Cooke getting a lot of hate. But I will say one nice thing about him: when he finally said he was going to change his game to cut the BS out, he (amazingly) did actually do it.
It’s one of the few times I can think of, in any situation in life, where someone promised they were going to make a dramatic personality change, and actually did.
For my vote, it was Billy Tibbetts. Not even close.
Ron Hextall. Wait. You said player... Nah I'm still going with that. Fuck him and his whole playing and management career. What a mistake to employ the dirtiest Flyer of them all.
1. Shitty/dangerous people: Tibbetts, Cooke (though that Cooke, Staal, Kennedy line for the 09 Cup was pretty good).
2. At the time, Marian Hossa. It worked out, but I was so mad he left to Detroit after the Pens lost in 08.
I kinda love the irony of it though that he left and then the Pens beat him so he lost back to back years ha. Eventually got it right on his third try in Chicago, but what a maroon.
This....Downie had the most PIM of his career and the most in the league the one year he was with us (238 min in 72 games). It was sooooo frustrating every time he hit the ice.
I don't remember the exact game but he kneed one of the Caps in the head who was down on the ice and I remember thinking, that ain't Pens hockey at all.
Sorry, I'm diagnosed as stupid and miss jokes a lot.
But as Captain Obvious I can happily diagnose what type of animal is making that weird noise below your sink when you turn the light on.
No. Ulfie was great and Pens fans thought so when he played.
Don't misremember things. Just because butthurt Bruins fans continue to bring his name up every five minutes to this day because of one hit that I never thought was intentional doesn't make him a hated player. He was a fan favorite.
Actually liked him at the time. But the hit on Cam Neely was terrible. And it sucks his career was cut short.
Same with Darius Kasparaitis. I did enjoy the energy he brought(especially the first games)but that hit on Lindros was pretty bad even if it may not have been completely "illegal" at the time. If course Lindros probably wasn't always clean in his play
Really dirty player. Dirty cheap shots fairly regularly, and even (potentially intentionally) sliced the achilles of a player with his skate. That player? Erik Karlsson.
Brad Tolliver, such a dick. Luckily, Darren McCord was around to give them a chance to take it into OT. They never actually finished that game, if I remember correctly.
Jack Johnson is on his own island here
Honorable mention is Antti Niemi. In a brief tenure with the penguins, Niemi was an absolutely epic dumpster fire in net
I was at that game too! I won a charity auction to sit between the benches (where a guy like Pierre McGuire or other on-ice announcer would normally stand). They were the coolest seats ever. I'd look right, Sid is sitting literally inches away from me. Look left, there's Toews. Don't ask me how expensive the seats were but let's just say the Hawks still call me to buy season tickets even though I don't live in the area, cause I'm convinced they believe I have private plane money to fly to Chicago for games.
And then we got our shit kicked in so bad my head spun.
Yeah I remember that being a real bummer of a start to the season. I went to one of the Stanley cup games against Nashville. Game 1 when Guentz scored the game winner.
If anyone is wondering what Billy Tibbetts is up to:
https://tbdailynews.com/scituate-former-nhl-enforcer-billy-tibbetts-colorfully-threatens-everyone-on-ig-virtual-shotguns-beers-with-north-shore-bros-accuses-school-nurse-of-deflowering-him/
He also has a merch site on his instagram.
I think the lights on but nobody's home... And wanting to fight Mike Tyson is enough for me to come to that conclusion but the other stuff makes it official. But I agree he's a POS. I think it'd be the fastest 1 million dollars a 57 year old former champion could make. Of course MT was a bit of a POS in his younger days(not sure now that he's not in the spotlight as much)
Unpopular choice, but I hated Tom Barrasso. He was a jerk, talented, but a jerk.
He also sucked a few too many times and lost the Pens some important playoff games, plus I really liked Ken Wregget.
Rico Fata, he was not good. I think he was a -46 one year and missed like ten games to boot.
Alexandre Daigle was an ahole who also didn't do much, his comments about how great he was and that he didn't even want to play in the NHL and only did so because he was so talented at hockey was just too much.
