The Summer Before
On July 1st, Ray Shero addressed the needs of the Penguins which left them susceptible to defeat on their quest to defend their Stanley Cup Championship the previous postseason. However, this need was something that a casual fan thought, and probably still thinks was the wrong move. Shero spent $9 million in cap space on two defenders to sure up the blue line instead of getting the elusive winger for Captain Sidney Crosby. If any one watched the series against Montreal during the previous season, it was clear that our defensive parings were not getting the job done, and with the departure of Sergei Gonchar, something needed to be done, because the young guys in the Penguins system were not ready to face a full 82 game NHL season. The Pens were torched by the Habs' smallish forwards, and the blue line left Marc-Andre Fleury out to dry. Even throughout the year, the Pens simply lacked that shutdown pair that could play top minutes against a team's top line to limit their scoring opportunities provide MAF a chance to make saves.
Ray Shero pulled the trigger on Zbynek Michalek for four years and $16 million, as well as Paul Martin for four years and $20 million. Stunning to some, this may be Shero's best move to date, even surpassing the move that shipped fan favorite Colby Armstrong to Atlanta as part of a trade that brought in Marian Hossa, who amounted to nothing but a playoff rental player. We will see why adding $9 million to the Penguins' cap number for two defenders are going to be beneficial in the long run in a subsequent post looking forward to next season.
Ray was not done, and took a small risk of adding Mike Comrie and Arron Asham to a pair of one year contracts. Comire did't play out as a major role on the team as he was injured for the majority of the season, after having a great few pre-season games, and Asham battled injuries most of the year, but did live up to his playoff hype, which began last year during his stint with the Philadelphia Flyers.
To some, it seems as if Shero did not address the growing need to find a winger who could play with Sid. Those people simply did not understand what the Pens were attempting to do within their system. These same people also underestimated what Sidney Crosby can do as the World's Best Player. Overall, Ray Shero did a fantastic job, at least in my opinion, to fill in the holes of the roster and to further the purpose of coach Bylsma's system.
The Season
The season began with the opening of a state of the art, multi-purpose arena, which was the main reason why the Penguins are skating on a pond located on 5th Avenue in the Up-town neighborhood of Pittsburgh, instead of somewhere else, like Kansas City. The Consol Energy Center was not "home" to the Penguins at first, as it took time for the fans to become accompanied with the new digs to give that "home ice feel." Pens fans seemed to be more concerned with the new arena than with the new season. As a result the Pens dropped their first three games at their new home and won only two out of their first six there. However, they did manage a mediocre 7-4-1 record during October, but because of inconsistent play from Fleury, the jury was out on Shero's acquisitions from the past summer. The fans focused their blame on Fleury, when they should have looked at the 18 players in front him. At the the start of the season, the team was not clicking a one unit, and they were losing hockey games because of this, but fans continued to focus on the man between the pipes.
The same continued into the beginning November and the Pens started the month off 3-3-1 and looked like a team poised to sit in the middle of the Eastern Conference looking to clinch the last playoff spot. About half-way through November, Ray Shero saw his vision come true, and the Pens went on a run that fans will remember for some time. Beginning November 17th against the Canucks, the Pens won their last 7 games of November, as part of a 12 game win streak lasting until December, and finished the month off with a record of 10-3-1 (17-7-2). Going into December, the Pens were becoming a force, and we had HBO's 24/7 Road to the Winter Classic and the game itself to look forward too and things were looking up for Pens fans.
