Benjamin N. Lovejoy
Born February 20, 1984 (age 27) in Concord, New Hampshire, USA
Defenseman for the Pittsburgh Penguins system
Happy birthday Benny! Deerfield Academy in Massachusetts is where he got his start, but after he went undrafted he enrolled at Boston College for a year before transferring to Dartmouth. The Montreal Canadiens offered him a contract when he was a junior, but he turned them down so he could finish college (good boy!) A few days after he graduated in 2007, he signed with the Norfolk Admirals and played five games with them. Over that summer he signed another contract with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, aka the Baby Pens and scored his first pro goal on St. Patrick’s Day 2008.
Oof, down goes Tom Pyatt.
After his first year with the Baby Pens, Benny signed an NHL contract with the Pittsburgh Penguins and got his first recall on December 8, 2008 against the Buffalo Sabres; all the while, he was one of the top players in the AHL. He finally got his first point against the Boston Bruins in 2009 and his first NHL goal in December 2010 against the Florida Panthers. This year he’s played in 26 games so far, but it looks like he’s been a healthy scratch. I think he’ll only get better if given the chance.
I first noticed Benny while watching the Pens-Caps version of HBO 24/7. It wasn’t so much what he did that caught my attention, but what happened to him. Warning: he gets injured, so avoid it if you’re squeamish.
OW OW OW OW OWWWWWWWW.
- Krista
