There's no need to argue, Smizik just doesn't understand

Much brouhaha over the latest Bob Smizik (or, as former Steeler crazy man Greg Lloyd used to call him "Bozo the clown") article. In it, the old coot takes Pittsburgh fans to task for booing former Pittsburgh athletes; namely Jaromir Jagr, baseballer Aramis Ramirez and the soon to be catcalls for Marian Hossa.

In it, Smizik's main justification for calling fans "knuckleheads" eleven times over the course of the piece boils down to this:

Penguins fans revere players who take less money to play for the Penguins. It shows these players are team oriented and put winning in front of the almighty dollar. But when Hossa does the same thing, he's lambasted.

Of course Hossa will be jeered for his choice....It's not coming from Hossa being greedy--like if he took more to play for a team like Edmonton--but from the fact he chose the team and city he felt the best chance of winning in and it wasn't Pittsburgh. Obviously, it's not a bad choice as Detroit won the Cup this past year and returns the entire core of their team. The fact is, Pittsburgh has a pretty good team too and rather than come back and finish business here, Hossa elected to jump ship and give it a go somewhere else.

Fans, the ones who buy the tickets, have every right to cheer or boo at their discretion. It's the atmosphere of sports. In Jagr's situation, he asked to be traded three times and proceeded to whine and cry his way out of town. Fans responded by booing him and he ended up not playing well and producing points against the Penguins in his first returns to Pittsburgh. Perhaps it was luck, perhaps it got to his head but his boos were as much psychological as anything and the booing stuck. We don't follow the Ramirez situation closely enough to offer explanations on it, but a guess could be the boos aren't intended for the player himself, but rather the inept management that foolishly traded such a promising young player away.

Back to hockey, Hossa deserves to hear the fans displeasure when he comes back to Pittsburgh. This has nothing to do with what he did as a Penguin, it's about what he did after. Was Hossa a major reason the Pens got to the Stanley Cup finals? Absolutely. Does he deserve credit and praise for his actions while he was a Pen? You bet. Now that the initial shock and anger has subsided most rational Penguin fans (this one included) can respect the contributions Hossa made to the team while he was a part of it but still scowl at his decision to take less $$ for a chance to win...In Detroit.

As for Smizik, he can cram it with walnuts.

Day One Aftermath

Culled from many sources and sorting through the rumors, here's where we're at...

``Marian Hossa won't decide on a team tonight. His closest suitors are believed to be Edmonton (who's rumored to have offered the most money), Montreal and Vancouver (who are both hoping on Mats Sundin) and Pittsburgh. It seems like Montreal and Vancouver may drag their feet since Sundin is in no hurry. No doubt Edmonton has offered more money than Pittsburgh, but they are way out there in the Western Conference and haven't exactly been a steady locale. Chicago (by signing Huet and Campbell), New Jersey (by signing Rolston, Salvador, Holik and Pandolfo) and the Rangers (by getting Redden and Rozsival) all were previous destinations that seem to be out of the running.

``Brooks Orpik supposedly has been offered more money by any number of teams (San Jose, NYR, Buffalo, Atlanta, LA). Anything can happen and it seems like the Pens are still very interested in retaining him and he obviously hasn't jumped ship to the first team that came a-calling so stay tuned.

``A lot of whispers are rolling around about Jaromir Jagr (!!!) and Markus Naslund. We see these guys as being contingency plans if Hossa signs somewhere else. But never under-estimate the ties between Mario Lemieux and Jagr.

``Someone named Jeff Finger (who's played 94 career NHL games) got $3.5 million and Michal Rozsival got $5 million. That just goes to show the craziness of the UFA market for defensemen and why Orpik's still on the market.

``Reports are Evgeni Malkin is about to sign almost the exact same contract that Sidney Crosby signed last year ($8.7 a year for five years). If so, this is a great thing for the Pens. Either/both could have demanded up to the maximum ($11.34 million this year) and both would have probably been obliged. But the both ponied up in the July as soon as possible--unlike Washington's Alex Ovechkin who waited until his last entry level season was nearly half over....As we've pointed out, that's a total savings for the Pens will be at least $5.28 million this year, which will only keep rising with the salary cap.

