Thursday, March 31, 2011

Two garbage games in a row


Not much to say. The Penguins offense is offensive, the power play is not even professional. Letang looks just BRUTAL out there, Staal, Kovalev non existent. Staal appears unable to take a pass anymore, and Kovalev is a turnouver machine. Letang looks like he is running around like a chicken with his head cut off. Two big games, three total goals, and zero power play goals. In fact the Pens have scored just 6 goals in their past 5 games, which will not be nearly good enough to survive a playoff round. Lots of questionable calls and non calls tonight, though the non- calls should not matter much with our current power play. I would really be touting Dan Bylsma heavily for the Jack Adams given the fact the Penguins have hung in there with all of the injuries, but frankly, the power play may be the factor that makes that a tough sell. It is beyond pathetic. Not too much more to say, other than if this is what the Penguins are going to take to the post season, it will be an ugly, and short ride. Not in the mood to say much more, despite winning two of the past 4 games in shootouts, watching the last 4 games has been kind of like throwing up in your mouth. That said, the Penguins have locked up at least the 5th seed and are virtually assured a matchup with Tampa Bay unless Montreal and NYR win out and Tampa loses out. The issue will be whether we get Tampa as the 4th seed with home ice, or the fifth seed without it. Home ice does not seem to be a big advantage to the Pens this season, but you would rather have it, than not.

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Pens lose crucial game to Flyers


Well, first off, I jinxed Fleury, sorry Marc. Second, the Penguins played a sloppy game in all phases, and lost to a team that was just sharper last night. Neither team played a clean game, but the Flyers took advantage of the Penguins' mistakes and the Pens did not take advantage of Flyers mistakes. Kennedy, shoot the damn puck from 1o feet away, Kovalev, no more drop passes 10 feet inside the blueline. Defense, how about punishing forwards taking their 4th whack at a puck in front of Fleury?? Neal, how about crashing the net and getting a garbage goal. Letang, those two red tubes with the red crossbar and twine is the direction the puck should go. Enough of that.....The Flyers take the season series with a 5-2 win, and likely clinch the division barring an epic collapse. The Pens have a 5 point lead on Tampa, whom they play Thursday night. That is a game they need to win, unless they want a sphincter tightening white knuckle ride down the stretch to hold on to home ice. A win, and the Pens will ensure at least 5th place, and put 4th place firmly in their command. A loss, and the battle for 4th seed is on. The Penguins power play remains a joke going 0 for 4 and is now 3 for its last 59. The penalty kill surrendered two goals tonight as well. The Penguins have another disturbing trend to correct for the postseason as well. Last night's loss makes the flightless birds 4-11-1 against the East's top 8 teams this season on home ice. That is a disturbing trend for a team that is hoping to make big noise in the post season.

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Fleury for Hart Trophy?


Marc Andre Fleury, though a great goaltender is not the best goaltender in hockey in my opinion. Statistically, he is rarely in the top ten, despite two trips to the Finals and a Stanley Cup ring to his credit. And for the month of October 2011, he was not even the best goaltender on the Penguins, that was Brent Johnson. However, since November 12th, when he got his groove back, I do not think that there has been a player more valuable to his team than Fleury. He will not win the Vezina Trophy awarded to the league's best goaltender, that will likely go to Roberto Luongo of Vancouver. The Hart Trophy, voted on the Professional Hockey Writers Association is given to the player deemed MOST VALUABLE TO HIS TEAM. With the Penguins losing 303 man games to injury this season, and many of those games being lost by critical players, the fact that the Penguins are playing tonight for a share of the Conference lead is a testament to the value of Fleury. The number of man games lost is only 8th in the league, but nobody is missing the firepower of the Penguins over that time. Consider that the entire model of the Penguins was built strenth down the middle. Crosby, Malkin and Staal are supposed to create matchup nightmares for the opposition and MAF is supposed to stop just enough pucks for that strength in the middle to win most games. Well, those 3 centers have played 4 periods of hockey together this season, so the Penguins are not here due to the heroics of those guys. They are not here because of they have filled the net with pucks in the absence of the likes of Staal, Crosby, Malkin, Kunitz, Letestu, Jeffrey, and now Cooke for extended periods. They are here because they committed to team defense and Marc Andre Fleury has put the team on its back, and allowed them to win games, or at least steal points in many games in which they could not muster more than 2-3 goals.


Listen the odds are against Fleury as the Hart is almost always given the scoring leader or at least the man with the most goals. Since 1980, or 30 years it has only been given to two goaltenders, Dominik Hasek in 1997 and 1998, and to Jose Theodore in 2002. In 2000, they gave it to defenseman Chris Pronger, and on the other 26 occasions they gave it to a high scoring forward. To add to the difficulties, at least this season, there seems to be an anti Penguins bias. The national pundits tend to talk about Jonathan Toews, Henrik Sedin, and Corey Perry, all great players when the speak of Hart Trophy front runners. They are all worthy of consideration. Sedin leads the league with 96 points, Toews has 71 points and 31 goals, ( only 5 more points more than Crosby and one LESS goal despite Crosby being out 3 months), and Corey Perry is red hot, with 44 goals and 86 points to lead a late season charge for Anaheim into the playoff mix in the western conference. I think that Fleury still has meant more to his club than all three of those guys THIS YEAR given the loss of such high end talent. The Penguins are also in better position than two of those three teams as a result of Fleury's heroics, Vancouver being the exception. Any of those guys winning it over Fleury would be typical of the league based on the above referenced statistics. The player who gets mentioned for the Hart that rubs me wrong though is Carey Price. Yes, he did take the reigns BACK from last year's playoff hero, Jaroslav Halak, and has had a great year as well. Statistically he and Fleury are very similar, both in a 5 way for second in the league with 34 wins behind Luongo's 35. Fleury has a slightly better GAA at 2.28 v 2.40 for Price. While Price has a slightly better save percentage at .922 to .920 for Fleury, and he has 8 shutouts to Fleury's 3. Fleury has helped his offensively challenged team to 7 extra points by posting a 7-2 record in shootouts and a .829 save percentage in them. Price has helped steal 3 extra points by way of shootout, going 3-2 with a .750 save percentage. Statistically, they are similar, but the Penguins are poised to potentially win the East with the injury issues they have had to key players, while the Canadiens are 11 points behind them, while suffering far fewer man games lost to key players. Hey, after a 7-8-1 start Fleury has rebounded to help the Penguins post a 38-15-7 record, and a 14 for 15 winning streak that started on 11-12 against Tampa. In this critical week against great competition, Fleury has posted 4 wins, all four by shootout, and the last three by scores of 2-1 against the Flyers, 1-0 against the Devils and 2-1 against Florida. He allowed one shootout goal, and post an amazing .61 GAA and .975 save percentage during that span. Those 6 point all but ensured the Pens the fourth seed, and kept them in the mix to win the conference. On a final note, I think it should matter who ELEVATES their normal game when necessary when considering the value to an organization, and Fleury has done that too. His career GAA is 2.74 and his career save percentage is .908. This season despite a start that was HORRENDOUS, his season GAA is 2.28 and his season save percentage is .920. When Malkin was lost for the season on top of Crosby, and the other injuries the hockey world figured the BEST the Penguins could do was SURVIVE due to their fast start and hang on to a low playoff seed. Instead, they have THRIVED, stealing points in low scoring losses, getting two points in low scoring wins and shootouts. For my money, there is no bigger reason for this than #29, and for that he deserves STRONG consideration for the Hart. Though I am sure he will not even get any real consideration, that does not change the fact that there is nobody who has been more valuable to his team this season than Marc Andre Fleury, even if Pittsburgh fans are the only ones to know it.

Bettman and Campbell, Dumb and Dumber

The Matt Cooke suspension bleeding over into an entire round of the playoffs is now even more obviously a targetted situation as opposed to the NHL really cracking down on hits to head. Cooke's 10 games plus an entire round of the playoffs was supposed to be the first shot across the bow and a message about head shots to the league. Well, as I knew all along, the extra time there was a more an F you to the Penguins and Mario Lemieux. After elbowing Ryan Johnson in the head last night, and earning a game misconduct, Todd Bertuzzi will not even be summoned to meet with Ruhtards who serve as the NHL Kangaroo Court. They cite the fact that Bertuzzi has not really had an incident of this nature recent enough to be considered a repeat offender as the reasoning behind that decision. Okay, that may be true, but he has quite a history, including a career ending assault on Steve Moore, possibly the most infamous flagrant foul in modern hockey, and at least one other lengthy suspension for a dirty hit. He may have cleaned up his act since then, BUT are we not supposedly sending a message the elbows to the head will draw stern reactions from the NHL? Did Bertuzzi not elbow Ryan Johsnon in head last night? I guess that new tough love policy only extends to the Black and Vegas Gold. From Poland with love, Campbell, please go fuck yourself with the Vezina! Then pass that tarnished chalice to the little elf, and let him take his turn.

