The Excitement Grows!
Matt Bodenschatz | Pittsburgh Penguins
Jun 13, 12:47 PM | Hype this story!
I’ve been a fan for 17 years. My first experience as a hockey fan — the one that has led me to become, as many say, obsessed — was watching the Pittsburgh Penguins hoist the Stanley Cup in 1992.
The significance just wasn’t there, though. And how could it have been? I was nine and I was watching the first hockey of my life.
But now, at age 25, the significance is there, and at times, it’s overwhelming.
I’ve put so much of myself into this team; my time, my energy, my emotions, my passion.
And now it has all paid off.
Last night, as my phone kept buzzing with calls and text messages, it didn’t really hit me. It felt like a huge win. But not the biggest win.
This morning, after a night of sleep — and plenty of dreams of Lord Stanley’s Cup — the magnitude of the win has hit me.
The Penguins are the Stanley Cup Champions!
Sidney Crosby is the youngest captain in Stanley Cup history.
Evgeni Malkin is the Conn Smythe winner.
Max Talbot is the first star of Game Seven.
Sergei Gonchar FINALLY has what he deserves.
And Pittsburgh continues to be one of the best sports cities in the world.
Amidst all of the inevitable excitement you’ll experience this weekend and into next week, take a moment to sit down and think about what just happened.
Think about what has been overcome.
Tenth place in the standings in February. Few thought they’d even make the playoffs, let alone achieve home ice advantage.
Coaching change in mid-February. Most viewed this as a white flag, not a battle cry.
Down 3-0 in Game Six of Round Two. They looked dead, until Talbot’s improbable fight with Dan Carcillo gave them life.
Down 2-0 in Rounds Two and Four. Many lost hope, but the Penguins gained focus.
Historical odds in Game Seven of the Finals. It seemed impossible, except to the players.
Now try not to get emotional.
This isn’t just a Stanley Cup victory. This is a historical Stanley Cup victory, and quite possibly one of the most intriguing playoff runs in the history of the NHL.
Thank you, Penguins. You’ve made the city of Pittsburgh and fans across the world proud.
Comments
bag o' pucks
Jun 13, 01:27 PM
First team ever to come back from 0-2 down in two series to win the Cup. What a run. It’s been a long time coming. See ya Philly, bye Ovie, Eric who?, and the Death Star explodes in game seven as the Evil Empire is cast down!!! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
bag o' pucks
Jun 13, 01:38 PM
Oof, since we’re diming our ages I must add that I was 21 & 22 when Mario and the Pens won & repeated as Champs. I thought the club was on the verge of a dynasty in the 90’s and I’d see more Cup victories, but too many thing conspired against Pittsburgh: Hodgkin’s, a bad back, the trap, lousy goaltending and defense, etc.
Mario will always be the greatest Penguin, I remember when the club drafted him. Those Cups were unrivaled but, somehow, I appreciate this Cup even more. Maybe it’s because I’ll be 40 in the Fall and I appreciate more how hard and rare it is to win. I look at Billy Guerin now and understand.
TIM
Jun 13, 01:41 PM
Matt our stories are very similar. I was a young kid watching The Pens beat the Bruins in the Wales Conference Finals in 1992 with my Step Dad a Shaler, PA native. My family was living out in Arizona at the time, and the two of us were about the only ones watching hockey. I have been a big fan of the team and the sport ever since.
Thursday was my 25th Birthday. I bet everyone here knows what I was wishing for.
REBEL
Jun 13, 01:53 PM
Matt, you’re absolutely correct, and you and your staff have done an outstanding job of chronicling this journey.
The Pens are a true team without any “showboats.” They’re all stars in my book. They would not be champions now if there were.
The stricken look on Marian Hossa’s face after the final buzzer was “Priceless!”.
Pittsburgh is the smallest city with three major sports teams. The Penguins and the Steelers are the class acts of their sports including the players, owners, and certainly not least, the greatest fans in the world!
