Can you believe we have 3 Cups in this era?

[ColePens]

This is sort of a stop and really think about how amazing we have it thread.

I was just chatting with my father the other day about the Pens and realistically we have a pretty loaded team going into this season with still a decent amount of years left of Sid/Geno. When i took a summer to step back and really let everything sink in, it blew my mind because I was able to step back into how i felt at the end of the x-generation to how I feel now. And if you take me to the end of the 2013 year, I would have just been ecstatic with two cups. So just in thinking about seriously how damn great we have it, I'll pose some questions to you all:

1) At the end of the x-gen years and when we drafted Sid, what were your dream expectations of the Sid/Geno era? What were your realistic expectations? (Remember.. lockout + not knowing Geno was coming over)

2) Did you really ever expect this team to get 3 Cups in a salary cap era?

3) Who is your favorite Penguin of this era not named Sid/Geno?


If you stop and think about it, it's crazy that we have Sid/Geno era still going on and we have 3 cups already. It's awesome.

Click to read more...

 

[Scandale du Jour]

1) In 2007, some people were trying to compare us to the Oilers on the 80s, so I guess my expectation was 5 cups or bust

In all honesty, in a 30-team league with a salary cap, 1 was always going to be nice.

2) "Expect" no, hope yeah. And we missed many opportunities as well.

3) Gotta be Letang or Fleury. Staal too.

 

[mpp9]

I think the expectation was multiple Cups. Especially after going to the Cup Finals back to back years before Geno was even off his ELC. Doing it is different of course.

One more Cup and the dynamic duo go down as the best of their generation without a doubt. Can’t ask for more than that.

 

[Shady Machine]

Going into 2008-2009 time frame, I would have said multiple Cups was the expectation. After the Bylsma and Johnson tenure, I would never have believed back 2 back Cups was realistic. All in all, 3 Cups in 10 years is a great accomplishment, although not totally unexpected given the historic talent on the roster.

We are ridiculously lucky to be Pens fans, but given the caliber of talent that fell into our lap, I think the Penguins have achieved what was expected.

 

[ColePens]

1) In 2007, some people were trying to compare us to the Oilers on the 80s, so I guess my expectation was 5 cups or bust

In all honesty, in a 30-team league with a salary cap, 1 was always going to be nice.

2) "Expect" no, hope yeah. And we missed many opportunities as well.

3) Gotta be Letang or Fleury. Staal too.

The favorite Pen outside of Sid/Geno is tough. Hornqvist has to be there for me. That dude is pure energy 24/7

 

[RizzleMcRib]

Since the expansion era, we are the only team other than the Habs to win cups in 3 straight decades.

 

[Scandale du Jour]

The favorite Pen outside of Sid/Geno is tough. Hornqvist has to be there for me. That dude is pure energy 24/7

Fleury and Letang is easy for me because they are French-Canadian.

Staal has been a favourite of mine since he was drafted. PERFECT 3rd line center, very cerebral player, a body built for hockey.

Hornqvist is tough to not love. The back-to-back Cups team have a LOT of very loveable guys: Guentzel, Kessel (in his own way ), Hornqvist, Cullen, Rust, Dumoulin.

Cullen is everything Bylsma thought Adams was. That guy took away SO MUCH pressure from Sid and Geno. He really became the glue of the team. Glad he is back. Roberts played the same role for a while, but he was not there long enough.

 

[Harvey Birdman]

This is sort of a stop and really think about how amazing we have it thread.

I was just chatting with my father the other day about the Pens and realistically we have a pretty loaded team going into this season with still a decent amount of years left of Sid/Geno. When i took a summer to step back and really let everything sink in, it blew my mind because I was able to step back into how i felt at the end of the x-generation to how I feel now. And if you take me to the end of the 2013 year, I would have just been ecstatic with two cups. So just in thinking about seriously how damn great we have it, I'll pose some questions to you all:

1) At the end of the x-gen years and when we drafted Sid, what were your dream expectations of the Sid/Geno era? What were your realistic expectations? (Remember.. lockout + not knowing Geno was coming over)

2) Did you really ever expect this team to get 3 Cups in a salary cap era?

