Penguins/NHL
PENGUINS MORNING SKATE LINES
Chris Kunitz – Sidney Crosby – David Perron
Sergei Plotnikov – Evgeni Malkin – Phil Kessel
Conor Sheary – Matt Cullen – Patric Hornqvist
Kevin Porter – Eric Fehr – Daniel Sprong
(Nick Bonino Illness- Game time decision)
D-PAIRS
Olli Maatta – Trevor Daley
Brian Dumoulin – Ben Lovejoy
David Warsofsky – Ian Cole
Jeff Zatkoff to start in goal
LATEST BUZZ
1. Trevor Daley requested a trade in mid-November which started the process of the Penguins considering him, though, they were targeting some bigger fish before the trade.
Once they reached the point where targets like Kris Russell just weren’t available, Daley became easiest acquisition to make. When preliminary talks first began last month, Chicago had very strong interest in David Perron due to his expiring contract, an NHL source says.
Daley is going to help the Penguins in the puck moving department but the vibe from scouts on Daley is if the Penguins think he can handle second pairing minutes 5 v 5 they are going to be in for a rude awakening.
“Disaster, “Horrific” is how Daley has been described by evaluators in his own end over the last two seasons.
Daley will play a top pairing role tonight with Olli Maatta.
2. Phil Kessel is not a Mike Sullivan type player? That’s a notion from folks around the league who have felt Kessel will drive Sullivan nuts just like Marian Gaborik did in New York.
With Sullivan having the security of a three year contract, Sullivan is not going to be shy about making Kessel uncomfortable.
We’re already seeing it.
After one game on the job, Sullivan switched up the Penguins lines throughout the four units in Tuesday’s practice.
He broke up the Evgeni Malkin line putting Sergei Plotnikov and Patric Hornqvist with Malkin. The three played together to start the year.
David Perron was moved to right wing with Sidney Crosby and Chris Kunitz.
Sullivan tried to downplay the significance of the line changes in Tuesday’s practice but those who know Sullivan say he’s already sending a message to Kessel who was demoted to the third line for one day — he will be back with Malkin tonight –.
“Nothing is etched in stone here,” Sullivan said after practice. “I’m just trying to go through the process here, where we can try to create a spark and effect some change. They’ve had the same look for a long time here, and they’ve had limited success. Rather than continue to go down a road where we’re pounding a square peg through a round hole, maybe we have to make some change for the sake of change, just to see if we can’t tweak the mindset a little bit.”
Sullivan also talked about getting balance on the lines but Kessel skating with Eric Fehr was certainly making a point to Kessel that the battle level better improve or this is how it’s going to be.
3. One former NHL player who played for John Tortorella and Sullivan had this to say about Sullivan’s honesty as a coach.
“John played head games [in trying to send messages]. To read this insider news, subscribe to get “Inside Access”!
i think it’s obvious. as soon as mario threw in the towel so did crosby. he needs to go. he will never be good in pgh again.
Mario et al. may not be good at running a hockey team, but the last thing he has done is quit. 87 can’t blame his quitting on Mario. He has only himself to blame. Awful leader. Remember when it was Johnston’s system that was holding him back? More b/s narrative.
1st off, mario is selling when the team is going to suck for years. he quit. secondly, crosby has proven he is a crap leader. the pens need an old dude who is respected like jerome iginla. it’s such a shame that disco mangled the iginla situation. the didn’t want him to lead because he’d be stepping on sid’s toes. how is sid going to lead? he’s been spoon fed his entire life. he even lived with mario for years. what’s up with that? what a crappy message to send to the rest of the players. no wonder the pens… Read more »
If he had quit, he’d have pared the roster down and kept his stars and banked another $20 million this year. Selling isn’t quitting. The team is an investment. That team has owed him millions of dollars since 1997. They still went out and picked up a Kessel, they still paid a Fleury (thank god) and they still spent to the cap. That’s not quitting.
Crosby the coach killer.
Cindy the Coach Slayer. 5th coach in 10 years! That’s impressive.
with this current trend of crappy hockey in this town and no sign of it ending, sullivan may be fired by february.
Furthermore, Kessel is a good winger and can make plays on his own, but if they expect him to ‘get to the front of the net’ or finish off his checks, then there is a huge problem with management.