Mad Max was fantastic, but Fleury’s two saves in the last 2.7 seconds of the game were phenomenal, especially the one on Lidstrom just before the buzzer!
It seems to me that one reason the Pens prevailed is that the Wings are too predictable. Oh, yes, they’re good, but being so methodical has itsw drawbacks, too. It seemed to me that their attack consisted of passing from point to point or half-board over and over again, with the Mule there to clean up any garbage. The Pens solved this in in Game 6. It seems all of the Wings shots were from those positions, and the Pens either cleared or did not allow any rebounds. When they went defensive in the third period they did a FANTASTIC JOB even though the Wings were desperate and swarming then.
It’s a great feeling to savor this win. Just think,this team will only get better, and F-F will be there to tell us about it!
Matt Bodenschatz
Jun 13, 03:03 PM
Gang, it’s been a huge honor to, along with the other volunteer writers, chronicle this season. You better believe we’ll be back. In fact, we’re already planning our draft and free agency coverage. I just got off the phone with Jesse Marshall — one of the best in “amateur” scouting — and he said a mock draft with some of FFs finest will be on tap in the near future.
But, anyway, there are so many stories from Game 7. Crosby’s injury. Talbot’s clutch play. Fleury’s huge saves when they mean the most. The brilliant defense. Bylsma’s ability to outcoach Babcock — and yes, he did outcoach Babcock in this one. Gonchar’s first Cup. Malkin’s historic run to become playoff MVP. And the list goes on. This was a team effort. Everyone contributed, and everyone is equally deserving of their day with the Cup.
Ray aka WildcatRay
Jun 13, 03:17 PM
Well, I—and probably PENS1967—have you beat, Matt and most of the rest of you on here. I was just into junior high when I discovered hockey and began listening to Pens games on KDKA. I talked my parents into going to a game. It was the last home game of the season (‘71 or ’72) against the St. Louis Blues in the Plager(sp?) brothers’ days. Our tough guy was Bugsy Watson, if I remember correctly. The Pens needed a win to get into the playoffs. I think the final was 6-2 Pens and into the playoffs. That may have been the year we lost to the Blackhawks in 4 straight, Game 4 in OT when Jim Rutherford could not hold onto the puck and Pit Martin was able to push it into the open net less than a minute in.
Syl Apps (Jr.), Lowell McDonnell, Jean Pronovost, Pierre Larouche, Dave Burrows, the late Tim Horton, Battleship Bob Kelly, Steve Durbano, Ab Demarco, Greg Malone, Doug Shedden, Peter Lee, Rod Shutt, Denis Herron, Bunnie Larocque, and too many more to name here. The infamous playoff series lost to Islanders after being up 3-0. Larouche and half the team quit when they realized that winning meant facing the Broad Street Bullies.
The first go-round with bankruptcy and finishing last or out of the playoffs to then draft Mario and see the franchise saved. Still to struggle for many years after until the Badger was hired and the promise of Mario and the rest of the team finally realized in 2 Stanley Cups in the early ’90.
To again struggle after that with Mario having first overcome his back problems to then have to face cancer. To have him “retire” and the team struggle to fulfill its promise until Jagr became a head case. Mario saving the franchise, again, this time as the owner.
To then have to dump salaries, again, and struggle finishing last or out of the playoffs. Losing the draft lottery the first time thinking we just got screwed by losing Ovechkin. Redemption the following year this time winning the lottery and drafting Sid. Yet that did not mean an immediate turnaround for the franchise.
It was only after surrounding Sid, Marc, Geno, and Jordan with other players who all pulled together for a common goal. This team, and, yes, it was a team prevailed against adversity and a worthy opponent to win the most coveted prize in all of sport, the Stanley Cup.
This one is just as sweet as the first two!
Michael
Jun 13, 03:17 PM
I watched the 1991 and 1992 playoffs with my parents as a kid. It seemed so easy at the time, and who would have believed it would be 17 years before we did it again?
Last night I watched game 7 with my parents, in the same room, on the same sofa. Today is my 30th birthday— and I got exactly what I wanted.
