Things I think I think

Well we are five games into the season and true to form, after the first two games, many Pens fans were changing late June vacation plans so they would be around to watch the Pens hoist Lord Stanley's Cup for the fourth time in their history.  After ugly losses to Toronto and Winnipeg, those same fans were calling for Bylsma's head, planning on killing Eric Tangradi, taking down their Letang posters, and selling their remaining seats.  After a shootout win against Ottawa in which many of the bad puck management mistakes, ugly turnovers, and Geno pouting like a petulant child when he did not get the puck passed to him, well Pens nation is just confused as hell!  Are we ecstatic that the Pens pulled out a much needed road win to stop the bleeding, and Fleury looking like a franchise goalie, or are we pissed that the power play looked as vital as an 80 year old man in bed room, and our superstars continued to pass instead of shoot?  What is a yinzer to do?  The Pens are 3-2, in second place in the Atlantic Division, so they are probably pretty much where you thought they would be if they had not teased us by running over two powerful division rivals in the first two games.  Some things I think I think from watching these games:

The Pens have a wealth of offensive talent BUT they do not seem to have learned their lessons that led to a very early exit from the post season last year.  Too many turnovers, too many behind the back passes, and too many passed up shots to make that cute little pass are killing them AGAIN;


Sid and Geno despite having 6 and 5 points respectively are two of my biggest disappointments.  87, you are the captain and leader of this team.  You are one of the two best players in the world, but it is time to lead by example.  When you are guilty of thinking offense first, even with the lead, when you make careless behind the back passes instead of getting the puck deep, and when you pass up great shots in favor of highlight reel extra passes (often ending in turnovers), you as the LEADER set the wrong example.  Geno, after a monster year, and a head start by playing in the KHL while others stayed home, you should be the dominant player on the ice in the early going.  And at times you are, your point total is not too shabby.  Again, though, you are a turnover machine, you are taking dumb penalties at bad times, you look rattled, and at times pissed when you don't have the puck, and you are also passing up shots to make stupid passes.  The two of you turn what should be a killer power play into a Chinese clusterfuck at times.  Nobody can complain about your point totals, but your leadership has not been there guys.  The game is played in three zones, not one, and it is played not only with skill, but intelligence and poise too.   This team is built to go as far as you two take them, but it needs your maturity and leadership as much as it needs your skill.  Stand and deliver men, we know that you can!
Kris Letang, another guy who has points but to me has been a disappointment to some degree thus far.  Tanger has had Norris Trophy like stretches in each of the past two seasons, and his breathtaking speed and physicality makes him a beauty at times to watch.  His loss for stretches last season underscored his value to the team, which is right up there with 71 and 87.  Like the two of those guys, Tanger needs to play a simple game, be more consistent and be a leader on the back end.  Kris, you are no longer the wild eyed young buck whose potential is limitless.  You are now a veteran seeking to be paid right behind the two best players in the game, so guess what?  With that comes great responsibility, and your responsibility is to harness that immense talent for the whole season, make simple smart plays, hit when the hit is there, get the puck out of the zone, and use your skills in all three zones EVERY night on EVERY shift.  You three players along with the goaltending will largely determine whether the Penguins finish another disappointing season, which will be the fourth in a row or rekindle the magic of the 2008 and 2009 runs.

Some other thoughts include the fact that to me, James Neal for the most part has been what you want.  A sniper who puts the puck on the net when possible and in the net quite often.  He was the first star in each of the first two games, and has nearly a goal per game.  He has mostly played solid in all three zones, and has delivered his share of hits to go with the goals.   He has had some off periods this season, but by and large he has been what you need from him pretty consistently.

I told you how much you would love Sutter, and after a really good game one and two, he has not been exactly what I had hoped....but he will be.  I have complete faith in that, and when he is, if the other two centers play to their potential, that is one lethal group of center ice men.  Be patient, he like James Neal is the real deal.
Paul Martin has been one of the best Penguins this season, thus far, and I expected a bounce back year from 7, and he is giving it!  Matt Niskanen has been solid as well, and I hope he is not out for long.   Brooks Orpik looks like the nasty old player he used to be, and I think Tanner Glass will add a dimension the team was missing last season.  The goaltenders have been hung out to dry a lot, but all in all, I still feel like we are looking at a top tandem, though if I am Bylsma, I give Fleury more rope and allow him to be the number one goalie except for back to back nights, or if he falters  Let him find his groove Disco!

