Legend has it that it is the Phoenix, not the Penguin, that rises from its own ashes. Perhaps it is time to rewrite that legend since teams that advance to the Stanley Cup Finals and lose do not often return any time soon.

That is not so unbelievable after all. Say all you want about the NFL, MLB and the NBA, there is no more grueling playoff than the quest for Lord Stanley’s Cup. Sure football is a physical game – but in the NFL you only play once a week and your body has time to heal between match up. Baseball? Pish posh. Sure they play best seven game series but the most physicality you get on the diamond is a bean ball or a crash into the outfield fence maybe once every couple games or a collision at first base once in a blue moon. The NBA? Again, sure they have a seven game series format but you are not constantly getting checked into the boards on every trip down the ice nor are you really even allowed to hit other players.

Nope, the NHL is hands down the toughest championship to win. You can hit the opponent; in fact it is encouraged. There are boards to contend with. And let’s not forget that everyone on the ice carries a formidable weapon in their hands which can and does get used inappropriately at times. Couple that with the inevitable free agents that flee teams each year in search of big bucks after great seasons (usually more due to who a player played with than the actual player himself) and it is amazing that anyone can repeat as division champs or even Stanley Cup Champions.

Last year, the Penguins raced through the playoffs only to crash and burn early in games one and two of the finals against Detroit. They turned things around after that but splitting the next four games still meant that they lost the series 4-2. Their ashes were on the ice after they flared out.

Early this season they looked ready to at least make a good showing in the playoffs. Hossa left for Detroit claiming that he had the best chance for a championship there and other players were let go including Malone, Laraque and Roberts. In came Satan, Fedotenko and Zigomanis. Somehow the Penguins actually looked stronger than last year top to bottom all of a sudden. But then the wheels started falling off during the winter. In February the team looked down and out. They started to turn things around but a, what I will contend was a fluke, loss to Toronto cost Therrien his job and in comes Dan Bylsma. The team responds to this and there is a smoldering among the ashes perhaps as the team sensed that they had cost one coach his job because of their own poor performance on the ice and were not about to let it happen to another.

Then out goes Whitney, a cornerstone of last year’s success, and in comes Chris Kunitz with a gritty, hard hitting persona. Then the Penguins get the New York Islanders to give up Bill Guerin for a song; a conditional draft pick. And let’s not forget Craig Adams. Then the sparks began to intensify and above the ashes a Penguin once again skated.

Into the playoffs the team stormed after climbing from 10th place to 4th in the East. They crushed the orange of Philadelphia, rocked the red of Washington and now have just completed downgrading the Hurricanes of Carolina. Now it is on to the Stanley Cup Finals – again.

Do the Penguins have something to prove? Yep. Will they prove it? Yes. Either they will prove they are Stanley Cup Champion caliber or they will prove that they are just second best again. Which it will be will be up to men named Sidney, Geno, Marc-Andre, Billy, Jordan, Tyler, Max, Craig, Ruslan, Miroslav, Chris, Rob, Brooks, Sergei, Philippe, Kris, Hal, and Mark.

Hopefully the Penguins will prove that they are champions this time around. Because getting back to the finals a third year in a row is not something that I would put money on – ever. But the Penguins should make a better show of it this time around. As the old saying goes, and which is familiar to all true Pittsburgh hockey fans, if you think Penguins can’t fly then you’ve never been in Pittsburgh during the playoffs.

Fly high Pens. Make us proud!

With Sergei Gonchar out of the lineup for Game 5 against the Capitals, the Penguins opted to recall Alex Goligoski from Wilkes-Barre and play with seven defensemen. The reasoning for this was clear. First, the Penguins needed someone to help run the power play with Gonchar out and currently the Pens do not have anyone on the roster with Goligoski’s skills with regard to that. Second, the Penguins played most of game four with five defensemen and everyone had extra minutes added to their menu. So seven D made sense for game five and to be perfectly honest the team played just as well one forward short as they had all series.

The Capitals played a much more disciplined game than any previous one of the series. They allowed the Penguins only 3:59 of power play time and took only two non-coincidental penalties all game. Of that 3:59 of PP time, Goligoski skated for 3:14 of it (81%). He also skated for 6:18 at even strength where as Boucher played for 12:05 at even strength and just 0:46 on the power play.

Boucher can certainly play with the man advantage but it seems clear that in Gonchar’s absence it will be Goligoski helping to run the offense.

Rumors of the seriousness of Sergei Gonchar’s injury may have been greatly exaggerated. Lots of rumors began circulating last night by people supposedly “in the know.” And none of them were any good.

