Penguins Fans’ Reaction Should Concern Owners; It’s Not Anger, It’s Worse

NEW YORK — Thursday night should scare the daylights out of the Pittsburgh Penguins organization. I mean, it should cause them to clench more than their jaws. Like the team on the ice carried by Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang but with little other support in a 4-2 loss to the division rival New York Rangers, fans were not angry but resigned, disappointed, and–worst of all–apathetic.

The fury over GM Ron Hextall’s lack of moves and trade deadline moves has abated. It’s over, but the results are lingering on the ice and in the seats.

Anger is the flip side of love. Frustration is a sign of expectation. But apathy? I don’t know that a Penguins team in the Sidney Crosby era has reached this level of apathy from the fanbase.

And the next step is more empty seats. PPG Paints Arena has already seen a decline in physical attendance. Don’t expect that to improve in the current mood.

Like most American cities, Pittsburgh largely has Penguins fans, not hockey fans. If the local team doesn’t inspire hope, joy, or excitement, it will not inspire interest.

Hey, one good playoff series can change everything, but the seeds of decline are being planted not by hand but with industrial-sized farm equipment.

Despite being a 67% bet to achieve their 17th consecutive playoff berth (according to playoffstatus.com), the Penguins have done the opposite of excite their fans. Call it spoiled if you want, but the decision to bring back franchise stalwarts Letang and Evgeni Malkin but then fail to surround the team’s core with enough talent has not angered fans as much as shoved them to the exit door.

They’ve seen this movie four years running, and it’s landing not with the optimism of Creed but the groans for Rocky V.

Here’s just a sampling of Twitter responses to the postgame PHN Penguins’ Q&A. These aren’t trolls but usual PHN respondents.

“I’m not mad, I’m disappointed,” said Stefanie. 

“What’s the point anymore? Should they make the playoffs – and that’s far from certain – they’ll be one and done and humiliated again…” — Lemieux67.

“Resignation on the part of many, it’s over for this group,” — MadHatter

“Everyone is accepting that this team is going nowhere,” — Lfusco

“You can’t be mad when you expect the outcome. Same guys carrying the team. Same guys burying the team except our goalie gave (us) a chance tonight,” — Jack Hammer.

You get the idea, but the responses continued from there.

Penguins fans have seen enough of forward Jeff Carter, whose faceoff percentage is an impressive 59%, but his play is a negative result in waiting. He was a minus-4 in about four minutes of even-strength play in the 6-4 loss to Montreal on Tuesday. He was a minus-1 with a befuddling pass that led to the Rangers’ second goal on Thursday.

Recently the 38-year-old Carter seems to exacerbate the consternation on a nightly basis as the long season grinds to a conclusion.

Penguins fans had their favorite targets circled at the NHL trade deadline but instead received Mikael Granlund, who has just two points in seven games. Granlund has elevated the Penguins’ third line to respectable from the depths of hockey hell but isn’t having the impact worthy of a $5 million player.

Defenseman Brian Dumoulin, a former fan favorite as the comfortable fixer for Letang’s freelancing ways, had a resurrection through the middle of the season. However, he has also receded from the level of play both needed and expected.

Fans are officially blue in the face from yelling about the same topics.

Coach Mike Sullivan is probably blue in the face yelling about the same mistakes his team makes. Overall, they’ve been more generous with the puck than Mother Teresa with a hot meal, and “lacked urgency” has been a recurring theme.

Anger signifies passion and caring, even as things go wrong. An angry fanbase cares. What should scare the daylights out of the Pittsburgh Penguins’ new FSG ownership is not the anger that roared in the first period Thursday but the apathetic resignation, silence, and detachment that followed.

The negative Nellies, who have obstinately responded that nothing matters because the team will lose in the first round, have multiplied like rabbits. Now that has become the popular sentiment as fans come to grips with four more years of the Penguins’ core but vanishing Stanley Cup hopes.

“I feel bad for the players who re-signed that are producing, Geno, Letang Rakell (et al.) and took a haircut doing it,” wrote BrianX.