I agree he is past his prime… but he is still producing…he put up what like 62 points last season where 25 were goals??? That isnt amazing but good enough to hold a roster spot in the NHL.
yeah like I said I expect him to retire at the end of this season. Obvious I know. Lemieux stayed extremely long and so did Gretzky. All great Players. Recchi should have stayed in Pittsburgh his whole career he would have produced more (I think) even though his career stats are good. They should trade for better defense men.
Here is a awesome article in the post just thought I would post it:
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07177/797134-87.stm
Ron Cook: Roberts’ signing sends a signal
Roberts’ return a positive sign for Penguins
Tuesday, June 26, 2007By Ron Cook, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
We could examine the pitiful Pirates and general manager Dave Littlefield’s ridiculous contentions that their fundamentals are better and that the team really isn’t far off from being a contender, but where’s the fun in that? Why waste precious time on the hopeless? On such a beautiful summer morning, why be negative when there’s something so positive going on in our little corner of the sports world?
The Penguins.
Peter Diana, Post-Gazette photos
The signing of Gary Roberts and Mark Recchi, above, assure Penguins general manager Ray Shero of a successful offseason, although his work isn’t finished.
Click photo for larger image.Specifically, the Gary Roberts and Mark Recchi signings last week.
It’s great that Recchi is coming back for another season, even if it will be in a diminished role. The man knows how to win. Remember how Bryan Trottier was an important part of the Penguins’ Stanley Cup teams in the early '90s? He was a future hall of famer nearing the end of his career and served a valuable purpose as a third- or fourth-line player. That’s Recchi on the Penguins next season. A championship team needs a Recchi.
Certainly, a championship club needs a Roberts.
That signing was significant in many ways, none more so than what it said about the Penguins and the direction they are going. Ottawa was expected to make a big push for Roberts when free agency begins Sunday. He decided to stay with the Penguins because he liked their chances of winning the Cup better. The Senators played in the final last season.
Roberts also agreed to a one-year deal even though he probably could have received two years from Ottawa or another team. At 41, he knows that second season isn’t promised to him. He’s worried about winning now. He thinks the Penguins give him the best opportunity.
If Roberts believes that strongly, it makes it a lot easier for the rest of us to believe. Remember, he is a guy who had to be talked into waiving his no-trade clause to come to Pittsburgh last season by Mario Lemieux. Now, they can’t lure him away.
Everyone makes a big deal of the leadership Roberts provides to a young team, and rightfully so. Sidney Crosby thought so much of him and Recchi that he called both last month to make sure they were OK with him becoming, at 19, the youngest captain in NHL history. That’s respect.
It’s hard to imagine a better role model for young players than Roberts. His workout regime is legendary, to the degree that many of the Penguins made sure to get his cell phone number at the end of the season so they could make arrangements to join him this summer to train. Crosby spent a couple of days with him in Toronto earlier this month.
Gary Roberts is a guy who had to be talked into waiving his no-trade clause to come to Pittsburgh last season by Mario Lemieux. Now, they can’t lure him away.
Click photo for larger image.But it’s not so much Crosby, who also is maniacal about his conditioning, whom Roberts will help the most. It’s the Malkins and the Staals, the Whitneys and the Orpiks. Seeing how Roberts trains and what it has meant to his career has to rub off.
But don’t underestimate Roberts’ contributions on the ice. He won’t score 40 goals again, but he still can get in front of the net and cause chaos and pick up deflection and rebound goals. He also remains one of the NHL’s most punishing hitters. The lasting image of the Penguins’ series playoff loss to the Senators last season was him drilling defenseman Anton Volchenkov into the boards late in Game 5. Not many players would have delivered that hit with not just the game out of hand, but the series and season only seconds from ending.
“Just sending a message for next year,” Penguins defenseman Ryan Whitney noted that night, awe in his voice.
The Roberts and Recchi signings assure general manager Ray Shero of a successful offseason, although his work isn’t finished. When free agency begins, he will be looking to get a goal-scoring winger to play with Crosby and to upgrade his defense.
Shero is expected to proceed as the Steelers do and avoid the big free-agent deals. He has said he expects most of the Penguins’ improvement to come from within as their young players continue to grow. He also doesn’t want to do a five- or six-year deal with a player and be wrong, and have it hurt the team’s chances of keeping, say, Evgeni Malkin and Jordan Staal down the road.
That doesn’t mean Shero won’t be able to find a 25-goal scorer whom Crosby can turn into a 35-goal man. But as much as that goal-scorer would be nice, a tough defenseman is a much greater need. The Penguins scored 277 goals last season, third-most in the league. They can live with that total again. But they need to do better than Josef Melichar and Rob Scuderi on defense. Young Kristopher Letang, who brings a much-needed right-handed shot, is expected to take one of those spots, but he hardly seems like enough.
Shero has plenty to offer free agents even if it isn’t big dollars or a lot of years. He has Crosby and the team’s other great young talent, first and foremost. And now, fortunately, he has Roberts and his strong belief that wondrous things are just ahead for the franchise.
