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,

Extension for Malone to wait 'til summer..

..If at all.

One of the biggest changes the NHL has gone through since instituting the salary cap has been granting players unrestricted free agency at a younger age. That's a big reason you're seeing teams lock up players that are 24, 25 years old or younger for 5, 6, or even 12 or 13 years now.

Ryan Malone is a poster boy for this. At 28 years old, he's at the prime of his career. And, fortunately for Bugsy, he's having a career year (24 goals, 45 points and counting). At 6'4 and 220 pounds, he's always been big. But he's using it more effectively and consistently. That sound of lip smacking is about 30 general managers imagining adding a power forward to their lineup.

But Malone will hit the market with fewer than 300 career NHL games for the Penguins. He was drafted in the old CBA, where teams had a lot more time before they had to start developing prospects professionaly. Malone was drafted in the summer of 1999 but didn't join the Penguins until finishing his senior year at St. Cloud State. Throw in the lost lockout year and he's only had four seasons in Pittsburgh's organization.

Through teams good and bad Malone's always been a consistent 20 goal scorer (last year he netted 16 in 64 games of an injury shortened season). But he's never been this good.

So, how are the negotiations going?.

The Penguins are believed to have recently offered Malone a long-term contract,but not at significantly more than his current $1.45 million salary.

Uhh that's not going to get it done for a guy who will hit the open market. Teams historically over-pay for talent on July 1st---$8 million on two years of Todd Bertuzzi and Robert Lang, $20.4 million on six years for Dainius Zubrus last summer and so on and so on. It's easy to make a case that al of those guys are more established than Malone, but they were also older and had more "wear in the tires" too.

It's not crazy to think some team will swoop in and offer at least $12 million for four years for Malone...But would he leave?

Malone has publically stated he hopes to remain a Penguin. And who wouldn't? It's a bright time for the organization and Malone's played with centers like Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin for the past two and a half seasons. Taters has been a physical force, but he's not been the one primarily lugging the puck up the ice or making many decisions with the biscuit. It's simple; drive to the net, create room for the playmakers, cycle the puck and throw the body around and the puck on target.

But Bugsy is a Pittsburgh boy, you say. While true he spent his formative years (from high school senior through college) in the upper middle west. And, what will come as a newsflash to many Pens fans who believe Malone is the prototypical "hometown discount" remember that he makes his offseason home not in Pittsburgh, but in Minnesota.

There was a very telling quote by Ray Shero in that article, one that sounded more than willing to acknowledge this might be it:

"For every goal he scores, assist or fight he has - look, we're rooting for him. I hope he has a great playoff," Shero said. "It's the way the system is, and Ryan knows what our feelings are."

The Penguins have a general plan and they know what they're doing. Priority #1 this summer is obviously locking up Evgeni Malkin....Marc-Andre Fleury will also need new deal and the Pens can look to extend Jordan Staal if they want to as well. As crazy as it sounds, don't sleep on the the Pens not making at least a pitch for Marian Hossa either. If they're willing to spend to the salary cap, like has been reported it might be workable.

Immediately, There's 13 players next season under contract, the forwards are: Crosby, Malkin, Staal, Petr Sykora, Maxime Talbot, Tyler Kennedy. The defense is a lot more set: Sergei Gonchar, Ryan Whitney, Hal Gill, Darryl Sydor, Kris Letang, Rob Scuderi (and Alex Goligoski) are under contract. Dany Sabourin is too, but that's a different issue for a diferent day.

By our unscientific math that's a cap hit of right at $34 million...That leaves about $18 million to what's expected to be the cap; even if they don't make any moves on trying to shed a guy like Sydor ($2.5) or Whitney ($4) It'll be decision time to see who the Penguins want to bring back, who they're able to bring back and what will happen.

Start with Ryan Malone, end up with a thesis paper about the Penguins salary cap next season...That's Sweater Ted style, baby.

Trade Deadline: Part 1 A look at deals since '04

Gearing up for the trade deadline the question was asked: what happens to teams that go and make waves by trading picks/prospects to land that rental player?

Part 1 of this series looks at exactly that; trades made at or very near the trade deadline. What we were looking to discover, namely was:

• How did it work out for the seller, did they parlay a guy who would likely walk as a UFA into a contributing NHL player or two?
• Did the buyer get enough production/playoff wins to justify sacrificing a part of their future for the veteran they picked up?

2007:
--Philadelphia sends Peter Forsberg to Nashville for Scottie Upshall, Ryan Parent, a 1st round pick and a 3rd

The result: Nashville bounced in 5 games (Forsberg playoff stats: 2 goals, 2 assists). Upshall has settled into a contributing role for Philly and the 20 year old Parent is one of the best defensive prospects around. Forsberg, of course, has been unable to play at all this season due to foot problems but is rumored to be trying to comeback (the most mentioned destinations: Philly, Colorado and Nashville).

To make matters worse for Nashville, they ended up re-acquiring their 1st round pick they gave up in this deal in exchange for Kimmo Timmonen and Scott Hartnell. So basically that total deal netted out to being 22 games of Forsberg for Nashville in exchange for 3 roster players (Upshall, Timmonen, Hartnell), a terrific prospect (Parent) and a 3rd round pick. Ouch.


