After having a breakout year the previous season, Ryan Whitney seems to be having just the opposite this year. Last year Whitney began to show the kind of poise and decision making that was expected of the 5th overall pick, but this year has looked extremely skittish.
Whitney’s shortcomings were always apparent, but the problem is they are getting the best of him this year. Always reluctant to be hit, he seems to be looking to outright avoid it now, even if it means moving off the puck and letting the other guy get it. In your own zone, that is really dangerous. And really Ryan, you’re 6’4, you’re big enough to absorb a hit here and there.
But getting hit isn’t Whitney’s only fear. Equal if not greater is his fear of shooting the puck. He is always looking to pass to someone more offensively gifted, and unless going for a back door shot cannot be counted on to take a shot on the power play, instead always passing back to Gonchar, Crosby or whomever else is available. Last night against Phoenix he showed he is nowhere close to ready to anchor the power play, which is a serious concern as he is our next Gonchar.
His play in his own end has also failed to progress any. It’s one thing when you keep putting up the points that you are allowed a bit of a reprieve for lackluster defensive play, but when you fail to put up points you better be playing well in your own end. Whitney continues to avoid contact and have sub-par coverage of the forwards.
Now, I’m not trying to say Whitney isn’t going to get any better or that he should be given up on. Anyone who says that is an idiot and you should automatically disregard anything they say. But a quarter way through the season Whitney has only shown he has regressed from last season and isn’t showing any signs of improvement thus far. That is concerning.
-Jordan
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Laraque IS Doing His Job
There has been some talk recently about how Georges Laraque has not done his job since he arrived in Pittsburgh protecting our star players who are still receiving cheap shots and thus is useless or not doing his job. I can’t disagree with this more.
First off, if you say the cheap shots haven’t subsided at all, you didn’t watch the games last year or you are purposefully blinding yourself to what he has done. The amount of cheap shots have decreased significantly since his arrival. No longer are Crosby and Malkin taking shot after shot by everyone and their mother.
Secondly, it’s not Laraque’s sole purpose to keep these things from happening, nor is the responsibility solely his. People say he was brought in here to protect the stars and nothing else. Those people are wrong. Is it his main duty? Yes. Is it his only duty? Absolutely not. Laraque is known not just for being a great fighter, but the fact he can play with the puck; there is more to him than just fighting. He can create offensive chances and isn’t a big liability in the defensive zone like most enforcers are.
If Laraque was so one dimensional, why give up Danial Carcillo and a 3rd for him? We could have had Todd Fedoruk or someone like him for nothing. It’s because Laraque can play. He can take a regular shift with the 4th line, so you don’t have to double shift people at all towards the end of a game when enforcers aren’t needed.
Also, why is it Laraque’s sole duty to stop the shots at the good players? Why aren’t Talbot, Armstrong, Roberts, Hall and Ruutu doing something about it too? Everyone should be sticking up for their teammates, not just the toughest guy. It is more of a concern why no one else is stepping up when Crosby takes a shot than the fact Laraque isn’t preventing 100% of them.
Third, and I want to make this point especially clear, NO ONE PERSON CAN STOP THESE FROM HAPPENING! It’s not possible, it just isn’t. Yet here people are complaining that Laraque can’t do his job because he hasn’t completely eliminated it. That is an unrealistic expectation. Derek Boogaard hasn’t stopped all the hits on Wild Players, George Parros for the Ducks hasn’t done it, neither has Raitis Ivanans of the Kings. No Player X on Team X had been able to do it, so why is Laraque getting criticism for it? This crap happens on every single team in the league, yet for some reason people only want to hold Laraque accountable.
There is also the criticism that Laraque doesn’t fight enough. How often does Brashear fight? Or Parros or Ivanaens? Where are all the fights Boogaard gets in anymore? They’re not there. Just grabbing someone and beating the hell out of them doesn’t always make a difference. Fighters are a deterrent, not a solution.
People also say Laraque is not feared. If so why does no one want to fight him? When in a scrum why does the other guy always skate away? Why is it when a player turns his head and sees Georges coming at him they get an “oh shit” look on their face? Why? Because they know he can beat the hell out of them anytime he wants.
