Pertinent Penguins Playoffs Posts

[Silentom]

Just. Watch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_bAjO7wVzA

[Silentom]

[Silentom]

Mother bought me an ECF Champs shirt. I refuse to put that sht on, and it's buried where I can't see it.

[NTP66]

Mother bought me an ECF Champs shirt. I refuse to put that sht on, and it's buried where I can't see it.

I did the same with the yellow rally shirts and towels given to fans at the home games (because I didn't want to change the routine).

[Morkle]

Yea my wife asked me if I wanted an ECF hat and I had to decline. The ultimate goal is the cup - not to wear gear that shows you didn't finish the damn thing.

[Waffles]

Just. Watch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_bAjO7wVzA

holy ****

[nocera]

Man. When the Cup came out of its case at :48 I got chills. ****. I'm way too emotionally invested in tonight's game.

[Silentom]

My new wallpaper:

[Beveridge]

For those without insider on ESPN, there was an article where they talked to Bylsma and Shero.

PITTSBURGH -- One more win and everything changes for Penguins coach Mike Sullivan. His whirlwind season, which started in the AHL and is concluding in the Stanley Cup finals, is one win away from being life-changing.

There might be one person in the world who can relate, and knows exactly what Sullivan is going through. Former Penguins coach and current Sabres coach Dan Bylsma has been in this spot. He’s been the AHL coach who was promoted to right the ship in Pittsburgh, who then went on to lift the Stanley Cup.

He knows what’s coming for Sullivan if this thing ends tonight.
“It’s going to be good,” Bylsma said, smiling. “It’s going to be good.’

He’s been watching this Penguins run from afar, as has former Penguins general manager Ray Shero, and it comes as little-to-no surprise for them that the Penguins are so close to winning another Stanley Cup. They knew as well as anyone in hockey what this group was capable of doing.

“I’ve seen it before,” Shero said.

Like current Penguins GM Jim Rutherford, Shero made a coaching change that changed the course of the Penguins season when they won the Cup in 2009. He also made a trade, adding Chris Kunitz in February of 2009, which made a huge impact on the Penguins winning it all -- just like Rutherford did when he added Carl Hagelin and Trevor Daley.

As the Penguins close in on winning their second Stanley Cup in the Sidney Crosby era, it’s hard not to look back and make those kinds of comparisons to the 2009 group.

“They’re fun to watch,” Shero said of the 2016 Penguins. “Sully has done a great job. Jim Rutherford has done a great job this year; they’ve made some good moves. It’s great to see Sid at the top of his game again -- that always makes a difference.”

Sidney Crosby’s performance is where Shero and Byslma’s opinions diverge slightly. Shero said he saw Crosby a month or so into Sullivan’s tenure and knew his game was back; he saw him score a goal top shelf, short side -- the kind of goal that only a small number of players in the league could pull off.

Watching from afar as Crosby captained the Penguins to within one win of a Stanley Cup (with 17 points in 22 games, for that matter), Shero sees a level of play that is in another stratosphere.

“He’s playing as well as he’s ever played in my opinion,” Shero said. “It’s a good story.”



Bylsma disagrees slightly, only because he’s seen Crosby play incredible hockey for long stretches. He’s not quite ready to conclude this version of Crosby is better than any previous one.

“I don’t know if I would say that. I don’t know,” Bylsma said. “I got that question a lot when I was in Pittsburgh. In the 2010-11 season, leading up to the Winter Classic, he was playing unbelievable. He was unbelievable.”

That season, Crosby averaged 1.61 points per game, the highest ratio of his career. He had 32 goals in 41 games. As well as he’s playing now, he was on another planet offensively.

“The guy is a great, great player,” Bylsma said. “I think he’s playing great and he’s playing great every night. This is the biggest time of the year to be playing great and he’s doing it.”

One difference that Devils coach John Hynes -- another former member of the Penguins organization -- sees is in Crosby’s personality. Hynes sees a player in Crosby who has matured into a captain with controlled emotions, whose team reflects that sentiment it in its play, as teams always have with Crosby.

“When you look at him, he’s playing both sides of the puck. He’s driving the team. You look at the passion he’s playing with – it’s almost like a re-commitment,” Hynes said during a Wednesday phone conversation. “He’s emotionally controlled and the team has taken on his personality.”

