Little Tits unimpressed by Crosby too

It's Puck Daddy's latest edition of "Russian player has disparaging marks for Sidney Crosby, while praising Patrick Kane and other Russians"....now starring Sergei "Little Tits" Kostitsyn!

Do you want me to name just one? Or a couple?
Whatever you want.
I think of the young players it is Patrick Kane [of the Chicago Blackhawks]. He was the first in fan voting for the All Star game in the Western Conference. I played with him in the past when we were in the juniors. And we're actually about to have dinner with him right now.

Sweet, young Patrick Kane is certainly a favorite of those Russian players, huh?

Also, shouldn't someone ask Little Tits just who led the Eastern Conference (and the NHL) in fan voting?

And who is the most overhyped player?
It is probably Crosby, just like everyone says, just like Semin said recently. It is true that [he gets] a lot of attention. If you ask me, I think Semin and Ovechkin play much better than Crosby.

We see how one could find Crosby over-hyped, he's basically the alpha and omega of the NHL's marketing plan (note: not by his own choosing). He's been called the next Gretzky before he played in Juniors. There's a lot of hype--again most of it not coming from the player itself--but hype none-the-less surrounding Crosby.

It doesn't bother us that non Penguin players or fans readily admit that or are annoyed by too much Crosby exposure. But that's the way of the world. It's more of the next comment that gets into more disrespectful territory.

But you have to agree that Sidney Crosby is a great player with great skill. It's not for nothing he is considered one of the best players.
Yes, he is very technically skilled. But Semin, Ovechkin, Kovalchuk, Malkin are more technically skilled. And it's not because they are Russian, it's just my opinion.

Well, glad it's not just because their Russian. Kostitsyn should have thrown honorary comrade Patty Kane-ikov in there to even it out a little, yes?

/checks current league leaders

(click to enlarge)

Everyone is entitled to their own preferences and opinions but this is getting a little out of hand. 'Crosby is over-rated, several Russians are more skilled, Patrick Kane is a fancy player blah blah blah'...Followed by a retraction and claims of being "misquoted". The routine is getting passe.

We can't wait to see the Olympics in 2010. Crosby may publically dismiss the brazen comments given, but don't think he's not taking a list for the future. Like a Derian Hatcher high-stick that resulted in broken teeth (and a game winning OT breakaway goal for 87) we think that El Sid is saving his wrath for the biggest stage of all. At least to those Europeans that pride themselves in international competition as much as winning a Cup.

The latest Crosby-gate

Surely by now you've seen what we're referring to. Mirtle agrees with Nick Boynton (who's no saint himself) by saying it's embarassing. Puck Daddy thinks Sidney Crosby earned it and throws in a few jabs like only he can about the merits of jumping a man ala Jerry Springer. Some clown at AOL acts like Crosby's the first guy to ever fight while wearing a visor.

As usual, the truth is somewhere in the middle and there's a lot of reactions from people that probably didn't watch the game in it's entirity (as we had the unforunate pleasure of doing). Most probably undetrstad the context of the season right now, the Penguins have put up several clunkers at home and can't seem to catch a break right now. Everyone is frustrated and pissed off, no one moreso than the leader of the team.

What most probably don't get if they didn't see the game was how this specific game unfolded; it' not like the lowly Panthers were all the utmost of gentlemen and were innocent bystanders. Gregory Campbell was chirping all game long, getting in Crosby's face and the two exchanged pushes, cross-checks and punches behind the play earlier.

Max Talbot decided he had enough and challenged Campbell to fight. The two fought a lengthy and honorable bout within the contexts of hockey's rules (both written and unwritten). Talbot clearly had no reason to fight Campbell other than for how the Panther was treating his captain.

On the next faceoff the infamous Crosby/Brett McLean fight went down. For those that didn't watch the game, and didn't realize that McLean apparantely agreed to a fight with El Sid, it does look a little raw to see a guy get pummeled.

But if you didn't think that maybe McLean threw in a little comment about Talbot doing Crosby's dirty work by fighting Campbell, you haven't played too much hockey. McLean wasn't a bystander who just got jumped, he surely had a handle in it. It's not like Crosby beat the hell out of someone like Michael Frolik or Richard Zednik or anything. The antigonist was, well, antagonizing him at one point and the frustration boiled over.

