Habs Tie the Series

This was a hard one to watch as a Penguins fan, the Penguins dominated the entire game and still lost. I thought the Penguins played really well, and did a good job of keeping the puck in the offensive zone. However they really didn't get many quality scoring opportunities for as much time as they spent in the offensive zone. Halak has continued to play great while MAF looked shaky and was mostly responsible for the Penguins loss. The other thing I have noticed in this series is Crosby has went back to his old ways where he is looking to pass first rather than shooting. I know he is doing this for two reasons, one because Halak has proven he is hard to beat without getting him moving from side to side, second the Habs are floating a lot of coverage his way leaving other players wide open. This strategy is fine when Malkin is on your wing, but when its Kunitz your setting up I would rather take my chances with the 51 goal scorer Crosby trying to beat Halak straight up.

If the Penguins want to win this series they need to start crashing the net harder. Players like Cooke, Staal, Geurin, and Rupp need to get to the net and spray some snow in Halak's face. Lets see how well he stops the puck with them distracting them. We also need MAF, Crosby, and Malkin to play better. We all made fun of Ovechkin and Greene for being unable to produce in the playoffs, now its our superstars who are being shut down.

LETS GO PENS!!!

Senators No Match for Crosby and the Penguins.

This series appears to be over, the Penguins may have let the Senators creep back into last nights game but the outcome was never in question. Crosby has looked unbelievable again and may have a chance to beat Marios all time record of 17 points in a playoff series if the Senators win another game (I don't see that happening). I hope this isn't just a false sense of confidence but the Penguins are starting to look like the favorite to win the cup again this year. All we need now is for MAF to step his game up, he made a couple of good saves last night but still gave up 2 soft goals. It also appears that the Flyers are going to knock off the Devils which is great news for the Penguins.

Penguins Take Command of Series

With last nights win the Penguins are now up on the Senators 2 games to 1. MAF still looks a little shaky to me but I think the Penguins will close this series out in 5. I have been very impressed with how physical the Penguins have been especially Orpik. If MAF gets back to form we may make another serious cup run this year.

Pens beat Islanders in OT

The Penguins finished up the regular season with a 6 - 5 OT win over the Islanders but the real story of this game was Sidney Crosby. Crosby entered this game one goal behind Stamkos and Ovechkin in the race for the goal scoring title, and 8 points behind Sedin in the scoring race. Crosby came out and dominated this game having two goals and 5 points by the middle of the second period. Suddenly it looked like the goal scoring title was his alone and he had a chance to win the scoring title that was considered completely out of his reach going into this game. Unfortunatly he didn't get anymore points and Stamkos got an empty net goal to tie Crosby for goals. Despite Crosby not scoring in the third period I actually thought it was his strongest period of the game. If he didn't play defense and cherry picked like Ovechkin Crosby would win the scoring race by a large margin every year. It is amazing what he has become this season, nobody including myself ever thought he would become this good of a goal scorer. Wonder what he will set his mind to accomplish for next season.

Plum School Penguins Video

Penguins themed video created by the students at Plum. I don't remember getting to do anything quite this cool when I was in school.

Pens Crush Islanders.

The Penguins dominating 7 - 3 victory was a fitting way for the Penguins to close the Mellon Arena's regular season history book. The Penguins dominated this game from start to finish and got contributions from two players who have been slumping lately in Gogo and Billy G. Crosby and Malkin also shined in this game putting up 2 goals and 5 assists between the to of them. Crosby's goal was his 49th of the season which puts him back in the goal scoring lead and leaves him one goal shy of 50 on the season. It looked like he had got his 50th in the second period but after the game it was announced that that goal had gone off Guerins leg for his second goal of the game and 21st of the season. Its hard to believe but with Crosby's 4 point game last night he has actually put himself back in contention to win the scoring title this season. Its a long shot but if he finishes the season with two more huge games and Hedin and Ovechkin slump it will be close. Lets hope the Penguins can breeze through their last two games like they did this one so they can carry some momentum into the playoffs.

Negatives for the Game:
-Not to many when you win 7 - 3 but MAF didn't play a great game despite getting the win and making one incredible save.
-Poni continues to look like he was a bad acquisition and he will now be suspended for 1 game after boarding an Islander in the third period. Unfortunately for the Penguins this was the most enthusiasm we have seen out of him since he joined the Penguins. His guy actually makes Kunitz look like a legitimate first line winger.

