Argue about my inclusion of Czechoslovakia, part of my heritage, in the Eastern Bloc.
In the super-late 90s, Mario Lemieux was in the midst of a pretty great and earned retirement while the team he previously (and futuristically) played for looked to a different group to lead the Penguins to victory.
Much of the Firepower came from two nations, Czhechoslovakia and the USSR. Jaromir Jagr was knee deep in his four consecutive scoring titles with fellow Czech Marty Straka 2.0 suited up as well. The USSR provided the services of Aleksey Morozov, Alexei Kovalev and Darius Kasparaitis.
This group never won a Cup together, but still won the ultimate prize of having a likeness Matryoshka nesting doll made commemorating their time together.
This is huge, considering the only other two Penguins Matryoshkas we've seen both honored Stanley Cup winners in Mario Lemieux and Sidney Crosby. The Steelers Matryoshka had Super Bowl XL commemorated, so the Eastern Bloc Pens were saved by the 2004 Pirates Matryoshka and Tony Womack.
Thanks Sean.
