NHL Stanley Cup 2016 Champions: Pittsburgh Penguins Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		4.0

NHL Stanley Cup 2016 Champions: Pittsburgh Penguins Blu-ray Movie Review

Lord Stanley, Lord Stanley, get me the brandy!

Reviewed by Martin Liebman July 29, 2016

I'm just going to say this up-front, nice and clear, for everyone to see. I'm a die-hard Pittsburgh sports fan. I was born elsewhere, but all of my memories from the very first to the time I moved away (I still miss home) many years later are almost all from somewhere around Western Pennsylvania. Pittsburgh is in my blood. From where I sit, writing this review, a Penguins poster, three pennants, and a puck are right in my line-of-sight. Three Pens rally towels are affixed to the wall behind. There's other stuff, too. A 3'x5' Pirates flag features most prominently through it all. There's a Bucco pennant, two Terrible Towels, an autographed Franco Harris picture, "Heritage Banners" for all three major Pittsburgh teams, old Pittsburgh Starting Lineup figures, baseball cards, caps, helmets, the works. Two volumes of Pittsburgh Penguins Greatest Games DVDs, gifts from a dear friend, feature prominently on my bookshelf. My wedding cake was Pittsburgh sports-themed. So, yeah...bias alert. I love my Pirates more than just about anything in the world. Pirates baseball is my passion. The Pens are up there, too, and hockey is awesome. Love it. Watching the likes of Lemieux, Jagr, Francis, Stevens, Straka, Kovalev, (scratch the bad years), Crosby, Malkin, and Kessel have made the Pens easy to cheer for, sure, but black and gold runs through these veins, be the teams up or down, sideways, or any other way. Sorry, Sharks fans (by the way, I would have been absolutely cool with Martin Jones winning the Conn Smith trophy this year, even as a member of the losing team...dude deserved it). Not sorry, Flyers fans. You guys know how it is. So, onto the unabashed five-star review...

Sid the Kid and The Commissioner.

2016's finals saw the Sharks -- a team that always seemed to be at, or near, the top of the Western Conference standings and an annual threat to win the Cup but that always fell short on the way -- get out of the bruising Western Conference playoffs for the first time in franchise history. The Pens were making finals appearance number five, with a 3-1 record coming in (including the franchise's first win in the 1991-1992 season, coincidentally the same year the Sharks first debuted on NHL ice), a win and a loss each in the Crosby-Malkin era. The Sharks skated into the series as the favorites, the media darlings picked by TV and Internet experts to finally get over that hump and win a Cup for beloved veterans like Patrick Marleau and Joe Thornton, two NHL lifers who, in the twilights of their illustrious careers, had yet to lift Lord Stanley's hardware above their heads.

Pittsburgh came into the playoffs blazing hot after a sputtering start to the season. The team was playing lifeless hockey under then-coach Mike Johnston. With the season seemingly lost, or at least a crossroads, Johnston was fired and replaced by Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Head Coach Mike Sullivan who, after losing his first few games behind the Penguins' bench, finally won. And kept on winning. General Manager Jim Rutherford retooled the roster, too, calling up several rookies from the AHL and making a few key acquisitions via trade, almost overnight revamping the team to favor speed and skill. Injuries also helped reshape the Pens' late run. Evgeni Malkin's time off the ice lead to the pairing of the now-famous "HBK" line (Carl Hagelin-Nick Bonino-Phil Kessel, which grew in popularity when WWE Superstar Shawn Michaels, also known as "HBK," began following the team's run and even attended game five of the conference finals against the Lightning). Longtime Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury also suffered injury, opening the door for 21-year-old but cool-as-ice rookie goaltender Matt Murray to take center stage and, despite a few bumps and soft goals along the way, provide a calming influence in front of the net and help lead his team to Cup glory.

The film is similarly structured to previous year Cup winner programs. It spends about half its runtime on the lead-up to the finals -- the regular season, the first three playoff rounds -- before settling in for a detailed, in-depth push through all six games of the finals, as well as postgame ceremonies and celebrations. It begins with GM Jim Rutherford's acquisition of Phil Kessel and other key pieces and continues on to look at the team's sluggish start and the midseason turning points: promoting Mike Sullivan, calling up several AHL skaters, and making key trades, including for veteran Defenseman Trevor Daley. It's gorgeously constructed from a visual perspective, with plenty of unique images and intimate insight into the team beyond the ice. It's well paced and engaged, obviously a labor of love and, beyond the bias of writing about a favorite team as the subject, a very well done piece that's respectful of the opponents and more than capable of bringing Pittsburgh fans to their feet again and again.

Below is breakdown of each game (notes were taken during the games as they aired live, in between cheers, food, and excited text messages).

