Rate the season: version 14-15

Postby **MalkinIsMyHomeboy** » Sat Apr 25, 2015 1:11 am

Time for some reflection.

I'd give the season a B+. Not spectacular, but it's kind of hard to expect a lot considering how injured we were. I was low on confidence towards HCMJ in the regular season but he really showed his stuff against the Rags. That series was a lot closer than 4-1.

GMJR was very inconsistent. Great trades (Hornqvist/Spaling, Cole, LaPierre) and head-scratchers (Winnik? Lovejoy? I actually like the Perron trade, which I bet I'm in the minority of).

As per the players, it's hard to ask for more. Fleury had the best year of his career, even through the playoffs. Letang has a very valid shot at winning the Norris. Sid had the highest PPG in the league in the regular season and Geno was 7th, right there with him.

Scuderi, Adams, Bennett, Martin and more may all have played their last game as a Pen. It sucks to see Martin go, he's kind of been unappreciated here, but hey, that's the way the cookie crumbles.

Maatta, Pouliot, Letang will be back and Sundqvist, Wilson and maybe others will get their first shot at the big time.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way – in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.

Postby **cma3585** » Sat Apr 25, 2015 1:20 am

No vote for "injuries"?

Postby **MalkinIsMyHomeboy** » Sat Apr 25, 2015 1:21 am

No vote for "injuries"?

I guess that falls under dropped out

Postby **Orlando Penguin** » Sat Apr 25, 2015 1:25 am

I gave it a D+. I'm a difficult grader. But I go by the entire body of work. To me, Fleury was far and away the sunshine on this team this year. The improvement he showed compared to the previous couple of years is light-years ahead of where we thought he'd be when Vokoun was spelling him in the Islanders series. Injuries totally wrecked us and to me, the handwriting of how this season was going to end was on the wall in late December, early January when we couldn't beat a decent Metro team. I'm sure I said it on some GDT back then that there was no way we were getting out of the first round. I wish I wasn't right. But the most frustrating thing about this season was that we go on that West Coast road trip and play great against the Ducks and beat the Kings and lose a tough shootout to the Sharks and that's where I thought we had turned the corner. We were the healthiest we could possibly be without Maata and Dupuis. I believe everyone else was back in play. And then Ehrhoff goes down again...and Malkin comes up lame...then Letang gets bashed...and on and on and on. The precipitous drops in skill by Kunitz and Perron and Bennett were alarming. As a result, there's no secondary scoring...they go the final 15 games without scoring more than 3 goals and as much heart as Geno had coming back from that injury, he couldn't put anything in the net. We barely make the playoffs with the skeleton crew and then fight our guts out against the Rangers.

I always say that 2 of the worst words in the sports dictionary are 'expectations' and 'potential'. I think when we looked at the roster at the beginning of the year, we saw the potential that this team could be a playoff force if the new players gelled and we got some help from the bottom 6. We knew we had a pretty good defense corps and we hoped that Fleury could backstop any breakdowns. We only got the Fleury end of that equation. If you had told me in October that this roster would barely limp into the playoffs and be dispatched in 5 games, I wouldn't have believed you. Unfortunately, the Injury Monster had bigger things in mind.

Postby **Morkle** » Sat Apr 25, 2015 1:34 am

D+ just unimpressed by anything that happened this year. Lovejoy absolutely killed any kind of positive thoughts I had about GMJR. Dude needs to get gone.

Postby **blackjack68** » Sat Apr 25, 2015 1:42 am

Lovejoy or NotShero?

Postby **MR25** » Sat Apr 25, 2015 2:15 am

I gave it a B, given what they were able to accomplish with the staggering amount of injuries to key contributors.

And I'm more or less basing that on the playoff showing. B- was not an option.

Postby **Robot B9** » Sat Apr 25, 2015 2:24 am

C.

Regardless of all, Sid did well points-wise, Geno was there, too..That was rs..but that chizz was blow to smithereens. They lost all identity.

best playoff performers were MAF, Lapierre.

Postby **Pavement** » Sat Apr 25, 2015 2:39 am

I gave it a B. MAF has been good and hopefully that's something that will continue.

Injuries have been a nightmare for the Pens and I just hope Letang and Maata can come back strong.

Did not enjoy the Pens limping into the playoffs but overall I thought they battled well against the Rangers.

Going to be an interesting off-season!

Postby **MalkinIsMyHomeboy** » Sat Apr 25, 2015 3:01 am

I gave it a B, given what they were able to accomplish with the staggering amount of injuries to key contributors.

And I'm more or less basing that on the playoff showing. B- was not an option.

I tried adding minuses but was only allowed 10 poll options

I'm used to it though because the first Uni I went to (Clarkson Uni) didn't have minuses either...

Postby **columbia** » Sat Apr 25, 2015 6:46 am

I - Incomplete

Postby **Gaucho** » Sat Apr 25, 2015 7:11 am

I was just going to post that.