My sources however were telling me that while yes, Gonchar was indeed injured seriously enough to not return and was not being held out as a precautionary measure, the injury was not as serious as some were stating. Rumors I heard from people obviously without any sources at all ranged from a hairline fracture of the leg to a shattered kneecap and all were claiming he was done for the season. However with Gonchar being a game time decision all those rumor mongers appear to be wildly wrong. Either that or this a great piece of subversion by the Penguins to keep the Capitals guessing.

It was bound to happen. Honestly it was. The Penguins, despite any thoughts by the Washington Capitals, their fans and the media, have consistently outplayed the Capitials in this best of seven series. Yet despite that fact, the Penguins returned to Pittsburgh down 0-2 in the series. Varlamov, Washington’s rookie net minder, was the only reason for that.

However, after another dominating effort on Wednesday the Penguins followed up with yet another last night seeming to finally have solved the riddle of Varlamov and putting five pucks behind him to win Game 4 of the best of seven series 5-3. Just like every other game so far, it could have been much, much worse. Only Varlamov stopped it from being a slaughter – again.

Marc-Andre Fleury again allowed a goal on the first shot he faced barely a minute into the game. It was a soft goal and one he should have never allowed. But with the team scoring first loosing every game of the series so far, perhaps it was all part of the plan. Sergei Gonchar (2) opened the flood gates by ripping a power play goal through Varlamov at just 3:55 of the first to tie the game up. Gonchar would later be hurt on another one of Ovechkin’s famous head hunting missions later in the game and would not return. The exact status of Gonchar’s injury is still unknown but it looks like his status for Game 5 tonight is doubtful.

Capital’s fans will never admit it but Ovechkin has a history of taking runs at players in vulnerable situations. He has done it repeatedly to Crosby, although that stopped after Crosby jumped out of the way of a couple causing Ovechkin to slam into the boards hard and he has done it repeatedly to Malkin prior to this season. But again, Malkin has toughened up and Ovechkin has learned that headhunting Geno is not a safe bet any more. Ovechkin will never get a suspension for his antics because the NHL does not want to force a marquee player out of an important game in an important series no matter how justified it would be to do so.

Bill Guerin (3) and Fedotenko (3) also added goals in the first to send the Capitals into the intermission down 3-1. Clark (1) would get the Capitals back to within one late in the second period but Crosby (9) made the lead two again early in the third.

Two minutes late the refs put their whistles away. While on the power play, the Penguins were in their own end and an obvious bit of interference on Kris Letang went uncalled. The Capitals then scored short handed to make it 5-4. However it was Talbot (2) that iced the game late in the third beating Varlamov for the Penguins fifth goal.

Fleury made 19 saves with a few goal saving stops to help anchor the victory.

The two teams turn around and head to Washington for Game 5 tonight with the series now a best of three games. The Penguins need a win on Washington’s ice and if they don’t get one tonight, Game six on Monday night in Pittsburgh will be do or die.

… Chris Kunitz and Eric Tangradi who is a prospect. This season Kunitz has 35 points in 62 games this season with 16 of those being goals. He’s a perpetual 20 goal scorer especially on a team like the Penguins. Tangradi has 38 goals and 87 points in the OHL this season. Nothing overly indicative of any real talent as the minors are filled with players putting up impressive numbers against subpar talent.

Shaking it out, you have the Penguins dropping about $4 million in cap room but picking up Kunitz for $3.725 million and getting a little bit of an upgrade. You have the Penguins relieving themselves of a player who has not played up to his potential (but then again have any of them this year except maybe Malkin) for a guy who has managed 81 goals over four seasons which is pretty decent.

I have been saying that one of the Penguins defensemen were going bye-bye this year based solely on the number we were carrying. I even said it would be one of the offensive defensemen. But I really thought it would end up being Gonchar because he had the most value and a year left on his contract (if I am counting 5yrs correctly). I knew Letang was safe and figured it would be Goligoski or Whitney. But for some reason, I don’t know why, this trade just doesn’t make my nipples hard yet. That’s probably because the team as a whole hasn’t done that either.

Lots of people do not seem to like Whitney. There are even a couple in my office who have some unfounded resentment for the man. I think it is probably because he spoiled us by have that one really kick butt season which landed him his $4 dollar deal and people sort of expected him to keep getting better despite still being young and this year playing on a team that under performed. I hope these people that hated him and are joyous to see him leave are happy because I think he is going to be yet another player that in a couple year they are going to wish was still with the Penguins. All I can say is thank God he is in the Wester Conference so he can’t burn us much.

Perhaps with Whitney gone, does this mean that the Penguins are going to work to lock up Gonchar for a few more seasons? I hope so because he is the most underrated defenseman in the league if you ask me and certainly has a few more years left in him.