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.

Game 6: Hockey Night in Crosby

Increased hugging, another direct side-effect from teaming Geno and Sid up.

Something about the "Hockey Night in Canada" spotlight always seems to make Sidney Crosby shine the brightest....Not such a bad idea to put him on a line with Evgeni Malkin, eh?

• 14 different Penguins (all but Crosby, Malkin, Tyler Kennedy and Miroslav Satan) blocked shots. A much better team effort tonight in that regards.
• 27 shots, 26 saves. Another routine night of excellence for Marc-Andre Fleury.
• As we mentioned, the newly formed top line with Crosby, Malkin and Pascal Dupuis worked. They generated 2 even strength goals, and one thing to keep an eye on is how well Dupuis is keeping up. He had 4 shots on a goal, one more than Malkin and Crosby had combined. A Crosby/Malkin combination is only as effective as the third piece of the puzzle and Dupper did well tonight.
• With the statistical outbreak, Malkin (4 assists) and Crosby (1 goal, 3 assists) outproduced, in one night, Alex Ovechkin's season so far (2 goals, 1 assist). Just sayin'....
• The night's games aren't over yet, but at this moment Malkin is your at-the-moment scoring leader in the league this season with 2 goals 8 assists in six games.
• Another league leader at-the-moment is Brooks Orpik and his 25 hits. It should be noted the Pens have had their team employed statisticians for every game of the season so far (they went to Sweden) but anyone who's watched the games could tell you that the most of Orpik has come by his accredited hits mostly honestly. And the Pittsburgh stats people are fairly reasonable, unlike some other cities that don't tend to give visitors hits.
• The Penguins again killed it in the face-off circle, winning 61%. Crosby was awesome, winning 73% of his draws (16 for 24).
• As you'd probably expect with a 4-1 final, the Pens won the special teams battle going 2 for 4 on the powerplay and 5 for 6 killing Toronto penalties.
• First too-many-men on the ice call of the year, wooo! We think the Pens should definitely have one of those counter things that you see at industrial worksites "XX days without a too many men call"..That sounds like a Dan Potash project to us.
• Toronto's 18 year old rookie, Luke Schenn, is a keeper. It's so hard to make the jump to the NHL as a defenseman at that age but he's done it and doesn't look out of place at all. The scary thing is he was the third defensemen taken in the draft too, looks like an excellent class.
• A couple of banner moments: Crosby's 100th career goal and 300th career point (but not on the same play) and Malkin's 200th career assist.
• Two of Crosby's assists (for the Satan's and Petr Sykora's goals) were similiar plays, firing sublime passes through the defense, right on the tape and easy slam dunks for the wingers. They were ones the hypothetical fire hydrant would have gotten too.

Impressions on the Toronto Preseason game

Well until our video-stream slowed down and died somewhere in the second period.

• Toronto didn't ice that competitive of a team, and even if they did it's still the Maple Leafs. The Jordan Staal / Evgeni Malkin / Petr Sykora line looked as good as you'd expect them to considering Toronto' fielded an exhibition lineup for an exhibition game.
• That said, the work Staal and mainly Malkin did short-handed in the early 2nd period was a thing of beauty. Malkin beared in on the forecheck and caused a Toronto defenseman (that we couldn't identify, no announcers were on our feed) to spin and wipe out. A little hustle went a long way, Malkin feeds Staal who's all alone in front of the net, Staal in turn dishes back to Malkin who slams the puck in from point blank. Tic-tac-toe. The Penguins have shown a willingness to let Malkin and Sidney Crosby play shorthanded and this could payoff.
• Tyler Kennedy does look notably faster. Perhaps his first NHL season wore on him, especially the mononucleosus from Jan/Feb. Tonight he looked great, flying around out there.
• Kris Letang also looked like he knew what he was doing, his pairing with Brooks Orpik was equal parts strength and skill, the perfect mix of size, speed, positioning and stick-handling. On the Penguins 2nd goal (a powerplay goal credited to Rusty Fedotenko) Letang shot in to the play and on first glance appear to score. The goal was unassisted, and with no announcers (and the view of a laptop hooked up to a television) we couldn't make out if a Maple Leaf was last to touch it or what. Either way, if Letang got there, he would have finished.
• To the point we saw Dany Sabourin looked good in limited work. He never made any huge saves or anything spectacular but he never had to.
• Darryl Sydor actually looked good to. Sure he played within himself, but he did what he had to. His partner, Hal Gill, on the other hand looked a little more slowed footed than we remembered. Maybe he's a slow starter or maybe our memory is off. We'll see.

