Twenty Year Later – Part II

Yesterday I waxed poetic about the 20 year anniversary of the Pens winning their first Stanley Cup.

The 1991 Stanley Cup Penguins will always have favored status in my heart. You never forget your first cup…or something like that. The team was not as brilliantly talented as their 1992 or even 1993 successors. Their run was not as epic as the 2009 version.  And it matters not a lick.

What they did was bring Pittsburgh its first and most improbable Stanley Cup, doing so through a litany of spectacular moments. They gave us a lifetime of brilliant hockey memories; memories that two decades later are still burned in my brain (with an occasional second assist from YouTube).

Some of the most memorable include:

THE INJURY – The Pens opened the 1990-91 season without Lemieux. Le Magnifique had offseason back surgery and then suffered a major set back with a training camp infection. There was talk that his career was in jeopardy and ultimately we would not see him in the line-up until late January. I remember the Pens opening night broadcast starting with this quote from Tom Barrasso “I wish to state unequivocally that we are a better team with Mario Lemieux in the line-up.” The bad news was obvious. The good news, the rest of the team was forced to grow up with their franchise player sidelined.

THE KID – It’s fair to say that none of us had ever heard of an 18 year old Czech phenom named Jaromir Jagr when the Pens acquired him on draft day. I remember reading that he was the most talented player in the draft; and frankly not believing it. That’s exactly what teams say when they have the fifth pick in a deep draft, rather than the first. Who would have known that Jagr would develop in to the one of the truly dominant offensive stars in NHL history, and a critical component of two Stanley Cup championships. Not to mention a pretty solid weather man on WDVE.

THE OPTION LINE – With Lemieux out, the Pens offense was put in the hands of three young stars playing out their options; Kevin Stevens, Marc Recchi, and John Cullen. All three were critical to the team’s regular season success. All three were critical to the team’s ultimate Stanley Cup championship, Recchi and Steven’s directly and Cullen by being the marketable asset that allowed for THE TRADE (see below).

THE TRADE – Arguably the greatest trade deadline deal in NHL history. The Pens were struggling and underachieving when Craig Patrick changed the entire look of the franchise. The deal was such highway robbery that Hartford GM Eddie Johnston (yes, that EJ) should have gotten his name on the cup. Ron Francis brought leadership and brilliant two way hockey. Ulf Samuelsson brought dominant, in your face defense (as Cam Neely will attest). Even Grant Jennings was a key acquisition. Before the trade the Pens were a great offensive team, after it they were a great team.

THE GOAL, PART I – The Pens were very much in danger of falling behind New Jersey two games to zero…at home. They were outplayed by the plucky Devils for two straight games and had barely managed to force overtime in game 2. That’s when the 18 year old Jagr scored the first of his many jaw dropping goals over the next decade. He blew around the Devil defense, cut across the face of the goal, out waited Chris Terreri, and fired home one of the biggest goals in Penguin history. It was pure individual brilliance; the kind rarely seen by any player…or at least any player not wearing 66 in black and gold.

THE BANISHMENT – A regretably overlooked turning point in the playoffs may have occurred in game four of the first round against New Jersey. After discovering that the Pens had not won a game all year with John Rowan watching from Chris Cox’s house; we banished him to the backyard for the third period. The Pens lost the game but after that, we were more strategic about our viewing logistics. Quote of the year from Chris’ mom…”Why is J.P. in the backyard by himself?”

THE SAVE – I’m the biggest Tom Barrasso fan this side of…anywhere…and even I will acknowledge the obvious. Frank Pietrangelo’s spectacular glove robbery of Peter Stastny was “the moment” the Pens developed that championship belief. The combination of facing elimination and the loss of Barrasso drove stress levels to record highs amongst Pens fans. And then there was Stastny all alone in front, firing a loose rebound towards an empty net…until Frankie Pete robbed him blind. I love watching 18,000 fans jump to their feet to celebrate a sure goal, and then dropping down in stunned disbelief.

THE GOAL, PART II – The Pens were very much in danger of falling behind Washington two games to none, at home. Sound familiar? They were outplayed in game one and needed a late Randy Gilhen (seriously) goal to send game two in to overtime. And then Francis set up Kevin Stevens for the game winning goal in overtime. The Pens never looked back, dominating the next three games with Barrasso stopping 97 of 100 shots. The conference finals were coming.

THE GAURANTEE – In those days, the common belief was that the Boston Bruins were the superior team and the Pens the underdog upstart. Boston has played in the Stanley Cup Finals in two of the last three seasons, led by star players Ray Bourque and Neely. The Pens lost the first two games and were quite frankly robbed by a highly questionable penalty late in game two. The situation looked bleak until Stevens took over. He boldly guaranteed after game two that the Pens would win the series. It was pure bulleting board material...for the Pens. The boys have not lost of playoff game to the Bruins since.

