Through injury, pandemic, former Penn State hockey player Andrew Sturtz stays positive

Andrew Sturtz has had many titles over his hockey career.

He was the 2013-14 RBC Canadian Junior Hockey League Player of the Year, joining a distinguished list that includes current and former NHL players. He was a 2017 NCAA Big Ten Champion, when Penn State won its first Big Ten Championship in program’s history.

But to his former teammate Ricky DeRosa, he’s someone who always had a smile on his face and kept a positive attitude.

“He’s a guy that doesn’t have any bad days, he’s so happy and grateful to be surrounded by good friends and he makes the most of any position that he’s in,” DeRosa said.

DeRosa has one memory in particular of Sturtz that sticks out to him.

“In our early goings, season ticket sales used to be in person. They used to be in the HUB,” DeRosa said. “Most of the guys will maybe throw in a jersey, shake a couple hands. Say hi to a couple people and probably get on with their day.

“Not Sturtzy — he’s in his jersey outside of the HUB on roller blades with a massive sign around his neck front and back, skating around the HUB, outside on the lawn, going up to every single person that he can meet, telling them to go inside the HUB and get season hockey tickets.”

To DeRosa, that image epitomizes who Sturtz is.

“If it’s a hockey game, he’s certainly going to show up, probably score two goals and two assists and there will be a smile on his face the entire time,” DeRosa said. “But if it’s getting students to the HUB to inquire about season tickets, he’s the guy that isn’t going to show up and shake a couple hands — he literally slaps on some roller blades, slicks his hair back, puts on a jersey and roller blades around the HUB parking lot seeing what students are thinking about the hockey season next year.”

Sturtz’s departure from Penn State to start his pro career hasn’t gone the way he expected. His first two pro seasons have been riddled with injuries, from a groin pull to a broken foot. Sturtz has only played 15 consecutive games due to the frequency and severity of his injuries.

Through all of this, his positivity hasn’t wavered.

“It was so tough, and you know he handled it probably better than anyone I know could have handled it,” former Belleville Senators teammate Jordan Murray said. “He just kind of rolled with the punches and worked so hard in rehab and everything he had to do. Seeing him go through that much, it hurt me almost because I know how bad he wanted to play and how bad he wanted to help us win.”

Sturtz played with the Belleville Senators, the American Hockey League affiliate of the Ottawa Senators, before being traded to the Montreal Canadiens organization this past January. Murray and Sturtz became fast friends while they were both in the Senators organization.

“Honestly, he’s been one of the best if not the best teammate I’ve ever had. He never takes any day for granted,” Murray said. “We live a life where sometimes you can get tired and mentally drained, and everyday Sturtzy was always upbeat. He was always in a good mood and he always brought positive energy to the dressing room.”

Murray even had the opportunity to go down to Penn State during the AHL’s All-Star break one year and meet some of Sturtz’s former teammates, including Alec Marsh, Chris Funkey and Vince Pedrie.

Pedrie and Sturtz have remained close friends since their time at Penn State, with Pedrie playing for the New York Rangers, the Nashville Predators and the Arizona Coyotes organizations before retiring and starting a hockey agency called NXT Sports Group.

For Pedrie, Sturtz has been there for some of the most important moments in his life, even those outside of hockey.

“He was there when I signed my contract with my family,” Pedrie said. “He’s one of the first people I go to with everything. We still talk very regularly. When I found out my girlfriend was pregnant, he was the first one I told.”

Throughout Sturtz’s rocky pro career, Pedrie has been there for him, as well as Sturtz’s former mentee Cole Hults.

Hults, who is just at the beginning of his pro career, still remembers the impact Sturtz had on his time at Penn State.

“The first time you meet Sturtzy it’s like you knew him for years,” Hults said. “He definitely took me under his wing and showed me the ropes and how to act. It was my first time away from home and he ... took really good care of me. He’s just a great guy.”

Sturtz would rarely talk about his injuries with Hults, and would just call his former mentee to check in and see how he was doing.

“He’s just one of those guys — he’s not a complainer. If he’s calling me it’s not to complain about that or talk about that,” Hults said. “It’s just ‘hey how are you doing? What have you been up too, how’s your family?’ That’s just the kind of guy he is.”

Now, as Sturtz looks back on his time with the program, he realizes how big of an impact being a Nittany Lion had on him.

“Without those guys, I don’t think I would have signed pro, at least at the NHL level. Without the guys I met at school and the coaching staff there, I definitely wouldn’t still be playing hockey,” Sturtz said. “I’m forever grateful that Coach Matt Lindsey found me in a rink in a small town up near Ottawa.”

Even with his positive attitude, it’s not lost on Sturtz how difficult the past two years have been.

“When I pulled my groin, I was out for three weeks and I was positive. And then I came back and played six games — high ankle sprain, and I was out for seven weeks and I was still really positive that I was going to turn it around and have a great year,” Sturtz said. “Then I blocked a shot and broke my foot and then I was out for six and a half more weeks, and then it was about February and I was still in really good spirits and positive that I had 30 more games to go. But then, I went out and hurt my shoulder two games into February.

“When that happened I just, I didn’t deflate, but I knew that year was over.”

The following year during the 2019-20 season, Sturtz was diagnosed with a sports hernia and re-injured his shoulder. Planning on playing through his injuries, the coronavirus pandemic cut Sturtz’s season short.

To him, its been “a blessing in disguise.”

“I still haven’t ruled myself out. I have faced a lot of dark days in the last two years, and obviously, any athlete who goes through injuries will attest to how hard it is when you keep getting a little bit of false hope like I was. You think you’re coming back and you’re going to be fine, and something else happens,” Sturtz said. “(The coronavirus pandemic) might buy me some time to get healthy and if the season starts in December, maybe give it another shot.”

Sturtz plans on taking this unexpected time away from the rink to let his body recover and rehab his shoulder. Once November rolls around, he plans on heading to some training camps and playing another year of pro.

Hopefully leaving his injuries behind, he’ll be bringing his positive attitude with him.

“The biggest thing that I take pride in is the attitude I bring to the rink, whether I was hurt every day or not,” Sturtz said. “The guys I play with, I’m not Sidney Crosby or Connor McDavid, so they’re not going to remember me for how many goals I scored. They’re just going to remember the kind of guy I was.”

This story was originally published August 14, 2020 at 3:43 PM.