The late Barclay Plager, noted St. Louis villain and early Penguins tormentor once said, “It’s not who wins the fight that’s important, it’s being willing to fight. If you get challenged and renege, everyone wants to take a shot at you.”
He didn’t know it at the time. But “Barc the Spark” could’ve been addressing our present-day Pens. The ones who were bullied all over the Nationwide Arena ice last night en route to a painful 2-1 overtime loss at the hands of the bruising Columbus Blue Jackets.
The sight of Sidney Crosby sprawled on the ice after absorbing a brutal Brandon Dubinsky crosscheck to the neck sickened me. With the notable exception of Evgeni Malkin, the appalling lack of push-back from his teammates made me feel helpless…and enraged.
Not content with laying waste to one Penguin, Dubinsky tried to remove Kris Letang’s head early in the third period. He nearly succeeded.
Again, not a whimper of retaliation.
Congratulations, Mario. Way to go, Jim Rutherford. Thanks to you, we’ve become the proverbial 98-pound weakling from the old Charles Atlas ad who loses the girl to the beach bully and gets sand kicked in his face to boot. Lady Byng would be proud.
Just once, I wish someone had enough guts to call a spade a spade on air. Bob Errey, Paul Steigerwald, and Dan Potash? See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil. All they do is blather about team toughness and parrot the company line.
Bullshit.
You don’t ask a prom queen to play roller derby.
I envy the Blue Jackets. I really do. Dubinsky, Nick Foligno, Scott Hartnell, Boone Jenner, and Ryan Johansen. Forwards who tip the scales at 208 pounds or more. What I wouldn’t give for at least two of those guys. Same with their defense. Kevin Connauton, Jack Johnson, and David Savard. Big guys who can play.
Why can’t we get players like that? Seriously. I’d love to hear Rutherford’s rationale for constructing a paperweight team—the fourth lightest in the league. One that, when push comes to shove, literally can’t defend itself. Talk about putting your marquee players at risk. Hell, JR might as well replace the skating Penguin logo with a black-and-gold bullseye.
With muscle in such short supply, I don’t fault the players. They battled as best they could and earned a point against an infinitely tougher foe under hostile conditions. Imagine what they could accomplish with a nasty forward or two to discourage foes like Columbus from taking liberties. And a defenseman who actually relished contact.
That will never happen. Not under the current regime.
Did I mention Dubinsky assisted on the game-winner?
Hey Rick
This post is from the benefit of hindsight.Tonight,Dec 5th, the Pens played the LA Kings.They lost 5-3….The score is not the issue. They Pens were out shot 37 to 20 and at one point it was 24 to 6.The larger Kings out hit them,out skated them and basically there was nothing the Pens could do.When the score was 4 to 1, it appeared that the Kings let up as teams often do.Our smaller defense could not contain the rush of the Kings larger forwards and their defense, ( Doughty and Muzzin) both scored as well.There is no way the Pens could possibly beat the Kings in a 7 game series as they are currently configured.Forget the score.We lost. Look at the rest of the stats…..That tells the real story.
Oh yeah, Letang is hurt again and Matta just returned from an injury. Not good……So the bottom line is we need major changes to the roster to be able to really compete for the Cup.But with no cap space there is little we can do !
Great read Rick.. but don’t you remember JR said you don’t need to be tough to win?? ( or something close to that quote last year)!!
Isaid it before and I’ll say it now Rutherford ruined Carolina and now he has done the same with my beloved Pen’s…shame
Thanks Pen’s 4ever,
My brother, Dan, who’s generally spot-on when it comes to his insights on hockey, has exactly the same take on Rutherford. I asked him what he thought of JR last summer in the wake of the Kessel trade, expecting a positive response.
Dan said, “His moves never quite seem to work out.”
He noted that JR couldn’t get the ‘Canes back to the postseason after they won the Cup in ’06 (one playoff appearance in eight seasons). And that he invariably assembled small, semi-skilled teams in Carolina that lacked muscle. Much as we have now.
I still feel the initiative to build this type of team has come from higher up. As PP reader Jim commented a while back, we’ve committed to following the wrong blueprint (Detroit).
But there’s no doubt it’s right up JR’s alley, too.
100% Rick …. We are on the wrong path and JR and MJ are definitely contributing to the problem, but the blame must rest with the owners.
This is what always puzzles me.Most hockey teams have owners who never played the game and could not tell a hockey puck from a beach ball and could care less, or are very large corporations with many competing business interests. Our owner, who happens to be one of the top 5 players on the planet to EVER PLAY the game,EVER, and we are are having player issues and coaching issues. ????
Something is wrong with this picture.It does not make sense to me!
spot on..wake up MARIO
Thanks.
dey soff
NOT good at all
Our Pens are a mess !!! I wasnt all tht excited abt the Phil Kessel signing I was more concerned abt our defense. Im in utter shock tht w the addition of PK we can no longer score ? I never thought scoring would be an issue w our Pens. Man was I wrong. I just needed to vent amongst fellow Pens fans. Its depressing to watch our Pens lose to bad teams game in and game out.
Huzzah’s and big AMENs all around this comment section!
