---

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.

Comment on this post: - (1) Posts

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.

Comment on this post: - (1) Posts

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.

Comment on this post: - (1) Posts