3) Who is your favorite Penguin of this era not named Sid/Geno?


If you stop and think about it, it's crazy that we have Sid/Geno era still going on and we have 3 cups already. It's awesome.

1 - I was just happy to have the arena deal and know I HAD my team. As a sports fan that was the most stressful moment of my fandom ever. I love this team, and have my whole life, and sweating bullets that they'd be going to Kansas City or where ever just put a hole all the way through me. So out of that time, I was just happy to know we were keeping our team.

2 - I hoped for one, and if we got a lot of luck two... I never thought this group would get three. Now I am rubbing my hands together wanting number four.

3 - I was a huge Talbot fan. Loved his game and just overall attitude/antics he would cause. So other than Sid/Geno I would have to say it would be him as my favorite, then Orpik.

 

[K Fleur]

1- I was just hoping they wouldn’t move.


2-‘09, and ‘17 are awesome runs, but ‘16 is far and away the most special to me.


Stuck watching Bylsma, and Johnston coached teams fail, often in spectacular fashion, from 10-15 really beat out any hope I had that the Crosby/Malkin era would ever win again.

The 2016 cup win is the happiest I’ve ever been as a fan of this team because I’d stopped believing they could win another.

3- Cullen, Kessel, Guentzel, and Hornqvist. All players who brought it come playoff time. HM to Rust.

 

[Scandale du Jour]

1 - I was just happy to have the arena deal and know I HAD my team. As a sports fan that was the most stressful moment of my fandom ever. I love this team, and have my whole life, and sweating bullets that they'd be going to Kansas City or where ever just put a hole all the way through me. So out of that time, I was just happy to know we were keeping our team.

2 - I hoped for one, and if we got a lot of luck two... I never thought this group would get three. Now I am rubbing my hands together wanting number four.

3 - I was a huge Talbot fan. Loved his game and just overall attitude/antics he would cause. So other than Sid/Geno I would have to say it would be him as my favorite, then Orpik.

Talbot! How can I forgot about him! He kept the whole gang loose and gave us MANY important plays in 09. I loved him so much. Too bad he had to leave for the Flyers... but difficult to be angry at him for it. NO one would have given him that kind of money/term.

I have "cool" Talbot story: In the Summer of 08, I was attending a charity tournament in Magog and Talbot was there. He was standing alone watching a game, so I took a chance and walked to him. Talked to him for a few minutes, told him I was a big fan and hoped they would win the Cup this (09) year. Asked him to sign my cap. He looked at it, saw that Fleury already had signed it and he said: "You are sure you want me to sign this, Flower already did?" I said yes, he signed it and said "You just lost money man!" Considering he scored the 2 goals in game 7 against the Wings, I like to think he felt bad and decided to give value back to my cap (That cap is signed by Sid and... Angelo Esposito as well )

 

[Tom Hanks]

Started watching at the end of 2008. Pretty new to hockey so didn’t really have any expectations but looking back I think 3 cups is a great number to have strived for.

Anymore probably isn’t realistic in today’s game (although we still have a shot at more). Any less probably leaves more feelings of what could have been.

For me Hornqvist is only behind Sid as my favourite Pen ever and he closes the gap every year he plays here. Gotta respect a guy who gets the best out of himself. He’s about the same size as Simon and Ruhwedel but rarely loses a puck battle. He’s just so intense. It’s like his life is on the line every shift.

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

1 + 2) Arrogantly, 3 Cups is about what I expected after the Pens drafted Crosby. The Pens already had a deep pool of young players including lotto picks at each position...Malkin was shaping up to become a franchise center (I figured it was inevitable that he'd be over), then with Crosby they added a generational player on top of that. They had as many assets to put together a multiple Cup winner as you could hope for, and because of their youth a lot of time to do it.