As December Began, and HBO's cameras started to roll, the Pens won their first 5 games, until they ran into the Philadelphia Flyers on December 14th, and suffered a 3-2 loss on the road. However, after that loss the Pens went 4-2-1 in the remaining games for that month, and their record was 26-10-3 heading into the new year. Aside from the record of the Pens, what went on during the end of November and until the new year was something special. They were the best team in hockey and looked like they were the team to beat in the east. Those questioning Fleury, and/or Ray Shero were put into their place as MAF was lights out during this streak and the defense was starting to become the best top 4 in the NHL. Life was good as a Pens fan in December. The Pens were rolling, you could tolerate your family members more during the Holidays, and the Winter Classic was on tap. Sidney Crosby was having a season that you would tell your kids about, as well as compare it to those magical seasons that you witnessed Mario having. Rumors were swirling that Jordan Staal would lace them up for the first time this season for the Winter Classic, which would be staged at Heinz Field on New Years day. Yes life was good, but as HBO so eloquently put it:
"Those who know the sport best will tell you that hockey has a certain rhythm to it. Every shift, every game, and every season is inevitably packed with ups and downs. Teams are never as bad as they appear during their lowest points, and never as good as they seem during their highest ones. The very best teams may not just be talented, but resilient. Not just hungry, but focused. Their sport demands it."
It turned out this very season was filled with the high points as we saw during the last month and a half of 2010, and the downs were something we as Pens fans haven't seen for a while.
If you followed the weather report for the week of the 2011 Winter Classic you had to know that this thing would not go according to the script as 24/7 had portrayed it. It seemed rain was likely, and the weather man did not get the report wrong. The NHL pushed back the puck drop to Prime Time, which turned the game into another spectacle for the NHL. The beginning of the game was picturesque as the players entered the rink under the lights of Heinz Field. Being there, and witnessing the game was something I will never forget. However, the result of the game itself was not favorable to Pens fans. Evgeni Malkin opened the scoring early in the second period to give the Pens the lead and everything was all and well in the Pens world.
Crosby would play in the the Pens' next game against the Tampa Bay Lightning, an 8-1 victory for the flightless birds, but Sid would also take another hit from Victor Hedman that would sideline him with a concussion for the rest of the year. This video sums up the rest of the season concerning Sid, and the head-shot debate came full throttle.
Now I can sit here and go through the remainder of the season in some detail as I did above, but we all know what the lows of this season brought for Pens fans. I wish I could sit here and say that Sid's injury was the only injury they Pens had to overcome, but the hockey gods were not that kind.
Max Talbot and Kris Letang were the only two Penguins to play every regular season game. Mike Rupp, Pascal Dupuis, Craid Adams, and Tyler Kennedy all played at least 80 games. Paul Martin and Zbynek Michalek were the only others to play at least 70. Those players that filled in the holes in the roster suffered injury as well, most notably, Dustin Jeffrey, Mark Letestu, & Nick Johnson. Evgeni Malkin went down February 4th with a knee injury, that would end his season. So on top of Crosby suffering two hits affecting his brain, and the Pens starting off January winless in five games, another purebred is done for the year in early February. At this point, the panic button was pressed so many times by the Penguins Faithful that it was even injured. Visions of winning the Atlantic Division were gone, and the only hope was for the Pens to hang on and clinch the playoffs without their top two centers.
Ray Shero did make a few additions at the deadline and acquired James Neal and Matt Niskanen for a trade involving Alex Goligoski, and another deal that brought home Alex Kovalev for draft picks. All three players only played limited roles during their time with the Penguins, but given the situation of the roster full of injuries, we shouldn't have expected miracles.
Sidney Crosby would step away from the limelight regarding head-shots as Matt Cooke would deliver a hit that would end his season due to suspension. The cards kept on being dealt by the hockey gods and the Pens were folding before the flop on almost every hand. Even when they did end up making it to the river, they would be on the wrong end of the result most of the time. Things were not good in Pittsburgh, and the Penguins were written off by most fans.
Even though the Pens were only expected to barely cling onto a playoff spot after the insurmountable injuries, they exceeded all expectations. The Pens had a chance at the Division at the end of the year, right up until the second to last game of the season. Through the injuries and the man games lost, the Pens were right there on the heels of the Flyers. MAF was stellar, and the defense was absolutely in shutdown mode. Throw into the mix, videos released by the Penguins of Sidney Crosby skating and looking like he is ready to take over the world, the result around mid-March was Pens fans having a renewed sense of hope.