Game One:

The Penguins came out flying at home, dominated the first period and netted two goals off the blades of freshly minted Eastern Conference Finals hero Bryan Rust and another rookie, Conor Sheary, both putting one past Martin Jones. Both skaters started the season in the AHL. So much for jitters. The Sharks weren't going to go away quietly. San Jose scored twice in a dominant second; forwards Tomas Hertl and Patrick Marleau beat Matt Murray to even the score headed into the third period. The final twenty minutes of play saw the Pens regain their footing and tilt the ice back in their favor, generating plenty of great chances against the Sharks that Jones just wouldn't allow behind him. With less than three minutes to go, however, defenseman Kris Letang, playing well deeper than usual behind the San Jose net, fed the puck to third-line center Nick Bonino to put the game away and give the Penguins a 1-0 series lead.

Game Two:

Pucks off posts. That was the theme of game two, again in Pittsburgh, where the Pens' speed and ability to outshoot the opponent kept Pittsburgh looking more and more like they'd be going west up two games to none. The Penguins broke the ice midway through the second period when Phil Kessel chipped one past Martin Jones. In the third, the Sharks shook up some lines, generated more scoring chances, and tied the game on a Justin Braun goal. But the Pens won early in overtime off a planned play that saw Sidney Crosby win a key face-off in San Jose's zone that went back to Kris Letting and then to rookie Conor Sheary for the winner that put the Pens comfortably up two games to none as the series transitioned to San Jose for game three.

Game Three:

Two subjects dominated the chatter leading up to game three: the Shark's desperation to win to avoid falling to a nearly insurmountable 3-0 series hole and, more interesting, Logan Couture's claim (cry?) that Sidney Crosby cheats on face-offs, clearly still stinging from the "set play" that won game two for the Pens. The accusation was laughed off by most experts and fans alike. By game time, however, the story became the humid weather in San Jose and the ice's less-than-ideal condition, the sloppier surface potentially hindering the Penguins' speed game. And indeed, San Jose came out determined. But it was the Pens that struck first. Defenseman Ben Lovejoy snuck a puck past Martin Jones, fired from near the blue line. The Sharks came back to tie it up only minutes later on Justin Braun's second goal of the finals. The second period was largely uneventful again until Lovejoy, again shooting from distance, put another one on-net that went in, this time off the stick of first-line winger Patric Hornqvist to give the Pens a 2-1 lead and a serious threat to all but put the Sharks away. But San Jose battled hard and capitalized on a four-minute power play following Nick Bonino's high stick to Joe Thornton. In the waning seconds of the man advantage, off a misplayed puck, Joel Ward shot from distance and snuck a bad goal past Matt Murray to tie the game. Frantic, fast-paced hockey followed, sending the game into overtime and ending with a Joonas Donskoi goal to get the sharks back in the series.

Game Four:

The Sharks were back in the series. The Pens were still the speedy Pens. The ice in San Jose was reportedly a bit better. Pittsburgh opened the scoring on a rare goal by Defenseman Ian Cole -- his first in 105 games -- to grab a 1-0 lead. The Pens went up 2-0 in the second period when Superstar Evgeni Malkin, largely quiet in the series and in previous round games against the Lightning, tipped one in from directly in front of the net by way of a seeing-eye pass from Phil Kessel on the power play. 2-0 Pittsburgh. The Pens, buzzing for the kill, hit two posts in rapid succession only moments later but could not increase the lead. The Sharks crept back into the game, and they hoped, the series, when Melker Karlsson got a puck past Matt Murray to cut the deficit to one. But Murray would come up huge thereafter, giving the Pens ample time to ice the game when fourth-line winger Eric Fehr scored late in the third to seal the deal and send the series back to Pittsburgh with the Penguins only a win away from hoisting the cup on home ice.

Game Five:

Game five. At home. One win away. The city of Pittsburgh was positively buzzing like never before, hungry to celebrate its first major professional sports championship, won at home, since Maz walked the Yankees off in game seven of the 1960 World Series. Throngs of people gathered outside Consol Energy Center. The game was foregone conclusion. The cup was in the building. Parades where being planned. Talk radio was already talking as if it was over. But the Sharks had other plans. Big plans. San Jose scored not once, but twice, in rapid succession early in the first. Two quick goals. The life yanked from the crowd, the air out of the building, the big plans brought to a sudden, screeching halt, a silence that blanketed the city beyond its capacity to realize what had happened. Then the Penguins scored. And scored again. A delay of game penalty put Pittsburgh on the power play. Malkin scored. Carl Hagelin deflected one in. The atmosphere was suddenly one of jubilation. Excitement. Tons of beer surely spilled in the stands. The score remained tied until Melker Karlsson beat Matt Murray with about five minutes left in the period to give the Sharks a 3-2 advantage going into period two and closing out one of the craziest opening 20 in cup final history. The second was one of the most high-energy periods in the series with tons of scoring opportunities on both ends of the ice, including a golden opportunity off the stick of Nick Bonino that the third-liner just couldn't get past Martin Jones' left pad. A largely uneventful third ended with an empty netter for the Sharks and the final nail in the coffin of Pittsburgh's premature celebration.