--Phoenix deals Ladislav Nagy to Dallas for Mathias Tjarnqvist and a 1st (Nick Ross)

The result: Dallas bows out in the playoffs in 7 games (Nagy: 1g, 1a). Tjarnqvist has played all year on Phoenix's blueline and they also drafted Nick Ross, a defenseman currently in the WHL. Nagy scoots on to LA.

Hard to tell a clear winner, Nagy didn't make an impact at all really for Dallas (he has since scooted on to LA this season) but it didn't cost them an arm and a leg. Tjarnqvist seems to be a nice player, but he's not a gamebreaker. Ross seems to be as good a prospect as any late first round pick, but obviously the jury's not even close to bringing in a verdict as to whether or not he's going to have a NHL career.


--St. Louis loans Keith Tkachuk to Atlanta for Glen Metropolit, a 1st, a 2nd and a 3rd

The result: Thrashers get swept in round 1, Tkachuk tallies 1g and 2a. Metropolit moves onto Boston and Atlanta trades Tkachuk back to St. Louis for the first they gave up. So this deal was softened since they basically gave up a 2nd and 3rd round pick for a chance at the playoffs with Tkachuk; not as high a price as many think Atlanta gave up. But still, it clearly didn't pay dividends for them last spring.


--Montreal trades Craig Rivet and a 5th round pick to San Jose for Josh Georges and a 1st (Max Pacioretty)

The result: The Sharks are upset in the second round. Rivet played well (11 games, 2g, 3a) and was re-signed by SJ ($14 million for 4 years). Montreal goes on to take a chance that hometown boy Angelo Esposito will still be around at pick 22; the pick they got from the Sharks. Much to the dismay of their fans, he wasn't and Les Habs drafted their second American (!) player of the first round, Max Pacioretty.

This trade was pretty even, especially in the long run if Pacioretty; a highly regarded prospect, pans out into a NHL contributer.


--Bill Guerin to San Jose for Ville Nieminen, Jay Barriball and a 1st (Ian Cole) to St. Louis

The result: As we mentioned, the Sharks got bounced in the second round of the playoffs. After being a pretty good contributer in the regular season [8 goals, 1 assist in 16 games], Guerin battled through injury and was not effective or a force in the playoffs [0g, 2a in 9gp]. Guerin moved on in the summer to the Islanders.

For the Blues they added yet another impressive defensive prospect in Ian Cole at the draft and Barriball is now in his sophomore campaign at one of the NCAA's strongest programs (U. Minnesota)

--Dainius Zubrus and Timo Helbling to Buffalo for Jiri Novotny and a 1st (pick traded; Caps eventually get Phil Desimone and more picks)

Zubrus, a victim of Buffalo's forward depth last season went from riding shotgun with Ovechkin to playing on a 3rd line. Buffalo got bounced in the East Conference finals, but Zubrus didn't really have much of an impact [15 gp, 0g, 8a].

Novotny was given a chance, and pretty much bombed, as being Washington's 2nd line center. They let him walk and he was signed by Columbus where's he appeared in 49 games to date.


--Ryan Smyth for Robert Nilsson, Ryan O'Marra and a 1st (Alex Plante)

The deal that broke a million hearts in Western Canada....Well for the Isles "Captain Canada" was exactly as advertised, he scratched and clawed and produced [18 games 5g, 10a]. The energy and boost Smyth gave NYI was one of the top reasons they made the playoffs, where they were quickly and uncermoniously bounced by Buffalo in 5 games.

After considering his options on the open market, Smyth decided to sign with Colorado rather than return to either one of his "old" teams.

Edmonton got a lot of great prospects out of this trade; Nilsson's been in their NHL lineup almost all season and is starting to be a bit more of a point producer. After starting out the season in the ECHL, the 20 year old O'Marra is now in the AHL and Alex Plante is already a 6'3 and 220 pound defenseman at the age of 18. But one gets the feeling what Edmonton lost (the heart and soul of the franchise) really has taken the wind out of the whole organization's sail.


2006:

--Minnesota trades Dwayne Roloson to Edmonton for a 1st round pick and a conditional 3rd

Roloson went 12-5 in the playoffs with a 2.33 GAA for Edmonton, leading them all the way to the Stanley Cup finals. But then Marc-Andre Bergeron drove Carolina's Andrew Ladd into Roloson in Game 1 of that series and that was all she wrote. Roloson resigned with Edmonton that summer.

Minnesota used this 1st round pick (and Patrick O'Sullivan) in a trade to acquire Pavol Demitra from LA.


--Pittsburgh trades Mark Recchi to Carolina for Krys Kolanos, Niklas Nordgren and a 2007 2nd round pick

A rare success, for both teams involved in a deadline deal! Carolina, of course, won the Stanley Cup, bolstered by veteran acquistions like Doug Weight and Recchi. The Recchin Ball played a supporting 2nd/3rd line role, and he was great in it. He had 7 goals and 9 assists in 25 games for Carolina in the playoffs and then re-signed with Pittsburgh a couple weeks later.

