The year was 1997.  I was driving in the passenger seat of my dad's banged up Subaru.  The radio announcer mentioned something about a "rookie phenom" (I remember this phrase exactly) named Patrick Lalime who was well on his way to leading the Penguins to a series of victories between the pipes.

My dad and I were debating how many wins Lalime would get before his streak came to an end.  Hindsight, since it wasn't exactly a win streak (more like a unbeaten run) we probably should've debated the bigger picture.  But whatever.  I was 13.  Cut me some slack.

Lalime went 14-0-2 to start his NHL career.  He looked like he may very well have a future with the Penguins between the pipes.   The next Tom Barrasso?  Patrick Roy?  Ken Dryden?  The names were being thrown around regularly and it wasn't without just cause.  The dude was good.  And his numbers backed it up.

But then after the 96-97 season, the Pens and Lalime were unable to work out a deal.  He spent that season with the Grand Rapids Griffins and never sported a Penguins jersey again.

It's weird to think that a guy like Lalime could just come and go so easily in the history of this franchise.  In a way, when Ty Conklin was getting the starts in net back in 2007-08, Lalime comparisons were being drawn.  Maybe not on a bigger scale, but I know for sure I was doing it.  

Unlike Conklin, Lalime didn't slip into a career of mediocrity after his record-setting season with the Penguins.  It took a few years to crack an NHL roster again, but in 1999 Lalime did so as a member of the Ottawa Senators.  He posted two of his best season with the Sens, 36 wins in 2000-01 and 39 W's in 2002-03.  Then he slipped into the realm of mediocrity.

The St. Louis Blues, Chicago Blackhawks and Buffalo Sabres closed out Lalime's career, but as far as I'm concerned his best numbers came when he sported a Penguins jersey.  He finished with a career stat line of 200 wins, 174 losses, 32 ties and 16 overtime losses.

So here's to Lalime, who officially retired from the NHL today in pursuit of a TV gig with RDS.  Thanks for that one season.

A couple of days ago was the second anniversary of the tragic passing of Darcy Robinson.  Robinson died after collapsing on the ice in the first game of the 2007-08 season in the Italian league.  Darcy was enjoying life in Italy, preparing to get married and was even exploring the possiblity of playing for the Italian national team.  It wasn't to be, as a rare heart condition (that we'd later find out had nothing to do with drugs) took him from us suddenly.


After the jump, one of my favorite entries from my old blog in honor of a good old boy, Darcy Robinson.  If there's one thing you do today, why not read this.

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For ten straight seasons Petr Sykora has popped at least 20 goals a year.  For a team like the Minnesota Wild, this is exactly the kind of guy they need.  It also doesn't hurt that, as mentioned numerous times on this site, former Penguins AGM Chuck Fletcher is running the show in Minnesota and likely had a big part in bringing Petr Gunn on board. 

According to The Star Tribune, a paper out of Minnesota, Sykora is fired up and ready to take a role with the team:

Yes, there were signs of jet lag, but Sykora, one of the NHL's most consistent goal scorers for a decade, filled the back of the net and was so vocal you would have sworn he'd been hanging with his new teammates for years.

Star Tribune

The terms of the contract are set on a one-year deal, although the actual dollar amount isn't known as of right now.  [Edit: deal worth $1.6 mill]  Either way, Sykora will wear #17 next season with the Wild.  Strong pick  up for the team and from the sound of things it's likely a position that could warrant an 'A' on his jersey right off the bat.

For more info check out Hockey Wilderness.

Unless you were one of the few at Game 7 in Detroit, chances are you were screaming your face off in a bar or the comfort of your own living room at the seconds ticked down to triple zeros.  At that moment all of Penguins nation breathed a sigh of relief and reveled in the notion that this team of kids were in fact Stanley Cup champs.  With the exception of the obvious - Bill Guerin, Chris Kunitz and other recent additions within the past season - we've seen these kids grow up from basement dwellers into the Stanley Cup champs they are today.  We all know they're still "young," in both hockey years and otherwise, but there's almost this sense of family about the team.  Am I right?

One guy knows all about that, more so than any of us.  He watched Game 7 on TV just like any of us and felt the emotions of a Stanley Cup win from the comfort of his own home.  The only difference is, he was once closer than any of us will probably ever get to the Cup and his emotions weren't necessarily positive ones.  He literally took these kids in as rookies from 2005 - 2008 and watched them evolve well throughout last year's loss in the Finals.  We are, of course, talking about Michel Therrien.

