Anything involving the Pittsburgh Penguins should be nothing but fun right now, right? The Penguins are in first place of the eastern conference, the Atlantic division, and they have a chance to win the President's trophy for most total points by a team this year. Sidney Crosby leads the league in points, assists, and plus/minus.
Then general manager Ray Shero went out and traded for Jarome Iginla, Douglas Murray, Brenden Morrow, and Jussi Jokinen. The Pens are stacked with talent. We've joked about Shero being a wizard and have predicted total hockey domination for this Pens team. It's truly a great time to be a fan of the Pens.
But it hasn't been all fun for the fans. In fact, it seems like the Pens can never be fully healthy. In hockey it's tough to have a healthy roster all of the time but almost every night a key player gets injured. It's starting to get f*cking ridiculous. Take the new injury, Pen's winger James Neal, who caught an elbow from Michael Del Zotto in the Pen's last game. Neal didn't know where the hell he was when he get hot. I mean, he literally said "what happened?". Chances are he has a concussion, sorry if I"m being a pessimistic ass, but we should all be familiar with the ins-and-outs of concussions by now.
Hopefully Neal will be fine, I"m sure he'll be ready for the playoffs, but it's still just another incident that's killing the buzz. When Iginla was making his debut for the Pens against the New York Islanders, everyone was going insane with excitement, then not even a minute into the game, a Brooks Orpik slapshot got redirected into the jaw of Sidney Crosby. Now, Crosby is missing teeth and has a broken jaw, and he's out indefinitely. Luckily for everyone Crosby doesn't have a concussion.
Kris Letang has been on the IR with a broken toe, Evgeni Malkin has missed 13 games this year, most of them due to a shoulder injury. Paul Martin is most likely out for the rest of the regular season with a broken bone. All of this talent compiled and the Pens have yet to play an entire game with everyone healthy and intact.
Not only are the Pens trying to overcome all of these injuries, again, but they'll have to overcome recent playoff disappointments that still linger, as well as not letting all of the talent assembled go to their heads. For example, after the 15-game winning streak, the Pens laid back to back eggs against the Buffalo Sabers and New York Rangers, losing 4-1 and 6-1.
Here was the Pascal Dupuis's assessment of those games:
That's not a good sign. The Pens have the most talent in the league but you still have to work hard to win. Since all of these big trades, the Pens are just 2-2. Even more concerning is Malkin has just THREE points in his last five games, and Iginla has just one in four games with the Pens. Sorry guys but the Stanley cup isn't going to be handed to you.
They're not invincible nor should they think they are. Especially considering the fact that the Pens have won ONE playoff series in the last three seasons. Egos need to be in check if this team really wants to win a Stanley Cup this year, and I think the front office has shown that they're ALL IN when it comes to that.
This current roster is arguably the most talented Pens' team in franchise history, and at the very least the most talented since the early 1990s. And just as life, nothing will come easy for them. Most great teams, players, and coaches thrive when faced with adversity. The Pens have no shortage of adversity right now, especially with Crosby missing substantial playing time yet again.
The pressure is on, if this team doesn't win a Stanley Cup it will be a disappointment, but having yet another early playoff exit for a fourth straight season would be a failure of epic proportions. Most certainly, head coach Dan Bylsma's job would and should be in jeopardy if that happens. Even if the Pens are missing key players like they are now.
Hopefully everyone will get healthy at the same time and the right time. Crosby and Martin are on pace to be back for the start of the playoffs, although Crosby will have screws in his face and will be part robot. Letang should be back tomorrow night and if not soon. Perhaps when more and more players start coming back, the Pens should give some of the veterans some nights off to rest for the playoffs.
I think this team has what it takes to win it all, they have an endless amount of leadership, grit, talent, and championship experience. That doesn't mean that they will win it all but they should. Realistically, Boston and Montreal are the only two teams I can see actually beating the Pens in a seven game series.
Is this fun? Is the high expectations and pressure really fun? Yes, when they win, but every loss, every injury, every mistake will be under the microscope. The Pens perseverance and character will certainly be tested. I'm hoping we have more fun than anything. Go Pens!
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