The Pittsburgh Penguins

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Thu Oct 13, 2016 10:58 am

Where's the picture of Letang swinging his stick at one of the puppies?

rass · Post by **rass** » Thu Oct 13, 2016 11:03 am

{boop}

bapo! · Post by **bapo!** » Thu Oct 13, 2016 11:37 am

Less drama and fewer injuries. That's all I want. Let the lines find their chemistry, put up some numbers, and turn it on in April. The first half of last season was fun the way that the Trump campaign has been fun, but I don't want to repeat that. (Still can't believe that that team ended up winning the Cup.)

The only juicy storyline heading into the season was the Fleury/Murray situation, but the World Cup took care of that, at least for a few weeks.

And now Crosby's health is a storyline again. As rass said, nobody on the inside seems to be panicking, so I won't panic. Yet.

Pens/Caps tonight. Looking forward to it, of course, but Crosby's absence takes some of the luster off the game. And I know that, for teams like this, one regular-season game just doesn't matter that much. But then I'll see Malkin and Letang and Fleury and Ovechkin and Kuznetsov and Burakovsky, and I'll be into it. Hockey!

bapo! · Post by **bapo!** » Thu Oct 13, 2016 6:02 pm

Lemieux and Burkle had been trying to sell the team, but apparently the team is no longer for sale. I was wondering how the Pens would top the Oilers' announcement that Gretzky had joined their front office. I guess this is it. Well, that and raising another Stanley Cup banner.

BSF21 · Post by **BSF21** » Thu Oct 13, 2016 10:06 pm

MAF doing some heavy saves stat padding for me in that OT. Got him in the 14th round!

govmentchedda · Post by **govmentchedda** » Thu Oct 13, 2016 10:24 pm

bapo! wrote:Lemieux and Burkle had been trying to sell the team, but apparently the team is no longer for sale. I was wondering how the Pens would top the Oilers' announcement that Gretzky had joined their front office. I guess this is it. Well, that and raising another Stanley Cup banner.

How many times can Lemieux waffle on owning the Pens? Feels like he's day trading.

bapo! · Post by **bapo!** » Thu Oct 13, 2016 10:38 pm

govmentchedda wrote:How many times can Lemieux waffle on owning the Pens? Feels like he's day trading.

I think he wanted out about a decade ago. Then the Penguins won the draft lottery, and he decided to stick around to see if that Crosby kid would be any good. Last year he wanted out, and then the team won another Cup. Must be so frustrating to keep getting sidetracked by great things.

rass · Post by **rass** » Fri Oct 14, 2016 5:49 am

bapo! wrote:Last year he wanted out, and then the team won another Cup. Must be so frustrating to keep getting sidetracked by great things.

Sacre bleu!

bapo! · Post by **bapo!** » Mon Nov 21, 2016 11:44 am

I've been meaning to mention the Fleury/Murray debate for a while. When Murray came back from injury, he started getting the majority of starts. (He's started 6 of the past 9 games.) But Fleury had started every game the first month of the season, so maybe Coach Sullivan was just giving him a break.

Fleury was spectacular in the Buffalo game on Saturday. Made some 'holy shit' saves in overtime. And it looks like he'll be getting the start tonight.

This is going to be a low-level story all season, until is suddenly becomes a big story.

Going to the Pens/Rangers game tonight. Should be a good one.

bapo! · Post by **bapo!** » Mon Nov 21, 2016 1:09 pm

The Pens placed Chris Kunitz on injured reserve today, and they called up Jake Guentzel to take his place. Guentzel skated with Malkin during the morning skate. If he starts tonight, this will be his first NHL game. That's always fun to watch. Everybody root for a Guentzel goal tonight.

rass · Post by **rass** » Mon Nov 21, 2016 7:17 pm

bapo! wrote:Everybody root for a Guentzel goal tonight.

You're welcome.

He might be the best player in the league right now.

rass · Post by **rass** » Mon Nov 21, 2016 7:43 pm

rass wrote:
bapo! wrote:Everybody root for a Guentzel goal tonight.
You're welcome.

He might be the best player in the league right now.

Quoted for emphasis.

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Mon Nov 21, 2016 8:31 pm

He's been shit since the first.

rass · Post by **rass** » Tue Nov 22, 2016 6:44 am

Just him???

