My Reaction to Another Penguin Playoff Debockle

I’m not upset the Penguins lost to the Rangers in Game 7. Sure if Sidney Crosby played up to half his ability they win the series but it would have only prolonged the in evadible. Funny thing is everybody including Fleury played pretty well, except for a few folks I’m looking at you James Neal,

Knowledgeable Penguin fans, and I think deep down Sid and Geno knew this team was not good enough. Is Dan Blysma to blame? Absolutely, he has made some very questionable personnel decisions, he played favorites and ignored young talent but he can’t turn hamburger helper into a bone in rib eye.

I blame GM Ray Shero. He has mismanaged this team for the last 5 years. This team has gotten soft and easy to play against. Talk all you want about a skilled winger and a puck moving defensemen, hockey, especially the playoffs is about toughness and BALLS, and the Penguins roster lacked both of them. When Shero came to town he immediately made them a tougher team. Tougher in the corners, in front of the net and with the gloves off. In the 2007 regular season the Pens beat the Flyers all seven games and in the last game won every fight (I thought they should have put up a statue to coach Mike Therrien right there).

The Pens remained a tough team until they felt they embarrassed the league after their line brawl with the Islanders in 2011. Since then management has shipped out or not resigned big , tough , on the edge players and brought in finesse players, guys who stay on the outside of the fray, who never get their nose dirty. It’s bad enough to have finesse on your top two lines but the Penguins had those guys on their bottom two lines.

Shero retained too many 3^rd and 4^th liners. He let those players get comfortable. Chicago doesn’t do that and they won two Cups since the Penguins won theirs. I consider Shero’s retention of mediocre 4^th liners his second biggest offense, signing offensively overrated and defensively brain dead Kris Letang to a large, long contract is his biggest offense.

Both Shero and Blysma should and hopefully will be fired. The players will be fired too. Only Sid and Geno are safe and probably Letang because who wants a 8 million dollar stroke victim. Chris Kunitz looked tired in the playoffs and maybe the Olympics wore him out. James Neal needs to GO. He’s acts like he won a Stanley Cup, he has not won anything but rides Geno coattails. He’s a bum. Jussi will want too much money so bye. Sutter played well for a month , if he leaves oh well. As for every other forward don’t let the door hit you. If Craig Adams was a horse he’d be glue. Only forwards I want back are Sid, Geno, Kunitz, Pascal Dupius (get well soon Super Duper) and Beau Bennett.

For the Defense, I’m not as down on them.  I wish Blysma gave the kids a chance to play more in the regular season but obviously those regular season points were needed. I love Robert Bortozzo’s game and Simon Depres is an NHLer. Ollie Maata faded but he’s nineteen. Paul Martin played great this year. Love Paulie. Brooks Orpik, Derek Engelland and Matt Niskanan are gone. Rob Scuderi should be but his contract is another chain around Shero’s neck. I love Scuds but he looked like an orange traffic cone in the playoffs. The Pens have lots of kids in their minors with pedrigee so bring em up. Flower player B+ goal all year and to the surprise of most was not a problem.

All in all, a smarter tougher coach and six new forwards who COMPETE and the Penguins could be back on top and by on top I mean a Stanley Cup winner not racking up a bunch of regular season points.