Penguins defenseman Trevor Daley said Tuesday he is “ready to go” after missing the final nine games of the playoffs in the spring because of a broken ankle.
Speaking before the team’s annual Summer Sticks event at Allegheny Country Club in Sewickley, Daley said his ankle feels good and that he’s excited to get started with training camp later this week.
He spent the first part of the Penguins’ shortened summer break rehabilitating the injury, but said he returned to full-go in workouts about three or four weeks ago.
“I feel great,” Daley said. “I don’t feel like I missed a step at all. I feel good about my game and I’m just excited to get going.”
That’s good news for the Penguins, as Daley developed into a linchpin on the blue line after coming over in a midseason trade from the Chicago Blackhawks.
Daley had fallen out of favor in Chicago, but turned into one of the Penguins’ most valuable players before his injury.
“It was pretty crazy, yeah,” Daley said. “The whole thing was actually pretty crazy, the way it ended, the way it started. It was a pretty roller-coaster year, but it ended well, so it was good.”
Daley’s specific ending was even sweeter, as he had the honor of being the first person captain Sidney Crosby handed the Stanley Cup off to in the team’s on-ice celebration in San Jose. Calif. Daley’s mother, Trudy, was battling cancer at the time and died a little more than a week later.
“It was obviously real special,” Daley said Tuesday. “I was obviously shocked. I didn’t really know what to do. Now that you’ve got some time to reflect on it, it’s pretty special.”
Now, the next goal is earning the right to lift the trophy again in June 2017.
“We have to be better,” Daley said. “Every night, everybody’s going to be gunning for us. When you’re the champs, everybody’s going to want to knock you off. We’re definitely going to have to be better.”
Training camp schedule
The Penguins announced Tuesday that they would open training camp Friday at UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex in Cranberry.
Friday through Monday, practices will begin at 9 a.m. and be open to the public.
The roster will be divided into three teams, with all three practicing every day and two of the three participating in a 45-minute scrimmage each day.
The scrimmages will culminate with a “championship” Monday between the two best teams.
“We haven’t decided yet what the winning team gets,” assistant coach Rick Tocchet said. “Probably doesn’t have to skate as much.”
The Penguins’ first preseason game is Tuesday in Detroit.
Cup visits Notre Dame
Every player got a day with the Stanley Cup this summer, but defenseman Ian Cole and forward Bryan Rust got one extra.
The two took the Cup to their alma mater, Notre Dame, for the Sept. 10 football game against Nevada. They brought it to a tailgate party thrown by the current Irish hockey team and took photos at various campus landmarks like Touchdown Jesus and the Golden Dome.
They also were recognized on the field at the football game.
“No one really had any idea when we rolled the trunk out, then when we took it out of the trunk after the first quarter, it was like impossible to walk the 30 yards back to the tunnel to get it back in the trunk,” Cole said. “Everyone in the stands was diving down to get pictures.”
The only problem, Cole joked, is that Rust seemed to appear in all the pictures that popped up on social media during the day.
“I don’t know why he got all the face time, I was a little hurt about that, actually,” Cole said.
“I might need to take it back again next year after we win it again and maybe get some more photo ops.”
Opportunity knocks
With six top players and the head coach away at the World Cup when the Penguins open training camp, defenseman Kris Letang said he looks at it as a chance for new players to step up as leaders.
One player he pointed to specifically was his playoff defense partner, Brian Dumoulin. Dumoulin played in 79 games last year, his first full season in the NHL, with a plus-minus of plus-11 and a Corsi For Percentage (CF%) of .532, third-highest among the Penguins’ regular defensemen.
“Everybody grew as a player last year with the run that we had,” Letang said. “Looking for it with Dumoulin. He’s got a full year with big minutes he played.”
Sam Werner: swerner@post-gazette.com and Twitter @SWernerPG.
First Published: September 21, 2016, 4:00 a.m.