tPbAGS

You gotta love this with the "inches" speech from Any Given Sunday......

Interesting Decisions for GM Shero

Now is really not the time to be looking ahead, as the Penguins are positioned well to be in the playoffs this season, and with some healthy bodies returning and the possibility of a little more depth to come on Monday via the trade deadline, maybe even take a run at the title again. That said, the current make up of the roster and pending free agency will dictate what the Penguins may do on Monday. To that end, I wanted to summarize the current roster, cap hits, and who is signed through next year and beyond. Remember that up to 23 players can be on the active NHL roster, with 20 dressing per night, usually 12 forwards, 6 defenseman, and 2 goaltenders. First the forwards who are under contract for next season:

Crosby 8.7M thru 12-13

Malkin 8.7M thru 13-14

Kunitz 3.75M thru 11-12

Staal 4M thru 12-13

Neal 2.875M thru 11-12 then RFA not UFA

Cooke 1.8M thru 12-13

Letestu 625K thru 12-13

Tangradi 845K thru 11-12 then RFA not UFA

Vitale 512K thru 11-12

Those are the current Penguins forwards who will be under contract through at least next year. The top 5 through Neal are a pretty impressive group and is only one shy of a nasty group of top six forwards. After those 5, you have Cooke a key component sure to be on the team, and Letestu who would step up to take the third line center role should Staal and Malkin play together next year as planned. Tangradi is a wild card, and I am sure they hope he can blossom into a full time role on the team next year, but he could be trade bait fir the right young forward with term on his deal and some scoring punch. I would like to see ET blossom into an NHL ready power forward, as that would add another dimension to the Pens lineup. There are 9 forwards under contract for next year, and I have to believe that the top 5 plus Cooke and Letestu are locks, leaving 5 positions open for a nightly roster spot open for the following to compete for:

Vitale and Tangradi referenced above......Vitale at 512K and ET at 845K. The remaining contenders include:

Kovalev currently making 5M and UFA

Dupuis currently making 1.4M and UFA

Talbot currently making 1.05M and UFA

Rupp currently making 825K and UFA

Godard currently making 750K and UFA

Kennedy currently making 725K and RFA

Asham currently making 700K and UFA

Adams currently making 550K and UFA

Connor currently making 550K and UFA

Jeffrey currently making 508K and RFA

Comrie currently making 500K and UFA

Johnson currently making 500K and RFA

Wallace currently making 500K and RFA

So there are 15 players here trying to make 5-7 spots on the team. You could also include Sterling and Vellieux as players who could be in the mix. For my money you have to sign Rupp at similar money due to his size, toughness and role on the fourth line. You have to sign Adams at similar money as you get tons of value with his PK abilities, and leadership for a small expense. Finally, you have to sign Jeffrey if you can for similar money, as he has proven he has a role on this team, and can chip in some offense. After that, to me, you probably have to make some very tough calls. I love Talbot and Dupuis, but you may have to sacrifice at least one, if not both of them in the interest of cap space. Joe Vitale seems to have a shown a solid presence on faceoffs and solid grinding ability. If you can get him for 55oK to take on the role of a Talbot who may command 1.5M, you may have no choice, despite Talbot's contribution to the 2009 Cup. I love Duper's ability to play on the top line with Crosby, kill penalties and forecheck like a monster, BUT if he is not willing to maybe take a little less to stay, the Pens may find a guy like Comrie, Kennedy, or Asham to have more value to them over the long haul. Duper at least has that kind of versatility in his corner. If they dont find that legitimate top 6 winger for Crosby, well Crosby, Kunitz, Dupuis was a dynamic line while healthy this season. The Penguins are also high on Nick Johnson, and hope that Eric Tangradi is ready to step into a top 6 role on the big club. Asham has been hurt all year, but when healthy plays a game similar to Matt Cooke's but he is willing to drop the gloves on a regular basis to stand up for his teammates. Finally, sone still think that a place has to be kept for Godard, for those nights against the Islanders, Flyers, and Rangers. You can see the log jam of players competing for roster spots, which is a good thing for the team, but it could also lead to some package of one or more of the above being moved. I could even see a veteran forward moved to the western conference team in return for a prospect, draft pick or young player. It would be too much to ask for Kovalev to be willing to work for 1.5M for another year and a chance to skate with Malkin or Crosby, so I expect him to be a rental.

The goaltending situation is stable with Fleury signed for 5M per year through 2014-15, and Johnson signed through 2011-12 for 600K. You would not move a franchise goaltender, nor a backup like Johnson with a contract like that one while you are contender, so there will not be a move there.

On defense, an NHL team will carry 7 defensemen at a time, usually with 6 dressing per night. Our situation there is so solid for short and long term.

Paul Martin currently making 5M and signed thru 2014-15

Zybnek Michalek currently making 4M and signed through 2014-15

Brooks Orpik currently making 3.75M and signed through 2013-14

Kris Letang currently making 3.5M and signed through 2013-14

Matt Niskanen currently making 1.5M and signed through 2011-12 then RFA

Brian Strait currently making 860K and signed through 2011-12 then RFA

Ben Lovejoy currently making 525K and signed through 2012-13

Deryk Engelland currently making 566K and signed through 2013-14

The Penguins currently have 8 NHL ready defensemen signed through at least next year and six of those for year beyond that. This gives the Penguins great leverage in that area. In addition, they have the following assets ready next year or the year after:

Robert Bortuzzo currently making 535K and signed through 2011-12-ready next year, and considered a possible top 4 upside;

Simon Depres currently making 870K and signed through 2012-13, and ready next year or the year after, considered a possible top pairing upside with star potential;

Carl Sneep currently making 850K and signed through 2011-12 probably ready next year or the year after, and considered a solid top 5 upside;

As you can see the defense for the Penguins should be a strength for years to come, and could also send an asset along with a veteran forward to a western conference team in return for more firepower up front without really denting the short or long term outlook for the Penguins. They also have depth defenseman Andrew Hutchinson who could fill in as a 7th defenseman without killing you. I think Despres is off limits for a deal, but any of the others could be used in return for the right forward. As much as you would hate to lose any of them, if they are not going to play for us in the NHL in the next two years, they will not re-sign as free agents, so you may as well get a return if possible. Shero has a lot of options should the right deal be offered, but no long term PRESSING needs, so Monday should be interesting. I would love to see us target a western conference team for a top six forward with at least another year left in return for a defensive prospect, and a guy like Talbot that we would likely lose anyway.

Pens win 6-5 in a shootout in Toronto

Finally, the Penguins get a 2 point night to push their season total to 80 points. Those 2 points kept them two points ahead of the Capitals for the 4th seed in the conference, and put them within 6 points of division leading Philadelphia. More important, in my opinion, is that the Penguins refused to die, showed the ability to get some goals, and hopefully got the ship turning back in the right direction. It was not the way Bylsma drew it up on the blackboard, as the Pens gave up 5 goals. I am not going to bash the defense too much, as they are down 2 of their 4 shutdown players right now. Some thoughts from the game last night:

Fleury played another subpar game in my opinion, his second in a row. He had been stellar for the past 3 plus months, so maybe he was due. I did not like the timing of some of his SOFF goals, but give him credit. He bounced back in the shootout, making a great save on Lupul's first bid, and keeping the Leafs off the board for all three attempts;

You saw the good and the bad of Kovalev. He took penalties, and could have taken a very costly one in the third during his little battle with Armstrong. A power play there COULD have cost the Pens the game. A sloppy clearing attempt by Kovy at the blueline in the third period cost the Penguins their one goal lead when Clarke MacArthur buried his 19th of the season to tie the game at 3-3. BUT, Kovalev scored his first goal of his new stint with the Penguins in regulation, and he paid huge dividends in the shootout, snapping a wicked wrister past Reimer to give the Penguins the victory, exactly one of the reasons the Pens gamled on Kovy. Finally, his behind the back pass that was right on Jeffreys stick, and the beauty he put on Letestu to set up a possible game winner in OT were things of beauty;

It was good to see Max Talbot get a goal with a goaltender in the net, as he blocked a shot during by Dion Phaneuf during a power play, and scored on a beautiful breakaway shorthanded. That ties Pittsburgh for the league lead with 10 shorthanded goals;

There is some minor grumbling already that James Neal does not have point yet as a Penguin. Don't worry. They will come. He showed a couple of strong power moves to the net last night, and again had a couple of very heavy shots on goal. They did not go in, but they will;