(really, I didn't get to watch)

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Tue Nov 22, 2016 8:26 am

I fell asleep before the third but aside from new guy missing a gimme from Malkin, NYR owned the 2nd as much as Pitt owned the 1st.

bapo! · Post by **bapo!** » Tue Nov 22, 2016 10:44 am

It was a very even game, until it wasn't. Dumoulin made a horrible turnover, leading to the Rangers' fourth goal, and then the Rangers trapped their way thru the end of the game. The Penguins couldn't do anything in the third period.

Still, tho, a very entertaining game to watch. Two teams who can skate and aren't afraid of offense. And witnessing Guentzel's two goals was pretty special.

My eyes were drawn to Hagelin every time he was on the ice. So smooth.

Pens/Rangers again on Wednesday.

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Tue Nov 22, 2016 10:49 am

Hagelin's fun like that; always notice him live and can lose him for a few games at a time on TV.

bapo! · Post by **bapo!** » Sat Nov 26, 2016 11:58 am

So...Fleury.

I complained a bit about the Fleury/Murray situation in the Vegas thread, but here's the rundown: Because of the expansion draft, the Penguins will be forced to make a move. Fleury has a no-movement clause in his contract and must be protected if he's on the roster next summer, thus exposing Matt Murray. That's not going to happen. Murray is a decade younger, a lot cheaper (at least for now), and at this point probably better.

Okay. So. A lot of people have been expecting Fleury to be moved by the trade deadline. I figured that the Pens would keep him thru the playoffs. For a team looking to make another deep run, it makes sense to have two good goalies, right? But now I'm not so sure.

He had another bad game yesterday: 6 goals against on 36 shots. It's hard to watch. The angry yinzer/'Trade Fleury' bloc has been mobilized.

At this point, I just want it to be over with. He's not going to be here a year from now, and watching him struggle is just uncomfortable and sad for everybody. The Pirates are going thru a similar thing with Andrew McCutchen. Everybody expects him to be moved this offseason. That would have been unthinkable a couple of years ago, but now it seems inevitable. Now we're just waiting.

The Pens play tonight vs. New Jersey. Murray will start. They have back-to-backs again next week. I'm assuming Fleury will get one of those games, and it's going to feel like a playoff game.

Being a Fleury fan/defender is so hard, you guys.

rass · Post by **rass** » Sat Nov 26, 2016 12:33 pm

There was an article this week behind the DK paywall (which I bought because of Rorabaugh and now he left after a very short time there) in which MAF was pretty frank about how this wasn't an ideal situation for him. It's been 10 years or so since the last time he truly split playing time.

Since the time Murray has returned to the lineup, Fleury has received only four of 11 starts. He hasn’t dealt with that kind of inactivity since the 2005-06 season. His record since Murray returned is 0-2-2.

Fleury told me on Thursday following practice in Minnesota that the inactivity hasn’t been ideal for him. In fact, it’s been a struggle.

“It’s definitely a little different than what I’m used to,” he said. “No doubt about it. It’s been hard for me. I’m just trying to find ways to feel normal, to feel good.”

Fleury was on the ice considerably later than Murray at Thursday’s practice. That was by design.

“I have more energy than I’m used to having right now,” Fleury said. “You know? So yeah, I’m practicing a lot more than usual. I’m trying to stay on the ice, to get some shots.”

I asked Fleury when he previously had to compete for playing time. He thought about it for a few seconds.

“I don’t know,” he said, shaking his head. “J-S Aubin?”

Well, that’s going back a few years. So yes, this is all new to Fleury.

But he knew this was coming.

“I talked with the coaches a while ago,” he said. “They said the schedule was compressed and that meant that both Matty and I were going to play a lot. That’s just the way it was going to be.”

It’s hard to deny that Murray has been better than Fleury during November. The numbers don’t lie. Fleury was brilliant in Buffalo but hasn’t been especially effective in his other appearances.

I asked Fleury if things had gotten awkward between him and Murray, with the playing time being divided up in its current fashion.

“I don’t know,” he said. “The main thing is winning. We’re both team players. We both love to play. It’s just a tough situation we’re in. We’ve got to make the most of it, do the best we can for the team.”

There are many things at play here.

Murray just won the Stanley Cup, is nine years younger than Fleury and has been terrific this season. Fleury will be 32 in a couple of days.

Then there’s the expansion draft.

There’s a lot for everyone to digest here. And this merely an observation on my part, but if the Penguins told Fleury they wanted to trade him, I strongly believe he would disregard his no-trade stipulations. Does he want to leave Pittsburgh? Heck no. He loves the city and the Penguins very much.

