Penguins Update: So Who Do We Root for Now?

For us die-hard Pittsburgh hockey fans, this is practically virgin territory. Our beloved Penguins—back-to-back champions—were eliminated from the Stanley Cup playoffs at the beginning of the week by the Washington Capitals. A cosmic event that occurs with roughly the same frequency as the return of Halley’s Comet.

Strange days, indeed.

So who in the heck should we root for?

The good news is there are plenty of appealing options…especially since the immensely dislikeable Smashville Predators were fished from the NHL postseason pond like one of those poor catfish the beer-swilling denizens of the Music City so unceremoniously tossed onto the virgin Bridgestone Arena ice.

Good riddance to Peter Laviolette, P.K. Subban and Carrie Underwood.

The poster team for appealing options? Marc-Andre Fleury and the Vegas Golden Knights. The miraculous Golden Knights, I should say. Not that anyone needs to be told, but theirs’ truly is an amazing story folks. An expansion team competing in the Conference Finals? Talk about your rare events!

Indeed, Vegas enjoyed unprecedented success during its inaugural season, recording 109 points—fifth-best in the league—while winning 51 games. To put that in proper perspective, the Capitals won eight games during their expansion season of 1974-75. The Islanders? An even dozen in ‘72-73. Yes, it was a different era and the pickins’ for those teams were bone-yard thin. But still.

In addition to ‘Flower,’ who enjoyed an outstanding regular season (2.24 goals against average and .927 save percentage) while backstopping the Golden Knights to the Pacific Division crown, Vegas boasts four other ex-Pens. David Perron (66 points) and sniper James Neal (25 goals) finished among the club’s top six regular-season scorers while keying a dangerous power play. Ex black-and-gold battler Deryk Engelland—remarkably effective at 35 years of age—anchored a young defense. Heavyweight and renowned Phil Kessel baiter Ryan Reaves rounds out the expatriate Pens.

Combined with the fact that my nephew, Josh, lives in Vegas? The Knights are definitely my first choice.

Still, it’s awfully hard to root against Winnipeg. Through no fault of its own, ‘the Peg’ lost the original Jets to Phoenix back in 1996 during a wayward and ill-conceived wave of southwest expansion. The newest incantation…descendants of the woebegone Atlanta Thrashers…hadn’t won a playoff game, let a lone a series, until this spring.

Living up to their nickname, these Jets can really fly. Boasting the likes of flashy rookie Kyle Connor, Nikolaj Ehlers, Viking stud Patrik Laine (44 goals) and Mark Scheifele, they’re loaded with young talent and lots of fun to watch. And it sure wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world for a Canadian team to win the Cup…something that hasn’t happened since Montreal laid claim to Lord Stanley’s coveted silverware way back in 1993. After all, it is their national sport.

Nor do I mind the Tampa Bay Lightning. Featuring high-end talents like Nikita Kucherov (100 points), Steven Stamkos and Victor Hedman, the Bolts are a heck of a hockey team and my personal pick to win it all. In a way, they remind me of our champs from two seasons ago…deep, talented and fast…albeit with a bit more grit and considerably more size.

Plus, they’ve got Chris Kunitz. It’s awfully hard to root against ‘Kuni’…the quintessential warrior and team player during his nine-season stay in the ‘Burgh.

The only club in the final four I won’t be cheering on? Alex Ovechkin and the Capitals. It isn’t so much the fact that they ousted our Penguins…every once in a while a blind squirrel finds an acorn. But I simply can’t stomach uber-villain Tom Wilson and the cheap-shot tactics of cohorts like T.J. Oshie and former Pen Brooks Orpik.

Here’s hoping their Cup drought continues.