Wednesday, December 5th, 2007 by Adam Wagner
Penguins gracefully end Recchi’s tenure
One of the legends of the ’90s may finally be ending his Penguin career, as the club placed Mark Recchi on waivers on Tuesday, one night after Recchi’s bobblehead night. The timing was likely intentional, in order to refrain from embarrassing one of the game’s elder statesmen (and to protect their financial investment on the giveaway).
Recchi, who has scored 510 goals in the NHL, saw his performance drop off significantly this season, as he
only scored two goals in 19 appearances and simply did not look like the Mark Recchi of the past. It would be a surprise is Recchi was claimed simply because he has not looked like a hockey player so much as a person going through the motions this season, an unfortunate occurrence considering his strong first half last season. After that first half, however, Recchi dropped off, not scoring very much in the second half of the season and not contributing in other ways, either.
The Penguins are expected to buy Recchi’s contract out if he is not claimed, more than likely ending his career. This would be a classy move for both the team and the player, allowing Recchi to end his career for his adopted hometown team.
More importantly, though, the move may show that Ray Shero is willing to admit his mistakes. He should not have gone after the aging and the ancient (Recchi, Gary Roberts, and Daryl Sydor) this off-season and may be realizing that mistake now. The “new” NHL is not conducive to the stars of the past and free agency should be used for picking up either speedy stars or role players. The old men have been unable to fulfill their roles (except for Roberts, who seems to be coming on) and have been replaced by prospects Kris Letang (Sydor) and Tyler Kennedy (Recchi). Teams are now built through farm systems, not the open market and Shero would be wise to remember that entering next off-season so he does not sign another fading star.
Mark Recchi was a great Penguin 15 years ago and a good soldier for the last threeish seasons. Now, however, he must go. He goes, however, as one of the greatest American Canadian players of all time and a surefire Hall of Famer. The fans of Pittsburgh (and presumably Philadelphia) will remember Recchi fondly.
2 Comments
December 5th, 2007 at 2:22 am
Recchi’s Canadian.
December 5th, 2007 at 2:30 am
Completely my bad. In looking up his goals scored, I even saw that he played for the Canadian national team. This somehow did not register.
Bad mistake. Sorry. Thank you for the correction, James. We’re getting right on it.
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