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Penguins Back in Pittsburgh, Working on Power Play

With the Pittsburgh Penguins’ European vacation now over, they got back to work on Wednesday with their first practice at Mellon Arena in nearly 2-weeks.  The Penguins, who split their opening weekend with the Ottawa Senators, got busy by working on key areas that need improvement.  Chief among those are special teams and the power play.  Having one of the most lethal powerplay units in the league last season, something was definitely missing last weekend as the Penguins went an abysmal 1-for-14 in their first 2-games.  Sergei Gonchar was missing.  With the accomplished defensemen out of the lineup for an extended period of time, the Penguins will need to find other ways to put the punch back in their powerplay. 

Last season, Sergei Gonchar was the highly effective quarterback for the Penguins explosive powerplay.  But with Gonchar out of the lineup and Whitney sidelined too, no other Penguin defenseman possesses the ability to effortlessly move across the blueline and set up Evgeni Malkin for the one-timer or to load up and blast one in hard from the blueline.  It is a time of great opportunity for young defensemen Kris Letang and Alex Goligoski to step up and into the void, but it won’t come easy.  As easy as Gonchar made it look, his skill was one borne out of experience…something the two young defensemen have not yet acquired.  Look for Michel Therrien to try and speed up their development in this role, as he has few other stop-gap options in the current lineup.  He will also stress getting back to basics as a time tested method of getting the powerplay back on track.  The good news is that the season is just getting started and their is plenty of time to work these things out. 

All this being said, I do have to give some credit to the Ottawa Senators for their aggressive penalty kill.  They never allowed the Penguins’ potent offense to get their powerplay set up.  As a result, the Penguins got very few quality scoring chances or set plays where a blast from the blueline could have resulted in a juicy rebound and an ensuing scrum in front of the net.  This could become a problem, however, as other teams scout the Penguins’ injury-shortened blueline and determine that an aggressive penalty kill can effectively defuse their potent offensive line. 

The defensive pairings continue to undergo change as Michel Therrien tries to deal with the loss of Gonchar and Whitney.  The current pairings are Hal Gill/Rob Scuderi, Brooks Orpik/Kris Letang, and Mark Eaton/Darryl Sydor/Alex Goligoski. 

The Penguins get back into action on Saturday night as they play their home opener against the New Jersey Devils.  The Devils will be playing their 2nd game in 2-nights after coming off from their home opener Friday night against the New York Islanders.  The Penguins will have had several days to recover from the European trip, and will hopefully be fully recovered and ready to play.  Petr Sykora, who has yet to play a game due to a groin injury, is questionable for Saturday’s game. 

The Penguins went out today and added center Mike Zigomanis from the Phoenix Coyotes in exchange for future considerations.  Drafted 46th overall in 2001 by the Carolina Hurricanes, he was signed as a free agent by Phoenix on July 21, 2006.  In 167 career NHL games, he has scored 33-points (19G, 14A) and accumulated 58-penalty minutes.  Zigomanis will wear #15, and rounds out the Penguins roster at 23.  Forward Jeff Taffe cleared waivers today and will be assigned to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.  Kris Beech was placed on unconditional waivers, and will leave the team and play in Europe if he clears the unconditional waiver wire.  The Penguins assigned forward Janne Pesonen and goaltender John Curry to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton as expected.

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It’s Time for Hockey!

Just a couple short months after the Penguins lost in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals, a redesigned Pittsburgh Penguins’ team starts the long haul again as they open the season against the Ottawa Senators in Sockholm, Sweden, on Saturday afternoon.  While some of the faces have changed from last season, the desire to win hockey games and advance deep into the playoffs remains the same.  But before the season even gets underway, the Penguins have been blessed with more adversity in losing their top-2 defensemen for an extended period to injury and surgery.  Will it serve as a handicap to the team, or a catalyst for other players to step up and take on the mantle of responsibility?  Only time will tell, but if recent Penguins’ history is any guide, watch out! 

