Post-mortem on the season

[StaalForOne]

Goalies are so unpredictable, there is no way anyone really knows what there is to be had from Gustavsson. Did he have a very good year? Yes he did, but there have been goalies who had more hype then he, and not live up to it. Campbell and Markstrom come to mind.

For me it just comes down to speed. Whether it be fatigue, injury, drive, whatever, they just didn't have it this year. You could see it in spurts, but it wasn't sustained like it was 2 years ago. Even last year you could see them slowing down a bit. I don't think Reaves, Cole, Fleury, Daley, Cullen, Kunitz, or anyone from last year or this that was jettisoned would have made any difference.

 

[Nadal On Clay]

What am I ignoring? That you want to pin the series on Letang when it was a group effort?

[mod edit] if you think Letang wasn’t the main cause the Pens lost this series. He was cooking some great juicy turnovers out there.

A lot of players didn’t show up too (Brassard , Kessel), but Letang was basically playing for the Caps...

 

[IcedCapp]

Letang wasn't the main reason they lost.

The team has been exhausted the entire year. You don't have to look for a nefarious reason behind every loss.

 

[ZeroPucksGiven]

Reasons the Penguins lost:

1. The defense sucked all year and it continued to suck in the playoffs. The top pair was especially prone to this, they made no adjustments in the entire Capitals series. The 1st goal of the series and the last goal of the series were virtually identical with the same players on the ice.
2. Murray had a sophomore slump when he needed to be lights out for this team to do deep.
3. The depth scoring absolutely disappeared for seemingly no reason.
4. A lot of players were playing either injured or fatigued.
5. A lot of the new players the Penguins got this year performed worse than the players they lost last year.
6. Rutherford's horrendous 2017 offseason caused him to have to spend the entire season trying to fix the issues that he created in the offseason, rather than actually improving the team.

There's plenty of blame to go around, the only players I wouldn't blame are Guentzel and Crosby.

Horny, Sheahan and Dumo get my exemptions too

 

[Giskard]

There's no shame in give kudos to the Caps, they wanted this series more then the Pens, and in the end they deserved it. Holtby was amazing, but in the last game the Pens looked pretty dead tired.

And in the end let's be the Caps to be eaten alive by Tampa.

Now I can finally relax, it's been two long post seasons for us too, we deserve some rest.

 

[billybudd]

2 cups in 3 years. I'll take it.

Would have been nice if one player didn't contribute about 80% of why we were eliminated in the second round, though.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

To avoid being long-winded, I'll just list the reasons I believe lead to our downfall this year (and not in order).

-Fatigue
-Injuries
-Secondary scoring was non existent
-Defense (team) looked bad too often
-Letang playing like a goof too often

 

[RizzleMcRib]

[mod edit] if you think Letang wasn’t the main cause the Pens lost this series. He was cooking some great juicy turnovers out there.

A lot of players didn’t show up too (Brassard , Kessel), but Letang was basically playing for the Caps...

Call it what you want. Call me a fool if you want. If you want to resort to name calling over a message board because it's how you get your kicks or makes you feel better about yourself, go for it if it. I honestly couldn't care less. Like I said, I'll just sit over here and enjoy those back to back cups.

 

[RizzleMcRib]

Letang wasn't the main reason they lost.

The team has been exhausted the entire year. You don't have to look for a nefarious reason behind every loss.

Please don't speak sense on this board.

 

[ColePens]

Agreed Letang wasn't the reason we lost. He was part of the puzzle, though. He didn't play consistent or elite enough. That's for sure. But neither did Kessel. Our unsung heroes weren't unsung heroes. Our goalie who has been a .924 playoff goalie wasn't that.

It happens. Literally to every single team.

 

[cheesedanish87]

The Pens looked like the best team in hockey right before they traded for Brass.

If they didn't make that trade we will never how the team would of played, but i know the Brass trade def didn't help the pens.

 

[IcedCapp]

Agreed Letang wasn't the reason we lost. He was part of the puzzle, though. He didn't play consistent or elite enough. That's for sure. But neither did Kessel. Our unsung heroes weren't unsung heroes. Our goalie who has been a .924 playoff goalie wasn't that.

It happens. Literally to every single team.

The Pens best players were also their most-injured, most-exhausted, and yet they were, to a man, still the Pens BEST players.

In 2016 or 2017, we'd be talking about how the 3rd line stole a game, or how Hainsey blocked 15 shots with his nose, or how Cullen won 19 straight Dzone face-offs.

Our stars (minus Letang, sure) pulled their weight as much as humanly-possible. There was nothing left. Blaming a "failure" on something has become so ingrained in us (as a society) that we rarely even consider that we failed "just because."

 

[IcedCapp]

The Pens looked like the best team in hockey right before they traded for Brass.

If they didn't make that trade we will never how the team would of played, but i know the Brass trade def didn't help the pens.

Did the trade for Brassard injure Brassard? And Kessel? And Malkin? And Rust? And Hornqvist? And Hagelin?

f***, he's powerful.

 

[cheesedanish87]

Did the trade for Brassard injure Brassard? And Kessel? And Malkin? And Rust? And Hornqvist? And Hagelin?

****, he's powerful.

I hate the injury excuse.

Caps were missing 3 top 6 forwards last night.

Flyers best player had a torn MCL.

Every team has players that are playing injured.

 

[ColePens]

The Pens best players were also their most-injured, most-exhausted, and yet they were, to a man, still the Pens BEST players.

In 2016 or 2017, we'd be talking about how the 3rd line stole a game, or how Hainsey blocked 15 shots with his nose, or how Cullen won 19 straight Dzone face-offs.

Our stars (minus Letang, sure) pulled their weight as much as humanly-possible. There was nothing left. Blaming a "failure" on something has become so ingrained in us (as a society) that we rarely even consider that we failed "just because."