Pens Lose to Caps again

Despite the Penguins losing this game I thought they played pretty well with the exception of Gogo and MAF. MAF looked completely lost out there tonight, he was off of his angle on both the 1st and 3rd goal and let a pedestrian slap shot go right through him for the 2nd goal. I have been defending MAF for the last couple weeks saying I know he is a good goalie and he will come out of this slump before the playoffs begin, but he has continued to get worse over the last couple of weeks. I am very concerned that he is going to cause the Penguins to have an early exit from the playoffs.

On the positive side of things Crosby continued to shine with a goal and 2 assists in this game, and Jordan Leopold is beginning to look like the player we expected when Shero traded a 2nd round pick away for him. Leopold has now had three goals in the last two games, and has ten on the season which is only two less than Gonchar has. I know Gonchar is great on the PP and I would love to see him stay, but with the Penguins salary cap situation Leopold may be a great replacement for Gonchar at half the cost. I was also very impressed with the way Letang played Ovechkin, Letang wasn't scared to step up on him and was able to stick with him the entire game.

What did everyone think about Bylsma pulling the goalie last night and allowing Ovechkin to score an empty net goal to tie Crosby for the goal scoring lead. Personally I agreed with him for pulling the goalie with about 2 minutes left while the Penguins were down by 2, but I wish he would have put the goalie back in when we there was a whistle with 8 seconds left and we were still down by two. does anybody know how many empty net goals Ovechkin has? He has to lead the league in them.

Kris Letang

This isn't official yet but it looks like Letangs new contract will pay him 3.5 million a year. This is a little more than I was hoping we would pay him, but he is going to be worth a lot more than that by the last years of this contract.

Letang Signs Contract Extension with the Penguins

Penguins.com has just reported that Kris Letang has signed a four year extension that will keep Letang in Pittsburgh through the 2013-2014 season. No financials have been released yet but I am very happy that Letang will be staying in Pittsburgh. This signing more than likely means the end for Gonchars run as a Penguin. I will post more on this once the financial information is released.

Wings Down Pens 3-1

I didn't get to see this game and from what I understand that is a good thing. This loss leaves the Penguins 2 points ahead of the Devils, but the Devils now have 2 games in hand. Lets hope the Penguins bring their A game against the Capitals on Wed night.

Thoughts:
Even though Malkin is not having his best season, seeing the Penguins play without him shows how important he is to our success. It amazes me how great our offensive depth is when we are healthy, buy you take either Crosby or Malkin out of the lineup and our offense looks pedestrian at best.

Penguins Beat Bruins

The Penguins dominated the Bruins from start to finish. We were so dominate that the Boston fans were actually mock cheering their team in the third period when they got a shot on net. There were several shifts in the third period where the Penguins looked like they were on the PP in the Bruins end. This was also the first shutout of the season for the Penguins and MAF. Hopefully the shutout will help bolster MAF's confidence going into the playoffs.

Notes:
The Devils lost to the leafs in a shoot out last night to give the Penguins a one point lead in the division.

Scott Thorton was awarded the third star of the game last night for dropping the gloves with Cooke. Do you think this was "fair or foul" to give him the third star for fighting Cooke after he took out Savard for the season last week?

Devils Sweep Season Series

The Penguins still can't solve the Devils. After last nights loss the Penguins are still hanging on to a 2 point lead in the division. Every time I watch the Pens lose to the Devils I think winning the division becomes more and more important. Winning the division is the only way we can ensure ducking the Devils until the conference finals. There is no other team in the Eastern conference that scares me as a playoff opponent more than the Devils. The Devils might not be as good as the Capitols but they have the Penguins number. We can't find a way to beat the trap, and when we do we can't get the puck by Marty.

Last nights game was particularly frustrating because the Penguins out played the Devils but made a couple of turnovers that the Devils capitalized on. I would love to know what are D was thinking on that PP where they turned the puck over two possessions in a row for a break away. On the second one that lead to a goal everyone in the building could see that Elias was making a break to intercept the D to D pass but our guy tried to force it through anyways.

Negatives:
Kris Letang and Gogo look like they are regressing since the trade deadline. If Letang thinks he is going to sign a deal worth 4 million a season he is going to have to have a monster post season. Right now he looks like hes worth about 1 million a season.

I praised the Poni trade the soon as it was made and truly thought we was going to be a huge asset offensively to this team. He hasn't played bad, but I have not been impressed with him. Hopefully this changes before the playoffs start or Shero is going to look like a fool for trading Caputi for him. However i was not a big Caputi fan so I still feel this was a good trade.

