In the End, Penguins Got What They Deserved

“This is a Pain that is going to linger…” (Brain Mouse…Pinky and the Brain)

Wednesday May 12, 2010 will always be remembered as the night the Montreal Canadiens closed down the Igloo. And to some degree, it was fitting.

We’ve seen some absolutely amazing hockey from our beloved Penguins over the last 25 years. I’ve said before, we are truly spoiled. Ask our friends in Philly what they would give for 3 Stanley Cups, 4 finals, and four all world superstars over a quarter century (or at least one comeback from a 3-0 deficit). We have no right to complain.

And yet the night they turned the lights off at the Igloo the Penguins suffered no less then their 5th agonizing game 7 defeat on home ice. We are all too young to remember the brutal loss to the Islanders in 1975. And yet we can now add this loss to the Goons in 1989, the horrible, awful loss that should never be spoken of against the Islanders and 93 and from what I’m told, to Florida in 1996 (although I still say if the Pens had lost the conference finals to a clutch and grab expansion team from the deep south I would remember that).

The funny thing about the Igloo is that the Pens have never really had much of a home ice advantage there. As sad as I am to see it go, this is not like shutting down the Boston Garden or Chicago Stadium. The Penguins throughout their history have had most of their biggest wins on the road and their worst defeats at home. And tonight was no exception. As has so often happened in the past, the Penguins saved their worst effort for a 7th game at the aged barn.

There will be all kinds of attempts to analyze what happened tonight and in this series but it’s frankly not necessary. The Pens got beat, plain and simple. The naive of the naïve will put all the blame on Fleury, while conveniently ignoring a complete disappearing act by our media appointed savior, Sid the Kid. They will correctly point out two less than stellar goals tonight while ignoring the constant breakdowns in the defensive zone. They will overlook that a team supposedly built to dominate offensively, scored 9 even strength goals in 7 games.

That being said, I do not want to turn this blog into a defense of Fleury. There is more to it than that and frankly he did not earn it. The bigger picture question is what did we really see tonight. Did Montreal expose the Penguins flaws and end a short lived era of immense glory? Or was this a team that after two long playoff runs and an Olympic year finally ran out of gas?

I like to think the answer lies somewhat in the middle although closer to the latter. I said back in October that this team was going to have to overcome both physical and mental fatigue this year. Frankly, I do not think they ever did. They were talented enough to finish respectably in the standings and win a playoff series against an inferior team. And yet they struggled all year against better teams and especially against strong defensive teams. Let’s not forget they were 0 and 6 against New Jersey, the team last seen skating off the ice against Philly with their head’s in their hands after a five game rout.

Truth be told, the Pens are a flawed team though no more than last year. Crosby, Malkin, and Fleury carried them past those flaws last season (with assists from Staal, Gonchar, and Talbot). Take a look at last season’s stats (regular season and playoffs) and you’ll be amazed how disproportionate they are to 87 and 71. This year for whatever reason, Sid and Geno could not perform the same miracles. The question is, were they just out of gas or is it not reasonable for two players, no matter how talented, to carry a team every year?

So if we are going to make lemons out of lemonade, maybe this is it. The Penguins have stuck with a flawed structure for three seasons because Sid and Geno carried them past those flaws to a well earned championship. Maybe now Ray Shero will realize he has to make some genuinely tough decisions to improve his wingers and blue line; even if that means trading somebody like Jordan Staal (a move that while potentially necessary would cause me great angst). I just don’t think the Penguins can continue to play with Pascal Dupuis and Chris Kunitz as their top wingers or Alex Goligoski and Mark Eaton as a top four defensemen.

In any event, such questions are irrelevant tonight. Tonight we deal with our sadness towards the end of the season and the end of a truly brilliant three year run. We can deal with the what ifs or maybes come July.

The reality of today is the Penguins got flat out beat. Not just tonight but for an entire series. I’m sad to say that I’ve expected this loss since game 2 and I’ve been vocal in my concerns. It’s not rest assured because I am a pessimist and certainly not about the Pens. I never lost faith when they were down 3-2 to Detroit last year, even after the game 5 blowout (see my year old blog that I reposted yesterday). I never lost faith when they were trailing 3-0 to Ottawa in the second period of game 6.

Quite honestly, I’m usually quite the optimist when it comes to the Pens.

Alas there were just too many signs in this series that it was not to be. Throw out game 1 when the Pens overmatched a physically and mentally exhausted Habs team and the reality is that Montreal was just better. Truth be told, the Pens were lucky to even get to a game 7. They played Montreal’s game. They struggled to score at even strength and in fact most of their goals came on long shots from the point. There were not tough goals or dirty goals score from in front. No rebounds, no deflections…and no Sid and Geno.

With each passing game I waited for some sign that the Pens were coming out of this funk and finding their game but it never happened. And thus with each passing game I became more and more convinced that we were feeding the underdog monster in Montreal. If indeed the Penguins really did lose to the Florida Panthers in 1996 (and I still deny this), this series had a frightening similarity (sans 20,000 plastic rats).

Let’s be honest, the problems started long before this series. I’ve been saying since the Olympics that something was not quite right about this team. It was never anything specific or quantifiable but it was always there. Remember how the Pens just dominated the month of March the last two years? Well this year it never happened. Remember how the Penguins got up for big games against key conference rivals the last two years? Contrast that with 0 and 10 against Jersey and the Craps.

This team just did not have that aura of dominance that last year’s team had. Last year you just waited for Sid, Geno, or even a Max Talbot type to do something miraculous. This year they tried but just could not make it happen.

The magic was just not there. Geno and Fleury did not elevate their game like last year. We did not get big goals from grinders like Talbot, Cooke, Dupuis, and Kennedy; at least against the Habs. There was no Bylsma magic behind the bench. And I’m sorry but Sid the Kid just disappeared. He stopped scoring, he stopped winning face offs and frankly stopped being a special player in this series.

As much as I’ve lamented the Penguins playing Montreal’s game for two weeks, the reality is there is no game plan that can overcome such malaise. Last year I described the heart of a champion; as something that goes beyond skill or talent to an unstoppable will to overcome all obstacles. It’s a truly rare thing and quite simply, this year’s team did not have it. Even if they had somehow managed to win tonight, I’m not sure they would have gone any further. I guess the bright side is we don’t have to face the horrifying thought of them losing to the Goons in the conference finals (another bright side, we are not Boston Bruin fans right now).

Let’s at least lose with grace and dignity. Resist the urge to complain about the officiating. It was shaky but we overcame similar issues to win the cup last year. Do not restart the Scuderi love fest. That’s the same guy that gave up 13 points to Ovechkin in the second round last year. Do not myopically scapegoat Fleury; he was one of many that disappointed. Do not blame Ray Shero because Feds and Poni-K did not work out. You roll the dice and sometimes you get seven or eleven. Most important, let’s not make more of Jaroslav Halak than he is. He played great but he was just one part of a superior team effort.

No, let’s just face the reality that for whatever reason, this was just not the year for our Pens. We look forward to a new season next year in a new arena that we’ve been waiting a decade to see. Let’s be proud of a young team that matured long before most of us expected to win the cup and go to two straight finals. Let’s remember that as much as this hurt, there have been far more painful moments than tonight. This is not the one of the greatest teams in NHL history losing to a decidedly inferior opponent in 1993. This was not a solid Penguin team losing to a beer league expansion club in 1996.

This is what it is. A team that was not good enough and probably finished exactly where it deserved. Let’s deal with the sadness and start up again at the new barn in October.

In good times and in bad…All Hail the Mighty Penguin, Blessed be the Penguin, for it is Good (even tonight).