Living on a Prayer: The Struggles of the Baby Penguins

The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins have hit rock bottom.



A 3-0 lead against the ever-dominant Hershey Bears turned into a 3-3 tie at the end of the second. The tie became a 4-3 Hershey lead on a Mathieu Perreault hat trick. Chris Conner responded with a game tying goal, but the 4-4 tie became a 5-4 Hershey lead, and eventual win, with a minute left in the game.

The Penguins are now in sixth place with 48 points and have 30 games remaining. They must finish third in the division to guarantee a playoff spot. If they finish fourth, they must have more points than the fifth place team in the Atlantic Division; who can cross over to clinch that final spot.

I’m not convinced they can do it.

After yesterday’s game, I gathered my thoughts (I was an angry Pens fan in case you care), and then read the stories in the media and the reactions of other fans that are just as down as I am. I’ve been a fan of the Penguins since 2001 and I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many fans lose hope in February. I read the opinions, the facts, and the excuses. It is hard to swallow but I believe the Pens are at the lowest of the low.



The biggest thing that ticked me off is that Todd Reirden and Wade Brookbank are quoted as being proud of the team. They treat yesterday’s collapse as if it happened during an exhibition game in late September. Reirden has said some pretty twisted things all season, but that just makes him and Brookbnak look delusional. Do they not realize the chance to finally beat the Bears was right under their noses yesterday…and they blew it? How can they possibly be proud of themselves after that? If you’ve been paying attention to my coverage of the Baby Penguins, you’ll know that Hershey is very good. But when you have a 3-0 lead with half the game remaining, you have to keep attacking and finish what you started whether your opponent is the Bears or the Hamilton Bulldogs.

Friday’s loss to Syracuse was another downer. The Penguins only got one goal from Nick Johnson and allowed three Crunch goals in the second to give Syracuse a 4-1 lead. The fans booed the team off the ice, and the Penguins failed to respond; losing the game by that score. One would think that the Pens would want to show the fans that they were willing to fight tooth and nail for those two points, but they just came out doing the same things that put them in a 4-1 hole after getting on the board first.

In a post game article published the day after the Crunch game, Zach Sill stated that he hopes someone finds the problem and fixes it. Sill is a good player, but to say that he hopes someone finds the problem shows that he does not want to take responsibility for his team’s play. I feel none of the players do. They repeatedly say the same thing about how they are not executing and getting away from their system. A lot of the time they do not even understand why they are losing. Not even Reirden has the solution. In the middle of February, when the team has had ample time to play together and learn about each other, it is unfathomable that you can’t find the root of the problem. Everyone says things need to get fixed, but the team continues to have the same problems they spoke about after their prior losses. That screams that there's a huge lack of accountability and shows that they are too stubborn to change.

This team does not respond well to any form of adversity. In the AHL, players get called up; sometimes frequently, and every team deals with injuries. When a player goes up or gets injured, there has to be someone willing to step into his place and contribute. It seems like none of the WBS players are raising their game on these occasions. They seem to only think of themselves rather than the teammate they are missing.

Unfortunately, I don’t see anything changing with this team. They will continue to play the same broken system and then not be able to figure out what’s wrong when they drop more games. Todd Reirden, who wrongly got the job last season (in my opinion), will probably not be fired and continue to be a poor coach and be more of a friend to the players. The players will probably keep acting selfish and think only of their individual best interests. If these problems have not been handled appropriately by now, I have no reason to think they will suddenly be taken care of as the team sits out of a playoff spot while their opponents are stepping up their games and working hard to get to the postseason.

This team is in such dire straits, I could officially care less that Mark Letestu and Tim Wallace are the most recent players returned to Wilkes-Barre after playing in Pittsburgh. I have been excited for the returns of players before, but it does nothing to help the team…so why bother getting my hopes up?

Rock bottom is not a fun place to be, but it’s where the Pens are. And they’re not digging out anytime soon.

PensU 2.0 - Website Project/Contest

We at PENS UNIVERSE are coming up on our first birthday here in April 2010 and have decided to take the next step in PENGUINS fandom by building a website (not just a blog) that will be something every Penguin fan past and present can enjoy. Our goal is to create the best PITTSBURGH PENGUINS site available on the internet that is even more Web 2.0 savvy and all.

Since our inception we've been all about creating a place where fans can come and enjoy great articles while at the same time be visually stimulated with innovative (yet hilarious and antagonistic) photoshops, up to date statistics, and supberb Penguins analysis. We have even launched a store where fans can share in the likeness of their favorite one-liners, quotes, and history from the site. By establishing this cult twitter-following its only right that we continue our passion to bring you one of the greatest experiences of Pittsburgh Penguin hockey available.

Having said all that, we've done all this out of the graciousness of our own free time. But since building a website does in fact cost money, we're asking for your generous gifts to help us attain our goal. Out of our own pockets we're going to take the brunt of the cost to do so, though we will need your help to bring this to fruition.

