It would be an understatement to say that expectations were low for the Penguins going into the 2003-04 season.
It was the last season of the NHL's pre-salary cap era, and the organization was strapped for cash. The Penguins had the second-lowest payroll in the league at $23,400,000 (nearly a quarter going toward Mario Lemieux alone) and were up against teams in the division with payrolls double and in some cases triple their own. With not much cash to go around, the roster was full of many young, inexperienced players.
The head coach was an unknown commodity, too. After firing Rick Kehoe as head coach the previous spring, the Penguins brought in the team broadcaster, Eddie Olczyk as head coach.
General consensus around the hockey world was that the Penguins would finish the season around the basement of the league's standings and be in contention for the No. 1 overall pick in the following summer's draft.
The Hockey News projected the Penguins to finish dead last, and was already speculating how projected top pick Alex Ovechkin would like playing in Pittsburgh. Sports Illustrated picked the Penguins to finish last, pointing to a weak blue line as the roster's major flaw. ESPN the Magazine picked the Penguins to finish last in the division, as did The Sports Network of Canada, with the latter calling the roster "perhaps the worst supporting cast of (Lemieux's) career."
That Penguins team, branded the "X Generation" in promotional material, finished dead last in league standings for the first time since 1984 with a 23-47-8-4 record.
The struggles that season culminated in an 18-game losing streak, setting a league record that was unmatched until the Sabres hit the same mark this season.
The Penguins lost the draft lottery that spring, and the Capitals earned the right to draft Ovechkin No. 1 overall. The Penguins were given the No. 2 pick, which they would use to draft Evgeni Malkin. Not a bad consolation prize. Missing out on the No. 1 pick ultimately gave the Penguins the best possible odds for the 2005 draft lottery following the lockout season. The odds were in their favor that summer when they won the Sidney Crosby Sweepstakes, giving them not one but two generational talents that would bring the franchise three more Stanley Cups.
I spoke to some of the members of the 2003-04 X Generation Penguins team about their experiences that season, and how they feel about this season's Sabres team matching their 18-game record skid.
Here are their stories:
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EXPECTATIONS
Brooks Orpik, rookie defenseman: "We had like 10 rookies on the team. Usually if you're on a competitive team, you have like one, two rookies on the team, so it's rather easy. Having half the team be rookies, I don't care how talented the guys are. You're not going to be successful. That was before the salary cap, our team salary was like $21 million. We're playing some teams like the Rangers and Detroit, Toronto that have salary caps of like $90 million. You just do the math there. It's tough to be competitive."
Tom Kostopoulos, forward: "I remember it being exciting at training camp. I remember Ryan Malone coming in and having a big training camp. Everyone was looking forward to Konstantin Koltsov's speed. There were some really good young players coming up. It was more excitement going into the season."
Sebastian Caron, goaltender: "I thought we could make the playoffs, I thought we were a good enough team to do it. We started the season pretty bad right off the get-go. Just zero intent. That didn't go so well. When you start the season, you always think you're going to have a good team. After a few games, then you really got down deep."
Ryan Malone, rookie forward: "Personally, I signed a contract out of college and had an opportunity to make the team. I was just a boy from Pittsburgh living my dream. I remember in training camp, the practice sweater that I put on as a kid, now having an actual opportunity to make the team, I was just living the dream. There's nothing like that first year in the NHL. I was just trying to make the team if I could. I knew we were going to be younger and in that rebuild mode, so those hard times you could kind of expect."
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THE CROWD
The Penguins finished dead last in the fan attendance rankings that season, averaging just 11,877 fans per game, a far cry from the sellout streak brought on by the Crosby-Malkin era.
Orpik: "There were a lot of Pitt students that came, you could get tickets like dirt cheap if you were a college student. That was at the Mellon. The fans that did come were supportive. Then once we had that run of draft picks (in later years), things turned around pretty quickly."
