One of the big reasons behind Guerin's desire to stay with Pens? No. 87
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Bill Guerin will be 39 years old in November, but the Massachusetts native didn't contemplate retirement for one second. He never does.
"Maybe I should," he said with a laugh late Monday night. "But it really never crossed my mind. I knew I wanted to come back. My family and I have really enjoyed this."
Guerin went from rental acquisition at the March trade deadline to key veteran for the Stanley Cup-champion Penguins and a must keep. His voice is well-received in the Pittsburgh room and he would have been sorely missed had he not come back.
"You don't need a letter on your jersey to be a leader," Guerin told ESPN.com.
So the unrestricted free agent took a pay cut from the $4.5 million he earned last season, signing a one-year deal for $2 million for next season. OK, maybe he could have squeezed an extra dime or so elsewhere, but he is re-energized in the twilight of his career after winning a championship. Not to mention the fact that he played most of the time with superstar center Sidney Crosby.
Retirement? Come on.
"I'd be lying if I didn't say that was one of the big reasons I wanted to stay," Guerin said of No. 87. "It's so much fun to play with him."
You wonder just how things could have been so different. The Penguins were not his first suitor in March, and he was nearly dealt elsewhere by Islanders GM Garth Snow.
"There were two others teams that looked at me, one team for a couple of days," said Guerin. "It didn't work out and then [Pens GM] Ray [Shero], I think, called Snowy at about 2 p.m. It's really amazing when you think about it, how things could have worked out differently.
"There's a lot of good teams I could have played for, but this obviously was the best fit."
Pierre LeBrun
