Like most hockey stories, it begins with a quest for glory.
The Pittsburgh Penguin is technically a bird, although one that makes his home in the rink. So if you're wondering what he's doing up here on the ice, well, that's part of our story.
Each year, at around the same time, he will leave the comfort of the regular season, and embark on a remarkable journey. He will travel a great distance; and though he is a bird, he won't fly. Though he lives in Pittsburgh, he won't produce steel. Mostly, he will skate; but he won't skate alone.
It is April, the regular season is over, and another long playoff run has begun. The Penguins have been prepping in the Atlantic division for six months. Now, their bodies ready, it is time to find Stanley's Cup.
Their prize is 16 wins away. To get there, they will battle day and night continuously; sometimes, for a seven-game series. It is a long, dangerous and seemingly impossible journey; and many teams will not survive it. Nonetheless, when the last of the squads has finally clambered onto the ice, their long march will begin - just as it has for over four decades.
The destination is always the same; their path, however, is not. The ice on which the Penguins travel never stops shifting and changing - new teams will appear to battle them every series.
We're not exactly sure how they find their way. Perhaps they are assisted by Mario Lemieux or Ron Burkle; or, maybe having taken this march 24 times before, they are guided by some invisible complice within them.
They never stay stumped for long. Eventually, one of them will pick up the slack, and the journey continues.
"We're the 'Pesky Pens'," said Penguin Jordan Staal. "We're resilient, we have the character and, obviously, we have the talent to win games."
When they get tired of skating, they'll give their feet a rest - they'll use their mental acumen to stay the course.
"Sometimes our legs aren't there every night, but we find a way to battle through," said Staal. "It's great to be a part of."
This year's version of the Penguins faced a familiar foe to open the post-season in the Ottawa Senators - a team they have battled in the first round for three of the last four years. Unease set in quickly in Pittsburgh after dropping a 5-4 decision in game one.
"We have a good team," said white-padded backstopper Marc-Andre Fleury. "We have the guys who can get it done, and I think that when we play the right way - the way we know we can - we're a very dangerous team."
That danger was evident in games two through four of their first-round encounter, as the defenders of Lord Stanley's Cup disposed of the Senators in three straight contests. This left the Canadian capital clinging to their playoff lives, leading to a game five marathon, in which the Sens were able to squeak out a victory in triple overtime. A mere bump in the road, the Penguins showed their peskiness in game six in Ottawa, rallying from a three-goal deficit to eliminate the home side in overtime, and move on to the next challenger.
Fronting the pack is the Emperor Penguin himself, Sidney Crosby, who leads the National Hockey League in playoff points with 14. His royal advisors - or assistant captains, depending on your choice of lingo at this stage of the narrative - Russians Evgeni Malkin and Sergei Gonchar aren't far behind, putting up eight and six points respectively.
There is certainly no shortage of offence in Pittsburgh, which is something that the club is more than aware of.
"We can score a lot of goals," said Fleury. "Especially with the guys we have in our dressing room."
"It's a great luxury for a team to have," said veteran Bill Guerin, who has been a point-per-game player this post-season. "We have that here and we know how lucky we are."
Luck has little to do with it.
After missing the playoffs for four straight seasons from 2001 to 2006, the Penguins have rebuilt their army to perfection. Since 2003, the club has brought in significant reinforcements to the tune of Fleury, Malkin and Crosby, who went first, second and first overall in their respective entry drafts.
After losing former Emperor Lemieux in 2006, the Penguins marched on valiantly, creeping back into the playoff picture in 2007. The next two seasons saw them in back-to-back Stanley Cup Finals, and they ultimately reached their Promised Land last season by laying claim to Stanley's Cup.
This year, they are just as, if not more dangerous than a season ago. There may be some bumps along the way, but for the Pesky Pens, they won't stay down for long. There is much fight in them and they possess an uncanny ability to bounce back. So long as they remain united, count on these Penguins to perpetually march on.
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