Post-Game Talk: Pens vs Wild Loss: We miss you Flower

[Tacitus Kilgore]

I'm sort of hoping this team continues to struggle.

It means Sullivan will be on his way out. Something needs to change.

That's the idea. The hard part is suffering through it and not seeing hardly an inkling of management, ownership or mainstream hockey/Pitt sports media even barely questioning Sully.

Especially when more and more of us have been agreeing on this since the Bubble Cup in 2020/21 when it began to gain traction here.

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

I like Fleury. Seems like a good dude, universally well liked, and he was here for a long time. I wouldn't have minded if he stuck around, especially in hindsight.

But the adoration is, pretty much always, extremely over the top and cringe as f***.

 

[TKalltheTime]

Who’s gives a shit that that MAF is retiring. The majority of you people pining over the past come off as some really sad & pathetic mouthbreathers.

 

[vikingGoalie]

at least gen X was entertaining.

this shit show not so much...

 

[TKalltheTime]

Patrick Damp is dumber than Yohe.

Truly a historic effort to out drool that fat marble-mouthed pig

 

[HandshakeLine]

B-b-but Sullivan may or may not have contributed to the collective choices that won us two cups a decade ago?

I like Fleury. Seems like a good dude, universally well liked, and he was here for a long time. I wouldn't have minded if he stuck around, especially in hindsight.

But the adoration is, pretty much always, extremely over the top and cringe as f***.

it’s the mark of a franchise that is scared to actually look at itself in the mirror.

 

[Turin]

At least the social media admin isn't going "not the result we wanted" after every single embarrassing loss anymore.

 

[AuroraBorealis]

Who’s gives a shit that that MAF is retiring. The majority of you people pining over the past come off as some really sad & pathetic mouthbreathers.

We shouldn't care about one of the best people to ever grace the organization retiring, after watching him here for 13 seasons in a key role?
What the hell's wrong with you?

 

[Pancakes]

I didn't see this one because I had hockey of my own.

The struggles continue?

 

[Luigi Lemieux]

3-7-1, last in the metro, 31st in the league. This season is toast.

 

[AuroraBorealis]

I didn't see this one because I had hockey of my own.

The struggles continue?

Yeah. Can't defend after getting leads still. Then they get down on themselves for a while and make it worse, until waking up too late to salvage it.
Same old formula.

 

[Jaded-Fan]

Who’s gives a shit that that MAF is retiring. The majority of you people pining over the past come off as some really sad & pathetic mouthbreathers.

That core brought three Cups.

Why make fun of those celebrating their heros who brought so much to this town?

There is nothing wrong with them sending Fleury off into retirement in this way.

 

[Pancakes]

Caps out there working the best team in the East in a hard fought game.

Pens out here cheering on the opposition goaltender in their sixth straight loss.

My have the turn tables turned.

We still got more cups than them though so fack em

 

[Empoleon8771]

That core brought three Cups.

Why make fun of those celebrating their heros who brought so much to this town?

There is nothing wrong with them sending Fleury off into retirement in this way.

Yeah the people shit talking Fleury and fans cheering for him come off as far worse than fans cheering for him. They just look bitter.

I think the level of love Fleury gets is silly (even though I wish they wouldn't have moved him), but getting mad that fans love him and cheer him on just looks sad. I don't think @Big Friggin Dummy is doing that by saying "the adoration is overkill and cringe" but saying "you come off as a sad and pathetic mouthbreather" for cheering for Fleury just looks sad and bitter.

 

[Luigi Lemieux]

I honestly don't care about Fleury anymore. I'm tired of celebrating the past.

As we move into the lean years the past and future are what we have. Nothing wrong with celebrating everything the team accomplished and the guys that made it happen. Despite the struggles the last few years this era was a big success.

 

[HandshakeLine]

Thanks Robopen.

There is nothing wrong with the Pens celebrating MAF, but there is everything wrong with the organization doing it as a distraction away from the team's problems while letting the on-ice product fester and not starting the rebuild or trying for one last hurrah.