Game Six:

The series shifted back to San Jose. Home ice for the team that needed to win to stay alive. Win this one, in the Shark Tank, and even with game seven back in Pittsburgh, anything could happen. The Sharks had already won there once. That was then. Pittsburgh could smell the blood, too. Sure, they let the city down. But they were still one win away. Win and end it. Not at home, but skating with the cup is skating with the cup, whether in Pittsburgh, San Jose, Timbuktu, or the moon. They were skating with high stakes, but without the weight of a raucous crowd, and the expectations a city, seen and heard with every hit, sprint, shot, and save. The Pens opened the scoring by way of the suddenly hot power play, this goal by Defenseman Brian Dumoulin, scoring after a hesitation from deep by the blue line and with Nick Bonino screening Martin Jones. Logan Couture evened the score at 1-1 in the second. It was the last time San Jose would score in the game, the series, and the season. Kris Letang scored not long after. Patric Hornqvist cemented the game, and the series, and the cup, with an empty-netter at the end of the third period. The 2016 Pittsburgh Penguins: from team in crisis to Stanley Cup Champions. YES!

NHL Stanley Cup 2016 Champions: Pittsburgh Penguins Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Pittsburgh Penguins Stanley Cup Champions 2016's 1080p transfer hits on almost all fronts. It does fall victim to sporadic, and occasionally heavy, noise. Light banding appears in a few places and aliasing is more prominent than is ideal. Otherwise, this is a very nice-looking image. Colors are fantastic; hockey always has been, and remains here, a showcase for high definition. Black and Pittsburgh gold pop. Capitals red, Lightning blue, and Sharks teal are potent and eye-catching. Color balance is fantastic, whether in the locker room or out on parade in Pittsburgh. Details are exacting, revealing intimate texturing on neckties, baseball caps, hockey equipment, and jerseys. Image clarity is superb all around, whether the camera's looking at wide cityscape overviews or intimate shots right down on the ice surface. Black levels hold deep and interviewees maintain natural skin tones. Despite some background flaws, the key pieces in this image are terrific.

NHL Stanley Cup 2016 Champions: Pittsburgh Penguins Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Pittsburgh Penguins Stanley Cup Champions 2016 skates ont Blu-ray with a proficient DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 lossless soundtrack that's hardly the stuff of legend but that capably reproduces the program's rather modest sonic needs with ease. Music is stout and well spaced out to the sides, revealing positive instrumental detailing, whether dominant on top of the program or lingering underneath action. All that's otherwise here is the spoken word. Narration, interviews, and raw on-ice, in the locker room, behind the bench, or on the plane delivery is smooth and detailed. Mike Lange's radio calls are a little more muddled, but understandably so given the source.

NHL Stanley Cup 2016 Champions: Pittsburgh Penguins Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Pittsburgh Penguins Stanley Cup Champions 2016 contains the following bonus features, all things considered a fairly bland allotment that could have been so much more. A DVD copy of the program is included.

• Extended Parade Celebration (1080p, 2:48): Video images from Pittsburgh's parade.
• Extended On-Ice Celebration (1080p, 3:05): More video highlights from the moments after the Pens won the Cup.
• Extended Locker Room Celebration (1080p, 2:06): The Pens party it up in the locker room after game six.
• Round 1 Wireless Feature (1080i, 1:46): Video and sound highlights from the 2016 playoffs, first round.
• Round 2 Wireless Feature (1080i, 1:44): Video and sound highlights from the 2016 playoffs, second round.
• Round 3 Wireless Feature (1080i, 1:41): Video and sound highlights from the 2016 playoffs, conference finals.
• Practice Wireless Feature (1080p, 2:01): A look inside the Pens' weight room and practice ice, including interviews with coach and Crosby.
• Top 10 Plays (1080p, 4:46): NHL Network's Jamie Hersch hosts a look at the top 10 plays from the Pens' season.
• Matt Murray Drive to the Rink (1080p, 1:46): Murray's teammates poke fun at his hair, and the piece continues to follow the rookie net minder as he drives to the arena.
• HBK Sandwich (1080p, 1:03): A quick introduction to Primanti Bros.' newest menu item.
• Team Photo (1080p, 1:34): The team gathers for picture time.

NHL Stanley Cup 2016 Champions: Pittsburgh Penguins Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Pittsburgh Penguins Stanley Cup Champions 2016 is another fantastic hockey release that's passionately put together, slick and smooth, but grounded in the nitty gritty path to the Cup. For Penguins fans, it's a release to treasure, boasting tremendous replay value by way of its relatively quick, but fairly comprehensive, run-through of the Cup winning season that was. The release is disappointingly short on meaty extras, but video and audio are quite good. It's a shame that there's no full-game release as there is for baseball, but this is certainly enough to excite Penguins, and hockey, fans. Highly recommended even beyond Pittsburgh sports fans.