Matt Niskanen continues to impress me as much more than a throw in as part of the Goligoski-Neal trade. He is mobile, has made good decisions with the puck, and other than the one bobble at the blue line, has not been a liability in any way. I think he will only get better in Bylsma's system and think he may really be a part of the long term here in Pittsburgh;

After two really ugly games, you could see some of what has the organization excited about Brian Strait. He seemed much more at home last night, and he stood out with some of his physical play. He did a nice job in a difficult situation;

Krist Letang is just a beast. He has cooled off quite a bit offensively, but last night he logged 32 minutes of ice time, and made plenty of strong offensive plays. You can see him pinching more in an effort to add offense, and he has gotten caught a few times, but his speed has allowed him to make up for it. It is fun watching this kid play;

Engelland played a solid game, made a few big hits and Z Michalek was a shot blocking monster as usual;

My final observation is this. Dustin Jeffrey and Mark Letestu have to remain on the big club for now and next year, and I am not sure how you keep Joe Vitale off the team as your fourth line center. His faceoff percentage is pushing 70%, he is a tenacious checker and a smart player signed to a minimal contract. Good player at a good price. Finally, the Penguins would not use the film from last night's game as a training sesssion by any means, but they beat a suddenly surging team on the road, by getting some offense, and it looks like there is some chemistry starting to form with the newer guys. We need to get Fleury back on his game, Kunitz, Kennedy, and Martin back for now to keep this train rolling. We will get Orpik back for the playoffs, and if the big gun comes back, this team could be very entertaining to watch this spring.

Derek Stepan hits Mike Green Feb 25, 2011

In addition to making my night as it knocked the tampon clean out of Mike Green, this should be an entertaining slice of NHL stupidity. First off, Green cross checks Stepan from behind and it is NOT called. IF it had been called as it should have been, the next part of the play that caused Vespa boys injury does not even occur. The funniest part, is that this is not called a penalty either and the Rags score a goal. And you still don't think the NHL is a garage league? That said a very SMALL slice of karma catching up with the Craps. Their idiotic announcers whined about Greens purse being spilled all over the ice no less than 300 times. How those hits to head HAVE to be called no matter what.....wonder what those two cuntmuffins were saying January 1st after Steckel ended Crosby's season? I bet not much. Now if Ovagkin can suffer a similar fate for a long period of time, I may start to feel better about things.

Depleted Pens score one goal and lose again

Not much more to add.

Interesting take on Kovalev

ALEX KOVALEV: A USER'S GUIDE

Alex Kovalev, a Penguin from 1998-2003, begins his second stint with the flightless birds tonight at Carolina. For those who might not have witnessed Kovy's act the first time around, we present ALEX KOVALEV: A USER'S GUIDE.It doesn't come with a guarantee.*Kovalev's first shift will reveal what kind of game he's going to play. Kovy isn't the kind to start slow, then build to a crescendo. If he dominates right away, chances are he'll cut the other team's heart out before the night's over. If Kovy sucks early, it usually doesn't get much better. In fact, it often gets worse.*Even when Kovalev stinks, he manufactures at least one breathtaking near-miss that leaves you marveling at his skill. Jaromir Jagr worshiped at the altar of Mario Lemieux. But Jagr routinely said that Kovalev had as much talent as Mario.*Kovalev is streaky. Look at his month of February with Ottawa. He opened with a three-game goal-scoring streak. At one point, he had six goals in eight games. The last two games, he didn't even get a shot on goal. That one month is Kovalev's career in a nutshell.*You're going to love Kovalev. Even when he struggles, he doesn't dog it. He just stickhandles his way to oblivion. He's a great entertainer. Very fan-friendly. I got Robbie Brown to reprise the windmill when he returned to the Penguins. I'm going to get Kovalev to get out the moonwalk.*At some point, Coach Disco will want to strangle Kovalev. He might extend a shift too long. Might hold onto the puck too long. Kovy won't mangle Bylsma's system; he may tweak it. Kovy's going to shoot high, short side on the power play. Not good for deflections and rebounds. But that's what Kovy's going to do, and just about every time, too. If Kovy does well, hopefully Bylsma will settle for results. If he doesn't, well...this was always a gamble, right?*If circumstances allow, Kovalev will win games. He's a perfect fit for the tight contests the Penguins have been losing. He's good on shootouts (16-41 lifetime). He's excellent in 4-on-4 overtime, often serving as an explosive offensive defenseman during his first run in Pittsburgh. He's dynamic on the power play. Seems like a good fit for this team right now.

Kovalev returns to Pittsburgh for a conditional 7th round pick

Ray Shero has again shown the arm chair GM's across the city how to do the job with patience. People have been clamoring for the Penguins to grab Alex Kovalev for the past week or two for a 4th round pick, a 5th and Talbot, a 5th and a prospect........some radio talk show host admonishing Shero for not making a move for such a low cost. Well, Ray outdid them again. He brought Kovalev back to Pittsburgh for a conditional 7th round pick. If the Penguins advance past the first round of the playoffs, it is a 6th round pick. Kovalev's prorated cap hit on his 5M salary is about 1M to the Penguins, leaving them room to make another mid-level acquisition, or better if they move some more salary back to WBS or as part of their next deal. Is this a good deal for the Penguins? Given the low cost, and possible HIGH return it is a GREAT move for this team. According to some reputable sources, this trade would not have been made if the Penguins thought that Crosby would not be coming back, as it is most likely a rental for the Pens. That said, Kovy is a pure goal scorer, having tallied 426 goals and 591 assists for a total of 1017 points in his career. Despite a horrid start, he has 14 goals and 13 assists on the season, and 9 point in his past 10 games. The people who argued against bring Kovalev back have said the following: Kovalev is a lazy player, Kovalev is a locker room issue, Kovalev is one dimensional, Kovalev is an enigma. All of this is true. However, the following is true as well. Kovalev, along with Neal will be a HUGE upgrade in offensive potential for a goal starved team. Kovalev will have a positive impact on the power play, and can play the point or along the wall. Kovalev's relationship with Lemieux, and great past history with the Pens could bring out the best in Kovalev. Kovalev at 38 years old with 426 goals, and in the last year of his contract may be motivated to try and land a two year deal somewhere to take a run at 500 goals. I really like this deal given the low risk aspect of it for the Penguins. If Kovalev would play up to his still considerable skill level, the Penguins have just become a much more dangerous team, particularly on the power play. A decent power play may have added a few more points over this past dry spell. Kovalev is also a legitimate threat in a shootout. A couple of extra points there could be the difference between home ice in the final playoff standings. As the team regains its health, they could have a top six forward group to include Crosby, Kunitz, Neal, Staal, Kovalev, and (Clark MacArthur). Their defense and goaltending has been top notch, as has their bottom six forward group. That lineup would be no easy out in the playoffs. I truly look for Shero to add another top six forward or high end third liner to bolster this team's playoff outlook. On a final note, please recognize what these moves mean in terms of the Penguins commitment to the fans. Everyone talks about the cap space that is available due to the serious injuries sustained by key Penguins players, and how much we can now spend to get other players. DO NOT FORGET THAT MARIO LEMIEUX AND RON BURKLE STILL HAVE TO PAY THE SALARIES OF ALL THE INJURED PLAYERS TOO. My point is that the Penguins are spending every dollar they can to put a winning product on the ice, despite the fact that they had already spent to the cap prior to the injuries. The money paid to Neal, Kovalev, Niskanen and any other trade deadline pick ups is real money over and above what they had already committed. You can not question the desire of this ownership group to win, or to give the fans what they want. Thank you! We appreciate it.

