• Fri. Mar 29th, 2024

Bombs Away: Quit Your Whining!

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ByCoach Bombay

Apr 22, 2011

That’s directed at the fans of the other 14 teams left in the playoffs because you will get NO sympathy from Pens fans.  NONE.  ZERO.  NADA.  All I keep seeing is fans crying about how one or two of their good players got hurt and will miss a game or two (especially by a *gasp* unpenalized hit) or how one of their players got screwed with a one game suspension.  BOO HOO.

Let’s talk suspensions first.  Sure, we were lucky when Kunitz only got one game for his elbow in game 3.   But, have you seen how the supplementary disciplinary system has been working in these playoffs?  Or, rather, not working?  Hello, Raffi Torres.  Do we even start to talk about the stuff that hasn’t been reviewed?

Matt Cooke was suspended for the last 10 games of the regular season and the first round of the playoffs.  No one in Pittsburgh complained about it.  We all knew it was deserved and accepted it.  Heck, some fans thought he should have gotten more.  As much as Cooke would be an asset in the playoffs, the suspension was fair.  Then I look at the joke that league has turned into and I’m wondering why the league bothered to take a stand?  As Seth Rorabaugh of the Post Gazette’s Empty Netters blog continues to remind people, the NHL really has returned to the “Gargage League” that Mario Lemieux labeled it years ago.

You know how bad it’s gotten when people who never have anything nice to say about Cooke, or about anything really, are thinking he got screwed.  Damien Cox of the Toronto Star and Sportsnet TV tweeted on April 19th:

“Never imagined I would say this.  But given the bizarre leniency shown Torres, Kunitz, and Downie, it’s pretty clear Matt Cooke got a raw deal.”

So, don’t cry to us about a double minor, a major, a game misconduct, or a one game suspension.

Now, injuries.  First of all, if your team doesn’t have the depth or the guys to step up if a player or two goes down, especially on a day-to-day status, you don’t belong in the playoffs on paper to begin with.  It’s that simple.  The NHL playoffs are a long, grueling marathon that require 16 wins with a potential of 28 games played over the course of 2 months.  If you aren’t built for the long haul, see ya.

Let me tell you why we really don’t care about your tears.  We spent the first half of the season without one of our best penalty killers, Jordan Staal.  Just as he came back, we lost Sidney Crosby.  You might have heard of him.  He still was the was tied for the 10th highest number of goals at the end of the season and wasn’t doing too bad on points either…despite the fact that he hadn’t played since January 5th.  He’s kind of big deal for us.  Yet, we’ve gone nearly four months without him (and out of the two hits that caused and/or contributed to his concussion, there was a total of 2 minutes in penalty time dished out, that’s it). 

About a month later, Evgeni Malkin went down with a season-ending knee injury.  You might have heard of him, too.  He won the Conn Smythe trophy once, and a bunch of other awards just like Sid.  Then the dominos really started to fall.  Guys went down right and left.

We’ve had three other guys out with concussions.  I can’t keep track of the number of surgeries.  Nearly everyone on the team had some sort of injury, some guys were out for most of the season.  Only two guys on the team played the whole season.  As a result, the locker room door at Consol might has well been a revolving door.  I’m pretty sure that the Pens are solely responsible for keeping their car service between Pittsburgh and Wilkes-Barre in business.

During this past season, we got the chance to see most of the prospects down in WBS as some of the boys were shuttled back and forth several times.  At one point, I think there were as many AHLers dressed as NHLers.  I remember one game where either Bylsma or Shero joked that they thought it was the first time they had to use a mini-van to bring guys up because they called up four guys on one game day…in addition to the guys that were already here. 

I remember that game.  The Pens wore this year’s Winter Classic jerseys for a regular game and we got an early goal from one of the four assisted by another one of the four.  I had no clue who was who or wearing what number, so I just yelled, “Yay, kid in the blue!”

My point being, we got hit by the injury bug in a big way this year.  Worse than the high ankle sprain epidemic of 2007-2008.  We were counted down and out by the “experts” over and over.  But, guess what?  We were in the hunt until the end for the division title, the conference title, and finished near the top of the league with 106 points.  Still, the many “experts” said we wouldn’t win our series.  Now, we’re leading the series 3-1.  Still without Crosby and Malkin.  Some still think we’ll lose.  Hey, keep counting us out.  Because, besides that depth on paper, we’ve got what it really takes to win.

To all of you whiners out there, if you’re team can’t win without a guy or two it’s because they lack the most important things.  Heart, passion, determination, commitment, character, chemistry, hunger, belief.  No amount of skill can beat those.  Ask the kids from Wilkes-Barre who were outmatched in the skill department night after night but kept finding ways to win and keep the Pens in the hunt.  The team fed off of the adversity.  Unless your starting goaltender goes down (and even then there’s ways to win), there is no reason your team can’t step it up, rally itself, play like a team, and find ways to win.

We’ve been doing it all season, especially for the last three and a half months.  Your crying falls on deaf ears here.  LET’S GO PENS!

11 thoughts on “Bombs Away: Quit Your Whining!”
  1. Its clear to me that one team that does not belong in the playoffs and soon to be sequentially eliminated is the Pittsburgh Penguins. That team is made up of a bunch of quitters. I started watching the game at the end of the first period, and I’ve never in my life seen a team quit during the first period of a playoff game until yesterday! Talk about children in a mans world. Grow some, won’t you Pittsburgh?? Please stop being an embarrassment to your city and to hockey fans everywhere!!

    1. I’m sorry, I missed the part where we had been eliminated. We’re still leading our series. And, last time I checked, the only team that had swept this round was the Red Wings. We found ways to win despite injuries to half of our team, especially Malkin and Crosby, and we will keep doing so. I’ve watched all the playoff games and EVERY team in these playoffs has had at least one bad game that they’ve blown or imploded. Maybe you should familiarize yourself with these playoffs before you talk about one game in particular. Being that Fleury and the Pens bounce back after losses like that, the records of road teams in these playoffs, and the Pens propensity for clinching playoff series on the road, be prepared to see a completely different team on the ice tomorrow night…even if the Lightning are staying in a hotel. I’m guessing you’ve been saving this comment to post somewhere since we had just won three games in a row…

      1. As I said; the Penguins are the ONLY team I’ve seen in the many playoff games I’ve watched that quit–literally quit–not have an ‘off game’ or ‘lost focus’–I mean quit a game. I have no respect for this team. You could even see the Tampa Bay team start to feel sorry for Pittsburgh…laying back on power playes, dumping and laying bak, ect.. It was an embarrassment to any hockey fan.

        1. Funny, because Tampa was still putting out their top PP unit until the end so obviously you couldn’t have been paying attention too closely. And, the Pens obviously didn’t quit since the scored two goals and had plenty of scoring opportunities in the third. By the way, wake up, no team ever feels sorry for another in the playoffs…especially when their players are being run by the other team.

  2. I also want to point out that those characteristics that allowed the Pens to win had a trickle down effect through the franchise as well. As much as we ravaged the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins’ roster, their players and some call-ups from Wheeling stepped it up and ended up on top of the AHL and are now in the playoffs. The kids on the Wheeling Nailers stepped their game up and brought in some new faces and are now in the second round of the ECHL playoffs.

    Everyone from the top down bought in to, not only the system, but the philosophy. Not only is the franchise one of class, but it is one with a bright future. Congrats to everyone throughout the entire organization.

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