The Pittsburgh Penguins are moving on to the Second Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs thanks to a victory over the New York Rangers in five games.
Now that we have some playoff stats, we can explore some shocking similarities between this team and that championship club from 2009. Just like Yogi Berra used to say, “It’s deja vu all over again”.
The Mid-Season Coaching Change
This relationship is clear. In February 2009, the Penguins were 27-25-5 and were outside of the playoff picture. They fired Michel Therrien, who led theme to the cup finals the year before, and brought in the team’s AHL Head Coach, Dan Bylsma.