So if you hate Crosby this is a perfect excuse to let it out with some keyboard courage. Go right ahead, it makes no difference. It's a game of hockey. Tempers get out of control when you care about the outcome. If you don't get mad, you'll never get back in it.

Mark words, in the long-run this might be the turning point of the season. Sure, Crosby took himself out of the game with 19 minutes worth of penalties, but if you watched the game you would know that even though the score was 4-1, it might as well have been over. The Pens, as usual these past couple weeks, weren't doing anything with the puck, and their goalies were offering only shaky attempts to keep pucks out of their own net. If Crosby was in the game, maybe it's a 5-2 or 6-3 loss at best. Sometimes standing up for yourself and making a point is a little more important than the result of the game. We think on this day it was.

Mike Toth is paying attention..

Something tells me the Pittsburgh Penguins are headed for a huge fall. The darlings of the NHL last year when they gave Detroit all it could handle in the Cup final, the Pens go into the new season missing some key pieces to the puzzle. Marian Hossa and Ryan Malone are gone and key defenceman Ryan Whitney will miss the first three to five months with a knee problem

Nice try, Mike but it's a foot injury and Whitney's could be back three months from now (November) not three to five months from the start of the season.

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.

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.

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.

Malkin signed to 5 year extension

Right now it's difficult to be too happy with all the losses to free agency the Pens have suffered, but there's light at the end of the tunnel that really isn't a train (honest).

Evgeni Malkin officially signs for five years and the Crosby-esque number.

All the experts had whispered gleefully such stories as:

• Pittsburgh can't afford him
• Malkin will demand close to cap max ($10-11 million) to consider the Pens
• Malkin wants a trade to get out of Crosby's "shadow"
• Malkin wants to "be the man" in a different team
• Malkin preferred a flashy market like LA to Pittsburgh
• Pittsburgh didn't like the way Malkin didn't "show up" for the SCF finals.

Well, once again they were proven wrong. Evgeni Malkin is certainly in any argument for the best offensive player in the game right now. And he's just about to turn 22, only going to get better as the big guy fills out and learns more about how to win faceoffs.

Great deal for the Penguins to get him in at the Crosby contract level too. They've got two "max" talents signed for the next five and six years respectively for just 76% of this year's max. Got to be happy about that.

Malkin rumors are ridiculous

There are certain people (rhymes with "Becklund", Bruce Garroich, Larry Brooks) that this blog doesn't often mention. Because they only blow hot air and have nothing to much to offer.

The thing that sucks about the off-season is that there are rumors everywhere and usually action no where.

The latest rumor that's sweeping the rounds, summed up well (as you'd expect) by a solid source like Puck Daddy. In it, Garroich claims that Pens GM Ray Shero has offered Evgeni Malkin to the LA Kings for the 2nd pick in the draft plus forward Mike Cammalleri.

This makes no sense on several grounds...

• Garroich claims Malkin makes $984,000 a year and the Pens can't afford his salary increase (which won't kick in until 2010-11 by the way). Malkin's base salary is $984k, but his rookie bonuses (and salary cap figure) push his actual salary up to upwards of $3.84 million dollars a year. He's not going to go from under a million dollars to $8-10 million a year, as Garroich seems to suggest.
• Mike Cammalleri, while a good center (as evidenced by his 80 points in 81 games two seasons ago) makes $3.6 million a year and is scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent after this season, where he'll likely be in line for a hefty raise. In other words, the Penguins stand nothing to gain by trading for him.
• After certain #1 pick Steven Stamkos, the field is wide open for the second pick in the draft. Some like Russian forward Nikita Filatov, who is a skilled and explosive forward, will not have the immediate impact of a Malkin, Sidney Crosby or Alex Ovechkin. Others like a plethora of right-handed big defensemen like Drew Doughty, Zach Bogosian, Alex Pietrangelo or Luke Schenn. But they're all projects and while some will be solid, nothing is promised for a prospect--especially a defenseman at that. Again, trading a legit super-star in Malkin for a prospect offers nothing to a Penguin team looking to get back to the Stanley Cup.

