Ask Rutger McGroarty to name the most difficult part of his unconventional journey from Nebraska to the NHL, the chunk of adversity that challenged perhaps the most upbeat 21-year-old in the hockey world, and you will get an easy answer out of him.

It was not when he was shooed away at age 8 by the coach of a “very elite” youth team, nearly denying him an opportunity to play his way onto the radar of scouts.

It was not when rushed back from broken ribs and a punctured lung to ensure that he would captain Team USA to a gold medal at the World Junior Championship.

It was not even when McGroarty drew the ire of all of Manitoba last offseason and then was buried in the minor leagues for much of his first season as a professional.

“It doesn’t really have to do with hockey,” the rookie Pengu

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