Recchi enjoying being part of team's resurgence

By Keith Barnes

PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, February 1, 2007


So much has happened to Penguins right winger Mark Recchi over the past few weeks that he's spent quite a bit of time reflecting on his career.
"It's gone way too quick, absolutely, it does," Recchi said Wednesday. "But I'm not ready to hang them up, so I'm just going to try to enjoy these last few years and try to win another Stanley Cup."

Recchi turns 39 today and is, by far, the elder statesman on the team. In their 3-0 win Tuesday over Florida, the Penguins dressed only two other players, defenseman Sergei Gonchar and forward Jarkko Ruutu, that were over 30.

Recchi feeds off his youthful teammates.

"It's terrific because you can see how they want to get better every day, their attitude's unbelievable, and they get on the ice and work hard," Recchi said. "It's really fun being around these guys."

If the 17-year veteran ever wanted perspective on how long he's been around, all he has to do is look to his immediate right in the dressing room. The player next to him, Jordan Staal, was only 67 days old when Recchi made his NHL debut Nov. 16, 1988 in Toronto.

"It's amazing because he doesn't look out of place one bit and he deserves to be here," Staal said. "He's been playing amazing for us and, more power to him. I think he's got a lot of years left."

Age hasn't been a factor for Recchi this season. In fact, he's playing as well as he did in his first full season in the NHL. In 1989-90, he scored 30 goals and was the team's rookie of the year.

"I just admire him even more to be able to do what he's doing, and I'm careful about saying 'at his age,' because, even though he's 39, I don't consider him an old guy," said former Penguins forward Phil Bourque, a teammate of Recchi's during the 1990-91 Stanley Cup season. "He doesn't act like an old guy, he doesn't play like an old guy, and I've always had a lot of respect for him, but now I have even more respect for him to watch him do what he's doing."

One of only three Penguins players to appear in all 49 games this season, Recchi is third on the team and tied for 34th in the league with 17 goals and 48 points. The reigning player of the week, Recchi played in his 1,300th career game Jan. 16 against the New York Islanders and celebrated with an assist in a 5-2 win. On Jan. 26, he became the 38th player in league history to reach the 500-goal plateau, is 28th all-time in scoring with 1,313 points and has a pair of Stanley Cup championships to his credit.

All these accomplishments for a player who was taken 67th overall in the fourth round of the 1988 draft. And he's now playing with a center who is young enough to be his son.

"I don't really think about it anymore," 19-year-old Sidney Crosby said. "I thought about it a little bit my first couple of games ... but you see him in practice every day, and he's just so consistent. That's why he's been so successful for such a long time. He takes care of himself and, obviously, you have to train hard and take care of your body."

Not including a brief 15-game call-up in 1988-89 and the strike-shortened 1994-95 season, Recchi has averaged an impressive 79.5 games per season. He has played in every one of his team's games seven times. Twice, when he was traded -- in 1995 and 2006 -- he played one more game than was scheduled. During the 1994-95 season, he played in 49 games instead of the scheduled 48, and he was involved in 83 games a year ago with the Penguins and Carolina Hurricanes.

Part of that consistency stems from the fact Recchi has never suffered a major injury in his 16 professional seasons.

"I guess I've had a lot of luck through the years," Recchi said. "I don't know if it's the way I'm built or what, but there's obviously got to be some luck in there that I've avoided major stuff."

What he may not be able to avoid are a few birthday practical jokes from his teammates. Just because Recchi has their respect doesn't mean they won't rub it in by putting a walker or some other gag gifts in his locker stall.

"We'll try something funny, but not a walker," Crosby laughed. "We can't go that low."

Still, even with a 40th birthday on the horizon, Recchi doesn't plan on walking away from the game any time soon.

"Obviously you have to think about health and how healthy you will be," Recchi said. "If I can keep skating the way I'm skating, I don't think two more years is out of the question."