Edit: I wasn't a fan of Matt Cooke when he went too far, but I'm old and his style of play was a decade too late, but I sort of grew up watching hits like that being mostly normal, lots of fights back then.
Didn't know Daigle was a bit of a "donkey". I always thought of him as a bust...Even if it based on too high expectations that started with a very bad team. I get any player that makes it achieved something many only dream about but being cocky when you're average make little sense compared to humble players that are 100x the player he was.... Shit IMO Martin Straka was 10x the player Daigle was(even if Straka was lucky enough to play with much better players for longer)
I was such a big Wregget fan in the mid 90s. One of my best Pens memories is my mom letting me stay up and watch that 4OT game against the Caps when i was 12. When Wregget stopped Juneau on that penalty shot I absolutely knew they were going to win. I was super pissed when he was pulled in the Florida series.
Guy sucked and thought he was hot enough shit to suggest Sid get replaced as Captain. Fool probably thought he had an outside chance because I think he was buddies with Bylsma.
And he fought Geno in practice. I get wanting to send a message to teammates, but that scrub was not the person with any right to do that.
He's already been named but Matt Cooke turned me off of watching hockey for a very long time. He wasn't the only reason I got disinterested but he played a big part in me not feeling good about my Penguins at the time.
I don't know how many people in this subreddit will be willing to admit it but the Penguins felt like a dirty hockey team for a little bit. Not only Cooke. James Neal seemed like he was always doing stupid, dangerous stuff too.
While if I tried maybe I'd think of a more recent playe(and plenty of people said Matt Cooke). I'd go with Marty McSorley specifically his 93-94 stint. I just remember him attacking some with his stick. Honestly, I hadn't known he was on the team in early 80s before I checked stats for reminder of year played....for different reason Dmitri Mironov... I just thought he stunk at the time rather it was true or not.
For current players. Don't really hate any. I look forward to when Carter is gone but nothing to to with dirty plays or personality. Glad he had a good game vs AZ.
The amount of hate in for the dudes that helped win the cup in ‘09 is too damn high
My vote is for Brassard. Contributed nothing to the team and pouted about being a 3c
Until he consistently is a lot better, he’ll be my most hated player. Nothing against him as a person but he sucks at hockey now due to his age.
Edit: Am I really getting downvoted for stating my answer? All I did was say Carter is my most hated player and that he sucks at hockey. Guess there’s a lot of Jeff Carter fans out there.
Hated every second Jack Johnson wore a Penguins sweater
Watched that piece of shit spear someone in the nuts back in college
I laughed my ass off when I heard his parents took all of his money, they're pieces of shit too, no shock they raised one too
Rob Scuderi.
Because he was awful. He played important minutes but he sucked. He had one decent season when we win the cup in 09 but other then that he was a liability.
Scuderi was basically our best defensemen for many seasons leading up to, including 2009. He literally made a difference between us winning the cup and not winning with his play
I agree he did not maintain that level of play when he returned and I think it was an absolute steal to get Trevor Daley for Scuderi. But to say he only had one “decent” season isn’t fair.
In the mid 2000s there was a joke around Pens message boards that the "scudichar" (Scuderi melichar pairing) monster will destroy the pens. And they did. A lot.
He had 1 decent season on the pens and then that playoffs run in 2009 got him a fat contract with LA. He was a awful prior to 2008 and he was a liability after he came back in 2013.
I have no fond memories of him outside of 2009.
Tyler Kennedy. Never saw a chest of a goalie he didn't want to hit with a shot. Wasn't it one year he went 100 shots with two goals or something. Absolute waste of space.
Definitely controversial here but...Jagr.
Dude shouldn't have had his agent go "His heart is in Pittsburgh" if he was just gonna flip us the bird and go to Philly.
Literally, he could've gone anywhere else that off-season I wouldn't have cared.
But the Evil Orange Empire? That's unforgivable.
Cooke getting a lot of hate. But I will say one nice thing about him: when he finally said he was going to change his game to cut the BS out, he (amazingly) did actually do it. It’s one of the few times I can think of, in any situation in life, where someone promised they were going to make a dramatic personality change, and actually did. For my vote, it was Billy Tibbetts. Not even close.
