The magnitude of the occasion that is the 2019 NHL Winter Classic won’t be lost on David Pastrnak.
NHL.com’s Dan Rosen on Sunday offered the first look at the customized sticks the Boston Bruins winger will use during his team’s New Year’s Day game against the Chicago Blackhawks. The Winter Classic will take place Tuesday afternoon at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Ind., and Pastrnak’s sticks feature nods to the Fighting Irish football team and campus via yard markers and outlines of Notre Dame buildings. They also feature the famed pasta and red sauce emoji, which references the Bruins star’s nickname.
Rosen shared photos of Pastrnak’s sticks on Twitter, and you can see them here and here.
Pastrnak explained to Rosen why he chose the images for his sticks.
“That was the one thing we were going to put on there,” Pastrnak said. “It’s Notre Dame and at the football stadium at Notre Dame, where football is pretty big. That was pretty much the No. 1 thing I said I wanted on my stick. It looks pretty cool.
“Obviously, if I am customizing my own sticks the pasta emoji can’t be missing there. It’s fun to have it there. Hopefully we win and maybe I’ll have to put it on all of my sticks.”
That’s a sight Bruins fans would love to see a lot more of.
