Pardon Conor Sheary if he feels the urge to pinch himself every once in a while.
Surely he’s going to wake up any minute now and realize it’s all been a dream.
The kid from Melrose, Mass., stars for UMass-Amherst after getting snubbed his draft year by the NHL.
He signs a free-agent contract with the Penguins, winds up winning a Stanley Cup, gets put on a line with Sidney Crosby the following year and wins a second Cup.
Oh, and did we mention he gets engaged to his "high school sweetheart," Jordan Sullivan, with an August wedding in the works?
How much better can it get?
Well, heading into the last week of April, there was the distinct possibility of a third Cup in June.
But we’re getting ahead of ourselves.
Let’s go back to how young Mr. Sheary got here in the first place.
There was a distinguished prep career at Cushing Academy (where he met Jordan), followed by an equally productive four years at UMass-Amherst.
It was with the Minutemen that Sheary hit his stride, literally, developing his style of speedy skating that resulted in 28 points in 34 games his senior year, including a team-high 19 assists.
From there, a brief stint with the Penguins’ AHL affiliate, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, followed by a promotion to the big team early in 2016.
Not only did he register his first regular-season multi-goal game against future Hall of Fame goalie Henrik Lundqvist of the Rangers on March 3, but also he scored his first Stanley Cup playoff goal against Lundqvist on April 21.
Maybe the best thing to ever happen to Sheary was to NOT get drafted. It provided extra motivation to prove that he really did (and does) belong in the NHL, despite what the experts thought.
"I think it’s just a ‘chip on your shoulder’ mentality," Sheary said before Game 4 of the playoff series between the Penguins and Flyers, which the Pens won in six games. "That’s just kind of how I’ve had to approach my whole career to get to this point.
"You kind of have to stay that way throughout your career. Even after you get here, you have to keep working to get better, to keep proving yourself."
Sheary grew up in Melrose, Mass., and loved hockey from the outset. Like any kid, he dreamed of playing on the world’s biggest stage one day, but he had to take the long route to get here.
He admits UMass-Amherst is not on the same national platform as schools such as Denver, Notre Dame or Boston College. But people, at least locally, started to notice his skills during his college years.
Sheary had the raw speed to beat defensemen off the rush and, at 5-8, 175 pounds, he’s a hard target to hit.
"Amherst is not the biggest hockey market," he said. "But they play in a big league (Hockey East) and I think you get seen a little bit more just from playing in that league.
"I think that was a big stepping stone in my career."
Sheary almost couldn’t believe it when he had the good fortune to wind up alongside Crosby a season back.
He wound up producing 20 goals and a total of 53 points with a plus-24.
What did he learn from Crosby, both on and off the ice?
"He’s a leader in the locker room for a reason," Sheary said. "He’s proven to be one of the best, if not the best, players in the world.
"Just to get to watch him play every night — it’s not the things he says, but just watching him and picking up on the little things he does. Seeing how hard he works, that’s the most important."
All Sheary has known is success, but it never gets routine.
"Winning never gets old," Sheary said. "At this point, I think everyone has worked really hard to get here. Personally, I just try to keep getting better and keep competing."
Two stalls away sits Zach Aston-Reese, another undrafted player out of Staten Island.
These two have formed a bit of a bond because they are sort of on the same mission: Proving themselves everyday, no matter how good their stats might be.
"We talk about our college days together (Aston-Reese attended Northeastern)," said Sheary. "I think he’s working hard and he’s proving himself in this league as well."
If he’s dreaming, Sheary hopes he never wakes up.
"When you play this time of year as we have the last three years," he said, "it’s a lot of fun, and this is what we play for, for sure."
Turn off that alarm clock. There’s still a lot of this hockey fantasy left to be played.