Monday, March 28, 2011

Todd Bertuzzi hits Ryan Johnson (Elbowing Major) | March 28th, 2011 [HD]

I am going to guess that in the Kangaroo Court of the NHL, this will get 0-2 games.

Todd Bertuzzi Sucker Punches Steve Moore

One of the worst cheap shots in hockey history. This ended Steve Moore's career.

No Comment on Officiating « Teds Take

No Comment on Officiating « Teds Take Another bit of evidence as to the root of the classlessness that permeates the Capitals organization. It does, as I always say start at the top, goes on down through McPhee, Boudreau, the players and fans. The owner of the Caps taking shots at local douche, er I mean blogger Dan Steinberg over comments he made about not using injuries as a reason for not producing. Very "professional" for a man who owns a pro sports franchise to get into an arrow sling contest with a blogger for the local paper. I love the Capitals, they will always be a joke under this regime, Cup or no Cup.

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Pens win NHL record 4th consecutive shootout game



I am not really sure what to say about today's game. On paper, one of those games you just should easily win if you are the Penguins. The Panthers were officially eliminated from playoff contention on Friday night, and have a depleted roster due to some trade deadline moves meant to help them long term. The Penguins meanwhile, have a possible divsion and conference title on the line. That said, it was a classic trap game. The Penguins are bad enough in matinee games, I am seriously considering selling my matinee game tickets next year. So they played a Sunday matinee, against a weak opponent with their next two games against Philadelphia, a four point swing with the team in front of them for the division, and a four point swing game against Tampa, the team right behind them to follow. And they sure as hell played like it. The Panthers came to play today, outshooting the Penguins 38-28, and completely outplaying them for most of the afternoon. The Penguins managed to generate just 13 shots in the first two periods, and their putrid power play, was putrid again, going 0 for 3. It is now 3 for its past 55 chances, and if it remains this bad, the playoff run will be SHORT. The Penguins also struggled on faceoffs again today, an issue that Crosby's possible return could correct. To me, today was mostly about two players. Ben Lovejoy got his third goal of the season to tie the game about 2 minutes after Florida took the lead. Lovejoy has just slowly gotten better over the last quarter of the season, and appears to have taken the lead in the run for the 6th defenseman role over Deryk Engelland. Lovejoy now has 3 goals, 11 assists, and 14 points, and is a +10 for the season. His confidence with the puck and participation offensively has been noticeably better of late. But to me, today was more about Marc Andre Fleury, who was correctly named team MVP. Fleury collected his 34th win today, which is tied with several players for second in the league behind Roberto Luongo. Fleury followed up his shutout on Friday with a 37 save one goal performance today, including two more stops in the shootout. Fleury has now stopped 20 of his last 22 shootout opponents, and set a club record for most time elapsed between two goals (150 minutes and 14 seconds). NHL pundits are now talking readily about guys like Jonathan Toews and Corey Perry for the Hart Trophy as league MVP, but I am not sure that Marc Andre Fleury should not be considered for this award. If the Penguins' story this season is as compelling as many think it is, with the Penguins collecting 98 points, and still in strong contention for the top seed in the conference with six games left, then why would you ignore the single biggest reason that this is true when you discuss the Hart? Guys like Sedin in Vancouver, Toews in Chicago, and Corey Perry in Anaheim are truly great players, but have any of them been MORE important to their teams than Fleury this season? If the Hart is truly for the player most VALUABLE to his team, it is tough to think that anybody has been more important to any team than Fleury has been to the Penguins this season. Some other random thoughts from the past couple of games. When I see Jame Neal just overpower goaltenders on the shootout with his wicked wristers, I salivate a bit when I think of him on a line with Crosby or Malkin. Currently, when Neal gets the puck it seems as if he is fighting off at least one if not two checkers at all times. When the opposition has to respect the talents of a world class center, the room that will open up for Neal should make all the difference in the world for him. When he gets it going, look the hell out. I might be in the minority, but the tremendous shootout moves of Kovalev do not make me despise him any less. I have watched him closely the last several games, and I would be surprised if he broke a sweat on most shifts he takes. He may be a world class talent, but I think he is also a world class douche. He might have a few more assists if his linemates had better finish, but his lazy play drives me about over the wall! Matt Niskanen after a good start, looks like the weak link on the blue line right now to me. He had a couple of ugly turnovers again today, and I am not sure that the role of 5th defenseman should just be GIVEN to him. Finally, I like the extra effort Talbot has been showing in Cooke's absence on the penalty kill. Here are some interesting statistics as we await a big week for the Penguins to unfold:


Pittsburgh is tied for third in the entire league for points with 98. Washington also has 98 points, and both teams trail Vancouver with 107 points, and Philadelphia with 100;


The Penguins 45 wins ties them with Philly for second in the league, though the Flyers have a game in hand;


A good playoff statistic for the Penguins is that they are second in the league behind Anaheim in winning percentage in one goal games at .605 and a 23-7-8;


The Penguins lead the league in penalty kill at 86.3% and is tied for second in short handed goals with 12 behind the Islanders who have 13;


It is a good thing that the penalty kill is so solid, as the Penguins are second in the league in penalty minutes per game at 17.3;


The Penguins are among the top teams in all categories except one KEY category, the power play. The Penguins are 23rd in the league at just 15.9%. This is a real achilles heal that needs to be fixed. All in all, a remarkable set of statistics given what this team has been through. At 98 points, the Pens are just 3 points behind last season's total with 6 games left to play. It would be really great to see them surpass last year's point total with all they have been through. The Flyers regulation loss to Boston tonight sets up the biggest game of the year at the CEC on Tuesday night!

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Pix from behind the bench last night
















Pix from behind the bench last night
















Pens beat Devils in shootout


When James Neal scored his second game winning shootout goal this week, the Penguins with 96 points moved into a tie with the Capitals for second most points in the Eastern Conference, and closed to within two points of the Flyers for the Conference lead. The Flyers have two games in hand, and play the Islanders today. If the Flyers lose in regulation, and the Penguins beat Florida, the game against Philadelphia could be HUGE. The victory allowed the Pens to open up a 7 point lead over Tampa Bay for the 4th seed, and they are fading. Only two points behind Tampa is Montreal, who is in action today against the Capitals. Tampa plays Carolina as well today, making today a big day relative to the Penguins playoff matchups. The Penguins probably want to avoid Montreal in the first round of the playoffs, so todays matchup with the Capitals is interesting for Pens fans. Also, a Tampa victory clinches a playoff spot for Pittsburgh, helps keep Montreal out of that 5 seed and a possible matchup with the Pens, but puts Tampa back to within 5 points of the Pens for the 4th seed.

The Penguins shootout win makes them 8-3 in shootouts, and was Marc Andre Fleury's 3rd shutout of the season, and 19th of his career. Another interesting statistic is that Fleury now has 4 shutouts on 3/25 which happens to be my birthday. A very good day for both of us! Despite the lack of scoring, I thought Chris Kunitz played another strong game last night, and may have been the best player on the ice. The next two days will set the stage for another big week in the playoff hunt, and as I said a week ago, by this time next week we will have a real good picture of the post season.

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Penguins beat Flyers 2-1 in shootout




The Penguins beat the Flyers tonight 2-1 in a very closely contested game. They played each other tough but clean, and the Pens gained a point on first place Philadelphia to close within four points. They are running out of time in terms of overtaking the Flyers though. The Penguins are now 7-2-2 in their past 11 games. I will take a road win against a team as good as Philly anytime, especially with the injuries, but a regulation win would have gone a lot further to help the cause. After a defensive meltdown Monday in Detroit, the Penguins defense was solid tonight. Tyler Kennedy continued his strong play, netting his 18th of the season. He now has a career high 40 points and was the best Penguins player on the ice tonight. Letang netted an assist on the goal for his second assist in as many games. Kunitz added an assist to continue his red hot play and run his point scoring streak to 5 games. Kovalev turned Bobrovsky inside out on one Penguins shootout goal, and Chris Kunitz nailed the game winning shootout goal to add to his assist. Unfortunately for the Penguins, they just never get ahead of the injury bug, losing Dustin Jeffrey tonight for what would appear to be an extended period of time. With Letestu out also, the Penguins are down 5 centers right now due to injury, plus Orpik. Add in Cooke's loss due to suspension, and the forwards are decimated again. Yet the Pens managed to take two points on the road to help solidify their overall playoff positioning. Tampa was idle, but the Pens now have a five point advantage over the Lightning for fifth place, a 7 point advantage and a game in hand over Montreal who got smoked by the Bruins, and a nine point lead over the Rangers and a game in hand, as they lost in a shootout to Ottawa tonight. Tomorrow night, bring on the Devils! After a Sunday matinee, next week brings another match with Philadelphia and a game against Tampa. By the end of the Tampa game, we should have a good feel for where the Penguins will land in the conference standings. On a final note, I will be looking in the Philadelphia papers to see if somehow this toolbag in the picture got his ASS beat! Please!?!

