A View from Afar: What’s Next for Our Penguins?

Greetings dear friends! It’s been way too long since I wrote from this side of the blog. Given what just happened with our beloved Penguins, it would be hypocritical of me not to express my views and give others an opportunity to share theirs. It is so much easier to critique someone else’s work than create new content.

Before I continue, please know I’ve had this article written for over a year and planned to post it last July. But I was too angry, too upset, too disappointed…

My heart told me one thing, my head told me something different and my eyes showed me the TRUTH. How could this happen again? Losing to the New York Rangers of all teams!

Then people began to offer up excuses. We had injuries, the refs were against us, they had a hot goalie, the schedule was in their favor, we were too tired…

I lost it. I wrote, “Losers make excuses, winners overcome challenges and champions make history!”      

So here we are in 2023. Each and every one of us has our own cross to bear in how we handle what just happened to the Pens. Many are still in denial. Anger abounds. Confidence is shaken. Last year’s loss to the Rangers and the subsequent off-ice shenanigans that followed were bad enough, but what happened this past season I never expected to see. We missed the playoffs by a few points. This just does not happen to the mighty Penguins. But it did.

As our captain Sidney Crosby said, “We did not earn it.” So true, Mr. Crosby…

This entire season was a waste and the effort and execution was sub-par at best, both on and off the ice.

1. There are no easy answers folks. No quick fixes but in order to know what’s next, you have to fully realize some key points. The Crosby Era is not long for Pittsburgh. We have maybe two seasons left. I know what was said at the recent media disaster and how big, powerful FSG said, “we will never let Crosby play for another team.” Spoken like a true Boston lawyer. I have lost all faith in FSG to do anything right.  

FYI: a local Pens news site this week did an excellent overview on the financial and operational problems of FSG. I highly recommend you read it. Every one of the FSG sports holdings appears to have issues.  The crown jewel of their sports empire, the Liverpool Football club, once the fourth highest valued sports team on the planet, finished last in the league this year. Their fans are also upset. British news reports say the owners are trying to sell a large minority interest in order to compete with other wealthier teams backed by Middle East oil money and other wealthier owners.   

2. The salary cap is flat and looks like it will stay that way. TV revenues for the NHL were down 20% according to reports released last December. The domestic and global economic situation is tenuous at best. All this to say there is no magic $20 million salary cap increase in sight for many years out. Whatever we do we need to do internally by changing our roster.

3. Our team needs major repairs in all areas. We need new goalies, a new younger, bigger and faster defense corps, and every one of our forward lines needs upgrades. We have no farm system.    

4. We need a much better scouting system so we can find those hidden gems like Bryan Rust at 81st overall or better still a Patric Hornqvist, drafted 230^th by Nashville back in 2005. This topic is very upsetting for me and I will write another post dedicated to that subject some other day. Just understand our current scouting staff and player selection committee could not pick out a gem in a jewelry store.  

5. It looks like we have four more years of Mike Sullivan. Oh boy…I can feel the love from all of you right now. There are 31 other teams in the league all celebrating that Mike will be back.

6. This last point is by far the most damaging. Up until five years ago players wanted to come to Pittsburgh to play with Crosby and Evgeni Malkin and a shot at the Stanley Cup. I cannot stress enough the leverage this provided GMs Ray Shero and Jim Rutherford in their efforts to attract good players at discounted prices.

That idea is totally gone now. We have failed in our quest so many times, players will think twice before they sign with us because they know a serious Cup run is at least three to five years away. My sister’s son has direct connections to the Ottawa Senators and we talk hockey. He told me a certain player rumored to be going to the Penguins at the trade deadline chose the Senators instead because he felt they had a better chance to win in the next three or four seasons. This is a problem for us moving forward, but it can be addressed if we get serious about a rebuild.

So What’s Next?  

This really depends on you. Let me explain…

In my original article from last year the ending was not pretty. I let it all out. But during this past four or five days I have read some wonderful and amazing comments from my fellow Poopers that softened my stance.

Case in point. PP founder Phil Krundle replied that “the Penguins have made the playoffs for 16 years, ever since they started the PP Blog and a whole generation have never known anything different!”

I then realized my concluding remarks are for the younger generation who Phil referred to.  

So to those who read this let me reassure you that there will be better days ahead. This franchise has faced far more serious situations than this and we have always managed to survive. Pittsburgh is definitely a hockey town. As long as you support the team, regardless whose name is on the back of the jersey, we will overcome. Even though we are disappointed this had to happen. It’s the only way real change could have occurred.

This is just a new chapter in the Penguins’ story and the team has succeeded because of your support all these past decades.

For me personally a very special THANK YOU to all the wonderful contributors, writers, and readers of this amazing site.

Thanks for reading.

Let’s Go Pens!