Who even is this guy?

Yes, yes, a solid OT victory against the Panthers and crybaby Vokoun. That's not the point of this post though. Who the fuck is this Mike Rupp that we signed? We'll get to his fight later, but I want to actually, surprisingly, look at his stats so far this season.

In twenty-four games, Mike Rupp has already buried it five times, has added two helpers to that, and is an overall +3. Not bad for a guy that when he was signed many in the Penguins fanbase questioned Ray Shero considering we already had Eric Godard. Call me biased, but I thought signing Rupp was great. It gave us depth at enforcer and someone who can crash the boards on a dump. I didn't even expect Rupp to be putting the puck in the net like he is. But, then again, Rupp probably didn't either. Put talent around a guy, good stuff happened.

But, look at the man's stats from seasons pasts. His CAREER HIGH in goals is SIX. Six! He has five already! We haven't even completed a third of the season and he is already one goal away from a new career high, on pace to bury it seventeen times. How's that for secondary scoring?

What's so great about Mike Rupp is he hasn't let this success go to his head too much. What I never really liked about Georges Laraque when he was the enforcer for the Penguins is he would often get caught up in playing offense. Looking cool with drop passes or "Being in his office," behind the net as Steiggy loved to point out never really lead to all that much. Meanwhile, if he wasn't show fighting the other team's heavyweight, he wasn't doing much of anything else. Mike Rupp, I'm very happy to see you're still with me:



Have some. If I were writing a scholarly paper on enforcing, this would be a primary source. The Florida announcer basically gives the definition of enforcing: "I can guarantee you who started that conversation, Rupp. Because of the shot at Malkin. Anytime you take a shot at superstar, what it is, you're gonna have to answer for it." Mike Rupp, you're a man.


[AP]

Look at that face. Complete control, all business, whatever you want to call it.

Rupp though, wasn't done. In addition to fighting, he just happened to do this late in the game with the Pens needing a goal to tie:


[Getty]

Clutch City. Why isn't this dude in front of the net on the PP? Make it happen.