All in, as this team gets its legs and gels, I still think they have more than enough talent to go the distance.  What remains to be seen is if they can learn the lessons of last spring, and remember to play smart, not fancy, and protect a lead rather than try to pile on with one.  The ability to lead by example shown by 87, 71, and 58 will largely dictate how this season ends.  It is early, but it is time men to be more than world class players, be world class leaders and do it by example not words.

Who is Tanner Glass

 

 

 

 

On July 1, 2012 the Penguins signed 6’1 210 pound left winger Tanner Glass, an unrestricted free agent left winger from the Winnipeg Jets to a two year contract worth 1.1 million dollars per year.  At first I have to admit I was not happy about this move.  I am an avowed Arron Asham fan, and I really thought the Penguins were making a mistake letting another rugged player with leadership qualities leave the fold.  Especially a guy who could contribute the odd goal and in a tough Atlantic Division, stand up for his teammates when necessary.   After all, Asham had built himself a reputation as a tough customer, and during the 2011 playoff loss to Tampa Bay, Asham was one of the better offensive producers in that series.  So what did this guy have that Asham did not, and why did we sign him as opposed to offering Asham, who wanted to stay, a contract?  First, let me give me finish the some of the history of Tanner Glass as a professional.  He was drafted in the ninth round of the 2003 NHL Entry draft, 265^th overall by the Florida Panthers.  He played four years at Dartmouth College from 2003-2007, ending his college career as captain.  He went on to play for the Rochester Americans in the AHL, making alternate captain in his second season, and earning limited time in the NHL with Florida.  In 2009, he joined the Vancouver Canucks, and earned a spot on their fourth line, playing 73 games in the 2010-2011 season.  He chipped in 3 goals and 7 assists during the regular season when Vancouver won the President’s Trophy and appeared in 24 post season games for the Canucks before they were eliminated in the Finals by the Boston Bruins.  Glass left the Canucks to join the Winnipeg Jets for the 2011-12 season.  He posted career highs in all categories playing in 78 games, scoring 5 goals, 11 assists and 16 points.  Okay, so he is a decent mucker with some leadership skills as evidenced by his captaincy at Dartmouth and his role as assistant captain during his second season in the AHL.  Why does he help the team more than Asham?

Actually there are many ways, starting with his age, and durability.  Glass at 29 years old is a younger player, and he has appeared in 73 and 78 games respectively the past two seasons.  He is also a much faster skater, and as they say, “speed kills!”   Glass has earned a reputation as a relentless fore-checker and has the speed to raise a lot more havoc on the fourth line.  In addition, Glass plays a very physical gritty game outside of the fisticuffs, ending last season with 246 hits, placing him 10^th overall in the NHL!  He would have had the second most hits on the Penguins with that number last season behind only Orpik’s 259 hits.  He added 51 blocked shots, placing him second among Jets forwards in that category.  Finally, Glass logged the fourth most short-handed minutes on the team among forwards and 13:25 overall TOI per game.  Glass had 7 fighting majors and 73 penalty minutes  as well and does not shy away from sticking up for his teammates.  In comparison Asham had 8 fighting majors and 76 penalty minutes, hardly a huge difference in terms of  physicality in that manner, though Asham appeared in 14 fewer games.  However, where Glass had 246 hits last season, Asham had 95 hits, giving Glass roughly 2.5 times more hits.  Asham had 8 blocked shots in comparison to the 51 noted for Glass, giving Glass more than 6 times the blocked shots and Glass had 86 shots on goal in comparison to the 49 shots registered by Asham.  So if you want to assess the addition of Glass to replace a gritty player in Asham, it appears  that Shero again made a nice off the radar move to improve the team.  Statistically speaking, he lost very little in the way of “protection” by going to Glass, and improved a great deal in speed, fore-check, penalty kill options ,  and shots on goal. If you define grit and the need to be “hard to play against” outside of  fighting, to include hits and shot blocking, you just made a significant upgrade!  In short, Glass will provide more versatility with his speed, fore-check and penalty kill abilities, while adding a lot more consistent physicality on a game in game out basis, he will block shots and as you saw in his bout with Asham on Sunday, you have not lost anything in the willingness to go to war when necessary. Welcome Tanner Glass!