Positives:
Leopold has looked pretty good. He has been better than I thought he was going to be and is probably our second best defensive player behind Orpik.

Even though we lost two games to the Devils this week the Penguins have been red hot since the olypic break.

Pascal Dupuis is playing well above his talent level.

Malkin Day-To-Day

The Penguins website is reporting Malkins x-rays show that his foot was not broken by the Kris Letang shot that hit him in yesterdays game. He is listed as Day-To-Day and will more than likely be playing in Wednesdays game against the Devils.

Penguins Get Their First Win of the Road Trip

The Penguins picked up their first win of the road trip on Sunday against the Lighting. This was a huge win considering we lost our last game to the Devils which allowed them to close within two points of the Penguins. Since then the Devils lost to the Islanders and this win allowed the Penguins to regain their 4 point lead in the standings. Winning the division is going to be extremely important for the Penguins because it is going to allow them to duck either the Devils or the Capitals in the playoffs, and if we are really lucky maybe we can avoid both of them.

Thought of the day:
Guerin better watch out because Dupuis is clearly been the better first line winger as of late. If Dupuis keeps playing like this Guerin will be riding the pine come the playoffs.

Cooke Not Suspended

It was announced today that Matt Cooke will not be suspended for the hit to the head he laid on Boston forward Marc Savard. I thought Cooke would be looking at a suspension of more than 5 games considering he was suspended 2 games for a similar hit earlier this season. The fact that he is not going to be suspended is great for the Penguins, but I am not sure this was the right decision for the league. I am all for big hits but there is no reason to hit a guy in the head from the blind side like Cooke did. Even more unfortunate than the hit and Savards injuries is the national coverage this hit has received that portrays the NHL as a savage league. Its extremely irritating to me that this league has such amazing athletes that make highlight real plays every night and you never see any of that on ESPN, but the soon as something ugly like this hit happens it shows up on every talk show and highlight show ESPN has.

A funny note about the Cooke hit:
I was discussing the Cooke hit with my friend Blaine, and I told him I thought it was a cheap shot and expected him to be suspended for 5 - 10 games. Blains response " I really don't think it was that big of a deal, its not like he raped someone" (clearly taking a shot at Big Ben).

Penguins Heating Up

The Penguins have strung together 4 game winning streaks a couple of times already this season but none of them have been as impressive as this one. The Penguins have not only been winning, but dominating there opponents. This was never as noticeable as it was in the Rangers game when the Penguins out shot the Rangers 55 to 16. Not only have the Penguins looked great since the Olympic break, but they have now passed the Devils for first place in the division.

So why have to Penguins looked so good since the break? There are two reasons that answer this question, first the Penguins wingers and depth players have been chipping in goals and playing a physical game, second Shero found Malkin the winger he needs in the Poni express. If the Penguins are able to resign Poni after this season, it will go down as the best deal Shero has made since taking over as GM for the Penguins.

On a side note, how many games do you think Cooke will be suspended for the cheap shot he gave Savard? My guess is 8 games considering he is a repeat offender, if his suspension is that long it could really hurt the Penguins down the stretch.

Grading the Trade Deadline.

Once again Ray Shero did a great job of upgrading the Penguins lineup without giving up to much to do so. I was a strong believer that Gogo was going to be traded to get the Penguins a scoring winger. But Shero managed to bring in Poni while only giving up Luca Caputi, who in my opinion is a very over rated prospect.

Shero also picked up defense man Jordan Leopold for a second round draft pick. This pick up is a little curious to me. I believed the Penguins biggest need at the trade deadline was a physical shut down defense man, instead Shero picked up a puck moving defense man that is an upgrade over what we have defensively but not exactly what i would call a shut down defense man. For the short run i would have rather seen Shero trade for Sutton who also went for a second round pick, but I believe Shero was looking beyond this season when he made this trade. It is now public knowledge that contract talks with Gonchar have broken down, which probally means he will not be back next season. Leopold will not only be upgrading our defense this year, but he will be auditioning to fill Gonchar's spot next season. Sure he is a drop off in talent compared to Gonchar, but Shero will be able to sign both him and Letang for what he would have to pay Gonchar. This should leave the Penguins with enough cap space to sign Poni or another scoring winger that will command between 3 to 4 million dollars.

So my overall grade for Shero at this years deadline is an A-, he could only have done better by bringing in a shut down defense man. I believe this years moves took the Penguins from a contender for the cup, to the favorites to win the cup.

