That is what I think of now when the subject of the Penguins comes up......It is no longer Indestructible but That Smell that reminds me of our flightless birds. For some reason people think I am into the Penguins, and they ask a lot these days, "What is wrong with the Penguins?"
I usually answer that it is early in the season, and they will be fine.....and I believed it. They are after all .500 even with a ton of injuries, subpar play from their top goalie, and Evelyn Malkin a near no show for the second season in a row. But now I am beginning to wonder. This team seems as lackluster as it did when MT lost the team the season prior, and they smell a lot like the team from last year. If our expectations were to make the playoffs, I would feel pretty good about the team. However, for a team whose expectation is another trip to the Finals, they fall FAR short of showing me that. What is wrong with the Pens? What isn't? Their power play is an atrocious 0-27 of late, and even looks pathetic in 5 on 3 situations. The rover plan is not working, they don't shoot the puck enough, and 71 and 87 try to pass through jammed passing lanes. I would rather see the role players on the power play than the superstar lineup we currently employ upfront. Their star players have not delivered. Marc Andre Fleury despite the whining of the apologists has not played even close to franchise goaltender status, and if not for Brent Johnson we would probably be one of the three or four bottomfeeders at this point in the season. Crosby has played well by most standards, but not nearly up to his potential. Crosby has a point per game average, but he has not taken over a game this season, and he has been part of the problem, not the solution on the power play. Evgeni Malkin has fallen further in my eyes than I would have ever thought possible. Geno, who going into last season was in every conversation as one of the top 3 players in the world, with some even saying he was the best. His performances from last year, and thus far this year don't even have him in the top ten. He is on pace for 22 or so goals and 60 points or so. Not horrible numbers for a 3M dollar player, and really good if that player had other value such as penalty killing, faceoff winning, or true leadership. Well Malkin does not bring any of the other three, and that pace is not even close to being enough production for an 8.7M player. At this point the same player who was a big reason the Pens won the Cup in 08/09, is for the second season in a row, more of a hindrance to the team. Like or not folks, if this is the real Malkin, 2 top notch wingers at 4 to 4.5M per year to play with Crosby and Staal would be far better value for the Pens. To me, as I wrote at the end of last season, Geno needs to get back to the old Geno or he needs to be dealt. I have said before that this team HAS to get top level production from the Four Horseman or they will not be successful. The percentage of cap space allocated to them dicates that. They have had about 3/4 of a Horseman this season for that money, though Staal is not at fault for that. I am not sure Bylsma is going to be a good coach. There seems to be no discipline or system either 5 on 5, and especially not on the power play. In my opinion he mangled his handling of the Fluery/Johnson situation, and his constant line juggling is worse than even MT on a bad day. The team looks generally lifeless on too many occasions, and seems to lack leaderhsip. Maybe Disco caught lightning in a bottle by taking a team that was sick of MT, and unleashing it in an aggressive style. But as some have pointed out, that team still had a lot of the systemic responsibility and accountability that MT appropriately brought to the team fresh in its mind. Combine that with some freedom to create offense on a team with this many talented players was a great formula for that 4 month window, and it resulted in the ultimate in sports trophies. One full and nearly one quarter season later, they seem to lack both responsibility and accountability, their "system" is hard to identify, and they look lazy and undisciplined as often as not.
I usually answer that it is early in the season, and they will be fine.....and I believed it. They are after all .500 even with a ton of injuries, subpar play from their top goalie, and Evelyn Malkin a near no show for the second season in a row. But now I am beginning to wonder. This team seems as lackluster as it did when MT lost the team the season prior, and they smell a lot like the team from last year. If our expectations were to make the playoffs, I would feel pretty good about the team. However, for a team whose expectation is another trip to the Finals, they fall FAR short of showing me that. What is wrong with the Pens? What isn't? Their power play is an atrocious 0-27 of late, and even looks pathetic in 5 on 3 situations. The rover plan is not working, they don't shoot the puck enough, and 71 and 87 try to pass through jammed passing lanes. I would rather see the role players on the power play than the superstar lineup we currently employ upfront. Their star players have not delivered. Marc Andre Fleury despite the whining of the apologists has not played even close to franchise goaltender status, and if not for Brent Johnson we would probably be one of the three or four bottomfeeders at this point in the season. Crosby has played well by most standards, but not nearly up to his potential. Crosby has a point per game average, but he has not taken over a game this season, and he has been part of the problem, not the solution on the power play. Evgeni Malkin has fallen further in my eyes than I would have ever thought possible. Geno, who going into last season was in every conversation as one of the top 3 players in the world, with some even saying he was the best. His performances from last year, and thus far this year don't even have him in the top ten. He is on pace for 22 or so goals and 60 points or so. Not horrible numbers for a 3M dollar player, and really good if that player had other value such as penalty killing, faceoff winning, or true leadership. Well Malkin does not bring any of the other three, and that pace is not even close to being enough production for an 8.7M player. At this point the same player who was a big reason the Pens won the Cup in 08/09, is for the second season in a row, more of a hindrance to the team. Like or not folks, if this is the real Malkin, 2 top notch wingers at 4 to 4.5M per year to play with Crosby and Staal would be far better value for the Pens. To me, as I wrote at the end of last season, Geno needs to get back to the old Geno or he needs to be dealt. I have said before that this team HAS to get top level production from the Four Horseman or they will not be successful. The percentage of cap space allocated to them dicates that. They have had about 3/4 of a Horseman this season for that money, though Staal is not at fault for that. I am not sure Bylsma is going to be a good coach. There seems to be no discipline or system either 5 on 5, and especially not on the power play. In my opinion he mangled his handling of the Fluery/Johnson situation, and his constant line juggling is worse than even MT on a bad day. The team looks generally lifeless on too many occasions, and seems to lack leaderhsip. Maybe Disco caught lightning in a bottle by taking a team that was sick of MT, and unleashing it in an aggressive style. But as some have pointed out, that team still had a lot of the systemic responsibility and accountability that MT appropriately brought to the team fresh in its mind. Combine that with some freedom to create offense on a team with this many talented players was a great formula for that 4 month window, and it resulted in the ultimate in sports trophies. One full and nearly one quarter season later, they seem to lack both responsibility and accountability, their "system" is hard to identify, and they look lazy and undisciplined as often as not.
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