Kukla's Korner Hockey

Kukla's Korner Hockey

Penguins open practice and medical facilitiy

08/14/2015 at 11:03pm EDT

From NHL.com's Wes Crosby:

With the opening of the 185,000-square-foot UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex, the Pittsburgh Penguins hope to be considered to host the NHL Draft Combine in the future.

The Penguins' new practice facility, which will also serve as a public skating rink, sports medicine clinic and physical therapy center, was unveiled Friday and will open to the public Monday. Unlike in seasons past, when they primarily practiced at Consol Energy Center when not on the road, Pittsburgh is expected to skate at the complex for each practice this season.

With the perceived advantages the facility provides, the Penguins have expectations for it to become more than a practice rink.

"I think it gives us the opportunity to potentially host the NHL Draft Combine, because we'd be the only facility where you wouldn't have to bring in the medical testing; we already have it here," Penguins vice president of communications Tom McMillan said. "We've already talked to the NHL about that. We're certainly going to be in the bidding for the World Cup of Hockey training camps. We think those kind of events that we wouldn't have been able to access before, this gives us an opportunity to do those things.

"Those are snippets. But it's just nice to know you have that kind of facility."

Within the complex's half-mile perimeter are two full-size hockey rinks, one specifically for the Penguins and one for public use; a sports medicine clinic with 24 private patient rooms; a physical therapy gym that overlooks Pittsburgh's practice rink; on-site MRI and X-ray imaging; 1,500 square feet of hockey-skills training space; and 14 locker rooms.

Continued

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Paul Kukla founded Kukla’s Korner in 2005 and the site has since become the must-read site on the ‘net for all the latest happenings around the NHL.

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