“This is the end, beautiful friend
This is the end, my only friend
The end of our elaborate plans
The end of ev’rything that stands”
The end
(Jim Morrison)
I hope I am wrong. I hope I am just being a reactionary here. However, I can’t block out the haunting strains of Robbie Krieger’s Guitar and Ray Manzarek’s Keyboard leading into Morrison’s voice intoning that dirge.
Our favorite flightless fowl are now 1 game away from being unceremoniously dumped not from the playoffs, but from QUALIFYING for the playoffs. What is worse is that the team that is on the verge of sending our Penguins winging home really was all but mathematically eliminated from the playoffs before the regular season was halted. Losing to the Montreal Canadiens this August will effectively be at least as bad if not worse than being swept by the New York Islanders last season.
If you are like me, worrying that the fat lady is warming up her pipes to ring down the curtain on this era of Penguins hockey, you really can’t be blamed. Struggling against a team, let alone getting beat by a team that finished the regular season 24th in the league and barely playing 500 hockey (whether or not the faithful want to admit it or not) surely is evidence that there are copious holes in this roster and coaching staff. Yes, this team still has 2 Centers that could be Number 1 on most teams in the league in Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, but they are no longer the Crosby and Malkin of old. Yes, Jake Guentzel and Bryan Rust are top 6 Wingers and maybe even Patric Hornqvist still has some mojo, but this may be where the story ends. The players filling in elsewhere are failing. Maybe the Crosby and Malkin of yore could pick them up and make them look better, but Crosby and Malkin are themselves in need of a little assistance but none is coming.
On Defense, only the Rookie, John Marino, and Brian Dumoulin really look like they are legitimate all-around NHL defensemen. (Marcus Pettersson is too young to give up on but he isn’t getting the job done and Juuso Riikola isn’t getting ice time).
People may argue when the dissolution of this team began, but it has been building for some time now. I say it began during the final Cup run when GM Jim Rutherford appeared to be simply sitting back and watching the Cup run and not lining the team up for the next season, botching free agent signings/resigning that year, bad off-season trades (paying Vegas to take Marc-Andres Fleury rather than daring them to pluck someone else?) with the worst deal trading Ian Cole and Ryan Reaves at the trade deadline for Derick Brassard. (I was on record at that time praying Rutherford to make no trade at all, but if he must to get Jean-Gabriel Pageau.
I guess it really doesn’t matter when the team started down this path. The only thing that matters is that they are now just 1 loss away from total embarrassment again.
If this truly is the end of the Crosby – Malkin era as Penguins superstars there is a 12.5% chance of hope; well, actually less. There may be a 12.5% chance that, should Montreal bounce our seafaring sphenisciformes, they get the number 1 overall pick and get Alexis Lafrenière, there is no guarantee he will not turn into another Jack Hughes rather than another Sidney Crosby.
Personally, I would still rather be wrong. I would rather see this team stand up and make one final run and our friend Phil get the chance to make me eat crow. Unfortunately, Morrison’s voice keeps nudging its way into my mind.
“The end of laughter and soft lies”
I think maybe a rebuild needs to happen, let this lose sink in and Mario needs to think about the future…..
I know i haven’t commented lately but I am still doing good, hope everyone else is too.
Stay safe out there
Good to hear from you Pen’s4ever and glad to see you are well!!
Agreed the Future needs to start today! I hope Mario really thinks about the gravity of his team not making the playoffs and losing to a team that finished the regular season in the bottom 3rd.
Hi Pens4Ever
Nice to see u again.Hope all is well.
Jim
Hi TOR!
Game 4 just has just finished and it is indeed the end of an era…
I was looking at Sidney Crosby’s body language and boy was he disappointed!! I would say even crushed and it all happened on his birthday! It must be bitter sweet for him (well, actually, more bitter than sweet).
I am disappointed as well but as I mentioned in my previous comment, the outcome was predictable.
I’ll provide you with a thorough analysis in the next post.
Hello Jorenz,
I have never had the pleasure of posting with you sir. I find your hockey knowledge and insight refreshing.
All I wanted to say was it was Fitting to see this happen on Sid’s Birthday because NOW a new ERA must begin in Pittsburgh.
The Pens team that takes the ice for the 2021 Cup Run will not be the same as teams of old.
THERE IS A NEW ERA NOW IN PITTSBURGH AND IT STARTS TODAY !
Otherwise we will lose again !!!
Cheers.
Jim
Thank you Jim for the kind words!
Your hockey knowledge is very insightful as well!
