Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Debuting the Penguins TOP 25 of the 2000s: Honorable Mentions!

Episode Date: July 25, 2025

We're debuting a new series on Locked On Penguins: The Top 25 of the 2000s, and we start with some honorable mentions! Patrick and Hunter begin their new summer series, Locked On Penguins: Top 25 of t...he 2000s, and they're putting their own unique twist on the series! They start with a potentially controversial one: Jaromir Jagr. While Jagr is undoubtedly one of the four best players in team history and one of the all-time greats, he only played one season for the Penguins in the 2000s. They talk about his career, his relationship to Pittsburgh, and how time can heal all wounds. Then, they discuss another player with whom Pittsburgh has a frosty relationship: Marian Hossa. His time was short, but it was fun. Finally, they close out the show with some other fun names, including Petr Sykora, Tomas Vokoun, Brooks Orpik, Jarome Iginla, and Ziggy Palffy! Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!GametimeToday's episode is brought to you by Gametime. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNHL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms and conditions apply.Monarch MoneyTake control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LOCKEDONNHL at monarchmoney.com/lockedonnhl for 50% off your first year.FanDuelToday's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Right now, new FanDuel customers can get $150 in Bonus Bets if your first $5 bet wins!FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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Starting point is 00:00:00 Ladies and gentlemen, we have officially reached the dog days of summer. So we're going to have a little bit of fun here on Locked on Penguins starting today. We're going to reveal our top 25 of the last 25 years. And today we start with the honorable mentions. You're Locked on Penguins, your daily podcast on the Pittsburgh Penguins, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Welcome to the Friday edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I'm one of your host, Patrick Damp.
Starting point is 00:00:39 You can follow me across all social media platforms at Synonym 4Wet, joined as always by the one and only Hunter Hodes. You can follow him on Twitter at Hunter Hodes. You can give our show's Twitter account a follow at L-O-U-U-Squor Penguins. You can also find us on Instagram at Locked-on underscore Penguins. And, of course, we appreciate you making us part of your daily routine. Don't forget, we're free and available wherever you get podcasts as well as YouTube.
Starting point is 00:01:08 And if you follow us on YouTube, make sure you've hit the notification button. That way you can be among the first to know when we drop our newest episodes. Before we get started, today's episode is brought to you by Monarch Money. Take control of your finances with Monarch Money and use code locked on NHL at MonarchMoney.com for 50% off your first year. ladies and gentlemen, as I said in the intro, we're in the hardest part of the offseason for hockey fans. Not a lot of news, not a lot of things happening.
Starting point is 00:01:42 So we got to find a way to have some fun. And maybe you're unaware. I doubt you are, but let's see. The year is 2025. We are 25 years into this century. So with that in mind, we're going to do a top 25 of the last 25 years, but we're putting our own spin on the ball here. Instead of just doing the 25 best players for the Pittsburgh Penguins of the last 25 years,
Starting point is 00:02:17 we've divvied up categories. We're going to have things such as the top five best players of the last 25 years, players involved in the five best moments of the last 25 years. We'll even have something that is a little bit in honor of our NHL draft round one live stream. We'll basically do a version of Remember Some Dudes. But today, we're going to start with the honorable mentions. It's not going to be just five players like we'll do for the rest of these segments, which we are going to do each and every Friday.
Starting point is 00:02:55 Don't worry, though, we are going to keep doing fan take Friday. So basically on Fridays, you know you're going to get your top 25 lists and your fan takes read on the show. So let's get started, Hunter, with the honorable mentions. And if you've clicked on this one on YouTube, you probably saw the thumbnail and thought, really? So let's get it out of the way early. Yarmir Yager is our first honorable mention for the top 25 list of the last 25 years. And if you're thinking, really, Yager?
