• Fri. Nov 22nd, 2024

Penguins: Shouldn’t You be Playing Playoff Hockey Right Now

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ByThe Other Rick

Mar 21, 2018

Watching last night’s game, it could easily get discouraging.

I am sorry, but it is true.

No, I am not talking about the fact that the team lost. I am talking about the trends that I am seeing.

Last night was just one more road loss. Several of our readers have bemoaned this recently, and they are very right to do so. Columbus, who is now breathing down the Penguins neck in the standings and who picked up Ian Cole off of Ottawa for nothing more than a 3rd round draft pick has a weak road record at 17-17-3. Unfortunately our Birds of Winter have a worse record on the road, a losing record on the road, 15-19-4. Barring a miracle, the Penguins are going to have to at least face an Atlantic Division team on the road to get to the Cup. (Yes, probably the Capitals too, but the Capitals are the Capitals) So, the team will have to be perfect at home and find a way to steal at least 1 road game. If the team loses 1 at home, the odds will get very long against them.

Another trend that concerns me is that last night they gave up 40 shots (and countless post and cross bar hits) to a team that is 18th in the league in shots/game. If this were October, November or even early February, that wouldn’t be cause for concern. It is hard to stay focused over the entire 82 game marathon. So a clunker night doesn’t mean we have to run around like chickens without our heads yelling the sky is falling. However, this is almost April, and there were only 10 games left going into last night’s game and it was a road game, a game you are supposed to try and focus on team defense and yet they managed to yield 40 shots against.

To me, the worst part of what I am seeing is the lack of fire with which the team seems to be skating. With a shot at pulling back even in the race for the top spot in the division the team got out hit 25 – 17. Yes the Islanders are 10th in the league in hits but the Penguins are 6th in the league in that department. More importantly, the Penguins were behind the 8-ball most of the game, they fell behind early and sat around watching the chance to come back evaporate. Granted, they held the edge in even strength CORSI (most of the Islanders Offense came when they were on the power play). However, the Penguins showed very little fight.

Not only did they show very little fight, but frustration was evident. Patric Hornqvist, who usually channels his emotions into fight, took an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty over a High Stick on the puck call. Taking a penalty like that, that early in the game (6:47 of the second period) may be a sign of a frustration that goes deeper than the sleep walking performance that was going on around him, by his teammates.

On the second goal against, Kris Letang tried to force the puck to a covered Jake Guentzel, therefore, it came as no great surprise to me that the Islander defenseman was able to force him to cough up the puck. I do not necessarily want to blame Letang, not completely anyway. Yes, he could have tried to skate with the puck a little longer, the Islander fore-checker was closing on him, but not quite there yet, but Guentzel did not try and skate to the puck, he basically stood there waiting for the puck to come to him. He made it easy for the Islanders to defend it.

Guentzel did miss a shift or two after that, however, with the glut of penalties that occurred, it is hard to determine why Guentzel was sitting. Maybe, Mike Sullivan sat him for his lazy play, maybe not.

But he wasn’t the only play letting the play come to him. The only players I really saw skating to the puck rather than waiting for the puck to play him, with any consistency was Carl Hagelin and Phil Kessel.

If Sullivan did sit Guentzel for that lazy play, then I would support him. I like Guentzel but I hate lazy passive mistakes. However, before I would have sat Guentzel, (and I know he scored the lone Penguins goal) Conor Sheary would have been given bench time. Long before Guentzel made his lazy guffaw, Sheary took himself out of position and then got totally used to help give the Islanders their first goal.

As the play developed all three Islander forwards were all off in the corner to Matt Murray’s right. No one was in front of the net or in the slot, yet Sheary drifted down between the circles, leaving both Islander defenders open. The Islanders won the puck and got it back center point. Sheary, instead of being there to cover the center point had to give chance. The Islander defender beat him like a rented mule, to steal a phrase, and slipped the puck around the Penguins out of position winger, to the Islanders’ Johnny Boychuck, who hammered it on to the net. Boychuk was originally given credit for the goal, but it was later changed to Mathew Barzal.

