Injury Report: 7/15 update | Crosby will not have wrist surgery

[cygnus47]

I agree with Ryan at hockeybuzz, if Sid can play more favourable starts, see less of the top defenders and get more puck moving support he could easily score 120+ and be fresh come playoffs. Geno could easily get 100+ as well. We need Goc, Sutter, Spaling and Duper to take 20 minutes of tough competition every night and come out close to 50-50 so Sid and Geno don't have to play top units all game, every game. I think having an effective shut-down third line is the most important factor, bar none, in our success.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

Of course he tool 1887 faceoffs haha. He probably intentionally finished with that.

Sid's next "87" needs to be 87 goals this season. Hopefully he ends his career with 1987 career points as well.

 

[WayneSid9987]

Speaking of those commercial shoots. Sid and Giroux did some together with some sledge hockey dudes.

All signs point to the wrist being ready for the season.

 

[LucSZ]

Hartnell in the CBJ jersey threw me for a sec. I was like, who's that guy? He looks so familiar. (and that's such a strange mix-up of players)

Haven't heard any news about him reconsidering surgery, so hopefully it's recovering smoothly.

 

[WayneSid9987]

Hartnell in the CBJ jersey threw me for a sec. I was like, who's that guy? He looks so familiar. (and that's such a strange mix-up of players)

Haven't heard any news about him reconsidering surgery, so hopefully it's recovering smoothly.

Heh, i didn't even know it was Hartnell until just now, reading your post. I tried to run through some BJ players for 10 seconds then gave up and moved on.

 

[wgknestrick]

I agree with Ryan at hockeybuzz, if Sid can play more favourable starts, see less of the top defenders and get more puck moving support he could easily score 120+ and be fresh come playoffs. Geno could easily get 100+ as well. We need Goc, Sutter, Spaling and Duper to take 20 minutes of tough competition every night and come out close to 50-50 so Sid and Geno don't have to play top units all game, every game. I think having an effective shut-down third line is the most important factor, bar none, in our success.

I don't think ANYONE easily scores 120pts in today's NHL.

 

[Ogrezilla]

I don't think ANYONE easily scores 120pts in today's NHL.

this. Short of rule changes opening up scoring across the league, Sid will probably not hit 120 points again. Given a stacked line and a good enough powerplay its possible, but not likely.

 

[Fordy]

they don't even need to change the rules, just enforce the current ones properly and consistently

 

[Ogrezilla]

they don't even need to change the rules, just enforce the current ones properly and consistently

but that's basically changing the rules. The rules on paper don't need to change, but the rules on the ice do.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

they don't even need to change the rules, just enforce the current ones properly and consistently

This. I don't know why they decided it was better to go back to the Dead Puck Era rules rather than stick with the ones they were calling after the 2005 lockout.

It's almost kind of hilarious, in a sad way. You hear analysts and league officials talk non stop about "how can we increase scoring?", yet two of the most obvious methods (reduce goalie equipment size, call infractions so stars can play like stars) are beyond their grasp.

It's like watching a bunch of idiots trying to figure out how to cross a raging river, and completely ignore the friggin' bridge right in front of them.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

this. Short of rule changes opening up scoring across the league, Sid will probably not hit 120 points again. Given a stacked line and a good enough powerplay its possible, but not likely.

I think he could hit it again.

He hit 104pts after not playing more than 70 games in over what, 4yrs? Think about that for a second, he also missed his third cog on his line, albeit, it was Pascal "I miss 9 times out of 10 scoring opportunities gifted to me" Dupuis, he could have easily added 15-20 more points to his total.

This is with the craptastic system the entire team was playing with. Change it to one where he has more support and a system that is more geared towards possession rather than dump it and get owned hard because the other team figured out the strategy after the first minute is going to go a very long way for both Crosby and Malkin.

104pts...he didn't even look like his usual self, he looked somewhat exhausted at times and especially so in the playoffs (excuses for whatever people want to use, aside).

I just hope his wrist is ok. I mean, to go from needing a quick surgery to fix it to not...seems very fishy to me. I've had someone tell me to hold off on my shoulder, I wish they didn't (I dislocated it violently in Rugby and then again in Hockey while racing for icing...I'm no pro athlete, but velocity, blah blah...it was bad).


Anyways, think about it..

The last time he played more than 70 games was 2009-10. That's a long ass time ago.

 

[412 Others]

This. I don't know why they decided it was better to go back to the Dead Puck Era rules rather than stick with the ones they were calling after the 2005 lockout.

It's almost kind of hilarious, in a sad way. You hear analysts and league officials talk non stop about "how can we increase scoring?", yet two of the most obvious methods (reduce goalie equipment size, call infractions so stars can play like stars) are beyond their grasp.

