All Hail Fleury, Our King of the Nets!

In Fleury we trust. Or at least that is what we should be saying right about now. I want to take a look at how well our beloved goaltender has been doing the past couple of years. It is pretty impressive. I like to compare him in a round about way to another Pittsburgh favorite in Ben Roethlisberger. I am not going to dwell on this just think of how each plays. When the chips are down and they are the most important cogs on their respective teams, they always seem to come through. Back to Marc-Andre Fleury.

Marc-Andre Fleury is only 24 years old and has appeared in a Stanley Cup Final as well as achieved over 100 wins. He also is starting to get the Brodeur and Roy-esqe type of reputation, however everyone keeps holding their breathe for him to flop. I will tell you this much, I don't believe he will.

Fleury was drafted by Pittsburgh 1st overall in 2003. He was the first pick because our Penguins were just horrible the year before. We went 27-44-6-5 for 65 points. We were second to last in the league. This was just the second year of our four year hiatus from the playoffs. Ryan Whitney was our top pick at 5th overall the year before. This was a legendary draft class with Eric Staal taken second, Nikolai Zherdev third, Thomas Vanek fifth, Dion Phaneuf ninth, Andrei Kostitsyn tenth, Jeff Carter eleventh, Zach Parise seventeenth, Ryan Getzlaf nineteenth, and Mike Richards at twenty-fourth. You look at this draft and it is amazing how this much talent all went in the first round. The key is that Fleury was taken before all of them.

He was immediately shoved into a semi-starting role for the Pens, even though he wasn't ready for it. That is usually reserved for a team that is half decent. We weren't. We weren't even by a longshot. We sorta left him out to dry constantly. Here is his progression since then...

2003-2004 21GP 4W 14L 2T 1SO 70GA 675SA .896SA% 3.64GAA

2005-2006 50GP 13W 27L 6T 1SO 152GA 1,485SA .898SA% 3.25GAA

2006-2007 67GP 40W 16L 9T 5SO 184GA 1,954SA .906SA% 2.83GAA

2007-2008 35GP 19W 10L 2T 4SO 72GA 909SA .921SA% 2.33GAA*

2008-2009 62GP 35W 18L 7T 4SO 162GA 1,850SA .912SA% 2.67GAA

*-injury season

Those are the overall numbers, but I want to show you the last 20 games of each of the last three playoff seasons.

2006-2007 15GP out of 20 with a record of 11-2-2.

2007-2008 13GP out of 20 with a record of 10-2-1.*

2008-2009 18GP out of 20 with a record of 13-2-3.

*-injury season

It seems like he gets significantly better at the end of the season, just when the pressure is on and you have to. Now onto some playoff numbers, which are also continually getting better.

2006-2007 5GP 1W 4L 0T 0SO 18GA 150SA .880SA% 3.76GAA

2007-2008 20GP 14W 6L 0T 3SO 41GA 610SA .933SA% 1.97GAA

2008-2009 4GP 3W 1L 0T 0SO 9GA 142SA .937SA% 2.09GAA*

*-still ongoing

So you see, Fleury is more solid in between the pipes than everybody talks about. The best way he could make that statement is coming off of that five goal let down in game three, only to stop 45 shots in route to a 3-1 win.

Marc-Andre Fleury may not have a Stanley Cup under his belt yet, but as long as he is in the net, we definitely have a chance.

Let's Go Pens!

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The Three Kings

There are special people that play a certain important position on all major sports teams that are usually the centerpiece for that team. It is the position that pretty much makes or breaks their own team. If they play terrible, it affects the outcome of the game significantly, if they play incredible, it could make that said team look like champions, if only for that night. In hockey, it is the goaltender, in football, the quarterback, and finally, in baseball, I believe the catcher. I also believe that we are blessed with some of the best in their game for all our major teams in these positions.

