Comments on: The Penguins Will Get Better http://www.penguinpoop.com/2010/the-penguins-will-get-better/ Pittsburgh Penguins News - Blog Tue, 18 Jun 2013 01:35:20 +0000 hourly 1 By: SEP66 http://www.penguinpoop.com/2010/the-penguins-will-get-better/#comment-3970 SEP66 Tue, 09 Nov 2010 19:36:56 +0000 http://www.penguinpoop.com/?p=5774#comment-3970 I agree, it doesn’t seem like that bysma all out hockey they won the cup with when they only do it for 12 minutes a game.

]]> By: 55 on point http://www.penguinpoop.com/2010/the-penguins-will-get-better/#comment-3933 55 on point Tue, 02 Nov 2010 22:01:05 +0000 http://www.penguinpoop.com/?p=5774#comment-3933 Yes, the team has been beset by injuries, and that has had its part in a somewhat underwhelming start. Injuries aside, key players aren’t performing. Crosby and Malkin have been run-of-the-mill, at best, and Fluery is simply lost in net. There are a few others who need to step it up a bit too. If not for some unexpected, but welcomed scoring from the defense and some guys who might not be here much longer, Johnson between the pipes, and solid defense most of the time, they could very well be 3-7-1. It won’t matter if Staal comes back and brings his whole family with him if Crosby, Malkin and Fluery don’t start firing on all cylinders — regularly. They are the team leaders. Take the lead boys.

Malkin may be a center, but that’s just the name of a position. He’s a goal-scoring forward and he should be able to do that, even from the locker room, if necessary. In past years he has shown that he can. The fact is, he ain’t putting out on the ice, period, at center or wing, and nobody knows why except maybe Malkin. Besides, he’s terrible in the face off circle.

As for the power play… For starters, they need to shoot the puck more. This power play is stale and every team in the league knows it. They watch the tapes. If it wasn’t stale, and oh so apparent, the opposing penalty killers wouldn’t constantly be challenging the puck at the blue line and leaving only one defender down low most of the time. You’d think someone on the Pens would figure that out and send someone, and the puck, to the net. The few times they did that this season, they scored.

I agree it’s not time to show Fluery the door, but perhaps he needs to be reminded from time to time that it’s right over there. It’s nice to say he’s got a cup and he’s been stellar in net, but, right now he simply isn’t performing either. Trying to guess why is a waste of time, and defending him because of past performance doesn’t matter. The object is to win. He isn’t. I don’t know what the answer is, or even the problem. I know he isn’t cutting it and he needs to find his game asap. He is the number one goalie, that’s a certainty. Now he needs to play to the status of that position, and understand when you’re losing, everyone becomes expendable.

And, one other point: It’s a 60 minute game and you will rarely win when you only play hockey for the first ten minutes and the last two, because in those remaining 48 minutes you can be certain, most nights, you’re gonna have your ass handed to you. I don’t know if it’s a work ethic problem, or a what ever problem. What I do know is that it is a problem with this team. And, I don’t want to hear, “They have yet to find their identity.” That’s a cop out, coach. Go out on the ice and play hockey for 60 minutes and you will “identify” yourselves nicely, and without any “soul searching.”

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