If center Nick Spaling ever harbored legitimate hopes of playing for the Stanley Cup at Consol Energy Center, he likely envisioned taking a more conventional path.
Approximately 11 months ago, the Penguins sent Spaling to the Toronto Maple Leafs as part of a blockbuster trade which brought All-Star right winger Phil Kessel to Pittsburgh. After an injury-filled four months with a rebuilding Maple Leafs squad going no where, Spaling was dealt again in February to the powerful Sharks.
Nearly a year after his brief tenure with the Penguins ended, Spaling is back in Pittsburgh with a chance to win the Stanley Cup.
“It’s been a little bit of a crazy ride to get here I think,” Spaling said. “Obviously if you asked at the start of the year, where you thought you’d end up, this would have been beyond expectations for me. It’s been a crazy year. I got traded in the offseason obviously from here to Toronto, close to home. That was exciting in its own way. Then to get traded again, you don’t know where you’re going to end up. And to join a team like this is great. And to end up in the [Stanley Cup] finals is a dream come true.”
After the Penguins were eliminated in five games by the Rangers in the first round of the 2015 playoffs, Spaling realized change was possible, if not probable.
“I think we didn’t play as well as we could have when it mattered and that’s what it comes down to,” Spaling said. I think any time you don’t reach the expectations the team has set out, the team has got to make moves.”
Spaling has found a role on San Jose’s fourth line while also serving as one of it’s top penalty-killers.
“He’s just a smart hard-working player,” said Penguins right winger Patric Hornqvist, a former teammate of Spaling dating to their days with Milwaukee of the American Hockey League. “He always showed up. He’s never going to have a bad game because he works so hard. You know what you’ll get from him every single night. He’s a good role player and he’s been really good for them.”
Zubrus getting old
At 37, center Dainius Zubrus is the Sharks’ oldest player. He’s old enough to remember playing against Mario Lemieux before his retirement.
His first retirement.
As an 18-year-old rookie, Zubrus was a member of a Flyers team which beat the Penguins in an Eastern Conference quarterfinal series in five games. Lemieux retired after the series and stayed out of the game for nearly four years.
“It’s a long time ago but it doesn’t feel like it was that long,” Zubrus said. “I kind of judge my years and my age by looking at my kids right now. My son is almost as tall as me. If it wasn’t for my son or daughter, how would I judge time? I think that’s the best way to judge time.”
His younger teammates apparently don’t hesitate to point out his experience.
“They remind me,” Zubrus said. “When I say, ‘Twenty years ago, I was playing against Lemieux. They’re like, ‘Well, I was 2 years old.’”
Seth Rorabaugh: srorabaugh@post-gazette.com and Twitter @emptynetters.
First Published: May 30, 2016, 4:00 a.m.