We have Ben Roethlisberger for the Steelers, Marc-Andre Fleury for the Penguins, and Ryan Doumit for the Pirates. These three guys are proving to be the rock that our teams can build off of. It is often said that a team can only go as far as these players let them. It all depends on the talent level in those positions. After looking at the whole picture, it looks like we can go far. In the case of the Pirates, unfortunately, they need more than just a great catcher to get this team rolling. The Super Bowl Champion Steelers are set with their franchise quarterback and the Eastern Conference Champion Penguins are set with their franchise goalie though.

I believe that there are also different types of these players on every team. For instance, we have the ugly players statistically, but these guys know how to win. We know that if the game is on the line, Fleury will make a key save, Roethlisberger will make a key throw, and even Doumit is starting to get that key hit. I do have to say that Doumit is still the low man on this great totem pole we have in Pittsburgh. Until he takes us to the next level, he will remain there.

Ben Roethlisberger was drafted 11th overall in 2004 by the Steelers, their first pick in that respected class. He was supposed to ride the bench his first year, but in the second game of the 2004 season, the starting quarterback, Tommy Maddox injured his throwing elbow against the hated Baltimore Ravens. So the Roethlisberger era began. He never looked back either. He comprised the best rookie season in NFL history by winning the next 15 consecutive starts and playing us into the AFC Championship game, where we lost to the then Super Bowl Champion New England Patriots. It was a tough loss, but as the season video put it, it was an incredible run. Following this great season was record after record for Roethlisberger. He is the fastest player to 50 wins in NFL history, as well as one of two NFL quarterback to register three perfect passing games in the regular season. Two Super Bowl victories later, he is the pride of the organization. The great part is that he is only 27 still. He still has a lot of years and a lot of winning to do.

Marc-Andre Fleury has a different, but similar career to Roethlisberger. He was drafted first overall, the Penguins first pick in that draft in 2003. He immediately started games in his rookie season at age 18. In hockey, a player usually is sent to the minor leagues to hone his skills against lesser opponents. Fleury didn't have this luxury. He started good, but had a terrible team in front of him. It wasn't until a few more centerpieces were drafted that the team started looking like a team in front of this gifted netminder. Like I was saying earlier, these players can't do it on their own, but the team can't make it without them. Fleury and the Penguins have made the playoffs in the last two years and will make them this year again, I have confidence. They made the biggest splash since 1992 last year when they made their first Stanley Cup Finals appearance. Fleury has been sensational in the second half of his last three seasons, just when we need that extra boost. In March and April, like I said in another post, he is a combined 35-10-5 for the past three years. That is saying something.

Ryan Doumit is still on the outside looking in at this position. Just like Fleury was in the beginning of his career, he is a good player in a good position, on a very bad team. Doumit was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 2nd round as the 59th overall selection in 1999. He spent some time in the minors as all players usually do and finally cracked the starting lineup in 2005, primarily as a backup. After an injury plagued 2006-07, he got a full season under his belt last year and really showed what he was capable of. He batted .318, knocking in 15 homers and 59 RBI's. For a catcher, these are great statistics. He is looking forward to getting the Pirates over .500 for the first time in 16 years, one shy of the major league record. I can see that happenning this year.

The Pittsburgh players have a reputation of being hard nosed players, as well as very hard workers. These three particular athlete exume this personna and give us all hope for the future. They have long and illustrious careers ahead of them to add to their already staggering numbers. Hopefully a few more championships as well.

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Breaking It Down

So, I have been watching NHL statistics, like always, and something caught my eye. I looked at a lot of things this time and came to several conclusions...one is that stats don't really matter come playoff time and another is that if a team changes style and/or coaching, that team inherits the statistics from the previous administration. Of course, you probably figured out that is the Penguins circumstances right now.

I took the teams that are most likely able to make the playoffs or that are already a lock in the Eastern Conference and evaluated them. I am going to compare individual team statistics from the Penguins to the teams they could face sometime in the playoffs to see where we stand. I also have a graphic so you can see all the actual stats at the bottom of this article.