Of course Sheary didn’t get a sit down for his guffaw. No actually, according to a comment from Bob Errey, made during the game, Sheary has been drawing praise from Sullivan. For what, I don’t know. Yes, he score the lone goal, but it was Kessel that did the work and just like the playoff goal Sheary scored against the Predators, it took a great, great, look off by the player creating the play, freezing the goalie, to give Sheary the chance to score. In last year’s playoff game, it was Chris Kunitz who really deserved credit for the goal and last night it was Kessel. In fact, last night, Sheary barely got the puck into the net. By no stretch of the imagination was that a goal scorer’s goal. He didn’t bury it. He got no elevation and just sort of pushed the puck towards the net, bouncing it in off of the goalies pads, just inside the post. If Christopher Gibson did not respect Kessel as a shooter, the Goalie would have been in position to stop that play, very, very easy. It would have gone down in the long line of opportunities that Sheary gets, that get squandered.

I have said it before and I will say it again, there are several players in the Penguins organization that I would be playing before I would play Sheary. Yes, he has tons of heart, and is a feel good story, but he doesn’t get the job done. With other players in there, rather than Sheary, the team doesn’t need last night’s game as much as it did (not that they are in a bad position, but they could very easily be having the Capitals chase them), nor would they have been fighting to get back into the game, last night, if Sheary didn’t get burned on the first goal.

If the Penguins fail to 3-peat, it just may be due to some serious blind spots when it comes to personnel.

24 thoughts on “Penguins: Shouldn’t You be Playing Playoff Hockey Right Now”
  1. Hey Guys,

    Am I lost or something? Am I the only one mostly tired of Penguins media always justifying Letang with articles ? Some articles say that bad goaltending is the cause of Letang’s bad play. He’s the victim. Really victim?
    What’s going on ,eh?
    Where is the honest?

    I don’t wanna be always come off as an hater . He stands out every game with bad play. No attention to details. Kris Letang has been this team huge liability for many years. He has never impressed me .
    He has played the same way under every coach for the last decade. Its shows every game.
    Kris Letang has never evolved his game to the betterment of his team. His skating and ok athleticism only makes his good. Also him riding two elite centers cock-tails to racking up points make him. People thinking he is elite for that. He isn’t.

    He has cost this team many players that could’ve stay or even players that could be sign to revamp the defense or with his contract.
    He’s has never showed leadership for Penguins D corps. He acts like another forward on the ice. Always out position. Leave his D partner and others out to dry. He never defenders like he suppose to and give up defensively on plays .
    Hockey IQ has always been low. To many turnovers and bad passing that lead to being hemmed in his own zone often times it leads to goals in the back of the net. Breakaways and odd man rushes.
    He Lacks awareness. Leave opponents constantly open to do whatever they want do. Bad PP QB and bad shot. Lack effort and hustle. Constant mental mistakes every game.
    List goes on and on for him.

    Last night it Pens could easily won that game without that bogus call ultimately Struggling Pk And mental lapses from some players . That play great from the most part but not full 6O minutes. Happy to see Crosby and Guentzel connecting well. Pens just pull their skaters off the gas giving Devils chances to win the game. Struggling Pk, bogus interference call and Letang on that third goal hurt them.
    Last night’s game should’ve have never went to overtime.
    I think Penguins were fine with Letang not going against top lines and not playing with Crosby or Malkin in that game.
    IMO. If Letang didn’t give up on play ( third goal)defensively like he always does and him being behind the net just watching while Dumoulin defenders his man. Basically . He needs to defend his man .
    Letang was bad there and the blame go to him for that goal.
    I think they (team and coaching staff as well )have to much trust in him .
    I don’t know I’m wrong to feel this way about him. It’s what it is . I don’t feel confident in the pEnguins to 3-peat with Letang.

    I don’t feel confident in Murray at all either . Frankly , Murray with D Corp .
    He hasn’t been stellar and doesn’t show the goalie Penguins need to win in the playoffs right now. He gotta take over games no matter what and it didn’t happen this season. No big timely saves from him to steal games. He looks out of position in games and his glove hand is still bad. It looks like he needs to have D corp to be very strong in front him and protect him around the crease. Penguins D are not doing that. On the ice as 5 man unit they are not doing it either.

    Penguins needs to better than this. Fix the big elephant in room with Letang, turn struggling Pk around,Strength Defenseto be better structure without having them jumping into the play and find consistency through out the whole team.

