Hitting Rock Bottom

Terrible loss today. Terrible. Nothing is going right for the Pens, no matter what lines or goalies they use, it's just not the right answer, pucks are ending up in the wrong net.

So what's it going to be? We're not advocates of calling for a coach's job, but it seems now that Michel Therrien is at the end of the line. His moves, which in the past have been right on the money, have now fallen flat. Guys are trying, but the shake up of a new voice, new energy behind the bench might be what the doctor ordered.

Like we said, the effort is there. Gregory Campbell was chirping at Sidney Crosby and battling him very chippy. Max Talbot made Campbell answer for the talk with a lengthy and good fight. After seeing that the very frustrated Crosby decided he had enough and jumped Brett McLean.

It's frustrating for them, it's frustrating for everyone right now. The next game is in Madison Square Garden, maybe a road matchup against a division opponent (and good team) is what it takes to get out of this rut.

But at this point maybe there needs to be something more drastic than that.

Personal homecoming ends disappointingly

Our first game back at the Grand Old Lady didn't go so well, one of the Penguins worst games of the year...Some thoughts:

--We've been at probably 30 games at Verizon Center since back in Pittsburgh...Mellon seemed much brighter for some reason, but one thing we've been spoiled on was the HD jumbotron. Surely the CTC (the under construction Consol Energy Center) must have one...It's hard to go back.

--Speaking of, a big hole in the ground has never looked more promising.

--The Pens, as everyone knows, stunk it up. For some reason or another they didn't show up. One thing we found interesting on the drive home listening to post-game radio were the callers in; one in particular cited Evgeni Malkin for showing up and said something along the lines of "where was Sidney Crosby". Crosby, to be sure, didn't have an impact, but despite getting a goal and an assist, Malkin coughed up two bad giveaways that ended up in the net. So really his contributions just broke even as well.

--Marc-Andre Fleury didn't stop some pucks, but to be fair the guys in front of him allowed the Leafs way too much puck possession in the Pens zone. It wouldn't have made much a difference if the Pens had Ken Dryden and Martin Brodeur in the net at the same time, they weren't going to win on that night with that effort.

--We noticed when things seemed over the Pens lined up Kris Letang as a winger for Crosby...Makes enough sense to see if it would work; Letang certainly can skate as well as anyone in the league and has good offensive instincts. But he's been a defensemen his whole life, and there's a reason for that. In short, don't expect that to be a long-term option. Still, we didn't see any harm to roll him out there while the game was out of reach to at least see if it could spark something.

--A side note: 3/4 of the stands we were near didn't take credit cards. That seemed weird considering it is the year 2008. Sure the facility was built in 1961 but they can't upgrade with some credit machines? It cost the Pens some revenue at least from this fan, a 24 year old that basically lives with a plastic bank card and doesn't carry more than $20 cash at any given time.

--If we were giving out Schrutebucks, -50 for Andre Deveaux. He didn't want to fight when Eric Godard asked him (though Godard really didn't give him much an option) but Deveaux was willing to drop the gloves with a guy in Ruslan Fedotenko, who hasn't fought since 2001 according to hockeyfights. Of course, tempers were flaring when he and Rusty got in each other's faces but still.

--A lot is now being made about Michel Therrien's "it's Crosby's team" comment, taken in the context that HCMT is resigned to that he doesn't have the power anymore and Crosby is the boss. We don't see it quite that way, Therrien is a master of motivating through the media and no doubt was frustrated like everyone else after the game. But this is a superstar driven league; no less than Scotty Bowman used to have his practice drills modified or totally ignored by Mario Lemieux who had other designs. In many regards, this IS Crosby's team. He's the #1 guy.

--OK, techinically it's probably Ron Burkle's team more than anyone else, but save Burkle, Lemieux and maybe general manager Ray Shero no one has more power and pull than Crosby. But that's how it goes when you have a generational talent.

--We thought Therrien proved his point though when the Pens got a powerplay in the dying moments and Petr Sykora was the only regular forward out there. If you're not going to work or show up, you're not gonna get the chance. We were fine with that.

All in all, let's see how they respond. A loss is a loss, but this isn't the game to determine the season. A new day is a new chance to make the difference. Pascal Dupuis might be back and Ryan Whitney is on the horizon. But those are just two guys and two guys can't win a hockey game if the other 16 aren't skating. Hopefully that's the lesson this team will learn for the last time tonight.

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.

The Change We Need...

Like a machine not firing on all cylinders, things just aren’t adding up for the Penguins. It’s frustrating to watch and it’s frustrating for them to go through right now. There’s a variety of problems: not enough puck possession, not enough shots, too many shots against, bad penalties, not converting rare scoring chances, losing 50/50 pucks, losing key faceoffs that lead to goals, apparent lack of effort for most periods, and the list could go on and on and on. In fact, if it weren’t for the sterling work of Marc-Andre Fleury and Dany Sabourin this 5-4-2 team probably would be about a 2-9-0 team.

But before we all jump into the deep end of despair check that calendar…That’s right it still says October and no team ever won—or loss, a Stanley Cup eight months before they give it out.

