Christian Humphreys has been in an NHL dressing room before. And one of the first times he was there, it was something of a minor disaster. At least within the insular realm of hockey which is full of silly and nugatory customs.
Like standing on the logo, which teams uphold in such a sacred fashion, they affix it to the floor in the center of a room full of sweaty socks and scuffed skates In the early 2010s, Humphreys, a Peters Township native who was born in 2006, had an opportunity to skate at what was then called Consol Energy Center through the Pittsburgh I.C.E.
(Inclusion Creates Equality) program and ventured into the team’s dressing room. He made the innocent mistake of walking onto the skating bird emblem. But that wasn’t the worst of it.
“(Former Penguins forward) Craig Adams was taking us around the locker room and stuff,” Humphreys said by phone earlier this month. “I spilled (blue Gatorade) on the Penguins’ logo (on the floor) a little bit. Kind of a funny moment.
Craig was cleaning it up and everything.” Barring anything unforeseen, Humphreys will have an avenue into another NHL dressing room later this week. The 18-year-old forward is expected to be a selection in the NHL Draft this week in Las Vegas on Friday or Saturday.
Projections for where he’ll be chosen vary quite a bit. Outlets that cover draft-eligible prospects have him ranked from the 70s to the 110s. The NHL’s Central Scouting service ranked him 71st among North American skaters in .