Nate
Jun 13, 04:35 PM
Happy birthday Mike. I know I couldn’t have gotten anything better for my birthday. In fact today I feel like a little boy on his birthday, that just got that huge gift that I had been bugging my parents about for weeks. I will be celebrating this win for days.
On a side note, wasn’t it great to see Sid finally let down his guard and not worry about how he was going to act or to say exactly the right thing? The cry of laughter he let out as he raised the cup will stick with me for a long, long time.
Enjoy it boys! You have earned it and we will all enjoy it together, cuz remember, that bullseye you will wear on your backs will be all the bigger next year.
Pens1967
Jun 13, 04:50 PM
I’ve been a fan since day 1 in 1967 (barely a teenager). The expansion team with over-the-hill vets like Lou Angotti, Val Fontaine, Bob Blackburn and kids like the late Michel Briere. Then finally the winning seasons with Apps, Pronovost and MacDonald. Lucky Pierre Larouche, Dave Burrows, Battleship Kelley, Bob Woytowich, Ron Stackhouse, Duane Rupp, Greg Polis, Chuck Arnason, Bob Paradise and some real bad years. I went to games where most of the fans were disguised as empty seats.
I was 15 years into my working career in Philadelphia in 1991. I sat by the radio listening to WTAE (1250) fade in and out in the middle of the night covering the post-game. I wanted to jump in my car and drive 300 miles to be at the airport when the team got in, but knew that wasn’t feasible. After all the ups and downs, that first championship was indescribable.
1992 and 2009 are both great, but that first championship after all the years of losing was like nothing else.
Danny
Jun 13, 05:40 PM
I just can’t get this grin off of my face today. What a great night and what a great season. Thanks to all for the ride. Congratulations to all the Pens and fan.
chris
Jun 13, 06:49 PM
WOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!
I’ve been a fan ever since Coffey was traded from by beloved Oilers and never looked back since (but I still love the Oil too).
After the second cup win, I figured there were more coming too. Now the wait seems worth it. Here’s hoping for a few more from this group!
DaBich
Jun 14, 12:33 AM
I gotta say this now. I have been a Fleury doubter. Yes, I said it. Now,I give the guy all the credit in the world. Will he he inconsistent again? Absolutely. Will that make him a bad goalie? No. No one can win them all. Let me put it this way: Fleury has had many people on him for not being good enough, including me. The team played well enough to win games one and two. We lost both. Then we came back and played good enough and won games 3 and 4. Then came the debacle that was game 5. The indignity of being yanked. Losing 5-0. A goalie of lesser ability and confidence in himself would have faltered. He would have been afraid, yes afraid to play game 6. Not Fleury. He went in and faced all his critics…and gave them food for thought. He turned the momentum back in OUR favor. Then he went in and played game 7 and silenced ALL his critics, including me. Fleury had the balls to do all that and more. He did more than his share to help this team win the Stanley Cup Champion title.
I doubt no longer. Fleury has earned his place among the elite goaltenders of the league.
And I’m so glad he’s OURS!
Moq
Jun 14, 08:43 AM
In a country where NHL coverage is far below that of badminton, it’s been an arduos task to keep taps on Lemieux and the Penguins since watching the former playing against the Red Machine in the Canada Cup with Gretzky. Thank goodness for internet, technology and personal circumstances, allowing me to pursue my passion more dillegently. I never thought that I would ever get the chance to follow a Stanley Cup run from the first row, but here we are – a Red Machine later. Fantastic.
A big applause has to go to Faceoff-Factor for covering this journey with passion and knowledge through ups and downs. Quite a few professional sport outlets could learn a thing or two from you guys. Experiencing a Stanley Cup to Pittsburgh is nothing short of a just reward.
My country is best known for Hans Christian Andersen and his fairytales. Given the adversity and rollercoaster nature of this season, a fairytale would be the apt description. Congratulations to the city of Pittsburgh, all the players and coaches, and fans from all over the World.
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