My first look was at the hits, which is usually my favorite statistic, and I was surprised at how we compare to other teams as well as past Penguin teams. There is only one team that tops our 2051 hits thus far this season and they are, surprisingly, the New York Rangers with 2131. The top four "powerhouses" are not even within 600 hits of the Penguins. I don't know if this is a good thing or a bad thing. It can be looked at either way. I mean, if we are the aggressor in the playoffs, it will knock the other team off of their game and frustrate them. They will feel they have to match us hit for hit to beat us, which they won't be able to. You can also look at it in the respect that they all have better records than us at this point in time. I think that is weak, though, because there are so many aspects to a game you can scrutinize. If you compare this year's hit count to the Penguins of the last two year's, we are way more aggressive than in the past. For instance, 2006-07 we had a total of 1472, and last year we had 1671. They were both from all 82 games. Take that however you want.

The next stat I looked at is really, in my opinion, an art form. You have to master blocked shots so you can get the timing down and avoid injury. You also stand to help out your goalie a ton if the shots your opponent is taking isn't getting through. A bad point about having a high number of blocked shots is that it means the opponent had control of the puck alot and was open enough to take a crack at scoring. Once again, there is only one team in the top nine that has more than our 1211. Take into consideration something I said earlier, though, we changed coaches and styles, so we are a different team now. The Montreal Canadians are the only team with more blocks than us at 1259. The top three hover around 1000 and Philadelphia is not far behind us with 1186. We are pretty much on the same tract as the 2006-07 and the 2007-08 totals of 1215 and 1268 respectively.

The next two categories go hand in hand, but in my opinion, doesn't factor in as much as it should in respect to overall records. These two categories are giveaways, takeaways and their combined differences as well as goal differential. If common sense tells us that if you have more giveaways than takeaways that you would have more goals allowed than most teams. It also should tell us that if it is the other way around, it would show just the opposite. I will tell you neither is an absolute or even a remote science because of one variable involved in this. The goaltender. We are a +13 in goal differential, but a -137 in giveaway/takeaway differential (GTD). I think this is a better measuring stick to the quality of a goaltender than most other statistics. If we give it up that much and are still a +13 overall, I consider Fleury a success. Boston is a +72 in goal differential and a +8 in GTD. That says that Thomas is good, but not incredible at this point. He is doing what is necessary to win. New Jersey is a +44 in goal differential, but an amazing +204 in GTD. That shows to me that the goalie isn't great, but look who is between the pipes. Ok, so Brodeur wasn't there all season and Clemmenson is now in the minors, so what. The next thought I have is a poor offense, but their offense is on par with everyone else. Washington is a +21 and an incredible -256 in GTD. That shows someone incredible in between the pipes. I know Theodore isn't known for this at this point in time, but maybe we need to look at him a bit closer considering how much his team, specifically Ovechkin with his league leading 100 giveaways, leaves him out to dry so often. Our possible first round opponent, the Philadelphia Flyers are +27 to a GTD of -139. They are almost our equals here with Biron in net. You may be wondering at this point how we measured up against the last two Penguin playoff teams, well, we were a +31 in goal differential both years, but were a -190 in GTD in 2006-07 and a better -68 in 2007-08. So we fall in the middle this year. The only difference is that Fleury's numbers have changed. In 2006-07 he had a save percentage of .906 and a goals against average of 2.83. In 2007-08, a save percentage of .921 and a goals against average of 2.33 was achieved. Remember that this year he only played half of the games. He seems to play significantly better in the second halves. This year, he has a save percentage of .913 and a goal against average of 2.67. So, as we can see, as Fleury goes, so does this team. I think we need to appreciate him a lot more.

Like I said in the beginning of this piece, it really isn't the stats that tell the tale, it is the way a team is playing at the end of the season. Are they making more mistakes than not? Are they having fun? Are they excelling in their "system"? Are they winning? If the answers are yes to all of these, then you deserve to be in the playoffs.

Let's Go Pens!

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Pens Still Rolling

In Pittsburgh's 100th consecutive sellout, the Pens beat the Eastern Conference leading Boston Bruins 6-4. Riding Chris Kunitz's first hat trick since joining the Penguins and Bill Guerin's quick goal and two assists, the Pens showed the conference they are back into the same form as last year. Apparently, they took Kunitz's first goal away from him and gave it to Sergei Gonchar, so Kunitz didn't get the hat trick, sorry for the misinformation. They scored two power play goals and Matthew Garon stopped 21 shots in his first start in 19 games due to Marc Andre Fleury's dominance between the pipes.

