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New Year’s Retrospective

With the Olympics-altered 2009/10 season already half over, I thought it would be interesting to take a look back and see where the Penguins stand on this New Year’s Day as compared to last.  Just like the stock market, past performance is no gaurantee of future returns…but it still helps provide some context on how the team has performed so far when benchmarked against where they were at this point last season. 

Last season, you will recall that the Penguins started out under a different coach and began the season with their top two defensemen out of the lineup (Sergei Gonchar for shoulder surgery and Ryan Whitney for foot surgery).  In their stead, the Penguins had to depend on some very young, NHL-inexperienced defensemen in Kris Letang and Alex Goligoski to step up and help hold the blueline.  They also started the season in Stockholm Sweden, and had to deal with the challenges of international travel during the outset of the regular season.  This made for a tumultuous month of October in which they went 5-4-2.  They recovered quite nicely in November, posting an impressive 9-2-1 record, before slipping to 5-8-1 in December.  By New Year’s Eve last season, the Penguins had compiled the following stats:

New Year’s Eve 2008:

• Games Played:  37
• Record:  19-4-4
• Points:  42 (57% points efficiency)
• Goals For:  118 (3.2 per game)
• Goals Against:  110 (2.98 per game)

This season, the Penguins started the season with a healthy roster, and seemed to pick up right where they left off in June.  The Penguins jumped out to a blistering pace in October, going 11-3-0 for the month and outscoring their opponents 48-31.  Then came November, and the Penguins started to drop like flies to injury, with the Penguins’ defense taking the biggest hit.   In November, the Penguins lost 65 man-games due to injury, including 5 of their 6 regular defensive starters and one player from each forward line.  November man-games lost to injuries included Alex Goligoski (missed 7-games), Sergei Gonchar (missed 7-games), Tyler Kennedy (missed 11-games), Chris Kunitz (missed 9-games), Kris Letang (missed 9-games), Evgeni Malkin (missed 5-games), Jay McKee (missed 6-games), Brooks Orpik (missed 4-games), and Max Talbot (missed 7-games).  Despite this incredible challenge, the Penguins still managed an 8-6-0 record in November, but were outscored 46-44 as their defensive lines at one point consisted of over 80% call-ups from their AHL affiliate.  To their credit, the call-ups performed admirably under the ciircumstances, and 4 of the 6 games lost were early in the month at the outset of the injury maelstrom.  Once the Penguins started to get healthy again, they went on to post an 7-5-1 record in December, outscoring their opponents again 38-29.  Sidney Crosby has been having a very good season so far, and is on pace to score 46-goals, while Jordan Staal is right on pace for another 22-goal season.  As of New Year’s Eve this season, the Penguins have posted the following stats:

New Year’s Eve 2009:

• Games Played:  41
• Record:  26-14-1
• Points:  53 (63.1% points efficiency)
• Goals For:  130 (3.17 per game)
• Goals Against:  106 (2.59 per game)

Observations:  The Penguins have arguably posted better results at this point over last season, even with the short off-season, condensed game schedules, and rash of injuries dealt to them in November.  The Penguins have accumulated more wins and points over last season, and while their offensive production has been on-par with last season (even with Evgeni Malkin missing a couple of weeks), their defensive game has noticeably improved.  This is notable given that while the Penguins played last season without their top-2 defensemen, this season they played most of the month of November with just one of their starting defensemen in the lineup.  The Penguins have also benefitted from a sharper Marc-Andre Fleury and a very solid backup netminder in Brent Johnson.  In season’s past, Marc-Andre Fleury has had slower starts and strong finishes.  This season, while he has had a few disappointing outings, he started the season much stronger in net and is second in the league in wins behind Martin Brodeur.   

The Way Forward:  Last season the Penguins slumped over the holidays losing all 5 games from December 27th through Jan 5th.  This season, the Penguins have so far lost 3 games since December 27th with two games coming up this weekend.  Last season the Penguins would go on to win just 5 games in January, losing 9-games that month (1 in OT), with troubles continuing into mid-February before Coach Therrien was released in favor of Bylsma.  Over the past couple of seasons, the Penguins’ big points drive has come down the stretch as they have headed towards the playoffs.  Last season, for example, they went on an 18-3-4 tear under Coach Bylsma after mid-February.  The season prior, they went 15-6-3 in that same timeframe under Coach Therrien. 

