Dual citizenship: The ins and outs of cheering for two Eastern Conference Teams

I can't believe it has been over two weeks since my last post! That is way too long to go without talking about hockey, so, on the eve of the NHL Olympic break, I have decided to make time in my busy work schedule to write about my two favourite teams, the hometown Toronto Maple Leafs and my first loves the Pittsburgh Penguins, and what it has been like to cheer for them both so far this season.

I am relatively new to Leafs Nation, I only really joined midway through last season, not because they were playing better, and certainly not because they made the playoffs, but more so because I finally got cable and was actually able to watch the games. On the other hand, I have been an active member of Pens Nation since 2005. Yes it started because they drafted Sidney Crosby, but, by the time they won the Stanley Cup in 2009, I was hooked on whole team, from superstar Evgeni Malkin, to up and coming star Kris Letang, to role player Max Talbot, and of course to Coach Dan Bylsma who, at thirty-eight, was the youngest coach in the NHL at the time.

On the surface, these teams seem have very little in common, one has been a power house the last few seasons, consistently making the playoffs, and battling bankruptcy a few years ago, while the other finally broke a nine year playoff drought last season and is the wealthiest franchise in the league; but the year 1967 is significant for both their pasts. The 1966-1967 season was the last year with the “original six” teams, the following year six more teams were added to the National Hockey League and Pittsburgh was one of them. For the Toronto Maple Leafs franchise, which was part of the original six, 1967 is significant because, sadly for all you die-hard fans, it was the last time the team won the Stanley Cup.

Since their inception in 1967, the Penguins have won three Stanley Cups going back to back in 1991 and 1992 and more recently in 2009 under current captain Sidney Crosby. A lot of fans have argued that the Penguins have won more than just three Stanley Cups claiming that they have also won two NHL Entry Drafts. The first was in 1984 when they drafted Mario Lemieux with the first overall selection ahead of New Jersey, and the second in 2005, after a season lost to a lockout, when they drafted Sidney Crosby ahead of the Anaheim Ducks. Their success following these drafts has led to what some refer to as the “Pittsburgh Model”, which is to tank for years, get the first overall selection and draft star players, a model that doesn't seem to be working for the Edmonton Oilers who are currently in a race for last place with the Buffalo Sabres, despite selecting first overall three of the last four years.

While the Penguins have done very well in the draft, selecting centres Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Jordan Staal, goaltender Marc Andre Fleury, and defenceman Brooks Orpik, I would argue that the “Pittsburgh Model” is much more than drafting star players, it is rooted in the trades that current General Manager Ray Shero has been able to complete. During his tenure as GM, Shero has traded for current star forwards James Neal, Chris Kunitz, Pascal Dupuis, Jussi Jokinen, and steadying defenceman Matt Niskanen, while only giving up one first round draft pick, a few later round draft picks, unknown prospects and underperforming defencemen Ryan Whitney and Alex Goligoski. On June 22, 2012 Shero traded his 2006 third overall draft selection Jordan Staal to the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for centre Brandon Sutter, prospect defenceman Brian Dumoulin and the eighth draft pick that year, defenceman Derrick Pouliot. This was probably one the biggest trades of his career as GM for the Penguins, and one of the few times he traded a Penguins star player, but even then this trade has been fairly beneficial for the Penguins. While Dumoulin is still playing in the American Hockey League and Pouliot is still playing in the Ontario Hockey League, Brandon Sutter has made an almost seamless transition as the Penguins third line centre. He has been less productive than Staal with only thirty-eight points in 106 games with the Penguins, but he has given the Penguins important secondary scoring, and plays a vital role in the Penguins top ranked penalty kill. Shero is like that kid in elementary school who traded you his week old, bruised apple for your fruit-by-the-foot, I am kind of surprised GMs don’t turn and run when he approaches them for a trade.

After another disappointing season in 2012, Brian Burke, former GM for the Toronto Maple Leafs, was asked about the so-called “Pittsburgh Model”. I will leave out the expletives he used during his press conference, but needless to say Burke did not buy into the idea, he believed that Pittsburgh had won a lottery and was therefore able to draft the greatest player in the game, an occurrence that would be impossible to duplicate without another Crosby like player. I am not saying he is wrong, Crosby's skill and leadership are almost unmatched in the NHL, but it's also not surprising that a GM who, in his four years with the Leafs, only drafted twice in the top 10, would try to downplay the importance of early draft selections. I am not saying that Burke was not a good GM, I actually think the Leafs made the playoffs last year in large part because of him, but he is probably better known for his trades than his draft selections with the Leafs.