``The Pens didn't make any sexy signings today, but the combined $2.4 million they spent (on Mark Eaton and Pascal Dupuis) are the savvy kind of deals that provide of depth and set the stage for success later on in the year. Believe that.


See you tomorrow when the Penguins will (hopefully) fill some skill winger positions...Whether that means Naslund, Hossa, Jagr or Huselius we will see.

Jaromir Jagr

"He's not a [Soup] Nazi, he just happens to be eccentric....You know, most geniuses are" --Cosmo Kramer


The Globe has a pretty good article about Jaromir Jagr reflection on how he left the Penguins.

Jagr's tone seems saddened that it had to end like it did, and this editor was too. We have not, and short of him kicking our dog, would not ever boo Jagr. A true fan would remember that JJ battled through a badly injured groin and put the #8 seed Pittsburgh Penguins on his back and lead them past the NJ Devils in 1999; at the height of the Devils strong teams.

Jagr is a complex man, he's a European and he thinks and acts in a different way than most Americans. Does that make him weird? Maybe to us, but that's just him. His personality is somewhat mercurial to his logic, but that's the way he is.

Given Pittsburgh's recently out-of bankrupt financial situation, it was clear they wouldn't be able to keep the skill of their 2001 team (Jagr, Alexei Kovalev, Robert Lang, Martin Straka and Darius Kasparaitis) forever. Even though Jagr was the best individual offensive player in the game at that point, losing the others would have doomed him to a talent-less supporting cast and as we all know hockey is a team sport.

Fans used to boo because their feelings were hurt about how he left and wanted out, but now it's more of a tradition. The tradition was probably cemented when Jagr, in his first few attempts to Pittsburgh, didn't seem to have much success in production.

At the end of the day Jagr is still, in our eyes, the 2nd best player to ever give so much for this organ-eye-zation (though those Crosby and Malkin guys are building a body of work that one day may be up for debate). For a player that did so much for the Pens, he deserves to be remembered not solely in a bitter, negative way.

It's the Rangers

The dust has settled and it'll be old friend Jammer Jagr and the New York Rangers in the second round; a team nearly as well rested as the Penguins. There will be a lot to talk about, like Sean Avery (the clown who's name was in a madam's book) wants to be an intern this summer for a fashion magazine.

Also on Yahoo's NHL blog today, keep an eye out for some brilliant writer and a piece on the Caps post-mortem.

Taking lumps, Pens lose

Well the Penguins got one point tonight, and if you'd look at it in the bigger scheme of things; 3 points out of 4 in two days, despite only scoring four total goals. Not bad. But definitely some room for improvement. The Rangers are a great defensive team with a solid system and mentality. They know their system and they don't usually give up much in the way of chances. Considering all the teams in the East that are likely to make the playoffs, they're probably one of the most dangerous ones considering that, and the fact they've got a great goaltender (Lundqvist), a serially clutch scorer (Drury) and a couple guys with a lot of experience (Shanahan, Jagr).

Some thoughts:

