30 Days of Hockey Meme -- Day Two -- Favorite Player(s)
See this fine specimen of man?
That's him now, but this pic is more appropriate:
Allow me to introduce you to my favorite player, Ron Francis. As I mentioned in my first entry, the moment I name a Penguin as my favorite, the Hockey Gods place a target on the poor man's back. He either gets seriously injured, traded away, or lost to free agency.
(An aside here: this is why you will never find me fave'ing another active Penguin. And don't blame me for our team's medical woes this season! I didn't fave any of them!)
Ronnie came to us via what has been called The Greatest Trade In The History Of The Penguins. We gave up some spare parts for Ronnie and Ulf Samuelsson, and then promptly won back-to-back Cups. Oh, man. Did I love to watch him skate... He had the oddest one shoulder down, lumbering style. You always knew without looking at his number who was streaking up ice with the puck.
Of course, I believed that the Pens would never allow the best two-way forward in the game to walk over money -- especially when Mario was such an injury magnet. But let him walk they did. Broke my heart when he signed with his old team, the Carolina Hurricanes (the former Hartford Whalers).
Over the years, I have come to see that it was absolutely the right move for him. Almost from Day One, he was groomed to have a lifetime role with the team. It's my personal belief that GM Jim Rutherford (also a former Pen!) hired Ronnie as GM-in-training.
(Oh, and mark my words, Jordan Staal is the future Ron Francis.)
That's him now, but this pic is more appropriate:
Allow me to introduce you to my favorite player, Ron Francis. As I mentioned in my first entry, the moment I name a Penguin as my favorite, the Hockey Gods place a target on the poor man's back. He either gets seriously injured, traded away, or lost to free agency.
(An aside here: this is why you will never find me fave'ing another active Penguin. And don't blame me for our team's medical woes this season! I didn't fave any of them!)
Ronnie came to us via what has been called The Greatest Trade In The History Of The Penguins. We gave up some spare parts for Ronnie and Ulf Samuelsson, and then promptly won back-to-back Cups. Oh, man. Did I love to watch him skate... He had the oddest one shoulder down, lumbering style. You always knew without looking at his number who was streaking up ice with the puck.
Of course, I believed that the Pens would never allow the best two-way forward in the game to walk over money -- especially when Mario was such an injury magnet. But let him walk they did. Broke my heart when he signed with his old team, the Carolina Hurricanes (the former Hartford Whalers).
Over the years, I have come to see that it was absolutely the right move for him. Almost from Day One, he was groomed to have a lifetime role with the team. It's my personal belief that GM Jim Rutherford (also a former Pen!) hired Ronnie as GM-in-training.
(Oh, and mark my words, Jordan Staal is the future Ron Francis.)