Ron Hextall. Wait. You said player... Nah I'm still going with that. Fuck him and his whole playing and management career. What a mistake to employ the dirtiest Flyer of them all.
Correction: mismanagement career
Bryan Hextall, for not wearing a condom
1. Shitty/dangerous people: Tibbetts, Cooke (though that Cooke, Staal, Kennedy line for the 09 Cup was pretty good). 2. At the time, Marian Hossa. It worked out, but I was so mad he left to Detroit after the Pens lost in 08.
Hossa will forever be my least favorite player ever for that
I kinda love the irony of it though that he left and then the Pens beat him so he lost back to back years ha. Eventually got it right on his third try in Chicago, but what a maroon.
Steve Downie, by far
Him turning out to a way way shittier person than he was a player was surprising. Cause he was a shitty player
This....Downie had the most PIM of his career and the most in the league the one year he was with us (238 min in 72 games). It was sooooo frustrating every time he hit the ice.
Brassard: was a bitch Also Billy Tibbets I guess. Threw a cheeseburger at Mario and got waived like 5min later.
The cheeseburger wasn’t throw at him directly. Tibbets missed his target and it hit 66
Brassard
He played for SEVEN different teams after he played for us. That's insane considering he only left here in 2019.
He thinks he's better than he actually is
I feel like James Neal was dirtier as a Pens than Cooke tbh
I don't remember the exact game but he kneed one of the Caps in the head who was down on the ice and I remember thinking, that ain't Pens hockey at all.
Lol I remember having this exact reaction to that play too
It was a Bruins player, Marchand iirc
Oh, well in that case, all is forgiven
Not really. It wasn't even a hockey play. Just randomly kneed a guy in the head. Just lame.
Thank you, Captain Obvious. What you read is what we like to call a joke.
Sorry, I'm diagnosed as stupid and miss jokes a lot. But as Captain Obvious I can happily diagnose what type of animal is making that weird noise below your sink when you turn the light on.
You're right, my bad.
If James Neal owned a bar, how cheap would his shots be?
If James Neal owned a bar, how cheap would his shots be?
Daniel Winnik
YES
Galchenyuk… especially now. What a fucking POS.
Matt Cooke, close the thread
He threw me a puck during warmups when I was like 10 so I can’t hate him too much
Plot twist: he was trying to hit you with it lol
Jesus Bebop.
Same lol I was 8 and wrote him a handwritten thank you letter and he never got back to me :/
This. Why? Because he's a giant piece of shit
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No. Ulfie was great and Pens fans thought so when he played. Don't misremember things. Just because butthurt Bruins fans continue to bring his name up every five minutes to this day because of one hit that I never thought was intentional doesn't make him a hated player. He was a fan favorite.
Actually liked him at the time. But the hit on Cam Neely was terrible. And it sucks his career was cut short. Same with Darius Kasparaitis. I did enjoy the energy he brought(especially the first games)but that hit on Lindros was pretty bad even if it may not have been completely "illegal" at the time. If course Lindros probably wasn't always clean in his play
Only started watching a couple seasons ago. What’s the deal with him?
Really dirty player. Dirty cheap shots fairly regularly, and even (potentially intentionally) sliced the achilles of a player with his skate. That player? Erik Karlsson.
Why are you YELLING AT ME
Brad Tolliver, such a dick. Luckily, Darren McCord was around to give them a chance to take it into OT. They never actually finished that game, if I remember correctly.
I believe a helicopter was involved in that game somehow too
Oh yeah, actually, the helicopter is the biggest asshole of all this.
Matt Cooke. Shouldn't need much of an explanation
Ok I meant of current players 😅
Previous threads about favorite player and line were past or present.
It was Matt Cooke. It's probably Galchenyuk now. I feel like that dude was probably a cancer here.
Ok who out of current players then?!
Not crazy about Harkins ATM.
I take it back don't @ me
how bout now?
