Confirmed with Link: [ANA/PIT] Daniel Sprong for Marcus Pettersson
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Terry Yake
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- Aug 5, 2013
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to this day, pavel trnka is still the worst NHL player i have ever watched (excluding career goons)
how that guy managed to make it to the NHL and actually stick around on the ducks for several seasons is beyond me. there was literally no part of the game he was good at and even though he was your typical DPE slow, stay at home d-man he was somehow still awful at that
Hockey Duckie
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I liked Ozo's personality off the ice along with his offense that I got his jersey in the all black with "Mighty Ducks" script logo (that looks like the junior's Seattle jersey design).
The Midnight Burrito
True Fan
When Matt Cullen debuted in the NHL my favourite song was Mmmbop. Also pogs were a thing.
Paul4587
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- Jan 26, 2006
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I thought Pascal Trepanier was pretty bad too. Although he did show flashes of talent and put up big numbers in the minors.
Terry Yake
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- Aug 5, 2013
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i still remember the ozo trade and being surprised that another team actually wanted trnka
of course they had to give up cullen too but he never really stood out to me as someone who they wouldn't be able to replace easily. if you had told me back then that cullen would still be playing in 2018-19 i would have laughed
Hello, pens fan here. The pens forum is really divided on this. Almost everyone agrees that Sprong never got a chance to develop, a vocal few think he had plenty of chance to fight his way up the lineup. Thing is that Sullivan has run a few players out of the burgh now, he takes a dislike to them and that's pretty much it. It almost resulted in Kessel getting pushed out, but hard to do that when you have a guy putting up 90+ pts with another team eating part of his salary.
My take is that we really do not know what Sprong will mature into. He is one of a couple rookies in the last decade to be top 5 in scoring in the AHL. He has an elite shot, above average wheels, and his ability to dish the puck is very underrated. The problem is that Sullivan stuck him with old man Cullen and held him to a different standard then literally the entire team, not exactly a recipe to develop a young offensive talent.
You guys might have gotten a unicorn, aka a 30G cost controlled winger. Or he might not be able to take that final step. I leave you with this shift. The ONE and only shift that Sprong got with one of our top centers this season and that was by accident. Our coach never gave him another chance with malkin after this accidental shift either.
Goose of Reason
El Zilcho
- May 1, 2013
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Serious question, can anyone on our roster other than Getzlaf make a pass like that?
Is Pittsburgh just incapable of hiring a coach that's good at developing talent? I remember that Bylsma was bad at this, too.
The fact that we consider Cullen old makes me feel even older. Thanks, dick.
Come to think of it, I actually remember the reaction here after the trade. Not many have been around here as long as I have, but I remember seeing posts that said something like "I can't believe we were able to trade our crap for Ozolinsh". At the time, many were irritated by Cullen's inconsistencies when he was younger.
branmuffin17
Registered User
And his little Junior tricksy moves...I remember him being slammed his rookie year for doing the little puck drop/kick move.
actually the guy that could have mitigated all this was Tochett, he was kinda the guy who could buffer the players from Sullivan, Recchi is just an idiot behind the bench. I'm still steamed because this was the ONLY prospect in the pipeline who could possibly be a top line goal scorer. We traded away a potential unicorn for what might be a #4 defensemen by most accounts. Penguins do have a track record of reclaiming and developing defensemen so we'll see with Pettersson.
Now you guys did take on some risk with this because he might bust. But I've been watching hockey a long time, this kid has shown flashes of elite talent, he's also been a leading scorer in every league he's played in. Sullivan would literally bench him if he made ANY mistake for the rest of a game, he'd also bench him if they team got behind, even if he was playing just fine in that game. I think Sprong is going to have something to prove, I like the story behind him on how his family picked up and moved from Holland to Canada to give him a chance in hockey. He has followed a non traditional path, and I personally think he will become a top 6 winger, but won't really know for a bit yet. His development was also hurt because he only got 1 year of pro hockey before this year, due to mismanagment and burning his first year of his ELC.
Now you guys did take on some risk with this because he might bust. But I've been watching hockey a long time, this kid has shown flashes of elite talent, he's also been a leading scorer in every league he's played in. Sullivan would literally bench him if he made ANY mistake for the rest of a game, he'd also bench him if they team got behind, even if he was playing just fine in that game. I think Sprong is going to have something to prove, I like the story behind him on how his family picked up and moved from Holland to Canada to give him a chance in hockey. He has followed a non traditional path, and I personally think he will become a top 6 winger, but won't really know for a bit yet. His development was also hurt because he only got 1 year of pro hockey before this year, due to mismanagment and burning his first year of his ELC.
Honour Over Glory
Fire Sully
- Jan 30, 2012
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Short answer - Yes.
Long answer - Sullivan was known as a guy that was supposedly good at development. But in his time with the Penguins, he seems to only like the "older" prospects. If you look at who does well under him, it's the mature prospects, the ones that are less in need of development and are more what they are now with some little boost in that development.
Guys like Sheary, Aston-Reese, Simon, Kuhnhackl, Wilson, Archibald, etc were all closer to their mid 20's when Sullivan gave them a shot, they all also either spent time in euro pro leagues, were in the College ranks and then spent a year or two in the AHL.
When it has been guys that needed a softer touch, no chance in hell.
The Midnight Burrito
True Fan
Kinda goes to show that, no matter how much success you lead your team to, if you're a coach, your fans will still hate you.
To me it further illustrates how coaches are the scapegoats, for GMs and fans.
Anaheim4ever
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- Jun 15, 2017
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Awe i remember Pogs ! Back then i thought Hanson was a girl band until someone pointed out their brothers.
Between Larsson/mahura/ Pettersson I’m sure the penguins wanted one of the others , but got left Pettersson ( hence why when the rumors first surfaced about us and the penguins wanting to trade ) it took a couple of weeks, Penguins caved because they need that D help now and Peterson has been better lately. I’m very glad BM was able to add some talent upfront and not give up on Larsson or Mahura( or as some rumors were mentioning Montour ) Edit: I didn’t list Welinski because let’s face it, nobody wants him, unless it’s for a very low pick ( definitely not for a player like Sprong ) Good job BM
Deuce22
Registered User
What was funny was the announcers. It was all about Malkin this, Malkin that. No mention of Sprong's pass.
Turin
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- Feb 27, 2018
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Sheary, Guentzel, Rust, Simon, Kuhnhackl, Dumoulin all graduated in the last 3 years and had success. The people coming here from the Pens board mostly have an axe to grind. That Sprong was dealt has little to do with the coaching staff’s ability to “develop talent.”
Your take matches the trend at least that we've experienced with every trade that we've had with your team.
the announcers are mouth pieces for the organization. Malkin puts butts in seats.
The Midnight Burrito
True Fan
This is an interpretation that makes perfect sense and isn't crazy at all.
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themethod7
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Yeah and every one of them spent significant time playing college and/or AHL hockey and got their start in the NHL when they were 22-24. The deal had everything to do with the Pens FO and coaching staff completely fumbling his development - the FO shouldn't have burned a year (he'd be in the AHL with WBS otherwise) and the coaching staff outright refused to put him in a position to succeed - and to suggest otherwise is asinine.
Getzmonster
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- Jul 24, 2014
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Man, I thought we were bad with the split opinions on Fowler or Ritchie...