    Penguins are not same team. No intensity and urgency.

    Players like Bones, Kuni, Cullen, Daley, Cole and yes Reaves is missing on this team .

    Physicality , game changers and accountability is miss on this team.

    It wasn’t replaced.
    JR failed this season with signings and replacements.
    That’s my rant.

    1. Hey Dee,

      You aren’t Mugatu, you aren’t taking crazy pills. The organization, the media and and a few hard core Letang (Letang rather than Penguin) fans seem blind to the warts of Letang, but most of the people I talk to are over Letang. They see his handful of assets and his many liabilities for what they are.

      I do get what you are saying about the media whining about the rookie and young goalies, in an absolutely inverted logical argument, having to step up their game to protect the veteran, assistant-captain, defenseman. I have to wonder how they can look themselves in the mirror after spewing such a inane, ridiculous argument and exposing both their lack of objectivity and quite possibly their lack of any real qualification to comment on hockey.

    2. Dee, You are more right than you know and Jimmy the magician show that has played well this past 2 seasons is about to come to an end !!! 5 million dollar long term contract extension to Patrick H ?? 31Years old.
      Secondly, i don’t care if you dug you from the grave the Legendary Coach Toe Blake, this group is not built to win it all in 2017… We will miss Rick Tochett.!!
      Great comments on Letang.
      Jim

      1. Hey Jim,

        I am a big, big, Patrick Hornqvist fan. He is a tremendous warrior. So I am reticent to say anything bad, but I have to agree with you here; with the number of Penguin RWs in the system that should be ready to step up and provide for the much needed team speed that the league now demands, tying down the Pens on this contract extension really does seem to be a millstone on the future of the club.

        And they may really be missing Rick Tocchet. I will be saying more very shortly. I am in the process of writing a series of articles that will talk more about this.

  2. Hey Guys, How have you being lately?

    Before I start, Happy Birthday Rick Buker..25 th of March !!
    Easy for me to remember. 🙂

    I wanted to comment on the state of our beloved Penguins especially 10 -14 days before the cup run starts. Being from away i tend to look at the situation sometimes a little different than the locals. So indulge me for a minute please.
    Instead of looking at us, I want to take a look at the competition as of March 24th that we will have to deal with.
    Tampa Bay 106 points. 8 wins and 2 losses in the last 10 games.Tough to beat.
    Boston 102 points. 6-2-2. Hard to catch. Young team. Lots of upside.
    Toronto 95 points 5-3-2 ???? They get healthy. Could be a problem . In our division.
    Capitals 93 points. 7-3 . Play the Rangers twice, Montreal,Canes,NJD. Pretty easy schedule to the end of the season.

    Columbus !!! Why Lord ??? 10 straight wins !! 89 points. 75 games played like us. They have to play the Preds, Blues , and US.. but the others are not really competition. But when your 10 and 0 with 7 games left, your in a good place!!

    Flyers. With 88 points. 4-5-1 … They are still in the hunt folks. They get hot and anything can happen. Lets face it. They have a pile of young talent in the Orange and Black and we can not take them lightly.

    Finally NJD… 84 Points.5-5…. A long shot but looked what happened last night.
    Did anyone notice that Hirsch kid stripped the puck away from 2 defenders and passed to Taylor Hall who sealed the deal. I think watching the clips he was on the ice for another one as well. Talent verses Heart. Talent wins every time. You need a constant supply of elite young talent to succeed.

    So in lieu of all the above, we need to take a serious look at our Penguins. In the past 3 weeks they have lost far too many games to opposition they should have steam rolled over in Glory days past. It will come back to haunt them !
    Cole was a mistake. As you all noted. We have issues at wing.
    As Coach and I said until we were Blue in the face..Trade Sheary. He was too small. Jake is a target. Hagelin skates fast but ….. Now we are hoping on a College kid who may have 10 games under his belt to shake things up?? Aston – Resse.
    What is wrong with this picture folks?
    I hope I am wrong guys, but from where I stand we are one series and DONE. Leaky defense. Weak at center. Lacking in size and short on wings. Plus I think we still miss Rick Tochett behind the bench and nobody wants to talk about that !!
    Sad thing is we traded away all our draft picks so next year could be worse!