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Showing this video is probably a common recurrence on Pensburgh but how can you possibly deny the awesomeness of it?  Mario Lemieux scoring five goals in five ways, accomplished on December 31, 1988, is easily one of my favorite Penguins-centric hockey records.  To be honest, I just wish I was old enough to remember seeing it live/ on TV.

There are a lot of records out there that will undoubtedly be challenged and broken in the future.  But I see this one lasting a very, very long time.  Surely I'm not the only one to think that.  Right?

Props to Empty Netters for the heads up.

So much for the Janne Pesonen experiment.  Thus ends all that hype, talk and speculation of how well he could've played with Sid and Geno.  Instead of a definitive answer Pens fans are still left wondering.

In my opinion, Seth from EN hits the assessment right on the head:

Either way, Pesonen was a low-risk high-reward prospect the Penguins took a shot at. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

That's exactly it.  When the Pens signed Pesonen last season we all knew that no risk was involved in doing so and the opportunity for Sid to land a high-scoring, speedy winger was there.  So it didn't pan out.  Not the end of the world, especially given the evidence of success with the Guerin/Crosby/Kunitz combo.

Good luck Janne.  

Congrats to former Pittsburgh Penguin goalie Tom Barrasso for the announcement that he's been named to the USA Hockey Hall of Fame.  Also honored John LeClair, who finished his career in Pittsburgh.

The 1998 U.S. Olympic Women's Ice Hockey Team, Tony Amonte, Tom Barrasso, John LeClair and Frank Zamboni will be enshrined into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame as the Class of 2009, it was announced today by USA Hockey.

Barrasso's attitude and personality has made him a polarizing figure, but congrats to him just the same, without his contributions the high-flying Penguins wouldn't have won the two Stanley Cups that the did back in the early '90s.  LeClair may best be known be Penguin fans, unfortunately, as the guy who collided with Evgeni Malkin in training camp, delaying the debut of the young Russian in his rookie season.

(stick-tap Kuklas Korner)

Tomas over at Lets Go Pens has been occasionally translating interviews for years, long before blogs were in the public eye.  He just got one from Petr Sykora that is a real doozy.  It's not exactly breaking news that Sykora won't be returning to Pittsburgh but Sykie's comments about head coach Dan Bylsma were pretty raw.  It's not surprising that Sykora wouldn't be happy with Bylsma who chose to bench the sniper for most the playoffs.  But Sykora made his feelings clear:

As a standard caveat you have the remember this is a portion of a translated interview, so even though the spirit of the message is there, it might not have been 100% as it seems.

Q: Could you continue in Pittsburgh?

A: No. My agent talked to the management, and I won’t be back. When the coach does not want Sykora, nothing can be done.

Q: Could you say what happened between you and coach Bylsma was got you to be scratched?

A: It’s never a good thing when you are coached by a former teammate. On top of that, he used to be a player who drifted around as a fourth-liner. I was younger than him, played on the top line, scored goals, was the little star. Now the roles got reversed, and from the first moment I had a feeling that he let me ‘eat it.’ I honestly say that I have not had liked him even as a teammate. Which does not happen to me often…

Q: Do you regret that there is no way back?

A: Incredibly. I think I had two excellent years there, scored 59 goals [ed. note: that's if you include playoffs, which adds up to 184 games], and persuaded the previous coach Therrien about my qualities. But this is business, nobody cares about feelings. I’m pissed off; but on the other hand, it gives me more fuel to prove they had made a mistake.

Sykora may have scored all those goals but in 22 regular season games under Dan Bylsma, Sykora only scored 4 goals and had 2 assists and was a +/- of -1, despite playing on a surging team and on scoring champion Evgeni Malkin's line.  Even though Sykora missed time with a shoulder injury, that's not a way to earn a coach's trust.

Seems like a lot of their heat might be drawing back from the Anaheim days.  I'm not sure I buy Sykora's contention that Bylsma was punishing him out of jealously for ice time six years ago...Bylsma was pulling strings to get the team to win, and it obviously worked in the purest sense of the word.

Petr Sykora had a good run in Pittsburgh, highlighted with a Stanley Cup.   Shame it comes to an end bitterly.  It'll be interesting to see if he catches on with an NHL team.  You know he'll be fired up to score a goal or two that night.