Tim Benz: Former Penguin's daughter continues Pittsburgh hockey connection at Robert Morris

When Wayne Primeau was a Pittsburgh Penguin, he was part of one of the all-time memorable playoff runs in Penguins’ history. Acquired in February 2001, he was on the team during the Johan Hedberg “Moose Mania” trip to the Eastern Conference Final during Mario Lemieux’s return season.

“He was a little bit smaller of a goaltender. I was wondering where this was going to go (when Hedberg was acquired). He was wearing his Manitoba Moose (blue) colored mask. And he was great for us,” Primeau said of Hedberg. “I remember there was a town called Heidelberg. And people blocked out letters on the sign for the town so it said ‘Hedberg.’”

Johan Hedberg’s “moose” mask ranks high in my book pic.twitter.com/uOMwp7SdKS

— Al (@dontmaatta) July 18, 2019

That did happen during that spring, as did a trip to the brink of the Stanley Cup Final.

“We lost in the conference finals to New Jersey. I really felt it was going to be a Cinderella story with Mario coming back. And on the other side (of the bracket), you had Ray Bourque in Colorado. I thought it was going to be Bourque vs. Lemieux in the Stanley Cup Final. But we came up short.”

Primeau’s time in Pittsburgh lasted 131 games from February 2001 to March 2003. Now he’s got another hockey connection to the city: his daughter.

Maddie Primeau is a forward on the recently reinstated Robert Morris women’s hockey team. The junior center has three points in six games. Despite growing up in a hockey family (her uncle, Keith, was also a 15-year NHL vet), Maddie Primeau actually says it was a friend who got her interested in skating.

“She got me into the sport. It really didn’t have anything to do with family. And I just fell in love with the sport,” Maddie Primeau said at RMU’s preseason media day. “I did dancing and gymnastics. Then I realized my build was a little too big. So I decided to give soccer and lacrosse a try. Then I just fell in love with hockey, and it became my everything.”

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Once she got on the hockey path she didn’t stop, eventually committing to play at Syracuse University. Over 68 games with the Orange, Maddie Primeau totaled 32 points. But when the RMU program rebooted, she thought it provided a better opportunity.

“It was just a gut feeling that I had, with the coaches and the staff. I just loved what I had to hear. I didn’t even visit the area before coming. I just knew it’d be good. And the reassurance from my parents that it was a great area,” she said. “Then the support from everyone with how Robert Morris has come back now with the whole rebuilding and everything. The community and area are just unbelievable.”

Maddie Primeau wasn’t born until after her father was traded to San Jose. So anything she knows about her dad as a Penguin is through pictures, videos and stories from her family. But she still enjoys the connection to her father’s past.

“I really wish that I was able to go to more games,” Maddie Primeau said. “But his knowledge of the game, he’s not like a typical parent. So when he gives knowledge and shares some tips, I can take it literally. From what I’ve been told, and what I see on clips, he was a big power center. He was good at his job in the corners. He worked hard.”

Even though there are some differences between the men’s and women’s games, Wayne Primeau, who played at 6-foot-4, 225 pounds, can see some similarities between his daughter’s playing style and his own.

“She’s 6-feet tall. So she’s tall for a girl. She’s got a long stride,” Wayne Primeau said of his daughter. “She probably has better hands than I did. She has a really really good shot which is a key to her success. She has to continue to work on the foot speed a little bit. But when she gets going, she’s hard to stop.”

MADISON PRIMEAU!!!

We are tied at 1! pic.twitter.com/O66YEzgayT

— RMU Women's Hockey (@RMUWHockey) October 8, 2023

Colonials coach, Logan Bittle, sees Maddie Primeau’s hockey genes emerging in other ways.

“She’s a really smart hockey player,” Bittle said this weekend. “Where maybe some other players may not have that hockey IQ or that knowledge to realize when maybe they’re not doing what they’re capable of, she definitely is — and is probably her harshest critic. So she definitely has that hockey mentality, that hockey background, and that kind of acumen that you would expect from a hockey family.”

Now Maddie Primeau is looking to get the reincarnated Colonials (3-3) back to the point where they may someday make a run through college hockey’s postseason like her father’s Penguins did in 2001.

“Everyone is coming in new and fresh,” Wayne Primeau said. “I think she likes that idea. And she was excited about getting things started with Robert Morris and seeing the school be successful.”