It's like watching a bunch of idiots trying to figure out how to cross a raging river, and completely ignore the friggin' bridge right in front of them.

concussions. instead of pursuing a real solution - like replacing the "armor" that players wear on their shoulders and elbows with "padding" - they decide to allow obstruction back into the game in order to make it slower and safer.

 

[Fordy]

When Crosby scored 120 he and the entire team was lethal on the power play. Incidentally this is the first time since then we've assembled a similar powerplay.

 

[cassius]

I have to laugh when I hear suggestions of 120+ points for Sid.. I mean, in today's NHL there are only a handful of guys who go above 80 points.

It sucks, but thats the reality of how the game is played today. Coaching and goaltending (with michelin man style padding) trumps skill. It's annoying, but it is what it is.

 

[Ogrezilla]

When Crosby scored 120 he and the entire team was lethal on the power play. Incidentally this is the first time since then we've assembled a similar powerplay.

When Crosby hit 120 points there were 7 players in the 100s, 7 more in the 90s and 14 more in the 80s. Last year Sid was the only player to break 100, nobody was in the 90s, and there were only 6 in the 80s.

As for the powerplay, we had a better powerplay percentage this year than the year Sid hit 120 points. The difference in powerplay points doesn't come from us having a better powerplay in 2006, it comes from us having 463 powerplay opportunities in 2006 vs 278 in 2014. Sid actually scored slightly more points per powerplay attempt last year (38 PPP) than he did in his 120 point season (61 PPP) with a point on 13.7% of our powerplays last year vs a point on 13.2% of our powerplays in the 120 point season.

A 120 point season this year would be far more impressive than the 120 point season he already had without significant changes to how the game is called.

 

[mpp9]

Find Sid a serviceable RW and use Sutter properly. It's nuts he lead the league by 17 pts while playing much of the season with Gibbons and in a shutdown role. And finishing the last month or so of the season with a ****ed up wrist.

If our PP clicks like I think it will and we bring in a legit top line talent for Sid, I'd be surprised if he didn't break 120.

 

[Shady Machine]

Well we aren't bringing in a legit top line talent, so that's a pretty big caveat for Sid to hit 120.

 

[mpp9]

Well we aren't bringing in a legit top line talent, so that's a pretty big caveat for Sid to hit 120.

You don't know that.

And I stated I'd be surprised if he didn't break 120 with a big upgrade on his line and a sick powerplay. He's perfectly capable of getting to that number in a full season with easier minutes and a productive RW as the only changes from last year.

Ovy+Sedins+MSL are the only ones to break the 100 pt barrier the last several years. And they're now not what they used to be. That's the biggest difference, not any drastic drop in league scoring recently.

League scoring really isn't that much different than in 2010 when Sid was tearing it up.

 

[WayneSid9987]

Sid was pretty hit and miss for alot of stretches during the season last year with Gibbons and Kobasew and Dupuis playing on his wing. There was never a point where i thought he was really on fire either. It was just consistent point producing.

He can easily hit 120 points with an upgrade on the wing and better offensive systems.

 

[Ogrezilla]

I really disagree with that. He could possibly do it, but it sure as hell won't be easy. It would need to be by far his best season.

 

[WayneSid9987]

The biggest part of reaching that would be his health. Don't forget he hurt his wrist shortly after coming back from Russia and his second half was noticeably quieter.

 

[BobCole]

Assuming Sid stays healthy, I wouldn't put 120 past him. Sure, the game is called differently than the last time he hit 120, but that doesn't mean it's beyond his reach. Last season, Sid played a notch worse than we've seen him play in a long time, *and* he played with AHL talent on his RW for much of the season, *and* he played the last several games with injury, and he still topped 100. If our bottom 6 can ease the defensive responsibilities of our top 6 and if there is any regualirty/familiarity amongst players in the top 6, I think Sid could hit 120. If I had to bet, I'd say Sid posts something like 40 + 65-80.

 

[Burgs]

Molinari had an update on Pascal Dupuis today:

- not cleared for contact yet, aiming to be ready when camp starts
- has been skating several times a week since June with no complications
- no feeling in right knee cap as a by-product of the ACL surgery
- will be wearing right knee brace, says he's been wearing a left knee brace for 10+ years and it doesn't bother him

 

[Al Smith]

Molinari had an update on Pascal Dupuis today:

- not cleared for contact yet, aiming to be ready when camp starts
- has been skating several times a week since June with no complications
- no feeling in right knee cap as a by-product of the ACL surgery
- will be wearing right knee brace, says he's been wearing a left knee brace for 10+ years and it doesn't bother him

I guess the big question is whether he will have pre-injury speed. Without it, as much as I like PD, he doesn't have a lot of value.

 

[Ogrezilla]

I guess the big question is whether he will have pre-injury speed. Without it, as much as I like PD, he doesn't have a lot of value.

That really is the key update on Dupuis.