I am not going to deny Laraque needs to fight some more, but you have to understand that him fighting left and right won’t make things a lot better, if at all. Expect more instigator penalties for one. Second, when it comes to guys like Sean Avery, you beat him up and he still goes out and agitates. It’s doesn’t stop it from happening. The best you can do to stop it is a team effort to do it; having one tough guy wont make it stop. It never has, it never will. And don’t go on about Gretzky, that was a different era and not applicable.
So if you think Laraque is not doing his job and having no impact, than you unrealistic expectations. The cheap shots will never stop 100%, and one person definitely cannot stop them from happening. It is not humanely possible.
-Jordan
First off, if you say the cheap shots haven’t subsided at all, you didn’t watch the games last year or you are purposefully blinding yourself to what he has done. The amount of cheap shots have decreased significantly since his arrival. No longer are Crosby and Malkin taking shot after shot by everyone and their mother.
Secondly, it’s not Laraque’s sole purpose to keep these things from happening, nor is the responsibility solely his. People say he was brought in here to protect the stars and nothing else. Those people are wrong. Is it his main duty? Yes. Is it his only duty? Absolutely not. Laraque is known not just for being a great fighter, but the fact he can play with the puck; there is more to him than just fighting. He can create offensive chances and isn’t a big liability in the defensive zone like most enforcers are.
If Laraque was so one dimensional, why give up Danial Carcillo and a 3rd for him? We could have had Todd Fedoruk or someone like him for nothing. It’s because Laraque can play. He can take a regular shift with the 4th line, so you don’t have to double shift people at all towards the end of a game when enforcers aren’t needed.
Also, why is it Laraque’s sole duty to stop the shots at the good players? Why aren’t Talbot, Armstrong, Roberts, Hall and Ruutu doing something about it too? Everyone should be sticking up for their teammates, not just the toughest guy. It is more of a concern why no one else is stepping up when Crosby takes a shot than the fact Laraque isn’t preventing 100% of them.
Third, and I want to make this point especially clear, NO ONE PERSON CAN STOP THESE FROM HAPPENING! It’s not possible, it just isn’t. Yet here people are complaining that Laraque can’t do his job because he hasn’t completely eliminated it. That is an unrealistic expectation. Derek Boogaard hasn’t stopped all the hits on Wild Players, George Parros for the Ducks hasn’t done it, neither has Raitis Ivanans of the Kings. No Player X on Team X had been able to do it, so why is Laraque getting criticism for it? This crap happens on every single team in the league, yet for some reason people only want to hold Laraque accountable.
There is also the criticism that Laraque doesn’t fight enough. How often does Brashear fight? Or Parros or Ivanaens? Where are all the fights Boogaard gets in anymore? They’re not there. Just grabbing someone and beating the hell out of them doesn’t always make a difference. Fighters are a deterrent, not a solution.
People also say Laraque is not feared. If so why does no one want to fight him? When in a scrum why does the other guy always skate away? Why is it when a player turns his head and sees Georges coming at him they get an “oh shit” look on their face? Why? Because they know he can beat the hell out of them anytime he wants.
I am not going to deny Laraque needs to fight some more, but you have to understand that him fighting left and right won’t make things a lot better, if at all. Expect more instigator penalties for one. Second, when it comes to guys like Sean Avery, you beat him up and he still goes out and agitates. It’s doesn’t stop it from happening. The best you can do to stop it is a team effort to do it; having one tough guy wont make it stop. It never has, it never will. And don’t go on about Gretzky, that was a different era and not applicable.
So if you think Laraque is not doing his job and having no impact, than you unrealistic expectations. The cheap shots will never stop 100%, and one person definitely cannot stop them from happening. It is not humanely possible.
-Jordan
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Dont Give Up on Fleury
There has been a lot of talk in recent weeks about Ray Shero searching for a goaltender due to Fleury’s struggles, and once again the Fleury bashers are out in force seeking his removal. But to give up on Fleury at this point can be summed up in one move: idiotic.
Apparently at age 22 when you have a boatload of skill you should already be an elite goaltender in the league. This is the point of view of many of his detractors, but their expectations are completely unrealistic.
Most goaltenders who break into the NHL tend to break in at their mid 20’s, the higher skilled/picked ones maybe early twenties, and almost always as backups to a veteran. This way they can gain more experience without having the pressure of carrying a team on their back which helps their development. But let’s look at how Fleury has been handled.