While it is impossible to know what this season holds in store, fans can hope that the Penguins will follow suit from the past 2 seasons and have another strong finish.  However, there are a couple of things that could make this season’s stretch drive quite challenging for the Penguins.  First, coming off from back-to-back extended seasons, there is a real question as to whether the fatigue and/or injury factor will set in for the Penguins.  Perhaps they got over that hump in November, but there still remains a genuinely increasing risk that this could become a factor as the season wears on.  Second, what effect will the Olympic break have on the Penguins (and their opponents, for that matter).  For the stars who have been selected to repesent their countries, the Olympics present a distraction and another risk for fatigue and injury that could impact their performance on return to the NHL.  For those not participating, the break could provide a welcome rest, but at the risk of accumulating a little rust in their games.  The Olympic break also runs the risk of affecting team momentum and chemistry.  The Olympians will have to adjust to playing with new linemates, and all players will see their team’s cohesiveness disrupted at a critical point in the schedule as they run down the stretch towards the playoffs. 

It will certainly be an interesting second half to follow, with the Penguins looking for that ever-elusive 3-peat visit to the Eastern Conference Finals and the Stanley Cup Finals.  While the odds are certainly against them, we have to ask whether there is any team better suited to face this mighty challenge?  We think not. 

 

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Get One for the Sarge

On a high-intesity drama scale, the Eastern Conference Semifinals series between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Washington Capitals continues to thrill. Game 4 saw a determined Penguins team once again at the mercy of  the cruel humor of the Hockey Gods as another weird development put a Caps goal in the net only :36 into the game.

But the Pens seem to like it that way as goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury joked carefully afterward that that was the plan. One hates to put too much focus on the stat for trivia enthusiasts that in this series, the team that scores first loses, but that’s how it’s shaped up so far. It’s that kind of self-deprecating humor that keeps the mood light and the guys loose, and then it’s back to business.

In this game it was not a case of dueling hat-tricks between Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby. Instead, it was a checklist of contributions from goals to helpers in a well-balanced effort. Guys like Pens defenseman Sergei Gonchar, Bill Guerin, Ruslan Fedotenko, and Max Talbot all scored goals. Others like Jordan Staal, Miroslav Satan, Chris Kunitz, and defenseman Rob Scuderi assisted to make it all happen.

Serious Stuff

The jury is still out on the knee-to-knee hit Alex Ovechkin took on Sergei Gonchar that put “Sarge” out of the game. The Penguins are not saying much on the subject–in interviews they said they had only seen the replay of it once, and many of them prefer to leave it up to the league and the refs. As Bill Guerin noted, it’s not up to him. The Capitals, on the other hand, saw it very differently.

In the post-game press conference, a clearly uncomfortable Ovechkin tried to explain it (several times) that the hit was an accident. His coach, Bruce Boudreau, cavalierly and unabashedly stated that if anyone (implying “with a brain”) looked at the tape, they would clearly see that Ovi led with the shoulder, and, in professorial fashion he proceeded with the physics lesson for the “rubes”: where the shoulder goes, the knee will follow. It was a good hit. Still, one would have loved to have been a Russian fly on the wall as Evgeni Malkin’s father was seen in animated conversation with Ovi after the game.

The league and the refs will ultimately decide, but as Jay Caufield from FSN-Pittsburgh pointed out, using the Donald Brashear 6-game suspension for his hit on Blair Betts as an example, it’s got to be consistent.

Taking his argument further, one need only go back to the Philadelphia series when Daniel Carcillo was suspended for a game after hitting Maxime Talbot in the back of the head with the butt end of his stick on a face-off. The Ovechkin hit on Gonchar clearly falls between these two incidents in terms of severity. The hit on Betts caused a concussion and broke occipital bones. The hit on Talbot did not cause injury but was a situation that could have gone badly. In the case of Gonchar, it is not known yet the degree of his injury, but the term ACL has been bandied about.

The Pens were a bit dazed upon that incident, but they played through it and maybe in spite of it–those band of brothers rallied so that Gonch’s loss would not be in vain. Tonight could easily be a carry-over of that spirit because it’s events like that which can galvanize a team, particularly one that seems to be improving and gathering strength with each period of play in this series. Game 4 was crucial and pivotal. The Caps are on their heels, and Varlamov may have spent Friday night sleeplessly replaying his performance on his second loss in a row.

