Back in the 1970s there was a boxer from Minnesota named Duane Bobick who some thought might one day become heavyweight champion of the world. Under the tutelage of former heavyweight champion Joe Frazier, he began his pro career with an impressive record of 38-0, including 32 knockouts. Then, on the night of May 11, 1977, he faced his first major test against veteran contender and future champion Ken Norton and got destroyed, the fight lasting a mere 58 seconds.
A devastating defeat emotionally, psychologically and otherwise.
Stunned and humiliated, Bobick worked hard to regain his luster. A new management team helped rebuild his wounded psyche. He returned to his more natural upright fighting style. Bobick hired a nutritionist, reduced his body fat while trimming down to a sleek 207 pounds on his 6’3″ frame, and began strength training on Nautilus machines, then cutting edge fitness technology. Seemingly transformed, he ran off an eight-fight winning streak, all by knockout or TKO.
Confidence restored and ready for the big time once again, he entered the ring on February 17, 1979, against another future champion, John Tate. In a virtual replay of the Norton fight, Bobick was pounded into submission, with the referee stopping the bout at 2:25 of the first round.
All his hard work seemingly for naught, a downtrodden Bobick was stopped again five months later and retired from boxing at age 28.
Why the long-winded fistic analogy?
It seems to fit our Penguins, doesn’t it?
In the wake of our hugely disappointing, playoff-missing ’22-23 campaign, Kyle Dubas went to great lengths over the offseason to revitalize the black-and-gold. He remade the bottom-six, overhauled our defense and acquired arguably the finest offensive defenseman in the game in three-time Norris Trophy winner Erik Karlsson.
Yet despite a lineup boasting nearly 50 percent turnover, we experienced the exact same problems that plagued us last season during our humbling opening-night loss to the Blackhawks.
For all of our changes, is there something Dubas failed to address? Something at the very core of the team?
I’m reminded of a quote that gained a lot of traction back in the summer. When asked if he thought the Pens could still be contenders, Dubas replied, “The way I view it is that if people want to bet against Mike Sullivan, Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang and others they can go ahead and do so, but I’m going to bet on them and go with them here…”
Could the problem be the very core Dubas spoke of with such reverence?
I would submit the answer is yes.
Before you vow never to read PenguinPoop again, please hear me out. Our problem isn’t so much our core players as it is an overreliance on them. Crosby, Malkin and Letang are still great players, especially when you consider they’re all in their mid-to-late 30s. But the Sid, Geno and Tanger of today aren’t the same players they were, say, four or five years ago. We can’t count on them to score three goals a game the way we once did.
In a way, their remarkably productive seasons last year may have skewed our expectations of what we can reasonably expect from them. And even when we were winning Stanley Cups, our big three had plenty of help. The HBK Line, for example.
Did we do enough to surround them with a strong supporting cast? While Dubas upgraded us from a defensive standpoint, especially in the case of Lars Eller at third-line center, secondary scoring is still a very real and pressing concern.
Last season our bottom-six forwards combined for 60 goals. The six players presently comprising our third and fourth lines? Fifty-seven.
Yikes.
That means added pressure on our aging core and top six to produce. A top six that for all intents and purposes has crested the hill and started on the downside, production-wise.
And while I hate to keep jabbing a finger at Sullivan, he continues to champion an attacking style perhaps better suited for younger, fresher legs. It just seems, more often than not, we don’t have enough bodies in the right positions.
Does Sullivan’s system stretch us too thin, to the extent that we can’t adequately cover our assignments at both ends of the ice? In our anxiousness to score, do we forget to mind the store? Or more appropriately, protect the house?
To digress, if Sully were coaching a speedy, talented young team like New Jersey he’d be golden. But we aren’t the Devils. Not by a long shot.
Back to my boxing analogy. In the end, Bobick couldn’t overcome his biggest weaknesses, vulnerability to an overhand right and an inability to tie up foes when in trouble.
Let’s hope the same doesn’t hold true for our Pens.
Other Voices
Just want to point out a couple of great articles, one by our own Other Rick titled, “The Penguins—That Old Gray Mare…” and another by Gretz on Pensburgh titled, “Penguins’ lack of finish offensively remains baffling, frustrating.”
He Rick,
Interesting analogy to say the least!
First to Address Dubas, I may not bet against Crosby, Malkin, and Letang, but I certainly would bet against Sullivan. As I wrote elsewhere, like the people who continued to argue that the World was flat, the sun revolves around the earth, what ever in the face of overwhelming evidence, Sullivan was a passenger on the Crosby-Malkin-Fleury-Letang bus. Trim the fat from this team by getting in a real Coach willing to teach, capable of adapting, and who puts his players in positions to succeed and not fail.