How do the Pens do it?

[fsanford]

-Blackhawks and Kings are lucky Crosby and Malkin were injured 2011-2014. Crosby's career was almost ended because of concussions. If neither got hurt this discussion wouldnt even be taking place. Crosby was so much better then everyone else in 2011 it was Grezkty like. Was on pace for 140 points.

Its hard to win the cup, teams that win it deserve it and were the best team in the playoffs those years, really don't understand the need to sling mud, but when in Rome.

 

[stepdad gaary]

Blah, blah, blah, and Pens played like a 6th seed and 8th seed from the west to win their cups, I only bring this up because a select few Pen fans seem to think Hawks/Kings played nobodies to win their cups.

Its hard to win the cup, teams that win it deserve it and were the best team in the playoffs those years, really don't understand the need to sling mud, but when in Rome.

im fairly certain people were only saying that because some hawks fan has been blabbering for 10 pages about how easy the penguins cups were compared to the big bad west

i think most of the posts have been removed but the discussion turned dark for a while and we're still seeing the remains

 

[fsanford]

im fairly certain people were only saying that because some hawks fan has been blabbering for 10 pages about how easy the penguins cups were compared to the big bad west

i think most of the posts have been removed but the discussion turned dark for a while and we're still seeing the remains

Hawk fans should not saying anything either, its the toughest trophy to win in sports, whomever gets it is deserving they were the best that year in the playoffs. No gray between winning and losing,

Personally the fact 4 teams have won this thing in like the last 9 years, kind of points to the great play of those teams in the playoffs, 3 in particular.

Think of it this way 30 teams 9 years 270 possible outcomes at the start of the year, and yet we have Hawks 3, Pens 3, Kings 2 Bruins 1..

To me that is the amazing part, like it or not the odds of so few teams winning especially in cap era, and revised cap era, pretty extreme.

 

[stepdad gaary]

Hawk fans should not saying anything either, its the toughest trophy to win in sports, whomever gets it is deserving they were the best that year in the playoffs. No gray between winning and losing,

Personally the fact 4 teams have won this thing in like the last 9 years, kind of points to the great play of those teams in the playoffs, 3 in particular.

Think of it this way 30 teams 9 years 270 possible outcomes at the start of the year, and yet we have Hawks 3, Pens 3, Kings 2 Bruins 1..

To me that is the amazing part, like it or not the odds of so few teams winning especially in cap era, and revised cap era, pretty extreme.

I'm with you, brother.

I hate when it becomes a contest like this. There is no way to decide if 3 in 6 is better than 2 in a row or w.e. its all just dumb. no point in talking about it. Hawks had an amazing run. As did the kings. as are the pens currently.

 

[MayonnaiseOreo]

-The bitterness is going to be sweet when the Crosby / Malkin duo home bring home #4

I haven't even watched them present the Cup the last two years. I could barely watch it in 2009 but I did since we had a party of people there for game 7. Another one would suck.

 

[Haj]

1. Crosby
2. Malkin
3. Good Coach
4. Good GM
5. No bad contracts
6. Players will take a pay cut to play with Crosby and Malkin
7. Good development of draft picks and UDFAs: Sheary, Guentzel, Rust, Khunackel, Dumolin, Murray
8. Letting the above players figure it out at the NHL level instead of getting retreads, this is good coaching and good GMing


The organization understands how the game has changed with regards to creating a roster with scoring depth that puts a ton of pressure on the opposing team.

 

[Bar Down]

Through this 3 year run, they always seem calm. Down by 2 or 3 goals, they're never out of any game or series because the mentality and the approach never changes. It's pretty incredible to watch. This team is the most resilient team I've ever seen in any sport.

 

[GordieHowsUrBreath]

wow hawk fans are really bitter their run is over and has been exceeded by the pens

didn't that "big and bad" 2013 hawks team need a miraculous comeback to beat the old and washed up red wings without lidstrom? even the 2009 pens would beat them, let alone 2016 and 2017 pens

 

[Grifter3511]

The last "dynasty" (Hawks) had to spend 1-2 seasons retooling after every cup win. Pens have been at the same level for the last 3 seasons. Whether they win or not will depend if the rest of the league has caught up yet. How do they keep the same level and avoid the retool years like the Hawks?