In accordance with modified league rules, the Penguins have trimmed their roster to 24-players for the first two games of the season which will be played in Sweden.  Typically the team roster would need to be cut to 23 by the start of the season, but the league has permitted an extra player for the 4-teams opening their season in Europe.  To get to 24, the Penguins announced today that forward Janne Pesonen has been assigned to the AHL affiliate Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.  The development comes as a bit of surprise to some, as Pesonen put up 2-points (1G, 1A) in 3-preseason outings for the Penguins.  All in all, I have to agree with the move as Pesonen did not distinguish himself well enough to earn a top-2 line position, and he is not the type of player you want on your lower lines in my opinion.  Better to grow him in the AHL, and have him on ready call-up should one of the top-4 wingers get injured.  After the weekend games in Sweden, the Penguins will have to make one final cut to their roster to get to 23-personnel. 

So, to start the season, the Penguins currently have 14 forwards, 7 defensemen and 3 goaltenders.  The roster includes forwards Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Jordan Saal, Petr Sykora, Miroslav Satan, Ruslan Fedotenko, Max Talbot, Pascal Dupuis, Tyler Kennedy, Matt Cooke, Eric Godard, Jeff Taffe, Bill Thomas and Paul Bissonnette.  The current defensive corps consists of Mark Eaton, Darryl Sydor, Hal Gill, Brooks Orpik, Rob Scuderi, Kris Letang and Alex Goligoski.  In net, the Penguins have kept goaltenders Marc-Andre Fleury, Dany Sabourin, and John Curry.  You can expect that the final cut next week will be a goaltender, likely John Curry.

What better way for the Penguins to start the season than a back-to-back matchup against the Ottawa Senators.   Last season, the Penguins avenged their 1st round exit of 2-seasons ago by sweeping the Senators and eliminating them during the 1st round of the playoffs.  As a result, a rivalry has developed between the two teams that the players are well aware of.   Coach Therrien noted, “we can’t ask for a better situation than to play a team that we have a rivalry with to make sure you are ready.”  The Senators will try to capitalize on the home town hero crowd advantage with native Swede Daniel Alfredsson.  Coming off from a shortened training camp and a successful pre-season in which they went 4-0-1, the Penguins are hoping for a strong start to the season this weekend in Stockholm. 

A new season, a new challenge, a new start……..it’s time for hockey!  Let’s Go Pens!

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Shortened Penguins Roster Arrives in Sweden

The Pittsburgh Penguins arrived in Stockholm, Sweden, at about 3:30 AM this morning (Pittsburgh time) after a tiring 10.5 hour flight (including a refueling layover in Ireland).  Despite the lengthy trip, the team got checked into their hotel, met for a team meal, and then hit the rink at Hovet Arena in Stockholm for practice.  The goal for today is for the team to get adjusted to the 6-hour time change by staying awake through the evening and getting a good night’s sleep tonight.  According to Max Talbot, most players managed to get some sleep on the plane so that fatigue was not much of a factor in this morning’s practice.  The Penguins’ schedule is part of a program put in place by the training staff to help the players adjust to the change. 

The 10-day trip to Sweden comes on the heels of Friday night’s 5-4 pre-season win against the Leafs in Toronto.  Despite playing from behind most of the night, the Penguins won the game late in the 3rd period on goals by Kris Letang and Matt Cooke.  Sidney Crosby, Mark Eaton and Janne Pesonen also scored in the win, advancing the Penguins pre-season record to 3-0-1.  Sidney Crosby picked up the game’s 1st star with 2-points (1G, 1A) and Ruslan Fedotenko got the game’s 3rd start with 3-points (3A).  The Penguins will officially complete their pre-season play on Thursday, October 2nd, playing against the Jokerit of the Finnish Elite League in Helsinki, Finland.

Before boarding the 5PM flight to Stockholm, the Penguins skinnied their roster down to 25-players through assignments to the AHL and injured reserve.  Forward Connor James and defenseman Danny Richmond were both assigned to the Penguins’ AHL-affiliate Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Saturday.  Injured defensemen Sergei Gonchar (dislocated shoulder) and Ryan Whitney (foot surgery) have been assigned to the injured reserve and will not make the trip.  The Penguins will have to make one more roster cut by Friday, October 3rd, to get down to a 24-man roster before the season-opener in Sweden on October 4th.  The Penguins will ultimately need to make an additional cut after October 5th to get down to the 23-player roster required by the league for the rest of the regular season.  The league made an exception and allowed 24-players to be on the roster for the games in Sweden, so that the team would have an extra player in-country in case of injury. 