Back when Sid was in his early years, I started a very poorly received thread on the main boards titled something like "If Crosby has a career like Yzerman's, would he be a disappointment?". Seemed a fair question to ask of a generational talent, and I think he would have disappointed slightly if he had. Thankfully, he managed to clear that very high bar.

3) Guentzel, not close. After a decade of old bargain bin specials and/or talent-impaired complementary grunts, we finally got Crosby a winger who can process and execute plays at his level for more than one playoff run, and it's pure joy to watch them play together.

But it really is incredible how well it came together and how many good times there have been for Pens fans during the Sid/Geno era. For awhile there, with all the various injuries and coaching issues and depth concerns, it was looking like the Pens might go down as a one-and-done underachiever like the Hull/Mikita era Hawks.

 

[Harvey Birdman]

Talbot! How can I forgot about him! He kept the whole gang loose and gave us MANY important plays in 09. I loved him so much. Too bad he had to leave for the Flyers... but difficult to be angry at him for it. NO one would have given him that kind of money/term.

I have "cool" Talbot story: In the Summer of 08, I was attending a charity tournament in Magog and Talbot was there. He was standing alone watching a game, so I took a chance and walked to him. Talked to him for a few minutes, told him I was a big fan and hoped they would win the Cup this (09) year. Asked him to sign my cap. He looked at it, saw that Fleury already had signed it and he said: "You are sure you want me to sign this, Flower already did?" I said yes, he signed it and said "You just lost money man!" Considering he scored the 2 goals in game 7 against the Wings, I like to think he felt bad and decided to give value back to my cap (That cap is signed by Sid and... Angelo Esposito as well )

Awesome story man. I have one funny one with him also, he used to live on the South Side. I can not remember the name of the bar. It was the one that they filmed in the Jack Reacher movie... Anyways, I poped in there waiting for a friend to get off of work. Didn't look around just plopped down at the bar and then a few mins after I sat down I heard yelled very loudly from the back corner "NO PRACTICE TOMORROW!" And I look over to see who else but Max Talbot with two beers walking over to a table. I am not one to get star struck and go up to people when they are just trying to be human and go out for a normal evening. But I said hey, f*** it, flagged the bar tender over and told the bar tender next time he comes to the bar get him a beer on me and tell him its from a big fan. When he comes back up he gets a beer handed to him and a very confused look on his face, bar tender points at me and I have my beer up in the air just wanting to cheers him from across the room. He literally comes RUNNING over, already tispy, "You are a big fan of mine!?" I said yes... He got a huge smile across his face. "Good to know I at least have one!" then clangs the beer I bought him to the top of mine volcanoing my beer then runs off. I was so confused and shocked I didn't even have a chance to react. My next beer was on him though due to it.

 

[Beauner]

We're so lucky as fans. We all know that obviously but still.

1) I didn't really have expectations. I was just happy to have some amazing players to watch which coincided with me growing up. I hoped for the best and got mad when we lost. As it stands, I can't say I'm disappointed. '13 still kind of makes me mad but 16 and 17 made up for it.

2) I defninitely didn't think we'd go back to back at any point. 17 especially was amazing when you think about it. No Letang, Hornqvist and Hagelin hurt for various parts of the playoffs, Rowney playing regular shifts. It's truly amazing they repeated.

3) I was always fond of Talbot. Hornqvist is awesome too, love that guy.

 

[Scandale du Jour]

Awesome story man. I have one funny one with him also, he used to live on the South Side. I can not remember the name of the bar. It was the one that they filmed in the Jack Reacher movie... Anyways, I poped in there waiting for a friend to get off of work. Didn't look around just plopped down at the bar and then a few mins after I sat down I heard yelled very loudly from the back corner "NO PRACTICE TOMORROW!" And I look over to see who else but Max Talbot with two beers walking over to a table. I am not one to get star struck and go up to people when they are just trying to be human and go out for a normal evening. But I said hey, **** it, flagged the bar tender over and told the bar tender next time he comes to the bar get him a beer on me and tell him its from a big fan. When he comes back up he gets a beer handed to him and a very confused look on his face, bar tender points at me and I have my beer up in the air just wanting to cheers him from across the room. He literally comes RUNNING over, already tispy, "You are a big fan of mine!?" I said yes... He got a huge smile across his face. "Good to know I at least have one!" then clangs the beer I bought him to the top of mine volcanoing my beer then runs off. I was so confused and shocked I didn't even have a chance to react. My next beer was on him though due to it.

