The organizational history of the Pittsburgh Penguins has a plethora of great players, and we decided to examine the best Penguins players to wear each jersey number. Today, we continue the list by naming the 10 best in Penguins history.
While this one was pretty easy, there have been some great number 10s in Penguins history – Pierre Larouche, Dan Quinn and Bob Errey, just to name a few.
But one stands above the rest. And that would be Penguins legend, Hall of Famer and NHL all-time great Ron Francis.
Francis, who ranks fifth in scoring in the NHL, was essentially the Penguins’ “glue guy” when Mario Lemieux missed significant chunks of time. He was already a superstar when he was traded to the Penguins in 1991 as part of one of the biggest trades in NHL history – and arguably the best trade in franchise history – when forwards John Cullen and Jeff Parker, along with defenseman Zarley Zalapski, were sent to the Hartford Whalers in exchange for Francis and defenders Ulf Samuelsson and Grant Jennings.
He helped lead Pittsburgh to two Stanley Cup championships in 1991 and 1992. He had a knack for going unnoticed but scoring big goals in big games, including a hat trick capped by this beautiful deflection goal in overtime to win the New York Rangers in Game 4 of the 1992 Patrick Division Finals – tying the series, giving Pittsburgh the momentum to close out the series in six gamesand leading them to their second consecutive World Cup:
He filled the captaincy vacancy twice with the Penguins, once when Lemieux missed the entire 1994–95 season, and the other when he was named captain in 1997–98 following Lemieux’s first retirement. Although this was his last season as Penguin, Francis or “Captain Class”was highly revered in the locker room during his eight seasons in Pittsburgh – and he had the production, skill and playoff performance to prove it, recording 32 goals and 100 points in 97 playoff games with Pittsburgh:
Francis played six more NHL seasons after leaving Pittsburgh in 1998. He played five full seasons with the Carolina Hurricanes and was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs during his final season in 2003–04. Francisco – named one of the 100 greatest NHL players of all time – was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2007, finishing his 23-year career with 549 goals and 1,798 points in 1,731 games.
Known for his strong two-way game, he also took home the Selke Trophy in 1994-95.
Honorable Mentions: Pierre Larouche, Dan Quinn, Bob Errey, John LeClair
Related: Best Penguins for Jersey Number: #9