Pittsburgh had the opportunity to give some young guys a chance to sink or swim and the results were, um, definitive to say the least. Nordgren played 15 games with Pittsburgh and did not record a single point. He now plies his craft in Switzerland. Kolanos was brought in to buoy a strong Wilkes-Barre team; he was a solid point-per-game producer in the regular season but only had 2 goals and no assists in 11 playoff games and the organization decided they'd seen about enough of him.

The pick involved was traded in the summer of 2006 to San Jose for Nils Ekman and goalie prospect Patrick Ehelechner.


--Edmonton acquires Sergei Samsonov from Boston for Marty Reasoner, Yan Stastny, and a 2006 2nd round pick (Milan Lucic)

With two years of hindsight your immediate reaction might be that Edmonton dearly overpaid. But consider before Samsonov walked as a UFA, he scored 31 points (in 43 career games) for the Oil and was a big reason they made it just one game away from the Stanley Cup.

Marty Reasoner, a UFA himself, jetted back to Edmonton that summer. Stastny didn't catch on in Boston (38 career NHL games, 6 points) and has bounced around the AHL since. The real prize of this deal is Milan Lucic; who's got incredible size, good hands down low, is willing to fight and mix it up. Did we mention he's still 19? Lucic is the prototypical young power forward that all 30 teams chase and covet.


--Nashville acquires Brendan Witt from Washington for Kris Beech and a 1st round pick (Semen Varlamov)

Again Nashville shows they're willing to sacrifice to get veteran talent, and again they last 5 games in the playoffs. Witt would go on to sign a contract that summer with the Islanders.

Before we all get a good laugh in about Kris Beech; consider he went to the AHL (where he belongs) and dominated for Hershey, scoring 28 points [14g, 14a] in 21 games. He helped lead the team all the way to the Calder Cup finals before a goalie on a hot streak (Montreal's Carey Price) knocked them out. Washington's other player from this deal, Semen Varlamov, is a fairly highly regarded goalie prospect but at this point he's probably most famous for getting smoked by Team Canada during last summer's "Super"series.


2004:

--New York Rangers trade Alexei Kovalev to Montreal for Jozef Balej and a 2nd round pick (Bruce Graham)

Ironically the Rangers had to sell off a high price super-star. Kovalev's endured a bumpy ride with the Montreal media and fan craze but he is generally regarded as one of the more skilled and productive players in the NHL. Balej didn't work out in the NHL and has bounced from Europe to this year in the AHL with Manitoba. Bruce Graham (listed as 6'6 and 235) has bounced between the ECHL and AHL this season and at the age of now 22 his NHL prospects seem to be fading.


--Washington deals Sergei Gonchar to Boston for Shaone Morrisonn, a 1st round pick in 2004 (Jeff Schultz) and a 2nd round pick in 2004 (Mikhail Yunkov)

Gonchar, as usual, played well with Boston with 9 points (including 4 goals) in 15 regular season games. Boston was bounced in the first round after a 7 game series, the Sarge had a goal and 4 assists in the playoffs. Gonchar, of course, would go on to sign that summer with Pittsburgh.

Morrisonn has developed into a solid top 4 defensive defenseman (and perfect partner for Mike Green) while Schultz has also grown into an NHL role as a young defenseman. The prospect Yunkov is still in Russia and seems unlikely to be in Washington's long-term plans. Still a great deal for Washington to develop two, young NHL players out of a guy who was about to leave that summer anyways.


--The New York Rangers trade Brian Leetch to Toronto for Maxim Kondratiev, Jarkko Immonen, a 1st round pick in 2004 and a 2nd round pick in 2005 (Michael Sauer)

The Rangers trade away one of their great players for one last chance at a deep playoff run. Leetch played well in Toronto, scoring 15 points in 15 regular season games and added 8 assists in 13 playoff games. But Toronto got bounced in the second round and Leetch would go on to Boston to wear another strange jersey.

The prospects the Rangers got didn't amount to much for them 3 years later: Kondratiev is back in the RSL, playing only 29 games with NYR. Immonen only played 20 games with them and is back in his native Finland and Sauer is playing his first professional season in the AHL.


--Columbus traded Geoff Sanderson to Vancouver for a 3rd round pick in 2004 (Dan Lacosta)

Vancouver added Sanderson (a 30 goal scorer the year before) but it was to no avail, as they were disposed of in the playoffs in game 7 of the first round.

Lacosta, a goalie, has split time between the ECHL and AHL. He has pretty good numbers in his 8 AHL games (4-2-2, 2.28 GAA and a .920%) so perhaps he's a young goalie to keep an eye on.

Givng the old Live-blog a try

(Image by way of Peerless)

6:18... Hello and welcome! We've never done a live blog before, but since this game is on Versus and sometimes not many people get that channel we figure we'd give it a shot. Football season, after all, is finally over and there's not much to do on this Monday night. A quick look at our matchup tonight. Puck drops a little after 7, so stick around!

Pittsburgh Penguins

Record: 29-19-4 (52 games, 62 points)

Leading (active) scorer: Evgeni Malkin [52 gp, 28 goals, 33a, 61 points]

New Jersey Devils

Record: 29-20-3 (52 games, 61 points)

Leading scorer: Zach Parise [52 gp, 19 goals, 26a, 45 points]

6:20...As you'd expect, it's going to be Ty Conklin v. Martin Brodeur in the nets again.