Max Talbot is so awesome and genuine.

 

[Shady Machine]

The favorite Pen outside of Sid/Geno is tough. Hornqvist has to be there for me. That dude is pure energy 24/7

Of the current team it's definitely Horny for me. I generally don't get all excited about the warrior type role player, but Horny is legit the heart and soul of Penguins hockey outside of Sid/Geno. Dude takes beatings and keeps chugging along. He's tough as nails, but doesn't feel obligated to retaliate. He's such an important presence and is a fun loving guy at the same time.

 

[Andy99]

I did expect 3 Cups because of the talent and my greed, but I had given up hope by 2015, so that 2016 Cup was so sweet to me....2017 took amazing fortitude and some luck so that was great too....I’m thankful they’ve lived up to expectations and I don’t have to think the organization underachieved....still greedy for more

Favorite player is tough, so many I liked....would have to say Craig Adams....just kidding, Bryan Rust is my unofficial mancrush....

 

[billybudd]

That third cup was just icing on a cake. Pens could finish dead last in 2019 and I wouldn't even be irritated.

 

[RizzleMcRib]

As for favorite players,
Growing up it was Mark Recchi, first jersey I ever had. That 1991 season and playoffs was fire.
Later on, I became a fan of Aleksey Morozov. He got a worse rap than he deserved. Too bad we couldn't play the Devils 82 times a season.
Now it's Letang.

 

[WayneSid9987]

I'll just answer #3:

Gonchar and Hossa(who i wished badly remained a Pen after '08).

 

[BladeRunner66]

Max Talbot is so awesome and genuine.

He's a natural Superstar but don't tell anyone!

@ColePens/

1) We become PO subscribers, didn't think a Cup was a realistic expectation before we got Geno though.

2) Hardly, one yeah, maybe a couple but 3?Now let's get another for good measure.

3) Staal, Hornqvist or Fleury, Talbot for a while after he scored those 2 Cup winning goals.

 

[ColePens]

I think something that vastly goes under discussed is just having a team period. @K Fleur and @EdwardBlake noted we were lucky to have a new arena as things were VERY dicey for a time being. Turn that into 3 Cups and probably one of the top hockey markets/teams. Insanity.

 

[Gurglesons]

No. After 2009, maybe I expected one or two more, but by the end of 2012, I didn’t.

I was happy with one cup and two finals.

Letang obviously. Vokoun was my favorite goalie growing up so, to see him come in and clean up MaF’s mess in 2013 was always fun.

 

[BladeRunner66]

I think something that vastly goes under discussed is just having a team period. @K Fleur and @EdwardBlake noted we were lucky to have a new arena as things were VERY dicey for a time being. Turn that into 3 Cups and probably one of the top hockey markets/teams. Insanity.

Yeah it's like the doom and gloom sky cleared and the planets suddenly aligned or something. This is probably why it still annoys me when some take those 3 Cups for granted. MTL won it's last Cup just after the first 2 that the Pens won and they're not even remotely close to winning another one.

 

[Gurglesons]

Yeah it's like the doom and gloom sky cleared and the planets suddenly aligned or something. This is probably why it still annoys me when some take those 3 Cups for granted. MTL won it's last Cup just after the first 2 that the Pens won and they're not even remotely close to winning another one.

I think you can tell who actively stuck with this team through the last twenty years and who got into them after Crosby by cup expectations.

After you saw two players like Jagr and Lemieux struggle the way they did. It is unsurprising to see what Crosby went through.

If all you know is the playing field of Crosby being the best player in the game, it is hard to only see one cup.