2003 (age 18): drafted 1st overall and plays 21 games for what will be one of the worst teams in the league before being returned to juniors. He plays for a total of three different teams that year, and after a fluke goal in the World Junior Tournament is already being called a bust.
2005 (age 20): Is expected to back up Jocelyn Thibault who misses most the season with a hip injury. The team was totally revamped, but lacked any cohesion, no defense and still lacked a full time goalie coach. The Pens are pitiful once again and Fleury was forced to carry the load in net at a time most goalies are in their first year of minor league hockey.
2006 (age 21): Assumes the starting role from Thibault and now has a full time goaltending coach. He gets 40 wins and plays very good in the playoffs, keeping the Sens from running the score up in most of the games.
2007 (age 22): is once again the starting goalie, but still has a weak defense.
So at 22 years old, Fleury is in his third season as a starter, an age where most goalies have yet to see any NHL action, and most as a backup. And let’s not forget that a goalie is the slowest developing position in hockey.
Plus, think about it for a moment. A 22 year old player is a bust. How often do people ever find themselves saying this? It’s one thing if it’s a forward a la Alex Daigle who has been in the league four years, playing 15+ minutes a game and not producing, and even then you don’t declare them a bust, you’re just wary.
Does Fleury let in some soft goals? Yes. But he also makes some saves a lot of goalies couldn’t. To give up on a 22 year old player, and a goalie at that, is ridiculous.
Most goalies are still dreaming of the NHL at his age, let alone in their third year as a starter. Don’t give up on Fleury, there is still plenty of time for him to get better.
-Jordan
Apparently at age 22 when you have a boatload of skill you should already be an elite goaltender in the league. This is the point of view of many of his detractors, but their expectations are completely unrealistic.
Most goaltenders who break into the NHL tend to break in at their mid 20’s, the higher skilled/picked ones maybe early twenties, and almost always as backups to a veteran. This way they can gain more experience without having the pressure of carrying a team on their back which helps their development. But let’s look at how Fleury has been handled.
2003 (age 18): drafted 1st overall and plays 21 games for what will be one of the worst teams in the league before being returned to juniors. He plays for a total of three different teams that year, and after a fluke goal in the World Junior Tournament is already being called a bust.
2005 (age 20): Is expected to back up Jocelyn Thibault who misses most the season with a hip injury. The team was totally revamped, but lacked any cohesion, no defense and still lacked a full time goalie coach. The Pens are pitiful once again and Fleury was forced to carry the load in net at a time most goalies are in their first year of minor league hockey.
2006 (age 21): Assumes the starting role from Thibault and now has a full time goaltending coach. He gets 40 wins and plays very good in the playoffs, keeping the Sens from running the score up in most of the games.
2007 (age 22): is once again the starting goalie, but still has a weak defense.
So at 22 years old, Fleury is in his third season as a starter, an age where most goalies have yet to see any NHL action, and most as a backup. And let’s not forget that a goalie is the slowest developing position in hockey.
Plus, think about it for a moment. A 22 year old player is a bust. How often do people ever find themselves saying this? It’s one thing if it’s a forward a la Alex Daigle who has been in the league four years, playing 15+ minutes a game and not producing, and even then you don’t declare them a bust, you’re just wary.
Does Fleury let in some soft goals? Yes. But he also makes some saves a lot of goalies couldn’t. To give up on a 22 year old player, and a goalie at that, is ridiculous.
Most goalies are still dreaming of the NHL at his age, let alone in their third year as a starter. Don’t give up on Fleury, there is still plenty of time for him to get better.
-Jordan
Friday, October 5, 2007
Pens Name Alternate Captains
The Pens announced the alternate captains today, and none came as a surprise. Recchi and Gonchar will continue to wear the letter on their shoulder, while the venerable Gary Roberts now carries the third on his uniform.
It is hard to disagree with these choices at all. Recchi and Roberts have three cups between them and have seen as many playoff games than some of the younger players have regular season games. Gonchar has also been to a cup finals in '96 with the Capitals (remember that unforgettable easy win by the Red Wings in four games?) So the plethora of experience is quite obvious. Add in Petr Sykora and Darryl Sydor who have two cups each, the experience on the team gets even greater, and with the young players going through their trial by fire last year a playoff appearance this year should look much better.
