Baseball has been a big part of Mike Sullivan's life, ever since he was a kid.
"So to have an opportunity to participate in a hockey game in Fenway Park, for me, is the thrill of a lifetime," the Penguins head coach said going into the Winter Classic, set for Jan. 2 against the Bruins.
Playing at Fenway Will be Thrill of a Lifetime for Boston Native Sullivan
"It's a special place. It's really a unique ballpark. The history, I think, is well chronicled. It speaks for itself. But being a Boston kid born and raised there, and being such a big Red Sox fan … I can't put it into words how excited I am."
Sullivan grew up in your typical big Boston Irish-Catholic family, as he's one of five children. He has all kinds of memories watching and attending Red Sox games with his two brothers and their dad, who built a Wiffle ball field in their backyard, where they'd play never-ending games of pepper.
Mike said that his father George, who passed away in 2018, was the biggest Red Sox fan he knew - except for maybe his uncle Joe.
"They are probably the only two people that I know in my lifetime who can sit in front of the television and watch a baseball game from the first pitch to the last, without moving," Sullivan said with a laugh.
"I always have it on in the background. You know, you're doing things, you watch an inning… whatever. But my dad, until the day he died, and my uncle would sit and watch every game, from start to finish."
When Sullivan was young, his maternal grandfather Tom Barry lived with the family for a period of time. Tom would relax on the rocking chair in his room, smoking a cigar - one of those skinny Philly tiparillos - with the window open, listening to broadcaster Joe Castiglione call the action.
"I used to go in and sit with him," said Sullivan, whose favorite player was pitcher Rick Burleson. "Sometimes I'd play cribbage with my grandfather. We'd sit and we'd listen to the Red Sox game on the radio."
Sullivan also played baseball through his freshman year at Boston College High School, but after that, he stopped to focus solely on hockey. Sullivan, a shortstop, did get the opportunity to join Boston University's baseball team after the hockey season ended, "but I never played," he said with a wry grin.
Sullivan is still incredibly passionate about the sport, and he's passed that along to his son Matt, who also loves the Red Sox. Matt actually got the chance to attend one of the playoff games when the Red Sox were in the 2004 World Series. He and a friend took signs that read, "WHAT CURSE?" on one side, and "WE BELIEVE" on the other.
Casey DeSmith's father Gary also went to a World Series game when the Red Sox won again in 2007. They're from Manchester, New Hampshire, which is about an hour outside of Boston.
"I grew up a Habs fan, so I hated the Bruins," said Casey, who idolized legendary Canadiens goaltender Ken Dryden. "But New Hampshire's heavy, heavy Bruins, Patriots, Celtics, Red Sox. My dad is a huge Red Sox fan."
While Casey's Winter Classic helmet design is mostly Pittsburgh-focused, he did want to get one Boston-themed element in there … putting the mischievous bear Ted from the movie of the same name on the back. "He won't admit that it's a shoutout to me, but I think it is," teammate Teddy Blueger said.
Casey grew up playing youth hockey with fellow New England native Brian Dumoulin, who's from Biddeford, Maine. He's actually gotten the chance to skate at Fenway Park twice already, as a freshman and then a junior at Boston College.
"The first year, I'd say it was obviously a little bit more special since it was the first year they had done it," Dumoulin said. "It was the first outdoor classic there, when the Bruins played Philly. The second one was great, because we won. So both very memorable."
Dumoulin joked that he does his due diligence when it comes to Red Sox games. "I go to one a year, I'd say, and call myself a fan," he smiled. "I wouldn't say I'm a die-hard, but I pay attention to them, for sure."
Like Sullivan, he appreciates the history of the Green Monster, which opened in 1912.
"There's so many different, quirky spots in that stadium," Dumoulin said. "Looking at it now, you never really know what's a good seat until you kind of get there and see. You kind of don't know how your viewing is going to be. I remember playing in it, and you feel like the stands are so far away from you, you almost don't feel like there's a crowd. You almost feel like it's just you guys out there playing, which is a really cool thing to think about."
