The Kid and his Penguins find a little magic ... so far

Timely Turnaround

By Garth Woolsey
The Toronto Star
Mar 23, 2009 04:30 AM
http://www.thestar.com/

PITTSBURGH - MARCH 17: Sidney Crosby #87 of the Pittsburgh Penguins trips as he keeps control of the puck against the Atlanta Thrashers at the Mellon Arena March 17, 2009 in Pittsburgh. (Getty Images)

Sid the Kid and the Pittsburgh Penguins have played themselves back into the thick of the NHL playoff race, and this is a good thing not only for them but also for hockey in general.

The league needs its biggest stars on its biggest stages and the Penguins have a couple of those, at least, in Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby, 1-2 in league scoring. But not so long ago, despite individual excellence, the Penguins were a team in disarray, well out of a playoff spot and mere shadows of the outfit that took the Detroit Red Wings to six games before losing the Stanley Cup final last spring.

What's turned them around, despite yesterday's home ice 3-1 loss to the cross-state Philadelphia Flyers? How have they gone from a mess at the start of March to a sort of madness that has seen them lose only one game in regulation time – yesterday's – in their last 13?

The turnaround began, in retrospect, when GM Ray Shero fired head coach Michel Therrien, whose old-school disciplinarian style had lost its effectiveness. His detractors accused him of grumpily trying to fit all his players into one Everyman mould. Therrien's replacement, Dan Bylsma, immediately implemented a full-out attacking style guaranteed to please the troops and the fans – so long as it worked in the won-lost column. Which it has in spades: Bylsma's record since taking over on an interim basis on Feb.15 is 12-2-3.

But changing coaches was not all Shero did with some degree of desperation and, it now seems, magic. He would know as well as anyone that such in-season moves fail at least as often as they succeed.

There have been seven such coaching moves made this season with mixed results – certainly Bob Gainey taking over from Guy Carbonneau in Montreal is at the opposite end of the spectrum, so far, from the Penguins' experience.

Shero's other moves were to swing a trade that brought winger Chris Kunitz from Anaheim and then to make a creative deadline deal with the Islanders to acquire 38-year-old Bill Guerin. Those two merely have become regulars on a line with Crosby, who has gone through dozens of wingmen in his brief career and rarely clicked so well so soon.

PITTSBURGH - MARCH 17: Sidney Crosby #87 of the Pittsburgh Penguins skates out onto the ice to face the Atlanta Thrashers at the Mellon Arena March 17, 2009 in Pittsburgh. (Getty Images)

The three play a rousting, barging game that is difficult for opponents to handle, although the Flyers did so yesterday. Crosby did manage to dig the puck out of a corner scrum and set up Kris Letang for the lone Pittsburgh goal, on the power play. But the Flyers scored a pair of power-play goals of their own and added an empty-netter in a crucial win that broke their deadlock with the Penguins for fourth place in the Eastern Conference.

These teams had a memorable meeting in last season's Eastern final and may well meet again somewhere along the line after this regular season ends in three weeks. Philly has three games in hand on Pittsburgh and may well have nailed down home-ice advantage yesterday, despite having lost four of the teams' six meetings this season.

The other wild cards for Pittsburgh have been the return to form of goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury and the return to health of defenceman and power-play wizard Sergei Gonchar, who had shoulder surgery in September and missed 56 games.

But the Penguins are, first and foremost, Crosby's team. He has 23 points in his last 13 games, including 16 since returning to the lineup nine games ago after missing four games with a groin injury. Having the Kid healthy and happy is good for the NHL – he sells tickets everywhere he goes, not only in Pittsburgh, where sellouts have again become automatic. Is there any more anticipated game than one involving Crosby vs. Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals?

Hard to believe that Crosby, at 21, already is in his NHL fourth season. Harder to believe is that anyone might underestimate Crosby – it would make sense we have yet to see his best, right?

Yes, Ovechkin and Malkin are vying for the top individual offensive honours and claiming the headlines. But the best Canadian-born forward in the game is conceding nothing and, barring a total turnaround, neither are the Penguins, his Penguins.