Pens interested in bringing Colby back?

TSN's Darren Dreger speculates...

With a clear disclaimer there are no guarantees any of these men will get moved, we present ten prominent players believed by NHL sources to be in the mix.

Atlanta's Colby Armstrong has attracted interest this season, including from Pittsburgh who would like to see him reunited with Penguins captain Sidney Crosby.

Armstrong has been one of few bright spots in Atlanta, scoring 13 goals (and 21 points) in 49 games so far this season...Last year in his time in Pittsburgh Colby scored just 9 goals (but had 24 total points) in 54 games before the trade. Army is also in Atlanta's alternate captain rotation and has been highlighted as an important piece of the Thrashers puzzle. Army's set to be a restricted free agent at the end of the season.

It would be interesting to see what ATL would want in return. Could Ray Shero sell them Mark Eaton as a valuable defensemen (and have the T-bombs take Eaton's $2 million cap hit through next season)? That would be pretty big for the Penguins. Does Atlanta want a draft pick? Prospect(s)? That's the key, as well as any other contenders that might have more value for Atlanta.

It would be great to see Armstrong reunited; but then again he's been gone for 10 months and the world did not end. He's a popular teammate and among the fans but let's all remember he wasn't quite the answer as Sidney Crosby's winger last time, what would make this time any different?

Then Dreger noted:

Pittsburgh defenseman Ryan Whitney's name is making the rounds. Pens GM Ray Shero may use Whitney to lure a top line forward for a late-season charge.

Which wouldn't be surprising, either. Shero's got to make a move to snag a winger. With Whitney, Kris Letang and Alex Goligoski the Penguins have a glut of puck moving defensemen, even before the anticipated return of Sergei Gonchar. Obviously the writing is on the wall that one of the aforementioned three young defenders is going to be moved. We don't think it's Letang; he's the youngest of the bunch and is a prized right handed shot. Whitney has the most value, but would also be the best player for Pittsburgh to retain. Goose has been stuck in healthy scratch hell, largely through no fault of his own.

As always, stay tuned...

Letang a Young-star, Goose snubbed

Kris Letang is going to the All-Star game. Well not quite, but he was voted back to the joke of the "Youngstars" game; an exhibition so lax it makes the actual All-Star game look as intense as a Game 7 playoff between two blood rivals.

Alex Goligoski [6 goals, 13 assists, +6] got left off the rookie team in favor of Toronto's Luke Schenn [29 games, 0 goals, 3 assists, -6] and LA's Drew Doughty [3g, 9a, -4]. Meh, the game is basically a commerical and having two young 18/19 year old defensemen is more of a "story".

Therrien makes lineup changes

And we can't say we agree with them...

Winger Miroslav Satan, who does not have a goal in eight games, has been demoted to the fourth line, where he will work alongside Dustin Jeffrey and Eric Godard, and defensemen Alex Goligoski and Hal Gill apparently will be healthy scratches.

If you're going to send a message, why not scratch Satan for a game and use Tim Wallace (a hard working 4th line forward) on the 4th line, instead of sitting him?

Goligoski, while being a rookie, hasn't looked out of place, and while Gill has had a couple of shaky outings in his few games back from injury, Mark Eaton and Phillipe Boucher have been shakier this whole season.

Some of the moves Therrien made, like moving Tyler Kennedy to the top line with Sidney Crosby, we do like. Kennedy plays with energy, causes turnovers and actually isn't afraid to put the puck on the net. Keeping the 3rd line of Matt Cooke-Jordan Staal-Max Talbot together also makes sense.

Of course, the results will be known tonight. If the Penguins can finally shake that six game powerplay goal drought, especially early, the sigh of relief may be good enough to carry them to a win and start playing a little looser. But if Boucher and Eaton, two noticably bad players of late (3rd bullet) are out their for some PK goals against, the cries for Therrien's head are only going to get louder.

GOOSE, Pens Win

The Penguins still seemed to be stuck in a rut, they were badly outshot and didn't control a lot of the puck possession game. But, a win is a win and you take the two points any way you can get them, especially on the road against a good team.

