Pre-Game Talk: 05/03/2013 Islanders at Penguins: I'm not obsessed with Sid, my F5 key is just stuck

[ZapRowsdower13]

Gave my ticket tonight to my friend's 8 year old godson who is a big Pens fan but has never gotten to see a playoff game. I'm pretty awesome.

You're good people in my book. If we lose you gotta taunt the kid though, just sayin.

 

[chuppa chupp]

This is the problem with hockey fans trying to evaluate goaltending.



Fleury detractors will never shut up. They will always be there. They will be silenced, but once Fleury has a bad stretch of games, they will be back in full force.

Fleury could win the Vezina and people will give a slew of reasons why he doesn't deserve it. I've never seen such a genuinely good guy be so polarizing with fans amongst his own fanbase.

I think it's fair for fans to bring up Fleury's consistency issues and past playoff failures because these are relevant topics as the Pens take on the postseason as a heavily favored team to represent the East in the Stanley Cup Finals. I would be lying if I said that I am 100% confident in our goaltending.

I'm not bashing the guy, but I'm a little apprehensive, even after this game 1 shutout. Some people are acting like we are going to waltz into the Finals, and I'm sorry if I don't think that is the case. I would love to be proven wrong.

 

[Ogelthorpe]

I think Fleury's had a very good season and there's certainly no reason to complain about the way he's playing right now, but let's not get carried away. Many of the criticisms directed towards Fleury over the years have absolutely been fair. He has had consistency issues. He does have trouble handling the puck. He does have a tendency to overplay shots. These aren't just things people say to be mean. Nobody is rooting against Fleury. To do so would be to root for the team's failure.

All that said, anyone that has a problem with the way Fleury has played this year needs to get a grip.

Agreed!

Every player has negatives that you can point out. You can also look at things like Most Wins in franchise history, most shutouts, Name on the Cup, played 2 of his best games in games 6 and 7 that year when it counted.

I look past the fact that he doesn't move the puck well. Even the goalies who are "good" at it make mistakes with the puck from time to time. For example, Johnathan Quick Game 1 OT goal this year. I doubt the fans in LA want him benched.

 

[Dying Alive]

You're good people in my book. If we lose you gotta taunt the kid though, just sayin.

Thanks. But 8 year old boy or not, if the Pens lose that kid is never getting another ticket from me.

 

[Beau Knows]

Wow there are a lot of angry Islanders fans and "neutral" fans saying crazy things on the main boards about the Penguins. I have reported like 10+ posts already, all deleted. If the Penguins win the series there are going to be so many people losing their avatars or their accounts. Imagine if we win the Cup.

We are by far the most hated team, and I love it.

 

[JTG]

I think it's fair for fans to bring up Fleury's consistency issues and past playoff failures because these are relevant topics as the Pens take on the postseason as a heavily favored team to represent the East in the Stanley Cup Finals. I would be lying if I said that I am 100% confident in our goaltending.

I'm not bashing the guy, but I'm a little apprehensive, even after this game 1 shutout. Some people are acting like we are going to waltz into the Finals, and I'm sorry if I don't think that is the case. I would love to be proven wrong.

The problem I have is that with detractors, Fleury has had playoff failures...the team hasn't. Fleury had playoff failures because the team itself failed. People look to last season and pin the playoffs completely on him, and I disagree. The defense was just flat out horrendous. There is exactly one time in the playoffs where I pin it completely on Fleury and that was the Montreal series a few years ago. He was just completely shattered.

He has had some bouts of inconsistency, but as many of those games that are chalked up to him being inconsistent are the games where his defense completely hangs him out to dry. Fleury this season has no excuse really because this is about as good of a defense as we've had since the Cup run.

I think if you compare Fleury to other top goaltenders around the league and not just look at stats like the poster who has been beaten in this thread did...you'd see his inconsistencies aren't much different than pretty much every single goaltender in the league. Even Lundqvist sucks for stretches of time. ****, it seems like every time he plays us he has a bad game. Lundqvist can stand on his head, but I can't remember him ever doing it against us.