Starting point is 00:03:29 Here's the thing. He has only played one season for the Penguins in the 2000s, and that was 2000 in 2001 when he had 81 games played, 52 goals, 69 assists, 121 points. This doesn't mean we don't think he's an all-time great or one of the greatest players ever wear Penguins jersey, but the last 25 years, he was only, part of one of them but i think at this point hunter time has healed all wounds when it comes to
Starting point is 00:04:02 double j i don't think anyone is still mad after what happened with you know spurning them for the flyers and all that other stuff during the early to mid 2010s i think if people are still mad about that you should find other things to be mad about honestly there's just it's been too long and also Yager's number is retired at PBG Payne Serena. So there's just no reason to be mad about that anymore. So yes, we have them as an armamention just because he only played one season for the Penguins in the 2000s. However, people, Pat and I both know he is one of the greatest players to ever play the game. And he is a top four player in their franchise's history.
Starting point is 00:04:46 Lemieux, Sid, Gino, Yager. Those four are the top four players to ever play. for the Pittsburgh Penguins organization. You can go argue with the wall. That should not be debatable in the slightest. If people want to maybe move Yager and Gino in the 3 and 4 spot, I guess they can do that if they choose to. But as a whole, in no order,
Starting point is 00:05:05 those are the four best players to ever play for the franchise. Pat, if we were doing the top 25 players to ever play for the penguins for as long as they've been going, we would have Yager in the top four. But for this exercise, again, since it's 2000, in 2025, we have them down here. So hopefully that doesn't make anyone mad online or anything like that. Anything like that, excuse me. We still love double J very much. And the one thing I always like to bring up now, especially with the number being retired, Pittsburgh falling back in love
Starting point is 00:05:39 with Yarmier Yager and everything that's happened over the past five or so years since we've really started to repair the relationship with Yager is we kind of misremember what happened to end Yager's Penguins tenure. The team was in absolute dire straits financially. They were no longer able to afford Yarmir Yager. And yeah, he had a lot of beef with the coach at the time, which was Halenka, and they didn't get along and he was looking to get out. But when you look at both the way he talked about Pittsburgh and his retirement speech, his number retirement speech, because as far as we know, he's still playing.
Starting point is 00:06:24 It wasn't a retirement speech. It was a jersey number retired. But, and the way he talked in the Penguins 50th anniversary documentary, this man loved Pittsburgh, loved the Penguins. Ideally never would have wanted to leave. But just too many things came to. together to where they just had to move on. In the name of my former podcast, Dying Alive,
Starting point is 00:06:49 which was paying homage to the I feel like I'm Dying Alive here, quote from Yarmour Yager also gets taken out of context because he basically was just saying the team was struggling and he felt like he was doing everything in his power to get it moving and he just couldn't. It wasn't him saying, I hate the penguins and I hate Pittsburgh, you got to get me out of here. He was so deeply invested in the Pittsburgh penguins in the city that he wanted to do right
Starting point is 00:07:20 by them. He wanted the penguins to be good. But even he realized, I'm just one player. And where this franchise is, it's going to be damn near impossible. 100%. And I know towards the late stages of his NHL tenure, the relationship was starting to be repaired. like he was getting honored it felt like every time he came back to pittsburgh there was standing ovations and then you know once it really got moving these last few years especially after he stopped playing in the
Starting point is 00:07:52 nchel like that's when again the whole thing got started with retiring his jersey which is so many years too late i mean let's be real here this should have happened a long time ago but pat he just kept playing in the nchel just because that's who yarmu yager is so So again, we have them here, but at the end of the day, we're not disrespecting him. The second player on our list, though, Pat, unless you want to save that for the second segment, is another player who was here for a little bit during the 2000s, but who he was a lot of fun to watch during that time. And we will get to that. The one last thing I also want to add about Yager, because I'm going to preemptively argue with the comments is,
Starting point is 00:08:39 when he went to the flyers. And if you're in and around my age, late 20s, early to mid 30s, you remember hashtag Yager watch. You remember Penn's blog going live for it. You remember the excitement. And then he goes to Philly. Similar to the dying alive comment, the thing I think people forget is Ray Shiro wanted to lock up
Starting point is 00:09:09 other players before Yarmir Yager. And I will say it's kind of a both and where they were like, yeah, it would be really nice to have Yarmir Yager, but we're not talking about 2003 Yarmir Yager. We're talking about 2012, 2013 Yarmir Yager. So it would be cool to have him. And he'd be a bottom six or power play specialist. He'd be maybe middle six. middle six top nine for sure power play time absolutely he would but it was one of those things where
Starting point is 00:09:42 they were like he's a luxury and when you looked at where their cap situation was it wouldn't have made a ton of sense was almost a luxury they couldn't afford but then you also have to look at yager and peter svoboda his agent and go you shouldn't have strung us along either you should have kind of made this go a little quicker so it's a both end but we know now that time heals all wounds. 68 is going to hang at PPG Paints Arena or wherever else the penguins play over the rest of their history. And we love double J.
