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Drafted: PIT / 2002 NHL Entry Draft
Nicknames: The Gamer, Mad Max, Mr. Clutch, The Superstar
Place of Residence:Above Mario's Bar and Grill in Pittsburgh, PA
Nicknames: The Gamer, Mad Max, Mr. Clutch, The Superstar
Place of Residence:Above Mario's Bar and Grill in Pittsburgh, PA
Maxime Talbot (born February 11, 1984) is a Canadian professional ice hockey centre who currently plays for the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League (NHL). Drafted out of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL), Talbot led the Hull/Gatineau Olympiques to back-to-back President's Cups while earning the Guy Lafleur Trophy as playoff MVP both years. He won the Stanley Cup in his fourth season with the Penguins in 2009.
Playing career
QMJHL
Talbot was selected by the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies in the first round of the 2000 QMJHL Draft. At the trading deadline that year, Talbot was dealt to the Hull Olympiques for current Washington Capitals minor league player Alexandre Giroux.[1] He completed his major junior rookie season with a combined 37 points between the two teams. Before the start of the 2002–03 season started, he was named team captain for the Olympiques and finished the year with a major junior career-high 46 goals and 104 points in 69 games, good for fifth in league scoring and QMJHL Second All-Star Team honours.[1] In the playoffs that year, Talbot led the league in scoring with 44 points in 20 games as he captained the Olympiques to a QMJHL Championship, earning the Guy Lafleur Trophy as playoff MVP. Playing the Kitchener Rangers in the final of the subsequent 2003 Memorial Cup, they were defeated by a 6–3 score.
In the 2003–04 season, Talbot finished third in scoring in the QMJHL with 98 points (25 goals, 73 assists) in 51 games as the team became the Gatineau Olympiques through almagamation. He led the team to a second consecutive QMJHL championship, while being named playoff MVP and leading the league in post-season scoring once more. He was the first to earn back-to-back Guy Lafleur Trophies since Marc Saumier in 1987 and 1988.[1] The Olympiques were, however, defeated for the second straight year in the Memorial Cup final, losing to the Kelowna Rockets 2–1.
Pittsburgh Penguins
As the 2004–05 season approached, Talbot was signed by the Pittsburgh Penguins and was assigned to make his debut with the team's American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. He was assigned to various linemates and was placed in many role playing opportunities.[1] He did not have the offensive power in the AHL that he did in the QMJHL, but Talbot showed quality traits in other aspects of the game as he finished the his debut season with 19 points (7 goals, 12 assists) in 75 games.[1]
With an impressive training camp, Talbot made the Penguins opening roster for the 2005–06 season, making his NHL debut against the New Jersey Devils. He scored his first NHL goal on October 14, 2005, from center ice against the Philadelphia Flyers. His primary role during his rookie season was that of a penalty killer.[1] He would later be sent back down to the AHL after 48 games in the NHL, during which time he recorded 8 points (5 goals, 3 assists).
Talbot did not start the 2006–07 season in the NHL, but was recalled by Pittsburgh on October 24, 2006, just 5 games into the AHL season.[2] He would play that same night against the New Jersey Devils. Talbot continued to play a key role on the penalty kill, recording 4 shorthanded goals to go with a season total of 24 points (13 goals, 11 assists).
Talbot scored four goals in the first five games of the 2007–08 season. He was the part of an on-ice prank on December 1, 2007, when he briefly donned the jersey of teammate Sidney Crosby during an optional practice that Crosby had chosen to skip. He initially drew a large cheer from the crowd in Toronto before they realized the jersey switch.
In game three of the 2008 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, Talbot scored a backhand goal against Ottawa Senators goaltender Martin Gerber less than five minutes after the Senators had taken the lead in that game. In the Conference Finals against the Philadelphia Flyers, Talbot scored a tie-breaking (and ultimately game winning) goal in the third period of game two. He did this in his first game back from a broken foot that had sidelined him for the previous four playoff games. In game five of the 2008 Stanley Cup Finals against the Detroit Red Wings, he scored the tying goal with 35 seconds remaining, allowing the Penguins to score in overtime to keep Pittsburgh's hope of winning the Cup alive. However, the Penguins lost the series in six games.