Interesting to note that that Roberts (41), Recchi (39) and Gonchar (33) are three of the four oldest players on the team, Sydor (35) being the last.
-Jordan
It is hard to disagree with these choices at all. Recchi and Roberts have three cups between them and have seen as many playoff games than some of the younger players have regular season games. Gonchar has also been to a cup finals in '96 with the Capitals (remember that unforgettable easy win by the Red Wings in four games?) So the plethora of experience is quite obvious. Add in Petr Sykora and Darryl Sydor who have two cups each, the experience on the team gets even greater, and with the young players going through their trial by fire last year a playoff appearance this year should look much better.
Interesting to note that that Roberts (41), Recchi (39) and Gonchar (33) are three of the four oldest players on the team, Sydor (35) being the last.
-Jordan
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Pens Finalize Roster
The Pens Finalized their Roster on Tuesday and there were really no surprises. Kris Letang, who had a disappointing preseason, was sent to the minors along with Ryan Stone, Jonathan Filewich who both failed to show they were NHL ready. This cleared the way for Adam Hall who had an impressive preseason on a try out contract, earned himself a one year, two way deal that will pay him $525k in the NHL and $100k in the AHL, though he too would have to pass through waivers to be demoted. Mike Weaver, signed in the off season, was claimed by the Vancouver Canucks off waivers.
The final roster stands as this:
Center:
Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Erik Christensen, Maxim Talbot
Right Wing:
Petr Sykora, Mark Recchi, Colby Armstrong, Georges Laraque, Adam Hall
Left Wing:
Jordan Staal (just moved from center), Ryan Malone, Gary Roberts, Jarkko Ruutu
Defense:
Sergei Gonchar, Ryan Whitney, Brooks Orpik, Mark Eaton, Darryl Sydor, Rob Scuderi, Alain Nassreddine
Goalie:
Marc-Andre Fleury
Dany Sabourin
Replacing Michel Ouellet and Josef Melichar with Petr Sykora and Darryl Sydor are both large upgrades, even though neither are top tier guys. Plus anytime you can rid yourself of your two worst players and add too effective one in their place is always a bonus.
The only area that got weaker was goaltending, as Sabourin still only has 14 NHL games under his belt, and the cushion that Jocelyn Thibault, now with Buffalo provided was much greater. He also provided veteran experience to help Fleury, something Sabourin cannot. I am going to be weary every time Sabourin is in the net as I do not think he has proven himself yet.
-Jordan
The final roster stands as this:
Center:
Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Erik Christensen, Maxim Talbot
Right Wing:
Petr Sykora, Mark Recchi, Colby Armstrong, Georges Laraque, Adam Hall
Left Wing:
Jordan Staal (just moved from center), Ryan Malone, Gary Roberts, Jarkko Ruutu
Defense:
Sergei Gonchar, Ryan Whitney, Brooks Orpik, Mark Eaton, Darryl Sydor, Rob Scuderi, Alain Nassreddine
Goalie:
Marc-Andre Fleury
Dany Sabourin
Replacing Michel Ouellet and Josef Melichar with Petr Sykora and Darryl Sydor are both large upgrades, even though neither are top tier guys. Plus anytime you can rid yourself of your two worst players and add too effective one in their place is always a bonus.
The only area that got weaker was goaltending, as Sabourin still only has 14 NHL games under his belt, and the cushion that Jocelyn Thibault, now with Buffalo provided was much greater. He also provided veteran experience to help Fleury, something Sabourin cannot. I am going to be weary every time Sabourin is in the net as I do not think he has proven himself yet.
-Jordan
Friday, September 14, 2007
The Greatest One
So tonight I watched a video I downloaded a few years ago called "The Mario Lemieux Show" plus the comeback video the Pens played on the jumbotron upon Mario's return called "Superstar". His highlights were truly something to behold.
But the thing is, after watching it, I find myself saying "as good as Sid is, he's no Lemieux"
Does anyone else find themselves saying this? Or Am I just too enamored with what Lemieux accomplished when I was younger to admit that Sid is as good as he was?
I'll let you decide.
But the thing is, after watching it, I find myself saying "as good as Sid is, he's no Lemieux"
Does anyone else find themselves saying this? Or Am I just too enamored with what Lemieux accomplished when I was younger to admit that Sid is as good as he was?
