There are always plenty of storylines surrounding the Penguins each year at training camp. One that has flown under the radar to those on the outside, but has been discussed inside the locker room, is who’s going to replace Brian Dumoulin as team DJ.
“We’ve been talking about that!” Drew O’Connor said. “It’s a job nobody really wants, because it’s a lot of pressure. It’s a thankless job. Dumo was really good.”
Right now, it sounds like defensemen P.O Joseph and Marcus Pettersson are the top-two candidates for the role that Dumoulin had filled since 2016. The person is responsible for what music comes out of the locker room speakers ahead of practices, morning skates and games to get the group in the right state of mind.
Pettersson found himself in the mix because he’s a good singer, having gotten up in front of the boys to sing karaoke a couple of times.
When fellow Swede Patric Hornqvist was with the Penguins, the guys and their significant others dressed as Abba one Halloween, and did Dancing Queen at the team party. Pettersson then hit the stage solo another time, belting out Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody for the group.
But performing and DJ’ing are two different things, which is why Pettersson thinks Joseph is a better fit.
“He knows what’s hot right now in the music industry, he follows it,” Pettersson said. “I think he’d make a great team DJ. There’s a lot of pressure that comes with the DJ spot. There’s a lot of sleepless nights trying to figure it out. We’ve got to come up with somebody. I’m not throwing myself in there, I’m throwing P.O in there.”
Joseph has the captain’s vote as well, with Sidney Crosby believing he’s the right person for the job. Letang also thinks P.O would do well.
“I'll take it,” Joseph said with a laugh and a sigh. “It's just hard sometimes. I think it's the hardest thing to do around here, to be honest.”
That’s because not only does the team DJ need a variety of songs that cover everybody’s tastes, they also have to read the mood accordingly, like playing something more upbeat if guys are tired or more chill if everyone’s feeling good.
Fortunately, Joseph has said he’s such a mood person for life in general, and that includes music. He also has diverse tastes, learning to enjoy listening to country music when he was playing junior hockey in the Maritimes; loving hip hop, rap, EDM/dance music, and indie folk; and appreciating some of the good rock classics that everybody knows the lyrics to, even if they’re not his preference.
If Joseph does take over, he would ask everyone for their preferences, and go from there.
“I would try to please everyone,” he said. “I feel like there's definitely a different side of music from every guy in the room. Dumo did a pretty good job last year just kind of asking guys what their kind of music was. I heard some 80s and some 90s rock, which is not what I usually play at home. But I guess if you just bring different types of music in the room, people will just start liking it.”
Luckily for P.O, we got him a head start in that regard, checking in with the guys at Creative Day for what songs they'd like to add to this year's Spotify Player Playlist. Listen below!