It's a load of crap. As we've reminded readers, the Penguins aren't even allowed to negotiate an extension with Malkin until July 1. And like Malkin said at the award ceremony, he's receptive to a 5-6 year deal that doesn't have to pay him more than Crosby's $8.7 million.

The media keeps feasting and spreading rumors; hoping the Malkin is "tired of being second bananna" or that the Pens can't keep Crosby, Malkin and Marian Hossa long-term (despite the fact that Hossa still isn't signed and may not be). They're looking for angles, but more importantly they're looking to generate newspaper sales and web-clicks and attention....Which is why we don't like to "feed" them by talking about it. The buzz got too strong to ignore.

As has been our message for the past two weeks, whether it's Hossa's alleged re-signing, a so-called imminent Ryan Malone trade in the works or anything regarding Malkin, Jordan Staal or Marc-Andre Fleury: there's a lot of words but not a lot of action. Likely after the draft things will settle a little. Surely after July 1 when players start to sign things will die down more.

Uhh, what games are these guys watching?

The good doctor Mirtle had the details of the professional hockey writers association (PWHA) votes for the NHL All-Star Team that they name...Guys at the top of the list who deserved to be their (Ovechkin, Malkin, Iginla, Lidstrom) are obviously all there.

But go down a little bit and it gets goofy.

Sidney Crosby gets a 2nd place vote as a right winger? Crosby's never taken a shift at ring wing in his NHL career. Someone out there gave a 2nd place vote to Wade Redden (maybe they didn't know they're supposed to be ranking them from the top) and others gave 3rd place votes to Jassen Cullimore, Joe Corvo and Robyn Regehr. Dany Heatley (a left wing) got a couple votes for right wing and his linemate Daniel Alfredsson (a right wing) got some votes for playing left wing. Up is down and left is right!

We understand these guys aren't choosing a Pope or nominating Supreme Court Justices but geez take a little pride in knowing the sport, eh boys.

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.

Scott Burnside: Get bent

ESPN's Scott Burnside really did a number on Mario Lemieux...

It is both convenient and predictable for Lemieux to hide in the background at a time when the game most needs its relevant stars in place, because it's always been about convenience for Lemieux.

It's curious how suddenly available and accessible Lemieux was when he took an ownership stake in the team because he was owed millions of dollars in the late 1990s. The more attention focused on the Penguins meant more ticket sales and a better chance at either a new arena deal or a deal to sell the team.

Then, when Lemieux decided he was going to play for Canada at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics and was named captain of the squad, he couldn't have been more gracious; but, after that was over, when he didn't need the attention, not so much.

Later, when talks to build a new arena in Pittsburgh broke down and Lemieux was at war with local politicians and officials over funding for the project, he was once again available to discuss the issue. He was prepared to sell the team to whoever walked in the door. A couple of suitors, including Jim Balsillie and William "Boots" Del Biaggio, would undoubtedly have tried to move the team as quickly as possible to Southern Ontario or Kansas City, but that fact seems lost in the renaissance of the team.

Not that anyone could blame Lemieux for trying to get the most out this team
financially. He's done his time and served the team and the city well.

But let's not paint this with any other brush than what it deserves. The only reason
Lemieux isn't making himself available during these finals is because there's
nothing in it for him.

And that's more than a little sad.

Mario Lemieux talking to reporters is not going to make millions of casual sports fans tune in, nor drum up significant interest. The Penguins, especially Sidney Crosby, are deep enough in Lemieux's shadow and him in the spotlight would not only unfairly detract from the moment that they've earned through their excellent play this season but also make Lemieux a target from the same media about how he doesn't know when to drop into the background.

Lemieux has always been a very gracious, but cautious public figure. To see him in the picture (but clearly remaining in the background) is a very kind way to let the new kids have their moment.

And that's a little more than admirable. GFY, Scott Burnside.

Whew

After all those compliments from when the Pens thrashed the Rangers, we were beginning to worry Stan "I think up bad nicknames" Fischler might pick the Penguins...

