| The year was 1993. Health Care Reform was the big | | | | Coming off 2 straight appearances in the finals and |
| issue dominating news. In sports, the Pittsburgh Pirates | | | | defending the Cup in Round 2 against the 8th seeded |
| had a losing season and the Penguins were poised to | | | | Canadiens, it was a foregone conclusion that the Pens |
| make their 3rd straight appearance in the Stanley Cup | | | | would roll over Montreal. |
| Finals. Somebody hit the gas on that DeLorean and | | | | The two series played out in similar fashion. The Pens |
| let's get it up to 88 MPH... | | | | badly outshot their underdog opponent, but came up |
| Having grown up in Pittsburgh, I've been blessed to see | | | | against a hot goaltender and some opportunistic |
| some of the greatest offensive talents in NHL history | | | | scoring, while getting inconsistent goaltending on their |
| dominate the score sheet for the past 25 years. Since | | | | end of the rink. 1993 featured the 5' 10'' Glen Healy |
| 1987, the Penguins have produced the Art Ross | | | | standing tall, as the two teams traded close games |
| Trophy winner in 14 of 22 seasons, between the likes | | | | down to a game 7 finale in Mellon Arena. Tom |
| of Lemieux, Jagr, Crosby, and Malkin. We've also been | | | | Barrasso was embarrassing in that series, giving up 19 |
| privileged enough to see them lift the Cup 3 times in | | | | goals in the final 4 games. 2010 gave us a much taller |
| that span, albeit never on home ice. | | | | Jaroslav Halak (5' 11'') once again standing on his head |
| However, with such great talent, and great | | | | to frustrate an all-star Penguin lineup into a game 7 let |
| expectations, we've also been witness to 2 of the | | | | down. Meanwhile Marc-Andre Fleury struggled, and |
| most surprising and disappointing playoff letdowns of | | | | was ultimately pulled in the final contest. |
| the past several decades. 1993 and 2010. The | | | | It's hard to say which image will give Penguins fans |
| similarities are striking and (as a Pens fan), painful to | | | | more nightmares over the coming years: Dave Volek's |
| recount. But in order to heal, we must first face our | | | | half-court slapshot sneaking past Tom Barrasso in |
| fears. So let the therapy begin. | | | | overtime, or Sergei Gonchar standing still while Travis |
| After 2 straight Cup victories, the Pens were primed | | | | Moen skates around him for a short-handed |
| to three-peat in 1993, featuring one of the most | | | | back-breaking 4th goal. Either way, Pittsburgh fans |
| talented rosters ever fielded in hockey and coached | | | | walk away shaking their heads wandering how such a |
| by the all-time great Scotty Bowman. Lemieux, Francis, | | | | talented team can fall to such an inferior opponent. |
| Jagr, Mullen, Murphy, Trottier, Barrasso, Stevens, | | | | 1993 and 2010 may ultimately give us something even |
| Tocchett, Naslund... that's 5 current Hall of Famers, and | | | | more significant to remember. That is, a Montreal |
| a couple more likely candidates on the horizon. It was | | | | roster only good enough to finish 3rd in their division, |
| assumed that this cast of all-stars would roll over the | | | | may be on the brink of lifting the Stanley Cup once |
| low seeded Islanders in the second round, who finished | | | | again. And oh yeah - the Pirates are still looking for |
| the season 32 points shy of the 1st place Pens. | | | | that winning season. |
| Fast forward 17 years and the story line sound familiar. | | | | |