This will not be Randy Robitaille's first chance to serve as a go-to guy for his team.
He has filled that role several times.
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Randy Robitaille skates at Southpointe during a preseason practice. (Robin Rombach, Post-Gazette) |
It's just that, until this fall, it always had happened in places like Miami, Ohio, Manchester, N.H., and Providence, R.I., towns that get the NHL only through the miracle of cable television.
"Knowing that I'm depended upon to produce to help our team win, I like that," Robitaille said. "I want that. And it's the first time I've felt that at this level, for sure."
Robitaille was named the No. 1 star of the Penguins' intrasquad scrimmage Saturday at Mellon Arena, when he set up two goals, and was their most productive player in the preseason, piling up two goals and five assists in four games.
He looks to be a good bet, though not necessarily a lock, to play between Alexei Kovalev and Alexandre Daigle when the regular season begins Thursday.
Whether that unit or the one featuring Mario Lemieux between Jan Hrdina and Aleksey Morozov will be the Penguins' No. 1 line is conjecture, but the numerical designation really doesn't matter much.
The truth is that the Penguins are going to rely on two lines to generate much of their offense, and Robitaille should be on one of them. His is no small accomplishment considering he has spent one season in the NHL since turning pro in 1997.
Indeed, even though General Manager Craig Patrick said that "all of us liked him" before the Penguins claimed Robitaille off waivers from Los Angeles Jan. 4, it's unlikely anyone envisioned him evolving into an impact player.
Nothing Robitaille did during his first few weeks with the team -- one point in his first seven games, followed by three games in the press box -- changed that perception.
"We were wondering if we were way off base," Patrick said. "But then he started to pick it up, and the last 25 games, he was really good."
Robitaille got his first goal as a Penguin in his ninth game, then he rang up his first multiple-point performance two nights later. When most of his teammates wilted down the stretch, as the Penguins stumbled out of playoff contention for the first time since 1990, Robitaille continued to put up points.
He was held pointless in consecutive games only once after the Olympic break and recorded 10 goals and 19 assists in his final 32 appearances. That's just below a point-per-game pace for a guy whose most productive previous stint in the NHL came in 2000-01, when he had 26 points in 62 games with Nashville.
Robitaille, who turns 27 in five days, broke into the NHL with a little fanfare late in the 1996-97 season, when he joined Boston as a free agent after completing his sophomore season at Miami University (Ohio).
He spent most of the subsequent two years with the Bruins' minor-league team in Providence before being shipped to Atlanta for Peter Ferraro June 25, 1999. Before he made it to training camp with the Thrashers, they dispatched him to Nashville for Denny Lambert.
He logged 131 games with the offensively challenged Predators, earning 20 goals and 31 assists, but was allowed to sign with Los Angeles as a free agent after the 2000-01 season.
After 18 games, seven points and a few weeks with the Kings' minor-league team in Manchester, Robitaille went on waivers, and the Penguins pounced on him.
It would have been understandable, after all that rejection and all that time in the minors, had Robitaille begun to wonder about his choice of careers. But he contends he never questioned whether he could be effective in the NHL.
"I've been through a lot in the last four or five years, but never once did I doubt myself," he said. "It took me a lot longer than I thought it would to get my confidence to where it is at this level. It was very frustrating.
"I was put on waivers a couple of times and not picked up, but I still never doubted myself. I knew that my time would come. I felt that one day, I would get a real opportunity. And luckily, it did come last year."
Robitaille got his chance with the Penguins, in large part because of the staggering run of injuries to key offensive players.
The absence of Lemieux and Martin Straka, among others, for much of the season limited their chances of getting into the playoffs, but it also prompted management to acquire Robitaille and to give him quality minutes. A lot of them.
"These guys had some injuries last year and maybe felt that I could help them offensively, so [perhaps they thought], 'Why not give this guy a chance? He's put up some pretty good numbers in the minors, and maybe he just hasn't been in the right situation,' " Robitaille said. "And that was the case."
Just as important, Coach Rick Kehoe didn't make him turn tentative by cutting his workload when Robitaille made an error in judgment or execution.
"That is the biggest thing, getting the ice time," Robitaille said. "Obviously, I'm going to make mistakes -- so is everybody -- but the coaching staff had the confidence in me to, after I made a mistake, still put me back out there.
"That's big for the confidence. Maybe in the past, if I'm on the ice and the other team scores a goal, [the coaches would say], 'He's not strong defensively, so let's keep him back.' "
If Robitaille, who Saturday played alongside Daigle and Wayne Primeau, opens the regular season with Daigle and Kovalev on his wings, the line will be counted on to accumulate a lot of points. That doesn't seem like too much to ask of a group with its speed and skill.
"Obviously, Kovy's going to be the guy on that line," Robitaille said. "[Daigle] and I have pretty good speed, and with [Daigle] being a first overall pick [by Ottawa in 1993], he's obviously a pretty good player.
"Hopefully, we can complement [Kovalev]: Give him the puck when he needs it, and let him do his thing. Let's try to get open for him, use our speed.
"Definitely, there's some potential there. It's going to take a few practices, a few games, to get in the swing of things, but it looks like it could be fun."
Dave Molinari can be reached at 412-263-1144.
Small-town go-to guy at home with Penguins 
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