It's all gravy from here

Flashback. April, 2015. The Pittsburgh Penguins, battered and bruised, have lost a tight Game 3 to the New York Rangers in the Eastern Conference Quarter Finals. Rob Rossi, one of the Penguins top writers for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, is making his way out of Consol Energy Center. In the elevator, he runs in the Jim Rutherford, the Penguins general manager. What happens next is said to have gone as follows according to CBSSports.Com:

''Thanks for your support'', Rutherford said repeatedly
''You're an (expletive) jerk'', Rutherford said repeatedly

Rutherford followed up these comments by telling Rossi that he should be ''selling ice cream somewhere''. This incident gave Pens fans another reason to dislike Jim Rutherford. After all, his hiring in June of 2014 was greeted with skepticism. ''He's only made the playoffs five times in 20 years with Carolina''! ''Why couldn't they have hired Pierre McGuire?'' ''He's too damn old!'' For the first year and a half of Rutherford's reign as Penguins GM, the skeptics were winning. Rutherford made some questionable moves, such as trading away fan favorite James Neal, hiring the dull Mike Johnston as head coach, and trading high draft picks for wingers David Perron and Daniel Winnick, neither of which panned out in Pittsburgh. At the 2015 trade deadline, Rutherford looked like a fool. He traded two young and promising defensemen in Robert Bortuzzo and Simon Despres for Ian Cole and Ben Lovejoy, respectively. The season ended in disappointment, as the Pens bowed out in 5 games to the mighty New York Rangers.

Fast forward to the start of the next season. Mike Johnston. Oh, dear god, Mike Johnston. The monotone, inexperienced ''I don't care who you are, you're playing 300 feet'' attitude certainly did not help matters. Oh boy, were the first two and 1/2 months of the season joyful. As of December 11th, the Pens were 5th in the Metropolitan Divison and out of a playoff spot. December 11th, why did I pick that day to bring up randomly? Oh yeah, this was the day the Penguins season took about a 3,000,607,08483839292929 degree turn. This was the day one Mike went out, and another came in.

Photo creds to wbs.penguins.com

The other Mike is Mike Sullivan. Praise God, Mike "No nonsense, no facial expressions, and, most important of all, no more Mike Johnston" Sullivan. What a change. Sullivan came from Wilkes-Barre, and he changed everything. No longer did the Pens play defensive, some would say, "scared" hockey. These new Pens would be a kick-ass, in your face, fast hockey. Speaking of quick, let's talk about Carl Hagelin.

Who would have ever thought that the man who ended the Penguins season with bitter disappointment in 2015 could potentially have such a significant role in putting an end to the Penguins season with pure extasy in 2016? Hagelin's OT goal for the Rangers in Game 5 knocked the Pens out of the playoffs. Fast forward nine months, and Hagelin is one of us, as Jim Rutherford, unsatisfied with David Perron's performance as a top 6 forward, makes a deal with the Anaheim Ducks (Hagelin's new team), and brings Carl to the Steel City. This trade was the first turning point, as his presence (and speed) helped make his mates on the now famous "HBK Line" perform to their potential. Wait, what's the HBK line?

Photo creds to pittsburgh.cbslocal.com

Good question. Well, Carl Hagelin, Nick Bonino and Phil Kessel make up the 2nd line. As those of you who don't know can probably at least figure, HBK comes from the first letters of the last names of these three gentlemen and was also the nickname of WWE legend Shawn Michales. Why don't we talk about the other two?

How about Kessel? The man who, when the Pens traded for him last July, made Jim Rutherford look like a genius (we finally got a winger!). The man who, when his regular season performance did not satisfy the hunger of a brutal Pittsburgh fan base, made Jim Rutherford look like a fool, before making the old geezer look like a savvy fox when it mattered the most by becoming arguably the team's best postseason performer.

How about Bonino? Acquired on July 28th, 2015 for the popular Brandon Sutter, this guy did not exactly turn a lot of heads for much of the regular season. Then, when springtime was in its infancy, the man and his beard flipped the switch, and for the past three months, he has done a fantastic job at centering the line that has become the talk of the town. The Pens acquired all 3 of these men via trade. Speaking of trades, let's talk about the best trade of them all.

Photo creds to nbcchicago.com

If you follow this team, three words have helped your sleep habits since mid-December: Scuderi for Daley. Rob Scuderi is a great man who had some great moments in a Penguins uniform, but the 36-year-old just wasn't getting the job done on defense the way he used to. Enter a man who couldn't fit in with a loaded roster in the Windy City. Enter a man who would add energy to a dull Penguin defense. Enter Trevor Daley. In the middle of Mike Sullivan's first game behind the Consol Energy Center Bench (A 4-1 loss to the Washington Capitals), it was announced that the Penguins and Blackhawks agreed to a two player there that sent ''Scuds'' to Chi-Town and Daley to Steel-Town. The move paid off, as Daley's speed and play-making ability gave the D a shot in the D. Unfourtanly, Daley will not be on the ice for any of the Stanley Cup Finals, as his season ended during Game 4 in Tampa Bay when he broke his ankle. However, I don't think anyone can argue that the Pens would not have been invited to the dance if not for Trevor Daley.

Let's give the grinders some love. Matt Cullen and Eric Fehr have both been everything you would want out of bottom six players. The play hard. They are not flashy. They don't grab front page headlines, but they get the job done. Without depth, teams don't get to the promised land. These two men have provided plenty of elbow grease to compliment the speed and flash of their teammates.

Cullen's story, in particular, has been remarkable. At 38 years young, he was reunited with his old GM from Carolina on a 1-year deal that many rendered pointless filler. But Cullen told the skeptics to shove it, scoring 16 goals in the regular season and four more in the postseason, all the while providing excellent wisdom and leadership. Three cheers for Matty Ice.