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Cooke-Monster?

Given all of the demonizing of Matt Cooke over the past season, I thought it would be a good time to do a little piece on Public Enemy Number One. Matthew David Cooke was born on 9/17/78 in Belleville, Ontario. He is a 5'11" 205 lb left wing for your Pittsburgh Penguins, and he is a left handed shot. He was drafted in the 6th round, 144th overall in the 1997 NHL entry draft by the Vancouver Canucks. Prior to being drafted, Cooke played 3 years in the OHL mostly for the Windsor Spitifires, and attracted attention in his second OHL campaign with a 95 point (10th in the league) and 146 PIM performance. Cooke split time in both of his first two NHL seasons with the Canucks and their AHL affiliate the Syracuse Crunch. He made the team full time for the 2000-2001 season. In the 2002-03 season playing on a checking line Cooke posted a career high 42 points and earned the Fred J. Hume award as the team's Unsung Hero. Cooke was actually part of the top line for the Canucks for the final 13 games and playoffs during the 2003-04 season due to the suspension of Todd Bertuzzi for the infamous Steve Moore hit. He joined Markus Naslund and Brendan Morrison on the first line. Cooke showed his penchant for contributing big goals in that post season. During the seventh and deciding game of the playoff series with the Calgary Flames, Matt Cooke scored one of the biggest goals in Vancouver history by netting the game tying goal in GAME 7 of the series with ONLY 5 SECONDS left to play. It was his second goal of that game 7. Ultimately, the Flames won the game and series with an OT marker, but that did not diminish the contributions of Matt Cooke in a first line role.

Cooke was traded to the Washington Capitals at the trade deadline of the 2007-08 season due to his impending free agency in return for Matt Pettinger after 9 seasons and 566 games with the Vancouver organization. He is 12th on the all time list of games played for the Canucks.

On July 5, 2008 Cooke signed a 2 year 2.4M contract with the Penguins, essentially replacing the role held by Jarkko Ruutu, who left for Ottawa via free agency. After a slow start, Cooke fit in nicely with the Pens, delivering physical play, great forechecking and penalty kill, plus an occasional big goal. His grit and commitment to the Bylsma system was a significant part of the Penguins 2009 Stanley Cup run. In 2010 Cooke again played a prominent role, delivering 15 goals in the regular season, and 4 more in the abbreviated post season, including 2 goals in the decisive game 6, series clinching win against Ottawa. Despite the feelings of the rest of the league, Cookie had found a prominent role and home on this Pittsburgh team, so much so that Ray Shero broke his standard pattern and signed a 32 year old  player to a 3 year deal, something he is loathe to do. Cooke's deal was worth 5.4M over that span or 1.8M per year.

Why would the Penguins want to retain the services of a player with the baggage that comes with a guy as hated by those outside of Pittsburgh as Cooke is? First off, I have stated that I do not believe that Matt Cooke plays any more on the edge than about 15 other guys who have similar roles in the league. But given the general perception of Cooke as a villain, why bother with this guy? Well, there are several reasons. First Cooke is a guy who can play a versatile role on any team. He has played on every line from the first to the fourth, though he seems most at home on a blue collar third line. He is intelligent, he can skate, he is one of the top penalty killing forwards in the league, he is a tenacious forechecker, he will be among league leaders in hits every season, and he is a good teammate in the locker room. He is an agitator who gets under the skin of the opposition without fail. He will get you 12-15 goals and 30+ points per year without time on the power play. Not sure how good he is on the PK? Since he left the ice against the Rangers, the Penguins league leading penalty killing unit gave up 4 power play goals in less than 4 periods of hockey, and fell to second in the league for the first time in months. Guys like Cooke are invaluable in the playoffs when they play with discipline. Matt Cooke is a talented and valued NHL veteran with 805 regular season NHL games, with 126 goals, and 301 total points to go with his 988 career penalty minutes. He has added 76 playoff games to his resume and chipped in 13 goals and 12 assists in those games, several in the biggest of moments. Prior to his season ending suspension, Cooke had chipped in 12 goals, 18 assists, and 30 points to go along with his stellar leadership on the league leading penalty kill. Despite his status as Public Enemy Number One, Cooke had only been suspended for 10 games in those 881 total NHL games, not exactly a choir boy, but plenty of lesser villainized players had been suspended for MORE games in Less time. This last suspension will be for more time than all of his prior suspensions. His poor decision Saturday was a surprise as he had blossomed into a leader on this team, stepping up in the absence of Crosby, Malkin, and Orpik. He is well liked in the locker room. Off the ice, he and wife Michelle still run the Cooke Foundation of Hope in Vancouver that was inspired by the tragic loss of his niece. This charity helps many people facing personal crises related to health, finance and emotional life changes. Then there is the story about Cooke and the time he has spent motivating a local teenager who who suffered severe injuries in an automobile accident last fall, and is struggling to regain his ability to walk. Cooke reached out to this kid and his family who are big hockey fans, has kept in touch during his long rehab, got the family a suite at an early season game, and got them in the locker room post game. He followed up with Christmas gifts and cards this holiday season. The teen and his family refer to Cooke as an inspiration as they struggle through a difficult time.
Again, I understand that Matt Cooke's game has crossed the line on occasion and he needs to change his game to remain a valued player who earns a great living playing the game he loves. He has crossed over recently from a guy who played hard, and was often on the edge, to a guy who has made several dangerous hits over the past season or so. That said, I think Cooke has the character and mental makeup to make that adjustment to his game, and those who call for his banishment from the league can slow down a bit. I won't belabor my point from earlier posts by getting into much detail about other prominent players with a similar or worse history of suspension and questionable hits, we know who they are. But for those who say it is time to banish Cooke, and that "this leopard cannot change his spots" so remove him from the league before he kills somebody, I offer two prominent current players who have been in that same conversation within the past few years about being a dirty, but who seem to have found a way to modify their games without losing their effectiveness. The first one is Steve Downie of the Tampa Bay Lightning. A couple of years ago, the league was speaking of Downie in similar fashion, as he could not seem to go more than a couple of games without getting involved in questionable plays, and at a young age already had two 20 game suspensions under his belt including one for purposely slashing an official over a goal call Downie disputed. When Downie and Emminger were traded from the Flyers in return for defensmam Matt Carle, one analyst stated that the Flyers got the better of the deal if Carle never did anything for simply being rid of Downie, and having his name associated with their organization. Well, in 2008-09 Downie, though still playing on the edge with 208 penalty minutes, delivered 22 goals and 46 points for the Lightning, and managed to avoid suspension. This season his production is down as are his penalty minutes, but he will deliver a 30 point plus season without significant incident. I am sure the opposition still does not like this guy, and his coaches would not have it any other way, but he seems to have modified his game to an acceptable balance of mayhem and production. An even bigger example of this type of adjustment is still across the state in Philadelphia. I am not sure that there were many players with a worse reputation for dirty play than Chris Pronger if you turn the clock back two years. Pronger has been suspended 8 times for various incidents over the years, and has been been involved in plenty of ugliness as a player. He has been suspended for cross checking a player in the throat. He was suspended for swinging a stick at Jeremy Roenicks head, an offense for which he should have been paid, not penalized. First off there is nothing in Roenick's head, and shutting him up would have been a public service! In 2007 Pronger became only the third player in NHL history to be suspended two different times during one playoff run. He followed that up with an encore performance in 2008 stomping purposely on Ryan Kesler's thigh with his skate blade. Not hard to imagine how tragic that COULD have been. He was the guy I thought of at that time as the dirtiest player in the NHL. He is still a guy who makes his living playing on the edge, and he makes forwards think twice before crossing in front of the net, but for the past two seasons seems to have settled in also with the right balance of mayhem, menace and solid play. Opponents still hate Pronger, but that is part of why he is so good. I have no reason to believe that a guy with the intellect and skills of Matt Cooke cannot adjust his game to the proper level of menace to join these two guys as former "scourge of the earth" players to "just plain nasty" players.   Matt Cooke is an extremely valuable part of the Penguins, and my money is on Cooke making the appropriate adjustments to his game upon his return, as he is a very intelligent and gifted player.  I for one, am tired of hearing the media turn a guy who has been asked for years to fill a role in the NHL playing on the line, into a monster every time he CROSSES it.  Yes, it is time to not cross it, but please people, Cookie plays a role that is filled on virtually every NHL team, without this kind of media insanity.  So I have one thing to say....... GIMME the COOKIES BITCH!

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Jordan Staal - Short Handed Goal 6-4-2009

you can see me coming down the runway to yell at the backup goaltender in this clip....great goal, great game, great time!

Loudest Let's Go Pens Chant in the Old Barn - SCF Game 4 2008

Getting that playoff feeling

Pittsburgh Penguins Entrance Stanley Cup Final '09 HD

SImon Despres Amazing Goal JPL Prospect Hockey Agency

Check out this goal.