• Marc-Andre Fleury has given up just two even-strength goals in his last eight games. He is still doing more than his share to give the team a chance. The Flower is kicking out rebounds, but it seems to be with a purpose; they're going directly to his defensemen or to dead spaces in the ice for the most part. Fleury is playing well. The only two that got by him tonight were both with the man-advantage (one that Rob Scuderi clearly batted in and the other saw Jordan Staal and Hal Gill put a pretty good screen on him).
• Speaking of Scuderi, he seemed to have a rough night. That own goal not with-standing, he got turned around a couple of times by the likes of Jaromir Jagr and didn't look comfortable.
• It seems a little weird they let the first goal stand. Replays were conclusive that Scuds hit the puck *just* before his glove hit Scott Gomez's stick away, but the fact remains that Gomez's stick was clearly above the cross-bar and he intended to make contact with the puck. By the letter of the law, he didn't touch it, so the goal was good but it seemed like he was rewarded by being in the crease and having his stick up. It was kinda fishy.
• To be clear though, Gomez never hit the puck and we're not disputing that it was a goal, it just seems like a play like that shouldn't be considered one......If that makes any sense.
• The whole team, in fact, didn't quite look like they had their legs under them; especially early registering only one shot on goal (despite getting a lot more in the way of scoring chances). To be sure this game meant a lot more to the Rangers, and it showed.
• Brooks Orpik was credited with 5 hits but had a lot of power behind all of them. A clear sign was once when Jagr went in to fish out a puck dumped in, he pulled up and braced himself instead of charging right through the oncoming hit, like he's apt to do. Orpik's presence was definitely at it's finest tonight.
• While it seemed like some Pens were spinning their wheels, guys like Jarkko Ruutu (6 hits in 8:25 of work), Maxime Talbot (goal, 2 hits and 2 blocked shots) and especially Georges Laraque (assist and only 2 credited hits) left an imprint on the game. BGL might have had one of his finest games of the season, the big guy was really digging out there.
• The powerplay, to be generous, doesn't seem in-sync. With Sidney Crosby and Sergei Gonchar on the points and Ryan Malone, Marian Hossa and Evgeni Malkin down low, it's got more firepower than ever, but it's not meshing right now. We really think that Ryan Whitney should go back to his customary spot but it would be hard to relegate any of the forwards off the ice. Perhaps bumping Malone down to the second half of the powerplay with the likes of Petr Sykora and Jordan Staal might open things up for more chances down the line if the brute skill of Malkin/Crosby/Hossa doesn't get the job done.
• The stacked line we mentioned was put together for the 2nd half of the game, and why not try to see if it could provide a spark. Nice coaching move to see if anything would result.
• We also like the wrinkle of sneaking Malkin out when guys like Laraque and Ruutu are out there every once in a while. More often than not it results in some serious cycling work and a decent scoring chance or two. It also keeps the opposition on their toes, as a guy like Malkin is easily the best player on the ice and can find a little more room to operate.
• Jordan Staal led all Pens forwards in ice time (largely since he's so important to the PK) and had some good chances but still is sophomore slumping it up. Staal scored 29 goals last year, largely on Malkin's wing. This year the Pens have made it a point to play Staal exclusively as a center and his production is not there. With Talbot playing so well, you'd wonder if they might spark him by trying to slide him back. However, it should be pointed out that last season was the first time that Staal played wing at any level, so perhaps that's not an option. It's just a little frustrating to watch, is all.
• Back from the doghouse, Ryan Whitney played more minutes than anyone but Gonchar and had a feisty edge after the whistle that he hasn't much displayed. It seems that Coach Therrien's message has registered with the talented if not inconsistent player.
• The Penguins may have been lucky the game didn't go to a shootout, since their best player in that regard was left in the press box. If there's justice, Kris Letang is back in the lineup on Wednesday and either Scuderi or Darryl Sydor will take a game off.

All in all it's a loss but not one in vein considering the Pens were outplayed for most of the night. They did get a point in the standings and now are 2 points up on Montreal. The Habs have a game in hand, but even if they were to win it, the Pens get the tiebreaker by virtue of more wins. Perhaps more importantly, the Penguins need to only get 1 more point (or have NJ not win one game) to win their first division title since 1997-98. That would guarantee at least the #2 seed in the East right there.

It sucks to lose like this, but it would be a bigger backbreaker if this were a couple weeks from now and not the last day in March.

So it will all come down to two games against the hated Flyers, who are fighting desperately for their own playoff lives. This is what it is all about.

Indulge us, we're off our meds...

To dream the impossible dream...

So, instead of tinkering with the roster come trade deadline time next month, maybe looking to pick up some defensive help or scoring depth up front for the playoffs, the Rangers now must consider something more dramatic, possibly stunning, if they are going to get back in the Stanley Cup game.
And if general manager Glen Sather is considering such a move, that consideration begins and ends with Jagr.