    Lets go Pens..Prove me wrong…
    Cheers

    1. Hey Jim,

      Good to hear from you!
      Hope all is well.

      I feel you Jim. This year there seems to be as many causes for concern as there are reasons for optimism. The Penguins may arguably still have the best 2 centers in the league, but first McDavid and McKinnon have at lest closed the gap, if not edged a little past (however, it may only appear that way because the Pens usually draw the best from their opponents while Col and Edm may still sneak under the radar).

      Letang may be playing better than he did at the beginning of the year, but A) that assessment really is only applicable to his offense, his D-coverage is still shacky. B) He still not back to be playing like a $7+ mil cap hit or even a $5 mil cap hit. C) His improvement is only a reflection of how bad he was at the beginning of the year. He had nowhere to go but up. Yes he is playing better than Hunwick, but again that is not saying anything.

      yada yada yada

      I keep searching, but I am just not getting that feeling this year.

      1. Great analysis Coach.
        All I can say is we better get an easy opponent in Round 1 and pray for a miracle.( injuries) to key opposition players.
        Take a good look at this group because there will be big changes off season. I am talking core players if we get bumped in the first round.

        This could be the start of the 5 to 7 year rebuild as I am NOT likening our chances to 3 peat and if Seattle is going to pay 650 million for an expansion team then Mario MAY get his 750 million he wanted to sell his team.
        Various local sources continue to say Mario WILL sell his interests as his long term plan is to retire in his native Quebec. Not if he will sell but when he sells.
        Great article Coach.
        Hope I am wrong but final point is this. Sidney, Phil and Geno will have to all have MVP play offs as we can not play team Defense against these better teams. Go Pens.

        Cheers

      2. The Other Rick

        Totally agree with you on the Letang – He was horrible vs New Jersey
        again last night – I realize he’s an offensive defenseman but “Jesus”
        the guy is all over the ice out of position.

        I personally don’t think he’s improved offensively at all but was rewarded
        when the big three started to pick up there games. The guy is on the top
        Power Play unit and has “3” goals – at 7mil a year he’s not even close on production.

        I used to be a fan but the injuries have devastated his effectiveness.

        1. Hey Mike,

          Good point, no great point! A lot of Letang’s offensive resurgence has come from the hard work of other players (Malkin, Crosby, Kessel). Just like Sheary was only able to score his last goal because the goalie was totally afraid of Kessel and came way out to cut the angle on the Pens sniper, giving Sheary a prime opportunity to score. Letang has been leaning on the Pens big.

  3. Hey Other Rick,

    I thought it was a pretty game…pretty ugly… 🙁

    I feel your pain, very well expressed, by the way. I kind of expected the Pens to be rusty following a lengthy four-day layoff. But they played down to my expectations and more.

    The team defense was deplorable. I haven’t seen so many guys walk free down the slot since…well…a certain 10-1 loss to Chicago in the second game of the season. Hopefully, it was just one of those games and we’re not reverting to our stinky early season form. I guess we’ll find out more tonight.

    I’ll offer another lament about the Ian Cole trade. Amazing what a difference a solid No. 5-6 d-man can make. He was a glue-guy, a winner and a warrior. To say he’s made all the difference with Columbus would be a mistake…the Blue Jackets were on a 10-1-1 roll before he got there. But they’re 10-2 with him, and he sure ain’t hurtin’ things any.

    In the meantime, minus Cole our PK has gone south, Derick Brassard looks like a man without a country, and we miss Ryan Reaves’ muscle and presence more than I would’ve thought.

    While I understand why JR made the Brassard deal, it was a clear case of fixing what wasn’t broke. Lotsa luck in the playoffs with our present team defense.

    Rick

    PS–A small bright spot? I like Josh Jooris thus far. He’s a significant upgrade over Greg McKegg.

    1. Agreed Rick, the Brassard trade is looking like a trade that may not have needed to be made. I would have said definitely didn’t need to make, had Sheahan potted that SH break away he had last night.

      However, I do think that he will contribute to the team to some extent. I especially think that the team could hit another level once they get healthy or get over their prejudice toward Sprong. The team could have 3 really powerful offensive lines and with the right mix on the forth line a forth line that could bang bodies and still tickle the twine more than once in a blue moon.