The Penguins remaining 25-man roster for the Sweden trip is comprised of 15 forwards, 7 defensemen and 3 goaltenders.  This includes forwards Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Jordan Staal, Petr Sykora, Miroslav Satan, Ruslan Fedotenko, Matt Cooke, Max Talbot, Tyler Kennedy, Pascal Dupuis, Eric Godardm Jeff Taffe, Janne Pesonen, Bill Thomas, and Paul Bisssonnette.  The defensive corps consists of Brooks Orpik, Rob Scuderi, Hal Gill, Mark Eaton, Darryl Sydor, Kris Letang, and Alex Goligoski.  The goaltenders are Marc-Andre Fleury, Dany Sabourin, and John Curry.

After arriving in Stockholm early this morning, the Penguins went to Hovet Arena for practice at about 8AM Pittsburgh time.  The Hovet Arena is located alongside the Globe Arena where the Penguins will practice for the rest of the week, and where the Penguins will face off against the Ottawa Senators next weekend.  After practice, Sidney Crosby, Marc-Andre Fleury and Max Talbot spoke to the press.  The following videos of practice and those interviews are courtesy of PittsburghPenguins.com:

• VIDEO:  Team Practice’s at Hovet Arena
• VIDEO:  Sidney Crosby Post-Practice Interview
• VIDEO:  Marc-Andre Fleury Post-Practice Interview
• VIDEO:  Max Talbot Post-Practice Interview

 

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Penguins Send 13 Players to AHL, Trim Roster to 29

As anticipated, Pittsburgh Penguins’ General Manager Ray Shero announced the next round of training camp cuts today, sending 13 players to the AHL affiliate Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.  The 13 players sent to Wilkes-Barre includes forwards Kris Beech, Ryan Stone, Adam Henrich, Aaron Boogaard, Tim Wallace, Jonathan Filewich, David Gove and Christopher Minard.  It also includes defensemen Deryk Engelland, T.J. Kemp, Ben Lovejoy and Joey Mormina, as well as goaltender David Brown.  The cuts trimmed the Penguins’ training camp roster to 29 players

Of the 29 remaining players, the Penguins have retained 16 forwards, 10 defensemen and 3 goaltenders.  That list includes propsects Janne Pesonen, Connor James, Paul Bissonnette, Bill Thomas, Alex Goligoski, Danny Richmond, and John Curry.  With surgery/injuries affecting the normal Penguins’ defensive lineup, Defensemen Alex Goligoski and/or Danny Richmond could find themselves on the roster as the season starts.  There is potential for one or two positions on wing being open for competition, as well, as training camp and pre-season hockey winds down. 

The current roster includes the following players (by natural position,  not necessarily the position they are being played)

• Left Wing
  • Ruslan Fedotenko
  • Jeff Taffe
  • Matt Cooke
  • Janne Pesonen
  • Paul Bissonnette (Converted from D)
  • Connor James
  • David Gove
• Center
  • Sidney Crosby
  • Evgeni Malkin
  • Jordan Staal
  • Tyler Kennedy
  • Max Talbot
• Right Wing
  • Miroslav Satan
  • Petr Sykora
  • Pascal Dupuis
  • Eric Godard
  • William Thomas
• Defense
  • Sergei Gonchar
  • Ryan Whitney
  • Mark Eaton
  • Hal Gill
  • Kris Letang
  • Brooks Orpik
  • Darryl Sydor
  • Rob Scuderi 
  • Alex Goligoski
  • Danny Richmond
• Goal
  • Marc-Andre Fleury
  • Dany Sabourin
  • John Curry

The Penguins’ prospects will have two more opportunities to impress the hockey staff before the team leaves for Sweden on Saturday night.  It is uncertain whether the Penguins will make the final roster cuts before they leave.  While I wouldn’t be surprised by a few cuts, I don’t expect they will cut to the final roster since they will still have several more days of practice in Sweden and a final pre-season game in Finland on October 2nd before the season starts in Stockholm on October 4th.  I expect that the Penguins coaching staff will keep their options open and guard against any late injuries while on the road overseas.  Therefore, I expect at least 1 or 2 extra forwards and defensemen to make the trip to Sweden.

