Pittsburgh Review

As soon as NHL athlete Kevin Hayes learned that his locker stallmate, Connor Dewar, attended a Noah Kahan concert last summer, he spontaneously began singing, “It’s the season of the sticks.” Hayes joked about forming a duo where he would handle the vocals and Dewar would play the guitar, a skill Dewar picked up during the pandemic. “I find it kind of comes and goes based on if we’re home,” Dewar mentioned in a recent interview. “I play a lot during the summers. I play acoustic.”

Dewar expressed a desire to see Paul McCartney perform live. In a nod to his fondness for the Beatles, Dewar named his seven-month-old basset hound puppy Ringo. “I like the Beatles, and I thought we needed kind of a goofy name,” Dewar explained, mentioning his parents also own two basset hounds. "It's my favorite dog, I guess, favorite temperament."

Raised in The Pas, Manitoba, Dewar grew up in a town where hockey was almost the only organized sport. “In The Pas, it’s really, like, the only organized sport there is,” he said. Due to the area's long, cold winters, many children, including Dewar, had outdoor rinks in their backyards. Although he grew up in Manitoba, Dewar did not initially support the local Jets but was a fan of the Montreal Canadiens. He admired Saku Koivu, a former Canadiens player and cancer survivor, describing him as “a great leader.”

Despite being a lifelong fan, Dewar only visited the iconic Bell Centre after entering the NHL himself. He described playing there as nerve-wracking, saying, “That’s still one of the hardest places to play for me. I just feel a little bit nervous and a little bit starstruck there.”

In the offseason, Dewar returns to the area outside Winnipeg, where his parents now live. He enjoys golfing and spending time with old friends but avoids beach vacations due to a susceptibility to sunburn, admitting, “I get sick of putting sunscreen on every day... I’m a little bit Irish.”

During the NHL season, Dewar occupies his time off the rink with reading, video games, and television. He is currently engrossed in Keith Richards’ autobiography, 'Life,' and the HBO series 'The Pacific.' On the ice, Dewar is known for his spirited and energetic play. Penguins President of Hockey Operations and GM Kyle Dubas stated, “As we continue to work our way through this, it’s important to have those types of people here.” Dubas further added, “Connor’s much younger. He’s under team control with his status. We’ll give him a good run. We’re excited about him.”