Pens Lose Paul Bissonnette

The Penguins attempted to sneak rugged winger Paul Bissonnette through waivers but he was claimed by the Coyotes. This is no big lose considering we have both Godard and Rupp who play the same style that Bissonnette does, but I really enjoyed watching him play and will miss watching him fight. The Penguins also claimed Chris Bourque, son of hall of fame D-man Ray Bourque off waivers today. Chris was a second round draft pick of the Capitals back in 2004 and has played a total of 12 NHL games since being drafted. In his limited time in the NHL he has registered 1 goal, so he is a nice addition for the baby pens, but i wouldn't expect him to be making any impact at the NHL level.

Can't wait to watch the Penguins raise their banners on Friday night!!!

Who Will Win the Scoring Title This Year

I have a feeling this is Crosby's year, even though he handled finishing behind Malkin last year with class i would be willing to bet finishing third has been eating at him all summer long. I remember him getting interviewed after the season before the playoffs started and being asked if he had ever been out scored by a teammate before. He answered "no, that has never happened to me before, not in pee-wee's, juniors, or the NHL". You could just tell when he was saying it that he was stunned that it had happened, and he was disappointed with himself. Though it will be a tough task to fend of Malkin and AO i believe his determination to be the best, and the fact he has finally switched to a composite stick will lead to a season where he scores between 130 to 150 points with a career high of better than 40 goals.

I have been thinking about writing about this all summer but thought i would save this for the 87th post.

My Thoughts on Chris Kunitz

I am only writing this because a couple of people who actually read my blog have labeled me a Kunitz hater. To set the record straight I like Chris Kunitz but believe he was the wrong player to trade away Ryan Whitney for. However this trade is looking much better as I believe Tangradi will be the scoring winger that the penguins desperatly need in the near future. Below are two lists, one of why i like Kunitz for the Penguins, and one of why i think he is a bad fit for the Penguins.

Good for Penguins.
1. He hits often and is good on the forcheck.
2. He is a fast skater.
- Both of these attributes make him sound like a third line player which is where his skill set dictates he should play.

Bad for the Penguins.
1. We were suppose to trade Ryan Whitney away for one of two reasons 1. to get a scoring winger for Crosby, 2. to clear cap space so we could sign a scoring winger for Crosby in the off season. Trading for Kunitz solved neither of these issues, we got a guy who rarely scores 20 goals in a season and in his best year he had two more points than the D-man Whitney we traded away for him. Also he makes 3.75 million a season which is almost exactly what Whitney was making.

2. We needed a scoring winger we got a guy that has all the same attributes of about 5 other players on our team (Kennedy, Talbot, Dupuis, Taffe, Rupp) accept Kunitz makes much more money.

All that being said I like Kunitz, I would love him if he was making 2.0 million a year. I just find it hard to believe we have a winger in Fedatenko who produces consistantly in big games, and puts up better all around numbers than Kunitz that only gets paid 1.8 million but we can afford to pay a third line talent in Kunitz 3.75. Do to the Penguins cap situation i can almost gaurantee you either Kunitz or Staal will be traded before the end of there respective contracts. Now you tell me, who would you rather have on your team Jordan Staal at 4.0 Million a season or Chris Kunitz at 3.75 a year. I do however expect Kunitz to have a career season playing beside Crosby reaching 30 goals this year but i think Kennedy would be capable of putting up the same numbers.

This ones for you Eric

Steelers or Penguins?

Who is more likely to repeat as champions this year the Penguins or the Steelers?

Though both teams had very little roster turn over from there championship seasons last year, I believe the Penguins have a much better chance of repeating (below is a list of my reasons).

1. I think it is harder to win a super bowl than a Stanly Cup because each series is a best of 7 in hockey where in football you only get one chance. Over a 7 game series the better team usually wins.

2. As great as the Steelers super star players are ( #7, #43, #92) they are not even considered the best in the league. The Penguins super stars ( #87, #71) are considered to be 2 of the 3 best players in the world and there is a wide gap between number 3 and 4.

Kennedy to Take Talbot's Place on Second Line

With Talbot recovering from shoulder surgery that is expected to keep him sidelined for at least the first month of the regular season the Penguins have turned to Kennedy to fill his spot as right wing on Malkin's line. All though I believe Kennedy will do well on that line, i hate to break up our third line that was so productive in the playoffs. Also i was really hoping that either Caputti or Tangretti would step up and earn that spot for the first month of the season.

Penguins open up there pre-season schedule Tuesday night against Columbus. It should be fun to watch some of the young guys play.

Less than a week till the start of training camp

The Penguins prospects and rookies report to camp this Sunday where they will play in a tournament vs prospects from the Maple Leafs, Senators, and the Sabers. It will be nice to finally start seeing some hockey again. The Veterans start camp on the 12th, the season will be here before we know it.

In other hockey news, who do you think will win the gold Medal in the Olympics this year. Canada is boosting a first line of Nash - Crosby - Iginla (pretty ridiculous) and Russia has a first line of Ovie - Malkin - Kovalchuk (also ridiculous). These two teams are my odds on favorites to win the gold.