Video game attributes

Kudos to goingfivehole for noting that IGN has a list of EA Sports attributes for the highly anticipated game NHL 09 (Penguins found here). As realistic as video games are becoming in sheer visuals, gameplay and environments, there's always some abnormalities. Of course though, ratings are so subjective and 100 observers will likely have close to that many opinions on who got shafted and who's over-rated...Looking at just the Pens here's some issues we have:

• Maxime Talbot's speed is listed as 78. Among those ranked faster than him are Kris Beech (79) and Darryl Sydor (79).
• Talbot should have taken some of Petr Sykora's speed. Petr is listed as a 90 (second on the team only to Sidney Crosby). Sykora is not that fast of a straight line skater this day and age.
• Evgeni Malkin has a balance rating of 90. We all love Geno, but he falls down for no reason at least once or twice a game. There's plenty of categories to rate him extremely high in, but balance isn't one.
• Wingers Miroslav Satan and Ruslan Fedotenko have the same faceoff rating (70) as centers Malkin and Jordan Staal. We know Malkin and Staal aren't that adept in the faceoff circles, but who knew Satan and Rusty were, relatively speaking? Sykora is also a 69 here, an over-rating that probably most wingers have.
• Beech, toughie Eric Godard and Danny Richmond. What do they have in common? They're the only players with a listed defensive awareness lower than Sergei Gonchar. That's a joke.
• Marc-Andre Fleury only has a 75 poise rating. We think after his playoff performance that's a touch on the low side.
• Matt Cooke only got a 74 for toughness while Ryan Whitney has an 80 there. Those numbers need reversed.
• Whitney also got a 76 for aggressiveness. Too high, especially considering he's close to Pascal Dupuis (77) and Tyler Kennedy (78).
• 14 players got a pretty standard 75 for poise. Among them was Talbot. Guess EA Sports didn't give much credit for the Game 5 last minute goal.

Overall we think Talbot is under-rated in a number of categories while guys like Whitney and Scuderi were made too aggressive and guys like Sykora and Satan are too fast. Gonchar didn't get enough credit for his defense (as usual).

We predict that Kennedy will have a fairly high overall rating, probably a touch too high considering where similiar players like Talbot and Dupuis are likely to come in.

All in all though it's not bad and we're excited to get to playing hockey in any form.

Pens looking for one more forward?

Pittsburgh's Eklund, err we mean The Insider on Pittsburgh Sports recently had this to say:

According to a source, the Penguins are still looking for a forward that may compete for a top six position. There have been brief discussions with Brendan Shanahan but no contract offer has been made. Sources indicate there appears to be more interest from Shanahan's camp then the Penguins but the Penguins are looking into the possibility. The Penguins have targeted a few forwards for training camp invites. Geoff Sanderson could be one of those forwards. The Penguins are looking for additional speed and have talked to his agent. No offer has been made, just to check on his health and asking price. Previously I reported, Shero had brief discussions with the agent for Mark Parrish. Parrish is seeking a multi-year deal and the Penguins are not expected to pursue Parrish any further.

No doubt the guy has sources but we're not sure we bite. According to the main-stream conventional knowledge, the New York Rangers remain Shanahan's preference and Sanderson is a 36 year old player that looked out of gas with Edmonton last season.

The Penguins have four clear top 6 skill forwards nailed down (Crosby, Malkin, Satan, Sykora). Given the contract signed ($2.25 million), it's presumptive that Ruslan Fedotenko was brought in to play bigger than a 3rd line role. This leaves one wing open and a guy like Shanahan would fill some talent gap. But the Penguins could also use a committee of players that have had some success in big moments (Maxime Talbot, Pascal Dupuis) or give Finnish player Janne Pesonen a chance at the big time.

The Penguins have roughly $1.5 million in cap space, probably not enough for Shanahan anyways. Better to keep what's left of the small cushion they have then get a vet like Sanderson or Glen Murray who's best days are clearly behind. There's nothing wrong with checking in with players like Parrish or Shanahan to see what they're looking for---hell that's Ray Shero's job...But contact between multiple parties may not mean a move is as pressing as TIOPS may lead (or have been led) to believe.

We suspect perhaps some others are as bored in this mid-summer rut.

53 more days 'til Sweden.

The Billy Tibbetts Urban Legend

OK, it's summer and to keep entertained, here's a quick little story we heard many years ago second-hand off a friend of a friend of a friend. In other words, it's an urban legend; probably not true to life at all.....But it is entertaining and, given the cast of characters, it doesn't seem out of place.

