The Penguins once sat where the Bruins did Friday night. Stunned, embarrassed at how a playoff series slipped from their grasp. By now, Boston fans know the 2009-10 Bruins have etched their names alongside those of the 1975 Penguins, the 1942 Detroit Red Wings, and the 2004 Yankees as teams that choked after holding a 3-0 lead in a best-of-seven playoff series.
“It’s something you have to live with the rest of your life,’’ said Potvin. “Everybody is going to focus on the positive, but everybody knows the team that lost in a series like this. Everybody knows that it was the Pittsburgh Penguins that lost after leading, 3-0. That will never, never go away.
“Most athletes have learned to deal with the downside of the sport, but this exacerbates it because you’re in the record books for everybody to see forever.’’
Big losers, runners-up often fade away. But these Bruins have etched an unforgettable chapter in franchise history. And the careers of Zdeno Chara, Milan Lucic, Blake Wheeler, Tuukka Rask, Marc Savard, and their teammates forever will be connected with what transpired during the series.
Now the question is, how long does the loss linger in the minds of the players and the psyche of the franchise?
“There are some serious repercussions if you lose,’’ said former Islanders goalie Chico Resch. “Players say they can shrug it off. You can shrug off individual losses. But it’s been 35 years since we did it and they’re still talking about it in reference to a great comeback or a collapse.
“The year we did that, everybody was playing well. It was the best time to be a hockey player for me. The flip side of that is when you’re trying everything you can and it’s not working for you and you’re not getting the bounces, that’s the worst feeling in the world for an athlete. It paralyzes you.
“[Game 7’s] are huge for everybody on that ice.
“For Zdeno Chara, it will define a little bit of his captaincy. Marc Savard, Michael Ryder, Blake Wheeler, a lot of those wingers, the defense, this is going to define them individually.
