Faceoff Factor

"Scary” Gary Leads Young Penguins To Victory

Jesse Marshall | Pittsburgh Penguins

Apr 10, 10:44 AM | Hype this story!

When the horn sounded at the end of the third period and the Penguins convened in front of Marc-Andre Fleury for a victory congratulations, the first thought that entered my mind had nothing to do with his shutout or the beating that the Penguins had just dished out to the Senators. All I could think was:

“How do you say goodbye to a guy like Gary Roberts?”

Pittsburgh is a funny town. The respect this city shows for its sports stars that play a physical role and come to the arena prepared might be second to none in the rest of the nation. It respects the blue-collar attitude that the people of the city are oh too familiar with and the attitude that the city itself was founded on.

You might not find a player in the NHL that fits that role more than Gary Roberts.

It was déjà vu all over again as the Penguins did a complete role reversal from last year and scored 1:00 into the first period of play. It was Gary Roberts banging bodies and cleaning house in front of the net that lead to his first goal of the playoffs.

If that moment doesn’t give you Goosebumps, you need to see a doctor.

Our friends at The Pensblog, the innovators of WWGRD?, said it better than I ever could have:

“20 years from now, they’ll be talking about the show Gary Roberts put on inside the Mellon Arena during Game One of the 2008 Stanley Cup Playoffs. They will talk about how he brought the house down a minute into the game. They will talk about how he went to the net more relentless than a 1988 Oprah at a buffet. And maybe you’ll laugh or just shake your head when you tell someone how they had to pull him off the ice.”

No kidding.

When Gary Roberts scored his second goal of the game at the end of the third period, I was almost certain the roof of Mellon Arena would cave in. The place was absolutely raucous and chants of “Gar-ry” immediately broke out in amongst the fans.

Those same cheers increased in volume when Cody Bass, a youngster who probably doesn’t know any better, got involved in some extra-curricular activities with “Uncle Gary” along the boards.

What happened next was the definition of “Old Time Hockey” for me; Gary Roberts had to be dragged down the runway. He couldn’t get enough of the face washes, the scrums, the punching, and the game.

Paul Steigerwald commented that it looked like they were trying to drag an animal back into its cage. Bob Errey responded that Gary Roberts was going to go back into that locker-room and do sit-ups because he hadn’t had enough yet – he could keep going.

Does it get any better than that?

The fans and media have embraced Roberts 110% since his arrival in Pittsburgh. The things we’ve seen Gary do and the way he puts his body on the line for victory have been downright awe-inspiring. It almost makes you wish a guy like Roberts could stay 41 for the next few years and just keep banging and bruising; feasting on his old prey, the Ottawa Senators.

So, before the moment passes completely, I just wanted to say:

Thanks, Gary. We appreciate it.

WWGRD?