The routine of Jack St. Ivany outside season is not so different from most Nhlers.
“The summer went into a game plan, knowing things I liked to work on,” said the defender of Pittsburgh Penguins. “Especially leg power. Had a few injuries I needed to get under control.”
However, there was one variance of what most pro hockey players do in the low season.
He hit the waves of the coast of his hometown Manhattan Beach, California.
“We have a lot of surfing in the summer,” said St. Ivany. “Manhattan Beach is a great place for hockey players to train and also to have a great time. Fortunately, the break of the coast is not too big. Looking at 1-2 feet waves. It is nice to go outside with some longboards and sunset surfing with your friends. It certainly helps to strengthen the shoulders.”
Given his roots on the west coast, surfing is something that St. Ivany has done all his life. And it has transferable benefits for his calling as a hockey player.
“You will see a few guys who, they don’t look like they are in the best form, but they shred waves up and down,” said the 26-year-old. “Much of it is just a kind of skill and only knowledge of the ocean, where you have to be on waves, how far you should be on your plate, a lot of balance, the power of the upper body, the power of the upper body. Every time you paddle, that weather training is great because it is super easy on the wastes and muscles. This is very floating.
“Just great for shoulders, back, core (muscles).”
St. Ivany even became stronger, even due to a less than ideal season 2024-25 season that saw him start with the campaign on the third combination of the Penguins and then struggled to the point where healthy scratches made way for an almost permanent assignment to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League.
A non -known injury brought him off the offside for one and a half December and January. Once healthy, he formed a fairly consistent defensive combination with Owen Pickering for the AHL Penguins and completed the campaign in that station.
“In general I feel that it is the most that I have ever learned about myself and about the game,” said St. Ivany. “So from that aspect it was a very positive season for me. Of course, the highlights and lows of making the team at the beginning of the year and not playing to my best capacities for the first part and being sent, that was a lot to deal with mentally. But I feel that I was coming back from an injury and had a great time).
“I feel that I have developed my game, and towards the end of the season I played some of the best hockey I played and I was really confident.”
St. Ivany admitted that his confidence dropped after his ragged start to the season.
“Hockey is a game of mistakes,” said St. Ivany. “Errors happen. Nobody will ever play a perfect game. It’s really how you react to those mistakes and to ensure that you don’t make the same continuous.”
An accident that will avoid St. Ivany is to compare himself with the other right-handed defenders (still) on the Roster, including 30-Like veterans with seven digits of salary hits such as Kris Letang, Erik Karlsson, Matt Dumba and Connor Clifton.
On Wednesday, St. Ivany skated in the 4-1 loss of the Penguins to the Columbus Blue Jackets. He registered for 21 minutes, 9 seconds Ice Age on 25 services and recorded one shot in three attempts while he also registered three hits and one blocked shot.
“There are many good players here in the room,” said St. Ivany, who orders an economical average annual value of $ 775,000. “But I am not really here to count songs. I am just focused on my own game. I don’t really have to go outside and play something that I am not. I just want to stay with my game and play that as well as possible.
“I have shown that I can play at that level. If I play a good defense, be physical and conclude plays, then I am most effective. If I do that, I know that I hear in the NHL.”
Part of it is by knowing how to drive on the waves made by an NHL season.
“Much of it is consistency and the consistent to bring your best game,” said St. Ivany. “You will not always have your A-game, but you must have a solid B-plus, B game. You can’t get it because players are too good. You are overwhelmed if you don’t play those standards.
“Trust, it doesn’t play overly confidently, but knowing that you can be there and trust yourself.”
Notes: Goalkeeper Joel Blomqvist is “Daily Day” with an unknown injury. … Forward Noel Acciari participated in Wednesday’s skate on a non -contact fashion. He remains sidelined for an indefinite period of time due to a core muscle injury. … front perspective Travis Hayes was brought back to Sault Ste. Marie van de Ontario Hockey League.
Seth Rorabaugh is a triblive reporter who covers the Pittsburgh Penguins. A resident of North Huntingdon, he joined the Trib in 2019 and has treated the penguins since 2007. He can be reached at srorabaugh@triblive.com.
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