CRANBERRY, Pa. -- Mike Sullivan used an analogy after Monday's practice at the Lemieux Complex that was probably one of the better quotes of his coaching career.
The Penguins have had several very optional morning skates lately, with just the scratches and goaltenders and sometimes a few other players partaking in the skate.
Sullivan was asked on Monday about the scaled-down skates, and he first gave a serious answer.
"You know, part of me, as I've said, we're trying to manage workloads," Sullivan began. "I've always been a believer that it's the most overrated practice in hockey. It's like, why does the whole league have morning skates?"
Then he whipped out the analogy.
"It reminds me of why my mother cut the sides of the hams off before she cooked them," Sullivan said. "I asked her, 'Why do you cut the sides of the hams off?' She said, 'I don't know, that's how my mother taught me.' So I ask my grandmother, I said 'Why do you cut the sides of the hams off before you put them in the oven?' She said 'Well that's easy, I didn't have a pan that was big enough.' So that's my analogy of morning skates."
The point here is that morning skates may not serve much of a purpose anymore, but teams feel compelled to have them because that's the way things have always been done.
