Penguins/NHL
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It’s a banner raising night for the Penguins.
There is already a ton of storylines surrounding the Penguins entering tonight from Sidney Crosby’s health, to Marc Andre Fleury’s opportunity with Matt Murray sidelined, but what is going to dictate whether the Penguins stay on top this season will be their commitment to team defense from the forwards on down.
How the Penguins dominated the neutral zone throughout the post-season was the important facet to the Penguins hoisting Lord Stanley.
To that level just doesn’t seem sustainable but how far of a drop will there be?
Bringing back the same group will still have its challenges for Mike Sullivan and his biggest challenge will be keeping players 1-20 committed to his type of team game that saw Sullivan put together arguably the greatest coaching season by a Penguins bench boss ever in how he transformed this team.
Can Sullivan keep a 100% buy-in when the stars are only playing 15, 16 minutes like was the case for Evgeni Malkin at times?
— Sidney Crosby suffering a concussion in Friday’s practice after what Crosby described as just getting “tangled” with a teammate would seem to be concerning with Crosby’s concussion history.
Yet that hasn’t been the case. From Crosby to many in the Penguins’ organization, there is a lot of optimism that this latest concussion will be very short-term for Crosby with a source inside the [hide] Crosby camp saying not to be surprised if Crosby is cleared for full contract by the end of the weekend and back in the lineup next week.
“Chance he only misses two-three games,” the source said. “He’s responding very well to every challenge they’re [medical staff] giving him.”
“We think he’s making progress,” Mike Sullivan said on Wednesday. “Obviously the fact that he was on the ice today is a positive sign for us, so that’s great news for us. He’s making progress.”
Crosby pushed himself big time in Wednesday’s practice and had no setback in skating again this morning.
The Penguins internally have also been preparing for Crosby to be out short-term.
It’s one reason the team has opted against bringing up a young player like Jake Guentzel and stick for now with tough guy Tom Sestito (likely only one or two games)
Pittsburgh’s opening night lineup will feature some version of the following lines:
Carl Hagelin – Nick Bonino – Phil Kessel
Chris Kunitz- Evgeni Malkin – Scott Wilson
Conor Sheary- Matt Cullen – Patric Hornqvist
Tom Sestito – Eric Fehr – Tom Kuhnhackl
The Penguins in the short-term feel confident of still being able to throw three scoring lines out there to cause matchup problems and Bryan Rust is also tracking towards a return to the lineup next week, maybe even Saturday night vs Anaheim.
“He’s feeling really good, he’s really close,” Sullivan said today of Rust.
— Polled Five scouts on the five teams in the Eastern Conference as the biggest threats to the Penguins repeating as Eastern Conference/Stanley Cup Champions.
1. Tampa Bay Lightning (3 first place votes)
2. Montreal Canadiens (1 first place vote) – Scouts love the Canadiens –
3. Washington Capitals (1 first place vote)
4. New York Rangers
5. Philadelphia Flyers
Out of the results, the Lightning received three first place votes, two second votes. Montreal received one first place vote, two second place votes and two third place votes.
Washington received one first place vote, one second place vote, two third place votes and one fourth place vote.
The support for the Canadiens around the league has been very strong, most notably from scouts and coaches. I can tell you the Penguins coaching staff is among the coaching staffs in the Eastern Conference that expect Montreal to be one of the top teams in the East.
The lack of love for the Capitals was interesting, though, the scout who gave them a first place vote believes Washington’s third line of Zach Sanford – Lars Eller – Justin Williams is going to be a game changer that puts them over the top this post-season. Will be an interesting line to watch tonight.
The Rangers received one third place vote and the scout believes they’ve made great strides in a building a four line scoring team to properly matchup against the Penguins. “Love the potential their bottom-6 has, “ the scout said.
A copycat league it is, the Rangers will boast a fourth line of Michael Grabner – Brandon Pirri – Jesper Fast. A lot of speed and skill there. Gone are the days of Tanner Glass being out there.
The Flyers edged out the Panthers in the voting.
— Some news this morning emerged with David Morehouse going on the record with KDKA that the team is no longer for sale.
The Penguins took themselves off the market for good in August, per a source.
The Penguins no longer for sale is far from a surprise. The first obstacle was what many financial experts called at the time being an unrealistic asking price that was never going to land a seller.
Second there was just no feasible scenario where Mario could cash out with Ron Burkle staying as majority owner.
However, one of the main reasons the team is not planning to explore a sale for at least another three to five years, per a source close to the situation, is that Ron Burkle and Mario Lemieux are back on the same page.
The Lemieux-Burkle relationship started to hit a speed bump in the summer of 2014 where both men had different views on the direction of the organization.
Lemieux preferred to keep Ray Shero, while Burkle and Morehouse wanted Shero out in the worst way.
How things played out didn’t help things either but at the end of the day, winning cures all and both men are planning to ride out Sidney Crosby’s prime it appears.