Starting point is 00:10:20 But as we said at the start, it's top 25 of the last 25 years, only played one season for the penguins in the past 25 years. And shout out Kevin Acklin, by the way, for getting that whole thing going with Yager. He is the real MVP. truly, truly is. And as Hunter so eloquently teased, when we come back, we're going to talk about another player
Starting point is 00:10:45 that you as a Penguins fan and us as Penguins fans in the 2000s might not have had the best relationship with. And we'll talk about that for our honorable mentions of the top 25 of the last 25 years when we come back right after this. But first, we got to tell you about today's first sponsor. And that is Monarch Money.
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Starting point is 00:12:02 and use code locked on NHL at MonarchMoney.com for 50% off your first year. That's monarchmoney.com code locked on NHL for half off your first year. Back here on the Friday edition of Locked on Penguins, I'm Patrick Damp right alongside Hunter Hodes. And we're going to continue this discussion, this very fun discussion that we're going to keep going for all the Fridays in August. We're obviously starting this at the end of July with our honorable mentions.
Starting point is 00:12:35 It's our top 25 of the last 25 years. and let's keep that mojo going of players that we might have had a bit of anger and resentment towards in the last 25 years. And that is Marian Hosa. Marion Hosa was not here very long. He was here for 12 regular season games. He was a big part of the Penguins 2007, 2008 run to the Stanley Cup final, where they obviously lost the Red Wings.
Starting point is 00:13:06 in the playoffs, 20 games, 12 goals, 14 assists for 26 points. He was hand in glove with Sidney Crosby. They were so good together. They absolutely dominated the Eastern Conference playoff field in the run to the finals. But we all know how that came to an end. The Penguins lose to the Red Wings in the final. and then that off season, the penguins offer him a big old extension. He turns them down, goes to the Red Wings on a one-year deal,
Starting point is 00:13:44 and says publicly that he felt like Detroit gave him a better chance to win. And Hunter, how'd that go for Marion Hosa? Well, he lost in 2009, of course, in seven games when the Penguins got their revenge. But I think he's doing a-okay, Pat, because he won three Stanley Cups with the Chicago. Blackhawks. I think Marion Hosa is just fine. However, man, was he a blast to watch on Sydney Crosby's wing in 2008? And that trade still to this day was kind of the kickoff of this team being a bona fide contender for basically a decade and a half. Like that signaled, oh, the penguins are here and they're going for it for basically almost the entirety of this Cindy Crosby tenure.
Starting point is 00:14:35 Yeah, we know. They've missed the playoffs these last few seasons. They're probably going to miss again this year. But that showed to everyone, the penguins are all in. And it was just such a huge move. Seeing what he did in the playoffs, you know, next to Cindy Crosby was sensational. He also had the OT winner for the Penguins in that series
Starting point is 00:14:55 against the New York Rangers, by the way. Awesome winner. You see Lundquist just throw a fit like he quite often did against the penguins. But that's neither here nor there. but I had such a fun time watching Marian Hosa in 2008. That's kind of a fun, what if situation there, right? What if he resigned the penguins going into 2009? I would have kickstarted a whole bunch of other things that,
Starting point is 00:15:20 you know, you go down that rabbit hole, don't see a lot of the things that you see now, the penguins with all the Stanley Cups they've won. Maybe we'll do that sometime later on. But everything worked out. He was fantastic here. He goes to the Red Wings. They lose the Penguins.
