New Tampa Bay Lightning forward Chris Kunitz says no awkwardness in facing Pens:

by Erik Erlendsson | @Erik_Erlendsson | Like us on Facebook
October 11, 2017

TAMPA – Business as usual.

That’s the approach Chris Kunitz carries himself with on a daily basis.

So when Kunitz and the Tampa Bay Lightning host the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday, facing off against a team he spent nine years with while winning three Stanley Cups, it’s all going to be . . . business as usual.

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”I’ve been around the league long enough that you know things change,’’ Kunitz said. “You play against former teammates a lot, you know more people in the league. It’s one of those things you look forward to playing against people you know, you like that competition. You like to see how you measure up against a team that was the Stanley Cup champs.’’

Of course, Kunitz was a member of that team which won the Stanley Cup last season – not to mention the season before as well – which makes this scenario not quite business as usual. Those memories are still fresh, the parade was just a few month back. Kunitz had his day with the Stanley Cup in July at the family house in Pittsburgh.

This is different, right?

”I don’t think I’ll be looking at it any different,’’ Kunitz said. “You have to go out there and prove your worth to your team every night, it doesn’t matter where you were in the past or how you played, it’s whatever you can do for your team now. That’s one of the messages we’ve tried to focus on our team – how can you help your team and what can you do to help your team win. We are trying to figure out the chemistry on how to play the right way every single night.’’

Ok, so the game is being downplayed by Kunitz. Maybe it really is just business as usual. After all, Kunitz moved his family down to Tampa pretty quickly after signing a one-year, $2 million free agent deal on July 1.

But, it’s going to be a little awkward or strange to see the Penguins logo on the chest of the opposing team, right?

”Nope, I went back (to Pittsburgh) and skated when we left for the hurricane and felt a little out of place,’’ Kunitz said. “I think that was the awkward stage of being in blue and all of them being in the Pittsburgh colors, so I think we got that out of the way early.’’

There was no chance for Kunitz to even get together with some of his former teammates to sit down for a meal and reminisce about the accomplishments achieved together. The Penguins played at Washington on Wednesday night and arrived in Tampa in the very early hours of Thursday morning. That will be the case for the next time Pittsburgh comes to town on Oct. 21 as the Penguins will play at Sunrise the night before.

Even when Tampa Bay plays at Pittsburgh for the final meeting between the teams on Nov. 25, the Lightning play in Washington the night before.

So perhaps it will only be that first trip back to PPG Paints Arena where that odd feeling of being with a new team will finally sink in.

”Maybe a little more emotion just from spending so much time there and going back and everything being opposite as you go to the visiting locker room,’’ he said. “I think when you take those steps in to an arena you’ve been in for so long, then you are going down a different hallway, a different dressing room, that might affect you mindset a little more.’’

In the meantime, Kunitz is just trying to do his best to familiarize himself with his new surroundings, get to know his new teammates and develop some chemistry with his new linemates. Getting his first goal in his new uniform helped break that ice as he notched Tampa Bay’s second goal in Monday’s comeback victory against Washington.

Overall, the transition has been pretty smooth for the 38-year-old.

”Things are really good,’’ Kunitz said. “Once you get that schedule and you get the itinerary for the next month, it makes your life a little less hectic. We are such creatures of habit by having a set schedule. So the toughest thing was probably for the family, kids getting to a new school, starting new activities and getting used to new surroundings, the same type of stuff everybody goes through when they move. It was a little thrown off for all the hurricane stuff, but we’ve fallen in love with the city, met so many nice people who have given us insight on what to do and where to be and certain things like that.

“So it’s been really enjoyable.’’

And he’s been a join to have around, already.

“He’s been such a valuable teammate already to us,” Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said. “I know just in the short time he’s been here what he probably meant to Pittsburgh in all the years he was there. He’s somebody you want on your team. I’m pretty sure over there they’ve got a lot of respect for him. But I know Chris Kunitz is not going to change the way he plays. He’s got the Bolts colors on now and he’s going to do everything to help us win. I’m just glad he’s on our bench and not theirs.”

Thursday, Kunitz grabbed his coffee and headed to Amalie Arena, just as he’s done throughout his career, no matter what sheet of ice he was about to skate on.

”It’s a work day every time you come to the rink,’’ Kunitz said. “Even if you are playing your former team, you are still going to go out there and play like you can.

Especially getting the chance to deliver a (clean) hit or two against a former teammate or linemate.

”Definitely, because if I don’t to that, I’m probably not going to get many shifts,’’ Kunitz joked. “So I have to go out there and play the game hard, that’s kind of how I’ve always approached it.’’

Business as usual.

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