The Penguins in the long run

I started out simply to write a response to our friend Rick Buker’s latest post; quite a good article I might add.

I am not going to say that I saw this coming, Rick, but I am not surprised by it either. Consider Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy. At the beginning of the second movie “The Two Towers,” as the human Aragorn, elf Legolas, and dwarf Gimli are running after their friends Merry and Pippin who were captured by orcs — in the midst of the protracted run and hunt, Gimli observes that dwarves are ‘natural born sprinters, but not very good over long distances’.  If that is true, dwarves shouldn’t play hockey, at least not in the NHL. NHL hockey is a marathon. During a Marathon, you don’t have to lead the entire time, only at the end, and there are going to be bumps along the way.

It would be fantastic to come out of preseason and go on a 98-game winning streak, but the next time that happens it is going to be the first time. Unless a team has a great coach, there will be mental letdowns, especially after climbing to the top and playing struggling teams – and let’s face it:Buffalo Sabres and the Toronto Maple Leafs ARE struggling.

Despite my very vocal complaints against certain personnel in this organization, I do believe there is something special here and that certain something could go the distance and hoist another Cup. Core players like Evgeni Malkin and Bryan Rust have been doing beyond a yeoman’s job of keeping a decimated team in contention not just for a playoff spot but for the division lead and President’s Trophy. Let me repeat that, this team is still very much in contention for the President’s Trophy.

How can I think there is something special here yet complain so much?

Remember, my (often) vituperous assaults are not directed at the entire team but specifically certain individuals that, objective evidence would indicate, are millstones to this team’s success.

The Alex Galchenyuk trade never sat well with me. Although I believe everyone is tradable, Galchenyuk and Pierre-Olivier Joseph for Phil Kessel was highway robbery by the Arizona Coyotes. On a team 9th from the bottom of the league in goals per game, Kessel has 13 goals. On a team for most of the season that is the exact opposite, 9th from the top of the league in goals per game, Galchenyuk has a mere 6 goals.

Jim Rutherford really isn’t the genius horse trader that some would make him out to be; for every Trevor Daley/Rob Scuderi trade there is a Ian Cole/Filip Gustavsson, and a 1st round pick for Derrick Bressard, or Vincent Dunn/3rd Round Pick.

Adding salt to the wound, Galchenyuk was not the worst player on the team — Dominik Simon occupies that spot. In a recent article that was a serious piece of verbal legerdemain, a spin doctor tried to divert our attention to his right hand by trotting out how good Simon’s stats, particularly CORSI stats are while skating with Sidney Crosby, all the while trying to keep our attention away from Simon’s stats when Crosby isn’t on the ice with him.

Does anyone remember when Scorin’ Warren Young, Doug Sheddan, and Rob Brown notched 40 goals skating with Le Magnifique, Mario Lemieux. Young parlayed that ice time into a fat contract with Detroit but never, ever reached those lofty heights again, while Sheddan and Brown actually were able to eke out some level of an NHL career.

As I noted in a reply earlier this year, subtracting out Crosby’s ice time with Simon puts Simon’s stats below former Pittsburgh Penguins‘ Daniel Sprong’s stats without Crosby over the last 3 years, and Sprong is plying his trade in the AHL. As I wrote then, Phil please do not misunderstand, I am not promoting the idea of Sprong coming back to Pittsburgh and playing in the NHL. The point I am trying to get across is that Simon does not belong in the NHL either – let alone getting top minutes with Crosby. On a team that is +19 in 5 on 5 goals, Simon had a team low of -7 going into this afternoon’s game.

With the trade deadline rapidly approaching, no, I repeat NO, there is no one out there that the Penguins can afford to trade for that will improve the team’s current chances of winning the Stanley Cup (they are fighting for the top spot in their division). Patience should be the watchword, patience and start really utilizing what you already have. Sullivan has got to stop hanging mill-Simons around his players’ necks.

Rick B., I agree with you when you say that Wayne Simmons would be a dumb trade. Simmons does not fit Mike Sullivan’s style and moreover, he is a power play specialist but the team already has one of those – a pretty darn good one – by the name of Patric Hornqvist. There really isn’t a place for Simmons. Any trade here would simply be throwing players away.

Also, I like Rick B.’s idea of potentially taking a flyer on Zach Bogosian. It wouldn’t cost the team anything to claim him off of unconditional – waivers and he just may be a hole card until rookie phenom John Marino comes back. Justin Schultz has been struggling this year and Chad Ruhwedel is now being exposed for what he is – a 7th or 8th Defenseman, not a top 6.

I for one am hoping that Rutherford gets tied up somewhere where they don’t have any phones or computer connections for the next couple of days. I hate with a capital H.A.T.E. the panic-stricken idea of “win now” mode. It seems that every time a team goes “all–in” all they end up with is early Tee-times at the expense of players that could help them the next season, just ask the Columbus Blue Jackets – last year’s “all – in” on their part ended with a 2nd round loss and has them fighting for their playoff life.

Several of the teams walking dead may be returning on this road trip. Patience Rutherford, patience. And Sullivan, get rid of Simon. That is an extremely failed experiment. Put someone out there to help Crosby.

What was it that Don Henley and Glenn Frey wrote;

“You can go the distance
We’ll find out in the long run”

Go Pens!