The Pittsburgh Penguins: Futility Wins Championships

During Game One of the first round of the 2009 Stanley Cup Playoffs between the Philadelphia Flyers and the Pittsburgh Penguins NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman was quoted as saying that the Pittsburgh Penguins were a model NHL franchise. A model franchise. That means that he thinks that the Penguins are an exemplary franchise that other NHL teams should model themselves after. Does Mr. Bettman know anything about the league he currently runs? Apparently Gary was living under an NHL rock for every year before the 2007 season. The Pittsburgh Penguins are a model for futility and, before the 06/07 season, consistently ranked in the bottom portion of NHL attendance figures. It might be wise to show Penguins fans, NHL fans, and the league commissioner how the Penguins won the 2009 Stanley Cup.

Let's first look at the history of the Pittsburgh Penguins. During the early years of the Penguins, their ownership sought to relocate the team because of problems making money. This could have possibly been due to the fact that the Pens average attendance during the 1970s was about 9,700 in a stadium with an average capacity at the time of 14,200. And during the 82/83 and 83/84 seasons the Pens had average attendances of 8,408 and 6,839 respectively, in an arena with a capacity of 16,033. The average NHL attendance during this time period was hovering around 12,000 per game. Yea, but that was a long time ago, right? Well the Pens won the Stanley Cup in 1991 and 1992. And attendance spiked, as it should when a championship has been won. But from the years 2001 to 2007 (excluding the 2005 lockout season), Pittsburgh ranked in the bottom 3rd in NHL attendance including 2004 where they ranked dead last in attendance. I'm not going to say that the fans only show up when the team is winning (fair weather fans and the definition if it), but... Just for something to look at, during the 2006/2007 season the Philadelphia Flyers were the worst team in hockey. They ranked 7th among NHL teams in attendance. This is why, once again, there was another threat to relocate the team. There was no fan base. But Mario Lemieux saved the team from being relocated to Kansas City and kept them in Pittsburgh.

In order to win a championship a team needs a little bit of luck, right? Well the Pens draft picks from 2002-2006 were a little more than luck. Starting in 2002, the Penguins had the 5th overall pick (Ryan Whitney); in 2003, the 1st overall pick (Marc-Andre Fleury); in 2004, the 2nd overall pick (Evgeni Malkin); in 2005, the 1st* overall pick (Sidney Crosby) and in 2006, the 2nd overall pick (Jordan Staal). That's five straight years with top five picks and four straight with top two overall picks. I suppose that's what happens when you're a terrible team for a long time. But the 2005 draft was a little different from the others. The Pens had had the 2nd overall pick the year before and chose Evgeni Malkin. And the very next year, without even playing a game during the 2005 season, they received the 1st overall pick. No conspiracy, just really lucky.

Now I'm not commenting on the overall quality of the Penguins now. They have a very good team and rightfully so. If they weren't the best team in the NHL with five straight top five picks, they don't deserve to be in the NHL. And they have a large fan base now which is to be expected after a team wins a championship. But where were these fans but a few years ago and why weren't they supporting their team and doing their job to try to keep their team in Pittsburgh? It took five top five picks to bring the fans back to Mellon Arena. Other franchises have fans no matter how well or how poorly their team is performing. I'm not going to get into the Sidney Crosby debate, that's for another post but the Pittsburgh Penguins are NOT a model franchise, Mr. Commissioner. They're actually the exact opposite of how an NHL team should operate itself.

Flying High

Well it's been a long time since the last post, but school has kept me busy and extremely stressed at the same time.

The Flyers have been playing on a different level as of late. They're 12-5-1 through 18 games, not too shabby. With a 3-0 start, spirits were high, until they faced the Pens for the first time. They hit a little rut after that but have been playing basically lights-out hockey for the past 2+ weeks. Beating some top-notch teams and handling the inferior teams with ease. The rut at the beginning of the season was due to new additions and new positions.

The addition of a new netminder is always going to take some time to get used to. Every goalie is a little insane in their own respect, and it takes time for the position players to get used to their new goaltenders extent and type of insanity.

When a team adds a top-tier D-man like Chris Pronger, it takes time to get acquainted to him as well. He is in a way, like the quarterback of the team and when you get a new leader of your defense and powerplay, chemistry doesn't just happen overnight.

But the Flyers are running at full throttle now and players that weren't seen last year are making a huge impact. James vanRiemsdyk is second among NHL rookies in scoring and leads the team with 4 game-winning goals. Defenseman Matt Carle is playing out of this world right now alongside Pronger. I guess playing with a future hall of famer is going to improve anyones game. The Flyers are 10-1 with faceoff machine Blair Betts in the lineup, which just goes to show that when you win faceoffs, you aren't forced to play back on your heels. Also can't forget Ray Emery. He's been playing phenomenal between the pipes so far and shows no signs it's going to stop.

