Current State of the Unions Address (Pens Style!)

Besides the fact that I missed the last two games for a very good reason...I was drilling with my National Guard unit...I did get to see all the highlights and lowlights from the weekend. I have come to many conclusions here. My first thought is that I love the offense, when we want to have it. It seemed that we were flying so high after that win against the Flyers, our big, in-state rival. We then went into Washington and looked as though we died. Back to back games against these particular two teams is one thing, but for us fans to expect the Pens to win both of them on the road is a significant issue.

I read alot of blogs almost bailing on the Pens after that loss. For instance, read the last sentance in Experiencing the Evolution,"One thing is for sure, if Ray Shero isn't considering the Penguins as deadline sellers after this afternoon's performance, he never will.", Staal Tactics wasn't too encouraging, The Pensblog is as positive as you can be considering all things, and Pensburgh did a good job putting it into perspective. Washington is a very good team, they have a home record of 24-5-1 now. Hell, Philly is 17-8-3. Both those records are brilliant. To go into both towns and win would have been borderline miraculous. Especially considering how we have been playing on the road this year. We are 13-14-4. To pull off two really emotional upsets to days in a row should not be expected from anyone in our position. It was an exhausting couple of games and the schedule wasn't kind. The nice thing is that now we have a couple days to regroup and now we play the New York Islanders Wednesday night.

It is a good team to rebound against. Now, I know the last time we played them, we lost in that shootout. It was, if you remember, the day after Therrian was fired. Bylsma did not have any time to get the team organized to where he wanted them. We should come out with alot of energy. We should also see Kris Letang back on the ice. I would love to see Hal Gill riding the pine simply because of the new style of play. He just doesn't have the speed to keep up. I would also like to see Bill Thomas out there instead of Chris Minard.

I am still keeping up on the possible trades and improvements to this team. It is down to the last week till the deadline. I love this time of year, just to see who thinks they are contenders and who don't think that. I also like to see what teams are willing to do to win the cup. Last year, we gave up alot for a Marian Hossa and Pascal Dupuis. It was a blockbuster trade, but a bust nonetheless. Dupuis does fit in nicely, but we gave up our first rounder and our latest prospect in Angelo Esposito. At the time, it wasn't too much, but now, it seems that the energy has been zapped from this team because of Hossa. He was like the Terell Owens of the NHL. He hung us out to dry, until there was no way we could keep some of the important pieces, and then left. Onto better thinking. I would like to see what we do at the deadline. I know we have Ryan Whitney and Jordan Staal on the block. Like I have said in previous blogs, I know I would love to see both Staal and Whitney in a Penguins uniform next year, but they bring too much in return right now and we can't overlook that. Staal is essentially a third line center on the team, but he would be a first or second line center on others. This is because we have Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin running those lines. I am really looking forward to seeing what Shero does this year.

What we have now is the opportunity to get into the playoffs. We need to win twice as many games as we lose. In other words, go about 14-7 from here on out. I know we are capable of doing this. If Marc-Andre Fleury will play like he is capable of, then I believe we will be fine. All our hopes fall on his performance. It is alot of pressure, I know, but he has been here for five years now and has won alot and lost alot. He knows how to shake it off to be a winner. It is time for that Fleury to show up.

Here is to the playoffs!

Let's Go Pens!

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Pens Win

Well, alot of things happened last night that surrounded the Penguins. Pittsburgh had several more players not play due to injury totalling eight. Here is our injury list:

Sidney Crosby (lower body), Max Talbot (upper body), Rob Scuderi (head), Kris Letang (lower body), Pascal Dupuis (knee), Ruslan Fedotenko (broken right hand), Sergei Gonchar (left shoulder), and Mike Zigomanis (undisclosed). The Pens also lost Brooks Orpik (upper body injury) during the game, although Orpik says it wasn't an injury that should take significant game time.

Pittsburgh called up Janne Pesonen and Bill Thomas for this game to go along with the other Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins players in Chris Minard and Paul Bissonnette. Considering the way Pittsburgh has been playing as of late, the Pens were not expected to win.

With the help of Matt Cooke and Hal Gill, the Pens prevailed 3-1. I kept seeing interviews with Cooke before and after the game and he kept mentioning getting back to the way they played at Philadelphia. This made me think that Washington the other night got the Pens off their game. I believe that the team is convinced that they have to play the trap right now and be patient to win games in the current situation. Pittsburgh has won both games that they were able to completely install this system. I will say it is getting hard for them to get used to, but it works, so they are going to have to force themselves to use it.

Marc-Andre Fleury looked great in net and made several key saves. The only goal he let in was a Power Play goal in the second where he was beat by Ryan Getzlaf top shelf. Fleury didn't have a chance. The Penalty Kill sorta let him down in that situation.