Simon Despres vs Brad Cuzner Mar 10, 2010

Not just a smooth skating offensive defenseman apparently! Love this, watch Despres defend a teammate on the St. John's Sea Dogs.

Real Deal James Neal

Crazy Fan reaction to referee blown call

Funny shit!

Monday, March 21, 2011

Penguins take a big two points in Detroit







Not sure how to view the game tonight. The positive view is as follows. With 9 games left the win leaves the Pens with 92 points and Divisional and Conference titles still possible. They went on the road, against the second best team in the tough western conference, playing back to back games, without yet another key player, coming off a tough loss and WON! The negative view is that the Penguins AGAIN lost a big lead due to bad discipline and a LOUSY power play, extending an ugly trend this season, but luckily snuck out with two points. It is a little bit of both actually. I hate seeing the team give up 3 unanswered goals in the third period, especially since they have done it before. That said, the Pens were coming off a tough loss yesterday afternoon, on the road, controversy surrounding the team over the Cooke incident, and down Cooke, Crosby, Malkin, Orpik, and Letestu. They had a goal disallowed, watched a four goal lead evaporate, but carried play late in the third and in OT instead of folding as they easily could have. At any rate, James Neal blistered a nasty wrister past Joey McDonald to give the Pens a much needed two points, and setting up a big game Thursday against the Flyers. Some notes and thoughts from the game:



The Penguins power play is so far beyond pathetic, it should be someone's job. They are 2 for their last 53 now, and they are rarely even a threat;


Much maligned Pascal Dupuis had 2 goals and an assist tonight, not bad for a guy that everyone had written off;


Kris Letang got only his 2nd assist in 14 games, and lost his composure in the third period. The kid who was in the conversation for the Norris a month or so ago has fallen on some HARD times;


Chris Kunitz, that winger most yinzers think should not be on a first line has 22 goals despite missing 15 games, and has been a monster since his return from injury without Crosby to set him up. Add goal scoring to his puck retrieval and forecheck, and you have a pretty nasty first line winger;


Jordan Staal chipped in two more assists, giving him 10 goals, 15 assists, and 25 points in 34 games for a .735 points per game average, not bad for a second line center to be;


Tyler Kennedy added his 17th goal of the year, and has also been a guy who has stepped up his game with the stars out;


The Penguins got short handed goals in each of their past two games;
If you don't think Matt Cooke is important to this team, know that the Penguins number one PK unit has given up 4 power play goals in the three and a half periods he has been out of the lineup;

The site of Alex Kovalev skating lazily around makes me want to punch his face in;

I was hoping to see much more from Asham, a guy I really like, but he was invisible outside of the questionable interference call on the Craig Adams goal that was disallowed;



The Penguins magic number for clinching a playoff spot is down to 4. Any combination of Pittsburgh getting 4 points or Carolina losing out on 4 possible points and the Penguins clinch a playoff spot. LETS GO PENS!!

Matt Cooke elbows Ryan McDonagh (Headshot hit) | March 20th, 2011 [HD]

Cooke suspended for final 10 games of regular season AND first round of they playoffs




Well, first off, I am done attempting to write anything positive related to the health of this team, or a lineup that is getting stronger. Two days and one game after I wrote about the glut of forwards the Penguins are getting back, a key component to the grit factor, and more importantly to the league's best PK is now gone for the remainder of the season(10 games), and the first round of the playoffs to boot. This is not the first time that this kind of sequence has occurred this year. Well on to the main subject, all of the Penguins and Matt Cooke haters are hurting themselves patting Colin Campbell on the back for finally "getting it right!" Well, I have made no secret that I am not sure that Campbell even rises to the level of a shitcrumb stuck in the asshairs of life, and this decision has not changed that thought in any way. It has solidified it. I have no issue with hitting Matt Cooke with a 10 game suspension for his  hit on Ryan McDonagh. Cooke is considered a repeat offender, and the hit could have resulted in a serious injury. It did not result in any injury though, and despite the fact that this SHOULD NOT MATTER, the fact remains that in the kangaroo court aka Colin's World of Justice in the NHL it always HAS factored in. A lack of injury has always mitigated the penalty, and a major injury has generally increased the sentence. If you buy into the theory that a playoff game suspension is the equivalent of two regular season games as many do, then Cooke's suspension is up to 24 games! Some will say that Cooke was the unfortunate first customer in a brave new world where the NHL is finally going to send a message to players who target the head, and if that is the case I can accept  this suspension. If Alex Ovechkin elbows someone in the head tomorrow, or Jarkko Rutuu, or late in the season, Chris Pronger does it, and they recieve a 10-24 game suspension, then I applaud the harshness of this decision. It will then appear to be the league taking a stance on dangerous head shots. But we all know that this will not happen, even to other "repeat" offenders. No, in the Garage League known as the NHL, we will soon see that this was nothing more than an idiot who is in a position so far beyond his intellectual capacity getting a shot at sending a message to a player he does not like much. Even more so for the cement head to punish that "arrogant frog who dared to speak out about his ineptitude." I have no doubt in my mind that this is not the first step in actually getting it right in this league. Just look to the Gilles decision, the Chara decision, the Marchand decision, the Heatley decision, the Lucic decision. Also note that three of those involve the Bruins, where Campbell's son plays. The Bruins cannot afford to lose any of those guys during this stretch. On tonight's broadcast the VS crew showed Justin Abdelkader of the Wings taking a blatant elbow to the head, not once but by two different players on the same shift. No call, no league review. Really? Those guys who delivered those blows, one was Martin Erat, do not wear the Black and Las Vegas Gold. Again, make no mistake about my position. The Cooke hit intentional or not was dangerous, and I expected and agree with the 10 games, as that would have been at least somewhat consistent with the suspension given to Gilles. The first Gilles hit and subsequent taunting only drew 9 games, remember that......and Gilles is AT LEAST every bit the repeat offender Matt Cooke is, and nowhere near the actual hockey player.  In fact, Gilles is an assclown with no place at all in the league. . His subsequent hit just 1:51 of ice time after returning from the Tangradi suspension, drew 10 games. In other words both of Gilles hits COMBINED got less than the actual value of Cooke's latest hit! It will be tough to convince me that this Cooke decision was not typical NHL schoolyard justice. Cooke loses $219,000 for the 10 games he misses, and the Pens lose a KEY component to the most consistently strong element of their game for the stretch and one round of the playoffs, the penalty kill. Despite the fact that a guy like Asham could probably spell Cooke fairly well in 5 on 5 situations, do not underestimate the impact his absence could have on the penalty kill. If you combine that with the missing offensive weapons,  Campbell's axe to grind with Mario  just dealt a significant blow to the Penguins playoff chances. Adding the entire first round of the playoffs to the suspensions was pure BS. On another note, Mark Madden is railing against the suspension also based on the fact that the NHL GM's chose not to ban head shots in their recent GM meetings, and I have to disagree with that logic. He is implying that the league must not care about head shots enough to ban them, but I am not sure about buying into the Madden mania.  I am a big fan of Matt Cooke's so take my opinion within that context, but again, I was not shocked about 8-10 games for the hit, intentional or not.   The speed of the game is a factor here, and the time players have to make decisions at a high speed is minimal.   The additional playoff sentence carrying a value of 14 MORE crucial games put the sentence into the BS category for me, and perpetuates the Garage League status of the NHL. 

**** As I am typing this I got a text that Ray Shero issued a statement siding with the NHL for their decision, but I suspect that is because they realize that in this Kangaroo Court, speaking out against the Kangaroo gets you kicked in the nuts. Speaking of which, what number does junior shitcrumb wear again? Maybe we will see junior in the playoffs, and send daddy our own message!


