LOOK: Penguins prank Bryan Rust, hang his clothes from arena rafters
The Pittsburgh Penguins played a prank on rookie forward Bryan Rust as his street clothes were raised to the arena rafters during the team's practice.
By
Chris Peters
•
1 min read
Pittsburgh Penguins rookie forward Bryan Rust experienced an important rite of passage at the team’s practice Wednesday. As is often the case with rookies, they are often the butt of some light-hearted hazing or pranks. And Rust finally was had.
As the players made their way to the ice for practice Wednesday morning, a few noticed right away that there was something out of place in the CONSOL Energy Center. High above the ice surface, hanging from a hook in the arena rafters was all of Rust’s clothing.
And just to make sure Rust knew it was his, the culprit taped a namebar with his nickname on the back. Rust was able to tell it was his when he saw his distinctive shoes dangling, however.
Unlike his teammates, Rust didn’t notice right away. After he got on the ice, Rust be-bopped around for a few minutes, just skating in circles without a care in the world before he finally realized he had been the victim of a prank.
“I looked up and knew it was mine because I’m pretty sure I’m the only one with those shoes on the team,” laughed Rust, in his first professional season after four years at Notre Dame. “I was kind of just skating around laughing. It’s just one of those things where you’re a rookie, so things are going to happen. It’s all in good fun.”
The prankster has not come forward, though captain Sidney Crosby said he suspects it was defenseman Simon Despres, who says the same prank was played on him as a rookie. No one owned up to it, though.
Rust joked that he would start interviewing his teammates one by one to get to the bottom of it, but since he’s a rookie, I’m guessing it will be a brief and unsuccessful investigation.
The 22-year-old forward who is in his first professional season after a four-year career at the University of Notre Dame has two points in 14 games since being called up from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the AHL.
