Who says you can't go home

You know, if the price of oil keeps dropping the Russian Kontinental Hockey League is going to be in a world of hurt...

“I was thinking about it and if Mario would call me and say, ‘I’d like you to play for our team,’ I would think about it a lot,” Jagr said in a telephone interview from Moscow where the Kontinental League will hold its inaugural All-Star Game outdoors at Red Square Saturday. “I would play for the minimum salary. I would play for $350,000 just for him because I owe him my hockey life. I want to pay him back because he has made me what I am…besides my parents.”

Talk about bringing things full circle, eh? Of course, everything's conjecture until the rubber hits the road, but even if Jagr finishes another season and a half in Russia he would be 38 years old. That's so young Mark Recchi and Chris Chelios would be yelling at keeping him off their lawn.

Stay tuned, and as always never say never..

Huge hat-tip to Empty Netters

The numbers racket

Tim Wallace got called up today in place of the newly demoted Janne Pesonen. We like the idea, better to have a worker if you're going to play him 5-6 minutes a night and let Pesonen go back to the AHL and get some top minutes.



Wallace is wearing #63, so along with his roommate Ben Lovejoy (#65) the Penguins have to players to have a number on their back in the 60's in a non-preseason game since May 21, 2001....Perhaps you've heard of those two.

Former Pens in the NHL 2007-08

One of the features we had at this blog’s infancy last summer was a re-cap of those ex-Pens who laced ‘em up for another NHL team in the season before. It was well received, so we did it again.

Former Pittsburgh Penguins who played in the NHL in 2007-08

Anaheim Ducks
--none

Atlanta Thashers

Mark Recchi (19 games, 2 goals 6 assists with Pittsburgh, 53 gp, 12 goals, 28 assists for 40 points with Atlanta)
--After dropping Sidney Crosby’s anchor on the top line, Mark Recchi was claimed on re-entry waivers by the Thrashers. Recchi got the chance to play with some good players and made the most of it, picking his production up. Recchi is now a free agent, and at 40 doesn’t have much gas left in the tank. We get the feeling he could have somewhat a productive season (like 15-20 goals and 35-40 assists) in the right situation…The question is, will an NHL team be willing to give him that.

Chris Thorburn (73 games, 5 goals, 13 assists, 92 PIMs)
--Thorburn is a scrappy lower line winger. Players like him are a dime-a-dozen but do fill important roles on every NHL roster. The Pens received a 3rd round pick (defenseman Robert Bortuzzo) from Atlanta at last year’s draft and the Thrashers got a fairly solid feisty NHL’er. Thorburn is a RFA so it’ll be interesting to see if Atlanta wants to qualify him this summer or let him go find another place to play.

Colby Armstrong (54 games 9 goals, 15 assists with Pittsburgh, 18 gp, 4g 7a with ATL)
--Much has been written about the trade sending Army to Atlanta. He played well with the Thrashers and figures to be an important part of their team in the years to come. Armstrong is under contract next year ($1.2 million) and is at a career cross-roads. Should he play well and produce points he’s likely to get a pretty lucrative long-term deal. If he fails to establish himself, he might bounce from organization to organization in the years to come.

Erik Christensen (49 games, 9 goals, 11 assists with Pittsburgh, 10gp 2g 2a with ATL)
--Crusher is one of the best shootout specialists in the NHL. He’s got arguably one of the best wrist shots in the whole league. But he hasn’t established himself either yet at the NHL level. A knee injury after the trade sidelined him and again kept him from becoming a top 6 center. EC is under contract for the relatively reasonable rate of $750k next season and surely Atlanta is hoping for a breakout performance.

Joel Kwiatkowski (18 games, 0 goals, 5 assists)
--Kiwi played one memorable game with Pittsburgh [ed. Note: not that memorable] in 2006-07 and then was on the team’s playoff taxi squad in case of injuries. Kwiatkowski remains a good puck moving defenseman that just can’t stick in the NHL permanently. But he remains a valuable NHL/AHL swing player and is a UFA for any team to pickup this summer.

