Post-1993 Penguins if Mario was healthy (or if Bowman stayed?)

The Panther

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Mar 25, 2014
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So, the Pens choked in round two in 1993. Okay, it happens. The Isles very nearly choked against Pittsburgh in '82, Edmonton "choked" against Calgary (a good team, but nevertheless) in '86, and Calgary themselves choked repeatedly in '87, '88, and '90 to '95. The Islanders recovered from their near-miss quickly and carried on with the Dynasty, Edmonton recovered and carried on the Dynasty, Calgary... not so much.

The Pens in 1992-93 had their only really dominant regular season in Mario Lemieux's whole career, going .708. Except for still-baby Jagr, most of their key guys weren't spring-chickens, but they weren't old either and might be said to have been in their late primes on average, all things being equal (which they weren't -- see: Kevin Stevens). Point being The Pens were still very well situated to compete for further Stanley Cups.

Then, Bowman left, with Eddie Johnston taking over (again). The Johnston effect seems to have been that, even though the team was still 4th-best in offense with Mario barely playing, they fell from 3rd-best defensively to 19th. Mario announced he would take time off to recover from lingering fatigue from his Hodgkin's treatments, and he barely played from October to mid-February. Judging by his stats (I can't really recall what happened now), he doesn't seem to have been quite up to full speed. In mid-season, The Pens acquired Shawn McEachern and Tomas Sandstrom from L.A. But the Pens went down in the first round to Washington, scoring only 2 goals per game in the series.

Then, of course, the Work Stoppage. Season cancelled until January 1995, followed by a inter-division heavy, grueling schedule and then the playoffs. The team acquired John Cullen (free agent) and traded for Luc Robitaille, losing Rick Tocchet. The Pens were still filling the net, but were still below-average defensively. What I can't recall is why Lemieux sat out the whole (short) season? Was it his back, or was he intending to play in October '94, but then decided to just give it up when the season was nearly cancelled? Pens did all right without him, getting their revenge on Washington but then going down hard against (eventual Cup champ) New Jersey.

My question is: What do you think would have happened in 1993-94 and 1995, if (a) Mario had been healthy and played all the games, and/or (b) Bowman had stayed?

My feeling is that Eddie Johnston was a "players' coach" who let the skilled guys do as they liked, more or less. We all know Bowman wasn't like that and was good at keeping certain players in check. Having said that, the Pens still did quite well (mostly) without Mario these two seasons and certainly could still score. It would seem to be defensively where they took a tumble. Would Bowman, then, have made the difference if he'd stayed?
 

K Fleur

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Mar 28, 2014
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Mario sat out of the 94-95 season claiming built up fatigue from his previous radiation treatments. Pretty sure he announced it as a "leave of absence" in August of '94.

As to the question. I don't think the Pens could have gotten past the '95 Devils no matter who was healthy or coaching. Nobody was beating them that year. '94 is interesting to think about, but probably still plays out mostly the same.
 

frisco

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Johnston was a terrible coach. To go from Badger Bob and Bowman to Johnston was quite the step down. A lot of talent on Pittsburgh but not exactly molded correctly. Bowman staying or a good hire (Herb Brooks?) would've been a lot better than Johnston. Really any coach literally would've been an upgrade on Johnston.

Obviously, a healthy motivated Lemieux would've made a BIG difference. The shortened season in 94-95 may have worked to Mario's advantage in retrospect had he not decided to take that year off. He could've had six months off and then played 30 or so games of the shortened 48-game season and maybe have been fresh for the playoffs.

Stevens returning to the player he was before the Pilon collision would've been a factor but he wasn't quite the same after that. Good but not dominant. In 94-95 Barrasso missed the whole year along with Lemieux so that might tilted things the Pens way had he been healthy too. Getting Robitaille and Sandstrom was probably an upgrade on Tocchet as was the reacquisition of Straka. The D was still pretty weak those two years and that was a problem.

All that said, as much as they had the Rangers number in the 90's I don't think they could've won a Cup. New Jersey was probably a better team than Pittsburgh even had all things fallen into place for the Pens. It would've been nice to see them have an even shot at things though. Like I said, an actual healthy Lemieux had he not had the cancer, anemia, back problems and stuff could've been a great equalizer. People always look at Mario's career and all the time that he missed as the big "what if"?. What sometimes gets forgotten is even when he was playing he very, very often was nothing near 100%. He literally had to drag himself through the 1991 Finals with his back and still won the Smythe in one of the better playoff runs of all time. Just to think if he'd been fully healthy. 93-94 was another example, just beaten down by the cancer and subsequent treatment and the back he just wasn't anything near full speed.

My Best-Carey
 

tony d

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Think that Pens corps of the early 90's could have got another cup. Really surprised they didn't win in 1996 when Lemieux had his last truly great season.
 

bobholly39

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Mar 10, 2013
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I mean Lemieux in 93 is arguably the most talented player in the history of the sport at the very top of his ability.

If he was fully healthy for the next 2-3 years? Who knows. Anythings possible

Having the best player never guarantees a cup but it sure as hell helps.
 

The Panther

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Mario sat out of the 94-95 season claiming built up fatigue from his previous radiation treatments. Pretty sure he announced it as a "leave of absence" in August of '94.
Was that 1994-95 or was it 1993-94? The radiation treatments were in late-winter 1993, so it seem to make more sense that he would take off 1993-94 for that reason...?
 

TheAngryHank

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May 28, 2008
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Think that Pens corps of the early 90's could have got another cup. Really surprised they didn't win in 1996 when Lemieux had his last truly great season.
Zero chance Pitt beats Detroit or colorado.The West was just to stacked.96 sweep ,97 sweep,98 sweep.The west with St Louis ,Dallas ,Detroit ,Colorado were all beating the east any of those 96-2000.
 

blogofmike

Registered User
Dec 16, 2010
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Scotty Bowman probably would have helped but I have it on good authority he did not possess the key to beating those Devils.

Keeping Bowman does subtract from Detroit, but by the time that helps Pittsburgh it is a little too late.

And as good as this hypothetical Lemieux might be, Barrasso was no longer the asset from the early 90s.
 
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Talisman

Registered User
Nov 7, 2015
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i think the penguins would gone great with heatlfy Mario in the line up!!.
1993-94 penguins are depth..
Stevens-Lemieux-Tocchet
Mullen-Francis-Jagr
Straka-McEachern-Sandstrom

1994-95

Robitaille-Lemieux-Jagr
Stevens-Francis-Sandstrom
mcEachern-Cullen-Mullen!!



 
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