Wayne Bianchin

Wayne was a man who beat all the odds and scored close to 30 goals in a season in the NHL despite the fact that he had broken his neck in a surfing accident earlier on.

While surfing off Hawaii in the summer of 1974 Wayne fell into the water and was helplessly throwed around under the water by a giant wave. He hit his head so badly that he suffered a broken neck that required a fusion.

His hockey career looked to be over. As he tried to make a comeback he suffered from severe headaches that were almost unbearable.

"I'd get a headache from the slightest bit of tension or fatigue," he recalled. He was on medication to alleviate the pain. Wayne was on the brink to quit hockey. " I was on my way to pack it up. I loved the game, but there was only so much that you could tolerate."

The headaches eventually disappeared and Wayne could concentrate fully on hockey again. The speedy winger played his junior hockey for Kamloops, Calgary, Victoria and Flin Flon. During his final junior season in 1972-73 he scored a fine 114 points (60 goals and 54 assists) in 68 games. That led the Pittsburgh Penguins to draft him in 1973 as the 23rd player overall.

Wayne had a pretty good rookie season as he scored 25 points, including 12 goals, for Pittsburgh in 1973-74. He then had his surfing accident and slowly had to play himself in shape. It wasn't until the 1976-77 season before he was 100% again. He scored 2 goals and 1 assist for Pittsburgh on opening night and went on to have his best season in the NHL. Wayne had six two goal games and scored a total of 28 goals.

He was named the winner of the Bill McCracken Unsung Hero Award and also finished high in the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy for dedication and perserverance to hockey. When things were looking good again Wayne went down with back injuries that would hamper him for years. He managed to score 20 goals in 1977-78 despite missing over a month with a ruptured spinal disc.

Wayne's 1978-79 season wasn't too impressive and he was left unprotected by Pittsburgh in the 1979 expansion draft where he was picked up by the Edmonton Oilers.

Wayne himself was surprised that he was picked in the expansion draft. " missed 40 games. I didn't think anybody would take a chance on a guy who'd missed 40 games," he said.

Early on in the Oilers training camp he was struggling. He was very aware of that "I haven't got my strength and stamina yet and I may not have it for a month or so," he said back then.

The young and talented Oilers team made a deep impression on Wayne.

"For one thing, I wasn't expecting to see so much depth. We're going to have good players at every position."

Little did Wayne know that many of his Edmonton teammates would go on to build a dynasty team. Unfortunately Wayne never caught on and was scoreless in the 11 games that he played for Edmonton. He spent the rest of the 1979-80 season playing for the Oilers farm team Houston Apollos (CHL).

When Wayne got a phonecall from the Italian club HC Asiago he jumped on the opportunity to play in the country where he had his roots. Wayne scored more than two points per game (58 points in 28 games) for Asiago in 1980-81. Since his father was Italian he was eligible to play for the Italian national team right away. Dave Chambers (coach of Quebec 1990-92) coached the Italian national team at that time, invited Wayne to play for Italy in the 1981 B-Pool World Championships.Wayne scored 12 points in 7 games,including a tournament high 9 assists. He was named to the All-Star team and helped Italy advance to the A-Pool. After his Italian adventure he retired.

Wayne's own description of his playing style was summed up like this: " I like to play it physically. That's my game, I don't crunch people but I'm comfortable in the corners and I rely a lot on my speed."

Pittsburgh Penguins Greatest Players

Syl Apps Jr. Les Binkley Tom Barrasso Pat Boutette Michel Briere Andy Brown Dave Burrows Jay Caufield Paul Coffey Val Fonteyne Ron Francis Denis Herron Bryan Hextall Jr. Jaromir Jagr Rick Kehoe Battleship Kelly

Mario Lemieux Gilles Meloche Greg Millen Joey Mullen Larry Murphy Petr Nedved Jim Paek Frank Pietrangelo Duane Rupp Ron Schock Doug Shedden Kevin Stevens Peter Taglianetti Bryan Trottier Bugsy Watson

Duane Rupp

Duane Rupp was a player who definitely benefited from the NHL's decision to double its size through expansion in 1967.

After completing his final season of junior with the SJHL's Flin Flon Bombers, Rupp spent almost an entire decade in the minor leagues. In that time he played for 8 different teams, but only saw 9 games of NHL action with the Maple Leafs, most of those as a brief injury replacement. With the likes of Tim Horton, Allan Stanley, Carl Brewer and Bobby Baun leading the Leafs to multiple Stanley Cup championships, Rupp had little chance of cracking the line up.

