One of my favorite parts about winter hockey in Pittsburgh used to be driving to work on snowy nights when the Penguins played in Civic Arena.
Now, if you know anything about my hometown’s topography and the specific challenge the city provides for those kind folks who clear snow and salt roads, you’re probably wondering what’s wrong with me. And that’s a loaded question.
But stay with me.
Remember how magical the old Igloo looked when it was covered in snow, and how that steel dome glistened as it peeked through the white amid the glow of lights beneath the roof? I sure do, and it’s one of my fondest memories of covering this franchise for a couple of decades.
Take a step into the Way Back Machine, won’t yinz? Skip to the 1:33 mark of this short video from the Penguins’ website.
Magical.
The Penguins were off yesterday, and most folks in Western Pennsylvania were treated to a rare snow day. With no real news to address in the opening item, why not skate down memory lane?
Tonight begins probably the most critical stretch of their season: Five home games over eight days, including three of the first four against opponents with whom they’re competing for one of the Eastern Conference’s two wild-card slots.
Up first are the plucky Columbus Blue Jackets. While this has always been a one-sided rivalry in the Penguins’ favor, they can ill afford to lose — and probably need to win in regulation — against the Blue Jackets. They’ll also need to win a weekend back-to-back with the Ottawa Senators and Tampa Bay Lightning.
This is three-point game time in the NHL. A team like the Penguins must not only win head-to-head against opponents with whom they’re battling for those wild-card spots; these Penguins can’t let those particular opponents come away with a loser point.
It’s a bit of a cold way to look at an exciting stretch of hockey.
Maybe that’s why I’m thinking about something as serene as an Igloo snow globe.
How to watch, listen, follow
The Penguins (17-17-7, 41 points, WC3) face the Blue Jackets (17-7-6, 40 points, WC5) at PPG Paints Arena. The opening faceoff is set for just after 7 p.m. E.T.
Regional TV/streaming: SportsNet Pittsburgh/SNP 360
Local/regional radio: WXDX-FM, Penguins Radio Network
U.S. streaming (outside Pittsburgh market): ESPN+
Odds (as of 9:30 a.m. ET)
Spread: Penguins -1.5 (+165); Blue Jackets +1.5 (-150)
Total: Over 6.5 (-105), Under 6.5 (-125)
Moneyline: Penguins (-140), Blue Jackets (+120)
Live posts
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@JoshYohe_PGH (X)
History n’at
Today is all about nostalgia. And now with good reason.
On this date in 2014, four Penguins — including three of the most responsible for those three Stanley Cup wins on that 16-season postseason run — received one of hockey’s highest callings: representing their country at the Winter Olympics.
Canada tabbed Sidney Crosby, its captain, and his go-to winger at the time, Chris Kunitz. Russia brought Evgeni Malkin to his homeland for the Sochi Games. Finland selected Jussi Jokinen.
I’ve never covered a Winter Olympics with NHL players. It’s one of those bucket list items. I was hopeful to get the opportunity in 2014, but my newspaper went with another reporter.
Chris Kunitz celebrates after scoring for Canada in the gold medal game against Sweden at the 2014 Olympics. (Alexander Nemenov /AFP via Getty Images)
What always bothered me about those Olympics was the discourse, mostly from my colleagues across the northern border, about Kunitz being part of Team Canada. Many viewed his candidacy as invalid — as if he was a creation of Crosby. Too many smart hockey people looked at his 123 goals and 275 points with the Penguins to that point as mostly Crosby’s doing.
That was always unfair. Crosby missed large chunks of three seasons from 2010-13. During those seasons, Kunitz played a big role in helping Malkin win a second Art Ross Trophy and the Hart Trophy and helped keep the Penguins atop the Eastern Conference when Malkin and Crosby weren’t available for most of the final month in a condensed 2012-13 season. Also, James Neal and Pascal Dupuis scored a lot of goals in those seasons because Kunitz was doing the dirty work so they could be set up by Malkin and Crosby, respectively.
Kunitz was the rare winger who didn’t need to produce points on the top line to make an impact, but he did anyway. He did a lot of everything.
His puck retrievals were elite. He punished defenders and created space in the offensive zone. His touch passes in tight quarters were masterful. He dragged his teammates into the fight with tenacity and physicality.
He thought the game on a high level (you’d have to if you were the preferred winger for Crosby and Malkin, which he was those years). He also had no ego, and fit as well in a bottom-six role as anywhere.
Kunitz already had two Cup wins on his resume, the first with Anaheim, by the time of those Olympics. He’d shown he could play with the likes of a generational center (Crosby), one of the dominant scoring centers of a generation (Malkin), and a big-bodied center who could wear down opponents (Ryan Getzlaf).
I never understood how a winger who fit ideally with three Olympic centers — Getzlaf was on Team Canada’s 2014 roster — was dismissed so regularly while he was at his peak as a point producer, as Kunitz was for the first half of the 2010s. I never will, either.
Kunitz was a deserving Olympian and a smart choice for Team Canada in 2014, and he shouldn’t have had the experience sullied so much because we in the media couldn’t fathom how a player like him was picked for hockey’s royal roster.
We get stuck in our opinions as reporters. I do.
That doesn’t make it justifiable.
So, pour one out for Kunitz on the anniversary of his Olympic selection.
Thanks, as always, to PittsburghHockey.net for the historical information that resulted in this rant.
Don’t miss
• The collective bargaining agreement between the league and the NHL Players’ Association is thick enough to kill scores of trees if it is printed out and given to every member of hockey operations, coach, player and reporter covering the NHL. It exits online, so there’s no need.
It’s kind of a fascinating read, though. In this story, Harman Dayal examines rules in the CBA that are mostly unknown to the general public. Fun stuff.
• The Hart Trophy race is fascinating, writes Dom Luszczyszyn in this story. He’s not wrong.
If you’re not aware, I tend to take this approach to NHL Awards, and I’ve been a voter in 19 of my 21 seasons on the beat:
1. They aren’t subjective, but there are ones based purely on stats and others driven by narratives. The Art Ross is the former. The Hart is the latter. Tying the Hart to stats is, in my view, a mistake, given that voters are instructed to select “the player adjudged to be most valuable to his team.” Defensemen and goalies should have won more Hart Trophies than they have, full stop. There is a trophy for the top scorer. I’ll die on this hill.
2. The system leaves it open for a player to point his way to an award because rules call for voters to rank five players for each award, with points assigned in reverse order and then tallied. This is how you get a dozen or more players receiving votes but only three finalists.
I’m not suggesting there is a better way to do it. The PHWA usually gets it right.
There are exceptions: Wayne Gretzky over Mario Lemieux in 1989, Joe Thornton over Jaromir Jagr in 2006 and Henrik Sedin over anyone in 2010 are my top three examples of us getting it wrong.
My point is it’s not as simple as PHWA voters picking one player for an award and the most commonly picked player winning said award. If it was, it would be a lot easier on this voter.
3. The weeks after the trade deadline matter. Maybe they shouldn’t, but how a player finishes carries a lot of weight. Unfair? Perhaps.
And, while I’m on this topic, James Mirtle is right to argue in this column that a new award for defensemen is needed given how the position’s demands have changed over the years. I’d also argue the Selke Trophy now goes to the best scorer who also defends, and that’s not how it was originally intended, but I’m open to your opinions on that one.
You know the drill: Drop your takes in the comments section, please and thank you.
(Top photo of Chris Kunitz and Sidney Crosby in 2015: Justin K. Aller / Getty Images)