Penguins Cup Chronicles: Chris Dahlquist

Former Penguins defenseman Chris Dahlquist can look back at his departure from the team with some humor.

"I always say the Pens never would have won two Cups in a row if they hadn't — I was the key to that deal — got rid of me," Dahlquist said this week. "You have to hang your hat on something."

On Dec. 11, 1990, the Penguins swapped defensemen with Minnesota, sending Dahlquist and Jim Johnson in exchange for Peter Taglianetti and Larry Murphy.

"My first game in the Met, I'm looking at the stands and in the front row, there's some guy that brought a mannequin in sitting in the seat next to him," he said. "I mean, there's nobody there, like 8,000."

Six months later, the teams met in the Stanley Cup Finals. The North Stars' run through the playoffs included series wins over Chicago and St. Louis, followed by the elimination of Edmonton, the defending Stanley Cup champs.

After sneaking a Game 1 win at the Civic Arena, the North Stars traded victories and held a 2-1 lead going into Game 4. The Penguins pulled out a 5-3 win to hand the North Stars their first home loss since the first series.

"The bubble looks like it burst after that," he said. "We had to go back to Pittsburgh and had to win one there. And that wasn't part of the plan."

The Penguins' 8-0 win in Game 6 is constantly on ESPN Classic, Dahlquist said, so it's not an easy game to forget.

"I was even. I wasn't minus. That's what I tell my son, who's a junior in high school," he said. "I go, 'Hey, we lost 8-0 but I was even. No minuses.' "

Hockey-reference.com puts Dahlquist at minus-1, however, and video evidence seems to indicate he was on the ice for the Penguins' sixth goal.

"Minus-1• It must have been a bad change. They must not have seen me," he said. "Hopefully, my son doesn't see that because I've been telling him that for years now."

Q&A with chris dahlquist

On the change in atmosphere with the Penguins:

You talk about missing the playoffs the year before, that was really kind of the wake-up call. Basically there were probably nine or 10 of us that went over to the world championships in Switzerland right after that. And I remember Craig Patrick saying, 'This is never going to happen again, that we're sending this many guys over to the world championships.' I think when he made that statement, that was pretty much, well, we've got way too much talent here not to make some changes. He really did, starting that summer and then even throughout the year, really, I think, masterful moves to build that team.

On Bob Johnson:

It started in training camp. We went over to Colorado and trained in Vail, and that was something unique that hadn't been done. That was a good training camp, it was high-altitude training. Bob was always the detail guy: You gotta have happy feet, so you got foot massage guys, all the little things that no one ever really thinks about. He was huge into, your feet have to be happy, they really got to be happy. So we had guys get foot massages. He had all those little quirks that make you think, like, this guy's a genius.

It was a bit of a change from what had been previously through there. We did have a variety of different people that they tried to plug in there, and Bob Johnson was, by far, the most polished of all those coaches.

On his role with the Penguins:

It was a defensive defenseman. It was about a couple big hits a game to set the stage and set the tone. Penalty killing was obviously a big part of my game and my career. ... I basically got the same stats for 13 years: I'd pop in three goals and get 10 or 11 assists. That was basically it.

On finding out he was traded to Minnesota:

He called us the day we got traded. We were supposed to play that night in Pittsburgh. He called the house and I was taking my pregame nap and my wife Jeanie answers the phone and a voice says, 'Yeah, is Chris there?' Jeanie says, 'Well, no, he's taking a pregame nap and he can't be disturbed.' He goes, 'Jeanie, this is Bob Johnson. You need to get him up.' He goes, 'Chris, I got some good news and I got some bad news. The bad news is that we traded you today, but the good news is you're going home, and you're on a flight this afternoon.' That was my first trade. If there's anybody I'd ever want to hear my first trade from, it would be someone like Bob Johnson. Which I thought was pretty classy that he made the call.

On his trade being a surprise:

There were certainly no rumors because I don't even look at that stuff to tell you the truth, but I'll show you how unprepared I was. We actually, in the North Hills, we had actually the night before, the old cliche, you buy a house, we actually had been looking at a house, we were going to build a house and bought the lot and put the money down the night before the trade. Obviously, we got it back.

On the trade benefiting both sides:

I think that was probably the best trade for both teams, that got the North Stars where they went and where the Pens went. It was a better fit. Me going to the Norris Division, which was obviously much more physical — it was nothing but banging around — was a better fit for me than the Patrick (Division). Without question, Larry Murphy playing in the Patrick Division was a lot better for him, and you could see that was, talk about a disparity, he just couldn't play in the Norris. It was just way, way too intimidating, and he was a skill player, a fantastically skilled player. I think that was one of the bigger deals Craig (Patrick) made.

