Morrow Excited To Get Going With Pens
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – The Pittsburgh Penguins will welcome a new face to the lineup tonight when they play host to the Montreal Canadiens.
Brenden Morrow will make his Penguins debut tonight after being traded to Pittsburgh on Sunday. Needless to say, it's been an exciting couple of days for both the team and Morrow.
"These jitters, these nerves, I had them riding to the rink yesterday. I hadn't felt them in a long time. But, those are good feelings. They're not maybe the best feelings in your body, but you know you're alive, you're feeling something when those butterflies show up," Morrow said.
Brendan Morrow:
Morrow will likely fill the left wing slot on the second line with James Neal and Evegni Malkin when he is fully recovered from an upper-body injury.
Morrow knows what his role will be with the Penguins and is looking forward to getting on the ice.
"I know all the skill and talent this locker room has. I think my job is driving the net with my stick on the ice and let things hit me. So, that makes things pretty easy," Morrow said.
Another thing working in Morrow's favor is that he has a couple of former Dallas teammates on the club.
Last year, the Penguins acquired James Neal and Matt Niskanen from the Stars in exchange for Alex Goligoski.
"I know James well. I played with him, I know what he does. [Dustin Jeffrey], not as much and we didn't even really do line rushes, we did the breakouts. So, that might take a little adjustment, but everyone just goes out, they drop the puck you try to put it in the net, that's hockey," Morrow said.
For Neal, he was excited to learn that his former captain would be joining the Penguins as they prepare to head into the playoff stretch run.
"Obviously, my captain in Dallas and a guy that kind of mentored me when I first came into the league. He's an unbelievable guy and an unbelievable player and he's going to bring a lot to this team," Neal said. "Obviously, the players had no idea, but when you hear Brenden Morrow and we've added a guy like that, it's special and it's exciting for a team. We're on a good run here and he's just going to add to that. We're looking forward to getting him into the lineup tonight."
Dan Bylsma:
Penguins captain Sidney Crosby has a lot of respect for the way Morrow approaches the game and thinks he'll be a good fit as they gear up for the playoffs.
"I think he brings a lot of things he's experienced, he's a two-way guy, he competes really hard, really perfect way of playing especially this time of year going into the playoffs. So, I think he just brings all of that and experience is probably one of the biggest things too. He's played in some big games and it's nice to know you have a guy on your team like that," Crosby said.
The puck is set to drop at 7 p.m. and you can watch the game on Root Sports.
You can follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/sheavedice
RELATED LINKS
More Shea-ved Ice Blog
More Sports News
More Penguins News
Pittsburgh Penguins
NHL