• Something we forgot to mention in the Mellon Arena recap: Jordan Staal seemed to be really throwing some checks. Maybe it's just contract year encouragement, or maybe that the 20 year old is feeling more comfortable at the NHL level, but he's becoming a physical force in the corners and behind the net.
• Marc-Andre Fleury rebounded well from last game; the first goal took a bounce off Phillipe Boucher from point blank, the second goal Mark Eaton got caught flat footed at the blueline for an Ales Kotalik mini breakaway, and the third goal was a powerplay marker saw Boucher and Eaton soft in front of the net.
• See a trend there? Boucher, Eaton, Boucher and Eaton largely responsible for the goals against. When Ryan Whitney returns tomorrow we all should know the candidates to watch from the press box.
• Nice to see Pascal Dupuis back in the lineup, and he had good jump in his step, it appears the dreaded "lower body injury" isn't hindering him. And what a great breakout pass from Brooks Orpik to advance the puck up to Miroslav Satan for the Dupuis goal to catch the Sabres in a sloppy change.
• Evgeni Malkin's trek towards a 100 assist season is alive and well with three apples tonight. Geno is about 2.6 assists ahead of the pace....And just like that he's up to 58 points, 11 up on Sidney Crosby and 15 over Alex Ovechkin, his closest chasers in the scoring race.
• Crosby didn't particularly have a forceful game, it's seemed his been off his mark lately. The Trib noted he might have the cold or flu with a scratchy voice, and that would make sense, since his game just hasn't added up.
• Crosby was great in the faceoff circle, winning 70% of his 23 draws, it's a high standard he's held to, so maybe we all just need to take a step back.
• Was the goal over the cross-bar or not? Hard to tell, looked very close to being a non-goal, but at the same time the angles we saw would make it almost impossible to indisputably overturn the initial call on the ice (no matter what it was).
• Something that has been filtering through our head: tonight's GWG was Crosby's first of the season, and Malkin only has 1 GWG as well. Crosby does have some balance though, with 7 goals at home, 7 on the road, 7 against divisional foes and 7 against non-Atlantic teams.
• Last but not least of the bullets, Alex Goligoski, two goals and an assist tonight for a guy who's quickly got to be moving up the Calder Trophy list--especially when other leading contenders are eliminating themselves. You know if Goligoski was about half a foot taller and wearing a different jersey number one wouldn't be out of line to think Whitney had returned in midseason form a night early.

So that is that, an old fashioned bus ride down, two points in the ledger and now a quick turnaround to a home game against Pittsburgh South (aka Tampa) tomorrow night.

We're back...

Sorry for the long delay, with 1200 miles to ATL and back plus the Holiday in there the blog fell by the wayside...Things we think we think--

1) It's good to use Mike Zigomanis in situations to win faceoffs....But should he be sometimes taking full shifts on the top powerplay over guys like Petr Sykora? Even when the puck goes out of the zone and they have chances to change they don't pull Zigomanis. He's a NHL worthy player, but he's got 21 goals in 187 NHL games. Not bustin on the guy, just sayin..

2) Ever since Darren Dreger suggested Sidney Crosby should use a curve on his stick blade in order to help his shot (which would hinder his backhand passes not to mention his shot) El Sid has 7 goals in 8 games....Keep makin' noise up there, Canada.

3) Through now more than a quarter of the season, Evgeni Malkin is on pace for 138 points, which would be the most in a season by any player since Mario Lemieux rang up 161 back in 1995-96....Most would say the best player in the NHL now is Alex Ovechkin or Crosby, but we think that Geno is making his case pretty clearly every single night.

4) It seems a bit odd to say Alex Goligoski reminds us of a "young" Mike Green since Goose is only a couple months younger than the Washingtonian blueliner, but the similarities are there...Other than being left handed and not being as able to rush the puck up ice as a current day Green, Goligoski has become a sensational player that isn't bad in his own end of the ice either.

5) Despite the loss tonight, John Curry is definitely making his case to be the future backup goalie to Marc-Andre Fleury next season. Dany Sabourin is an unrestricted free agent after this season, for the record..Also, listed generously at 5 feet 11 inches, how much smaller does Curry look in the net than MAF (6'2) and Dany Sabs (6'4)?

6) Perhaps somewhat surprisingly, Matt Cooke has recorded 20+ assists three times in his NHL career. Any doubt that he'll get there this season with 8 assists already and doing a lot of dirty work digging pucks up and throwing them to the front of the net?

7) It's not often you see a guy score more goals in the NHL than he did in juniors, but Tyler "Mister" Kennedy might just do it. Kennedy's top mark in the Ontario Hockey League was 22. He's got 6 this season and has a penchant for putting the puck past the goalie at the NHL level. We're betting he'll beat his junior mark, probably sooner than later.

8) Ruslan Fedotenko was a healthy scratch tonight against Buffalo, and rumor has it he's asked for a trade, as he doesn't agree with the opportunities the coaching staff has given him...But it's hard to blame HCMT when Feds hasn't really been effective with the Pens....Still we get the feeling Fedotenko will get the chance to redeem himself and he will score a huge goal sometime in the season.

9) Sorry if that last bullet sounded a little Stan Fischler-esque. Hell, Rusty already scored a huge goal-- remember the OT game winner in Detroit? If Fedotenko's production (or lack thereof) is the Pens' biggest problem for the rest of the season, odds are things are going to be alright for the boys.

10) Therrien's finger on the button to slide Malkin and Crosby together in the middle of games for a jump has been excellent. It's reminiscent of Joe Sakic and Peter Forsberg in the late '90s...They can play apart and make things happen, but when you need to get a boost put them together and watch the magic happen, like it did for the five goal explosion that 87 and 71 had a part in four of them in Long Island a couple nights ago.

11) By the way in case you didn't know, Sakic and Forsberg raised the Cup two times and probably would have done it a time or two more without a bum foot getting in Floppa's way.."Salvation lies within" and in hockey, strength lies within the middle. Believe that.

12) Finally, just remember: everyday that goes by is a day closer that Fleury, Ryan Whitney and Sergei Gonchar get to re-joining the boys. Heaven help you Eastern Conference when that happens.

