When Pittsburgh Penguins opened their 2022-23 season on Thursday night – a 6-2 win over the Arizona Coyotes – this is the 17th consecutive season that the trio of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang have played together.
On the surface, that number alone is impressive.
It also tied a professional sports record for the longest tenure among three players with a single team in professional sports history. It ties them with New York Yankees the trio of Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera and Jorge Posada.
With all three of the Penguins players still under contract for a few more years – Malkin and Letang just signed new contract extensions in the summer – they will almost certainly break that record next season. Considering the length of their current contracts, their consistently high form and the fact that they don’t appear to have retired, there’s a good chance they could hit 20 years together.
It was a hugely successful operation for that core in Pittsburgh.
The Penguins have made it to the knockout stages each season the trio has been together, playing in five Conference Finals, four Stanley Cup Finals, and winning three Stanley Cups, including consecutive championships. in the 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons.
They are also among the best players in the tournament every year.
Since they played their first games together in the 2007-08 season, no NHL team has scored more goals (3,618) have won more regular games (682), more playoffs (102). ) or more championships (three) – pretty much a success.