Human looks to blame for a reason why. I get it. But i totally agree with you. I wish Mur was better. Oh well. I wish Letang was more consistent. Oh well. I wish Kessel/Brassard were themselves. Oh well.

It takes a full team of everything clicking right AND good bounces to win a Cup. Think of the teams that had everything clicking that we knocked out - SJ, Nashville, Tampa, Washington (x2), and Ottawa. I think it's admirable the fight they put when literally (not overusing this word) LITERALLY everything that could go wrong, was going wrong.

 

[IcedCapp]

I hate the injury excuse.

Caps were missing 3 top 6 forwards last night.

Flyers best player had a torn MCL.

Every team has players that are playing injured.

I just listed SIX -6- EL SIXO, SIXERINO, 1-2-3-4-5-6. Of the Penguins' top 9 fowards. 6. 6666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666.

Not "their best" or "3 of their forwards." 6.

And the Penguins have played more hockey in the past 3 years than the Flyers have in their entire existence, so... I guess I don't care if you like the injury/fatigue REASON or not.

 

[Nadal On Clay]

Call it what you want. Call me a fool if you want. If you want to resort to name calling over a message board because it's how you get your kicks or makes you feel better about yourself, go for it if it. I honestly couldn't care less. Like I said, I'll just sit over here and enjoy those back to back cups.

Ill enjoy em too?

 

[cheesedanish87]

I just listed SIX -6- EL SIXO, SIXERINO, 1-2-3-4-5-6. Of the Penguins' top 9 fowards. 6. 6666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666.

Not "their best" or "3 of their forwards." 6.

And the Penguins have played more hockey in the past 3 years than the Flyers have in their entire existence, so... I guess I don't care if you like the injury/fatigue REASON or not.

So your saying all the Caps players that played last night were healthy and the Pens players were injured.

Don't be silly.

 

[UnderratedBrooks44]

Grabner was terrible in NJ for a reason. And for that same reason he would have been brutal here.

I only saw him on the Devils when they played the Penguins and he looked phenomenal. Take it for what it's worth, and the fact that he is basically Hagelin but can score if you get him the puck. Again, I liked the Brassard deal and that's the move I would've made, but I can't think of another type of player that would mesh better with what we do than Grabner barring an established star. A cheap player no less.

 

[UnderratedBrooks44]

I just listed SIX -6- EL SIXO, SIXERINO, 1-2-3-4-5-6. Of the Penguins' top 9 fowards. 6. 6666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666.

Not "their best" or "3 of their forwards." 6.

And the Penguins have played more hockey in the past 3 years than the Flyers have in their entire existence, so... I guess I don't care if you like the injury/fatigue REASON or not.

I'll wait and see if they say who was hurt. If they don't, I'm not going to walk around saying this guy or that guy was hurt. I can only go by the information given to me. Also, being banged up is different than playing hurt. While I'm pretty sure something was wrong with Phil, for example, we don't know what that was or how severe it was.

Also, injury conjecture, fatigue, and Sullivan being a horrible coach are things that only come up when we lose, so they're not worth much to me either to be honest. No one was worried about fatigue setting in when we were tearing the Flyers a new one.

 

[IcedCapp]

I'll wait and see if they say who was hurt. If they don't, I'm not going to walk around saying this guy or that guy was hurt. I can only go by the information given to me. Also, being banged up is different than playing hurt. While I'm pretty sure something was wrong with Phil, for example, we don't know what that was or how severe it was.

Also, injury conjecture, fatigue, and Sullivan being a horrible coach are things that only come up when we lose, so they're not worth much to me either to be honest. No one was worried about fatigue setting in when we were tearing the Flyers a new one.

As far as I remember, you don't actually believe anything anyone says unless it supports your preconceived notions.

 

[UnderratedBrooks44]

As far as I remember, you don't actually believe anything anyone says unless it supports your preconceived notions.

Give me an example.

Also what's more credible: Saying "We don't know" when we literally do not know who was hurt, or going around proclaiming that a list of guys was hurt because, well, we lost to the Caps so they must've been right? I'm sorry I don't do the thing a lot of other people do here where we all get together and talk about a supposition long enough so that we can end up assuming that it's fact.

 

[Speaking Moistly]

Did the trade for Brassard injure Brassard? And Kessel? And Malkin? And Rust? And Hornqvist? And Hagelin?

****, he's powerful.

Probably, given it’s the Pens he was traded to.

 

[Riptide]

[mod edit] if you think Letang wasn’t the main cause the Pens lost this series. He was cooking some great juicy turnovers out there.

A lot of players didn’t show up too (Brassard , Kessel), but Letang was basically playing for the Caps...

Letang wasn't even close to the "main cause". Pittsburgh's inability to score was a massive issue in this series. Brassard and Kessel with 0 goal apiece was a much bigger issue then Letang. The fact that only 4 forwards had ANY goals against Washington is why we lost this series. Letang is a convenient scapgoat, but only for those who are content burying their head in the sand as to the real facts.

 

[Riptide]

I only saw him on the Devils when they played the Penguins and he looked phenomenal. Take it for what it's worth, and the fact that he is basically Hagelin but can score if you get him the puck. Again, I liked the Brassard deal and that's the move I would've made, but I can't think of another type of player that would mesh better with what we do than Grabner barring an established star. A cheap player no less.

Grabner can't pack Hagelin's bag to the rink. He might have better hands (which isn't saying much considering how much shit he gets for his 'hands'), but he's lacking in so many different area's that I'd take Hagelin over Grabner even if Hags cost twice as much.

Again, people are looking solely at the stats, and not how he actually plays the game. Grabner would have been perfect for when Bylsma was here. Today with Sullivan? Yeah f*** that.