Or kill the cocksucker...whatever you like

This team deserves a break....lost in OT to Sharks

The Penguins took a quality team to the limit before losing in overtime......again. Hey, the Sharks are as hot a team as there is in the NHL, now 14-2-1 in their past 17 games. The already depleted Penguins lost Brooks Orpik in the first period after he was hit in the hand blocking a shot. Now, not only are half of the forwards AHL call ups, but half of the defense from 2 games ago is gone(Orpik, Martin, and Goligoski). Most teams don't have three defensemen this good, much less have them all out of the lineup at the same time, to go along with the injuries up front. It would have been easy to fold the tents tonight, but the Penguins, in front of a tremendous effort by Marc Andre Fleury snuck a hard earned point of this game. In addition to an heroic effort by Fleury, Tyler Kennedy scored goals 13 and 14, tying it up with 50 seconds left in the game. Kennedy now has 7 goals in his past 11 games, and I cannot think of anyone who has stepped up his game more than TK during this timeframe. This goal earned the Penguins a well deserved point after a hard fought game. In the overtime period, Fleury stoned Patrick Marleau on a breakaway with a save reminiscent of "The Save." At this point, I am thinking it is in the cards, the Pens are taking both points! However, the Sharks came back to steal the game with 4 seconds left in overtime. Kind of tough to swallow watching this team go toe to toe with the likes of the Blackhawks, Capitals, and Sharks with this lineup, fight tooth and nail, only to lose all three games by a goal, two of them in OT. The Penguins are now 1-3-2 in their past six games and have lost 7 of their past 9. Depite that fact, the Penguins remain 4 points ahead of the Captards for the 4th seed in the Eastern Conference, and the second most points in the conference with 78. We got our first look at the two players who came to the Penguins in the Goligoski deal, and I liked what I saw. James Neal logged 20+ minutes, and showed his ability to hit, skate, and shoot......HARD. He also made several solid plays backchecking, showing his value as a two way player who should thrive in Bylsma's system. As he gets more familiar with his current linemates, he should make a big difference on this team. I can only imagine how good he will look with either Crosby or Malkin setting him up. As far as Matt Niskanen goes, I was actually more impressed than I expected to be. He had that ugly turnover at the blueline in OT that led to the breakaway shot from Marleau, but that could have happened to anybody. The puck skipped over his stick to Thornton who made a great play to Marleau. Take that one play away, and I saw a guy who could skate, who made smart, simple plays, and even created some offensive opportunity. I would like to think that the change of scenery and coaching in Pittsburgh will get Liskanen back to the form he showed in his rookie season, where he netted 35 points. Hopefully Orpik will not be out too long, and we can get Kunitz, Martin, Letestu, and Jeffrey back for now. Maybe the big gun by mid March, and one more scoring winger. The Penguins are about to embark on a pivotal 5 game road trip, that could be key to their playoff positioning.

Stoosh on Goose for Neal/Niskanen

Ray Shero as been an active player during the NHL trade deadline period year after year.

On Monday, Shero outdid himself. He again shipped out a defenseman (ala Whitney for Kunitz and Tangradi) and again brought two players back. But this time, he pulled a deal you couldn’t swing against the dumbest owner in your fantasy hockey pool.

Gone to Dallas is defenseman Alex Goligoski.

Coming back to Pittsburgh are winger James Neal and defenseman Matt Niskanen.

The response on Twitter was immediate and looked like this:

GOGO FOR NEAL AND NISKANENdhhdjdashfkahdsfhdkasjhfkjldsdkl

Several hours later, Pens fans were still trying to collect their thoughts on the trade and what this means for both the short-term (remainder of this year) and longer-term (2011-12 season and beyond) for the team. Wanna know why you’re reading this on Wednesday instead of Tuesday? That’s a big reason why. This was a statement trade in more ways than one.

Now that the dust has settled a bit, some thoughts on this trade, dudes, what it means for the Penguins and what kind of magic King Shero still has left in his hat.


FIRST OFF…THANKS, GOGO
Gogo became more of a whipping boy for the fanbase than he really deserved to be. He certainly had his faults as a defenseman. He wasn’t a physical player in any sense and even by non-physical player standards, he got pushed around. He used his mobility and skating to compensate for that, but it was a problem at times. His defensive-zone coverages were sometimes lacking, and his decision-making with the puck reached “Ryan Whitney” levels of “WTF are you doing?” at times. Not as often as Whitney, but enough that it was noticeable.

But Goligoski was improving.

It’s sometimes easy to forget that this is just his NHL career is just barely two and a half seasons old. He is on pace for career highs in goals, assists and points, and those numbers will have gone up now every year, barring injury. His defensive coverage was improving as evidenced by the +20 rating he posted in 60 games this year with the Penguins, even though more than half his even-strength shifts came on the third pairing with either Engelland or Lovejoy. Plus-minus can be a misleading statistic, but you don’t post a +20 in 60 games by complete accident.

A few things sealed Goligoski’s fate in Pittsburgh, though, beginning with the signings of Zbynek Michalek and Paul Martin this past summer. With those signings, the Pens’ top four defensemen immediately became Oprik, Letang, Michalek and Martin, and all four are signed at least through the next three seasons.

Goligoski was never going to crack that top four here. He just wasn’t. That’s not necessarily an indictment on him. That’s just as much a testament to the quality and balance that Shero has assembled with this defensive corps. And looking more long-term, the Pens had players in their system who bring similar qualities to the ice in Robert Bortuzzo and Simon Despres.

This made Goligoski an expendable asset long-term, which is a nice luxury to have. On just about every other team in the league, Gogo is likely a top-four defenseman. He is developing well as a point man on the power play and his ability to throw a good breakout pass to start the transition made him an attractive asset to many teams.

The return he fetched in this deal is a testament to just how highly-regarded his offensive abilities & potential are in this league. And if Goligoski was ever going to be moved, this was precisely the type of return the Pens needed to get for him.


WINGER FOR SID
We’ve heard it repeated so many times over the last four years that it has almost become its own position on the Pens’ depth chart.

Winger for Sid.

Back when the Pens won the Crosby lottery, visions immediately began dancing in the heads of Pens fans of Crosby shattering the confidence of opposing goaltenders with tic-tac-toe passes he’d make with said unnamed winger. Or two. It would be the new generation’s version of Lemieux-to-Stevens-to-Jagr. It just made sense.

At some point, you’d see that super-skilled winger for Sid. But as his Pens career progressed, that star winger was never really there.

During Crosby’s rookie year, John LeClair proved to be way too slow. Ziggy Palffy had no marbles.



Recchi never worked out. There was a brief run with Colby Armstrong in ’05-06, but that went away the next year when Army remembered that he was a third-line winger and played like it. Erik Christensen was tried at wing; no dice. Michel Ouellet? Mango Salsa was automatic within five feet of the net, but awful everywhere else.

Even while Malkin found chemistry with Ryan Malone and Petr Sykora, Crosby’s line was a revolving door of wings. And that remained the case until Shero stunned everyone with the eleventh-hour deal at the ‘08 Trade Deadline that brought Marian Hossa to Pittsburgh.

“Winger For Sid” problem solved at least for a few months. As most of us expected, it was short-lived. Hossa was an unrestricted free agent and when he left that summer, it was back to the drawing board for 2008-09.

The deadline in 2009 brought in Chris Kunitz from Anaheim and Bill Guerin from the outhouse on Long Island. Both found their way to Crosby’s line and results were immediate. Kunitz-Crosby-Guerin helped take the Pens to the Cup that year.

The success of the Three Center Model in 2009 plus the pending return of both Kunitz and Guerin tempered pretty much all of the “Winger For Sid” talk heading into last season. And for the most part, it proved successful again, especially when the Pens eliminated the Ottawa Senators in the first round of the 2009-10 playoffs.

Then came the series with Montreal. It took seven games, a superhuman effort by Halak and some less-than-stellar defense and goaltending by the Pens, but the Habs beat the Three Center Model. They took away the middle of the ice where Sid, Malkin and Staal like to operate and essentially dared the Penguin wingers to beat them. And they couldn’t.

This past summer, Shero remade the defense but didn’t do much to address the wings for the top lines. Father Time had caught up to Uncle Billy and he rode off into the sunset. Kunitz was back, but beyond that, the lineup was largely Sid, Geno, Staal and a bunch of third-line wingers. It was an anticipated weakness in the lineup, one that was hidden at least in part by Crosby’s unbelievable season and some timely offense from Letang and Goligoski. Malkin’s struggles morphed the “Winger For Sid” concept into something more like “Top Six Forward”.

But then Sid got hurt. Letestu got hurt. Malkin got hurt. Kunitz got hurt. Dupuis’s production suffered without Crosby. The lack of scoring depth on the wings was finally, glaringly exposed.

And that brings us to February 21, 2011, when Ray Shero decided to cross “WINGER FOR SID" or "TOP SIX FORWARD" his bucket list.


REMAKING THE CORE
The moment this trade was announced, James Neal immediately became the best winger in the Penguins organization. Outside of Beau Bennett – who is still likely three or four years away – the Penguins had no one in their system like Neal. No other Penguins wing at the NHL or AHL level brings the kind of complete skill set that Neal does.

Neal has a heavy, accurate shot and he’s not afraid to use it. He’s a good skater who finds open areas of the ice well, particularly in the high slots. He should flourish on a line with either Crosby or Malkin, as both like to look to the high areas of the offensive zone to generate offense.