Malone: "It was a little empty, but I think there was a little hype on the team at the end of the year there and there were a lot of exciting young guys to come and see. A blue-collar town, they like to see guys come out there and work hard and have fun. The fan support was always there, which is great. Being from Pittsburgh and remembering the early 90 playoffs, how those fans were with the Jaws posters on the power play."
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MARIO LEMIEUX PLAYS 10 GAMES
Dave Molinari said in his season preview from training camp that year that 38-year-old Mario Lemieux appeared to be "in the best shape of his career." Lemieux missed the last five months of the season, with a back injury limiting him to just 10 games. He scored a goal and eight assists in those 10 games, averaging over 22 minutes of ice time a night.
Malone: "It all felt like a dream (being around Lemieux). I was 13 when they won their first Stanley Cup there. When I actually got to be on the ice and see how he practices and just realize how even much better he was up close, it was really amazing. The first year I just followed the older guys around."
Caron: "When you lose a good player like that, Mario Lemieux, it's tough to replace. Other players had to step up, and we didn't. It was unfortunate."
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MARC-ANDRE FLEURY'S DEBUT
Fleury appeared in 22 games that season before being sent back to Cape Breton in the QMJHL. He had a strong 46-save debut in the regular-season opener, a 3-0 shutout loss to the Kings in which the Penguins were held to just 11 shots on goal. Fleury posted modest numbers that season -- a 4-14-12 record, 3.64 goals-against average, and a .896 save percentage -- thanks in part to the struggling skaters in front of him. Even from that first stint in the NHL, his teammates saw the potential for the strong NHL career that he ended up having.
Caron: "I thought he was going to be a really good hockey player. He was really fast, a good goalie. You knew he had a bright future."
Kostopoulos: "Everyone was excited for him at camp, he's just an amazing guy. He brings so much positivity and excitement, everything on the ice and in the dressing room. There was a lot of excitement around him. I don't think think it was that fair to him, I don't know if the team was the best defensive team to put a young goalie in front. But the way it worked out, they sent him back to get more experience and play a bunch of games there without killing his confidence. You look at his career, I think it was a good decision. But it was hard, we had a lot of young guys that were making a lot of defensive mistakes. I don't know if you want to put your first pick in the net behind a bunch of us young guys."
Orpik: "You could see how talented he was. For his long-term development, it was probably the right move (to send him back). But on the other hand, if we would have had him there, we probably would have had a better chance at winning some games and that's probably not what they wanted."
Malone: "He was kind of the silent guy that would go under everyone's radar, but he was up to his usual shenanigans. Then I always remember before the games, he had this ritual where he'd do a jump squat over this couch and land in flip flops. He's 18 and just bounding over this thing no problem. I'm like, 'Just one time if that flip flop slides a little, your ankle?' He's like, 'Aw, it'll be okay.' He was just a happy, go-lucky guy. It's great to see what a career he's had."
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ROOKIE PARTIES
One of the benefits to having so many rookies on the team? Two rookie parties. Since part of the tradition of rookie parties is that the rookies foot the bill, they had two parties so the young guys wouldn't have it too easy. Throughout the year, the young players formed a tight bond.
Orpik: "We had one in Miami, and one in Arizona. We had so many guys, so the older guys were like, 'Woah, this is unfair, you aren't going to pay anything because you're going to split it 10 ways. So we're going to have two of 'em.' Normally after a rookie party, whoever the coach is, he's going to skate you because he knows what you did the night before. But then it was nothing! It was, 'Go enjoy yourselves again, play golf, do whatever you want.'
Malone: "We had 10-plus guys, so it was maybe five then a group of six that had to pay for some of the dinners. A lot of good time off the ice, it made it fun."
Kostopoulos: "A bunch of us were living in a hotel together out in Green Tree for the whole season. We were with each other all day. We were with each other at the rink, go home, hang out, use the barbecues there, it was a really close-knit group."