He was considered much too slow to play in the big leagues. He was also considered to be too passive. He appeared to be a giant player, even though the was only 6'1" and 190lbs. The fans and coaches wanted him to be a mean son of a gun hitter and intimidator on the back line, but he had a long fuse and was not wired that way. When he was sufficiently provoked he could handle himself nicely, like the night he roughed up Bobby Orr, which only left fans and coaches longing for more.

But during his time in the minors Rupp became a very solid rearguard. Three times he was an AHL all star and he was a key member of a strong Rochester Americans team that won championships in the late 1960s.

When expansion came in 1967, Rupp found a job at the NHL level for the first time. He did not disappoint. Though he scored just 1 goal and 9 points, the 29 year old rookie was a very steady contributor.

The Minnesota North Stars claimed Rupp in the inter league draft prior to the 1968-69 season but by January traded him to the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for Leo Boivin.

In Pittsburgh Rupp enjoyed his best NHL playing days. A large reason for that was his coach. Leonard "Red" Kelly was one of the greatest defensemen the game has ever or will ever see, and he helped out Rupp with his game even more so. He even became the first defenseman in team history to score a hat trick.

Regardless of reliable play, he became a favorite of the Penguins boo-birds, due to his perceived lack of physicality. After the 1972-73 season Rupp was demoted to the minors, as the Pens looked to bring some youth in on their blueline. After one all star year with AHL Hershey Rupp returned to major pro hockey by signing with the Vancouver Blazers of the WHA. He would also spend a year in Calgary with the WHA.

In 1976-77 Rupp returned to the scene of his best days of pro hockey - Rochester New York. Rupp played in 41 games to round out his lengthy professional hockey career.

Rick Kehoe

When you think of the greatest players in Pittsburgh Penguins history the name Rick Kehoe has virtually vanished from memory. But there was a time when you could argue that Kehoe was the best Penguin of all time.

Kehoe played for the Pens from 1974 through 1984. The Pens teams of that time were noted as a high scoring team, with players like Pierre Larouche, Jean Pronovost and Syl Apps. The speedster Kehoe fit right in as he was a consistent 30 goal threat, topping out at 55 in 1980-81, setting team record since bettered by none other than Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr.

In his career Kehoe scored 371 goals and 767 points in 906 games in 14 seasons, including his first three seasons in Toronto. The two time all star game representative was once the Penguins leading scorer in franchise history.

Kehoe was a shoot-first type of player, blessed with a laser of a shot. He was also an incredibly clean player, picking up only 120 career penalty minutes. In the season where he scored 55 goals he only had 6 minutes in penalties, making him the obvious choice as the Lady Byng trophy winner.

Unfortunately for Kehoe, his Pittsburgh Penguins teams enjoyed very little team success. When they qualified for the playoffs, they were normally dismissed in the first round, and they certainly were never feared as a Stanley Cup contender. The team was weak defensively. Many of the players including Kehoe were not exactly known for their defensive expertise. It is too bad that poor team success can make the career of a good player like Kehoe almost completely forgotten.

Kehoe would be Mario Lemieux's first right winger upon 66's arrival in Pittsburgh in 1984-85, but the tandem was short lived. Late in the previous season Kehoe suffered a pinched nerve in his neck that caused chronic numbness in his right side. He would never fully recover, ultimately retiring in November of 1984, after trying to keep playing in just 6 games.

For much of the rest of that season Kehoe assisted the Penguins coaching staff. It surprised few that Kehoe got into coaching, as he really enjoyed running his instructional hockey schools during the off-seasons as a player. He would serve the Pens as a scout before becoming an official assistant coach in 1987. He held the job for 14 years, including the Penguins back to back Stanley Cup victories in 1991 and 1992. By 2001 Kehoe finally graduated to head coach of the Penguins, guiding the team through two lacklustre seasons.

Denis Herron

Did you know that Denis Herron was the first goaltender in NHL history to make team's roster out of training camp right after he was drafted? I know I certainly did not know that. That's pretty amazing for any goalie in any era, the list of goalies who have done that must be pretty small.

The Pittsburgh Penguins made the Chambly, Quebec born Herron a 3rd round pick, 40th overall, back in the summer of 1972. Only Bunny Laraque (6th) was drafted higher, with Mike Veisor, Gilles Gratton and Richard Brodeur also as goalies of note from that draft.

By October of '72 Herron was the starting goalie for the Penguins. Veteran Jim Rutherford temporarily had to make room for the hotshot who had an amazing training camp. Herron won his first two road starts of the season with shutouts against the New York Islanders and Vancouver Canucks.

