I was a seventh grader attending classes at Jonas Salk Middle School in Sacramento the day the “big one” was supposed to hit. An earthquake so violent, so devastating, it would shear California off from the continental United States and cause it to sink into the Pacific Ocean.
According to an online source, the catastrophe was supposed to occur on Friday, April 4, 1969, at 4 p.m. Since my family didn’t arrive in California until the fall of that year (my dad was on a temporary six-month assignment at Aerojet General) the date doesn’t jibe. The man who made the prediction, author Curt Gentry, may have revised his original doomsday forecast, pushing it back slightly.
I do recall the event…vividly. I even remember my teacher that day, Mr. Butler, a buoyant, barrel-chested, gray-haired man.
He stopped class to perform a countdown. Five, four, three, two, one…
The next thing I knew, kids bounded out of the classroom and scrambled into an adjoining courtyard. One tossed himself on the ground and began to execute a faux breaststroke.
All in great fun.
Why the elaborate lead-in about a non-event some 56 years in the past?
Like the massive earthquake that was supposed to be, you can feel it coming, can’t you?
The Penguins’ next big trade.
As for signs, Kyle Dubas has been extremely active, swinging three deals at the Entry Draft and three more since. Kind of like the tremors that occur along a fault line ahead of a major quake.
Just like seismologists can never be 100 percent certain of the epicenter in advance, it’s hard to predict who’ll be the next player (or players) involved.
Perhaps there’ll be more tremors, involving a veteran like Noel Acciari and/or Kevin Hayes. But rest assured, the big one’s comin.’
When it does, it may involve one of our two primo forwards, Rickard Rakell or Bryan Rust. Both scored 30-plus goals last season, both are under contract at remarkably reasonable rates. Teams in need of scoring can’t afford not to take a swing.
However, my money’s on Erik Karlsson. The skids were greased when Dubas offered a rather pointed critique of the mercurial rearguard shortly after the season ended. The fact that our POHO/GM acquired veteran right-shot defensemen Connor Clifton and Matt Dumba in recent trades almost guarantees EK65 will be moved.
Sit quietly, and you can feel the low rumble of behind-the-scenes activity, can’t you?
Make no mistake.
The big one’s comin.’
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I HOPE SOMEONE FROM ANY TEAM IS AS WRONG ABOUT KARLSSON AS YOU. HE SUCKED SINCE HE GOT HERE. HE LOSES MORE OUCKS THAN I HAVE EVERSEEN ANYONE ELSE . HE WAS DONE BEFORE HE GOT HERE.
Anonymous
Man, if Karlsson’s turnovers make your blood boil, I can’t imagine what Letang’s no-look giveaways and spin-cycle stickhandling do to your sanity. You might want to avoid any local bridges around the Burg until 'Leturnover' hangs
up the skates. Which I'm hoping is in the very, very, near future.
Hey Anonymous,
Not sure who you're responding to, or if you're just venting your considerable FRUSTRATION with Karlsson, which I get to an extent. His defensive shortcomings and overall lack of enthusiasm for play in our zone frustrate me, too. Which is a large part of the reason I'd, personally, like to see him traded.
But the truth is, as frequent commenter Mike has so often pointed out, Karlsson does so much to create offense. PHN provided a link to a TSN article by Travis Yost that provided a goals above replacement chart that clearly shows how productive Karlsson is compared to his peers.
He reminds me very much of Paul Coffey (kind of a Coffey lite), another three-time Norris Trophy winner who skated for the Pens in the late '80s and early '90s. Incredibly gifted offensively, Coffey was just as bad if not worse defensively, at least while he was here. Over a five-season span in the 'Burgh he tallied 440 points in 331 games (!)...and was a minus-50 (!!).
Rick
The interesting thing about Coffey was that he was never a minus until coming to the Penguins, then was always a minus with us. He got back to being a plus player in his first full season in LA and then didn't dip back into the minuses until the end of his career, playing for mediocre Carolina and Boston teams. Even when look at Karlsson, he may be a -123 in his career, those are over all numbers. When you tease that down to 5-on-5 situations, he is still a minus bu only -27, and he has only played on 6 teams in his career that made the playoffs.
My point here is that
A. Coffey may be given a bad rap about his defensive skill set from playing on some Penguins teams that really played fast and loose defensively. When removed from that culture he was a plus player.
B. Karlsson is probably more lax than Coffey but that is hard to tease out since he really hasn't played on any teams as complete as Coffey.
C. Maybe a little less obvious is that bad teams may have caused both of these players to tray and over-reach, putting them in positions to look bad or worse than they are/were. Over the last two seasons in Pgh, even Crosby's defensive numbers, in terms of tGA/60 have taken a serious hit - 3.5 and 3.9. Defensive has been ridiculous, trying to send every Defensemen into the attacking zone.
Rick
I don’t completely disagree with Anonymous, but speaking from experience, when you make a trade, you need to account for the player’s strengths and overall contributions. Those qualities must be replaced—either through another acquisition or internally—especially when their skill set is essential to your offensive production.
My hope is that if Dubas trades Karlsson, he already has another move in place for an offensive-minded defenseman.
Karlsson won the Norris trophy and was named 1st team NHL All Star on an absolutely horrible San Jose team, the season before coming to Pittsburgh. Hmmm......
If the "Big One" is trading Jarry, then I will be drinking a bottle of Champipple!!! The truth shall set you, and the truth is, Jarry is so bad that guy that if Moses had to watch him play, he'd part him too. If Dubas can get a bag of used pucks for him in a trade, make it.
Karlsson, I only trade if I can get Danielson or someone similar as an exit strategy to Malkin
The Other Rick
You may be drinking a bottle of Champipple sooner than you think. I heard from a little birdie that the
next wave if trades may include Jarry & Rust. Not sure how reliable this one is - the guy I'm closed to
was much tighter with the previous front office but he's a former player and still has decent ties with
the team. "Keep your fingers crossed" - I know all of us hate to see the possibility of Rust playing for
another team but I don't have a problem with it if the return equals, or exceeds his value.
Mike,
I really hope your contact is right about Jarry, I am keeping my fingers crossed.
And I agree with you about Rust, I don't want to see him in another uniform necessarily but he is in no way indispensable. If the price is right, then I won't rant over a trade, Picks, prospects but no washed-up veterans or other road blocks to home grown players.
Perhaps I should have included a reference to Fred G. Sanford of Sanford & Son fame.
"It's the big one Elizabeth"...lol.
Rick
Rick
I'm not sure if you're still checking comments on this page? Do you have any
idea what's going on with Chat Sports?? It's been out of action all day.
Thanks, Mike