COLUMBUS, Ohio -- For the first time in 17 years, the Penguins won't be participating in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
The Penguins have one more game to play Thursday night in Columbus, Ohio before the offseason begins. They had a scarcely attended optional morning skate at the Blue Jackets' Nationwide Arena on Thursday morning, with five players taking advantage of one last opportunity for a light skate this season.
Mike Sullivan met with reporters afterward to discuss what went into the team missing the playoffs for the first time under him as head coach.
"I just think the biggest thing for me was just our lack of consistency," he said. "I think there were stretches of the season where we saw a team that we envisioned we would see, a competitive group that is hard to play against. Then there were other stretches in the season where that wasn't the case. Trying to solve that consistency was our biggest challenge. That's where as a group, I don't think we did a good of a job as we needed to in that area. I think we had opportunities to solidify points there were a fair amount of missed opportunities. We all have to own that."
Sullivan added that there's going to be a level of reflection that everybody has over these next few months to really assess what needs to improve for next season.
"When you pour your heart and soul into something and you don't succeed, it stings," Sullivan said. "I don't think I'm the only one that's in that category. I think the whole group is a little bit dejected right now. I think we're all human and that's part of it. In a lot of ways, when you do win and you have success, it's times like these that make it so rewarding. It's hard to win. It's hard to win Stanley Cups. That for me is the hardest thing. I believe we have a playoff group. I believe in this group. I just think we have the makings of being a competitive team. For whatever reason, we didn't live up to our own standard of ourselves as individuals or as a team. We all have to take responsibility and ownership for that. That for me is some of the stuff that's gone through my mind here over the last little while. There will be a lot of reflection on how to improve and get better. I think there are always lessons through these experiences where we've got to continue to grow as people, both players and coaching staff alike."
Danny Shirey had an article on Thursday morning about the strong seasons Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby managed to put together at their age, and how that was all wasted by the roster that was constructed around them. Including Kris Letang in that, Sullivan expressed strong feelings toward the performances he got from the core.
"Those guys, they obviously had really good years in so many different ways," Sullivan said. "I just think the fact that they continue to play at such a high level is just so impressive. Their appetite to win, you can see it on the ice every day you watch them. That's one of the things I've always admired about those guys. I thought they all had strong years, they're competitive guys. Just their ability to play at such a high level is just so impressive."
This situation the Penguin have ahead of them tonight is one that is completely foreign to many of the Penguins' players, even members of the core like Malkin Letang. The only player who has played his entire career with the Penguins and knows what it's like to miss the playoffs is Crosby after the Penguins missed the playoffs in his rookie 2005-06 season. Even then, it wasn't close by any means. The Penguins were at the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings by a 12-point margin. To go into this last game of the season against the Blue Jackets -- now totally meaningless after there was real hope that this team could earn its way into the playoffs just a day before -- is a new experience.
They're going to try to go out on a high note.
"Our message is that we have a responsibility to ourselves a level of professionalism that we're going to put our best game on the ice," Sullivan said.
