Pre-Game Talk: Game 2: Pens vs. Sens (Friday)

[KIRK]

I absolutely loved Morrow and Dupuis together. I'm on the fence about everything really. There are just too many options. A good problem to have but still it hurts my brain constantly waffling with line ideas. I miss Jokinen and I think we need him for face-offs but I don't know where to plug him in because Vitale is untouchable right now and imo rightly so.

Kunitz-Crosby-Iginla
Vitale-Malkin-Neal
Morrow-Sutter-Duper
Cooke-Adams-Kennedy

Would be better than what we're going to get.

 

[IcedCapp]

Are you a Malkin apologist? You yourself just said you don't like Iggy with Geno. So what does that make you?

someone who thinks that Kunitz will play where Kunitz plays because of something other than selfishness or a desire to do something other than what's best for the team.

 

[Waffle Fries]

I absolutely loved Morrow and Dupuis together.

Yes. They were great. That Morrow-Jokinen-Dupuis line amazed me with how great they were, and they were productive as hell. Here is Morrow's scoring log in the regular season after joining the Pens.

2013-04-03 PIT @ NYR 2 02:27 EV Goal by Pascal Dupuis, assisted by Robert Bortuzzo and Brenden Morrow

2013-04-09 PIT @ CAR 1 13:49 EV Goal by Brenden Morrow, assisted by Jussi Jokinen and Pascal Dupuis

2013-04-11 PIT @ TBL 1 04:07 EV Goal by Jussi Jokinen, assisted by Brenden Morrow and Pascal Dupuis

2013-04-13 PIT @ FLA 1 14:49 EV Goal by Kris Letang, assisted by Beau Bennett and Brenden Morrow

2013-04-13 PIT @ FLA 1 18:27 EV Goal by Brenden Morrow, assisted by Beau Bennett and Joe Vitale

2013-04-13 PIT @ FLA 3 19:39 PP Goal by Brenden Morrow, assisted by Pascal Dupuis

2013-04-17 PIT MTL 1 09:30 EV Goal by Brenden Morrow, assisted by Pascal Dupuis and Craig Adams

2013-04-17 PIT MTL 2 04:07 EV Goal by Brenden Morrow, assisted by Beau Bennett and Matt Niskanen

2013-04-17 PIT MTL 2 10:30 PP Goal by Brandon Sutter, assisted by Brenden Morrow and Kris Letang

2013-04-22 PIT @ OTT 1 06:15 EV Goal by Dustin Jeffrey, assisted by Brenden Morrow and Pascal Dupuis

2013-04-25 PIT @ NJD 1 08:52 EV Goal by Matt Cooke, assisted by Brenden Morrow and Brandon Sutter

2013-04-27 PIT CAR 3 05:24 EV Goal by Brenden Morrow, assisted by Brandon Sutter and Matt Cooke

2013-04-27 PIT CAR 3 15:43 EV Goal by Matt Cooke, assisted by Brenden Morrow and Paul Martin

Of his 14 points, Dupuis was involved in 43% which is WAY more than anyone else he played with.

I want all of our players put in the best position to succeed, from Sid to Geno to Iggy to Morrow.

If I had it my way this is what I would do. I know Adams and Kennedy are out. I know Kennedy has been a beast for us lately, but I'd rather Jokinen play than Adams, and Vitale can replace him on the PK better than Kennedy.

*Disclaimer I know this will never happen and Dan will never sit Adams, but let me dream for a minute*

Kunitz-Crosby-Iginla
Bennett-Malkin-Neal
Morrow-Jokinen-Dupuis
Cooke-Sutter-Vitale

 

[KIRK]

someone who thinks that Kunitz will play where Kunitz plays because of something other than selfishness or a desire to do something other than what's best for the team.

No you're not.

FYI, I don't think it's selfishness. I do think this is a case where Bylsma rightfully has seen the need to have Sid going but somehow thinks Iginla on a line with Malkin and Neal will have no bearing on how Malkin looked last game. And, I think THAT demonstrates a piss poor understanding of what is best for the team.