This is bigger than the Kunitz deal from a couple of years ago. Kunitz plays his crash role well and he’s an excellent forechecker, but he doesn’t really have the natural finishing ability or shot that Neal brings. And Neal is a better, more fluid skater than Tangradi.

This is bigger than the Guerin deal. Guerin was at the tail end of his career. Neal is 23 years old just entering his prime years.

To that end, this is also bigger than the Hossa trade because this is not a rental. It adds a top-line winger, one who is signed through next season at a very manageable cap number.

So while this is a move designed to help bolster scoring for the remainder of this year, it’s also very much and perhaps even moreso a move made for next year and beyond.

In Neal, the Pens have added a player who fits in with the rest of this core in every conceivable way. He’s basically Crosby’s age. This is his third full season in the league and he’s now scored 20+ goals in each one. If he maintains his current pace, he’ll finish with 29 goals this year, and that means his goal production will have gone up every year since entering the league. Much like the rest of this core, he’s produced big results at an early age. An interesting statistic on tonight's broadcast show that only 3 players have had more than 70 goals and more than 450 hits since the 08-09 season. Alex Ovechkin leads that list, but second is James Neal with 72 goals and 488 hits during that span. David Backes of St. Louis was the only other player in that category in the league.

Neal is going to be given every opportunity next year to remain in the core long-term, and this is as good an opportunity a player like him can really hope to receive. He’ll almost always find himself on a line with Crosby or Malkin. He’ll be playing in a system that suits his abilities, and conversely his game should allow him to contribute to the system.

Is he a 40-goal scorer next year? That may be a stretch. 35 goals next year is probably more within the realm of reason for him. But you never know. Crosby was turning Kunitz into a potential 30-goal scorer this year before he got hurt. Crosby’s the great equalizer like that.

And now he’ll finally have that winger. Or Malkin will. Either way, the Penguins just got that much tougher to handle.


SO NOW WHAT?
Well, as it relates to the rest of this year, Shero’s almost not certainly done. Barring a horrible collapse over the last 21 games, the Pens should make the playoffs, and the Neal trade was a statement that this team isn’t going to go quietly this year.

And why should they? The Penguins still ice arguably the best defense-goaltending combination of any team in the Eastern Conference. Kunitz should be back this weekend. Letestu is likely about two weeks away, maybe less. Dustin Jeffrey is also skating. And until the Penguins officially announce that they are shutting Crosby down for the year, he may be back at any point.

The Pens have been linked to Alex Kovalev from Ottawa, and most reports suggest that he could likely be had for a late-round pick, particularly the Pens’ 5th round pick in 2011. Ottawa may hold out until Monday to see if they can drive up what’s been reported as mostly dormant league-wide interest on him. The Pens may be willing to wait until Monday to see if the price comes down because there isn’t much interest, and Ottawa just wants to get rid of him. Why give up a 5th-round pick when you can give up a 6th?

You can do a lot worse than Kovalev for a late pick. It’s a very low-risk, potential high-reward move. He’s always marched to the beat of his own drum, but he’s not a locker-room cancer, nor is he a player who just does what he wants to do out there. He bought into Constantine’s system as a Penguin. And he had no real problems buying into Guy Carbonneau’s system a couple of years ago in Montreal.

This is a team that needs goals and needs help on the powerplay. Kovalev can help both, especially the latter. For the cost of a late-round pick, it wouldn’t be a bad deal at all.

The Pens have also been tied in recent reports to Cory Stillman and Chris Higgins of the Florida Panthers. Should Minnesota fall out of contention, some have mentioned the names Andrew Brunette and Antii Miettinen. All four are unrestricted free agents and would likely just be playoff rentals.

At the end of the day, who knows what to expect from Shero? If you would’ve told me this past weekend that I’ll now be able to find a #18 James Neal Penguins jersey at the PensGear store at Consol, I’d have said you were drunk. Not many seemed to see that deal coming at all, and maybe Shero’s got another one of those up his sleeve. Maybe it’s just a rental to make the team a little more dangerous this year. Either way, it’ll be entertaining.

More help coming?

The Penguins made big waves today getting goal scoring winger James Neal, along with a defenseman Niskanen in return for Alex Goligoski, in what was considered a hockey trade, not a rental. Both players have a year left on their contracts, have fairly cap friendly deals, and are RFA at the end, not UFA. Shero hinted that he had more up his sleeve. The following are players that have been rumored to be on the radar screen:

Clarke MacArthur-Toronto-1.1M cap hit, RFA-6'0" 191 lbs-17G and 18A -LW
Chris Higgins-Florida-1.6M cap hit-UFA-6'0" 205 lbs-10G and 11A -LW
Stephen Weiss-Florida-3.1 cap-signed til 2013-5'11" 193 lbs-16G and 24 A -C
Jakub Voracek-Columbus-1.27M cap-RFA-6'2" 214 lbs 11G and 27A -R
Andrew Brunette-Minnesota-2.33M cap hit-UFA-6'1" 210 lbs 15G and 19A- L
Alex Kovalev-Ottawa-5M cap hit-UFA 6'2" 222 lbs-14G and 13A- R

The cap situation is complicated, and I hear several different stories, but I get the impression that within reason the LTIR situation with Crosby and Malkin gives the Pens a lot of room to what they need to within reason. I also get the sense that Shero is not really looking to do much in the way of rentals, but really wants to make deals that affect the team over a longer period of time. Or he could do a little bit of both, depending on what is out there. Every player above has varying degrees of interest for me with the Penguins this year over at least this season and next except for one, Kovalev. That said, Kovalev makes for an intriguing rental possibility. He is an enigma, and an expensive one, so a longer term deal would scare me, but for the playoff run, Kovalev would be a big offensive threat, especially on a struggling power play, and could even take some of the point time that Goligoski took so productively. He can be had for a 4th or 5th round pick, not exactly future draining stuff for the Pens. I am not sure what Shero has up his sleeve, but do not be surprised if a couple of our favorite veterans were part of a deal with a prospect or pick to add some more punch up front. In Shero we trust, and come on Crosby, get healthy!

Tremendous Caps team shuts out the Pens Farm Team....plan the parade!!

I wonder if Pierre and Ovie have set a date yet? Wow, I just watched a team that had half of their forwards from their AHL affiliate, and lost two of its top 5 defensemen for tonight's game put 40 shots on the Craptards. Instead of hearing about how miraculous it was that such a depleted team could take the Craps to the brink like that, we had to endure how far the Crapitals defense has come. Really?? I knew VS was a joke, but are you fucking kidding me? One more injury, and Pens may have looked to a High School team to round out the roster, but the Capitals kick ass winning that game by the length of Brucie's little dagger? I don't think I could bear to watch another game on VS if my life depended on it! If that is the "new Craps," they will be in a familiar spot by May. At home. Nice effort by the baby Pens, just could not finish tonight, but some day, maybe, we will go back to watching the NHL Penguins take the ice again, and I hope that we get healthy and get this team in the first round. Unless they make a couple of major additions, a reasonably healthy Pens team will eat these guys alive when it matters, as they ALWAYS do.

The first Pens rumor for the deadline that has me intrigued. I have long argued about the value many seem to miss with regard to Alex Goligoski, and still feel that way. He is young, he is cap friendly, and he is the fifth leading scorer on a scoring starved team, who, by the way has four game winning goals. Did I forget that he has something like a +20 also? Or that he is +34 for his career? He also has one year left on his deal, so when locals call for his trade for just about any half decent winger, I love roughing them up and proving even to them that they are not too bright. If you take his cap hit of 1.8, along with his current production, and possible upside, he is a very valuable commodity that you just don't trade away unless you have an opportunity to make a huge move for the club. The Penguins have the best top 5 defensemen in hockey for my money, with Orpik, Letang, Martin, and Michalek untouchables. Lovejoy and Engellend are solid 6th and 7th defensemen. If you add to that the fact that the Pens are very high on a bigger puck moving defenseman, Simon Despres, along with several AHL prospects with big upside such as Bortuzzo, Strait, Sneep, and Samuelsson you can see how Goose is an asset that you COULD move if you got a game changing WINGER in return, young, with term left on his deal. Hello James Neal, of the Dallas Stars! Would you like to see a 6'2" 208 lb winger, in only his third year, who hits, goes to the net, and has posted 24 and 27 goals his first two years, and is pacing for 30 in his third land on the Penguins? Would you like it if he had another year left on his contract, which is fairly cap friendly at 2.85? Well, the Dallas Stars are in need of a young quality puck moving defenseman, and they have a ton of forward depth. The Penguins are in need of a young winger who can finish plays, and they have a ton of defensive depth. They are in opposite conferences, so they don't play each other much. Sounds like a match made in heaven! If Iam the Pens, I make this deal unless Dallas is looking for a significant secondary asset. I think it has merits as a straight up deal, but we shall see. I do think that the Pens will need to add a veteran defenseman as part of this deal or a minor secondary deal to fill in the gap this year, but that is very doable! This is one deal that I like that would involve moving Goligoski.