Yes, maybe it was prophetic that the era ended on Sidney’s birthday. It came full circle…
Hey Jorenz,
I am too [expletive deleted] off to write anything right now but you are right the series and game was fated.
As you say the new era has to begin in 2021 and that team has to a different team than the one that lost to the 24th ranked Montreal Canadiens. To ensure a new team JR and Sully have to be the first personnel to be sent packing, otherwise it will be the same old song and dance.
Hi TOR!
It’s ok to be ±¤¢£¢@¬¤@ off! The Pens didn’t even fight to stay alive and surrended too quickly.
Amen Jorenz, When the going got tough the Pens quit.
Rick ( the Other)
Really timely article. I just watched Sullivan get interviews ( on the Pens Twitter feed) and he looks like he just woke up from a colonoscopy.
I can’t say I’ve ever seen him look so robotic. Take a look at it… turn down the sound and play your Doors “ this is the end” tune over it….surreal.
When asked why they picked Jarry to start he said he’d “rather not discuss it.” Sounds like he’s more worried about Murray than feeling the need to voice strong enthusiasm for Jarry.
I don’t see Murray coming back from this.
On another kinda related note… who gets exposed during the Seattle Rioters draft?
And if they do lose does Mario let Rutherford rebuild or does he bring in someone else?
Hey PensFanBoy17,
Thanks!
Expansion Draft? Hmmm I am not sure what the rules will be. Unfortunately all players with a NTC or NMC has to be protected unless they agree to be exposed like Fleury did.That means Crosby, Malkin, Hornqvist, Zucker, Tanev, and Letang will have to be protected. Schultz clears this year so he won’t be an issue. He had a M-NMC but after his last couple of years, if the Pens resign him, I doubt that the will give him back his NMC.
I know you don’t like Murray but I still do. I doubt Murray will stick around. He is RFA and I am not sure of the validity of the statement but I had heard that due to the vitriol directed at him by fans he is not amenable to staying, so he will be gone. Now although I like him, I don’t see Murray being around, leaving Jarry, DeSmith, Larmi, and D’Orio. That is a no brainer, protect Jarry and leave the rest exposed. (Although I don’t think Larmi or D’Orio would be daft eligible.)
At F I protect Guentzel and Rust with those I have to protect. I would have to see how many other Fs I can protect before I Go down that list. (Poulin, Legare, Caufield, Puutenin, and Sarto won’t have to be protected nor do I think Bjorkqvist, and Hallander will need to be protected)
On D, I don’t think we will have to protect Marino, he shouldn’t be eligible to be drafted. So, outside of Dumoulin, I wouldn’t care who was exposed to the draft. I would even try and talk/or coerce Letang into being exposed.
Keep JR? I don’t know what Mario does, but barring a serious Cup run I would dump both Sully and JR.
As you say Sully just seems lost.
Rick
Great analysis and after watching the 2-0 loss, gotta say that they looked like a team that packed it in early.
It will be interesting to see if anybody volunteers to be exposed to the draft. Hornquist did’t get into any scrums at all and as one of the emotional leaders of the team…thats a bad sign.
I wonder about Sully sometimes. I don’t know if you remember, but when Jarry was playing well, the team had a nationally televised game out in Edmonton where Jarry grew up. It would have been classy to start Jarry but Sully seemed to go out of his way to start Murray.
Similar to not starting Jack Johnson in playoffs a year ago. He played well and started even game to end the season and then he benched him to start the playoffs. Not saying Johnson is great, but he was playing solid defense at the time and it seemed like a passive-aggressive mind-F^ck that was’t warranted.
Anyways, they clearly need a shot in the arm and need to get younger and more physical.
I thought Jarry played well enough to win if the offense actually came to play. Based on Sully’s pre game conference… I would suspect the outcome of the game was projectable to the players before the puck dropped.
Thanks for the greta response.
Met new team to root for is Carolina. What’s yours?
PensFanBoy17
PensFanBoy17,
I have been wondering about Sully for about 3 years now. There were at least 3 games where I thought he was going to go with Jarry (at least I would have played Jarry) but Sully went with Murray. One was probably the game to which you refer.
I have frequently wondered about Sully’s personnel decisions on these very boards.
I agree that Johnson played well enough last playoffs and Sully’s decision to bench surprised me as well.
Rick B and I both are so frustrated at how Sully takes his frustrations out on the younger players. He doesn’t give them any rope, benching them or shipping them back to the minors for minor mistakes while giving veterans passes on major gaffes.
Having said all of this, you may not be all that surprised when I tell you that the team my heart will follow will be Az. I want Kessel to rub it in on Sully. The player Sully blamed for last season exit made thru the qualifying round and into the Playoffs while Sully is benched, getting to sit and watch and enjoy Phil the Thrill still playing.