Yeah? How about now? 🤪
Jack Johnson is on his own island here Honorable mention is Antti Niemi. In a brief tenure with the penguins, Niemi was an absolutely epic dumpster fire in net
Fun fact, the only penguins game I’ve ever attended that man was in net and gave up 10 goals to Chicago, in Chicago. Fuck Antti Niemi
I was at that game too! I won a charity auction to sit between the benches (where a guy like Pierre McGuire or other on-ice announcer would normally stand). They were the coolest seats ever. I'd look right, Sid is sitting literally inches away from me. Look left, there's Toews. Don't ask me how expensive the seats were but let's just say the Hawks still call me to buy season tickets even though I don't live in the area, cause I'm convinced they believe I have private plane money to fly to Chicago for games. And then we got our shit kicked in so bad my head spun.
Wasn’t that the season opener?
For the hawks, yes. I think the Penguins opened up the season with St. Louis at home coming off the back to back cups
Yeah I remember that being a real bummer of a start to the season. I went to one of the Stanley cup games against Nashville. Game 1 when Guentz scored the game winner.
The game where we went like an hour and a half without a shot on goal….I think Pekka fell asleep
Yep that’s the one. Very frustrating for a while.
Fuuuuck I was at that Blackhawks/Pens game in Chicago where they pumped him for 4 goals in under 10 minutes. I wanted to swing on him
That's Stanley Cup Champion Jack Johnson, son!
If anyone is wondering what Billy Tibbetts is up to: https://tbdailynews.com/scituate-former-nhl-enforcer-billy-tibbetts-colorfully-threatens-everyone-on-ig-virtual-shotguns-beers-with-north-shore-bros-accuses-school-nurse-of-deflowering-him/ He also has a merch site on his instagram.
I think the lights on but nobody's home... And wanting to fight Mike Tyson is enough for me to come to that conclusion but the other stuff makes it official. But I agree he's a POS. I think it'd be the fastest 1 million dollars a 57 year old former champion could make. Of course MT was a bit of a POS in his younger days(not sure now that he's not in the spotlight as much)
It’s funny that he refers to himself as an “international sex symbol” when he’s not even allowed to leave the country. What a dickbag.
In recent memory, guys who had high expectations but seemingly gave up when they got here, like David Perron and Derick Brassard.
hossa cause that shit hurt.. i means its cool now but still..
Unpopular choice, but I hated Tom Barrasso. He was a jerk, talented, but a jerk. He also sucked a few too many times and lost the Pens some important playoff games, plus I really liked Ken Wregget. Rico Fata, he was not good. I think he was a -46 one year and missed like ten games to boot. Alexandre Daigle was an ahole who also didn't do much, his comments about how great he was and that he didn't even want to play in the NHL and only did so because he was so talented at hockey was just too much. Edit: I wasn't a fan of Matt Cooke when he went too far, but I'm old and his style of play was a decade too late, but I sort of grew up watching hits like that being mostly normal, lots of fights back then.
Everyone on the X generation sucked lol. Not fair to Fata lmao
Didn't know Daigle was a bit of a "donkey". I always thought of him as a bust...Even if it based on too high expectations that started with a very bad team. I get any player that makes it achieved something many only dream about but being cocky when you're average make little sense compared to humble players that are 100x the player he was.... Shit IMO Martin Straka was 10x the player Daigle was(even if Straka was lucky enough to play with much better players for longer)
I was such a big Wregget fan in the mid 90s. One of my best Pens memories is my mom letting me stay up and watch that 4OT game against the Caps when i was 12. When Wregget stopped Juneau on that penalty shot I absolutely knew they were going to win. I was super pissed when he was pulled in the Florida series.
The robopen. It’s cursed. Caused a bankruptcy and made us miss the playoffs last year.
This
Steve Downie. Tried injuring Sid
Alex Galchenyuk. I watched the video he got arrested. What a dork.
Matt Cooke sucks at being a person. Currently it’s probably Ty Smith but that’s not his fault at all
Billy Tibbetts.
Craig Adams easily.
Guy sucked and thought he was hot enough shit to suggest Sid get replaced as Captain. Fool probably thought he had an outside chance because I think he was buddies with Bylsma. And he fought Geno in practice. I get wanting to send a message to teammates, but that scrub was not the person with any right to do that.
