There’s an old saying…when you see a good idea, steal it. Well, Hall-of-Fame scribe Dave Molinari wrote a fun and informative article for Pittsburgh Hockey Now titled, “The Best Penguins Nicknames, From Crankshaft to Gronk.”
With legit news about our favorite team and hockey in general reduced to a trickle, I thought I’d borrow (steal) from Dave and toss out a few favorite nicknames of my own. I tried to avoid overlap wherever possible, but some was inevitable.
Bugsy
To my knowledge, three Penguins…defenseman Bryan Watson and father and son forwards Greg and Ryan Malone…were nicknamed Bugsy.
I’m not sure why Greg Malone, an industrious, hard-working forward of some ability, was so named. I’d be certain Ryan was nicknamed because of his dad. Kind of Bugsy Jr.
However the original Bugsy (Watson) was a feisty defenseman who patrolled the Pens’ blue line from 1969-74 while serving as our first “policeman.” Known for his quick lip and pushing the boundaries of fair and gentlemanly play (picture an edgier version of present Pen Mark Friedman), the Bancroft, Ontario native earned his nickname during the 1966 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Assigned the daunting task of shadowing Chicago great Bobby Hull, Watson resorted to tactics legal and illegal to hold the Black Hawks superman in check, including a liberal dose of stick work. Remarkably, he equaled Hull’s output of two goals during the series while helping the Red Wings to a huge upset.
When asked about his tormentor following the series, Hull…normally gracious…steamed, “Boy does that guy bug me!”
From that day forward Watson was known as “Bugsy.”
Mad Max Superstar
Speaking of players with spunk, one of my all-time favorites had not one but two nicknames.
Maxime Talbot, a peppery blue-collar forward from Le Moyne, Quebec, was known as “Mad Max” early in his career. I’m guessing due to his spirited, kamikaze style of play, with a nod to Mel Gibson’s character in the 1985 movie, Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome.
However, Talbot earned a second nickname during the 2006-07 season, this one self-created. During a thoroughly kitschy (and all-time classic) commercial for A&L Motors, Max proclaimed himself to be a “Superstar.’
The nickname stuck.
Ironically, the construction worker’s son would, indeed, play the role of superstar two years later, scoring both black-and-gold goals in Game 7 of the 2009 Stanley Cup Final to clinch our third Cup.
Artie
As Dave mentioned in his piece, nicknames are generally derived from a player’s last name. Example: Talbot’s foil in the A&L commercial, Colby Armstrong, was known as “Army.”
Maybe that’s why I like Kevin Stevens’ nickname so much. A 230-pound freight train on skates and arguably the finest power forward of his day, the two-time 50-goal scorer and Stanley Cup hero was nicknamed “Artie” (or Aaaghtie in his Boston brogue).
Which happened to be his dad’s name.
Scary Gary and BGL
Okay, so maybe these nicknames aren’t especially clever or creative. But I love them because they were pretty much grafted onto the respective players’ names while describing their on-ice persona to a T.
Georges Laraque was known as Big Georges Laraque (BGL for short) because he was. Conservatively listed at 6’3” and 253 pounds (and rumored to be as heavy as 270), the behemoth forward was literally a larger-than-life character with a penchant for controlling the puck along the boards. Opponents who tried to relive him of the rubber instead bounced off like so many ping-pong balls tossed at a brick wall.
Regarded as the NHL’s heavyweight champ for most of his career, BGL famously (and somewhat humorously) wished Latvian slugger Raitis Ivanans “good luck” before they tangled.
Most of his foes needed it.
As for Scary Gary? The moniker was bestowed upon former Pens power forward Gary Roberts, and for good reason. He was indeed, Scary Gary.
Every bit as tough as his teammate Laraque, Roberts famously beat the tar out of Flyers heavy Ben Eager, a man some 18 years his junior, during a nationally televised game back in December 2007.
As intense as they came, Roberts had a glare that could burn a hole through a steel I-beam.
Battleship and Demolition Durby
Okay, to wrap up I’m going to cross the line and reference two players on the PHN list.
When tough guys Bob Kelly and Steve Durbano arrived via a blockbuster trade with St. Louis in January of 1974, the Pens were being mauled on a nightly basis by the likes of Philly’s “Broad Street Bullies” and the equally nasty Blues.
The shake-up had an immediate and dramatic effect. Indeed, it was as if Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterton had suddenly ridden into town. With Durbano and Kelly riding shotgun the Penguins’ skill players began to flourish and the team began to win.
Standing 6’ 1” and weighing 210 pounds, Durbano was a hard fist of a defenseman straight from the movie “Slap Shot.” A real-life Ogie Oglethorpe, he’d rung up an astronomical 402 penalty minutes in ’71-72 while skating for the Rangers’ farm team in Omaha. Hence the nickname “Demolition Durby.”
“Durbano doesn’t check the ice before a game,” observed a former Blues teammate. “He checks the seat in the penalty box.”
Likewise, Kelly was coveted for his muscle. He wasn’t nicknamed “Battleship” (my all-time favorite moniker) for nothing. The tall, rangy winger had earned a reputation as one of the most fearsome fighters in hockey. His victims included the Flyers’ notorious bad man, Dave “the Hammer” Schultz.
I’ll never forget the chills I felt when Civic Arena organist Vince Lascheid played “Anchors Aweigh” whenever Kelly stepped onto the ice, in the process piping out a warning to opposing thugs.
As fate would have it, the Blues soon arrived in town for a big post-trade grudge match. Early in the second period Durbano clashed with their new enforcer, Bob Gassoff, while Kelly made short work of villainous Barclay Plager.
Following a pulsating 4-1 victory, the dynamic duo was named the game’s co-No. 1 stars. As they skated onto the Civic Arena ice to the roar of the crowd, Durbano grabbed the sleeve of Kelly’s jersey and hoisted his left arm high in the air.
“After that, the teams that used to run around all over the place against us all of a sudden weren’t running around anymore,” noted Pens star Syl Apps.
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Long before "one-eye Lopez," Steve Durbano's wife (also named Lisa) hanged his dog and burned their house to the ground because she thought him to be cheating on her during a road trip. RIP, "Head Case."