re: 2017 NHL Playoff Thread: PENGUINS WIN THE CUP, Crosby robs Malkin of the Conn Smythe

Congrats to the Penguins. This was a truly remarkable run. This is an era where it is taken as a given a team needs an elite puck-moving defender to even be considered for the Cup, and the Penguins won the whole shebang with a defensive corps that could charitably be described as mediocre.

they were missing Kris Letang, that truly elite blueliner, and their defense compensated by simply coming at teams in waves. It was like a zombie outbreak... they just kept replacing the fallen man. This was an amazing job by Sullivan to get that kind of production out of that unit.

Teams these days are built on depth. Line after line is supposed to produce, and you can't have a weak link... unless you are the Penguins. Their top 4 skaters accounted for 99 points, nearly half of the team's production. It was just an incredibly top heavy team, yet it worked.

They played two goalies. They had 10 players shoot over 10%. They had a guy actually earn a Gordie Howe hat trick in a Stanley Cup Final game (Malkin). This was a ridiculous, odds-defying, sign your soul away to Satan to run.

This was a truly amazing Cup win.