Anyway, sorry for the rambling style of this post, but what else would you expect? I find myself wondering a bit what this incident has done to Cooke's long term status as a Penguin. Hey, he is a key element to this team, and if you don't think so, remember Shero locked Cooke up with a three year deal for 1.8M per year. He NEVER gives third liners in this age bracket three years. We lost Ruutu a couple of years ago based soley on Shero's unwillingness to give him a third year. Giving Cooke that third year speaks volumes about what the organization THOUGHT of him. What we don't know is what they THINK of him now. He has been as advertised on the penalty kill, can deliver big clean hits when necessary, is a forechecking demon who fits in Bylsma's "Let's grind these bitches down" system, and has a knack for scoring some big time goals. However, to make a play  like the play he just made the week after the SI article and the GM meetings to discuss eliminating this kind of hit may have put a favorite player of mine in a precarious position as a Penguin.  After Lemieux made the statement he made about the league missing the boat on the situation in Long Island, I am certain he was not expecting to have one of his players involved in a significant incident involving a shot to the head.  The taste of the shit Lemieux is now eating publicly won't be swallowed easily. I read that Lemeiux gave Cooke the "our way or the highway" speech this afternoon. I don't know if that is true or not, but questions are being asked by the media and fans.  Will the Penguins view Cooke as a guy who has now learned a lesson who is too valuable to give up on? Or will they view the 1.8M per year they pay him as more than enough to go out and acquire  the grit without the risk? Do they feel that Cooke's prescence causes them undue harshness from the league when their other players are involved in physical incidents, or a lack of protection from the same? My business is in no way on the level of an NHL franchise, so don't take this statement in a negative light, but I can recall several situations where we had to give up on talented managers or other employees, as the downside risk they posed with their lack of judgement scared me more than their upside excited me despite several counseling sessions. We also have at least one person whose talent and abilities helped them survive a series of situations that involved poor judgement and we have been amply rewarded for that patience over time.  In my educated opinion Matt Cooke would be an example of the latter.  He is a player who has been asked and paid to play "on the line" for many years in the NHL.  He has made a great living for his beautiful family as a result.  When you play anything "on the line" it is easier to CROSS that line than it might be for those who play nowhere near the line.  Arguably, Matt Cooke in playing on the line over the years has also crossed the line at times, as most people "on the line" inevitably do at times.  I firmly believe that now that it is deemed as the issue that it is, a man as intelligent as Matt Cooke can make the adjustments necessary to remain a key member of this Penguins team.  I would have Matt Cooke riding shotgun with me any time, and I am betting the Penguins will make the same decision.  I for one hope so, and that the hyprocrisy of the media, opposing fans, and especially the league dies down. 

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Pens blow another home game


The Penguins had yet another meltdown on home ice and gave a game that could cost them home ice in the playoffs. I have been a defender of Matt Cooke from the beginning, but today's hit was tough to defend, and changed the momentum of a game that the Penguins were doing very well in. He will most surely be suspended for 10 games or more, and he made Mario Lemieux and others who have defended him look like an ass in the process. Also, the 2 for 45 power play is a joke. That is an insult to jokes by the way. The lack of discipline, a season long issue, and the lack of even a threat on the power play gave this game away today. I said these next two weeks would tell you who these Pens were, and this was not the start I was looking for! Another great goal today by Staal, and a beauty of a short handed goal midway through killing a five minute major penalty by Kunitz had the crowd on fire. Then Niskanen gets assessed a double minor for high sticking, and the Rangers score two goals in short order, the first of which was allowed despite goaltender interference by the Rangers. The season long tendency to meltdown in the third period is of great concern, as you might recall the game on 11/15 where the Pens surrendered a game tying goal against the Rangers with under a minute and a half left, before losing in OT, or the game on 11/10 against Boston where a third period meltdown turned a 4-2 lead into a 7-4 loss. You may recall the sequel with Boston on 1/10/11 where the Penguins lost a 2-0 lead with 3:23 in the third by giving up 4 goals in those three minutes to lose 4-2. Montreal stole a game late in third here early in the season by scoring multiple goals as well. That is a lot of home ice meltdown to talk about. One or two of those games go different, and this team is really fighting for the division and conference. As big an issue is that atrocity that takes the ice called a power play, which is a real momentum killer. Finally, Alex Kovalev floated uselessly today, and I am starting to think that the Penguins are going to regret that move, despite the cheap cost, not because of the pick, but because they thought Kovy brought enough to the table that they made no other moves. I am quickly losing patience with the Kovalev experiment. One other quick note is the Goligoski trade. I still think it was the right move over the long haul for Pittsburgh, but for now Goose is outscoring BOTH Neal and Niskanen combined with 1 goal and 8 assists, while Neal has 1 goal and 3 assists, and Niskanen has a goal and an assist since the trade. Not good for short term returns. The Penguins really need to get some points this week against three tough opponents to stay in the top 5 in the conference. Let's see how they rebound from this mess. I think the Asham controversy over ice time was just ended by Matt Cooke's stupidity!

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Two Weeks Notice


The upcoming two weeks for the Penguins reminds me of a nickname we had for my youngest daughter, "Two weeks notice." We called her that because it seemed like it took 2 weeks notice to have her complete ANY task at all. At any rate, two weeks notice here has a different meaning. Despite the fact that there are 4 weeks left in the NHL season, I believe that you will know what the Penguins playoff prospects are and where they will likely stand by the end of the 3/31 game against Tampa Bay. Here is why. As we go into today's play the Penguins stand 4th in the conference, but only 4 points behind Philadelphia, who now only has one game in hand. Philly plays tonight, and if they lose, they will have lost their game in hand, and Pittsburgh could close to within 2 points of the Flyers who are missing Chris Pronger, with a win tomorrow against the Rangers. Add to that, the fact that the Penguins play the Flyers twice in the next 8 days, and you can see the opportunity for the Penguins. In a best case scenario for Pittsburgh, those 2 games are an 8 point swing in the standings as the Penguins winning both in regulation get 4 points, and the Flyers lose the chance at 4 points. Washington also has the same 94 points as the Flyers, leading the Penguins by 4 points, but we have 2 games in hand on the Caps, who have been white hot. You would think they may be due to cool off a bit. The Penguins lead the Rangers by 10 points in the standings, so taking the 2 points tomorrow against them could really put the hurt on their chances of catching the Penguins in the Atlantic Division, as the Penguins have a game in hand on the Rags. Finally, Tampa trails Pittsburgh for the fourth spot in the conference by 2 points, but they play today and could draw even with Pittsburgh. It would appear that the Pens and Lightning will be neck and neck down the stretch, so that game on the 31st, and its possible 4 point swing, looms large in the playoff picture as well. With 4 of their next 7 games against teams clustered right around them in the standings, this stretch will likely tell you who the Penguins are right now, and how the playoff seedings will look. The Penguins magic number is 7 points for clinching a playoff spot. If the ninth place Hurricanes took EVERY single available point remaining they could land with 96 points maximum. They would have to win 10 straight games to achieve this, which is very unlikely. The Penguins who have 11 games remaining sit with 90 points. Even if the Canes win all 10 games, the Penguins still beat them by gaining 7 of the available 22 points remaining. Should make for a fun two weeks!

Adding to the intrigue, is the fact that the Penguins are getting "healthy." Funny to say that given the fact that they currently are without Crosby, Malkin, and Orpik among others, but here is where it gets interesting. The Penguins lineup in terms of forwards most recently was as follows:


Neal, Letestu, Kovalev

Kunitz, Staal, Kennedy

Cooke, Jeffrey, Dupuis

Rupp, Talbot, Adams

Injured players who should be returning in the next week or two include Arron Asham, Mike Comrie, Nick Johnson, and Eric Tangradi. Mark Letestu is now day to day with a shoulder injury. Chris Connor, a healthy scratch. So how do you configure your forward lineup? To me, I give Asham a shot. I know he has been like glass this year, and has not made the impact expected. I would give him a few games on that 3rd or 4th line to see what he can bring though. His 5 goals would project to 10 had he had been healthy thus far, and he can play a smart, physical, grinding game. He was very solid for Philly in a deep playoff run last season, and at his best is similar player to Matt Cooke. When Comrie came back, I would have to look at him also, as an offense starved team cannot afford to not look at all players who have some upside in that area. Comrie looked really good in the pre-season, prior to his hip injury. The problem becomes who do you sit? Production wise it would be Duper right now, but he plays a valuable role on the PK. Talbot and Comrie each play center, so do you sit Talbot for Comrie? Maybe. But Comrie would have to look dangerous in any "tryout" stretch prior to the playoffs, as Talbot has raised his game of late, and he also plays a big role on the PK. Dustin Jeffrey and Mark Letestu both would appear to have a long term future here, and have been productive, so it will be tough to move them from the lineup. They are both centers, but could each move to wing if they had to. Tyler Kennedy has been the Penguins most dangerous forward of late, and has great chemistry with Staal, so he will not be sitting any time soon. And in a best case scenario, Sidney Crosby could be a consideration IF the Penguins get to the second round of the playoffs. That would be a GREAT problem to have! Eric Tangradi and Nick Johnson, neither of whom can participate in the AHL playoffs are depth options coming back. Not a bad thing to have more NHL caliber forwards available to play. On defense, the pending return in a week or so of Brooks Orpik will force Bylsma to pick between Lovejoy or Engelland, both of whom have been very solid, to sit every night. If this team can avoid any other key losses, they are rounding into shape as a possibly dangerous team going into the post season. Not nearly the threat they would be with Malkin and Crosby, but a potential threat no less. The next two weeks will likely tell us how much of a threat.

