NHL: Penguins Still Not Cup Contenders

By Scott Sepich Sports Central Columnist

Mario Lemieux is all the rage in the NHL right now, and with good reason. He has proven that he is just as good now as he was when he left the game in 1997, and he has re-energized a league that has been struggling to find space in America's public conscience. And although the Mario road show has brought sell-out crowds to normally vacant arenas in Chicago and Washington, the Penguins as a whole are not all that much better off than they were without him (except financially of course).

With all the coverage ESPN has been giving the Penguins, as well as all the audible media buzz about their offensive firepower, you would think Pittsburgh was a lock for the Stanely Cup finals. But, back up a minute. As of January 23rd, the Penguins stand at 22-18-6-2, seventh in the Eastern conference and just 5 points ahead of the ninth-place Boston Bruins. There's still some work to go for the Penguins to even make the playoffs, and provided that happens, here are three reasons why they won't win the Stanley Cup:

1. Goaltending - You don't win a Stanley Cup without great goaltending, and the Penguins do not have an intimidating tandem in Garth Snow and J.S. Aubin. The last five Stanley Cup winning goalies have been Brodeur, Belfour, Osgood, Vernon, and Roy, four of whom are Hall-of-Fame candidates. Snow's 2.99 GAA and .900 save percentage would look fine ten years ago, but it's not good enough nowadays. The Penguins desperately need an upgrade at this position. Vernon or Beezer may be an option, but those two are past their prime. Jeff Hackett seems like a more reasonable solution, and it would be nice to finally see him showcasing his skills for a contender.

2. Defense - Pittsburgh is not a terrible defensive team, but their defensemen pinch in the offensive zone and don't have blazing speed to make up for it when they turn the puck over. Also, guys like Kovalev, Jagr, and Straka aren't busting it back to their own zone to break up odd-man rushes. The result is that they give up a lot of quality scoring chances. Witness the two meltdowns last week in which they lost to Phoenix 5-4 and Dallas 6-5. They had leads in both games, but weren't satisfied to lock it down defensively. If you are careless, you pay for it in this league.

3. Getting out of their own zone - Sure, Lemieux, Jagr, and Straka can carry the puck end to end and wind up with a decent scoring opportunity, but the Penguins lack somebody on the blueline that can get them moving north and south with momentum. If you look back to their Cup-winning teams in 1991 and 1992, they had Paul Coffey and Larry Murphy back on defense. They were (and still are) two of the best at moving the puck out of their own zone. This created more chances in transition for Lemieux, Jagr, and Stevens. If Pittsburgh had a guy like Rob Blake on the backline, they would be really dangerous. Of course, every team wants a defenseman who can move the puck, so don't count on this being an easy need to fill.

The first thing the Penguins need to do on their Stanley Cup journey is move up in the standings to avoid a first-round match up with the defending champion Devils. If the Devils don't come out of the East, I'll be mighty surprised. But then, when have the Devils ever played well as the favorite?

Article courtesy of Sports Central