Pittsburgh Penguins Have Toughest Road to the Stanley Cup
By Rich Newpol
No team has a tougher road to win the Stanley Cup than the Pittsburgh Penguins.
While no team ever has an easy road to the championship, the defending Pittsburgh Penguins have more adversity. Let’s take a look at why.
No rest for the weary
The first obstacle for any Cup defense is the short offseason. Besides playing more games than every other team (save one), there is the victory to savor. Players have parades, visits to the White House, endless interviews, even their Day with the Cup. It doesn’t sound like adversity, but it ends up that way. Getting ready for next season is not foremost on any player’s mind (except maybe Crosby).
Target on your back
Every team wants to beat the champs. There are no nights off – every one of the 82 games will be hard-fought. The regular season is draining enough, but much worse when every team is gunning for you. This explains some of the injury problems the Pens have had this year. Speaking of which…
Another one bites the dust
There was actually a stretch this season when it seemed the Pens lost one key player per game. Injuries affect all teams, but no team lost as many man-games to top players (i.e. top-six forwards, top-four defensemen). Call-ups from the Baby Pens have done well, but you would rather have your best players (Jake Guentzel is the pleasant surprise).
NHL playoff format: c’mon man!
Yep, this playoff format just stinks. The Penguins face arguably the toughest matchup right away in the first round. Nice reward for second place in the Eastern Conference. This may not hurt the Pens chances as much as some believe. You have to go through good teams to get to the Cup, but I would rather see the best teams play in the conference finals (or semi-finals). Right now, lesser teams are playing each other, with fewer top teams to beat. It’s bogus and will change (eventually). Enough said.
More from Pens Labyrinth
- Welcome To The Burgh: Lars Eller
- Penguins Waddle Toward The Season
- Farewell Carl Hagelin
- Penguins Line-up Breakdown vs Stanley Cup Champs Vegas
- Ryan Graves Solid Signing For The Pittsburgh Penguins
Adversity can be a good thing
So here’s the good news – adversity can be a good thing. I have seen over-confident Pens teams eliminated; the champion mindset has to be an “us against the world” kind of thing. Despite being the reigning Stanley Cup Champions, this Penguins team feels they have something to prove. And they do – on top of everything I laid out above, hey, it’s hard to repeat. Period. And that’s what they are trying to do. So now I am laying my card on the table…
Chances are good
Yes I am a die-hard Pens fan, so I am not objective. However, I see the Penguins repeating as Stanley Cup Champions. The reasons are pretty simple:
Injuries didn’t sink the team
Despite the rash of injuries (add Murray to the list now) they are in relatively good shape now. The depth of the organization really shows.
World-class Organization
Deep talent, top minor league team, excellent coaching, and solid fan support are all a testament to entire Penguins organization. From the ownership group down to the equipment manager, they just don’t get any better in pro hockey. If the Pens do repeat, major props should go to the coaches and off-ice folks. If all it took was a superstar or two to win a cup, the Pens would have a bunch – and so would the team from our nation’s capital.
Next: Next: Getting the (Playoff) Band Back Together
Just play, baby
Welcome to the New Age. The Pens are the vanguard of a new high-speed, high-skill era of hockey. This is the way the game was meant to be played, and most teams are already trying to adopt some of the elements. But no one does it better – not yet anyway.