Billy Tibbetts is a name a lot of fans might not know. He is probably most famous for being out of hockey for four years while he was in jail from 1996-2000. The Penguins signed him and gave him a shot and it just didn't work out. Tibbetts played total of 62 games over two seasons with Pittsburgh (scoring 2 goals, 7 assists and registering 188 penalty minutes). He bounced around from Philadelphia to New York to Boston and a lot of minor league teams in between before running out of chances in the NHL. He now plays in Finland.

Tibbetts, for lack of better phrasing, just couldn't stay out of his own way. For instance, this quote from his Wikipedia page sort of sums up some of the troubles and various attitude problems and trouble with authority that Tibbetts just can't seem out of:

He was arrested early in the morning of August 13, 2007, after leading a Massachusetts State Police trooper on a high-speed chase from Scituate, MA to Abington, MA, where he crashed his 2007 BMW into a fence and a telephone pole, and fled on foot.

So with that background in mind, consider this folk-lore urban legend...


The story dates from one of Tibbetts' stints with the Penguins, sometime in 2001 or 2002. Billy was often getting called up or re-assigned to the AHL's Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins. The stress, excessive travel and uncertain day-to-day future of being a bubble player was starting to wear on the temperamental man so he was beginning to snap at those around him.

After games, visiting teams usually take showers, receive quick treatment if necessary and then get on a chartered team bus to be taken back to the hotel or airport. Players trickle onto the bus after the games and play cards, joke around with each other, talk on cell phones, sleep; normal type of stuff you'd expect. There is also a pecking order of who gets to sit where, with veterans calling seniority to get good seats at the front of the bus.

As the legend has it, Tibbetts was one of the first players on the bus and was able to snag a prized seat up front, opposite side of the driver. As players filed on, one of the veterans--among them rumored to be Kevin Stevens (who's a little gruff himself)--asked Tibbetts to move to the back, being as he was young player without many games played in the league. Tibbetts rebuffed strongly, not wanting to surrender his seat. There was a heated confrontation, nothing physical but an intense, vulgar exchange that would make George Carlin himself proud.

In the end, at the urging of other moderate team "graybeards" and to maintain peace, Tibbetts was ousted to the back of the bus and the vet got his choice seat. Stewing over this defeat and not wanting to look like a punk in front of his other colleagues, the hotheaded Tibbetts, as the story goes, allegedly thought up a quick plan for revenge.

Supposedly in Tibbetts hands was a cheeseburger that he was eating for a post-game meal. Fed up with getting jerked around and with his situation in general Tibbetts knew what he had to do. He flung the cheeseburger towards the front of the bus, towards the vet who embarrassed him publicly.

Unfortunately Billy Tibbetts wasn't a baseball player, his aim was off and in the fit of rage the cheeseburger supposedly sailed a clear foot over the sitting target's head. The burger was on a path to harmlessly hit the front windshield. Except, as the story goes, as fat would have it guess who just happened to be stepping on the bus at the same moment that Tibbetts hurled his projectile?


As the story goes, Tibbetts was re-assigned to Wilkes-Barre the following day and soon after the Pens decided to cut ties with him.

5 Ways I'd change the NHL

TST friend--and arguably the top dog of hockey blogging (despite what USA Hockey may say) Greg Wyshynski has been running a series asking famous folks the five things they'd change about the NHL. Washington Cap and all around good guy Matt Bradley was the latest.

Here's our list...

1) Every team plays in every city every year. A common gripe, but until it's addressed it's a valid one. Sure there are reasons not to do this like the high price of fuel and travel costs and the unfair reality of putting more miles on some of the Western Conference teams that are spread out. But the reality is all fans deserve to see guys like Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin, Jarome Iginla and the defending Stanley Cup Champion come to their city at least once. They play 82 games in a season, that's 41 games for season ticket holders. Division rivalries are great and all, but no one wants to see Coyotes/Stars or Panthers/Hurricanes eight times a year.

2) Eliminate the instigator rule. Players have been rallying around this for years. Hockey is the only major sport that has fighting, and whether you debate the necessity of that or not, there is an unwritten code. Cross the line and you have to answer the bell, either in that game or a following one. The instigator rule punishes those that enforce the code. Certainly at all times the referees should have the ability to assess major misconduct penalties to not let things get out of hand, but allow the players to police themselves. Assholes like Sean Avery are only emboldened when they can get away with anything because coaches and players can't make necessary moves to combat them.

3) Divisional playoff series. This will never happen because it is too complicated---unless the conferences were paired from three to two divisions, which would be difficult with the current 15 team layout. Still, rivalries are created in the post-season with teams battling against each other every other day for about two weeks with their livlihoods on the line. That's what generates heat.

