The Pens play the Caps tonight, and I barely care

[Whale Mingo]

I'm sure there are a lot of people in the world that don't care that the Pens play the Caps tonight. The organization should be concerned that I don't care.

That may sound arrogant, but I'll explain. You see, I am probably just about the 100% target customer for the Pens. I'm a bit older than most here, have discretionary income and have been a die hard fan for longer than most here have been alive.

I've spent more money than I want to admit to my wife on tickets, parking, food and beer (way too much beer) and recently, Uber rides home (because of the beer). I'm good for the game day economy.

I know the game is on at 8:00 tonight and I'm honestly not sure if I care to watch. Not because I'm trying to make some sort of statement, not because I'm trying to show the organization they might lose me as a customer and not because I'm mad.

I'm genuinely disinterested.


That should concern the organization. As a fan for over four decades and one who has followed the team to countless road games including Game 7 in Detroit, the organization should be concerned that I'm on the boarder line of not caring. It should frighten them. The team stinks, they lack an identity and have too much talent to be this bad.

From time to time I listen to Mark Madden, I'm not a fan, but will listen during Pens season because he honestly knows more about Pens hockey than any other sports personality in town. He made a comment that we are fooling ourselves if we think Lemiex and Burkle aren't doing everything in their power to win. I have to disagree with Madden here. While it's true they spend to the cap, if I believe they are doing everything they can then I also have to believe they have no idea what they are doing and I just don't want to believe Mario is lost here.

You see, I want to believe that Mario can fix this and wants to fix this, but if I genuinely believe he's doing all he can then I have to accept he's failing. I don't want to do that.

Spending isn't the issue here. We know the Pens spend to the cap. The issue isn't talent, can you really look at this roster and say we need more talent? Teams well ahead of us in the standings and scoring this year don't have the talent we've been blessed with. Yet here we are, the laughing stock of the league. It's not just the slow start, we've been going downhill since the end of last November and hit free fall status in February, yet here we are, with nothing changing. Sure, we added Kessel but that only adds to the insult of not being able to score. Could those of you old enough imagine having Lemieux, Jagr and Stevens and being 29th in scoring? Lemieux himself scored more points per game that the current roster does. Think about that for a minute.

How is this acceptable? How has Mario not done something? The fact that I'm not mad and I'm getting indifferent should be a concern for the organization, but I don't think it is.

I guess I cared enough to make this post so that's something. Perhaps it's a stupid post and perhaps it gets ridiculed and perhaps it gets deleted. Maybe I'll watch the game tonight, but maybe I won't.

Some of us have been Pens fans for a very long time. We supported the team through the years the blue and white jerseys were not special, they were the only jerseys. We supported the team in the early 2000's because we understood why the team was so bad. We got rewarded for the support in the 70's and early 80's by being able to watch Mario play. We thought we got rewarded for sticking around after Mario retired but here we are, watching those years be wasted.

Is Madden right, Mario? Are you doing all you can? I don't think so, but maybe it's just because I don't want to admit you are failing us.

Let's go Pens, I guess.

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[Jaded-Fan]

My girlfriend when we first started going out with me told me one day that she had great news.

Her ex who had been stalking her wrote her a twenty two page single spaced letter to tell her that he was over her.

 

[Whale Mingo]

My girlfriend when we first started going out with me told me one day that she had great news.

Her ex who had been stalking her wrote her a twenty two page single spaced letter to tell her that he was over her.

To be fair, it is double spaced and less than 22 pages.

 

[Luigi Lemieux]

I'm with you, the pens are a chore to watch under Johnston. Pens went from the leagues biggest draw to the dullest. Hockey is entertainment at the end of the day and the Pens play miserable joyless boring hockey.

 

[madinsomniac]

I just feel like the issues fostered under Bylsma for a half decade were made worse by replacing him with a coach without any NHL experience. I do think The upper management have made moves to fix issues, but im not sure they were all working to the same fix....

I mean the system that Johnston pushed in juniors was totally driven by offensive defensemen, and then we got rid of several guys who fit that role.

On the same note, in Philly Vinnie Lecavalier, washed up at 35, is riding the bench despite a huge payday... We signed some older guys, theyn look done and they continue to play...

we rebuild the forwards last year for "Grit" that fails miserably so we rebuild it for skill and still cannot score...

 

[Terrapin]

I'll watch the 1st period simply to see the carnage. I fully expect Ovy to take a few runs at Geno, and Wilson to absolutely light someone up. I'll watch the Pens do absolutely nothing about it, and get out of the 1st period beaten up and down a few goals. Things will get worse from there, but unlike in years past, I'll be sound asleep.

I follow politics pretty closely, but I absolutely hate seeing a sports organization run as a political campaign. That's what we've witnessed here for years. They talk about getting tougher, they get weaker. They talk about giving the kids a chance, they bring in scrub vets. They talk about scoring, they bring in a coach with a defensive system. They talk **** on their own players (Neal, Despres, etc), and feed the media talking points. They do it all with smiles on their faces, knowing the pleebs (like myself) will continue forking over our money.

