Mike Rupp: A salute to an out-of-spotlight, under-the-radar Penguin

From a banner hung on the framework of Consol Energy Center, future home of the Penguins, the larger-than-life likenesses of stars Sidney Crosby, Marc-Andre Fleury and Evgeni Malkin look down at adoring fans. Yet lesser lights have been vitally important to the team's 15-8-0 start.

How many times have you read a game preview involving the Penguins, online or in a newspaper, or watched or listened to one on television or radio that begins with, “The <opposing team name> visit Mellon Arena in Pittsburgh tonight to play the defending Cup champion Penguins and stars Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Marc-Andre Fleury…”?

Sure, Crosby, Malkin and Fleury are a huge reason why the Penguins currently hold the Stanley Cup and are off to a solid start this season.  Unquestionably, Crosby and Malkin are two of the premier centres in the NHL today and Fleury is meriting serious consideration for a spot on Canada’s Winter Olympic team.

However, any true contender cannot merely expect its stars to carry one-hundred percent of the load all season.  The so-called dirty work performed by unheralded third and fourth liners often separate pretenders from contenders.  Aggressive forechecking in the offensive zone to take away the puck from the opponent, backchecking, hitting and physical play to tie up forwards to the outside thus reducing desirable shooting angles and finally, knowing when to drop the gloves, are all skills possessed by the “grinders” on any winning team.

For Pittsburgh, twenty-nine year old newcomer Mike Rupp has quietly made a seamless transition to the Penguins and has effectively filled the role of a prototypical fourth-line checking centre.  The seven-year veteran is best remembered as the man who scored the Game Seven-winning goal in the 2003 Stanley Cup Final for New Jersey Devils as they shut out Anaheim in the decisive contest, 3-0.  Rupp scored the opening goal and assisted on the last two tallies, giving New Jersey its third championship in nine seasons.

Centre Mike Rupp, who scored the Game Seven-winning goal for New Jersey in the 2003 Stanley Cup Final, has brought a physical presence and an early-season scoring touch to the Penguins.

When he was signed by the Penguins on July 1 this past summer for $1.65-million over the next two seasons, general manager Ray Shero reasoned that Rupp would bring “a physical presence, leadership … depth, grit and character.”  By combining his physical play with other grinders on the Penguins such as Craig Adams, Matt Cooke and Pascal Dupuis, three forwards who see a lot of penalty kill time and who routinely lay down to block shots, Pittsburgh has a solid core group of “sandpaper” players to complement its flashier goal-scoring group of top six forwards.

Thus far, Rupp has played in all twenty-three games and recorded fifty-three hits, third-best among Pittsburgh forwards and has fought three times, second most on the team behind heavyweight teammate Eric Godard.  Surprisingly, Rupp has contributed in unexpected ways as well.  In just his fifteenth game of the season, at Anaheim, Rupp scored his fourth goal of the season, a game-tying score against the Ducks, passing the total of three goals he recorded in seventy-two games for New Jersey last year.

While his marksmanship around the net thus far this season can be chalked up to flukiness, his consistency at executing the skills necessary for a fourth line to work effectively are most certainly not due to chance.  Rather, Mike Rupp knows his role, and accepts his duty to contribute as a checking line forward on a contending NHL team.

Sources: penguins.nhl.com, nhl.com – Statistics

Photos: [1]: PenguinsMarch personal collection, [2]: Flickr Creative Commons