How do the Pens do it?

PenguinSpeed

Registered User
Oct 4, 2017
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It's kind of like how a handful of Flyers fans belittle the Pens championships because they didn't run into any truly great teams. In a few years, they might realize the Pens were the great team everyone else was running into.


-What funny, is that the teams the Pens beat, had some of the highest regular season point totals of All Time for Presidents Trophy Winners. The Capitals a lone had a 120 points 2 years ago. And the Metro psychically annihilated the rest of the league the last 2 years. We put 5 teams in the playoffs every year in the power Metro division.
 
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puckIuck

Registered User
Jan 11, 2018
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the further we get from the past, the "better" the past becomes

can't wait until 5 years from now when people finally give the pens the credit they deserve

if anything i think the competition was worse then, these pens would've beaten the hawks and they sure as hell would've beaten the kings, they're lucky they got to face those weak eastern teams while the pens struggled to find themselves

the pens finally have good health, better depth, better coach, and better goalie

that is why they can't be stopped

you misread my post. the level of intra conference competition the hawks faced those years was much tougher than what pittsburgh has faced in the last 2 years.
 

Bar Down

Bar Mexico
Jan 28, 2013
828
184
Beneath PPG Paints
Everyone points to the stars and trades, and that's a huge part of it. But also:

The Penguins AHL system allows them to plug young, skilled players into the lineup. It's the best in the league. This gives the Penguins speed and depth throughout, without eating much salary at all.

During the run starting in '16, some of these former AHL players include Murray, Rust, Guenztel, Sheary, Kuhnhackl, Aston-Reese, Rowney, Ruhwedel, and Wilson.

Though some of these players have gone on to sign bigger deals, they all contributed to Cup runs making near league-minimum, two-way contracts.
 

PenguinSpeed

Registered User
Oct 4, 2017
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you misread my post. the level of intra conference competition the hawks faced those years was much tougher than what pittsburgh has faced in the last 2 years.

-Which team did Chicago beat that put up 120 points in the regular season. The Penguins beat 2 of the Top 7 All Time highest point President Trophy winners. Chicago beat zero in the Top 10.
 

CamPopplestone

Registered User
Sep 27, 2017
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Good depth on the wings. Good contracts all around. Well thought out trades. Good amount of young talent coming through the pipelines to replace aging or too expensive players. Great centre depth means that all rookies coming in get to play with a talented players, helping to cover their mistakes. Also aren't afraid of letting their younger players make errors, knowing they'll improve.

Willing to move on from good players who get out of the price range they're worth, ie Cole and Bonino, instead of getting desperate to hang on and giving them too big of contracts.
 

3074326

Registered User
Apr 9, 2009
11,574
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you misread my post. the level of intra conference competition the hawks faced those years was much tougher than what pittsburgh has faced in the last 2 years.

Do you actually know what you're talking about, or are you just acting like it? The numbers don't show that.
 
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puckIuck

Registered User
Jan 11, 2018
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-Which team did Chicago beat that put up 120 points in the regular season. The Penguins beat 2 of the Top 7 All Time highest point President Trophy winners. Chicago beat zero in the Top 10.

the caps don't really count considering they've been 2nd round fodder for the pens stretching back to 2009.
 

SenzZen

RIP, GOAT
Jan 31, 2011
16,896
5,952
Ottawa
Obviously Crosby is an incredible player- but his sweetheart of a deal would be illegal now. That’s huge.

Then Malkin signs a hometown discount. Pretty incredible when you can have 2 top 5 players on steals.

Then they fleeced the Leafs to ADD Phil Kessel- when his value couldn’t be any lower.

Good luck to anyone hoping to crack the code of how to replicate their success. They even make Letang’s brutal contract a non-issue.
 

Riptide

Registered User
Dec 29, 2011
38,887
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Yukon
The last "dynasty" (Hawks) had to spend 1-2 seasons retooling after every cup win. Pens have been at the same level for the last 3 seasons. Whether they win or not will depend if the rest of the league has caught up yet. How do they keep the same level and avoid the retool years like the Hawks?

Mainly contracts. Well that and the youth that we had brought in the year before. Pittsburgh had no bad contracts after their 2016 cup win, and essentially kept the entire team together. You add that in with some key players having a huge impact while making peanuts (Schultz and Dumoulin making 2.4m combined, Guentzel, Sheary, Rust, Cullen and Bonino costing 4.9m combined... and it gives you a TON of flexibility to keep guys around.