Sydor for Boucher and the implications that follow...

Sooner or later you had to figure Darryl Sydor would be waived or traded. Sydor wants to play, and unfortunately for him with the emergence of young defensemen Kris Letang and Alex Goligoski over the past two seasons the reality was clear: Sydor just isn’t among the top 6 defensemen the Penguins have anymore. To his credit Sydor was the ultimate professional while going through this frustrating time. While others in his shoes coughMark Recchicough often loudly voiced displeasure and anger at having a diminished role; Sydor kept quiet and continued to be a positive example to the boys in the room. The leadership he brought off the ice, especially lately, was very commendable and he deserves much respect for that and we wish him well in Dallas.

On the other hand, we welcome Phillipe Boucher. This is an interesting acquisition; right handed defensemen are in short supply and Boucher did score 19 goals two season ago before battling all sorts of injuries. If nothing else, Boucher should provide a little more “oomph” on the power-play than say, Brooks Orpik, and hopefully steady what’s been, at times a shaky unit on the man advantage. If Boucher can remain healthy (and obviously that’s a big if) he could be a key player down the stretch.

Our forward thinking mind though can’t help but wonder what will happen when Ryan Whitney and Sergei Gonchar return. Whitney is already practicing and should be back sometime in December—though it is too early to say if that will be in the earlier or later part of the month. Gonchar is still in a sling and no where close to coming back, but he should be around come March. It’s a great thing to have a surplus of defensemen at the NHL, especially given the injuries that can happen at any given moment. But having too many NHL caliber players could poison the drinking water—like it may have if Sydor wasn’t such a good sport—and that would be a terrible thing. Boucher, for instance, has said that he is playing for a contract next year and we can’t imagine him being happy or quiet if he’s the odd man out. A lot of the logjam has been created by Goligoski establishing himself as a full-time NHL defenseman right off the bat. If his play wasn’t at such a high level it would be easy to demote him to the minors for further work. But that probably isn’t an option at this point.

So which two of the eight defensemen (this includes Whitney) are the odd men out? Surely not a healthy Whitney or Orpik. Letang’s played well in an expanded role, and as mentioned, Goligoski has been awesome. The team has been very high on Gill (remember Therrien called him a top 4 guy a couple weeks ago) so seemingly he’s in too. This would leave one playing spot for three veteran defensemen: Boucher, Rob Scuderi and Mark Eaton. Eaton’s had a rough season so far and Scuderi, though a solid shot-blocker and reliable guy, is a 5/6 guy that could be replaceable.

If all are healthy, would another trade be coming? In that case it would seem that Eaton or Scuderi would be the most likely candidates.

Whitney-Orpik
Gill-Letang
Goligoski-Boucher

That’s probably how we would line them up, provided Boucher plays well. We realize the risks in looking even that far down the line, but what do you think? Sooner or later when reinforcements trickle back in the Penguins are going to have some decisions to make.

Where we welcome back Jordan Staal

If you're down 5-2 to the defending Stanley Cup champions in their barn with 15 minutes in the game you're probably not going to win. When the hole is 6-4 with less than 10 minutes to go, you might as well warm up the bus.

Except when the youngest player on the ice decides to play like the biggest. Jordan Staal's long shown flashes of brilliance and dominance but nothing like a performance tonight. The puck kept finding his stick and he kept burying it. Big time performance from a big time player.

As we mentioned in the post below, Marian Hossa earned his choice of team's to play for and still didn't pick a bad gamble in Detroit, the league's closest team to a sure thing. However, consider for a second that he turned down a multi-year offer to play on a team where the age of the regulation goal scorers were: 21 (Sidney Crosby), 24 (Max Talbot), 22 (Evgeni Malkin), 20 (Staal), 20 (Staal), 20 (Staal). We're sure Mr. Hossa sleeps just fine through the night these days, but who could blame him if it might take a second to fall asleep thinking "what could have been", not only for this season's run for a Cup but for the years to come.

Pens fans love to think of ex-players possibly returning, but don't count on it. This team has moved on, signing Brooks Orpik long-term and will have to keep using the other money on a rotating cast of supporting characters like Miroslav Satan and Ruslan Fedotenko to fill the gaps around the core. By rejecting the long-term offer from Pittsburgh--in effect what was the invitation to join the core-- Hossa cast his lot in a different direction. We won't know how it will work out in November, if Detroit is dancing with Lord Stanley in seven months time he'll obviously be a smart man (and have earned it). At this moment though, it certainly is satisfying to see such a marvelous comeback from this side. The grass isn't always greener, you know.

The Pens were aided by two penalties the Red Wings took within seconds of each other. This time posed with a crucial 5-on-3, Malkin buried the puck emphatically. It was like a demon was exorcised from the playoffs and the legendary kill Hank Zetterberg and the Wings pulled. At that moment, even though the score was cut to 5-3, one got the sense these Penguins finally were breathing easily, like when Rocky drew blood on Ivan Drago. These guys aren't a machine, they're just hockey players like any other collection on a roster. They can be beaten if you keep chopping.


