2000-01 vs 2015-16 Forwards

[eXile59]

I disagree. Lemieux's comeback had players performing above their station like nothing I've ever seen. Andrew Ference was eating up minutes with aplomb. NHL.com called Hans Jonsson a "Poor Man's Lidstrom." Kasparaitis was playing the best hockey of his career.

It was really the offense that sputtered out more than the defense against New Jersey, with their five man neutral zone trap in all its glory. We scored seven goals in five games, zero from Jagr, zero from Mario, one from Lang, one from Kovalev. For such a top heavy team, we weren't beating anyone with only 2 goals from four of our top six.

In the five game series, the Pens shot totals were 15, 23, 20, 21, 20. Just couldn't break down the trap.

Hans Jonsson is the opposite of Lidstrom. He is the single worst dman to ever play for the Pens and calling him anything else is revisionist history.

We were so weak at D he passed as a legitimate NHL player and wasn't.

 

[clefty]

Hey, don't talk to me about it, I'm not the one who said it. It was Shawn Roarke, or something.

But the real revisionism would be to say Hans Jonsson was always terrible. He really wasn't. That just smacks me as, "I only started watching in 2003." Persistent injuries were a factor with him.

 

[eXile59]

Hey, don't talk to me about it, I'm not the one who said it. It was Shawn Roarke, or something.

But the real revisionism would be to say Hans Jonsson was always terrible. He really wasn't.

No he really was. Just horrible. It was a long time ago and I admit I don't remember everything but I remember that.

The guy was an 11th round pick who played a handful of seasons on a weak defensive team. I would take Melichar over him.

 

[clefty]

Okay.

 

[Don'tcry4mejanhrdina]

I would take pre-shoulder injury Melichar over Hans too but Jonsson wasn't as bad in 2001. He was far from great but could have been a serviceable bottom pairing guy if he kept it together. Man, that defense sucked though. Kasparaitis being the only legit top 4 and nobody being a top pairing guy. Having no real checking line, Kraft and Morozov were playing in the bottom 6 for crying out loud. Not to mention their top 6 weren't stalwarts defensively, overall. People want to talk about a top heavy team, that is the definition of a top heavy team, to the extreme. Fun to watch though.

 

[Darth Vitale]

Straka - Lang - Kovalev is probably my favorite line ever.

One of my favorites as well. Those guys meshed really well. Then a building fell on Straka, Lang went to Detroit (I think) and our world imploded into the firesale of darkness.

You guys remember how people used to get pissed at Hrdina for never taking open shots when playing with Jagr? Those were strange times.

 

[Don'tcry4mejanhrdina]

One of my favorites as well. Those guys meshed really well. Then a building fell on Straka, Lang went to Detroit (I think) and our world imploded into the firesale of darkness.

You guys remember how people used to get pissed at Hrdina for never taking open shots when playing with Jagr? Those were strange times.

Which was Jagr's fault, pretty much brainwashed him to just pass Jagr the puck.

Hrdina was one of the most underrated Pens, people talk about him as if he was a failed top 6 guy but I saw him as a good two-way third liner, good at face offs, huge nose. Only once he had over 100 shots in a year (115 if I remember correctly) and low and behold he scored 24 goals.

 

[Luigi Lemieux]

We were beat by a balanced Devils team.

I feel like teams like this and others are part of the reason people have come so forward crazy.

From 1993 to 2001 we had some of the best forward groups in the game and didn't win a single Cup. I feel like we have become very nostalgic about these teams and because of it are making the same mistakes.

The 1993-2001 era Penguins were a relic of the past. A run and gun team stuck in an era of systematic play and the trap. Despite not winning the cup in that period it was some of the most entertaining hockey i've seen though, especially the years Lemieux and Jagr played together. But yeah considering the talent level the pens have had over the last 25 years, only 3 cups to show for it is very underwhelming.

 

[Darth Vitale]

Which was Jagr's fault, pretty much brainwashed him to just pass Jagr the puck.

Hrdina was one of the most underrated Pens, people talk about him as if he was a failed top 6 guy but I saw him as a good two-way third liner, good at face offs, huge nose. Only once he had over 100 shots in a year (115 if I remember correctly) and low and behold he scored 24 goals.

Hrdina was definitely a skilled hockey player. Just lacked that last bit of assertiveness / confidence maybe. No doubt Jagr probably had something to do with that habit he had. Not right, the Funky Cold Hrdina being forgotten so easily. Now we collect Germans instead of Czechs.