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May 6, 2008 7:17 pm US/Eastern
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Hometown Hockey Star To Face Off Against Pens
PLUM BORO (KDKA) ―
Growing up in Plum, R.J. Umberger rooted for his hometown team, the Penguins, on the ice; but now that he's going to be going up against them in Eastern Conference finals, the Flyers center and his family have had a change of heart!
Rick Umberger says his son was a huge Pens fan – and even played for the Amateur Pens when he was just 9-years-old.
Now he's hoping to defeat the Penguins when he comes back home so his team can reach the Stanley Cup finals.
After graduating from Plum High School, Umberger got a scholarship to Ohio State University where he really blossomed. He became the first hockey player from Western Pennsylvania to be drafted in the first round.
"He wouldn't listen to everybody that told him, 'You'll never make it to the NHL – being from Pittsburgh,'" Rick Umberger said of his son. "He never heard that from us, but he heard that from everybody else and he just shut it out and just kept working!"
He has since emerged as one of the leaders of the Flyers with nine playoff goals.
His love for the Penguins ended when he ended up taking the ice for the Flyers. R.J. Umberger was more productive against the Pens than any other team this year – with 6 goals and 5 assists in 8 games.
Umberger says he gets motivated to play the Penguins. "It's going to be surreal. I'm just going to probably just have chills all through the body and just be revved up and anxious to play. It's just going to be ten times the thrill my first game playing there of my career."
Roseann and Rick Umberger will be in the stands, cheering on their Flyers son; and they know it won't be easy to root against the Pens inside Mellon Arena. "I think it's hard for the family when you can hear everything,' Roseann Umberger told KDKA.
"We will take the abuse," Rick Umberger added.
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