4) Regulate goalie pads. This is starting to happen, albeit slowly. Goalies don't even look like hockey players anymore as much as they are Stay-Puft Marshmellow men. When they go down to a butterfly they take away well more than the six feet of net. Give them enough pads for protection that are necessary but hone down the excess and the J.S. Giguere and Garth Snow trapezoid chest protectors. It's scoring chances, not necessarily goals that create scoring chances, but give shooters more net to shoot at will benefit the game.

5) Three no-trade clauses per team. Player movement in the NHL is always frantic but it's estimated that about 120 out of the 700 players have some sort of no-trade/no-movement clause that bogs them down. Teams hand out these things like free candy. Established players deserve loyality, but it shouldn't have to be legally binding. Look at a team like Toronto that wants to rebuild but has been handcuffed by decisions to give many veterans these passes. And not to say it makes them lazy (they still are professional athletes) but the security of these clauses makes them untouchable. Limit franchises to only slap these on the select few players that deserve them.

BONUS
6) Get the NHL back on ESPN. Nothing against Versus, a network that has come a long ways. But being on ESPN is being back on the radar of sports fans. The NHL has so many great players, especially ones that are young, that it is a shame they are not getting spotlighted. With more exposure going to the NFL, the MLB and the NBA, hockey is fading. Even with Winter Classics and NBC action and a little more attention the NHL is on par with Indy Racing, Arena Football and even poker in terms of recognition. Which is a shame. Get back to the "world wide leader" and give them the self-promotional reason those bastards need to hype the wonderful action. It's not ideal, but it's necessary.


Overall, we still think hockey is the greatest sport in the world. It's high impact, high intensity and a beautiful display of size, speed and skill. The shootout has largely worked, the Winter Classics give a unique celebration of the roots of the sport and the Stanley Cup is, bar none, the most prized, famous and greatest trophy in all of the world.

But there's always room for improvements, however unlikely the implementation of these ideas are.

Self proclaimed Geek predicts big things for Pens

"JavaGeek" did some sort of statistical prediction and says a 13 point improvement is in store for the Penguins in 2008-09. Unfortunately, as Japers points out, his rosters aren't the most accurate--the Geekster still lists Colby Armstrong and Erik Christensen as Penguins--and we don't think it works that way.

Still, an interesting process. When the "Moneyball" craze hit baseball a couple of years ago we wondered if the spirit of the statistical theories applied to baseball could be used for hockey. As was highlighted on Kuklaskorner yesterday there are minds working on hockey-metrics to measure just this sort of thing to determine player value. To an extent, baseball is easier since every play begins the same way: batter steps in the box, pitcher delivers pitch. Hockey, being more free-flowing and more unstructured sport is a little more difficult to measure, we'd think. Still interesting stuff to dive into.

Happy Crosby-oliday!

A kid no more but still our boy Bing takes more crap (for simply being a phenom) than anyone else in recent memory. Sure Bettman and NBC hype the Croz to no end, but he's far from a spotlight seeking athlete that brings it upon himself coughBrettFarvecough.

So, on your 21st bday Sid, here's to you and some special accomplishments:

--The most points/game before age 21 better anyone not named Gretzky or Lemieux
--Youngest permanent captain in the NHL (sorry Jonny Toews)
--Youngest player to win the Art Ross, Hart and Lester B. Pearson trophies

By the way, in case you're keeping track at home, the inevitable Crosby vs. Ovechkin tab:

Regular season stats before turning 21:
Ovechkin: 81 games, 52 goals, 54 assists (106 points)
Crosby: 213 games, 99 goals, 195 assists (294 points)


Playoff stats before turning 21:
Ovechkin: goose egg, goose egg (goose egg)
Crosby: 25 games, 9 goals 23 assists (32 points)


Unibrows:


Ovechkin: 1
Crosby: 0


Pictures of biting a medal with another dude at the same time:


Ovechkin: 1
Crosby: 0




Happy Crosby-oliday everyone!

Breaking Radio Silence

We're pretty sure this past six day break has been the longest we've taken from this blog in almost 11 months. Apologies for the slowness but that sort of comes with the territory of the off-season, especially when your author is without not only material but internet access too (though that is changing tomorrow).


Seth at Empty Netters took an idea we were going to do later this summer and show you the longest continuously tenured Penguin.



Here he is:



Brooks Orpik, NHL (and Penguin) debut on 12/10/2002. There are only two other current Penguins--well three if you really want to count Kris Beech--that laced 'em up for Pittsburgh pre-lockout days. One you should be able guess initially (Marc-Andre Fleury) but the other? Mr. Reliable, Rob Scuderi.