from George Richards of the Miami Herald,
Coming home for the first time to play in front of family and friends is a rite of passage most NHL players born in North America get to enjoy.
That first game on ‘home’ ice usually isn’t in sunny South Florida, however.
For Arizona Coyotes rookie defenseman Jakob Chychrun, Thursday’s game at BB&T Center was indeed a chance to come home and play the team he grew up cheering for as his family watched from their season seats in Section 102.
Chychrun, who grew up in Boca Raton playing, in part, for the Jr. Panthers in Coral Springs, says he asked for 50 visitors passes and expects many more to be in the stands for his South Florida NHL debut.
“It’s awesome, this is the rink I grew up coming to games at and I have a lot of great memories here,” said Chychrun, whose teammate Connor Murphy also played for the Jr. Panthers when his father Gord played in South Florida.
“We had season tickets for many years so it’s real cool to be on the other side of it. It’s going to be hard to not look up there, we have so many good memories here.
“I grew up a Panthers fan; to play against them will be pretty cool.”
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