SUNRISE, Fla. -- Mike Sullivan was smiling and animated telling one of his favorite Patric Hornqvist stories following the Penguins' practice in Sunrise, Fla. on Thursday.
"You'll get a kick out of this," he began.
For a little bit of context, the benches now have slots in front of where the players sit to keep their water bottles. But back when Hornqvist played, there weren't those individual slots for the bottles, and it was more just like an open shelf.
"When things didn't go the right way on a particular shift or on a power play, he would come back and use the blunt end of his stick and just go like this," Sullivan said, making a motion like he was swinging a stick. "And all the water bottles would fall, and they'd just go everywhere and move places. Then all the guys around him wouldn't say anything. They'd just pick it up and they'd put all the water bottles back. Then it was done, and (Hornqvist) would go about his business and go over the boards and do his thing."
Sullivan said that water bottle story was an example of the kind of energy that Hornqvist brought to a team, whether it be on a bench, between periods, or on off days.
"His personality is dynamic," Sullivan said. "I think it's rooted in his competitive spirit. He's just an ultimate warrior in my mind."
Hornqvist, 36, retired in the offseason due to injuries after spending the last three seasons with the Panthers, and immediately joined the Panthers' front office as a scouting and development consultant.
Hornqvist's career included 901 regular-season games over 15 seasons for the Predators, Penguins and Panthers, during which he amassed 264 goals and 279 assists. He spent six years with the Penguins after a trade in the 2014 offseason and was a key player in the 2016 and 2017 Stanley Cup runs.
With the Penguins in town for a 7:08 p.m. meeting with the Panthers at Amerant Bank Arena on Friday, the Panthers are set to honor Hornqvist with a pregame ceremony.
Hornqvist's former teammates and coaches are looking forward to the opportunity to celebrate the career of a player who brought so much to the organization and brought so much passion to the rink every day.
Sullivan said that he doesn't know if he's ever met a more positive guy on the planet than Hornqvist.
"He had an energy about him that was contagious," Sullivan recalled. "Every day, when he walked into the rink, it was a great day. I always loved that about him, he had an incredible passion to play the game. He was ultra-competitive and such a huge part of our Stanley Cup teams. He had an uncanny ability to drag us into the fight. That was his nature."
"A huge part" of those Stanley Cup teams might be an understatement. Hornqvist's goal broke a late scoreless tie in Game 6 of the 2017 Stanley Cup Final against the Predators and stood to be the Cup-clinching goal:
"I remember like it was yesterday," Sullivan said. "It was a Justin Schultz wrist shot that went off the backboard. Horny was at the net like he always is, making it miserable for the goalie. He bangs one in off the side of the net. Those are the types of goals that he scored. I think 98% of the goals he ever scored came within a foot and a half of paint. That was the brilliance of his game. To see the emotion on his face when he scored was amazing."
If there's any one part of Hornqvist's game that stands out as a hallmark of his, it's that net-front play. He had the ability to wreak havoc at the front of the net, take the beating that came with playing there, and get rewarded with rebound or redirect goals.
Sidney Crosby remembers being on the opposing end of things when Hornqvist was with the Predators prior to the trade to Pittsburgh.
"I knew how annoying he was to play against," Crosby said. "He just kept getting up and going back to the front that net no matter what. He's just a guy that every single night you knew you had to compete against, whether it was battles in the corner, in front of the net, he blocked shots. He's tough to play against, I'd much rather play with him."
Marcus Pettersson was only teammates with Hornqvist for Hornqvist's last season and a half in Pittsburgh and some events with the Swedish national team, but he remembers that part of Hornqvist's game all too well.
"I think if you look back on it now, the amount of beatings he's taken in front of the net is quite impressive," Pettersson said. "To be able to go back and do it every night too, it's really impressive too. It shows you what character he was, what kind of person he was. Passion is something that really comes to mind when you talk about him as a player."
Kris Letang lauded Hornqvist's fearlessness and drive.
"His work ethic obviously was tremendous for our team," said Letang. "He brings such a different dimension and he's the type of player that sacrifices his body, he goes in front of the net, is not afraid of anything. When things didn't go our way, he would be a spark."
Hornqvist is remembered as a teammate off the ice much the same way he's remembered on the ice -- whether it was in the locker room, on trips, or just hanging out at teammates' homes, he was someone that could always be counted on to bring the energy.
"He was just a great guy that brings so much energy in the room, at the restaurant, or on the bus, on the plane," Letang said. "He was always fun to be around."
"There's just an energy and passion that he brings," Crosby said. He loves being around the rink, around the guys. ... You can tell by the way that everybody talks about him and the mark he's left on every team that he's played with just the kind of person that he is."
Hornqvist's long NHL career and accomplishments make him worthy of a tribute like the one he'll get on Friday. Who he is as a person and a teammate, and the way he was willing to sacrifice his body and do whatever it takes to help the team has him still beloved in the Penguins' locker room today.
