Pascal Dupuis

Pascal Dupuis (born April 7, 1979) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey left winger.

Dupuis played 14 seasons in the NHL for the Minnesota Wild, New York Rangers, Atlanta Thrashers, and Pittsburgh Penguins.

As a youth, Dupuis played in the 1993 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with a minor ice hockey team from the Mille-Îles area of Laval, Quebec.

Dupuis started his career with the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.

He played four seasons in the QMJHL, but was never drafted by an NHL club.

On August 18, 2000, Dupuis was signed by the Minnesota Wild.

It took Dupuis a year of development in the International Hockey League before he became a regular player in the NHL.

In his second full season, he scored 20 goals and 48 points while having a plus-minus rating of +17.

However, in 2003–04, he was bothered by injuries and he was unable to improve on his totals from the previous year.

During the 2004–05 NHL lock-out, Dupuis played eight games for HC Ajoie of the Swiss League.

When the NHL returned in 2005–06, Dupuis recorded 26 points in 67 games.

After 48 games with the Wild in the 2006–07 season, Dupuis was traded to the New York Rangers in exchange for Adam Hall on February 9, 2007.

On February 27, 2007, he was traded again, this time to the Atlanta Thrashers for Alex Bourret.

Although Dupuis was eligible for unrestricted free agency following the 2007–08 season, he signed a three-year contract extension to remain with the Penguins.

On February 9, 2008, Dupuis was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins, along with Marián Hossa, in exchange for Colby Armstrong, Erik Christensen, Angelo Esposito and their first-round pick in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft.

He scored 2 goals and 10 assists for 12 points through 16 games with the Penguins as they qualified for the 2008 Stanley Cup playoffs.

As the Penguins advanced through the playoffs, Hossa and Dupuis flanked Sidney Crosby as the top line wingers.

He was one of six players to score in the Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals to lead the Penguins to the 2008 Stanley Cup Finals.

Following their loss to the Detroit Red Wings, Dupuis finished the playoffs with two goals and five assists for seven points through 20 playoff games.

When Dupuis returned to the Penguins for the 2008–09 season, he spent time on their third line for a bottom-six forward role while Ruslan Fedotenko was tested out on Crosby's wing.

On December 11, 2008, Dupuis and Petr Sýkora both scored their first NHL hat-tricks in a 9–2 win over the New York Islanders.

He was part of 2 Stanley Cups championships in his career both with Pittsburgh in 2009 and 2016.

As the season continued, Dupuis returned to Crosby's wing until head coach Michel Therrien was replaced with Dan Bylsma in February 2009.

Under Bylsma, Dupuis fell down the lineup and remained in a mostly bottom-six forward role throughout the season.

Bylsma and Dupuois later spoke about their conflicts, with Bylsma saying, "When I came here it maybe wasn't the best time for Pascal... There were some things that maybe didn't endear me to Pascal."

As the Penguins defeated the Red Wings for the 2009 Stanley Cup, Dupuis remained pointless over 16 games while being scratched eight times over the playoffs.

On November 14, 2009, Dupuis scored his 100th career goal, an overtime game winner against the Boston Bruins.

After a game against the New York Islanders in January 2010, Dupuis missed one game to recover from a laceration above his right eye.

The perpetrator, Andy Sutton, was suspended for two games.

Following an injury to Bill Guerin, Dupuis rejoined Crosby on the Penguins top line where he experienced a resurgence in scoring.

He finished the regular season with a career-high 18 goals and 20 assists for 38 points through 81 games.

In the 2010 playoffs, Dupuis scored 9:56 into overtime to help the Penguins eliminate the Ottawa Senators from the Eastern Conference Semi-finals.

Following the retirement of forward Bill Guerin in the 2010 off-season, Dupuis found himself back on Crosby's line full-time, along with Chris Kunitz.

The trio found success as a line and they were all expected to set new career highs in goals and points.

After Crosby suffered a concussion during the 2011 NHL Winter Classic, Mark Letestu was tested out as the new centre between Kunitz and Dupuis.

Letestu was eventually replaced with Evgeni Malkin down the stretch.

After James Neal was acquired from the Dallas Stars at the NHL trade deadline, he became the left winger between Jordan Staal and Dupuis on the Penguins' top line.

He finished the regular season with 17 points and 20 assists for 37 points through 81 games.

Dupuis retired in December 2015 due to health issues, although contractually he remained on the Pittsburgh Penguins’ long-term injury reserve list until the end of the 2016–17 NHL season.

On December 18, in an 8–3 win over the Buffalo Sabres, Dupuis recorded his 300th career NHL point.