New York Blockbusters and Remembering an Original Penguin

A little mishmash post prior to the start of our three-game west coast road trip.

Our New York Metro rivals each swung blockbuster deals over the past couple of weeks, in the process significantly improving their respective teams, not to mention playoff and even Cup chances.

The Islanders acquired sniping center Bo Horvat from old friend Jim Rutherford in Vancouver for forwards Anthony Beauvillier and Aatu Raty and a conditional first-round pick in 2023 NHL Draft. In the process landing perhaps the biggest fish in the trade market.

Offensively challenged prior to the trade, the Isles have scored 11 goals in three games with Horvat in the lineup…nine in their past two.

On Manhattan, the Broadway Blueshirts reeled in six-time 30-goal man Vladimir Tarasenko and physical defenseman Niko Mikkola, who famously sparred with Sidney Crosby back in January 2022. The price? Fourth-line banger Sammy Blais, ECHL defenseman Hunter Skinner, a conditional first-round pick in the 2023 NHL Draft and a fourth-round pick in the 2024 NHL Draft.

The Blues are also holding back a portion of Tarasenko’s $7.5 million price tag.

For the second season in a row, Rangers GM Chris Drury has shrewdly addressed multiple needs. Last spring he smartly acquired forwards Andrew Copp, Frank Vatrano and Tyler Motte, fueling his team’s push to the Eastern Conference Final.

Did I mention Tarasenko is good friends with the Rangers’ resident bread man, Artemi Panarin? Shades of Patric Hornqvist and Carl Hagelin.

To my eye, Drury’s the best in the business.

The trades would seem to place added pressure on Pens GM Ron Hextall to make improvements at or prior to the tradeline in order to keep pace. Moves that may prove problematic, given our cap situation (tight, tight, tight) and trade collateral…or lack of.

Original Penguin Passes Away

Forward Bob Rivard, a member of the original Penguins team, passed away on New Year’s Day at the age of 83.

Plucked from the Canadiens in the 1967 Expansion Draft, the 5’8” 150-pounder made his Penguins (and NHL) debut on January 27, 1968. In only his fourth game he scored both of our goals to lead the then ice blue-and-black to a 2-0 victory over St. Louis. Two nights later he picked up a pair of assists in a 3-3 tie with Toronto.

Playing center and left wing, Rivard proceeded to tally five goals and 15 points in his first 20 games. Highly respectable production for the expansion era, not to mention a 28-year-old rookie.

Although he cooled slightly, the Sherbrooke, Quebec, native finished with 17 points in 27 games, which projected to 47 points over a full 74-game season. Output that would’ve placed him second behind Hall-of-Famer Andy Bathgate’s team-high 59 points.

And then?

Rivard never played another game for the Pens…or any other NHL team.

Why, I wondered. Was he a slow skater, a trait that often separates big-leaguers from their minor-league brethren? Was it his size, diminutive even for that era?

He was no slacker, that’s for sure. Rivard was an IHL scoring star through his early-to-mid 20s, culminating in a 133-point season for Port Huron in 1965-66. The following season he tallied 62 points for the Quebec Aces to win AHL Rookie of the Year honors.

Then came his stint with the Pens, which ended in September of 1968 when he was loaned to the Flyers for cash. After being returned, Rivard was sold to the Baltimore Clippers of the AHL in October 1969 for defenseman (and not Doors front man) Jim Morrison.

His post-Penguins career peaked with the Clippers in 1973-74 with a 36-goal, 92-point season at age 34. With the emergence of the 12-team WHA in 1972-73 and given Rivard’s prolific production, I’m surprised he never got another taste of big-league hockey. Unless he preferred to stay in Baltimore. Entirely plausible, since the aforementioned Bathgate left the Steel City to play in the minor Western Hockey League for a couple of seasons before returning to the Pens in 1970-71.

Following his career, Rivard settled in Peterborough, Ontario, where he once starred in junior hockey. He was inducted into the Fort Wayne Hockey Hall of Fame in 2004 and the Peterborough sports hall of fame in 2006.