Speaking of Malkin: if you're keeping track at home that's now an 11 game point streak for the big guy, who's jumped back into the top spot for the league's lead if only for another night.


When Rob Scuderi went down from blocking a shot, it's interesting that it was youngsters Alex Goligoski (team high 28:12 ice-time) and Kris Letang (second highest among Pens' defensemen with 23:19) that the team primarily turned too. And it wasn't all power-play team either, no one on the ice played more team at even strength than Goligoski (23:57)--and yes that includes Nicklas Lidstrom.


...And just imagine the next time these teams meet the Penguins might be able to lean on Ryan Whitney and maybe even Sergei Gonchar instead of two inexperienced players like Goose and 'Tang...But don't get too ahead of yourself, remember these teams meet again in Pittsburgh in February before any chance of another finals.


Mike Zigomanis just wins big face-offs when they count, doesn't he? It's surprising that he never fit in on an NHL team because he's working on carving a solid niche on this team that has no shortage of quality forwards.


Matt Cooke (2 assists, 6 hits) and Tyler Kennedy (no points or credited hits) deserve a nod for their relentless effort keeping the puck down low and those three did a lot to fuel the fire of the comeback. The boys down in the trenches have to do the dirty work and the Pens team just had more desire and effort over the last half of the game.


Michel Therrien doesn't usually receive much credit from the outside but the decisions he made , from personnel (like having Zigomanis out there late) to usage of timeouts were right on the button. Even if you're a fan with gripes about his style it's hard to argue that this man doesn't have the exact right feel for this team when it counts. It has shown time and time again.


We thought even before Staal's game-tying goal with :23 that the Penguins may be able to take some sort of minor emotional or psychological victory out of there, if only to show battling back out of those huge goal deficits. Sure, it would have been hollow, but the sense of dominating the Red Wings a little was there. Now with such a huge win the confidence is going to be sky high.


Pavel Datsyuk is the reigning Frank Selke trophy winner for the league's best defensive forward....Think he saw it coming when Staal--at the end of his shift mind you--stick checked him, put him on his seat, wheeled around and set up the winner? Bee-you-tee-ful. Can't wait to see the tears at kuklaskorner tomorrow.




In the end, as you can tell from this recap, some games on the schedule do mean more than 1 in 82. The Penguins will only take two points into the standings column, the same as any other game they win. But the mood coming out of this one has to be a lot higher than your average win. This a nice one to enjoy, if only for a night.

Defensemen Corsi Rating

Our boy JP loves him some Corsi Rating...What the heck is that?

It's a measure (here's last night's game) that explains, well, let's just rip off his explanation:

For example, if Player A skates a shift in which he takes a shot that misses the net, his teammate then puts one on goal and another teammate blocks a shot at the other end before the end of Player A's shift, Player A will have a +1 Corsi Rating for that shift. To put it in context, Henrik Zetterberg had the League's best Corsi Rating a season ago and a bunch of Thrashers were at the bottom. Basically it's another tool in the analytical arsenal to gauge a player's even strength effectiveness. Got it? Good

Now, as you've doubtlessly noticed, the Pens have allowed quite a bit of rubber at their goalies, which will lead to the several negative Corsi ratings you're about to see. Further a bunch of Penguins defensemen (Hal Gill, Rob Scuderi, Brooks Orpik, Mark Eaton) have the offensive instincts and put less shots on goal than the kids who play during intermission. To that point those four d-men have combined for 17 shots on goal in 31 man games....But hey, they've also as many goals (2) as Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin do, so you can't knock them too much, the point being if you're not shooting and your partner doesn't shoot much, you're probably looking at a bad Corsi.


But who would have thought rookie Alex Goligoski's at the head of the class? And remember, Corsi only measures of even strength instances (click to enlarge)

Game 4 Redux...Super Dupper

Pascal sez..."I did WHAT!?"

• Another Brooks "sampled the score sheet buffet" as they say (eighth note down). Orpik had 1 goal, 1 assist, a team high 25:07 icetime, 2 Penalty Minutes, 4 hits and 1 takeaway
• If you thought this was Free Candy's first career multi-point NHL game, you'd be wrong. He actually had two previous games, both 2 assist nights, and both coincidentally came against the New Jersey Devils.
• One last Orpik note (we promise) last night marked the first time the Pens have won a game when he has scored a goal. The record in such occurrences is now 1-3-1.
• We're starting to see why they brought Mike Zigomanis in...Not only did he score a big goal, but he went 11 for 13 in the faceoff circle. You can basically make your fourth line players niche guys; Eric Godard is the enforcer, Ziggy is the faceoff specialist, Matt Cooke is a solid heart and soul guy capable of firing out passes like the assist. Impressively, Zigomanis went a combined 5 for 5 against Mike Richards and Daniel Briere-- two players that have historically had a lot of success in draws against the Pens.
• Sidney Crosby had a good game doing the little things as well, he won 71% of his draws, was credited with 1 takeaway (w/ 0 giveaways), threw 2 hits and fired four shots on net (though only one was on target). One gets the sense Mr. Crosby is about to break through sooner or later on the score sheet in a big fashion.
• The night's over-time hero, Pascal Dupuis, put 5 shots on net and generally looked comfortable back on the top line with Crosby and Miroslav Satan. All of those shots were slapshots, we wonder if the Pens were intentionally firing slappers to overwhelm the Flyers goalie as it appeared that a high number of slapshots were taken by the whole team.
• Rob Scuderi really must have been a goalie in a past life. Jeez, he literally stood in the crease during a scramble and made two saves. The NHL should credit him for that or something.
• Alex Goligoski got a staggering 8:03 in power-play ice-time (the Pens were on the power-play for a combined 10:54) and as we mentioned in the liveblog continues to make small plays and look comfortable. Goose was also on the ice for three of the four goals scored in regulation (2 by the Penguins).
• Marc-Andre Fleury was solid again. He's picked up with excellent play right where he's left off ever since returning from injury in March. We really can't remember him having had a bad game since that point. The franchise goalie has definitely bloomed.
• Also if you've seen a Ukrainian man who answers to the name of Ruslan, please direct him to the Penguins locker room. Thanks.

