Penguins Update: I’ve Seen This Happen Before

As our Penguins struggle to put two solid games together, let alone author a winning streak, I’m reminded that I’ve seen this dynamic play out before.

Along with our Pens, the Chicago Blackhawks were the team of the 2010s. The Hawks won three Stanley Cups within a six-season span, an incredibly impressive feat in the salary cap era. (FYI: during their last Cup season in 2014-15, a fellow by the name of Mike Sullivan was their player development coach.)

Then the wheels gradually fell off the Blackhawks’ wagon. While our Pens were capturing back-to-back Cups, the Hawks…still loaded with top-end talent…endured consecutive first-round exits, followed by two non-playoff seasons.

The Hawks response should sound familiar. They remained committed to their superstar core of Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews and Duncan Keith…the Windy City version of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang. Painted by some as a failure, then-GM Stan Bowman in reality did a pretty fair job of reinforcing the Hawks with young talent, adding the likes of Alex DeBrincat, Dylan Strome, Brandon Hagel, Dominik Kubalik and Kirby Dach to the mix.

Had any of our past three GMs, including Kyle Dubas, done anything remotely similar they would’ve been knighted.

During the summer of 2021, Bowman acquired young stud defenseman Seth Jones for a first-round pick to replace Keith. A move very much akin to Dubas acquiring Erik Karlsson this past summer.

And still the Blackhawks’ fall from grace continued unchecked. As it became apparent the core group’s life cycle had run its course, Bowman’s replacement, Kyle Davidson, initiated a full-blown teardown. Resulting in the Hawks snagging phenom Connor Bedard as the cornerstone for a rebuild.

I truly hate to be negative. After all, we’re only eight games into the season, so we could yet turn this thing around. But I just don’t see that happening. Our Pens have struggled with the same nagging issues for the better part of a year. If anything they seem to be more ingrained than ever.

In the wake of our decidedly uninspired 3-5 start, some folks are calling for Sullivan’s head, ironically at a time when he’s finally displayed a willingness to adjust his system to fit the talent on hand. While I do believe he’s been here too long, I honestly don’t think anyone else would get more out of this group. Perhaps the players would be shocked into a modest winning streak if Sully were canned, but I think the adrenalin would quickly fade.

I think our problems lie deeper, embedded into the very fabric of the team. I truly don’t know if they’re fixable. Sullivan and his assistants, Todd Reirden and Mike Vellucci, accomplished coaches all, haven’t been able to come up with solutions. I doubt if anyone else would, either.

Perhaps Dan Kingerski of Pittsburgh Hockey Now summed it up best.

“The team is not only old, but they are old in spirit,” Dan wrote. “…youthful enthusiasm or desperation is replaced with veteran chill, and that’s to the Penguins’ detriment.”

His observation made me think of the team circa ’06-07 when it was just beginning to jell. Crosby, Malkin, Letang, Jordan Staal, Ryan Malone, Colby Armstrong, Tyler Kennedy, Max Talbot, Brooks Orpik and Marc-Andre Fleury. In those days the ice fairly crackled with youthful energy. Remember? Dear Lord, they were fun to watch. You just knew they had a bright future.

Sadly, those days are long gone.

I confess, I drank the Kool-Aid this summer. I think it’s human nature to want to believe. And I so wanted to believe that all the changes Dubas made would rejuvenate the team and revive our sagging fortunes.

Those hopes have been pretty much dashed.

Truth is, we’re an aging bunch that will occasionally put it all together and wow us like they did against the Avalanche the other night, if only to remind us of how good we once were and of glory days long past.

A dying ember of a proud former champion.

It reminds me of how blessed and fortunate we’ve been as Pens fans to cheer for this team.

My advice? Enjoy watching Sid, Geno and Tanger as much as you can. It’s liable to be a long (long) time before we have a core group like this again.

Maybe never…