Johan Hedberg (36 games, 14-15-3 record, 3.46 GAA, .892 save %, 1 shutout)
--Hedberg will always remain a beloved figure in Penguins fans eyes for his performance in 2001. He got stuck in a pretty brutal situation in front of Atlanta this year and his numbers tell that tale. Most observers agree that he was better than those numbers indicate; he played a lot when starter Kari Lehtonen missed time with injury. Hedberg is now a UFA and Atlanta has promising young netminder Ondrej Pavelec knocking on the door for an NHL job soon so it’s likely “The Moose” will have to find a backup job somewhere else.

Boston Bruins
“Anyone But” Glen Murray (63 games, 17 goals, 13 assists)
--Murray keeps chugging along in the NHL, surpassing the 1000 career games played milestone this past season. Boston is still on the hook for $4.15 million in 08-09 so it’s likely he’ll be in this recap for one more season.


Andrew Ference (59gp, 1g, 14a, 1 lost fight to Sidney Crosby)
--Ference is the prototypical post-lockout defenseman; small, mobile and a decent puck mover. He’s not a name-sake player, but a good one nonetheless. As mentioned above, Ference’s 07-08 season (and possibly career) might be best remembered for the footnote of being on the receiving end of Crosby’s first NHL fight.

Buffalo Sabres
Jocelyn Thibault (12 games, 3-4-2 record, 3.31 GAA, .869 save %)
--A stint in Pittsburgh helped revive Thibault’s career, but his performance in mop up duty with Buffalo wasn’t the best. Thibault’s a UFA again and has to see what the market looks like for him.

Carolina Hurricanes
--no former Pens

Calgary Flames
Wayne Primeau (43 games, 3 goals, 7 assists)
--Primeau keeps filling the important niche of being an energy lower line forward. He also has now 90 career NHL playoff games (Mario Lemieux, by comparison had 107). No real meaning behind that stat, just something we found interesting and surprising.

Chicago Blackhawks
Robert Lang (76 games, 21 goals, 33 assists)
--This marks Lang’s eight straight season of at least 50 points. He’s done this with now four different teams. Lang is not an inspiring player, nor a particularly dynamic one. But the numbers can’t be wrong; he’s been good at staying healthy and putting up about 20 goals and 30-35 assists for a long time now.

Patrick Lalime (32 games, 16-12-2, 2.82 GAA, .897 save %, 1 shutout)
--Lalime will forever be remembered for his blistering rookie start, holding out and subsequent trade and falling off the map. But he’s still around and still playing relatively well. He’s now 34 years old and set to be an unrestricted free agent. His reputation proceeds him but it seems he’s played well enough to be offered an NHL job somewhere out there.

Columbus Blue Jackets
Dick Tarnstrom (48 games played, 3 goals, 11 assists between Edmonton and CBS)
--The last player to lead the Penguins in scoring before Crosby and Evgeni Malkin found a new home and a little new lift in Columbus. Tarnstrom remains one of just eight skaters (out of 34 that Pittsburgh used) still in the NHL from that dreadful, dreadful 2003-04 season.

Colorado Avalanche
--no ex-Pens

Dallas Stars

Stu Barnes (79 games played, 12 goals, 11 assists)
--Stu Barnes remains another ex-Pen that many still hold in high regard. He’s not tall, not particularly skilled but made an honest career out of hard work and being in the right place at the right time. Barnes has been great for Dallas’ system and played well. But he’s 37 years old now and it’s unsure if this UFA to be will find a job playing in the NHL next season. If this is the end of the line for him, it’s a career of 1136 regular season games and that’s nothing to be ashamed of.

Sergei Zubov (46 games, 4 goals, 31 assists)
--Sergei Zubov has now been in Dallas for 11 years. Seems like a life time ago when he spent his one season in Pittsburgh as an offensive defenseman that’s style didn’t mesh well with Lemieux. Now, even at age 37, Zubov is still one of the best defensemen in the league and has one of the finest two-way games. His transformation (as well as what could have been) never ceases to amaze us.

