Your Penguins MVP at the quarter mark?

[Shady Machine]

I have to go with Neal. He's been really good.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

I have to go with Neal. He's been really good.

Fleury and it's really not even a contest. Crosby would be the guy if we were just watching boxscores.

 

[jmelm]

Flower.

 

[PensBandwagonerNo272*]

Fleury and it's really not even a contest. Crosby would be the guy if we were just watching boxscores.

oh boy

 

[Shady Machine]

Yeah it's definitely Fleury. Relative to expectations, Maatta has to be up there as well. He's been very steady for a rookie and has filled in very well with Letang.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

oh boy

What?

EDIT: So evidently you don't see fit to put your objections into anything more than a drive-by one-liner. Fair enough. What I'm saying is that Crosby, while he's probably "runner up" for this completely irrelevant honor, isn't playing at the level his point total would indicate. He's been outstanding for about half of his games and, by his standards, very "meh" for the other half. That isn't quarter-mark MVP material. I'm very sorry he can't add this award to his trophy case.

 

[Le Magnifique 66]

What?

EDIT: So evidently you don't see fit to put your objections into anything more than a drive-by one-liner. Fair enough. What I'm saying is that Crosby, while he's probably "runner up" for this completely irrelevant honor, isn't playing at the level his point total would indicate. He's been outstanding for about half of his games and, by his standards, very "meh" for the other half. That isn't quarter-mark MVP material. I'm very sorry he can't add this award to his trophy case.

I agree with you, you can clearly see Crosby when he elevates his game compared to when he is simply floating out there(for him anyways floating still means he is better then 90% of NHLer's)

When Sid elevates his game, he's on another planet and in the last 10 games or so it's not been the case

 

[wgknestrick]

Isn't he still leading the league in points and on pace for 100+ this season?

He is also scoring 5v5 points at about half his normal rate. He is still better than 95% of the players though, but this has been his worst year.

Crosby has averaged 4.3 pts / 60min over the 2 seasons prior to this one.

This year he is at 2.2 pts / 60 min. Granted his 4.3 was a HUGE lead over then entire league during that time, but he is still well below his normal self this year. He's 56th in the league this year. For any other player it isn't a disappointment, but for Crosby, it's a world away from where he was.

 

[Zirakzigil]

It's Fleury. He's stepped it up this season.

 

[Don'tcry4mejanhrdina]

What?

EDIT: So evidently you don't see fit to put your objections into anything more than a drive-by one-liner. Fair enough. What I'm saying is that Crosby, while he's probably "runner up" for this completely irrelevant honor, isn't playing at the level his point total would indicate. He's been outstanding for about half of his games and, by his standards, very "meh" for the other half. That isn't quarter-mark MVP material. I'm very sorry he can't add this award to his trophy case.

Maybe he's laughing because Crosby hasn't had too many great boxscores lately.

 

[sanitysrequiem]

As a big Crosby fan he has not deserved MVP this season, it's definitely Fleury. I knew Sid wasn't back to his 2010/11 form even when he was doing better early in the season. But I didn't think he would slip this badly. Not sure if it's any lingering effects of his injury (those that aren't outwardly evident even to him e.g. slower reaction time) or just a slump or that he's declining slowly from his peak?

Just adds to my frustration that he may not get that one hallmark season where he gets 130+ points and cements his legacy. It would have easily happened in 2010/2011. And possibly in 2011/12 or 2012/13 if he didn't have injuries or the lockout didn't happen.

So incredibly frustrating.

 

[Smacker]

I go with Fleury. He's been very impressive so far.

 

[PensBandwagonerNo272*]

The fact that he has not "played by his standards" the last couple of weeks does not mean that he is not the obvious MVP of this team. And you're oblivious if you think otherwise.

Also - He looked damn good the second half of the game last night. Scored a beauty, won three faceoffs in a row extremely cleanly during a powerplay, was generally flying, intercepted a pass with his foot, etc etc.

We Pens fans are spoiled.

 

[aSockalypse]

Brian Gibbons.

 

[WayneSid9987]

If we're talking consistently good in thier roles:

Fleury
Martin
Maata
Crosby
Glass

 

[The Doof Warrior]

I'm going to agree with most and say Fleury. For the most part he's been VERY consistent and a lot of the time he's stolen games for us. If we didn't have strong goaltending while we're struggling with scoring lately we'd be dead in the water.

Honorable mentions go to Kunitz and Martin. Kunitz has 17 points in 21 games, not too bad, and he's bringing his typical forechecking and defensive reliability.

Martin, while isn't bringing the point production he was last year, is still providing very stable defense. I can't remember too many times I've seen him make a bad decision whether exiting our zone or doing something on offense.

 

[switch23]

Craig Adams.

 

[Speaking Moistly]

Actually, credit where credit is due there are a lot of important players for significant amounts of time this season, stupid team be damned.

If it's tiered.

Fleury, he's been the most consistent, aka Bylsma resistant or protected from him.

Crosby, Martin, Maatta, Maatta-Bortuzzo and probably Scuderi if he hadn't been injured.

Sutter has started to get going and Jokinen has been important from an offensive pov. The rookie forwards that aren't allowed to last but I'm going to consider to spite DB.


Bylsma is just thwarting a lot, he's good at that. Considering injuries to some players it's not bad from an individual angle, it's the team that's the problem.

 

[ColePens]

Flower & Rookies. I love the youth stepping up and making a name for themselves.

Also would have put Scuds here before he got hurt.

 

[Fire Shero*]

Fleury

 

[Big McLargehuge]

Fleury. Easily. He's been, oddly enough, the only consistent positive on this team. This quarter-point frustration could have easily been a dumpster fire without him.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

Sid and Geno are the MVPs for all those goals they've scored that just haven't gone in.

 

[Human]

it's Martin not MAF for me.

 

[cheesedanish87]

Like most have said its MAF, a guy who should also get some credit for MAF play is Mike Bales.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

Like most have said its MAF, a guy who should also get some credit for MAF play is Mike Bales.

Absolutely.

Fleury's turnaround hasn't even really begun, yet. But it's a promising start. And I have a hard time believing that having a real coach working with him isn't a huge part of the equation. Yet another one of those painfully obvious things that took far too long for the team to address.