I'll let you decide.
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
Reebok Ruins Pens Jersey
Maintaining their dominance over good NHL jerseys’ Reebok has continued it’s torrid raping of hockey jerseys by ruining the Penguins new uniforms. Below is a picture of them, but I warn you, I made the mistake of eating dinner before looking at them.
These pretty much are the leaked jersey’s I posted about a month back, so luckily we have time to prepare for the ruination of our great jerseys. They are slightly different, and not as horrid, but still bad.
This is what the Pens front office had to say about the new designs, copied word from word from their site:
“The Penguins’ logo and colors will remain the same, although there will be some modifications to the striping, the shoulder areas, the pants and the socks.”
Some modifications? You changed everything but the god damn symbol! Liars! What’s next, you’re going to tell us you didn’t actually sign Darryl Sydor and it was actually Ian Moran you brought back? Do we actually have a new arena too?
Everyone liked our old uniforms, even other teams fans. And now we’re left with some cookie cutter bullshit. Take a look at the Senators and Lightning jerseys. Notice anything? That’s right! IT”S THE SAME DESIGN! We have the same jersey of two other teams (of just the ones that have been released mind you) with different colors. No originality, nothing to separate out jerseys from others other than the gold and the skating Penguins. It’s pathetic. PATHETIC! And frankly, that pisses me off as much as the design itself. Reebok has stolen all originality from the jerseys.
Sadly, the gold striped pants remain the best part of the uniform and do help. Even after weeks of preparing myself for this crap I’m still as pissed as if I had just found out.
Our jerseys are lame. LAME! Boring, nothing to them. The lack of anything on the bottom makes them look like some half assed design made by a 12 year old with ms paint.
Here’s another bright idea for you dumbshits at Reebok: why don’t you remake the Stanley Cup with handles for ease of carry and out of rubber so it won’t break in case someone drops it?
$%&@ you Reebok, you’re ruining hockey jerseys. I seriously hope these assholes go bankrupt within the year so the edge system will be kicked out the door and we can get real jerseys back. Who the %#^@ let the idiots their design these things anyways? And should we really be surprised at Reebok's utter failure to make good looking jerseys with the NCAA football jerseys they have been making in recent years?
-The extremely pissed off Pens fan Jordan
These pretty much are the leaked jersey’s I posted about a month back, so luckily we have time to prepare for the ruination of our great jerseys. They are slightly different, and not as horrid, but still bad.
This is what the Pens front office had to say about the new designs, copied word from word from their site:
“The Penguins’ logo and colors will remain the same, although there will be some modifications to the striping, the shoulder areas, the pants and the socks.”
Some modifications? You changed everything but the god damn symbol! Liars! What’s next, you’re going to tell us you didn’t actually sign Darryl Sydor and it was actually Ian Moran you brought back? Do we actually have a new arena too?
Everyone liked our old uniforms, even other teams fans. And now we’re left with some cookie cutter bullshit. Take a look at the Senators and Lightning jerseys. Notice anything? That’s right! IT”S THE SAME DESIGN! We have the same jersey of two other teams (of just the ones that have been released mind you) with different colors. No originality, nothing to separate out jerseys from others other than the gold and the skating Penguins. It’s pathetic. PATHETIC! And frankly, that pisses me off as much as the design itself. Reebok has stolen all originality from the jerseys.
Sadly, the gold striped pants remain the best part of the uniform and do help. Even after weeks of preparing myself for this crap I’m still as pissed as if I had just found out.
Our jerseys are lame. LAME! Boring, nothing to them. The lack of anything on the bottom makes them look like some half assed design made by a 12 year old with ms paint.
Here’s another bright idea for you dumbshits at Reebok: why don’t you remake the Stanley Cup with handles for ease of carry and out of rubber so it won’t break in case someone drops it?
$%&@ you Reebok, you’re ruining hockey jerseys. I seriously hope these assholes go bankrupt within the year so the edge system will be kicked out the door and we can get real jerseys back. Who the %#^@ let the idiots their design these things anyways? And should we really be surprised at Reebok's utter failure to make good looking jerseys with the NCAA football jerseys they have been making in recent years?
-The extremely pissed off Pens fan Jordan
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