The biggest liabilities on the beginning of the year were surprisingly, Kimmo Timonen and Braydon Coburn. Kimmo was consistently the best and most reliable defenseman for the Flyers since he's been here, and it was just a matter of time before he got back on track. It was sort of the same thing with Coburn. We had grown accustomed to his good play and seeing him struggle was sort of shocking. But not that they're both on track it must look like trying to get through a brick wall when it comes to scoring on this team.

Here's to a good west coast trip! Let's go Flyers!

W.S. Game 1

Thanks to MLB schedule makers, we've had to wait since Sunday for this day to come. It's just more days for the stress to mount on the fans and I suppose the players as well. With Cliff Lee and C.C. Sabathia on the mound this game should be a pitchers duel, but when it looks that way, it usually ends up in a shootout. Cliff Lee did win the first ever game at the new Yankee Stadium defeating C.C. Sabathia, but that was in April and it hardly matters now. And the Phillies did beat C.C. last postseason when he was with the Brewers en route to a World Series championship. And the Phillies did win two out of three in Yankee Stadium this summer and had it not been for a Brad Lidge blown save, they may have swept the Yankees. But all of those positives are in the past. In the postseason nothing else matters. Just ask Carlos Ruiz, the playoffs are a completely different animal.

Now I'm especially nervous about game one. In the Phillies 2008 postseason run and so far in 2009, they have won each game one of each series. So I think that this game is especially important to get home field advantage in the Phillies favor and to show the Yankees that they're not playing the Twins or Angels, but a real baseball team and a World Champion. Runs are going to be hard to come by tonight and whichever starting pitcher tires first will lose the game. I really don't want to make a prediction for tonight because it will be completely biased towards who I want to win, but I'll do it anyway.

Prediction: 4-3 Philadelphia

Yankees/Angels Game 6

I really don't care who wins this game to tell you the truth. I honestly believe the Phillies can beat either team. I think that they'd have an easier time with the Angels, but I also think it would be a better accomplishment to beat the most distinguished franchise in all of sports, the Yankees. At this point I'm just hoping to see the last bit of good baseball before the stress of watching the Phillies sets in. And it wouldn't be bad to see either team to use a lot of their pitching before they faced the Phillies either. Not going to make a prediction for this game, because I really don't care what the outcome is. I just want to see a great baseball game before I can't watch baseball without shaking uncontrollably.

Returns Only

Well this is it. The Phillies are within a game of returning to the World Series for the second year in a row. Considering the way the Phillies won on Monday, I don't see any way that the Dodgers can rebound. It was a completely deflating loss and I will be extremely impressed if they are able to come back after such a crushing loss. Well this is Cole Hamels' 3rd postseason game this year. He has done pretty poorly up to this point, but had it not been for Chase Utley's error in game one of the NLCS, he may not have had that bad of an outing. The Padilla Flotilla won't be able to handle being on the opposite side of the raucous Philadelphia crowd. If the Phillies score early, this game could be over quickly.

Prediction: 6-3 Philadelphia

Literally Without Speech

I'm not going to say I saw this coming, because I didn't. But I will say that I had faith in this Phillies team even with two outs and down a run in the 9th. I said at the beginning of the 2009 playoffs that that special something that the 2008 team seemed to have, the 2009 team didn't. Well I officially retract that statement. It's not that this team refuses to lose, because I don't think that's the right way to put it. I think it's that this team knows it is going to win. Even when the chips are down and it looks like an impossibility, they still have full confidence in themselves and simply know that they'll end up on top.

Last night was not nearly as much of a roller coaster ride as game four of the NLDS, but it was certainly a fun game to watch. In the NLDS, I didn't have the confidence in this team that I have now. Brad Lidge looks to be back in form with his 9th inning appearance last night and Ryan Howard just can't be stopped from knocking in runs. I don't know how the Dodgers have any confidence that they'll win another game in this series or if Johnathan Broxton can ever find a way to finish off the Phillies in the post season.

Now I'm not going to say this series is over yet, because it's not. We still have to win one more game, but the scales are definitely tilted in our favor. With Cole on the mound and the Phillies getting their second look at the ever unpredictable Padilla, it looks like the Phils may punch their ticket to the World Series at home this year.