The Pens also honored Eddie Johnston at the beginning of the game for his 25th year of service to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Now, I don't like blogging by telling you game by game analysis, I figure that is the big sites job. I want to point out what I think about the last couple games and refer to what's ahead. We came back from a hard loss against Ottawa where we securely had a 3-1 lead going into the 3rd and let them creep back and steal a shootout win against us. There is good things and bad things about losing, we gained a point in the last two losses because we went to the shootout. Like I have said in the past, if we are going to lose, do it on overtime, we get something out of it then.

We have gained 4 points out of a possible 6 in the last three games, moving us into 5th place in the East. If the playoffs started today, we would be once again beating the Philadelphia Flyers in the first round of the playoffs. The way we are playing mow, I think we are ready to take on anyone.

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Hockey Lore

Tonight is a very important game, yet not very important in the whole scheme of things. As I mentioned in a previous post, this is one of the three games for the rest of the season we can afford to lose, only because it is a Western Conference team. I don't want them to lose, but if they do, this is the game. Let's face it we can't go on a tear like we did in 1992-93 and rattle off more than the NHL record 17 straight wins. That, somehow was our demise back then. We completely wore ourselves out on that next level all the time. It is almost like the team needed a break. The funny thing that I do remember about that year was that we would have gone longer if the season wouldn't have ended. Who knows, but the bottom line is that we won the Presidents trophy that year with 56 wins. It was an amazing year.

I look at the old divisional layouts and I miss what we had with the Patrick division. We had everyone in our current division in the Philadelphia Flyers, the New York Rangers, the New Jersey Devils, and the New York Islanders, the bonus was that we had the Washington Capitals as well. It was the top four teams in each division that made the playoffs back then, so it was almost like unless you were truly horrible, you were in. Since then we added 6 teams in all obscure hockey places. The Quebec Nordiques moved to Colorado and became the Avalanche. The Hartford Whalers moved to Carolina and became the Hurricanes. The Minnesota North Stars moved to Dallas and dropped the "North" and kept the Stars. The Winnepeg Jets moved to Phoenix to become the Coyotes. Out of all the moves, three out of the four were successful. Carolina, Colorado, and Dallas each won at least one cup, two in Colorado's case. Atlanta added the Thrashers, Florida added the Panthers, Nashville added the Predators, Columbus added the Blue Jackets, Minnesota added the Wild, and Anaheim added the Ducks. Out of all these new teams, only Anaheim has won the cup. The rest barely made the playoffs once, if that in some cases. I like the competition now, but I do wish we had back some of the old teams like Hartford and Winnepeg. Quebec was a good rival, but is successful in Colorado.

The other thing I miss is the incredible scoring numbers back then. I mean, the Pens themselves had an NHL record four hundred point scorers in Mario Lemieux, Kevin Stevens, Rick Tocchet, and Ron Francis. Jaromir Jagr wasn't far behind with 94. The top three in scoring then all had over 140 points. It is unheard of to get 140 points now. Out of the top ten scorers, eight had 50 or more goals. We have one this year that looks possible to hit 50, and that is Alexander Ovechkin. That is only because all he does is shoot the puck. He doesn't play defense or special teams, he just shoots the puck. I could go on about him as a non-complete player unlike Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby, but I will save that for another post.

The thing I really didn't like back then is that I don't believe that the goalies were nearly as talented and skilled as they are today. I looked at the goal against averages and they don't reflect my opinion, but it is my opinion! If you watch some of the old time goals, most of them are standing up and not covering the crease very well. That era ended with Patrick Roy and his butterfly-style of goaltending. This caught on like wildfire and every goalie uses a version of it today.