Just sayin, this post is totally hypothetical, theoretical, anything else you want to call it.

There are plenty of reasons why it’ll never happen. Aside from the obvious Jagr history in Pittsburgh, it’s rare that division rivals would trade with each other, certainly when NYR still has hopes for the playoffs.

But, in the event they’re ready to part with Jags, consider:
``Mario Lemieux still loves JJ. He was a surprise guest to honor Jagr for a 600 goal ceremony last season in New York. And boy was he happily surprised to see Mario honoring him. Say what you want about the “dying alive” days or how it’ll never work out; if you’re good with Lemieux, you’re good with the Penguins.
http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/columnists/20001130cook.asp
``Salary wise, it’s do-able. Jagr’s, as usual, is in a unique situation. His pre-trade to the Rangers stipulated the Capitals would pick up millions of his salary every year. The new CBA has since outlawed this, but this transaction can’t be reversed or tinkered with. So, as is, Jagr’s cap hit to a team is $4.94 million (with the Caps paying/absorbing the rest of the $8.3 million he gets paid). Since a little over the season is over, NYR has paid him roughly $2.6 million and JJ would be owed $2.3 million be a team for the rest of the season if they were to pick him up today.

Does Jagr have enough in the tank or has his statistical drop-off this season shown he’s about finished? Perhaps.

Would it be crazy to think about 68 flying down a wing with Crosby or Malkin? Probably.

Will this trade ever happen? Absolutely not.

A long November

Well, I suppose one point is better than no points, after the Penguins lose tonight in overtime from a most unlikely source: Jason Strudwick.

The good:
``Sidney Crosby pushes his scoring streak to 19 games with a sensational effort, 1 shorthanded assist (a tap-in for Maxime Talbot) and a goal from an impossible angle. As usual Crosby was the best player on the ice and making good things happen for the Pens left and right.
``Geno extends his personal best point streak to 13 games on a primary assist on Petr Sykora's game tying 3rd period goal. Malkin was clearly the 2nd best player tonight "galloping" around the ice, beating defensemen, setting players up. Another awesome display.
``Ryan Malone showed great effort and had a season high 5 hits.
``Mark Eaton, as usual, was very solid and had 23:29 of icetime and was a +2.

The bad:
``Marc-Andre Fleury didn't do enough to win, surrendering 4 goals of 26 shots.
``Michel Therrien scratched two of the youngest forwards (Colby Armstrong and Tyler Kennedy) in favor of Gary Roberts and Old Man Recchi.....The vets responded with a combined 24 minutes of ice-time, 4 fairly pedestrian shots and nothing else.
``The Pens took 7 penalties; all but one were of the lazy variety (hooking and tripping). And only one powerplay was generated. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize your odds aren't very good to go 1 powerplay against 7 penalty kills and come away with a W.
``All goals scored by the Rangers were defensemen, most of them coming on transition plays, which, of course, means blown coverage by the Penguins forwards.

Thoughts:
``Does anyone miss Darryl Sydor or have noticed that he's been scratched for two straight games now? Didn't think so. Kris Letang has acquitted himself decently, and obviously Sergei Gonchar and Ryan Whitney are staples in the lineup. The unsung trio (Eaton, Brooks Orpik and Rob Scuderi) have done nothing to deserve getting taken out of the lineup.
``Still need to see forwards not named Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin generate offense.....As per usual, didn't happen tonight. But if the Pens have any hopes of playoffs, it needs to. I'm looking at you, Gary Roberts, Mark Recchi, Erik Christensen and Jordan Staal.
``Speaking of, has anyone seen Jordan Staal? 19 minutes of icetime tonight and not a shot to be had. Classic sophomore slump. But remember: dude is 19 years old, not many teenagers are a staple of the penalty kill like Staal was, logging 7:40 minutes of short-handed time and not being on the ice for a goal against.
``Don't look now but Ryan Whitney blocked a team high 4 shots tonight and was credited for a hit. Hardly highlight worthy, but at least he's out there trying.
``As usual Gonchar lead all skaters in icetime on both teams, with 27:00 minutes. Quietly he's the glue holding this team together (other than Crosby and Malkin of course). God forbid, but if either Sid or Geno got hurt the other could pick up the slack.....No Penguin defenseman could pickup the matchups or eat up the minutes Gonchar does (7:05 shorthanded tonight)....To brake up the Sarge love-fest he rushed the puck end-to-end and couldn't get back in time for Strudwick's OT winner. Gotta take the good with the bad.