Penguin Notables

• Coaching–There are many theories floating around about the idea of coaching face-offs. They are hard to accurately emulate in practice, so often, it is not something that is worked on to any major degree. However, Pens coach Dan Bylsma was seen working with Crosby in face-off style scenarios, giving Sid an idea of how to approach an opponent’s stance and positioning. The biggest difference between Michel Therrien and Dan Bylsma behind the bench is communication. Bylsma stays engaged with his players individually but not intrusively. One of the most maddening things about Therrien was that during times when he should have been in the ear of players, he was standing back, arms crossed, gazing out over the ice like a first row season ticket-holder. Bylsma has a talent for teaching on multiple levels.
• Face-offs–To piggy back on the previous comment about face-offs, in game 4 it was not always about winning the face-off. In one draw that Evgeni Malkin took, he intentionally deferred the win to his Caps opponent in favor of exploding past him to follow the puck, which he successfully gathered up after some jostling in the corner. This an excellent stratgey, showing once again that there is more than one way (the conventional way) to skin a cat even if it means sacrificing a stat. Whether this was an idea derived from a coach, a player, or both, it shows that these guys are becoming advanced students of the game–they are thinking out of the box and getting positive results.
• Hitting–When the Penguins control puck possession, whether in their defensive end or in the offensive zone, it all starts with physical play. The more Pens who hit a Cap off the puck, the more pucks come into the Pens’ possession. They have proven it time and again. This style of play disrupts the Caps’ flow and makes for tired, frustrated bodies. As soon as the Pens lay off the hits, the Caps come back and reset their speed game.
• Defensive Play–Given the way these guys played for much of the first 3/4 of the season, if anyone said that Rob Scuderi, Mark Eaton, and Hal Gill would be forces to be reckoned with this year, it would not have been believed. Their often sloppy and lacklustre play during that time was hard to watch, but these guys to a man have dug deep within themselves and found new life–in a huge way. Scuderi and Gill have been tasked with accoutning for Ovechkin, and Game 4’s performance showed that they are equal to the challenge, holding Ovi to only 2 shots in the entire game. To cap it off, Scuderi also figured in the scoring with 2 assists. The 3rd line looked more like themselves, and it is only a matter of time before they get on the scoreboard. Staal chipped in on the Fedotenko goal with some hard jabbing on the boards to break the puck free in the right direction. Marc-Andre proved solid once he got the fluke goal out of the way early in the game.

Keys to Game

It’s simple. Keep the pressure on. keep the hits legal but keep them coming hard and fast. The Caps are starting to hear big steps behind them every time they go to the boards for the puck. Keep up not only the profusion of shots, but follow on for the rebounds. Varlamov is brilliant up to two whacks at the puck, but as the numbers climb to three and four hits at it, he breaks down. Keep drawing strength from each other and take care of individual assignments. Basically, do the things that have translated into success, and do it for 60 minutes.

Third “Line’s” a Charm

It is now official.

The Pittsburgh Penguins have not one mystical, magical two-headed monster, but TWO of them.

It’s no secret that Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin have become the two-headed monster, but in the final, intense run to the playoffs, another two-headed monster reared up in the form of Jordan Staal and Tyler Kennedy. Don’t blink because on the lead PK, the monster transforms to the tandem of Staal and Matt Cooke who have been unleashed, and all three players could conceivably be the “X” Factor for a successful playoff conclusion, the kind that eluded the Pens last year.

Time and again, in games when the team struggled during the birth of its new identity, the third line, most consistently comprised of Staal, Kennedy, and Cooke, has emerged to hit hard, start cycles in the offensive end, wear down opponents, and put some points on the board.

Case in point: in their last game against the New York Islanders, if a tertiary assist existed, it would have gone to the Staal line on the Bill Guerin goal at 11:08 in the third period. Staal and company mercilessly ground down the Islanders’ defensemen with crisp, swift passes around the net, cycling on both circles, and wheeling the puck out to the blue-liners only to start all over again…and again…and again for what had to be one of the longest sustained cycles of the season.

By the time the Crosby line got on the ice, a too-short clear of the puck kept the Isle’s defensemen stranded on the ice. They put up a fight, but it was clear that their legs had turned to lead, and Guerin made them pay for it.

That’s the value of the Penguins’ third line, and under Dan Bylsma, they have methodically honed their craft. With each successive game they play in the Bylsma era, their cycles start sooner, last longer, and really free up the ice for their teammates. They are hitting their stride as a unit at the right time, and truth be told, the third line is the most in-sync unit.

The statistics also show the growth of these three players both individually and as a collective. An analysis of the last 24 games played under Michel Therrien and the 24 games played prior to their last against the Montreal Canadiens under Dan Bylsma shakes out as follows:

• Jordan Staal–Under Therrien: 4 G, 6 A (10 points), 40 shots on net with a 10% shot percentage. Under Bylsma: 7 G, 10 A (17 points), 61 shots on net with an 11.4% shot percentage.
• Matt Cooke–Under Therrien: 4 G, 2 A (6 points), 28 shots on net with a 14.3% shot percentage. Under Bylsma: 5 G, 6 A (11 points), 35 shots on net with a 14.3% shot percentage.
• Tyler Kennedy–Under Therrien: 4 G, 5A (9 points), 65 shots on net with a 6.2% shot percentage. Under Bylsma: 6 G, 9 A (15 points), 57 shots on net with a 10.5% shot percentage.
• Collectively–Under Therrien: 12 G, 13 A (25 points), 133 shots on net with a 9% shot percentage. Under Bylsma: 18 G, 35 A (43 points), 153 shots on net with an 18% shot percentage.

