Brooks Orpik retiring

[66-30-33]

I'll always remember The Shift...god luck Orpik!

 

[MetalheadPenguinsFan]

Happy trails to this magnificent cardboard bastard however:

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

The shift that made him $50 million.

 

[ncm7772]

I fondly recall "The Shift." Other than that, **** this guy. Whiney primadonna who never accepted any blame his last couple of seasons here, then went to the Capitals and became (even more of) a POS.

 

[heysmilinstrange]

The shift that made him $50 million.

50 million for 15 seconds of work ... sex workers everywhere are seething.

 

[Dennis Reynolds]

Didn't everyone come out with the C on their jerseys for practice or something? Yikes. The Bylsma era was wild.

You're remembering it wrong. Craig Adams came out with a larger-than-normal C, and everyone else had "WTF" stitched to their upper-left chest.

 

[Dennis Reynolds]

I'll always remember his days in Colorado fondly.

 

[IcedCapp]

Bye, Felicia

 

[billybudd]

Caps fans want him back as a coach so he can mentor their young D. Please!

I can think of no job he is less suited for. Maybe NHL defenseman.

 

[bathroomSTAAL]

I always thought he was handsome

 

[Big McLargehuge]

I hate what he became, but he was one of few bright spots in his early days and was one of the nicest athletes I've ever met. Ultimately that's the Brooks I want to remember.

It's such a damn shame the milk went so damn sour near the end. There's few things as annoying as someone blind to their own flaws, but all too willing to throw anyone and everyone else under the bus for the slightest issue. That's the antithesis of leadership.

 

[cookthebooks]

what couldve been if therien had only kept him at wing

 

[Turin]

He was never very good. It’s too bad they didn’t trade him after 09 when he had a huge reputation so that he didn’t drag down Gonchar and Letang for the next 5 years.

 

[Shady Machine]

That was entertaining, but it's amazing that he/Pens never got the puck. He had a great career for a player of his skillset and I won't take anything away from him. I didn't like his attitude near the end of his tenure and the rumored captaincy stripping annoys me, but I can still congratulate him on a great career.

 

[mrzeigler]

He was one of the first players to support the “You Can Play” movement. And he helped us beat the Caps in 2016-17. Now that he’s done, I’ll wish him well.

I stumbled across my old “Orpik” free-candy Clark bar avatar a few days ago. Might have to repost it somewhere.

 

[MetalheadPenguinsFan]

Fun Fact: I was supposed to meet him at AJ Sports World back in ‘13 at an autograph signing he and Neal were doing in Toronto when the Pens were in town to play the Leafs that weekend. Unfortunately due to some undisclosed (and presumably pretty petty) reasons Orpik cancelled at the last minute and as a result his signing with AJ Sports World would (as they said exactly in their own words on their Facebook wall ) "never ever ever be rescheduled." So it sounded like he might have pissed them off pretty badly.

Now of course I don't know if this next part is true or not, but I remember reading that according to a person who posted under the Orpik cancellation notice on the Facebook wall of AJ Sports World, Orpik "may" have been seen signing autographs outside of the Pens hotel where the team stayed the night before, before going out for dinner with some of the guys. And this was right around the time he was supposed to be at AJ's..for only a scheduled half an hour signing. Again I say he "may" have been seen doing this stuff as who really knows if the person who said this is lying. But judging how pissed the staff at AJ's were (as I overheard a few people asking them what was up about Orpik bailing), yeah I wouldn't be surprised if this turned out to be true??

All in all it worked out great for me though as the money I would have spent on Orpik, I used to get another signed Neal puck instead.

 

[Gurglesons]

Never a big Orpik guy, but this was one of the dirtiest things I’ve seen.

 

[froods]

f*** him

 

[Captain Hook]

Mixed emotions. There's a lot of good and bad memories with Orpik but I won't hold grudges. I wish him well in retirement. Definitely one of those retirements that makes me feel old though. I remember when we drafted him like it was yesterday.

 

[Al Smith]

Never a big Orpik guy, but this was one of the dirtiest things I’ve seen.

Yep. It was so dirty and shocking it took jack Edwards several minutes before he came around to blame Orpik for the whole thing.

 

[Pens x]

Gotta respect a guy with 0 talent to play 1000 games in the NHL.

 

[JRS91]

He was a solid player for us, especially from 2005-2012.

He was once viewed as a "core" part of this team. I can't fault the guy for taking the contract that he did with Washington. It just sucks that it was Washington. I think if you play for the Penguins, fans will hate you if you sign with Philadelphia or Washington, no matter what, doesn't matter who you are or what you did in the past.

 

[CallArnoldSlick]

Brooks Orpik will always be the guy who cost Sidney Crosby a third Hart, which coincidentally led to Alex Ovechkin getting a third Hart.

 

[tom_servo]

I remember when he first laid a big shoulder as a rookie and I was dreaming Scott Stevens dreams.

 

[Turin]

He was a solid player for us, especially from 2005-2012.

He was once viewed as a "core" part of this team. I can't fault the guy for taking the contract that he did with Washington. It just sucks that it was Washington. I think if you play for the Penguins, fans will hate you if you sign with Philadelphia or Washington, no matter what, doesn't matter who you are or what you did in the past.

Especially when you spent most of your career being an overrated hit chaser who couldn’t even be a good possession player playing behind Sidney Crosby in his prime and with Gonchar or Letang as your partner most of the time.