I agree Jarry didn’t deserve the loss and though you may disagree, I really don’t blame Murray for his losses. Penguin goaltenders were not the problem this playoffs – poor coaching was. I am too numb with anger and frustration to write yet.
Rick
I don’t blame Murray , per se, as it’s a team game on lots of levels. I do think the D didn’t play forward enough and how much of that is due to a lack of confidence in the goalie to stop a one on one goal.? Hard to say.
Forgetting Murray , the rest of the team didn’t play well enough to win. Period.
I mentioned the Johnson and Jarry individual benching Circumstances as everyone in the locker room sees it and it diminishes ( my opinion) the respect they have for the coach. It smacks of pettiness and a desire , not to constructively motivate, but to emotionally dominate the players.
Your comments on Phil Kessel are likely connected.
Who knows what mind games were played on the goalies? If Sully goes…. it’ll come out eventually ( if it occurred… I really don’t know and am not accusing).
I have to say I was surprised by the Mike Babcock incidents and fall from grace on exactly these types of issues
One last observation… Jacques Martin was not on the bench and any moderating or motivating ability he had brought to the team dynamic …was absent in this series.
Maybe he played the good cop…..
Hey PensFanBoy17,
I can’t agree more with you about hypocrisies by a coach undermining him with the players. Why would any player want to play for a coach that blames everyone but himself for a loss. You want to call out a player in the locker room, fine, but waging a media campaign on a player to deflect blame on yourself is pathetic.
Hey Coach,
Great article my friend. Took a lot of courage to write that piece.
I AM HAVING TROUBLE WRITING THIS SO FORGIVE ME. My EYES. Awaiting Cornea transplants. That is why I do not write anymore OTR.
But I believe this is to important a topic to let pass by.So I will try my best.
As you know Coach, Sid’s father played Hockey for the Habs at the AHL level and it was this love of Hockey that was transferred in to SId and made him the player he has been for 15 plus seasons.Sid’s favorite team was always Montreal growing up.They were the New York Yankee’s of Canada.They were the standard that every other NHL team was measured by. Period !! Today the Habs are nothing of the Habs teams of yesteryear !! But still they are 1 game away from changing Hockey in Pittsburgh for the next 5-7 years.
I really do not want to see our Pens lose,but the team can not compete with 40% of the teams in the league and the rebuild has to start NOW. A major rebuild… Do you think the Pen’s Ownership would be brave enough to do that? That is the real question OTR.
Two other points I want to raise Coach.
The Canadian TV Contract. As most of our readers know the league has come a long way with finally achieving a 50/50 revenue split between players and the Owners. This process was very difficult to finally achieve. Included in that deal was the revenue sharing formula where by revenues are shared around the league on a limited basis.The key component of the leagues revenues is the Multi Billion dollar annual Rogers TV Contract based on the Canadian teams.
Given the reality of the new Covid environment we live in, sports in Canada will never be the same.Lower TV revenues and thus lower salary CAPS in the future !! We can not afford to pay the players we have now for 2021 if the Cap goes down, and just because we say Matt Murray is not deserving of a major raise, that simply is not true.Just look at what other mediocre goalies are being paid.He could easily get 6 million on the open market ! Something has to give Coach !! We can not go on. To many old players with large contracts..
My last point I want to make is I miss you all, Rick Buker who’s friendship has helped me survive a lot this past 19 months, Phil Krundal and his always timely wise old sage advice, 55 on point and Pens 4 Ever to mention a few others. All Great people…. Then there was you Coach.
The two of us were the odd ducks that always looked at things differently.
As we always said …In NHL Hockey there are actually 3 games being played at once. The one you see ON the ice, the one played OFF the ice and in the back rooms, ( my personal favorite) and the one played at the Draft Table…The most important game of all. Hockey is a game of talent..Present and Future….
Right now we do not have enough talent to get the job done !!!
God I hope I am wrong…
Cheers
Jim
Jim, great to hear from you my friend,
For 3 years now you and I have beaten the drum for getting in a real top tier young gun even if it meant trading away a Cup player at his prime but teetering at their ceiling about to start to diminish but for 3 years way too many (unfortunately many decision makers) have been reveling in a fools paradise with visions of past glories, grounding them in the inertia of complacence. Now it looks as if the bill is due. This alleged Cup contender is on the verge of not even getting into the real playoffs at the expense of a team that was 24th in the league during the regular season, 24th in the league. Only 7 teams in the NHL were worse than the team primed to send our Pens packing. That is disgraceful!!! but indicative of the rotting infrastructure of the team.