— Why did the Penguins claim Mike Condon when Matt Murray is believed to be a week or two away from returning?
Mike Sullivan has said it has everything to do with Tristan Jarry.
“We feel that in order for [Tristan Jarry] to continue with his development, it’s in his best interest not to sit behind Marc and to actually get into games and play,” Sullivan said. “Our management team was to make a move and pickup Mike Condon on waivers. That gave us an opportunity to do what we thought was best for Tristan.
“As a young goaltender we’re ecstatic with the training camp that he had. He came into camp in extremely good shape. He played extremely well in the opportunities that he’s been given and we’re thrilled with the progress that he’s made.”
However, the organization saw this as an opportunity to bolster their organizational depth and legitimately see Mike Condon as an NHL caliber backup goaltender, possibly down the road past this season were the Penguins to move a Fleury or Murray.
Condon, though, is a UFA at seasons end.
Sources say assistant GM Bill Guerin pushed hard for the Penguins’ to claim Condon.
The Penguins are intrigued about getting him to work with Mike Bales again.
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Zero, when Crosby and Rust come back what do you do with Wilson. Think he’s still best fit for top 6?
Good question… I mean he was already considered the best of all the rookies before he was hurt so I imagine one of the three of Rust, Sheary or Kuhnhakcl… probably Kuhnhackl will be sat or moved down. We got to see Rust play great hockey last year, for that reason it has convinced some he is a bonafide top 6 when he may actually be suited in a bottom 6 role. On the other hand Wilson has been looked at having a top 6 ceiling for a couple seasons now. He really seemed to look the part last year… Read more »
I was being flippant with my original post, but this was point that I was getting at with my comment that “Ive seen enough of Wilson”. I dont think right now he is the best choice for the top six, barring an injury. He’s not going to play on the 4th line, so I just dont see a natural spot for him right now. later in the year, when Kunitz and/or Fehr are hurt or traded, maybe. I havent seen anything to justify his status as a potential top 6 player. Maybe its coming. I’m also not a huge Kuhnhackle… Read more »
TBH from what we seen from him last year, the feeling that seems to come from the team itself and some of what we got from him in the pre-season I truly feel they will keep him up to iron out his rust from missing much of last year. That said I also realize he is the only one of the 4 young guys that is waiver exempt… if we were truly gonna lose one of the other three by moving one of them down then from an asset management POV it would make more sense to send Wilson down.… Read more »
Zero, given all the young talent the pens have in the minors why do you think sestito dresses?
Because management feels it is better if they season themselves in the A?
Naw, there’s gotta be more to it. These are short-term (2-3 game) stints. There must be some player transactional issues. Younger guys have to clear waivers?
Wilson, Sundqvist, Dea, Simon, and Guentzel are all waiver exempt.
Ok, anyone of those guys could have filled in admirably for the 2-3 games that Rust/Crosby expect to miss without stunting their growth. For all intents and purposes Sestito is “waiver exempt”, no one is going to pick him up and if they do, who cares. What I’m getting at is that management clearly thinks his fills a role that you’re not giving him credit for.
The same reason they picked up Condon instead of bringing up Jarry then? Ice time, Power play time and so on will all factor as to why they keep them in the minors. There is no sense to bring them up for 3 or 4 games at 10 minutes a pop just to fire them back down when those other two return. Sestito is nothing more than a warm body plugging a hole. If either of the injuries were longer term they would have called up one of the kids
So using some Yoda logic, MAF is currently the 4th best goalie in the NHL right behind Montoya(best in the game), Luongo & Jones. Numbers don’t lie.
I am sad he hasn’t taken the bait, usually when I suggest he kill himself he turns himself into a potential martyr 🙁
Guy really is one of the worst fans of the game overall. I mean he can’t even celebrate an opening day win over one of the teams biggest rivals that included a great performance from Fleury on a team missing arguably its best player. He is such a fucken fraud.
I can’t even fathom using the word fan when talking about Yoda, nothing about his personality or actions is indicative of being a fan, even calling him the worst fan is a misrepresentation and a complete insult to actual fans.
That’s an excellent point jay.
i love how zero proclaims how good st.bleury was because he had another fake win to his win column. (in the old days he gets a T for last night not a win). regardless, st.bleury did better than holtby in the shootout. too bad there aren’t shootouts in the playoffs.
“st.bleury will tank this season on purpose”
Really looked like it last night, douchebag
#blowitup
KILL. YOUR. SELF! lol… didnt you all but guarantee a loss yesterday? Was that the big prophecy? #fuckfacefraud2016!
“Another fake win” vs Holtby getting the L?
Shockingly Yoda thinks Fleury only did better than Holtby in the shootout, let’s just ignore the fact that the Pens were outshot 41-30 in the game(including 6-2 in an OT Wash completely dominated) and that the Pens wouldn’t have even sniffed the shootout if Fleury hadn’t outplayed Holtby all game. You know you’re delusional when your rants make Trump look sane.
