The Pittsburgh Penguins

bapo! · Post by **bapo!** » Tue Dec 06, 2016 10:01 am

A couple of interesting notes. The Pens beat Ottawa last night, 8-5. Both starting goalies were pulled. (And this was Fleury's third consecutive start. The roller coaster continues.)

In the previous game, Matt Cullen was the only Penguin skater who did not register a shot on goal, but he scored a goal -- he was tripped while skating towards an empty net, and was awarded the goal.

bapo! · Post by **bapo!** » Thu Dec 22, 2016 7:08 pm

Pens/Blue Jackets tonight. Looked like a throwaway game when the schedule came out, but it suddenly feels like a big deal. The Jackets are playing well and have one of the best records in the league. Tortorella's all like 'Fuck your analytics.' And this is kind of turning into a mini-rivalry. Should be a fun one.

rass · Post by **rass** » Thu Dec 22, 2016 9:54 pm

Great job here bapo....

bapo! · Post by **bapo!** » Thu Dec 22, 2016 10:02 pm

'You smell like nutmeg!'

sancarlos · Post by **sancarlos** » Thu Dec 22, 2016 11:21 pm

That was a smackdown.

rass · Post by **rass** » Fri Dec 23, 2016 8:16 am

sancarlos wrote:That was a smackdown.

The Pens game, or what Jan from Toyota did when she found out bapo! is crushing on another car company's commercials?

rass · Post by **rass** » Sat Jan 07, 2017 8:11 pm

The Pens are celebrating the 2009 Cup team this weekend and I don't recall ever seeing this picture before:

bapo! · Post by **bapo!** » Thu Feb 02, 2017 11:36 am

Hey, rass, it's been a while since we've read a feel-bad Fleury article, so our friend Rob Rossi has us covered. (Don't let the byline scare you. There's a lot of good stuff in here. Some pretty telling quotes.)

rass · Post by **rass** » Thu Feb 02, 2017 11:58 am

Thanks.

Perhaps the most surprising thing from that article was the news that the Blues fired Hitchcock and hired Yeo. Completely missed that.

sancarlos · Post by **sancarlos** » Thu Feb 02, 2017 12:00 pm

I think a mutually beneficial deal would be for the Pens to send Fleury to the Blues for Jake Allen. Allen's had a bad season and needs a change of scenery. He'd make a quality backup this season and could be exposed to the Vegas expansion draft afterwards. The Penguins need to move Fleury this season, because they can't expose him to the expansion draft over Murray. By cutting Allen loose, I think the Blues would unload enough salary to afford Fleury. They need a better goalie, and MAF is a proven commodity.

sancarlos · Post by **sancarlos** » Thu Feb 02, 2017 12:01 pm

rass wrote:Thanks.

Perhaps the most surprising thing from that article was the news that the Blues fired Hitchcock and hired Yeo. Completely missed that.

They had already made it known that Yeo was head coach in waiting, so this just moved the clock up a few months. Blues are on the bubble for the playoffs so they needed to shake things up.

rass · Post by **rass** » Thu Feb 02, 2017 12:24 pm

For the stadium series game:

sancarlos · Post by **sancarlos** » Mon Feb 06, 2017 10:37 pm

Not really covering any new ground, but here's a nice article on MAF.

rass · Post by **rass** » Thu Feb 16, 2017 7:28 pm

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Thu Feb 16, 2017 7:44 pm

Would have gotten it months ago if he were allowed to play against MAF.

sancarlos · Post by **sancarlos** » Thu Feb 16, 2017 7:45 pm

I was at the Sharks/Panthers game last night, and Jagr got his 1,900th point. Nice applause from the crowd when it was announced. Not coincidentally, it was Czech appreciation night at the Tank. Lots of Jagr fans in the crowd, some of them sporting faux mullets.

rass · Post by **rass** » Thu Feb 16, 2017 7:54 pm

mister d wrote:Would have gotten it months ago if he were allowed to play against MAF.

mister d is Geno Malkin

bapo! · Post by **bapo!** » Fri Feb 17, 2017 2:51 pm

Olli Maatta had surgery on his hand and will be out for about 6 weeks. He was the Internet's whipping boy early in the season, but he's been really solid since. This is going to hurt. And Justin Schultz, who has also grown into a very good player, might have a concussion. I knew that things were going too well for this team.