Sid Strikes Gold

Congratulations to Sidney and the rest of the Canadian team for winning the gold medal. it was bitter sweet watching Crosby score in OT yesterday afternoon to beat the USA team, Or as a guy I saw on tv yesterday put it "watching Sid score the OT winner was kind of like watching your mother in law drive over a cliff in your new Cadillac".

So what did we learn from watching the Olympics this year:

1. An Olympic gold metal means as much to NHL players as winning the Stanley Cup. I was amazed to see how physical everyone was in this tournament, and shocked to see how upset the USA players were when they lost the game.

2. The NHL need to keep fighting. For a long time I really had no opinion on whether or not the NHL should get rid of fighting, but after watching the Olympics I think it is necessary that the NHL keeps it. I know this sounds funny but the game is played much cleaner when there is fighting involved. In the Olympics we saw a lot of cheap shots that would have never happened if the player throwing them thought they would have to stand up and fight after they did what they did. A couple examples of this were Semin Hitting Boyle from behind (completely out of character for him) and then Boyle chasing him down and slew footing him to the ice (which is more dangerous to a players health than being in a fight). If this was an NHL game Semin wouldn't have made that hit and if he did Boyle of one of his tea teammates would have dropped the gloves and beat him senseless.
Here is a list of other things I saw that wouldn't have happened if fighting was allowed:
1. Jack Johnson hits a Canadian player well after the horn sounded to end the period.
2. there was a delayed penalty called so Mike Richards decided rather than just touching the puck to get the whistle that he would fire it into the USA bench.
3. A USA player slashed Luongo in the hand behind the net.
4. There were numerous hits from behind.

These are only a few of the things that I saw that would never happen in the NHL. The one thing we did see because there was no fighting that i did like was star players were able to be hit cleanly without the hitter being instantly engaged by the star players teammates.

Penguins lose final two heading into the break.

The Penguins lost their final two games heading into the Olympic break. The good news is they managed to get a point out of both games. The bad news is they continued to play terrible hockey. After watching both of these last two games i have changed my trade deadline priorities. As much as i want to see Crosby and Malkin get a scoring winger to play with, I think a shut down D man would be much more useful to this team now. Our defense can't stop anyone, they leave people stand in front of MAF unchecked, give up odd man breaks constantly, and can't get the puck out of the zone. I understand that the forwards should also be held accountable for a lot of these problems, but a Rob Scuderi type D man would go a long way in curing these problems.

A lot of people will say we need a scoring winger more than a D man pointing to the fact that Crosby and Malkin have been in on 34 of the last 37 goals and have produced better than 35% of the Penguins goals this season even with Malkin having a slow start. I however would argue for the same reasons listed above that we don't need a scoring winger. How many other teams in the league have two players that have put up the numbers Crosby and Malkin have? As long as these two stay healthy and our current wingers start chipping in just a little more this teams offense will be ok.

As someone who loves watching the Penguins adding a scoring winger would be awesome and make the games more exciting to watch. But adding a shut down D man would give us a much better opportunity to win the Cup again this year.

Penguins Trade Watch

It appears Shero made a block buster trade last night shipping Pittsburgh Native Nate Guenin to the St. Louis Blues for defense man Steve Wagner. Both players appear to be career minor leaguers who at best could be a 6th or 7th defense man at the NHL level. Wagner is said to have NHL ready offensive talents but is over matched defensively at the NHL level. I am not sure how this trade benefits either team, but i guess thats why I am not a GM.

Penguins beat Islanders 3-1

The Penguins got a much needed win last night after dropping back to back contests against the Canadians and Capitals. This was a boring game to watch but the end result was a Penguins win. MAF, Chris Kunitz, and Malkin all played solid games, but our defensive effort was lack luster to say the least.

While watching last nights game i was thinking about the idea of trading Feds away for prospects to clear some cap room. I am ok with doing this, but this trade would make Kunitz a necessity to keep. I think i would rather trade Kunitz to clear his salary off the books and let Feds walk after the season is over. This would give the Penguins the necessary money to sign a real scoring winger. However if Kunitz can continue to play like he did last night I would like to keep him (I wouldn't hold my breath).

I hope Shero can make two big moves at the deadline to get us a solid D man and a scoring winger. Wonder what it would take to get Selanne and scott niedermayer from the ducks. These two would certainly bolster the roster up, but you wonder what you would have to give up to get to aging rent-a-players. I would be willing to give up Gogo and a 2nd round pick to make that happen.

Who will be the first Penguin to be Traded?

