Pittsburgh • Jim Rutherford knows what it's like to be a young goaltender trying to find his way in the NHL. Rutherford went through it with the Detroit Red Wings in the early 1970s, thrust into action at 21 years old with a franchise in the middle of a bumpy transition.
Yet that's where the comparisons end between Pittsburgh's general manager and the two young men who will play a major role in determining whether the Penguins can become the first team in more than 30 years to win three straight Stanley Cup championships.
Matt Murray and Tristan Jarry, both 23, have everything Rutherford didn't when he broke into the league more than four decades ago, from a true position coach to copious amounts of technology at their fingertips to the kind of advanced training techniques (both mental and physical) that Rutherford believes has the NHL's youngest goalie tandem in position to play a vital role in Pittsburgh's pursuit of history.