The Playoffs
What was seen to be a favorable matchup for the Pens against the Lightning ended in disappointment. The Pens were able to jump to a 3-1 series lead, and did not allow the lightning fire power to do too much damage in the first four games. However, in a game 5 that we do not need to speak of, the Bolts talent was ignited and they never looked back. They won games 5, and 6 to force the first Game 7 in Consol's history. Hope was dwindling for this Pens teams, and fans had a sense of that. They were running out of fire power and the Bolts were getting big goals to win games. Throw in the fact that the Pens scored only one power play goal up to the point of game 7, and you had a hopeless situation filled with the desire to win just one game. Adding more fuel to the fire to win one more game was the fact that the Pens dropped a bomb that Malkin only had to have one tendon in his knee surgically repaired and that there was a possibility he would be back if the Pens made a deep run.
With all the desire to win just won game the Pens would lose their second series in a row in a game 7 on home ice. This time they would suffer a heartbreaking 1-0 shutout. This game exemplified the series between the two teams. At the onset of the series the Pens got timely goals to capture a 3-1 series lead, but in the final four games, the Pens could not get those goals and inevitably fell to a team that had more talent, on paper and on the ice. They lost by one goal on home ice during game 7. Let me rephrase: They were shutout in game 7 at home. That is all you can say about how the season ended. No need to elaborate. MAF of course gets some blame for this loss, but the Pens simply ran out of gas at the wrong time.
The Good, The Bad, The Ugly
The Good. We saw what a healthy Pens team could do around the first quarter mark of the season. They were a force, even without "a winger for Sid." Job well done Mr. Shero. Thanks for building a contender this year. All the MAF haters were put in their place from November until the Pens hung the skates up for the year. Because of the injuries we were able to see the pens acquire a winger that has a huge upside. He put up 21 goals through 59 games skating on a line with Brad Richards. Brad Richards is a great player, but he is no Sidney Crosby, and while pens fans were checking for a pulse on James Neal, he put up 5 points in 6 games at the World Championships with team Canada. The fact is that the kid can play with talent, and the likes of Mark Letestu, while a solid hockey player, is not the talent Neal needs as his center-man. What acquiring Neal did was give the Pens depth, which as many people argue, need to some extent. I'll explain why the Pens are in good shape up front in the offseason preview, but they will be fine up front.
Lets face it. The Pens had a shot at winning the division title without 87 and 71 in the lineup. That is impressive and is what should be looked back on as being very successful.
The Bad. Crosby's concussion and subsequent relapse of symptoms. If you aren't worried about this by now, then you are not human. We don't know what will come of it, nor what type of player he will be. Hopefully we see the return of the 2009 Geno after he heals up from his knee injury which is less severe than what the Pens lead on to be.
The Ugly. Crosby may never be the same player. This is the "world is ending" scenario for sure, but I need to throw it out there. We don't know how Sid is doing. The Pens will never tell us. We just need to buckle up for one of the longest summers of our lives and hope he returns to form. Dan Bylsma. While he should win the Adams for what the team did during the regular season, he was out-coached in a playoff series for the second straight year. While the entire blame cant be placed on him, his refusal to change anything in game 7, and stick to the status quo may have cost the Pens the series. The power play was beyond awful, that putting it in writing would not do it justice how bad it was. The talent wasn't there on the ice for the Pens, but still, it can't be as bad as it is. What if he puts Eric Tangradi into the line up, do the Pens get their second power play goal of the series? We wont ever know, but I think the jury is out on Bylsma next season to some extent. What if he loses another series in the same fashion as the past two? We will see what the 2011-12 season brings.
Sorry for the length. I tried to cut it down to what I thought would get a grasp on the season. Please feel free to email me and comment about the Blog and any suggestions.
Up Next:Off-season preview
On Deck: Conference finals preview.
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