From what I have been reading it looks like Feds will be traded before the Olympic break for either a draft pick or prospect. the reason the Penguins would make this trade is to clear enough cap room to bring in either a scoring winger or a shut down defense man. After watching the Penguins recent play, it appears they could use both.

Kris Letang

Sounds to me like Letang may hold out on the Penguins to see if he can get signed to a big offer sheet. Read this article on the Penguins web site and let me know what you think.

Kris Letang is one of my favorite players and I believe we need to keep him. But if he trys to hold the Penguins hostage for a 6 million dollar a season contract Shero will have to consider trading him. Lets hope it doesn't come to that and we are able to sign him to a long deal that both sides can be happy with.

Penguins 4, Rangers 2

Last night the Penguins did what good teams are suppose to do, they beat a less talented team that is struggling right now. They did a good job defensively of keeping the Rangers to the outside and forcing them into low percentage shots specifically Gaborak. Despite all the talk of the Penguins bad play recently they have quietly won 5 0f their last 6 games and their PP has been red hot over the last 3 games.

Another positive from this game was the play of the two call ups Nick Johnson, and Chris Conner. These two both played really well, Conner scored 2 goals and shot the puck every opportunity he had. I was really impressed with his speed, he clearly doesn't have the talent of a Bill Guerin, but he also didn't force Crosby to slow the play down like Guerin does. This was the second straight game for Johnson, he didn't show up on the score sheet but he was in the right place a lot last night and was just unable to finish. I hope both players get a couple more games up here so we can get a better idea of what they can do, but I believe with Johnson's size he is more likely to be the guy that has a chance to stick with the big team.

Crosby had two points last night to bring his total to 68 on the year, this puts him 6 points behind Sedin, and two points behind Ovie for the scoring title race. Who do you think will win the scoring title this year?

Cooke takes a bite out of the Flyers

The Penguins beat the Flyers 2 - 1. After watching the first period I thought the Flyers were going to run away with this game. Then the Penguins seemed to settle in and began to play the kind of hockey we expect from them the next two periods, they were strong defensively and kept the puck in the offensive end for long periods of time. I would have liked to have seen them get more shots on net, but it turns they had enough to win the game. Both Penguins goals were scored on the PP which i still thought looked bad despite scoring two goals.

Talbot was a scratch for this game and Nick Johnson was brought up for his second game with the big team. I am very impressed with the way this guy plays the game, he is a good skater, throws his body around, and isn't afraid to carry the puck. To me he looks like a much better candidate to become a true power forward than Luca Caputi does.

The best story that came out of this game was Cooke taking a revenge bight out of Ashams finger. If you remember earlier this season Hartnall bit Letangs finger, and then refused to admit or deny that he did it after the game fearing he would be suspended. However his smile and body language clearly let everyone know that he did it. Fittingly enough Cooke's comment after the game when being asked if he bit Ashams finger was " If Hartnall didn't bight Letangs finger than I guess I didn't bite his (Asham)".

Penguins Give a Lack Luster Performance in Loss to Capitals

When the Penguins schedule came out this year I looked through it and said this going to be the best game of the season. I waited patiently for the last couple of months for this game to come, changed all of my plans so that i could make sure i was able to go to this game and then the Penguins come out and have a performance like that. Sure glad I decided not to play in my Adult league game so i could sit at the Mellon and watch the Penguins play some very uninspired hockey.

A lot of fans calling into the post game radio show were blaming this loss on Johnson, saying he had a terrible game and we would have won if MAF was in the net. I honestly didn't think Johnson played a bad game. It is hard for a goalie to keep pucks out of the net when we give up tons of quality opportunities to the very gifted players Washington has. And yes we would have had a better chance of winning with MAF in the net, that is why he is our starting goalie and Johnson is the back up. You can't believe how many people were calling saying we should trade for a better back up goalie. There is a reason they are called "back up" because they are only there to spell the starting goalie when he needs a rest, and to fill in if the starting goalie is injured.

The reason this team is losing right now is our defense is terrible. I am beginning to wonder if the Penguins have completely forgotten the defensive responsibility that Therien taught them before Bylsma took over last year. In the last two games the Penguins have given up 5 break aways (Johnson stopped 4 of them by the way). I bet the Penguins have not had 5 break aways all season. It seems like teams constantly come in our zone on odd man breaks and then once they gain the zone we cannot get the puck out. When we finally do gain possession we ice the puck after guys have been stuck on the ice for over two minutes. This forces us to keep tired players on the ice while the other team gets to bring out fresh troops. This happened 5 times in the first period last night.

