in a draft day deal that saw a first round pick and top prospect, Oskar Sundqvist go the other direction.
According to a tweet published by St. Louis Post- Dispatch’ s Jeremy Rutherford, Reaves didn’ t actually believe the draft-day trade to be true when he first heard about it.
“ The first thing I saw on Twitter was,‘ it sounds like Reaves is going for a first rounder’. I was like,‘ Okay, obviously that is a bunch of garbage’,” Reaves said.“ Actually I think the first thing I saw was‘ Reaves for Crosby’, and Chris Stewart texted me asking if I was getting traded. I was just like,‘ I don’ t know why you’ re paying attention to Twitter right now’. But then a couple tweets started flowing through and then I got a call from Doug Armstrong in St. Louis telling me I got traded here to Pittsburgh, and it started sinking in slowly.”
Now serving as Sidney
Crosby’ s personal bodyguard, the 30-year-old from Winnipeg who went directly from St. John’ s Ravenscourt in the WHSHL to the WHL’ s Brandon Wheat Kings, has already made his presence felt in the Penguins’ lineup.
After losing 10-1 to Chicago in just their second game of the year, the Pittsburgh Penguins and their fans got an early look at what exactly they traded their best center ice prospect and 2017 first round pick for. Reaves dropped his mitts not once, but twice, and also registered a goal in a bounce back win over Nashville two days later. Picking up 24 penalty minutes in the 4-0 victory, Reaves fought both Austin Watson and Binscarth’ s Cody McLeod.
“ I had caught a lot of heat on Twitter earlier from fans saying stuff like,‘ this is a garbage trade, I don’ t know why we’ re picking up this meatball and bringing him in to the
Stanley Cup champs’,” Reaves reflected.“ I think I won a couple fans over after that game in Nashville; it was a tough game before in Chicago, so I needed to bring a little energy.
“ It was funny because last year I actually joked with a couple of the boys back in St. Louis that I have to stop having such good games against Pittsburgh, or else they will want to trade for me,” Reaves added.“ I know I caught Crosby( with his head down) a couple of times, and I scored my last time there, but now here we are and it’ s full-circle. I’ m glad to be a Penguin.”
Reaves has done a lot more than just bring energy to the Penguins’ lineup. He has brought excitement and lot of fear as well – just ask Phil Kessel.
Just a couple days before Reaves found himself challenging the entire Washington Capitals’ bench following his manhandling of Caps’ centreman Liam O’ Brien, the always entertaining Winnipeg product nearly broke the Twitter world when his home-video of a Halloween prank on teammate Phil Kessel went viral.
Reaves’ Halloween scare may have been his most publicized prank, but the 6-foot-1, 225-pound forward is no stranger to the spotlight. Now as a member of the Penguins, Reaves has been able to show both his support for the local NFL team and his love for football by completing post-game interviews while wearing Pittsburgh Steelers gear – most noticeably a heavily tinted Steelers helmet.
Being a Penguin isn’ t the only thing that’ s new for Reaves, as Ryan and his wife Alanna recently welcomed a new member to their family, son Canaan. Although he is prominently known as a hockey player, Reaves enjoys being a father.
“ I like being home a lot more,” he said.“ It really is life changing. I think it’ s something that you don’ t expect to change your life that quickly, but he’ s been a lot of fun. And now as he grows up he’ s liking me a little bit more, and starting to play. We play football all the time, it’ s really been a blessing.”
Whether it’ s pranking his good buddy Phil Kessel with surprise clown masks, saran wrapping the cars of unsuspecting teammates, wearing Phil the Thrill t-shirts and Pittsburgh Steelers football helmets for his postgame media appearances, or enjoying family time as a new father, Winnipegger Ryan Reaves is sure to keep things light on and off the ice. ❍
114 | GAME ON | DECEMBER 2017