      Fixing a Coleless D may be a whole lot more difficult. Cole may not have been the heart of the D, but he just may have been the soul.

      1. Hey Other Rick,

        I agree that Brassard’s a good player who just hasn’t found his niche yet. And hindsight’s always 20/20. But if I had a choice, I prefer the more balanced mix we had before the trade.

        Very astute thoughts on Cole. Well said.

        Rick

        PS–Aston-Reese is skating and working out. Maybe there’s hope he’ll return. We could really use a player of his ilk. I’m pretty much over Tom Kuhnhackl…wish we’d traded him and kept Scott Wilson.

        1. Agreed,

          The Pens could really use Aston-Reese and I am going to bet that he will make a little noise in the playoffs. I give him the RW back on Crosby’s line and move Rust back to Brassard and Kessel. That is just me.

          I still haven’t given up on Kuhnhackl. He is having an off year but that may be because he has been asked to play LW. Yes, he is a left handed shot, but like so many Europeans he is more comfortable on the RW. If you remember his penalty shot goal, he swooped RW before potting the goal. I also love his shot blocking. Having said that, the Pens do have a glut of RWs and are rather weak on the LW. I wouldn’t just throw him away, but I wouldn’t argue if the Pens used him to get something; a D man or a a depth LW.

          I also like S Wilson but I think the Pens kept the better of the 2 players.

          Something you wrote above, Jooris hit double digits in his rookie season. I wonder if he could possibly put up some numbers here (a change of scenery and a more positive/winning environment). I am not sure, but I am wondering what I will be thinking come mid – late April as to who I am looking to see in the line-up, if everyone gets healthy, from a Forward perspective.

          I did like when the Sullie put a big hitter on each line, last year. Hornqvist and Aston-Reese would probably grab 2 of the 4 spots, but who gets the other 2? Maybe I am getting ahead of myself.

          The D seems very precarious to me. Since the team really didn’t give Pedan, Tinordi, or Czuczman any look during the regular season, Trotman and Corrado did get a minimal look. And the man I was really interested in during the preseason – Bengtsson was out for much of the AHL season. I honestly would rather see any of the above get a look before Hunwick. Even though I wasn’t impressed with Prow during the preseason but he appears to be playing better lately, so I would throw him in that mix as well.

          But that doesn’t mean I want to see any of them necessarily play during the playoffs. I am just that afraid of what might happen if Hunwick gets ice time in the playoffs. I am hoping there are no injuries on D.

    1. Amen, Cole and Reaves are being missed and as Mike has suggested here and a friend of mine Lou has suggested they will be missed even more come playoff time. Cole in particularly is going to be hard to replace. He was a true warrior.

  4. Oh .Other keep saying Letang has gotta better and some overhyped Sheary. Letang is awful and Sheary just hold a spot in the line because his new 3 year deal.
    Letang is the biggest issue on defense. Cole is really missed. I really wish he was on this team right now. Cole -Big Rig had the Pens better on defense covering up the bad Letang. Cole Trade was a big mistake and signing Hunwick was a big mistake. If Hunwick wasn’t sign most definitely I would probably see Cole back with a deal. It is what is . I wish Hunwick,Sheary and Letang wasn’t on this team.

  5. Couldn’t Agree More.
    This has been going on too much really all season and it’s tiresome to watch. Pens kind had a little ok dominant start to change it around with Sprong than Cole in the line up . Basically all season the Penguins has been bad all season with no fiery urgency hockey ,consistency, stability,effort and team unit defense or offense.

    Bad puck management, defensive coverage, sloppy lazy play and passes. No head up straight Pens hockey from this team. Bad asinine line combos. No heavy forechecks.No strong chemistry all season. Personnel haven’t work hard to fix team defensively.

    Yes. Sullivan is a good coach but he has been a D- coach this season with Mark Reechi. Sorry . Often some don’t like to hear that . It’s the true. Sullivan has blinders on. Bad Line Combos , Favoritism, No great adjustments to opponents, he made Crosby’s line out of third line all season etc.. I have faith in Sullivan but I think he will continue to be one of the Pens self-inflicting wounds with asinine decisions in the playoffs like Letang .

