Penguins GDT/GNT's week 17 (Jan 26 - Feb 1

[DoobeeDoobeeDoo]

Pens schedule this week,

Tuesday January 27th: vs Winnipeg Jets
Wednesday, January 28th: @ Washington Capitals
Friday, January 30th: @ New Jersey Devils
Sunday, January 31st: vs Nashville Predators

Let's hope we could turn things around coming back from the All-Star break.

 

[evolver115]

I read a ton of hockey talk all over the web, and one guy I tune in on regularly is Bill Meltzer from hockey buzz who is the blogger for the flyers. Here is a partial reaction he had about Rinaldo and the Pens game: HockeyBuzz.com - Bill Meltzer - Meltzer's Musings: My Take on Rinaldo and Emotion vs. Stupidity

As for all the "Flyers are goons" talk emanating from western Pennsylvania and elsewhere, let it be reminded that it was the Penguins and not the Flyers who recalled a player like Bobby Farnham -- a career AHL agitator/fighter albeit a middleweight -- specifically for this game and then returned him to the AHL. The Flyers did not summon heavyweights Zack Stortini or Jay Rosehill.

I find this ironic that Meltzer makes light of the fact that Farnham was activated and subsequently sent back down to WB/S the next day, yet he fails to mention that he was likely added to balance out a guy like Rinaldo, and the corresponding roster move was the activation of defenseman Derrick Pouliot to Pittsburgh. Pouliot had to be brought up because, you know, Kris Letang had to sit in the quiet room while he worked to regain brain function after being knocked senseless by said goon Rinaldo.

Additionally, any team that employs Steve Downie, whether it's the Flyers (twice), Lightning, Avalanche or now Pittsburgh, knows full well that he is a player who has to push the envelope to be a factor. His own effectiveness is based on how successfully he walks the discipline line, and he is another player who has shown himself to be prone to doing something dumb at any given time. Dressing Downie in any game means accepting the risk of him doing things that put his team shorthanded for four or five minutes at a time.

Meltzer went on to be critical about Pittsburgh in the above quoted section by singling out Downie as being a goon. Downie is a goon to a lesser degree of Rinaldo. Downie is also the sixth leading scorer on the team, though. He has hockey sense and scoring ability that most who deploy as an agitator usually do not have. However, I think it bears repeating after last years experience in the post-season with guys like Marc Staal and Brandon Dubinsky taking egregious liberties against Crosby, that Rutherford had to do something to give the opponent some pause before they're willing to do the same thing to any of the Pens' skill players in the future.

My question/point with all of this is... do you think the Pens bring this type of criticism upon themselves? Or are they simply re-adjusting to the style of play that currently exists in the NHL, and subsequently are fleshing out their roster in a way to combat the seemingly continuous dirty play that is employed against Pittsburgh's star power?

I think that if the Pens have any hope of realistically competing for this division title, and aspirations of winning deep into the post-season, then they have to fortify their lineup with guys like Downie who are willing to make another team pay for liberties taken against their stars. You cannot win in the NHL post-season, IMO, unless you have a guy on your roster who intimidates the opposition.

 

[Burghfan]

I read a ton of hockey talk all over the web, and one guy I tune in on regularly is Bill Meltzer from hockey buzz who is the blogger for the flyers. Here is a partial reaction he had about Rinaldo and the Pens game: HockeyBuzz.com - Bill Meltzer - Meltzer's Musings: My Take on Rinaldo and Emotion vs. Stupidity



My question/point with all of this is... do you think the Pens bring this type of criticism upon themselves? Or are they simply re-adjusting to the style of play that currently exists in the NHL, and subsequently are fleshing out their roster in a way to combat the seemingly continuous dirty play that is employed against Pittsburgh's star power?

I think that if the Pens have any hope of realistically competing for this division title, and aspirations of winning deep into the post-season, then they have to fortify their lineup with guys like Downie who are willing to make another team pay for liberties taken against their stars. You cannot win in the NHL post-season, IMO, unless you have a guy on your roster who intimidates the opposition.

Having come from FN they seemed to jump all over anything a Penguin did. From Crosby's crying to Cooke's cheap shots, but they didn't seem to pay as much attention to guys like Marchand and Lucic.

When I saw Farnham was up for the Flyers game, I laughed because I knew exactly why he was up there. I watched Farnham a couple years ago when he started playing in Wilkes-Barre. He was totally out of control, taking way to many penalties and just generally embarrassing himself and the the baby Pens. They must have worked with him because he is still the agitator, but he's more under control and playing better. Downie is a lot like Cooke was for Pittsburgh. He is "gritty" and will retaliate when someone starts taking too many shots at Sid, but he can play hockey too. (Downie lost it the other night when he got his stick broken in front of the net. He was so mad he couldn't see straight, but then he took a really stupid penalty that more or less sealed the game for the Flyers.)

Every team has a goon or two, but it seems the Pens get the most publicity about theirs. It might have something to do with what Mario said a couple years ago about goon hockey. If you look back over the Pens history, they've had their share of some pretty notorious players. From Cooke, to Kasperitis, to Samuelson. Heck I'm old enough to remember Brian "Bugsy" Watson.

 

[evolver115]

Having come from FN they seemed to jump all over anything a Penguin did. From Crosby's crying to Cooke's cheap shots, but they didn't seem to pay as much attention to guys like Marchand and Lucic.

When I saw Farnham was up for the Flyers game, I laughed because I knew exactly why he was up there. I watched Farnham a couple years ago when he started playing in Wilkes-Barre. He was totally out of control, taking way to many penalties and just generally embarrassing himself and the the baby Pens. They must have worked with him because he is still the agitator, but he's more under control and playing better. Downie is a lot like Cooke was for Pittsburgh. He is "gritty" and will retaliate when someone starts taking too many shots at Sid, but he can play hockey too. (Downie lost it the other night when he got his stick broken in front of the net. He was so mad he couldn't see straight, but then he took a really stupid penalty that more or less sealed the game for the Flyers.)

