CRANBERRY — It is not often a rookie holds up a media scrum in order to deliver a special message of gratitude, but recent Pittsburgh Penguins call-up Tristan Broz showed the same poise he does with the puck as he bounded into the dressing room Monday.
Broz asked permission from the assembled media, who had quickly gathered with cameras up and recorders ready, to thank a litany of people who got him to this moment, on the verge of his NHL debut.
For Broz, 23, it’s been a longer path, and he stopped to thank everyone.
“I guess before we get started, I’d just like to thank a couple of people, if that’s all right with you guys.
“I’d like to thank God, my family – my parents, my grandparents. I’d like to thank all the coaches in my life. Bernie McBain, my youth hockey coach; Greg May, high school at Blake; Pierre-Paul Lamoureux, Cary Eades at Fargo; David Carle (University of Denver), Tavis McMillan, Fergie (Dallas Ferguson), (Ryan) Massa, Denver; all the coaches in Wilkes – Kirk (Kirk MacDonald), Luuks (Nick Luukko), Bugsy (Brad Malone). Brooksy (Sheldon Brookbank), last year, all the boys down there, and everyone who’s helped me along the way. It takes a village to get here, so I’d like to thank all those people.”
He may have fibbed when he said a couple, but it is a testament to the length and arduousness of the path to the show.
The Penguins’ potential new third-line center is popular amongst his teammates. When he got the call that he was headed to Pittsburgh, he was in the process of playing cards on the team bus and reportedly losing badly at 7&7 or 31, and saw that he missed a call from Penguins assistant general manager Jason Spezza, who also serves as the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins GM.
In the midst of the card game, Broz missed the call and texted Spezza back, asking to give him 10 minutes, and Broz would call back.
It was then, having twice received that call himself, WBS teammate Owen Pickering quickly spoke up.
“What are you doing?” Broz recounted Pickering’s exasperated words.
So, Broz excused himself from the game to the bus’s lavatory to call Spezza back and learned of his impending NHL call-up.
The moment was big enough to fall to his knees, even in a travel bus’s bathroom.
“It’s a dream come true. I mean, I’ve just been through so much to get here, and like what a journey it’s been when, you know? When Spezz told me, I dropped to my knees,” said Broz. “I was like … this is … you know, man, like … It’s been a lot of emotion and a lot of hard work and really a lifelong commitment to getting better and loving the game to get here. So yeah, it was really an emotional moment and really special.”
There was no word if he later burned those pants.
Pittsburgh Hockey Now has scouted Broz over the past couple of seasons. His skating has increased significantly over the past few seasons, and it can now be counted as a strength.
Broz has deceptively good hands and offensive creativity, though he has focused his game and learning on the defensive zone over the last couple of years. At 6-foot, 205 pounds, he has the sturdy build to be successful in the dirty areas at both ends of the rink, but also his speed and soft hands allow him to produce offensively.
“I got really strong reports. He had a strong training camp, too,” said coach Dan Muse. “Training camp matters. He made a good impression, and he earned that (impression) during camp. He went down to Wilkes-Barre, and he followed it up. He’s making plays. He’s impacting the game offensively. We want him to jump and continue what he’s doing.”
Broz has been on a path toward the NHL since the Penguins made him their first overall pick (58th overall) in 2021. He played a couple of seasons in the USHL before going to college. Broz transferred from the University of Minnesota to Denver after his freshman year and helped Denver win the 2024 National Championship, leading the top line and scoring a pair of overtime goals in the NCAA Tournament.
Broz spent the entirety of last season in WBS. Penguins GM Kyle Dubas admitted late last season that he intended to call up Broz for the final NHL games of the season, but the situation wasn’t ideal.
Beginning in September, Broz indeed had a strong training camp. He played in four preseason games, scored two goals, and averaged 15:30 of ice time. In WBS, Broz has functioned as the top-line center last season and at the start of this campaign.
“He’s skillful, and so good with the puck,” said frequent WBS linemate Ville Koivunen. “But he can also play pretty hard. He’s a strong guy.”
Broz tallied eight goals and 13 points in 18 games at WBS, which has a 13-4-1-0 record. He will be the ninth rookie to suit up for the Penguins this season, which is a league high.
WBS teammate Sam Poulin smiled broadly when we asked him to comment on Broz’s game.
“What do you want to know?” he said with amusement.
Short of telling us everything, Poulin, who has 15 career NHL games under his belt and earned another call-up last week, spilled the beans on what fans can expect from Broz’s game.
“He’s a pretty smart player. He’s pretty fast. Good hands. Good vision,” Poulin said. “He’s got the (skills) package to be a pretty good player in the NHL, that’s for sure. He’s a great kid and works really hard. I’m happy for him to be here.”
And so it will be, another beaming rookie will hit the ice for a rookie lap in warmup, then fulfill a lifelong dream. But with Broz, it doubtfully ends there.
And he got to tell his parents, he’s going to play in the NHL.
“I think what made it more real was just seeing their reaction. It was really cool. My mom was crying, and my dad was just grinning ear to ear,” said Broz. “They’re so happy, and they’ve put so much into this, like emotionally, financially, just the time commitment to drive me to rinks, and so it’s just as much their moment as it is mine, and they’re super happy. It’s really cool.
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