Zizing ‘Em Up: Pietrangelo grateful for daughter’s health, 4 Nations Face-Off selection

NHL.com staff writer Mike Zeisberger has been covering the NHL regularly since 1999. Each Monday he will use his extensive networks of hockey contacts to write his weekly notes column, “Zizing 'Em Up.”

PITTSBURGH -- From being on the verge of retirement to pridefully being picked to represent your country in best-on-best competition in just two years.

It’s a story even Alex Pietrangelo has trouble grasping, even though it’s his.

“Yeah, it’s been a long couple of years,” the Vegas Golden Knights defenseman admitted. “But sometimes when you’ve gone through adversity, it makes you take a step back and enjoy the small things.

“It makes all of this even more special.”

Pietrangelo is referring to the fact that he was selected Dec. 4 to play for Canada at the 4 Nations Face-Off, which takes place Feb. 12-20 in Montreal and Boston. The tournament, which will feature the United States, Canada, Sweden and Finland, marks the first best-on-best event since the World Cup of Hockey in 2016.

Pietrangelo was a member for tournament-winning Canada that year, getting three points (one goal, two assists) in six games. Five years later, the King City, Ontario native was selected to represent Canada at the 2022 Beijing Olympics, but NHL players did not participate because of concerns surrounding the coronavirus.

Then, in the fall of 2022, his life changed to the point where he considered hanging up his blades for good, at least at the professional level.

In late November of that year, his 4-year-old daughter, Evelyn, caught the flu -- or so the family thought. Unfortunately, it quickly turned into encephalitis, stripping her of her motor skills. His little girl couldn’t open her eyes for five days. She was diagnosed with a type of brain lesion that practically paralyzed her for days.

Pietrangelo took a leave of absence from the Golden Knights for nine days. He considered making it a permanent move. He loves hockey, but he loves Evelyn more.

Fortunately, Evelyn slowly began to recover. By June 2023, she was healthy enough in her daddy’s arms celebrating the Golden Knights’ Stanley Cup championship on the ice at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. And now, Pietrangelo’s four children -- triplets Evelyn and brothers Oliver and Theodore, and 4-year-old sister Julia Grace -- will be able to watch Alex play with the maple leaf on the front of his jersey.

“To go through what’s happened the past couple of years and now to come out of it and be at this point, it’s so cool,” he said.

“When you have kids and you play in something like this, even playing in the League, they get to experience something a lot of kids will never get to. They might not be able to understand it yet, but they will be able to look back down the road and see photos of themselves in the dressing room with the likes of Connor McDavid and Sidney Crosby, amazing players like that. And they’ll get to see Daddy play for Canada.”

But will they be fans of Canada? He hopes so.

“They’re American, but I still hope they cheer for us,” Pietrangelo said with a chuckle. “They’re really excited. Hopefully they’ll get to come into the dressing and see everyone and experience that.”

Of course, if things don't go Pietrangelo’s way on the ice, he knows he’ll hear about it afterward.

“They’re tough critics,” he said. “I mean, we lost to Utah the other day (6-0 on Nov. 30) and they weren't happy. Fortunately, after we won a few, they were happy.”

Given what he’s been through the past 24 months, so is Daddy.

LET’S PLAY TWO!

During a 1-on-1 sit-down with NHL.com last month, U.S. general manager Bill Guerin noted there has never been more depth when it comes to his country’s hockey program.

“We always said that there were so many top-end players in Canada, they could ice two teams in best-on-best competition,” he said. “Well, now we think that there’s so much talent in the U.S., we could ice two or three teams too.”

Guerin’s comments are intriguing, especially after the full rosters for all the teams in the 4 Nations Face-Off were revealed. Within minutes of those announcements, the debates immediately began about which players in the so-called “Snub Club” -- those players who were passed over -- should have made it.

As such, what might, in fact, second teams for Canada and the U.S. look like? Here’s an estimate guess, give or take a few names.

CANADA

Forwards: Steven Stamkos (Nashville Predators), John Tavares (Toronto Maple Leafs), Mark Scheifele (Winnipeg Jets), Connor Bedard (Chicago Blackhawks), Zach Hyman (Edmonton Oilers), Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (Oilers), Nick Suzuki (Montreal Canadiens), Alexis Lafreniere (New York Rangers), Mathew Barzal (New York Islanders), Carter Verhaeghe (Florida Panthers), Robert Thomas (St. Louis Blues), Macklin Celebrini (San Jose Sharks), Drake Batherson (Ottawa Senators), Tom Wilson (Washington Capitals)

Defensemen: Dougie Hamilton (New Jersey Devils), Evan Bouchard (Oilers), Noah Dobson (Islanders), Morgan Rielly (Maple Leafs), Aaron Ekblad (Panthers), Brandon Montour (Seattle Kraken), MacKenzie Weegar (Calgary Flames)

Goalies: Stuart Skinner (Oilers), Logan Thompson (Capitals), Cam Talbot (Detroit Red Wings)

The Skinny

Stamkos and Tavares were teammates as kids on the same summer league team in the greater Toronto area. … Two Capitals forwards, Dylan Strome and Connor McMichael, would also be up for consideration after their hot starts to the season. … Teenagers Bedard (19) and Celebrini (18) are the future of Canadian hockey.