Toby Petersen (8 games, 0 goals, 3 assists)
--We’ve talked about Petersen before. He’s a little diabetic guy that can’t stick in the NHL but can take a decent shift or two.

Detroit Red Wings
Mikael Samuelsson (73 games, 11 goals, 29 assists) (5g, 8a in 22 playoff games)
--Samuelsson was acquired in the blatant Alexei Kovalev salary dump-off at the trade deadline in 2003. He played 22 career games with the Pens and had 2 goals and 0 assists. The Pens let him slide away and I thought he wouldn’t stick around in North America much longer. Samuelsson went to Florida for 2003-04 and back to Europe to play during the lockout. That time was good for him, as for some reason Detroit offered him a contract and in 2005-06 Samuelsson was a 20 goal scorer in the NHL and has been an important 3rd line player for the Red Wings. Credit them for transforming his game, or at least recognizing the change that he made.

Edmonton Oilers
--no ex-Pens

Florida Panthers
Noah Welch (4 games played, 0 goals, 0 assists)
--The trade bait dangled for Gary Roberts suffered another frustrating season. Welch, with all his talent, size and potential just hasn’t been able to establish himself at the NHL level. Welch didn’t appear in any AHL games this season; we believe he suffered a shoulder injury that pretty much wrecked his season. Now 26 years old, Welch is signed for next season to once again try to put something together at the NHL level, lest he become another victim of the curse of Greg Malone.

Los Angeles Kings
--no ex-Pens

Minnesota Wild
--no ex-Pens

Montreal Canadiens

Alex Kovalev (82 games, 35 goals, 49 assists)
--In 2006-07 Kovalev looked miserable, scoring just 18 goals and 47 points and becoming a universal whipping boy in the hockey hot-bed of Montreal. Many were wondering if he, at age 35, he was washed up. To his credit, Kovalev re-dedicated himself to achieving a high fitness level, changed his attitude and was the driving offensive force behind Montreal’s best record in the Eastern conference. Personally AK-27’s 86 points were good enough for 11th in the league in scoring. Kovy’s got one more year on his contract with Montreal, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that it will be his last in the NHL.

Tom Kostopolous (67 games, 7 goals, 6 assists, 113 PIMs)
--The “original” TK had a very interesting year. He provided a spark plug like energy for his new team. He got arrested. Then come playoff time he scored 3 goals (one a game winner) in 12 games. But Kostopolous let his emotions get the best of him when he blindsided Philly’s Kimmo Timonen in the face after the Flyers had sealed Game 2 in that series. The Canadiens would lose the next three games and get sent packing and many point to TK’s loss of control as the emotional turning point of the series for both teams.

Interesting side fact that may only interest us: Kostopolous (28 years old) now has 298 career NHL regular season games played. Brooks Orpik (27) and Ryan Malone (28) have 297 and 299 career NHL games played respectively. Kostopolous bounced around more, but we were surprised that he’s played almost identical games as Orpik and Malone. That says something good about the niche TK has been able to create for himself at the NHL level.

Nashville Predators
--no ex-Pens

New Jersey Devils
--no ex-Pens (Ian Moran did play 12 games for their AHL affiliate though, so that warrants at least a mention!)

New York Islanders
Jon Sim (2 games, 0 goals, 1 assist)
--Jon Sim played 15 games for the Penguins but earned a cult following. Internet lore termed the phrase “Jon Sim will eat your soul”. Sim seems to score a lot against the Washington Capitals but only played two games this season in any league. We think injury had something to do with it, but aren’t to sure. Expect the soul eatings to resume next season.

Richard Park (82 games, 12 goals, 20 assists)
--Park, a former Penguin draft picked, scored 2 goals (one short-handed, one on the powerplay) and 2 assists against his former team. He’s drawn our ire for seemingly elevating his game against the Pens. And the stats backed it up, Park shot the puck more times against Pittsburgh than any other team he faced in 2007-08. Dammit, Richard Park is still pissing us off.