The Penguins return to Mellon Arena on Wednesday night to host the Toronto Maple Leafs.  The roster for the game has not yet been released.  The game will be aired nationally on TSN.

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Penguins Announce Monday Night Lineup

The Pittsburgh Penguins continue their pre-season play on Monday night as they play Game #2 against the Lightning in Tampa Bay.  While the Pens played most of their A-List talent in Saturday night’s loss to the Lightning, they will field a much different team for Monday night’s game.  Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Miroslav Satan, Jordan Staal, Petr Sykora, Brooks Orpik, Darryl Sydor, and Marc-Andre Fleury will all get the night off while more Penguins’ prospects will get an opportunity to impress the hockey staff.

Winger Ruslan Fedotenko will make his debut as a Penguin on Monday night.  Joining him on the ice will be forwards Janne Pesonen, Ryan Stone, Paul Bissonnette, Max Talbot, Jeff Taffe, Kris Beech, Adam Heinrich, Bill Thomas, Tyler Kennedy, Eric Godard, and Aaron Boogard.  On defense, the Penguins will bring Mark Eaton, Hal Gill, Danny Richmond, Kris Letang, Deryk Engelland and Alex Goligoski.  Dany Sabourin and John Curry will be the goaltending duo.

The lines have not been announced and one hardly knows what Michel Therrien might do, but based on skill sets and training camp pairings I would expect something like the following:

1. Fedotenko – Talbot – Kennedy
2. Stone – Taffe – Pesonen
3. Heinrich – Beech – Godard
4. Bissonnette – Thomas – Boogard

With the defensive pairings possibly as follows:

1. Eaton – Letang
2. Richmond – Goligoski
3. Engelland – Gill

The Lightning Insider is reporting Tampa Bay’s planned roster for Monday night’s game.  It includes forwards Ryan Malone, Steven Stamkos, Radim Vrbata, Vaclav Prospal, Jussi Jokinen, Evgeny Artyukhin. David Koci, Zenon Konopka, Jason Ward, Dana Tyrell, Paul Szczechura and Michel Ouellet.  On defense, the Lightning will play Shane O’Brien, Mike Lundin, Adrej Meszaros, Ty Wishart, Janne Niskala, and Matt Carle.  Coach Melrose plans to play Olaf Kolzig in net with Riku Helenius as backup, as he rotates each of his goalies through 2 full pre-season games. 

After Monday night’s game against the Lightning, the Penguins will return to Mellon Arena to take on the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday night.

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Penguins Lose Pre-Season Opener in Shootout

The Pittsburgh Penguins battled back from a 3-1 defecit, but ultimately lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning in a shootout when #1 draft pick Steven Stamkos scored the deciding goal on Saturday night.  The Lightning, under new head coach and former ESPN color analyst Barry Melrose, sat many of its veterans for the pre-season opener, including Vinny Lecavalier and Martin St Louis.  Also missing from the lineup were former Penguins’ Ryan Malone, Gary Roberts, Mark Recchi, and Adam Hall.   Pittsburgh played many of its young stars, to include Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Jordan Staal and Marc-Andre Fleury.  They also played newcomer Miroslav Satan, but sat Ruslan Fedotenko in favor of Janne Pesonen who picked up an assist.

The game started with Jordan Staal netting a quick goal just 51 seconds into the first period.  Staal’s goal was assisted by Evgeni Malkin and rookie defesneman Ben Lovejoy.  It was the only goal of the first period as Marc-Andre Fleury turned aside all 10 of the Lightning shots.  The Penguins put up 9-shots.  Defensemen Sergei Gonchar left the game in the first and didn’t return after being hit by 6′6″ heavyweight David Koci.  Gonchar will be evaluated today, but reportedly suffered a shoulder injury.  In response, Eric Godard took Koci’s number and squared off with him in the games’ first fight of the night at 11:54, sending both to the box for 5-minutes (Georges Laraque take note, wherever you are). 

