Nick Tarasi

Allegheny Baseball ‘21 | Pirates World Series ‘26 | Carmen Mlodzinski Bullpen Enthusiast | Manny Valdez Fan Club

[Nick Tarasi @NickTarasi]

Manifestation! @TheCUTCH22

[Nick Tarasi @NickTarasi]

You know what to do.

[Barn Hockey @BarnHockey]

Ryan Malone embodied the Barn Hockey style of play 🏚️

2008 Stanley Cup Final. Game 5. Season on the line.

Malone takes a 90mph slap shot directly to the face, breaking his nose for the SECOND time in the series. Blood everywhere 🩸 🩸

Then after willingly trying to block a shot with his face, in TRIPLE OVERTIME, parks directly in front of Chris Osgood, taking away his eyes as Petr Sykora buries the OT winner to keep the Penguins’ season alive.

That’s Barn Hockey 🐧

[Barn Hockey @BarnHockey]

Ryan Malone didn’t get out of his Penguins jersey and uniform for more than FIVE HOURS after Detroit eliminated Pittsburgh at Mellon Arena in the 2008 Stanley Cup Final 🌐

He knew what was coming. Free agency. After years of playing that bruising power-forward style, this was his opportunity to cash in 💰

Malone legitimately didn’t want to take the Penguins sweater off. He wanted to stay. He wanted to finish his career in his hometown🐧 🏙️

Heart and soul. Built Pittsburgh tough. Barn Hockey 🏚️

[Pittsburgh Pirates @Pirates]

3️⃣3️⃣ HRs this season for Brandon Lowe!
9️⃣6️⃣ HRs at home this season (! NEW FRANCHISE RECORD!)

[Pittsburgh Pirates @Pirates]

Konnor trip-trip-triples to start the Buccos off!

[MLB @MLB]

Konnor Griffin is back and already making an impact 🔥

[Talkin' Baseball @TalkinBaseball_]

Konnor Griffin can flat out FLY

[Barn Hockey @BarnHockey]

What it sounds like when you’re about to get your ass kicked 🐧

Jeff Jimerson on the anthem. 🫡🇺🇸

[Pittsburgh Pirates @Pirates]

👀

[Barn Hockey @BarnHockey]

Gary Roberts was 42 years old in 2008. Definition of veteran leadership

Game 1 of the playoffs. Offense. Grit. Physicality. Setting the tone and showing everyone exactly what playoff hockey was supposed to look like 💪

And just listen to Mellon Arena ROCK 🧊 🧊 🥶

They don’t make ’em like @GaryRobertsHPT anymore

[Barn Hockey @BarnHockey]

"It was if the Civic Arena roof OPENED up.. And the whole world heard the sound. You could definitely hear it in West Virginia.. 😳

I still think today that goal is why they needed to build a new arena 🤯 🚧

-Mike Lange

[Pittsburgh Penguins @penguins]

A well-earned place among the greats.

The Penguins have named Marc-Andre Fleury, Larry Murphy, Jim Rutherford, and Jack McGregor to the Penguins Hall of Fame Class of 2026.

[Barn Hockey @BarnHockey]

Built for opera. Loudest hockey atmosphere you'll ever hear and experience 🗣️🗣️ #MellonArena

[Josh Yohe @JoshYohe_PGH]

It seems every time I look on this app, I see fierce Gretzky/Lemieux debates taking place. It must be the middle of August for hockey fans.
But I, too, am bored, so I will now add my 2 cents.
I think it's all based on how you define greatness. Gretzky is, without question, the most accomplished player in hockey history and had the greatest career in hockey history. He changed the game forever, dominated in ways never seen before, and produced numbers we'll never see again.
But was he really the best player ever?
Lemieux was so much more physically gifted that it's comical to even debate. What did Gretzky do better? Playmaking/passing, maybe, though it should be noted Lemieux was, at worst, the second best passer/playmaker in hockey history and could play that game as well as Gretzky if he felt like it. He was simply more of a shoot-first player than Gretzky, though very much a hybrid in that regard.
And sure, Lemieux wasn't above taking a night off from time to time, something Gretzky was never accused of.
But let's look at other facets:

