Penguins/NHL
LATEST PENGUINS CAMP BUZZ
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Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin love to play the right half wall on the power play and it’s been an enigma for Penguins coaches over the years when it comes to the Penguins power play.
It’s often had Malkin playing out of position on the left side or as a rover, when Malkin’s is best suited to play the right half wall and Crosby on the goal line.
Has Mike Johnston found the fix — Crosby as the middle man? —
As the Penguins loaded up a top unit of Phil Kessel – Evgeni Malkin – Sidney Crosby – Patric Hornqvist – Kris Letang in Sunday’s practice, Crosby started the session on the half wall with Malkin as the middle man in the high slot of the 1-3-1 setup.
However, Malkin in the slot lasted about 20 seconds before Crosby saw the bulk of reps there and he’s the player identified by the staff to play in that role.
The unit looked great going against one defender and then two at a later point before a full PK session, but can this setup actually work with Crosby as the middle man where the power play won’t go through him and will he actually be happy about it?
As Mike Johnston said afterwards — what he looks for from that player in the slot role — Crosby fits just about every aspect.
“The guy in the middle has to be one of your smartest players,” Johnston said of Crosby playing the slot on the power play. “He has to have a good shot, he has to have a good stick but he has to know when to support the half-boards guy, the point guy and to converge on the net.
“Putting Sid in the middle there, we found he really reads off people. He knows when to move down low to support, he knows when to give a stick in the slot, be ready to shoot. He’s very good at helping the half boards guy when they’re in trouble and kick the puck inside. So the guy in the middle on the power play has to be really smart, have a good stick and be able to move around.”
Crosby can certainly work in that spot but at times the slot player in a 1-3-1 is sometimes a decoy, it’s more of an ideal spot for a James Neal type than a Sidney Crosby.
The bigger problem for the coaching staff is getting the star players to do what they [coaches] want. Rick Tocchet last season had no success, especially later in the season in getting the Penguins to run the type of power play he wanted.
MORE BUZZ
— A team source today on Rob Scuderi being on the outside of the top-3 pairings through three sessions. “We know what we have in him,” the source said. “It’s nothing more than that.”
Scuderi did work with Kris Letang on the penalty kill during special teams session, which could be looked at as the Penguins No. 1 PK pair.
— The coaching staff has been happy with the conditioning from a few notable players like David Perron and Beau Bennett, who were both regarded as being a bit out of shape last season.
“David Perron and Beau Bennett have had very good camps so far,” Johnston said after Sunday’s practice. “Those guys have impressed me with how they’ve taken their conditioning and built themselves up over the summer.”
Johnston also had high praise for Pascal Dupuis.
“A guy like Pascal Dupuis everyone marvels at him out there coming back with the energy and speed, not only at his age, but his fitness is great.”
— Johnston named the obvious candidates in the mix for the top-2 line left wing spots, Chris Kunitz, David Perron, Pascal Dupuis, Sergei Plotnikov and even Beau Bennett.
“There’s going to be competition. There’s competition for ice time and roles,” Johnaton said.
— There’s a big push from some in the management group for Conor Sheary to get a strong shot to make the team out of camp. He’s going to get it and it’s going to come down to how he performs in the preseason. Currently being identified to play on a skilled 4th line with Bobby Farnham a front runner to be the 13th forward.
LINEUP VS COLUMBUS SEPT 21
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I dont see it happening, old habits wont change done the road
Once everyone is healthy the lines that i project
57-87-81
61-71-72
14-13-9
19-7-16
but 9 and 14 will have their rotation with 57 . and 61 might have his rotation with 19 .Rest of players might have line change on a low probability ..Only 2 that are 100 % not changing lines is 87 and 71. Must say thatTwo important players that should stay healthy 29 and 58 if those 2 go down pens season is done
another NHL drama guys
https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-puck-daddy/jaromir-jagr-fans-turn-his–blackmail-selfie–into-instagram-meme-131639838.html
What Drama? Puck Punny fucked an unmarried hockey player and put it on the internet… Good for him, she’s hot and the meme is funny. You should do one… You could give the peace sign to the camera with that huge 15 inch black rubber dack you love so much in the Jagr spot!
i didn’t even read jaydogg’s comment but i gave it a thumbs down anyway. that’s how i’m going to operate.
you should because he does that to people already
Only to you Sam.
That is the biggest compliment I’ve received all day.
The real question in all of this is whether Sindy is going to be alright taking a back seat to a better option an not being the focal point of the pp. We seen this in the past with both DB & RT trying to construct a pp that maximized each players assets but each time it quickly fizzles because Sid constantly abandons his primary spots and forces Geno to rotate out of his best spot. Whether Sid likes it or not Geno is the better half wall players and Sid is best down low or floating the slot.If Sid… Read more »
Curious why Gonchar isn’t in the pre-season game? Makes it look like he is already signed…………not on a PTO
Where does that even come from? There are players in the lineup tonight who are already signed and there will be players in the lineup next game who aren’t signed and won’t make the team. Preseason individual game lineups mean absolutely nothing as far as roster makeup goes.
so you get a PTO — would it not benefit you to play in every single opportunity? do you really need me to explain to you the law of numbers?
They see them every day in practice. It’s not only about the games. It’s about grasping the system. Being able to execute that system. So I have no idea where you’re going with this.
The question on Gonchar is whether he has speed left for this league. Only way to confirm this is in a game situation. I can tell you have never played hockey in your life. I’m not going to argue anymore with someone who has no clue what they are talking about.
tl/dr – game situations are very different then practice situations.
So the best way to gauge whether or not he can still play in the NHL is to play him in a game where he will be playing with a bunch of players that will not be playing in the NHL against a bunch of players who won’t be playing in the NHL? That makes about as much sense as a typical Sam post. For someone calling out others about their understanding of the game, you’re not showing a world class knowledge yourself with posts like that. If gauging Gonchar’s ability to play at NHL speed is the main objective… Read more »
I agree D the guy in th middle for the power play has to be smart and not lazy
Thats why sid is horrible there
Yup crosby more valuable player than that one trick pony overpaid Russian
The one trick pony who should be putting up points like never before according to you
Leave it to fatasssame to continue the dipshit rhetoric about Malkin. Guy is a top player in the league period. Sure he takes nights off… Sid is not innocent there. While I was less than impressed with his performance in the playoffs (He absolutely needs to stop whining come playoff time) the fact remains this team will succeed because of both of them not only one. Lay off already dumbass.
What’s his one trick, exactly?