So that's a wrap on Game 4, with the Pens now with 5 out of a possible 8 points. For younger fans--and perhaps myself included-- it's difficult to savor a win over the Flyers as much as "more experienced" (err, older) fans who can still remember all the beatings Philadelphia would give Pittsburgh in the '70s and '80s. We enjoy it nonetheless, still it can't be the same satisfaction.

"All right, let's not panic. I'll make the money by selling one of my livers. I can get by with one."

The noted philospher Homer J Simpson provides us with the calming title, so hey, let's look at the positives:

--The Penguins could be getting a great pickup near the trading deadline when Gonchar returns! --Even more ice time for Kris Letang!
--Alex Goligoski's going to make the team for sure!

Now, the panic:

WHO'S GOING TO PLAY 26 MINUTES A NIGHT IN ALL SITUATIONS AND TRY TO MATCHUP AGAINST THE OTHER TEAM'S NUMBER ONE THREAT!!!


It's okay boys and girls, hands off the panic buttons (until the games begin, at least).

Orpik-Eaton
Gill-Letang
Goligoski-Sydor


Do it.

Gonchar out "indefinitely"

From the main page:

"Sergei will continue to be evaluated as our team medical personnel consider several treatment options," Shero said. “In the meantime, we will look for our other defensemen to step up and fill the void created by his absence.”

Gonch went down on September 20th, so even if he would be out for eight weeks that would mean missing 13 regular season games, only three of them against divisional opponents. But that eight week period is totally arbitrary, indefinite could mean shorter, could mean longer.

Now the Pens are looking at starting the season without their top two point scorers on the blueline, and perhaps more importantly guy in Gonchar who's served admirably all-around. Don't sleep on the fact he was 4th in the Norris Trophy voting last season, and if it weren't for biases in preconceived notions on how he's a more "offensive" defenseman it could have been higher.

This opens up not just a huge opportunity for Kris Letang (6 goals and 11 assists in 63 NHL games last season) and Alex Goligoski (28 points in 23 AHL playoff games) but a responsibility to step in and produce. Goligoski has just three NHL games under his belt but is now 23 years old and has the seasoning to be able to play at this level. You can never be sure if a young defenseman will sink or swim at the NHL level (hello Noah Welch) but Goose has the track record to do well.

Surely it's better to be without key players at the beginning of the season rather than at the end of it--provided the choice is given, but all the same it's best not to be in that situation in the first place. Perhaps this early season adversity will help the Penguins get over whatever sense of entitlement they may have carried in attitude for thinking this year's journey deep into the playoffs will be as deep or as inevitable as the talent they have. It will make them work, and at the end that could pay off.

Another sign of the Patrick era fades away

Kudos to TST friend Seth at Empty Netters for pointing out a couple of Penguins who have apparently switched numbers, according to the team website. Nothing too earth shattering-- Donald Brashear isn't going to be the best #87 in the league next year-- but we did notice something of vague interest.

Alex Goligoski, who wore the absurd number 67 for Pittsburgh last season has apparently made the switch to the more reasonable #13. Nothing too eyebrow raising, right?

Well hold up, former GM Craig Patrick--a notoriously superstitious man--banned all of his players from taking the supposedly unlucky number 13. In fact, over the years only two players have ever donned #13 for the Penguins. Good trivia question, no cheating, name them (answer at bottom of the post).

Now Goligoski, ironically a good find in the second round by Patrick and his scouts, now is looking like he might be the first Penguin to wear the number CP so despised, if Golly can make the team.

So unlike most hockey players, it's probably safe to say Golly isn't that superstitious by his choice of number. Especially since he's already contending with the vaunted curse of Greg Malone and all.

(The answer to the trivia question is Jim Hamilton and Charlie Simmer are the others)

Gee Golly

The Pittsburgh Penguins have recalled defenseman Alex Goligoski from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (AHL), it was announced Sunday by Executive Vice President and General Manager Ray Shero.

