Three Penguins Players Reach Milestones

• AARON ASHAM
  700th career NHL game

Asham played in his 700th game against the Montreal Canadiens at the CONSOL last Thursday on October 20th.

Ironically, Asham began his NHL career with the Canadiens in November 1998 against the Pittsburgh Penguins (after being drafted by Montreal in the third round of the 1996 NHL Entry draft).

His journey to 700 games unfolded over 11 NHL seasons with a total of five teams – Montreal, NY Islands, New Jersey, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh.

• STEVE SULLIVAN
  900th career NHL game

Sullivan played in his 9ooth game against the New Jersey Devils this past Saturday on October 22nd.

This is his 14th year playing in the NHL with a total of five different teams – New Jersey, Toronto, Chicago, Nashville, and Pittsburgh.

• JORDAN STAAL
  100th career NHL goal

Staal recorded his 99th and 100th goals also during the game against the New Jersey Devils at the CONSOL on Saturday, October 22nd

This is Staal’s sixth season with the Pittsburgh Penguins and in the league. The road leading to this recent milestone hasn’t always been easy but it started with a pretty ideal rookie season back in 2006-07; he made the Penguins roster right after he was drafted first by Pittsburgh in the 2006 NHL Entry draft (second overall) and immediately out of his first training camp which is quite a rare feat for most draftees.

“I felt good tonight,” Staal said. “My legs felt good. My hands felt good. I just had a good game. … I was very excited when they announced 100 tonight. It’s a milestone, but I want to keep moving forward.”

STATUS ON DEFENSEMAN ZBYNEK MICHALEK
There was no status update or prognosis on Michalek over the weekend.  Michalek left the third period of the game against the New Jersey Devils last Saturday evening after suffering some type of injury to his hand from blocking a shot.  He never returned to the game.

According to a tweet from TSN’s Bob McKenzie, Michalek has a broken finger and will remain out of the Penguin’s lineup for about a month.  This prognosis / diagnosis has yet to be confirmed by the Penguins organization (or any Pittsburgh media source).

The Penguins have practice at 11 AM (est) this morning, so I’m expecting to hear more on that from their webpage soon after that.