So, Crosby got his 1000th point. And Fleury was great last night, stopping 44 of 47 shots. (47 shots against? That's rather alarming.) Back at it tonight vs. Columbus. Let's hope it goes better than last time.

And what do we make of Fleury's new mask, with depictions of his favorite teammates past and present? Is it sweet and touching? Or is it sad and creepy? And if Murray plays in the Stadium Series game, then Fleury will have spent $2500 for a mask that will never see game action. Sad!

(Also, we're still 8 days out, but the weather forecast is warm and rainy for the next little while. That Heinz Field game might be problematic.)

sancarlos · Post by **sancarlos** » Fri Feb 17, 2017 4:30 pm

bapo! wrote: And Justin Schultz, who has also grown into a very good player, might have a concussion. I knew that things were going too well for this team.

That hit Schultz took looked rough to me. The guys on the NHL Network thought it was a clean hit, but his face was pasted into the glass by Byfuglien who probably outweighs him by 100 pounds.

bapo! · Post by **bapo!** » Fri Feb 17, 2017 4:48 pm

sancarlos wrote:
bapo! wrote: And Justin Schultz, who has also grown into a very good player, might have a concussion. I knew that things were going too well for this team.
That hit Schultz took looked rough to me. The guys on the NHL Network thought it was a clean hit, but his face was pasted into the glass by Byfuglien who probably outweighs him by 100 pounds.

Yeah, it was bad. I'm glad that I didn't see much of the game after that. It apparently devolved into some dirty play. Malkin had a bad hit on Blake Wheeler, too.

bapo! · Post by **bapo!** » Thu Feb 23, 2017 12:30 pm

Trevor Daley is hurt now. Just had knee surgery and will be out about 6 weeks. So, he and Maatta will be out for a while. Schultz has a concussion. I'm starting to have flashbacks to 2015, when all of the Pens' defensemen got hurt, and GM Jim Rutherford screwed up the cap situation so that the Pens could only dress 5 defensemen for a few games.

They traded for Ron Hainsey this morning. 891 career games, never made the playoffs.

rass · Post by **rass** » Thu Feb 23, 2017 12:41 pm

Schultz practiced this morning, in what was not a non-contact sweater. Sounds promising.

bapo! · Post by **bapo!** » Thu Feb 23, 2017 12:49 pm

rass wrote:Schultz practiced this morning, in what was not a non-contact sweater. Sounds promising.

That's good to hear. Just in time to get re-injured in the Flyers game.

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Thu Feb 23, 2017 12:50 pm

The entire internet is mocking the Penguins for giving a 2nd for Hainsey. What a dumb team. LOL.

rass · Post by **rass** » Thu Feb 23, 2017 12:51 pm

bapo! wrote:
rass wrote:Schultz practiced this morning, in what was not a non-contact sweater. Sounds promising.
That's good to hear. Just in time to get re-injured in the Flyers game.

But...

rass · Post by **rass** » Thu Feb 23, 2017 12:52 pm

mister d wrote:The entire internet is mocking the Penguins for giving a 2nd for Hainsey. What a dumb team. LOL.

Exactly one week until the big THREE-FIVE!

bapo! · Post by **bapo!** » Thu Feb 23, 2017 12:53 pm

mister d wrote:The entire internet is mocking the Penguins for giving a 2nd for Hainsey. What a dumb team. LOL.