7:04...Maybe they taped Mike Emrick and Edzo's pre-game speech early, but the upper-deck looked half full and the lower bowl looked about 20% full. Last week not even 14,000 people showed up to see the Penguins, the league's top drawing away opponent. And in a brand new building that is supposedly a wonderful venue. What's the deal with hockey in Jersey?

7:09...The second line (Max Talbot-Jordan Staal-Erik Christensen) starts the game and skates a strong shift end-to-end.

7:12...The third line (Jarkko Ruutu-Jeff Taffe-Colby Armstrong) gets a good cycle going for about :20 seconds of straight gameplay....Not to be outdone the 4th line (Ryan Stone-Nathan Smith-Georges Laraque) follows them up and BGL draws a high-stick penalty.

7:15...No dice on the powerplay though. EC and Staal had a good chance but it seemed Crusher's pass wasn't crisp enough and Brodeur made a save you'd expect him to make.

7:17...In case you couldn't figure it out, Kris Beech is a scratch tonight so we'll mercifully be spared him for at least one more game.

7:21....Evgeni Malkin left what looked like a drop pass to no one imparticular as soon as he entered the zone which was quickly scooped up by the Devils. Geno atoned for himself by getting back on D and stealing the puck back as they entered the zone....Another PP for the Pens!

7:23....Big Ben strikes one...Crusher rips his heavy wrist shot and it hits the post so hard it's a wonder the net didn't come off the posts.

7:27....Although the ice has been tilted in the Penguins favor the first 12 minutes of play, they have nothing to show for it. With a makeup penalty call looming large at this point, we have a bad feeling about this.

7:31...Ruutu and Brooks Orpik lead the Penguins defensively with a series of excellent hits and bumping Devils off the puck. And, miraculously, no penalty was taken!

7:33...It may not be April, but playoff hockey is here. Both teams are playing conservatively, trying for nothing against and a lot of dump and chase and trying to make something happen down low. Considering how close so many teams are in the division and conference this shouldn't be a surprise. The rest of this season is going to be very, very tightly contested game in and game out.

7:35...Ryan Malone and David Clarkson drop the gloves, these two have a history. A good scrap, both got a few good ones in but they mostly tired each other out. But if you're Malone, you're on the top line and on a team that needs it's skill wingers on the ice, not in the box. We don't like to see him let a lower line guy take him out for a selfish reason. It's not as if Malone was sticking up for a teammate or anything.

7:37...New Jersey looks like an adjustment they've made since last week's game is to get more shots from the point and try to deflect them or try to take advantage of Conklin's rebounds.

7:38...Travis Zajac strips the puck from Christensen and then EC decides to go waterskiing up the neutral zone. That's definitely a penalty and not a good one to take if you're Crusher.

7:40...Paul Martin cut in the net and Gionta was open in front with the puck. For some reason Gionta tried to stuff the puck to the net instead of a pass. Martin skated too fast and went past the net and wasn't in position for a rebound chance. If that's a guy like Sergei Gonchar or Ryan Whitney cutting in like that, they score right there. Just an example of the different personnel both team's have.

End of the first...

7:50...Shots were 10-6, advantage Penguins who carried the play for the most part but could not get a goal. The top line was quiet but we liked what we saw out of Staal and EC. Very solid period for those two.

8:02....Second shift of the period the Pens second line comes out and gets right back to the cycling and deep possession and Staal draws a penalty. It's good to see the hard work is being rewarded by scoring chances and getting powerplay chances, even if it hasn't scored just yet.

8:04....Two shots on the powerplay by Gonchar, it's great to see him step it up with the man advantage and make the conscious effort to throw pucks on net.

8:05....Speaking of, Malkin throws a puck on net, Malone absorbs a cross-check but still gets a quick stick on it to sneak a goal by Brodeur. 1-0 Pens!

8:06....The top line gets right back out there and goes to work on the cycle after a brutal turnover by Devils dman Paul Martin. Malkin keeps working and Oduya takes him down, drawing yet another deserved penalty. The Pens look like they want this one a lot more.
8:07....The Pens score! But referee Don Koharski immediately waves it off as Jeff Taffe definitely kicked that one in, good call by Koharski who saw that one all the way.

8:10...Oduya gets out of the box and has a 1 on 1 which is defused but John Madden gets the puck and BOOM throws out a pass to a wide open Jamie Langenbrunner in the slot. Conklin with a beautiful save.

8:15....Martin's been victimized so we'll give him his due, he played Malkin 1 on 1 almost flawlessly.

8:18...David Pelley gives the Devils and their crowd some energy, one of the best shifts of the game for them.

8:19...As soon as that's said, Malkin gallops up the ice, drops a beautiful pass and Petr Sykora hammers a wrist shot that takes a fortunate bounce off of Vitaly Vishnevski's legs pads and riccochets by Brodeur. No chance for him on that. It's Sykora's 600th career point and he celebrates it like it's his first. 2-0 Pens!

8:27....Clarkson is acting a little feisty, getting in Ruutu's face after a whistle and then pinning Laraque to the ice after BGL hit him. Laraque and Ruutu need to show restraint, no need to give the Devils a burst of energy or a powerplay by doing something stupid when the Pens have been easily carrying the play so far.