Malone: "We were definitely having fun, everyone had a bunch of time on their hands. Most of the guys didn't have families, so we got to hang out with each other. It was one of the best years I had playing."
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KEEPING THINGS LIGHT
When the team began struggling the way it did, it was a struggle at times to keep morale up in the locker room. A few players stepped up in that regard,, with multiple players pointing to veteran defenseman Marc Bergevin, who was in the final year of his playing career, as one of top morale-boosters on the team.
Malone: "As a young kid, you kind of have your mouth shut and look to the older guys, and (Bergevin) always kept things loose before games with all kinds of antics. He always had disco music on. No one else was really touching the radio, so he always had Disco Fever, Saturday Night Fever stuff to get us going. Orpik, Matt Murley came in, Kris Beech, there's quite a few. We had a lot of fun."
Orpik: "(Bergevin) is one of the funnier guys I've met in hockey, it's still kind of funny to take him seriously now as a general manager (of the Canadiens). Thank God we had somebody like that around. Bergy was a good guy, but he was close to the end of his career, so he knew what a privilege it was to be in the league. Nobody liked losing, but I think everybody understood the situation and realized what the situation was. ... We're getting paid to play hockey, which we've done our whole lives. We weren't going to feel bad for ourselves."
Kostopoulos: "Marc Bergevin kept the room so light. Man, if it wasn't for him, someone might have gone off the deep end that season. He was hilarious. Every single day we'd walk in the dressing room and he'd have jokes, be making fun of someone. We used to show up and Bergevin would be dancing in the dressing room, or meet the bus outside with a sign like 'Let's go Pens!' He was really funny. Steve McKenna was a funny guy too, we had a good group of guys who were just showing the young guys the way. Kelly Buchberger, what an awesome guy that guy was. It was a neat group."
Kostopoulos: "The funniest thing back then, was we were still practicing at Southpointe, and Mario Lemieux wasn't playing but he had a change stall there. And you'd get off the rink after practice and your clothes would be gone. You knew someone put them in Mario Lemieux's stall, but you didn't want to be caught looking through Mario Lemieux's stall. It was usually Brooks Orpik or Rob Scuderi, Bergevin, one of those guys. You'd have to wait 'til no trainers were looking, nobody was around, and open the door to Lemieux's stall and peek in. And he had a whole wardrobe of clothes in there, you're trying to find your stuff, and then close it because someone was coming. Then you'd have to wait until they leave, look, move some clothes around to find your stuff. It took like forever just to find your stuff."
Orpik: "Don't let Tommy (Kostopoulos) fool you, Tommy is as guilty as everyone else when it comes to pranks. He likes to pretend like he's not."
Malone: "I remember Kelly Buchberger was my roommate most of the year, then one time we switched rooms and it was myself and Orpik, we shuffled a big china cabinet thing from by the elevator in front of his door. He was not happy. He called security and tried to get me kicked out of the hotel. We pulled pranks. They got me as a rookie, they would cut the inside of your pants pockets so you'd put your hand in and there's no bottom. They'd always cut my pockets. As rookies we had to retaliate a little to make sure we weren't getting taken advantage of all year long."
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LIGHTNING LESSONS
The worst loss of the season was a 9-0 loss in November to the would-be Stanley Cup champions, the Lightning. It was a learning experience in more ways than one.
Malone: "It's the best league in the world, and half of your team is some younger professionals. We played Tampa that year and lost like 9-0, and they never let up on the gas. You see the way they just came at us wave after wave as a team. You could see these guys had a chance to win the Stanley Cup, and that year they won. You got to kind of see, the more experience you have the better you're going to be able to handle that."
One of the veterans on the team had enough of the game early in the third period
Malone: "(Marty Straka) just said, 'Watch this, Bugsy,' and he went over and said 'F--- You' to the ref and got kicked out of the game. That could have been a good veteran move back in the day, he got his rest. Straka and those guys were great guys to learn from, to learn from those guys was a privilege."
