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The Wrecking Ball mattered
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We'd be remiss if we didn't acknowledge Mark Recchi's three tenures here in Pittsburgh. As his play declined this season, people got restless with him and actually cheered when he was out of the line-up. In situations like that, you tend to forget about someone's entire body of work and focus on their immediate contributions.
Among the Penguins career leaders, Recchi is:
-11th in points (376)
-9th in goals (154)
-7th in power-play goals (61)
-7th in game-winning goals (22)
-7th in playoff points (38)
-12th in playoff goals (10)
Individual season accomplishments for Recchi include:
-Being the only person other than Mario Lemieux or Jaromir Jagr to lead the team in scoring between 1984-85 and 2000-01. He led the team in scoring with 113 points in 1990-91, the season the franchise won its first Stanley Cup.
-Was second in playoff scoring during the 1991 playoffs with 34 points.
-Prior to this season, every season Mark Recchi played in Pittsburgh saw him hit the 20-goal mark at least.
-He never had fewer than 33 assists in a season here in Pittsburgh before this season.
-He represented the team at the 1990-91 All-Star game.
-He is one of nine players to record a 100-point season for the team. The others are Rob Brown, Paul Coffey, Sidney Crosby, Ron Francis, Jaromir Jagr, Pierre Larouche, Mario Lemieux, Kevin Stevens and Rick Tocchet.
-Was named the team MVP in 1990-91.
-Was named the team's rookie of the year in 1989-90.
Recchi's time in Pittsburgh had come to an end. It's a good thing for all parties involved that he has moved on to Atlanta. The Penguins don't have the distraction of his benching looming around the locker room and he gets an opportunity to finish his career on the ice.
But don't forget what he accomplished here in Pittsburgh. If the Penguins ever retire any more numbers, No. 8 should hang from the rafters.
EMPTY NETTER ASSISTS
Penguins
-In case you didn't see it, here's Sidney Crosby's penalty shot versus Robert Luongo in overtime Saturday:
-RDS, the French-Canadian version of TSN, is reporting Marc-Andre Fleury will be out 2-4 weeks with an ankle injury.
-Sidney Crosby is kind of popular in Canada.
-Dany Sabourin was jacked about beating his former team.
-How tradable is Maxime Tablot?
-Images of the new McFarlane Sports Picks are out. Those available include:
-Penguins forward Jordan Staal.
-Oilers defenseman Sheldon Souray. (He's played all of six games for the Oilers since joining them this offseason.)
-Senators goaltender Ray Emery.
-Former Quebec Nordiques center Mats Sundin. (You have to love the NHL 75th anniversary patch.)
-Former Nordiques forward Guy LaFleur. (Which is essentially a re-painted version of his Montreal Canadiens figurine.)
-We love the McFarlane figurines. We have probably far too many in our own house, but when Todd McFarlane sells figurines of guys like Sheldon Souray in a Oilers jersey even when's he's played all of six games for that team, it's disgusting. They used to sell a Brian Leetch Maple Leafs version. And he played all of 15 games for that team! And don't forget Bobby Orr as a Blackhawk. He had a magnificent 26-game career with Chicago.
-David Laliberte scored the Wheeling Nailers' only goal in a 5-1 defeat to Elmira.
-Gary Roberts doesn't strike us as a guy who would just curl up on the sofa with a big bag of cheese doodles:
-As young as Sidney Crosby seems right now, check out how young he was in this interview almost six years ago:
-Someone stuck a feature about the Penguins' tough guys from the 1995-96 season, Francois Leroux, Chris Tamer and Dave Roche, on YouTube:
Atlantic Division
-Brendan Shanahan's overtime goal gave the Rangers a 1-0 win against the Devils.
-Tom Gulitti, who covers the Devils for the Bergen Record, called this game "one of the least entertaining hockey games" he has seen this season.
Northeast Division
-The Sabres and their AHL affiliate, the Rochester Americans, are ending their relationship after 29 years.
Central Division
-Jiri Hudler had three assists for the Red Wings in a 5-2 drubbing of the Hurricanes.
-The Blue Jackets put forward David Vyborny on injured reserve and recalled forward Derek MacKenzie from Syracuse of the AHL.
Northwest Division
-The Blues and Avalanche got into their time machines and went back to 1986. The scoring sure seemed like it. Milan Hejduk had a hat trick and three assists for the Avalanche who beat the Blues, 9-5. The win was the 1,000th for the Avalanche/Nordiques franchise.
-Miikka Kiprusoff made 35 saves for the Flames in a 3-2 win in Chicago.
-Someone made this tribute to Canucks coach Alain Vigneault set to "Missing You Now" by Michael Bolton:
-Are we the only ones who feel less secure by life in general over the fact that someone on this planet thought enough of Alain Vigneault to make a tribute to him set to "Missing You Now" by Michael Bolton?
Pacific Division
-Kings defenseman Rob Blake went crazy on an official last week.
First Published December 10, 2007 2:08 am