It’s obvious though something isn’t clicking, in two sentences Sidney Crosby gave to the newspapers he used the word “urgency” four times, as in what the Penguins aren’t showing out there but need to be. As if things couldn’t be worse, Crosby didn’t play much of the 3rd period after appearing to have some sort of rib/torso injury that he would only specify as a little “discomfort”. It appears it should be a day-to-day thing, which is a good thing.

So what’s missing this year, why the lack of urgency? Is it simply all the new faces adapting to the system the Pens play? Undoubtedly the injuries to the top two defensemen on the team is a part of it, but the season would be lost if the Penguins hang on the crutch and wait for them to return.

Here’s three options the Pens have…It’s clear something is needed to kick-start them, but any of the proposed solutions could spell doom.

1—Fire the coach
Michel Therrien has always had his detractors and perhaps this time they’re right. He doesn’t look like he has control of the team, surely they’re not operating the way he wants them to. The coach’s job is to keep a team in game shape and prepared for the opponent. The Penguins don’t look motivated, they don’t really look prepared. In hockey coach’s come and go with the seasons, and when a team is struggling it sure is easier to replace the coach than the 12-15 disappointing players. But dismissing Therrien would be a huge push on the panic button, something that might not fly with a relatively young team that’s really only had one head coach at the NHL level.

2—Pull a trade
Jay Feaster, a knowledgable and respected hockey man, is saying the Penguins are having discussions with the Thrashers and he used the word “blockbuster”. At this point that could only mean one name: Ilya Kovalchuk. Jordan Staal+Kris Letang+a pick (and maybe Darryl Sydor to even out the salaries) could get it done. Is it worth it? Evgeni Malkin’s contract kicks in next year and that would mean the Pens are paying three forwards $24.9 million, add in other salaries of Fleury, Whitney and Brooks Orpik and that’s $37.65 million for just six players, with no guarantee the salary cap will rise in this rough economic time. Then after next year Kovalchuk would be a free agent and probably walk to the highest bidder, which surely the Penguins won’t be. Plus just nine months after the Marian Hossa deal are we ready to trade with Atlanta again? And would they part with their lone star a year and a half before they really have to?

3—Ride it out
The most likely option is the simplest, every team is forced to face adversity and this frustrating stretch isn’t the worst thing that could happen to a club. The players need to band together, hold themselves accountable and start chipping in. Down 2-1 last night, for instance, the Penguins had a 5 on 3 powerplay. They score and suddenly the momentum and energy is reclaimed by the Penguins. But guys like Malkin and Alex Goligoski couldn’t orchestrate it, they couldn’t finish it. Execution is the difference between winning and losing and, other than the goalies, no player can really claim to be happy with their season to this point.

Crosby gets a stud new winger...

And he's fimiliar too, per the PG here was today's lines:

Malkin-Crosby-Dupuis
Fedotenko-Staal-Sykora
Kennedy-Talbot-Satan
Biz Nasty-Thomas-Godard

(Zigomanis out with minor, unspecified injury)

We think this is an idea worth trying for many reasons:

• It gives some life for Crosby and Malkin...The best players love playing with each other, they're on the same wave length that others don't understand out there.
• Jordan Staal has been far too quiet this season, and moving him back to the center may well be a good idea. It helps the next opponent is Toronto. In his brief career Staal has 5 goals, 2 assists and 28 shots on goal against the Maple Leafs in eight games. It's definitely one of his favorite teams to play.
• That 3rd line could be a great one. Petr Sykora cut his teeth for too long last year on the 3rd line before Coach T trusted him and it looks like this will be Miroslav Satan's fate as well. That and it would be over-kill to play him on Sykora's line.

It can't be bad to try. This team needs to create at 5 on 5. The Pens doing well enough to make the other team take penalties (and then make them pay) but they need to bury some chances to get the confidence up and then we'll be rolling. There's no better way for a shot in the arm then to try Geno up on the top line.

Do Not Get

Uhh

Therrien is a dangerous combination of narrow-minded and panicky. You could see it during the finals when he didn't change anything against the Wings until he suddenly moved Ryan Malone to the top line, only to put things back the next
game. I suspect we'll see more moves like that from Therrien, and as he loses people in the locker room, which is rumored to be the case, these knee-jerk switches will be less and less effective.

You'd think Therrien's the only coach ever to make a line adjustment in an effort to jump-start his team. Or that a player like Malone (who's spent a significant amount of time playing with center Sidney Crosby) was unfit for such an assignment.

As far as "[losing] people in the locker room, which is rumored to be the case", we think an indictment of that is Brooks Orpik--a player who's had problems with Therrien--coming back to Pittsburgh a for half a million less a season. Or Evgeni Malkin not thinking twice about re -signing. We defy anyone to show one quote of a Penguin player that's openly dissatisfied with Therrien and let it be known.

Of course it's natural to go through difficult stretches and get "tough love" from Therrien (like Orpik or Ryan Whitney's temporary stints LW) but every player knows that Therrien's style has been right for the team so far.

Outside observers have never been quick to give Therrien credit, we'll see if he can earn some generalized respect.

Almost as if on cue...

Penguins re-sign Therrien for 3 years.



Atta boy, Coach....Now get ready to coach them up again.



In honor of the extension can we get a smile out of you, T?




