Double Team: A cult hero with the Penguins, Johan Hedberg was reliable with the Thrashers

While the NHL is on hold because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the Tribune-Review will offer the Double Team project, an examination of the five best players who have contributed substantially to the Penguins and another franchise. For consideration, a player must have played at least the equivalent of a full season for each franchise. (Sorry, Jarome Iginla fans.)

Today, a look at the Winnipeg Jets/Atlanta Thrashers franchise. The Thrashers were Atlanta’s second NHL team after losing the Flames to Calgary in 1980. Entering the NHL in 1999, the Thrashers, named after the brown thrasher bird which is native to Georgia, largely struggled before departing for Winnipeg in 2011. The team inherited the name of the original Jets franchise which existed in Manitoba from 1972-96. The Jets’ name is partially in tribute to the Royal Canadian Air Force’s presence in the city.

In 65 all-time games against the Jets/Thrashers, the Penguins have a 49-13-3 record.

1. Johan Hedberg, goaltender

Hedberg was something of a happy accident for the Penguins. Not so much because of how they acquired him. That actually was because of shrewd scouting.

But him becoming a cult hero was unintentionally marvelous.

A ninth-round pick of the Philadelphia Flyers in 1994, Hedberg remained in his native Sweden until 1997. He then bounced around with various North American minor league teams, including the Baton Rouge Kingfish, Detroit Vipers, Kentucky Thoroughblades and, most notably, the Manitoba Moose.

At the 2001 trade deadline, Penguins assistant general manager Eddie Johnston, having seen Hedberg play for the Moose, lobbied general manager Craig Patrick to pluck Hedberg out of the San Jose Sharks’ system.

At 27, Hedberg made his NHL debut, making 41 saves in a 6-3 road win against the Florida Panthers on March 16, 2001. He went 7-1-1 down the stretch to earn the team’s starting job for the postseason.

That’s where the “accident” part of his story comes up. Having been abruptly promoted to the NHL for the first time, Hedberg didn’t have enough time to get equipment appropriate for the Penguins’ color scheme and still wore his light blue Manitoba gear, including a mask with “MOOSE” displayed on each side.

As a result, anytime Hedberg made a save during the team’s surprising run to the 2001 Eastern Conference final, 17,000-plus fans at Mellon Arena would chant “MOOOOOOSSSEEEE!”

Hedberg remained in Pittsburgh for two more seasons, valiantly manning the net for bad teams which lost more often than they won following the departure of captain Jaromir Jagr in the 2001 offseason. His best regular season in Pittsburgh was 2001-02. Despite leading the NHL in losses with a 25-37-7 record, he recorded an impressive six shutouts.

After the team selected goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury No. 1 overall in the 2003 draft, Hedberg was dealt to the Vancouver Canucks in August of 2003.

Nearly three years later, Hedberg joined the Thrashers as a free agent in July of 2006. Spending four seasons in Atlanta, Hedberg was mostly a backup or platoon-mate throughout his Thrashers tenure. In 137 career games with Atlanta, Hedberg had a 57-47-12 record.

Granted, the bar wasn’t considerably high to clear, but Hedberg was part of the Thrashers’ greatest success as the 2007 Southeast Division champions. While the Thrashers were swept in the Eastern Conference quarterfinal round by the New York Rangers, Hedberg replaced ineffective starter Kari Lehtonen and gave the Thrashers a fighting chance, posting a .928 save percentage in the two games he started during the series.

During the 2010 offseason, he joined the New Jersey Devils as a free agent.

2. Shawn McEachern, center

Acquired via trade from the Ottawa Senators in the 2002 offseason, McEachern spent two seasons in Atlanta. While injuries limited him to 46 games and 26 points in 2002-03, he was appointed as the franchise’s fourth captain late in the season because he was one of the few people in the organization with a Stanley Cup ring.

His best season with the Thrashers was his last. In 2003-04, he was second on the team with 55 points. Following the NHL’s lockout in 2004-05, he joined the Boston Bruins as a free agent.

McEachern earned his ring as a member of the Penguins in 1992. A sixth-round pick in 1987, he finally signed with the Penguins late in the 1991-92 season after playing for the U.S. in the Olympics in February. Primarily inhabiting a bottom-six role on a deep roster, McEachern had nine points in 19 postseason games as the Penguins won the Stanley Cup.

His first full NHL season of 1992-93 saw McEachern appear in all 84 games and collect 28 goals as well as 61 points for the only Penguins team to win the Presidents’ Trophy as the league’s top overall team.

