He fought, and lost to, Daniel Carcillo. He worked his way onto a line with Malkin in the second round. He had over a 0.25 shooting percentage in the Conference Finals and Finals. He scored 4 goals and 2 assists against Chris Osgood to capture the cup, and he finished with a +/- of plus 8. His name is Maxime Talbot, and he was hands down the unsung hero for the Penguins.
Not counting his 31 hits while only averaging just over 15 minutes of ice time per game, Talbot was the energy player the Penguins needed to get over the hump, no discredit to the leadership they added via Fedotenko, Guerin and Kunitz.
He was drafted in the 8th round, 234th overall, of the 2002 NHL entry draft and since then, the 25 year old has grown comfortable in his role of a grinding two way forward. Facing the top lines of Philadelphia, Washington, Carolina and, regularly, Detroit, his +8 at the end of the playoffs is a major sign that he is a playoff performer.
And while the Red Wings were doing everything they could to hold off Sidney Crosby, Talbot was off having a fantastic series, considering his role, with a 0.286 shooting percentage, including 4 goals in the series, 2 of which were involved in Game 7, the only two of the game. Yes, Maxime Talbot had scored the Cup winning goal for the Penguins.
In the last 4 games of the Detroit/Pittsburgh series, Talbot had a point per game. Maybe I should put this into perspective for you on why he is absolutely an unsung hero.
Regular Season: 75GP 12G 10A 22P -9
Playoffs: 24GP 8G 5A 13P +8
He is 100% a playoff performer, and is the Penguins unsung hero.
Congratulations to the Pittsburgh Penguins franchise on their success.
Micheal A. Aldred
michealaldred@hotmatil.com
Monday, June 15, 2009
The Unsung Hero
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Not sure if you can call a guy who scored the Cup winning goal(s) an unsung hero...
ReplyDeleteI agree, Talbot was much better in the post-season than the regular season and it's too bad you couldn't get the amount of shot blocks he made. This guy layed down his body on a night to night basis for the Pens. I would definitely call him an unsung hero, regardless of the two goals in the Cup winning game. He's not a Malkin or a Crosby or a Zetterberg, but he's definitely a guy who stepped up when he needed to to get the job done. Good article.
ReplyDeleteWhile Talbot came up huge in game seven (thus securing his no-longer-unsung-hero status), I'd say the Pens ultimately won it on the back of Tyler Kennedy. He basically was the force that propelled them in game six, and the reason there even was a game seven. I may be biased because we're both from Sault Ste. Marie, but this year it was definitely the lesser Penguins that made the difference.
ReplyDeleteThat game was garbage. If it wasn't for fleury pens would have been finished before game 7. Max talbot is just a loser who sucks on Tyler Kennedy's hairless weiner
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