Post-Game Talk: It's been one hell of a ride, boys. One HELL of a ride.

[Tom Hanks]

Go watch G5 against the Caps.

I saw it and still disagree. The first and second goals shouldn’t have happened either and not finishing good chances is just as bad and we had plenty before that.

It was bad from Letang no doubt but we should never have been in that position to begin with. It took a team to **** that up.

 

[Icarium]

The last three teams that have failed to threepeat... Oilers, Penguins, Red Wings, all lost in the second round. Those teams had some of the greatest HOFers to ever play, and they still couldn’t do it either.

That’s what this team was facing as well.

And the Islanders dynasty needed a late comeback and an OT goal to defeat the Pens in 1982 on route to their threepeat.

And no, I wasn't around for that but I know how to use youtube.

 

[UnderratedBrooks44]

I find myself refusing to buy that Brassard's "fit" was the problem. This is another case of people insisting on coming up with an answer for something they don't know. The guy was a no show offensively. I don't know why that is, but he's a good enough player that he still should've been more visible regardless of what system he's in. It's not like you put a good player into a system that doesn't cater to them and a "Does not compute" message spits out of his mouth. He is a better, more well-rounded player than he showed with us so far. Period.

 

[ncm7772]

Don't you just love posters who never show up after a win but always show up after a loss and act angry even though they are clearly happy to have something to rant about?

They are a sad, pathetic bunch. I've added several to my ignore lost.

Wow. I'm at a loss for words. You just went all end of days, revelations on us.

These guys just won back 2 back cups, and your ready to turn your back on them that fast for not winning 3 in a row.

Everything you said is an over reaction and not true at all. You cant win them all. So back away from the ledge bro, the sun is going rise again tomorrow I promise.

I know whose post you're responding to, even though I can't see it. Ignore list works great, man!

Any thoughts on Brassard moving ahead? Does he fit in after a preseason or does he need to leave?

Keep him. You have Derek Brassard for $3M, you keep him. I have no doubt he'll be better next year. Although I not defending his poor play this year whatsoever.

Crosby looked out of gas last night but you can't fault him he was on the ice for 13 of our 14 goals this series! So keep that **** for yourself, like no other sports, your best players play 1/3 of a game and you need secondary scoring.

Don't feed the troll!

 

[Bnat66]

One thing that still hasn't changed is that Ovechkin is still one neanderthal looking dude.

 

[RizzleMcRib]

You mean the guy that just singlehandedly lost you a series? I'm not sure about that.

He singlehandedly lost us that series? Yep. His fault there was not much secondary scoring. He is the reason Murray didn't play up to his true form.

 

[vikingGoalie]

my disappointment comes from the fact that we lost to a capital team that was worse then the previous two years. The huge difference was that Holtby really tightened it up after that first game. We where able to exploit him previous runs, even on nights where we got outplayed. Kinda like what they did to us.

Still the bigger disappointment is that we all are hopeful that we have many good cup runs to come, but the reality is we just don't know that. in 93 we had one of the best hockey teams in history, we lost in the playoffs and I did not think at that point in time that that was it until 2009.

So who knows, perhaps Murray with more time to get away from the game come to grips with his personal life and comes back as the guy we all know he can be. Maybe brassard is really hurt right now and after a full season we'll see what he really can do in a pens uniform.

Or we might have injuries or just run into better teams that derails the whole thing and we go the way of the Lemieux era pens. I am very proud of what this Pens team has accomplished, only 3-4 years ago many where thinking that Crosby was done, that Malkin was slowing down. They went on to win 2 more cups and Crosby asserted himself once more as the best player in the world.
Really hoping to see Crosby hoist another Cup before he is done with hockey.


.

 

[Dacks]

Not even mad. It was an awesome run, and along the way we clutched out some wins we probably didn't deserve - eventually we were going to lose one in which we weren't significantly outplayed. Washington was the better team, and they played a strong strategy against us.