An offseason trade in August of 1993 briefly sent McEachern to the Los Angeles Kings, but he returned in another trade by February 1994. His final season with the Penguins was the lockout-shortened 1994-95 campaign in which he put up 26 points in 44 games. He was traded to his hometown Bruins during the ensuing offseason.

3. Pascal Dupuis, right winger

Dupuis’ time in Atlanta was brief. It was just under a year, literally. He was acquired from the Rangers via trade on Feb. 27, 2007 then was traded to the Penguins on Feb. 26, 2008.

Despite that brevity, he made an impact on the Thrashers and was their leading scorer during their lone postseason appearance of 2007 with three points in four games.

That meager total made him franchise’s leading career postseason scorer until the Jets made a run to the Western Conference final in 2018.

In 79 regular season games with the Thrashers, Dupuis had 20 points.

Dupuis came to Pittsburgh as part of a blockbuster trade along with All-Star forward Marian Hossa, but he ended up being the player with the most lasting impact on the Penguins.

Along with Hossa, Dupuis flanked franchise center Sidney Crosby, helping Penguins reach the 2008 Stanley Cup Final, losing to the Detroit Red Wings. A year later, Dupuis was relegated to a lesser role in the bottom six and was even scratched occasionally, but held the Stanley Cup above his head in June of 2009.

Dupuis was back on Crosby’s line full-time by 2010-11. That deployment would be interrupted sporadically over the ensuing two seasons because of Crosby’s concussion issues. Despite that, Dupuis enjoyed a career year in 2011-12, appearing in 82 games and scoring 25 goals as well as 59 points.

He produced at an even higher pace during the lockout-shortened 2012-13 campaign, netting 20 goals and 38 points in only 48 games.

Dupuis remained on Crosby’s line into the 2013-14 season until a serious knee injury had ramifications on the remainder of his career. Blood clots tied to the injury limited him to 34 games over the next two seasons before he unofficially retired in December of 2015. Despite his limited play that season, his name was included on the Stanley Cup after his teammates claimed the franchise’s fourth title that spring.

4. Colby Armstrong, right winger

A first-round pick in 2001, Armstrong was expected to be a significant part of the franchise’s future as it rebuilt in the mid-2000s. And sure enough, he looked as if he could be a worthy linemate to Crosby in 2005-06. After being recalled midway through the season, he showed promise putting up 40 points in 47 games.

A fan favorite for his affable nature, Armstrong regressed a bit in 2006-07 as he recorded only 34 points in 80 games. Despite that drop in production, he inherited a role as a third liner thanks to his penchant for delivering devastatingly violent checks which were legal by the rules of the day.

After helping the Penguins reach the postseason for the first time in six years in 2007, Armstrong was sent to the Thrashers as part of the blockbuster trade involving Dupuis and Hossa.

His greatest individual success came with the Thrashers in 2008-09 when he set a career-high with 22 goals in addition to scoring 40 points in 82 games.

After a 29-point effort in 79 games during the 2009-10 campaign, Armstrong joined the Toronto Maple Leafs as a free agent in July of 2010.

5. Brandon Tanev, left winger

Despite being a member of the Penguins for only one season which was interrupted by a pandemic, Tanev is on this list for two reasons:

• It accounts for a Jets player.

• And there aren’t many other options.

Regardless, Tanev was an effective bottom-six forward for parts of four seasons in Winnipeg and became a fan favorite through his break-neck relentless style of play.

Undrafted out of Providence College, Tanev signed with the Jets following his senior season at the NCAA level and got into three games at the end of the 2015-16 campaign.

After bouncing between the NHL and AHL levels in 2016-17, Tanev carved out a full-time role with the Jets in 2017-18, playing in 61 games and recording 18 points. Forming an effective third line with Andrew Copp and Adam Lowry, Tanev and helped spark the franchise’s greatest success as it won a playoff series for the first time, advancing to the Western Conference Final.

Setting a career-high with 29 points in 80 games in 2018-19, Tanev joined the Penguins in July of 2019, signing a six-year contract, the longest such deal the franchise ever extended to an unrestricted free agent.

Primarily playing on a dependable fourth line with Zach Aston-Reese and Teddy Blueger and becoming one of the team’s top penalty killers, Tanev restored an element of speed for the Penguins while posting 25 points, including four game-winning goals, in 68 games during the pandemic-shortened 2019-20 campaign.

Honorable mention: Tanner Glass, left winger; Chris Tamer, defenseman.

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