Penguins Update: When the Goin’ Gets Tough…

…the tough get goin.’

Anyone who’s read PenguinPoop for any length of time knows that’s been my mantra over the years. In part rooted in my distant hockey past, when early Penguins teams were routinely mauled during the goon-squad era by the likes of Philly’s swashbuckling Broad Street Bullies, Boston’s Big, Bad, Bruins and the Blues’ nasty Plager brothers.

Some of it’s based in cold, hard hockey reality. The Panthers won back-to-back Stanley Cups and have made three trips in a row to the Final, in part, because they were tougher and meaner than anyone else. Before them, the Lightning employed a similar blend of skill and ornery to capture multiple Cups.

All the while and much to my dismay,…