The only saving grace is that should they bow out now there may be a silver lining. They may be able to get a player the scouts are calling generational. We can’t keep fooling ourselves.
I have a friend who didn’t try to learn to skate until they were in their 20s. Because of this they have never learned to skate because they were to afraid of falling, to afraid of taking risks to improve. It is time to let ourselves fall and start back while their are stars that can tie 2 eras together. Crosby and Malkin may have another Cup in them, but it may have to be as members of a different era (the Lafrenière era, maybe, with a little help from Poulin?)
It is so great to hear from you. You add so much insight to these boards. Great back story on Sid and really even I hadn’t though tof the long term TV revenue affects on the Cap. It certainly going to make navigating these next several years interesting if the Cap starts dropping.
You are in my prayers my friend!
Thanks Coach,
A well thought out and well penned response as always.
When i wrote this I did not know that the Habs beat the Pens 2-0 and thus eliminated them. ( I really hope you right another post on ” The Future of the Pens Now “).
I would like to offer a few suggestions.
But I will save that for tomorrow and your next article.
I would like to leave you with one thought Coach !!!
” NO ONE IS BEYOND TRADING IF THE RETURN IS RIGHT ”
Remember if you can trade a Wayne Gretzky or a Bobby Orr…. ??
Cheers
JIM
Hey Jim,
Wow, you are a mind reader, “No one is beyond being traded – for the right price.” But now comes the time to evaluate that is to say what type of identity do we want to form our team around we can find the building blocks of that team. Do we want to stay with a old soft, complacent, midget, under-performing team, or do we start looking for young, hungry, larger (shouldn’t be hard to find anyone larger than what our here now) players.
Hi TOR!
Long time, no see! Glad to see you hitting the road again! A big hello also to Rick B!
The Qualifiers have been underway since August 1st and so far, I must say that the NHL has done its homework regarding the logistics of organizing this special playoff format. I enjoy watching most of the games.
Speaking of games, I watched the Pens game last night. I am not suprised of the outcome. The last few weeks before March 12th were difficult for the Pens. When I heard about the playoff format, I was remotely optimistic for the Pens. Especially for the team spirit. They may gel and get along off the ice but on the ice, that is another story.
There are some things missing out there: consistency, grit, character, confidence and structure. They don’t play as a unit. Some of them (Malkin and Letang, for instance) are stubbornly repeating the same patterns of plays, trying to do their own things, believing that they know what it takes to win the Cup. And no one, from the coaching staff, is telling them that this mindset leads nowhere. During an interview last year, Letang even said that he wouldn’t change a thing in his game!
This is the danger of surfing on the waves of the past glory. There are several elements that make me believe that those glory days are unfortunately over: age, wear and tear caused by injuries, difficulty to adapt to this evolving game, unwillingness to change old habits, etc.
The Pens, as a team and as a corporate entity, has reached a turning point. I genuinely love this team but I am realistic enough to see that changes are needed. My concerns are not so much about the players but more about the coaching staff and hockey operations.
Last year, GMJR and HCMS blamed the players for the collapse against the Islanders. I strongly disagreed with them back then. Yes, the players have had their share of responsibility but it was not entirely on them. People making decisions have also their share of responsibility. This year, I don’t think that these people delivered good results regarding the team’s overall performance.
I hope they are going to look themselves in the mirror and admit that they were not successful in leading the team to top honours. But I am under no illusion that GMJR and HCMS will be humble enough to perform such exercise.
Well, let’s enjoy the rest of the playoff ride! There will be plenty of hockey to watch with or without the Pens…
Hey Jorenz,
Great to be hearing from all of old friends again.
I am loving being able to see more games and teams than I normally see – particularly Western Conference teams. I have been very busy these last couple of months so the season sneaked up on me and I didn’t get into any polls. With no brackets filled out I am more just watching than rooting for too many teams. However, I must admit I am more than likely gong to root for a Tor – Az Finals if/when the Pens get dumped. If the Pens aren’t there, I think it is time for Tor to get a back to the top and as for Az, I like Tocchet and although I am not as upset with Kessel’s departure as I am with how he was kicked to the curb by an excuse making Coach and GM, I must admit, I am hoping he can show who the real failures were last season.
Hi TOR,
There’s some truth to what you say and I completely agree that the downslide began with the Cole trade. It set the tone for everything that followed with regards to Sullivan’s MO, or NOMO as it often appears.
