With that, there have been 17 players to wear the #25 for the Pittsburgh Penguins. Those players are Darryl Edestrand, Robin Burns, Nick Beverley, Dennis Owchar, Greg Redquest, Tom Price, Current Maple Leafs coach Randy Carlyle, Kevin McCarthy, Norm Schmidt, the legend Kevin Stevens, Alex Stojanov, Dan Kesa (deer god), Jeff Norton, X Generation and Current Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin, Stanley Cup Hero Max Talbot, Eric Tangradi (again, Piece of shit..) and vanilla midget Andrew Ebbett.
This one was tougher than most to decide, but we decide to go with none other than the Superstar....
Max Talbot
Maxime Talbot was drafted by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 8th Round of the 2002 NHL Entry Draft. After he was drafted, he stayed in the QMJHL for two years with the Hull Olympiques and Gatineau Olympiques. He also participated for Canada in the 2004 WJC. After leaving Juniors, Max played the 2004-05 season in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and then split time in the 2005-06 season with the Baby Pens after making his NHL debut to start the season. Talbot scored 5 goals and 3 assists in 48 games that year. Some of you may remember his first NHL goal but here it is in case you forgot.
Mike Lange on TV. Miss that. What a goal though.
Talbot then scored 13 goals along with 11 assists the next year in a more regular role playing in 75 games. He was recalled 5 games into the season and stuck in Pittsburgh permantly and 4 of his 13 goals that season were shorthanded. Not much of Max Talbot prior to the 2007-08 season really sticks so here comes the fun part.
Talbot began the 2007-08 season scoring 4 goals in the first 5 games. We also remember Talbot for being the team prankster and he wore Crosby's jersey to an optional practice in Toronto and as dumb as some Canadians are, they actually believed it was Sid...
Talbot's heroics weren't recognized until the 2008 Cup Finals run.
He scored 3 goals and had 6 assists in 17 playoff games that season while he missed 4 games between the Ottawa and Philadelphia series' with a broken foot. Seriously what a playoff warrior.
Since the Penguins kind of destroyed everyone in the first 3 rounds that year, you may not remember a lot of that run but in the Stanley Cup Final, he scored one of the biggest goals in Penguins history during Game 5 in Detroit. In case you forgot, the Red Wings were up 3-2 with less than 2 minutes to go and up 3-1 in the Series. The fans were going nuts because the Wings were about to win the Cup, and then this happened..
What confidence by Michel Therrien to put Talbot on the ice at that moment. What a huge goal.
In case you forgot what happened later in that game.
HE CALLED HIS SHOT
Unfortunately, the Penguins would go on to lose Game 6 by a pube hair on a shot by Hossa.
Talbot ended up re-signing with the Penguins mid way during the 2008-09 season. Talbot played 75 games that year and scored 12 goals and 10 assists. He won't be remembered for what he did during the season as much as he did during the 2009 Cup Run.
Game 6. Round 1. Penguins at Flyers.
The Penguins lost Game 5 and were down 3-0 during Game 6 vs the Flyers and the Flyers had all of the momentum and it started to look like this was going to go 7, until Max Talbot stepped in.
Talbot suckered Carcillo into a stupid fight, got his dick beat in like Janay Rice in an elevator, and told the Flyers crowd to shut up. Edzo basically called what would happen after that. (Warning: First few minutes are tough and the guy who made the video is a degenerate)
Then you might remember this from the Stanley Cup Finals...
Hero.
Talbot finished the playoffs with 8 goals and 5 assists and was one of the most important players the Penguins had during that cup run. Had Malkin not put Cam Ward on Pornhub's Brutal Tube page, Talbot probably wins Conn Smythe trophy.
Talbot signed with the Flyers on July 1, 2011 and was traded to Colorado last year for current Penguin, Steve Downie.
Max Talbot played 388 regular season games as a Penguin. He scored 52 goals and 56 assists (108 points for those of you counting at home). Talbot was a -27 (he apparantly sucks) and registered 324 PIMs. Talbot also played in 66 playoff games as a Penguin scoring 14 goals and 19 assists. When Talbot left for Philly, the Penguins have never really replaced his locker room presence or what he brought to the team on the ice and it showed.
Max Talbot will always be a huge part of Penguins history.
Keep your head up tomorrow for #24.
Until then,
Go Pens
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