Starting point is 00:15:35 wins you see him drinking the water on the bench kind of sulking his head down but then he goes to chicago man he wins those three stanley cups he's just fine so again what a fun time it was but after that i think again he won everything he needed to and then some when he was with the chicago black hawks and you brought up something that really when we were making this list when we were getting our list together and planning this whole summer segment for the top 25. The thing that we talked about with Hosa, and you brought it up there when you were talking, is that was the first really big swing of the Crosby Malkin-Littang era. Yes.
Starting point is 00:16:17 Because if you go back and read the reporting, watch all the in the room stuff, the Stanley Cup DVDs, the documentaries, whatever, the Penguins essentially had a five-year plan. to get back to contention with Crosby and company. And getting Hosa was basically in year three. And Shiro goes to ownership and says, listen, look how good this team is playing. This team is way ahead of schedule. Obviously, Crosby's rookie year, they missed the playoffs. His second year, they do pretty well in the regular season.
Starting point is 00:16:57 And then they get humbled by the Ottawa senators in the first. round. And then the next year, they take even another step and start to look pretty good. And Shiro goes to management and ownership and says, I think we've got a contender here. And they green light it. And they'd make the trade with the then Atlanta thrashers to get Marion Hosa. And you go, oh, this is happening. Like this is really happening. The penguins are a contender again. The penguins are a good team again. And a lot of that, was on that trade, his play. And like you said, we got our, we got our revenge on him in 2009. And the other cool thing is, I think it gets lost because of the teams that he played for,
Starting point is 00:17:45 obviously playing with the young superstars in Pittsburgh and doing really well next to them. Then he goes to a veteran star-studded Detroit team. It doesn't work out there. But then he goes to Chicago. And Chicago was an excellent Western Conference parallel to the Penguins with Taves and Kane, Seabrook, Keith. It's this really young, exciting up-and-coming team in the West. He fits in right away. Oh, yeah.
Starting point is 00:18:14 Wins that Stanley Cup in 2010, wins two more. It kind of gets lost because he's with these great teams. But Marian Hosa was an unbelievable player in the mid-2000s and into the 2010s. Well, there was a reason why he got into the hockey hall. of fame in 2020 and there's also a reason why he is one of the best wingerers and he has ever played with it was those two were literally like this in 2008 like it was such a fun to watch even though i was only 10 to 11 at the time seeing those to be a dynamic duo in the playoffs was awesome so we had to include him here even though he was only here for a little bit of a regular season and then
Starting point is 00:18:54 that long playoff run in 08 there's one more i want to mention before we go to break. He was, and it's in this same time period of the penguins, getting back to contention and getting back to prominence. He was part of both the run to the 08 final and then the Stanley Cup win in 2009. And that's Peter Sikora. This guy was such a steady soldier for the penguins in his two seasons. 0708 plays 81 games, 28 goals, 63 points. The next year, 0809, 76 games,
Starting point is 00:19:31 25 goals, 46 points. But the biggest thing I will remember from Peter Sikora is the 08 final, the triple overtime game against the Red Wings. And he's on the bench looking at Pierre McGuire between the glass and goes, I'm scoring the winner. I'm going to end this game. I'm going to win the game. And sure enough, he goes out and does it.
Starting point is 00:19:58 And it's cliche. It happened. People try to do it too much and it doesn't work. But Peter Sikora called his shot and made his shot. Obviously, that final did not go the way they wanted it to. But the next year, he stays on the team. He's a big part of that forward core that goes on to win the Stanley Cup in 0809. He only gets into seven games in 0809, one assist one point, but he was kind of part of that.