Hawks
Cup
Retool
Retool
Cup
Retool
Cup

Pens
Cup
Cup
Cup?

Crosby/Malkin > Toews/Kane AINEC

 

[ColbyChaos]

Crosby’s contract was legal. Hossa’s was not, hence the recapture penalty the Hawks weaseled out of with his “condition”.

And if you don’t think winning a cup during a lockout shortened season takes some shine off that championship, I’m afraid I’ve got some bad news for you...

Basically talking 2.5 cups vs three legit cups, with two of those b2b. It’s not even really a debate which team is more accomplished.

Like I said, 15-20 years from now, the Hawks shady cups (cap circumvention, Kane injury scandal, 1/2 season cup victory) will be overshadowed big time by the accomplishments of two generational superstars.

If a lockout cup win only counts as .5 of a title in your eyes then the Pens 17 title which was full of controversial calls working in their favor may as well have an asterisk by your logic since it "took a lot of the shine off that championship" There is nothing that diminishes the 13 playoffs and had the pens won you sure as hell would be saying that counts as a full title.

 

[Princevegeta90]

If a lockout cup win only counts as .5 of a title in your eyes then the Pens 17 title which was full of controversial calls working in their favor may as well have an asterisk by your logic since it "took a lot of the shine off that championship" There is nothing that diminishes the 13 playoffs and had the pens won you sure as hell would be saying that counts as a full title.

Every team that wins the cup has people saying the refs were in their favor and they get all the controversial calls. I’m sure we can dig up every single thread from previous cup winners and find that. Not every team wins the cup in a half season though

 

[bambamcam4ever]

If a lockout cup win only counts as .5 of a title in your eyes then the Pens 17 title which was full of controversial calls working in their favor may as well have an asterisk by your logic since it "took a lot of the shine off that championship" There is nothing that diminishes the 13 playoffs and had the pens won you sure as hell would be saying that counts as a full title.

 

[TNT87]

Like Crosby's contract isnt illegal?

2nd point reaches absured levels of stupidity

Except they wouldnt at all. A team that has proven time and time again to be a paper tiger in round 2 to the point they get a urinatingtree video on them documenting their failures shouldnt get the benfit of the doubt theyd be winning the cup if Pittsburgh didnt exist. With all the 3-1 series leads they blown, all the times they bowed out to lower seeded teams to say they would be a lock for the cup is just hilairous when theyve been as much of a force as the Minnesota wild when it comes to the real season.

How is Crosby's contract illegal?

Speaking of urinating tree. Enjoy. My favorite part was when he said "there will be changes moving forward". Not making the playoffs the next season sure is a strange way of moving forward. Not sure why the usual Blackhawk fans, like yourself, are so upset with the Penguins. They had a great run. Not the Penguins fault their players rather take the money instead of putting the team first.

 

[BlacknGold4life]

No bad contracts and have had a pipeline of young talent come through the past 3 years. (Dumoulin, Rust, Guentzel, Sheary, Murray, Kuhnhackl) Simon, Sprong, Aston-Reese should play bigger roles next year to keep the trend going.

And JR has made a number of brilliant trades. Kessel, Daley, Hagelin, Brassard.

forgot Sheahan

 

[BigEezyE22]

If a lockout cup win only counts as .5 of a title in your eyes then the Pens 17 title which was full of controversial calls working in their favor may as well have an asterisk by your logic since it "took a lot of the shine off that championship" There is nothing that diminishes the 13 playoffs and had the pens won you sure as hell would be saying that counts as a full title.

Now that I think about it...2 in 2 is much, MUCH greater than 1.5 in 3.

That's like 1.05 PPG compared to 0.86 PPG.

Hhhhmmmm....

Special delivery! Mailin' it in!

 

[TopG]

1 word: Crosby

 

[WarriorOfGandhi]

because they have the best fanbase in the world.

 

[ColbyChaos]

How is Crosby's contract illegal?