That's why I'm going with them in the East, despite Sidney (Whiner-Diver) Crosby, Evgeni (Let's See How He Handles The Flyers Toughies) Malkin and Marian (I Finally Woke Up) Hossa.

FLYERS OVER PENGUINS IN SIX

Whew, that was a close one. Thanks, Maven!

(and thanks to a more coherent site, kuklaskorner, for the link)

Let's go to the circus...

It's time to talk about a clown. As usual, someone beat us to the punch, we were going to recap this stupid journalist saga of Ottawa's Don Brennan but James Mirtle (M.D) already did. It's a good recap and everything we would have said.


We didn't bring up what started this entire mess (Brennan saying a Senator should intent to injure Sidney Crosby's ankle), because it's not worth mentioning. Our Canadian buddies tell us that Brennan is largely considered a joke north of the border so why bother...


However, the store starts getting good when Georges Laraque rightfully calls this moron "stupid" when a Pittsburgh reported relays the theory. That should have been that, but Brennan decides to be Johnny Big Balls and write in his next article that BGL should say it to his face.


Well, Georges did today. First of all, even on the internet we don't think it's wise to dare a 6'3, 260 pound man that uses his fists for a living to say anything to your face. Second, why would you type something like that, knowing it's going to get back to him? Lucky for Brennan, there were tons of witnesses around and that's ALL Laraque did was call him stupid to his face. So what's Mister Reporter going to do now?

Continue being a joke

Not news: Bruce Dowbiggin is a joke

Here we go again...

“One thing certain after Ovechkin's 13-year, $124 million deal: Pittsburgh ain't hanging onto Evgeni Malkin, not if they want to pay the rest of the Penguins more than the league minimum. Luckily for Pittsburgh, Jordan Staal has stalled this year, retarding his contract curve somewhat. The reality of the CBA is --barring a huge spike in league revenues -- you can't pay two young players at the very top of the salary grid for long and remain competitive. So the Blackhawks, Kings, Caps and Flyers have tough choices to make on their young stars.”

Bruce Dowbiggin, everyone!

The CBA states that players on their entry level deals (such as Malkin) may not negotiate an extension until after the second season is played. So Geno can’t even put his pen to a paper (let alone carry on a meaningful negotiation) for six more months and voices are already predicting his departure. Voices, of course, from north of the border who also predicted that Ovechkin would flee as soon as he could and some nutballs even thought Sidney Crosby would probably use his leverage to get to Montreal as soon as possible. We mean this as no offense to our many Canadian friends, most of whom are totally rationale and good folks (mostly). Not sayin’, just sayin’: get your own Canada.

We recommend a new gig for Bruce once his dying medium passes away.

Because Ovechkin got a 13 year deal and Philadelphia’s Mike Richards recently signed a 12 year contract it’s beginning to look like writers think every team will have to (or want to) lock their stars up for this long. I don’t believe that to be the case at all.

May we remind Mr. Dowbiggin that Pittsburgh has under $19 million in salaries on the books for the 2009-10 season. It is true to point out that only four players are under contract (Crosby, Ryan Whitney, Sergei Gonchar [last year of his contract], and Kris Letang). But the point is; a team like Philly already has $33 million spoken for on just 7 players in the 2009-10 season and Toronto has $30.2 million worth of salaries invested on ten players. Pittsburgh has but $19 million tied up.

So there will be plenty of room. Even assuming Malkin gets on a contract in the Spezza/Thornton/Heatley neighborhood (putting his average salary $7 - $7.5 million) there’s still a ton of cap room to round out a solid team, and not league minimum players as Dowbiggin suggested.

The fact is, Ray Shero has set the team up perfectly for re-siging Malkin and the rest of the core players. He doesn't give UFAs 5, 6, 7 year deals like some other teams. His veteran signings this year were all of the one or two year variety (Gary Roberts, Mark Recchi, Darryl Sydor, Petr Sykora). It's rumored the Penguins had real interest in some flashy players like Paul Kariya (3 years $18 million to STL) or defenseman Scott Hannan ($18 million for 4 years to COL where he's a team worst -9 by the way) but Shero wasn't tempted to match/exceed open market value.

