End of an Era

The Pittsburgh Penguins Miss the Playoffs

We all kind of knew what was coming when they lost a must-win game against the Blackhawks, but now it's now official: the Pittsburgh Penguins will miss the playoffs. The streak is over.

Wait…. I can do better.

That’s more fitting.

Of course, making the playoffs 16-seasons in a row is great, especially since the team won three Stanley Cups during that time. It honestly sounds weird to complain at this point. Plus, Malkin and Letang re-signed last offseason, and that was more important than the streak, right? We were all just happy to have the band back together.

But it still feels weird.

And it’s a moment of reflection. The last time the Penguins missed the playoffs was 2006. I wasn’t married and I didn’t have a child. That was three homes ago for me.

Think of the things we’ve seen in those 16 seasons.

• Gary Roberts challenging the entire Senators team.

• Max Talbot shushing the Philadelphia crowd.

• “Evgeni Malkin says take that!”

• Crosby and Ovechkin’s dueling hat trick game.

• Evgeni Malkin spinning and scoring against the Hurricanes.

• The Jordan Staal shorthanded goal against Detroit.

• Marc-Andre Fleury’s “secret service save”

• The end of the Igloo.

• Countless outdoor games.

• #JagrWatch

• The Flyers/Penguins debacle of 2012

• The late-night theft of Jarome Iginla (and the crime of playing him on the wrong wing)

• Trading for Phil Kessel

• The rise of Matt Murray

• Chris Kunitz crushing the Ottawa Senators franchise in double overtime

• Back-to-Back Stanley Cups

• And so much more

There are people who are legally allowed to drive vehicles in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania who have no memory of the Penguins ever missing the playoffs. It’s easy to feel down and disappointed in this moment (#FireHextall, btw), but what they did was quite the accomplishment.

When it started, we were all a lot younger. The world was a lot different. The Pensblog still existed.

Hell, blogs were still the main way we shared stuff online.

Back in 2006, Google just bought YouTube. The iPhone didn’t exist. Pluto was a planet until August. Borat was released. It was a wild time.

And here we are today. Older. Probably more jaded. And the Penguins are out of the playoffs.

It was a good run.

By the way, I’m using Substack Notes now. Head to substack.com/notes or find the “Notes” tab in the Substack app. As a subscriber, you’ll automatically see my notes. I apologize in advance.