Welcome to our series on who wore each number best for the Penguins.
The idea is being openly borrowed from our new hockey writer, Cody Tucker, and his project at the Lansing State Journal covering all the uniform numbers worn through Michigan State football history, one that’s been well received by their readers and prompted heavy discussion and debate.
Under my organization, and following the voting of a big chunk of our staff, we’ll publish one new one each day until completion, which should be right around the start of training camp.
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Name: Dylan Reese
Number: 42
Position: Defenseman
Born: August 29, 1984, in Pittsburgh, PA.
Seasons with Penguins: 2013
Statistics with Penguins: Three games in regular season
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Stick taps for Dylan Reese in his first morning skate. -- PITTSBURGH PENGUINS[/caption]
WHY REESE?
Look, I know. We've never laid out exact criteria for these selections. It's subjective. We all voted. No, it's not the outright most skilled player that wins. It's who wore it best. What does that mean? We took a number of factors into consideration. Skill, of course. Personal accolades, value to the team, Stanley Cups, time spent in the organization, popularity with fans, they all went into these decisions.
For some of these numbers though there aren't any of those things. Do you default to the guy that played the most, even though it was only 22 games? That didn't seem right either. So, we went with the hometown kid. Dylan Reese of Upper St. Clair. The 11th Western Pennsylvania native to reach the NHL, the fourth to play for Pittsburgh and the first Pittsburgh Forge alumnus to suit up for the Penguins.
Reese didn't have the most illustrious NHL career. He did play 74 games over the span of three years with the New York Islanders. When he signed with Pittsburgh in 2012-13, he spent the majority of his time with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
Reese did play three games in Pittsburgh. He was recalled in Feb. 2013, when the Penguins lost Kris Letang and Matt Niskanen to injury. He didn't score, he didn't record an assist, he didn't take a penalty, and he managed to have an even plus/minus in each of the three games. He did record one shot in his final game.
Reese was reassigned to Wilkes-Barre after his third game. He was part of a memorable team run there, the first AHL team to come back from an 0-3 series deficit and win Game 7 on the road.
WHAT’S HE DOING NOW?
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Dylan Reese. -- HV71[/caption]
When Reese's one-year deal expired with Pittsburgh, he signed with Amur Khabarovsk of the KHL for 2013-14. He returned to North America the following season, signing with the Arizona Coyotes. Reese spent almost the entire season with their AHL affiliate Portland Pirates, aside from one game in Arizona.
Reese signed a one-year extension with Arizona for the 2015-16 season. Arizona began a new affiliation with the AHL's Springfield Falcons that year, and Reese spent the entire season in Springfield.
Reese headed back overseas in 2016, and has spent the past two seasons playing for HV71 of the Swedish Hockey League.
IT WAS SPOKEN
"I am no doubt a product of the Mario Lemieux Era and the two Stanley Cups in the early ‘90s. Mario was my favorite player just like he was for everyone else growing up on the streets.” -- Reese prior to his NHL debut with the Islanders
HONORABLE MENTIONS AT NO. 42
Tuomas Gronman
ANY DEBATE?
Like I said, there wasn't much here. Gronman wore the number longer than anyone else, he wore it for 22 games in 1997-98. Dustin Jeffrey briefly wore the number for a handful of games as a rookie in 2009, but then he, of course, switched to No. 15.
Tomorrow: Chris Bradford has No. 43
Yesterday: Robert Bortuzzo
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