So what's a trigger happy coach like Therrien to do? Nobody asked me, but my advice would be:

• Insert Armstrong and Kennedy in the lineup (at the expense of Recchi and Jarrko Ruutu). Don't change the defense. No one has merited a scratch, Sydor should continue to sit. He's a pro and making $2.5 million, he can handle it.
• And, for the love of God, leave Fleury in. If the Penguins sink or swim, it's going to be with him. And almost a quarter of the way into the season it's past time to find out now before it's too late.
  

Not good times, but as mentioned, a 1 point night is better than a 0 point night. Still hurts to give up a 2 goal lead. Hat tip to our old buddy Michal Rozsival on his 2 goal night. And kudos to Eaton and Gonchar to hold the ever dangerous Jammer Jagger to no points and no shots.

It's worth mentioning that with only one game to go in this crucial 9 game series of playing divisional opponents, the Penguins have gone 2-5-1, gathering only 5 of a possible 16 points. But more importantly, the lost points are all going to every other divisional opponent which makes the hill to climb that much steeper.

The end result is not nearly enough to get the job done and pretty disappointing; given how purely awesome Crosby and Malkin played. At this point the best hope is just to at least get the next two points and carry on to the next segment of the season.

If the Pens are looking for courage they found it

Willie O'Ree To Attend Pens' Practice, Game

The Jackie Robinson of hockey gave a few words to the Penguins today. I would be very disappointed if they don't come out of the gates with a lot of passion tonight against Jammer Jagger and the Rag$.

Hockey is a sport dominated by whites and many of the black players have had a tough road of bigotry and hatred to deal with. Willie O'Ree, a living legend, paved the way for them all.

Obviously no one on the Penguins understands this more than black French-Canadian Georges Laraque who dealt with his share of adversity and ignorance but still continues to still carve his mark in the NHL. Take time to remember that it's not just in the South that blacks have had to overcome racism.

There are a lot of trailblazers in the world of sports, and I think we are all lucky to count the very under-appreciated Willie O'Ree among us.

I feel like this day should make a huge impact on the Penguins, especially the young nucleus of players under 22 or 23 years old (including Evgeni Malkin who understands more English than you might give him credit for).

Good work and thank you Willie, you opened the gates for a lot of people to follow and have a good reason to be proud of what you've accomplished. The hurdles of ignorance you've overcome won't be forgotten soon.

Stop me if you've heard this one before

The Penguins get outshot, outchanced, outworked and the difference in the game is the first powerplay unit featuring Sidney Crosby, Sergei Gonchar, Ryan Whitney and Evgeni Malkin. Marc-Andre Fleury plays great and stops every puck he sees (and he saw them all tonight).

No, I'm no longer talking about Saturday night's game against the Caps, this was basically the synopsis of the Penguins first shutout of the year, a 1-0 blanking of the Rangers. Game notes:

• Malkin was clearly the best player on the ice. He was making things happen with the puck, rushing it up the ice all night long, and generally having his way with the Rags. He also fired a pass from Jordan Staal off the post for what would have been a second goal.
• The Penguins were lucky enough to catch what was thought of being a high-powered Rangers team in a very big drought (no even-strength goals in 340+ minutes, no goals period in atleast 125+ minutes). Sweater Ted favorite, Marty Straka just got hurt. Shanahan is snake bitten right now. And try as Jammer Jagr did, he was dangerous but the best he could do was throw his heavy wrist shot off a post once. One 600+ goal scorer doesn't stay in a rut for too long, let alone TWO! I wouldn't imagine it's going to be too long before NYR breaks out for a 5 or 6 goal game in the near future.
• Fleury was great, stopping all 36 shots on net but the defense was sensational, officially blocking 13 shots (led by Mark Eaton with 4).
• Lord Sergei Gonchar continued his under-valued defensive play by frustrating Jagr and playing a game high 24:38 and blocking 3 shots.
• Crosby was an amazing 65% (11 of 17) in the faceoff circle, Max Talbot was at 58% (7 of 12), and the team as a whole was 53%, very good for a traditionally poor Pens team.
• Brooks Orpik was credited with a game high 6 hits, and recognized as the 3rd star of the game for that. After playing a little tentatively since getting a concussion almost 2 weeks ago, it's clear Orpik is back and at full strength and confidence now.

If you win a game 1-0, you have to do the little things right. The Penguins blocked shots, won faceoffs, dished out checks, and yes, got a little lucky that things aren't going the right way for their opponent right now.

There's still plenty of things to address, such as getting more shots on net, getting more puck control, limiting the amount of shot opportunities you're giving up, but a Pens fans has to be content with seeing the team throw out a great, well-rounded effort. Probably the best game of the season.

Some overall notes:

• Ever since Bob McKenzie of TSN reported the Pens were actively looking for dealing for a goaltender (denied by the Penguins), Marc-Andre Fleury has stopped 67 of 68 (98.5%) shots in two games. And the only one that got by him was because he saw more of Ryan Whitney not clearing the crease then he did the puck.
• Sidney Crosby is now on a 7 game point streak.

2 Quick Hits and Game 8 Preview

1)It was pointed out to me if you do a google search for "recchi stinks" this blog is the first thing that pops up. And I haven't even been openly critical of him yet!

2)Another measure of Sidney Crosby's growing greatness: since getting shutout opening night, he's on a 6 game point scoring streak (for his current season total of 2 goals, 7 assists) and it hasn't even been mentioned once!

Rangers and old friend Jammer Jagr are in town tonight, if the Penguins can break an early trend and not give up the first goal they should be able to jump all over a Rangers team that hasn't really gelled just yet (as their 2-4-1 record would indicate). The Rangers will be a team in the hunt later in the year (think how poor Ottawa started last year), so let's just hope tonight isn't the night they get the ball rolling on that.

Prediction:
Pens 5 (winner by Recchi...see he doesn't totally stink!)
Rags 2

The Pittsburgh Redemption

"I find I’m so excited I can barely sit still or hold a thought in my head.

I think it’s the excitement only a Penguins fan can feel. A Pens fan at the start of a long journey whose conclusion is uncertain. I hope they can make it to the Finals. I hope to see Lord Stanley and shake his hand. I hope the Gary Roberts is as dominant as he has been in my dreams......I hope."

Updated lines for opening night (unless Michel Therrien---who changes lines like an aggressive driver changes lanes on the interstate, gets rambunctious. They're different than previous projections on this blog, so here's your update).

Staal-Crosby(C)-Sykora
Malone-Malkin-Recchi (A)
Roberts (A)-Christensen-Armstrong
Ruutu-Talbot-Laraque

Gonchar-Sydor
Orpik-Whitney
Scuderi-Eaton

Healthy scratches: Hall, Nasreddine

Starting goalie: Marc-Andre Fleury

Note: Mark Recchi will be an 'all-time' alternate captain. "Lord" Sergei Gonchar will wear the A whilst at home, Gary Fuckin Roberts will have the A on his jersey when the Pens are on the road..Because Roberts is a road warrior.

And Sidney Crosby is the 4th (legitimate) captain for the Penguins since the late 1980's.....Joining the prestigious and classy ranks of Mario Lemieux, Ron Francis and Jammer Jagger. But you knew that.