Starting point is 00:20:31 I would say veteran leadership with guys like Billy Garin, Ruslan Fedatanko, Mero Chatan, who, while Garin was obviously a big part of it, those other guys, they were good, steady veteran leaders that helped push a young core over the edge. I always will have that call from Doc Emrick stuck in my head. It just goes like, you know, Sakora said he'd get the winner and he did. It's going back to Pittsburgh for a sixth game. Just an awesome call from Doc. And I miss him calling all these NHL games every single day.
Starting point is 00:21:06 One of the best to ever do it. Again, I will forever have that call in my head because I woke up or I shouldn't say I woke up. I stayed up even though I should not have. And I was able to sneak into my mom's room when she was watching it downstairs with my stepdad. I heard it she screamed first. It was a millisecond and then I screamed right after it. And then she kind of stopped and she's like, oh,
Starting point is 00:21:28 I heard Hunter up there. So that's always a funny story to get to tell when I, I was like, yep, I snook out of my room. We got to watch the Sakura winner in my mom's room, even though it was so late at night. People forget Pat,
Starting point is 00:21:40 they were really close to losing that game in regulation before they tied it and then got to the triple overtime for Socorah to win that game. The fact that the Penguins got to six games against that Red Wings team, is still to this day ridiculous. I will forever say the 08 Red Wings team of my lifetime is the best team I've ever seen. I think they're the best team of the cap era.
Starting point is 00:22:01 There's Hall of Famer after Hall of Famer, after Hall of Famer, after Hall of Famer, on that team. So what a game that was. And yeah, Socorah definitely deserves to be mentioned. And they're really fun player to watch during the 2010s. Or not really, they're no 2010s. Sorry, really fun player to watch, you know, during the 2000s. He was.
Starting point is 00:22:18 And it was a nice little bookend to his career winning. even though he played a couple more years, a nice little bookend to his time in Pittsburgh with a Stanley Cup playing a bit of a role in it. But that is going to do it for the middle segment. When we come back, couple more names. We got to mention for the Locked-on Penguins top 25 of the last 25 years. We'll do that when we come back right after this. Welcome back into the Friday edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast.
Starting point is 00:22:51 I'm Patrick Damp, joined as always by Hunter Hodes and joined by you as we remember. member some dudes for the top 25 of the last 25 years. Let's bring up one that the numbers aren't going to jump off at the page off page at you. There's a ton of memorable moments, but he was a big part of the penguins getting back to contention. He spent several seasons with the team. And you have to give him a lot of credit because he was drafted before the 04 lockout. and was a very prototypical pre-lockout player, big, not that fast, overly physical, but then dedicated himself to becoming a better skater, molding in that physicality. And he was a staple on the penguin's blue line for several years.
Starting point is 00:23:43 And that is number 44 Brooks Orpick. It gets a little overrated. It gets a little too overshared. But I would be remiss if I didn't mention the 2008 final for Brooks Orpick. pick in the shift when he just hit basically everyone wearing a red wings jersey on the ice melan arena went absolutely bonkers in brooks orpick very steady soldier big part of the penguins getting back to contention yeah the thing with orpick was he really was such a great soldier throughout his penguin's tenure he definitely lost his way a little bit though towards the end he just wasn't as good
Starting point is 00:24:22 as he used to be though i will say he did have some very clutch moments for the penguins and in some of his last few seasons. Pat, I'd be remiss if I did not bring up the double-doin-o-o-T winner against the New York Islanders in that first round series in 2013. The goal that knocked the Islanders out, by the way, in game six,
Starting point is 00:24:41 and what a tough first-round series that was, by the way. And then also, the year after, you remember game three against the Columbus Blue Jackets, it's 2014 first round. This dude has an unreal toe drag in the offensive zone.