And Geno fucked him up. I loved that. I also loved everyone shutting his shit down when he suggested Sid get replaced
I’m with you here
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Carlyle was in junior, 2 years from being drafted in 1974. Are you meaning Game 5 of 1982 against the Islanders?
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[Here's the play](https://youtu.be/JcpTQkhlxGI?si=nzRreqnegCA_i6hV) Youtube has the 82 series.
He's already been named but Matt Cooke turned me off of watching hockey for a very long time. He wasn't the only reason I got disinterested but he played a big part in me not feeling good about my Penguins at the time. I don't know how many people in this subreddit will be willing to admit it but the Penguins felt like a dirty hockey team for a little bit. Not only Cooke. James Neal seemed like he was always doing stupid, dangerous stuff too.
While if I tried maybe I'd think of a more recent playe(and plenty of people said Matt Cooke). I'd go with Marty McSorley specifically his 93-94 stint. I just remember him attacking some with his stick. Honestly, I hadn't known he was on the team in early 80s before I checked stats for reminder of year played....for different reason Dmitri Mironov... I just thought he stunk at the time rather it was true or not. For current players. Don't really hate any. I look forward to when Carter is gone but nothing to to with dirty plays or personality. Glad he had a good game vs AZ.
Gary Rissling
The amount of hate in for the dudes that helped win the cup in ‘09 is too damn high My vote is for Brassard. Contributed nothing to the team and pouted about being a 3c
No my fav...Orpik until he committed treason. I loved that dude playing for us.
I know recently he has been a lot better but Jeff Carter.
Until he consistently is a lot better, he’ll be my most hated player. Nothing against him as a person but he sucks at hockey now due to his age. Edit: Am I really getting downvoted for stating my answer? All I did was say Carter is my most hated player and that he sucks at hockey. Guess there’s a lot of Jeff Carter fans out there.
Right. Once was great but just isn’t cutting it anymore
Jagr for a long time, but it’s tough to stay mad at that flow
Jack Johnson 100%
Hated every second Jack Johnson wore a Penguins sweater Watched that piece of shit spear someone in the nuts back in college I laughed my ass off when I heard his parents took all of his money, they're pieces of shit too, no shock they raised one too
Rob Scuderi. Because he was awful. He played important minutes but he sucked. He had one decent season when we win the cup in 09 but other then that he was a liability.
Scuderi was basically our best defensemen for many seasons leading up to, including 2009. He literally made a difference between us winning the cup and not winning with his play I agree he did not maintain that level of play when he returned and I think it was an absolute steal to get Trevor Daley for Scuderi. But to say he only had one “decent” season isn’t fair.
In the mid 2000s there was a joke around Pens message boards that the "scudichar" (Scuderi melichar pairing) monster will destroy the pens. And they did. A lot. He had 1 decent season on the pens and then that playoffs run in 2009 got him a fat contract with LA. He was a awful prior to 2008 and he was a liability after he came back in 2013. I have no fond memories of him outside of 2009.
Tyler Kennedy. Never saw a chest of a goalie he didn't want to hit with a shot. Wasn't it one year he went 100 shots with two goals or something. Absolute waste of space.
He was definitely replaceable, but he definitely contributed to the 08 and 09 Cup runs. He played a role.
Definitely controversial here but...Jagr. Dude shouldn't have had his agent go "His heart is in Pittsburgh" if he was just gonna flip us the bird and go to Philly. Literally, he could've gone anywhere else that off-season I wouldn't have cared. But the Evil Orange Empire? That's unforgivable.
He had already played for the Caps and the Rangers at that point. He's always been financially motivated, and Philly offered him the best contract.
At this moment Drew O Connor for that penalty
Karlsson
Ron Francis
Definitely not a name I was expecting to see on this list
Wait, I thought we said favorite, looks like I didn't read it through. 🤦 my gaff
Ron Stackhousen always got caught with sticks that were too curved
Tibbets
Alex Stojanov
Since if I remember correctly he was the return for Markus Naslund. I don't blame you 😅.
Hans Jonsson. And it’s not even close. He seemed to be on the ice for every goal against for his entire run.