14
The Penguins players who wore the number 14 jersey for the Penguins were Billy Dea, Rick Kessel, Ron Snell, Lowell MacDonald, Rene Robert, Wayne Binachin, Nick Libett, Doug Shedden, Dan Quinn, Chris Kontos, Bryan Erickson, Jock Callander, Gordie Roberts, Dave Tippett, Brad Lauer, Stu Barnes, Pat Falloon, Milan Kraft, Shane Endicott, Christopher Minard, and Chris Kunitz. We could've talked about current Penguin Chris Kunitz but it seemed like it would be much more fun to write about X-Generation hero....
Milan Kraft
Which Kraft is better?
Milan Kraft was the Penguin 1st round (23rd overall) pick in the 1998 NHL Entry Draft. Kraft spent 4 seasons in the Penguins organization. During those 4 seasons, he played in 207 games scoring 41 goals and 41 assists. He was rung up for 52 penalty minutes and was a (brace yourselves Matt Niskanen and +/- loving Penguins fans) -45 during those games. Kraft also played in 8 playoff games for the Penguins. He did nothing during those 8 games, no goals, no assists. He did receive a 2 minute penalty so there's that I guess.
There isn't to much to say about Milan Kraft. He played in Pittsburgh during the darkest days the Penguins have ever seen. I tried searching YouTube to find a video of some goal Kraft scored or anything Kraft did really, the results show just how irrelevant Kraft really was. If there is anything that can show you how relevant a professional athlete was/is, IMO, it is YouTube.
The first video is a goal Kraft scored against the Florida Panthers. The name of the video is "Dan LaCouture assists of Milan Kraft goal". Kraft can't even get his own YouTube video when he scores a goal. It looks like the video was uploaded by Rammer and the boys at EA Canada, brutal quality.
Still better quality that NHL 15
The second video is a goal someone scored on ESPN NHL 2K5. I can't put the video in the post for some reason so here is the link to the video. When one of the first and only things someone can find on your NHL career is a video of some goal your video game character scored, well, that should give you an idea of how that career went. One more thought on that video before we finish up with 14, of course, it still looks better than NHL 15 (#FireRammer).
13
Only a handful of players have worn the number 13 for the Pittsburgh Penguins. Those players are Jim Hamilton, Charlie Simmer, Assistant GM Bill Guerin, and Alex Goligoski. Goligoski sucked as a Penguin and we wouldn't be doing this right if we didn't talk about the legend of Billy G.
Billy G had a hell of an NHL career, but we're only going to talk about is year and a half with the Penguins. Guerin came to Pittsburgh in what may have been one of the best trades GMRS ever made. He sent a 3rd round pick to Garth Snow (LOL) for Guerin. Guerin was inserted on Sidney Crosby's line late in the 2008-9 season, and scored 5 goals and 7 assists in 17 games down the stretch. Guerin is most notably known for his role in the Stanley Cup playoffs. He played in 24 games scoring 7 goals and 8 assists while adding a veteran presence that the Penguins have lacked since he retired in 2010. Guerin also scored some big goals.
Chills.
Guerin also played in the 2009-2010 season with the Penguins scoring 21 goals and 24 assists in 78 games, not bad for a 39 year old. After the 2010 season, he couldn't catch on anywhere and decided to retire as a Penguin.
What a human.
Billy G was inducted into the US Hockey Hall of Fame. We cannot express how perfect Billy Guerin was as a Penguin and how big his role was on the 2009 Cup team. Without Guerin, the Penguins probably don't win the Cup. We're also glad that he has a large role within the organization currently.
12
Ken Schinkel, Blaine Stoughton, Kelly Pratt, Greg Malone, Mitch Lamoreux, Dean DeFazio, Tom O'Regan, Tom Toulston, Bob Errey, Larry Deplama, Troy Murray, Chris Wells, Richard Park, Sean Pronger, Martin Sonnenberg, Billy Tibbetts, Michal Sivek, Ryan Malone, Chris Bourque, Brett Sterling, Richard Park, Jarome Iglina, and Chuck Kobasew were the players to wear the number 12 for the Penguins.
To us, there was only one choice for number 12. Before we get to that, we need to give a few honorable mentions for number 12. We could never forget Chris "HGLP" Bourque or Jarome "The Left Winger" Iginla. Don't think we forgot about you either, Ryan "Gimme dat Coke" Malone or Bob "Between the Benches" Errey. All of those heros would've been fantastic choices, but they all stood no chance against this guy....
Billy Tibbetts
Billy Tibbetts was an undrafted player who got his first chance at NHL hockey with the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Penguins gave him a chance despite some pretty legit legal issues (We'll get into that in a little bit). Tibbetts ended up spending the 2000-2001 and 2001-2002 seasons in Pittsburgh. He played in 62 games, scoring 2 goals, 7 assists, and registering an incredible 188 PIMs (!!!!!!). What a player.
