Back in the saddle

Hello boys and girls, reports of our demise have been greatly exaggerated, we're back.

The Penguins unofficial "second half" of the season starts tonight. Really 58.5% of the games have been played, but even the team's email bulletin hails it as the beginning of the second half, so here we go..

• The sked starts out pretty fast and furious; the boys start a set of three games in four nights (two of them on the road)...Then they get a two day break before three more games in four more days. Six games in ten days in four different cities.
• Sidney Crosby is optimistic to play tonight. We think he will go, and will be OK. After all, he came back from the injury to play in the last two games before the break and while El Sid didn't look 100% it didn't appear he was too far off his game.
• One guy who won't be going tonight is impromptu first line winger Matt Cooke. Colin Campbell has decided to suspend Cooke two games--not for missing the All-Star game (ha!) but for an elbow to the head of Carolina's Scott Walker.
• Of this writing, the Penguins haven't decided who to call-up to replace Cooke. Our two cents would go for Chris Minard; who's started to get more shots on goal and did score against the very same Rangers that come to town again tonight
• Old friends Pascal Dupuis (out the last seven games) and Max Talbot ought to be back in the lineup too. The news is not so good for Brooks Orpik, who despite having what the coach called a relatively minor injury, hasn't been skating.
• The Rangers held off Carolina 3-2 last night. So their legs might be a little more under them at the beginning of the game. Interestingly Steve Valiquette got a rare start and made 33 saves on 35 shots, as Henrik Lundqvist did do a lot in the weekend's All-Star game and got a night off. The Pens probably won't luck out and not see King Henrik, huh?

Now bigger scheme thoughts to ponder..

• The Penguins need to go at least 20-13-1 down the stretch to pretty much assure themselves post-season play. That's not impossible but still it does look daunting when one looks at the big number. The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step and tonight is the chance.
• It might also take some scoreboard watching. As we mentioned, Carolina lost in regulation last night (a good thing) but Florida took out Philly (bad for the Pens...kinda) and Buffalo slaughtered Edmonton 10-2 (bad). Those three teams are the closest for Pittsburgh to catch so if you're one to root against teams, those would be the ones, as of today at least.
• Since the 6-3 loss to Washington, the Penguins have really tried to batten down the hatches defensively and it shows; they gave up just three goals in three games--including a shutout of the Rangers in the Igloo. Tonight's game is also at Mellon, hopefully the Rags can't get off the schneid.

Pens choke out the Ducks

Last night was sort of a look if the Penguins hadn't had won the 2005 draft lottery...And while it wasn't pretty, they got just enough to win...And hey, they got through the game with only one player getting knocked out with injury, so that's a plus.

• Obviously with Sidney Crosby's injury it all starts with Evgeni Malkin. Geno stepped it up, he did uncharacteristically well in the faceoff circle (8 of 14), was credited with the Pens only two takeaways, three shots on net and two assists. He also played 24:25 and only one other forward played more than 20 minutes.
• Matt Cooke really ate his Wheaties. The Penguins were playing a gritty, nasty, "not pretty" type of game, fitting right into Cooke's philosphy as well. And his goals (whipping shots on net, spinning bodies around) were a good reflection of a job well done.
• In our recap we predicted a lot of minutes for Ryan Whitney and Brooks Orpik. After Orpik left the game early with an injury, Whitney must have taken a deep breath and said "here we go". Whits got a game high 29:39 as he picked up most of the slack and did well.
• From the things you don't see everyday file: Chris Pronger and Scott Niedermayer combined for a -4.
• Chris Minard registered a team high five shots on goal and looked the most comfortable he ever has in the NHL. One gets the feeling if he keeps chipping at it he's going to breakthrough. The question is, can he make the most of the opportunity before forwards return from injury and time runs out.
• And how about Hal Gill with his first goal since March 16, 2008? That's a 60 drought (including the playoff run). It was a perfect example of the Penguins mentality: just get the puck to the net whenever you can. Credit Jordan Staal for the faceoff win and Gill for unleashing the rocket.

So an important two points in the Penguins pocket but also the confidence to know that when they play well and buckle down defensively they are good enough to compete and beat any team in the league.

We noted that the five game stretch before the All-Star game could be pivotal in the season. The Penguins are now 2-1 in the highlighted segment. Now if they could just show up for an afternon game...

Big time win

After being in such a rut and in a tough environment the Penguins dug deep and played well. Taking two points from a divisional opponent is huge. Especially Philly.