That's about it. If a player wasn't mentioned, he didn't catch our eye. But we only saw about the first half of the game so there's always that. Regardless the Pens were up 3-0, a good place to stop.

Shero was in Toronto so he must be after Sundin

Ray Shero took in last night’s Florida blowout of Toronto. Which, less than three weeks before the trade deadline leads to the obvious speculation that he was there for more than just a routine visit.

This article, as you’d expect from one written in Toronto, suggests Shero could be targeting Leafs’ captain Mats Sundin or Florida captain Olli Jokinen. Hey, go big or go home, right?

Aside from the obvious, which apparently isn’t obvious to those north of the border writers, here’s why it won’t happen.

Jokinen won’t be a Penguin because:

• They’re 1 point out of the division lead. The Southeast has devolved into a 4 team slugfest, at this point looking like only the winner will be in the playoffs. A team doesn’t trade their captain and best offensive player when they’re so close to the playoffs.
  He has 3 more years on his contract, and it’s pretty favorable for the Panthers. They’re not going to trade him and downgrade their chances just because he has supposedly has heat with management. It is true that winning cures all, and if they do that, obviously everyone’s happy.
• Even if Florida was interested in a trade, the cost would be far too high. Playing devil’s advocate, if we’re the Florida GM the first thing we’d ask for is someone the Pens aren’t going to deal (Jordan Staal). But if Pittsburgh wants to acquire a top flight player, they’re going to have to pay a king’s ransom, something for the Pens to consider. Simply Erik Christensen and a draft pick is not going to be enough.

Sundin won’t be a Penguin because:

• The most obvious reason is he holds the cards. Sundin has a no trade clause and doesn’t have to go anywhere. In fact, all his public comments to this point have said he doesn’t intend to leave Toronto; neither now nor this summer when he could be a UFA. Players have waived NTCs (Gary Roberts, Georges Laraque) to join the Pens as a contender but they don’t necessarily have to.

• Again the return is going to be too high. Shero has said his philosophy is to build through the draft and not trade high picks. Toronto will surely want a young player in the organization (like maybe EC or Alex Goligoski), an impressive prospect (like Angelo Esposito) and definitely the Pens 1st round pick this season. That’s too much a price to rent Mats Sundin for a couple months, especially given the Pens depth at center when Crosby returns.

So throw the big guns out of your mind…Think of what Michel Therrien said the Penguins need; a touch defenseman. Since we’ve ruled Florida out as sellers, someone sticks out in Toronto’s lineup….Which is easy to do, because he’s 6’7”.

We’re talking Hal Gill. For his mis-comings (not pretty skating at times) he’s earned a bad rap to the average fan. But consider some of his finer attributes:
--102 blocked shots, 82 hits this season. That would rank him 1st and 2nd in those respective categories among Penguins.

--A manageable salary of just over $2 million (which mean it would cost about an additional $600,000 to add him for the remainder of this year) plus next year he makes $2.1 million.
At 32 years old, he’s not over the hill like some other defenseman that could be on the trade block.

--Despite averaging over 21 minutes of ice-time a night for one of the league’s sloppiest and worst teams, Gill’s +/- is a respectable -3.

--Unlike current Penguins defensive defenseman, Gill can actually do something with the puck, as evidenced by his output of 2 goals and 17 assists. Even those modest stats are better than Rob Scuderi, Brooks Orpik and Darryl Sydor….Combined. Plus Gill has more assists than Ryan Whitney. Just sayin’.

We’re not saying the Pens will 100% certainly bring Hal Gill in. But given his skill-set, salary situation and place on the team, it seems a lot more realistic to see Shero rather than try to acquire Gill than look seriously into the Sundin Sweepstakes (too expensive) or the Jokinen Jackpot (which probably doesn’t exist).

