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Welcome to The Real DFG's Pittsburgh Penguin Autograph Project. My goal is to eventually try and get at least one autograph of every player to lace up the skates in an NHL game for the Pittsburgh Penguins. It could have been for one game or 700 games, I will add them. Occasionally I may post cards of former players in their new team uniforms. While the goal is to get autos in Pens uni's, it isn't always possible. Since the team has been in existence since 1967, the list is pretty large. Last I checked, it was somewhere in the range of 624 different players. Currently, I sit at about 100 autographs (with some duplication). Enjoy the posts.

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Grant Jennings

Grant Jennings was acquired in probably one of the top five most impact-worthy trades of all time for the Penguins.  On March 4, 1991, he was signed along with his teammates Ron Francis and Ulf Samuelsson as part of a six player deal that sent John Cullen, Jeff Parker and Zarley Zalapski to Hartford.  To this day, I still hear former Hartford fans complain about that trade.

Jennings earned the privileged of playing on the back-to-back Stanley Cup teams in 1991 and 1992.  He was a big defenceman and knew how to utilize his size well on the ice.  With an already solid blue-line, the Pens used Grant to bolster the power play and penalty kill.  But....

I don't really remember Grant on the team.  I know that sounds horrible for a Pens fan but it's true.  This was a team with big name stars like Mario Lemieux, Ron Francis, Paul Coffey, Jaromir Jagr, Tom Barrasso, and Bryan Trottier.  Grant Jennings was not a name that was uttered very often, especially since he wasn't a huge offensive minded player.  But that doesn't discount any of his abilities as a player.

He ended up playing two and a half more seasons after the second cup with the team before moving to the Toronto Maple Leafs at the trade deadline in 1994-95.  He later went on to play six games for Buffalo and then spent three more seasons in the AHL.

This card is from the 1994-95 Upper Deck non-NHL licensed Be A Player set.  This was, of course, during the first lock-out that I can remember in my lifetime.

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