UNITED STATES

Forwards: Tage Thompson (Buffalo Sabres), Cole Caufield (Canadiens), Jason Robertson (Dallas Stars), Brock Boeser (Vancouver Canucks), Alex DeBrincat (Red Wings), Clayton Keller (Utah), Patrick Kane (Red Wings), Matty Beniers (Kraken), Alex Tuch (Sabres), Bryan Rust (Pittsburgh Penguins), Matthew Knies (Maple Leafs), Conor Garland (Canucks), Trevor Zegras (Anaheim Ducks)

Defensemen: John Carlson (Capitals) Neal Pionk (Jets), Jake Sanderson (Senators), Shayne Gostisbehere (Carolina Hurricanes), Thomas Harley (Stars), Jakob Chychrun (Capitals), Lane Hutson (Canadiens)

Goalies: Thatcher Demko (Canucks), Anthony Stolarz (Maple Leafs), Joey Daccord (Kraken)

The Skinny

Thompson, Caufield and Robertson were considered locks for the first team by many over the summer but were passed over at selection time. … It would have been interesting to see how much consideration Demko would have received had he been healthy; he is close to making his season debut for the Canucks after a knee injury sustained late last season. … Hutson, a rookie, is off to a great start with Montreal.

MUSIC CITY MYSTERY

While on the subject of Stamkos, the ongoing struggles in Nashville continue to be head-scratching.

Especially for GM Barry Trotz.

The Predators fell to 7-15-6 after a 3-1 loss to the Senators on Saturday and find themselves 31st in the NHL standings with 20 points. In the process, they’ve scored the fewest goals in the League (61) despite bringing in free agent forwards Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault during the offseason.

Last season, Stamkos (40), then a member of the Tampa Bay Lightning, and Marchessault (42), playing for the Golden Knights, combined for 82 goals. Defenseman Brady Skjei, another significant free agent addition, had 13 for the Hurricanes.

Now, in their first season with Nashville, Stamkos (seven), Marchessault (five) and Skjei (two) have combined for 14 goals through 28 games. And while Nashville’s woes should be shouldered by the entire team and not just three players, it does raise questions of what’s gone wrong.

“Well, when I apparently ‘won’ the summer -- at least that’s what everybody said -- I said at the time that it’s nothing more than fantasy hockey until we become a good team, and we haven’t done that,” Trotz told NHL.com. “So, that statement holds true.

“Like I’ve said all along, what I was trying to do was add some goals so if we get in the playoffs, we’d be a little more dangerous.”

Nashville was eliminated by Vancouver in six games in the best-of-7 Western Conference First Round last spring.

“We didn’t lose the 5-on-5 game in that series,” Trotz said. “We lost the special teams game, including power play, and I just thought we needed a little more offensive punch.”

So far, the signings haven’t translated to that. Anything but.

“We’ve got a lot of good young players coming up the pipeline,” Trotz said. “In fact, we might have as many as nine prospects competing at the World Juniors in Ottawa at the end of the month.

“As for us right now, well, we really need to have the joy of jumping off the bench and hugging someone after a game or a win, and we haven’t had that. We need a new confidence, a new vibe. It’s a work in progress. We just haven’t been able to score, which everyone thought we’d be able to.”

Having said that, Trotz said he isn’t ready to shake up his roster or make panic moves to bring in short-term help at the expense of long-term gains.

“I’m patient,” he said. “I’m always looking at the trade market, but I’m not going to give up prime assets for rentals or anything. It has to be someone that will help us now and for years to come.

“I’m not changing the plan we’ve talked extensively with ownership about. They understand the plan, and hopefully we can thread the needle here, get back in the race and be playing meaningful games down the stretch.”

After three consecutive losses, that could be more difficult to do with every passing day.

QUOTE/UNQUOTE

“Well, he’s stopping the puck.”

-- When Penguins coach Mike Sullivan was asked what goalie Tristan Jarry is doing differently to produce his current four-game winning streak, the expectation was that he would do an X’s and O’s breakdown involving technique. Nope. Credit Sullivan for getting right to the heart of the matter involving Jarry, whose early-season struggles saw him sent down to Wilkes-Barre of the American Hockey League. The game doesn’t always have to be complicated, and when it comes to Jarry, Sullivan doesn’t feel it should be.

THE LAST WORD

With the 4 Nations Face-Off rosters revealed, we’ll be taking a weekly look from now until the tournament at one player from each country who’s on a roll with their respective NHL teams.

Matthew Tkachuk, United States: The Panthers forward scored twice in a 3-1 victory against the Sharks on Saturday and has four consecutive multipoint games, including five (one goal, four assists) in a 7-5 win at Philadelphia on Dec. 5.

Sidney Crosby, Canada: Pittsburgh’s 5-2 win against Toronto on Saturday marked its fourth consecutive home victory and saw the center collect his 1,023rd career assist to tie Gordie Howe for the fifth-most in NHL history with one franchise.

Linus Ullmark, Sweden: The Senators goalie is 3-0-1 with a 1.96 goals-against average and .939 save percentage in his past four starts.

Patrik Laine, Finland: In one of the feel-good stories of the season, the forward scored in each of his first two games with the Canadiens.