Penguins Gettin’ Gritty?

After experiencing interminable stretches of languid, lifeless hockey, are our Penguins at long last getting gritty? And, no, I’m not talking about acquiring the Flyers’ utterly goofy mascot.

To digress, I’ve commented a lot recently about our lack of compete and physicality. On the rare occasions when we do acquire a player who possesses some sand, their stay is generally all-too-brief.

Framed by trade deadlines, feisty forward Michael Bunting lasted a year. Towering defenseman Vincent Desharnais, admittedly no all-star, barely a month.

While neither figured into future plans, the team parted ways with aggressive forwards Corey Andonovski and Jagger Joshua. In the process, leaving the Baby Pens’ cadre of prospects unprotected in a league where fighting is still very prevalent.

But it goes deeper than that. Organizationally, the Pens’ plain vanilla personnel choices translate to a plain vanilla hockey club with plain vanilla results. (Gee, whoda thunk it?) A team that, as often as not, appears to go through the motions sans any discernable fire or spirit.

When was the last time you saw a hockey team built that way win a Stanley Cup?

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