Herron played in 18 games that season, posting a 6-7-2 record with 2 shutouts and a 3.41 GAA. Rutherford wrestled away the starting job, and the Pens sent Herron down to the farm team to finish the year. The maskless Andy Brown came in later in the season.

Despite the great start, Herron looked as though he would never fulfill his promise in Pittsburgh. He spent the next two seasons in the minor leagues, appearing in the NHL for only 8 games. By January of 1975 he was traded to the Kansas City Scouts for another goalie, Michel Plasse.

Herron headed to KC and got the ice time he needed to develop, albeit behind one of the worst NHL teams of all time. Herron played in 86 games over the next season and a half, sporting an unenviable record of 15-52-15 with a GAA near 4.00. Despite the less than flattering statistics, Herron won over some praise for his valiant efforts. Yet his reputation for a wandering level of concentration was beginning to spread.

Watching closely was his old team, the Pittsburgh Penguins. Realizing they may have been too impatient in dealing the young goalie away, the Pens reacquired Herron by signing him as a free agent in August 1976.

Despite a broken arm interrupting his season, Herron had a terrific 1976-77 season. He went 15-11-5 record with a 2.94 GAA, leading the Penguins into the NHL post-season.

Herron played two more full seasons in Pittsburgh, recording back to back 20 win seasons, returning the Pens to the playoffs each season.

For his at-times spectacular play, Herron was never blessed with the opportunity to play for a team that was not labelled as mediocre at best. That changed in 1979-80 when he had the amazing chance to go to Montreal in a trade for utility forward Pat Hughes.

Montreal was looking to shore up it's goaltending situation with the early retirement of superstar goalie Ken Dryden. Everyone knows that playing goal in Montreal is one of the most pressure filled situations in all of hockey. Try doing it as a) a Quebecois goalie and b) as Ken Dryden's replacement.

That was the situation facing Herron and Richard Sevigny, the two goalies brought in to do the job. By Montreal standards they put up adequate efforts, sharing the Vezina trophy in 1980-81 (also with Bunny Laraque), back when the trophy still went to the goaltender(s) of the team that allowed the fewest goals. The trophy was rechristened the next year for the goalie determined to be the best in the league, with the William Jennings trophy created for the fewest goals. Herron and Rick Wamsley topped that list in 1981-82.

Despite the strong defensive record, fans, media and management in Montreal expected more. None of the above four mentioned goalies could emerge as the Habs top goalie, with neither bringing any playoff success to their resumes.

Still playing in Montreal was a nice reprieve for Herron. His first year he went 25-3-3, and over three years he was 43-18-17. And he did not have to face Guy Lafleur. In three of Lafleur's 6 seasons where he scored 50 goals he notched the magical 50 goal mark against Herron.

Herron's legacy be the failed 1980 playoff series against Minnesota. The North Stars upset Montreal in seven games that year, ending Montreal's four consecutive years reign as Stanley Cup champions.

Prior to the start of the 1982-83 season Montreal traded Herron to, surprise, surprise, the Pittsburgh Penguins, gaining a 3rd round draft pick in 1985 in return. Herron would play three more seasons in the NHL, sharing the Penguins nets with the likes of Michel Dion and Roberto Romano.

Herron retired after the disastrous 1985-86 season. That year he was set back by a hand injury and played almost exclusively in the minor leagues trying to get his game back though it was clear his best days were behind him.

In 462 NHL games Denis Herron faced a lot of rubber. He posted a career record 146-203-76 with 10 shutouts and a high GAA of 3.70. He only got into 15 NHL playoff games, going 5-10 with a more respectable 3.33 GAA.

But do not judge Denis Herron by his statistics. They made be bad, but the teams he played on were usually worse.

After retiring Herron became involved in hotel management in Florida and the Caribbean.

Pat Boutette

Pat Boutette enjoyed a fine 10-year NHL career with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Hartford Whalers and Pittsburgh Penguins. Although he stood at just 5'8" and 175lbs, "Booter" was a feisty right winger who was as good a play maker as he was a goal scorer.

He enjoyed a solid collegiate career with the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers which prompted the Toronto Maple Leafs to select the Windsor, Ontario native in the ninth round of the 1972 Draft. Being drafted by the Leafs was a dream come true for Boutette.

Boutette did not debut in Toronto until 1975-76. He still had 2 years of University left and then apprenticed in the minor leagues for two seasons with the Oklahoma City Blazers.