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LOSING STREAK
The team had shorter losing streaks throughout the year, but the big one began with a 3-1 loss to the Lightning on Jan. 13. They didn't win again until Feb. 24 in Arizona, losing 18 straight in that span.
Orpik: "I think when stuff snowballs, you're pretty fragile as a young guy. You don't have the experience of knowing how to weather that kind of stuff. We didn't have a huge veteran presence, so there wasn't a lot of experience there. That's what I chalk (the streak) up to the most. Just a lack of experience. There were probably some games that we could have squeaked out, but we were overmatched most nights. It wasn't for a lack of effort. Guys were putting the effort in, we were just outmatched most nights on an overall talent level."
Malone: "As young professionals, you don't really know the grind of it and the games within the games, just getting the puck out of your zone, or line changes, or having a good faceoff might win or lose you a game. Little things that you see good teams do. The younger teams are usually making the mistakes. As long as you kind of learn from them. It was really managing the game within the 60 minutes and learning how to play big boy hockey."
Caron: "We didn't have a great season up to that, so confidence was not up to par. After Christmas, this team really pushed and we got buried. We just couldn't keep up. It's not for lack of trying or will, it just happened and it was hard to get out of that. Especially when you have the lead and everything goes well, then you have a couple of breakdowns and it ends up in the back of the net. That's a tough one. Those are the worst ones. Games were so tight, just the lone mistake you do could cost you a lot. You could have a good game and everything goes well, you make one mistake and it's in the back of the net. We may score back again, but when the confidence is shot it just goes deeper."
Kostopoulos: "It's not fun to be a part of. Everyone takes competing and winning seriously, everyone was trying their best. Everyone was working, but you get in a rut and confidence is low, and you seem to make mistakes at crucial times in the game and can't come out on top. It was tough, it was really tough. ... Anytime we would get close, we would get nervous, grip our sticks, coaches would get nervous. It wasn't a very calming feeling going down the stretch of a game when we were close."
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ANDY CHIODO GETS HIS SHOT
As the season and the losing streak went on, more younger players from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton got call ups from the AHL, in part to give those players an opportunity, but also to keep the team competitive for the No. 1 draft pick. One of those players to get a shot was goaltender Andy Chiodo, who made his NHL debut on Feb. 18 on Long Island, a close 4-3 loss.
Andy Chiodo, rookie goaltender: "That was my first pro season, I spent the bulk of the year in Wilkes, and two games in Wheeling. We were doing really well as a team. ... I was playing regularly in Wilkes, and my focus was there, doing my work every day. We watched Pittsburgh, and you're aware of what's going in in terms of the slide. For me, you're looking and there's a good group (in Pittsburgh). The group was working hard."
Chiodo: When I did get called up, we were just on the ice after practice. (Wilkes-Barre assistant coach) Mike Yeo had called me off the ice and said, 'You're going to play a lot of hockey here coming up,' and I didn't know what that meant. I went into the coach's office, and (head coach) Michel Therrien and Mike let me know I'd be going up to Pittsburgh the next day. Our group was moving along, and there was a streak building in Pittsburgh.
Orpik: "Chiodo played great for us down the stretch, he won a handful of games. I remember, likeI said, the team was doing everything to put us at a disadvantage. But it was his first time called up, so he had something to prove. I think the team actually started to get nervous, because we started winning some games down the stretch."
Kostopoulos: "Chiodo was awesome. He's all heart, all work. He's all about energy, he was so excited to come up. ... Andy came in and just left everything out there and played with his heart."
Chiodo: "I remember I wanted to bring some positive energy. When I did get called up, I thought to myself, 'Bring some really good energy, be solid, give them a chance and good things might happen. I wasn't as connected emotionally on a day-to-day with the entire slide, which probably helped in a way. I was able to come with a fresh mindset, fresh energy. I was really just trying to be solid and give them a chance."