Remember his body language when lifting the Cup in San Jose? It was uncomfortable then. While he always has that smile, it’s not like when he was younger.

One senses that Fleury sees the writing is on the wall and that he realizes his time in Pittsburgh will soon come to an end. He doesn’t talk about it and is reluctant to address it in general because he never wanted to leave in the first place.

bapo! · Post by **bapo!** » Sat Nov 26, 2016 12:58 pm

Thanks for posting that, rass. Now I'm sad.

So, you took the plunge on DK, huh? What do you think so far? I'm sure that the hockey coverage is still very good since Josh Yohe is there.

Too bad about Rorabaugh. He was there for a month before leaving for 'family and health reasons.' I'm wondering if there's more of a story there. There's been a lot of turnover on that site. And DK is probably the most hated Pittsburgh media guy among other media guys. (I read an insidery/gossipy message board, and he takes a lot of abuse on there.) But what he's doing now is very interesting and worth watching.

Post by **Sabo** » Sat Nov 26, 2016 1:10 pm

bapo! wrote:And DK is probably the most hated Pittsburgh media guy among other media guys. (I read an insidery/gossipy message board, and he takes a lot of abuse on there.) But what he's doing now is very interesting and worth watching.

How the hell does Rob Rossi not hold that title? He has a more punchable face than Ted Cruz.

bapo! · Post by **bapo!** » Sat Nov 26, 2016 1:21 pm

Sabo wrote:
bapo! wrote:And DK is probably the most hated Pittsburgh media guy among other media guys. (I read an insidery/gossipy message board, and he takes a lot of abuse on there.) But what he's doing now is very interesting and worth watching.
How the hell does Rob Rossi not hold that title? He has a more punchable face than Ted Cruz.

Rossi is strongly disliked by a lot of sports fans here, but I'm talking about how they're perceived by their peers, not by their audiences. Rossi might be an annoyance, but I've never heard anything too terrible about him. (I'm a defender. He started doing a weekly radio show here about a year ago, and he's actually very good.)

The Tribune Review is going thru a major shake-up. They offered buyouts to all of their top writers and editors recently. Rossi left, and he's now working for a site called UpGruv, which is a flashy news site funded by the Tribune Review. I read the press release when it launched and knew that it wasn't for me. I miss newspapers.

rass · Post by **rass** » Sat Nov 26, 2016 7:14 pm

I think Murray just gave up a sympathy goal.

bapo! · Post by **bapo!** » Sat Nov 26, 2016 7:23 pm

rass wrote:I think Murray just gave up a sympathy goal.

Classic Fleury!

Seriously, when I saw an early goal against, I had to double-check that it wasn't actually him.

rass · Post by **rass** » Sat Nov 26, 2016 8:30 pm

Really not Murray's best night.

bapo! · Post by **bapo!** » Sat Nov 26, 2016 8:53 pm

rass wrote:Really not Murray's best night.

No, it isn't. But he's had some bounces/deflections go against him, and he's also stopped some great chances. He hasn't played badly.

This is only the second time in his 8 games that he's given up 3 goals. I'll allow it.

I would be enjoying this game so much more if Taylor Hall were playing. Or if the Devils still used green in their color scheme. Or if Tostitos still made their Southwestern Ranch Dip.

rass · Post by **rass** » Sun Nov 27, 2016 10:49 am

I thought the goals he gave up were not great, but as soon as I posted that the Devils broadcast did a highlight package of the saves he did make and Kenny Daneyko gushed over him.

We were out and missed the third and OT on the way home. I wish I had stuck it out for the tying goal. Go Pens.

NJ wears the green for St Pat's, and for whatever reason they seem to play the Pens right around then quite often. 3/17/17 they'll be in Pittsburgh. Hall should be back, but they might wear the green throwbacks the night before at home against Philly.

bapo! · Post by **bapo!** » Sun Nov 27, 2016 11:37 am

The Pens deserved that win last night. That was great stuff. Overtime was entertaining. Crosby, Malkin, and TheTang played 3-on-3. It was nuts.

I think Murray is the clear #1 now.

NJ wears the green for St Pat's, and for whatever reason they seem to play the Pens right around then quite often. 3/17/17 they'll be in Pittsburgh. Hall should be back, but they might wear the green throwbacks the night before at home against Philly.

