Rob Brown

This one might be a little longer than normal because for a time in the late 80s-early 90s, Rob Brown was one of my favorite players for the Penguins. I think a lot of that had to do with the fact that Rob was one of the "Double Trouble" team (known because of their double digit numbers: 66, 77, 44, 33) and could be counted on to produce buckets of points. But what could have been a long career in Pittsburgh turned out to only last a little more than three seasons. 

Rob was probably THE most dangerous scorer in the WHL, averaging over two points per game in his career.  While playing for Kamloops (along with HOFer Mark Recchi), he set the WHL record (which still stands) for points with 212 in 1986-87 (he only had a mere 173 the year before). His play-making ability caught the eye of the Pittsburgh Penguins and he was drafted 67th overall in the 1986 NHL Entry Draft.

Brown was the embodiment of the offensive power house that then Penguins GM Eddie Johnston liked to go after and develop.  Rob had great hands and play-making skills and was rewarded by often playing on the same line as Mario. However, Brown was criticized for being slow, lacking skating ability, being lazy or indifferent to backchecking, and essentially only effective as a net front presence or "garbage goal" producer.  Producer is certainly a true statement though, and in 1988-89, he put up 49G/66A/115P (for what it's worth, 30 of those goals were assisted by Mario). In 1989-90, playing less on the PP1 and less with Mario, he still showed he could produce and was a PPG player with 33G/47A/80P in 80 games.

But all good things come to an end and after a few management changes, the team focused more on building a balanced team around Mario Lemieux that could not only score, but had other intangibles as well; namely speed and defensive ability. Rob's former role was now filled by his former Kamloops teammate, Mark Recchi. So with the likes of young talent like Jaromir Jagr, Kevin Stevens and Recchi, Brown was the odd man out. With Craig Patrick now in charge of the team, Brown was traded to Hartford in December 1990 for Scott Young (who lasted only long enough to help the team win the Cup in 1991).

Rob spent the better part of the next seven seasons splitting time between the NHL and IHL, not sticking well with the big clubs, but utterly dominating in the IHL. He played a season and a half in Hartford, moving on to Chicago for 15 games, one game in Dallas, and two games for Gretzky's Kings in 1994-95. But in the IHL, he put up 33 points in 1992-93, 155 points in 1993-94, 107 points in 1994-95 and averaged almost 97 points per season in a split stint with the Chicago Wolves (who later moved to the AHL in 2001-02).

Rob did return to Pittsburgh in 1997, 1998 and 1999 and would contribute 40, 24, and 23 points respectively, solid for a depth player, but no where near his early career production and nothing like his scoring capabilities in the minor leagues. He ended his career on the Wolves in the AHL in 2003 and has worked for the Edmonton Oilers organization for many years, currently as a commentator on their radio broadcasts. 

This card comes from the 1997-98 Pinnacle Be A Player set and is autographed on-card.