Free Candy

Pens win another big Atlantic Division game 6-3

I am going to do this post backwards from my usual style.  I want to make general comments and observations from this big weekend for the Penguins.  They go on the road and defeat in back to back contests their two biggest divisional rivals by a combined score of 9-4.  Both of those teams lost their other games so the Pens take a 4 point lead over these two bitter rivals.  There are plenty of things to be optimistic about thus far including a power play that outside of some goofiness in the third period, looked dangerous going 4 for 8 on the weekend and getting the goals from Neal, Kennedy, Kunitz, and Dupuis, pretty good distribution and on point in my preview article that the lack of quality wingers is a little overstated by the "Winger for Sid" crowd.  The TEAM is solid in all four lines, with good role definition.  They did give up a power play goal tonight, albeit a 5 on 3, but the penalty kill has looked very good in my estimation.  The ability to play 2 top goalies in back to back games showed its value as well.  Also, after a year where I thought he looked a little long in the tooth, my favorite defenseman is passing out the Free Candy again with regularity and looking fresh and healthy.  It is only two games, but Paul Martin is indeed having a very good start and looking a lot like the player they thought he was when they signed him.  Martin has 3 assists in 2 games, and has played intelligently and with poise in both games.  Simon Despres had a bad turnover tonight, but added an assist and as the game wore on, looked more and more comfortable.  If he can progress a little every game, he will be a valuable asset to this team with his size and skating.  I also liked the addition of Joe Vitale to the fourth line.  His speed and grit are to me the kind of play you want from your fourth line.  If you want to give Jeffrey his ice time, give him Tangradi's role for a couple of games on the Malkin and Neal line.  He has some finish to his game, but I am not a fan of him in the role of a 4th liner.  I am a big Arron Asham guy and was not sold initially on letting him leave and replacing him with Glass.  Then you read up on glass and note his shot blocking ability, his PK ability, his speed, and tonight he handled himself quite well in a battle with the aforementioned Asham. Sutter has fit in quite well, and the third line is contributing every night with Kennedy scoring goals in back to back tilts. James Neal has not missed a beat and has 3 goals in two nights! Kris Letang has been dominant in all facets of the game.  The Penguins scored nine goals against two of the best teams in the East, yet Malkin and Crosby do not have a goal, though Geno leads the team in scoring with 4 points.  When the two of them start finding the net, the Penguins will be a very scary team to deal with.  It is early, and the grind will take its toll, but it is a good start for your Penguins folks. Now to the game.  As noted, the game was only two seconds old and Glass asked Asham to dance, and he was obliged.  The two had a long spirited bout, with both parties tossing some nasty bombs, but I would give the edge to Glass in this one.  They will meet again I have no doubt!  I gave you a little taste of their last bout from 2011 when Asham was a Penguin, just for good measure.

 

  The Penguins opened the scoring at 1:48 when James Neal potted his second of the season, a power play goal from Malkin (2) and Letang (1).  At 9:55 Ryan Callahan tied the game on a 5 on 3 power play.  At 15:05, Kennedy got his second of the season from Vitale (1), and Simon Despres to restore a one goal lead at 2-1.  Moments later at 18:50 Niskanen got his first goal from Crosby (1) to take a 3-1 lead into the second period.  At the 9:11 mark the Penguins got their second power play goal of the game when Pascal Dupuis tapped in a shot from Malkin (3) to give the Pens a 4-1 lead.  Kunitz got the other assist.  At 5:06 of the third, a red hot James Neal got his third goal of the year, while Malkin picked up his fourth assist and third point of the night, while Martin got his third assist of the year.  Some sloppy play led to two goals from the Rangers, one from Taylor Pyatt, and a short handed goal from Rick Nash to close the score to 5-3, and make it a little interesting.  Then Kris Letang closed it out getting his first goal and second point of the night into an empty net to make the final score 6-3 Pens.  Home opener on Wednesday against Toronto!

