West/North Xtra: Hopewell man making most of time in NHL; Anaheim defenseman enjoys return to home ice
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Nate Guenin, left, who played for the Penguins in 2009, and another Pittsburgh area resident, Plum's R.J. Umberger, right, who plays for Columbus, battle for possession of the puck.
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Nate Guenin's prodigious hockey talents have taken him plenty of places in the course of his life.
From Green Bay, Wis., to Columbus, Ohio, to five different NHL organizations in a span of five years ... If the town has hockey in North America, Guenin has probably seen it.
But through it all, there's still one stop on any road trip he's happiest of all to make -- home.
Guenin, a Hopewell resident, was back in the comfortable surroundings of Western Pennsylvania last week as a member of the Anaheim Ducks.
Although he was a healthy scratch for his team's 2-1 victory against the Penguins on Feb. 15, Guenin, as is typical of him, was in good spirits after the game in the visitor's locker room at Consol Energy Center.
The win, of course, contributed to that. So did Guenin's naturally jovial disposition.
But there was something else that gave Guenin reason to smile. He was off to meet his parents for a familiar postgame meal.
"I'm going to head out and get a Primanti's sandwich," Guenin said. "Whenever I come home, it's one of my first stops."
As his allegiance to the greasy fries-and-slaw gastric creation shows, Guenin, a 29-year-old defenseman, remains true to his hometown.
Be it rooting for the Steelers or speaking to bewildered teammates in his native tongue, Guenin isn't shy about representing Western Pennsylvania.
"I throw the Pittsburghese out there all the time," Guenin said. "It was fun coming home and just hearing people talk. I asked the one lady where Section 114 was, she said, 'The next one dahn.'"
Guenin laughed. At least with the Ducks, he has a Western Pennsylvania soulmate to share the inside jokes with. Mars native Ryan Lichtenfels works in the front office as the team's manager of hockey operations.
"Ryan and I, we always throw the Pittsburghese back and forth, so it's pretty cool," Guenin said.
First Published February 23, 2012 12:00 am