If I had to pick one song to describe this team, it would be the 1965 classic from The Who entitled '"The Kids Are Alright''. Mike Sullivan knew what he was doing when he trusted his Wilkes-Barre boys to make a rough transition from the small lake that is the American Hockey League to the ocean that is the National Hockey League. Connor Sheary, Tom Kuhnhakel, Kevin Porter and Scott Wilson are just some of the young bucks that filled out some pages in the great book of this season. Some never got to experience playoff glory due to injury, but they are on the ice in spirit. Sullivan's gamble paid off. He knew the kiddies well, and both parties helped each other make the grade in the NHL, and thus played important roles in getting this team to where they are right now.

Photo creds to www.sportingnrews.com

Two Wilkes-Barre kids have shined above the rest this postseason, and I think we all know who they are. The first is Matt Murray. The hot-shot prospect who, by fate, was tabbed as the teams #1 net-minder in Game 3 of the first round series with the dreaded Rangers. The man who, in his second start of said series, pitched a shutout in '"The World Most Famous Arena''. The man who had the task of outperforming two of the best in the world at the opposite end of the ice, and did just that. The man who, after getting the Penguins 9 of the required 16 wins to dance with Lord Stanley, was benched for his elder; and won is job back just two days later. The man who, upon winning his job back, refused to let it go, and won games 6 and 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals, giving this city Stanley Cup hockey for the first time since 2009.

Ah, Game 7. The old Mike Lange-ism ''You have to be here to believe it'' never held truer. I was not there, so I cannot fully grasp how loud the Consol Energy Crowd was on that faithful night. However, I could hear from my television that it was not quiet. I read many a tweet stating that it was, without a shadow of a doubt, the loudest CEC has ever been. A big reason that the joint rocked the way it did was because of another Wilkes-Barre boy: #17, Bryan Rust.

Photo creds to www.postgazette.com

In case you've been living under a rock, Rust was somewhat of a factor in the series clincher, scoring the only two goals the Penguins would need for their joyous 2-1 victory. Everybody sees that and falls in love with ''Rusty'', but what a lot of them don't know is what Rust has had to go through. Rust was dealt with the unlucky hamper of a speech impediment. As a man who was dealt that very same hamper, I know how frustrating it can be. But unlike Rust, I don't have to regularly answer questions from the media. But Rust never complained, and has not let his struggle interfere with what he says in the papers or what he does on the ice.

How about Ben Lovejoy and Ian Cole? Two guys, who were mistakes made by Jim Rutherford are playing the best hockey of their careers. Both play hard on defense, and Lovejoy made his greatest contribution yet on Thursday night by setting up Rusty's game-winning goal.

What about Sid? The Kid. The Captian. The franchise. The Master of Disaster. The King of Sting. The Dancing Destroyer. The Prince of Punch. The Count of Monte Fisto (for all non-Rocky fans, I sincerely apologize). This man has been through hell in back. Early this season, he was written off by many (including yours truly) as somebody who would never be able to be the player he once was. He proved us all wrong and became the best player in the world for the second half of the year. No matter what anybody says, he has produced this postseason, and the Pens would not be dancing with Lord Stanley if it were not for the leader.

Back to Jim Rutherford. This beautiful group is his creation. He deserves all the credit in the world, and I can't think of a Pittsburgh Sports figure who's image in the court of public opinion has changed as drastically in a 365-day time span. Rutherford is a hockey lifer. A mastermind. A genius. Three cheers for the old geezer.

The rest of the team. You know who they are. Geno, Tanger, Oli, Kunitz, Dummer, Flower and on and on and on. You know their stories. I could talk all day and most of the evening about every single player on this team. No words can do these boys justice. They are winners. They deserve to win, and hopefully they win four more times and bring Lord Stanley back from his seven-year sleep (and maybe give him some Iron City beer).

Photo creds to www,.post-gazette.com

By: Joe Smeltzer
There's one more person I'd like to raise a glass too before I draw this article to its conclusion; Duper. Pascal Dupuis was a hockey player's hockey player. After 6 and 1/2 years of grinding his way into the hearts of the Steel City, a blood clot proved too much for even a tough-as-nails guy such as Duper; #9 was forced to hang up the skates on December 8th. He could have walked away from the game and never came back or even grieved about his poor luck, but Pascal did none of those things. Instead, he became an active member of the organization, helping the boys out as much as he could, and remaining an important of the team. Should the Pens win this damn cup, nobody deserves to have his name engraved (once again) on the shrine more than Pascal Dupuis.

I'd like to close by saying that this is my favorite Penguins team of all time, and there is no close second. The big thing that separates these boys from the three teams that lifted the you know what is that they do not rely on the stars to carry them. The 1991-92 championship teams followed Mario Lemieux. The 2009 squad revolved around #87 and #71. But these guys are a rock band with about a dozen lead singers. Crosby and Malkin are still two world class players, but neither of them needs to stick out like a sore thumb for this team to reach the ultimate goal. Every single player who takes the ice for Game 1 on Monday has done something big to get this team to the dance, and that's no expression. That is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

So, enjoy these Stanley Cup Finals, and remember that no matter what happens, whether the Pens sweep the series or don't win a single game, that this team is special. Through injuries, coaching changes, and mass scrutiny, they have persevered and are still standing. Pittsburgh is a tough and resilient town, and no team in sports right now better fits the description of its city. As the title of this post says; whatever happens from here on out is gravy on top of the wonderful Thanksgiving feast that Sullivan's troops have prepared on our table. That doesn't mean we don't want to win the damn thing.