By and far the most controversial Brian Burke trade took place on September 18, 2009 when he traded away two first round draft selections, one in 2010 and the other in 2011, for 21 year old Phil “the Thrill” Kessel. Phil Kessel has been an outstanding player for the Leafs, leading in scoring for the team every year since the trade, but Brian Burke overestimated the skill level of his team, and after two disappointing seasons with no playoffs, they handed the Bruins the second and ninth selections in 2010 and 2011 respectively. The Bruins drafted centre Tyler Seguin in 2010 and, after winning the Stanley Cup in his rookie year, it seemed as though the Bruins had won this trade. However, after three seasons, and more negative media than Boston was comfortable with, Seguin, and his eight year contract extension, were traded to the Dallas Stars. Kessel has easily been the Leafs best player, and for the second time in two years they are comfortably in a playoff spot with less half the season to go, leading many to say that, four years after the trade, Toronto is currently winning. I agree that Toronto would not be where they are now without Kessel, but at the same time they are currently playing with Tyler Bozak as their number 1 centre, a move that more often than not draws the ire of many fans. I can't help but think then that they could sure use Tyler Seguin as their top line centre, so, did they really win? The jury might still be out on that one, afterall Seguin, at twenty-two, hasn't even hit his prime yet. 

One trade Burke definitely won was when he sent defenceman Luke Schenn to the Philadelphia Flyers on June 23, 2012 in exchange for forward James Van Riemsdyk. JVR is currently second in scoring on the Leafs behind Kessel with many of his goals coming off tip ins because, at 6ft3in and 195lbs,  he is nightmare to deal with in front of the net. He has not only provided the Leafs with important scoring, he also provided invaluable leadership and playoff experience to the young group last season, and this season has played exceptionally well on the left wing with Kessel and Bozak. Both these Leafs stars will be competing in Sochi later this week for Team USA. 

Generally speaking, it is much easier to be a Penguins fan than a Maple Leafs fan, at least during the regular season. The Penguins are once again leading their division by a large margin, sixteen points to be exact, and they are seven points ahead of the Boston Bruins for the lead in the Eastern Conference. They have only lost three regulations games in a row twice this season, and haven’t lost two in a row since an overtime loss to Boston in November 2013. While the Penguins regular season stats are usually phenomenal, their collapses during the post-season are truly epic and, for us die-hard fans, they are extremely heartbreaking.

The problems seem to have begun during the 2010-2011 playoffs. The Penguins definitely overachieved during the 2010-2011 regular season finishing fourth in the East with 106 points, one back from the conference leading Washington Capitals, despite playing almost half the season without Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. Unfortunately their luck dried up during the post-season and they loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round, blowing a 3-1 series lead.

Things only got worse the following year when they faced the Philadelphia Flyers in the first round for the first time since 2009. The Flyers jumped out to a 3-0 series lead, despite the Penguins having the home ice advantage, and they would eventually lose in six games setting new records for goals scored during a single series. In case there were any doubts, this playoff series proved that the Battle of Pennsylvania is still going strong.

Last season the Penguins were able to rely on veteran goaltender Tomas Vokoun when Marc Andre Fleury eventually turned to Swiss cheese in game 4 against the New York Islanders. Vokoun finally broke the Penguins curse of being knocked out in the first round and carried them all the way to the conference finals against the Boston Bruins, where they were quickly eliminated in a four game sweep. The truly tragic part of this series loss is that at no point during any of the four games, including a game 3 double overtime loss, did the Penguins even hold a lead, they were tied or trailing the entire time. It is almost unthinkable that a team with the combined firepower of Malkin and Crosby would only score two goals in four games, but alas, that is exactly what happened. 

I am not sure what to expect this post-season. Vokoun has been out since training camp due to a blood clot, and while he has been taken off the blood thinners and has been cleared to skate, he has not returned to practice and still might not return before the end of the season. If he doesn't return, the Penguins will need to rely heavily on Fleury, and I am not sure what to expect from him. He has been solid in net this year, but then again, he is always solid during the regular season. As the Los Angeles Kings proved in 2012, you never know what might happen in the playoffs, and the team that squeaked in at the number eight seed might just go all the way, but with the Penguins, the one thing you can be sure of, it bound to be epic.

As a new Leafs fan, what I noticed most this season is the constant roller coaster ride for the fans. Spirits were high this year heading to the season, the Leafs had made some great acquisitions during the summer, and despite the game 7 loss to the Bruins, they had made the playoffs for the first time in almost a decade. The high continued through October as the Leafs started the season 10-4 despite being out-shot almost every game. Things started to falter in November before crashing in December and then the trade rumours started swirling. Fans and the media were packing Nazem Kadri's bags for him, giving up on the young inexperienced centre, #fireCarlyle was trending on twitter and the Leafs dropped out of a playoff spot for the first time this season. Things picked up again when a win on January 12 against the New Jersey Devils kicked off a six game winning streak and fans were planning the parade route. As a newly devoted fan of my hometown team, I can honestly say I hope the boys can find consistency and finish the season strong, not only so they make the playoffs for a second straight year, and for the first  time in an 82 game season since 2004,  but also so that the fans don't end up with heart attacks and heartbreaks. Leafs Nation is definitely devoted, enthusiastic, encouraged, at times frustrated, and, while my heart will likely always bleed black and gold, I couldn't be more proud to join this great fan base.