Midway through the final year of his initial contract with the Penguins, 2008–09, Talbot re-signed on December 19, 2008, to a two-year contract extension through the 2010–11 season. The Penguins returned to the Stanley Cup Finals for the second consecutive year against the Red Wings. Talbot scored both of the Penguins' goals in the seventh and deciding game of the series to capture the franchise's third Stanley Cup.[3]International play
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
Competitor for  Canada | ||
| Ice hockey | ||
| World Junior Championships | ||
| Silver | 2004 Finland | |
Awards
- Named to the QMJHL Second All-Star Game in 2003 and 2004.
- Won the Guy Lafleur Trophy (QMJHL Playoff MVP) in 2003 and 2004.
- Won the President's Cup with the Hull/Gatineau Olympiques in 2003 and 2004.
- Won a silver medal with Team Canada in 2004.
- Stanley Cup champion 2009 (Pittsburgh)
Career statistics
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 2000–01 | Rouyn-Noranda Huskies | QMJHL | 40 | 9 | 15 | 24 | 78 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 2000–01 | Hull Olympiques | QMJHL | 24 | 6 | 7 | 13 | 60 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ||
| 2001–02 | Hull Olympiques | QMJHL | 65 | 24 | 36 | 60 | 174 | 12 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 51 | ||
| 2002–03 | Hull Olympiques | QMJHL | 69 | 46 | 58 | 104 | 130 | 20 | 14 | 30 | 44 | 33 | ||
| 2003–04 | Gatineau Olympiques | QMJHL | 51 | 25 | 73 | 98 | 41 | 15 | 11 | 16 | 27 | 0 | ||
| 2004–05 | Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins | AHL | 75 | 7 | 12 | 19 | 62 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 22 | ||
| 2005–06 | Pittsburgh Penguins | NHL | 48 | 5 | 3 | 8 | 59 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 2005–06 | Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins | AHL | 42 | 12 | 20 | 32 | 80 | 11 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 16 | ||
| 2006–07 | Pittsburgh Penguins | NHL | 75 | 13 | 11 | 24 | 53 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 7 | ||
| 2006–07 | Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins | AHL | 5 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 2 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 2007–08 | Pittsburgh Penguins | NHL | 63 | 12 | 14 | 26 | 53 | 17 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 36 | ||
| 2008–09 | Pittsburgh Penguins | NHL | 75 | 12 | 10 | 22 | 63 | 24 | 8 | 5 | 13 | 19 | ||
| NHL totals | 261 | 42 | 38 | 80 | 228 | 46 | 11 | 12 | 23 | 62 | ||||
| (Wikipedia) |
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| ¡Question. Who's the best goalie you've ever faced? ¡Answer: Probably Marc-Andre Fleury because he's my goalie. But you've got to think about [Martin] Brodeur and [Roberto] Luongo, too. Those three. ¡Q: Is everyone in your family as goofy as you? ¡A: Oh, yeah. More. They're just crazy. We're really an open-minded family. We talk about everything, from serious stuff to sex or whatever. But we were raised to have fun. It starts with my grandfather on my dad's side. Everybody on the Talbot side is crazy. ¡Q: Are you funnier in English or French? ¡A: Oh, in French. English, I'm really not funny. It's easier in French because it comes faster. When someone comes at me on the ice in English... I have trouble answering back because sometimes the first reaction is French. But when someone comes at me in French, I tell them to [censored] real fast or something really good. ¡Q: How's it going with Evgeni Malkin as your road roommate, and has he taught you any Russian words? ¡A: Not so much Russian words. I'm awful with a third language. I was fortunate enough to learn English when I was younger. But he's been good. We have conversations. His English has gotten way better. He sleeps a lot, so I always wake him up because I like to wake up earlier and go to breakfast. (www.whsd.org/students/2011/alf111/powerpoint/Bio.pptx -) |
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