The Pittsburgh Penguins’ organizational history has a plethora of great players, and we’ve decided to go through the best Penguins’ players to wear each jersey number. Today, we continue the list by naming the best #44 in Penguins’ history.
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Ten players have worn #44 for the Penguins, but this really came down to two players. It was a hard decision, as both Rob Brown and Brooks Orpik made significant contributions to the Penguins.
But for this one, I had to take a lot of things into account, including their role in Stanley Cup runs. For many reasons combined, I gave the slight edge to Orpik.
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Orpik was drafted 18th overall by the Penguins in 2000, and he debuted with the team in 2002. He spent 11 of his 16 NHL seasons in Pittsburgh, and – although he wasn’t exactly known for his offensive prowess – he was a top-notch shutdown defenseman for many years in the organization.
Known for his tremendous shot-blocking ability, his physicality, and blunt personality when it came to interviews, Orpik did a lot of the dirty work to help the Penguins reach the Stanley Cup Final in two consecutive seasons from 2008-09, and, ultimately, beat the Detroit Red Wings in a 2009 rematch.
One of his most memorable Penguins’ moments occurred in the 2008 Final. If there is one clip to describe Orpik in a nutshell, it’s this one:
As for his most memorable individual hit? “It’s a bird, it’s a plane… no, it’s Daniel Paille!”
But for all of his defensive work, he was a total pylon offensively, as he scored a pretty big goal for the Penguins in Game 6 of the 2013 East Quarterfinal series against the New York Islanders, securing the overtime and series win for Pittsburgh:
After the 2013-14 season, Orpik signed a five-year free agent contract with the Washington Captials, where he played out his contract and retired afterwards in 2019.
Over the course of his NHL career, Orpik registered 18 goals and 194 points. He sits eighth all-time in hits at 2,946 and 16th all-time in blocked shots at 1,792.
Related: Best Penguins by Jersey Number: #43
Honorable mention: Rob Brown. Brown was a staple alongside Mario Lemieux during the late 1980s, and his best season by a mile included 49 goals and 115 points in just 68 games in 1988-89. He was also a point-per-game player in the season after, registering 33 goals and 80 points in 80 games.
However, he fell on the Penguins’ depth chart afterwards, supplanted by Rick Tocchet, Mark Recchi, and Joey Mullen. He was traded in the middle of the 1990-91 season to the Hartford Whalers for Scott Young after a slow start, and he never found nearly the same level of production for the rest of his career.
Brown did retire a Penguin, as he spent the final two seasons of his NHL career in Pittsburgh from 1998-2000. He retired with 190 goals and 438 points in 543 games.
Related: Best Penguins by Jersey Number: #42
Related: Best Penguins by Jersey Number: #41