Things will be a little harder this year, as we had to let some vets go. MAF, Kunitz, Cullen (not by cap/choice), Bonino... and while I know that Kunitz was a whipping boy here for years, I think he was a lot better then what HF claimed - even if he wasn't as fast or as good as he was 10 years ago - he was still good defensively and capable of frequently making smart little give and go plays to spring someone with speed. But that said, it was time for a change.

There will be another change here in a couple of years as Hagelin and Guentzel and Murray need new contracts. Other's as well, but basically Pittsburgh got lucky with how their cap situation worked, and given that Crosby and Malkin are on great contracts given what they're capable of doing. Chicago got lucky with Keith's contract, and was able to ride Kane and Toews very favorable 2nd contracts to three cups... but unless the cap increases a lot, odds are that them trying to keep that core together is going to kill any real chance at another cup. Kane, Toews and Seabrook making 28m is a LOT. And I don't care how good Kane is (and he's great), but paying a W (vs a C) that much just seems like asking for trouble, as it's much easier to find cheap effective wingers working with a high end center, then it is to find cheap effective centers working with a high end winger.
 

puckIuck

Registered User
Jan 11, 2018
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if you want to look at the facts the pens emergence in 2016 coincided with a declining western conference and not much resistance in the east. only a dubious bolts squad stood in their way and the regular season champs from DC. the pens with their current roster would probably not win a single cup from 2010-14. even the 2011 nucks would have had their way with crosby and co.
 

trick9

Registered User
Jun 2, 2013
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Blackhawks faced much tougher teams in the seasons where they didn't win (mainly Canucks in 2011 and Kings in 2014).
 

BigEezyE22

Continuing to not support HF.
Feb 2, 2007
5,645
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The Hawks were one OT goal away from winning in 2013 which would have been 3 straight Cups.

Pittsburgh has yet to run into a team on the level of 2014 LA, maybe the '16 Sharks and '17 Caps were on that level but Pittsburgh matched up better against SJ and Holtby disappeared in 2017.

Holtby did what every "elite" goalie did against the Pens save for Vasilevsky the past 2 years.
 
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COHawk

Registered User
Sep 16, 2015
2,119
1,020
Well, let's put this into perspective, the Hawks went:

2012/13 - Cup
2013/14 - WCF game 7 OT vs. LA (Cup champs)
2014/15 - Cup

So really, they were one single goal away from making it to the finals in 2013/14. That season was in no way a retool.
 
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Jesus Take the Wheel

Registered User
Jul 9, 2015
3,040
1,351
Edmonton
The last "dynasty" (Hawks) had to spend 1-2 seasons retooling after every cup win. Pens have been at the same level for the last 3 seasons. Whether they win or not will depend if the rest of the league has caught up yet. How do they keep the same level and avoid the retool years like the Hawks?

Hawks
Cup
Retool
Retool
Cup
Retool
Cup

Pens
Cup
Cup
Cup?

To start, neither team is a dynasty unless the pens win the cup this year.

I'd say the biggest difference are the trade deadline moves and timings with contracts running out in the off-season.
 

PenguinSpeed

Registered User
Oct 4, 2017
1,799
898
-Thats fine. If the Pens win again this year, that will be 4 in the Crosby / Malkin trophy case. You guys can have the semantics of how great the western conference is and how tough the road to the Finals is and how the West is just so tough when the Pens bring it home yet again. Ill count my 6th Cup this year.
 

GordieHowsUrBreath

Nostalgia... STOP DWELLING ON THE PAST
Jun 16, 2016
2,044
588
if you want to look at the facts the pens emergence in 2016 coincided with a declining western conference and not much resistance in the east. only a dubious bolts squad stood in their way and the regular season champs from DC. the pens with their current roster would probably not win a single cup from 2010-14. even the 2011 nucks would have had their way with crosby and co.

today is 4/20, time for you to tone it down a bit

the canucks in 2011? declining western conference LMAO like it was already said the pens have the most cups in the last 30 years, but hey stick to your own "facts"
 

Riptide

Registered User
Dec 29, 2011
38,887
6,520
Yukon
if you want to look at the facts the pens emergence in 2016 coincided with a declining western conference and not much resistance in the east. only a dubious bolts squad stood in their way and the regular season champs from DC. the pens with their current roster would probably not win a single cup from 2010-14. even the 2011 nucks would have had their way with crosby and co.

LOL. Now I've heard it all. Talk about some bitter fans who just can't handle how good Pittsburgh actually is - especially in 2016. This year might not be their year - and it's their deepest team they've iced out of the past 3 years (although thinner on the blueline and in net).
 

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