Andy Hilbert (70 games, 8 goals, 8 assists)
--The Pens picked Hilbert up at the end of the 2005-06 season and he scored 18 points in 19 games (mainly riding shotgun with Sidney Crosby). Many fans thought this flash-in-the-bottle chemistry meant that Hilbert should be retained and kept with Crosby. They didn’t understand that it’s not that Hilbert is good, it’s that that Crosby guy is.

New York Rangers

Jaromir Jagr (82 games, 25 goals, 46 assists) (10 playoff games, 5g, 10a)
--It’s no secret how we feel about Double J. We were raised on the guy, and as mercurial as he is, we will always respect him. He’s in contract negotiations now with the Rangers and seems to want to return to Manhattan. Many thought after a frustrating year that he would go back to Europe, but Jags was awesome in the playoffs; easily the most assertive offensive player that the Penguins went up against in the post-season. He might have broken his streak of 30 goal seasons, but JJ still has a lot in the tank.



Martin Straka (65 games, 17 goals, 25 assists)
--“The Waterbug” is still ticking in New York, he was the glue that held the Ranger forwards together. Straka will turn 36 before next season starts and is an unrestricted free agent. If the Rangers re-sign Jagr it seems like a lock that they will want to bring Straka back for on and off ice reasons.

Michal Rozsival (80 games, 13 goals, 25 assists)
--Rozsival set a career high in goals scored this season for the Rangers. His transformation from a somewhat suspect defenseman with injury issues to being a legit top four defenseman on a good club has also been pretty amazing. Rozy is an unrestricted free agent now and probably in line for a pretty good (and well deserved) payday from some team. He’s great on the powerplay and has been reliable enough in his own zone.

Ottawa Senators
Shean Donovan (82 games, 5 goals, 7 assists)
--Donovan is another player that’s valuable to NHL teams; he won’t make the cover of the media guide but he will be a guy busting his tail and working hard on lower lines and penalty kills which, as we know, can benefit the team as much as scoring goals. Players like this are essential, but essentially replaceable since there are so many players who bring the same thing to the table. This is why guys like Donovan seem to bounce around the league so much. And look at that, he’s a UFA this summer and could very well be in a new town.

Randy Robitaille (68 games, 10 goals, 19 assists)
--Robitaille had statistically one of his better NHL seasons in 2007-08. He’s a fringe guy with some skill, but seemingly never enough to stick in a full-time role.

Interesting side fact that may only interest us: Randy Robitaille played 81 games as a Pittsburgh Penguin in parts of two seasons. The most heralded Robitaille (that being Luc, of course) only played 46 games with the Pens in 1994-95. The two are unrelated.

Philadelphia Flyers
--no ex-Pens…They do have RJ Umberger who grew up in Pittsburgh, if you didn’t remember from being told thousands of times during telecasts…

Phoenix Coyotes
Matt Murley (3 games, 0 goals, 1 assist)
--Murley’s almost like a Toby Petersen type player: he can and will score about a point-per-game at the AHL level (62 points in 76 games there this year) and be a difference maker there. But he just hasn’t had the needed skill, luck, consistency (or some combination of the three) to be thought of as a regular NHL’er.

Pittsburgh Penguins

Unrestricted Free Agents: Marian Hossa, Ryan Malone, Brooks Orpik, Jarkko Ruutu, Georges Laraque, Adam Hall, Pascal Dupuis, Ty Conklin, Gary Roberts, Jeff Taffe, Kris Beech, Nathan Smith, Connor James, Mark Eaton, Alain Nasreddine, Ryan Lannon

Here’s hoping that if any of them make this season re-cap next year playing on another team it will be filled with words of positives…Except against their old team, of course.