Staal’s shot production has increased considerably (+21), Cooke moderately so (+7), and while Kennedy’s shots on net have decreased (-8), his shot selection has evolved to create better chances to score, increasing his percentage by 4.3%. Under Bylsma, they have 6 more goals, 22 more assists, 20 more shots on net, and they’ve impressively doubled their shot percentage from 9% to 18%.

Watching them individually as well as collectively, these three skate with more confidence and authority. They punish opponents on the boards as they fight for possession of the puck, and each knows innately exactly where the other two are at all times.

Tyler Kennedy’s spark plug style makes him hard to track as one moment he’s on one side of the net, and the next, he’s in the opposite corner, breaching the distant to the puck before the first defenseman arrives, and gaining possession. He has a keen sense of where he is on the ice at all times in relation to Staal and Cooke even when his back is turned, showing very quick visual perception.

Matt Cooke adds the gritty, instigatory element to the line and to the team by extension, and he has really made a study of his role. The turning point was against the Tampa Bay Lightning some games back when he managed to out-best the old salty dog king tormentor and former Penguins forward, Gary Roberts. Cooke managed to get under Roberts’ skin, causing the 40-plus-year-old veteran to pull a rookie mistake and retaliate. Cooke’s brand of physical, scrappy play is to a point now where he is managing to spend less time in the penalty box, showing that he is mastering the subtler points of the art of institgation–and loving it.

Finally, big center man, Jordan Staal, is proving Ray Shero’s theory of creating a strong core from Sid through the lines to Fleury. Staal’s efforts, paired with Matt Cooke, have elevated the PK to a shade above 87%, and in 5-on-3 situations with the fantastic play of defenseman Rob Scuderi, this unit will prove both valuable and formidable in the playoffs.

Even more importantly, Staal’s confidence has sky-rocketed. He now lugs the puck from his defensive end into the offensive zone not as quick to get rid of it as in weeks past. Now, he looks not just to make a play but to generate a sustained play. Confidence is allowing him to “see” options as if he has all the time in the world within a span of mere seconds, and his linemates are operating on the same frequency.

Staal has developed some signature moves that reveal his strength and the true extent of his reach. The most striking thing he added to his repertoire was a few games ago when Kennedy fed him a puck some distance above the left circle just inside the blue line, clearly out of his usual comfort zone of the interior hash mark on the same side. Staal ripped a slap shot that scored. What this shows is a young player who is now ready to challenge himself a little more, to try something new when the opportunity arises. It makes one wonder what his stats might have been, and more importantly where he would be now in his own development, under a full season of Dan Bylsma.

It’d be nice to find out.

Turning Up the Heat in a Hot Kitchen

by Chaiwoman
Pittsburgh Penguins’ radio color analyst Mike Lange is fond of saying “…to take the heat out of a hot kitchen” during harrowing defensive stands, but he may have to amend that slightly as the Pens and their opponents are fighting fire with fire.

Penguins 6–Devils 1: The Pens cranked up the heat on the New Jersey Devils, and while one would think they could take it, it was no April Fool’s joke. The Devils clearly did not look like themselves that night, and the Pens, by contrast, looked possessed. Six guys figured in the goal scoring: Matt Cooke (11), Bill Guerin (20), Evgeni Malkin (34), Sidney Crosby (30), Jordan Staal (21), and Chris Kunitz (23). On top of that, 12 players assisted in those tallies with defensemen Sergei Gonchar and Hal Gill leading the way by contributing two assists each. Not to be outdone, even netminder Marc-Andre Fleury had an assist, his first of the year, on the Guerin goal.

The confidence of the defensive corps of the Penguins is evidenced in their plus/minus rating. The tandem of Gill and Rob Scuderi posted a +4. This is an outstanding improvement for the pair considering that in days of yore (pre-Bylsma), at the best of times they looked mediocre and at the worst of times shell-shocked. Many were the games when plays in front of Fleury by those two created incredible anxiety for the fans and heart failure for their netminder whose own confidence was shaky. The insecurity was palpable and hard to watch. Fast-forward to present day, and Gill and Scuderi have been reborn. They are as in sync as Siamese twins, playing the way many believed they could play, and Fleury has felt the effects translate to his own crisp game.

Penguins 2–Hurricanes 3 (OT): “Kickin’ it up a notch,” the Pens went into Carolina Saturday night. From the first puck-drop to the goal horn in the OT frame, it was such a firestorm of speed, shots, hits, and break-aways that FSN’s Paul Steigerwald and Bob Errey never had a chance to talk about anything anecdotal except during commercial breaks and intermissions. They were nearly out of breath as they tried to match their play-by-play calling with the speed of the game.

Crosby and Malkin were picking pockets like Fagin’s street urchins, generating chances. Tyler Kennedy had yet another solid game, which at least merits an honorable mention to the 3 stars of the game–all Hurricanes. Malkin’s failing to score on the penalty shot he was awarded was a bad break. However, Guerin’s disallowed goal was a result of a bad Kunitz penalty, which hearkens back to what Bylsma said days ago. It’s not so much about how many penalties they take, but the kind they are and when they occur. This was not a good penalty as without it, Guerin’s goal would have counted, and Jordan Staal’s goal, then, would have been the game winner.

