Post-Game Talk: Game #81 vs NYI

[Darth Vitale]

For the folks advocating trading Malkin and Sid..

Look - this management team just traded Despres for Lovejoy.

Do you have any faith that JR would get fair value for Malkin/Sid? Or even $0.50 on the dollar?

I'll give you a hint... JR is usually involved in lopsided trades... and he is usually on the unfavorable side of them. And you're confident he could handle a transaction involving Sid/Geno?

For my part, if I were the owner, I wouldn't let either deal go through without my explicit approval. [Regardless of who my GM was.]

There's being hands-off and then there's ****ing stupid and deserve whatever you get. If Mario is so much hands-off that he'd let either one of these guys be moved without his go-ahead, feeling good about the pieces we're getting back long-term and about it improving the overall offensive skill depth on this team, then he doesn't deserve to be part owner of this team any longer.

The assumption always has to be with this kind of scenario, the owner overrides any "WTF were you thinking" moments the GM might be making / suggesting. I wouldn't expect Mario to be involved in any other trade necessarily, but those two, he absolutely should be involved on the level of "who are we getting back" and "yes/no you can do / can't go ahead with that one." And speaking from a marketing standpoint, Sid and Geno ARE his product. They ARE his ticket sales in a very literal sense. So... unless Mario is way more wine-happy than I think he is, he would definitely be involved in any trade with Sid or Geno.

 

[billybudd]

I just have to ask you guys, who know a lot more about hockey than I do, and who spend a lot more time thinking about it. When I look at the games, it really looks like the Pens have no "game plan" when it comes to breakouts and getting the puck from the own zone into the offensive zone. Our D mostly just turns back into the D-zone, making backward passes. The other team can dump the puck, go for a change, and still keep the puck in our zone. Watching Sid's line, he almost _never_ gets the puck when he cycles through the neutral zone. He just skates in circles, with speed, and nobody in the D appears to see him? If they do make a pass, it's usually to a winger who has no speed whatsoever, and hope for him to dump the puck. It's a bit less of a problem with Malkin, since he likes to carry the puck from the defensive zone by himself. Not only can we attack, but there are virtually no breakaways whatsoever anymore.

What is the problem? To me it appears that every single one of our D-men (except Letang and Depres) can't skate with the puck, can't think fast, and have absolution zero vision.

They have a game plan. The players just suck.

 

[Jag68Sid87]

coming through the NZ?

And if it's on Sid's tape (he's driving the middle), they likely have a 2-on-1 with speed?

That play?

I think so. I just remember the pass...one of the worst of the entire NHL season.

 

[ColePens]

I just have to ask you guys, who know a lot more about hockey than I do, and who spend a lot more time thinking about it. When I look at the games, it really looks like the Pens have no "game plan" when it comes to breakouts and getting the puck from the own zone into the offensive zone. Our D mostly just turns back into the D-zone, making backward passes. The other team can dump the puck, go for a change, and still keep the puck in our zone. Watching Sid's line, he almost _never_ gets the puck when he cycles through the neutral zone. He just skates in circles, with speed, and nobody in the D appears to see him? If they do make a pass, it's usually to a winger who has no speed whatsoever, and hope for him to dump the puck. It's a bit less of a problem with Malkin, since he likes to carry the puck from the defensive zone by himself. Not only can we attack, but there are virtually no breakaways whatsoever anymore.

What is the problem? To me it appears that every single one of our D-men (except Letang and Depres) can't skate with the puck, can't think fast, and have absolution zero vision.

The breakout isn't really the issue. It would get better with desperation and more guys who are hungry as opposed to *******s like Kunitz and Sutter. That's one adjustment MJ did through the season that opened it up a bit. We now use the weak side area pass off the boards and it's been getting our players into the zone. Heck.. even with speed. People forget how bad our stretch pass to nowhere actually was. The example is how the Flyers torched our neutral zone in years under DB. They just threw area passes to the left side.

The issue is the lack of overall hustle by the team. There is no desperation in battles. Countless times Kunitz, Sutter, and a few others couldn't win a damn battle and our playoff lives DID depend on it.

 

[ColePens]

By the by.. does anyone have the stats on the recent collapse? Like our record over the last couple months... how many leads we surrendered?

 

[Sideline]

By the by.. does anyone have the stats on the recent collapse? Like our record over the last couple months... how many leads we surrendered?

Since March 1st the Penguins are 6-11-3. The last time they beat a playoff team was March 6th against the Ducks. That point percentage over a whole season would put them as 3rd last in the league 2 points ahead of the Coyotes.

 

[Darth Vitale]

Pre-game Buffalo thread is up. Closing. Enjoy the last installment of ****-fest '14/'15!