I believe it is time for a major shake up with this team. Some people may say this is crazy considering the Penguins are the defending champs, but remember Craig Patrick made some huge moves at the dead line the year after the Penguins won their first cup and those moves resulted in another cup that season. I would not trade any of our core players being Crosby, Malkin, MAF,Staal,Letang. any other player i would be willing to deal. here are the players i think the Penguins will shop and why.

Talbot: He is not essential to this team winning and is a natural center which is a position we are deep at. Other teams value Talbot fairly high because of his intangibles and timely scoring. But the biggest reason I put his name into this discussion is his name has came up in countless trade rumors.

Gonchar: The only reason the Penguins might consider trading Gonchar is they will probably be unable to re-sign him after this season, so they may want to get something for him. I don't think they will trade him though because it will be hard to get a player that can help the Penguins more than he can considering he would only be a rent-a-player for any team that would trade for him. It would have to be another play off team that needs PP help and has a rent-a-player scoring winger they are willing to part with. That being said I expect Gonchar to be in a Penguins uniform for the entire season.

Gogo: Trading him makes a lot of sense to me, he has a three year contract, can bring PP help to a team that needs it, and he is only 27 years old. I think he is the player that can bring us the highest return that I am willing to part with. I am willing to see him go because his defensive play is terrible, and Ben Lovejoy is ready to be a full time NHL player and is also a much better defensive player than Gogo.

Kunitz: This is just wishful thinking, I don't think the Penguins will trade him but he is overpaid and will never be a real top six winger. Dupuis contract is a third of the price of Kunitz and his play is much better.

Crosby Leads Penguins Past Islanders

This was a very entertaining game to watch, and any hockey fan had to enjoy watching the Penguins stars rack up huge point totals in this game. But I have to tell you the way the Penguins kept letting the Islanders come back in this game really left a sour taste in my mouth. If it wasn't for Sutton taking a 5 minute major for trying to decapitate Dupuis I think the Islanders would have tied this game up again.

So what went right for the Penguins in this game. First we got one of our goalie's back in Johnson who i thought played a pretty good game despite giving up 4 goals. Malkin had a hat trick and was absolutly bombing the puck on the PP which went 4 - 7 in this game. If our PP can stay that hot we will be unstopable. Sidney Crosby is playing out of this world hockey right now, he picked up 6 points in this game and is quickly closing in on the leading scorer in the league. He is also on pace to shatter his career high goal numbers. The Penguins third line continues to play extremely solid hockey and is chipping in more than the occasional goal.

Area of concern:
I can't believe I have to say this after we have heard so much over the last two years about how deep this team is on D men, but our defense has been terrible this season. That includes our forwards helping out on the back check but mostly pertains to our D men who are constantly giving up break aways, two on ones, leaving men unattended in the slot, and turning the puck over in our own end. It has to be the system we are playing, because when you look at the Penguins D men individually they are all good players. The only person on the D who I don't trust is Gogo, he has been a huge disappointed to me. We constantly hear that he is a young offensive talent, but he is not that young at 27 years old.


lets look on the bright side, if the PP continues to score 4 goals a night and we can get a 6 points out of Crosby on a consistent basis the Penguins won't have to worry about playing defense. It will be interesting to see what happens against Washington tonight. If the Penguins are to win they will need to have another offensive performance like they did against the Islanders.

Ray Whitney to the Penguins

ESPN has a rumor listed that Ray Whitney is going to be traded to the Penguins. Now there are rumors floating around every year and almost none of them actually happen, but this one would make a lot of sense for the Penguins. Whitney is an ageing player at the end of his contract who is still putting up good numbers but won't cost the Penguins an arm and a let to trade for. Picking Whitney up could happen for a price similar to, but probably a little steeper than what the Penguins gave up last year for Geurin. Whitney would be a great scoring winger to add to this team as a rental player for this years playoff run. I hope the Penguins can make this work and then clear both him and Geurin off the books after the season is over to clear some room to sign a real winger. The Penguins could clear some nice cap space by trading away Kunitz for him and then letting him go at the end of the season.

Max Talbot being shopped?

There is a rumor floating around from some pretty creditable sources that Max Talbot along with a prospect will be traded to the LA Kings for Jack Johnson. If this happens it will be hard to replace Talbots intangibles but Johnson would be a nice addition to our young defensive core and this would almost certainly mean either Letang or Gonchar wouldn't be back for the Penguins next season.