* Goal scoring in general? Lemieux by a mile
* Shot power? Lemieux by a mile
* Shot accuracy? Lemieux
* Size/strength? Lemieux by a mile
* Puck protection/reach? Lemieux by a mile
* Breakaways? Lemieux by a country mile
* Faceoffs? Draw
* Defense? Lemieux (watch '91 and '92 playoffs if you disagree)
* Hands? Lemieux
* Skating? Lemieux, probably
* Slap shot? Lemieux
* Wrist shot? Lemieux
* Backhand? Lemieux
* Toughness: Lemieux
* Clutch performance? Draw
* Imagination? Draw (both utter geniuses)

Then we must ask ourselves certain questions. Who had the better teammates from Day 1? Who was protected more by the NHL from Day 1? Who, based on size and physical ability, would have dominated 100 years ago or in this era more? Who else would have clearly been the best player in hockey after taking 3 1/2 years off before returning at age 35, putting up 35-41-76 in 43 games at the height of the dead puck era? Who else would have put up 30-26-56 in the next 20 games after missing two months due to cancer radiation treatments? I think these answers are pretty clear.

There is a what-if quality to Lemieux's career that is part of his lore, and it's not Gretzky's fault. Gretzky was durable and generally had great health. Lemieux did not have anything close to good health, some of which was his fault. He smoked during the first eight years of his career and didn't always handle his back injuries in the manner his doctors asked. Part of this is on him, but he was also mauled and physically abused to the extreme, and the league did nothing to protect him. He played in the violent Patrick Division. He wasn't Gretzky. He was French. In those days, that was a rough combination. Much like Babe Ruth in baseball, the NHL always protected Gretzky. To this day, this is still the case. And, of course, it was not Lemieux's fault that he was diagnosed with cancer at 27. Physically, he was never quite the same after the diagnosis, his spring of 1993 scoring binge not withstanding.

I was raised in Pittsburgh during the 1980s and 1990s. So, yes, I am admittedly biased. But I also know what I saw. And that was Lemieux's greatest appeal; to see him in person was to understand that you were seeing something that you'd never see again. If you took a bunch of aliens from outer space and invited them to a hockey game, and if no one was wearing numbers or names, they would all just fixate on him. Because you didn't need to understand the game to know he was different and better than everyone else.

Who is the best player of all time? We'll never know. We have fun conversations like this all the time and there's no way to conclude. Everyone has their own opinion, their own view, their own philosophy. No one will ever accomplish more than Gretzky. He has more assists than anyone else has points, I've heard. I know. And it's amazing.

No one had more great games than Gretzky and I'm hardly here to knock him. Legendary player, obviously, and a great ambassador for the game. But Lemieux, at his best and healthiest -- and sometimes, even when he wasn't healthy -- played hockey at level that has never been seen and that Gretzky wasn't physically capable of reaching.

Who is the greatest of all time? Some say Gretzky. Some say Lemieux. Some saw Orr. Some say Howe. Some of the young people will say McDavid or Crosby. No one is right or wrong. But no one could do things on a hockey rink that Mario Lemieux could do, often in extremely compromised health. I'll go with him every time.

[JFresh @JFreshHockey]

Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr in Game 1 of the 1996 East Semi-Final vs. NYR:

[Pittsburgh Pirates @Pirates]

#RonnyBall

[Pittsburgh Pirates @Pirates]

"Show up, be loud and we're gonna keep fighting."

[Nick Tarasi @NickTarasi]

#RonnyBall #SimonSays #SimonSaysJoinTheMovement #NewProfilePic

[JFresh @JFreshHockey]

Sidney Crosby vs. the Nashville Predators in Game 5 of the 2017 Stanley Cup Final

[Pittsburgh Pirates @Pirates]

Welcome to Pittsburgh, Lake!

[Pittsburgh Pirates @Pirates]

Welcome to Pittsburgh, Kirby!