Kudos to Rutherford for getting rid of Scuderi, but we are paying even more for Trevor Daley. Close, but not good enough. Trades away Despres, a defenseman with size, age, and heart all on his side. Instead we got an aging Lovejoy. Trades away Neal, 40goal scorer and finally a good buddy for Malkin and his poor attitude had to go. Took a chance on Perron and spent a 1st round draft pick. Which scout thought that was a good idea? Its clear that the scouts and the management have misjudged a lot of moving pieces and now we are… Read more »
How did the pens score 2 goals last night when it was a shutout, check instant buzz
Are you really surprised Walluk?
crosby with 0 points again. he is showing no signs of picking it up. with him playing like a ghost, stick a fork in this entire season.
as i said earlier, i didn’t watch the game tonight but listened to the broadcast. phil bourque was so pissed. he kept complaining that the pens refuse to go to the dirty areas. this team lacks guts.
What a mess. Being swept in the Conference Finals would be supreme right now. Be careful what you wish for. Yes, I sound like a broken record.
Most boring uninspired hockey by far
So pens have 1 goal under sully. I think they need MJ back
Never had problems scoring under DB. Just sayin’.
Fire sully lol
Sucks management is going to trade the wrong center this summer. Blow it up.
Thank God for the Pirates
Go nutting’s wallet
I’m shocked there aren’t more articles discussing all of their offseason acquisisions…
The only center that gives forth effort
maybe mario will sell and the new owner will fire moreheist and they will run the team with the intentions of winning instead of simply trying to brainwash the fans into believing they are always on the verge of a cup. new ownership may be the only hope to the blowup that should have happened in 2013.
If they do balt- I will find another team to root for, that would be a death punch for this organization. The sheep that are considered pens fans will finally wake up and see it for what it is if that happens. Sooner this team is sold, the better.
Right………
Ducks and BlueJackets. possible trade partners. Things could look very different after Christmas
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King one of the few that love hearing your info, so what you hearing? We talking major or minor
Rojo and Murray for malkin?
literally every team in the league is a possible trade partner with every other team. Dynamite info.
part of the penguin misery is how horrible the root sports broadcast team is. i’m working late tonight and have the game on the radio. mike lange and phil borque are really fun to listen to. it’s a shame those two aren’t on TV.
What do u work so late dishwasher with gaydogg
i own my own business but it shall remain top secret.
I know what it is.
@yoda, would you be upset if I recommended you for DK’s good dudes feature? I think you deserve recognition for all the kind work you do for the less fortunate, every day you go out of your way to make Sam look smart and there’s nothing more generous than that.
hey jay, you were the one who was saying how awesome the pens were going to be this year and i’m the one who said from day 1 they were going to miss the playoffs. who is more accurate so far?
When did I ever say anything even close to that? I’ve said since the day of the Kessel trade this was an incomplete roster and they were making a major mistake not addressing the blueline. Sam just jumped another notch.
depaoli said prick. that is cool.
What are you, 8?
i’m not the one with a user name “sam is fat”
Youre right. “Yoda” totally makes you sound like a well-adjusted adult who doesnt live with his parents.
Fleury’s trade value will never be higher. Move him before the Pebs stumble into the playoffs.
rutherford will trade murray over st.blurry. the pens arent’ stumbling into the playoffs either. this team is a disaster.
Who’s the moron on here that used to blow Zack Kassian? Was that king? yeah – just assigned to the AHL. Unclaimed on waivers.
Did he shrink or something? How do you send down someone who is 6’4?
The worst part is that 75% of the posters on HB are acting like it’s the biggest mistake of Rutherford’s career not claiming him.
I’m really confused by all the talk about how pofessionally the bench was run from the players, didn’t get to see the game but say a lot of comments saying the line changes looked disjointed and sloppy along with other miscommunications and disarray on the bench.
Yup kessel is is cancer everywhere he goes trade him to sharks get burns. Or pavelski with vlassic
Sid is a bigger cancer.. And he’s now a proven coach killer.
You and npl are the cancer on this site
The thing that’s awesome is that you probably burn 100 calories and are out of breath after every post you make.
Same concerns with Trevor Daley that I had with Kris Russell. Just don’t see how a “puck moving defenseman” with lousy “puck possession numbers” adds up to being a positive contributor. Of course, Scuderi had poor possession numbers too and couldn’t do much of anything else either, so… we’ll see how it goes. The only downside to the deal is the retained salary – would be a lot happier if they had avoided that.
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Nipples, you’re voting for Donald !
I doubt he’s a registered republican – might not even get the chance.