Starting point is 00:24:56 The Penguins are down two. nothing late in the second. It looks like they're about to be down to nothing heading into the second intermission. Brooks Orpick says, nope, I'm going to do a little bit of a tow drag. I'm going to fire a shot for the hell of it. And it goes in literally right before the buzzer sounds, makes it 2-1. And that kind of leads the way for the penguins to score three third period goals. They outscore the blue jackets three to one in the third period in 2014 in that game three
Starting point is 00:25:22 to win the game and go up two games to one in that first round series against Blue Jackets. So even though he definitely did not bring the physicality was not good in his own zone to end his tenure, he still had a couple of really big clutch moments for the penguins in the playoffs. Of course, he has the four hits in, what was it, 15 seconds in the 2000 ACL, he got final against the Red Wings. It is a little bit overrated. It's a bit overplayed. But still, was a really good soldier for a long time with the Penguins. He was, and like I said, the biggest thing that I will always give Brooke. or pick props for is he was such a prototypical pre-lockout player big not a great skater but he got himself
Starting point is 00:26:06 into shape he was able to mix that size with some good footwork he was able to be an effective defensive defenseman with a physical edge in an era where i don't want to say it was going away but it was not as big of a focus anymore and he was able to keep that part of his game and not be a lot of for a really long time. He was always, for the most part, except for maybe the last year or two, a very steady presence on the Penguins Blue Line, a guy who didn't get the accolades,
Starting point is 00:26:40 but he was definitely a huge part of the Penguins getting back to being contenders. Let's keep it moving here, though, because we got a couple others we got to get to. Let's go with similarly in that same kind of time frame when you talk about some of those Islanders series. Let's also talk about Tomas Vocoon. Hunter, I want you to run with this one because I almost forgot about this, but he was not here long at all.
Starting point is 00:27:13 But when he was here, you know, a little bit of a career renaissance. I mean, Pat, he only played one season with the Penguins. That was 2012, 2013, played in 20 games, started in 17 of them. he had a 9-19 save percentage. That was during the regular season. Obviously, everyone remembers him for what he did in the playoffs, literally taking Mark Andre Fleury's job, running with it, and never looking back.
Starting point is 00:27:38 He was awesome after taking over for Flurry. He played in 11 games during that season, 2012, 2013. He won six of those games. 2.01 goals against average, 933, say, percentage. Flory lost his way once again against the Islanders. He was not good. Penguin said, you know what? Screw this.
Starting point is 00:27:59 We're going to Vokun. He was really good during the regular season. And it took a lot of balls just because of how long Flory had been there, the success that he had had throughout his tenure. But this was another season where he had lost his way in the playoffs. Dan Bilesma said, screw this. I'm going to Vokun. They win those two games against the Islanders in the first round.
Starting point is 00:28:19 They absolutely dominate the senators in the second round. And no one is going to blame him. for that sweep against the Bruins. Tuka Raskin God mode and Patrice Virgeron absolutely shut down the Penguins top guns. The Bruins were just a horrible matchup for them, and they made the Penguins really, and I mean, really upset. But Bo Kuhn, he was fantastic throughout that entire playoff run. He deserved better because he had a 933, same percentage in 11 games.
