“I’m just trying to suck it in”

American ice hockey forward Tristan Broz must never have felt so overwhelmed sitting in the Pittsburgh Penguins locker room near the cabin normally staffed by the Veterans Center Yevgeny Malkin.

Glancing to the left earlier this month, the 19-year-old found other prospects standing on either side of another empty locker at the Penguins development camp. Interestingly, just above this locker was the name tag of the Pittsburgh and National Hockey League (NHL) captain. Sydney Crosby.

“I was just trying to suck it in.” Broz said on July 10 as quoted by NHL.com. “Obviously it’s the penguins’ dressing room. They have Sidney Crosby’s locker over there. You have his name over there. It’s cool. It’s definitely humbling to be here putting up this logo.”

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“I always knew they had my back and support me”

Notably, Broz attended development camp for the first time since his pick in the second round (#58) of the 2021 NHL Draft. Previously, the Bloomington, Minn. native was unable to attend last September because he was already on campus as a freshman at the University of Minnesota.

“It kind of stank not being able to be here and not necessarily being fully part of the organization‘ Broz said. “But somehow I always knew that they had my back and supported me. I still spoke to them. I still definitely felt a part of it.”