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Pens win 5-1 in Ottawa




The Penguins did what they had to do tonight, taking 2 points from a weaker opponent. Ottawa has a horrible home record, going only 1-9-2 at home since they beat the Penguins at home back on 12/26. That said, the Senators had been 7-3 in their past ten games, so they were kind of hot going into the game. Tonight, Tyler Kennedy opened the scoring with his 16th goal. Kennedy added an assist later in the game giving him 1G and 4A in his past two games. He also has 9 goals in his past 19 games, and has really elevated his game in the absence of Crosby and Malkin. Jordan Staal had another strong game, chipping in a goal and an assist as well. Staal has 2 goals and 2 assists since his UGLY performance on Saturday against Montreal. How about Zybnek Michalek as another guy who has really elevated his game lately. After going 92 regular season games without a goal, he now has 3 in his past four games. Add in a goal by Ben Lovejoy, and the Pens blue line had a nice evening! How about Kunitz following up a 2 goal, and 1 assist performance with a 3 assist night tonight? He has really looked solid since his return from injury. And public enemy number one, the Cookie Monster adds his 12th of the season. The win gives the Pens 90 points on the season, and keeps them within sight of the Division/
Conference leading Flyers who own a three point lead on the Penguins, but have 3 games in hand. The two head to head games between Pittsburgh could decide the Division if either team can take both games. If Philadephia wins both, the race is over, and if Pittsburgh can win both, especially in regulation, they could really put the heat on the Flyers down the stretch. Next up, a big game against the Rangers on Sunday which is a four point swing game in the race.

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Pens beat Edmonton 5-1
















Well, today was a great rebound game, and a workmanlike win over a bad team. The 2 points gives Pittsburgh 88 points, which leaves them 3 points behind Philadelphia for the Division and Conference leads, and two behind Washington. It also put 3 points between the Pens and Lightning, and 5 between the Pens and Habs. Next up is Ottawa, who despite only having 59 points, are now 7-3 in their last 10 games. The Penguins are getting very close to clinching a playoff spot,( 9th place Carolina would need to get EVERY point of their possible remaining 26 to hit 98) but the Pens also remain in contention for the top spots in the conference as well. This means that if the Pens win 5 of their remaining twelve games, Carolina would have to win every single game to tie them, and put the Pens in 9th place. What that means is that the focus is really not going to be on making the dance, but more on getting a top 4 seeding. If you read my previous post, I said that Jordan Staal, Alex Kovalev, Kris Letang, and James Neal had to be more productive for the Penguins to win. Staal answered the bell with a goal and an assist. His assist on the first goal by Kunitz was a thing of beauty. First, he won a battle in the corner to chip a puck away from the Oilers, then as the Oiler regained possession, Staal deflected a break out pass that Kennedy picked off and put on the stick of Kunitz out in front. Kunitz patiently waited for Dubnyk to go down and put a backhander through the five hole. That was Penguins hockey! It not only came with only 34 seconds left in the first period, but it came after the Pens killed a prolonged 5 on 3 without giving up a shot on goal. Staal also scored a goal, the third Pens goal of the game and his 8th of the year after a Kennedy shot leaked through Dubnyk's legs. Staal was in the blue paint, and made sure the puck rolled home.



As far as Letang goes, he did not score today as I had hoped, but he did not make careless plays that created turnovers, and played a much more simple game. He did get lucky on a 2 on 1 break in the first period, as he seemed to panic late in the play, attacking the shooter, which allowed a scoring chance when the pass connected with the trailing Oilers player, but all in all Letang was better than yesterday, if not back to his early season form. Kovalev had three shots on goal, and did not play poorly, but also did not show up on the score sheet. I thought James Neal again created quality scoring chances for himself, but remains somewhat snakebit. I think that when he gets some breaks, the goals will come in bunches. He did assist on Kunitz's second goal of the game, and 20th of the season, as did Kennedy, who collected his third assist of the night. So two of the four players referenced wound up on the score sheet in Staal and Neal. Letang improved his game, and Kovalev played ok. As far as other Penguins who stepped up today, Max Talbot played his best game of the season in my opinion, and got rewarded with a sweet goal on a partial breakaway. Tyler Kennedy, a guy who at one point looked like he might be the odd man out, stepped up again with 3 assists. Kennedy looked horrible for the past two games, but other than that, has been one of the players to step up the most in the absence of the two headed monster. The power play was 1 for 6, not great, but on this team any power play goal is a big one. The penalty kill as usual was awesome, killing an extended 5 on 3, and 3 other power plays with minimal shots on goal surrendered. Public Enemy Number One, Cookie played a strong game today, and his assist on the Pegnuin's third goal was the 300th point of his career. Mark Letestu had an overall strong game, and had another strong showing in the faceoff circle with a 13 for 16 outing. Hey, a 5-1 win against Edmonton is no reason to start planning the parade route, but after yesterday's showing, it was nice to see the Penguins "get to their game" today and get two points to keep them in the top 4 of the conference. Lost in this, is the fact that the defense played a very solid game despite only dressing 5 players due to an illness with Matt Niskanen. Great to see Kunitz break the 20 goal mark. A healthy Sid and he has 30 plus goals this season. An interesting statistic related to Kunitz is that the Penguins are 36-15-4 with Kunitz in the lineup, and 13-2-1 when he scores a goal. Also, of note, the Penguins have only surrendered 19 goals in their past 12 games at CEC.

Evgeni Malkin Highlights- Shades of Mario

Reminder as to what we are missing right now.

Sidney Crosby - Ultimate Montage (HD)

A remnder as to what we are missing right now.

The Ultimate Crosby Show (HD)

A reminder as to what we are missing right now.

Pittsburgh Penguins 200th Sell Out in a Row Thank You

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Pens lose 3-0


Not sure what that what was, but the Pens get blanked on home ice this afternoon. They did not seem ready to play. The Habs MAY have broken a sweat, but I doubt it. Penguins need to take two points tomorrow against a weak Edmonton team. The Oilers have the worst record in the NHL, and are coming off of three straight losses. They are on the back end of a coast to coast road trip, and the Pens need to jump on them EARLY and make sure they get what SHOULD be two easy points. The Eastern Conference race is getting tighter, with the Penguins holding a one point lead over Tampa Bay for 4th place and home ice advantatge. What is disturbing to me about the Penguins no-show yesterday, is the fact that the Montreal win puts the Habs only 3 points behind Pittsburgh for 4th spot in the East. You would have thought that this would have created a sense of urgency, but it did not appear to do so.
The Penguins have some key players who NEED to step up for this team to do anything more than hang on to a bottom 3 seed, and a one and done trip to the post season. First, and foremost they need Jordan Staal to step up. He is a favorite of mine, and I thought that this chance to play in the absence of Crosby and Malkin would show him to be a capable second line center, and worthy of the second choice overall in 2006. Many local fans complain that the Penguins could have taken Toews, Backstrom, or Kessel with that pick. The Stanley Cup victory and Staal's role in it debunks those thoughts in my opinion, but that fact, along with Staal's experience and past performance made Shero comfortable to pass on the Arnott deal to roll with the centers we had. That makes Staal's role a key role in the outcome of this season. In Staal's past 5 games, he is a -4, and is getting outplayed by the opponents' top centers. He will never deliver the offensive numbers some would like, BUT he needs to shut down the top centers of the other teams and contribute some offense for the Penguins to have a chance at all to win a round or two in the playoffs. He looked horrendous yesterday, the worst I can recall in fact. Time for a rebound game Staalsy!
Another player who seems to be wilting under the new found responsibility is Kris Letang. Another favorite of mine, Letang was in serious consideration for the Norris Trophy for the first half of the season, and deservedly so. He was a league leader in plus/minus, and amongst the top three defensemen in scoring for the first half of the season. However, in the 28 games he has played since Crosby has left the lineup, Letang is -14 and has tallied only 11 points. Yesterday, he was actually pathetic, creating bad turnover after bad turnover. Hey, with finisher like Crosby and Malkin on the shelf, as well as Kunitz during a lot of that span it is no wonder that Tanger's point production has fallen, but not to THIS level. To go from a plus/minus of +21 to -14 (past 28 games), is inexcusable, and the turnovers are mind boggling. Time for Letang to simplify his game, and get back to what put him in the Norris conversation, and that has to start today. The coaching staff needs to make this a focus.
Alexei Kovalev only has only one goal in his 9 games as a Penguin. That statistic is a bit misleading though. He has seemed to be a dangerous player offensively at times, setting his linemates up for scoring chances with some regularity, but they have not been able to finish for him. He also scored in a shootout getting Pittsburgh a valuable extra point that they likely would not have gotten. That said, Kovalev needs to focus more on getting his own chances, and burying some of them with that nasty wrister he has. That is the singular reason he was brought to Pittsburgh.
Finally, I am not down on James Neal, and know that with a center the quality of Crosby or Malkin NEXT year he will be a beast. Neal has also contributed with his physical play all over the ice. He has had a great number of offensive chances during his 9 games here, and at times simply seems snakebit. That said, 1 goal and 1 assist in 9 games is not what the Penguins need from Neal. He has to find a way to finish some of the chances he is getting if the Penguins don't want to limp to the finish line at the end of the season. James Neal needs to be on the scoresheet for the Penguins to have success the rest of this year. Let's get the ball rolling today guys, if you can pick up the four points available in the Edmonton and Ottawa games this week, it should set up nicely for a big tilt against the Rangers on Sunday, a 4 point swing game in the Eastern Conference. After the Ottawa game, the Penguins play 11 games in 21 days to close the season, with many against the Eastern Conference playoff contenders including 2 against the Flyers and Devils, one against Tampa Bay as key playoff seeding matchups. Even the April 8th game against the Islanders could have an impact on the Eastern playoff seedings. In short, the key players on this team need to step up now to give the Pens their best chance of making some playoff noise. It starts TODAY!