Our goal is to raise $1000 which will allow us to continue to bring you not only the best, most entertaining Penguin hockey coverage, but also allow you the reader to take advantage of some great new features you won't find anywhere on the internet. We've been able to raise some capital on our own, now we just need your help for the rest. Not only that, but...

*...for every $5 donated you will be entered into a drawing for a $150 gift card to Shop.NHL.com. That's right, the more you give the better chance you have a maybe winning a Pittsburgh Penguin jersey of yours own. Or anything, I suppose...

While its nice to accept donations, we at Pens Universe feels its only right to give back to the very readers that make it possible to even operate. Do we make money off the t-shirts, website ads, or sponsors? We actually don't, they're partnerships that allow us to have more visibility within the hockey community. Other than that, we're just here to provide you with the best Penguins hockey experience you can get.

Please take this unique opportunity to partner with us, PENS UNIVERSE. We'd greatly appreciate it. If you're reading this from a TWITTER post, please RT to get the word out.

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* The drawing for the shop.nhl.com gift card will be announced on April 2nd 2010. Participation is necessary, only those who donate $5 or more will be eligible for the drawing. No, you don't have to be a Penguin fan. You don't even have to like the Penguins. If you just want to donate $5 to get a chance to win an Alex Ovechkin, Mike Richards, or Henrik Zetterberg jersey feel free. Though do keep in mind that there is a very good chance we will make fun of the very player you so desire to adore.

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly - Pens lose heartbreaker to Caps in OT, 5-4

February's short calendar has not been kind to Western Pennsylvania, especially on this less-than-super Sunday.

Freezing sub-zero temperatures, Treacherous road conditions, heaping snow, and frustrating power outages have laid heavier on the hearts and minds of Pittsburghers than they have on the city's frozen streets.

Many, if not all, of us over the years have found comfort from the cold, solace from problems, and pride in trying times in Penguins hockey.

In many ways this weekend, our comfort, pride, and faith were put on full-frontal assault.

Though the Penguins are to be commended for taking their lackluster travel arrangements in stride, there will be no excuses made in that department.

The Penguins showed up for the game with enough rest and time to prepare. Judging by the Pens’ play against Montreal, one could argue that the team has been preparing for today’s battle in Washington more than yesterday’s half-hearted loss to the Canadiens.

The opening face-off was taken at noon, and it became apparent early on that the Penguins were in the same emotional state as their fan base, playing with tangible desperation and emotion in the first period.

From the starting line, the game was everything you would expect out of a iconic NHL rivalry game on national television, thanks to NBC.

Crosby exerted his dominance and unmatched skill, Ovechkin demonstrated his breathtaking scoring ability, the role players on both teams played with intense emotion, Pierre McGuire showed more hair than mental stability, Mike Milbury called a game almost as well as he made the Boston Bruins the apex of NHL hockey, and Pittsburgh was pushed to overtime by another fierce rival.

Unlike the two previous Sundays, the black and gold came up on the losing end in overtime, extending their losing streak to back to back games, in just as many days.

Between the peaks and valleys of emotion over the weekend, we can take away a lot of good, bad, and ugly.

The Good

- Chris Kunitz returned to the lineup and demonstrated his worth to Sidney Crosby’s line instantly. For weeks I have heard Penguins fans everywhere banter back and forth on radio talk shows and Twitter about Ray Shero needing to find a way to bring in a winger to play with Sid that is not afraid to forecheck hard, bang bodies, crash the net, and open up space for Crosby. If Penguins fans are attempting to find this guy on the Carolina Hurricanes’ roster, they’re searching in the wrong place. That guy is mending a strained abdominal in a hockey arena locker room.

- Jordan Staal continues to be a man possessed. Staal has shown that he can assert himself physically as well as any center in the league at the moment, but with four points and three goals, including two goals in today’s game, in his last three games, he’s barreling his way onto the score-sheet to boot. If Team Canada isn’t going to appreciate Staal’s worth, so be it. The defending champions will.

- Sidney Crosby continues to score as well as anyone in the league, and he proved that today by burying two high-skill goals early in the contest. But Crosby’s biggest impression today was in ways statistics cannot measure. He showed grit, poise, toughness, and since it’s NBC Sunday, a whole lot of leadership. Crosby entered the season having as many flaws as cup rings, and will exit this season with more numbers than the caloric content of Bruce Boudreau’s Super Bowl party buffet.

- Kris Letang’s play today should take his name off the trading block of even the most grandiose of Letang naysayers. He was responsible on the blue line in the offensive zone, showed precision on the breakout, and was a glaring ray of sunshine in a Pittsburgh defensive corp that is doing it’s best to become a metaphor for the road conditions they faced on their five hour bus ride last night.

The Bad

- Don’t think for a minute that Evgeni Malkin wasn’t the Geno we’ve all come to know and love this afternoon. But watching Mark Letestu’s energy on the third line recently, and witnessing the wrecking ball of chemistry that Staal and Geno have had together lately, shows me that the last two games' line combinations are going to strike fear in the hearts of the Eastern Conference much more than today’s. Having Staal and Geno playing at that level together gives Pittsburgh a top six that can out-skate, out-check, out-work, and yes, to all of the hasty Kovalchuk and Ovechkin cheerleaders, out-score anyone. It also makes the team's lineup much more manageable come deadline day.

