Penguins, Flyers give hopes a depth charge

Sporting News, The, Jan 13, 1997 by Larry Wigge

The Penguins were rolling along with the best record in the Eastern Conference late last February. All of the experts marveled at Mario Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr and Ron Francis ranking 1-2-3 on the scoring charts and predicted that the Penguins would be tough to beat in the playoffs.

I had my doubts - about Pittsburgh's defense and up-front depth. So did Penguins coach Eddie Johnston, who didn't look or sound like someone being fitted for a Stanley Cup ring when I saw him at Montreal.

"It's the same guys every night," Johnston said in disgust. "This isn't a league where you can get by with five or six guys producing all of the goals in the playoffs.

"I mean, Mario and Jaromir and Ronnie are there every night and Petr Nedved, Tomas Sandstrom and Bryan Smolinski get their share of points, too. But the third- and fourth-line guys contribute nothing."

The Penguins got by the Capitals and Rangers in the first two playoff rounds with timely scoring and great goaltending. Then they ran into the Panthers, a team that uses four lines.

And depth did in the Penguins.

This let's-get-help-from-everybody approach isn't new, ifs just more glamorous to talk about a team's top two fines and its stars. But to their credit, the Penguins learned from their loss to the Panthers. It just took two tries to get it right.

Plan A included the signing of free-agent forwards Dan Quinn, Joe Mullen, Shawn Antoski, Kevin Todd and Tyler Wright and the trade of a draft choice for retread winger Petr Klima.

But nothing fell into place until Plan B was implemented with three rapid-fire trades in mid-November. Stu Barnes was acquired from Florida, Alex Hicks from Anaheim and Andreas Johansson from the Islanders for help up front and Darius Kasparaitis, Jason Woolley and Fredrik Olausson for help on defense. Quinn and Klima were put on waivers.

"Sometimes you have to change the chemistry up front and on the back fine to get the desired results," Lemieux says. "We weren't scoring as a team - and we definitely weren't keeping our opponents off the scoreboard.

"Since the trades, the D is moving the puck up the ice quicker and we are getting our chances to score again."

Just preparing for the Penguins is more difficult now that Barnes, Hicks, Johansson and other third and fourth-liners are contributing to the offense. Pittsburgh's penalty killing also has improved dramatically, from just over 70 percent to well over 80 since the mid-November trades.

"Sure you still have to concentrate on Lemieux and Jagr, but Barnes and Hicks have given us fits," Blues defenseman Al MacInnis says.

But such a depth charge is not unique to the Penguins. Flyers coach Terry Murray experienced the same kind of problems as the Penguins last season - an early exit in the playoffs, one productive line with no hope of advancing if that line is stopped. Eric Lindros, John LeClair and Mikael Renberg could doom many opponents without help, but not the Panthers, who also took the Flyers out in their spirited playoff run to the Cup finals.

Philadelphia's move to add scoring balance and become well-rounded enough to be a legitimate playoff threat began last June when the Flyers chose Dainius Zubrus in the first round of the entry draft and brought defenseman Janne Niinimaa over from Europe.

But Plan A, like in Pittsburgh, didn't work out.

Lindros missed the first 23 games with a groin injury, and the Flyers struggled. But during his absence, third-line winger Shjon Podein began contributing key goals and checker Trent Klatt also chipped in with some scoring. When Lindros returned, Klatt moved up to the No. 2 line with Dale Hawerchuk and Rod Brind'Amour.

And then came Plan B - the acquisition of All-Star defenseman Paul Coffey from Hartford to give the Flyers depth up front and on defense.

It's funny how working to improve the offense can improve the defense - and vice versa.

Now the Flyers are almost unbeatable and entered the week with a 16-game unbeaten streak.

Another difference in this year's Flyers and Penguins - yes, the Penguins - is that both have tinkered with their own versions of the neutral-zone trap - the great equalizer-of-talent defensive scheme that weaker teams use to create a level ice surface.

"Now I've seen everything," says Devils defenseman Scott Stevens. "We played the Penguins last week, and they started trapping us in the neutral zone. I never thought I'd see that from them. They have always come out and tried to intimidate us offensively. This time, they intimidated us offensively and defensively."

And it's a simple formula for a team that now has the kind of depth to win a Stanley Cup.

Having officially reached the halfway point of the season, let's look at the teams that do have such depth on offense and defense and deserve to rank in the elite group of legitimate Stanley Cup contender - as well as teams that could soon join that group. First, my favorites for the Cup finals:

Avalanche: They still present the most talent in the league and continue to win without Peter Forsberg, Claude Lemieux, Valeri Kamensky, Scott Young and others.