A Hurricanes-Pens playoff round match-up would make for an exciting, heart-stopping, nail-biting, teeth-gnashing series. These two teams are about as evenly matched as any two could be, including their season-long ups and downs and the fact that each possesses an outstanding young goalie in Fleury and Cam Ward, energizing stars, and, oh yes, a Staal brother. Pens fans seem to travel well as the crowd appeared to cheer just as loudly for the Penguin goals as the home team crowd did for the ‘canes, showing some Pittsburgh faithful in attendance.

Penguins 2–Panthers 4: After a strong first period, notching a hefty 19 shots on netminder Tomas Vokoun, the second period saw the Pens experiencing fatigue. No doubt this was a result of the supercharged, all-out slug fest in Carolina just 20 hours earlier. It did not help that a flukey goal came off a misplayed puck by Hal Gill that popped up strangely and could not be cleared out. Add to this the fact that neither Crosby nor Malkin registered a point in this game or in the Carolina game, and both were a -2 at Carolina and -1 at Florida.

However, Coach Dan Bylsma has recognized the power of the Staal-Kennedy duo, putting just about every winger he could think of on the line to try to generate something. It worked for Pascal Depuis, and Staal was also part of the unit that netted Eaton’s power play goal.

While rest can renew tired legs and focus weary minds, it is still unacceptable that the power play produces so few chances on net.  The Pens had 4 power play chances and registered only 3 shots with Mark Eaton scoring the sole power play goal. If they are not putting at least 5 shots on net per power play, then it is powerless. If not correctly quickly, such a situation will not bode well for a deep playoff run, let alone a Stanley Cup final. It cannot be stressed enough that Crosby is best working the end boards behind the goalie, forcing the goalie to split his attention to account for him. As soon as he is slides up on the half wall, he has much too much ice to play around with, and 99% of the time, he elects to pass.

The Therrien-era power play reared its ugly head in this game: the passing was excrutiatingly slow, and the player in possession of the puck held it entirely too long. The Panthers’ PK unit loved this because they hardly had to move. They could have killed a 10 minute penalty without a line change at that rate. So few shots on net leaves guys like Kunitz and Guerin with nothing to do, negating one of the biggest reasons they were acquired. Bottom line: Sid, more than any of them, must shoot.

All is not lost though. This team has proven time and again over the past three seasons that it has the collective intestinal fortitude to grind it out and push through a new growing pain. They are in position to have a date with destiny, to get back to where they were last season–maybe to avenge some unfinished business. The road is long and hard, and it will be a test for them and for their new coach, but as Bylsma said, going into the Hurricanes game, he put to them this question: “What mindset do we want to have going into the game?” How they respond 60 minutes at a time will determine their outcome.

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What a Difference a Month Makes!

One month ago, the Pittsburgh Penguins were licking the wounds of a 6-2 beating at the hands of the lowly Toronto Maple Leafs and wondering what had gone terribly wrong with their season.  Less than a year after coming within 2 wins of hoisting the Stanley Cup, the Penguins found themselves on the outside looking in with the very real prospect that they wouldn’t even make it into the post-season.  Now, just a month later, the reality is much different. 

A lot of things have changed in a month. 

First, the Penguins got a new “interim” head coach as Michel Therrien was put out to pasture in favor of Wilkes-Barre/Scranton head coach Dan Bylsma.  The coaching situation was complicated in Pittsburgh, as Therrien had done an outstanding job with the Penguins youth by instilling discipline and a defense-minded system.  It was a coaching methodology that appeared to work very well last season when the entire team bought into it.  This season, however, Therrien’s system and coaching methods seemed to get lost on the team and the result was some pretty uninspiring play.  Whether it was the loss of so many of last season’s players or the inability of the coaching staff to adapt to a maturing young team, Therrien’s style was no longer proving effective for the Penguins.  Bylsma stepped in and unshackled the Penguins offense and insisted that the team find fun in the game again, even if it meant more risk taking defensively.  So far, it has worked quite well.  Sidney Crosby looks like…..well, Sidney Crosby again.  The passion appears to have returned to his game in the last month.  The results have been there as well, as the team has gone 10-1-3 since the shake-up, garnering 23 of 27 possible points and making a playoff berth look more likely than not. 