San Jose Sharks
--no ex-Pens

St. Louis Blues
Micki Dupont (2 games, 0 goals, 0 assist)
--Micki Dupont might be John Slaney’s younger brother. Both are very talented and skilled defenseman that are great skaters and move the puck very well. Both put up huge numbers at every level….Except the NHL

Tampa Bay Lightning

Michel Ouellet (64 games, 17 goals, 19 assists)
--Coming off a 48 point season in 2006-07, Ouellet got a two year contract from the Lightning. However a shoulder injury this past season hampered our former friendly garbage-man’s production. It was something of a throw-away year for the Lightning in general though. It’ll be interesting to see how another new coach for Ouellet works out for him.

Andre Roy (63 games, 4 goals, 3 assists)
--Andre Roy got sent home from the team for a week in March for going mental during a game and basically trying to attack opposing players and fans alike. The night that Crosby injured his ankle, Roy decided to score 3 out of his 7 points on the year to lead the Lightning to a 3-0 win. This blog’s editor really should let things go, but sometimes useless knowledge like that just sticks.

Karl Stewart (9 games, 0 goals, 0 assists)
--Here’s where you’d find a recap about Karl Stewart if we knew anything to write or if you actually would have bothered to read it. Hooray Karl Stewart!

Toronto Maple Leafs
Dominic Moore (68 games, 5 goals 12 assists combined between Minnesota and TML)
--Moore’s set to be a UFA and could be on the move again. He’s a heady forward, good at playing D and unspectacular. He’s another one of those guys that teams like having on their club for the most part, but don’t go out of their way to retain him for too long.

Vancouver Canucks
Markus Naslund (82 games, 25 goals, 30 assists)
For some rationalization to make Pens fans about this monstrosity of a trade, let's play a game of point/counter-point

Point!: Naslund’s stats have been sliding for the past five seasons, he got paid $6 million last year and couldn’t even lead his team to the playoffs.

Counter-point!: Alek Stojanov hasn’t been listed in professional hockey for the past seven years.

Yep, we harbor no ill feelings for that anymore...

Washington Capitals
Matt Bradley (77 games, 7 goals, 11 assists)
-- Washington has decided that Bradley, the proverbial NHL plugging forward, is a part of their future and core of their team when they gave him a three-year contract recently. Good on him, he’s a hard working player that seems to be well liked and respected in a fairly young Washington dressing room.

Whew, that's it. From the stars like Jagr and Kovalev to the obscure like Dupont and Stewart, there's your list of former Penguins who appeared in an NHL game in 2007-08. If we missed someone, please call us a moron and point out the mistake in the comments. Huge credit to hockeydb, nhlnumbers and The Pensblog images and the fine folks who made the,

Hockey Players: Best in the world

No professional athletes are more approachable, more friendly or more compassionate than hockey players. From my own experience of seeing what the Penguins (namely Jaromir Jagr, and Kevin Hatcher) sent to my best buddy who was diagnosed with lymphatic lymphoma at the age of 10 in the late '90s, our parents transplanting us 300 miles away fromPittsburgh...Everything from pucks to sticks to well wishes written down, signed by all.

But nothing, and I mean NOTHING, topped a clearly personalized and signed letter from Mario Lemieux, a cancer survivor himself. Inspiration indeed to my buddy and gestures that I will never, ever forget.

And with that, today's PG on what Sidney Crosby has rented out a suite:

Twenty-five children and their families attended practice and a luncheon with the team that included autographs and photos as part of the Penguins' annual Make-A-Wish party.
Two players, forwards Sidney Crosby and Mark Recchi, facilitate similar, albeit smaller, parties regularly. They have bought suites for children and families to use at home games through various children's charities.
Crosby's family decorated his suite, which is closed off with dividers so that only his guests get to see it.

"My mom and dad went through a lot of albums and took out some pictures when I was the age of a lot of the kids who are in there, and more of them are from school and away from hockey," Crosby said. "There's a map of Cole Harbour [Nova Scotia, his hometown], and they can see where it is compared with Pittsburgh. When kids go there, they can see more than just the hockey side of things, be able to have fun and maybe see things that everyone doesn't typically see."

