The Penguins Will Get Better

By STH35     November 1, 2010

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The Penguins are 6-5-1 through their first twelve games.  They have been short of a completely healthy lineup by at least two players and as many as four players throughout the entire beginning stretch.  It appeared that Staal was going to play Wednesday in Dallas.  Word is now that he suffered an upper body injury at practice today.  Neither Letang nor Malkin practiced and Goligoski left the ice early.  The experiment of Malkin playing left wing on Staal’s line may be pushed back even further.  Even though this might work, I don’t like it.  The strength of this team has always been at center.  Malkin IS a center.  He is a very creative force on the ice.  His playmaking abilities are somewhat stifled at wing.  The sooner that the management team realizes this, and the sooner we have all bodies on board, the sooner the team will reach it’s full potential.  Even without a full lineup, the Penguins could have had more success through the first twelve games with better play at home, a more productive powerplay, and the real Marc Andre Fleury.  I know the Penguins want to entertain at the CEC.  That is a good plan.  I don’t know about all of the fans, but my enjoyment from attending a game comes from seeing a victory.  If a more simplistic road approach to games at home results in a better home record, I am all for it.  ...

The NHL’s Eastern Conference

By STH35     October 25, 2010

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As we near the end of the first month of the season, let’s take a look at the Eastern Conference.  Fifteen teams, eight will make the playoffs and seven will not.  You only have to look back to last year to see the importance of every point.  The Flyers got into the playoffs on their last game of the season by winning a shootout.  Then they were good enough to make it to the Stanley Cup Finals.  The players realize this and that is why we are seeing some up-tempo, very exciting hockey games early in the season. 

What eight teams will make the playoffs?  Three teams that I think have the least chance are Florida, Atlanta and Ottawa.  These teams do not have enough talent to win consistently over an 82-game season.  Since the Eastern Conference is so competitive, the only two teams that are locks are the Penguins and the Capitals.  That leaves ten pretty good hockey teams battling for six spots.  Now we have to decide which four will most likely come up short, or which six will be able to have solid seasons.  We narrow it down a little more by saying that Philadelphia, Boston and Montreal are the most likely to succeed.  That puts five teams in, three out, and seven left to battle for the final three spots – New York Islanders, New York Rangers, Toronto Maple Leafs, New Jersey Devils, Tampa Bay Lightning, Buffalo Sabres, and the Carolina Hurricanes.  ...

Penguins Cannot Afford Home Losses

By STH35     October 14, 2010

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     For just the fourth time in Penguin history, the Pens have started the season 0-3 at home.  The other three times that happened, it was somewhat expected.  This year in the brand new CEC it was not.  All three losses have been earned in basically the same fashion — poor passing, poor puck management, poor powerplays, and poor goaltending.  Even in the one win that they have, only one of these items was different — Brent Johnson.  ...

The Stanley Cup Blues

By STH35     May 25, 2010

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The day after the Penguins were eliminated from the playoffs by the Canadiens, I was disappointed and upset.  Over the next few days, my mood improved as I started to put together some reasons as to why the Pens lost.  I was accepting the fact that it just wasn’t in the cards for the Penguins this year.

After watching the Flyers completely destroy the Canadiens, my mood has soured again.  We knew that the Penguins had a better team than the Canadiens.  The Flyers showed just how weak an eighth seed is.  Laviolette got his team to do the things that were necessary to beat the Canadiens.  The things that Bylsma either didn’t tell or couldn’t get his Penguin players to do were: ...

Penguins/Canadiens – Game Seven

By STH35     May 11, 2010

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The Montreal Canadiens have forced a Game Seven.  You have to give them credit.  Once they got behind, facing elimination, they played their best hockey of the series.  The Penguins were not able to create the same level of desperation.  As Steigy once said, “You can’t play with desperation unless you’re desperate.”  Now both teams will be playing with equal fear of elimination.  This time the loser goes home. 

For most of this series, the Canadiens have played exactly the way that they wanted to.  Even with that being the case, the Penguins have dominated large portions of games.  The reason that there is a Game Seven is that the Canadiens have capitalized on a higher percentage of their scoring opportunities.  ...

Penguins Win in Six

By STH35     May 9, 2010

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Game Six at the Bell Center.  The Penguins have a chance to close out another series on the road.  One thing we know for sure — they’ve done it before.  I predicted the Pens would win this series in five games.  I really didnt’ think that Halak and the Canadiens could continue on this emotional high for so long.  They have proved me wrong.  Now the question is - do they have enough left to force another Game Seven?  I don’t think that they do.  It is really the same story that we have been talking about all series.  Halak can’t be almost perfect forever, Crosby has to score.  Can this Game Six be the one where these things finally take place?  ...

Penguins Need A Positive Push

By STH35     May 7, 2010

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With a chance to take a stranglehold in this series and 20 minutes to play in Game 4, the Penguins lost their way.  A stat that is often looked at in the NHL is the team’s record when leading or trailing after the second period.  Trailing after two, the Canadiens were 4-29 this season and 0-2 during the playoffs.  Leading after two periods, the Penguins were 28-5 this year and 3-0 this post-season.  (Another reason to be upset by the loss of this game.)  It is highly unlikely that this will happen again.  I know the only stat that matters is the series is now tied at two.  The fact of the matter is, the Penguins, except for a few short lapses, have totally outplayed the Canadiens.  After being outshot in Game One (a game the Pens also really dominated) and over the seven period span from period 2 in Game 2 until that fateful third period in Game 4, the Penguins had outshot the Canadiens 81-33.  (In fact the second period totals for those games was 42-9.) 

In my last post, I wrote about the positive nature of Coach Bylsma and his ability to keep his players focused and in a solid frame of mind.  ...