Letdown City

The Pens rolled into Toronto, and unlike my prediction for coming out the gates strong, they gave up two first period goals and were on the ropes from the very beginning. Dany Sabourin got the start, and he was decent, there's not much you can expect a goaltender to do on a 2 on NONE, for instance. Tonight's game more looked like the first game back after a 5 game layoff, the Penguins just didn't look like they had a lot of life or energy for the first 45-50 minutes of this game. Crosby and company did turn it on though late, scoring two goals to make it a 1 goal game, but an empty net goal sealed the Pens fate and gave the victory to the team that deserved it that night....Toronto.

That's about all that needs to be said about that. Next up is a home game Monday against Wayne Gretzky's Phoenix Coyotes before the 3 game swing to Western Canada. Hopefully Sergei Gonchar will be able to play some portion of these games, his abscence (especially on the powerplay) is starting to be noticable.

Good time for Toronto

Tonight the Penguins are in Toronto, and there's much anguish and turmoil for the Maple Leafs these days.

Important stat for the game:

• Toronto has given up 92 goals so far this season, by far the most in the Eastern Conference (Atlanta is 2nd worst with 82 GA).
• The Penguins are averaging 5 goals a game in the past three games.

This one could be a rout. The key is totally starting fast. Put a little pressure on the Leafs by grabbing a quick goal early and their fickle and frustrated crowd will turn against them in a heartbeat. From there, the floodgates will open.

Official prediction: Jordan Staal's moving his legs really well and creating chances....I predict this will be the night he breaks through on the scoring sheet in a big way. He always seems to thrive in games IN Toronto (like his hat trick last season, also a Hockey Night in Canada event).

Gameday 9: Let's all Make Believe!

The Toronto Maple Leafs come to town tonight in an interesting situation. One of their players, Ian White (not even a leader or a core player!) dubbed their last game against struggling Atlanta a "must win".The team responded by losing in a shootout.

Toronto always has the presure of being in a hockey crazed market, the expectations of a huge fan base in a 40 year drought and media attention that could make the New York media give a big thumbs up to.

The last time they played the Penguins, the teams combined for a wild 6-4 Penguins road victory in a back and forth battle that saw many goals, lead changes, net crashings and general excitement. Since then the Penguins have buckled down on defense, giving up one goal in the past two games, while Toronto has still been getting beat up through their schedule.

Tonight's game should be wide open, the Penguins know what to expect from a team like the Maple Leafs and know how to stop them: limit Mats Sundin and stay out of the penalty box.
I'm looking for the Pens to get out of the gates early and never let up.

Penguins 4 (game winner by Staal)
Make Beliefs 2
(my season record: 2-0)

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.

Key Indicators Through 4 Games

The up and down roller coaster continues, after a 6-4 win in Toronto. Stats courtesy NHL.com

The Good:
--7th in the league in goals per game (3.5)
--1st in the league is shots per game (35.8)

Kind of Acceptable:
--14th in penalty kill (83.3%)
--18th in faceoff percentage (49.8%)

Needs work:
--18th in the league in power play efficiency (16.7%)
--21st in the league in shots allowed (29.5 a game)
--27th in the league in goals against average (3.75)


The Toronto scorefest blew these stats out of line a little bit, but the bottom line is the Pens have been, as usual, an action packed team. Taking the most shots, but allowed a lot of rubber too. Goals everywhere.

I think an important figure is faceoff percentage. It's practically 50%. Seemingly for a long time this franchise has always been notoriously weak on draws, so it's good to see that Sidney Crosby is clicking at 58%, and Adam Hall's at 61.2%, Malkin has some room for improvement, as the big guy is only winning 41.7%. The other regular center, Maxime Talbot is not much better at 42.2%. However if he keeps pace with Crosby in scoring goals, I think that will be forgiven!

Vancouver Reveals Their New Logo

Just. Fucking. Terrible.

But, rumor has it this is going to be the new Toronto Maple Leafs jersey:

So far Boston has made a subtle logo change (but it looks good), Chicago's basically the same, and Detroit too, except their captain's 'C' is going below the right shoulder due to size/shape limtations of their logo with the new jersey. Original 6 teams should not monkey around with their colors/designs. They're great for a reason. I really have no attachment to the Leafs but I'd still feel upset if this disaster is true. That's be a worse idea than this:

You won't give me a logo at midfield, endzone graphics or even cheerleaders but you'll give me a gay mascot like looks like Bill Cowher? Screw you old man Rooney.