Do you know who Ron Francis is?
- Thread starter christo
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CarolineOh
Newbie Phase Two
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- Feb 12, 2002
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christo said:
I do now.
I asked the question because Ron Francis is one of the best 35-30 hockey players of all time, and yet the average person (I'd even say the average sports fan) has NO IDEA who the guy is.
The only player with more assists than Francis is a guy named Gretzky. He has over 500 career goals. He's won the Selke Trophy as the best defensive forward in the NHL, and twice won the Lady Byng Trophy as the most gentlemanly player. He's been one of the great leaders in the game, captaining both the Whalers and Hurricanes. He won two Stanley Cups with the Penguins, scoring the Cup-clinching goal in 1991 against a young Dominik Hasek.
He also just won the NHL Outstanding Citizen award for the work he does with his foundation. When he played in Pittsburgh a friend of a friend lived in his neighborhood, and said you'd never think the guy was a pro athlete. Just like any other neighbor, liked to grill a lot in the summer. When the Pens won he put the Cup out on his front lawn and let everyone who came by get his picture taken with it.
Francis never had a real huge year statistically (119 points was his max). He labored in obscurity for 9 years in Hartford, then came to Pittsburgh and had to play in Mario Lemiuex's and Jaromir Jagr's considerable shadows. Now he plays in basketball and NASCAR country. He's played for 20 years, and had one of his best this season. He scored the OT game-winner in Game 1 of this years finals.
And yet put his picture up on the wall of a Sports Bar and I bet 2/3 of the people wouldn't know who he is. He's not flashy. He doesn't showboat. He's just a great player. And a pretty decent human being.
The only player with more assists than Francis is a guy named Gretzky. He has over 500 career goals. He's won the Selke Trophy as the best defensive forward in the NHL, and twice won the Lady Byng Trophy as the most gentlemanly player. He's been one of the great leaders in the game, captaining both the Whalers and Hurricanes. He won two Stanley Cups with the Penguins, scoring the Cup-clinching goal in 1991 against a young Dominik Hasek.
He also just won the NHL Outstanding Citizen award for the work he does with his foundation. When he played in Pittsburgh a friend of a friend lived in his neighborhood, and said you'd never think the guy was a pro athlete. Just like any other neighbor, liked to grill a lot in the summer. When the Pens won he put the Cup out on his front lawn and let everyone who came by get his picture taken with it.
Francis never had a real huge year statistically (119 points was his max). He labored in obscurity for 9 years in Hartford, then came to Pittsburgh and had to play in Mario Lemiuex's and Jaromir Jagr's considerable shadows. Now he plays in basketball and NASCAR country. He's played for 20 years, and had one of his best this season. He scored the OT game-winner in Game 1 of this years finals.
And yet put his picture up on the wall of a Sports Bar and I bet 2/3 of the people wouldn't know who he is. He's not flashy. He doesn't showboat. He's just a great player. And a pretty decent human being.
JazzManJim
On the Downbeat
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- Sep 12, 2001
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He was, IMO, the anchor of the Lemieux-Jagr-Francis scoring line that made the Penguins so dominant for many years. When he left, the team started to slide.
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