They could wear them both nights. Laundry technology has improved greatly in recent years. (Fun fact: This is the reason home teams wore whites and road teams wore colors until 2003 -- the league didn't think that teams could sufficiently wash white jerseys on road trips.)

rass · Post by **rass** » Mon Nov 28, 2016 9:26 am

So does the DK hate predate his current venture?

bapo! · Post by **bapo!** » Mon Nov 28, 2016 11:13 am

rass wrote:So does the DK hate predate his current venture?

A lot of his audience turned on him when he left the Post-Gazette and started writing for the Trib. Around this time, he became a Twitter troll. But I never heard anything from his media colleagues until he started his own site. Maybe they feel freer to talk now that he isn't working at the newspapers anymore. Or maybe they're just jealous haterz.

Because he's doing something so unusual, he would get a lot of attention anyway. Throw his personality into the mix, and he's a minor obsession here. As I said earlier, there's been a lot of turnover on his site, and he hasn't handled things very well at times. Firing employees via text message, then going on Twitter to criticize them, etc. (And he allegedly fucked over Dan Kingerski, my favorite unemployed hockey guy, in a business deal last year.) These things don't go unnoticed.

I hope that you don't take this as an attack on your subscription. The content is what matters, and if DK and Yohe are giving you good Penguins coverage, then you should enjoy it. Sorry to be such a downer.

Happy birthday, MAF!

rass · Post by **rass** » Mon Nov 28, 2016 11:39 am

bapo! wrote:I hope that you don't take this as an attack on your subscription. The content is what matters, and if DK and Yohe are giving you good Penguins coverage, then you should enjoy it.

Not taken that way at all. There's just some shit that I'm (blissfully or otherwise) unaware of, and while I vaguely recall people being upset when he went to the Trib, I think I mostly attributed that to hate for the Trib and not so much about DK.

bapo! · Post by **bapo!** » Mon Nov 28, 2016 12:21 pm

rass wrote:
bapo! wrote:I hope that you don't take this as an attack on your subscription. The content is what matters, and if DK and Yohe are giving you good Penguins coverage, then you should enjoy it.
Not taken that way at all. There's just some shit that I'm (blissfully or otherwise) unaware of, and while I vaguely recall people being upset when he went to the Trib, I think I mostly attributed that to hate for the Trib and not so much about DK.

No, people don't like the Trib for its editorial slant, but its sports section was at least equal to the PG's back then. But when DK went there, he was a columnist, not a beat reporter, and he became interested in Hot Takes and Establishing His Brand™. That made sense when he started his own site, since he was the only writer at the time, and DKOPS was necessarily personality-driven.

I've enjoyed watching his site grow. He's hired a bunch of writers, and Yohe is the guy who made the site feel legitimate.

By the way, the Tribune Review will print its last hard copy on Wednesday. After that, it's all digital.

sancarlos · Post by **sancarlos** » Thu Dec 01, 2016 12:57 am

rass · Post by **rass** » Thu Dec 01, 2016 9:43 pm

Ha!

rass · Post by **rass** » Fri Dec 02, 2016 7:52 am

Kovasevic has a feel-good MAF column from last night's game, and included a link to an article he wrote for the PPG after visiting the Fleury family right after the 2003 draft. It's pretty great.

bapo! · Post by **bapo!** » Fri Dec 02, 2016 1:56 pm

Thanks for the old-timey link, rass. Ah, 18-year-old Marc-Andre. I've been following that guy for a lot of years now.

That Crosby goal is ridiculous. He might be playing the best hockey of his career right now.

sancarlos · Post by **sancarlos** » Fri Dec 02, 2016 5:27 pm

As you may recall, Sid scored the first two goals of the game in San Jose recently. The first was similar to that video, as he shot from behind the end line and banked it in off the back of Martin Jones' leg. The second was also similar, in that first he shot from close in, then scored by batting in the mid-air rebound.

bapo! · Post by **bapo!** » Sat Dec 03, 2016 5:06 pm

Here are Crosby's goals against the Sharks. Yeah, the first one is the ole Gretzky play.

By the way, the old unis that the Penguins are wearing this year make me feel things. Related, players and coaches from the 1991-92 team are in town this weekend. The Pens are holding a 25th anniversary ceremony before tonight's game. Jim Paek is here!

rass · Post by **rass** » Sat Dec 03, 2016 5:19 pm

Since you brought it up...

rass · Post by **rass** » Tue Dec 06, 2016 6:57 am

Mike Sullivan has coached the Penguins to 49 regular-season wins, and they have trailed by two or more goals in 13 of them. The franchise went the entire season 2014-15 season without such a win under Mike Johnston.