As stated earlier, Billy Tibbetts was brought into the NHL despite all the legal issues in his past. Tibbets plead guilty to statutory rape of a 15 year old girl in 1994 (the incident happened in 1992, Tibbets was 17). Somehow Tibbetts was only on probation for the rape case as the judge gave him a "suspended sentence". I'm not a legal person so I have no clue what that is (I'm guessing it has something to do with serving time while the rest of the case was being settled?). Regardless, during his time on probation, he was convicted of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, disorderly conduct, and witness intimidation. Don't know exactly what happened but apparently Tibbetts thought it would be a good idea to shoot someone with a BB gun. Obviously, those charges violated his probation, and because of that and the rape incident, Tibbetts spent 39 months in prison. Tibbet's also became a registered sex offender and therefore his playing career in Canada came to an end since he was no longer permitted into the country. According to a few articles I checked out, Tibbets was arrested 6 times between 1992 and 1995, who the hell knows what else he did. Looking back on all that now, how in the world did the Penguins sign him? People are jammed at NFL and the Ray Rice and AP stuff... could you imagine a guy with that history getting signed now? Goodnight Moon.
I somehow have never heard about piece of gold of this until just today, no clue if it true or not, but I saw the story on several other sites as well.
Unreal story if true
We all love 66 as much as anyone, but Tibbett's might need his jersey retired if this really did happen. The other sites I saw the story on stated that Tibbets was sitting in one of the front seats (I guess the front seats are the seats the veteran players usually take. Tibbetts obviously, was not a veteran player. That's where the issue began). Tibbett's Penguins career didn't last longer after this if it did happen. I saw people saying he was sent down to the AHL the next day and that he was cut completely not long after this apparently took place. Such a bizarre story... What kind of cheeseburger are we talking? Highly doubt there was bacon on it, no way anyone wastes a bacon cheeseburger. Where did the cheeseburger come from? You would think a professional hockey player would want to eat something better than a cheeseburger after a game. What did 66 do/say right after in happened? Could you imagine Tibbetts scoring a goal in a Penguins uniform during a Big Mac Attack? If Beau Bennett was in 66's shoes at the time, how much time does he miss due to the cheeseburger hitting him? So many questions so few answers.
Tibbets also scored a goal that was, IMO, the greatest goal in hockey history the greatest goal in sports history. The goal came when he was playing in the SPHL for the Huntsville Havoc. When I found this on YouTube for the first time, it was like hitting the lottery.
dfdskjskjsflkdsjfslkdlkjdslkfsjflk
Absolutely unreal. The goal starts off with one of the most ungodly toe drags of all time. Backhand city. Tucked It.
100% chance that defencemen retired after that shift
What really sets this goal above everything else is what Tibbetts did after he scored. No clue why he had an issue with the backup goalie, but he went straight the the opposing teams bench and gave him a stare down that would scare Gary Roberts.
My god
He wasn't done yet, what came next was probably the greatest moment of Billy Tibbet's career. He lines up for the faceoff and gave one final wave to the goalie.
Greatest player of all time
The backup goalie was never the same.
What an unreal sequence
Tibbetts also spent time in Philly and New York (Rangers) in addition to play for a large list of minor league teams. In 2007, Tibbetts got in trouble with the law again when he decided to go all GTA, as he led police on not one but two high speed police chases that year. No clue where Billy Tibbetts is now, other than in that goalies nightmares, but the Pens need to find him and make him Crosby's winger.... What a player.
11
Gene Ubriaco, Tracy Pratt, Nick Harbaruk, Bernie Lukowich, Vic Hadfield, John Flesch, George Ferguson (no relation to the police riots in Ferguson, MO), Anders Hakansson, Tim Tookey, Rocky Saganiuk, Troy Loney, Alain Lemieux, Lee Giffin, Dwight Mathiasen, Warren Young, John Cullen, Legend Darius Kasparaitis, Shawn Antoski, Alexandre Daigle, Lasse Pirjeta, Guillame Lefebvre, and Jordan Staal all have worn the number 11 for the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Quick honorable mention to Darius Kasparaitis for being the 2nd greatest Penguin to don the #11.
One of the biggest goals in Penguins history.
But this wouldn't seem right if we didn't write about Jordan Staal.
Jordan Staal was drafted 2nd overall by the Penguins in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft (yes over Jonathan Toews). Staal made his NHL Debut as an 18 year old in 2007 and came on to the scene fast. Staal scored his first NHL goal, which was shorthanded against the Rangers.
As a rookie, Staal scored 7 shorthanded goals, which is still a record by a rookie in the NHL. Over his first 4 seasons, Staal was the most durable Penguin missing only 1 regular season game from 2007-2010.
Fast forward to the playoffs because that's what we do here, he scored 3 goals in the 2006-07 playoffs as a rookie and 6 on the Cup finals run in 2007-08. But we're gonna remember what Jordan Staal did in 2009.