Could we have won? Of course. Got almost no secondary scoring, Murray wasn't at his best, and we had some horribly costly turnovers, Letang being the biggest culprit. But you know what? That's the story of every team that eventually loses a series. Enough things go wrong for your team / right for their team, and you lose. Just makes me more proud of the fact that we capitalized in the years that things went right.

That said, I wish it hadn't ended against the Caps, but oh well. A little more rest this summer, and we are well positioned to improve for next year. Three cups in four years would still be monumental, so let's focus on that.

 

[StaalForOne]

Brassard was just starting to click and played pretty well up until he got hurt.

8p in 14 gp for us despite a slow start.

 

[RizzleMcRib]

I don't understand some of the reasoning on here.
-Letang sucks but he'd make a perfect #1 on team X.

If he is still good enough to be a #1 D, why would we get rid of him when you are about to see #1 dmen start getting 10 mil+?

Go watch Burns, Doughty, Subban, EK, OEL (who isn't even on the same level). Players that are #1 defensemen. You'll see them making the same mistakes.
Grass isn't always greener.

 

[ncm7772]

I'm told, quite frequently in fact, that there is a talented winger that would singlehandedly win us another cup just sitting there waiting.

And win the Conn Smythe!

 

[BeatenLikeRentedMule]

my disappointment comes from the fact that we lost to a capital team that was worse then the previous two years. The huge difference was that Holtby really tightened it up after that first game. We where able to exploit him previous runs, even on nights where we got outplayed. Kinda like what they did to us.

Still the bigger disappointment is that we all are hopeful that we have many good cup runs to come, but the reality is we just don't know that. in 93 we had one of the best hockey teams in history, we lost in the playoffs and I did not think at that point in time that that was it until 2009.

So who knows, perhaps Murray with more time to get away from the game come to grips with his personal life and comes back as the guy we all know he can be. Maybe brassard is really hurt right now and after a full season we'll see what he really can do in a pens uniform.

Or we might have injuries or just run into better teams that derails the whole thing and we go the way of the Lemieux era pens. I am very proud of what this Pens team has accomplished, only 3-4 years ago many where thinking that Crosby was done, that Malkin was slowing down. They went on to win 2 more cups and Crosby asserted himself once more as the best player in the world.
Really hoping to see Crosby hoist another Cup before he is done with hockey.


.

That's true. The rest of the Metro and Atlantic are getting better and have good picks in the draft. Pens, not so much.

But even if this era's team doesn't win another cup they'll go down in Pens history alongside the 91-92 Pens as the best, maybe better results-wise...not on paper.

I thought the Pens would have won another Cup in the 90s too. Really upset when Mario retired in 97 as well.

 

[ncm7772]

Gotta love the mains...we lose and there's still enough SALT to denuclearize the world five times over.

It makes me even more proud that the Pens won back to back Cups!

 

[Coastal Kev]

They are a sad, pathetic bunch. I've added several to my ignore lost.

I know whose post you're responding to, even though I can't see it. Ignore list works great, man!
l!

Want to know what I find sad, the group think that is the only acceptable means of conversation that's acceptable.

Let's go back to the Brassard trade and let's look who championed the move as a savior for the season. Anyone who dared critique the trade was scorned and shamed. This is what this board is.

It was very easy to question the Brassard trade at the time when you have perspective. What I saw 2 leading up to the TDL was a team finally getting near the point of rolling 4 good lines. My idea, add pieces for depth rather than going for a homerun was a much better option. If we add what NJ added, our team would have had a much better shot at a deep run. We also gave up a goalie who could be much better than Murray. And Murray does concern me on two areas: he consistently gets injured and how long will he remain stick thin and limber. As he gets older, his joints will tighten and average mobility quickly moves to sub par mobility.

BUT BRASSARD, WE GOT BRASSARD- we gave up a lot for the guy and we got 1 goal. Cole, Reaves, 1st round pick (could be a great player) and a future star at goalie. But the group think told us we GOT A STEAL>

Go back and read the thread, it's the very same people who dominate the board with supposed "expert insight". Once again, group think failed.

