Wow.
I mean WOW.
During a week where, in my personal life, the last thing I expected to happen was the first thing that wound up happening, in Penguinsland the last thing I expected to happen was the first thing that happened.
Following a gritty, competitive 5-1-1 run, I didn’t expect us to get shellacked in back-to-back games by a combined score of 13-4. And I sure as heck didn’t expect us to summon top forward prospects Ville Koivunen and Rutger McGroarty (pictured) from the Baby Pens at this very late stage of the campaign.
Yes, I get that the fact that our forwards (Evgeni Malkin, Tommy Novak and Boko Imama) are dropping like flies and that we had to make a move or two. But to call up arguably your two top guns from a team that’s tasting it’s first chunk of success as a unit makes absolutely no sense to me.
With eight games left in a desultory season chock full of disappointment, this is where you call up Matt Nieto and hang onto Joona Koppanen instead of returning him to Wilkes. Might as well be really bad in hopes of snagging a better pick come this summer’s draft.
This is a bit of knee-jerk reaction, but I wonder if this is a case of coach Mike Sullivan being unhappy with the fact that we’re getting our arses handed to us and requesting help. Then again, maybe it’s POHO/GM Kyle Dubas who can’t stand watching his creation, however flawed, get embarrassed.
Maybe there’s a little, “Hey, we can’t be this bad for Sid’s sake,” mixed in as well.
One of our Wright’s Gym members had a much more level-headed (and perhaps correct) take. He reasoned that the Baby Pens have clinched a playoff berth, so why not give the kids a look?
Don’t you hate logic.
I confess, it will be interesting to see what the young ‘uns can do against the big boys. With a Baby Pens best 21 goals (tied) and 55 points, Koivunen by all accounts has been a rookie smash. Following a sluggish start, McGroarty has come on like gangbusters to the tune of eight goals and 19 points over his last 19 games.
I’ll be especially interested to see if skating is an issue. Neither is known for their fleetness of foot.
Anyway, for better and hopefully not worse, make way for the kiddos!