Second, Ray Shero pulled the trigger to bring in some extra talent and experience up front in Left Wing Chris Kunitz and veteran Right Wing Bill Guerin.  The Penguins gave up Defenseman Ryan Whitney for Chris Kunitz and a minor league prospect player.  With tremendous potential, Whitney provided the bargaining power the Penguins needed to draw a much needed top-6 winger to the team.  Moreover, with the return of Sergei Gonchar, the Penguins had significant depth at defense and really had to make a play to shore up some holes on wing.  The Penguins then picked up Bill Guerin for a conditional 5th round pick, which would become a 3rd round pick depending on how far the Penguins make it in the post-season (assuming they get into the post season).  Again, both of these moves have paid off quite handsomely so far and have brought new life to the top line of the Penguins, giving Sidney Crosby the grit and speed he has lacked on his wings.  In just 9 games, Kunitz has put up 11-points (5G, 6A).  Guerin has notched 8-points (2G, 6A) in just 6-games with the team.  Just as important, in the past 9-games, Sidney Crosby has accumulated 17-points (6G, 11A).  The chemistry of the new top line has been almost instantaneous, and exciting. 

Third, Marc-Andre Fleury has found more consistency in his game and has looked more like the goaltender who powered his team through the playoffs last season.  While far from perfect, his positional play has been much better in recent weeks and his play was instrumental in a few overtime shootout wins.  His record has improved to 28-16-6.   

Although the playoffs are still not a lock, the Penguins are surging in the standings at the right time and they even have an outside chance of stealing a home-ice berth.  With today’s win over the Bruins, the Penguins are sitting in 5th place in the East and are just 2-points behind the 4th place Philadelphia Flyers.  With 3 games in hand for Philadelphia, it seems unlikely that the Penguins will be able to unseat the Flyers, but if they keep rolling like they have in the last month, anything is possible.  They Penguins have just 11-games left in the regular season, with the next 6 at Mellon Arena for the home ice advantage.   Of the 11-games, 6 will be played against teams that are currently not in a playoff position. 

If the Penguins can make the playoffs, they have certainly put momentum on their side by being the hottest team in the league at the moment.  They have the best record over their last 10-games of any team in the league right now.  If they can carry that kind of momentum into the post season, they will be a dangerous foe come April.

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Downward Spiral Continues, Therrien at Risk

The Pittsburgh Penguins continued their downward spiral on Saturday afternoon as they lost 5-3 in a matinee to the Colorado Avalanche in the Mile-High city.  The Penguins have won just 1-game in their last 8, leaving many wondering what it will take to get them out of their on-going funk.  In their last 20-games, the Penguins have gone 6-13-1 and picked up just 13-of-40 possible points.  Coming on the heels of posting one of their best starts in many seasons, the abysmal backslide seems almost incomprehensible.  Some have pointed to the rash of injuries and resulting roster challenges, while others have said that every opponent brings their “A” game when they match up against Pittsburgh.  Unfortunately, while these observations may be true, they are just excuses used to explain what appears to be a lack of focus, desire, effort and execution.  A great team finds ways to pull together at every level and work through adversity to remain competitive for every game.   

A number of things have become fairly evident over the last 20-games:

First, I am convinced that while Miroslav Satan is a generally good player, he is a bad fit for the Crosby line and more so a bad fit for this team.  In 42-games this season, Miroslav Satan has contributed 26-points (12G, 14A) in 42-games.  He has only managed 2-points in the last 10-games, however, and has finally been demoted from the top line.  The problem with Satan is that he is streaky (as advertised), and his inconsistency is punctuated by his incredibly passive style of play.  He appears unable and/or unwilling to get his nose dirty and create the havoc that needs to be created against uber-defensively-minded opponents who are trying to shut down one of the league’s marquee players.  His slow, floating style of play does not complement Crosby’s at all, and it has taken the coach too long to recognize it. 

Second, over the stretch of the past month the Penguins’ defense has at times become lazy and forgotten how to play smart defensive hockey.  We have witnessed the Penguins’ defense often stop skating and start watching the puck and the opponent in their own end.  They then get caught flat-footed and miss an assignment that exposes the goaltender and leads to a goal.  While I would expect to see this occasionally from the young rookie/sophomore defensemen, it is inexcusable when it happens to the more seasoned defensemen.  They need to work harder to tie up their opponents in front of the net and keep the traffic lanes clear.  Also, when given opportunities for a smart clear, they often commit a lazy pass to the open ice or up the wall that never reaches the blue-line before getting picked off and leads to scoring chances and goals against.  The lack of good, consistent defensive coverage has in part contributed to the inconsistent goal-tending that the team has gotten from Marc-Andre Fleury and Dany Sabourin. 