THE ROUT – PART I – After two hard fought victories in Pittsburgh the Pens returned to Boston for a critical game 5. We all thought this would be a turning point in the series. It was. The Pens destroyed the B’s 7-2, chasing overrated scrub goalie Andy Moog in the process.

THE TROPHY – I laugh every time I see teams refuse to touch the conference championship trophy. After Recchi finished off the B’s in game 6, Lemieux and company took the Prince of Wales trophy for a skate. Two weeks later, they were Stanley Cup champs. Two decades later, Sidney Crosby did the same thing. Perhaps this superstition is a tad…dumb?

THE FOG – Don Cherry, a man who could do the entire world a favor by talking considerably less, accuses Barrasso of being “in a fog” after a game one loss to Minnesota in the finals. Barrasso’s response, “I refuse to have a battle of wits with Don Cherry because he’s unarmed.”

THE GREATEST GOAL IN STANLEY CUP PLAYOFF HISTORY – “Here’s Lemieux, to center, penalty coming up, LOOK AT LEMIEUX, OH MY GOODNESS, WHAT A GOAL, WHAT A MOVE, LEMIEUX. OOOOOOH BABY.” Kudos to hockey night in Canada for its perfect description of what truly was the greatest goal in playoff history. What Lemieux did to Shawn Chambers and John Casey is a criminal offense in seven states.

THE PARADE – Mario’s back stiffened before game 3 causing a late and shocking scratch of the game’s greatest player. Without Big 66, the Pens fell 3 to 1. Minnesota started planning their Stanley Cup parade. The Pens were…ANGRY.

THE DANCE OF CHAMPIONS – The Pens jumped out to quick leads of 3-0 and 4-1 in a must win game 4; then gave two goals back to make it a one goal game. Late in the third period, the team known as an offensive juggernaut took a five minute major penalty. The Pens killed it without allowing a single shot on goal. It was the defining moment of what was now a great team in all phases. I still say this game was one of the underrated gems of Barrasso’s career.

THE ROUT, PART II – The Pens 8 to 0 demolition of the North Stars in game 6 remains possibly the most dominant cup clinching victory in NHL history.  The NHL was close to invoking a mercy rule. Lemieux so dominates Minnesota that he looks to be playing pond hockey against local high school players. Francis, Mullen and even Jim Paek score breakaways. Barrasso silences his remaining critics with a defining shut out.

THE ANNOUNCEMENT – In the immortal words of Mike Lange, “The Stanley Cup has come to the city of Pittsburgh.”

THE LIFT – Mario Lemieux, the man who lifted the franchise, lifts the Stanley Cup. Lange…”Go for it Mario…Go for it.”

THE PHOTO – The Pens become the first team to do an all hands on photo at center ice with the cup. The tradition lives to this day. One of the greatest moments in Pittsburgh sports history, immortalized forever.

THE MEMORIES – To last a lifetime.

Twenty Years Later ???

If you are a hockey aficionado like me, I highly recommend the Empty Netters Blog on the Post Gazette’s web site. Not only does Seth Rorabaugh do an excellent and thorough job of covering the game, but he also adds a touch of sarcasm and humor which I find to be positively, “Haber-Esqe.”

Throughout the 2010-11 season, Empty Netters has been running a feature entitled “Twenty Years Later” focusing on the 20 year anniversary of the Penguins first Stanley Cup championship. It includes recaps of every game played (often with awesome video footage) and interviews with key players from that team. Most of those players are long gone, with the notable exception of the ageless Marc Recchi. Remember when the Pens traded him in 1992, ostensibly because he was too small to survive long-term in the NHL?

Needless to say, I was thoroughly enjoying the walk down memory lane, until reality slapped me in the face this morning.

TWENTY YEARS ???

Is it really possible that today is the 20 year anniversary of one of the greatest moments in Pittsburgh sports history? Can it really be two decades since that magical season ended with Mario Lemieux lifting the franchise’s improbable first Stanley Cup?

Twenty freakin years?

Let’s see, we were 18 years old, seniors in high school when the Pens won that first championship. That would make me…never mind.

Was it not just yesterday that Mario Lemieux was the 18 year old French Canadian savior of Penguin hockey? No, that was 1984. Did I not wake up this morning to news that 18 year old Czech phenom Jaromir Jagr was coming to Pittsburgh? Sorry, 1990. I could swear that only in the last few minutes came reports that the Pens had acquired Ron Francis and Ulf Samuelsson from Hartford. That was 1991.

And now, Lemieux is the Penguins OWNER, Jagr is playing out the string in Europe and Francis and Samuelsson are both coaches and/or executives in the league. How on earth did this happen?

Here’s the thing; for me and a large portion of my audience, the Penguins are the first championship team we truly experienced. I have the vaguest of memories of the Steelers’ fourth Super Bowl in 1980; just as I have the vaguest of memories of dressing up as “the Fonz” for Halloween. I’ve said before that those first four Super Bowl championships are far more history to me than they are reality.