Starting point is 00:28:44 Speaking of that 2013 team, and if we got to praise Dan Bilesma for his, decision to go with and stick with Tomas Vokun, we're going to have to give them some crap too. Because you know who else was on that team? Jerome McGinla. And what did Dan Bilesma do with Jerome McGinla? He put him on his off wing. He put a surefire hall of famer and one of the best power forward wingers on his off wing did not. use him effectively. Now, he actually did play pretty well for the penguins, all things considered. But when you look at the way they didn't adjust and he didn't adjust, Dan Bilesman, that is, against the
Starting point is 00:29:38 Bruins in the conference final, you put all that together. And what should have been a season where Jerome Ginnla, a player who had done so much in his NHL career, but win the Stanley Cup, it should have been his run to the final to win a Stanley Cup, but it doesn't happen. But it was for at least a couple of months, really, really cool to say that Jerome McGinla was a Pittsburgh penguin. I still remember it, man. I went to bed thinking, oh, he's going to the Bruins. And then all of a sudden in the middle of the night, no, he's going to the penguins. The penguin swooped in, stole him from the Boston Bruins. And even though we all know what happened. with, you know, the Dan Baezman situation, with putting him on, on his off wing and all that,
Starting point is 00:30:27 it was still a lot of fun seeing Jerome again, the play as a member of the Penguins Surefire Hall of Famer. And we had to include him here on our list. Pat, do you want to touch on the final player on this list? Because I was giving you a little bit of grief for even putting him on there just because he only played in 42 games for the Penguins, but you seem to really want to talk about him. So go ahead. It is one of my favorites from the Sydney Crosby era, and that is the one and only, Zygman Palfi, plays only 42 games for the Penguins. He actually, what is funny is he was definitely a guy who was coming to the end of his career. He had played since the early 90s.
Starting point is 00:31:10 He was always a solid top six forward, produced pretty well throughout his career. and right before the lockout, he ends up signing with the Penguins after the, he basically comes to an agreement in principle. And then the lockout happens. That all gets put on hold right after the lockout. He signs a three year deal with the Penguins. And like you said, Hunter, he only played 42 games for the Penguins. But here's the thing.
Starting point is 00:31:46 plays 42 games, scores 11 goals, adds 31 assists for 42 points, and it looks like, hey, Ziggy Palfi's going to have a nice little, nice little career renaissance here in Pittsburgh. He's going to suddenly look like the Ziggy Palfi of the late 90s
Starting point is 00:32:04 and in mid-90s. And okay, we got this Wiley Vet here who is going to help Sidney Crosby learn what the NHL is all about. And then he just retires. Yep. Craig Patrick says, hey, Palfi's retiring. He's got a lingering shoulder injury, and he's just decided to call it quits.
Starting point is 00:32:26 But he didn't call it quits for long. He didn't come back to the NHL. He ends up playing overseas in 0708, plays for a few years, ultimately before the 13, 14 season. He does call it a career. but it's just one of my favorite pieces of the Crosby era lore that there was no indication either. Like obviously I was still pretty young for that. I was 13 years old during this run. But like it just was one of those things where it was like, oh, Palfi's here.
Starting point is 00:33:02 He's playing well. This looks like it'll be a nice little piece as the penguins build their way back up. In just one day in January, gone. just done. He decided to dip out halfway through the season. See you. Goodbye. Even though he was playing great for them.
Starting point is 00:33:19 But over 12 NHL seasons, really good career, 713 points in 684 games, 329 career goals. And I would just always get a laugh out of that. They thought they had this guy who was going to really help them usher in a new era of hockey, a new era of success for the penguins. and just out of nowhere, he calls it quits. But Hunter, unless you've got anything to add, that is going to do it for our first installment of the locked on penguins top 25 of the last 25 years. Like I said, we're not doing this in a traditional way.
Starting point is 00:33:58 It's not just going to be a list of number one to number 25. We've got a bunch of different categories, like I said, including just remembering some dudes, remembering some guys who played here for not very long, but you go, oh, yeah, that's right. He did play here. Top five moments, top five players from the Stanley Cup runs, and we'll finish out the top 25 with the five best players of the last 25 years.
Starting point is 00:34:26 So make sure you're sticking with us. We're going to do this every Friday as well as weave it into Fan Take Friday. So if you got any comments, if there's people you want us to talk about, your thoughts on these players and anything, else, hit us up in the comments or on social media. But for now, Hunter, I hope you're enjoying your vacation because we're recording this days ahead.
Starting point is 00:34:47 So hope you're having fun at the beach. I'm sure I'm having a blast. And we'll talk to you guys here on Locked on Penguins next week. Thank you as always for tuning in. We'll be back next week.

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