defenseman’s rookie lap. It was a night that meant so much to Jack’s loved ones.
“I think any hockey parents having a kid start playing at a young age feel the exact same way, watching your kid realize this remarkable dream of playing in the NHL,” Tricia said. “It’s very difficult putting the emotions into words, out of body [laughs], but just proud. Really, really proud, knowing how hard it is and knowing all the work it took to get to this spot.”
The 24-year-old got started playing the game at an early age in southern California, where St. Ivany found his love for hockey and being at the rink. The Manhattan Beach native grew up a massive fan of his hometown LA Kings and their star defenseman Drew Doughty.
“Even when he was really little, he liked to watch hockey games,” Darin said.
Jack shared a similar sentiment from his early hockey memories.
“It was about the only thing that stopped me from crying,” he joked.
While the West Coast is where St. Ivany calls home, his hockey aspirations drew him across the continent.
“I always had a dream of playing for Yale or Harvard or any of the Ivy League schools,” he said. “It was cool to be able to get that opportunity.”
St. Ivany played two years at Yale before transferring to Boston College to play his final two years of college hockey. After a successful senior season as an Eagle, St. Ivany – originally drafted in the fourth round of the 2018 NHL Draft by Philadelphia – signed an entry-level contract with the Penguins in 2022 as a college free agent.
Since that time, St. Ivany has found his footing at the professional level with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League, now in his second season with the Penguins organization.
“This year compared to last year, he's just a much steadier, confident player.” WBS Head Coach J.D. Forrest said. “He's got a bit of a physical edge to him that he's been bringing on a nightly basis. I think last year, he could have a couple of good games here and there, and then he kind of falls off a bit. This year, it's been very steady, and when he hasn't been his best, he's still been good. I think he’s figured out how to do that. It's one of those things that comes with some maturity. Jack’s done a nice job with that.”
Jack’s dad remembers a youth practice where all of the kids were just skating around like crazy, “and one of the coaches said, ‘well, somebody’s got to play defense’ – and Jack just dropped back and started playing defense, and that was it. He was a defenseman from then on,” Darin said.
“I do remember sitting in the stands and it was like okay, he’s going to be a defenseman! We’re super glad he wasn’t going to be a goalie,” Tricia laughed. “But it was kind of a weird thing that he decided for himself as a little kid that he was going to be a defenseman.”
Now, Jack is in the National Hockey League at that very position, which Penguins Head Coach Mike Sullivan said is the hardest one to play.
“Jack, to his credit, has done a really good job at working at his game, developing his game,” Sullivan said. “He's been a really big part of Wilkes-Barre’s success. He's done a great job on the penalty kill. He defends well with his stick. He has good mobility, good size, but he's just been a reliable, trustworthy guy that excels on the penalty kill in particular.”