Goligoski currently ranks second in the AHL playoffs with 25 points (four goals, 21 assists) in 19 postseason games as Wilkes-Barre/Scranton has advanced to the Calder Cup Finals vs. the Chicago Wolves.

This one came out of left-field to us.

Goligoski has had a really fine AHL playoff, but the difference between the Calder Cup and the Stanley Cup has to be immense. With Kris Letang rightfully (but sadly) 1000 miles away, the Pens needed something. Darryl Sydor hasn't been bad since being thrown back into the fire, but he hasn't been good either. Could Rob Scuderi (who got banged up but continued playing in Game 4) be too injured to go? Time will tell. JB reported that Pens assistant GM Chuck Fletcher did mention an injury situation and we don't recall who that could be, other than Scuderi.

Hopefully Golly will get the powerplay minutes on the left point that we've been calling to replace Evgeni Malkin. It's un-natural for Malkin, he doesn't like playing there and he hasn't been effective.

From Wilkes-Barre's perspective (who's down 2-0 to the Chicago Wolves in their series) this doesn't mean too much. Their next game isn't until Wednesday, by that point unfortunately Goligoski (along with maybe Tyler Kennedy) could be back by then.

But we'll have to see how it works out. Desperate times do call for desperate measures and the Pens are pulling out all the stops in a last gasp effort to win Game 5 in Detroit and force a Game 6 with renewed confidence in friendlier confines.

Congrats Baby Pens

Understandably lost in the shuffle with that other Penguins team going far in the playoffs, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins have won the AHL's Eastern Conference. So they win the prestigious Richard Canning trophy (props to JB for that).

The Baby Pens won a game seven against Portland by defeating former Pen (and not a Sweater Ted favorite) Jean-Sebastien Aubin. Aubin is a great goalie at the AHL level and made 37 saves on 40 shots before an unstoppable bid by Tim Brent won it. That alone would be impressive, but consider that Aubin missed the previous four games with an undisclosed lower-body injury and spotted in a walking cast. Tip of the cap to him.

Brent has been one of the stars of the AHL playoffs, he leads the league in goals (11 in 17 games and is tied second in points (20). Similarly awesome has been rookie Alex Goligoski who is also in that tie for second place in scoring (Golly has 3 goals and 17 assists in 17 games). Goligoski also leads all defensemen in playoff points.

The opponent in the finals is the always dangerous Chicago Wolves. They are Atlanta's farm team and seem to always stock up on the experienced players that are good at the AHL level but don't have much NHL aspiration. Of Chicago's top eight playoff scorers just one (Brian Little) is under the age of 25. The Baby Pens, by comparison, have five of their top eight scorers (Brent, Goligoski, Ryan Stone, Connor James, Mark Ardelan) coming in under 25 years old.

Since Ty Conklin's callup, Wilkes-Barre has relied on two very young and untested goalies (John Curry and Dave Brown). Curry, an undrafted player in his second year with the Pens organ-eye-zation, emerged as the man and has played like it; boasting a 12-5 record, 2.48 GAA and 90.8 save percentage. One area Chicago is young at is the goaltending position where Ondrej Pavelec, a 20 year old former second round pick, is the 'tender.

We don't follow the AHL that closely, so we haven't (and won't) be making a prediction. And with the Pens in the Stanley Cup finals, the Calder Cup isn't on our radar that much. However it's good to see the success on the farm and hopefully the boys can keep it rolling.

Saturday Morning Roundup

Various thoughts and tidbits this morning...

• The Flyers lost both other Game 1's they've had this year too. First it was Alex Ovechkin picking Lasse Kukkonen's pocket and scoring the winner in the dying moments. The next series it was Alexei Kovalev scoring with just :29 seconds to go in regulation for the tie the game, and former Penguin Tom Kostopolous winning it in OT just 48 seconds into that stanza. So don't say Philly doesn't know how to bounce back from deflating losses, they won Game 2 and 3 in both of those series.
• The Penguins have now won all six of their home playoff games and have a 14 game home winning streak dating back to the regular season.
• In the other Pittsburgh/Philly series, the Wilkes-Scranton Penguins have defeated the Philadelphia Phantoms 4 games to 1, including four straight wins. The Baby Pens are being paced by Tim Brent (9 goals, 8 assists in 10 games) and rookie defenseman Alex Goligoski (3 goals, 11 assists). Brent and Goligoski are 1/2 in scoring for the AHL playoffs.
• It's hard to imagine Goligoski not on the NHL roster at the beginning of next season if he keeps playing like this. He's the prototypical "post-lockout" puckmoving defenseman. Kris Letang has slid into the lineup almost seamlessly. Goligoski's development has taken a little longer (three years of NCAA play and this one in the AHL) but could he finally be the one to break the curse of Greg Malone?
• While on young players, ATO's Luca Caputi (2 goals, 2 assists in 7 games) and Dustin Jeffrey (2 goals and 1 assist in 5 games) are stepping right into the AHL playoffs and playing well. As you know, we've had these guys on the radar since early in the year with their impressive statistical performances in the OHL, but doing it at the professional level is another matter. While Caputi and Jeffrey haven't dominated like Jeff Carter [23 points in 21 games] and Mike Richards [14 points in 15] did for the Phantoms in the 2005 AHL playoffs, they've still made contributions.
• The Baby Pens will play Portland (Anaheim's minor league team) in the Calder Cup Eastern Conference Finals. The other remaining teams in the West (with the NHL affiliation in parenthesis) are Syracuse (Columbus) and Toronto Marlies (Toronto) with that winner to meet the winner of the Chicago Wolves (Atlanta) and Rockford (Chicago).
• So Pittsburgh has the only NHL and AHL team in the conference finals at both levels. Not a sure sign of superiority or anything, but a tribute to how stocked the organ-eye-zation is right now.
• Quote of the day may be from Mr. Gary Roberts in the Toronto Sun talking about Geno..."He is taking it to a whole new level, both goals tonight came late in shifts. By then, most of us are dead tired. He's on the ice a minute, a minute and a half into his shift and he finds the strength. I don't think he's human like the rest of us. And then he makes these plays ... I've never seen anything like him before."
• Over in the West, Detroit's got a seven game winning streak going...Even though we picked against them, we still said a Pittsburgh/Detroit matchup has looked inevitable for a while, and it's continuing to look that way one game into the conference finals. One game, of course, is not a series, but unless Philadelphia/Dallas can recover and drastically make some changes it won't be long until the Cup finals start.