Personally i would rather see the Penguins trade kunitz for a bag of pucks.

Penguins beat Oilers 3-2

Quietly the Penguins have won 3 0f their last 4 games despite playing poorly. Last night the Penguins played two terrible periods of hockey before the third line lead by Jordan Staal decided to bail the Penguins out in the third period. MAF also played a good game showing some intensity when he attacked the Oilers forward he ran him over while going to the net. I don't know if the Penguins winning 3 of their last 4 while playing poorly should be viewed as a good or a bad thing but I will take the points and hope they improve soon.

Anybody else think Staal is the leading Canidate to win the Selke trophy this year. Click here to learn more about the Selke trophy and its past winners

Sidney Crosby

Below is a paragraph out of Rob Rossi's article in the Trib today about Sidney Crosby's recent goal scoring.

"Primarily a playmaker through his first four NHL season, Crosby hit the 30-goal plateau only 47 games into his fifth season. His previous fastest start was 30 goals in 63 games four years ago, his rookie season."


Can anybody remember who Crosby's winger was his rookie season, do you think he might have helped Crosby score all those goals as a rookie? I think his name was Mario Lemieux also known as the "magnificent one", and the guy who holds the record for points per game in the NHL. Could you imagine the numbers Crosby would put up now if he played with a winger even half as good as Mario. Crosby put up a total of 39 goals that season (most he has ever scored)he is on pace to destroy that number this year.

Penguins Beat the Flames 3-1

The Flames are such an old school team, and i mean that in a good way. They play very physical. I saw guys taking long runs at people in neutral ice, most of the time they missed but the Penguins were definitely aware that they stood a good chance of getting ran over every time they got the puck.

Great to see the Penguins get a win, and more importantly MAF looks to be breaking out of his mini slump, and the PP had a goal. The PP was very interesting last night with people moving around all over the place. The big change we saw was Malkin took Crosby's spot and GoGo took Malkin's spot while Crosby is now lurking in front of the goalie. I liked this move, Malkin clearly can't play on the other side of the ice and we know how affective Crosby can be infront of the cage. But you have to wonder if it is a good idea to put your star player infront of the net taking a beating from the D and getting hit with shots from the point. The other thing I really don't understand is why the coaching staff uses Gogo on the left point rather than Kris Letang. Letang is right handed so he could take the one timer, plus he has a great shot and moves the puck extremely well. Hopefully the Penguins and there PP continue to roll tonight in Edmonton.

Sidney Crosby with Shaun Majumder

We know Crosby is good on the ice but how is he at math. Click here to watch the video

Phil Bourque

I heard on the radio this morning that Phil Bourque was arrested while crossing into Canada with the Penguins for drug possession. Has anybody heard anything about this, and is there any truth to it? I really hope this is not true, I really liked him as a player and he is also a pretty good color man for Mike Lang

Lowell MacDonald Jr. True Penguins Fan.

Anybody who watched the Flyers Penguins game last Thursday will remember the Flyers goal that was reviewed and called no goal, then suddenly after play resumed another angle of the shot was shown that clearly showed it was a goal. Apparently Lowell MacDonald Jr. who works for FSN Pittsburgh is the person who is responsible for sending all replays available to Toronto for review. He just happened to forget to send the definitive replay to them and then put it on the air after the no goal call was made. Click here to read story in the Trib. By the way this guy is the sun of Pittsburgh hockey legend Lowell MacDonald who scored 140 goals as a Penguin.

Penguins Fall to the Wild

After this season started off very promising the Penguins are beginning to look like the team that almost missed the playoffs last year before making a couple of trades and going on a tear in March to bring the Penguins back into the playoff picture. You have to wonder how the cup champions could possibly have so many holes in there lineup after looking invincible during the playoffs with basically the same roster. We did lose Gill and Scuderi to free agency, has that been what has caused the terrible defensive play over the last month? There replacements have been Mckee and Gogo. Mckee has done a great job taking over for Scuderi, but Gogo has been terrible on the defensive end. Gogo needs to put on some muscle and learn to play a more defensive game.

What else has been going wrong:
The PP continues to be bad, this plagued the Penguins for a large part of last season as well but I don't remember it being this bad. I just don't understand how a team with as many super stars as the Penguins have can be this bad on the PP.

Evgeni Malkin can't seem to break out of his goal scoring slump. This is a guy who won the scoring title last year in both the regular season and in the playoffs. This season he is not even in the top 25 point getters. I don't know why he is struggling so bad but the Penguins really need him to snap out of it.