Friday, March 11, 2011

Who is Rejean Shero?




Rejean "Ray" Shero GM of the Pittsburgh Penguins was born on 7/28/62 in St. Paul Minnesota. He is married to wife Karen and has two sons, Christopher and Kyle. He is the son of the late Fred Shero, former GM of both the New York Rangers and Philadelphia Flyers. Fred was the architect of the Stanley Cup Champion Flyers of 1974 and 1975. When Ray won the Cup as GM of the Penguins, he and father Fred became one of only four father/son combos to have their names inscribed on the Stanley Cup. Shero was a speedy left wing in college playing for St. Lawrence University and becoming captain for the 1983-84 season, and the 1984-85 season. Shero was drafted in the 11 round of the 1982 NHL entry draft by the Los Angeles Kings. He would never play a single game in the NHL. Instead, Shero became a player agent until he was given the opportunity to be the assistant GM of the expansion Ottawa Senators.

In 1993 shortly after his father died of stomach cancer, Ray Shero was given an opportunity to be the assistant GM in Ottawa. As part of his duties, Shero was in charge of the Senators top AHL affiliate and was given evaluation duties for the Senators drafts. Despite some big misses, such as selecting Alexder Daigle first overall in 1993, Shero had more hits than misses including getting team star Daniel Alfredsson in the 1994 draft with the 133rd overall pick. With solid drafting led by Shero's talent evaluations, the Senators made their first playoffs in 1997, and became perennial contenders.


Next up for Ray was an assistant GM position for expansion Nashville for 8 years under David Poile. Just like in Ottawa, Shero was in charge of the top AHL affiliate in Milwaukee, the Admirals, leading them to the Calder Cup in 2004. In Nashville Shero learned the importance of building the AHL affiliate, and in one playoff season for Nashville, counted 10 players on the roster who had spent time the previous year with the Admirals. In addition, he was part of a very patient approach to building the Predators through the draft. They stuck with Head Coach Barry Trotz despite missing the playoffs for their first five years. The last two years of Shero's stint with Nashville, their patient approach to building the team paid with playoff appearances for the Predators. They have remained perennial contenders ever since. Shero learned his craft well under well respected boss David Poile.


In May of 2006, the Penguins beat out Boston for the right to have Ray Shero take over as their new GM. The sticking point was Shero's span of control. The Bruins loss was the Penguins gain. Shero replaced Craig Patrick, the architect of the two time Stanley Cup Championship teams, as well as the subsequent firesale to dismantle the team. Patrick did however put the building blocks in place for Shero to build on. Pittsburgh was a great place for Shero to ply his trade. They had the building blocks noted in place with Marc Andre Fleury, Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Ryan Whitney. In addition, they only had one expensive long term contract to saddle Shero in his efforts to mold the club into a Stanley Cup Champion, that of Sergei Gonchar. He was given free reign to do what he needed to in order to accomplish that mission by the ownership group led by Mario Lemieux and Ron Burkle. So Shero began the project to rebuild the Penguins entire organization at both levels.

In his first offseason in 2006, Shero was a busy man. His first move was to draft Jordan Staal with the second overall pick in the draft, a move that led to the three center model that won them the Cup in 2009. Shero takes some heat from the locals for the Staal pick, who note that the Penguins could have drafted Stanley Cup winning captain of Chicago Jonathan Toews, high scoring center Nicklas Backstrom, or speedy scoring winger Phil Kessel. It is important to note that Central Scouting Bureau had Staal rated above Jonathan Toews and Kessel as far as North American skaters, behind only defenseman Erik Johnson. Backstrom was the top rated European skater. Despite the fact that Backstrom has the scoring accumen of a Malkin type player, and Toews is a Stanley Cup champion captain of the Hawks, Staal was and is a great fit for the Penguins. He may not have scored as many points as the other two centers, but his defensive play and penchant for big goals made him the perfect complement to Crosby and Malkin. I would consider the 2009 Stanley Cup to be the proof in the pudding. The Kessel argument stems from the fact that the Pens are loaded at center and short on talented wingers, but again give me Staal over Kessel. Staal is a definite shutdown center, who is STILL only 23 years old, and he has scored 29 goals once already in the league. I still believe as he matures he can resemble the player his brother Eric is. Other key 2006 moves included signing Jarkko Ruutu, Mark Recchi, and Mark Eaton to free agent contracts. At the 06-07 deadline, Shero brought in veteran winger Gary Roberts for defenseman Noah Welch, and tough guy Georges Laraque in return for Dan Carcillo. The blueprint for the tougher Pittsburgh Penguins was in place. This team went on to make its first playoff appearance in four years, after making one of the largest one year turnarounds in history, going from 22 wins the prior season, to 47 before losing to Ottawa in the first round of the playoffs.


In the 2007-08 offseason, the Penguins inked Petr Sykora to a 2 yr deal, extended Ryan Whitney to a 6 year 24M dollar contract, as well as signed Crosby to a 5 year exension worth 43.5M dollars. The team was having a great year, but was considered by most hockey experts to still be two years away from being a serious threat to win a Cup. At the trade deadline, Shero shocked the hockey world by moving very popular Colby Armstrong, along with Erik Christensen, the team's top prospect Angelo Esposito and a number one pick to Atlanta for star winger Marian Hossa and Pascal Dupuis. The move was bold in that the Penguins gave up what were at the time highly coveted assets along with heart and soul player Colby Armstrong(Crosby's best friend on the team) for a player who would most likely be a rental. Many thought that Shero gave up long term assets for a LONG shot at a deep run into the playoffs for a rental and a role player. I think what Shero did was tell this team, he believed in them, that they could win now, and here is the last weapon needed to do so. And guess what? They cut through the first three rounds of the playoffs like a hot knife through butter, avenging the prior season's loss to Ottawa, then beating the Rangers and Flyers with ease/1 After dropping the first two games of the Finals to a more seasoned Detroit team, the Penguins took the Wings to six games including an epic Game 5 won in multiple overtimes by a Petr Sykora goal before losing to the veteran wings on home ice. I remember vividly sitting there thinking how CLOSE they were seconds after a potential game tying shot by Max Talbot slid through the crease, inches from tying the game. The Penguins had learned what it would take in terms of commitment to get over the final hurdle, and the memory of the Wings celebrating on Pittsburgh ice left an indelble impression. Lost in the Hossa hyperbole was the addition of shutdown defenseman Hal Gill at the deadline as well. He would play a prominnent role in the upcoming season, one of "Unfinished Business."