Uhh, ok, guess not.

Penguins still have a big signing to go

As Joe Starkey pointed out, the Penguins still have another important negotiation to take care of this summer (and it aint just Jordan Staal).

It's Michel Therrien, who has just one year left on his contract--and coaches don't like working without a deal for the following season. Therrien was inherited by Ray Shero and most figured in the world we live in where the turnover rate of NHL coaches is very high that it would be only a matter of time before HCMT got the ax.

But a funny thing happened along the way, the Penguins started winning. Therrien did have the good fortune to come along when Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin made it to the NHL, but he also had a rapport with much of the base of the team, since he had been the coach of the Wilkes-Barre team since 2003-04. Even today there are nine prospective Penguins (Kris Beech, Rob Scuderi, Marc-Andre Fleury, Ryan Whitney, Brooks Orpik, Maxime Talbot, Dany Sabourin, Ryan Stone and Jonathan Filewich) that played under Therrien at the lower level.

47 wins in the breakout 2006-07 season. 47 more wins in a division winning 2007-08 season. 15 playoff wins in the two years combined. That's a lot of winning.

A lot of people question Therrien's tactics, and it's easy to do so; the man changes his line combinations at a maddening rate, rides players hard, seems to play favorites to give guys he likes (Michel Ouellet) every opportunity to succeed and treats goalies somewhat harshly whether they're former #1 picks or minor league fillers.

But there is a method to the madness. Before Therrien, in the age of Eddie the Broadcaster, the Pens were far too easy a team to play against. They had skill and talent but seemed unwilling to be pushed into getting their hands a little dirty. As we know, that's what it takes to win, particularly in the playoffs. Therrien deserves credit for eliminating the soft mentality, for installing a good defensive system, and for pushing the right buttons most of the time.

The question remains, is he the man to lead the Pens all the way? We don't think it's a matter of the coach. At the NHL level the head coach's main task is to have his boys fully prepared--in game shape and given info about the opponents. The coach can only put the players in position to do well, they must actually execute.

Some say Therrien got out coached in Games 1 and 2 of the SC Finals. We say stick Herb Brooks AND Badger Bob back there and the same would have happened. Detroit was a strong team, at home and executed their game-style flawlessly. Therrien's moves in that series weren't perfect, but some were very good: like putting Talbot on the ice for the final shift of regulation in Game 5. Also Therrien took the spotlight off his guys and put it on himself for bashing the refs and Detroit's clutching and grabbing.

We think Therrien's earned a two year extension. He was the stern voice the team needed a couple of years ago and he has a great rapport with all the players. The media liked to say Orpik often clashed with Therrien and didn't like him at all. Well Orpik took $500,000 less a season to stay with Therrien and the Pens. Two years for Therrien seems about right, it gives him a cushion but he knows he has to get the Pens over the top. If the team regresses or if players tire of his shtick, that could be it.

Don't believe everything you read on the internet, part 864

We saw this piece from north of the border, as you likely did too, but it didn't make this page because we have a crap filter.

If that isn't an issue to be dealt with immediately, it is certainly something that will grow with time. Brooks Orpik, the free agent defenceman who will be coveted by many teams after July 1, has told people he will not re-sign in Pittsburgh if Therrien is the coach. Jordan Staal, the terrific young player who lives in the shadow of Crosby and Evgeni Malkin -- but is poised to bust out as one of the most complete centres in hockey -- is another Therrien complainer.

It's no secret that Orpik and the Pens coaches --namely Therrien-- didn't always see eye to eye. Orpik had a wonderful playoffs, emerging as a valuable shot-blocking, hitting machine but he had rough season at times. Therrien made him a healthy scratch; including a trip to Boston, where Free Candy had family to watch him. Therrien put Orpik as a 4th line winger for a couple games.

But players and coaches don't have to be good buddies and go out for drinks after games. In fact, a little tension is probably a good thing.

Orpik pretty much flatly rejected the report that Therrien would be the deciding factor in whether or not he returns to the Penguins next season.

"My whole career I've never been best friends with the coach," Orpik said, responding to a Winnipeg Sun story suggesting he would not return to the Penguins if Therrien did. "I'm here to play. I've always had a good working relationship with my coaches. It's nothing personal.

"Would it prohibit me from coming back? No, not at all. I'm not here to have someone pat me on the back every day. That's obviously not something he does. He tries to get the best out of you. Those rumors, I don't know where they started. I don't see any quotes in those articles from me. That's mostly speculation, as far as I'm concerned."

Don't believe all the reports that Coach Therrien is holding this team back or there's a mutiny on board. Therrien coached a lot of this team in Wilkes-Barre and earned respect by turning a team in turmoil (thanks Edzo!) into a pretty effective systematic defensive unit.

Plus when you're the Penguins coach (or any coach) you need a good relationship with your captain. Especially when your captain is Sidney Crosby. Crosby, the consummate pro, is said to be pretty pleased with Therrien and hasn't grown tired of the gruff Frenchman's tactics.

Lines and Defense pairings

One of the things we wonder most about is the lines and defense pairings that Michel Therrien will employ.