Third, the Penguins’ offense needs to start chipping the pucks along the walls and into the offensive zone while driving to the net down the center of the ice to push back the defense.  They have the speed and talent down the center to be effective.  For too long over this dismal stretch, we have watched the Penguins employ the old dump-and-chase.  Unfortunately, the dump-and-chase is only effective if you skate you butt off and win the chase-race.  If not, you end up just chasing the puck back down the ice.  There is so little puck support breaking into the offensive zone that we often see Evgeni Malkin trying to skate through 3-4 opponents at the blue line only to have the puck stripped away and turned back down the ice.  When the Penguins do manage to get possession in the offensive zone, they often end up playing a tremendous amount of perimeter keep-away, only to see it end in a bad pass attempt turnover and an up-ice rush.  They rarely get traffic and screens set up in front of the goaltender, and they look for the “unexpected pass” play so often that it is now absolutely expected and easily defended against.  Set up traffic in front, fire the puck on net, feed on rebounds and score….especially on the power-play.  Don’t wait for a clear shot at the net when the goaltender has a clear view of the shooter.  He will stop it almost every time. 

These are just a few observations and they can all be addressed in fairly short order within the current roster, with the possible exception of Miroslav Satan who may need to be moved sooner than later.  The coaching staff can fix this if the players buy-in and are responsive.  There-in, however,  may lie the ultimate reason why this funk has continued for so long.  Being on the outside looking in, one has to wonder if the coaching staff still has the ability to instruct, motivate and inspire the players.  Despite closed door player meetings and public comments made by the coach, the continuing inconsistent play and consistently poor results lends to the growing suspicion that the changes will soon come to this organization.  My bets are on a new coaching staff.  While Coach Therrien has done a fine job with this team over the past couple years, one has to wonder if his hand has been played…..as happened when he coached the Canadiens, one has to wonder if his style that was once considered an inspiration to the players has now become a liability, if for no other reason than it is being tuned out by the players.   This was the theory posed by SportsLine writer Wes Goldstein in January 2003when reporting on Therrien’s firing from the Canadiens head coaching position. 

I think we are all looking for answers, but more importantly action from the General Manager.  It is inconceivable to have two of the leagues’ top scorers, and yet have an incurable inability to win games.

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Injured Fleury Will Miss Wild Game, Listed Day-to-Day

Marc-Andre Fleury was injured late in Saturday night’s game against the Buffalo Sabres and will not play on Tuesday night against the Minnesota Wild.  The undisclosed injury was characterized by Michel Therrien on Monday as “not a major injury”.  Therrien went on to state that they didn’t want to take any risks.  Fleury is listed as day-to-day.  If he isn’t healthy enough to backup Dany Sabourin on Tuesday night then they will recall a goalie from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.  The most likely candidate would be John Curry who has played 8-games for the AHL Penguins this season. 

In other news, newly acquired Defenseman Philippe Boucher joined the Penguins’ practice on Monday.  The veteran skated with several different defensive partners during the course of the practice session.  At 35 years old, Boucher is now the oldest Penguin in the locker room with 723 career NHL games and 14 seasons under his belt.  Boucher will join Kris Letang as the only right-handed defensemen to play on the Penguins blue line.  “We have another right-handed (shooting) defenseman; they’re very rare in the NHL,” Therrien said. “Two years ago he was one of the best defensemen in the league. (He’s) gonna help the power play. He’s good on both sides of the ice.  I believe it’s a good addition to the club.”

Philippe Boucher Post-Practice Interview

Michel Therrien Post-Practice Interview

 

Sidney Crosby Post-Practice Interview

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Pens Sign Coach Therrien to 3-Year Deal

The Pittsburgh Penguins signed a 3-year deal on Friday with Coach Michel Therrien reportedly worth $1M annually.  The contract, which runs through the 2010-2011 season, replaces his existing contract that would have run out in 2009 and would have paid him $750K next season.  The 33% raise and 3-year term signify the organization’s confidence in Therrien after he coached the very talented young team to an exceptional 94-51-19 record over the past 2 seasons. 

Coach Therrien’s strength lies in his ability to shape and motivate young players, something that the Penguins have an ample supply of.  Therrien got his start in hockey as a defenseman in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, where he played under Coach Jacques Lemaire for the Longueuil Chevaliers.  Therrien was a solid player, putting up 51-points in 64-games in 1982-83.  Therrien hung up his skates in 1989 and went to work for Bell Canada.  A year later, he took a brief side-job as part-time assistant to Laval coach Jean-Maurice Cool.  After Cool was fired, Therrien was picked up again as an assitant under Bob Hartley, and they went on to win the QMJHL title in 1993.  When Hartley left before the 1993-94 season, Therrien was promoted to head coach.  Therrien won over 70-percent of his games in junior, where players range in age from 16 to 20.  Therrien then left Laval for Granby and coached the team to the 1996 Memorial Cup.  After a successful rise through the minors, Therrien won his dream job on 20 November 2000 when he was hired by the Montreal Canadiens to replace Alain Vigneault.  In his first full season he led a mediocre Canadiens team past the top-seeded Boston Bruins in the first round.  However, in the second round against Carolina, Therrien drew a bench minor for arguing a penalty call by referee Kerry Fraser and it turned the series around.  The Canadiens, who were leading the series 2-1 and were ahead 3-0 early in the third period when the penalty was called, lost the game and then were soundly defeated in the next two games.  Therrien was let go in the following season, and re-entered the minors where he coached the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton team for 2.5-years, where they went to the Calder Cup finals twice. 

