Many newlyweds center their honeymoon trips around the beach. But for Kyle and Katrina Batty of Melbourne, Australia, they centered theirs around their shared love of the Pittsburgh Penguins.
After it was announced the Penguins would be playing in the 2023 Winter Classic at Fenway Park, the newlyweds knew they had to be there for it.
“I saw it after I woke up one morning and was like, ‘this is our honeymoon,’” Kyle said.
The Winter Classic was the first NHL game Katrina saw in person. The two ended up seeing three Penguin games in total during their visit to the United States.
“I was more excited for this than the wedding,” Kyle joked.
Hockey has always been at the center of their relationship. The two met because they were on the same beer league hockey team, and ended up being defense partners. The two’s proposal went viral on the NHL’s social media when Kyle slid a ring box toward Katrina during warmups before a game.
“It was pretty amazing… then we got off and I was like, ‘yeah, did that just happen?! I have to go play a game now!” she laughed.
Kyle’s fandom started from birth. He was born in 1992, the year of the team’s second Stanley Cup victory, and felt it was just an “omen” to be a Penguins fan. Katrina had been playing inline hockey since she was a kid, and decided to make the switch to ice when she was around 18 or 19.
“Then like a year later, I met Kyle,” she said. “Honestly, I was always like a hockey fan, but I never had a team. So then when I met Kyle and he was all about the Pittsburgh Penguins, he had all the signs around his room when I first met him and I was like, ‘oh, God!’”
Melbourne is 14 hours ahead of Pittsburgh, so the Battys have a unique schedule to watch their beloved Penguins play. Their weekend mornings usually consist of bacon, eggs, and the voices of Josh Getzoff and Colby Armstrong on SportsNet Pittsburgh.
“That’s our morning routine on a weekend,” she said. “We are making breakfast, we are making our coffee, we are watching them do their intermissions. It is almost like a ritual for us.”
Weekday games are more difficult for them to watch with their jobs, as Katrina is a teacher and Kyle is in healthcare. ”It’s sometimes tricky being at work and watching the scores and watching the kids, knowing that there’s a game going on!” Katrina laughed.
But the school holiday break schedule did allow them to make their second trip to the United States to watch the Penguins play. They caught five total games before heading back home, starting the emotional return of Jake Guentzel when the Penguins hosted Carolina on March 26 and the 3-2 win over Columbus on March 28.
They didn’t attend the second half of the home-and-home with the Blue Jackets, instead heading to New York, New Jerey and Washington to watch the three regulation wins on that road trip. The team appears to play well in front of the Aussie couple, something they’ve let Getzoff know.
“We’ve been messaging Josh an letting him know that I think we are the luck charm,” Kyle said with a grin.
The two also traveled up to Cranberry to watch their Penguins practice, something that meant a lot to the couple.
“That was amazing to see the inner-workings of how they doing their trainings,” Katrina said.
Kyle said multiple trips to watch the Penguins play in person has their families thinking they’re crazy, “but we love it. It’s our thing,” Katrina said. “Everyone’s got their thing, whatever sport it is – baseball, basketball, football. And this is us. It’s what makes us happy.”