In the second, Marc-Andre Fleury and the Penguins gave up 3-straight goals to the Lightning as Janne Niskala, Wyatt Smith, and Brandon Bochenski all converted at even strength in a span of just under 5-minutes.  The Penguins finally hit back late in the second as Petr Sykora notched a 5-on-3 power play goal at 15:18 to draw within 1.  Miroslav Satan and Jordan Staal picked up the assists.  Ryan Stone stepped into a fight early in the period, but was outmatched against the heavier Zenon Konopka.  After a slow start to the period, the Penguins finished by outscoring the Lightning 12-9. 

In the 3rd period, it was Petr Sykora striking on the power play again as he notched his 2nd of the night at 10:11 during 5-on-4 play.  Janne Pesonen and Alex Goligoski were credited with the assists on the play.  At 12:51, Kris Beach was given a 5-minute major and a game misconduct penalty for boarding, setting up an extended short-handed situation for the Penguins.  However at 17:07, Sidney Crosby notched the go-ahead goal with an unassisted, short-hander.  Unfortunately, with just over a minute to go, Brandon Bochenski scored his second of the night to tie it back up.  Shots were 9-8 Tampa. 

After a scoreless overtime period, the game went to the shootout.  Jussi Jokinen and  Steven Stamkos both converted on the shootout, while Miroslave Satan and Evgeni Malkin were thwarted to give the Lightning the win. 

 

• NHL Official Game Summary
• NHL Official Game Rosters 
• VIDEO:  Janne Pesonen Interview
• VIDEO:  Sidney Crosby Interview
• VIDEO:  Coach Therrien 

The Penguins match up against the Lightning again on Monday night in Tampa Bay.

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Pittsburgh Penguins 2008 Training Camp Preview

After a short summer break, the Pittsburgh Penguins are ready to hit the ice again as they get back to training camp this week.  Over the summer, the team saw some significant complexion changes with the exodus of some key role players.  Yet, despite the loss of Marian Hossa, Ryan Malone, Gary Roberts, Ty Conklin, Jarkko Ruutu, Georges Laraque and Adam Hall, the Penguins have kept their young core of stars intact and have back-filled the losses with some quality, proven role players.  Among the new player acquisitions are Miroslov Satan (RW), Ruslan Fedetenko (LW), Matt Cooke (LW) and Eric Godard (RW).   The Penguins also have depth in their organizational talent pool and added to it by bringing in some new prospects to include Janne Pesonen, last season’s leading scorer in the Finnish Elite League.  So as the Penguins head into training camp, what should you look for in terms of new talent on the team?

Goaltending

There is no doubt who holds the top spot for the Penguins in net, as Marc-Andre Fleury silenced the critics last season with an outstanding run after returning from his extended high ankle injury.  The question will be how soon he finds his form this season, as he has historically had slow starts.  The big surprise last season was the play of Ty Conklin, claiming the #2 spot away from Dany Sabourin after Fleury went on the injured reserve for a couple of months.  To his credit, Dany Sabourin didn’t play all that bad, but Conklin was flat out spectacular and stole the stage from Sabourin.  One could even argue that Conklin’s play was partially responsible for Fleury ratcheting up his game to re-establish his top spot upon his return.  With Ty Conklin now off the roster, Dany Sabourin has the opportunity to re-establish himself as the backup netminder.  But the Penguins will likely be evaluating their options during camp with some netminding depth in the system.  In my opinion, the only potential challenger for Sabourin would be John Curry.  Curry stepped into the void left by Ty Conklin in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, and put together an impressive 24-12 run in the regular season.  He went on to backstop the baby Penguins’ 14-9 run into the Calder Cup Finals.  I expect Sabourin will prevail out of camp, but don’t be surpised if Curry finds his way into an NHL game later in the season.