Pens win opener 3-1 over Flyers

After the disappointment of last year's playoff meltdown in Philadelphia, and the 100+ day lockout, the Penguins and Flyers had their much anticipated rematch to open the 2012-13 season which is now just the 2013 season.  I kept telling myself that you cannot take too much away from the results of this game either way, and I still believe that, but it sure was fun to watch.  The Penguins opened the scoring at 4:40 of the first period when Kennedy scored his first off of clean face off win by Sutter that went out to Niskanen on the point and over to Martin whose shot was deflected by Kennedy into the net to make it 1-0 Penguins.  A power play goal.  At 7:20 James Neal took another clean faceoff win, this time by Malkin and buried it to give the Penguins a 2-0 lead.  Ghosts of the 2012 playoffs haunted me, as this 2-3 goal early lead led to losses for Pittsburgh in Games 1 and 2 of those playoffs.  Sure enough, Giroux scored 23 seconds into the second, after Kunitz let Giroux loose, and our favorite ginger put a perfect pass on his stick, that Giroux slid behind the Flower cutting the lead to 2-1.  It felt a lot like April 2012 to many at that point.  Unlike last season, this Penguins team wound up holding onto this lead through solid special teams, and a quality 26 save effort by Fleury.  Kunitz added the final goal, an empty net power play goal, assisted by Paul Martin at 19:48 to close out the scoring at 3-1. It was a nice win for many reasons including the fact that every game is a four point swing this season.  Moreover, the special teams were dominant with the power play going 2 for 3 tonight and the PK going 5 for 5!  As important was the utter faceoff dominance by the four centers with Jeffrey going 5/8 and 63%, Sutter 8/14 and 57%, Malkim 7/12 and 58%, and Crosby going a sizzling 13/20 and 65%!  Two goals came off of clean face off wins.  Paul Martin played possibly his best game as a Penguin, solid in all three zones and adding two points to boot.  Sutter showcased his grit, his PK prowess, his shot blocking and overall intelligent play, and the other newcomer, Tanner Glass played a very solid and physical game as well.  One game only, but a solid start and big road win.  Rangers in New York tomorrow!

Penguins thoughts on Hockey Eve

  I am being asked by many friends, “How do you think the Penguins will do this year?”  A fair question, and one I spent a lot of time this summer contemplating, even to the point of being glued to my Twitter account on the beach in Kill Devil Hills at the beginning of free agency.  I was contemplating what the loss of Staal, MIchalek, Asham and Sullivan would do to the team, along with the additions of Sutter and Glass, while closely watching what the Flyers and Rangers were doing.  In all honesty, I probably have not thought a bit about that since October until just this morning (Sunday January 7^th)  when the news of the lockout ending hit the internet.   There are some questions that remain unanswered that could alter my opinion of this, but with my faith in Ray Shero along with  the 9 million plus in cap space available I will say that my opinion of the Penguins would likely only improve based on that fact.  There are however, some things to consider when analyzing your feelings on where the Penguins figure to land in the Atlantic Division, and Eastern Conference this season.  The first one that comes to mind is which Penguins team will show up mentally?  The one that was one of the better defensive teams in the NHL for most of the season and vying for the top penalty kill unit or the team that late in the season and the playoffs seemed to forget how to play a solid defensive system and melted down with regularity on the Penalty Kill?  The Penguins finished with 108 points behind only Vancouver, New York, and St. Louis last season, so they earned the right to be considered a favorite to win the Stanley Cup, but the meltdown in the defensive zone and in the net against Philadelphia was disturbing to watch.  The second question that is hard to answer is how will the Penguins respond to what will be a more hectic, fast paced all conference schedule where every game will have a four point swing on the potential  playoff positioning.  How will their rivals respond to that same issue?  What impact will the loss of Steve Sullivan on the power play unit have?  Can the coaching staff figure out a way to use Malkin and Crosby on the power play in a way to maximize the effectiveness of each of them?  Will we see a healthy Crosby perform at the pre Winter Classic level in which he cut through the league like a hot knife through butter?  How will division rivals respond to their own lineup changes?  Can Paul Martin respond to a subpar year with a bounce back season?  Can Simon Despres step up and contribute to the Penguins at the NHL level?  Only time will give us the answers to these questions, but all in all, I like the Penguins’ chances to be a major threat to come out of this truncated season as one of the elite teams fighting to take home the Stanley Cup for the following reasons:

1.        Strength down the middle-By all accounts Crosby seems healthy and ready to make up for the loss of essentially two seasons out of his prime due to injury and lockout.  If that is true, there is no team in the NHL who can match up down the middle with a healthy Sidney Crosby looking to regain MVP form, and a healthy Malkin coming off an MVP season, where he scored 50 goals and 109 points.  Yes, they lost Staal, a great player by all accounts, but they picked up a classic third line center in Brandon Sutter, who may not be as good as Staal is offensively, but make no mistake, he scored 21 goals in his rookie campaign, and 17 last year so he is not a kid without offensive ability.  Where he may actually be a plus is in the fact that he will relish his role and responsibilities as a 3^rd line center as opposed to chafing at the loss of offensive output that role sometimes creates. In Carolina, he got his points despite the fact that his main job was to shadow and shut down the likes of Ovechkin, Stamkos, St. Louis, Malkin, and other top threats in the Eastern Conference.  He flourished in that role, with Carolina giving up far fewer goals and shots when Sutter was on the ice than when the team’s other centers were out there.   In short he may make the TEAM stronger due to role definition and balance.  The exception could be if one of the big two gets injured, Staal’s offensive upside could be missed, but I am not sure Sutter does not have the ability to do more in that area than he has shown thus far.  Craig Adams will provide his usual stellar work and veteran leadership on the fourth line and the penalty kill unit.