 

[KIRK]

Yes. They were great. That Morrow-Jokinen-Dupuis line amazed me with how great they were, and they were productive as hell. Here is Morrow's scoring log in the regular season after joining the Pens.



Of his 14 points, Dupuis was involved in 43% which is a WAY more than anyone else he played with.

I want all of our players put in a position to succeed, from Sid to Geno to Iggy to Morrow.

If I had it my way this is what I would do. I know Adams and Kennedy are out. I know Kennedy has been a beast for us lately, but I'd rather Jokinen play than Adams, and Vitale can replace him on the PK better than Kennedy.

*Disclaimer I know this will never happen and Dan will never sit Adams, but let me dream for a minute*

Kunitz-Crosby-Iginla
Bennett-Malkin-Neal
Morrow-Jokinen-Dupuis
Cooke-Sutter-Vitale

There were a lot of us, on all sides of this debate, who have wanted to see this since a month and a half ago. Heck, I'd even suffer with TK or even Adams on that L4 RW.

 

[BmxHockey]

Yes. They were great. That Morrow-Jokinen-Dupuis line amazed me with how great they were, and they were productive as hell. Here is Morrow's scoring log in the regular season after joining the Pens.



Of his 14 points, Dupuis was involved in 43% which is WAY more than anyone else he played with.

I want all of our players put in the best position to succeed, from Sid to Geno to Iggy to Morrow.

If I had it my way this is what I would do. I know Adams and Kennedy are out. I know Kennedy has been a beast for us lately, but I'd rather Jokinen play than Adams, and Vitale can replace him on the PK better than Kennedy.

*Disclaimer I know this will never happen and Dan will never sit Adams, but let me dream for a minute*

Kunitz-Crosby-Iginla
Bennett-Malkin-Neal
Morrow-Jokinen-Dupuis
Cooke-Sutter-Vitale

I'd like to see those lines rolled out like that. That third line looks great.

 

[Waffle Fries]

There were a lot of us, on all sides of this debate, who have wanted to see this since a month and a half ago. Heck, I'd even suffer with TK or even Adams on that L4 RW.

I know there were. But then we all resigned ourselves to the fact that the top six wings are set in stone and let our dreams die

 

[KIRK]

I know there were. But then we all resigned ourselves to the fact that the top six wings are set in stone and let our dreams die

Dreams dying is one thing. The annoying part is that we assumed that Shero finally had handed Bylsma a roster that not even he could **** up as a bench boss, and all it took was moving one of Iggy/Neal to LW and playing both with Malkin to do it.

 

[IcedCapp]

I know there were. But then we all resigned ourselves to the fact that the top six wings are set in stone and let our dreams die

no dreams, only tears

 

[KIRK]

no dreams, only tears

Perhaps no dreams for you, but only because you had complete faith that Bylsma would find the one seemingly inconceivable way to **** up what Shero handed him. Alas, even I bought in. Even I dared to dream. Dream crushed. You were right. Happy now?

 

[IcedCapp]

Perhaps no dreams for you, but only because you had complete faith that Bylsma would find the one seemingly inconceivable way to **** up what Shero handed him. Alas, even I bought in. Even I dared to dream. Dream crushed. You were right. Happy now?

I'm just letting this play out. I guess this didn't come across earlier in my maniacal rantings (based on what Shady said): I don't like people being yanked around. I don't know if Kunitz moving is the best thing. I don't think Iggy is ever going to get good until you put him in 1 spot and leave him there.

I just refuse to entertain the idea that Kunitz with Crosby is a bad idea, or that Bylsma is catering to Crosby over the good of the team, or that Crosby is being selfish.

I don't envy Bylsma. He wants to cater to about 8 people who probably deserve or think they deserve top-6 time. He has egos, he has veterans, he has a code. He has to figure out a way to get 25? skaters to fit happily into a roster that allows for 18, all while juggling a potentially volatile goalie situation. It's going to be tough. I have no problem criticizing him, I just have problems carrying it into the WE ARE PICKING CROSBY OVER A CUP realm.

 

[Waffle Fries]

 

[Darth Vitale]

Anything other than

Kunitz - Malkin - Neal

is against the teachings of Joe.

