Welcome to our series on who wore each number best for the Penguins.
The idea is being openly borrowed from our new hockey writer, Cody Tucker, and his project at the Lansing State Journal covering all the uniform numbers worn through Michigan State football history, one that's been well received by their readers and prompted heavy discussion and debate.
Under the organization of Taylor Haase, and following the voting of a big chunk of our staff, we'll publish one new one each day until completion, which should be right around the start of training camp.
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Name: Jean Pronovost
Number: 19
Position: Right wing
Born: Dec. 18, 1945, in Shawinigan Falls, Quebec
Seasons with Penguins: 1968-78
Statistics with Penguins: 753 games, 316 goals, 287 assists in regular season, 35 games, 11 goals, 9 assists in playoffs
WHY PRONOVOST?
Because no one wore the blue and white better, regardless of number.
Really, I could summarize it right there, or I could add parenthetically that, as a very young child, Pronovost's name represented hockey to me. It was French-Canadian, so it sounded hockey-cool, and it just made the Penguins feel so different for me than the Steelers or Pirates of the time.
Oh, and he was an excellent, highly entertaining hockey player:
There's nothing about that highlight that isn't beautiful, from the reception of the pass at the Toronto blue line, to the craftiness of the final two dekes, to completely undressing poor Mike Palmateer, to having it happen at Maple Leaf Gardens, to having the one and only Bob Prince on play-by-play, to the great big smile on his face as he skated away.
It was emblematic in every way of Pronovost. He wasn't too big at 5-11, 165, he wasn't too fast, and he wasn't the world's greatest shooter. But he had more than his share of all those traits, packaged them with smarts and durability over his 10 seasons here, to rank alone atop all of the franchise's scoring lists -- 603 points in 754 games -- when he was traded in 1978 to the Atlanta Flames. Within that, he had four 40-goal seasons and one of 52 goals in 1975-76, matched elegantly by the exact same number of assists that winter alongside Syl Apps and Lowell MacDonald on the famed Century Line. He'd also appear in four NHL All-Star Games.
He never achieved the status of older brother Marcel, a Hall of Famer and five-time Stanley Cup champion in Montreal. But even all this time later, Pronovost remains No. 7 on the Penguins' scoring list. Only Lemieux, Sidney Crosby, Jaromir Jagr, Evgeni Malkin, Kehoe and Ron Francis are ahead of him.
Rick Kehoe came along and put up a few more points, and Mario Lemieux, of course, came along and made all of us forget everyone and everything before him, but make no mistake: Pronovost was the standard-bearer, not to mention the captain in his final season, for the Penguins' formative decade. And trust me when I tell you that's recognized and respected from those who've been part of the team over time.
There can never be another one of those.
WHAT'S HE DOING NOW?
Pronovost, now 73, is retired and living in Calgary, spent most of his post-hockey years preaching the gospel as a born-again Christian, alongside his wife Diane, while also coaching in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League in 1993-2001. He worked other odd jobs, including driving a school bus, where one tale is told that kids constantly asked if he really scored 50 goals in the NHL. He returned to Pittsburgh two years ago to be part of the team's 50th anniversary celebration:
We made Jean Pronovost proud. Today was a good day. pic.twitter.com/gwG7cu71kc
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) February 3, 2017
IT WAS SPOKEN
-- "I played over my head ... 52 goals. I knew that I was not a 52-goal scorer, but I enjoyed the moment." -- Pronovost, on his career-best 1975-76 season, in 1985
-- "All three of us had our own expertise. Syl was the passer. I was the scorer. Lowell balanced out the line with his defensive expertise." -- Pronovost, speaking of the Century Line, in 2007
-- ”The franchise, the city, the progress that's happened here over 50 years, it makes me proud to be part of it. -- Pronovost, in 2017
HONORABLE MENTION AT NO. 19
Bryan Trottier
ANY DEBATE?
None whatsoever. And that's saying something considering the one guy deserving of being an honorable mention here.
Tomorrow: Bradford goes hard to the net with No. 20.
Yesterday: Lowell MacDonald