- Mark Eaton has earned his two million dollar salary against the Maple Leafs and Rangers this season, but not against the threats to the Pens that will be faced in the playoffs. His flair for being out of position and having an absence of defensive zone discipline have made his spot in the nightly lineup as expendable as Alexander Ovechkin’s orthodontist.

- Jay McKee was a name we all hoped would make us forget about Rob Scuderi’s SoCal jaunt last summer. Today’s game he once again was the catalyst for quality scoring chances from the opposition. To put it bluntly, McKee was a massively liability today for Pittsburgh. Washington’s Eric Fehr isn’t the third star in what was potentially the game of the year, if Pittsburgh defensive stalwarts of years past are in similar situations. In key moments, of key games, McKee has given Ray Shero more reasons to consider dealing him than I have given out the use of the syllable “Kee” in the last sentence.

- I am the last person you will find to throw Marc-Andre Fleury under the bus, especially at a pivotal point in the season, but the Flower hasn’t shown his true colors in recent play, today in particular. I strongly believe that MAF’s current inconsistency is in his head, not his body, and the ship will be straightened soon. Until then, we’re left to wonder what effect the team’s flappable defensive play has had on Fleury’s confidence.

The Ugly

One very ugly word - Skepticism.

The skepticism that comes with a heart-breaking, emotional loss like today’s.

This weekend, the Penguins took on the emotionally annoying task of doing battle with the Habs in Montreal, played the hottest team in the NHL on the road in back to back games, in back to back days, and came away with a fourth of our potential point total in both of those games.

To put that in perspective, I’ll offer some hypothetical food for thought : If the Penguins were to play as flawed as they have this weekend, but still emerge victorious this weekend, then drop the next two games at home, (both of which are divisional opponents unlike the teams besting the Pens yesterday and today) in the same fashion we chalked up our most recent losses, we would be spending much more time working on our Chicken Little impersonations during the Olympic break than enjoying Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby giving Penguins fans valid reasons to sport attire backing foreign countries in international competition.

Like it or not, taking our frustrations out on lesser opponents in the final three games before the break will rectify most of the on-the-ice problems the team is having. Besides, as much as the ensuing media onslaught arriving today and tomorrow would have you believe otherwise, the last two games count the same as the next, with an available argument being present for the next two games actually being more urgent. The regular season’s goal for Pittsburgh should be (for now) the Atlantic Division crown. To be a division’s best, you must beat the division’s worst. That is precisely who the Pens will do battle with twice in the friendly confines of Mellon Arena, in the next five days.

The problems that can be fixed off the ice are going to be fixed. The Pittsburgh Penguins have had more question marks in the wake of the all-star breaks of both the previous seasons. General Manager Ray Shero did not put the Penguins in a position to contend for, and win, Stanley Cup championships by turning a blind eye to the team’s glaring problems. This year will be no different.

Set aside the Ovechkin-esque cockiness by the Capitals fans that you're tired of seeing when you check other people’s Facebook statuses. They “rocked the red” in the first two games of their playoff series against the Penguins last year. Things turned out fine for the flightless birds. Take the cackling Flyers fans on Twitter with a grain of salt - they are not going to be a threat to you when they cannot bury the puck more than once against the injury-depleted Minnesota Wild. Turn the other cheek when Pierre McGuire gets giddy on NHL Live tomorrow afternoon, ranting and raving about Ovechkin's contribution to the game of hockey. Actually scratch that last thought - no one should move any cheeks when Pierre McGuire is getting excited.

Think about the nights that our injured reserve list was so extensive that Chris Lee and Nate Geunin were the men responsible for shutting down players the likes of Tomas Vanek and Patrick Marleau. Think back to the times that the team’s depth was compromised so much that the only time a Malkin jersey was seen in action in Mellon Arena was the Augustiner-laden yinzer in the Rita’s Ice line and the only instance of a healthy Max Talbot was buying a Beamer on the commercial breaks.

Are those nights ringing a bell?

Good. Now take a look at the standings.

Despite the early reports of the Penguins season ending sour this afternoon in our nation's capital, the Penguins are still in fourth place, have the third-best record in the conference, and are only two points out from tying New Jersey for the division lead, and are playing with nearly the identical roster that won a championship less than a year ago; a roster that will be improved on within the next month.

The truly elite this time of year peak in the ides of spring, not the throes of winter. Everyone who has spent time and emotion exaggerating Pittsburgh’s demise in the backstretches of the last two seasons knows this all too well.

The Penguins weathered the weekend’s storm and gave the Caps everything they had. Eventually, the smoke in DC will clear. In Pittsburgh, eventually the ice on the parkway will melt, the temperatures along the rivers will slowly rise, the power will come back on in a living room, and we’ll turn our backs to days like today. The team will rise from the storm a stronger entity, and so will we, as both fans and people.

After all, that’s why we’re champions.

Go Pens.