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 Taylor Haase's organization, 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: Jan Hrdina
Number: 38
Position: Center
Born: Feb. 5, 1976, in Hradec Kralove, Czechoslovakia
Seasons with Penguins: 1998-2003
Statistics with Penguins: 366 games, 79 goals, 148 assists in regular season; 40 games, 10 goals, 14 assists in playoffs.
WHY HRDINA?
There was time before the turn of the new century when it seemed the Pittsburgh Penguins were the Prague Penguins.
They were still a playoff team but not the Cup contenders that they had been earlier in the decade. Without Mario Lemieux or Ron Francis to lead the way, the captaincy fell to Jaromir Jagr as the organization entered an era of uncertainty off the ice.
The Kladno Kid wasn't a kid anymore and his famous mullet was even cropped following the '99 season. In an apparent attempt to appease the increasingly dour Jagr, the Penguins loaded the lineup with fellow Czechs including Martin Straka, Robert Lang, Jiri Slegr and Hrdina.
Though not as flashy as his countrymen, Hrdina -- "Honza" as he was known -- was a solid but unspectacular two-way pivot, capable of centering any line.
Hrdina was groomed with Seattle in the Western League and made a seamless transition to the NHL after being selected by the Penguins in the fifth round of the '95 draft. He arrived in Pittsburgh as a 22-year-old in 1998 and put up a respectable 13 goals and 29 assists for 42 points as a rookie.
He averaged 15.8 goals per season over his four-plus seasons in Pittsburgh and in 2000 he scored 12 points in nine postseason games, including a two-goal game in Game 3 of the Penguins' first-round series win over the Capitals.
On Dec. 27, 2000, the night Lemieux came out of retirement, Hrdina centered Jagr and the player/owner on the top line. While everyone remembers that Jagr scored just :33 into the first period on an assist from Lemieux, it was Hrdina who earned the primary helper. When Lemieux brought down the house at 10:33 of the second period with his first goal, Hrdina scored just four minutes later:
With Lemieux back in the mix, Hrdina's role was reduced but the Penguins advanced to the Eastern Conference Final against New Jersey.
After Jagr was dealt to Washington the following summer, Hrdina actually enjoyed his best season, recording 24 goals and 57 points to rank second only to Alexei Kovalev in both categories on the Penguins. That winter he represented the Czech Republic, along with Jagr, in the Salt Lake City Olympics.
With the Penguins selling off all valuable assets the following season, Hrdina -- along with Francois Leroux, who hadn't played in the NHL since '98 -- was dealt to Phoenix for Ramzi Abid, Dan Focht and Guillaume Lefebvre.
Hrdina played the next two seasons for the Coyotes and Devils but never scored more than 11 goals in a season. During the 2004-05 lockout, Hrdina reunited with Jagr on Kladno HC. When the NHL returned, Hrdina signed as a free agent with Columbus, scoring 10 goals and 23 assists for 33 points in 2005-06.
He then returned to Europe where he played parts of three more seasons in the Swedish and Finnish leagues. He retired following the 2008-09 season at age 32 due to a hip injury.
WHAT'S HE DOING NOW?
Hrdina, 42, now lives in his his hometown of Haradec Kralove and is a member of the Czech Extraliga board. He has two children.
IT WAS SPOKEN
"Who didn't hear his name mentioned (in trade speculation)? Pretty much everybody did, so I don't think it's a big deal." -- Hrdina, in 2001.
"It was embarrassing for us,. It was the only sellout game (this season), and we got killed. Everybody is going to think about (this) game in that way, that we have to pay them back a little bit." -- Hrdina, after a 9-0 loss to New Jersey on Oct. 28, 2000.
HONORABLE MENTIONS AT NO. 38
Jiri Hrdina
ANY DEBATE?
Only 10 players wore No. 38 and 20 percent of them were named Hrdina. Jiri was an important mentor for Jagr during Jaromir's rookie season, and he scored two goals in the Pens' 4-0 win over New Jersey in Game 7 of the 1991 first round, but for the purposes of this article, Jan beats Jiri.
Tomorrow: Bradford has No. 39.
Yesterday: Jeff Zatkoff
