The last time the Pittsburgh Penguins failed to qualify for the playoffs, Sidney Crosby wasn’t even 20 years old.
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On Saturday, the Stanley Cup three-ring holder didn’t go four ways when asked to describe the state of mind of the Pennsylvania team.
“Nobody’s happy,” dryly started the number 87, whose comments were picked up by NHL.com. We all feel responsible. It’s not a good feeling.”
We can understand Crosby, because the penguins bear full responsibility for their misfortune. With two games left on the schedule, they only needed to beat two of the league’s three worst teamsー the Chicago Blackhawks and the Columbus Blue Jackets ー to qualify.
An embarrassing 5-2 loss to the Hawks finally gave the Florida Panthers and New York Islanders tickets to the Spring Ball.
“I hope we will learn from this experience,” the Nova Scotian chained. That’s the most important. No matter what the situation (…) you have to learn from it. We will have plenty of time to analyze this and learn from it. Hoping this will make us an even more motivated group.”
Among the players who had never seen their season end so quickly was sniper Jake Guentzel.
“Few players among us have experienced this situation,” admitted the American winger. All you have to do is practice and get back on the ice as soon as possible. You can use it as a source of motivation to improve.”
Change, lots of change
The penguins are not yet in the rebuilding phase. With several longtime veterans on the team, including Evgeni Malkin, Kristopher Letang, Bryan Rust and Rickard Rakell, Mike Sullivan’s roster is aiming for top honors again next season.
That didn’t stop the “Pens” from cleaning up at the end of the campaign, showing General Manager Ron Hextall, President of Hockey Operations Brian Burke and Deputy General Manager Chris Pryor the way out.
“When you lose, there will always be changes,” Crosby said. In recent years there have been several reversals of the situation. It’s hard to predict. I expect even more changes based on what happened this year.”
Goalkeeper Tristan Jarry, whose inconsistency has been pointed out, could become vacant as the free agent market opens up. Forward Jason Zucker and defender Brian Dumoulin could also be tempted by a different formation.