I have no idea why they let Kahun go, brought back Sheary, or bothered to bring in Marleau, or why they still stubbornly eschew size and grit. I don’t know why after three horrible games Johnson is still skating, or why we haven’t seen Jarry, or that Murray will probably get the nod again for game four. I can’t figure out this team. I used to think I could, but not anymore. It reminds me of Clouseau when he wrecks the piano in one of the Pink Panther films:
“That is a priceless Steinway.”
Clouseau: “Not anymore.”
That’s sort of how I feel about what’s happening with this team considering the bad moves and the intransigence of Mr. Sullivan. He’s got that mace stuck on his hand ala Clouseau. He’s been outcoached in this series while his team has been outplayed. That’s a double whammy, and one that’s most difficult to overcome if you aren’t prepared to be open minded.
It may indeed be the end of an era and that end can be squarely laid at Sullivan’s feet.
— 55
Hey 55,
Good to get back into this. All the games being played at different times allows me to see teams I only get to see when the Pens play them.
Agreed about Kahun. Rick B and I bemoan that all the time. And I just don’t buy the garbage that it was a Cap saving move because Kahun was going FA, Sheary and Rodriguez are FA too and quite frankly neither is worth keeping, so who cares if we couldn’t resign Kahun, resigning Sheary and Rodriguez would effectively effectively be worse than letting them go.
Keeping with your motiff (Big Pink Panther Fan)
“A (coach) beekeeper who has lost his (team) voice, a (GM) cook who thinks he’s (still in 2016-2017) a gardener, and (fans that are) a witness to a murder. Oh, yes. It is obvious to my trained eye that there is much more going on here than meets the ear.”
It is funny how many people still want to give Sully and JR passes.
Relajarse mi el amigo, todo la voluntad estar bien.
Ojalá fuera cierto y lo creería si el oponente fuera Capitals o Bruins, pero los héroes de nuestra ciudad están siendo superados por un equipo que fue 24º en la liga. Si pierden aquí, eso significaría que son 25º.
I agree. It’s too late to “break on threw to the other side”. I don’t know if they have another Cup with this team. Let’s hope we have promising prospects in our farm system.
On another note, I don’t agree with changing the goalie for tonight’s game.
There are players I would still try to reform a team around Guentzel, Rust, Marino with Crosby and Malkin trying to bring the new guys around. However, with so many years of traded draft picks, late round picks and simply wasted picks on average to bad to injured players the cupboard is rather thin in the System.
At forward, I still would like to see what Adam Johnson could bring as well as Anthony Angello, Kasper Bjorkqvist, and Filip Hallander can bring. I also want to hold out hope that Jordy Bellerive can still come around.
Samuel Poulin (who should have been on this roster) leads a list of 3 kids I find interesting in jr (Nathan Legare and Valtteri Puustinen are the others). Poulin is the most immediately promising. I loved Legare’s play in preseason this past year and Puustinen did put up some big numbers in Liiga for HPK last season and is Sullivan’s preferred size 5’9.
Unfortunately, the only real hope for a real quick turn around is the team losing tonight and somehow managing to win the Draft Lottery and then to have the Pens draft Lafrenière and finally have Lafrenière at least be close to as good as scouts say he is.
On Defense and in Goal, there is even less to get excited about. The only prospect worth talking about right now is Pierre-Olivier Josephs. When We traded for him, I was underwhelmed to say the least – 6′-2″ 165lbs no matter how good he may be is nothing to get excited about. However, I read somewhere that he has built himself up to 180 some odd pounds.
In Goal, nothing. DeSmith was horrible for the most of the year at WBS and neither Larmi nor D’Orio showed any signs of being able to get out of the ECHL. There is a college FA I would like to see the Pens try and sign, John Lethemon of Michigan State. Regardless of who the Pens choose as net seasons starter, Murray or Jarry, one or the other will be gone no later than the following season and there is no qualified back-up. Lethemon is 6′-3 190 lbs and turned in a 2.13 GAA with a 0.935 sv% in 33 GP last year. That may not translate into NHL numbers but with nothing else there, it couldn’t hurt.
And like you, I don’t agree with changing goalies. I have nothing against Jarry, but this move is nothing more than desperation by a coach with no idea how to fix the Xs and Os.
Hey Other Rick,
Excellent piece. Poignant and thoughtful…very well done. I think you expressed what a lot of us may be thinking and feeling…and very elegantly I might add.
Rick
Thanks RIck,
Crosby and Malkin may win another Cup in the ‘burgh but it will either have to be a full team effort, or the Pens need to get a Lafrenière who really is a what the scouts project and it will then become HIS era with Crosby and Malkin on that team helping him