In one of my favorite scenes from one of my favorite movies, Young Frankenstein, Dr. Froderick Fronkensteen (brilliantly played by Gene Wilder) exclaims, “It…could…work!” in glassy-eyed wonder after reading about how his grandfather brought the original creature to life.
After reading a glowing account on Pittsburgh Hockey Now of yesterday’s full-on intra-squad scrimmage, I’m feeling more than a twinge of excitement along with some hope that maybe…just maybe…this is a better Penguins team than I envisioned.
For the record, Team Gold (led by Evgeni Malkin) defeated Sidney Crosby’s Team Black by a score of 5-4. Malkin, Sam Lafferty, Bryan Rust, Jason Zucker and Kris Letang scored for the winners. Crosby, Mark Jankowski (two goals) and Mike Matheson struck for the losers.
Here are the lineups:
Team Gold (Forwards)–Jason Zucker, Evgeni Malkin, Bryan Rust, Sam Lafferty, Teddy Blueger, Colton Sceviour, Drew O’Connor, Josh Currie, Nathan Legare, Jordan Nolan (Defense)–Brian Dumoulin, Kris Letang, Juuso Riikola, Chad Ruhwedel, Cam Lee (Goal)—Tristan Jarry, Alex D’Orio
Team Black (Forwards)–Jake Guentzel, Sidney Crosby, Evan Rodrigues, Jared McCann, Mark Jankowski, Brandon Tanev, Sam Poulin, Frederick Gaudreau, Anthony Angello, Radim Zohorna (Defense)–Mike Matheson, John Marino, Marcus Pettersson, Cody Ceci, P-O Joseph, Kevin Czuczman (Goal)—Casey DeSmith, Maxime Lagace
Forward Sam Miletic and defensemen Josh Maniscalco and Zach Trotman and did not dress for the scrimmage. Neither did Zach Aston-Reese…still recovering from off-season shoulder surgery…and Kasperi Kapanen, newly arrived from Finland on Saturday and presently going through COVID quarantine.
Shining Stars
The top six forwards look impressive, creating all sorts of scoring opportunities. Lafferty has enjoyed an outstanding camp and looks to be a legit third-liner. Sceviour, one of two new dads (Rust being the other), has been noticeable while displaying good wheels. Jankowski has some positive momentum…perhaps he’s regaining his confidence. O’Connor was quiet yesterday but has enjoyed a good camp. And Legare is drawing attention with his shot and feisty, competitive nature.
On defense, Ceci (one of my chief worries) apparently has been solid and is skating better than anticipated. He’s been paired with Pettersson, who was an effective partner for Jack Johnson. Matheson has teamed with Marino on what has the potential to be a high-reward pairing, with the cool, efficient Marino covering the former’s tail a la Dumoulin-Letang.
According to a team insider, Joseph appears to be NHL ready. A nice problem to have.
In goal, Jarry is reading plays easily and naturally and could be poised for a monster season. He’s allowed only one goal (Matheson’s) in the training camp scrimmages.
Another positive. According to observers, the team is noticeably faster than they were last fall.
The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Express
The Pens placed four players on waivers for the purpose of assigning them to the Baby Pens…Currie, Gaudreau, Czuczman and Trotman.
Lid Lifter
The black and gold open the season in Philadelphia on Wednesday night and play a return match against the Flyers on Friday before returning to the ‘Burgh for a matinee game against Washington on Sunday.
I’m excited for the season to start. Go Pens!
Good luck 2021 Pens. I hope you have a safe and successful season.
Hi Rick!
Long time no see! First of all, I would like to wish you and TOR a safe and peaceful year 2021.
I heard that Samuel Poulin was sent back to his junior team (Sherbrooke Phoenix). It has been a very chaotic year for Sherbrooke; only five games played and they lost all of them. Poulin looked sluggish at times. Maybe that’s why he didn’t make the cut in Pittsburgh. It must be a terrible blow for him. I hope he will regain his confidence soon.
