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 the organization of Taylor Haase, 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: Sergei Zubov
Number: 56
Position: Defenseman
Born: July 22, 1970, in Moscow, Russia
Season with Penguins: 1995-96
Statistics with Penguins: 64 games, 11 goals, 55 assists in regular season, 18 games, 1 goal, 14 assists in playoffs
WHY ZUBOV?
It was one season, but it was made almost peculiarly memorable by his surreal skill level, patience, poise, durability and -- on those maddeningly rare occasions he'd use it -- his shot.
Yeah, I can't remember one off the top of my head, either, so I had to go digging through the archives and eventually uncovered the absolutely only way he'd ever shoot:
Right. If there was no other option. It was the kind of thing that inspired Scott Paulsen and all those funny people at WDVE to do a song.
It's also part of what ultimately got Zubov run out of town, depending on which story one prefers, by Mario Lemieux.
See, the greatest power-play performer in NHL history kind of liked taking control out there. And Zubov's DNA just didn't allow that. So he'd hold the puck for an eternity at the point while Mario would wait exasperated, over at the left half-wall. And when Zubov's endless possession still somehow didn't result in a shot, the captain would boil that much more.
But man, when he did shoot:
As for the Lemieux story, Zubov told me in 2001 he didn't believe it: "I would say that's all B.S., all that stuff about Mario not wanting me. I never had a problem with Mario. To me, it was very simple. One team was looking for one thing, and the other was looking for something else. That's all. That's all there is about the way it happened. Trades happen. The management in Pittsburgh decided to get more defensive and ... whatever they've done, they've done it. It's part of the business. You can't blame anybody."
Zubov's greatest performance, without question, came April 24, 1996, in the Penguins' classic quadruple-OT playoff victory over the Capitals in Landover, Md. Yeah, it was Petr Nedved who got the goal after 139 minutes, 15 seconds, but it was Zubov who, more than any player on either side, never seemed to show the slightest sign of fatigue. Official ice time wasn't tracked then, but it felt like he never left the rink, skating relentlessly in that roving-tripod formation and creating right through to 2:16 a.m.
As I wrote back during his time, it was one of the great individual performances in franchise history.
After 1,068 games, 771 regular-season points, 117 playoff points and two Stanley Cups, he's still a viable candidate for the Hall of Fame, entering his seventh year of eligibility.
WHAT'S HE DOING NOW?
Zubov, now 48, is the head coach at HC Sochi, in the city that hosted the 2014 Olympics, in the KHL. His team plays in the very Bolshoy Ice Dome that was the main rink for those Games. Upon being forced to retire in 2011 due to hip problems, he almost immediately went to work behind benches, including a stint as the top defensive assistant for Russia's national team in 2015.
IT WAS SPOKEN
“He’s got the patience with the puck that you’d like all of your defensemen to have at least just 10 percent of.” -- Ken Hitchcock, Zubov's coach for seven seasons in Dallas
“He’s not the first one in the corner, but he’s the first one leaving with the puck.” -- Doug Armstrong, former GM in Dallas
"I wasn't happy about the move, obviously, because that wasn't the place to go. The team pretty much sucked." -- Zubov, on being traded by the Penguins to the Stars, who'd just gone 26-42-14
HONORABLE MENTION AT NO. 56
None
ANY DEBATE?
Only Mario would debate it, right?
Tomorrow: Taylor Haase has No. 57.
Yesterday: Larry Murphy