For the forwards his top two lines are pretty set and don't require much tinkering:


Pascal Dupuis-Sidney Crosby-Marian Hossa

**Dupuis has had the speed and intelligence to keep up with Crosby and Hossa. It's not easy to play with two great players, but Dupper has done the little things (getting back on D, hustling into the corners, winning loose pucks, going to the net) to be very effective. Crosby and Hossa have come into their own, developing a great chemistry that is starting to be evident. These two need to feast on the powerplay but they also have to score at even-strength. Crosby and Hossa combined for 4 goals and 5 assists at ES during the Philadelphia series.



Ryan Malone-Evgeni Malkin-Petr Sykora

**The line that did the heavy lifting when Crosby went down...Recently Sykora's been on a down streak production wise (just 1 goal and 1 assist in the past seven games) but Malone has picked up his slack with 7 points (3g, 4a) in the past six games. The constant has been the brilliance of Evgeni Malkin. In every regard but the faceoff circle we think he's been the best, most consistent sensational player so far in the playoffs. Slapshots? Got 'em. Uncanny passing on the PP? Here. Hustling back to play D? No prob. Fighting through physical play? Yawn. Taking control of the puck and galloping all over the ice at will? Yep.



Maxime Talbot-Jordan Staal-Tyler Kennedy

**When we get to the 3rd line is where the questions begin. It's usually been Ruutu/Staal/Kennedy...But through a little experimentation, plugging Talbot up and dropping Ruutu down has seemed to ignite the offense and get a little more production out of Staal. By all means, we say roll with it. Talbot offers a little bit of a better skating and more energy than even Ruutu. It is worrisome to think of the age and experience of this line (especially since it often matches opponents top line) but if that's the way it has to be, we're comfortable with it. Jordan Staal may be 19 years old, but he doesn't play like a 19 year old.



Now we have four players (Ruutu, Hall, Roberts, Laraque) vying for three spots....If it were up to us (and it's not):

Gary Roberts-Adam Hall-Jarkko Ruutu
**It's hard to leave BGL off the roster. But it's just one game. Laraque can do good work on the forecheck and cycle the puck. But Ruutu and Hall can kill penalties in a pinch, Hall is decent at faceoffs. And Gary Roberts has 92 points in 125 career NHL playoff games, experience and results that can't be denied. BGL is the ultimate deterrant for all the funny business that might arise, and while Detroit boasts several gritty guys (think Draper, McCarty, Holmstrom, etc) that's nothing that the Pens can't answer with Orpik, Gill, Ruutu, Malone and Roberts.


DEFENSE

The defense is a little different. While most of the forward lines (aside from where to place Talbot and which of the 4th liners to sit) are pretty much set. Defensively you've got:

Brooks Orpik-Sergei Gonchar

Kuklaskorner thinks that Orpik and Gonchar will be "fetal" by the end of the second period of Game 1. We laugh. No denying the skill and talent that Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg have, but ask Daniel Briere (1 goal and 1 assist in five games against Pittsburgh after tallying 8 goals 14 points in 12 games in the first two rounds) or Dany Heatley (41 goals, 41 assists in the regular season, 0 goals 1 assist in the playoffs) how it was to meet Gonchar and Orpik. Kuklaskorner says with glee that Gonchar will be exposed? Unfortunately for them, they haven't been following the Pens close enough to know what that's going to mean.

But Therrien's ideas for the other two defense pairs have been Rob Scuderi/Hal Gill and Ryan Whitney/Kris Letang. Two primarly shot-blocking defensive guys that aren't really puck movers on one pairing and then two great skating, excellent passing (but not effectively physical) players on the other.

We would like to see a split. Towards the end of the regular season Gill/Letang and Scuderi/Whitney seemed to work well and be more balanced. But we're not coaches and no one asks our opinion. Therrien's pairings have flowed well and obviously been effective. But we think that Detroit's grit and puck possession could expose a flaw in the lack of speed in his Scuderi/Gill unit and at the same time open the door for the lack of physicality (or a rookie mistake) in the Whitney/Letang duo.

But what do we know. Too much time to think, if only it was time to drop the puck already!

The hustle to return

As if Philadelphia thought Pittsburgh couldn't possibly play harder, out comes the news that Max Talbot took all 90 minutes of practice this morning and declared his broken foot good to go.

They said it was a pain issue, so if Talbot was able to get the skate on and practice, obviously that means the pain is manageable enough to go.

So now the question becomes; who sits?

• Georges Laraque? The big guy only played 7:01 last night and didn't really seem to have much an impact. Plus the Flyers didn't play Riley Cote or Steve Downie, so keeping the heavyweight in the lineup may not be needed.
• Adam Hall? He's the 4th line center (Talbot's niche) and only played 4:49 at even strength. Hall also lost 4 of his 6 faceoffs last night. Hall's been quietly solid at his job, but not spectacular.

It'll be interesting to see what happens, Michel Therrien isn't a coach that likes to change a winning lineup that much, but to get one of his best energy guys and PK'ers back, we think he's going to have to. If it were our call, we'd scratch Hall tomorrow night and then, if all goes well, think about scratching BGL for Game 3. That's a long ways away though.

