During Tristan Jarry’s previous NHL All-Star appearances in 2020 and ’22, he collected his fair share of autographs and memorabilia from the events and his peers. But it wasn’t until recently that he acquired an All-Star jersey with special meaning.
His father-in-law Kevin Hatcher played 17 NHL seasons, including three with Pittsburgh in the late 1990s, and was selected to five All-Star Games. Jarry donned a version of one in Vegas, and asked Kevin for the jersey he actually wore that year.
“We just put them up in our basement the other week,” Tristan said. “It's a cool memory we both have, because the NHL did a throwback one to his. So, I have those two jerseys side by side. It's actually really cool.”
Whenever Tristan and his wife Hannah visit with her family, hockey tends to be a topic of conversation. Kevin, a defenseman inducted into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame, has shared stories about his time playing with Tom Barrasso and Mario Lemieux on those star-studded teams and life on the road.
“Hannah and I went to LA a couple years ago, and he's like, ‘you have to go to this restaurant, we used to go there when we'd play LA,’” Tristan said. “We're like, okay – so we went there, and it was this little place on the beach, and it was really cool.
“It's awesome to hear his experiences and his stories and just what he loved so much about playing for the Penguins, and how much he enjoyed it and the friendships that he created. It's cool to see that it’s still the same now compared to when he played.”
Tristan and Hannah also spent a lot of time with his family this summer back in the Vancouver area, where he grew up. Though much of it was in his car driving from his parents’ house to his gym in North Vancouver, and then to the rink where he skates in Delta.
While he’d be gone from about 9-5 with the commutes and workouts, Jarry’s days tend to be shorter when he and Hannah are back at their offseason home in Sherwood Park, Alberta. It’s located just outside of Edmonton, where Tristan played his junior hockey.
They usually buy groceries at the beginning of the week and cook everything on Monday or Tuesday, saving the leftovers for lunches that Tristan packs and eats in the car between training and skating. “Usually an apple, banana, chicken breast, some rice or vegetables from the night before,” he said, adding with a laugh: “The asparagus gets soggy by day 3 or 4.”
Last year had its ups – like becoming the first goalie in Penguins history to score a goal, and tying for the NHL lead with six shutouts – along with its downs for Jarry. Ultimately, Penguins President of Hockey Operations and GM Kyle Dubas said the goaltender would be the first to say he wanted to be better and has to be better. As he’s taken the time to reset over the last few months, Tristan has been grateful to have Hannah by his side, who’s just as much of a rock during the stress of a season.
“It's nice when you can go home and you have that person that you can be with and not have to worry about anything. That's your safe spot, that's your happy place, and I'm really fortunate that I found that with her,” Tristan said. “It's nice that we're able to spend the summers together and we're able to go do things, whether it's fishing or hiking or going camping. We do a lot; we pack a lot into our summers. It’s always nice that we get to do that now, because during the season, we miss a lot of that.”
The pair, who got married last August, are seemingly always outdoors on their acres of land; going up and down the Athabasca River; or taking their boat to new lakes.
Tristan and Hannah also joined some friends on an Italian vacation, going for about 10 days. They started in Positano, off the Amalfi Coast. From there, they rented a house in Radicondoli, near Tuscany. They explored that region, along with Florence and Rome (which Tristan liked the best).
He got a new pair of walking shoes for the 15 miles they averaged each day, “some good New Balances. They were three-strap Velcro,” Tristan deadpanned. “We did, saw a lot of things. We'd get up early and then we'd walk around all the little towns and everything around us… or we’d go through the museums or something like that. We didn't spend many days on the beach, probably like two or three out of the 10. Otherwise, it was just all walking. It was lots of fun.”
Now, Tristan—who turned 29 at the end of April—is preparing to return to Pittsburgh at the beginning of September. Jarry will be reunited with Alex Nedeljkovic, who signed a two-year extension in June.
There’s been a lot of discourse surrounding the dynamic between the two netminders, who did a good job of pushing each other last year before Nedeljkovic seized his opportunity after Jarry got ill before a start at Madison Square Garden, and went on a phenomenal run to end the year.
But while of course, they both want to play, Jarry and Nedeljkovic sincerely like one another and root for one another. Nedeljkovic said working with Jarry was a big reason he wanted to come back, and Tristan was one of the first people to reach out and congratulate him, saying he’s looking forward to getting back at it together. They have a lot in common, and both possess great senses of humor. That foundation of friendship to keep them grounded through the competition that awaits should go a long way.
“We had a great bond, and I think that continued through the whole year. It was a lot of fun being a tandem together, being partners, so I'm glad we get to continue that,” Jarry said. “It'll be exciting that we get to continue to grow this bond and continue to grow the friendship that we're creating, and it's nice that it doesn't have to end.”
“I feel like just together, both as goalies, we're going to get better and better every year. Just by knowing each other more and by the way that we're able to connect, I think that we're able to push each other and we're able to support each other. I think that that creates a good tandem, and it'll really help us in the upcoming season."