Desperation move because of the injuries. Better than not having enough defensemen. (And historically the Pens have never drafted well in the 2nd round, so they're probably not missing out on much.)

bapo! · Post by **bapo!** » Thu Feb 23, 2017 12:54 pm

I was going to mention how Letang is just about due to get hurt again. Perfect.

rass · Post by **rass** » Thu Feb 23, 2017 1:07 pm

Town abuzz for the game Saturday? Odd (by design?) that they haven't played the Flyers since October. Need to work out my sleep patterns in the next day or two so I can try to stay awake Saturday night.

bapo! · Post by **bapo!** » Thu Feb 23, 2017 1:13 pm

rass wrote:Town abuzz for the game Saturday?

Not really. I don't pay close attention to local media, but I haven't heard anybody mention the game. It's a fun thing that will be enjoyed in the moment, but I don't think there's a big sense of anticipation.

Looking at the weather now, and rain is still in the forecast for Saturday. Supposed to clear out by afternoon. We'll see.

bapo! · Post by **bapo!** » Sat Feb 25, 2017 10:47 am

The weather looks like it's going to cooperate tonight. Yesterday, it was nearly 80 degrees. Today, it's in the 40s, supposed to creep down lower as the day goes on. Thunderstorms and heavy rain no longer in the forecast. Might get some rain this afternoon, but tonight should be clear. In other words, the hockey g-ds want you to watch this game tonight, guys.

Schultz and Letang will be game-time decisions.

Still no word on who's starting in goal. I'm imagining Fleury wearing his special mask in the locker room, on flights, in the hotel, at team meals, etc., trying to guilt Sullivan into naming him the starter.

sancarlos · Post by **sancarlos** » Sat Feb 25, 2017 12:42 pm

bapo! wrote:Still no word on who's starting in goal. I'm imagining Fleury wearing his special mask in the locker room, on flights, in the hotel, at team meals, etc., trying to guilt Sullivan into naming him the starter.

Murray.

rass · Post by **rass** » Sat Feb 25, 2017 1:05 pm

Wearing my bright yellow MAF shirtsey anyway.

bapo! · Post by **bapo!** » Sat Feb 25, 2017 1:28 pm

rass wrote:Wearing my bright yellow MAF shirtsey anyway.

You have to. Otherwise, we let the terrorists win.

rass · Post by **rass** » Sat Feb 25, 2017 6:04 pm

Yeah.

I think we need a skate around thread tonight for that same reason...

bapo! · Post by **bapo!** » Sat Feb 25, 2017 6:34 pm

rass wrote:Yeah.

I think we need a skate around thread tonight for that same reason.

Hey, you can have the keys to an open-skate thread. It's Saturday night, tho, so it might be lonely. The only people who are going to be posting are you, me, and maybe sancarlos if we're lucky. I figured I would limit my posts to this thread, but I can be persuaded to post elsewhere.

rass · Post by **rass** » Sat Feb 25, 2017 7:51 pm

Fine. FINE!!!

You'd think that as we get old and lame Saturday night would be prime Swamp time.

I'll try to get cerrano to stop by if the game warrants the effort.

bapo! · Post by **bapo!** » Sat Feb 25, 2017 7:59 pm

rass wrote:You'd think that as we get old and lame Saturday night would be prime Swamp time.

It fucking should be. I don't know what else people could be doing. Leading rich, fulfilling lives? Fuck that! They should be posting in the Swamp about hockey with us!

Both teams' uniforms are gorgeous, so we have that going for us.

rass · Post by **rass** » Sat Feb 25, 2017 8:04 pm

bapo! wrote:
rass wrote:You'd think that as we get old and lame Saturday night would be prime Swamp time.
It fucking should be. I don't know what else people could be doing. Leading rich, fulfilling lives? Fuck that! They should be posting in the Swamp about hockey with us!

Both teams' uniforms are gorgeous, so we have that going for us.

I just texted that to cerrano. I hadn't seen the Flyers full set. Really nice.

bapo! · Post by **bapo!** » Sat Feb 25, 2017 8:07 pm

Tell cerrano that this thread (and the Swamp in general) could use him. He's the hero we deserve.