8:29....Dainus Zubrus fans on a shot...It took 36 minutes of game time for him to do something noteworthy and even then it wasn't impressive.

8:32...Parise and Patrik Elias make some nice passes and get a good shot but it's Conkblock city. Another penalty taken by Christensen though.

8:35...The old coach's mantra goes: nothing against in the first or last minute of the period. Parise makes a great play and takes the puck to the net, the puck pops to an unguarded Jamie Langenbrunner who slips one in behind Conklin. 2-1 Pens.

8:36...The second period is over, and despite badly outchancing, outshooting and outworking the Devils, the Pens only find themselves with a one goal advantage. Could be a whole new game in the 3rd.

8:55...Penalty to start the period for the Pens. Not a good sign.

8:56...Rob Scuderi takes a hard slapper to the foot/leg and is hobbled..Hopefully it's just painful and nothing is broken, the Pens can't afford another injury, especially to a guy who's stepped up to the #1 pairing following the Mark Eaton injury and played so well..

8:58...Scuds is back out there so he must be fine, thankfully....Sykora draws a penalty on the ensuing play in the offensive zone.

9:00....Whitney to Malkin to Sykora, a lot of quick touches there and a great chance but Brodeur stacks the pad and makes an excellent save.

9:01...Pens score, it's now 3-1! As the powerplay expired, beauty of a play by Kris Letang to hold the puck, he finds Talbot who throws a perfect pass out to Staal who rifles in the one-timer. 3-1 Pens! Since Crosby's been injured Staal has really come out of his shell and looked like the 18 year old rookie who scored 29 goals last season. Staal now has 5 points [2g, 3a] and is a +4 in the 6 games since Bing went down.

9:12...Coach Therrien wisely takes a timeout with 10:38 left in the game...A good idea, as the 4th line (with the 3rd d pairing of Orpik/Letang) had a long shift, mostly in their own end and iced the puck and would have had to go out against the Devs' top line with not much gas in the tank.

9:14...Well, the timeout didn't pay off. Elias danced around in the zone and slid a nice little shot by Conklin thanks to some traffic in front, courtesy of Letang. It's 3-2, Pens.

9:16..Tie game, 3-3. The Devils have come to life, got a good shift of cycling in and the Pens were unable to score. A hard point shot by Johnny Oduya finds Clarkson who scores.

9:22...Momentum NJ. They look like they thought the game started at about 9:00 instead of 7. The Penguins look like they're in hang on mode, they've hardly looked as settled in the 3rd period as they did in the first two.

9:25...Great save by Conklin. He's leaving a lot of rebounds now and the Devils are doing a good job trying to swarm to the net.

9:31...Zubrus outworks Gonchar for a puck and gets it to the point, a hard shot but there is no rebound. Only 1:20 left in the game.

9:33...Darryl Sydor, who's been solid all game, is the latest defenseman who gets the puck but doesn't make a decision, gets swarmed by a forechecker and turns the puck over.

WE'RE GOING TO OVERTIME!

9:34...It shouldn't have come to this, but it is. The Penguins carried the play for the first 40 minutes but the Devils came on like gangbangers in the 3rd and twice erased a two goal lead. A tribute to the Devils for hanging in there and work hard. And, to the dismay of the other teams in the division and top half of the league, these teams will have be playing a 3 point game in the standings.

9:36...It's over, Parise and the Devils have completed the comeback. 4-3 Devils win.

Got to be a very disappointing night for Pittsburgh to have played so well for most of the game, only to give it all up. But there is a lesson to be learned here; in the NHL you have to play a complete game, 2 excellent periods are not enough to guarantee the win, especially when going up against a strong opponent.

Thanks for hanging in there all game with us. It might not have ended the way we all wanted it to, but as always there were some bright spots (Staal, Sykora, Malone, Malkin) and some definite lessons to take forward for the next game.

Still, you can't help but think there's going to be a bad feeling in the Pens mouth on the trip home and probably a long practice or two ahead of them since the next game isn't until Thursday.

Critiquing the Critics: Mark Madden

Mark Madden loves hockey and he loves the Penguins. He devotes a lot of his time and attention to them and is, all things considered, a friend to the team and the sport. So my critique of his unsolicited suggestion to Michel Therrien has no hard feelings.

-- Marc-Andre Fleury should start every game unless he physically needs a rest. Respect his pedigree and wait for the upside. Dany Sabourin may be a No. 1 goalie someday, but it will be in Wheeling. Therrien pulling Fleury as a device to change a game’s momentum must stop. Maybe it worked in Ottawa this past Thursday, but the Penguins would probably have won the game had Fleury kept playing and Fleury would have avoided yet another coach-administered blow to his psyche.

I agree this team's fate is hitched to Fleury, at least for this season. Good or bad, he's the horse pulling the wagon. I disagree that the team didn't respond a little and the goaltender change had no effect on the big comeback win in Ottawa last week.

-- Sidney Crosby should play the entire two minutes of every power play, just like Sergei Gonchar does. If you don’t think Crosby can handle it, enter Crosby and Gonchar in the same marathon and see who collapses first. Wayne Gretzky did it. Mario Lemieux did it. Crosby should do it.

Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux (in their primes) also played in a different era, so I don't buy that. Gonchar plays the full two minutes because who's going to replace him? One of the unsung trio (Mark Eaton, Brooks Orpik and Robert Scuderi). This trio, while silently effective in their own end, has 0 goals, 5 assists so far on the year...Combined.

If you play Crosby the full two minutes, then why not Evgeni Malkin too? He's just as dangerous and skilled when he gets set up in the offensive zone. With the likes of Petr Sykora, Jordan Staal, Erik Christensen, Gary Roberts and Ryan Malone the Penguins have more than enough talent to field two powerplays. Staal and Christensen especially won't be scoring if they don't get any PP time.

-- Use Crosby and Malkin to kill penalties, especially when the Penguins have committed several infractions in a short span. Both are adept at the PK and
threats to score shorthanded. More important, the Penguins can’t afford to have
either off the ice for 4-6 minutes in a row.

Why not stress team discipline? I would like to see the big guns get slightly more PK time, but the regular penalty killers (Staal, Hall, Colby Armstrong and Maxime Talbot) have done quite well, and Jarrko Ruutu and Malone can PK too. Killing penalties increases the injury possibility for forwards. You'd never like to see anyone hurt, but surely the regular PK'ers are more expendable losing Crosby or Malkin for an extended amount of time.

-- Leave Colby Armstrong on Crosby’s wing. Armstrong and Crosby have a level of understanding reminiscent — in a less productive way, admittedly — of Mario
Lemieux and Rob Brown in the late ’80s. Brown skated like his ankles were chained together, but he thought the game the same way Lemieux did. Brown was Lemieux’s linemate until clearly better alternatives came along. It should be the same with Armstrong and Crosby.

For now, yes; Malone and Armstrong have some "lightning in the bottle" type chemistry with Sid and it's going well. But don't forget, this is the same Armstrong who went 20+ games to start last season while he was playing exclusively on Crosby's wing at even-strength. Army, nor any other winger should be joined at Crosby's hip if he's not producing on the chances that are created.

-- Put Kris Letang in the left circle of the top power play. Put Ryan Whitney at the center point of the top power play. The Penguins’ power play is quite literally designed to have a right-handed shot in the left circle. It’s a job the skilled Letang excels at. Besides Crosby and Malkin, Whitney is the best passer on the Penguins, and he moves without the puck as well as anyone. All Gonchar does on the PP is shoot medium-speed wrist shots into shin pads and steal points by playing catch with Crosby.

I'd be willing to see this experimented with. Therrien has broken up the powerplay a little already, kinda unstacked the big guns. But remember Whitney has great chemistry with Crosby, especially on the little cut-in backdoor play that the Pens seemingly run between those two about twice a game.

-- Don’t use power-play time to reward grit merchants like Tyler Kennedy. Power-play time should be used to score goals, not to throw a bone to hard workers. Hustlers are supposed to hustle.

No argument here. While I love players like Kennedy, Talbot and Hall, they don't belong on the powerplay (unless it's a blowout). That time should absolutely go to guys like Malone and Christensen, the more skilled forwards who create offense with shots on goal, not hard work alone.

-- Demand equal accountability. If Gary Roberts stinks, scratch him
occasionally. I know Roberts will get real mad, but old people get cranky sometimes. Picking a lineup isn’t about veteran respect. It’s about winning. Roberts has played every game this season and has one goal.-- Put players in a position to succeed. For instance, don’t put Malkin between Mark Recchi and Georges Laraque. That doesn’t put Malkin in a position to succeed, that encourages him to re-defect.

Perhaps Madden hasn't noticed, but Recchi has been a healthy scratch in several games already, Therrien's already implemented this. Roberts may have one goal, but his role--unlike Recchi, is to grind and hit and inspire. One can still do that without scoring a goal every other game. And Roberts ice time lately has taken a big nose dive. But if Roberts or Laraque or Ruutu does something dumb or seem ineffective, by all means scratch them for a game or two. I don't think this is a problem.

-- If you Google “Penguins” and “too many men,” there are 23,700 matches.
That’s way too many. The Penguins led the NHL with 17 too-many-men penalties last season. They’ve committed six such infractions so far this season. That’s Coaching 101. Get it right.

I must be the only follower of the Penguins who doesn't heap this all on the coach. The players are professionals and supposed to know what they're doing in a very routine part of hockey, changing lines. Sure the coaching staff needs to make sure the discpline is there and the accountability is high, but I don't totally fault the coaches for all the bench minor penalties. Players have to be smart enough not to jump on the ice if there's a chance they'll get caught, or don't play the puckin the neutral zone if it's in the middle of shift change.

-- Speaking of Coaching 101: During New Jersey’s three wildly
unentertaining visits to Mellon Arena this season, rookie NHL coach Brent Sutter managed to match checking center John Madden (no relation) against Crosby every shift, every game. That’s exactly the matchup Sutter wants and Therrien shouldn’t want. The home team has last change, yet Sutter always got Madden out there against Crosby. How? Submit answers on the back of a Pierre Creamer hockey card.