2007-08 Atlantic Division Champions

You don't see a picture like this everyday

A mere two years ago the Penguins won just 23 games (that year's 8th was Tampa Bay, who won 43) and were the worst team in the Eastern Conference.

Now they just clinched their first divisional title in a decade and are a win away from securing the #1 seed in the Eastern Conference.

It's setting up to be potentially a magical spring...

News and Notes

From a combination of different things we've heard lately:

• Expect Sidney Crosby to be back in the lineup tomorrow night. His ankle is stronger, but he wanted to give it as much time as possible for the playoffs. More immediately, Crosby didn't want to return to the lineup until he was conditioned enough to play the 20-23 minutes of high intensity play that we're accustomed to.
• It’s pretty clear that Michel Therrien let his displeasure with Ryan Whitney be known by putting the defenseman as a 4th line winger last night…They also did this to Brooks Orpik before giving him a shot to redeem himself, which he seems to have done. Surely a young, talented player like Whitney will get the chance, it’ll be up to him to make the most of it.
• Bad coach but good analyst Eddie Olczyk made a good point on Versus the other night…For the playoffs you’ve got a Crosby/Marian Hossa combo and a Evgeni Malkin/Petr Sykora duo. (Fans tend to think too much in trios when they think about forwards, when really it’s about adding a third piece to a talented duo). Anyways, suppose you’re an opposing coach; what unit do you send your best defensive unit and/or checking line to match against? Edzo then proposed Ryan Malone be the swing-man to rotate to which-ever line is given more space. A guy like Pascal Dupuis could be the other swing-man.
• That could be a complicated, but interesting theory. It remains to be seen if Therrien would employ it. He’s not too keen letting the opposing team dictate Pittsburgh strategy based on matchups. Therrien believes (and we do too) that it’s better to concentrate on just having your players focus on playing their games. Guys like Crosby, Malkin and Hossa have long been targeted by the opposition’s best defensive players their entire careers, it’s not like they can’t produce.
• The last time the Penguins had seven healthy defensemen (as they do now), Therrien decided to employ a rotation in which everyone but Sergei Gonchar and Mark Eaton would sit a game. The rotation lasted all of about two or three games. It will be interesting to see what choices the coaches make now that Rob Scuderi is healthy. Orpik has played well as Gonchar’s partner on the top unit, but do they put Scuds back there? Whitney’s been struggling but is a talented player with a lot to offer (like creating the only goal of consequence last night). Darryl Sydor hasn’t been outstanding, but unlike Kris Letang, this aint his first rodeo, so to say.
• We think, that Gonchar, Scuderi, Orpik and Hal Gill should be in the lineup every night, Whitney should be too, if he can get his act together. This leaves a choice between Letang and Sydor, we’d lean towards Letang for now, but obviously there’s going to be times when Sydor’s going to play.
• Gary Roberts was re-evaluated and while they didn't find anything else wrong, it's not that encouraging either...Sad to report that Mr. Gary's triumphant return is not in sight. So much for the couple of tune up regular season games he was hoping to get in for.

Finally, after a lot of searching we finally found something leaner than Marc-Andre Fleury's recent numbers:

Kate Bosworth used to be pretty hot before turning into a human stick figure

No jump, Pens lose

Disappointing loss tonight. Sure it was a division rival and a road game, but looking at the schedule, you'd have to think the Penguins would have to take two points like these to be in the hunt for the Atlantic division crown and possibly first place in the East. Especially on a night when the top rival Montreal held on for a 7-5 win.

Inital game notes:

• Noted Pens killer Richard Park scored the game's first goal early and short-handed. That's pretty much all one needed to know.
• Can't get over just how strong Marian Hossa is. On one occasion Hossa was stationary in the offensive zone, corralling the puck. An Islander took two or three strides and put a pretty good hit on him. Hossa remained standing without even bracing himself and the opponent basically bounced off of him.
• Petr Sykora is a force. We all know his shot is out of this world but he's not afraid to go into the corners and throw a shoulder to dislodge a puck. The Pensblog had a great feature the other day about how Sykora's out-performing many of the top free agent forwards from this summer. And while a lot of credit has to go to linemates, power-play time and opportunities, Sykora's pretty consistent offense has gone a little under the radar around the league this season. He's been a great addition.
• It seemed like the Penguins defense (Sergei Gonchar and Kris Letang particularly) were activating and shooting into the offensive zone. Several times this resulted in sloppy 3-on-1s or even one 4-on-1. It's on the coaching staff to put an end to the careless play.
• Speaking of the coaching, Michel Therrien was just stewing on the bench in the 3rd period. It would have been great to be a fly in the wall in the locker-room after the game. NHL seasons are treated with a pretty balanced equilibrium, after all this is just 1 out of 82. But Therrien's never shy to let a team know what he thinks, especially when the effort isn't there...It didn't seem like it was there.
• Evgeni Malkin played pretty well (despite being a -3) but just seemed out of sync. Therrien made what we thought was a nice adjustment, trying to put Hossa with Malkin and Ryan Malone to see if anything would spark. But on this night, nothing really did.
• Also out of sync seemed to be the 11 forward/7 defensemen lineup; which was necessitated since Pascal Dupuis went to be with his wife (who's in labor with their child). Regardless, Therrien seems to be a fan of playing seven defensemen but tonight was a good reason why not to utilize this.
• So which defenseman should get the scratch now that 'Steady' Rob Scuderi is back? Going strictly on performance over the past 10 games we would say either Ryan Whitney or Darryl Sydor. But both of those two are guys you'd generally think should be in the lineup on a nightly basis. It will be very interesting to see how the coaching staff handles and juggles the lineup; both to field the best possible lineup and not to cast aside a player who could play a big role in the post-season.
• Ty Conklin wasn't that bad and can't really be blamed for any one of the Isles goals. But his aura of the 'Conkblock' magic seems to be gone. There should be no doubt now that the Penguins will go as far as Marc-Andre Fleury will carry them.
• Sidney Crosby ruled himself out for tomorrow night's uber-important Devils game in an interview during this game. Jockeying for playoff positioning is important, but having a 100% healthy and conditioned Crosby for those playoffs is much more important. It's somewhat disappointing, but it's clear that no one is more frustrated to take the prudent route than Crosby. He'll be back (and soon) and the team will be better for it.
• Trival note, but shame on the offical scorers who credited NYI left winger Steve Regier with 3 hits (in an un-noticable 8:33 of icetime) and also said Brooks Orpik only had 1 hit with 19:23 time on the ice....Where they watching the same game?