In 2006-07, Therrien led the Penguins to the fourth-biggest turnaround in NHL history and their first playoff berth in years.  After losing to the Ottawa Senators in game 5 of the first round, the Penguins came back in 2007-08, finished 2nd in the Eastern Conference, and swept the Senators in round 1 by outscoring them 16-5.  The Penguins went on to their first Stanley Cup Finals since 1993.  Coach Therrien has a record of demanding a lot from his young players, and for rewarding performance.  In the process, he has created some rifts with more veteran players on the team, including John LeClair who was stripped of his alternate Captaincy and ultimately requested his contract with the team be dissolved.  A similar falling out happened with Mark Recchi after his performance fell off.  But nobody can argue the results that the team has produced under his tenure, particularly this past season when the team overcame the adversity of extended injuries to several of its top players. 

The lingering question remains whether Therrien, who some felt was outcoached in the Stanley Cup Finals, has the coaching skills to bring the Cup home.  He certainly has given the management and owners of the Penguins organization no reasons to doubt his ability to produce results.  They have responded by giving Therrien a nice raise and extension of his tenure in Pittsburgh.  In fact, if Therrien makes it through all of next season, he will become the longest-tenured coach in franchise history with 297 games.  

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The New York Whiners…er, Rangers….”Enough is Enough”

In the words of Michel Therrien, “Enough is enough, and that’s enough”.  My sentiments exactly when it comes to the whining that is being heard from the New York Rangers players, staff, media and fans.  The Rangers have tried to whip up controversy where there should be none.  The common refrain has been that Sidney Crosby is a diver and that he gets a free pass from the referees.  They also complain that Crosby is a “whiner”, which I find qute ironic after listening to the swirl coming out of New York following the legitimate interference penalty called on Martin Straka that ultimately led to the Penguins’ game-winning power play goal.  Instead of blaming Sidney Crosby or the officiating, the Rangers should be looking inward for answers to how they blew a 3-0 lead. 

Prior to the series, the New York Media and the Rangers staff tried to make-up controversy (or perhaps pre-position some excuses) by stating that the referees would show favoritism to the “face of the league” Sidney Crosby.  One example is the Rangers Hockey Night Live series preview show with Al Trautwig and Stan Fischler.   At 3:15 in the video, they respond to a fan’s concern that the refs will protect Sidney Crosby.  Stan Fischler notes his disappointment with the officiating and that he hopes for the best.  He goes on to mention that Tom Renney will be talking to the referees and the supervisor in hopes “that the Rangers will get a fair shake”.  Then at 5:15, another fan complains about how Sidney Crosby is a whiner, and that “no other great players in years past whined or complained”.  Stan Fischler piled on by stating that “his whining is almost legendary”, and “the referees are smart enough to know and don’t like it, so we’ll see how they handle it”.   

Then after Game 1, one in which the Rangers blew a 3-0 lead midway through the game, the Rangers chose to blame the officiating in part for their loss.  The first indicator came from Tom Renney himself in his post-game interview.  At 1:15 of the video, Renney is asked what he thought of the penalty.  He replied to the reporter, “Did you see it?…………draw your own conclusion”, implying that it was a bad call.  Then, in a post-game interview Brendan Shanahan referred to the Straka penalty by calling it a “weak call” and declaring that “Sidney embellished”.  At the 2:34 mark of TSN post-game coverage, you can see more Tom Renney comments as well Shanahan’s comments.  You can also view the penalty clear as day as Straka uses his stick across Sidney Crosby’s mid-section to impede his progress.  How any NHL player can claim that Crosby embellished that call is beyond me.  There was no dive, and Sid kept skating to try and get into the play.  Shanahan even had the balls to suggest that Crosby interfered with Straka on the play.  What a joke. 

The comments by the Rangers staff, players and media were so ridiculous that Michel Therrien felt compelled to comment on them after Saturday’s practice.  At 5:30 of the video, Therrien points out his disappointment with the “gamesmanship” of the New York Rangers regarding Sid’s ability to draw penalties.  Therrien pointed out that it is Sid’s skill and speed that draws penalties, not embellishment.  He calls out Tom Renney by name and chides him for the comments made prior to the series and in recent days, and says that the Straka call was legitimate.  He also pointed out that Avery raked Crosby’s face with a stick earlier in the game that went uncalled.  And unlike the Rangers with the Straka call, I haven’t heard any whining from Crosby about the non-call on Avery.  As Michel Therrien so aptly stated, “Enough is enough, and that’s enough”.

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