    You win some, You lose some . That how it goes sometimes but when you lose you lose with know you have the effort and fight to win. Pens didn’t. It’s been some humiliating games like this all season. They didn’t deserve to win last night. They are missing the leaders who hold players accountable with Crosby . Also they were key to help turn the team around to win games. Letang as Alternate Captain don’t cut it for me. Prefer Hornqvist or Maybe Shultzy .

    Sheary is awful. Nothing else can come for him. Change of scenery of new team to be a permanent 4th liner will maybe help him.
    Agree (I always thought this over and over in my head)with yes players have always done a lot of work to give him a goal. He Doesn’t work to earn his goals. Lost and baffle with Sullivan blinders with Sheary. I hope he is scratched even the odd man out when Simon and Resse comes back in line up. Off-season he needs to go. I hope Sullivan doesn’t put him back with Crosby again. Rust would be good for Crosby until Simon comes back. Sullivan doesn’t let players like Rust even Guentzel stick with Crosby that long to develop something.

    Phil Kessel is playing hurt to me. I hope he is ok. Happy to see Murray. He did his best .

    Letang. I can’t with him. Don’t get me wrong the team was bad . He was worse like has always been on this ice. He is hurting this team. No leadership. Idk .
    Maybe Guentzel could’ve done better to move his feet but Letang hung him out to dry on that sequence that let To 2nd goal. Letang had a chance to do clear ice pass to Crosby to the middle of the open ice. Crosby skating out the zone for that pass to the ozone. Letang is bad in his zone completely bad all over the ice. He missed open clears on PK (one led to penalty),iced the puck on PP. He plays like a forward and on the 3rd goal like others he wasn’t good to clear the net and not blocking or typing up opponents to stop the goal. It’s the little simple things. Letang minutes needs to be reduced.m
    I would like Shultz and Määttä to maybe back together or get more minutes. I think personnel do kind bad with not spreading minutes, not let other defenseman get involved in key moments instead of Letang. Shultz and Määttä has shown they can do it .
    Idk. I hope Rutherford can move Letang this off-season for a decent return to revamp the D core with Shultz and Dumoulin as top pairing and Määttä and Big Rig for second pairing then find the best bottom pairing.

    I hope Pens can work on these self – inflicting wounds, blinders, reduced Letang minutes , road games and get better defensively before the playoffs. Hope some switch can just go off.

    Big W Tonight against The Montreal. LGP.

    1. Hey Dee,

      Good stuff,

      However, I may not be as down on Letang as you. I would have traded him if I could have, but I don’t think he is the worst problem on this team. Sheary and Hunwick fight for that title for me.

      For now it is too late to worry about trades that were and weren’t made. The Penguins now have to focus on getting over their biases and simply play the best players.

      Unfortunately, right now the Pens may not have an alternative for Letang. Let’s face it, when he is on he is still pretty darn good. But as you say limiting his ice time may get more out of him. Part of his lapses may be due to fatigue.

      Once Aston-Reese and Simon are healthy, their definitely will be better options other than Sheary, but truthfully, again, to bring up another sore spot, Sprong should be in the line up right now not Sheary. If Sullie wants to send him back down when Aston-Reese gets back, fine, but it looks more like he is cutting his nose off to spite his face right now.

      I also would consider Adam Johnson a better option and more importantly with the loss of Reaves, Sestito and/or Garrett Wilson.

      And although I wouldn’t necessarily bring anyone up right now, if there were an injury to a left D-man, I would bring up Czuczman, Tinordi, or Pedan, rather than insert Hunwick. In the mean time, I would still let them get regular playing time in WBS like they are doing with Jarry.

      1. Yes.
        Stop the bias. That’s where I believe Rick Tocchet is greatly missed behind the scenes and the bench.
        Focus on playing the best players and reducing Letang’s minutes will probably do it. That’s only option for Letang but they won’t do it. I think he is better up against teams bottom lines and not on the Pp. I think Shultz -Dumoulin and Määttä-Big Rig can take on a bigger role than Letang. I believe they are capable of it.

        They needs to Work hard to be better defensively structure and better puck management before the playoffs IMO . Pens are bad defensively as a 5 man unit.