Countless other hockey players (including Alex Ovechkin) entertain special guests like this on countless nights. These men are answering beyond the call of their professional super stardom, they're being terrific human beings that are leaving a great impact than they'll ever know....A heartfelt hat-tip to them all.

Ex-Penguins in the NHL 2006-07

As we turn the page into 2007-08, I compiled a little round-up of how our old friends did in the NHL last season in 2006-07. If I missed anyone, call me a moron and point it out in the comments.


Artists formerly known as Mighty Ducks of Los Angeles by way of Anaheim California USA

Ric Jackman- 24 games played, 1 goal, 10 assists, 11 points (traded from Florida). Jackman’s a good offensive defenseman, but not good or consistent enough to stick in a team’s regular lineup. Still, Jackman scored a huge playoff goal in the Stanley Cup Finals that he was only participating in due to Pronger’s suspension.

Sebastien Caron- Caron played 28 measly minutes for Anaheim in one regular season appearance, as he was their 3rd goalie acquired from Chicago’s organization. But I remember seeing him celebrate the Stanley Cup win, so he makes the list.

Atlanta Thrashers

Jon Sim (77gp, 17-2-29) Sim continues to be a pesky player with a penchant for chipping in key goals at opportune times. When he’s playing good hockey, look out, Jon Sim will eat your soul.

Johan Hedberg- 21 gp, 9-4-2, 2.89 GAA, 89.8% Hedberg is a reliable veteran backup goalie in Atlanta, and he’ll always be adored in Pittsburgh for the magical 2001 playoff run.

Heberg being solid

Boston Bruins

Glen Murray (59gp 28-17-45) Yes kids, once upon a time Glen Murray wore Pittsburgh black and gold, but it’s been over ten years. He’s on the downside of his career, but still firing away goals.

Shean Donovan (76 gp, 6-11-17) Spare piece forward traded to Ottawa. You gotta love his speed and intensity, but pretty much a dime-a-dozen lower line winger


Buffalo Sabres
No ex-Pens


Calgary Flames

Andrew Ference (54 gp, 2-10-12) If you haven’t read about Ference’s humanitarian exploits over at NHL.com, you owe it to yourself to see how this young hockey player who has it all is giving of himself in Africa and trying to make a difference. Hey, it is summer.


Wayne Primeau (51gp, 7-8-15) A good guy and a hard-nosed center who won’t give you much offense, but will help you defensively.

Carolina Hurricanes
No ex-Pens


Chicago Blackhawks

Patrick Lalime, 12 gp 4-6-1, 3.07 GAA, 89.6%. Such a great start to his career with the Penguins in 1997, so unexpected for him to reel off such a long unbeaten streak, holdout and then fade into obscurity.


Columbus BJs
No ex-Pens


Colorado Avalanche
No ex-Pens


Dallas Stars

Sergei Zubov (78gp, 12-42-54). For whatever reason, Mario reportedly didn’t like Zubov, so out the door he went. Over a decade later he’s still a solid point producer and actually reliable in his own zone.

Stu Barnes (82gp, 13-12-25) Scrappy and likeable, it’s hard not to smile thinking of what a career Barnes has carved out, despite lacking size or scoring ability

Matthew Barnaby (39gp, 1-6-7, 127 PIM). At his wife’s urges, Barnaby has retired due to concussions. Like Barnes, he didn’t have size or much scoring, but punched his way through 800+ games. I believe Barnaby’s in an elite, if not obscure club of 300 points and 2500+ PIMS. Not many enforcers make it to 300 points (Domi fell short, Brashear will too) and not many non-enforcers (Tkachuck make it to 2500 PIMs. Marty McSorely, Tiger Williams are in this club, and Gary Roberts is but 7 PIMs away. I have more research on this for another day.

But yeah, I loved Barnaby. I loved how he stood up for teammates, fought anyone and scrapped until the bitter end. I understand he’s polarizing to opponent’s fans, but he gave an honest effort every night.