The Pens went 0 for 3 on the PP while the Ducks went 1 for 4. Pittsburgh played well on the PK after that first goal. The Pens had several short handed attempts to include our own Fox Chapel native Bill Thomas. Speaking of Pittsburgh area natives, Anaheim had one of their own in George Parros who hails from Washington.

Overall, it was a great team win, sadly it took everyone in the locker room to get injured, but it could prove to do a little of the same thing we had last year. Make the players play harder just because they now know they have to.

You can look at this game in two ways...We finally won or we have won two out of three!

Let's Go Pens!

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Turning the Ship Around

Well, the Pens have had a couple off and I believe it is high time they start turning this ship around. They finally have a compliment of defensemen and have too much talent not to succeed.
We get Hal Gill back tonight, that should help the penalty kill. They are also pushing Goligoski up to a forward position. Yes, they are dressing seven defensemen. The word is that it is just a precaution because it is Gill's first game back. I like the move. Especially against this red hot Bruins team.
A win tonight could provide that same spark that the outdoor classic did last year. It could be that big. It is also Jordan Staal's 200th game as well as Sidney Crosby's 250th game. Sid needs only two points to tie Mike Bossy at 345 and tie for fifth all-time for number of points in the first 250 games. Crosby would be behind some big names like Wayne Gretzky (537), Mario Lemieux (423), Petr Statsny (403), and Eric Lindros (360). I consider this very impressive.
Other than that is is still a big night for the Pens.
I look forward to see if they finally start shooting and if they can finally put together a complete game.
I am tired of Fleury having to bail us out with incredible saves and barely any defense. We have no sense of urgency. I know it is not even to the halfway point, but the Sharks, Redwings, and Bruins are showing that tenacity. I want to see the next level, like all of us do.

Tonight is the night.

Let's Go Pens!

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What is going on with the Penguins?

So, I have been watching the last couple months and have been at the point of every emotion my body is capable of. At first I was upset, then excited, then sad, now I am a mix between optimistic and disappointed. I know they usually take it up a notch in January and on into March, but we all know that injuries and timing of those injuries play a huge factor into the whole scheme of things.
So, here are my thoughts. We, yes I feel as though I am a member of this team as a loyal fan, usually start out slow and slowly build up. By usually I mean the last two playoff years. Well, we did things a little backwards this year and started off hot without or main defense. I think we played out of our minds for that matter. No, with even more injuries to our players that are significant role players and not superstars like Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby, it is catching up to us. The losses of Tyler Kennedy, Mike Zigomanis, Hal Gill, and Maxime Talbot have been huge. I know, I know, you look at them and you think how can those players bring us down? They prove how important role players are in this league. I will start with Kennedy. He may be listed as 5' 11" and 183 lbs, but he plays like James Harrison of the Steelers. He throws what body he has around on every shift. He gives his body and soul to his team and what for? He has the Crosby passion we would like to see in all players. He creates a spark when he steps on the ice for that ever important third line. He helps Jordan Staal and Matt Cooke create things that otherwise shouldn't be there. Next I will move onto Zigomanis. You might ask what does a fourth liner bring to the table? Mike Zigomanis was only leading the league in faceoff percentage. If you think faceoffs don't matter, follow or record versus our faceoff percentage. It is amazing how much they coincide. I would even venture to say that goes back to the Stanley Cup Finals last year. I feel if we could have won those key faceoffs like we were with Zigomanis, we would have won the cup. Next on the list is big Hal Gill. He is a little more obvious, but I am going to key in on his Penalty Killing ability. Our PK has dropped off significantly since he went down with the injury. He covers up so much of the ice and mastered the defensive positioning. He may be slow, but for the most part he can be. By this I mean his positioning and decision making make this possible. I feel like Gill is one of the most underrated defensemen that we have. Finally I want to talk about Maxime Talbot. He has become the toast of the Penguins aside from Sid and Geno. He has that speed and ability to be so versitile and clutch. I feel that every team needs a player like him on their team. He just loves playing and gives his all everytime he steps on the ice. This attitude reflects over every member of this team. I think if we would have traded him instead of Colby Armstrong in that Marian Hossa deal last year, we would not have made it to the Finals. He is that important.
Overall, I am just saying the success of a team is the whole team, not just certain parts of it. Don't overlook anyone. Marc-Andre Fleury and Petr Sykora are difference makers as well. I think that we have the complete package this year when we are all healthy. All I have to say is thank God that our players that were going to get injured were in the first half of the season and not the last half.
I still stick by my prediction of the Stanley Cup Champions this year.

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