Matt Cooke is not a pleasant guy to be around.

Not during his working hours, anyway.

Affable and deeply committed to charitable causes as he is off the ice, Cooke is a serious pain to play against, which is a big part of the reason the Penguins cleared a place for him on their payroll.

He is feisty and aggressive -- some opponents have labeled him "dirty" -- and competes on every shift, generally with an edge that is hard to miss.

That makes him as qualified as anyone to identify an opponent who consistently makes life miserable for members of the other team. And, while Cooke undoubtedly has run into a few such guys during his time with the Penguins, his choice comes from his days in Vancouver, where he spent the bulk of his career.

"There's one guy I had many battles with, back in the days of Vancouver-Colorado, and that was [defenseman] Adam Foote," Cooke said. "A lot of times when I was being put out there against him, he's going to play hard and physical.

"He's not going to do anything dirty, but he's just playing hard and physical. That's the way I like to approach the game. Like atoms attract like atoms, they say. When that happens, you appreciate it. And you wish you were on the same team."

Cooke is not the only Penguin to have a striking quality in his game, of course. Many, if not most, of his teammates do.

Prominent on that list are Jay McKee (shot-blocking), Brooks Orpik (body-checking), Marc-Andre Fleury (quick glove) and Sidney Crosby (backhand).

They, like Cooke, were asked to single out a player, be it a teammate or opponent, who is (or was) particularly adept at the phase of the game often associated with themselves. Their responses:

McKee: "I remember seeing [Mark Eaton], back when he was with Nashville, he was always in the top five [in the league in blocked shots]. It's funny, because I've never played with a guy who is as good as him. It's amazing how ... it's fun to watch. When you're doing it, you're not thinking about it and you don't see it, but it's fun to watch him, to see him doing the right thing at the right time. He breaks up plays [when] most guys would do something else. He's a blast to watch. It's neat seeing a guy that good."

Orpik: "I was always a fan of Scott Stevens. That's the easy answer. Growing up in Buffalo, Mike Peca was a guy who amazed me. If he'd walk in this room right now, you'd laugh. If you'd ever watch his games and then see him in person, he's got no shoulders on him or anything. He was probably 170 pounds, but his timing was just so good and he was a good skater. Those are two of the biggest things [a hitter needs]. He's a guy I got to watch a lot. It's probably more impressive than what Stevens did, just because [Peca is] probably 50 pounds lighter."

Fleury: "I like Martin Brodeur. The way he plays, it's always nice[-looking], good saves. He's also very good at catching it and putting it down and playing it. He's good at it, and quick."

Crosby: I would say Wayne Gretzky and Paul Kariya, probably because they worked on it and used it to their advantage. Gretzky was obviously Gretzky and was dangerous a lot of different ways, but Kariya, he's a guy I remember from when I was growing up was one who started using that more than most guys. He was taking backhands from way farther out than most guys, and scoring on them, too. He's always had a dangerous shot."

Add Jocelyn Thibault to the long list of ex-Penguins who have made their way into coaching.

Thibault has taken a job as Colorado's part-time goaltender consultant, filling the void created when Jeff Hackett was not retained as the Avalanche's full-time goalie coach.

This is not Thibault's first association with the franchise. He was a first-round draft choice for it when the team was based in Quebec and was part of the package the Avalanche sent to Montreal to acquire Patrick Roy in 1995.

And while it is too early to judge Thibault's work, the play of goalie Craig Anderson is the primary reason the Avalanche has exceeded all expectations during the first month-plus of the season.

Anderson entered the weekend with a 10-3-2 record, 2.11 goals-against average and .936 save percentage and has made himself into a candidate to play for Team USA at the Olympics in Vancouver.

Penguins Plus, a blog by Dave Molinari and Shelly Anderson, is featured exclusively on PG+, a members-only web site from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.