Pens/Wings Game 6 Grades
Mike Adams | Grade "A" Reviews
Jun 5, 08:17 AM | Hype this story!
Colby Armstrong: A. For being the glue in the locker room through some tough early times this season, and making that wonderful commercial.
Kris Beech: A. For enduring travels worthy of a nomad.
Tim Brent: A. For being a veteran leader down on the farm.
Erik Christensen: A. For all those great shootout goals.
Ty Conklin: A. For saving the season when all looked lost.
Sidney Crosby: A. For being the face of the league, struggling through a horrible injury, and returning to give every last ounce in the Cup run. Oh, and just for being the best player in the league.
Pascal Dupuis: A. For being the defensive conscience on a line with two superstars.
Mark Eaton: A. For being the perfect partner for Sarge until he got hurt.
Jonathan Filewich: A. For filling in in an emergency.
Marc-Andre Fleury: A. For showing you truly are an elite friggin’ goal tender.
The USS Hal Gill: A. For being a monster penalty killer.
Alex Goligoski: A. For showing us the potential you have to be an offensive force.
Sergei Gonchar: A. For shedding the “gutless” tag and playing like a true warrior. Oh, and for getting out of my doghouse.
Adam Hall: A. For a tremendous Stanley Cup final.
Marian Hossa: A. For thoroughly shedding the playoff choker label with a tremendous postseason.
Connor James: A. For bringing energy during the times when healthy bodies were few and far between.
Tyler Kennedy: A. For bringing a scoring touch and showing you can play at this level.
Georges Laraque: A. For being the protector and for being a giant in the community.
Kris Letang: A. For showing the potential to be an all star for years to come.
Evgeni Malkin: A. For showing the Pens lost nothing when they lost the Ovechkin lottery.
Ryan Malone: A. For becoming a true power forward and showing incredible guts by playing through two broken noses in the final.
Chris Minard: A. For being another guy who helped through all the injuries.
Alain Nasreddine: A. For being a guiding light for the young defensemen in the AHL.
Brooks Orpik: A. For climbing out of the coach’s doghouse to become a dominating physical defenseman in the playoffs.
The Hockey God: A. For being a monster and showing the youngsters how it’s done.
Jarkko Ruutu: A. For the winner against Ottawa and the constant agitation and comedy.
Dany Sabourin: A. For ably filling in for Fleury when he struggled early on.
Andre Savard: A. For showing that the Pittsburgh Penguins can indeed play defense.
Rob Scuderi: A. For being that solid defensive defenseman that every team craves.
Ray Shero: A. For the brilliance you showed in making the deadline deals. You were right, the critics were wrong.
Nathan Smith: A. For almost scoring a goal that was incorrectly waved off.
Jordan Staal: A. For your amazing defensive presence and penalty killing ability.
Chris Stewart: A. For totally earning your pay and then some this season.
Ryan Stone: A. For showing he’s almost ready for a role in the NHL.
Darryl Sydor: A. For stepping into the lineup in the final after two months off and looking like you had not missed a beat.
Petr Sykora: A. For the amazing goal that kept the season alive.
Jeff Taffe: A. For showing you can be an effective role player at this level.
Max Talbot: A. For being a heart and soul guy who chipped in with the biggest goal of the year.
Michel Therrien: A. For holding this team together through a tumultuous regular season and changing the culture in the locker room.
Ryan Whitney: A. For those awesome 50 minutes you played in the penultimate game.
Mike Yeo: A. For the power play.
And most of all…
Pittsburgh Penguins: A+++++++++++++++++++++. Thank you, thank you, thank you, for just an amazing and thoroughly enjoyable run through the playoffs. You might get back there, you might not. One just never knows. But the memories from this season will last a lifetime. The Ruutu spinorama to beat Ottawa. The Hossa winner against the Rangers. The dispatching of the hated Flyers with ease. The Orpik hit machine. The Talbot tying goal followed by the Sykora winner. The Hossa almost goal at the end. The Flower blooming. Sarge playing with heart. Geno taking over the team when Sid was out. Sid’s winner in the snow in Buffalo. Roberts pummeling Eager.
It’s over now, but how can we ever forget?
Comments
Todd
Jun 5, 08:23 AM
Thanks for another great season of grades, Mike. And thanks to the Pens for 9 months of hockey!
Dabich
Jun 5, 09:10 AM
I add this: Mad City Mike an A++ for his season grades and his honesty in every aspect of reporting them. Thanks Mike!
Way to go Pens! We love you!
Ashley Gallant
Jun 5, 09:45 AM
Mike, no one could have put it better.
Nathan
Jun 5, 12:11 PM
Great post Mike.
Often during the season and playoffs your grades/opinions rubbed me the wrong way, but you’ve done a great job with this last post.
