The Pittsburgh Penguins will travel to Sudbury, ON, on Sunday evening to play a Kraft Hockeyville game against the Ottawa Senators.
The 2024 contest will be the franchise’s third participation in this annual event, but it will be the first time the franchise will head north to Canada.
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Kraft Hockeyville has been a staple of Canadian hockey since its inception in 2006, while the United States briefly participated in the program, running five seasons from 2015 to 2020.
When two communities in Pennsylvania won the events in 2015 and 2017, the Penguins were there to celebrate and play pre-season hockey.
In 2024, Elliot Lake, ON, won the Canadian Kraft Hockeyville, and the neighboring community of Sudbury, ON, home of the OHL’s Sudbury Wolves, will welcome the Penguins and Senators.
Pittsburgh is 1-1 in Kraft Hockeyville games heading into Sunday’s contest. Here’s a recap of those previous contests.
Sept. 29, 2015 – Cambria County War Memorial Arena, Johnstown, PA
Pittsburgh Penguins 4 – Tampa Bay Lightning 2
Johnstown, PA, won the inaugural U.S. Kraft Hockeyville contest in 2015. For fans of the movie Slap Shot, Johnstown has a special place in the hockey community’s hearts since the hilarious film is loosely based on the Johnstown Jets of the Eastern Hockey League.
The Penguins opened the scoring with a goal from Sergei Plotnikov just 14 seconds into the game. Future Pittsburgh player Brian Boyle tied things up at 1-1 before the “home” team took a 2-1 lead into intermission.
After Jonathan Drouin tied things up at 2-2, Evgeni Malkin restored the Penguins lead before Adam Clendening sealed the win with a lamplighter thanks to a feed from Plotnikov.
Sept. 24, 2017 – UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex, Cranberry Township, PA
St. Louis Blues 4 – Pittsburgh Penguins 1
The town of Belle Vernon, PA, won the 2017 Kraft Hockeyville contest for upgrades to its Rostraver Ice Garden facility. The Penguins were selected to play an NHL pre-season game for the event and hosted the St. Louis Blues at their practice complex. Despite the home-ice advantage, Pittsburgh fell 4-1.
As the Penguins welcomed Sidney Crosby, Kris Letang, and Malkin to pre-season action, their presence wasn’t enough, even though Jake Guentzel opened the scoring at 2:05.
The Blue rallied back for four straight goals, starting with two second-period goals from Vladimir Tarasenko and Jordan Kyrou. With the net empty, Paul Stastny put the game out of reach with 23 seconds left, followed by Dmitrij Jaskin tacking on another one with just 11 seconds left.
Considering the state of the Penguins and Senators heading into this 2024 matchup, it will be fun to watch two teams trying to turn the page on a disappointing season and look toward the future.
The puck drops for tonight’s contest at 7:00 p.m. ET.
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