My Ten Favorite Penguins of All-Time: Part 2

As promised, here’s the second installment of my 10 11 favorite Penguins of all-time. To repeat, this compilation isn’t based on talent, ability or impact. Just the players who, for purely personal reasons, I liked the best.

RON FRANCIS (1991-98)

By his own admission, Ron Francis wasn’t the fastest skater in the world. Nor the most talented player.

How, then, did he wind up as the fifth-leading point getter in NHL history and a Hall-of-Famer to boot?

For starters, with the possible exception of Sidney Crosby, Francis thought the game better than anyone I’ve ever seen. He had an uncanny knack for being at the right place at the right time. Look up Johnny-on-the-spot (Ronnie-on-the-spot?) in the dictionary, and you’ll find a photo of Francis. His work ethic, instilled by parents Ron and Lorita? Off the charts. To say nothing of his character, which was exemplary.

Acquired by GM Craig Patrick in a blockbuster six-player trade with Hartford in the spring of ’91 that became known in Penguins lore as “The Trade,” Francis had an immediate positive impact.

“Ronnie just had an uncanny way of settling things down whenever we got a little bit scrambled,” said the Ol’ Two-Niner, Phil Bourque. “He wasn’t a guy of a lot of words, but those few words were right on the money every single time. He had so many different dimensions to his game, too. He could be a checking center; he was obviously unbelievable on face-offs and won some great draws for us; plus, he scored some big goals for us. He just complemented our team so perfectly.”

His value was never more evident than during the 1992 Patrick Division Finals. With Mario sidelined with a broken hand Francis brought the Penguins back from the brink, scoring two huge goals in Game 4 to turn the tide of the series. In Game 4 of the Final he notched the game winner to clinch the Penguins’ second-straight Stanley Cup.

“SCARY” GARY ROBERTS (2007-08)

As with “Battleship” Kelly, the nickname says it all. A contemporary of Rick Tocchet (the two even fought once), Gary Roberts was a ferocious competitor and one of the last of a dying breed of old-school power forwards who could hit, fight and score.

By the time the Pens acquired Roberts in the spring of 2007, he was 40 years old and well past his prime. Yet thanks to his superb conditioning and grizzled determination he more than kept pace, tallying seven goals in 19 games down the stretch…roughly a 30-goal pace for a full season.

However, it was his leadership and toughness, legendary at this stage of his career, that made Roberts one of my all-time favorites. After missing nearly the entire second half of the ’07-08 campaign with a high ankle sprain, he returned with a vengeance for the opening game of the playoffs. The old battler struck for two goals against Ottawa, the team that had outclassed us the season before, then went on a search-and-destroy mission in the closing minutes, challenging Cody Bass and literally the entire Sens squad.

His signature “Scary Gary” moment came, fittingly enough, on the road against Philly a few months earlier. He squared off with Ben Eager, a 240-pound bruiser some 18 years his junior, and proceeded to whup the tar out of him.

With the possible exception of Mario’s last-minute goal in Game 1 of the ’92 Final, I don’t think I’ve ever been more fired up…or prouder of a black-and-gold player than in that moment. Talk about standing up for the team!

MAX TALBOT (2005-11)

Although he dubbed himself “Superstar,” nobody was going to confuse Max Talbot with high-pedigree teammates Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. However, the son of a plumber was a feisty, heart-and-soul player with an underrated scoring touch and a penchant for coming up big in clutch situations.

How big you ask? During the ’09 Cup Final series against Detroit, the former eighth-round pick notched a team-best four goals. More than Sid. More than Geno. During the decisive Game 7, “Mad Max” struck for both black-and-gold goals to cinch the Cup.

Perhaps my favorite Max moment, aside from his thoroughly kitschy star turn in an A&L Motors commercial, came earlier in the ‘09 postseason, the first round to be exact. The Flyers had grabbed a 3-0 lead in Game 6 and were threatening to blow the Pens out of the Wachovia Center. Talbot, whose blunder had led directly to one of those goals, responded by goading the very tough ex-Pens farmhand Daniel Carcillo into a fight. With a separated shoulder.

Eye blackened after absorbing a beating, Max famously shushed the howling Philly crowd as he skated to the sin bin. The Pens scored 14 seconds later, touching off a five-goal run to clinch the series.

PATRIC HORNQVIST (2014-20)

Of all the players who’ve sported the skating Penguins logo, if safe to say none were quite like Patric Hörnqvist. Employing a style best described as The Tasmanian Devil on skates, the rugged Swede rose from humble hockey beginnings to establish himself as the prototype crease-crashing forward.

You could make a case, and quite successfully, that his acquisition (along with Phil Kessel’s), served as the catalyst for our most recent Cups. “Horny” was just such a rabid, almost violent, competitor. Game after game he’d plant himself in the crease and absorb a beating from opposing defensemen in the form of slashes, elbows, high sticks and cross checks without flinching.

Equal parts fearless and relentless, he was virtually impossible to discourage. I can’t for one second imagine how difficult he was to play against.

But there was more to his game than just the physical aspect. With the possible exception of Jake Guentzel, Hörnqvist was the best on tip-ins and deflections I’ve ever seen.

Clutch, too. During the ’16 Cup run, he tallied nine goals, second only to Kessel among black-and-gold scorers, including the clincher against San Jose. The following spring he scored the Cup-winning goal against his original team, the Predators, swatting the puck past Pekka Rinne from the side of the net in his trademark swarming style.

TWO-HEADED MONSTER (2005- )

Sometimes it pays to be bad. Really bad. Such was the case in the early 2000s, when our Pens had the extreme good fortune of selecting Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby in successive drafts. The twin supernovas…soon to be dubbed the Two-Headed Monster…quickly establish themselves as NHL elite while leading the black-and-gold to a second golden age.

Needless to say, the duo complimented each other beautifully…the on-ice yin to the other’s yang…each providing what the other may have lacked. Sid is so consistently exceptional in all phases of the game…his level of detail so spot-on…that it almost works against him in terms of how he’s perceived. Very much like a latter day Francis in that regard.

Incredible down low and in traffic. As teammate and former sidekick Colby Armstrong duly noted, perhaps the most skilled grinder who’s ever laced on a pair of skates.

As for Geno, he plays with the mercurial brilliance of a Rachmaninoff concerto, his game packed with soaring highs and emotional chords. Malkin was especially magnificent early in his career, when he captured a pair of scoring titles over a four-season span. During his MVP season of ’11-12? Simply breathtaking, displaying a top gear that IMHO few players have ever reached.

Together, they’ve made beautiful music while leading the Pens to three Stanley Cups and four trips to the Final. As black-and-gold fans, we’ve been truly blessed by their presence.

Just missing my cut? Steve Durbano, Chris Kunitz, Ryan Malone, Larry Murphy and Ulf Samuelsson.