2.       Goaltending-The Penguins have arguably the best goaltending tandem in the NHL with the addition of Tomas Vokoun to complement Marc Andre Fleury.  Fleury has not been stellar in the post season since the magical 2009 run to the Cup, but he has had very good regular seasons, short of a brutal start to the 2010 season.  Many inside the Penguins organization felt this was a direct result of wearing Fleury down during the regular season, especially last year when Brent Johnson regressed to the point where he could not be counted on much.  Adding Vokoun,  who actually has better lifetime statistics than Fleury might be an even more astute pickup in a season where the teams are likely to play more games per week in a hectic run for playoff positioning.  The Penguins can play either one on any given night and feel like they have a game changer between the pipes, a decided advantage over almost any other NHL team.

3.       Scoring Depth-Much is made of the Penguins supposed lack of balance in the top six.  Though I cannot say that I wouldn’t like to see a big net crashing winger with some scoring touch added to the top six, I hardly think the Penguins lack punch from the wings.  James Neal had a breakout season and seemed particularly comfortable playing with Evgeni Malkin to the tune of 40 goals and 81 points last year.  Chris Kunitz is a tough winger who goes to the corners to get the puck for his line-mates and  he also chipped in 26 goals and 61 points last year.  Finally, despite the fact that he may not be considered a prototypical first liner, Dupuis Pascal Dupuis added 25 goals and 59 points last season, and was part of the Crosby line when Sid was destroying the league in 2010 prior to injury.  All of this was done minus the power play time usually seen by a top six forward.  The Penguins have the cap space to add a solid scoring winger to that mix, and the assets with which to do it, should they have trouble rounding out that top six from within.

4.       Defense-There are surely some question marks here, but I actually feel pretty good about this unit assuming the top four of Orpik, Letang, Niskanen, and Martin stay healthy.  I know.  Martin is public enemy number one here in Pittsburgh, and many would like to see him bought out of his contract from what I read.  I actually look for Martin to have a rebound season this year. The guy was not one of the most coveted free agents on the blue line in the summer of 2010 because he is a bad player.   As a proud person, I am sure Martin is looking to atone for a subpar season.   I think Martin will rebound and give the Pens a very solid top four along  with Orpik, Letang, and Niskanen.  I look for Despres to step up and be able to give the Penguins solid minutes along with Engelland, and believe that Bortuzzo and Strait, when he gets healthy, along with Dylan Reese give the Pens enviable NHL ready depth on the blue line. And again, there is significant cap space and a wealth of young assets to plug in any gaps as they become apparent.

5.       Management and Coaching-The Penguins have been disappointing in the post season for three years now.  One of those years, 2011 they were so injury riddled it would be unfair to judge them on, but last year in particular was alarming.  However, the Penguins have a great ownership group, GM and coaching staff.  I think that one of the major holes was addressed with the addition of Vokoun to the goaltending tandem.  Getting Sutter, Dumoulin and Pouliot in return for a Staal who was not coming back after this year, I think solidified the balance at center ice and created cap space and depth at a coveted position that will allow Shero to add a couple of pieces to the puzzle that will make the Penguins even stronger.  In fact with Despres, Morrow, Harrington, Dumoulin, Poulitiot, Maatta, Strait, Bortuzzo, Sneep, Samuelsson, and Resse, Mr.  Shero has amassed a wealth of young assets at the blueline,  a position that generally for him has netted huge returns a a la Whitney for Kunitz and Tangradi, and Goligoski for Neal and Niskanen.  I look for one of these assets to net the top six winger or solid veteran NHL  stay at home defenseman to complete the puzzle for Pittsburgh.

There are many factors you cannot know going into any season such as health, an off year for a key player or an emerging player giving you more than you expected, but based on the above, I think our Penguins will again be an elite team during the regular season, with their biggest Divisional threats coming from New York, due to goaltending and cap space, as well as Philadelphia due to their top nine, but I think the Penguins will make some noise in the post season for the first time since 2009.  I think they have a very good chance of coming out of the Eastern Conference and representing them in the Stanley Cup Finals.  Time will tell, and I hope you all enjoy the journey, and that we reach the destination we have in our minds.

