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Elliotte Friedman had an interesting idea for if the Pittsburgh Penguins win the Stanley Cup this year as to who should win the Conn Smythe for playoff MVP:
"I'm going off the board here. The Conn Smythe trophy, it PIttsburgh wins two more games -- there was been two times in MLB history where more than 1 player was named World Series MVP.....I think if the Penguins win the Cup they should give the MVP to both Fleury and Murray."
If PIT wins the Cup, a different idea for Conn Smythe (Spoiler: @RealKyper thinks it's stupid) Video - Sportsnet.ca https://t.co/vfv9a5SGGV
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) June 1, 2017
Asked if this could happen, Friedman said he asked fellow media member Chris Johnston if something like this was even possible. So stay tuned, I would think this idea could pick up some momentum if they even deem an idea like this possible.
It certainly would be very worthy and appropriate after this spring; Marc-Andre Fleury earned the team's first 9 playoff wins with a .924 save% and took Pittsburgh past solid teams in Columbus and Washington. Matt Murray came back from injury and is in quite a run going 5-1 so far with a sterling .943%. With apologies to Evgeni Malkin, Sidney Crosby and Jake Guentzel, the Penguins MVP has been their goaltending, it's just been a combined effort to get there.
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A read worth your time is this Boston Globe article about Kevin Stevens current attempt to put addiction behind him and the struggles that he has been dealing with in his life. Tough to read about a guy who many grew up idolizing falling on such hard times and dealing with demons. We're all pulling for him to find peace and health.
One thing that stood out, is that it's mentioned Stevens is still drawing a paycheck from the New York Rangers as part of a deferred salary from his playing days. That was sort of casually thrown in there, but raised my eyebrows. Stevens last was a member of the Rangers in the 1999-2000 season and now 17 years later he's still being paid.
That was a popular thing to do back in that day, famously ex-Pirate Bobby Bonilla gets paid $1.1 million dollars from the NY Mets every year until 2035 and he's been gone for about as long as Stevens. Big Artie's compensation surely isn't that much, but in hindsight it is a good thing to have some income later in life, so good for him for that.
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The split mentality has to be on for the Penguins now as they head on the road.
under Mike Sullivan, the Penguins have come away with at least a split from the first two road games in each playoff series they’ve played pic.twitter.com/xHXj8839U5
— coconut&mojito mike (@MikeDarnay) June 1, 2017
Nashville will be a tough place to play, but Pittsburgh needs to lean on their experience and past in order to really take control of this series and have a chance to end it in Game 5 on home ice.