The 1991-1992 Pittsburgh Penguins

Welcome the The New Normal

And we come to the Pittsburgh Penguins of the early 1990s, winners of two Stanley Cups, which is the most consecutive Cups anyone would win after the end of the Oilers dynasty.

Categories

Rings

As mentioned the Penguins won consecutive Stanley Cups in 1991 and 1992. (8/20)

Non-championship Years

The Penguins did not have any particularly long playoff runs around this time, and in fact had missed the playoffs entirely the previous year.

In 1993, they would win the Presidents Trophy, but lose in the second round of the playoffs to the Islanders (3/10)

Peak Performance

The teams scored 88 and 87 points, good for 6th and 7th in the league those years. The 1992 team swept the conference and Stanley Cup Finals. The 1993 team above amassed 119 points to lead the league. (3/10)

Star Power

Mario Lemieux wasn’t a better hockey player than Wayne Gretzky, but he might have been during this particular time in history. Jaromir Jagr’s rookie season was 1991. The team also featured Paul Coffey, Kevin Stevens, Mark Recchi, and Larry Murphy (8/10)

Coaching / Innovation

The Penguins were coached by Bob Johnson, who passed away to brain cancer and was succeeded by Hall of Famer Scotty Bowman.

Again, it’s not clear what strategy they had other than “have really good players” but hockey strategy is a bit opaque. (4/5)

Legacy

Before this run, there was a real question of whether the Penguins would remain in Pittsburgh. They had been behind the Islanders, Flyers, Rangers, and Capitals in the Patrick Division.

This run solidified them as a top tier NHL franchise, which has continued with Sidney Crosby. (5/5)

The Competition

This wasn’t a particularly strong era for the league, with the Oilers tearing down their dynasty. Their first Cup was won against a North Stars team that didn’t get close again (and moved to Dallas a few years later). The second was against a solid Blackhawks team. (2/5)

Achilles Heel

Tom Barrasso probably wasn’t a top tier goaltender, and the defense in general wasn’t that strong (2/5)

Bias Check

I did grow up a Flyers fan, but they were between runs at this point. My memory is a bit hazy, as I wasn’t following hockey closely at this point. (+1)

Summary

36 points. A good run. If the could have cashed in in the 1993 playoffs, could be among the greats.