        Agree. Sprong should be in the lineup with Guentzel and Crosby.
        I would rather see him than Sheary. Sheary should be Scratch.
        Simon should the extra while Resse go back to the minors. Penguins coaching staff won’t do that. I don’t think they will do that right now.

        Like you , I would rather see Pedan instead Hunwick in case of D back up. Adam Johnson could probably bring some grit and physicality.

        I’m hoping for the Better before playoffs start but I don’t know how they way this team is headed with no consistency and urgency to win points.

        Very worry about defense, consistency, Murray and Brassard not being a great fit with Kessel. I know Sully like them on different lines. I think Hags- Geno-Phil is better. Allows Brassard be the man with Rust or Hornqvist. Idk. I have faith in this team to get it together.

  6. The other Rick

    Although I agree with 90% of the things you pointed out in your article I would
    have to respectfully tell you your missing the main reasons the Penguins are
    doomed from a chance to 3-peat.

    Can you say Cole / Reaves?? The Penguins are getting out hit game after
    game which if you ever played hockey makes defending almost impossible.
    The Pens are doing nothing in terms of slowing down there opponents.
    Its a “JOKE” – last night we delivered 15 checks – Reaves has 13 hits in his
    last (2) games and (6) last night. The inexperienced fan seems to think every
    player on the ice needs to be scoring to be successful “not true” at all.

    I think what your seeing right now with Ruhwedel, Rowney, Simon (hurt), and Sprong is once there enthusiasm rubs off they can’t sustain there level of play.
    Like you I’m a Sprong fan but I was disappointed with his lack of tenacity and urgency from shift t/shift – Although a sharpshooter the Pen’s have plenty of
    offense when the big “3” decide to play – they need more two way hockey players.

    Sheary comes up short as a finisher but he’s a worker / forechecker and usually
    hard on the puck – things that Sullivan looks for in a player.

    Biggest deficiency is on defense – Letang is horrible – I keep hearing how much he’s improved since early in the season but I don’t see it. He’s constantly makes poor decisions that lead to odd man breaks – his puck handling / control is horrendous and he sits in front of our goalie and acts as a screener – How about move an opponent – knock somebody down “Jesus”. Schultz, Maata and Dumoulin I can live with – Ruhwedel and Hunwick are a coin flip in my opinion.

    I could go on and on – Pen’s fans should start to prepare themselves for a short
    playoff run. JR has made some impressive moves as GM but he will regret trading Cole and Reaves and not adding depth to our defensive core.

    1. Hey Mike,

      I am not arguing with you over the Penguins lack of physical play. As I mentioned above, the Penguins were out hit by a team that is 18th in the league in hits.

      The trading of Ian Cole is perhaps the sorest spot on this team this year. There is no excuse for it.

      And although I still am an unapologetic critic of the original Reaves trade, I am also 100% upset over the league stepping in on the Brassard trade and forcing the Penguins to give up Reaves as well. I agree, the team is missing a physical element. The team is missing Reaves.

      But I am sorry, I do have to disagree with you over Sheary. He is a gnat who gets knocked off of the puck from the drat of players skating by him. He does often get his stick in the lanes to knock down break out passes but then loses the puck immediately when the other team looks at him cross-eyed. Furthermore, he isn’t a physical fore-checker, his career hits are probably lower than the rest of the players on the team have over the last 2 weeks. He is definitely not hard to play against.

      1. The other Rick

        I agree with you on Sheary – not physical at all – but he does use his
        speed to get in quickly and pressure the puck. No one in the league
        fears getting hit by our smaller players.

        My opinion – Sheary and Letang gone before or during the NHL Draft.

        1. Hey Mike,

          I would love to see that but I fear that may be a tough one. In both cases I think the Pens organization values them more than other teams do, so they may not deal, feeling they are not getting equal value. Or they may try asking for more than anyone is willing to even listen.

          As much as I like Sprong, if the team that wins the draft lottery is deep on D already, I would try packaging a deal to get that pick to get Dahlin. (Since Sullivan has such negative opinion of the kid)

          1. The Other Rick

            Hopefully when the Pens exit early from the Playoffs the
            light goes on for the Pen’s brass and they move both
            players – I’m in agreement – put a package together and
            grab the 1st pick.

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