 

[ncm7772]

I again just feel badly for Murray because you have these twisted MAF fans, and we have one on here in particular that has issues... big time.

Anyone who beats down a b2b champion goalie that just lost his father, needs to seek mental help, and I can’t stress that enough. These people need to get with life and have some perspective about what this is really about.

This is just about a perfect post. Well said. Agreed 100%.

 

[Shrimper]

If you fancy a laugh

 

[UnderratedBrooks44]

my disappointment comes from the fact that we lost to a capital team that was worse then the previous two years. The huge difference was that Holtby really tightened it up after that first game. We where able to exploit him previous runs, even on nights where we got outplayed. Kinda like what they did to us.

Still the bigger disappointment is that we all are hopeful that we have many good cup runs to come, but the reality is we just don't know that. in 93 we had one of the best hockey teams in history, we lost in the playoffs and I did not think at that point in time that that was it until 2009.

So who knows, perhaps Murray with more time to get away from the game come to grips with his personal life and comes back as the guy we all know he can be. Maybe brassard is really hurt right now and after a full season we'll see what he really can do in a pens uniform.

Or we might have injuries or just run into better teams that derails the whole thing and we go the way of the Lemieux era pens. I am very proud of what this Pens team has accomplished, only 3-4 years ago many where thinking that Crosby was done, that Malkin was slowing down. They went on to win 2 more cups and Crosby asserted himself once more as the best player in the world.
Really hoping to see Crosby hoist another Cup before he is done with hockey.

On paper I'd say the Caps were better before, but in practice? I thought they were way better this year. Guys like Orlov, Djoos, and Orpik were not liabilities in the least and did their part. Their entire team played very well overall defensively and flat out made far less mistakes than we did. Kusnetsov, who I think is usually kind of quiet against us, was a driving force on and off the stat sheet. They took it to us for stretches in this series, where as I thought the Penguins played "fine". To me the Caps looked better in this particular series and their roster from top to bottom was straight up more effective than ours.

As far as more runs, I expect a very competitive team for a few more years, and if any core can do it it's this one. At the same time a lot of people (not you necessarily) don't want to admit that our best players are past their apex. If Brass gets his act together it would balance out the whole team and really help if Crosby and Malkin aren't as much of a game changer as they once were. I wouldn't be surprised if we ended up in the Finals one of the next couple of years, but I'm not betting on it either.

 

[Gurglesons]

Go watch G5 against the Caps.

So by your train of though Olli Maatta single handidly lost us the series as well as Dumoulin because they both had huge gaffes that led to GWGs in Game 3 and 6.

 

[Tom Hanks]

Want to know what I find sad, the group think that is the only acceptable means of conversation that's acceptable.

Let's go back to the Brassard trade and let's look who championed the move as a savior for the season. Anyone who dared critique the trade was scorned and shamed. This is what this board is.

It was very easy to question the Brassard trade at the time when you have perspective. What I saw 2 leading up to the TDL was a team finally getting near the point of rolling 4 good lines. My idea, add pieces for depth rather than going for a homerun was a much better option. If we add what NJ added, our team would have had a much better shot at a deep run. We also gave up a goalie who could be much better than Murray. And Murray does concern me on two areas: he consistently gets injured and how long will he remain stick thin and limber. As he gets older, his joints will tighten and average mobility quickly moves to sub par mobility.

BUT BRASSARD, WE GOT BRASSARD- we gave up a lot for the guy and we got 1 goal. Cole, Reaves, 1st round pick (could be a great player) and a future star at goalie. But the group think told us we GOT A STEAL>

Go back and read the thread, it's the very same people who dominate the board with supposed "expert insight". Once again, group think failed.

Curious to ask what that 4th line was that we could roll 4 lines before Brassard?

You know he got injured and played with a groin injury too yet you didn’t mention that. Kessel also got injured and was playing hurt. Hagelin and Malkin got hurt in round 1 and weren’t as effective. Those things didn’t happen because of one trade and had a much greater impact.

