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Friday, 22 July 2011 11:30

Written by Seth Rorabaugh

"The Departed" series on Empty Netters is a set of "eulogies" for former Penguins who have passed away... to other teams. Essentially, we look back on their time as a Penguin, examine their contributions to the franchise and as real eulogies occasionally do, exaggerate a bit. Today's eulogy is dedicated to Eric Godard.

When the Penguins first brought in Eric Godard as a free agent in the summer of 2008, he had some big skates to fill. Georges Laraque, or "BGL," had won over the hearts of Penguins fans as the team's charming French Canadien enforcer in cornrows. But with his sizeable salary cap hit and other factors, the Penguins needed to find a new enforcer.

Godard had the enviable task of filling the large, unique void left by Laraque.

He didn't have any advertisements for jewelery stores. He didn't have any weird energy drink commercials. He didn't have any sort of flashy hair cut. He didn't even have much of a personality off the ice.

But he handled his business. And it didn't take long for Penguins fans to see Godard go about his business. In the team's first preseason game of 2008, Godard (6-foot-4, 214 pounds) took Lightning goon David Koci (6-foot-6, 238 pounds) to task for a hit which injured the shoulder of star defenseman Sergei Gonchar:

From that point on, the Penguins and their fans knew Godard had their backs.

Less than a week into the season, during the Penguins' first home game, Godard got into his first official fight with future teammate Mike Rupp, then of the Devils:

Three nights later, Godard showed it wouldn't take him long to get fully integrated into the Penguins/Flyers rivalry by engaging Philadelphia goon Riley Cote in a spectacular fight:

Godard even managed to record an assist on a goal by Mike Zigomanis in that game. But his job wasn't to score. It was to fight. And he managed to do so pretty well his first month in Pittsburgh having recorded five fights.

Despite being on the smaller side by enforcer standards, Godard regularly tangled with much larger men such as the Islanders' Mitch Fritz (6-foot-8, 249 pounds) and the Sabres' Andrew Peters (6-foot-4, 240 pounds). And more often than not, he came away a winner in those brawls. One of his more impressive take downs was against his eventual replacement, Steve MacIntyre (6-foot-5, 250 pounds), then of Edmonton:

During his first season with the Penguins, Godard managed to develop a divisional rivalry with his counterpart on the Rangers, Colton Orr. In all, they managed to tussle four times that season. Their finest bout took place Jan. 28 at the Mellon Arena right off the opening faceoff:

In February, Godard squared off with the man he replaced, Laraque, then of Montreal. Despite all the intrigue in the match-up, the fight ended up being a dud:

Godard managed to get into 21 fights that season - sixth-most in the NHL - and unofficially, he had a record of 11-5-5 record. In 71 games, he had a team-leading 171 penalty minutes and contributed four points. He didn't see a minute of ice time in the playoffs, even against the rough and tumble Flyers in the first round, but on Jan. 12, 2009, he was with his teammates on the ice of Joe Louis Arena holding up Stanley Cup for the third time in the history of the franchise. Based on regular season criteria, Godard got his name on the Stanley Cup as well.

In 2009-10, Godard's ice time suffered a significant decline with the team signing fellow heavyweight Rupp. While Rupp wasn't nearly the caliber of fighter as Godard, he was able to play regular minutes unlike Godard. But he certainly had his moments. During the final home opener at Mellon Arena, he managed to cut Rangers tough guy Donald Brashear:

Later in the season, Godard managed to draw blood again against Ottawa forward Chris Neil:

The highlight of Godard's season probably came in the final game of the season when he scored a garbage goal in a fairly meaningless game on Long Island against the Islanders:

In all, Godard appeared in 45 games that season and was limited to seven fights (unofficially going 5-2-1) and contributed three points along with 76 penalty  minutes. Godard once again was a spectator during the postseason and did not touch the ice during the Penguins defeat of the Senators in the first round or their loss to the Canadiens in the second round.

Injuries, suspensions and the emergence of Deryk Engelland as a top fighter conspired against Godard in 2010-11. After not getting into the lineup until Oct. 13, Godard's appearances in the lineup were few and far between. His fights became even rarer. But was still willing to back up his teammates as Toronto's Jay Rosehill found out:

During a fight with Ottawa's Matt Carkner on Boxing Day (Dec. 26), Godard suffered a facial injury which would keep him sidelined until February. After three mostly ho-hum games back in the lineup, Feb. 11 came. A brawl-filled game with the Islanders took place on Long Island. Godard engaged his counterpart on the Islanders, Trevor Gillies, in a fairly standard bout:

Later in the game, a complete circus broke out as officials lost control of all order. As another line brawl ensued, Islanders forward Micheal Haley attempted to engage Penguins goaltender Brent Johnson in a fight, a major no-no in the unwritten code of conduct among NHL players. Sensing an unfair disadventage for Johnson, Godard jumped off the bench and attempted to cut off Haley before he could arrive at his destination:

As it turned out, Godard's actions were a major no-no in the NHL's written code of conduct and as a result, he was given an automatic 10-game suspension. He would not appear in the Penguins lineup again until April 8 in a must-win situation against the Islanders with division hopes on the line. Godard's presence in the lineup was mostly needed in the highly anticipated re-match as a preventative measure should the Islanders try to engage in more fights. As it turned out, Godard and Gillies once again engaged in another fight:

Godard's season would only amount to 19 games, seven fights, an unofficial 4-3-0 record, three assists and 105 penalty minutes. Despite his meager numbers, Godard's teammates recognized his efforts by voting him as the players' player at the end of the season.

He would not appear in any of the team's seven playoff games in a first-round loss to the Lightning. Earlier this month, his career with the Penguins officially came to an end as he joined the Stars as a free agent.

In all, Godard appeared in 135 regular season games for the Penguins and scored 10 points while compiling 352 penalty minutes, 43rd-most in franchise history.

During his time, Godard filled a very specific role with the Penguins. He didn't do it with much fanfare or much attention. But he did it very well and without an once of selfishness. In that sense, that made him the perfect teammate.

(Photo: Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

Comments (3)

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written by Bones, July 22, 2011 - 02:08 PM

Did his job well. Will likely go down as the only player in team history to take the ice dressed as a Care Bear: http://penguins.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=503564

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written by Blackblood, July 22, 2011 - 03:13 PM

In 08-09 I think Godsy was the best HW in the biz. But, he didn't fit very well into HCDB's system and, as a result, his icetime declined and, with that, he wasn't as sharp in his third season with the club. It's the same with every athlete, time off will result in rust. The MacIntyre contract is ideal because it's a two-way deal. Bylsma probably won't use him much, either, aside from games against NYI.

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written by bastage42, July 23, 2011 - 11:47 AM

This guy had your back. Can't say much more about a hockey player or a person, especially in a tough role like that.

Thanks, Eric, and good luck!

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