Zizing ‘Em Up: Pietrangelo grateful for his daughter’s health, 4 Nations Face-Off selection

PITTSBURGH – From being close to retirement to proudly being selected to represent your country in the Best on Best competition in just two years.

It’s a story that even Alex Pietrangelo finds difficult to understand, even though it’s his.

“Yeah, it’s been a long few years,” the Vegas Golden Knights defenseman admitted. “But sometimes when you’ve been through adversity you have to take a step back and enjoy the little things.

“That makes it all even more special.”

Pietrangelo is referring to the fact that he was selected on December 4 to play for Canada in the 4 Nations Face-Off, which takes place February 12-20 in Montreal and Boston. The tournament, which includes the United States, Canada, Sweden and Finland, is the first best-on-best event since the World Cup of Hockey in 2016.

Pietrangelo was a member of tournament champion Canada this year and recorded three points (one goal, two assists) in six games. Five years later, the King City, Ontario native was selected to represent Canada at the 2022 Beijing Olympics, but NHL players did not attend due to coronavirus concerns.

Then, in the fall of 2022, his life changed so much that he thought about giving up his career for good, at least on a professional level.

At the end of November of the same year, his four-year-old daughter Evelyn came down with the flu – or so the family thought. Unfortunately, this quickly developed into encephalitis, which affected her motor skills. His little daughter couldn’t open her eyes for five days. She was diagnosed with a type of brain lesion that virtually paralyzed her for days.

Pietrangelo took a nine-day leave of absence from the Golden Knights. He considered making it a permanent move. He loves hockey, but he loves Evelyn even more.

Fortunately, Evelyn slowly began to recover. In June 2023, she was healthy enough in her father’s arms and celebrated the Golden Knights’ Stanley Cup championship on the ice at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. And now Pietrangelo’s four children – triplets Evelyn and brothers Oliver and Theodore, as well as four-year-old sister Julia Grace – can watch Alex play with the maple leaf on the front of his jersey.

“It’s so cool to think through what’s happened over the last few years and now come out of it and be at this point,” he said.

“When you have kids and play in something like this, even in the league, they get to experience something that a lot of kids never get to experience. They may not understand it yet, but they will be able to look into the future and see photos of themselves in the locker room with players like Connor McDavid and Sidney Crosby, such great players. And they’ll see Daddy play for Canada.”

But will they be fans of Canada? He hopes so.

“They’re Americans, but I still hope they cheer for us,” Pietrangelo said with a laugh. “They are really excited. Hopefully they come into the dressing room and see everyone and experience that.”

Of course, if things don’t go well on the ice, Pietrangelo knows he’ll find out later.

“They are tough critics,” he said. “I mean, we lost to Utah the other day (6-0 on Nov. 30) and they weren’t happy. Luckily they were happy after we won a few.”

Given what he’s been through in the last 24 months, the same goes for Dad.