If Tristan Jarry turns in an exceptional stretch of goaltending for the Penguins in the upcoming Stanley Cup playoffs, he'll have two very important people to thank.
Err … two dogs, actually.
HIS dogs.
Diesel and Kitty.
Of all the unique ways NHL players invented to stay sharp during the unprecedented four- month layoff, Jarry came up with the most unorthodox, hands down. Goaltenders often use tennis balls to keep up their eye-hand coordination in off-ice training, but Jarry may be the first to enlist the aid of two English Mastiffs in a driveway regimen.
"(I was) just following the tennis ball, even playing with the puck a little bit … it's the only thing we could do as goalies," he said during a virtual interview with local media Wednesday. "We didn't really have anyone to shoot on us over the break. I was just playing catch with my girlfriend at home, playing with the dogs ... that was all we could mimic, playing with the tennis ball as much as we could and throwing the puck around."
Wait … the dogs?
Turns out that Diesel and Kitty might be MVPs of the unusual off-season. They were excellent puck-trackers at the Jarry home in British Columbia.
"I actually bought a hockey net at home and was playing a lot of street hockey with my goalie stick," he said. "That was something I did almost every day - take the dogs downstairs and play street hockey with them.
"I usually would just stickhandle around and they would chase me around and try to grab the ball. So I was basically protecting it a lot with my goalie stick and every once in a while I'd shoot on the net and they'd chase after it and bring it back to me."
Whatever it takes.
Jarry's scouting report had its own rankings - "Diesel's a lot better. Kitty just kind of laid down and played while Diesel chased it around" - but the videos he provided to https://ift.tt/1dnbcf0 disputed that. Both dogs appeared to be making valuable contributions to the cause.
Now that training camp has started at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex, however, Jarry and his teammates are back to more traditional training methods. Wednesday was their third day of formal workouts with coaches in preparation for a quick resumption of game action and the start of the Stanley Cup playoff qualifying round on August 1 against Montreal.
Penguins coach Mike Sullivan has the good fortune to have two talented young goalies to choose from in Jarry and Matt Murray.
"We have a comfort level with the tandem we have right now," Sullivan said. "Both are really good goalies. And they're good people, first and foremost. They're two guys we feel comfortable with who are going to give us a chance to win."
Jarry, 25, earned his first All-Star Game berth during the regular season with a 20-12-1 record, a 2.43 goals-against average and a .921 save percentage in 33 games. He also posted three shutouts.
Murray, 26, and already with two Stanley Cups on his resume, went 20-11-5 with a 2.87 GAA and .899 save percentage in 38 games.
The intense competition to play will push both of them to be better, and both Sullivan and Jarry said the friendship between the goalies benefits both.
"The best possible scenario is when guys sincerely like one another and friendships are built," Sullivan said. "Those positive relationships help both guys. I believe we have that with Matt and Tristan. They're two guys who came through Wilkes-Barre together and are now in Pittsburgh together. They push each other to be the best. They're competitive guys, and they both want the net."
"It's awesome we have the relationship we do," Jarry said, "and it's awesome we're able to push each other. It's a good, healthy relationship.
"Right now, we're just trying to get back in shape as quick as we can, get ready to play and get ready for that first exhibition game."
The final decision on who will start in goal is up to Sullivan and goaltending coach Mike Buckley - it's a pleasant problem to have - but you can rest assured that Diesel and Kitty are pulling for Jarry.
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