• The Penguins played a perfect 1-2-2 system for the first half of the game. They were pretty patient, they laid back and didn't force the issue too much. In short, it looked like they were listening to the coach's adjustments to buckle down and play smart, not at all like a team that is out doing there own thing.
• Was the crowd often chanting "Crosby sucks!" or "Cote sucks". Maybe it was just our Center Ice feed but what is the Philly organ guy doing playing that rhythm in the first place? The standard Flyers chant is the riff that the Rangers use, so shame on the Flyers people for drumming up vile directed towards one player.
• Not that it bothered Crosby, with his two assists and several other great chances along the way.
• Paul Bissonnette had a good night back in the show too, albeit in brief work. Biz Nasty worked over Aaron Asham in a fight and threw a puck to the net that Tyler Kennedy got into the net for a huge first goal for the Pens.
• Matt Cooke stepped into a tough role as the other guy of the Crosby/Evgeni Malkin line and did very well. Sure the forechecking and physical prescence is a given but obviously the conversion for the go-ahead goal helps. And Cooke made a terrific play on a 2 on 1 with Crosby; after Sid fed him the puck Cookie passed it back right on the tape for a slam dunk. Apparantely 87 is too acquainted with the likes of the playmaking abilities of some of his previous linemates like Andy Hilbert, Ryan Malone, old ass Mark Recchi, Colby Armstrong and Pascal Dupuis because Sid didn't finish.
• 25:34; that's the time on ice that your third star of the night Kris Letang had. Of course he had 5 powerplay minutes but Letang is gobbling up minutes at even strength as well. The next step for the young defensemen? Getting those heavy shots that are going *just* high onto the net.
• It looked like it could be another one of those nights for Marc-Andre Fleury after Simon Gagne's hard dump in jumped over his stick and right to Mike Knuble for the game's opening goal. But credit Fleury for settling down and the Pens defensive effort to help steady the ship for a 27 save on 29 shot performance.

Now back to home for a huge game against Alex "Dead wood" Semin and the suddenly slumping Capitals. Of course more on this tomorrow.

28 profiles in 28 days....The New Ruu

Welcome back to TST's 28 profiles in 28 days. Here's the backstories of players previously profiled:
Kris Beech

Basics
Player Name: Matt Cooke
How Acquired: Signed as a free agent on July 6th
Position: Left Wing/Right Wing
Age: Turns 30 in September
Contact Situation: Signed thru 2009-10 season, $1.2 million per season

History
Last Season Stats: (combined Vancouver and Washington) 78 games played, 10 goals, 13 assists for 23 points, 91 PIMS, 198 hits
Last Season Write-up: Cooke was traded to Washington last season and played well down the stretch, scoring 7 points in the final 17 regular season games, though he was pointless in seven playoff games....Cooke's hits had him ranked 9th in the league for forwards
Career Year Stats: 2002-03: (Vancouver)-- 82 gp, 15g, 27a = 42 points and 82 PIMS

Outlook
Player progressing, in prime or regressing: At the age of 30 with 583 NHL games under his belt, Cooke is in his prime.
Expected 2008-09 role: The new Jarkko Ruutu....Agiatate, grind, hit, muck be a pest.
Potential line-mates: Jordan Staal, Pascal Dupuis, Maxime Talbot, Kris Beech, Janne Pesonen
"Best case scenario" stats: 82 games played 15 goals, 25 assists, 40 points
Notes: Cooke is the new Ruutu, and as a former teammate from Vancouver, he knows the role he's been brought to play. He'll have a hard motor, hit everything that moves and be on his game when he's got others off of theirs'.
Interesting fact: Like Ruutu, Matt Cooke is a former winner of the Frank J. Hume Award, given yearly to the "Unsung Hero" of the Vancouver Canucks by their booster club.

Pens sign Cooke

Subtract like likes of Gary Roberts, Georges Laraque, Ryan Malone and Jarkko Ruutu and a club loses a lot of size and toughness.

The Penguins took a step to add some back by signing free agent Matt Cooke. The contract itself appears to be a cracker-jack one for the team, if initial reports are true (two years, $1.2 million per season). Cooke made $1.5 million the past three years and seemed to earn that. He's a scored 10+ goals in six of the past seven seasons (and the missed season was injury shortened to 8 goals in 45 games). Compare that to Ruutu's 2 career ten-goal seasons.

Cooke has been said to have received more money elsewhere (Ruutu got more per year from Ottawa and an extra year) but chose the Penguins. A good sign, as the Pens can certainly use the grit and the addition of a reliable penalty killer. Cooke doesn't have the yapper that Ruuts does, but then again hardly anyone chirps as much as Ruutu. Cooke is very uptempo, very aggressive and still a pesty player that gives a lot of effort and seeks out hits.

Roberts and Ruutu emerged as cult heroes and it seems like Cooke is destined to follow, given his style of play. That and there's already a nickname: the Cooke-y monster. It's a competitive world to start a trend, this blogosphere.

Twist our arm for a roster outlook and here's what we've got in early July, all very subject to change...

Fedotenko-Crosby-Satan
Talbot-Malkin-Sykora
Cooke-Staal-Dupuis
Godard-Stone-Kennedy
Pesonen?

Orpik/Gonchar
Scuderi/Whitney
Gill/Letang
Eaton/Sydor

Fleury
Sabourin

Obviously the forward lines could be different, Max Talbot probably isn't a consistent top 6 NHL winger, Janne Pesonen may or may not be the answer there. But it's looking like the 3rd line that will have a lot of energy to go with some size and skill some with whatever combination of Pascal Dupuis/Tyler Kennedy/Talbot/Cooke emerges to go with Jordan Staal. But there's plenty of time for those questions.