Another hot topic today is the fighting rules. I agree and disagree with what they are doing. What we want is to leave it in. The only problem is that it is getting away from old style fighting which was just raw emotion. That would be acceptable now. We have these fights that two players just go out there and talk it out first and then fight briefly and then go to the box. The league wants those to stop. I think the staged fighting is a really lame part of the fighting aspect of hockey. I think they do need to remove that part of it. My problem is that they want to enforce the instigator penalty more. I hate this idea. Right now, the way it is, is that is your goon takes a clean run at a star who is visibly smaller than them, no one can go out and defend that one player. You have to defend yourself. That can't always happen if you are the smaller player. I like the idea that goons are policed by other goons and can be policed without fear of the rulebook being thrown at them. The league is trying for this. They say they aren't taking it out, but there isn't much left with the severe enforcement of the instigator. I wish they would just ask the fans. Maybe we should start a petition for the removal of staged fighting along with the removal of the instigator penalty.

Overall, I like where we are at, but do wish some of the things of old were still in place. In my opinion, Wayne Gretzky is right, no one will get his records, but it isn't because players aren't as good as he was now, it is because the rules don't allow it. Ahh...the memories!

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Changing Tides

So, in the midst of the trade deadline looming, we have been playing some great hockey. It has been two games now, and our defense has impressively improved. Granted, it was against two struggling teams. Dallas just fell out of playoff contention the night before we played them and Tampa Bay has been out of the picture for a while now. It does appear, though, that the defense is finally turning the corner that the offense did a couple games ago.

What timing! We are 9-4-1 for 19 of a possible 28 points since February 1st. This includes 6-1-1 under head coach Dan Bylsma. Before Bylsma took over, we were averaging 2.88 goals for and 2.98 goals against per game. After Bylsma, we improved to 3.37 goals for and 2.75 goals against per game. Obviously, this is a great improvement.

Marc Andre Fleury has been playing significantly better and has been making some incredible saves at all the right times to keep the momentum tipped in our favor.
2008-09 STATS
W-L-OTL GAA SV%
24-16-4 2.86 .909

These numbers are steadily improving. Like I said in an earlier post, I believe that the way MAF plays down this stretch run will dictate how far we will go in the playoffs.

How great does Ray Shero look now that Chris Kunitz has scored 3 goals and 2 assists in the 3 games since his trade. Kunitz is the picture perfect player that Jordan Staal and the rest of the team needed. He meshes so well with Tyler Kennedy and Staal that it will be interesting to see what Bylsma does when Sidney Crosby comes back. I wonder if he will test out a new line or not mess with the working lines.

This all might not even matter though with the pending trade deadline tomorrow at 3 PM EST. There is so many players that are going to be available and I want to guesstimate that about 85% of the trades floating around the rumor mill. I can't say I like them all, but I will give you a quick rundown of who I do like.

Chris Neil

Milan Hejduk

Marian Gaborik

Erik Cole

Jonathan Cheechoo

Martin St.Louis

Ryan Smyth

Alright, I will start with Chris Neil. He is more of a physical presence. He really doesn't have a scoring touch. He would be more of a protection clause for Crosby. I know that we were offering a pick and a prospect for Neil.

Milan Hejduk is a proven scorer, even without a line that has a playmaker as good as Sid. His biggest downside is his age. He is 33 which isn't too bad, but if we need to drop Staal for him, there would have to be a big package coming over with him.

Marion Gaborik is 27 and has an incredible upside of a 40+ goal season. His huge downside is his contract and his small problem of being made of glass.

Erik Cole used to be a perrenial 30 goal scorer until our own Brooks Orpik got ahold of him. He hasn't been the same since.

Jonathan Cheechoo has proven that he can put the puck in the net in the past but accumulating 56 goals a few years back. He is relatively young and is currently playing on the third line in San Jose. If we were allowed to choose, this guy would be my favorite for this team. He would be cheaper than the rest due to his recent inability to put the puck in the net.

Martin St' Louis is another older player that would be great for this team. I don't know if I want to see Staal go there for him, but outside Cheechoo, I think I like him best.

Ryan Smyth is another big threat, but reminds me alot like Gaborik in that he has a large contract. He would fit in well, but is too expensive.

To be completely honest, we really don't know what is going to happen, but I am still excited for the end product as always.

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