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THE STREAK ENDS
The Penguins ended the streak in Arizona on Feb. 25, a trip that included one of the two rookie parties that year two days before the game. The team was a bit lighter on the trip as a result.
Chiodo: "We had a rookie party in Arizona, and the guys had such a great time, it was such a great group. I remember a ton of positive energy around that. It was a really positive experience. Then we had the day off before the Arizona game. We all came in and there was certainly a freshness about the group, and we all had a great time together a few nights before. From the first moment I came up in New York to that trip, I felt a really positive shift in the environment."
Malone: "Sometimes you do some team bonding, management was okay with guys getting together just as long as guys were together. I think guys were having fun, you play more loose, you don't have as much pressure."
Josef Melichar opened the scoring for the Penguins midway through the first period, but two goals from the Coyotes had the Penguins trailing 2-1 at the first intermission. The Coyotes extended that lead to 3-1 early in the middle frame, but the Penguins battled back to tie it with goals from Malone and Aleksey Morozov. After a scoreless third period, the game went to overtime. Ric Jackman deflected Dick Tarnstrom's shot from the point to win the game and snap the streak.
Chiodo: "We were down, and we ran into some penalty trouble in the second period. I remember Ryan Malone being vocal between periods in a really positive way. We were in the game, guys were working hard, guys were blocking shots, you could see the energy in the group. Even though we were down, there was a belief that we could come out of it on that evening. Guys had some really good nights, and even though we were down we went into that third period really optimistic. We tied it up, and we were able to win it in overtime with a shot from the point that got redirected."
The players celebrated on the ice like they had just won a playoff series.
Malone: "I remember jumping into the pile and someone hit my right skate up, parallel to the ice, and I cut Konstantin Koltsov for like 16 stitches like across his neck. It actually could have been a seriously dangerous thing. He actually had 16 stitches across his neck where my skate blade went from the pile, because I jumped so high into the pile. Everyone was so excited."
Chiodo: "It was a ton of relief. It felt almost more like relief from everybody. It was a good mood, a well-earned win. From a personal standpoint, it was a first NHL win for me. For the guys, the guys were super supportive. It felt like relief and optimism about the rest of the season."
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FINISHING THE SEASON
After the streak ended, the team finished strong, going 11-5-3 to finish the season after the win in Arizona, despite upper management perhaps preferring that the team would keep losing to secure the best draft lottery odds (which they did anyway).
Kostopoulos: "You know, we were trying to win games. We didn't really understand what was going on. Obviously the whole Ovechkin and Malkin draft was coming up. But all the players and coaches were trying to win. Poor Ed Olczyk, I love the guy. It was tough on Edzo too. ... Going down the stretch, we started winning games, then we started having like, no practices. We'd just show up for the games. All of us young guys were thinking, 'Man, is this the NHL? You just play games?' They'd cancel practices last minute and the team kept winning."
Orpik: "With (Ovechkin and Malkin) coming in the draft, I don't want to say the organization wanted us to lose, but they were doing everything they could to make sure we were not competitive. I remember later in the year, we were on a little road trip and had two days off between games. They didn't even schedule a practice. We had a morning skate and that was it. They were pretty much encouraging us to have a good time and do our best to finish as low as we can in the standings so we get a really good shot at Ovechkin or Malkin, then obviously the year after that with Sid. Without using the exact word "tanking," it was pretty clear what the objective was.".
Kostopoulos: "Near the end of the season, we really caught fire. I remember Dick Tarnstrom and Ric Jackman just started scoring from the point, like two defensemen I've never seen get that hot at that point in my career. They were scoring everything. The team caught fire. Ryan Malone was playing great. That's about the time that I think you could kind of feel like, maybe we're not supposed to be winning. Maybe management doesn't want us to win. But we were! We were playing against teams that were fighting for playoff spots, and we had no pressure. It was fun down the stretch. The two final games were against Washington for last place. I'm not saying anyone was trying to get last place, but there were definitely call ups with guys put into both lineups that were questionable."