ADDENDUM: Not only did Shero get this done without ADDING other assets, he got a serviceable young defenseman in Niskanen as part of the deal. He was a number one draft pick, who is only 23 years old. He had 35 points in his first year, 24 and his second, but struggled this season with only 6 assists thus far. The change of scenery may make him a perfect fit for this season, or he could be packaged as part of a secondary deal. Either way, good value for the Goose, whom I will miss a great deal. This may make the need for Kovalev higher, as he could replace some of the power play production from the point that the Pens will lose with Goligoski's departure. Godspeed Goose!

Pivotal matchup against the hated Craps tonight!

As noted, the Penguins continue to scatch out points and hang in there in the 4th seed for the playoff race, going into tonight with a 5 point lead on 5th seed Washington. A win puts the Pens 7 points ahead of the Capitals with 20 games left, and a regulation loss allows the Captards to close within 3 points of the Pens for the last seed with home ice advantage. A win also puts the Pens 10 points ahead of Montreal, who holds the 6th seed, 13 ahead of 7th seed New York Rangers, and 15 ahead of Carolina who holds the last playoff spot. Finally it puts 19 points between the Pens and the two teams trying to climb back into the hunt, Buffalo and Atanta who each have 60 points. Two key players to watch for tonight include Jordan Staal, whose status is unknown after taking a puck to the jaw last night, and Paul Martin who was banged up after a hit from behind by Patrick Sharp sent him face first into the boards. If that hit were made by Cooke he would be gone for 6 games, but since it occurred against the Penguins, it was not even penalized. As childish at that sounds, and I know it does, that seems to be the way it goes right now. Fuck the Red, let's help it get DEAD. Time for some revenge tonight boys! One quick question......Is it easier or more difficult to concuss a big mouthed Russian with a brain small enough to rattle around his Cro Magnon head? I am thinking easier.......

The Penguins earn a tough point in Chicago

The Penguins arrived in Chicago and continued to look more like a MASH unit than a hockey team. The Penguins are playing without 3 of their top 4 scorers in Crosby, Malkin, and Kunitz, as well as solid players like Arron Asham, Dustin Jeffrey, Mark Letestu, Eric Tangradi, and Mike Comrie remains on the shelf. Matt Cooke, back from his four game suspension tied the game 1-1 on a beautiful short handed goal, that makes him the NHL's leading short handed scorer with 6 short handed points. In addition to Cooke's goal, AHL call up Brett Sterling continued to make a case that he belongs at this level by potting his 3rd goal and 5th point in the five games he has been up on the big club. Paul Martin was great tonight, and continued to show why he was such a coveted free agent defenseman. He just shuts down top players one on one, and his steal and set up of the game tying goal was a thing of beauty. Marc Andre Fleury played out of his mind, as this game is a blowout in the first without his stellar play. The second goal he gave up was SOFF, but the Pens are not even in this one without several spectacular saves from MAF. It is hard to say anything bad about this team right now, despite this being their 5th loss in 7 games. They are about as battered a team as I have ever seen, but they played a road game against a desperate Stanley Cup Champion team, and scratched out a point. The Hawks came into the day 4 points out of the last playoff spot in the West, and healthy so trust me this Pens team hanging in there, and sneaking a point is a testament to their character. The Penguins are 10-7-2 without Crosby, and 7-5-1 without Crosby and Malkin. They have also been down Kunitz and Cooke for 4 of those games. That tells you about the character, and general depth of the organization. Interestingly enough, the WBS Pens have been hot despite their main offensive weapons playing in Pittsburgh. Further testament to the depth of the Penguins. They lack top end scoring depth, and Shero needs to convert their wealth of mid range forwards, top notch defensive depth, and UFA veterans into a scoring winger or two for the playoffs. With Crosby back, the MASH unit slowly healing, and two decent scoring forwards, this team is still dangerous. Their biggest worry postgame is the health of Jordan Staal who took a puck to the face area late in the third and did not return. I would hope that Staal is okay, and that we might be seeing Chris Kunitz back by the middle of the week. Come on Ray, throw us a bone, and let's get some offense in da house. We need to hang in there for a couple of weeks, get healthy and hit the stretch run, balls out baby!

NHL players=Toughest of all sports

James Wisniewski despite this nasty gash is not out for a month or the season.......he is listed as day to day.........ouch! Update......he did not miss a SINGLE game, he is in the lineup tonight against the Flames in the Heritage Classic.

Similar-Different-Dominant

The Penguins and Flyers and their collective fan bases hate each other, and have for years. I happen to have several good friends who root whole heartedly for the enemy, and couple that with the fact that the Flyers have slipped to a tie for 3rd/4th on my hate meter, I decided to do some comparisons of the current teams. If the Flyers advance to the Finals this season, as would be my prediction CURRENTLY, these two teams will have represented the Eastern Conference in each of the past 4 seasons! I am pulling hard for the Pens to get healthy and make a run, Boston is making major moves to improve, and the Craps think they have something going, but if I were forced to bet on the conference, it would be on the Flyers. They have as deep and balanced a group of top 9 forwards as I have seen in the salary cap era, so they create match up issues all game long. Their 4th line is good enough, and during the playoffs will see minimal minutes given the strength of the top 9. They can roll three very good defensive pairings this year, which should save some wear and tear on Pronger as the team gets deeper into the playoffs. It appeared that Pronger had run out of gas by the time the Finals rolled around, and that helped Chicago finally wear that defense down. If the Flyers have a potential achilles heel that could show in the playoffs, it is the lack of proven big time goaltending, though Bobrovsky has been good thus far. Three lines that can all score, three great D pairings led by Pronger, Timonen, and Meszaros, how do you beat this team? Well let's see how the teams are doing this year in the major categories, knowing that the Flyers have two games in hand on the Penguins:
Philadelphia is second in the NHL in points with 81, the Penguins are tied for 3rd with 76. Philadelphia is 17.5% on the power play, the Penguins are 16.5%. The Flyers are third in goals scored with 188, and the Pens are 8th with 172. The teams are tied in goals against with 141, but Philadelphias average per game is slightly higher (2.47 GPG v 2.39 GPG for the Pens due to the games in hand). Pittsburgh leads the league in penalty kill at 87.5%, while Philadelphia kills penalties at the rate of 85.8%. The Penguins surprisingly lead the league in penalty minutes at 1122, while Philadelphia has 811 penalty minutes. If you factor in the man games lost this season, particuarly by Crosby, and to a lesser extent Malkin, I think one could argue that if all else were equal health wise, these two teams would be the odds on favorites again in the East, and would likely only lose to each other. The statistics are that close, and frankly I am proud that the Pens are still in this neighborhood statistically given the two games in New York where they surrendered 14 goals, and the calamity the Pens have had on the injury front. Again, only 2 games this season with Staal, Malkin, and Crosby on the ice together, or actually 4 periods. They are now missing 4 of the organizations top centers, and its top scoring winger. Now for how they spend their money to build two premiere Eastern Conference franchises over the past half decade or so. Both teams are right against the cap right now. The Penguins have 28.35M tied up in their top 6 forwards, while the Flyers have 26.55. Interestingly enough, the Flyers pay about the same for Briere, Richards, and Carter, as the Penguins pay for Crosby and Malkin. The Flyers have gotten 101 goals and 240 points from those top 6 forwards, and the Penguins have only gotten 91 goals and 208 points from their top 6. I think the Penguins would be ahead in this top 6 if Crosby had not missed 18 games, Geno 15 games and Staal 37 games. The production for the Flyers is very evenly allocated, and the Pens would be very much loaded to Crosby and Malkin, with Kunitz a nice third. Staal would likely be in the Kunitz range over a full season. The two star model won the Pens a Cup two years ago, but you can see how it hurts when you lose one or two players here. The Flyers have their risk spread out more amongst their top 6 most expensive forwards. I will say that the forward model for the Penguins can work IF Staal or Malkin could be productive on a wing for each other. I actually expected to shoot holes in the Pens model, but actually I think I am proving that BOTH models work in a normal year relative to man games lost. I have to believe that if the Flyers lost 70 man games out of their top 3 forwards that a similar affect would show on the team. The Flyers have 23.7M into their 7 NHL defensemen, with 15.2 of it into Timonen, Pronger and Meszaros. The Penguins have 19.2M into their defense, with 12.75 of it into Martin, Michalek and Orpik. The Penguins have two of their top 5 scorers on the blueline, Letang with 45 points, and Goligoski with 31 points. The Flyers leading scorer from the blue line is Kimo Timonen, which is only 8th on the team with 27 points. Since the Penguins and Flyers have very similar goals against statistics and the Penguins blueline has more points, the Penguins defense is better, right? Well, maybe not. The other area of comparsion is goaltending, with the Pens investing 5.6M into the position, 5M on Fleury and 600K on Johnson, while the Flyers only have 2.675 into this position, with Bobrovsky taking up 1.75M and Boucher at 925K. They are getting strikingly similar numbers from their starters in this area as well, with Fleury posting 27 wins v Bobrosky posting 23, Fleury posting a 2.29 GAA and Bob posting a 2.42, and each having a .920 save percentage. If you look at defense and goaltending as a single source of cap space the Flyers have 26.3M into the combined area, and the Penguins have 24.75M. If you look at the whole, the biggest area of difference is guys like Giroux and Leino both of whom make under 1M, contributing 19 goals and 52 points in the case of Giroux and 13 goals and 39 points for Leino. That is VALUE at the price folks.

