The Toughest Penguins Ever: The Mighty Macs

The Penguins of the early 1980s weren’t very good. In fact, awful is a better way to describe them. The ’82-83 and ’83-84 “Boys of Winter” squads were the absolute pits, compiling a combined record of 34-111-15.

One of their few distinctions? They were among the tougher squads to sport the black and gold.

Sick of watching his teams get bludgeoned by the likes of the Flyers and ultra-tough Bruins, GM Baz Bastien decided to fight fire with fire. The feisty ’81-82 club that came within a hairs-breadth of dethroning the two-time Cup champion Islanders boasted toughies such as penalty-king Paul Baxter, Pat Price and Russ Anderson on defense, reinforced by giant Paul Mulvey and scrappers Pat Boutette, Andre St. Laurent and Gary Rissling up front.

While players came and went like pawns on an icy chess board over the next couple of seasons, the club’s physical nature remained. By ’83-84 the team’s chief protectors were two sons of Scotland, forward Kevin McClelland and defenseman Marty McSorley.

A fourth-round pick of Hartford in 1980, McClelland was acquired on June 29, 1981, amid quite a bit of fanfare as part of the compensation package for free-agent netminder Greg Millen.

His inclusion in the deal was seen as a real coup. The rawboned 6’2”, 205-pounder had notched 36 goals and 104 points the previous season in junior. The kid could hit, score and fight, the quintessential power forward-in-the-making. He possessed loads of character, too.

After taking a few games to get acclimated during a late-season cameo, Kevin reeled off a five-game points streak, including a goal and four assists. During the cauldron of the spirited ’82 playoff series against the Islanders, the 19-year-old acquitted himself extremely well, dropping the gloves with Brent Sutter in Game 1 and tallying a momentum swinging, game-tying goal early in the deciding Game 5 that sparked a Pens rally.

It appeared Bastien had unearthed a true diamond in the rough…an unpolished gem. Unfortunately, it didn’t quite work out that way, at least not in the ‘Burgh. Hampered by shoulder injuries, McClelland managed just seven goals in 62 games spread over two seasons, far below expectations.

Never one to show a great deal of patience with kids, new GM Eddie Johnston dispatched McClelland to Edmonton in December 1983 for Tom Roulston, a reasonably skilled but passive forward who could be trusted to skate an entire game with a carton of eggs safely stashed in his uniform.

While the Pens struggled to ice a competitive team, the fast-swinging lefty would go on to win four Stanley Cups with the Oilers while emerging as a solid depth forward. In the process gradually usurping the mantle of Wayne Gretzky’s chief bodyguard from legendary heavyweight Dave Semenko.

With McClelland gone, the Pens’ policing chores fell upon the fresh-faced McSorley. What the free-agent defenseman lacked in skill and polish he more than made up for in guts and sheer gameness.

Still growing into a 6’1” frame that would eventually fill out at an imposing 235 pounds, McSorley took on all comers. During a dismal 13-4 loss to the Flyers on March 22, 1984, the 21-year-old rookie shook off an ambush by Dave Brown and held his own against the huge, mallet-fisted lefty. Marty then fought the equally rugged Daryl Stanley in the third period. After getting the worst of the early going, McSorley came on late in a display of the incredible stamina and determination that would punctuate many of his battles.

However, Johnston’s itchy trigger finger surfaced again. After dispatching Marty to the minors in ’84-85 when he could’ve been shielding phenom Mario Lemieux, EJ dealt McSorley to the Oilers as part of an ill-fated swap for veteran goalie Gilles Meloche.

While the Pens turned to a revolving door of journeymen, including Warren Young, Terry Ruskowski (very tough but small), Wally Weir and Dwight Schofield to provide protection for No. 66, “the Mighty Macs” would ride shotgun, and quite effectively, for Gretzky and the Oilers over the next several seasons.

When “the Great One” was peddled to the Kings in a seismic trade in the summer of 1988, he insisted McSorley accompany him.

Having matured into a truly fearsome fighter, Marty gradually evolved into a capable defenseman who contributed on the score sheet as well. Over the next five seasons, he tallied 54 goals for the Kings. For good measure, he led the NHL in plus-minus in ’90-91 (plus-49) and penalty minutes (399) in ’92-93.

Feeling his club got knocked around by Darius Kasparaitis and the brash, young Islanders the previous spring, GM Craig Patrick pulled out all stops and acquired the heavyweight defender in a straight-up deal for speedy forward Shawn McEachern. With McSorley and Rick Tocchet on board, the black and gold entered the ’93-94 season boasting a physical 1-2 punch few, if any, teams could match.

However, things didn’t quite work out the way the team or player had hoped during Marty’s second Steel City stint. Regarded by many as the sure-fire missing piece to the Pens’ Stanley Cup puzzle, McSorley instead struggled to find his niche. Used as a swing man throughout his career, he preferred to play defense. New/old coach Johnston felt Marty was more effective up front.

In a deal every bit as surprising as the original swap, McSorley was shipped back to the Kings on February 16 as part of a four-player trade that included McEachern. But not before “the Hamilton Hammer” engaged Red Wings heavyweight Bob Probert in an epic 93-second battle for the ages. A tilt regarded by many as the greatest fight in NHL history.