FanHouse Paul Coffey

Before Bobby Orr entered the NHL way back in 1966, the idea of a defenseman scoring 100 points would have been considered lunacy. After all, forwards were rarely coming within spitting distance of the century mark, and defensemen were never really used as offensive weapons. Orr, of course, changed all of that, and not only became the first rearguard to ever lead the NHL in scoring, he eclipsed the 100-point plateau an unthinkable six times.

Only four other defensemen have ever accomplished the feat (Paul Coffey, Al MaCinnis, Brian Leetch and Denis Potvin) while only Coffey did it more than once (five times).

Will we ever see another one?

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HOMESTEAD, Pa. -- Phil Bourque spent eight of his 12 NHL seasons as a member of the Pittsburgh Penguins, helping the team win two Stanley Cups in the early 1990s. Since the 2003-04 campaign, he's worked as an analyst for the Penguins radio network, and we had an opportunity to catch up with him at the team's Championship DVD release on Monday night.

Among the topics discussed: How do the current Penguins compare to the teams he played on, which current Penguin is the modern-day Phil Bourque, and why are hockey players the most approachable, fan-friendly athletes in sports?

During the Penguins' game 4 win on Thursday night, captain Sidney Crosby finally had his bust-out game of the Stanley Cup Final, recording a goal (the eventual game-winner) and an assist in Pittsburgh's 4-2 win to tie the series at two games apiece. The performance helped him eclipse the 30-point mark this postseason, joining his teammate, Evgeni Malkin, who is currently the leading scorer in the playoffs with 35 points, putting the duo in some elite, historic company.

Our esteemed leader asked me a simple question: "Between Pittsburgh and Detroit, who can rightly claim to be the 'Team of the 90's?'"

While blurting out "Detroit, dummy!" was my first instinct, I decided to look deeper into the question and come up with the best answer.

While Detroit has been a powerful team for the longest and Pittsburgh went through some very lean times (and near bankruptcy) before Sidney Crosby came to the rescue, let us not forget that the Pittsburgh Penguins were once scarier than the prospect of washing Lindsay Lohan's puke-drenched toilet.

Imagine a Power Play unit with Ron Francis, Paul Coffey, Jaromir Jagr, Mario Lemieux, and Larry Murphy? Yeah, I bet a lot of goaltenders were wearing adult diapers in the early 90s.

Let's do a little comparison shopping, shall we?

STANLEY CUPS: 2 apiece. The Penguins opened up the 90s with two consecutive cup wins, and then the Wings pulled off 2 straight cup wins of their own later in the decade.

OVERALL RECORD: Detroit wins this one by 27 wins.
Pittsburgh: 411-279-90-6
Detroit: 438-248-98-2