The season began on October 7th for the Penguins on a high note as they opened against the Flyers in the inaugural game at the brand new Consol Energy Center. The crowd was deafening as Mario took a bottle of water from the ice at the Civic Arena and poured it on the ice at Consol. It was an awesome evening but, alas, they succumbed to the Flyers 2-1 with the first Penguins goal scored by Tyler Kennedy.It was a couple of rocky moths for Marc-Andre Fluery, but once he found his groove, it became apparent, not only to the Penguins and their fans, but the entire NHL that he was a force to be reckoned with. He made saves that simply defied description night after night. And when his team needed him to step up to the plate, he did so in such a way that he became the team’s MVP. In my opinion, no other player meant more to his team than Fluery so he should be the league’s MVP.
Sidney Crosby was having an MVP season leading the league in goals and at the top with points. He scored goals that defied description and that simply left you speechless. He was on track to a 60 plus goal season when, we all know what happened. He was hit by Steckel (then from the Capitals) during the 2011 Winter Classic with a elbow to the head – the puck was nowhere near him. Then, during the Tampa Bay game at Consol, Sid was hit violently into the boards with his head hitting the glass by Hedman from Tampa – again with the puck not even close to him. The result of this was we lost Sid for the rest of the season and playoffs because of a concussion.
Evgeni Malkin 
was having an ok season – not as great as Sid’s – but still a key member of the team. Everyone was expecting him to step up and fill Sid’s skates. Well, as fate would have it, during a game against the Sabers at Consol, a legal check into the boards and Geno hit his knee awkwardly tearing both his MCL & ACL – ouch !
Jodan Staal coming back was simply a blessing beyond words. He is blossoming into a super star of his own making – working hard shift in and shift out. His scoring punch and penalty killing ability came at a critical time in our season.
d what a great jobs these guys did – Letestu, Conner, Tangradi, Lovejoy, etc. And the role players and grinders stepped up – Dupis, Talbot, Kennedy, Kunitz to name a few. Aaron Asham came back from his concussion to not only provide a physical presence in front of the net but contributed offensively as well. The blue liners were simply awesome – Orpik, Letang, Martin, Michalek blocking shots and getting physical when necessary. What remains to be seen is how Comrie plays in a full season as a Penguin as his hip surgery sidelined him for a big part of the season. Also the jury is out on Niskanen and Neal but its was sweet to see Neal get the goal in double OT in the playoffs to win it for the Penguins.
Kudos to head coach Dan Byslma and assistant coaches Tony Grnato and Todd Reirden. What they did was nothing short of a miracle – trying to fill the voids left by Malkin, Crosby, Staal and other injuries. No wonder Dan is one of the finalists and should be a shoe in for the Jack Adams award as coach of the year.
I was blessed to be abl
e to go to a number of games with Victoria including Opening Night, 2011 Winter Classic (Will as well) as well as Sid’s and Geno’s last game. After I relocated to Tampa, I had the pleasure of taking my beautiful wife Valerie to a Penguins / Bolts game at the St. Pete Times Forum.
The playoffs were a tight affair with Tampa. Our inability on the power play was critical in why Tama won the series but a reminder to Pens fans – it was not very effective with both Sid and Geno in the lineup during the regular season. Just a few goals from the power play and we advance. But Rolson was awesome and made some spectacular saves. The Pens could have mde it to round two and who is to say how Matt Cooke would have made a huge difference.
On a note to the NHL: Thank you for being more aware and leveling suspensions and fines for the hits to the head and for taking actions to prevent further concussions. But, I am appalled, that nothing was done to Stekel & Hedman for their hits to Crosby – he simply was out of action for the rest of the season. My prayer is that Sid is ok physically and that we will be blessed with him lighting up the lamp come October at Consol. But the league ruling that there was nothing inapproiate in either of those hits leaves me scratching my head.
Looking forward to October 2011, a healthy Sid, Geno, and the re
st of the team, and hearing those words from the voice of the Penguins Mike Lange ‘It’s a hockey night in Pittsburgh’.
Proud to be a Pittsburgh Penguins fan for life !
Let’s Go Pens !
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