The Wilkes-Barre Pens ride again

So if you're keeping track the Penguins top two organ-eye-zations are a combined 6-0 right now.

A 6-2 win over the Hershey Bears throw the Baby Pens up 2-0 in their series, goals scored by Tim Brent (2), David Gove, Chris Minard, Ryan Stone and defenseman Alex Goligoski push the Baby Pens in a great position going forward.

It's a great time to be alive.

Baby Pens doing some winning too

Pittsburgh's NHL squad isn't the only team in the organization off to a good post-season start. The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins are up 1 game to none over one of their rivals the Hershey Bears (Washington's AHL team).

Wilkes-Barre is in a unique situation; since Pittsburgh had so many injuries it pulled many of their players away. Eight players in the Baby Pens lineup for Game 1 (Chris Minard, Tim Brent, Connor James, Alex Goligoski, Alain Nasreddine, Nathan Smith, Jonathan Filewich and Ryan Stone) saw NHL action this season, combining for 62 games played "in the show". And this doesn't even count contributors like Jeff Taffe, Tyler Kennedy, Kris Letang who've all graduated to the NHL. Or the only goaltender with experience, Ty Conklin. By contrast only 2 of Hershey's players (Sami Lepitso and Chris Bourque) played with the Caps and they combined for just 11 games. We should point out they did graduate Quintin Laing and Eric Fehr and Coach Bruce Boudreau to the NHL.

Regardless of the higher level experience, the Baby Pens face two large hurdles: 1)having two rookie goaltenders on their roster (compared to the seasoned Freddy Cassivi that Hershey has) and 2)generating consistent offense.

Wednesday night they only got 2 goals (from James and Minard) but it was enough for a 2-1 over-time winner.

This series will be interesting to keep an eye on. Both of these AHL clubs are no stranger to post-season success, and very fimiliar with one another. If the Baby Pens goaltending stays strong and they can find a scoring spark they should have no problem advancing deep into the Calder Cup trophies....Just like the other team in the organization.

Not news: Penguins have best young players/prospects

Ok, so it's kinda hardly a surprise given the team gets three consecutive top 2 picks and through the fate, or blind luck, ends up with Evgeni Malkin, Sidney Crosby and Jordan Staal.

If the Pens had their high picks in a different era* they could have ended up David Legwand [draft 2nd overall in 1998 entry draft], Patrik Stefan [1st overall in 1999] and Dany Heatley in 2000 [2nd overall in 2000]. So certainly timing, as usual, is everything.

*in terms of hockey prospects

But don't discount the other players under about the age of 21 that the Penguins have already developed into NHL players without the high picks.

• Tyler Kennedy [99th overall in the 4th round of 2004]
• Kris Letang [62nd overall in the 3rd round of 2005]

A lot of teams don't even have A player in their NHL lineup under the age of 22. We spot-checked three teams at random on hockeydb.com and it seems Carolina and Detroit (shocker!) didn't have any, while Vancouver has two (defensemen Alex Edler and Luc Bourdon). So that the Pens have more than just the obvious young players has to be a testament to their scouting and development right off the bat.

And with Alex Goligoski [61st overall in the 2nd round of 2004] seeming very close to being a fixture in the NHL and prospects ripping up the juniors like Luca Caputi [111st overall in the 4th round 2007] and Dustin Jeffrey [172nd in the 6th round] it's easy to see something we've been saying here for a while at TST....The young talent pool for the Penguins is significantly deeper than the casual observer might be lead to believe by just seeing the Staal's and Malkin's of the organ-eye-zation.