It was Game 4, 2009 Stanley Cup Finals. Detroit was leading the series 2-1 and the Game 2-1 about half way through the 2nd period. The Penguins had just taken a penalty when this happened...
To this day, Brian Rafalski still has no idea where Jordan Staal is/was/or came from. That goal tied it and then lead to a Malkin to Crosby One T to make it 3-2 just 1:59 later. After the Crosby goal, this happened....
Without Jordan Staal, the Penguins may not win 4-2. Brian Rafalski still doesn't know where Jordan Staal is.
Fast forward to Game 6. Penguins down in the series 3-2 after an embarassing loss in Detroit in Game 5. Game is tied 0-0, beginning of the second period. Jordan Staal makes this happen....
Then in the 3rd period of that game, Tyler Kennedy did this....
Whenever the game was on the line or the Penguins needed a momentum shift, they always turned to Jordan Staal, and Jordan Staal delivered. People question Shero drafting Staal over Toews, but my guess is, if you take Toews over Staal, you don't get this...
Ray Shero traded Jordan Staal on Draft Day 2012 (Also Staal's wedding day) due to the two sides unable to come to an agreement on a contract and Jordan wanting to play with his brother in Carolina. Shero received Brandon Sutter, Brian Dumoulin, and a 1st Round Pick (Derrick Pouliot) for Staal. Staal finished his Penguin career (to this point) playing in 431 games scoring 120 goals (13 shorthanded) and 128 assists. Staal was the perfect third line player for the Penguins during his tenure here.
Sidenote: Staal broke his leg in the Preseason recently in Carolina and we wish him nothing but the best.
10
Earl Ingarfield, George Swarbrick, Keith McCreary, Robin Burns, Ted Snell, Pierre LaRouche, Peter Lee, Gary Rissling, THE Bob Errey, Wayne Babych, Ron Duguay, Dan Quinn, Barry Pederson, Ron Francis, X-Generation hero Ville Nieminen, John LeClair, GARY ROBERTS, Mark Lestestu, Tanner Glass, Branden Morrow, and German superstar defenseman who despised Buffalo (can't blame him), Christian Erhoff. There's some solid names in this group of players to wear the 10 sweater including LaRouche, Rissling, Francis, Errey and obviously Mark Lestestu. However, no one is worth mentioning more so than WWGD (What would Gary Roberts Do). What a hero.
Gary Roberts. WWGD. Legend. Has a song about him. Has many memes and mentions including his name. What exactly made Gary the Pittsburgh legend he is? We could go on and give you the long narrative of how Roberts was drafted in the 1st round (12th overall) during the 1984 NHL Entry Draft, but that's boring. Let's start here. Roberts was acquired by the Penguins on February 27, 2007 in exchange for prize possession X-Generation defenseman Noah Welch (lololololo). Lemieux and Shero (#sHERO) had to convince Roberts to sign after having a 40 point season with Florida the year before. Luckily, like most logical hockey players and fans he realized Florida sucked and was going down faster than Penn State after the scandal.
Roberts was a locker room presence that provided leadership in a time where the Penguins struggled to find it. Roberts finished the 06-07 season with the Penguins recording 7 goals and 6 assists for 13 points (dooooo math). Roberts helped the Penguins reach the playoffs for the first time in six years, even though they were eliminated in the first round because Penguins. Although it was pre-Bylsma so they probably tried to make adjustments and #GetToOurGameBetter.
Here's a career montage of Gary Roberts ending people's careers.
During the 2007-2008 season, Roberts basically had ebola and was Goodnight Moon most of the season. He had a viral infection then broke his fibula during the Sabres and played in 38 games throughout the season. However, Roberts showed up in the playoffs as he set a record as he was the oldest player (41 years 322 days) in NHL history to record more than one goal in a post-season game, like what a warrior. During the 07-08 playoffs, Roberts appeared in 11 games recording 2 goals and 2 assists. This does not relate to the playoffs but Roberts has a career 910 PIMs in 1,224 games. Which is pretty cool tbh. Roberts was not known for his goal scoring despite his 40 point season in Florida. Roberts was known for crucifying other players, being a locker room guy and standing up for the team. Under Bylsma, Roberts would have been benched indefinitely and Craig Adams would have talked mad shit on him while having #CoffeeWithTheCoaches. It didn't really matter what you thought of Gary Roberts as a player, because if you're a Sidney Crosby fan, just know Roberts was protecting him. Roberts went to the Lightning for a draft pick on June 28, 2008. Basically he was hurt again and yea... But honestly, what a warrior. He originally retired from Calgary once due to a neck injury but then he was like F That and came back. So, what you've learned is that Gary Roberts is a hero to us all. I wish I could say stay tuned tomorrow to see who number 9 is, but lately we can't guarantee that. So honestly, just keep your head up (HAHAHA Marc Savard joke) for posts in the coming day or week. 
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