The Penguins however are different. We quite literally grew up together. It started with the drafting of Lemieux in 1984, the event that quite literally saved the franchise. It continued as Lemieux matured in to a superstar, and then possibly the most dominant player in NHL history. And it morphed in to a championship when the Penguins finally surrounded Le Magnifique with other championship caliber players.

I still remember dancing around my basement when the Pens acquired Paul Coffey in 1987. Finally, there was a second superstar, a player truly worthy of sharing the ice with Big 66. The other star pieces of the championship puzzle fell gradually in to place over the next three plus years; Barrasso, Recchi, Stevens, Jagr, Mullen, Trottier, Murphy, Francis, Samuelson, etc. It was a stunning build out for a club that for too long relied on other team’s leftovers.

I’m not sure today’s generation of Penguin fans can truly appreciate how impossible to fathom a Stanley Cup Championship was for us in 1991. That’s not to say we were not fully on board for the journey, we absolutely were. We just never dared allow ourselves such grandiose fantasies. Not for a team that had won exactly one playoff series in ten years.

For the most part all we knew were near misses and failures. I remember albeit vaguely the 1982 first round loss to the NY Islanders where the Pens blew a 2 goal lead in the final four minutes. I remember quite clearly blowing what should have been a slam dunk playoff appearance in 1988, in spite of Lemieux’s unwavering brilliance down the stretch. And there but for the grace of Steve Guenette go I.

The Penguins made missing the playoffs an annual event; at a time when over 75% of the league was honored annually with a post season bid.

That’s why we celebrated like drunken sailors when the 1991 Pens knocked of Washington in the second round. Going to the conference finals was new ground; a previously inconceivable destination. On a side note, would anyone have guessed then that the series would mark the beginning of two decades of torturing the Craps?

The Penguins had little or no history in those days. Now they have history to match any non original six team (and for my money one or two of them). The watershed moment for the franchise was the Stanley Cup exchange between Sidney Crosby and Lemieux in 2009? That past meets the present. To me having two completely separate eras of championship greatness is what defines a truly great organization, in any sport.

And yet I still can’t believe its been twenty years.

Twenty years since Frankie Pietrangelo’s save against New Jersey. Twenty years since Kevin Stevens guaranteed a victory over Boston after falling behind two games to none? Twenty years since Lemieux effectively destroyed John Casey’s career.

I guess it makes sense. In those days we would watch the games in Chris Cox’s basement and then play hockey in the driveway between periods (with your friendly neighborhood blogger flopping around on the asphalt making “Barrasso-like” saves”). We would celebrate any series victory by grabbing sticks out the garage and running around the block. Today’s game night activities are to say the least, far more reserved.

So much has changed. Lemieux and Jagr gave way to Crosby and Malkin. Barrasso gave way to Marc-Andre Fleury; Phil Bourque gave way to Max Talbot. The Old Igloo has given way to the brilliant new Consol Energy Barn. Mike Lange has given way to Paul Steigerwald (admittedly the one change that we would all reverse in a heartbeat if possible).

And yet so much has stayed the same. Let us not forget that a franchise that endured so much losing and sorrow in its first two decades has lifted the cup three times in the past two decades. The Pens have turned post season success from an impossible dream to an annual expectations. And they have suited up an incredible list of superstars headlined by Lemieux, Jagr, Crosby, and Malkin. Such thoughts were inconceivable in the early 80s, when players were threatened with trades to the Burgh.

In short, a franchise that was once laughed at and mocked is now one of the class organizations in all of sports. Pittsburgh has become a destination spot for great hockey.

Could we have possibly had the foresight in 1991 to see this coming? Certainly not, nor did we care. At that point it was about nothing more than the moment, the incomprehensible idea that, “The Stanley Cup has come to the city of Pittsburgh" to quote Lange.

We had no foresight towards the repeat championship in 1992, nor the shocking collapse of the most dominant team in Penguin’s history two years later. We could not predict Mario’s back, Stevens’ face, Jagr’s moods, or Howard Baldwin’s reckless and unruly spending spree; all of which nearly ruined the team. We had no way of knowing how close our Penguins would come to extinction in the Burgh, before more Mario magic and a fortuitous ping pong ball returned them to prominence.

How could we? We could not even predict our own futures; college, relocations, jobs, wives, kids, and everything else. All of those things that define us today were unknowns 20 years ago. Our lives were blissfully simple back then. We were far more concerned about shutting down Minnesota’s white hot power play, than we were about graduation.

All we knew or cared about was that the impossible had happened; the Pittsburgh Penguins had brought home the Stanley Cup. It was the first time in my life that I truly felt the complete and total sports happiness that comes only with a championship. It was the year I truly became a Penguin fan for life.

Or better stated…twenty years to life.

ALL HAIL THE MIGHTY PENGUIN, BLESSED BE THE PENGUIN, FOR IT IS GOOD.