Are We There Yet?

"I'm glad I'm fucking blind so I didn't have to just watch that."

If the Penguins from last season were Road House, then this years version would be Road House 2. A pathetic knock-off trying to pass itself off as the original that ultimately fails and goes straight to video. At the rate this is going, I almost wish that someone would fast-forward to the end of the season so that this misery can end. I hate to say this, but this team has a long way to go and a short time to get there. The high that we felt after the Atlanta game was just atomic leg dropped by the Hulkster following last night's pooch screwing.

Up 3-0 is a pretty safe lead against one of the worst teams in the league, right? If you were watching the Pens last night, you were probably giving high fives to your dog right after Talbot put home the marker that gave us the lead mentioned above. Happy times were here again!

Then reality set in. Problems started rearing their ugly heads. Erat scored (just an observation, but I think he'd look good in a Pens uni. Actually, the mentally challenged kid from high school who crapped himself on a daily basis would look good in a Pen's uni right now.). Then the wheels came rolling off. Human waste and largest mistake signing that Shero has ever made, Ryan Whitney, continued his stellar ability of not being able to hold a fuckin' puck in at the blue line. Actually, he decided to one up himself and turn the puck over as well resulting in what would ultimately be the back breaker. Legwand buries the shorty on a sweet pass from Erat (just saying.) and this game had officially become the Hindenburg for the Pens. Some douche who's not worth the effort to search for his name tied the game late in the second and what little hope the Pens had for a win and possibly their entire season may well have been flushed away with it. Even though it was tied, you couldn't feel good about where this one was going.

I like Therian. I think he's a quality coach who has done wonders for this team. However, last night between periods he may have sealed his own fate by doing something that he'd done a thousand times since he started here. Instead of sticking with the lines the way they were and seeing if things would turn in his favor, he juggled one more time. I think it may be his last. It didn't work. Again. The Pens allowed a power play and an empty-netter in the third to turn a 3-0 triumph into a 5-3 colossal cluster fuck. End game.

I know a lot of Pens fans would like you to believe that someone in the organization is going to snap their fingers and this is going to turn around that easily. Well, it isn't. Also, this isn't 20 games into the year, this is the halfway point. We have been getting no consistent scoring from our wingers, our defense is self destructing, the goal tending has been spotty, and our special teams are in ruins. Notice something there? That's pretty much all facets of the game right there. We need a shitload of work and fast. I don't see help on the horizon.

This loss is going to hurt for a while. Even a win on Saturday isn't going to heal it. A loss on Saturday almost assuredly seals Therrian's fate, if it's not sealed already. A coaching swap isn't going to fix this, though. It's up to the players. Is there a light at the end of the tunnel? Sure, there could be. I don't believe that there is. Not the way this team is playing.

Of course, I hope I'm wrong.