 

[Coach Travis]

Kunitz-Crosby-Iginla
Bennett-Malkin-Neal
Morrow-Jokinen-Dupuis
Cooke-Sutter-Vitale

Dat top 9.

 

[KIRK]

I'm just letting this play out. I guess this didn't come across earlier in my maniacal rantings (based on what Shady said): I don't like people being yanked around. I don't know if Kunitz moving is the best thing. I don't think Iggy is ever going to get good until you put him in 1 spot and leave him there.

I just refuse to entertain the idea that Kunitz with Crosby is a bad idea, or that Bylsma is catering to Crosby over the good of the team, or that Crosby is being selfish.

I don't envy Bylsma. He wants to cater to about 8 people who probably deserve or think they deserve top-6 time. He has egos, he has veterans, he has a code. He has to figure out a way to get 25? skaters to fit happily into a roster that allows for 18, all while juggling a potentially volatile goalie situation. It's going to be tough. I have no problem criticizing him, I just have problems carrying it into the WE ARE PICKING CROSBY OVER A CUP realm.

I don't think Kunitz to Crosby is a bad idea OR that Crosby is being selfish. I do believe that Bylsma thinks helping Crosby and in the process having Malkin center Neal and Iginla, no matter which one plays LW, helps the team, and I think THAT is incredibly myopic.

Maybe you hit on what Bylsma's real problem is. He thinks he has to cater to about 8 different people. Actually, he only needs to cater to two. And, whichever one of those two he gives Kunitz, he needs to give the other one the best possible remaining complements, even if it means someone isn't playing on a line where he's traditionally played.

 

[KIRK]

Anything other than

Kunitz - Malkin - Neal

is against the teachings of Joe.

The teachings of Joe?

I know that commandment one is 'Thou Shalt Not Scratch Joe' and that commandment two is 'Thou Shalt Accept That Craig Adams Sucks'. Can you enlighten me on the other 8 commandments?

 

[mpp9]

Why are we changing the lines after a win? Not quite understanding the logic. Give Sid another game to see if he can make things work with Dupuis and Iggy.

 

[gopens66]

Let me try this:

Kunitz-Crosby-Iginla
Vitale-Malkin-Neal
Morrow-Jokinen-Dupuis
Cooke-Adams-Kennedy

Speed, grit, jam, and loads of scoring in the top nine, and everything but loads of scoring on line four.

 

[ColePens]

Anything other than

Kunitz - Malkin - Neal

is against the teachings of Joe.

Like Jaded said earlier - i'll wait to see the lines tomorrow. I can't imagine him really doing that. They were both so good. I don' get it.

 

[Crafton]

anybody catch Jeopardy? Jed is not a Geno apologist.

http://video.nhl.com/videocenter/console?catid=35&id=249279&navid=nhl:topheads

 

[Shockmaster]

Like Jaded said earlier - i'll wait to see the lines tomorrow. I can't imagine him really doing that. They were both so good. I don' get it.

The one glimmer of hope is that Bylsma said the top 6 before game 5 against the Islanders would be 14-87-9 and 18-71-12. Come game time, the top 6 was 9-87-12 and 14-71-18.

 

[shizno*]

You guys haven't thought that perhaps Dupuis is calling the shots, maybe HE wants Sid and Kun because HE is the true leader of this team

 

[IcedCapp]

Like Jaded said earlier - i'll wait to see the lines tomorrow. I can't imagine him really doing that. They were both so good. I don' get it.

You thought the Sid line was good last game? I could see average, but not good

 

[mpp9]

You thought the Sid line was good last game? I could see average, but not good

I wasn't able to pay close attention to last game. Anyone notice who they were matching up against Sid's line?

I have no problem if Sid's line is average while they gain some chemistry going up against the toughest matchup while Geno runs wild in the series. That's the way we're set up to win in the playoffs.

 

[IcedCapp]

I wasn't able to pay close attention to last game. Anyone notice who they were matching up against Sid's line?

I have no problem if Sid's line is average while they gain some chemistry going up against the toughest matchup while Geno runs wild in the series. That's the way we're set up to win in the playoffs.

I think it was their checking line. Smith Neil and some other mouth breather?