from Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review,

Pouring coffee with Penguins head equipment manager Dana Heinze can be a revealing experience.

First, grab a Styrofoam cup, black or gold with the Penguins logo on the side. Heinze packs these for road trips and insists the Penguins are the only NHL team that travels with logo-covered cups.

But don't dare put cream at the bottom and pour. That's an inadequate mix. Instead, dump one into the other, then repeat.

Spill a little? In an instant, there's an outstretched arm offering a paper towel.

“It's the little details that set us apart,” Heinze said. “People might think it's excessive or extreme, but I think it makes a difference.”

Heinze, 46, is a master of details. The 2014-15 season is Heinze's ninth in his current role, each more obsessive-compulsive than the last.

The man who outfits the Penguins, who fixes equipment, who sharpens skates, who ensures players are offered their preferred hair product and who organizes the locker room, leaves no box unchecked.

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