Defense 

The Penguins defensive corps is the one area that remains largely unchanged from last season.  The Penguins have been handed a significant challenge, however, with Ryan Whitney leaving the lineup for a minimum of 3-months (possibly up to 5 months) as he recovers from off-season foot surgery.  Whitney’s role as an offensive defensemen will be missed, and will likely be an area that the Penguins look to address in training camp.  The Penguins will be getting Mark Eaton back into the lineup after missing most of last season with a torn ACL, but Eaton’s forte is in defense and not in offensive production.  There may also be some lingering questions about his durability after 2 back-to-back injury shortened seasons.  Perhaps Kris Letang will find this as an opportunity to increase his offensive game, but he still needs to focus on perfecting his defensive game.  Perhaps Darryl Sydor, rumored to be seeking a trade out of Pittsburgh, will be able to find the niche he was looking for by stepping up his offensive game.  However, I still expect the veteran to leave Pittsburgh at some point this season.  The most likely scenario in my mind will be for Alex Goligoski to find his way into the lineup coming out of training camp.  Goligoski had an impressive year with Wilkes-Barre last season posting 38-points (10G, 28A) in 70 games with a +15 rating.  He also netted 28-points (4G, 24A) in 23 playoff games with a +5 rating.  He also made his NHL debut last season, getting 2-assists in his 3 outings.   Other defensemen to watch at camp would be Alex Grant, TJ Kemp, Deryk Engelland, and Ben Lovejoy.

Offense

The Penguins offense remains strong despite the loss of wingers Marian Hossa and Ryan Malone.  In particular, they are rock solid down the center with Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Jordan Staal and Maxime Talbot.  With Hossa and Malone out of the lineup, along with Roberts, Hall, Laraque, and Ruutu, the Penguins will use training camp to assess and shore up the wings.  They will look to off-season acqusitions Miroslav Satan and Ruslan Fedetenko to fill the void in the top lines.  It remains to be seen how well they will mesh with the talented Penguins’ centermen or how long it will take for the chemistry to develop, but it seems likely that they will flourish alongside Crosby and/or Malkin.  Elsewhere on wing, the Penguins have retained Petr Sykora, Jeff Taffe, Pascal Dupuis, and Tyler Kennedy, and have added newcomers Eric Godard and Matt Cooke.  The latter two were acquired to backfill the loss of Georges Laraque and Jarkko Ruutu.  Look for the Penguins management to really test out the combinations in camp, and to evaluate the talent they have within the system to find a set of wingers that work.  Perhaps the biggest and most anticipated wild card is Janne Pesonen, the Left Wing top scorer from the Finnish Elite League.  He will likely be the center of much attention and speculation as to a potential bid in the lineup.  The Penguins also have several NHL-tested prospects as a result of last season’s extensive injuries that will have a viable opportunity to break into the lineup.  This includes Connor James, Jonathan Filewich, Chris Minard, and Ryan Stone.  I would expect as many as 2-3 lower line wing positions in play going into training camp, with the burden being on the prospects to prove their case for being in the lineup. 

After last season’s challenges and ultimate success, I anxiously look forward to the start of the season.  The changes in the complexion of this team add to the excitement and uncertainty of what the new season will bring.  Training Camp will be the first, short glimpse before the season starts in just 3-quick weeks.  This coming season is sure to be exciting and will answer all of our current questions.  WIll Sidney Crosby be 100% recovered from the high ankle injury of last season?  Will Evgeni Malkin power back to the top of the points race after recharging his batteries in the off-season?  Will Jordan Staal ditch the sophomore slump and have a breakout year?  Will Marc-Andre Fleury shake off any early season jitters and will he be able to build on last year’s spectacular playoff run?  How will Miroslav Satan and Rusty Fedotenko fit in and produce?  Who will step up offensively on defense?  Will someone break into the lineup and be an enexpected force this season?  Who will be the enforcer?  Will the Penguins start slow and finish strong?  So many questions that will only be answerd in time!  Hockey is upon us!  Let’s Go Penguins!

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