March Of The Penguins

As the 2009 Pittsburgh Penguins still bask in the glow of being the first team in a quarter-century to lose in the Stanley Cup Final one year and come all the way back to claim the championship in the following season, there remain so many fresh memories of their amazing march to the Stanley Cup.

And make no mistake -- it was an incredible journey.

I mean, think about it. In mid-February, with the Penguins sitting in 10th place, there was legitimate concern in Penguin Nation about whether or not The Boys of Winter would even make the post-season.

At that point, the team had languished through 2 months of substandard hockey and gave everyone reason to think they'd just be the next entry on the list of teams that made a run to the Stanley Cup Final only to suffer a significant hangover during the next go-round.

To think that, once Dan Bylsma was hired, the team would go on an 18-3-4 run down the stretch, including a franchise-record 5-0 road trip that really galvanized the team's fortitude and confidence.

To think that they would rise all the way up to 4th place in the conference and claim home ice advantage in the 1st round.

To think that they would later become the first team to ever come back to win 2 playoff series' in one playoff season after going down 2-0 on the road in each.

It's been a remarkable ride this season boys and girls and, while I endeavor to still post a season-ending individual list of player grades, there's just too much to enjoy about the Penguins' Stanley Cup win to even get to that right now.

Here is a list of my favorite post-season moments that, like Katie Price lately, I just can't seem to get out of my head:

* The remarkable toe save Marc-Andre Fleury made on Flyers' center Jeff Carter in game 2 of the Pens' first round clash against Philadelphia, which put Bill Guerin in a position to win the game in extra time on an almost unheard of 5-on-3 power play overtime goal;

* Max Talbot making the first of a number of key post-season memories when he first picked a fight with Flyer tough-guy -- and former Penguin -- Daniel Carcillo to try and spark his team from a 3-0 deficit on the road in game 6, and then, even after losing the fight, put his finger to his mouth to hush a raucous Philadelphia crowd. Of course, he was just foreshadowing the Penguins' unanswered 5-goal run later in the game to send the Flyers to the golf course;

* The performance by Sidney Crosby throughout the entire 2nd round series victory over Washington, where #87 picked up his game and matched the league's best scorer, Alexander Ovechkin, goal-for-goal to help his team ultimately burst the bubble on Capitals' rookie netminder Simeon Varlamov by chasing him to the bench during a 6-2 victory on the road in game 7;

* Evgeni Malkin's hat trick against Carolina in game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals when he completed the tri-fecta by scoring what I believe was the goal of the post-season on a spin around, no-look, top shelf, short side backhander past a stuned Hurricanes' former Cup and Conn Smythe winning sieve named Cam Ward, completing a set play Bylsma simply called, "The Geno";

* Sergei Gonchar's huge game winning goal in game 3 against the Red Wings, which kept Detroit from putting a suffocating 3-0 stranglehold on the Stanley Cup Finals and only began the Penguins' rise up a mountain nobody thought they could climb;

* Jordan Staal's monster short-handed tally against Detroit in game 4, tying the score at 2 and sending the Penguins' on a rush of 3 goals in 5 minutes to overwhelm the Red Wings and tie the series;

* Staal's opening goal in the final home game of the season at a rowdy Mellon Arena -- game 6 -- which sent a message to the Red Wings that they weren't going to walk away with Cup on Igloo ice so easily for the 2nd year in a row, despite having walked all over the Penguins to the tune of a 5-0 game 5 triumph;

* Max Talbot dropping to his knees and pumping his fists after his 2nd goal on Red Wings' netminder Chris Osgood in the 2nd period of game 7, when Penguin believers started to see how real the possibility was that they might win the Cup -- and when Detroit faithful started to see how real the possibility was that their mighty machine might not win it;

* Marc-Andre Fleury making the "Secret Service Save" on one of the greatest defenseman in the history of hockey, Red Wings' D Nicklas Lidstrom, with 1 second left in game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals, sliding across the crease with 2 pushes of his left skate and lunging to stop his shot with his body like a U.S. Secret Service member would take a bullet for the President, and preserving the franchise's 3rd Stanley Cup Championship;

* Seeing Sid carry that Cup after 2 months of grueling hockey and completing a rise to the top of the hockey world nobody -- this writer included -- would have forseen a mere 4 months prior.

There's so much for me as a fan to be reflective on after winning the Cup -- I can only imagine what's it's like for the players.

And, as you think about it, you look back and realize everything that went into the team winning, including the contributions of those who are no longer with the franchise.

Like former GM Craig Patrick doing things like trading up to draft Fleury, signing Gonchar to a long-term contract coming out of the lockout, and hiring Michel Therein to turn around the culture of a team that needed an infusion of character and discipline. Like current GM Ray Shero bringing in respected veterans like Gary Roberts and Mark Recchi to help teach the team how to win.

Joe Starkey from the Pittsburgh Tribune Review did a great piece on this a few days ago, which can be found here:

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/penguins/s_630435.html

There's just so much that went into winning this Championship.

It's no wonder that 10 days later I'm still gushing over it.

I am, however, going to try to start getting past the Cup talk -- not so much because I want to, but simply because there are too many other things going on that need addressed. To do that, I'll offer tomorrow a bit of a free agent update for the Penguins at this stage, before focusing on the NHL draft for the remainder of the week and weekend.