Nine years ago, Tom Kuhnhackl was a 16-year-old playing for his hometown team back in Germany, the Landshut Cannibals, when he was heckled for the first time during a road game at Munich.
“You’re a 16-year-old kid, they’re booing you, and you’re like, ‘What did I do?’ ” Kuhnhackl said. “Is it because of me? Is it because of my dad?’
“After that first game, you deal with it. You laugh. They flick you off, and you’re like, ‘Whoa! Hey!’ You don’t even care anymore. You get used to it.”
When the Penguins return to Wells Fargo Center Wednesday for Game 4 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals, Sidney Crosby will hear it from the crowd.