I went over to Southpointe yesterday to watch the Rookie Minicap, there weren’t really any players that truely stood out but yet again it is a conditioning camp. Our first rounder this year (Eposito) looked pretty decent and honestly if the kid focusses on the game I think he will have a good shot at being a starter this season. I can see how it could go the other way were he just pretty much gives up during camp—continues to suck and we never hear of him again lol.
As far as Recchi goes I agree Lemeiux and Gretzky both stuck it out probably a little bit longer than they should’ve. Its sorta one of those its better to burn out than fade away. I think towards the end of their careers it was somewhat sad to watch what once was one of the best players in the league, turn into a veteran player with nagging injuries effecting their abilities to perform to their expected levels. Recchi will most likely reach this point at some point during this season.
espisito look really fast when you saw him?
I wouldn’t say really fast—for his size he’s a pretty good skater. Keep in mind the reason why we were able to pick him up in the draft was because most teams lost interest because of his attitude/passion for the game. Like I said he’s either going to be a valuable asset or a bum in Wilkes Barre for the rest of his life.
I hope he becomes a valuable asset. As long as his attitude doesn’t get in the way of his game. They need to trade Rob Scuderi and Joseph Melichar for better defense men or something. We need a defense man that can play an aggressive point and clear the front of the net.
I agree…we were the 3rd highest scoring team in the league last year…think our young players should get better…we need to upgrade the D to go further this year.
Rob Scuderi and Joseph Melichar are probably the worst defensive pairing in the NHL. I would really like to see them let go—asap.
AWESOME article in the post today…it is Penguin mania…more than ever!!!
http://www.postgazette.com/pg/07179/797858-100.stm
Penguins halt season-ticket sales after breaking record
Thursday, June 28, 2007By Shelly Anderson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Because of demand that is about to reach the equivalent of a club-record 13,500 full-season ticket packages, the Penguins have stopped taking deposits for full- and half-season plans and have begun a waiting list for those plans, team president David Morehouse announced today.
The team wants to hold back some of the 16,940 seats at Mellon Arena for six- and 12-game plans, individual game tickets and for the student rush program.
The previous team record was 12,350 full-season ticket equivalents in 1992-93.
“We could continue to sell full- and half-season tickets at this point, but it’s very important to us to make Penguins tickets available to as wide a range of our fans as possible, so we’ve taken the unprecedented step of cutting off our full- and half-season ticket sales,” Morehouse said in a statement. “We are very close to 13,500 full-season equivalents, and we expect to reach that number in the near future as we work with a number of fans who previously placed season ticket deposits. But we still want to have tickets available for fans who can’t afford season tickets, or can’t commit to 21 or 43 games.”
Starting July 9, fans can join the waiting list with a $200 deposit per seat. Six- and 12-game miniplans will go on sale on or about Aug. 8.
Yes, lets trade some free agents of ours.
On a completely unrelated note, congrats to Ronnie Francis on being elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame!
locked up R Whitney. strong rumors of Kariya comin here…wow
looks like they got arena problems all ready
well they can always play on the southside
Pens locked up Whitney for 6yrs/$24 mil.
Also signed Petr Sykora and Darryl Sydor. I think that Sykora will be a sleeper signing, he has kinda dropped off the map since his days with New Jersey. Once he gets into the mix with our young guns, I think he will really shine again.
I REALLY REALLY wanted to see Paul Kariya come to Pittsburgh though but more interest in St. Louis (or more money).
I heard that…4 mil a year for 6 years…I dunno how I feel about those terms. I am impressed with him so far but that kind of money is what I would expect to sign a “proven” star…especially in today’s NHL with the cap and all. But he did put 59 points last year which is solid…lets hope he can continue to improve to make this deal worth while.
Also Ouellet signed with Tampa for 2.5 mil over 2 years…I think he should be worth that much. He made very good improvements last year.
Kariya to Pgh sure does sound sweet…figure he is a 25-30 goal a year man and should put up 70-80 points. Put him on Crosby’s line and he may even do a little better.
Kariya went to St.L but it was close. supposedly, really close. but we got Sykora and Sydor.
I think Darryl Sydor and Petr Sykora were pretty decent pickups…I’m a little disapointed at the situation w/Kariya but oh well.
ya, kariya has been suppsed to come here each time he was a free agent, since he left Anh. i figured it was happening for sure, this time. kinda dissappointed it didnt happen. oh and we got Sabourin back too, which basically means Thibault= bye bye
Why did they resign Rob Scuderi!!! What a waste…
Because they felt he was the best option out of the 3 free agent D’s they had (Scuderi, Melichar, and Nasreddine). I would of preferred they kept Nasreddine as the 7th defenseman, but I’m okay with Scuderi. Just please, no Joe Melichar.
This signing is basically just as protection in case Letang is not ready to play here right off the bat this season or in case of an injury because we damn well know Eaton is prone.
I figure the D lines should be…
Gonchar/Eaton
Whitney/Orpik
Letang/Sydor
Scuderi as the 7th who is mostly scratched unless an injury or rest thing happens.