Nolan Baumgartner (13gp, 0-3-3). I wish history would allow me to omit the 2003-04 season.


Detroit Red Wings

Robert Lang (81gp, 19-33-52) Everybody’s favorite Czech adult video star was a whipping boy for Detroit fans for his inconsistency. But in my mind Lang will always reside as a pirate-looking gentleman that centered one of the greatest 2nd lines in recent history with Marty Straka and Alex Kovalev.

Mikael Samuellson (53gp, 14-20-34) Acquired in the Kovalev salary purge, the Pens threw in Samuellson to Florida in the draft-day trade to jump up and nab Marc-Andre Fleury. Dude must have turned on the old light bulb during the lockout, now he’s a key component in Detroit’s lineup, scoring 79 regular season points in the past two seasons.

Matt Hussey (5gp 0-0-0) Hooray former WB/S Baby Penguin fringe NHL player alums! There are plenty of you!

Edmonton Oilers

Toby Petersen (64gp, 6-9-15) He’s diabetic and announcers will let you know this as often as Detroit, the site of Super Bowl XL, was the hometown of Jerome Bettis. Things got so dire injury wise, Edmonton had to use Petersen as a defensemen some. This would be like making out with a dude when the clock strikes midnight on New Years, because you don’t have any chicks at your party…Which is to say, not ideal.

What in the world did poor Toby Petersen do to deserve the site's 1st gay joke?

Petr Nedved (19 1-4-5) Nedved’s signed with a Czech team and looks to have finished an overall disappointing NHL career, compared to the talent he had for the results he got at the end of the day. But his career Supermodel Banged stat sheet is legendary.

Nedved 1, You 0

Florida Panthers

Noah Welch (2gp 1-0-1) One day Noah Welch will be able to tell his grandkids he was once considered fair trading value for the legendary Gary Roberts. This will be the day that the family finally agrees Old Man Welch needs to be put in a nursing home.

Thanks for being the answer to a trivia question, Noah!

Los Angeles Kings

Tom Kostopolous (76gp, 7-15-22). Tommy K signed with Montreal now, he’s starting to carve out a NHL niche Pittsburgh never really let him grow into. Moving on.


Minnesota Wild

Dominic Moore (10gp, 2-0-2) Perfect style player (smart, not great offense but reliable) for Minnesota, I like Moore, but I like Talbot more than Moore.


Montreal Canadiens

Alex Kovalev (73gp, 18-29-47) Like former linemate Bobby Lang, Kovalev’s often the victim of fan outcry. Fans always rode him hard, like when they implore him to shoot. Like he doesn’t know! Still, it’s hard to think someone as purely skilled as Kovy could only score 18 goals in 73 games.


Nashville Predators

Ramzi Abid (13gp, 1-4-5) Knee injuries have took a toll on his career. Al-Jazeera probably wanted to cover the Stanley Cup playoffs because they found out there was a hockey player named Ramzi Abid. Terrorist-esque.


New Jersey Devils

Dan LaCouture (6gp, 0-0-0) He’s on Anaheim now, which is good, personally I like LaCouture and I do not like New Jersey. He’s another dime-a-dozen hard working lower line grinder.


New York Islanders

Andy Hilbert (81gp, 8-20-28) Pens fans whined and moaned when they let Crosby’s linemate walk. Turns out, Hilbert might not have made Sid what he was as a rookie after all!

Richard Park (82gp, 10-16-26) Richard Park only scored ten goals? It sure seemed like every time I turned around he was scoring one against the Penguins. Park was the antidote to Ryan Malone, if you will.

Randy Robitaille (50gp, 6-17-23) This guy was basically Andy Hilbert before there was a Andy Hilbert. A smallish, skill player that doesn’t really have enough pure skill to hack it full-time in the NHL, so he bounces around a lot.

Eric Boguniecki (11gp, 0-0-0) If Eric Boguniecki was a beer, he’d be Jon Sim Light. That would not make for a tasty beer.