It was the least successful season years, but in some ways it was also the most encouraging. Not in every way, mind.

Postby **count2infinity** » Sat Apr 25, 2015 9:13 am

I gave it a C+. This is a different team from what Ray Shero and Dan Bylsma built and that's a good thing when it comes to this time of the year. Injuries did us in... again. I look forward to seeing what comes in the off season and into next year. The last time we got knocked out in the first round in 5 games was 2007... went to the SCF the next year. Not saying there's a pattern, but boy would it be nice.

Postby **Craig** » Sat Apr 25, 2015 9:15 am

Postby **wallflower** » Sat Apr 25, 2015 9:58 am

C.

And it was probably only that high becasue of Fleury (who I would give an A, no question). I consider the grade to cover the players, coaches and management. This team is really in need of an overhaul but I just have no confidence in management to actually do that. I'd give the coaching staff an "Incomplete" grade because I could see what they were trying to do (most of the time) but couldn't actually completely enact it because of a questionable roster and often times a lack of cooperation from the players they did have in the lineup.

Geez...I used to be such a Pens optimist. (Dare I say a Blind Mario Zombie?

) What have they done to me?

Postby **willeyeam** » Sat Apr 25, 2015 10:05 am

It's weird. I've never felt as good after losing a series in 5. But I think with a couple of tweaks and a healthy team next year, they're going very far.

As for this year. C+ maybe? They were decimated by injuries, but next man up right? Would have helped heaps if Disco Dan gave some of these guys a shot when he was here. We have great depth on D, just inexperienced.

Postby **skullman80** » Sat Apr 25, 2015 10:16 am

Was pretty disinterested in the team all year. So kind of tough to grade. I guess a C, as they were average after a hot start. Almost want to say incomplete with all the injuries but meh.

Postby **obhave** » Sat Apr 25, 2015 11:24 am

C+

Based on the hot start than the extremely poor effort at the end of the regular season, makes for an average one. The team showed little care at times, which was frustrating, to say the least. MAF, had a strong season and post season which I take as a huge positive. I hope that continues into next year.

Postby **Avyran** » Sat Apr 25, 2015 11:42 am

I - Incomplete

Postby **cadams** » Sat Apr 25, 2015 11:47 am

If Dupuis stays healthy last year we might have won the cup. If he stays healthy this year along with the defense we aren't the 8 seed.

Injuries killed this season. If instead of this guys hurt we lost Kunitz and Scuderi for essentially the year we would have been better off possibly.

Postby **genoscoif** » Sat Apr 25, 2015 1:18 pm

I gave it a B. The injuries neutered this team's ability to play the system that catapulted them out of the chute at the beginning of the year. HCMJ did try to adjust the system, but the horses weren't there. Losing 58 crushed what little transition game that was remaining. Add officiating that regressed back to prelockout ineptitude, and the Pens were doomed to mediocrity.

GMJR had a wildly inconsistent season, but Hornqvist and RESIGNING FLEURY stand out as decisions made with the forethought that most seem to think he lacks. This will be a bananas offseason, but I think that there is a plan in place to cut the fat. Injuries not only hurt the on-ice product, but also handcuffed the Pens organizationally.

This was a team build to figure it out during the regular season, then perform in the post season. If healthy, this team would've been a nightmare to play against. They just didn't have what they needed most...back end transition.

No doom and gloom from me. I'm disappointed, but not disillusioned. I see this season as one that answered more questions than it created...and I'm confident that, if healthy, they are fairly poised to strike back next year.

Postby **shmenguin** » Sat Apr 25, 2015 1:31 pm

It was a pretty unimpressive year even when were still reasonably healthy. The effort in the past couple games only has so much weight.

C

Postby **tifosi77** » Mon Apr 27, 2015 6:01 pm

Very difficult to judge this season. Through February, they had 80-odd points; if they had maintained that pace, they would have finished the season with 117 points and won the President's Trophy. But they only took 14 point out of their last 23 games; if they had played all year at that point-per-game pace, they would have finished with a paltry 49 points and been comfortably the worst team in the League.

Undoubtedly, that's down to injuries piling up (they were easily the most injured team to qualify for the playoffs) more than anything else. If I have to give them a grade, it would be 'I' for incomplete.

Postby **Robot B9** » Mon Apr 27, 2015 9:32 pm

I gave it a C+. This is a different team from what Ray Shero and Dan Bylsma built and that's a good thing when it comes to this time of the year. Injuries did us in... again. I look forward to seeing what comes in the off season and into next year. The last time we got knocked out in the first round in 5 games was 2007... went to the SCF the next year. Not saying there's a pattern, but boy would it be nice.

That team was trending _up_.

Postby **MemeMaker** » Tue Apr 28, 2015 10:05 am

They are what the standings say they are.