Finally Back w/ a Prediction

Well I missed a couple of pregame predictions and a couple of post game analyses but I'm back. As far as game two goes, I do not at all blame Chase Utley. The game should have never gotten to that point. Charlie Manuel should have never taken out Pedro Martinez. He had pitched 7 innings of two hit baseball with a low pitch count. I could understand if Manuel took him out because they were really threatening offensively, but to put Ben Fransisco in when we had 1 out and the bases empty doesn't make much sense, especially the way our bullpen has been. It's tough to win any game though when your offense only puts up one run on a solo shot by post season RBI machine, Ryan Howard. But the domination in game three certainly made up for it.

Cliff Lee had another masterful performance and the offense exploded early for 6 runs in the first two innings. This game was a perfect example of how the Phillies are an extremely mature baseball team. They were able to put the disappointing game two loss behind them and go back on the field as if it were game one again. There's really not much one can say about this game other than the Phillies thoroughly manhandled the Dodgers.

Now to game four. The Phillies are looking to take a commanding three games to one series lead and all but punch their ticket to the series. Joe Blanton takes the mound for the Phillies and looks to prove that he still deserves to pitch in the post season and still has that magic that he had in 2008. The Dodgers throw former Phil Randy Wolf on the mound. He was one of my, along with most Phillie fans' favorites. The Phillies should know everything there is to know about Wolf considering he was originally drafted by the Phillies in 1997. With Blanton having something to prove, the Phillies knowing Randy Wolf and the cold weather, which really seemed to benefit the Phillies last night, I say the Phillies win game four and look to clinch in Philadelphia.

Prediction: 6-4 Philadelphia

NLCS Game 1 Prediction

If a pitcher can't be motivated by pitching game one of the NLCS, there's something wrong with him. And especially after having your first child, this is the greatest time of your life! I believe that Mr. Cole Hamels will be mentally prepared for his second postseason outing of 2009. The Phillies have a fairly good track record against the Dodgers starting pitcher, Clayton Kershaw. There's no reason the Phillies shouldn't win this game, yet it is the playoffs and anything can happen.

Prediction: Philadelphia 6-3
In a nailbiter...

Beating Huston in Denver through the Spectrum

If game 4 of the NLDS between the Phillies and Rockies wasn't the most exciting game of the year, I don't know what was. I went through the entire spectrum of emotions in only 3 innings. The Phillies had a 2-1 lead: I'm nervous, but happy. They get the bases loaded with one out for the 2nd time in the game and fail to score: I'm upset, but we still have the lead. Ryan Madson gives up a single to the steroid freak himself, Jason Giambi: Pretty darn angry, but the game is still tied. Madson gives up a 2 run double to Torrealba: Pissed beyond all belief and now having difficulty breathing. Manuel puts in the inept Greg Dobbs and he, of course, strikes out: I have basically given up hope and am thinking of how Cole will do in game 5. J-Roll singles: big deal, they always get your hopes up only to smash them minutes later. Chase Utley draws a 2 out walk after a Victorino fielder's choice: starting to get nervous again, but Ryan is coming up, he'll strike out. Howard hits a 2 out, 2 run double to right field: speechless, literally without speech. Jayson Werth singles to score Ryan: after that great at bat, I kind of thought he was going to get a hit, but getting stressed again. We still have to close the game. Phillies bring in Scott Eyre: wait, did he not get injured last game? Oh god. With 2 outs, in comes Brad Lidge: uncontrollable shaking overcomes my body. Strike three: who's pitching game 2?

A human being should never have to go through that amount of stress in such a short period of time or even a lifetime for that matter. I'm glad to see the Phils return to the NLCS for the second year in a row, I'm just not looking forward to the mental stress that it's going to once again put me through. I went 3/4 in calling the NLDS games, not too shabby. I'm not ready to make any Championship Series or World Series predictions yet though. I think I'm just going to use Tuesday and Wednesday to recover from the insane amount of anxiety and mental agony from Monday night.

A Not so "Happ"y Beginning

Well who would have thought that with sub 30 degree temperatures game 3 of the NLDS would have been a show of offensive displays. J.A. Happ looked worse than Cole Hamels did. In the first inning Happ wasn't hit tremendously hard, but when they were hit, they just seemed to find the open places. But these open places wouldn't have been found if Happ was able to pitch ahead in the count and not go to 3 ball counts to more than half the batters he faced. But the offense was there to back him and the rest of the bullpen up, showing why they were the most prolific offense in the National League.

It is kind of disappointing that Cliff Lee has to pitch today, because if he wins, he won't be able to pitch until game 2 of the NLCS, at the earliest (assuming the Phillies beat the Rockies). But I think that Lee will have a good game this afternoon. Maybe not as good as game 1, but enough to get the win. Phils win the series today.

Prediction: 6-3 Philadelphia