I’m one who hopes fighting is never completely winnowed out of this game. Not those staged, drop-the-gloves-on-the-opening-face-off freak shows, which were crap, but those defending your team, your goalie and your territory scraps that are almost as important to success as scoring goals. I want players who will drive an opponent’s ass through the boards and skate away with a smiles on their faces, even if it’s directly to the penalty box. I want player who will take the Dubinskys of the league by the sweater collar and plant them firmly and foercefully to the ice, no questions asked. The truth is there still is room in this league for guys who come up off the ice with a stiff jab and a right cross whenever it is necessary.
Hockey is a violent game. Ten guys skating into one another at break-neck speeds? In a confined area? It’s like, “What the hell did you think was going to happen?”
Many players on this team have regularly been having their clocks cleaned, and their bells rung, for far too long. It’s no wonder in the previous two seasons they have lost nearly 1,000 man games to injury. Yes, there is a bullseye on them, painted there by owners, GMs and coaches who obviously refuse to get it even though they are swimming in a pool of evidence.
I wouldn’t blame Sid for being pissed off at Mario, and who ever else crossed his mind. I don’t blame Malkin for getting fed up enough to take matters into his own hands. If Sid and Malkin don’t push back, then who? This team is every man for himself in that respect and that’s a damn shame, and another disaster waiting to happen. And it isn’t going to change any time soon. What’s maddening above all is we will be watching another year or two of the same while this team will be skating wind sprints and practicing defense first.
Hey 55 on Point,
Always great to hear from you. Terrific insights as always.
I totally agree with your stance on fighting. I don’t miss the staged fights between opposing heavyweights. But I also feel there’s nothing wrong with a good heat-of-battle tilt. Sometimes—the Columbus game was a prime example—it’s a downright necessity.
While I’m really not an advocate of bringing in an enforcer to fight all of the team’s battles, I’d certainly take one over nothing at all. Ideally, you want multiple guys in the lineup that can handle policing duties if the need arises. Again, I’m not talking about a fourth-line sluggo who’ll score maybe one goal in 50 games. Draft, develop and sign players who combine size and toughness with playing ability.
Gee, there’s a novel idea, huh?
I look at the Blue Jackets lineup and literally turn green with envy. Not to sound like a broken record, but Dubinsky, Foligno, Hartnell, Jenner and Johansen all are well over 200 pounds. All play a hard-nosed, straight-ahead game. All can produce. And if need be…fight.
Exactly the type of player the Penguins need and sorely lack.
Heck, I was thinking about our ’92 Cup team. Caufield was a monster (237). Lemieux, Jagr and Stevens were all 220 pounds or heavier. Loney and Tocchet went about 210. Francis and Bourque around 200. On D we had guys like Kjell Samuelsson (235) and Jennings (210). Heck, Larry Murphy weighed 210.
I know there’s more emphasis on speed these days. But when did it become a bad thing to blend in some size, strength and toughness?
A little follow-up. I believe the lack of big, strong forwards who play a straightforward power game is a contributing factor to the Pens’ sluggish production.
Let’s face it…the NHL has allowed obstruction to creep back into the game. Poison to a team like the Pens that’s built more for the autobahn than rush-hour gridlock. They simply don’t have the horses—or at least enough of them—to excel in today’s traffic-choked game.
It isn’t that we don’t try. Hornqvist, Perron and Kunitz all go to the net and battle hard. So does Plotnikov. With the exception of the latter, none has the size and strength to consistently hold his ground and break through. I think that’s where some bigger bodies could help.
Ditto on defense. We could sorely use a defenseman (or two) who play the man instead of the puck.
Dubinsky got a 1 game suspension.
Dubinsky got an entire 1 game suspension for a cross check to the neck.
Soff
Really what the Pens need is one word.ENFORCERS.
Penguins players need to step up for each other to instead of being pussys and let go. They need to do something about it if a teammate gets hurt step up and fight the person
Couldn’t have said it better myself..
Agreed.Hind sight is great. Two years ago almost everyone including myself wanted Disco Dan fired.They had to let Shero go because he was following orders from the owner’s to win at any cost.He was the real culprit in selling off the drafts picks.JR inherited a mess from Shero. I feel for Ray Shero.
The truth is Shero was just doing what his boss,Mario told him to do. GET ME ANOTHER CUP now so the value of my franchise will go up and I can make more money when I sell it. They sold our future for the present and when that failed, now we are starting to pay the price for it.
In John Hynes,I totally agree with you. Look what a great job he is doing in New Jersey. The devils were supposed to be 28 th to 30 th ranked team this year. With Hynes coaching ,they sure do not play like it. We will regret the day we let him go.
The Pens made a mistake by firing both Shero and Bylsma. Sure Rutherford made the bottom six better but trading away all the first round picks set this team back for the future. Not sure why they went with Jonhston when they had a solid coaching candidate with John Hynes
How about the league becomming professional and not allow garbage like this to happen.
Bring back Big Mac!
I’ve been saying this for a while. We need a goon!
And the league needs to get tougher with this kind of thing.
It’s time for Johnston to go. With the offensive power he has, he is coaching defense.