TIM
Jun 5, 04:23 PM
I was worried to see what the Grades would be after this game ( there was stuff to be upset about), but Mike shows that he has all the class in the world. This team was one for the ages. Watching the Pens for the last 18 years I have seen a lot of teams, but this one will live with me forever. They can only get better! I am going to miss the grades Mike. Until the drop of the first puck next year.
Let’s Go Pens
Eric
Jun 5, 07:06 PM
Well done Mike. No complaints here.
Jonathan Farzalo
Jun 5, 10:22 PM
Great Job…great way to wrap up the season….very nicely done
Michael
Jun 6, 12:29 AM
Come on .. this MCM piece is just a syrupy-sweet fluff-piece of political correctness .. “obligatory homerism” at the end of the Cup run.
Only Three things kept the Penguins from winning the Cup this season ..
1) Injuries during the playoffs to key players such as Crosby
2) Illness during the playoffs (alleged) of Malkin
3) Coaching of Therrien/Yeo
With the talent this team had, if they’d had moderately good coaching, and if they’d had their stars healthy .. they would have beaten Detroit in 4 or 5 games in the Finals. Getting Hossa and Gill really should have been enough to put them over the top in this postseason.
Therrien and Yeo are clueless. For just one example; look at the pathetic 5-on-3 powerplay early in Game 6. They learned__nothing__from the success of that ‘REGULAR’ PP unit’s scoring by Sykora to win Game 5. They went right back to that stupid, ineffective PP joke with Malkin on the point again early in Game 6 on that 5-on-3. WTF??? That’s just a typical example of their stupidity. They showed that they didn’t learn anything.
There are many more examples and issues involving the inept coaching of Therrien/Yeo. I’m too tired right now to go into them all.
Bottom line .. the Penguins will never win a Cup with Therrien as their coach.
He doesn’t adjust effectively enough (in-game, especially) to the opposition’s moves and/or style/strategies. He is stubborn, has ego issues, and shows a general lack of intelligence. Plus, he is not using a style of play that takes advantage of the powerhouse talent of that team. He is always holding them back, always putting the reigns on them .. being ultra-conservative. That team is not meant to play that way. They are meant to play like a powerhouse.
Get rid of Therrien (and the idiot Yeo) and hire Dave King.
Dabich
Jun 6, 04:57 AM
Looks like someone forgot their prozac.
Matt Bodenschatz
Jun 6, 07:46 AM
To be honest, I’m quite glad you’re too tired to go through them. I’m glad you’re not in charge of this team, Michael, because Ty Conklin would still be the goalie, and the Penguins would have been a first round exit. It’s funny you mention the Pens will never win the Cup with Therrien, because you also said the Penguins will never win with Fleury and that Fleury will never amount to anything in the playoffs. Seems you were slightly off there. And, seeing as how you have had a vendetta against Therrien all season long, it’s quite difficult to take anything you say about him as anything other than blind hatred. Until you’re objective about your views, they’ll be worthy of nothing more than comments like Dabich’s, “Looks like someone forgot their prozac.”
I’ve never seen such an ungrateful “fan.” I almost get the feeling you’re happy they lost so you have something negative top talk about. Then again, had they won, we would be hearing the “they did it in spite of Therrien” comments from you. Three words: Get. A. Grip.
Ashley Gallant
Jun 6, 07:51 AM
Michael, I feel sorry for you. You just don’t seem to find any happiness when it comes to this team.
Sure, we may all look back at the SCF and think of things that could’ve been better, but we are taking a moment to be happy. We want to thank this team for everything they have done this season. They overcame so much this season and made it to the SCF sooner than anyone expected.
Your hatred towards the coaching staff has blinded you to the good things this team has done. Remember the poor start to the season? Remember the injuries to Fleury, Crosby, Talbot, Eaton, Roberts…? Remember how the Pens finished first in the division and second in the conference? Remember how this team made it through to the SCF with a very young core group of guys who hadn’t been to the big dance before? Remember how all this happened only one year after being eliminated in 5 games in the Quarter-Finals?
You say the Pens could’ve won in 4 or 5 games, and that it’s all the Pens’ fault for not doing so. Have you ever considered the fact that the Detroit Red Wings is a very talented team? Has the thought ever entered your mind that the Red Wings were more prepared for this series because they have been in this position before and know how to handle the pressure? Has it occurred to you that experience might actually mean something at this stage of the game?
The Penguins may have lost the SCF this year, and they may be broken-hearted about it, but let me tell you something. That group of guys – players and coaches alike – is thinking about what happened and they recognize what they could’ve done better. Hindsight is 20/20, and this experience of losing will make them a much better group of players and coaches. Next time they are in this position, they will know what to do, and they will not be outplayed.
This team did its best considering how they felt mentally and physically. They should be applauded for their efforts. The last thing they need is for ‘fans’ like you to rip them apart right now and to forget all the good things that happened this season.
Dabich
Jun 6, 08:26 AM
Well, I guess that answers which Michael is which!
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