ST. LOUIS -- Jack Johnson is and will always be a Michigan Man. Hockey, football, doesn't matter.
You can tell that when you see Johnson walk around PPG Paints Arena or the Lemieux Complex in his navy blue ball cap with the maize 'M' on it.
"I'm very proud and have nothing but great memories there," Johnson was saying following the Penguins' morning skate Saturday at the Enterprise Center. "I have lifelong friends that I was teammates with and classmates there. That'll never go away."
One of those lifelong friends will be on hand tonight for the game against the Blues: Johnson's college coach, the legendary Red Berenson is dropping the ceremonial first puck as the Blues are honoring the 50th anniversary of Berenson's record six-goal game against Philadelphia on Nov. 7, 1968.
Following his playing days, Berenson joined the Blues' coaching staff and later became head coach, winning the Jack Adams Award in 1980-81. In 1984, he became head coach at the University of Michigan where he guided the program for 33 seasons. Berenson won three national titles and is the NCAA's fourth all-time winningest hockey coach with 848 victories. Most importantly, according to Johnson, was that he inspired his players.
Though born in Indiana, Johnson was raised in Michigan and dreamed of playing for Berenson. Nope, there was no hard recruiting sell on Johnson. When he was 10, he attended Berenson's hockey camp in Ann Arbor and even made a promise.
"I remember raising my hand, when I was young and dumb and saying 'One day, I'm going to play for you,' " Johnson recalled.
He did just that. After being drafted third overall by the Hurricanes in 2005, Johnson starred for Berenson for two seasons in 2005-06 and 2006-07. Johnson even went back to play that second season against the objection of then-Carolina GM Jim Rutherford, who ultimately dealt his top prospect to the Kings in September of 2006.
"It was awesome, two of the best years of my life," Johnson said. "(Berenson's) a guy who's kind of done it all. I used to say if I accomplished half of what he did, I'd consider it a pretty good run. He was great, always encouraging and instilled a lot of confidence in us. He really emphasized being a student-athlete at the University of Michigan. A student first and athlete second. Everyone that's played for him, he's had a huge impact on everyone."
In fact, Johnson said he is still working toward his degree at U-M in the summer. Two years ago he attended school on campus. The 31-year-old says he's about seven classes short of his degree in general studies.
One summer, Johnson says he even went to the university's compliance office in a failed attempt to walk-on the football team.
What position would have he played?
He didn't know. He says he just wanted the chance to run out the tunnel in the iconic blue and maize uniform at Michigan Stadium.
THE ESSENTIALS
• Media notes
• Team statistics
• NHL scoreboard
• NHL standings
THE INJURIES
• Penguins: Justin Schultz, defenseman, is out until mid-February with a fractured leg. Sullivan said Thursday that Schultz is progressing and that the next big step for him will be to get back on the ice.
• Blues: Carl Gunarsson, defenseman, has been out with an upper body since Nov. 17.
THE SKATE
• As expected, Matt Murray will be in goal.
• Sidney Crosby, Phil Kessel, Kris Letang and Brian Dumoulin were the only Penguins to not partake in the morning skate.
• For the record, Jamie Oleksiak is cleared to return to the lineup after missing the past three games with a concussion. But he will not play.
Mike Sullivan isn't afraid to mess with a lineup even if it's gone unbeaten and allowed just three goals in the big defenseman's absence. He said Saturday that he just wanted to give Oleksiak more practice time.
"I just think we try to put the best lineup on the ice that gives us the best chance to win," he said. "If that means making a change after a win, we do it. In this particular instance, we believe they're all playing extremely well. It isn't an easy decision from a coaching staff standpoint."
• Though the Penguins power play gets a lot of publicity and rightfully so, considering the talent on that unit, the penalty kill has been even better.
While the power play ranks ninth at 23.1 percent, the PK is ranked third at 84.1. Schematically, nothing's different. What's changed is the killers are more confident, according to Riley Sheahan.
"I think we're just clicking," he said. "Got some pairings that have good chemistry. Doing a good job reading off each other. When we get a penalty against, we're confident in what we've got. We enjoy going out there and building momentum."
It also doesn't hurt that the Penguins are the third least-penalized team in the league at 7:24 per game.
"When you've got to kill 5-6 penalties in a game, it's taxing on the killers," Sheahan said. "We haven't been put in that position too much, so it's been nice."
THE OTHER SIDE
• The Blues were one of the most active teams in free agency last summer but stumbled out of the gate, going 9-13 and costing Mike Yeo his job. But the Blues believe they have gained traction in recent weeks and sit seven points out of a playoff spot. They have won two in a row and are 6-3-1 in their past 10 under new coach Craig Berube.
Why the turnaround?
"We've been sticking to the game plan," former Penguin Oskar Sundqvist was telling me. "We're not panicking when we let in a goal or something like that. We're sticking to the game plan."
• The Blues got even better news Saturday as they will welcome captain Alex Pietrangelo back to the lineup. The two-time All-Star has been out since Nov. 30 with an upper body injury. Obviously, it was frustrating to watch from a press box but Pietrangelo said he made the most of the time off while serving as an extra set of eyes for Berube.
"He's the captain of the team, a leader, it's important to get him back," Berube said. "I told him to see what you see (in the press box). It was good for him to watch, I think, and good for us to listen."
• Former Penguin and current Blues radio analyst Joe Vitale made the rounds in the Penguins' room. Vitale, who played 163 games with Pittsburgh, returned to his hometown after his playing career ended in 2015-16 due to concussions.
• Sundqvist played 28 games for the Penguins over parts of two seasons before being traded to St. Louis in the summer of 2017 for Ryan Reaves. Though he was surprised to learn he'd been traded, he says he's moved on from it.
"You never know what's going to happen, especially the first one (trade)," he said. "It's always surprising, little bit of a shock. It turned out good for both me and Pittsburgh."
Well, that last part might be debatable. Either way, Sundqvist said it's always special to play the team that drafted him in the third round in 2012.
• St. Louis has lost its last two games at home against the Penguins.
THE COMBINATIONS
• The Penguins' lines and pairings:
Guentzel—Crosby—Rust
Simon—Malkin—Hornqvist
Pearson—Brassard—Kessel
Sheahan—Cullen—Aston-Reese
Dumoulin—Letang
Maatta—Riikola
Pettersson—Johnson
• This is most likely what the Blues will go with:
Schwartz—Schenn —Tarasenko
Steen—O'Reilly—Perron
Maroon—Bozak—Thomas
Nolan—Barbashev—Sundqvist
Bouwmeester—Pietrangelo
Edmunson—Parayko
Dunn—Bortuzzo
THE SCHEDULE
Faceoff tonight is at 7:08 p.m. at the Enterprise Center. The Penguins will practice Sunday at 2 p.m. ET at the Xcel Center in St. Paul, Minn., where they'll face the Wild on Monday night.
THE COVERAGE
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