In the Pitts

Rejoice, Penguins haters (which is to say, EVERYONE.) The Pittsburgh Penguins have been eliminated from playoff contention.

Don't bother me with little mathematical details that might say otherwise. It's written in the NHL bylaws that once a team loses thrice to the Toronto Maple Leafs, it is legally barred from participating in the postseason. (It's Article LXII, Paragraph 4, Section c.)

So, have your fun. The 29 other teams and fan bases love to hate the Penguins, so I'd imagine this day becomes a national holiday.

The Penguins don't play hard, don't work hard, they probably don't even practice hard. They don't do anything well, except lose in new and exciting ways.

Not only that, they're just not talented enough. Mark it down: the Penguins will NEVER win a Stanley Cup with Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.

I wrote in my paper several weeks ago that reaching the finals last year was the worst thing that could've happened to Pittsburgh. Missing the playoffs by 10 points would've been better. Missing by one point would've been better. Losing in any of the first three rounds would've been better. Heck, reaching the finals and getting SWEPT would've been better.

Now the supposed "core" group is a bunch of overpaid, underachieving deadweights who the franchise is stuck with for years. There will never be enough overall talent on this team to ever win anything again.

Hopefully NBC and Versus realize this and stop broadcasting Penguins games, rather than televise the slop that consists of the team now.

KiPA