Can't Win 'em All....Pens lose

In our pregame post we said that based on the results of tonights Pens/Bruins and Devils/Senators game that Pittsburgh could potentially be either 5, 4, 3, 2 or 1 point up on the Devs, the closest chaser (for now) in the ever shuffling mix of the Atlantic Division...Well, it ended up in the worst case scenario as the Pens lost in regulation and NJ won. But, it's better to have a "worst case scenario" night in February rather than in April.

• The Bruins really set the tone in the first period, outshooting the Pens 13-4, out-working, out-skating, out-hustling and generally out-everything-ing the hometeam.
• Rough first period for the Sarge...First he misplayed the puck and PJ Axelsson sped away from him on a breakaway forcing a penalty. Then Gonchar turned the puck over behind his own net which led to the first goal against.
• Credit Jeremy Reich for the second goal, he got great position and knocked BGL over and then chipped a centering pass between Kris Letang's skates. Conkblock was caught trying to pokecheck and it was in the net by Vlad Sobotka. The Bruins lower liners made that play look fairly simple.
• Usually we'd feel pretty good going into a game knowing the Pens would spend 12:07 with the man advantage. But they only produced 1 goal on 7 shots. Which isn't going to get it done tonight or most any night.
• Other than Evgeni Malkin (the goal scorer) and Petr Sykora, no other forward really even looked like their head was in the game. Those two combined for 10 shots on net, the rest of the team only put 11 pucks on target.
• In particular, it seemed like Erik Christensen (who's been great of late) had a pretty brutal game. Penalties, bad puck decisions, missing nets--you name it and if it's frustrating he probably did it. Hopefully he puts this one behind him and can come out with a better outing tomorrow.
• Alex Goligoski had his NHL debut, and even though he only played just over 8 minutes (the Pens dressed 7 defensemen) he showed the wheels and potential that has the brass salivating. A couple of minor mistakes--as to be expected from a 21 year old professional rookie in his first game in the show--but overall he was as advertised. Dude is going to be a player in the NHL sooner than later.
• Conklin settled down. One really couldn't blame him for either goal, but it's worth noting:
• Marc-Andre Fleury made his first rehab start for Wilkes-Barre tonight and stopped 30 of 31 shots in a 3-1 win. That and a report that his ankle is feeling pretty good tomorrow morning is probably the best news the Penguins could hear right now.

A loss is a loss is a loss, there's no way around it. Give 100% credit to Boston; they had been in a slump recently but came out very strong early and definitely earned the win. One shouldn't take too much (positive or negative) out of just 1 game in a season of 82, but the Bruins definitely look like a team that should make the playoffs based off of the effort and performance they had tonight.

For the Pens part it seems like one of their uptempo, energy guys (Gary Roberts, Tyler Kennedy who scored a goal again tonight in his rehab with the Baby Pens) could have made a difference. Adding a player like that Crosby guy, especially on all those powerplays could have tipped the scales too..

But for now there's only if's and what could have been's. The Penguins lost and the Atlantic Division, once again, tightens a little more. Tomorrow nights game in Carolina, likely with Dany Sabs in net, becomes all the more important. An immediate chance for the Pens to regain their composure and wash the disappointing taste of a loss out of their collective mouths.

Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

Such is the dance a NHL team dances over the course of a long season:

Progressing:
--Jordan Staal. As we mentioned in the live blog, Staal is almost a point per game player [2g, 3a] in the 6 games since Crosby’s been hurt.
--Ryan Malone. Once known as Mr. Inconsistent, Malone’s a contributing member on the 1st line and one of the biggest goal scoring threats on the team right now.
--Max Talbot. He’s playing a top 6 role and playing it well. Beautiful passes and he’s showing a lot of skill.

Stepping backwards:
--Ryan Whitney. On the powerplay he doesn’t look nearly effective without Crosby. In his own end he’s about as forceful and aggressive as a dead cat. And the coach called him out on it.

Mixed bag:
--Erik Christensen. He’s producing points and actually playing well down in the corners, which has always been a knock on him at the NHL level. But he’s taking costly penalties of the pointless variety and doesn’t seem like he’s always fully in sync.

And now, news that the Penguins have called up rookie and former 2nd round pick Alex Goligoski from Wilkes-Barre. 12 players who were in the Baby Pens opening night lineup have now spent time in Pittsburgh in the course of this season, a franchise record.

Goligoski was not thought to be NHL-ready this year but has enjoyed a measure of success this season, he made the Team USA All-Star team in the AHL and has improved his game greatly. He’s said to be a good skater, puck mover but needs to work on his strength and positioning in his own end to really make an impact in the NHL.

We wonder why the callup.

• Did Rob Scuderi suffer some kind of unplayable injury after being hobbled by getting hit with a shot in the foot last night? Or is someone else hurt sick?
• Are the Penguins so unhappy with someone like Whitney or Brooks Orpik that they intend to give him a game breather and yield to Goligoski?
• Or are the Penguins simply continuing to showcase younger players before the deadline; giving potential suitors a chance to see a peek at our young talent playing a game or two in the NHL?
  

Whatever the yet to be seen reason, there sure won’t be any shortage of interest or speculation until some news comes out about Thursday’s lineup.