I don't want to waste a prize trading card, so let me tell you why. The Devils are a tight checking team that strives to get the matchups they want. Even if Crosby lines up against the Devs 4th line, it's not that hard most of the time to immediately get a quick change as soon the puck is dropped and get the matchup they want. Two additional points:

1)Crosby is used to being a marked man and having to go up against his opponent's top players for longer than he can probably imagine.
2)If the Devils use their top checking forwards on Crosby, it should open up that much more room for Malkin and the 2nd line.

There's no reason or need to play little games where the Pens are constantly changing and playing a cat and mouse game. Hell that would lead to that many more too many men and fall right into the Devils (or whoever uses these tactics) plans; keeping Crosby off the ice.

-- Cycle less, attack on the rush more. This team has oodles of speed and
skill, yet keeps taking the puck to the boards instead of seeking open ice. Puck
possession means a lot. Goals mean more.

Goals, a lot of time, come from hard work. Obviously you're not going to be able to generate very many 3 on 2 rushes all game long, so you have to work the corners, cycle and try to generate chances that way. I'd never complain about this point Madden makes, since this means the puck is in the opponent's zone AND most of time it's the lower lines composed of the lesser skilled forwards doing most the cycling anyways.

-- Take pressure off the players by shouldering it yourself, thus getting
the players to give more effort on your behalf. After a recent loss where his team mustered just 12 shots, St. Louis Blues Coach Andy Murray said, “We didn’t play hard enough, and that starts with me.” Can you even imagine Therrien saying such a thing? Well, you’re going to have to, because he won’t.

Deflecting blame might sound nice and make for an easy scapegoat, but it doesn't really hide what's going on. Andy Murray wasn't the reason the players weren't playing well: they must have gotten out-muscled, out-worked and out-skated by their opponents that night. Speaking of work, a lot of that comes from the momentum of a good shift or two from a 3rd/4th line doing a lot of cycling and maintaining puck possesion in the opposition's zone all shift.

-- Let hockey be fun again. The Penguins’ dressing room is a lot tighter
this season, and not just because they’re sub-.500. There’s a fine line between
being demanding and being onerous, and Therrien too often finds himself on the wrong side of it.

Agreed. The team seems very uptight and has lost a lot of 1 goal games. Last year the Penguins won a lot of 1 goal contests (OT and shoot-out included) and the club's atmosphere seemed so much looser and so much more positive and energetic. Winning cures all though, and in this regard getting a couple more bounces will fire the troops up that much further. It still is, after all, an extremely young core of players.


Thoughts?

Announcing the 2500 Penalties In Minutes & 300 Points Club

This is something I thought of for no real reason one day. This stems from the fact that the pure 'enforcer' is a dying breed. Gone are the days when a 4th line winger that can't skate and is only there to fight could flourish in the NHL. These days you need a skill set to atleast be decent with the puck to be looking at a decent NHL career.

So I thought about compiling a list of historic tough guys that also could score some points. The idea really came to fruition with the concussion forced retirement of a Sweater Ted favorite, Matthew Barnaby. One of the reports pointed out he had 300 points even, so I figured that'd be as good a cutoff as any.

First, some active players that are close inductees:
--Gary Roberts is an absolute lock at 2493 PIMs to go along with his 888 career points. Gary Roberts can look at a referee the wrong way and draw 7 penalty minutes Expect him to make this list as the 12 inductee by about mid-October. In fact, if he sees how awesome this list is, expect him to make it in about an hour.

--Brendan Shanahan needs 75 PIMs to qualify...But considering Shanny's game has evolved to less fiery and more a "pick your spot goal-scoring veteran", it's noteworthy to point out he only spent 47 minutes in the box in 2006-07, it’s conceivable he falls a little short if this is his last season.

After that, no one is one the horizon, and that is the beauty of this club. You can't just be tough and get in a lot of fights. You can't just be a skill player that has an edge. Either way, you'll come up short in one category or the other.


For instance:
-those who would easily have the PIMs, your average enforcer (Donald Brashear and his 2312 PIMs) won’t be able to score the points (he’s 35 years old now and only has 192).

-a guy who easily has the points (like Keith Tkachuk) usually falls hundreds of PIMs short (Tkachuk has 2033 in his career).


Looking far into the future, perhaps Sean Avery (134 points, 913 PIMs) one day will join this prestigious fraternity, but there's still a long road ahead of him of being a pest, and he'd need many more healthy seasons of plying his craft. Feel free to pipe up in the comments if I'm missing a new impending member, but I think I got all my bases covered here.

So without further adue

The honorable 2500 penalties in minutes and 300 points club


Tiger Williams (3966 penalties in minutes, 513 points)


Probably the most badass of all time, Tiger Williams is synonymous with out of control mayhem and general awesomeness. But he could play a little hockey and is truly the godfather of this club. I'm too young to really appreciate his glory, but I still know that Tiger Williams is pretty much the man.

Dale Hunter (3565 penalties in minutes, 1020 points)


Dale Hunter is known for a lot of things, perhaps first and foremost the brutal late hit on Pierre Turgeon. But he's second on this list in total points and was a great leader for his teams. Capitals fans hold this guy in very high regard. Though sometimes he'd lose his cool, he's pretty much what a hockey player should be in my opinion: tough, skilled, and a leader. He's the epitome of this club.