So what does this all mean? Damned if I know, but I find it interesting. I will take a poke anyway. I started this odyssey thinking I was going to make a case that the Penguins model may need to be changed vis a vis the money into the top players. And I am still thinking the Penguins could do more with the 8.7 they have into the Geno we have seen the past two years, BUT I think the conclusion I came around to is this. I think the Penguins IF the hockey gods had left both teams fairly healthy in key positions are slightly better based on the standings, and key statistics within the context of the big three for the Pens only playing 4 periods together this year. But it is by a hair, and injuries are part of the game, so it is what its. I really like the Flyers to come out of the Eastern Conference this spring. I also thought the organizations constructed two great teams very differently, and I think that though there are differences, the teams are more similar than I thought, but different in how they get there. They are similar in that:

They both have a lot of key players that were drafted by the team and stayed over the long run-Flyers have Richards, Carter, JVR, Coburn, Giroux. The Penguins have Crosby, Malkin, Staal, Fleury, Orpik, Letang, Talbot;

They have a similar amount of money into their top 6 forwards;

They both use their AHL club to stock their NHL club effectively;

They have strong ownership, an effective, intelligent GM, and an excellent head coach;

Their first round draft picks over the past several years are the cornerstones of the team;

Both teams have a deep farm system;

They are different in the following ways;

The Penguin have a forward group with 3-4 big scorers, (20+) goals over a full season, and a good sized group of scorers with 12-15 potential. The Flyers have about 6-7 guys with 20+ potential, a good core of 10+ scorers, but nobody with HIGH HIGH end potential of Crosby and Malkin;

The Penguins generate a lot more points off of the blueline;

The Penguins system is full of defeneman, with 5 of the 7 on the blueline being home grown (Martin and Michalek the exceptions), while the Flyers ony have Coburn straight up from their system;

The Penguins have put big money into a franchise type goaltender, the Flyers have not;

The Penguins have not been able to develop or find inexpensive top level scoring, while the Flyers have with Giroux and Leino(these two will make the cap situation/structure interesting next year as Giroux's cap hit goes from 800K to 3.75M and Leino is a UFA who will command much more than the 850K he currently earns0;

My conclusion, is that despite our rivalry, we have two of the elite teams in the league over the past several years, both positioned to remain so, who are more similar than either fan base realizes. I think it is very likely that these two teams will indeed be in the Finals each of the past four years, and champs two of the four. I think both are set up to remain a big threat for the upcoming seasons as well. I will await the trade deadline to come and go before I say which one comes out of the East. A great rivalry either way.

Sound Tigers @ WB/S Pens (Gillies vs. Bortuzzo) 10/9/09

Long Island turd taster Gilles slamming then first week pro Robert Bortuzzo to the ice, as he knew Jesse Boulerice was not in the lineup to pay him back.

Paul Bissonnette vs Trevor Gillies (2) 12/20/08

Biznasty v the Long Island turd muncher post cheap shot by Gilles.....history goes back to 2008.

Pens beat AVS 3-2 in overtime

In a back and forth game, the Penguins take two important points to avoid losing 3 games in a rwo for the first time this season. Joe Vitale scored his first NHL goal, giving the Pens a 1-0 lead in the first period. The Avalanche then scored the next two goals to go up 2-1. Jordan Staal who was a dominant force all night long tied it up at 2-2 with his 6th goal of the season in the second period. In addition, Staal was a monster kiling a 5 on 3 penalty that could have easily changed the outcome of the game if he hadn't. For those who do not think Staal is a second line center, take another look please! He was weak in the faceoff circle tonight, but otherwise the dominant player on the ice all night, on both ends of the rink. Before people denegrate his offensive output over the past few seasons, remember he was geting almost 0 power play time during that time. He is not the offensive juggernaut that Geno USED to be, but he is a great two way player, who can contribute in every aspect of the game. The Penguins made a strong push to end the game in regulation owning the offensive zone time in the third period, and forcing Budaj to make several key saves. In overtime, the Avs owned the territorial play until a tripping penalty was taken. On the ensuing power play, Kris Letang made a great play to keep the puck in the zone, got the puck to Goligoski who ripped a bullet, and Kennedy smashed home the rebound for his 5th goal in 7 games. Kennedy now has 12 goals on the season, and has stepped up his offensive output during a time when the Penguins need it most. Don't look now, but Brett Sterling now has 4 points in 4 games, with 2 goals and 2 assists! Hey, it aint pretty, but when half of your forwards are AHL call ups you take every two points you can scratch and claw from the pack. I am getting the first indications from the different sites I follow that the Penguins are getting serious about a couple of trade opportunities. There have been strong rumors that Kovalev is coming to Pittsburgh, but I think the Penguins are in the drivers seat on that deal, and may wait to see how the trade market evolves over the next week as some new teams may become sellers, and Kovy's 5 M salary cap hit, and inconsistent play make him a "must move" for the Senators. The asking price is supposed to be minimal, and if so, he may be a perfect fit here as he did play his best hockey here, has been a little more productive of late, and surely would add a dimension we currently lack. There are further rumors that Asham's inability to stay healthy this year(one of my bigger disappointments), make Ruutu a possible add on to that trade........I like adding the extra grit we thought we had gotten by adding Asham, but if Ruutu has a year left on his contract, I would pass, and give Asham another shot next year due to the difference in salary. Ruutu is over 1M and maybe 1.5M in cap hit, and Asham is 600K. I like Asham's game when he is healthy. The Penguins also seem to be very interested in Chris Higgins from Florida, and that is a move that I would like to see the Penguins make. He is young, and would be an upgrade to the scoring potential on the top two lines. He could also fit beyond this season. I would love to see them explore the Milan Hejduk option as a rental for this season only. My favorite move for the Penguins would have been Kris Versteeg, but the Flyers paid a steep price with a first and third rounder that given the Penguins injury situation, would have been too risky for the Pens to give up. I have a feeling though, that Ray Shero will make some move that nobody is even thinking about right now! The Penguins have more to move than local talking heads give them credit for without mortgaging their future should they choose to do so. For instance, the Penguins are loaded with NHL ready defensive prospects. They have enough depth to give up a prospect like Strait, Sneep, or Bortuzzo(all of whom have value) to package with a mid round pick or a UFA to be moved for the right player. Do not rule out Tangradi being movable as part of a package to get back an NHL caliber top 6 forward from a team who is a seller. Finally, the silver lining in what has become a dark cloud of a season is the fact that the Penguins are getting LONG looks at their top forward prospects in the organization, and may have found that Dustin Jeffrey, Joe Vitale, Nick Johnson, and Brett Sterling are more capable than they thought. I do not see any of them as top 6 material, but maybe can plug into the third line roles, to free up some cap space for that "scoring" winger they need.

