Penguins Update: You Watch Out Ali

Back in 1966, heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali agreed to defend his title against Cleveland “Big Cat” Williams, possessor of a murderous left hook and one of the hardest punchers in the history of the heavyweight division.

No less an authority on the sweet science than Sports Illustrated warned, “You Watch Out Ali,” in an article previewing the fight.

The trepidation would prove unwarranted. While Williams barely laid a glove on the lightning fast champion, Ali sent his chiseled foe to the canvas four times and stopped him the third round in arguably the apex performance of a brilliant career.

Great, Buker. But what’s that got to do with hockey?

I’ll tell ya.

The Penguins’ opening night foe, the Arizona Coyotes aren’t very good. However, they do boast three forwards…Nick Ritchie, ex-Oiler Zack Kassian and Liam O’Brien…whose stock in trade is physical play. Kassian (pictured above), who famously feuded with the equally abrasive Matthew Tkachuk, often roams the ice like a heat-seeking missile in search of a target. He’s been known to stray over the edge at times.

Shades of the Rangers’ Jacob Trouba.

In other words, better keep your heads up, boys.

To digress, the number of NHL teams that embrace a sluggo style is diminishing. Most appear to be emulating a more skilled, free-flowing style a la our Pens and the Stanley Cup champion Avalanche.

Still, there are some notable exceptions. Nashville (aptly nicknamed Smashville) plays a throwback game in the finest Broad Street Bullies tradition. Calgary’s lineup is fortified with redwoods. Recent two-time Cup champion Tampa Bay was the heaviest team in the league last season. The Lightning currently feature 10 skaters who tip the scales at 200 pounds or better. Six who weight in between 224 and 241 pounds.

For the record, the Islanders were the second heaviest team…the Rangers third.

Speaking of our Metro brethren, nearly all of them boast a hammer or two. The Broadway Blueshirts have the aforementioned Trouba, who practices a rather crude form of cranial removal, and old friend Ryan Reaves. The Caps, marauding Tom Wilson (currently on IR) and Garnet Hathaway. The Isles, Matt Martin and Ross Johnston.

Stocked with Nicolas Deslauriers and Rasmus Ristolainen, the woebegone Flyers are sure to employ a heavy game under John Tortorella, who seems to take special delight in watching his clubs beat up on the Pens. (Remember Scott Hartnell and Brandon Dubinsky?) Oh, and Torts’ old team, the Blue Jackets, signed yet another old pal, Erik Gudbranson, to ride shotgun for the likes of Johnny Gaudreau and Patrik Laine.

Thanks to the off-season additions of big ‘n’ tall players like Jeff Petry, Ryan Poehling and Jan Rutta, the Pens aren’t quite as vulnerable as before. While we still lack a deterrent, we should be better able to withstand the physical pounding foes such as the Coyotes are sure to dish out.

Tonight will be the first test.

I expect our guys to dispatch the ‘Yotes with the same facility Ali displayed against Williams. Still, there’s liable to be an ice pack or two passed out before the end of the night.