This is an old song and dance though, and I'd rather not go round and round.

 

[gordie]

Wow there are a lot of angry Islanders fans and "neutral" fans saying crazy things on the main boards about the Penguins. I have reported like 10+ posts already, all deleted. If the Penguins win the series there are going to be so many people losing their avatars or their accounts. Imagine if we win the Cup.

We are by far the most hated team, and I love it.

Not really hate but E-N-V-Y!!!!

 

[chuppa chupp]

The problem I have is that with detractors, Fleury has had playoff failures...the team hasn't. Fleury had playoff failures because the team itself failed. People look to last season and pin the playoffs completely on him, and I disagree. The defense was just flat out horrendous. There is exactly one time in the playoffs where I pin it completely on Fleury and that was the Montreal series a few years ago. He was just completely shattered.

He has had some bouts of inconsistency, but as many of those games that are chalked up to him being inconsistent are the games where his defense completely hangs him out to dry. Fleury this season has no excuse really because this is about as good of a defense as we've had since the Cup run.

I think if you compare Fleury to other top goaltenders around the league and not just look at stats like the poster who has been beaten in this thread did...you'd see his inconsistencies aren't much different than pretty much every single goaltender in the league. Even Lundqvist sucks for stretches of time. ****, it seems like every time he plays us he has a bad game. Lundqvist can stand on his head, but I can't remember him ever doing it against us.

This is an old song and dance though, and I'd rather not go round and round.

Yeah, I can't wait to see how it plays out this year. Looking back on it now, it's crazy how much better this team was than last year's team.

And we definitely have Lundqvist's number. It's hard to judge based on stats, as I think the offense in the Eastern Conference is so much faster and skilled than of the teams you see in the West, especially our division.

 

[Beau Knows]

The problem I have is that with detractors, Fleury has had playoff failures...the team hasn't. Fleury had playoff failures because the team itself failed. People look to last season and pin the playoffs completely on him, and I disagree. The defense was just flat out horrendous. There is exactly one time in the playoffs where I pin it completely on Fleury and that was the Montreal series a few years ago. He was just completely shattered.

He has had some bouts of inconsistency, but as many of those games that are chalked up to him being inconsistent are the games where his defense completely hangs him out to dry. Fleury this season has no excuse really because this is about as good of a defense as we've had since the Cup run.

I think if you compare Fleury to other top goaltenders around the league and not just look at stats like the poster who has been beaten in this thread did...you'd see his inconsistencies aren't much different than pretty much every single goaltender in the league. Even Lundqvist sucks for stretches of time. ****, it seems like every time he plays us he has a bad game. Lundqvist can stand on his head, but I can't remember him ever doing it against us.

This is an old song and dance though, and I'd rather not go round and round.

I do think Fleury is a really good goalie but I he was absolutely awful last post-season. The defense was brutal but he couldn't stop anything.

 

[Tender Rip]

Wow there are a lot of angry Islanders fans and "neutral" fans saying crazy things on the main boards about the Penguins. I have reported like 10+ posts already, all deleted. If the Penguins win the series there are going to be so many people losing their avatars or their accounts. Imagine if we win the Cup.

We are by far the most hated team, and I love it.

Why report? Why not just laugh or counter the idiocy?
More so if you love that we are 'hated'.

 

[mpp9]

I need a playoff avatar combining "Embrace the hate" and #hate48.

 

[JTG]

I do think Fleury is a really good goalie but I he was absolutely awful last post-season. The defense was brutal but he couldn't stop anything.

He let in some soft ones, but he had as many back door plays as I've ever seen a team give up.

 

[Tender Rip]

As for goalies..... For the vast majority, both our goalies have been very good this season. Vokoun a little better (IMO) when our D and PK has looked solid. Fleury better than Vokoun when that help hasn't been there. Kinda fits with Vokoun needing structure. MAF less so, but looking much better when it is there.