With Sunday's victory over the Philadelphia Flyers in the Eastern Conference Finals of the Stanley Cup playoffs, the Pittsburgh Penguins advanced to the Cup Finals for the first time since 1992. That last time that happened, they won the Stanley Cup. The team should take that as a good sign, as things are finally looking up for the franchise. It was not too long ago, that most people wouldn't expect the Penguins to get this far, let along make the playoffs in the first place.
Three years ago, the Pittsburgh Penguins was like the ugly girl in high school that no one wanted to date. They were perennial bottom feeders, and the once proud franchise played to empty seats at 'the igloo'. To make matters worse, there was a chance that there wouldn't even be a seats at all. With the Penguins having one of the oldest arenas in the league and a lease that gives little revenue, it was economically impossible for them to stay in the 47 year old Mellon Arena for long. But it looked like there wouldn't be a new arena funded by the government, and the two-time Stanley Cup winner was ready to move from Steel Town. To say that Penguins fans expected the Armageddon to happen, was an understatement.
But then the hockey gods heard the cries of the suffering, and sent a savior. A special draft lottery was held subsequently after the.nhl lockout that saw the league become the first in North American history to lose a season, and Wayne Getzky's anointed successor was up for grabs. Since he was a child, Sidney Crosby was predicted to follow in the legend's footsteps and become the one-man super player that only appears once a generation. Imagine then, the joy amongst the Pittsburgh fateful when they were awarded the first pick. Not only was "Sid the Kid" the savior for the league and the Penguins, he was a worthy heir to their own "Super" Mario Lemieux. Hall of Fame member Lemieux was the man that mesmerized the igloo's fans with his inhuman goals done with hands quicker than houdini's. He led the team to two Stanley Cups in 1991 and 1992, which made the team relevant to the city for the first time since it's creation in 1967. Lemieux saved the team again in 1999, buying the team after they were on the verge of bankruptcy. In December 2000, he decided to become the first professional owner-athlete and suited up in the black and gold uniform again. He continued to play with ease, but he was aging. Crosby would be his true successor.When Sidney Crosby was unsurprisingly picked first at the entry draft, the 18 year-old pimply kid posed for a portrait with his new team's jersey. He sat down, while a suit & tie-clad Mario stood tall behind him with a muscular hand over Crosby's shoulder. They looked like father & son.
Lemieux played one more year until 2006, before he retired. The Penguins were still performing poorly in the standings, but hope had been renewed by the arrival of hockey's revered son. Eventually, the team added talented Russian Evgeni Malkin and the rest of the young corp finally returned to the playoffs in 2007. That same year, Crosby won the Art Ross Trophy (Most Valuable Player in the regular season) and they were only a few points short of winning the Atlantic Division. But the inexperienced team were clobbered by the eventual Stanley Cup finalist, the Ottawa Senators.
The next season, Crosby was named the youngest captain in.nhl history at only 19 years old. Some critics complained that he was too young, and merely received the position out of his ballyhooed reputation. He responded with scoring 72 points in only 53 games, and the Penguins cliched the Division championship. At the 2008 season's trade deadline, the Penguins decided to go for broke and acquired star sniper Marian Hossa from the Atlanta Thrashers. He had been a vital facet of the Penguins offense in the playoffs, with 19 points through 14 playoff games. The Penguins marched through this year's playoffs like an unstoppable army, going 12-2 to advance to the Finals. For good measure, they swept the Ottawa Senators in the first round, which stopped them from defending their title as top team in the East.
As the Penguins await the winner of the Western Conference Finals and their destined opponent, the city of Pittsburgh is once again abuzz with hockey. The final game on sunday was crammed with 17,132 fans; Mellon Arena only has 16,958 seats. Local city papers reported on how other Pittsburgh pro teams had become obsessed with Cup-fever, as the Steelers' (American Football) coaches and players have been spotted at games lately. Imagine the reaction if a time traveler had went to three years ago and told a hockey fan. The fan would have called the local asylum, and have the man locked up. But truth can be stranger than fiction, and America loves the rag-to-riches underdog story. Only this time, it's a under-bird that's going the distance. Only time will tell if they'll be sipping champagne from the 115-year old sterling silver trophy, but everyone has already seen how powerful a simple hope could be.
Files from TSN.ca and Penguins.nhl.com were used in this report.
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