Penguins Prediction Rewind: Age finally caught up with Matt Cullen in one respect
Last summer, beat writer Jonathan Bombulie made a series of predictions leading up to the start of the 2018-19 season. Some were OK. Some were hilariously off the mark. In this series, Bombulie will explain what he was thinking and where his logic went off course.
THE QUESTION
How many goals will the ageless Matt Cullen score this season?
A. Single digits
B. Between 10 and 12
C. More than 12
THE PREDICTION
C. More than 12
THE RIGHT ANSWER
A. Single digits
THE RATIONALE
• Sure, Cullen would turn 42 a month into the season, but 42 isn’t all that different than 41, and he scored 11 goals with Minnesota the year before. And that was hardly an ideal situation. Cullen didn’t always fit into the Wild’s lineup. He even fell into healthy scratch territory once. His fit with the Penguins would be much better.
• Coach Mike Sullivan had a great deal of trust in Cullen to play in all situations, so there was no reason to think his ice time would dip.
• Cullen was in tremendous shape despite his age, making injury concerns less pressing.
READER REACTION
A sample of Facebook comments:
• “Hopefully, Cullen will be given enough off days so his skills will be amplified in the playoffs. His leadership role is off the charts.”
• “I think his ship has sailed but I think it was worth the attempt. Either he will be hurt or just a non-factor. Great player during the cup years.”
WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED
• Cullen had a productive final season in the NHL, leading Penguins forwards in shorthanded ice time per game after Carl Hagelin was traded away, but he managed only seven goals. Sullivan didn’t use him as much even strength, as his average ice time of 11:31 per game was the lowest of his career. He had 87 shots on goal.
• Some injuries have absolutely nothing to do with conditioning. Cullen missed 11 games after taking a puck to the foot in November.
THE FLAWS IN THE LOGIC
• Only six players in NHL history have scored double-digit goals in a season past their 42nd birthday – Gordie Howe, Jaromir Jagr, Mark Messier, Mark Recchi, Teemu Selanne and Igor Larionov. All six are in the Hockey Hall of Fame. Cullen is a great player, the heart and soul of two championship teams, but joining that class was a little bit much to ask.
• While it was easy to predict Cullen would thrive upon returning to a team with a style that fits his game, the team he came back to wasn’t exactly the same as the one he left. The Penguins played a more up-tempo game in 2015-17 than they did last year.
LESSONS LEARNED
• In September, every coach in the league will say he plans to get his fourth line involved more. Few will actually follow through on the vow. It’s hard to score double-digit goals when averaging nine even-strength minutes per game like Cullen did and like most fourth-line centers will.
Jonathan Bombulie is the TribLive assistant sports editor. A Greensburg native, he was a hockey reporter for two decades, covering the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins for 17 seasons before joining the Trib in 2015 and covering the Penguins for four seasons, including Stanley Cup championships in 2016-17. He can be reached at jbombulie@triblive.com.
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