Pat was part of what would have been a spectacular youth movement by the Leafs, except they ended up trading away most of their young stars. Boutette team with names like Sittler, McDonald and Williams but soon enough all would be shipped out of town. Boutette was a checker and penalty killer for the Leafs, often teaming up with the extremely physical line of Jerry Butler and Jim Jones.

In his first 4 season with the Leafs, Pat was a consistent 15 (or so) goal scorer and 35 point getter. However in his 5th campaign with the Leafs, which would prove to be his last, he slumped terribly picking up only 4 assists in 32 games. The bad start prompted the Leafs to trade him to Hartford where he finished the season strongly with 44 points in 47 games.

“When I went to Hartford, I hated to leave the Leafs and I think my heart is still with the Leafs,” he said. “But at least I got a chance to play a little more hockey and I think it extended my career by going on somewhere else.”

In fact, Boutette ended up enjoying his finest season in the NHL with the Whalers as he potted 28 goals, 52 assists and 80 points in his second year with Hartford. His stay in the Insurance City was short though. When the Whalers signed restricted Penguins free agent Greg Malone, the NHL announced both Pat and Kevin McClelland would go to Pittsburgh as compensation.

Pat would return to Hartford after 3 solid seasons in Pittsburgh, including a 74 point season. However when Boutette returned he was obviously near the end of his career, and in fact finished the season and his career in the minor leagues.

Boutette left the NHL with career totals of 171 goals, 282 assists and 453 points in 756 regular season games. In 46 career playoff contests, he had 24 points.

While he fulfilled his childhood dream to play for his beloved Leafs, his short tenure in Hartford proved to be one of his finest memories. He became more of an offensive player and had more ice time, plus he go to play with Dave Keon, Bobby Hull and Gordie Howe, all childhood idols of his.

Dave Burrows

Most people will agree that Bobby Orr is the best defenseman ever. But how about the best pure defensive defenseman? While there are a lot of candidates, one of them would have to be the heavily underrated and under appreciated Dave Burrows.

While Orr lit up the scoreboard during the 1970s, Burrows was busy preventing goals with the Pittsburgh Penguins and later the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Burrows wasn't a physically dominating, crease clearing blueliner. Instead he relied on a greater understanding of the game to be in perfect position no matter what scenario he was faced with. He was an expert shot blocker and above all else, was known as one of the best skaters of his time. He amazed many observers with his incredible speed and agility. Some felt he could skate faster backward than most could go forward.

"I took a lot of pride in being able to move laterally and backwards with great ease. It took a lot of practice, but it was something I enjoyed doing," he said.

"In fact, I used to get a big kick out of skating backwards on two-on-one breaks or one-on-one breaks against me when I was back on defense. It was a challenge trying to break up situations like that. I enjoyed that part of the game the most."

Growing up in Toronto, Burrows idolized the legendary defensive backliner Tim Horton.

"I can remember watching Tim play on TV when I was a kid, but I never patterned my style of play after him. I just admired the way he played defense."

Needless to say, it was greatly exciting for Burrows to join the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1971-72, a team that also featured Horton.

"The biggest thrill of my career was playing defense with Tim when we were together in Pittsburgh. I was in awe of the man. In fact, the first time I was introduced to him I didn't know what to say!

"And Tim wasn't afraid to give out advice or help. He helped me out with a lot of little things in my game. He's a man I'll never forget, I owe him a lot."

Unfortunately for Burrows and defensive minded rearguards like him during the 1970s, he received virtually no recognition. Bobby Orr revolutionized the way defensemen played the game. No longer were they on the ice to stop goals, but instead to create offense.

"I guess you would have to say it was tough getting any recognition with a guy like Bobby around" said Burrows. "But that really didn't bother me because I really didn't like getting a lot of attention. I just enjoyed my game."

Burrows greatly admired Orr too.

"Sitting back and watching a guy like Orr, you knew that he deserved to get all the awards he got. He could skate so well. And he was a good defensive defenseman. With the speed he had he could come back and cover up on some of the mistakes he made. To say the least, he was adept on defense. I wouldn't mind having him on my team. He was the best I ever saw.

Burrows retired from the National Hockey League in 1981. He scored just 29 goals in 724 games, but was one of the best in the league at his role.

In retirement Burrows went on to own a industrial maintenance business in Brampton Ontario where he did everything from lawn care to painting fences.

"I don't miss the game" he said years later. "I miss the guys and the fun we had. I really don't even follow the game that much today."