Steelers safety’s lucky hype videos result in Penguins wins
The Pittsburgh Penguins’ success over the last week may not be due to Matt Murray’s goaltending, Sidney Crosby’s play or head coach Mike Sullivan’s strategizing.
No, the secret behind the Penguins’ past two wins can likely be pinned down to the Instagram hype videos of Ross Ventrone of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Born just outside of Pittsburgh, the 29-year-old Ventrone has posted a pair of hype videos over the past week in support of the Penguins. The first came prior to Game 7 of the conference final against the Tampa Bay Lightning and features the Phil Kessel jersey-wearing 5-foot-8, 198-pound safety on rollerblades showing off his stick skills on a dek hockey rink while also wearing a Steelers helmet. The video is of course set to the theme song of ex-professional wrestler Shawn Michaels, the team’s newest fan.
The Penguins would go on and win 2-1; so ahead of Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final on Monday, Ventrone release another video with him in full goalie gear rollerblading across one of the city’s many bridges and down by the Mario Lemieux statue outside of Consol Energy Center. They would beat the San Jose Sharks 3-2 as Ventrone’s lucky streak continued.
“I felt I should show them support,” Ventrone told the Beaver County Times. “I just think of stuff and am like, ‘Aw man, let’s do this.'”
The Penguins aren’t the first team Ventrone’s lucky hype videos have worked for. As a Villanova alum, he created a series of videos during the NCAA tournament in March, which ended with the Wildcats as national champions.
“It seems like whoever I do it for ends up winning. I did it last night for Game 1, and (the Penguins) get a W,” he said. “We’ll see how long it keeps going.”
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Sean Leahy is the associate editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Sean_Leahy
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