On when Minnesota turned it around:

After Christmas, we lost maybe two games at home all the second half of the year. We were very good at home. The playoffs, obviously, the home ice was a key for us, and sneaking the first win on the road. Edmonton didn't give us respect even when knocked them out in five games. They were still thinking they were better than us even though they were done. That was the aura of the team, that nothing about the team really intimidated you. There was no Mario. We had a couple 30-goal scorers, but we had really good chemistry.

On scoring his first career playoff goal vs. St. Louis:

I think it was zip-zip going into the third. I think I got one in the first few minutes. But of course, it never hangs on for the game-winner. A smart aleck like Brett Hull is going to score or something. It was very big and the atmosphere was so good. ... When you're making a run, you get some goals from odd sources if you're going to make a run that far. You've got to get something unexpected out of somebody. I guess you'd say, out of all my goals in the playoffs, that would be the biggest.

On his assist on the game-winning goal to oust Edmonton:

It was a hit, there was a loose puck and I dove and knocked it up to Stewie (Gavin) and they went down 2-on-1. The Edmonton series was a blast. We were playing really, really well. That was as convincing a victory of a series that I've seen. I mean, they had nothing going on. We really did play well as a team. I guess I should remember more of those because there weren't that many. Has Mario (Lemieux) been able to remember any• See, that's the advantage I have over him. I can remember all mine.

On when the North Stars realized the magnitude of what they had done:

It was more after the Edmonton series. Minnesota-Chicago, there is nothing you've ever seen like that. Those were the ugliest games you could ever imagine. They are the dirtiest, the cheapest, the most high-intense games you've ever seen in your life. Beating them, we played them so much anyways, it was good to eliminate them, without question, because they had a good team. It's that intradivision rivalry that maybe they don't have quite as much of now. It was never as ugly as those. Basically, every rule that ever came into play from fighting was a result of those Minnesota-Chicago games. Talk about a throwback game. That's when they started eliminating have extra guys warming up because there would be 28 guys out there skating around, so five of them could get kicked out before the game started.

On his scouting reports on the Penguins:

Jimmie Johnson and I basically gave scouting reports on everyone, right down to you talk about the details of Bob Johnson. When (Paul) Coffey's in the scrums, chop Coffey right on the top of the laces. He wears skates two sizes too small, and he hates it. His feet kill him all game. Just go across and chop him right on top of the foot. His feet hurt so bad after games. It was two sizes too small. In practice, he'd wear the skates two sizes too big just so his feet would feel good. He just crammed them in there. Things like that, and all the little details, and that's when the team was buying into all that.

On the Game 4 loss being the turning point of the series:

If you ever see some of the highlights from that game, we had some chances that didn't go in. That was a backbreaker not taking that one.

On rumors of proposed parade routes and a Stanley Cup celebration in Minnesota:

That wouldn't have started in our locker room. I don't think there's a guy in there that would want to be around one. Take a look at the guys. We were just a bunch of blue-collar workers. There were no millionaires in that group. If I was coaching an NHL team, and you're down, 2-1, I'd use that. I'd say, these guys are over there talking about where they're going to go with the Stanley Cup. Why not• Anything for bulletin board material.

On the difference between Pittsburgh and Minnesota:

If you look at the makeup of the teams, you got a team that will put 40 on net to try to score. You got a team full of 40-goal scorers that when they put the puck on the net, it doesn't take them 40. It doesn't take Mario 10 shots to get a goal. It never has. It's going in every three or four shots. He doesn't take shots that don't have a chance of going in. Minnesota, we built on putting the puck on net, crashing it, getting a little bit dirty. That's the tale of the two teams; they were just a little more efficient with their scoring, I would say.

Additional Information:

Chris Dahlquist

ACQUIRED: May 7, 1985 • Signed as free agent.

PENGUINS DEBUT: Dec. 31, 1985, at St. Louis

TRADED: Dec. 11, 1990 • Penguins trade Dahlquist and D Jim Johnson to Minnesota for D Peter Taglianetti and D Larry Murphy.

PENGUINS 1990-91 STATS: 22 games, 1 goal, 2 assists, 30 PIM

PENGUINS CAREER STATS: 195 games, 10 goals, 26 assists, 219 PIM

WHAT HE'S UP TO NOW: Financial adviser for Prudential Financial; youth hockey coach in Eden Prairie, Minn.