Slaaapshuter
Registered User
- May 10, 2015
- 1,197
- 861
pre-retirement retirement party
This man gets it. I dream the same for my own career.
pre-retirement retirement party
I just really think he changed the culture here. He embodied what Mike Sullivan hockey was supposed to be all about: playing hard between the whistles and letting everyone else worry about the stories and the distractions.
Let's be honest here for a minute. Before Hornqvist arrived this team had had numerous playoff disappointments. They'd gotten in their own way a lot. That Philly series they had was a disgrace. They let their emotions get in the way and they paid for it big time. And nobody was more representative of the easily tilted mentality that the Pens used to have than James Neal.
Then along comes Hornqvist who never stops coming at the other team and who draws lots of penalties and who most importantly keeps it between the whistles. He plays so hard, but he doesn't let bullshit distract him from trying to win. And that attitude (along with Sullivan's leadership) rubbed off on the Pens. They started to play like Hornqvist. Hard. Fierce. Between the whistles. Teams would still try to get under their skin, but it no longer worked. They'd shake it off and keep winning. Niskanen cheapshots Crosby and in the past maybe that derails an entire series for the Pens. Yet this time Hornqvist scores the first goal of the next game and the Pens stay on track in that series.
It's funny but I'll always remember the 4-1 series loss to the Rangers shortly after Horny joined the team. It was a crappy loss, and the team was overmatched and clearly needed an injection of youth. Yet what I remember about the series was Hornqvist absolutely battling his ass off in that series and relentlessly driving the net. I remember thinking at the time that if we could just find some more energy like that, we could get this team back on track. And JR did it. But it all started with Hornqvist.
I just really think he changed the culture here. He embodied what Mike Sullivan hockey was supposed to be all about: playing hard between the whistles and letting everyone else worry about the stories and the distractions.
Let's be honest here for a minute. Before Hornqvist arrived this team had had numerous playoff disappointments. They'd gotten in their own way a lot. That Philly series they had was a disgrace. They let their emotions get in the way and they paid for it big time. And nobody was more representative of the easily tilted mentality that the Pens used to have than James Neal.
Then along comes Hornqvist who never stops coming at the other team and who draws lots of penalties and who most importantly keeps it between the whistles. He plays so hard, but he doesn't let bullshit distract him from trying to win. And that attitude (along with Sullivan's leadership) rubbed off on the Pens. They started to play like Hornqvist. Hard. Fierce. Between the whistles. Teams would still try to get under their skin, but it no longer worked. They'd shake it off and keep winning. Niskanen cheapshots Crosby and in the past maybe that derails an entire series for the Pens. Yet this time Hornqvist scores the first goal of the next game and the Pens stay on track in that series.
It's funny but I'll always remember the 4-1 series loss to the Rangers shortly after Horny joined the team. It was a crappy loss, and the team was overmatched and clearly needed an injection of youth. Yet what I remember about the series was Hornqvist absolutely battling his ass off in that series and relentlessly driving the net. I remember thinking at the time that if we could just find some more energy like that, we could get this team back on track. And JR did it. But it all started with Hornqvist.
I feel like this has been the best summary and testimony of Hornqvist's legacy here that's been posted.
I've had Coldplay Fix You and a bunch of Celine Dion songs on repeat over the last 48 hours. I'm 1 day from drowning in white wine.
I'm gonna miss cheering him as a Penguin. I still hate this.Guess I'll just re-post an article and outtakes which always makes me smile
Patric Hornqvist's intensity is 'on another level'
Inside the team’s dressing room, Kuhnhackl sat with his head down, quiet and nervous, before his next-door neighbor, Patric Hornqvist, broke the silence with a few inspirational words.
“He just turned to me and started screaming in Swedish,” Kuhnhackl recalled. “I was like, ‘Is this normal? What’s happening here?’ I honestly started to get scared. I wasn’t used to it. Now, I love it.”
Kuhnhackl said Hornqvist has developed a new pregame routine, in that he couples the yelling with a few body punches before they head out onto the ice.
“It’s sometimes too much yelling,” Evgeni Malkin kidded on Saturday. “But I know he brings energy. … He loves to play, he loves to be here.”
“He’s definitely the most intense guy I’ve ever played with,” said Matt Cullen, who has played 1,469 NHL games when you combine regular season and playoffs. “Everybody understands how bad he wants to win. It’s all about that. It’s not about personal stuff as far as wanting goals or wanting assists. I think we all know how much he wants to win and how much he cares about the guys.
After games, the necks of Hornqvist’s undershirts are routinely shredded. They don’t come like this. Hornqvist usually Hulk Hogan’s them in fits of intensity.
It’s actually impossible to talk to one of Hornqvist’s teammates without their faces lighting up with excitement.
I'm gonna miss cheering him as a Penguin. I still hate this.