Anatomy of a losing campaign

What a disappointment.

With only two home games left and four games total remaining on the… What a disappointment.

With only two home games left and four games total remaining on the schedule, that’s pretty much all that can be said about the 2005-2006 Pittsburgh Penguins — watching them was a disappointment.

When this season started just seven months ago, it seemed as if the Penguins’ season wouldn’t be over until at least mid-May and that they would be battling it out in the Eastern Conference playoffs, maybe even vying for a chance to once again play for the Stanley Cup.

Well, now that the NHL’s regular season is almost over, reality has set in and it has been very harsh to the Pens in the ’05-’06 campaign.

The Penguins so desperately needed to have a winning season for a number of reasons, but instead they are once again at the bottom of the league standings. They managed to get head coach Eddie Olczyk fired and in 78 games managed to win a league-low 20 games.

So what happened?

Trust me, there wasn’t just one thing that led to this breakdown of epic proportions, but rather a slew of events that seemed to escalate like a snowball rolling down a mountain.

First, the team dug itself a huge hole to start the season by losing its first eight games. Granted, an 0-8 start isn’t too big a deal when there are 82 games on the schedule, but it certainly doesn’t help much.

Out of those eight October losses, five were by one-goal margins. That seems to be a microcosm of the season.

Take their most recent game for example. On Tuesday night they played the Philadelphia Flyers. The Pens dug themselves a 3-0 hole, fought feverishly to tie the game up later in the third period, but ran out of gas and lost 4-3. Whether it be in regulation like it was on Tuesday or in overtime — where the Pens have lost 13 games — the team has lost so many games in such a similar fashion.

This leads to an even further investigation of causes for the disappointment this season has been. Of course, any time you look at goals allowed, you need to take a look between the pipes at your goaltender.

The Penguins have primarily used two goalies this year, former No. 1 overall pick Marc-Andre Fleury and Sebastian Caron. And if you were one of those people excited about the hype surrounding the start of this season, you might be asking what happened to the goalie the team brought in to mentor these two young goalies.

Jocelyn Thibault — whom the Pens traded for and inked a $3 million, two-year contract with — was the team’s starter at the beginning of the year, but he went 1-9 in the 13 games he started with the club. Obviously frustrated with him, the team placed him on waiver wires in November, and after no one wanted to take him, tried to sent him down to the minors. He refused the demotion, but ended up injured at practice in January and needed surgery on his left hip.

Thibault hasn’t played for the Pens since being pulled on Jan. 6 after he allowed goals on 3 of 9 shots in a 6-4 loss against Atlanta. Caron and Fleury haven’t really put up numbers that much better than Thibault’s, but at least the young goalies have shown signs of improvement.

Considering the two are constantly under a barrage of shots from opponents, they have had to stand on their heads just to keep the games close. So if it’s not the goalies, it must be the defense, right?

Well, once again, the first guy who needs to be looked at is the off-season signee, Sergei Gonchar. When he signed with the club this summer, it seemed as though he would be the answer to jumpstart what, on paper, looked to be a potent offense.

He would be this teams’ version of Paul Coffey — an offensive-minded defenseman who could lead the offensive attack.

The past six seasons, Gonchar was the highest scoring defenseman in the league. This year, he has totaled only 10 goals and 45 assists for 55 points, while eating up a huge $25 million contract. He has been very disappointing while the rest of the Penguins’ defense has been horrendous as well.

At one point in the season, new head coach Michel Therrien called them the worst defensive unit in the league.

Gonchar and Thibault have been disappointments, but there have also been some shortcomings in the offensive zone as well.

The team signed experienced scorers Zigmund Palffy, Mark Recchi and John LeClair in the off-season to complement player-owner and team superstar Mario Lemieux, as well as up-and-coming Ryan Malone and first pick overall rookie superstar Sidney Crosby.

All but the kid wonder, Crosby, disappointed this season:

Palffy retired unexpectedly halfway through the year while he was the team’s second best scorer. Recchi produced well and had good chemistry with Crosby but was traded in Pirate-like fashion to the contending Carolina Hurricanes right before the trading deadline.

LeClair, who made a career out of camping out in front of the net on the power play, has had a hard time adjusting to the new, upbeat style of play in this year’s NHL. He has only scored 20 goals and 46 total points. Malone has scored only 11 goals and 42 points.

Lastly, there is Lemieux. It’s hard for any Pens fan to say he’s disappointed with the big fellow, but this year, there was definitely some letdown. We were told once again he was in the best shape of his life and to expect amazing things from him and Crosby. Well, after playing just 26 games this season because of an abnormal heartbeat, the 40-year-old hockey legend decided to retire.

What’s worse and more disappointing for the club is the fact that Lemieux, the primary owner of the team, said he wanted to take an even more limited role in the front office business of the club. He openly said that he is looking to sell the team because he doesn’t want to be the owner that has to make them move.

That leads to the biggest disappointment this season. It might have been unrealistic to think the Pens would contend for a title in Crosby’s rookie season after signing a bunch of veteran free agents, but what is very realistic is the fact that every day it seems the franchise is getting closer and closer to leaving Pittsburgh.

Say what you want about the 2005-2006 season, but if the Pens end up not getting a new arena and are forced to move, that would be the disappointment of a lifetime.

Dave Thomas is a senior staff writer for The Pitt News. E-mail him at dthomas7224@yahoo.com.