For a team that's dealt with more than it's share of adversity this season (mainly in the form of injuries) it will be interesting to see how they respond. This last head-to-head game against Jersey is going to be very crucial, if the Pens don't come out with more energy and purpose it could well tip the balance of the playoff seeding.

Marty Straka's Law..

Marty Straka's law states: anyone who could get hurt--as strange or as unfortunate as possible--will get hurt.

Chalk Maxime Talbot (re-agging an age old high ankle sprain) and Petr Sykora (tweaked back) as the latest examples to this rule. That Marian Hossa (injured knee in his first game as a Penguin) has also been ruled out for Wednesday's game is no consolation.

For a team that lost well over 50 man games to injury for two former #1 overall picks (Sidney Crosby and Marc-Andre Fleury of course) , well it's just insult to, dare we say, injury. The only plus side--well other than the emergence of Evgeni Malkin and Ty Conklin, is that the Pens minor depth, guys like Jeff Taffe, Tyler Kennedy and many more have stepped up in limited, yet important, appearances.

The opponent, the fading Buffalo Sabres have injuries of too; with two of their best and most experienced defensemen (Dmitri Kalinin and Jaroslav Spacek) on the shelf for the next little while.

The Penguins are going to have to dig down and get some production out some unusual suspects to take this game. Something tells us Michel Therrien is going to have no choice but stack the top line with Crosby, Malkin and Ryan Malone. If they don't come through at even strength, someone else who gets the chance to must capitalize to stay on pace with the New Jersey's, Montreal's and Ottawa's of the Eastern conference.

Luckily, after Wednesday the Pens are off until Sunday's NBC matinee against Philly....But then they start a trying stretch of 7 games in 12 days, which probably will determine the jockeying for positioning in the Eastern Conference playoff chance. It seems likely skilled forwards like Sykora and Hossa will be back to leave their impact on that; but taking it one day at a time, Buffalo clearly is focus #1....For one day at least.

An ode to Michel Therrien

In our estimation, few head coaches in all of sports have it worse than Michel Therrien. Before you scoff, consider that almost always incoming GM's get "their guy" to be the coach. And since Therrien's stint has preceded Ray Shero's term as general manager, he isn't Shero's "guy". Therrien just hasn't messed up enough to get fired yet.

Furthermore, whenever the Penguins do well the credit goes to all the players. After all, with superstars in Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, as well as a very talented supporting cast like Petr Sykora, Sergei Gonchar, Ryan Malone, Ryan Whitney and Jordan Staal, how can any coach not produce a win in a given night? To say nothing of the expectations now that Marian Hossa is a Penguin.

Whether or not Therrien shuffles lines, is stubborn, uses the wrong goalie, doesn't play a certain guy enough or relies on someone too much, it mattes little....Therrren receives almost no credit from fans at-large when times are good, and absorbs much more of the criticism then deserved when the team loses.

Which brings us to this great article in the PG about a strenuous practice on Friday. For his faults, Therrien knows how to push buttons. Witness how he called out Whitney--a guy he has been around long enough in Wilkes-Barre and Pittsburgh to know what to do--and the player responded with 2 goals and an assist the following game. Coincidence? Don't bet on it.

In Friday's practice, to make his point, Therrien singled out a player he knows the best on the team...One he coached in the juniors to a championship. And now he's no less than the baddest man in the NHL, Mr. Georges Laraque.

Although his message was team-wide, Therrien seemed to single out Georges Laraque, and toward the end of the session directed the winger to do cross ice sprints along the center red line.

"We want Georges to move his feet a little better," was the only explanation Therrien gave.

Laraque quietly took a few questions afterward, mostly offering yes or no answers, but indicated the sprints could be a way to make up for low ice time. He has not topped eight minutes the past four games.

