By Shelly Anderson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/
Peter Diana/Post-GazettePenguins defenseman Brooks Orpik has a goal and seven assists in 27 games this season.
When the Penguins languished around or below .500 the first several weeks of the season, one of the team's main go-to guys was defenseman Brooks Orpik.
Not just because he is an alternate captain, a 30-year-old veteran, the longest-tenured player on the team and the biggest physical presence among the defensemen.
Orpik is someone who always will give an honest portrayal of what's going on with the Penguins. He is called upon for that regularly, especially when things aren't going well.
"It's a lot more fun talking about it when you're winning," he said.
Orpik wasn't sought out as much during the team's recent 12-game winning streak -- one that came to a thudding halt this week with losses on back-to-back nights against Philadelphia and the New York Rangers.
If those bleed into some sort of losing skein, Orpik no doubt will again be front and center.
While he obligingly fills that role, it is not the one he concerns himself with the most. That would be what happens on the ice, and his role there is expanding.
In his seventh full season in the NHL, Orpik has become a more well-rounded player, one who blends more readily into a defensive corps and an overall system that relies on mobility and crisp puck movement.
"He's a much better skater than is known around the league," said Penguins assistant Todd Reirden, who works with the defense. "When we were putting together our defensive group this summer, based around mobility and the ability to make the first pass in transition and then defend, we definitely grouped Brooks into that.
"He knows exactly how his game should look. We're still refining that, and we're working on adding some elements to his game -- his ability to transition and add offense."
That is a far stretch from saying Orpik belongs in or is steaming toward the same category as his regular partner, Kris Letang, who appears to be having a breakout season as a gifted offensive defenseman.
Orpik is still up to his old, welcome tricks -- he is second on the team with 85 hits and third with 45 blocked shots despite missing two weeks in October because of a groin injury.
But he's also more noticeable in the way he moves the puck within coach Dan Bylsma's system, which stresses puck possession and movement toward and around the other team's end.
"This system's a lot different than what we used to play," Orpik said. "I think you were more restrained a little bit before. For me, I probably didn't mind it as much as some of the guys like [Letang] who were held back a little bit more.
"If you ask anyone who watches our team, the guys we have playing are all capable of moving the puck pretty well, and it's a mobile group. So, it allows us to play the system we do. You see a lot of assists coming from good first passes, good neutral-zone passes, and then our forwards do the work."
In the 4-1 loss against the Rangers, Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin made nice plays to combine on Malkin's first-period goal, but it started with Orpik getting the puck up the left-wing boards to Malkin. During the team's winning streak, Orpik set up Crosby and Chris Kunitz on a two-on-one breakaway that resulted in a Crosby goal against Toronto, and Crosby converted a shot-pass from Orpik on a slick deflection goal against Atlanta.
"He's always been seen as a physical guy, but he also can pass the puck really well," Letang said. "I think every year he has improved his game with the puck.
"Even if people talk about me being the offensive defenseman and him backing me up all the time, he can still bring some offense to the table."
Orpik had six points, all assists, in 2006-07, and, in the seasons since, has had 11, 19 and 25 points. This season, he has a goal and seven assists in 27 games.
"You don't have to lead the rush," Orpik said. "Make a good first pass, and you'll get a lot of assists from your own zone with the group that we have. Making it as quickly as you can is the biggest thing."
Orpik has helped in another transition as well, with Reirden, who is in his first season as an NHL assistant after being the head coach of the Penguins' minor-league affiliate in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
Reirden said Orpik has been a great sounding board and, as always, offers honest insight.
Just as Orpik is happy to pitch in a little on offense and help Letang, he is thrilled to share the team spokesman mantle with his defense partner.
"[Letang] gets a lot of points, so he sits in his stall for 30 minutes after the game to make sure the media comes to him," Orpik cracked. "So he does us all a favor."
For much more on the Penguins, read the Pens Plus blog with Dave Molinari and Shelly Anderson at www.post-gazette.com/plus. Shelly Anderson: shanderson@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1721.
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