Every team has a goon or two, but it seems the Pens get the most publicity about theirs. It might have something to do with what Mario said a couple years ago about goon hockey. If you look back over the Pens history, they've had their share of some pretty notorious players. From Cooke, to Kasperitis, to Samuelson. Heck I'm old enough to remember Brian "Bugsy" Watson.

I definitely agree with the bolded. Case in point; Rinaldo lays a predatory hit, Del Zotto does his flying elbow routine against Bortuzzo, and yet some of the reaction I read from around the league has writers bringing up Matt Cooke and James Neal. Cooke hasn't played for Pittsburgh since the last lockout, and yet he's regularly referred to as if he's still here! Neal, a former 40 goal scoring winger, was traded away for what some might say a downgrade in Hornqvist.

It's like they're almost saying, "how dare those Pittsburgh Penguins have a guy like Steve Downie on their team! Don't they know he is a goon!!"

Yet, Dubinsky and Staal beat the ever living crap out of Crosby in the previous post-season and the only guy Pittsburgh had to confront them with was Tanner Glass .

So what the heck are they to do? You can't win in this league unless you play dirty. It literally cannot be done. Not with the way the game is officiated, especially in the post-season. So why would the hockey world at large expect the Penguins not to fight fire with fire?

 

[Burghfan]

I definitely agree with the bolded. Case in point; Rinaldo lays a predatory hit, Del Zotto does his flying elbow routine against Bortuzzo, and yet some of the reaction I read from around the league has writers bringing up Matt Cooke and James Neal. Cooke hasn't played for Pittsburgh since the last lockout, and yet he's regularly referred to as if he's still here! Neal, a former 40 goal scoring winger, was traded away for what some might say a downgrade in Hornqvist.

It's like they're almost saying, "how dare those Pittsburgh Penguins have a guy like Steve Downie on their team! Don't they know he is a goon!!"

Yet, Dubinsky and Staal beat the ever living crap out of Crosby in the previous post-season and the only guy Pittsburgh had to confront them with was Tanner Glass .

So what the heck are they to do? You can't win in this league unless you play dirty. It literally cannot be done. Not with the way the game is officiated, especially in the post-season. So why would the hockey world at large expect the Penguins not to fight fire with fire?

Back at FN it was almost a full year before people finally got the idea that Cooke didn't play for Pittsburgh anymore. It didn't matter, he did once and so the Penguins were forever dirty. As far as Neal goes, he was good, but he did some stupid things from time to time. I personally would have given him a medal for that knee to Marchand, but that's just me.

Crosby complains a lot, but what nobody is willing to say is that he has a right to complain. He is getting mauled just about every shift and the refs look the other way. The worst one was Steckel's hit on Sid. I can see if the refs missed it, but why the league didn't take any action is beyond me. Steckel, at one point, was quoted as saying, "I didn't know he was there, I never saw him, I couldn't avoid him."

I'd like to see Downie and Bortuzzo take some more shots at people who go after Sid or Geno, but you know darn well they'd get thrown in the box for dishing out the same thing the other teams are giving.

 

[3riverbabe]

Rinaldo suspended 8 games for leveling Kris Letang.


Zac Rinaldo of Philadelphia Flyers suspended eight games for charging, boarding - Department of Player Safety News

 

[Burghfan]

Rinaldo suspended 8 games for leveling Kris Letang.


Zac Rinaldo of Philadelphia Flyers suspended eight games for charging, boarding - Department of Player Safety News

You should have put a warning in front of that post. My wife found me passed out on the keyboard. They actually suspended someone for abusing a Penguin player. Who would have thought.

 

[scoutyjones2]

No Sid, no Malkin...no win. Possible Korny and Letang back though

 

[Darkstone42]

It'll be nice for Sid and Geno to come back to a full complement of top-six capable wingers, though.

 

[Darkstone42]

Pens are playing a good, gritty game tonight in Crosby and Malkin's absence. Getting to the net, and turning it into goals. Pavelec is not having fun.

 

[Darkstone42]

Letang with five helpers tonight, and that's a great win for the Pens.

 

[Burghfan]

Loved those two "crash then net" goals, or as I like to call them, Philadelphia style.

Thought that Kunitz had a fantastic game. He was all over the ice, making things happen. Maybe didn't show as much on the score sheet, but that takes nothing away from what he did.

 

[scoutyjones2]

Letang is having a very good year...lets hope he stays healthy as others come back...my hope is starting to grow!

 

[element1286]

Need to continue that style of play when the big guns get back, they only seem to play that game when there is no other option.

 

[Darkstone42]

Need to continue that style of play when the big guns get back, they only seem to play that game when there is no other option.

If they crash on the powerplay like they did last night with Sid and Geno out there, man, no one will stop them.

 

[thedddd]

Wow what a painful game to watch. Basically the game plan tonight was take the Jets game and do the exact opposite.

 

[DoobeeDoobeeDoo]

 

[Burghfan]

As Chuck Noll once said after a bad Steeler loss: "It was a team effort."

 

[element1286]

Not much to say except the Pens got their asses kicked.

Although I find Pierre super annoying, he was dead on last night about the terrible quality of the dump ins.

Also, Brandon Sutter has been useless for well over two weeks now. Really needs step up.

 

[element1286]

Beau Bennett the scape goat healthy scratch tonight. Not that he is playing well, but good lord, Brandon Sutter couldn't create offense in the beer league at Ice Castle right now. And the entire 4th line are not NHL players, but it's always easy to scratch the young guy.