Maxime Talbot
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| Position | Centre |
| Shoots | Left |
| Nickname(s) | Mad Max, Superstar |
| Height Weight |
5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) 190 lb (86 kg/13 st 8 lb) |
| NHL Team | Pittsburgh Penguins |
| Nationality |  Canada |
| Born | February 11, 1984 , LeMoyne, PQ, Canada |
| NHL Draft | 8th Rnd, 234th overall, 2002 Pittsburgh Penguins |
| Pro career | 2005 – present |
Maxime Talbot (born February 11, 1984 in LeMoyne, Quebec) is a professional ice hockey player, who currently plays for the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Contents |
[edit] Early career and junior hockey
[edit] Junior
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] Before the 2002 season started, he was named team captain and finished the year with 46 goals, 104 points and 69 penalty minutes in 69 games.[1] In the playoffs that year, Talbot exploded for 44 points in 20 games as he captained the Olympiques to a QMJHL Championship. He also helped team Team Canada win a silver medal as an alternate captain in the World Junior Championships in Helsinki.[1]
In the 2003-04 season, Talbot finish third in scoring in the QMJHL with 98 points (25 goals, 73 assists) in 51 games as the team was renamed Gatineau. Talbot revived the QMJHL Playoff MVP award for the second time in a row. He was the first to complete this feat in roughly 30 years.[1]
[edit] AHL
As the 2004-05 season approached, Talbot was signed by the Pittsburgh Penguins and was assigned to make his debut with the team's AHL affiliate Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. Here, he was assigned to various linemates and was placed into a lot of 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]
[edit] NHL career
[edit] 2005-2006 Season
With an impressive training camp, Talbot made the NHL roster for the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 2005-2006 season and debuted his talents on opening night against the New Jersey Devils. His primary role his rookie season was a specialty penalty killer.[1] He would later be sent back down to the AHL after 48 games in the NHL, where he recorded 8 points (5 goals, 3 assists).
[edit] 2006-2007 Season
Talbot did not start the 2006-07 season in the NHL, but was recalled by Pittsburgh on October 24, 2006, after only playing 5 games in for Wilkes-Barre.[2] He would play that same night in the Pittsburgh Penguins game against the New Jersey Devils. Talbot would continue to play in key role player situations, such as the penalty kill where he recorded 4 shorthanded goals, and finished the season with 24 points (13 goals, 11 assists).
[edit] 2007-2008 season
Talbot has started off on the right foot early in the 07-08 NHL season. In the opening 5 games, Maxime recorded 4 goals. He was the subject of a 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), initially drawing a large cheer from the crowd in Toronto before they had noticed Talbot's un-Crosby-like features.
Talbot has become known among Pens fans as a player who can score an important goal, and he did so in Game Three of the 2008 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals by scoring 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 2008 Eastern Conference Finals against the Philadelphia Flyers, Talbot scored a tie-breaking (and ultimately game winning) goal in the 3rd period of Game 2 to help the Pittsburgh Penguins on their way to victory. He did this in his first game back from a broken foot that had sidelined him for the previous 4 playoff games. In Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final against Detroit, he scored the tying goal with 35 seconds remaining to keep Pittsburgh's hope of winning the Cup alive.
[edit] 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 | Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins | AHL | 42 | 12 | 20 | 32 | 80 | 11 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 16 | ||
| 2005–06 | Pittsburgh Penguins | NHL | 48 | 5 | 3 | 8 | 59 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 2006–07 | Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins | AHL | 5 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 2 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 2006–07 | Pittsburgh Penguins | NHL | 75 | 13 | 11 | 24 | 53 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 7 | ||
| 2007–08 | Pittsburgh Penguins | NHL | 63 | 12 | 14 | 26 | 53 | 17 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 36 | ||
| NHL Totals | 186 | 30 | 28 | 58 | 165 | 22 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 43 | ||||
| AHL Totals | 122 | 23 | 32 | 55 | 144 | 22 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 38 | ||||
| QMJHL Totals | 249 | 110 | 189 | 299 | 483 | 52 | 30 | 52 | 82 | 86 | ||||