STOOSH SAYS ISLANDERS ARE THE BASEMENT OF THE GUTTER

Whatever it was that transpired over the last forty minutes of the Pens-Islanders game this past Friday night wasn’t hockey by any real standard.

You could go to the lowest depths of the minor professional leagues – the very types of leagues parodied in Slapshot – and not see what we watched Friday night in Long Island. It’s tough to think back and find a game where one team endorsed such blatant disrespect for the health and well-being of the opposing players.

It was disgusting. It was ugly. It was scary to watch, especially as it escalated to the point that it became apparent that one team was not about seeking retribution via a scoreboard, but rather by attempting to have players carted off the ice on stretchers or backboards. And it was sickening to see that objective nearly achieved, with one player lost to a head injury and another who nearly could’ve been had he fallen to the ice the wrong way.

For both Pens fans and 99.9 % of the hockey fans outside of Long Island not trying to resort to some hollow justification to excuse this behavior away, perhaps the most disconcerting thing of all about the events of Friday night’s game in Long Island was the way the NHL handled it all. And that goes for the before, the during, and the after. When you add it all up and consider it all in light of the current safety issues surrounding the game, the league comes off somewhere between horribly incompetent and frighteningly ignorant. It makes you wonder whether the league is really interested in changing the culture of the game to protect any of its players, let alone the most talented ones.

But we’ll come back to the league.


A NEW BASEMENT FOR THE GUTTER
This starts with the New York Islanders, a team that managed on Friday night to dig itself an entirely new basement for the gutter in which it used to reside.

The Islanders and their fans can claim that Friday night was revenge for a hit that Max Talbot laid on Blake Comeau in the teams’ previous matchup all they want. They can claim it was retaliation for Brent Johnson’s one-punch knockout of Isles’ goaltender Rick DiPietro that broke DiPietro’s face.

Through the first period on Friday night, the Isles took the play to the Penguins. They found themselves up 4-0 after the first period, and then scored two more goals within the first four minutes of the second period. In between it all were a couple of run-of-the-mill fights and maybe a post-whistle scrap or two; nothing out of the ordinary.

Any other team in any other game would’ve been thrilled to death with a 6-0 lead. The Isles were long out of playoff contention and have settled into a spoiler role. Just the night before, they put a dent in the playoff chances of the Canadiens by winning a shootout in Montreal. What better way to stick it to another opponent, especially another one in a playoff race battling so many significant injuries?

Nope. Because these were the New York Islanders. And a commanding lead just wasn’t enough. Already chasing Brent Johnson from the game wasn’t enough. Two fights during the first period weren’t enough. The Islanders wanted another pound of flesh and the Pens were going to pay, or Matt Martin was apparently going to take it.

In the replay from 2:07, you’ve got to love how Martin doesn’t say one word to him. Also love that clown admitting but completely downplaying the sucker punch.

If that wasn’t bad enough, it got uglier a period later.

About five minutes into the third period, the Islanders found themselves up 8-2. With the game in hand, it was Trevor Gillies’ turn for his 15 seconds of NHL infamy.

Absolutely disgusting.

There are so many things wrong with what happens next it is tough to tell which is the most egregious.

Gillies’ actions are unjustifiable. They’re sickening. He takes five deliberate strides towards Tangradi and then launches into him, with an elbow aimed square at the side of Tangradi’s head. If that wasn’t enough, he immediately throws off his gloves and starts raining punches to the face and back of a player that was clearly hurt. Upon getting thrown out, he stands in the runway and continues to taunt an injured player getting medical attention from the trainer. It looked like he was contemplating getting back on the ice while Stewart was there trying to do his job.

How can anyone even attempt to justify that? That’s like attempting to justify the Ron Artest melee. How did anything that happened with Talbot, Comeau, Johnson and DiPietro possibly be used to excuse any of Gillies’ actions there?

You seldom see anything close to that in low-lever minor pro hockey, let alone the NHL, and this is where we need to start getting some separation here. Sure, you see fights and you occasionally see some hits of questionable legality in relation to the rules doled out on NHL ice. But when was the last time we witnessed anything with that level of premeditation. What Gillies did should have been a textbook example…a cautionary tale that shows up on the films the league makes for players instructing them on what NOT to do, or how NOT to act. So you’d think that the NHL might be interested in sending some sort of a message in response.

You’d think.


THE BIGGER PICTURE

And that leads us back to the league.

In all the fallout of the events of the Islanders-Pens game, the one thing that stood out most was Gillies’s hit on Tangradi, and trying to figure out how something like that happened in today’s NHL.

It was Mike Richards knocking David Booth stupid that helped put head shots on the NHL map. Just as that was dying down, Matt Cooke laid out Marc Savard with a reckless hit and put the issue front-and-center.

The NHL responded with Rule 48 in lieu of the Cooke-Savard incident. It was a means to add some teeth to the enforcement of hits delivered to the heads of unsuspecting players. It wasn’t designed to eliminate concussions; you’re never going to eliminate concussions from the game, as evidence by Talbot’s hit on Comeau. And there are some headshots that will always be the result of incidental contact.

So with all these steps to enact rules designed to enforce the danger of hits to the head, and with the league currently missing some of its most talented and marketable players, we get two plain-as-day instances on Friday night of blatant disregard for the rules.

We see a blindside mugging at center ice complete with a sucker-punch to the head and imagery that immediately conjured up memories of the Todd Bertuzzi-Steve Moore incident. And then we see a 32-year old, one-dimensional goon with 47 NHL games to his credit deliver a deliberate headshot to an opposing player.

Both smacked of intent to injure, just as much as they reeked of blatant disregard for the spirit of Rule 48, especially the hit by Gillies on Tangradi.

If that wasn’t a slap in the face to Rule 48, there never will be one.

And while Eric Tangradi lay on the ice trying to remember his own name, and Gillies stood ten feet away taunting him from the runway, the NHL was gift-wrapped golden chance to make an example of someone, just as the Ontario Hockey League did after this incident last season.

That incident occurred in an OHL game on October 31, 2009 between the Erie Otters and the Kitchener Rangers. The perpetrator of that incident was Michael Liambas, a 20-year old fourth-line overage winger who made his name in the OHL thanks to his willingness to fight, forecheck and deliver a crushing body check. The kid convulsing on the ice is Ben Fanelli, a 16-year old defensive prospect for Kitchener, just seven games into his OHL career.

Fanelli suffered facial lacerations and a skull fracture on the hit. He still has yet to play a game since that incident.

About a week after that incident, OHL Commissioner David Branch suspended Liambas for the remainder of the season. As a 20-year old overage player, Liambas had no junior eligibility left, so the suspension effectively ended his junior hockey career.

The fact that Liambas was universally regarded as a great kid off the ice held little weight. The OHL four years prior had instituted Rule 44B, which made it at least a minor penalty for any check to the head of an opposing player. The officials also had discretion to assess a major plus a game misconduct for any hit to the head, or even elevate it to a match penalty if the officials believed there was deliberate intent to injure. The rule also drew the distinction that a shoulder check to the head was still a check to the head and therefore a penalty.

In other words, hits to the head – incidental or not - were not tolerated. No credence was given to any disadvantages caused by a player’s height (the old “What’s Zdeno Chara going to do?” defense). A hit to the head was a penalty. The player was responsible for adapting his game accordingly. Liambas knew the rules and failed to adapt. The OHL felt it far more important to draw a line in the sand than to salvage the career of a kid who knew the rules going in. It was about the bigger picture.


EPIC FAIL
Thanks to at best a horrible act of stupidity and at worst a premeditated disregard for the rules of the league, the NHL now found itself faced with an opportunity to make a defined statement. The spirit of their rule already in place had been challenged. Some members of the media even said via Twitter and other outlets that it was time for the NHL to tighten its stance.

The character defenses began to trickle out. “Trevor Gillies was a good guy off the ice,” we were told. He had a wife and kids and he’s someone who worked his tail end off to get to this level, and throwing him to the dogs here would cost him a piece of his livelihood.

Maybe he should’ve thought about that about three strides before he leapt into Tangradi. What’s that they say - something about not putting your hand on the hot oven if you don’t want to get burned?

Gillies is a one-dimensional goon who three minutes a night on the nights that he dresses. He’s a career minor-leaguer who has spent most of his pro career bouncing between the AHL and ECHL. His game is intimidation, and that’s it. That’s all he brings. He’s worked up a reputation for sucker-punching players in fights in the AHL. He’s also hit players from behind in the AHL.