 

[Gurglesons]

On paper I'd say the Caps were better before, but in practice? I thought they were way better this year. Guys like Orlov, Djoos, and Orpik were not liabilities in the least and did their part. Their entire team played very well overall defensively and flat out made far less mistakes than we did. Kusnetsov, who I think is usually kind of quiet against us, was a driving force on and off the stat sheet. They took it to us for stretches in this series, where as I thought the Penguins played "fine". To me the Caps looked better in this particular series and their roster from top to bottom was straight up more effective than ours.

As far as more runs, I expect a very competitive team for a few more years, and if any core can do it it's this one. At the same time a lot of people (not you necessarily) don't want to admit that our best players are past their apex. If Brass gets his act together it would balance out the whole team and really help if Crosby and Malkin aren't as much of a game changer as they once were. I wouldn't be surprised if we ended up in the Finals one of the next couple of years, but I'm not betting on it either.

Yeah, the issue with the Capitals as they never had youth and speed to combat us the past two years.

They finally went with some and won.

 

[DegenX]

Want to know what I find sad, the group think that is the only acceptable means of conversation that's acceptable.

Let's go back to the Brassard trade and let's look who championed the move as a savior for the season. Anyone who dared critique the trade was scorned and shamed. This is what this board is.

It was very easy to question the Brassard trade at the time when you have perspective. What I saw 2 leading up to the TDL was a team finally getting near the point of rolling 4 good lines. My idea, add pieces for depth rather than going for a homerun was a much better option. If we add what NJ added, our team would have had a much better shot at a deep run. We also gave up a goalie who could be much better than Murray. And Murray does concern me on two areas: he consistently gets injured and how long will he remain stick thin and limber. As he gets older, his joints will tighten and average mobility quickly moves to sub par mobility.

BUT BRASSARD, WE GOT BRASSARD- we gave up a lot for the guy and we got 1 goal. Cole, Reaves, 1st round pick (could be a great player) and a future star at goalie. But the group think told us we GOT A STEAL>

Go back and read the thread, it's the very same people who dominate the board with supposed "expert insight". Once again, group think failed.

No one is forcing you to post or read here, Kev. No one is censored unless they break site rules. Your accusation of group think is way off base. A response to your comment is just that, a response. If the majority disagree with you, you either need to re-evaluate your opinion or defend it better, or both.

 

[Gurglesons]

Anyone that didn’t think the main fruits of the Brassard trade was going to be next year is straight up wrong.

Also, how anyone can care about that trade and act like it is wrong is straight up wrong. We gave up nothing for a legitimate 3C that
helped us win a series with what will likely come out as a sports hernia.

 

[Pancakes]

Anyone that didn’t think the main fruits of the Brassard trade was going to be next year is straight up wrong.

Also, how anyone can care about that trade and act like it is wrong is straight up wrong. We gave up nothing for a legitimate 3C that
helped us win a series with what will likely come out as a sports hernia.

I make it again even knowing how it turned out. Let's see how he does with a full year + training camp. He's dirt cheap next year anyways.

After reflecting on this playoffs a little more, I think the main reason we lost was Geno got hurt. A healthy Geno and we get by Washington in 6 imo. We could have survived Kessels injury/poor play, but we couldn't survive injuries to both Kessel and Malkin.

 

[Darth Vitale]

Any thoughts on Brassard moving ahead? Does he fit in after a preseason or does he need to leave?

I think I'd give him at least a half a season. We don't have so much offensive depth we can afford to just kick a guy like that to the curb. Worst thing that happens is he doesn't fit in and you move him at the deadline.

But he's a sufficiently talented and versatile player that with the right pieces around him, he could be one of the guys to help us get back to the Finals. That said, if a great offer comes along this summer that helps us address our defense longer term and includes Brass, maybe you have to take it.

Will be an interesting summer.

 

[Deport Ogie]

Yeah sorry, that's one thing I just don't get. If you can have Derick frickin Brassard as your 3c for 3 mil a year you do it.