Well, there is always next year?

Well I've had about 72 hours or so to let it sink in. Sad to say I do not feel any better about it. I won't blame the officials or coaching or any individual players, for the embarrassing loss to the Canadiens. The team as a whole were to blame. There were maybe only 3 players that showed up for game 7 and wanted to win. Letang, Dupuis, and Kunitz played their asses off. Everyone else, well they could of left their sticks in the locker room. There is one thing that always prevails in the playoffs over all other attributes and that is "heart". This year's Penguins did not have it. They were lacking a lot of things but heart was the most obvious. This team did not have a real winger for Crosby or Malkin. Ponikarovsky did not live up to expectations at all. This was surprising to me. When the Pens traded for him I was very excited and thought he locked us into another cup run, now I think whoever signs him in the off-season is a fool. Bill Guerin became old this season and Kunitz is not a first line winger. Dupuis had a surprising number of goals this season but also is not a 1st line caliber winger. We are a team built with 3rd line wingers and 3 all-star centers. That has to change. This season's defense was a joke, a team can't win with 4 offensive defensemen. Last year Scuderi and Gill were lock down defensemen that were never going to score but kept other teams from scoring. That is what this team is lacking most. Thankfully Gonchar will not be here next season, even more exciting that frees up $5.5 million in cap room. There are at least four big nasty defensemen entering free agency that the Pens need to check out. Anton Volchenkov the big nasty shot blocker from Ottawa imagine pairing him and Orpik on your top D-unit. I realize Rob Blake is old but if he decides to come back next year he has certainly proven in these playoffs he can still play. Derek Morris is an excellent defensemen with atleast five good seasons left in him. Say what you will about Andy Sutton but he is a big tough guy with a lot of reach and a solid defensive defensmen. To solve our defensive problems we may need to sign two of these players. As far as solving our wing problem we are lucky that some guys are coming off the books. With Fedotenko and Pony leaving we gain some much needed cap space. I am hoping Guerin does the right thing and retires he has nothing left to offer or prove. If were lucky we will be able to re-sign Matt Cooke. As far as free agents go there is a plethora of worthy signings. Ray Whitney, Marek Svatos, Paul Kariya, Alex Tanguay, and Pavol Demitra. I think the Penguins just need one of these guys. If Jordan Staal finally takes that next step next year then the Penguins can finally do the inevitable. Make Evgeni Malkin into a right wing. If Staal could become a 30 goal scorer then there would be no worries with making Geno into Sid's right wing. This would finally resolve the issue of finding a wing for Sid and Geno they would have each other. Make Max Talbot the third line center and I see no loss of depth. if you add one of those free agent wingers and skate him on the 1st line you have the scariest 1st line in the NHL.

I do not want to take anything away from the Habs though. They played the perfect system to beat Washington and us. However it may be the most boring system in NHL history. Now the Eastern conference finals are going to be a painful series to watch. I personally will not be watching any of them and I could care less which team wins. I think the Blackhawks will beat either of them in 5 games. The sad thing is every bad team in the league will steal Montreal's system next year. It might be worse then when New Jersey was winning. The league was finally going in the right direction with the last two stanley cup winners having fun to watch systems. Now that an eight seed has made it this far all that great hockey disappears. My hope is that the Flyers dismantle them and then the Hawks crush Philly. Then everyone will forget cinderella.

I believe next year will be better. Shero will cut the crap(Gonchar, Fedotenko, Ponikarovsky) and replace them with players that want to win. This is a dynasty in the making all our best players have long term deals and our replaceable players have short term deals. The future is bright and its an exciting time to be a Pens fan.