.

No one season is ever the end.
There is always a fresh start to be had, there is always a future.
Mellon was bookended by Habs wins?
So fucking what. She hosted some of the best players that the ice has ever seen. She played home to hockey history. She was where Mario Lemieux grew his wings and where Sidney Crosby grew up. Fuck single games, trophies, all that shit. She saw practices, she saw playoffs, she showed us the road to the Cup enough times that we will remember her forever as our home. She was where the sweat and blood was. She was the behind-the-scenes, the reason we could win those Cups on the road.

Consol will be bookended by Cups. One for us, one for our children, and plenty for both in between. And then, well, Lemieux Gardens will see a Cup every goddamn year, as any sane person would suspect.
Dry your tears.
Our team needs a rest.
We have fought and struggled and now it is time for rest.
Next year we will win the Cup back.
The year after, we will defend it.
And as always, the Pens are never losing again.

Go Pens.