 

[SomeDude]

Before Crosby, MAF was the first promising piece of the puzzle to the end of a very bad time for the team on and off the ice. If you can’t remember or weren’t around yet, the threat of losing a team for the better part of a decade is pretty exhausting.

For me personally, some of my favorite memories in high school are going with friends and teammates to watch his first training camp and the vast majority of that awful 03/04 season. 21 years later several of us went together again, this time with our wives and children, to see him for the last time. It’s more than just cheering a former player, it’s like a closing of a chapter of your life if you were around for the whole thing. I suspect more people will feel similar when Sid is done.

Now I can focus my final years on loathing Kyle Dubas because his reign of error will surely outlast me.

 

[Jaded-Fan]

What Fleury's draft was, was what we don't have now.

Hope.

He went first overall. Sort of. But, was a promise of building toward a bright future. Someone to root for. To watch grow.

Contrast that to this sad end for the core while we wait for the next MAF. Or Crosby. Or whoever.

 

[AuroraBorealis]

What Fleury's draft was, was what we don't have now.

Hope.

He went first overall. Sort of. But, was a promise of building toward a bright future. Someone to root for. To watch grow.

Contrast that to this sad end for the core while we wait for the next MAF. Or Crosby. Or whoever.

Pretty much what I was saying in the summer. The hopelessness and stupidity of this direction is the worst part.
I'd prefer 0-82-0 and full commitment to weaponizing cap space and acquiring futures.

 

[ThosePuckingPenguins]

at least gen X was entertaining.

this shit show not so much...

I feel like we romanticize the gen X era way too much. Make no mistake, that era sucked ass. Getting blown out every night, the anxiety of almost leaving town. We only look fondly on it because what it ultimately led to.

 

[AuroraBorealis]

I feel like we romanticize the gen X era way too much. Make no mistake, that era sucked ass. Getting blown out every night, the anxiety of almost leaving town. We only look fondly on it because what it ultimately led to.

Pain is required for growth in the NHL. It's designed that way.
Trying to hide from it long-term is a great way to prevent a Finals appearance for 20-30 years.
Best to just get on with it, much like in real life when you need to make hard decisions.

 

[SomeDude]

What Fleury's draft was, was what we don't have now.

Hope.

He went first overall. Sort of. But, was a promise of building toward a bright future. Someone to root for. To watch grow.

Contrast that to this sad end for the core while we wait for the next MAF. Or Crosby. Or whoever.

You said it better than I could.

We’ve been lucky. Mario’s body begrudgingly and barely held out long enough so that he could sell enough season ticket packages to keep the team afloat and then pass it to Sid. Odds are, we aren’t going to get lucky enough with another generational player for awhile, if ever. This franchise has never really known a non-tumultuous existence without said generational talents.

We now have a faceless investment firm ownership group with no local ties and the lease on the arena is about half over. Might as well celebrate the past because you never know what the future holds.

 

[TKalltheTime]

We shouldn't care about one of the best people to ever grace the organization retiring, after watching him here for 13 seasons in a key role?
What the hell's wrong with you?

Keep living in the past you f***ing loser it’s almost been a decade

 

[Turin]

I feel like we romanticize the gen X era way too much. Make no mistake, that era sucked ass. Getting blown out every night, the anxiety of almost leaving town. We only look fondly on it because what it ultimately led to.

It also wasn't as bad as people remember. 1. Mario used relocation as a bluff to force the city to build an arena. Although this wasn't as bad only in hindsight and 2. The Pens had 4 (because of lockout) bad seasons, and acquired a franchise piece in the draft each bad year except 2002.

The time it took the Pens to suck (2001) to be the best young team in the league (2006) was only 5 seasons. So from the Pens 2019-20 season to now.

 

[TKalltheTime]

At least the social media admin isn't going "not the result we wanted" after every single embarrassing loss anymore.

Truly one of the most embarrassing social media teams in the NHL and all professional sports… so right on brand for the Pens.