Who would make the Penguins’ All-Time Olympic Team?

The 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris are officially underway, as the sporting world tunes in to watch the world’s greatest athletes compete on the world’s biggest stage.

This inspired a thought: Who would crack the Penguins’ All-Time Olympic team?

Even though NHL players were not permitted on Olympic rosters until the 1998 Winter Games in Nagano, Japan – and some amateur players ended up breaking into the NHL after playing in the Olympics before 1998 – the list of Penguins’ greats is long, so this is no easy task.

Some criteria had to be established. To be eligible, players had to:

– Play at least one full season with the Penguins

– Play in the Olympics, for any Olympic team, at least once

Unfortunately, this disqualifies a handful of great players who have donned a Penguins’ sweater, namely guys like Paul Coffey, Larry Murphy, Marian Hossa, and Jarome Iginla. Also, players were judged on the body of work from their entire careers, not just their Penguins’ careers, due to the varying lengths of time players spent with the organization.

Nevertheless, it still leaves an array of all-time great players.

Would it make sense for Crosby to center his own line? Absolutely. But the chance to see the three greatest Penguins of all time suit up on the same line is the stuff of dreams: Crosby, the two-time Olympian and scorer of Canada’s “Golden Goal”; Lemieux, who led Canada to Gold in 2002, and; Jagr, who has represented the Czech Republic in literally every Olympic Games that NHL players have been to.

The names speak for themselves, so making the case for them using career numbers is pointless. Crosby, Lemieux, and Jagr would be the greatest line in Olympic – and NHL – history. Crosby and Lemieux would be interchangeable between wing and center.

The third greatest center in Penguins’ history – and three-time Olympian – marries with Recchi and his 577 career goals and three-time Stanley Cup champion Phil Kessel. Although Recchi would be playing on his off-wing, his playing style would probably be more adaptable to adjustment.

Either way, it’s doubtful that it would pose much of an issue for these guys, especially if Recchi found himself as the third cog in this machine:

Third Line: Markus Naslund – Jeff Carter – Alexei Kovalev

The Swede, the Canadian, and the Russian would make for a lethal combination. Between the three of them is 1,267 goals and 2,749 points, and Carter brings enough defensive awareness to the line that it could operate at a high level on both sides of the ice.

But with the sniping and forechecking prowess this line brings, they may not be spending a ton of time in the defensive zone, anyway.

And who could forget Naslund’s four-goal game against the Penguins, his former team, in 2003?

Fourth Line: Martin Straka – Mark Johnson – Bill Guerin

This is your “clutch” line. The amount of huge overtime goals that Straka (Czech Republic) scored for the Penguins during his tenure was a sight to behold – and perhaps none bigger than his against the Capitals in 2001:

Guerin (USA) brought the “old guy” veteran presence – and his goal-scoring ability – to a young Penguins’ team in 2009, leading them to a Stanley Cup win. He finished his career with 429 goals and 856 points and represented the U.S. in the 1998, 2002, and 2006 Winter Games.

And as for Johnson: If you’re an American hockey fan – or a hockey fan in general – it’s not hard to deduce why the former Penguin is on this list:

Even taking away his two goals against the Soviet Union on that fateful day in sports history, Johnson registered 203 goals and 508 points in just 669 career games.

Extra Forward: John LeClair

Yes, John LeClair’s career included 406 goals and 819 points, but given that his twilight years were with the Penguins – and he spent most of his NHL tenure with the rival Philadelphia Flyers – he made the roster as the extra forward.

It’s quite fitting that Karlsson and Gonchar sit 17th and 18th, respectively, in all-time points by NHL defensemen. Gonchar participated in four Olympic Games for Russia – 1998, 2002, 2006, and 2010 – and medaled twice, while Karlsson helped bring home Silver for Sweden at the 2014 Sochi Winter Games.

Gonchar had been a staple in the Penguins’ organization at various times from his arrival as a player in 2005 to his departure as a coach in 2020. Karlsson, despite just completing his first full season in a Penguins’ uniform, has already solidified himself as one of the game’s all-time great defensemen.

The blue line offense generated from these two would lend to some big moments:

Defensive Pairing 2: Ulf Samuelsson – Kevin Hatcher

Hatcher was a steady presence – and steady points producer – on the Penguins’ blue line in the ’90s. He registered 227 goals and 677 over the course of his 17-year career, and he donned the red, white, and blue at the 1998 Games.

And if you haven’t heard the story of Samuelsson’s Olympic experience, it’s quite a crazy one. After playing three games for Sweden’s Olympic team in 1998, he was expelled because he had a U.S. Passport – making him ineligible for Sweden’s national team. But, since he played three games, that technically qualifies him per the criteria laid out at beginning of this piece.

But Samuelsson’s defensive instincts, plus his trademark meanness and physicality, would pair well with Hatcher’s offensive skillset. In his career, Samuelsson recorded 57 goals and 332 points.

Defensive Pairing 3: Brooks Orpik – Dmitri Mironov

The third defensive pairing was, by far, the toughest choice of this exercise. There were several players that could’ve fit here, but Orpik’s defensive contributions and Mironov’s short yet strong NHL career, plus his Olympic gold medal for the United Team in 1992, gave them the edge over the others.

Orpik (USA) was a steady defensive presence on the Penguins’ blue line for 12 years from 2002-2014. He is widely regarded as one of the best defensive defensemen in franchise history, and he had one of the most epic shifts in Penguins history when he plastered four Red Wings within 20 seconds:

Mironov, an oft-forgotten Russian defenseman, spent parts of two seasons with the Penguins from 1995-97 before he was traded to the Ducks in the middle of the 1996-97 campaign. He put up good numbers in the Soviet League before transitioning to the NHL with the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1991-92. He registered 54 goals and 260 points in 556 career NHL games, and he was strong in all facets of the game.

Extra Defenseman: Darius Kasparaitis

Endearingly nicknamed “Kasper,” Lithuanian-born Kasparaitis had good defensive awareness, and he was known, like Orpik, for his physical, hard-hitting style. He played in four Olympic Games from 1992-2006 for The United Team and Russia.

But he is best-known to Penguins fans for scoring one of the most iconic goals in franchise history:

The starting goaltending job was a dead heat between Fleury and Tom Barrasso, but ultimately, the winningest goaltender in franchise history – and the second-winningest goaltender of all-time – won out. Fleury’s 2.60 goals-against average (GAA) and .912 save percentage (SV%) are also top marks among qualified Penguins’ Olympic goaltenders, aside from Tomas Vokoun, who was a backup goaltender for the Penguins in 2012-13.

Fleury, a gold medalist for Canada in 2010, also lays claim to one of the most iconic saves in franchise history:

Backup Goaltender: Tom Barrasso

Barrasso was very good for the Penguins for a long time. His 3.24 GAA and .892 SV% are, largely, a product of the high-scoring era in which he played. But, by and large, he answered the bell when he was counted on most by Pittsburgh, and the American goaltender earned a spot on their all-time Olympic team.

Honorable Mentions: Chris Kunitz, Robert Lang, Petr Sykora, Ryan Whitney, Paul Martin, Johan Hedberg

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