The Penguins' Pascal Dupuis celebratesa goal against the Islanders during their first-round series.
About Dejan Kovacevic
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review Sports Columnist Dejan Kovacevic can be reached via e-mail
By Dejan Kovacevic
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
http://triblive.com/sports/
Published: Sunday, May 26, 2013, 9:48 p.m.Updated 8 hours ago
One wrong turn, and he'd be out.
No matter how well he'd have performed to that point, you just knew that, at the very first sign of a slump, he'd be demoted from starring role to supporting cast.
Because he wasn't supposed to be there. Because that's how it goes in pro sports: The one who isn't supposed to make it always has a little extra to overcome.
Tomas Vokoun?
Well, yeah, that pretty much paints his status with the Penguins all through these Stanley Cup playoffs, even now that he's backed them to the Eastern Conference final.
But think bigger picture.
Think about the guy who's tied for most goals this postseason at seven — with Sidney Crosby, no less — but who doesn't earn a fraction of the fanfare.
Think about the guy who broke through for 25 goals two seasons ago, then more impressively scored 20 in this past lockout-shortened season — outscoring Minnesota's $98 million man Zach Parise, among others — but who still, incredibly, isn't taken seriously as a first-line winger in some circles.
Think of Engine No. 9.
And, please, get beyond any thinking that Pascal Dupuis is anything less than exactly what you've been watching for a while now.
“You know what? I don't worry about that,” Dupuis was saying with a soft smile during a lengthy chat we had following practice Sunday morning. “I look around and see all different kinds of pressure for different players, maybe because of money or other factors. I don't feel like there's any more scrutiny on me than anyone else on this team.”
Really?
How, then, to explain that dominant two-goal display March 28 against the Jets, on the very day of the Jarome Iginla trade that represented a direct threat to bump Dupuis from the top line?
Here's how: He made a statement.
That determination, that drive you see from shift to shift, comes honestly.
Born in Laval, the quaint Montreal suburb where Mario Lemieux played his junior hockey, Dupuis' inspiration was his father, Claude, a modest two-way winger for Maine of the old North American Hockey League in the 1970s. Claude never reached the NHL, but it wasn't for lack of effort.
“Everything comes from my dad, from watching him work,” Dupuis said. “I was 10 years old, and I was squatting and running with sand bags on my back, just to be like my dad.”
Ultimately, though, he added, “It has to come from within. I've always believed that. For me, it's within. My training, I don't do it for anybody else. I do it for my wife and kids. If the guy next to me doesn't do it, if he doesn't want to run back and forth from the training facility, if he doesn't want that extra half-hour on the bike, who cares? My father saw that I wanted to do it.”
The other trait shared by father and son?
“With the skill level I had, I knew I had to work.”
If he didn't grasp it then, he sure did when he went undrafted in 2000 even after scoring 50 goals in 61 games for Shawinigan of the Quebec junior league.
He kept going. The Wild signed him as a free agent. After a year in the minors, he was in the NHL to stay. And after the 2008 Marian Hossa trade — yep, it's still called the Hossa trade by most — Dupuis arrived from Atlanta as a near-afterthought and became a champion. He kept going. He could have made a fine living as a solid third-liner, and he'd have exceeded expectations.
But he pushed his way up with Crosby, he benefited from playing alongside the captain's unrivaled speed/skill combo and, in the most impressive achievement of his career, legitimately fit right in.
Which isn't to suggest he's needed Crosby for everything, contrary to popular misconception.
Did you know that, since the 2011 Winter Classic in which Crosby was concussed, Dupuis has scored 32 goals without Crosby or Evgeni Malkin on the ice?
Did you know 30 of those goals came at even-strength or short-handed since he's rarely on the power play? Did you see that laser over the shoulder of the Senators' Craig Anderson in Game 1 of the last round?
Neither did Anderson.
Dupuis is 34, he's been here six seasons, and he might not be here a whole lot longer with unrestricted free agency looming this summer and several other Penguins due to have their hands out.
He wants to stay — “Winning is very important to me, and this team is like family,” he said.
“Business will take care of itself” — but he is undoubtedly the NHL's most underpaid player at $1.4 million, and you can be very sure that will change. It's about time to fully appreciate what he's brought, before it's too late.
“He's just become a great all-around player,” Crosby said. “The thing about Duper is that he gets better all the time because he works at it and because he learns. He never stops pushing.”
Maybe because he can't.
I pressed Dupuis a bit on the feeling that someone's always been over his shoulder on the depth chart.
“You know,” he finally conceded, “I guess I don't really want to find out.”
Read more:http://triblive.com/sports/dejankovacevic/dejancolumns/4086351-74/dupuis-crosby-goals?printerfriendly=true#ixzz2UUUOnlZM
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