This championship era for Pittsburgh's beloved hockey franchise didn't begin in 2009.
Sure, Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang, Chris Kunitz and Marc-Andre Fleury raised the Stanley Cup in both Detroit and San Jose. But that was just a quarter of the current roster. And it was a different GM and coach, style and system, look and feel, you name it.
No, this championship era began in June.
Only not the June you're thinking.
It was June 28, 2014, on the NHL Draft floor in Philadelphia, that Jim Rutherford acquired Patric Hornqvist from the Predators for James Neal. And it was, beyond any doubt, a beauty. The other component to the deal, Nick Spaling, never mattered. How well Neal has fared in Nashville doesn't matter, either.
All that's mattered is this, as witnessed yet again Thursday night at PPG Paints Arena ...
All in a Thursday night's work for Patric Hornqvist. - MATT SUNDAY / DKPS____________________
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