While I agree that the Pens do need to get tougher, the Nhl itself is the real problem in this instance. What Dubinsky did to Crosby was not toughness, but a gutless cheap shot. Crosschecking someone from behind in the neck, and then crosschecking him again while he is laying face down on the ice is not toughness, it is cowardice. I thought the league wanted to protect defenseless players. What a joke. The fact is, as currently run, it appears as if the bosses would rather see Crosby get crosschecked from behind, than score goals. This will be further proven when Dubinsky receives no punishment for this vile act. On the ice he was only given 2 minutes, that means that even the 2nd shot was free.
So yes, the Pens do need to get tougher. But more importantly for the sake of the game, these kinds of actions need to be taken out of the game.
Hey Horse,
I generally don’t like to criticize the refs—they’ve got a tough job. But the officiating last night? Dreadful. As you pointed out, Dubinsky only got two minutes for what amounted to assault with a deadly weapon. And Geno drew a slashing minor earlier in the game for having the temerity to allow Connauton to use his stick as a chopping block.
Indeed, last night’s game reminded me of the bad old days when we’d go into Philly and just get murdered. Needless to say, it really twanged a nerve. Hence my (very) emotional post.
And you’re right, Horse. These kind of incidents shouldn’t happen. But this is the NHL. An organization that has a long history of tolerating these types of acts.
I can’t help but have issues with the way the Penguins are constructed. JR…with ownership’s apparent blessing…has built a team that seems better suited for international play. The Pens certainly aren’t cowardly, but neither were they able to respond to the Blue Jackets’ tactics–Neanderthal as they were—with any real effectiveness.
To me, it’s unconscionable to leave your team…and your stars…exposed in such a way. Think we wouldn’t have some tougher guys out there if Mario was still playing?
But it goes beyond fighting and sticking up for the team. Why have the Penguins suddenly become so allergic to bigger guys who play a power game? Heck, former 50-goal man Kevin Stevens probably couldn’t have played for the current team. Too big (6’3” 230).
I find that disturbing.
Hey Rick
Get use to it…Malkin fighting? 41 shots a game. MAF standing on his head again.(If he gets hurt,we are done).
Sid getting run over by a truck.Old.Soft.Small.No cap space.No talent with size and grit in the minor system to help either.Nothing…plus we got a bunch of old guys with bad contracts that nobody wants.This is our team today.
The Blue jackets did not do anything special last night.Just physical,fast and violent hockey. 20 other teams in the NHL can play the same way. We can’t.
The schedule has been kind to us for the first 20 games in that we did not play a lot of tough,elite teams on a regular basis.In the next 20 games we are not going to be so lucky.The Prom Queen is a great analogy.I would like to add,she is not 20 any more,but 35…Getting older real fast.
Hey Jim,
I wish I didn’t agree with you, but I do. Right down the line.
Granted, this was an extremely physical, chippy game. The kind we’re seeing less and less of in the kinder, gentler NHL. But every time we play the Blue Jackets they come right at us. And we simply don’t have the horses to answer the bell.
Again, I’m not advocating a return to 1970s-style goon-squad hockey. But you need some guys in your lineup who are at home in a hard game. Guys who can shield your less physical players and stars to a degree and provide some backbone.
As it stands, the toughest guy on our team is Malkin. Geno’s no pushover … he can throw. But you do really want him fighting the team’s battles, like he was compelled to do last night? Of course not! Heaven forbid he would break a hand or bust a knuckle.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. The way they’ve constructed this team makes no sense. No sense at all.
Agreed ! Another point..Even if you could find a way to make a trade for an average size,skilled player to come to the Pen’s,why would they come?They will get hammered by bigger opposition players with no one to protect them. As you said many times,this team is simply not built to win a cup anymore.
Kessel has not really been the explosive catalyst everyone predicted.He may come in time,but for the first 20 games he has not been the “super Star” we expected.Nor has Sid or Geno.
My point being that everyone thinks because you play with Sid you will automatically score lots of goals.The past 10 years has shown that NOT to be the case.The real test is coming up in the month of December when we start to play the big boys.14 games in Total.
10 of them will be tough for us to win.
Let’s go Pens.
I hear ya’ about Kessel. Actually, I think he’s been more effective as a setup man than a scorer. He sees the ice well and makes soft, accurate passes. But it would be nice to see more goals, too. Hopefully, they’ll come … as you suggest.
An aside to my previous message. One of the few physical battles we won last night involved Sergei Plotnikov, who flattened Kerby Rychel about six minutes into the final period.
It occurred to me that I didn’t see much of Plotz after that. So I decided to check his ice time.
It was 8:21 … second fewest on the team. Since he appeared to skate a regular shift through the first two periods, it in all likelihood means Mike Johnston sat him after the skirmish. Probably for fear that the Russian might suddenly find his inner Steve Downie and take a penalty (gasp).
I could be wrong. But I sense Johnston’s had a huge hand in neutering this team.
Plot has been showing toughness and skill the last few games so of course we won’t see much of him. Just like sprong showed a glimpse of raw young talent that this team hasn’t seen for years and we haven’t seen him either. Therrien hit the nail on the head all those years ago “they are soff”