Pittsburgh Pirates: The final uniform

You just never know what surprises are lurking in the old newspaper archives. I came across this stunning shot of Archie Briden, a left winger for Pittsburgh's first entry in the NHL, the Pirates. Briden played for the team during their disastrous fifth and final season, 1929-30, eventually being sold for money by the cash-strapped Corsairs.

In this era, game-action images were rare in newspapers. When there was imagery to go along with a story, it was usually a posed shot such as this one. I've never seen such a clear picture of a member of the Pirates sporting this style of uniform, though. The details really jump out at you.

The Pirates had almost as many uniform styles (three) as they did seasons in the league (five). This one was black and orange and in many respects was way ahead of its time. Notice the diagonal striping, similar to the original Mighty Ducks of Anaheim jerseys, and the pirate logo on the front left pant leg, which to my knowledge wasn't widely used until the 1980s.

For my money, you can't beat the Pirates' original black and gold uniforms, but this shot proves just how much of a winner the final version was - even if the team wasn't.

Chuck Arnason

Poor Chuck Arnason. Although the right winger from Dauphin, Manitoba had a fairly lengthy NHL career spanning eight seasons and  401 regular season games, he only saw action in nine playoff contests. The reason? Arnason toiled for many of the worst clubs of the 1970s, including the second-year Atlanta Flames, Kansas City Scouts, Colorado Rockies, Cleveland Barons, Minnesota North Stars and Washington Capitals. His entire playoff experience came in one year with another, much better, team: the 1974-75 Pittsburgh Penguins. 

Arnason came to the Pens on January 4, 1974 in a trade with the Flames, putting up a respectable 18 points in 41 games. The next year, skating on a line with 31-goal rookie star Pierre Larouche and Bob Kelly, Chuck hit his stride, racking up 26 goals and 58 points. The Penguins were back in the playoffs, and in the first game of the best-of-three first round series against the St. Louis Blues, Arnason turned in perhaps the finest game of his career.

Trailing the Blues 2-1 in the third period, Arnason scored two goals to cue a come-from-behind 4-3 Pittsburgh victory. His second goal, in which he put in his own rebound to tie the game at three, mightily impressed Penguin coach Marc Boileau. "I've never seen a goal like that," he said after the game. "It was some wrist shot."

By early 1976, though, Arnason had fallen out of favour with the Pens brass, who reportedly wanted him to go into the corners more and play better defense. On January 9, 1976, he was shipped to Kansas City along with bad boy Steve Durbano. Thus began a tour of the NHL dregs, although he did have one solid stop in Cleveland, where in 1977-78 he scored 21 goals in 40 games for the Barons.

Those would be the last goals of his NHL career, however. During training camp in 1980, Arnason suffered a serious knee injury. It was time to let the curtain fall on his hockey playing days. 

Arnason's son Tyler also made it to the NHL, playing 487 games with the Blackhawks, Senators and Avalanche from 2001 to 2009. 

Kevin McCarthy, Pens point man

Kevin McCarthy was a high-scoring NHL defenceman of the late 70s and early 80s who began and ended his career with the Philadelphia Flyers, playing for Vancouver and Pittsburgh in between. Drafted 17^th overall in the 1977 amateur draft, McCarthy had an impressive rookie season in 77-78, putting up 17 points in 62 games, while enjoying a plus-29 rating.  

After 22 games and only three points the next year, however, the Flyers gave up on him and shipped him to Vancouver. 

He proved the Flyers wrong. 

Seasons of 45, 53, 45 and 40 points followed. Unfortunately, he broke his ankle just before the Canucks began their memorable run to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1982, missing the entire playoffs and watching his team eventually lose to the New York Islanders. 

McCarthy came to the Penguins smack dab in the middle of their worst season ever, traded in January 1984 for a third-round pick in that year’s draft. He hadn't been playing much in Vancouver and welcomed a fresh start in Pittsburgh.  "I'm glad to be with someone who wants me," he said when traded. "It could be a blessing in disguise because (Pens GM) Eddie Johnston said I'd be getting a lot of ice time."

McCarthy proved to be a rare bright spot for the Pens that year, racking up 20 points in 31 games. Typical of most 1983-84 Penguin defencemen, though, he also posted a hideous minus-32 while wearing the black and gold that year. 

McCarthy was back the following season to be a part of Mario Lemieux’s rookie campaign, but the following summer his career went full circle when he was signed by the Flyers as a free agent. After six more games over the next two years, McCarthy’s NHL career was over. 

Since hanging up his skates, McCarthy has enjoyed a successful coaching career, getting his name on the Stanley Cup as an assistant with the 2006 champion Carolina Hurricanes. He is currently an assistant coach with the Nashville Predators.