Penguins Update: The Sheriff Rides Off Into the Sunset

With the news that former NHL heavyweight champ and Penguins enforcer Ryan Reaves recently hung up his skates, I thought I’d go ahead and do my annual ramble about the importance of toughness while weaving the two stories together.

For those of you who wonder why I’m so obsessed with the grittier aspect of the sport, I cut my hockey teeth back in the lawless days of the 1970s, which was roughly akin to the wild American west of the late 1800s.

Back then, hit squads like the Blues of Plager Brothers fame (or infamy), Bobby Orr and the Animals (aka the Bruins), and especially Philly’s Broad Street Bullies routinely beat the stuffin’ out of smaller, more benign teams like our Pens. In the process, triggering an NHL arms race that continued to escalate through the ‘80s and ‘90s and on into the early 2000s.

Indeed, for every Wayne Gretzky you had a Dave Semenko, Marty McSorley and Kevin McClelland riding shotgun. (The latter two former Pens.) For Steve Yzerman, the infamous “Bruise Brothers,” Bob Probert and Joey “KO” Kocur served as guardians. It took a while for Mario Lemieux to be afforded the same level of protection, but eventually warrior winger Rick Tocchet and, briefly, McSorley, were on hand to look after his well-being.

If you say the game has changed since then, you’re right—sort of. Although there’s been a recent spike, fighting has generally been on the wane for the last decade or so. We’re experiencing less of the “staged” fights between heavyweights that were once so prevalent.

However, that doesn’t mean toughness isn’t important or that teams don’t need to fend for themselves. Since the Pens won those back-to-back Stanley Cups by playing a fast, clean style, the majority of the Cup champions including the Capitals (’18), Blues (’19), Lightning (’20 & ’21), Golden Knights (’23) and Panthers (’24 & ’25) have featured a physical element. Especially Florida, who in many ways are a throwback to those nasty Flyers of yesteryear.

As for the champions that played closer to the vest, the ’22 Avs and last season’s Hurricanes? They were still capable of handling the rough going. Indeed, the ‘Canes made it a point to acquire veteran heavyweight Nicolas Deslauriers at last spring’s trade deadline.

Even the Ivory Soap Pens eventually saw a need. After watching Sidney Crosby get knocked out of our second-round series with the Caps in ’17 courtesy of a combination Alex Ovechkin high-stick, Matt Niskanen cross-check, then-GM Jim Rutherford had seen enough. To say nothing of Blue Jackets disturber Brandon Dubinsky flooring Sid with a cross-check and then breaking his stick over our captain’s back for good measure.

Enter Reaves.

On June 23, 2017, GMJR acquired his services from the Blues for a first-round pick and Oskar Sundqvist. While admittedly a steep price to pay, the Pens were getting the toughest of the tough, the capo dei capi of NHL enforcers.

In only his third game with the black-and-gold, Reaves displayed his wares. In a Stanley Cup Final rematch, he pounded out decisions over Preds’ toughies Austin Watson and Cody McLeod and dished out seven hits in only 6:23 of ice time. Scored a goal to boot.

Alas, the colorful heavyweight and Pens coach Mike Sullivan were not a match made in hockey heaven. Sully preferred his teams to shrug off the rough stuff and turn the other cheek, hence his “Just Play” mantra. He restricted Reavo’s ATOI to a paltry 6:45, the lowest of any of the big guy’s NHL stops.

Following a string of healthy scratches, the handwriting was on the wall. After just 58 games in a Pens’ jersey, Reaves was dealt to the Golden Knights for the proverbial bag of used pucks.

What he couldn’t do in the ‘Burgh he was free to do in Vegas. With the restraining bolts removed, the burly 225-pounder became an effective fourth-line hammer, not to mention holy terror on the forecheck, delivering a whopping 696 hits and notching 17 goals over a two-plus-season span. In the process helping his new team reach the Final in ’18.

Along the way, Reaves punked Capitals marauder Tom Wilson on at least two separate occasions, once with a blind-side hit and the other with a gloved punch to the mush. The same Tom Wilson who arguably turned the Pens-Caps series in ’18 by steamrollering and making road-kill of rookie forward Zach Aston-Reese.

The Pens soon returned to their Milquetoast ways. After literally getting elbowed out of the ’22 postseason by Jacob Trouba the Rangers, who Reaves happened to play for, we faded from playoff contention.

During that same span, the aging Reaves became a vagabond of sorts, drifting from the Rangers to the Wild, Maple Leafs and last season San Jose, where he rode shotgun for Macklin Celebrini and the Sharks’ young stable of hopefuls. Although his effectiveness as a player waned, he remained on a short list of the NHL’s premier pugilists. An intimidating presence to the end.

On September 16, after 16 NHL seasons, 962 regular-season games and some 90 fights including the postseason, “The Sheriff” announced he was riding off into the sunset, much like his great-great-great-grandfather and real-life lawman Bass Reeves (different spelling) once did.

Okay, so maybe Reaves wouldn’t have helped the Pens recapture the Stanley Cup had he stayed. But we would’ve been a lot more entertaining and fun to watch.

Infinitely tougher, too.