So basically the Penguins have all the room in the world. Blowhards like Dowbiggin have fallen back on Malkin now that Ovechkin will forever be their white whale.

As a closing thought, isn't it funny how they never speculate a club like the Florida Panthers might gear up to make an offer sheet for, I don't know, say Dion Phaneuf but have no problems envisioning every skill player in the league playing in Canada?

Scratching Colby

Sorry for the lack of updates, the enemy of every blogger "real life" has been kicking up. I will try to do this as best as I can.

Colby Armstrong has been a healthy scratch in the past two games. Rookie Tyler Kennedy has pretty much stepped in his stead and been playing with the energy, speed and desire you'd have hoped Armstrong should be bringing to the table. Georges Laraque's groin seems to be good enough for him to play now, and he's been actually a decent hockey player, and not just the reigning NHL Heavyweight Champion.

Rumors of a trade are swirling, reports say the Penguins have been following Dallas around, and the whispers of Montreal still liking Army have never quieted.

Point 1: Pittsburgh plays Dallas in about 3 weeks time, so it's not really that groundbreaking to me that they'd have scouts take a trip simply to gather data about how an unfimiliar opponent is playing at the moment.

Point 2: There have been 0 trades in the NHL this season. That is for a reason. In this new salary cap era, the league's transactions have shifted towards the NFL, another league where free agency ages are low. There is more emphasis on the draft, more emphasis on free agency, less interest in trading players during the season.

This trend will probably change near the trading deadline, as the buyers and sellers become a little more obvious, but the the wheels of change are rolling. Scouting and developing are becoming more important than ever in the NHL, while trades are clearly becoming less frequent.

Point 3: Rumors state the Penguins usual trade bait (Erik Chistensen, Armstrong) are being offered up for a goalie. Marty Turco has even been mentioned. That's ridiculous on many levels: A)Dallas is a competitive team, why would they trade their #1, B)The Penguins would have to offer up a lot more than usual and C)Turco has a no trade clause.

Rumors to Montreal often state the Penguins are interested in goalies Jaroslav Halak or Huet, neither of whom are exactly established NHL goalies themselves.


In conclusion, I don't see the Penguins on the verge of trading Armstrong in the near future; it's just that other players in the lineup are doing well---Kennedy, BGL and even Jarrko Ruutu when he can stay out of the penalty box. Plus none of the oft-mentioned teams really have mutual reason or bait to make something happen.

Unbelievable: Michel Therrien switches the lines

As earlier quipped on this blog, Penguins head coach Michel Therrien will change line combinations as frequently (and maddeningly) as an aggressive driver changes lanes on the interstate....So perhaps it should be no surprise to see he used the following forward units at practice today:

Malkin- Crosby -Recchi
Malone- Staal - Hall
Roberts - Talbot -Sykora
Ruutu - Christensen - Armstrong

With the way the message boards, or Darwin's Waiting Room (as one occasionally amusing Caps blogger refers to them), you would have thought Coach was talking about making Crosby and Malkin healthy scratches.


"Why tinker with success when the Pens have won three straight!" they yell and, "Therrien has lost it, Hall on the 2nd line?" others whine.


Random protestor guy, your thoughts?

Therrien is no fool, he knows what he's doing. Fact is, practice IS the time to mix things up and let players get some time to play with new combos, to see if there's chemistry (like Staal-Hall) or to give your best two players (Crosby-Malkin) more icetime together. Maybe throwing in a sniper like Sykora with two grinders like Talbot and Roberts would be money. No risk trying it in a practice situation.

Clearly long-term Hall is not going to be a top 6 forward, and Sykora is not going to play a checking role. But in practice, to get a feel for the team, why not work some of the newer additions (Hall and Sykora) with some fresh faces. An in-game injury or penalty situation might mean they have to play with different players anyways. Now they atleast have something to build upon.

It will be interesting, when the Pens come out at home against another stumbling opponent-the Toronto Make Beliefs, if Therrien trots out line combos like this. Unless practice revealed something out of the ordinary, I highly doubt it.