Sports Guy North

Unexpected Retirement

So much for my suggestion to trade Palffy for Domi while they could. In a completely unexpected move, citing recurring pain in his shoulder, Ziggy Palffy has retired from the Pittsburgh Penguins. "I have agreed on all matters related to my retirement with the Pittsburgh management... There is no point in suffering any longer." Palffy said in an interview with Slovak newspaper Sport Daily.

This is horrible news for the Penguins, as they are now down to just one player who bothers to show up in any form for games. In 42 games this year, Ziggy has 11 goals and 42 points after signing a $13.5 million deal over three years this past summer. In 684 career games, Ziggy has 713 points and 45 game winning goals. He was one of few players in the NHL who could, on any given night, prove to be worth the price of admission on his own.

The Penguins second biggest offensive threat now is Mark Recchi, who has 36 points in 46 games, and is an astounding -23 on the season. Defenseman Ric Jackman is next in scoring with 24 points. Palffy also lead the team in +/- with an inexplicable +5 (Pirjeta is the only other player on the team on the positive side), and was truly the team MVP up until this point.

The Penguins have lost their only other player. Lost their only real trade bait. Lost their heart, and what is probably the greatest name in sports since Zarley Zalapski, not to mention about 80% of games remaining this season. They need to bring someone onto Crosby's line to defend him so he has a chance to really learn the game. It is all they can do at this point, because everything else is a complete wash.