Speaking of urinating tree. Enjoy. My favorite part was when he said "there will be changes moving forward". Not making the playoffs the next season sure is a strange way of moving forward. Not sure why the usual Blackhawk fans, like yourself, are so upset with the Penguins. They had a great run. Not the Penguins fault their players rather take the money instead of putting the team first.

Look at the last three years of that contract that gigantic drop in salary is illegal per today's cba it is in the same stratosphere as Hossa's Zetterberg's Parise's etc.

In regards to the bolded with how ridiculous some of these hot takes have been by Pit fans (lockout cups only counts as half, LA and Chicago didnt face real teams in the playoffs, the 17 penguins could take on the 77 Habs, Pit would have easily won more with Sullivan) the fanbase here have made it pretty easy for people to despise their team. If they didnt have so many posters flooding this board (they'd be downvoted to oblivion on places like reddit) perhaps they wouldnt be such a hated team and challenging the Leafs on this site for the most insufferable fanbase.

 

[GordieHowsUrBreath]

Look at the last three years of that contract that gigantic drop in salary is illegal per today's cba it is in the same stratosphere as Hossa's Zetterberg's Parise's etc.

In regards to the bolded with how ridiculous some of these hot takes have been by Pit fans (lockout cups only counts as half, LA and Chicago didnt face real teams in the playoffs, the 17 penguins could take on the 77 Habs, Pit would have easily won more with Sullivan) the fanbase here have made it pretty easy for people to despise their team. If they didnt have so many posters flooding this board (they'd be downvoted to oblivion on places like reddit) perhaps they wouldnt be such a hated team and challenging the Leafs on this site for the most insufferable fanbase.

hey every winning team has an "insufferable" fan base, back in 2001 people around the country actually rooted for the patriots to win the super bowl because boston was considered a town of losing teams

now everybody hates them because they won a ton, nobody liked the hawks or their fans during their run either

the way hawk fans talk smack now, I can only imagine how bad it was when they were actually good

 

[Oahiz]

I thought most people hated the Patriots because they've gotten caught cheating multiple times. I think if they just won a ton they'd be annoying, not loathsome.

 

[GordieHowsUrBreath]

I thought most people hated the Patriots because they've gotten caught cheating multiple times. I think if they just won a ton they'd be annoying, not loathsome.

nope they won 3 and everybody hated them, spygate just made it worse

 

[SoCalFan]

im fairly certain people were only saying that because some hawks fan has been blabbering for 10 pages about how easy the penguins cups were compared to the big bad west

i think most of the posts have been removed but the discussion turned dark for a while and we're still seeing the remains

jesus christ, man. all you have to do is go to page 1 to see that a Sharks fan said something about quality of competition with this little tidbit response from PenguinSpeed.....

-2014 LA was tough? They won 3 game 7's, 1 game 7 in overtime, and 3 overtime games in the Stanley Cup Finals. That was the flukiest run ever and a joke Champion. They came out of the pathetic 3 bid playoff league Pacific division, had a measly 100 points from a 3 bid division, and had one of the worst offenses for a Stanley Cup winner All Time.

-This board is a pure comedy. The last 2 years the Western Conference chest beaters were all high and mighty with how great the Sharks and Preds were. Then they met the Penguins and got killed. Year 3, who comes out of the West? I Guarantee if they get killed by the Pens they stink. The salt against the Pens is at all time highs

right for the jugular. never blinked an eye and all b/c someone questioned the quality of competition the Pens faced. big damn deal. so yeah, maybe you need to call that f***ing clown out since you're so "I'm with you, brother".

 

[SoCalFan]

nope they won 3 and everybody hated them, spygate just made it worse

yeah, sure. b/c winning is so much worse than cheating.

 

[ZeroPucksGiven]

Back to back is already included in the 3 in 9. I guess they shouldnt have taken half a decade off to suck and get swept.

Again, back to back is impossible yet the pens pulled it off There's a reason why it took 20 years for it to happen again and that was with an all star red wings team that didn't have a cap. And the pens nearly went back to back in 08 and 09 .

Chicago is going to be sucking hard for the next half decade here.

 

[GordieHowsUrBreath]

yeah, sure. b/c winning is so much worse than cheating.

people hated them because they won a lot, why is that hard to understand?

they became hated more when they got caught cheating