New York Rangers (aka Pittsburgh’s old Czech players)

Jaromir Jagr (82gp, 30-66-96) His rookie year he scored 27 goals. For the next 15 years (and counting) he’s scored at least 30 a year. One day we’ll look back on his career and wonder how Jags could be so under-appreciated. Greatest.European.Ever

Martin Straka (77gp, 29-41-70) Good player, good guy, it’s nice to see the Waterbug do well, even if it is in Manhattan.

Michal Rozsvial (80gp, 10-30-40) Another remarkable transition once he left the ‘Burgh. Hard to believe a couple seasons ago the Pens had to choose between Melichar’s shoulder and Roszival’s knee on which to keep and which to drop. Sad to know they choose Melichar.

Darius Kasparaitis (24gp, 2-2-4) The Rangers hide him in the AHL so his salary won’t count against the cap. Shame, the league needs more personalities like Kaspar’s. When you think Darius K, you think Game 7, 2001 Eastern Conference semifinals.

If you're a Penguins fan, you'll take the joy of how you felt at this moment to your grave

Ottawa Senators
No ex-Pens, an ex-con though



Phoenix Coyotes

Daniel Carcillo (18gp, 4-3-7) The Pens might regret trading Carcillo. I saw him play in Phoenix a couple times, and they were giving him good ice time for his first taste of the NHL. He’s a very fast player, but also takes too many dumb penalties. He’s immature and a time-bomb, not unlike Billy Tibbetts, you know, minus the whole raping thing and running from the cops multiple times thing.


The Scum of the Earth (aka Philadelphia Flyboys)

Eric Meloche (13gp, 1-2-3) Another fringe alum of Wilkes-Barre that never stuck in Pittsburgh.


San Jose Sharks
No ex-Pens


St. Louis Blues

Ville Nieminen (14gp, 0-0-0) These numbers don’t tell the whole story, Niemenen was 2nd in the NHL in Finn-glish (the hybrid of Finnish/English) trash talking though, just behind Jarkko Ruutu.


Tampa Bay Lightning

Andre Roy (51gp, 1-2-3, 116 PIM) If the NHL instituted soccer sized nets, Roy would go from a mud enforcer to a leading scorer, because finally all those errant slapshots would be find goal net, not glass or fan protection net.

Karl Stewart (7gp, 0-0-0) Karl Stewart changed teams as quicker than Lindsay Lohan piled up DUIs. He’s about as relevant too, but with less of a rack and no fun coke addiction.


Toronto Maple Leafs

JS Aubin (20gp, 3-5-2, 3.43 GAA, 87.6%) Aubin is terrible and, for no reason, one of my least favorite hockey players. Thus, I couldn’t be happier he spent time in Toronto, sucking it up for those fine folks.



Vancouver Canucks

Markus Naslund (82gp, 24-36-60). Yeah, yeah, Naslund’s had himself a nice little career but once Alek Stojanov pans out it’ll be like Cam Neely times 1000.

Visit Alek's blog at late-bloomer.com

Bryan Smolinski (20 4-3-7) Smoke, along with guys like Tomas Sandstrom, Petr Nedved, Glen Murray, made Naslund expendable for the Penguins since they already had Francis, Jammer Jagger and Mario. Smolinski, more than the others, when I hear his name, I think of giving up Naslund. They say time heels all wounds but sometimes it just doesn’t.



Washington Capitals

Kris Beech (64gp, 8-18-26) If he would just spell it ‘Chris’ like a normal human being, somehow Beech would have been an all-star. Now he’s struck out with three organizations and will never likely establish himself in the NHL. The lesson is as obvious as it is simple: don’t be a jackass kids, spell your name right.

Matt Bradley (57gp, 4-9-13) This guy being in the league for 57 games is a testament to how far Washington still has to go on the road to respectability.

Rico Fata (10gp, 1-1-2) I’d rather write another joke about making out with a dude again than see Rico Fata suit up for my team 10 games.

That’s it! That’s the list! Leave a comment if I missed someone and I’ll feel dumb