Former Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Brooks Orpik
Photo credit: Pensburgh

St. Ivany ready to channel his inner Brooks Orpik against Red Wings

Published April 11, 2024 at 4:32 PM
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Former Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Brooks Orpik is now an assistant coach with Boston College and helped Jack St. Ivany a lot with his defense.

It was during COVID that Jack St. Ivany decided to transfer from Yale to Boston College. It was his sophomore year and the Ivy League schools cancelled the season. He did not want to miss a year of hockey so he transferred.

It was in December of St. Ivany's junior year that Boston College caoch Jerry York brought on Brooks Orpik as an assistant coach.

"He was awesome," St. Ivany told Taylor Haase, reporter for DK Pittsburgh sports this week of Orpik. "Whether it'd be before practice, after practice, he was taking us working on skills. To have a player with that experience, won Stanley Cups and plays a similar game to me, it was really cool, I think a great experience for me to grow from."



One thing that St. Ivany picked up on the ice from Orpik was physical play. It is something that St. Ivany and Orpik worked on in the pre- and post-practice skill sessions.

"He was really good at just talking about body positioning and boxing guys out and being strong in front," St. Ivany said. "Plus little stick details that you can do to help improve on those things."


It was during a film session, that St. Ivany then learned about "The Shift". Penguins fans will remember from the 2008 finals against Detroit the hit parade put on by Orpik during a 15 second span.


St Ivany, not growing up a Penguins fan and was not familar with the term but was show the footage.

St. Ivany described the footage as
"from the playoffs where (Orpik) had like, four or five hits in a span of 15 seconds. The crowd's going crazy."


St. Ivany is only 10 games into his NHL career, but records hits at a pace of 10.26 per 60 minutes played, good for first on the team.


Crosby is one of the Penguins players who got to play with both Orpik and St. Ivany. He was told Orpik coached St. Ivany at Boston College and asked if he notices any similar style of play.

"I think Ivy's got a really good stick, and he's probably not as physical as Orps," Crosby said. "But I mean, if that's his trajectory, then he's on a really good path."

Kyle Dubas mentioned after the trade deadline that the reason for trading Chad Ruhwedel was to make room for St. Ivany. It looks like that plan is starting to work out perfectly for the Penguins.

As Read On: DK Pittsburgh Sports -
Drive to the Net: Orpik gets assist on St. Ivany's development
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April 11   |   47 answers
St. Ivany ready to channel his inner Brooks Orpik against Red Wings

Do you think Jack St. Ivany can develop into a Brooks Orpik type of defenseman?

Yes4085.1 %
No714.9 %
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