BGL's stat line in the past 18 games: 0 goals, 0 assists and a +/- of -3. Obviously he's not playing a lot of minutes a game and is not counted on for offensive production in the first place. Laraque has done some good work cycling the puck with his linemates; but it's clear the message sent wasn't just directed at him, but rather at the entire team. Remain focused at all times, don't take anything for granted and be prepared to come out working your ass off every single minute of every game from here on out.

This message needed to be sent because not only have the Penguins gone 1-1-2 in their past four games but that one win they allowed 52 shots against them. With all the built in excuses (injuries, trades, etc) this team needed a little reminder that they have no choice but to come out and give their #1 effort every night. Just because everyone (including this blog) has now dubbed the Pens the team to beat in the East, it doesn't mean they will even make it to the playoffs without winning some more.

Since they're professionals, it shouldn't be a surprise that Therrien's message has been received loud and clear...

"It's kind of good to get our butt kicked."--[Ryan Malone]

The boys have responded every time this season when adversity has reared it's head, be it through injuries or a losing streak.....Let's see how they can respond to the latest challenge handed down from their stern taskmaster.

Goin to Carolina

It's a hockey night in Raleigh!

• Season series: 2-1 Penguins (including the last two). This is the last match up of the regular season between Pittsburgh and Carolina.
• The Hurricanes, uh, made waves (sorry) with their big trade of sending two impending vets that were UFAs (Cory Stillman and Mike Commodore) for two younger players not as established (the injured Patrick Eaves and Joe Corvo). Consider though, the four games before that trade the ‘Canes only scored a total of 4 goals. In their only contest since they scored 3 goals and won. Sometimes a GM needs to shake things up to get the message through.
• Dany Sabs is expected to be in net. We have no idea what that means. At times Sabourin has showed he can be an effective NHL backup and give a good performance. But at other times he shown quite clearly that he can give the goal judge's red-light finger a workout. With Fleury's return coming very soon this might be one of the last times this year Sabourin gets the chance to start an NHL game. Surely he must know this. Hopefully that pressure brings the best, and not the worst, out of him.
• The tightness of the Southleastern Division--Carolina is tied with Washington and Atlanta with 60 points at the top, Florida has 58 points and don’t sleep on Tampa who’s only 6 points out of 1st with at least a game in hand on everyone else. Point being, all of these teams are going to be fighting and clawing in what’s best described as the measured and nothing against mentality of “playoff hockey”. Which is ironic since no team in the Southleast is in the top 8 in the conference right now on their own merit.
• Ray Whitney has a +/- rating of -11 in the past month. We know this because he was on our fantasy team. As in the past tense.
• Coach Michel Therrien called out the secondary scoring and it’s easy to see why. Since Crosby’s injury the top line has been ridiculous and the 2nd line of Christensen-Staal-Talbot has created too. Look at these droughts:

--The last time Colby Armstrong scored a goal; there wasn’t a roof over his head. Since the Winter Classic he’s played 16 games and only has 2 assists in that timeframe.
--Max Talbot only has 1 goal in his last 17 games (though he is piling up assists at a decent rate)
--BGL isn’t here to score, but he’s had 0g, 1a in the past 15 games.
--Jarkko Ruutu is 0 for the season (46 games for him).
--Kris Beech, naturally, is scoreless in 3 games too
--Jeff Taffe is on a 10 game goal-less streak.
--Young players Ryan Stone, Jonathan Filewich and Nathan Smith, in limited minutes, also produced nothing offensively in 18 combined games.

On the heels of all this, the Pens are happy to welcome back a guy in Tyler Kennedy who was on pace to be a 20 goal scorer in his rookie year (8 goals in 31 NHL games this season) and plays with a lot of energy and determination. You can count on Geno and the powerplay, but expecting them to produce 3-4 goals a night is not going to cut it; it caught up with the Penguins last night.

If the Penguins want to win this game, someone else is going to have to step up and somehow get one by an opponent that's sure to be clinging for dear life. That could be the spark the Pens need to carry them to victory.

Pens Defends Leads Through Offense

Any division win is a good win, especially for a team that's first in the league in the most intra-divisional loses. And given the same team blew a two goal third period lead against--you guessed it a division opponent, well it's a must. So even though the Islanders have lost pace with the pack, and even though they're a little dinged up (no Miroslav Satan tonight) the Pens will take the two points as they open up a 4 game home-stand.

