Winning and Losing Is Not Only on One Player

Over the past two weeks, I’ve read countless of articles placing blame for the Penguins loss to the Canadiens.  But all those articles never talk about the team as a collective whole falling apart; they always focus on one player. 

First and foremost, hockey is a team sport.  One player may affect the game for his team but that’s when the others are supposed to step forward and take up the slack. 

You cannot blame one person for a team’s demise.  That is not how it works.

I know, it’s so easy to blame the goalie for a loss, but the opposing team should have to go through the rest of the team first, or at least the D-men.  Sure, the goalie is the last line of defense but every goal should not be blamed on him.   So to blame only Fleury for the losses is crazy. 

A number of articles have said "trade Malkin, he needs to go." 

To those writers, I say you are insane. 

It would be better for Malkin if he was traded because he’d get out of Crosby’s shadow, but it would be horrible for the Pens.  Malkin has stepped up for the team multiple times and is like a faithful, talented sidekick that saves the team when he’s needed.  He may not have had the playoffs that were expected from him but to talk about trading him is insane.

Finally, the funniest articles I’ve read are ones saying that we need to trade Crosby.  If you trade Crosby, the Penguins will lose their fans and a big chunk of their talent. 

Some have said that he is past his prime and needs to go.  The boy is twenty two and had a bad playoffs.  He is not past his prime.  He is still close to the top in every part of the NHL, if not on top. 

One bad play off is not a justifiable reason to send one of the best, if not the best, players in the league.

So the next time your team has a bad game and you feel like killing one player, remember that hockey is a team sport.  One player may not play all that great, but he is not the only reason the team lost.