Well, also after 4 decades, I'm out. Sure I'll watch once in a while. i'll come on here and complain. But the days of spending my money on tickets, merchandise, etc are over.

 

[MetalheadPenguinsFan]

I agree with OP.

I've been a fan since '93 and over the years have spent way too much on merchandise, signed memorabilia, etc. etc. Nowadays I barely get excited about games and when I watch them, I just drink and scoff at how lifeless and bad we are.

For me, boxing has taken over my #1 "Sports I Care About" spot and has given Penguins hockey a very hard and violent shove (or uppercut ) to the #2 spot.

To echo what others have said, sure the Gen-X Pens were bad, but they were fun as hell to watch as they gave it 100% every shift. Not like these overpaid, entitled, and pulseless sadsacks.

 

[Waffle Fries]

I mean, you care enough to make a thread about it

 

[Shrimper]

The Penguins used to at least be fun to watch. Under MJ, the opposite.

 

[Sam Spade]

I am totally stoked to watch tonight because, last season not withstanding, these games usually bring out the best in both teams.

Plus Malkin and Ovechkin are my two favorite players so for tonight I only have to watch one game to see them.

 

[td_ice]

I mean, you care enough to make a thread about it

Haha..my first thought as well. Also with a "I don't think that word means what you think it means."

I think "i am extremely frustrated" and "I'll tell ya why" might be the more appropriate title.

 

[xxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

#HFboardsTumblrPost

 

[SaintLouHaintBlue]

Turn the game into a drinking game. It'll be fun to watch again.

 

[madinsomniac]

The Penguins used to at least be fun to watch. Under MJ, the opposite.

I mean under Bylsma they had issues... namely that they were top heavy and had one player on the team that crashed the net, but rather than change one or tow things they changed everything.... I mean tweek the roster and change the coach, maybe change the GM, but you don't overhaul everything... then last year they started fine and after adjustments went to hell... so we blew up the roster again only kept several of the biggest issues

 

[Coastal Kev]

This will be my first game I watch this season. I hate what has become with the NHL about as much as I hate this version of my beloved team. I have hope for a better day though, I never thought I would enjoy baseball ever again after 93, but my passion has returned. It's like the Boss once sang: Everything dies baby that's a fact..., but everything that dies one day comes back. Just don't hold your breath waiting cause it could be decades.

 

[td_ice]

Turn the game into a drinking game. It'll be fun to watch again.

Drink every time Letang does his fake shot routine. That can be one of the rules.

 

[canadianguy77]

Well OP, you could hope for an absolute massacre in this game, and a loss against Danny boy, and maybe you'll see a coaching change.

 

[WooWooKennyWu*]

Sad to see Pens fans suffering. I'm with you. Firing MJ does nothing. He's not fit to be a NHL coach that should be obvious.

The problem is the people without the cojones to make the tough calls. Neal, Despres, Sutter were never the problem. Scapegoats. It's the lifeless Kunitz, Scuderi, Dupuis (10M) that they latch onto because they think that's the type of grit Pens fans want to see and they fear the backlash of someone losing "their favorite player".

Mario doesn't understand people from Pittsburgh after all this time.... I don't care about grit (Hornqvist, very gritty), I care that you WIN

 

[xxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

I don't think Mario needs to know or care about the collective conscious of the people of Pittsburgh. He needs to know and care about running a successful hockey team, hellbent on winning Cups.

 

[MrBurghundy]

Drink every time Letang does his fake shot routine. That can be one of the rules.

Drink every time a Penguins player pulls up on the wall after entering the zone.

Drink every time a Pens player touches a puck behind his teams red line on the PP.

 

[cajal]

Like the OP, I'm older than most on here. The Pens haven't given us much hope over the last year, and the prospect of them making few or no significant changes is very real.

The Pens and Caps are playing tonight and I do care, even though the above things are true. I'll be here as a fan after the current management, coach and roster players leave.

I do reserve the right to turn the game off if the players continue to display little gumption while on the ice. I'll hope for the next game, that's all I can do.

 

[WooWooKennyWu*]

I don't think Mario needs to know or care about the collective conscious of the people of Pittsburgh. He needs to know and care about running a successful hockey team, hellbent on winning Cups.

If this were true, Kunitz/Dupuis/Scuderi would all be gone because their best days are LONG behind them

 

[xxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

If this were true, Kunitz/Dupuis/Scuderi would all be gone because their best days are LONG behind them

I didn't say he was doing it, I'm just saying what he should be concerned about.

 

[td_ice]

Like the OP, I'm older than most on here. The Pens haven't given us much hope over the last year, and the prospect of them making few or no significant changes is very real.

The Pens and Caps are playing tonight and I do care, even though the above things are true. I'll be here as a fan after the current management, coach and roster players leave.

I do reserve the right to turn the game off if the players continue to display little gumption while on the ice. I'll hope for the next game, that's all I can do.

Same sentiment here.

 

[Coastal Kev]

The fighting and scoring is gone in the NHL, how could league still be any fun?