• As you know after last game's weak performnce and a slew of bad games this season, Ryan Whitney was challenged by his coach. Some media types in Pittsburgh whined about this, said Michel Therrien's strong words would shatter Whitney's confidence and cause a divided between players and coach. Whitney, for his part, told the morning papers that the Coach was basically right and he needed to up his game. And as a response Whitney comes out and has his best offensive game. He wasn't physical or aggressive in his own zone as Therrien had wished, but dude's not going to turn into Chris Pronger over night. Whitney was forceful and did his job. That's all you need.
• Speaking of being more forceful, Kris Letang made a public statement about getting the puck on net more. He did and got the unassisted G-Dub with under 4 minutes left in the game.
• It wasn't a good start though. Ty Conklin got stranded from his net and was hesitant to play the puck, as it was sliding into the penalty zone behind the goal-line. He who hesitates gets left out of position as the Islanders quickly took advantage and made him look like the Oilers' Conklin circa 2005 and not the Pens "Conkblock" of 2008. Credit Conklin though, after a horrible gaffe he settled in and turned out a good performance for the win. Again, that's all you can ask.
• Evgeni Malkin had 3 assists on the night, figuring in the first three Pens goal. The first one was just pure puck movement, the powerplay unit featuring Gonchar/Sykora/Malkin/Malone is clicking very well and making some dandy plays out there.
• Geno's second assist of the nigt, believe it or not was a result of a faceoff win; Malkin continues to struggle in the faceoff circle wining only 35% (8 of 15). But that one win was crucial. Malkin now has 66 points on the season, which should shake out to about 6th in the league. Most excellent. His point per game ratio is slightly up from last season's excellent rookie campaign too (1.22 to 1.08).
• The Isles outshot the Pens 11-5 in the 3rd period and it was sort of shades of the last game when Pittsburgh blew a lead to Jersey and went on to lose in OT. But most of those Islander shots were of the desperation "just throw the puck on net and see what happens" variety.
• Unusual scrap between bantomweights Mike Comrie and Maxime Talbot. Wonder what that could have been over?



• The Kris Beech experiment round 2, had it's opening act tonight. Not surprisingly it was mixed results. Beech made a good effort to get a difficult backhand shot on the net while on the powerplay (!!!) but he also took a lazy penalty and didn't deserve to get much more than the 8 minutes and change of icetime that he got.
• All in all it wasn't pretty, but going up against an always gritty foe in NYI, it doesn't have to look purdy; it's about results. The Pens overcame a little bit of what ailed them Monday night by hanging on.

Up next for the Pens is a day off, followed by a 1PM Saturday matinee against the LA Kings. Before you get your hopes up about tallying an easy victory against the league's worst team, consider that tonight the Kings defeated what has been the league's best team in their own barn tonight. There's no such thing in today's NHL as a forgone win, especially at this time of the year.

But for now, it's victory time; and we're another game closer to the return of Marc-Andre Fleury, Gary Roberts, Tyler Kennedy, and some guy named Sidney.

Hello Old Friend

Naturally when a change is made, like a good player joining a new team or a new coach joins a team, there is a pop and for a period things go well. Mark Recchi (who had just 2 goals and 6 assists in 19 games in Pittsburgh, despite prime ice-time with Sidney Crosby and the #1 powerplay unit) has 7 goals and 8 assists in 15 games for his new team, the Atlanta Thrashers. Old man Recchi has been on a line almost exclusively with goal scoring dynamo Ilya Kovalchuk, so it's hardly as if he hasn't been surronded by talent himself on his new club.

The Penguins, for their part, are 18-6 without Recchi in the lineup, so the lack of his famed "veteran presence" hasn't seemed to doom the club just yet.

One has to wonder at the way Recchi's era as a Penguin ended: coach Michel Therrien frequently made him a healthy scratch and either he or Recchi seemed unwilling to put "Drive 8" in anything but a Top 6 role. Obviously Old Man Recchi isn't an imposing checker, but he has always been somewhat of an energy player that will attempt to throw a hit or two and play pretty hard every game. Briefly after the T-bombs got him off of re-entry waivers, several important forwards (Maxime Talbot, Gary Roberts, Ryan Malone) all suffered injury and surely would have opened up a spot for Recchi to become a contributing member to the team again.

But it wasn't to be and now Recchi is in Atlanta, a team two points out of a playoff spot, but a team that has played 1 or 2 more games than most around them in the standings.

Interesting plot lines to follow; will Recchi be able to help the Thrashers claw into the playoffs after such a horrid start? Will the Penguins miss Recchi's production and leadership come playoff time. The man did score 68 points last year and has 2 Stanley Cup's to his name, and the Penguins cast him aside like some sort of journeyman tweener.

CONK CONK CONK CONK

Frustration blog

Brooks Orpik was a healthy scratch last night in a 4-2 loss to the Isles that saw the powerplay go a measley 1 for 6 and Dany Sabourin look like a back up goalie.

Orpik won't help any of that really, but he's been a healthy scratch 3 of the past 7 games. Over the past 7 games Michel Therrien favorite Rob Scuderi has a +/- of -6, and he's averaging under 17 minutes of ice time a night.

Orpik blocks more shots per game than Scuderi and has almost more hits (93) than the rest of the defense (104)....Combined.

Frustration is building and many are asking if Therrien's the right man for the team. I've never been a big "mob-menalty-fire-the-coach" type guy, but I'm starting to sway. Therrien's decisions seem arbitary.

It's easy to second guess and be a monday morning powerplay quarterback on anything that doesn't work out, but the results are what they are, and how the team has played versus the talent and expectations is black and white. All these flat performances lately have me worried. I realize the goalie is out, but if anything that should be a motivating factor to these highly skilled athletes to play even harder.

I'm not sure what it is, but something has to change and fast. This team needs a spark in some form. In the past it's been Crosby, Malkin or an unexpected one like Tyler Kennedy or Max Talbot. Someone needs to make something happen tonight against Boston.

Maybe it's just me, but it feels like Malkin always has great games against Boston. Hopefully he can step it up and make some good things happen.