Guentzel modifications way of life to excel for Penguins getting into playoffs

“The biggest difference between Jake’s year this year and years past is he’s made a concerted effort to control all the controllables to give himself the best chance to be successful,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan stated. “He’s controlling his diet. He’s controlling his rest. He’s controlling his fitness level with his work habits off the ice and on the ice. He’s worked extremely hard and I think because of that it’s translated into consistency. We all know he’s a real talented player and he has great chemistry with Crosby, but Jake deserves a lot of credit.”

Guentzel scored 13 objectives and helped the Penguins win the Stanley Cup in 2017. It was a dream.
Waking up wasn’t simple.
“Reality sets in,” stated his dad, a longtime faculty assistant coach and present professional scout for the Arizona Coyotes.
The actuality of getting to do it once more, solely now by way of a full NHL season after a brief summer time of celebrating. The actuality of getting to thrive within the face of rising expectations, of needing to show you are not a one-hit surprise, that you simply deserve to remain within the NHL.
It’s a frightening problem even while you’ve skilled success like Guentzel had.
The problem was getting the perfect of Guentzel in the course of final season, when he slogged by way of a 28-game stretch from Dec. 7-Feb. 11 with eight factors (4 objectives, 4 assists). His ice time tumbled from 18:30 in December to 13:32 in January. He performed a season-low 9:01 in a 4-1 win on the St. Louis Blues on Feb. 11, 2018.
“Jake started on the first line,” stated Mike, who was within the constructing that evening as a part of the Penguins’ dads’ journey. “By the second period he was on the third line and by the third period he was on the fourth line. All of a sudden the big talk was ‘Jake Guentzel is off the power play, Jake Guentzel might be a scratch in the next game.'”
Sullivan did not go the space. He as a substitute met with Guentzel one-on-one.
The coach talked. The participant listened. The message was delivered. It was crystal clear.
“I don’t think I was bringing it every night and doing what I needed to do to be at this level,” Guentzel stated. “That meeting really opened my eyes up and made me realize that I have to buckle down here, or you never know what could happen.”
The subsequent evening, Guentzel scored two objectives and performed 16:56 in a 6-3 win in opposition to the Ottawa Senators.
“In warm-up, he was on the third line and that was a good thing,” Mike stated. “Then he was on the power play. And then he scored. Then he scored again. He was playing with Sidney Crosby by the end of the night. Message received.”

Part of Guentzel’s success is definitely as a result of he performs with Crosby, who had assists on 25 of Guentzel’s 40 objectives this season.
“You know what, though, in order to play with good players and to be able to produce at that level, you have to be able to think it,” Penguins assistant basic supervisor Bill Guerin stated. “It’s not always easy playing with an elite guy.”
It’s not laborious for Guentzel as a result of, Guerin stated, he thinks the sport like Crosby.