A 10-game or 15-game suspension probably doesn’t mean much to Trevor Gillies or to players like him. Not even sure a 20-game suspension would’ve fazed him. He doesn’t dress in enough games for it to matter. He knew the rules. He knew the culture of the game. He knew the issue that headshots presented to his fellow players. And so did his coach. But with an 8-2 third-period lead, still he got thrown out there, and still he took the run at Tangradi.

He was an easy sacrificial lamb for the league, if the league decided it was definitely and finally serious about curbing this head shot issue. Wasn’t it time to send that message? An 82-game suspension for a shot to the head of an opposing player, delivered with intent to injure. Hey, if nothing else, it could forever be known as the Gillies Rule, so his legacy could’ve been for something ultimately positive.

The news of the suspensions broke at about 11:30 Saturday night.

The Islanders organization was fined $100,000, which they will make back by selling 4000 tickets at $25 each.

Matt Martin was suspended for four games for sucker-punching and then hauling down Max Talbot.

For elbowing a player in the head, then throwing punches to the head of that player as he lay injured on the ice, and then taunting him from the runway, Trevor Gillies was suspended for nine games.

Epic fail, indeed. Again.


THE MATT COOKE BATTLE CRY

One of the strangest things to emerge from Friday night’s shenanigans and then the news of the suspensions was the way in which Islanders fans and eventually even some media types defended or at least attempted to justify it all from the Islanders side. It ramped up even further in the face of the criticisms of the league’s decisions and handling of the incidents in a statement he released on Sunday.

Outrage by Pens fans and media types attacking the Isles for their pathetic display on Friday night were met with five little words that became the battle cry for those defending or at least trying to justify what happened in Long Island.

The Pens have Matt Cooke.

Martin’s sucker punch of Talbot with a 6-0 lead? It’s OK. The Pens have Matt Cooke.

Not calling off the dogs after being up 8-2 in the third period? It’s OK. ThePens have Matt Cooke.

Gillies’ practicing his Ovechkin Leap into Eric Tangradi’s skull? It’s perfectly fine. The Pens have Matt Cooke.

That’s not to say there isn’t a point there. Cooke is a player who has made his career finding that edge between clean and reckless-if-not-sometimes-dirty play, and most of the time he plays with his skate edge teetering right on it. From time to time, he’s crossed the line.

But many who justified the attacks on the Isles by pointing out Cooke’s presence on the roster failed to recognize the following: Matt Cooke’s presence on the Pens roster and what the Islanders did on Friday are two separate things. The crest on Matt Cooke’s jersey in no way makes it OK to tee off at the head of an unsuspecting teammate of his. And the fact that Mario Lemieux cuts a paycheck to Matt Cooke doesn’t make his thoughts on the league’s methods and abilities to protect players from others who play with intent to injure any less valid.

The Penguins organization has addressed the situation with Cooke. They are aware – as are many Pens fans – of what some of Cooke’s actions have done to the current climate of the game. Sidney Crosby spoke out about it last year, as did Bill Guerin. Ray Shero mentioned before that he spoke to Cooke about needing to change his game in lieu of the Savard hit. We don’t agree with some of Cooke’s antics. Frankly, we want a league where we can cheer against Alex Ovechkin for the next 15 years, not watch footage of him watching from the pressbox because he has a concussion.

But still the backlash came. Still those sentiments were ignored in the debates, and it’s caused some of us to wonder just how much of it is really borne of predisposed opinions of the Penguins organization. How much of it are just non-Pens fans just wanting to see the team come crashing back to earth after being a media darling for the last five years?

Case in point: What if it had been Tampa instead of Pittsburgh on Friday night?

What if Martin jumped Ryan Malone at center ice? What if Gillies had tried to staplegun Stamkos’s head to the glass instead of Tangradi’s? What if it was Steve Yzerman speaking out instead of Lemieux?

Would those same defenses be directed at Tampa fans? Would Yzerman be subject to the same “hypocrite” accusations as Lemieux, given that Yzerman still has Steve Downie on his roster? Downie is a younger version of Cooke, an abrasive, talented player who often has lost sight of the line between clean and reckless play.

Where does it stop?

Are Dallas fans not allowed to complain about liberties taken with their team because of Steve Ott?

Can Mike Gillis not complain to league officials about any perceived slights to the Canucks because of Alex Burrows? What about Bryan Murray up in Ottawa with Chris Neil on his roster?

Or maybe this is just the pot trying to call the kettle black to curry some sympathy here.

The Islanders know what transpired on Friday night. They knew going in that it was about seeking retribution not through normal accepted conventions, but rather by overstepping the boundaries of clean, respectful play.

But then, this is what bottom-feeding teams do. They make excuses. They attempt to justify actions of cowardice and disrespect with baseless claims of favoritism towards other teams. They botch personnel decisions with degrees of ineptitude that make outside observers wonder if they’re actually trying to fail, or if they’re just really that stupid. More often than not, organizations like these reek of a festering blend of hubris, arrogance and ignorance, and it almost always rots from the top down (see Clippers, Los Angeles; Bengals, Cincinnati; Pirates, Pittsburgh). Witness the comments from general manager Garth Snow on Gillies’s hit, or those from team mouthpiece Zenon Konopka on the impact of Gillies’s suspension and the Lemieux statement.

All it’s done is to reinforce what was proven on Friday night.

What should’ve been a nice moment and a big win for a club having an awful year become nothing but another cautionary tale, a mark of embarrassment, a glaring lesson of what not to do.

But I guess that’s how they do things in the basement

Even I have OVERESTIMATED the intellect of the average North American

Last posts on this issue, as it is about as disgusting to see the reaction of the average "human" to Friday night's debacle on the ice. Look up the videos of the suckerpunch to Talbot, the flying elbow etc. to Tangradi, and read the commentary if you can stomach it. Look at the 50 to 1 ratio of people who like the videos v those who do not. Utterly amazing. The overwhelming argument "people" seem to use to justify the organized mugging that the NHL allowed and condones on Friday night seems to be twofold. First, how can the Penguins complain about what happended Friday, as we lead the league in penalties and fighting majors. Second, how can Mario complain about what happened when he employs Matt Cooke? To the first point. What do you clowns want, really? First, until this team toughened up under Shero, the Penguins were called pussies, and denegrated for their lack of toughness. The Penguins historically were not a physical team, preferring skilled, fast players over bruising tough players. But, since the idiots who run the league, and the skating clowns in stripes do not protect skilled players from thuggery, the Penguins acquired the pieces to help protect their skill guys. Now, that is wrong too? The Penguins lead the league in fighting majors because they need to to keep the goons off of Crosby and Malkin. And the only guy they employ who is only a figher is Eric Godard. Godard is a very good fighter, but one who honors the code. Show me a play where Godard was the coward that Gilles was in hitting a player from behind in the head with an elbow, then punching him while he was out of it. Show me a time that Godard sucker punched any player, much less a much smaller player in the head from behind. Or attempted to fight a goaltender. The other guys who fight on the Penguins like Engelland, Asham, and Rupp are good players, who skate regular minutes, and fight when necessary. As does EVERY team in the league. As far as the Cooke argument, I would say this. Matt Cooke has made some bad decisions in terms of hits he has made, no doubt. He plays in the gray areas, to be sure, but every team has at least one guy like Cooke, and they all covet them. Should he tone down his game some, probably. But anyone who thinks that employing Matt Cooke makes the felonious assaults made by the drooling sub NHL goons okay should experience the feeling of getting hit in the head with an elbow from behind by some jackass, then punched in the face while they attempt to gather their wits. It is an offer I gladly make to you myself. If the Islanders came out, hit everything that moved, fought everything that moved, LIKE MEN, face to face, then despite the fact that there percieved slights were a joke, I could at least give that some respect. But the plays made by the Islanders are nothing short of premeditated felonies, carried out by cowards. If you think that they were justified in that level of response, then you should not be allowed to procreate, as the world is already chock full of idiots. The NHL is an even bigger joke than I thought, and that is saying something. Enough said. Karma has a way of catching up, and I will be happily await that day. And Beej, if you ever have an Islander on the ice again, face open and vulnerable, think about Friday night before you give quarter.

Pens lose 5-3 to the Rags

Not going to waste a lot of time rehashing a game in which the Pens lost to a divisional while sporting an AHL lineup. It is what it is right now. When your goals scorers for a night are Deryk Engelland and Brett Sterling, not much more needs to be said. The NHL game right now is a joke. As is the Canadian media and ESPN. Out.