Penguins' Lovejoy eyes fresh start after team's quick exit
Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Ben Lovejoy wasn't interested in rehashing his team's abrupt end to last season.
In fact, Lovejoy admitted that he spent three weeks this summer in New Hampshire just letting both his mind and body heal as he did his best to remove himself from last season's first-round loss to the New York Rangers. While intent on focusing on the Penguins' upcoming season, the 31-year-old Lovejoy still has a sour taste in his mouth after he was on the ice for seven of the Rangers' 11 goals in the five-game series.
"I think everybody here is disappointed how things ended. We went into the playoffs struggling. When you're losing, it breeds more losing. You find ways to lose more games," Lovejoy told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "We went into the playoffs as a team that wasn't ultra-confident. We ran into a very good team and we weren't able to get it done. I think everybody is extremely disappointed and we want to put that behind us."
Lovejoy, who was dealt to the Penguins from the Anaheim Ducks for fellow defenseman Simon Despres on March 2, defended general manager Jim Rutherford after the latter openly questioned the trade.
"I think after the season, everybody is disappointed and looking for reasons that you didn't have the success you wanted," Lovejoy told the newspaper. "He got asked that question and was trying to take some blame for how things went. I think everybody was looking to do that at that time."
Lovejoy scored one goal and set up two others in 20 games last season with the Penguins after collecting one tally and 10 assists in 40 contests with the Ducks. The stay-at-home defenseman has recorded 11 goals and 56 assists in 268 career games with Pittsburgh and Anaheim.
(h/t Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
