Luke Devlin is a big bodied forward, who has designs on one day bringing a physical, complete component to the team that he grew up loving.
Before heading off to Cornell for the season, Devlin — no stranger to the world of professional sports — got his first taste of an NHL environment during Penguins prospect camp last week.
“It’s been surreal,” said the 6-foot-2 skater follow last Tuesday’s workouts. “I have to pinch myself every day when I walk in and see the logo that I’m here for. It’s a dream come true, probably the best week of my life.”
It’s a dream, however, that’s been realized via an interesting route — one filled with several moves throughout North America with a sports family that includes his inspirational brother and his sports media father.
Devlin’s dad, Matt, is a professional sports broadcaster who currently serves as the play-by-play voice of the NBA’s Toronto Raptors. During Luke’s life, the family has made stops in NBA towns like Memphis and Charlotte before settling in Toronto 14 years ago.
“Growing up, I was always around the basketball arena. My extended family is a big basketball family,” said Matt, who has had multiple cousins play Division I basketball and a pair of uncles who coach college ball at the highest level. “We were a big basketball family and geared towards American sports.
“With the Raptors’ success now, basketball has gotten really big (in Toronto). But back (when he was growing up), it was hockey, hockey, hockey. That’s when I started to get into it.
“When I first moved to Toronto from Charlotte, I really didn’t have an idea of what hockey was.”
It didn’t take Luke long, however, to realize that about five hours south of his new hometown, there was a budding superstar taking the game by storm.
“When I went to school, in kindergarten, all of my classmates were talking about Sidney Crosby and the Penguins,” he said. “When I got home that day, I told me parents to turn on the television. I saw Crosby line up, that 87, the ‘C’ on. Ever since then, I’ve become a huge Penguins fan.”
Like many Americans, watching Crosby score the golden goal in the 2010 Winter Olympics to lift Canada to a gold medal over the USA was a bit of a shot to the heart, and one that Devlin — a kid from the States surrounded by Canadian friends — admits to shedding a tear over.
But he won’t hold that against the on-ice leader of the organization that now owns his rights as a player.
“I still love him, nonetheless,” he said with a laugh. “It’s weird to think about. I haven’t known the game of hockey without Crosby in it. I look to the left and see his stall. You see his picture all around here. It just speaks to his longevity and how great of a player he is, and how crazy it is that I’ve grown up with him and got drafted to the same team.”
An odd draft day
Devlin had somewhat of a bizarre draft experience.
Rogers, the giant cable and internet provider based in Toronto, sustained widespread outages of its services on the day that Devlin expected to see his name pop up during the NHL Draft.
“The second I woke up, I went on the ice and worked out to keep my mind off of it a little bit,” he said. “The whole day, service wasn’t working and I couldn’t get ahold of anyone. I was kind of losing my mind a little bit.”
When he got home, his dad was able to pull a stream up on his iPad and cast that to the family’s television to watch. Devlin got to see some of his friends get drafted, but still was waiting to hear his name get called.
So he went to the kitchen to make some food, keeping track of the draft on his phone, which was ahead of the delayed video feed in the living room.
“I was pretty hungry,” he said. “I set my phone on the kitchen table and peered over and my name populated right next to the Penguins logo.”
Devlin sprinted into the family’s living room and shouted out the good news. He was officially a Pittsburgh Penguin.
The Devlin family simultaneously embraced Luke and began to celebrate. Leading the charge in the festivities was his brother, Jack.
Luke and Jack
Luke Devlin gets choked up thinking about his brother, who has been in Luke’s corner throughout his hockey journey.
“He’s my biggest fan,” Luke said. “I know there’s nothing that makes him more happy than seeing me succeed.”
But Jack, through some innovative measures, has had his own successes in sports.
Jack is a recent graduate of Iowa University, where he was a part of REACH (Realizing Educational and Career Hopes), a certificate program that offers a college experience to students with intellectual, cognitive, and learning disabilities.
Through REACH, Jack Devlin was able to become a team manager for the Iowa Hawkeyes men’s basketball team.
In February, on Iowa’s senior night, Devlin buried a half court shot during a TV timeout, electrifying the crowd and his teammates, who swarmed their manager and celebrated.
“Getting to watch him experience that with the half court shot, and seeing the reaction of the players on the Iowa basketball team, was probably the most special part about it,” Luke said. “You could see the genuine happiness they had for him, and that brotherhood that he’s created.
“Every single person Jack meets remembers his name, and he remembers their name. He’s a fan favorite everywhere he goes. He’s been my biggest supporter and he’s encouraged me along the way. I wouldn’t be here without him.”
What’s next
Devlin, who played this season for St. Andrew’s College High School in the CAHS, is committed to play at Cornell for this upcoming season.
“It was definitely a difficult decision,” he explained. “It was in January to March of 2020, and I was able to get a couple of visits in while my season was going on.”
But then COVID-19 hit, throwing recruiting into a bit of a tailspin and keeping him off the ice for about three months. Still, Devlin was able to sneak in a trip to Cornell for a game, before classes were even back in session. The game was still sold out, and Devlin was sold on college hockey for the Ivy League school that is a power in the ECAC.
He hopes — while getting a world class education — he will be able to hone his abilities, and fulfill his desires, to become an impactful, physical forward.
“They do a really great at developing power forwards,” he said. “That’s what I see myself as. They’ve, time and time again, shown that they can develop bigger forwards and produce them at the NHL level.
“I hope to become better at just that, being more physical, using my body to protect the puck and really embodying what it means to be a 200-foot power forward.”