Penguins Update: Seasons Change

Chapter 3 of Ecclesiastes opens with one of the most memorable verses in the Bible. To everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven.

No, I’m not going to preach. And, yes, this article is about our Penguins, I assure you. Specifically, the season of change that our favorite hockey team has entered. However, to properly illustrate my point, I must first share a story involving my church. Indulge me if you will.

Pastor Ron is a special guy. Blessed with an infectious personality and fairly crackling with high energy, he is literally a force of nature. You can’t help but be drawn to him.

Equal parts preacher, revival leader and showman, Ron hopped around stage during worship service, belting out Christian tunes and strumming his guitar like a spirit-filled Bruce Springsteen. With his gritty but appealing voice, he even sounded a bit like “The Boss.”

Pastor Ben liked to share how he could always hear his friend coming, often before Ron physically walked through the doors of the church. He’d be whistling a tune, jangling his keys or making some other joyous noise to announce his arrival.

On a personal level, I couldn’t wait to hear Ron preach on Sundays. His messages were always entertaining, uplifting and enlightening…a wonderfully woven tapestry of wisdom, heart and humanity with a little humor mixed in.

Simply put, our congregation adored Ron, and the feeling was mutual. For a few, all-too-short years we truly were blessed by his larger-than-life presence.

Then came the news, unwelcome yet somehow inevitable, that Pastor Ron was leaving our little church to pursue other opportunities. With great sadness we bade him farewell in a highly emotional send-off.

For weeks on end, there was a palpable sense of loss among the congregation. Despite the best efforts of Pastor Ben and the remaining church staff to soften the blow, Ron’s absence had a profound effect. How could it not?

I’m going to put my church story on hold for a moment. Perhaps you already sense where I’m heading.

When Nick Bonino, Matt Cullen, Trevor Daley, Chris Kunitz and last, but certainly not least, Marc-Andre Fleury departed this summer, the Penguins lost more than a talented bunch of hockey players. They lost guys who were part of the very fabric of the team. A very special team, by all accounts.

“I’ve been around a lot of teams both as a player and a coach now,” Mike Sullivan confided to Michelle Crechiolo in an article for the Penguins website, shortly before the breakup began. “This team, I think, has a unique chemistry. They’re a great group of people….I think these guys really enjoy one another, and they play hard for one another.”

Even the comparative newcomers blended in seamlessly.

“I can’t say enough about how the rest of the acquisitions over the last two years have fit in,” wrote Crechiolo. “It’s actually remarkable how it feels like they’ve all been here forever, when actually, it’s only been a few years at the most.”

It would truly have been wonderful if GM Jim Rutherford had somehow achieved the impossible and kept this marvelous group of champions intact. Who knows? The Pens may well have pulled off that coveted three-peat we all so desperately crave.

But seasons change, whether we want them to or not. Some treasured members of the team have moved on, leaving some awfully big skates to fill.

Perhaps their loss is most keenly felt in the dressing room. Cullen for his quirkiness, kindness and fatherly presence; Bonino for his dry sense of humor; Fleury for his shining personality and sense of fun; Kunitz for always being in the thick of things; Daley for his quiet yet steady ways.

How heart-wrenching it must’ve been for their teammates to watch them leave.

“There’s not a guy in there (the locker room) that I’m going to forget,” said Bryan Rust. “I’m going to remember each and every one of those guys forever.”

Slowly, almost imperceptively, the sadness over Pastor Ron’s departure began to lift. A new worship leader, Pastor Frank, joined our church staff, gradually winning our hearts with his kind, upbeat nature, ever-present smile and considerable talents, both as a musician and a preacher. Pastor Sean stepped out from his youth pastor duties to add his own rich voice to the pulpit, not to mention a touch of fun.

Through it all, Pastor Ben remained steady and steadfast, as sincere in his efforts, devoted in purpose, and generous of heart and spirit as any church leader could be. It’s evident that he’s grown in both faith and Godly strength through this season of travail.

So it will be for our Penguins. The newcomers will gradually assimilate. New bonds and friendships will form. They’ll laugh and joke and swap stories. They’ll learn to trust and support and lean on each other when the going gets tough.

For everything, there’s a season.