Blog : Thoughts On A Lost Season

Below is the blogpost I wrote on my 3 hour flight from Oklahoma City to Sand Diego.
So here I sit on a plane headed to California, just about 24 hours after the Penguins' flickering exit from the Eastern Conference/Stanley Cup Finals. The general perception that I have gathered from the vast majority of Penguins' fans on PSF and Twitter is that, this has been the single most disappointing SC Playoff exit in Penguins' history. And honestly, I don't think I can argue that point. However, I disagree. I don't know if it is because I was so calm about Game 4, that the full affect of the sweep hasn't set in, or if I am sincerely that "not surprised".
There are several incomplete thoughts racing through my mind, so if this blogpoast is a bit "Penguins'esque", i.e. discombobulated, please forgive me. The biggest reason I am not as "****ed" or "angry" or whatever, is because I felt like the Penguins did a lot of things right. It is just that, Boston's goalie Tuuka Rask played absolutely out of his mind. I mean, yes, I get that the vast majority of Penguins' shots were "not that difficult" but that shouldn't take away from the performance Rask put out. This guy was absolutely the #1 star every single game. In my opinion he made no less than 8 or 9 unreal saves per game. And I truly believe if any one of those shots goes in, each game's result is vastly different. I also think that he made his defense look like "gods amongst men". I am not discrediting the defensive performance that Chara & Co. put together, however, I think the Penguins made that defensive corps look slow and bad at times, only to get bailed out by Rask. The venom of the Rask snake bite was too much for this Penguins' offense to overcome. Before I continue, I am not absolving the Penguins' offense of all guilt/critique. But for those that expected them to "light up" Rask like they did Nabokov or Anderson, I think they were very spoiled and expecting too much. Playoff hockey is not about a "track meet" in scoring. Playoff hockey is about shutting the door and winning the 2-1, 1-0 games. Boston proved this, the Penguins did not. In fact, of all the low-scoring close games, I think (w/o fact checking) the Penguins lost ALL of them. Off the top of my head, the Penguins never scored less than 3 goals against the Islanders. And against Ottawa, the only low-scoring game they had, they lost 2-1 in 2OT. All the other games were 4-1, 5-2, etc games.
This leads to my point that for the vast majority of the playoffs the Penguins were never really tested in a gritty low scoring series/game. And if/when they were, they lost. So really, it should have come to no surprise that when faced with a low scoring series, the Penguins probably weren't going to succeed. Boston was the opponent that could really shut the Penguins down. Remember, this Bruins team is only 3 or so years removed from a SC championship. And the vast majority of their current roster, won the cup in 2010. So anyone who thought this was going to be a cakewalk, again, was vastly mistaken. I think that Penguins' fans got "spoiled" with the riches of 4 goals/game and they fell into the trap that they would simply do the same against Boston. I too, thought the Penguins would prevail, but I expected this series to be much like the way Games 3 & 4 played out. Unfortunately, it was too little too late for the Penguins.
Right now many Penguins' fans are in the "Anger" stage in the continuum of Dealing With Grief. As a result, they are searching for answers in anger as to who to blame or why the Penguins were not successful. I think this is the completely wrong thing to do. Instead of laying blame first, I think the appropriate thing to do is give credit where credit is due. Boston was the better team in all aspects. You have to tip your hat, as hard as that might be, to Boston. You just have to, so do it. They played extremely well, lucky or not, and they are very deserving of the credit bestowed to them. Specifically, you need to give tons of cred to Rask. He was awesome (as I stated before). Tip your hat, the guy made some saves that were incredible. Next, tip your hat to the Boston defense. They cleared the crease, they tied the sticks, they hit, they did everyhting asked of them and then some in shutting down the Penguins stars. The reason the Penguins didn't score was not for a lack of trying. Boston was REALLY THAT GOOD! So give them some credit. Stop immediately crucifying Bylsma (who can't score or skate or play on the ice, becuase he is the COACH). Don't immediately crucify the players. Yes, they do deserve blame, but again you need to credit Boston first.
Also, the snakebite wasn't just Boston's defense and goaltending. The Penguins hit a ridiculously crazy amount of posts in this series, more than I would ever expect or imagine. Also, how many pucks straddled the goaline but never went in!? Again, when you look at all these flukey things, it just wasn't meant to be. In any series or great run, sometimes you need to "get the bounces", and that just never materialized for the Penguins. Maybe that is why I am so calm with this. You could see the writing on the wall, and I accepted it earlier than most. Am I disappointed, YES! But I guess I have moved through the stages of grief faster than most Penguins' fans. I wish we were still playing, and headed towards a SC championship, but we aren't.
Finally, those calling for blood, relax, seriously, relax. Shero and Bylsma did what they could do. Shero brought/bought the pieces, and Bylsma coached. I know several folks on this forum (and their points are valid) criticised the moves Shero made. Some felt they were a bit much, other felt, he got the wrong folks. Apparently though, the moves were great, when the Penguins were smashing their way through the end of the Regualr Season and even more "genius" as we steamrolled the Senators. But then when we play Boston, all of a sudden, Shero is an inept moron who didn't know what he was doing. Really? Gimme a break. The only person I know that "disagreed" with some of the Penguins' acquisitions, through the victories and losses was Kipper, and I have to give him credit for that. Most everyone else, only criticised either during the bad times or EX POST FACTO...which is ignorant. It is extremely easy to Monday morning QB or Armchair Coach this thing. There IS a reason why we ARE NOT professional coaches/General Managers and they are. We can critique things when they go bad, but you and I have no earthly idea what happens and what pressure these guys are under on a day-to-day basis. So stop this false, pretentious "call for blood". To me it is ignorant. I didn't hear a lick of it during the Ottawa series, oh that's right, it's because we were winning. No one had a problem with the Penguins' system then. But now we do? Give me a break. This isn't all Management and Coaching failures. The players just didn't execute. MAF was is usual Playoff disappointment. The Vets didn't lead. You can't coach leadership. And again, the Penguins' "regular season" offense is not built for playoff hockey. That is maybe the one hit on Disco Dan. He has never truly grasped the difference in style and play from the regular season to the playoffs. But call for blood, please. He tried to make adjustments and the players didn't execute. Shero and Bylsma can only do so much.
So in conclusion, I think it appropriate to give it a rest for a few weeks. Go watch some Pirates baseball, go read about the Steelers, go do something not hockey related. I think that once you look back, you will undoubtedly still have a sour taste, but I think your resentment will be much much less. No one likes getting swept, it is embarrassing. And yes, we had lots of "individual" talent, and underachieved, but I think time will heal this wound. Let's just cut back on the acrid deathcries.
Sorry for the disjointedness of this post, and I am more than willing to further explain myself on any of these thoughts I've proposed; but I had to get this off my chest. Seriously Penguins' fans, chill out.