Forget the Flyers, at least for the moment. There'll be plenty enough fuss over them the next few days.
Just for fun, let's talk mid-June.
Because that's the goal. Never assumed. Never taken for granted. But the unambiguous goal of these Penguins is to raise the Stanley Cup for a third consecutive summer, whether that's here at PPG Paints Arena where these playoffs open tonight, or anywhere from Winnipeg to the West Coast.
"That's what we want," Carl Hagelin was telling me after practice at the Lemieux Sports Complex. "We know what's there in front of us. We know what the challenge is. Now we want to go after it."
The order doesn't matter. The opponents don't matter. There's only one objective.
There's a lot I've come to like about this 50th edition of the Penguins, even independent of precedent. But there's nothing I like more than that, after half a season of flailing, they've figured themselves out enough to this apparent point: If they lose in these playoffs, anywhere along the way, it'll be because they beat themselves.
I know, I know. That's as trite as it gets. But I believe it. Because the one trait that's stood tallest over this long, strange season is that, when they've really, really made up their minds to be at their best, that's what they've been.
Don't anyone dare even think of denying that.
"We've had times when things didn't go well, but I think that's normal," Patric Hornqvist told me in that magnificently dismissive tone he's got when making a firm point. "But ever since January, I think we've really gotten back to our game, to the things we do really well. We've shown that a lot."
Sure they have. Once they've flipped the figurative switch. And it's fair to expect that'll flip at 7:08 p.m. on this day:
It won't hold for a full two months, but it's also fair to expect that the will, the drive, the pedigree of a two-time champion and the pursuit of a historic third in this NHL millennium ... that won't come because someone else is better equipped. A couple other teams in the tournament are faster. Others have comparable skill. All of them will have matching fire, as it's the same Cup they're all chasing. But none can match what's come before, if only because no one else comes close in that category.
The talent in Tampa is tremendous, and it was that even before Steve Yzerman loaded up at the deadline. Boston's got a bunch, and adding Rick Nash shouldn't hurt too much. Escaping the East won't be easy, and I'd argue it might be harder than in any of the previous two seasons. Even Washington, which had been the Penguins' toughest out the past two years, is back for more. And that's to say nothing of the West, from which no less than a handful of bona fide Cup contenders have emerged.
But no one else enters with the prelude the Penguins will have. And they don't make substitutes for that sort of thing.
"This is a different team, and that's something we talk about a lot," Justin Schultz told me. "But at the same time, I think we feed as a group from the experience we've had. We've been there. We know what it takes."
All else being equal, that can be all it takes.
• Excessively analyzing the matchup with the Flyers is silly, and I tried to condense why that is into this two-minute series of spoken words. Or, rather, spoken word:
• Which isn't to sound disrespectful.
There are legit layers to what Ron Hextall's done well to push Philadelphia back into the playoffs, chief among them clinging to the core talent while simultaneously supplementing it with youth. Far too often, sports executives' first response to trouble is to push the plunger. Hextall stayed stubborn, stayed true and, within that, found a way to meld the concepts of rebuilding and reloading.
He did likewise by standing behind Dave Hakstol, who's a lot more stoic than they prefer over on the wrong end of the commonwealth, and that's paid dividends with steadiness behind the bench for a franchise that's long needed that.
• Repeating for emphasis: This is a good hockey team.
• Hate them as you will, but admit that the hockey world just feels that much healthier with both the Penguins and Flyers in the playoffs. All the golf-bag memes on social media can only offer so much amusement.
Well, no, actually, they offer endless amusement:
Once again, the greatest tradition in all of sports! pic.twitter.com/B85ST8T4WG
— SinceFlyersLastCup (@SinceFlyersCup) April 3, 2017
• Also available on social media, as of last night:
The #StanleyCup winner as chosen by @EASPORTSNHL... https://t.co/jTp0om4J8s
— NHL (@NHL) April 10, 2018
Oh, my. I don't think I've ever seen the place without snow. Might not recognize it.
• If you're inside the building tonight and can choose to train a hockey eye on one highly specific facet that'll tell so much about how this series will go, monitor Matt Murray's lateral movement on the first Philadelphia power play. Including when the Flyers don't shoot. Just watch his left-right. If he looks fluid early, he'll be fine throughout.
• Raise your hand if you'd trade Derick Brassard for Ian Cole right this minute.
Ha!
OK, now raise your hand if you'd have traded Ian Cole and Conor Sheary and Daniel Sprong for Brassard a month ago.
Oh, please!
• Every series, it seems, offers up one player rising up unexpectedly. On the Pittsburgh side, there aren't too many surprise candidates, if only because most of them have already succeeded in the playoffs, but it's still fun to try to pinpoint one beforehand.
My guy: Chad Ruhwedel, since this will be his first full test, and I think he'll pass with flying colors.
Not that he'll be doing the postgame twirl as No. 1 star tonight, but he's got the speed and the smarts to match up better with the Flyers than with most opponents, even if he won't exactly be a beast in clearing the crease. He can keep pace on the rush, he can keep his stick in the right lanes and, most important, he can turn the attack.'
He's also one seriously determined dude. Been drop-dead serious all week long, which isn't like him.
• I appreciate that the Penguins' front office has worked relentlessly to rip through countless hurdles in redeveloping the Civic Arena property, but it's a day like this that painfully reminds of how much better the playoff experience could be for those fans who watch on the big outdoor screen. Jamming everyone down along the Fifth Avenue Entrance doesn't work.
The real shame is that the Red Wings, in building their year-old arena, took the Penguins' concept to the blissful extreme with a permanent outdoor plaza:
Imagine that here in our city, where we pioneered the concept.
• Anyway, it's the people that make the plaza. Or something like that.
Enjoy the playoffs!
And remember to breathe at least once a week!
