Can Penguins maintain Stanley Cup speed over full season?

ANAHEIM, Calif. – The Pittsburgh Penguins have no noticeable aches and pains from their hyper-speed playing style that started last year when Mike Sullivan became the team’s coach.

It’s easier to play through the bruises of a hockey season when you’re forcing the game, instead of chasing it.

“When you play that way you get the puck a lot, and when you have the puck a lot it’s more fun to play and you get energized by having the puck,” forward Carl Hagelin said. “I don’t think it’s more taxing than any other way of play.”

Last season after Mike Johnston was fired and the team brought up Sullivan from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, the Penguins underwent a transformation. Sullivan pushed the pace to such an extreme degree that the rest of the NHL was caught off guard and led to the group making a run through the second half of the season to a Stanley Cup win.

The players bought in and enjoyed Sullivan’s pressuring system, but they didn’t have to keep up that frenetic pace over an entire season, just 54 games. This has led to some questions on whether Pittsburgh could keep up their speed over an 82-game stretch.

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So far the results have been uneven. The Penguins are 7-2-2 and have won four games in a row, but hold a 49.93 adjusted CF% to rank 13th in the NHL. In the Stanley Cup Final last year, the Penguins held a 55.60 adjusted CF% on the San Jose Sharks in their six-game win.

Injuries to captain Sidney Crosby and defenseman Kris Letang may have played a role but ultimately the team understands it must to figure out a way to get back to forcing the play on their opponent on a more consistent basis.

“When you look at the makeup of our team we have a lot of skaters first and foremost but I do think this team can play with pace. That’s the strength of the group,” Sullivan said. “We’re trying to put a game plan together that allows them to do that. I think we’ve shown signs of it here in the course of this young season, not nearly the consistency that is our expectation and that’s what we’ve been talking to our group about here over the last couple of weeks but I do believe that this team can play with pace game-in and game-out.”

Playing this type of style isn’t easy. According to Hagelin, you have to monitor yourself to make sure you stay in top skating shape throughout the year.

“It’s important to take care of your body, make sure you eat right, practice the right way and make sure you’re ready to go,” he said.

Added defenseman Olli Maatta, “It needs a lot of conditioning. I think that’s a big thing and we focused on this summer for training camp. It’s hard. It’s not easy.”

Even if they take all the necessary steps, there’s still a certain strain that comes with such an effort to play this style.

“I mean if you play a quicker pace than you were you’d obviously be a little more tired,” forward Nick Bonino said. “I think it’s enjoyable when you’re winning. To have successful NHL careers you need to do the things we did last year to win. I think we had done them in spurts when (Sullivan) wasn’t there and with him there he really stressed those little things. I think we got better as the year went along and when the playoffs came we were kind of at the peak of our year and everything worked out with us.”

The way the Penguins look at it, their style shouldn’t lead to more exhaustion than other winning styles around the NHL.

“That’s the way that we’re going to have success. I don’t think it’s any more taxing than a team that likes to play a more heavy game or a more physical game. It’s all relative,” Crosby said. “It’s tough to win so you’re going to have to work hard and pay a price to win. I think that’s the bottom line no matter how you play. You have to play to your strengths and speed is ours so you have to find a way to bring that every night and whether that’s the way we move our feet or the way we move the puck, that’s how we’re going to have success.”

Last season, the Penguins were able to catch some teams off guard with how they played, and this in part led to their run. The Los Angeles Kings’ success over the years turned the NHL into a league that pushed for a heavier game, and the Penguins figured out a way to beat that system.

Now ‘speed’ is the word du jour around the NHL and groups have tried to copy the Penguins’ style, which could lessen their effectiveness.

“When LA won it a couple of times, everyone wanted big, strong guys. Boston, Chicago, then they went back to kind of a mix of speed and strength and I think last year with us playing so fast for sure teams are going to want to do that,” Bonino said. “I think it comes down to personnel and if you’re really able to do that or not, so if you have that capability you’re going to want to play fast. That’s how you get the puck out of your zone quickly. I’ve noticed teams that have played fast against us but I think teams are always trying to do that.”

Even if groups try to copy the Penguins, Pittsburgh still has the best player in the world in Crosby, along with a bevvy of talent in the lineup. The Penguins can also roll four lines, which is another luxury other speed teams may not have. This should keep them fresher over the long stretch of a season.

“We try to use the bench and everybody so we have the ability to push the pace out there and keep the tempo high,” Sullivan said. “I don’t think it’s the instance where too many guys are getting overplayed from a minutes standpoint where we can wear people down. We feel like we have enough good players that we can put them on the ice and they can play against anyone. I think that’s one of the strengths of the group as well and we try to use that to our advantage.”

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Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @joshuacooper

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