There have been 471 man games lost, 390 due to injury. The Pittsburgh Penguins have surely had one of the toughest seasons to date when it comes to players being out of the lineup. And while many fans may excuse this team of any disappointment to this, the organization cannot.
I know what you are thinking, “how can I talk about the disappointment of the Penguins when they clinched the Metropolitan Division, and they are second in the Eastern Conference with 103 points?”
I say disappointment because this team, since the Olympic break, has floundered around the .500 mark going 9-8-2 since February 27. A team that rosters players such as Sidney Crosby, James Neal, Marc-Andre Fleury and Evgeni Malkin should not be floundering at .500.
The idea of blaming injuries for their short comings in the second half of the season is just an easy ploy to keep fans excited and willing to write this season off. I, however, believe that the blame sits on the back of the players who have been suiting up, the coaching staff and management, along with ownership.
Again, yes, the Penguins have, impressively, reached the playoffs for the eighth consecutive season and clinched its first ever Metropolitan Division Championship and its second Division Championship in two years. But even with all the success, something hasn’t felt right from the beginning of the season, and I think I figured out what it is.
It was about a week ago, during an interview with Mark Madden, of Pittsburgh’s 105.9 radio station, that Rob Rossi, one of Pittsburgh Tribune-Review’s Penguins writers, stated that the team does not appear to believe that they can go all the way with the group that has been put together.
Now you can choose whether or not to believe what Rossi said but, the on ice play by the players speaks much louder than any journalist could. And that brings me to my next point — The team’s on-ice behavior.
Seemingly all season the Penguins have shown very little discipline on the ice. And while they are near the middle of the pack when it comes to total PIM (785), it is more about the timing of the penalties taken that are hurting this squad. Offensive zone infractions, along with undisciplined play near the end of periods, have made some games very difficult. You would think if this team actually believed in itself that it would be more inclined to playing “its game.”
Could that be a reason why their season has been floundering in the second half? It’s very possible, but shouldn’t coaching and management be capable and willing to help them through that? Ray Shero, despite the tight cap space, had an opportunity, because of the high amount of injuries, to make some solid moves at the trade deadline to improve the roster. While adding Marcel Goc and Lee Stempniak absolutely upgraded the team, Shero needed to do a lot more. Especially if the team’s mindset is that they are not good enough.
And what about coaching? Dan Bylsma has been called out by certain members of the media as well as the fan base stating he hasn’t held the players accountable enough and that he seems incapable of adjusting accordingly when things are going wrong.
Even current Penguins defenseman Brooks Orpik stated he sees no evidence that the team has been held accountable.
A coaching change now though just doesn’t appear to be in the cards. Shero and ownership seem to be content on riding Bylsma out into the postseason. Hopefully, though, if Bylsma falters for the fourth time in five years, a change will be made in that regard. But I see it more likely that the vast amount of injuries this season will jade the organizations views on that issue, just as it has in seasons past.
During the stretch of games since the Olympics, I can think of two games, St. Louis and Chicago on 3/30, where the Penguins actually looked like a playoff team. A very sad sight when the line-up consists of Crosby, Neal, Kunitz, Fleury and for more than half of those games Evgeni Malkin.
Yea injuries have affected this team as it would affect any, but to believe that it is the cause of their struggles is just ignorant. The Penguins have the tools to right this ship, but my question to them is are they willing to?