Crosby, who is in the Conn Smythe conversation along with Phil Kessel and Matt Murray, has guided his team this far, but Bylsma points out that in hockey, it’s rare that one player alone leads their team to a title. Even someone as good as Crosby.

When the Penguins won the Stanley Cup in 2009, it was players like Jordan Staal, Tyler Kennedy and Max Talbot scoring the biggest goals in the biggest moments.

As much as we might want to paint the picture of Crosby seizing this moment tonight and pulling the Penguins over the finish line, Bylsma anticipates it happening a different way.

“The teams that win have it throughout their lineup. They’ve won in different ways,” Bylsma said. “They’re deep, they’re getting it from a lot of areas. They’re coming at you with four lines… that’s how it goes.”

If the Penguins don’t finish the job tonight, Bylsma doesn’t see a lot changes moving forward. This matchup isn’t a good one for the Sharks; five games in, they haven’t had an answer for the forward depth in Pittsburgh.

Sharks defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic articulated it well after practice on Wednesday.

“There’s no ideal matchup,” Vlasic said. “You concentrate on Crosby too much and then Malkin explodes, Kessel explodes. You concentrate on those two guys and then Crosby is going to do damage. When you get this far in the playoffs, depth is what gets teams here, and they have really good depth.”

Bylsma echoed that sentiment. “The matchups are not going to get any better,” he added. “You can’t get away from what’s happening… you’re talking about Crosby and Hornqvist and Malkin and Kunitz and Hagelin and Kessel. You can’t get away from it. Some defensemen have to play against one of these guys.”

When it comes down to it, figuring out whether or not Crosby is playing as well as he ever has is almost irrelevant. The important thing is that he’s surrounded by players who are making a difference up and down the lineup.

That’s the thing that stands out most for those who know this team so well from afar.

“Sid is playing great. There’s no question about that. He’s playing great,” Bylsma said. “But they have three full lines of absolute horrid matchups. San Jose hasn’t had anything close to an answer for that.”

[dodint]

I still want to punch them both in the mouth for clinging to each other while wearing the team down to a nub.

[Silentom]

Disco should have been canned the night that 2012 debacle ended.

[Gaucho]

Yes.

[Tico Rick]

If Shero had done that, he might still be with the Pens.

[Waffles]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8yW84Svpx8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZZCFALtam4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgkdP0dFc-U

screw those guys

[Viva la Ben]

Viewing party inside CEC on Sunday night. $10 per ticket.

[dodint]

Viewing party inside CEC on Sunday night. $10 per ticket.

****.

There goes my revenue premise for the 1-3-3 augment.

@slappybrown

[meecrofilm]

screw those guys

What did they say?

[Algernon]

screw those guys

What did they say?

This.

My times too important to watch locker room vids

[Waffles]

screw those guys

What did they say?

that we're rattled af

[Tico Rick]

I was going to post earlier today that San Jose scares me much more when they have the puck behind our goal line than when they have the puck in front of it, and now I see that the Trib has an article on just that.

[columbia]

I view that as more of a Murray thing than a Sharks thing. That needs to be fixed before 29 is sent off to waiver wire or cleaning dishes at TGIF.

[Tico Rick]

I view that as more of a Murray thing than a Sharks thing. That needs to be fixed before 29 is sent off to waiver wire or cleaning dishes at TGIF.

Absolutely. I hope it's fixed before Game 6, actually.

[Algernon]

I view that as more of a Murray thing than a Sharks thing. That needs to be fixed before 29 is sent off to waiver wire or cleaning dishes at TGIF.

Regardless of what happens with the penguins ill bet money fleury plays til he is 38 or 40

[Tico Rick]

I view that as more of a Murray thing than a Sharks thing. That needs to be fixed before 29 is sent off to waiver wire or cleaning dishes at TGIF.

Regardless of what happens with the penguins ill bet money fleury plays til he is 38 or 40

I really, really hope that Fleury doesn't ask to be traded, as he can be a great mentor to Murray, and we'd have incredible depth in goal. I'd like to see 60/40 Fleury/Murray split next year.

[dodint]

I think the repeated brain shots are going to take a few years off of Fleury's career.