#fuckfacefraud2016
If the pens are going to repeat they are going to need more from Crosby. Dude was invisible all night.
Shades of October 2015, to say the least.
We need a group hug before every game.
Zero, you’re right. Scott Wilson looked real dangerous playing with Malkin. I think sestito had more scoring opportunities.
I think Sestito could be a real productive player if he had hands, a shot and could skate.
Even then, I assume you mean “productive” in the ECHL
Yes, Sestito was the catalyst on that line and is definitely a better option than Wilson. I would love to see the game through your eyes lol. I believe Fehr basically outplayed everyone not named Malkin last night… blow it up?
pretty hard to play on Malkin”s wing, guy gets 2 points, and not chip in with even a secondary assist.
You are aware that Malkin got an assist on the 1st goal on the Power Play right? You are also aware that the second goal occurred in the middle of a line change with an offensive turnover created by Hornqvist and Sheary… meaning Wilson was still waiting for his guy to change right?
So from your POV Wilson should have at least got a point while he was on the bench for both goals? Very interesting the way you think!
Ovechkin plays like he has a tramp stamp.
Malkin coming up clutch. Love it.
What a great game to start the season, imagine what the outcome would have been if Fleury didn’t tank!
#yodastillbatting1000
Nice start to the year… MAF was real good, fuck you yoda the fuckface. Malkin was also dynamite, fuck you same the retard. Sestito sucks but I smiled to see him beat up Wilson!
Don’t care what anyone says, a good goaltending duel is every bit as entertaining as a high scoring game.
#malinisoconfused
This is a great game
Fleury is horrible tho lol
MAF huge in OT! I know they don’t call penalties in OT but Geno was mauled by Kuznetzov there
Got to love our Russian with his typical 3rd period dumb penalty never disappoints
You mean the guy that factored into both goals? That Russian? You really are a fucken moron
Sam would prefer it if Washington was up 2-0 at this point so he wouldn’t have to see a Malkin penalty…. You, like yoda, are why I’m pro choice!
Yep. Don’t worry about the goal or the fact that he’s figured in on both goals scored by the team and only focus on the penalty he took that had zero effect on the outcome of the game. I thought Canadians were supposed to understand hockey.
#stupidisassamedoes
#stillthedumbestpersonalive
Put Condom in.
Ugh, stay in your blue paint FFs, one of the worst rules in the sport
Credit where it’s due… Fuck you Wilson
Classic Sestito… Gaping cage, still a goose egg on the pens end lol
Just warming up
How bad has Malkin been?
Sestito with more amazing hockey on a 2 on 1
DB with his shaved head he looks like a clown even more
Yet here you are volunteering to talk about him… He must have fucked you good
Sam is fat. Go Pens.
Welcome back, I can’t wait to see his reaction lol
dude, that was the longest Hillary precinct walk ever.
He must have gotten fired from KFC
Oh so you finally figured out D’s math equation
Or was it you were too busy with your friend Mathew
I tough you got shot from someone by playing Pokemon go on his yard
He “tough” you were shot… “Tough”. If you were thinking you wouldn’t have “tough” that.
This was funny the first time we heard it, made more sense too when it was about you
Damnit. I’m late for the group hug.
Never, bring it in Cory.
Best part of this thread is no one has a thumbs down except Mattyv, guy who posted a “good luck” message.
Must be stain or Npl
haha! i was well aware of the risks…
This thread already has so much entertainment value, between DePaoli acting like there a 5 scouts in the world that would actually take his call and Yoda just being Yoda i can’t stop laughing.
TIOPS Group Hug ……..squuueeeezzzzeeeee.
Tom Sestito!!!!! Zero’s got a huge Sestito boner for tonight’s game.
how the Fuk is Bo*er censored.
Stoked for it, I hope he goes for Matthews numbers. The only thing that bothers me is how Wilson ended up on a top line while our boy gets the shaft on the fourth.
Regardless of how useless I think he is I hope he fucking kills Wilson tonight
FTR first Wilson – Scott… Second – Tom
15 minutes until the season opening hug. Bring it in tight guys. (even you Stanch, I know you’re a little homophobic)
D try 11-12 mins a game for malkin at times. Not 16min
st.bleury will tank this season on purpose. he knows if he plays well he will be traded and lose his ever sacred sainthood status in pittsburgh. he knows if he stays a penguin, he will have a statue next to lemiux’s and the number 29 hanging from the rafters. st.bleury will put up a sub .900 save percentage while murray becomes the clear number one. however, since st.bleury is so awful, he won’t be able to be traded and murray will be the one to go. the prophet has spoken. all hail st.bleury.
I think he he goes unbeated (15-0), enhances his value and gets traded.
yeah right. haha! he is going to be so fired up to win his job back that he is going to be in total spaz/flop around mode.
Sure looked like it, dipshit
Troll harder
Lol, Kill yourself
best of luck for a good season, gentlemen (i mean you fellow posters here)