Sid the Kid has two goals and two assists in Pens 5-0 win. 1st game in 11 months

>>>Washington and Pittsburgh weren't exactly the centre of the hockey world before Crosby and Ovechkin came along<<<

I could swear I remember a tall, rangy guy playing for Pittsburgh in the '80s and '90s and being a pretty big deal...

 

I never said he was a bad player, and yes I am a Red Wings fan. When Pittsburgh won the second time around in Game 7, I actually thought Malkin was the best player on the ice for the Pens (besides Fleury).

 

More people are discussing it than the NBA lockout. If you want an irrelevant and meaningless league that is now completely off the radar, look no further.

 

I meant to use the blue font.

Your point about NBC was what I meant.

They have their own Original Six: Rangers, Penguins, Flyers, Caps, Hawks and Wings/Bruins.

To NBC, the rest of the league and Canada don't even exist and Edmonton might as well be in Outer Mongolia. Actually, it's close to there.

 

They were also on the verge of bankruptcy before Crosby came along. They were perennial bottom feeders playing in front of an empty, decaying arena. Nobody gave a wet fart about them either locally in Pittsburgh or in the rest of the league. Now they are arguably the biggest draw in the league outside of Toronto and Montreal.

The Oilers were also one of the biggest names in the hockey world during their glory years and the biggest draw in the NHL. The only real difference between the Oilers and the Penguins down years is that the Oilers are playing in front of a packed house at a decaying arena. But there is no reason they can't work their way back into the limelight ala Pittsburgh, Washington and Chicago. Basically the point I was making.

 

My mistake. I was tired when I read it and took it the wrong way, clearly. At least you don't have to rely on NBC for your hockey.

 

Agreed.

 

LOL. They were filling the building in the early 90s when they were winning the Cup and putting an All-Star team on the ice. "Empty arena" and "perennial bottom feeders" suggests you need to do some research.

 

Or you could look at the few years before Crosby arrived.

 

You mean like the five-straight years when they picked in the top 5, including two firsts and two seconds? That to me means they turned into perennial bottom feeders for a good stretch. They didn't draw flies (in 2003-04 they averaged 11,877 a game, the lowest in the NHL) and played in a dilapidated building. They were on the verge of moving (The name Jim Ballsillie ring a bell? Before Nashville and Phoenix there was Pittsburgh). This includes Lemieux holding the city hostage to approve his casino-funded arena deal. He only became part-owner to get his millions owed to him through deferred salary payments. He was ready to move them if he didn't get the new rink. Then they won the lottery coming out of the lockout that had a distinctive Knicks/Ewing feel to it and they drafted Crosby and everything changed from there. The arena deal was approved and it's been all lollipops and gum drops since then. I know my history quite well. I don't need a refresher.

The Oilers went through the same in the mid 90s when they had trouble drawing due to a pissed off fan base. They were hours away from becoming the Houston Oilers when Les Alexander tried to buy them. The last five years though the building has been packed every night at the same time the Oilers have finished dead last the last two seasons -- the worst stretch in the history of the club.

 

Look up the definition of "perennial."

They were good for 11 years, starting in 1990, when Crosby was three. Then bad for four years. They're now in their fifth year of being good again. That's good in 16 of 20 years.