Marty McSorely (3381 penalties in minutes, 359 points)


Unfortunately, like Dale Hunter, McSorely is remember for an unacceptable split second decision he made at the tail end of his career, to tomahawk Donald Brashear. But McSorely earned his bones by protecting the likes of Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux for much of his career and was atleast good enough of a player to enjoy a lengthy NHL career.



Bob Probert (3300 penalties in minutes, 384 points)


Players like Bob Probert aren't around anymore. One of the toughest players in history, Probert was just flat a monster at beating people up. I must admit, when compiling this list I was surprised to see Probert got the points to make the cut; since most of my memories of him playing come from the tail end of his career when he wasn't much of a scoring threat. But Probert scored 13 or more goals six times in his career, and in 1987-88 he had 29 goals and 33 assists to go along with 398 penalty minutes. Just shows you how much the game has evolved in the last 20 years.

Rick Tocchet (2970 penalties in minutes, 952 points)


Controversy often follows members of this club (like aforementioned Hunter and McSorely), since they naturally seem to be risk takers and are inherently hot under the collar. Unfortunately Rick Tocchet's name is more linked to gambling nowadays then it is to being a true power forward. He was on Mario Lemieux's wing for the Cup years and an absolute force to be reckoned with. Cam Neely (1241 PIMs and 694 points) was probably the premier power forward during Tocchet's prime, but Tocchet was an extremely dangerous player in every way for many years.

Pat Verbeek (2905 penalties in minutes, 1063 points)

"The Little Ball of Hate" is probably the coolest nickname ever. Verbeek, listed at 5'9, was never afraid to go into the tall trees and always disturb things. His career points total makes him #1 on this list. A lot of skill and a lot of fury on the ice. I love it. That's why this club exists to showcase warriors like Verbeek that aren't true enforcers (unlike some in this fraternity) but just skilled, hard-nosed players that it's a pain to play against. No opponents enjoyed playing against Verbeek because they knew he would always go balls to the wall and leave it all out on the ice. To me, that's the best compliment you can pay someone.



Chris Chelios (2837 penalties in minutes 936 points)


Chris Chelios is so old he's probably in every club you can make up, like this one and probably even Jesus's original book club. Credit him for being able to keep in shape and keep playing the game, and still not taking shit from anyone, even if they're young enough to be his son. Chelios could have retired after the Red Wings won the Cup in 2002 and still made this club, by the way. Even Gordie Howe thinks this dude needs to hang 'em up. If you were wondering, Howe "only" had 1685 PIMs in his NHL career, so even he falls short on this most exclusive club.



Dave Manson (2792 penalties in minutes 390 points)

Dave Manson was the name of a player I'd heard, but I had to look him up; I'm too young to really remember him as an impact player in any team or particular game. But, I'll give you this: only 3 defensemen are in this club and the other 2 are sure-fire hall of famers. I don't know what that says for Manson, but he's in good company.



Scott Stevens (2785 penalties in minutes 908 points)


Scott Stevens means business. Probably the toughest hockey player I've ever seen. Not just because of the devastating, highlight reel hits (whattup Eric Lindros?) but just how he played seemingly 30 minutes a night, every night and was so smooth, so IN CONTROL. I think a lot of that rubbed off of a younger teammate and partner of his Scott Niedermayer. Stevens was awesome as an offensive-defenseman in Washington and a total rock for New Jersey as he aged. He and Marty Brodeur are the Devils. When I dreamed up this club, I was looking for players with crazy toughness and some skill to match...Clearly Scott Stevens was made for it.

Willi Plett (2572 penalties in minutes 437 points)


I was a little surprised about Dave Manson, but I'll admit Willi Plett was the only guy I've never heard of. At all. He retired when I was 4 years old and played for such powerhouses as the Atlanta Flames and the Minnesota North Stars. The only thing I know about the Atlanta Flames is I hate Clement, Clement Hands of Cement and the only memories I have of the North Stars is how Mario tore through them to give the Pens a Cup. But, looking at Plett's hockeydb profile, he scored 38 or more points seven times in his career and every year he had double digit PIMs. Must have had a bit of an edge and some skill to match, so we'll let him in.

Matthew Barnaby (2562 penalties in minutes, 300 points)


Newest inductee Matthew Barnaby knows about being a pest. He had to literally fight his way onto a junior team that he showed up weighing 140 pounds. He turned out a solid NHL career that he announced this summer was over due to concussion woes. Barnaby was the ultimate nuisance, a player who could actually play the game, but always knew his role and never hesitated in sticking up for the team, even when it meant fighting someone much taller and heavier. Unlike enforcers he wasn’t a totally liability on the ice but unlike skill players, he didn’t have the natural talent to slide through on point production alone.

Barnaby was the ultimate crowd pleaser, still a fan favorite in places in Buffalo and Pittsburgh even though he's long left them. Opponents and rivals hated him (some fans still do), which is only a testament to how good he was at doing his job. The shame is Barnaby had to retire young, and couldn't climb higher on this list. Still, not bad for a kid coming from nothing.

That's your 11 members of the 2500 PIMs + 300 point club. Fierce but skilled. Not afraid to mix it up, but strong enough to still help their teams. Tough enough to compete for a long, long period of time in a gruesome NHL world. These are your alpha-males. These are the top dogs.

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