Malone: "Near the end of the year we went on a tear and were playing better, actually winning. We knew that finishing at the bottom of the league, you had a good chance to get a draft pick, Ovechkin or Malkin. Either one you can't go wrong with. I could see how management was like, 'Hey, you don't need to practice.' Then it ends up backfiring and we go on a little streak there at the end, it was good to end on a good note."
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THE GREAT DICK TARNSTROM
Tarnstrom finished the year as the Penguins' leading scorer, still the only season in franchise history that a defenseman has been the team's leader. He scored 16 goals and 36 assists in 80 games.
Kostopoulos: "He was just in the zone. He found some confidence, and it seemed like everything he touched went in. He was really good on the power play. He was just good. We looked to a defenseman to score, and for whatever reason he lit it up and did really well."
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THE SABRES' SKID HITS 18
The Sabres tied the streak on March 30 this season, blowing a 3-0 lead to the Flyers and losing in overtime in the 18th game. The X Generation Penguins were keeping close watch.
Caron: "(The Sabres) have a good team. They're in it, they're playing awesome, they're winning 3-0. Then next thing you know, you shut off the TV and turn it back on and they lost 4-3 in overtime."
Orpik: "Buffalo's got a young team, but with the salary cap now, teams should be a little more competitive. That one game, too, the one where they blew the lead? (Tage) Thompson, he's got an empty net and he misses it by inches, then (the Flyers) come back down and score. It kind of feels like when you get in those streaks, anything that could possibly go against you goes against you. So your confidence is just killed, you start playing not to make mistakes. When you have that mentality going into games, you're going to lose more than you're going to win."
Kostopoulos: "You could just tell, watching Buffalo, how much pressure they're putting on themselves. It didn't look like anyone there was having fun. They're working hard, they have chances to win, then it comes down to the end. You kind of just want to share your experience. If they could just let loose, forget the nervousness, they could turn things around."
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EMPATHY FOR BUFFALO
Had the Sabres lost just one more game, they would have erased the 2003-04 Penguins team's name from the record book. Most are happy to see the record not broken, not wishing another team to go through what they did.
Orpik: "I grew up in Buffalo for about eight years, so I played minor hockey there. That's one of the best fanbases in the league, to be honest with you. As much as you feel bad for the players, you feel bad for the fans as well. It's tough. They haven't had a lot of traction there in nine,10 years. It's disappointing. You see the body language on the guys, anytime something went wrong. Their shoulders slouch, and you know they had no chance of coming back."
Malone: "It's probably worse for them with social media and everything now than it was back then, it probably feels even heavier than it did. You just have to let the past be the past and take it one game at a time. It's the best league in the world for a reason, hopefully those guys will be able to come together and have some type of positive outcome at the end of the year. ... But if they would have beaten the record, I would have been very happy with that. Of course Philly can't come through."
Caron: "You don't wish that on anybody. It's not good for a guy's career, it's not good mentally. It's a lot of stress being a player even when things go well to keep it going, then when you go through a tough time like this it's hard. ... You just feel for those guys, you don't want them to be in that position either. Especially now when I'm done playing like this, it's not something that's fun to watch. As bad as it was, I learned from it, and the rest of my career I learned a lot of things. I wish I had not been young like this. But through a career you're going to have ups and downs. It's impossible to have unbelievable hockey all of the time. You have to manage it."
Chiodo: "You don't want anybody to go through the stretch like that. Goaltenders, you don't want to see guys let in those tough flukey goals, you don't want to see long losing streaks like that. It's just a challenge, so many levels, mentally, emotionally, even physically. You feel for guys, you feel for the goalies, the whole team. It's a long stretch to go through that, you'd never wish that on anybody. ... You want that to end. At the end of the day, everyone is still working. There's a human side of things as well, you wanted to see them get out of that for sure.
Kostopoulos: "It was good to see them win. Hopefully they play well, other than their games against Pittsburgh."