Legare has played more games with his junior team (14) and his team (Baie Comeau) is near the bottom of the standings (14th out of 18). But good news, he was traded to Val d’Or (2nd overall). I think it is going to be a good fit (if he’s sent down). Overall, Legare has a better season than Poulin so far.
As for our beloved Pens, well, I am moderately optimistic; there are several question marks regarding the bottom six, the defense, the goalies and coaching staff.
But I am happy because hockey is back! Go Pens Go!
Great to hear from you, Jorenz.
Let’s ask for a great 2021 for everyone, including our Pens!
I haven’t seen any of Poulin’s or Legare’s games, but have been following them through their stats. I did see that Legare was traded, good for him. I am selfishly hoping he sticks – I love his shot and his sand. With Jrs up in the air,he might as well stay around.
You know I am there with you about the bottom 6, the “D”, back-up goalies, and the Coaches.
Hello Jorenz! How nice to hear from you again!
We really didn’t hear much about Poulin in training camp. In fact I can’t recall reading anything about him…good or bad. Which tells me he didn’t make much of an impression.
Legare, on the other hand, was very noticeable, if for no other reason than his spit-in-your eye intensity and physical play. I’ve watched a lot of clips of this kid and absolutely love him. Great shot and release, great offensive instincts…the kind you can’t teach…and an ultra-competitive nature. It isn’t a stretch to think he may one day replace the departed Patric Hornqvist as the team’s emotional power plant.
I confess, I’ve been mostly pessimistic about our chances. But I was heartened by the glowing reviews of Sam Lafferty’s play…it seems we may have stumbled onto a legit bottom-six forward. And I was also pleased to see Jankowski score those two goals in the scrimmage. For the record, he has five multiple-goal games in his relatively brief NHL career…including a four-goal game. There is some talent there.
One of my main concerns is Cody Ceci. I read some chilling reviews of his play in Ottawa…truly Jack Johnson-esque. But, at least by what I’ve read (I don’t have access to the Pens camp) he’s been solid.
So maybe, just maybe, we coalesce into a decent team.
My one great worry is in goal. I love Jarry, but I think Rutherford erred in not bringing in a veteran backup. I don’t mind DeSmith, but I don’t think Lagace will cut it if he’s thrust into action. It could be the team’s Achilles heel.
Anyway, so nice to hear from you. Keep the comments coming!
Rick
Hey Rick,
Love the Young Frankenstein allusion!
If you remember, I was one of the first to start believing in the Pens in 2015-16. Even in 2016-2017, when many started to waiver, even though I started to doubt the teams defense, I still believed in the Fs and Gs and felt that they could pull out the back-to-back. In 2017-2018, I became a doubter and remained so ever since.
I read the PHN article and have read all of the ones pertaining to the Pens so far this Camp. Just like every year, there are glowing reports about how good players look in Camp, when they are only playing against themselves. Hope springs eternal during training Camp,
and yes, I feel it too. I want to believe there is enough talent here, if used the right way, to make a playoff splash.
Unfortunately, I can’t help but wonder if the reason why Zucker – Malkin – Rust looked so good is because MCCann – Jankowski – Lafferty (there main antagonist early in camp were that bad and when the season starts Z-M-R will drop half a step and M-J-L will get exploited when the competition becomes another teams snd line for Z-M-R and the other teams possible to line for M-J-L.
I am not sure who Jankowski scored his goals against but if it was D’Orio, that ain’t saying much. D’Orio has yet to be able to rise above the ECHL.
I am excited and wish I could find a way to sneak into the Pens practices so I didn’t have to read what others are saying, but could see for myself what the team looks like.
Jankowski, Matheson, Ceci, Nolan, Rodrigues, none of these players have, historically, played well against the 7 teams in the reformed division the Pens are in, neither has Kapanen come to think of it. Looking at the career splits of the new, non-home grown players only Sceviour seems to have some success against our favorite flightless fowls regular season opponents.
I am no fence sitter. I have no problems saying what I am thinking, even if it will be a hard discussion. However, since I have not seen any of the players yet, I won’t speculate one way or the other, until I actually see them skate against someone other than themselves.