The 2008-09 offseason was an eventful one for Shero. First, Hossa after appearing to be willing to sign with the Penguins, hung Shero out to dry, defecting instead to the Wings as he thought they had a better shot at winning the Cup. The uncertainty over Hossa put the Penguins in a bad spot, and they lost gritty netfront prescence Ryan Malone, along with Jarkko Ruutu, Gary Roberts and enforcer Georges Laraque. In other word, much of the sandpaper they employed to grind teams down. They replaced that grit with perimeter players Miroslav Satan and Ruslan Fedotenko. Shero was widely criticized for missing the mark on his chances at keeping Hossa, while letting the sandpaper on the Pens leave the team. By the time he could react, Satan and Fedotenko were about all that was left for them. As part of the effort to replace that missing grit, Shero signed rugged agitator Matt Cooke as well. Cookie fit right in! Other moves that would prove to be key to the future included the addition of Dan Bylsma to coach the WBS Penguins, a move that would prove to be a MUCH bigger move than anyone anticipated at the time. He also locked up Evgeni Malkin to a 5 year extension at 43.5M dollars, cornerstone defenseman Brooks Orpik to a 6 year 22M dollar contract that was less than other teams offered, and Marc Andre Fleury to a 7 year 35M dollar contract, also under possible market value. Shero had helped build a team and work environment that had key players willing to sign long term contracts under possible market value for a chance to stay together and win together. He treated the players and their families well, and Pittsburgh suddenly became a very desirable NHL destination for players.
After such success in the post season the prior year, and the long term signings of the team's young core, the Penguins entered the 08-09 season fully expecting to be a force from start to finish. Whether it was a Stanley Cup hangover, loss of desire to play for sometimes dour Michel Therrien, or the loss of the grit that made the Penguins tough to play against, this team was just off from the beginning of the year. By mid February the Penguins were mired in 10th place in the conference and looking more like road kill than contenders after getting blown out by Toronto in mid February. In a gutsy move, Shero fired the coach who had taken the team on one of the biggest single season turnarounds improving from 22 wins to 47 in one season, then led them to the Stanley Cup Finals in the next and replaced him with a man who had half a season of experience as a head coach. Oh, and that half season was not in the NHL, but the AHL! Season over right? Shero believed that this team would respond to an uptempo, forechecking game, and Bylsma's positive attitude, and may have bet his own job on it. Talk about the courage of your convictions! Next, Shero moved Ryan Whitney, formerly considered part of the core and untouchable to Anaheim for speedy winger Chris Kunitz and prospect Eric Tangradi. Kunitz is a very physical forechecker who wins battles against the wall and in the corners. Despite not being the prototypical first line winger, Kunitz complements Crosby's game perfectly, and the star center has never played better than he has with Coon. Then he picked up gritty PK specialist Craig Adams off of waivers, and added veteran scoring and grit in Bill Guerin at the deadline. Suddenly the Penguins were hard to play against again. All of this meshed into a wondrous spring and early summer, starting with eliminating Philadelphia in a much anticipated rematch, then self proclaimed favorites Washington, before sweeping Carolina, and culminating in the franchise's third Stanley Cup on June 12,2009. Fittingly the Cup was won on Detroit's home ice in a Game 7, while Hossa watched for the second year in a row! The Penguins single handedly avenged the previous season's bitter defeat AND Hossa's defection in one fell swoop! This never happens without Shero having the guts to pull the trigger on the Hossa deal the season before, which showed the team that management felt that they had arrived NOW, and gave them experience in making a run at the Cup. They now knew what it would take. Follow that up with the gutsy coaching swap late in the season, and Ray Shero's fingerprints are all over this Cup. As his late father Fred told his Flyers team prior to winning the clincher in Game 6 of the Finals, "Win together today, and walk together forever!"
While Penguins nation celebrated, Shero had to be ready for free agency, and he had to prepare his team to lose many key players. Gone from the Stanley Cup Champs' blueline was both parts of shutdown pairing Hal Gill and Rob Scuderi, along with steady back up Phillippe Boucher. In addition, wingers Miroslav Satan and Petr Sykora left the team. The Penguins got Bill Guerin to stay on a one year reduced contract, along with Ruslan Fedotenko. They signed Alex Goligoski to a three year extension worth 1.8M per year and added veteran defenseman Jay McKee. In addition backup goalie Brent Johnson and physical forward Mike Rupp were added to the team. These were the typical solid, little fanfare signings Shero consistently makes to build a hockey TEAM, not a collection of players.
The Penguins had a good season, and found themselves to be one of the teams that had a shot at the Cup as they hit the trade deadline. Their weaknesses were a lack of scoring on the wings, and a mediocre defense. Shero sent prospect Luca Caputi to Toronto for big winger Alexei Ponikarovsky to address their lack of scoring from the wing, and bolstered their defense by adding Jordan Leopold, as their defense had been lacking with the loss of Gill and Scuderi. After defeating the Senators in the first round of the playoffs, the Penguins ran into red hot goaltender Jaroslav Halak and the Montreal Canadiens, losing in 7 games. The Habs used their hot goaltender along with a defensive strategy that took away center ice and dared the Penguins to beat them with their wingers. The Penguins could not. Ponikarovsky was invisible, and Leopold played okay but was injured by Andy Sutton in the first round series. All in all their defense gave up many great scoring chances, Mike Cammalleri owned them, and their lack of depth was exposed, along with the weakness on the wings.

The offseason leading up to the 2010-11 season was key for the Penguins. They knew they had to address both the winger situation, and more importantly their defense. Their biggest concern was that defensive leader and power play quarterback Sergei Gonchar was an unrestricted free agent, and looking for big money. He had become injury prone, and he was soft in his zone, but the Penguins were not sure they could afford to let Sarge go, as they were not sure that they had a replacement for his offensive production on the blue line. In addition, they were hurting defensively. They were likely to also lose Jordan Leopold, Jay McKee and steady veteran Mark Eaton from their blue line. Finally, they would lose wingers Guerin to retirement and Fedotenko to free agency. What does Shero do? He signs Kris Letang to another under market value extension as his power play quarterback, along with extending WBS defensemen Deryk Engelland and Ben Lovejoy. He had targetted defenseman Dan Hamhuis whose rights were owned by Philadelphia as his top FA target on defense, and hoped to bring Gonchar back for a more reasonable number. He was not sure about Hamhuis interest so he traded a 3rd round pick for his rights so he would know prior to free agency if he could get Hamhuis. It was a good move, as Hamhuis really wanted to go west. In addition, he realized that Gonchar wanted too much money and too much term to be signed here. So, instead of wasting valuable time, Shero goes out and gets the two best defensive UFA's on the market in Zybnek Michalek and Paul Martin to shore up his defense on day one of free agency and allowed Gonchar to go to Ottawa. He also inked Matt Cooke to a three year extension, which he never does for "role" players, but in my opinion made a very smart exception. Shero also added gritty forward Arron Asham fresh off of a SCF run with Philadelphia, where he played a solid role, and scoring forward Mike Comrie for league minimum. The Penguins were poised to christen the Consol Energy Center with another Cup run.

Despite moves that addressed all of the Penguins issues except for another scoring winger, a series of injuries unlike any I have ever seen, will ensure that we will not really get to see how good of a team Shero assembled this season. This much we know. Despite playing 4 periods that had their core of Staal, Crosby, and Malkin on the ice at the same time, and other key injuries too numerous to list, the Penguins remain in the top 5 in the league as of this writing. Their PK leads the league, and their goals against is top 5 in the league. The offseason additions of Michalek and Martin fixed what ailed the Pens blue line. The "minor leaguers" Engelland and Lovejoy provided low cost steady performance at the NHL level, and Engelland became a noted enforcer to boot. The depth that Shero has assembled has been front and center in keeping this team in the top half of the playoff seedings. At the deadline Shero dealt from an area of surplus in moving Goligoski to Dallas to address an area of need upfront by bringing in James Neal, and he did not cripple the current blue line in the process as he also got very solid third pairing defenseman Matt Niskanen in the deal. The injury bug may prove to be too much for the Pens to realistically believe that they can win the Cup this season. One or two rounds would likely be the ceiling assuming that Crosby is gone for the year, as well as Malkin. Given their situation, I might be as proud of that accomplishment in this season, as I was of the Cup team. Especially if it involves ending the runs of Philadelphia or Washington. Especially Washington. The good news is that assuming both stars make a full recovery in the offseason, this team is LOADED for next year and the foreseeable future. Malkin and Crosby would be the equivalent of the two biggest off season acquisions a playoff team could make should they come back healthy next year as expected. Their entire defense is back next year, with the top 4 locked up for many years. They have maybe 11 guys who could play on most bluelines on the roster next year. Two of whom(Bortuzzo and Despres) are considered top 4 caliber players. They also have a top six that would include Crosby, Malkin, Staal, Kunitz, and Neal currently. That sixth spot could be filled in a number of manners. Their 3rd and 4th lines will be as good as any regardless of the UFA situation, as the injury bug gave them a good look at their depth in that department. Shero has all of the cards in that areanow. Letestu and Jeffrey give them two more quality centers and secondary scoring. Their goaltending is covered with Fleury under contract long term, Johnson signed another year, and Thiessen looking like a possible NHL ready goaltender in WBS. They have a power forward prospect in Tangradi who could step up next year, and enough depth to go get a mid level top 6 forward via free agency by moving some defensive assets where they are just loaded if he does not. In short this team has been positioned by Shero and this ownership group to be an elite team for the forseeable future. One can argue my take on the trades made, one could be more critical of the "bad" moves or non moves than I am, or less complimentary of the good ones on an individual basis, but you cannot argue with this. We have completed four seasons of the Shero regime, and are partly through the fifth. In the first four, the Pens have been to two SCF's and won the Stanley Cup. The Pens have accumulated such depth of talent, that while their NHL club was decimated by injuries and playing with half of the AHL club including all of its scoring depth at times, both clubs did very well in their respective leagues in the process. The NHL club remained in the top half of their conference with literally half of their lineup some nights made up of AHL players. The AHL club remains a Calder favorite despite losing half their roster to the Penguins. Next season the Penguins will be one of the favorites to win it all, and they may still make some noise this season. Through an astute use of the draft and a "win now without selling the future approach to free agency and trading," the Penguins are now one of the league's elite franchises. Their AHL/NHL success during this trying stretch quietly showcased the bricks and mortar of an elite organization, which sometimes goes unnoticed with the attention on the star power. "Lower level" moves, smart drafting and solid player development do not get the fanfare of the big splashes, but Shero and team have proven that this is the glue that binds a true team together. Thank you Ray Shero, Mario Lemieux, Ron Burkle, and David Morehouse. We appreciate your commitment to winning and the skill you have shown in making the Pittsburgh Penguins one of the league's top franchises.