Would the addition of Gonchar be a good move for the Penguins?

There are rumors afloat that the Penguins are interested in Sergei Gonchar making a return to the Penguins.  They are only rumors, but the mere mention of it has people taking very firm positions on one side or the other of the argument.  The two biggest arguments I hear that are against that thought are that in his last playoff appearance for Pittsburgh he was SO SOFT it would make dog shit on hot summer day seem like case hardened steel.   And frankly, that would be true.  The other argument I hear a lot is that the Penguins are loaded with young defensemen and it is time to give them a shot.  That is also true to the extent that the Penguins have Simon Despres, Robert Bortuzzo, Brian Strait, Joe Morrow, Ben Lovejoy, Brian Dumoulin, Ollie Maatta, Scott Harrington, Puoliot, Carl Sneep andDylan  Reese as young defensemen who are either NHL ready or have potential as top 4 NHL defensemen in the league.   Reese, Lovejoy, Bortuzzo, Strait, and Sneep all have some NHL experience or are considered NHL ready steady type players.  Despres played in several games last season and acquitted himself quite nicely.  At first glance if you add in the 5.5M price tag, and the fact that the Penguins to me need another NHL veteran with a more stay at home/physical prescence I agreed that the Penguins would be better off not looking in Sarge's direction Upon further review, I may have changed my mind for the following reasons.  First, Gonchar is the final year of that 5.5M contract so if the addition of The Sarge does not work out, the Pens are not saddled with a long term albatross.  Second, despite the fact that many of above mentioned young blue liners will be long term fixtures on the blue line, it seems as if the ones who can make a significant impact are one to two years away from being NHL ready to the extent you would want them taking a regular shift during a playoff run where your team is a favorite to win it all.  Third, special teams is always key in the playoffs and the Penguins power play was an asset all of last year partially due to a large contribution made by another calm veteran who can make plays, Steve Sullivan.  Sully is gone, and adding Gonchar to the power play gives the Penguins two effective point men for the power play in Gonchar and Letang.  Fourth, Gonchar is one of those guys would seemingly be calm in the process of getting skinned alive.  That kind of veteran poise seemed to be lacking in the post season melt down last year and adding it back to the lineup is not a bad thing.  Fifth, in a short season with confernce only games there will be little room for slumping.  Gonchar has been playing and playing very well in the KHL on the same Magnitogorsk team as Evgeni Malkin often teaming up to create offensive mayhem.  They have and always seemed to have a chemistry that will be elevated in the short term over many others due to their game shape, and timing TOGETHER.   In a 48 game conference only schedule, getting a jump out of the gate could be a critical factor to playoff positioning.  Finally, the Penguins have a unique opportunity if all goes well and the core of this team is healthy in that they have the best goaltending tandem they have ever had, which again with so many back to back games may factor in since the Pens could put either on the ice at any time and expect stellar play.  They also have a healthy Malkin and totally healthy Crosby together to start a campaign for the first time in a couple of years, making them a pretty dangerous team.   They are pretty well balanced as a unit, and have sigificant depth up and down the lineup everywhere but on the blue line if you are talking about NHL proven high end talent.  Adding Gonchar gives them a top 6 of Letang, Orpik, Martin, Niskanen, Gonchar and Engelland.  Gonchar is not physical but sound postionally in his own zone, a great puck mover, and point producer.   They would have a 7th defenseman in Lovejoy, Reese, Bortuzzo, Strait or Despres.  Not a bad situation to have.  They would also  h ave 3.5M left in cap space PLUS the salary or salaries of the assets they would move to acquire Gonchar.  This would leave plenty of space and assets to address the need for another top six winger should the opportunity arise.  That championship window is not open forever, so I think a move like this is worthy of exploration, assuming Ottawa would consider the move. 

Fartsmell misses Makoman?

Just in time for the Pittsburgh=Philadelphia on ice hate fest, my friend Matt Walker alerted me to the fact that his son Ryan saw a piece on TSN in which Scott Hartnell remembered our lovefest back in the days of the Mellon Arena when my seats were right at the tunnel of the opposing team.  I gave old Scottie a couple years of pretty significant bashing and he gave it back a bit more then he lets on here.  In the end, he made my weekend by signing the jersey with a humorous greeting and giving us the stick he used that night.  Tough for me to hate the guy and in a sense his kindness and class RUINED a perfectly good hate.  So yes, even in kindness he is really a bastard!  Best of luck Fartsmell from a rare Pens fan who appreciates your game!  But we are looking for payback sir.....good day.