Young played seven NHL seasons before his retirement in 1988 at age 32
We've been bringing you some "blast-from-the-past" series about current and former Pittsburgh Penguins, including "Forgotten Penguins", "Throwback Thursday", and "Best Penguins by Jersey Number."
But perhaps lost in Penguins history along the way are some players who - for only a blink of an eye - shined brightly then burned out just as quickly.
There may not be a better example in Penguins' history than the curious case of Warren Young.
Young, who played for Pittsburgh in two short stints between 1983-85 and 1986-88, showed signs of greatness playing alongside a young rookie named Mario Lemieux in 1984-85. Young registered 40 goals and 72 points in 80 games alongside Lemieux that season, and he looked like a match made in heaven for 66.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvNuM3b6EYs[/embed][embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJ0C0O5lut8[/embed]
He also wasn't afraid to drop the gloves every now and again in defense of the Penguins' budding superstar:
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wZatm8GoR0[/embed]
However, following the 1984-85 season and after showing promise alongside Lemieux, Young shockingly opted to sign a four-year free agent contract with the Detroit Red Wings instead. After playing one season in Detroit, where he registered 22 goals and 46 points, Young returned to Pittsburgh.
But this time around, whatever flash of brilliance that Young showed the first time around with the Penguins and Lemieux had waned almost entirely. Young finished off the final two seasons of his NHL career with just eight goals and 21 points in 57 games. In his last season in 1987-88, he played only seven games and registered zero points.
So, his goal-scoring career alongside one of the greatest to ever play the game never actually came to fruition. As it turns out, Young was just one of many "flash pan" players in NHL history who was never able to sustain a certain level of greatness throughout his career.