The Penguins top line wingers can't score. We are getting more production from 3rd and 4th line wingers like Rupp, Kennedy, Dupuis, and Cooke than we are from our top line wingers. The only top line winger we have who has not been a disappointment is Bill Guerin.

Positives:
Crosby and Staal have been great for the Penguins, these two have carried this team so far this season. Crosby has reinvented himself as a goal scorer, he is 12 goals away from breaking his career high of 39 and we are only half way through the season. Jordan Staal is also finding his offensive touch, to go along with his already great defensive skills. I can't believe I wanted him to be traded last year, this guy should held onto by the Penguins at any cost.

Dr. Lovejoy in The Lineup for the Penguins Tonight

The Penguins have called up both Ben Lovejoy and goalie Jon Curry from the baby Pens. I am excited to see Lovejoy play again because he was really good when he was up earlier this year but disappointed that he is here because Orpik is hurt. Not sure why Curry was called up but i did hear a rumor that MAF has been dealing with a left arm injury so maybe he will be on the shelf for a while. As long as MAF's injury doesn't take to long to heal I believe Johnson can hold the fort in his absence.

Is anybody impressed with Caputi? Everyone in the media talks about his great hands and net front present he provides. What they fail to tell you is he can hardly skate, by the time he gets to the net to provide a presence Malkin has already shot the puck twice and it is already on the way out of the zone or we are lining up for a face off. If he is truly the best offensive talent we have at the minor league level we are never going to have a scoring winger in Pittsburgh.

Jordan Staal vs Evgeni Malkin

Here is an interesting question. Assuming Sidney Crosby stays healthy over the course of his career and stays with the Penguins who would you rather have Malkin or Staal as a career Penguin?

I have been thinking about this and could see positives and negatives of keeping both of them. If you didn't have Crosby and your choice was either Malkin or Staal the choice would be Malkin with out a doubt in my mind.

Here are the advantages to keeping Malkin over Staal.
- Malkin has much more scoring ability than Staal and also sets plays up much better than Staal.
- Malkin is a true superstar and can take over a game.

Advantages of keeping Staal over Malkin.
- Staal is an amazing defensive center who is second to none on the PK
- Staal uses his frame to wear down opposing teams defense with his cycling game.
- Staal can be put on the ice in any situation and not be a liability.
- Staal is getting better every game and will be a true power forward once he grows into his frame.
- Staal will never make the same kind of money that Malkin does which would allow the Penguins to spend more money on quality wingers.

Advantages that both players have.
- They stay healthy, neither of them have missed many games due to injuries.

Disadvantages of both players.
- When things are not going their way their confidence disappears.

All this being said if I was Shero I would do everything i could to keep both of these players.

Kunitz to Undergo Surgery

Chris Kunitz will be out for the next 4 - 6 weeks after having abdominal surgery. I am not sure the Penguins offense can survive this blow (haha). This may be the best thing that could have happened for the struggling Penguins offense. While Kunitz is out Luca Caputi will get a chance to fill his spot on the first line along side Sidney Crosby. I hope this works out, but i was not very impressed with Caputi's skating abilities this year during training camp. However he has put up some very good numbers in the AHL and most of his goals come while posting up in front of the net which is something the Penguins could really use especially on the PP. Though I would like to see the Penguins give Rupp a chance in front of the net on the PP. Also I love the umbrella Format on the PP but Malkin and Gogo need to shoot the puck more and they need to spread out. When they pass the puck to each other on the PP it is essentially a hand off considering they are standing 5' apart. This allows one defender to cover both of them and eliminates our man advantage. When Gogo floats Malkins way Malkin needs to slide down the boards closer to the hash marks.

Penguins Losing Streak Continues

This was not a good weekend for Pittsburgh fans, we got to watch the Steelers get eliminated from post season contention and the Penguins lose two more games to teams that they should beat 9 out of 10 times. The best part of any of these games was listening to Bob Errey make an ass out of himself again. when the Penguins were stuck in their own end for an extended period of time and one of our guys finally got the puck Errey yelled out get the Fuck out of there. He quickly apologized saying he meant to say "puck" which i believe he did but it was still hilarious. You may recall two seasons ago when he proclaimed the only black player on our team "George Laraque" looked like he tripped over his own lip when trying to carry the puck out of the corner, that one he did not apologize for but left Stiegy speechless. I don't think it was intended as a racist remark but was for sure a poor choice of words. So heres to Bob Errey may he continue to make Penguins Television interesting.