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Pens Name Todd Reirden New Assistant Coach

Pittsburgh Penguins’ Executive Vice President and General Manager Ray Shero announced today that Todd Reirden has been selected as Assistant Coach, filling the vacancy left by Mike Yeo.  Yeo left earlier this summer to become head coach for the Houston Aeros of the American Hockey League (AHL).  Reirden is leaving his post as head coach of Pittsburgh’s AHL affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (WBS) Penguins.  The new assignment will re-establish the coaching relationship that he had previously held with Dan Bylsma at the AHL level.  Their association, however,  dates back to their college days at Bowling Green State University in the early 1990s. 

Reirden comes with a diverse background of both playing and coaching hockey.  Drafted in the 12th round by the New Jersey Devils in 1990 (242nd overall), the defenseman spent 4 years at Bowling Green State University and another 4 years in the ECHL and IHL before getting called up to play for the Edmonton Oilers in 1998.  In his playing career, he had a total of 183 games at the NHL Level between the Edmonton Oilers, St Louis Blues, Atlanta Thrashers and the Phoenix Coyotes.  He played a total of 13 professional seasons as a defenseman seeing action in 533 games in the AHL, IHL and ECHL before retiring in 2007.  After his playing career was over, Reirden spent the 2007-2008 season as an assistant coach for Bowling Green.  He then spent a year and a half as an assistant under Dan Byslma for the WBS Penguins before taking over as head coach in February 2009 when Bylsma was brought up to Pittsburgh to replace Michel Therrien.  He has already made lasting contributions to the NHL Penguins by serving as the Penguins’ ‘eye in the sky’ during the 2009 Stanley Cup winning season, reporting to the coaching staff via headset and during intermissions.  An NHL defenseman for parts of five seasons, it is anticipated that he will work closely with the Penguins’ new defensive corps.

Pens Beat Habs in Game 1, but Lose Staal to Lacerated Tendon

The Pittsburgh Penguins showed no fear of Montreal’s red hot goaltender Jaroslav Halak, as they put 5-goals past him in a 6-3 win in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals.  The Penguins’ success in Game 1 was due to their explosive power play that went a perfect four-for-four on goals by Sergei Gonchar, Jordan Staal, Kris Letang, and Alex Goligoski.  Indeed, the Penguins’ offensive defensemen were on display as they found ways to move the puck around quickly on the man advantage and get quality shots in on Halak.  After a short-turn study of the Canadiens’ tendancies in round 1, the Penguins’ coaching staff were able to do what the Capitals’ Bruce Boudreau couldn’t; namely, solve the Canadiens penalty kill. 

The Penguins gave up the first goal to the Canadiens P.J. Subban, but then responded with two powerplay goals in the 1st by Gonchar and Staal and one on the powerplay early in the 2nd period by Letang to put them up 3-1.  The Canadiens got a goal late in the 2nd by Cammalleri to make it a 1-goal game, but the Penguins responded in short order with a goal by Adams before the end of the period to restore the 2-goal lead heading into the 3rd.  The Penguins finished up their powerplay dominance early in the 3rd on a goal by Goligoski after he took a beautiful cross ice pass by Sidney Crosby to make it 5-2.  The Canadiens got a powerplay goal of their own midway through the 3rd by Brian Gionta, but they were never able to close the gap as the Penguins finished up the scoring with an empty netter by Bill Geurin.  In all, 13 Pens’ players picked up at least a point, with Sidney Crosby, Bill Geurin, Kris Letang, and Alex Goligoski all picking up 2-points.  

Friday night’s win came at a potentially heavy price, however, as the Penguins lost their third line Center and Selke Finalist, Jordan Staal.  Staal got caught up with the Canadiens’ P.J. Subban near the blueline in a seemingly innocent collision. On the replay, it became evident that Staal had likely been cut by Subban’s skate as it inadvertently raked across the top of his foot.  Post game reporting indicated that Staal’s laces were cut as he returned to the bench, and he was later seen leaving Mellon Arena on crutches and taken to the hospital for repair of a lacerated tendon on top of his foot.  On Saturday, initial reports by TSN stated that Staal’s post-season was over, however, subsequent reporting and a statement by Coach Dan Bylsma suggest that his condition is “day-to-day”, and that he could be back in the next round if the Penguins advance past the Semi-Finals. It would seem that his return is tenuous at best, as these types of injuries usually require significant recovery time.  It is unknown whether the tendon was completely severed, which would be the worst case in terms of recovery timeline. 

The Pens return to the ice on Sunday at 2PM to try and take a 2-0 lead over the Canadiens.  It looks like Mark Letestu will get the call to augment the roster in light of Jordan Staal’s injury.  He was on the ice with for the Penguins’ practice today, along with defensemen Ben Lovejoy and Deryk Engelland.  Jordan Leopold and Tyler Kennedy were also at practice today, but their status for tomorrow will be a game time decision. 

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