Tender Rip
Wears long pants
So, in the spirit of accommodating the many Pens fans who - not without reason - find the discussions on this forum far too negative for where we are at, here's an attempt at looking at the bright side.
You will notice that this hardened, multi-year Bylsma-critic will simply eschew that topic in the following.
1: We are 4-1-0 on the young season without even once having any of the top two lines go like they should be capable of.
2: We are 4-1-0 while playing without our Norris contending nr.1 D-man as well as being deprived of our best winger, a 40 goal All Star.
3: Our only loss so far was when we played our backup, who had a lousy first NHL game while our PK took a night off and key players such as 87 and 44 were horrible.
4: Our captain has played two very poor games by his standard out of five, has seen both his wingers play way below par.... yet leads the NHL in points.
5: Our other super star has been deprived of his number 1 side kick, has seen a revolving door on his wings, had his minutes and role mishandled greatly, and while being snake bitten, has gotten to a PPG average while showing steady improvement in one of his past weaknesses (faceoffs) and has had only one game where anyone could accuse him of playing less than great defensively.
6: On defense the number 5 D-man most here wants to trade (me too, certainly) in order to find a hard nosed forward/cap space, has five points in five games and leads the team with +7. Seems like he should be a decent trade pawn.... The other D-man we could desire to trade is our number 4 arguably, despite being 2nd in ice time among our D-men and leading us in both hits and blocked shots, as per usual. With his resume and style, most likely a good trade pawn also.
7: We have gotten our results and offense so far without having sorted out our offensive zone entries and getting barely any cycling of the puck outside of short bursts.
8: Our much (justly) maligned number 1 goalie has looked very good and can hardly be deemed culpable on any one goal he has allowed in his four starts so far, all wins.
9: We are yet to actually unleash any of our best and most 'prime time ready' youngsters in Beau Bennett and Simon Despres.
10: Kunitz and Dupuis can hardly play much worse than they are.
11: Our biggest duds, Gladams, have actually looked more than NHL worthy so far - indeed they have been key contributors.
12: Previously underused players such as Vitale and Jeffrey have both largely been used right, and now even gets to showcase the PK ability we all knew they had.
13: Outside of two, maybe three teams in the league, every other GM and coach would look at our roster with naked envy.
So, it is a long season ahead. We have the foundation for success and the assets with which to adjust/upgrade our lineup in the areas where it would be useful now AND long term. Personally I think it SHOULD be extremely possible for a competent GM, which despite a few misgivings I believe we have, to re-tool slightly with significant resulting benefits.
Next time we get an indication if the club has an inkling which direction it should be going in will be upon us shortly with the returns of Letang and Neal causing some decisions to be made roster wise.
NB: My moratorium on (rabid) Disco criticism ends with October.
You will notice that this hardened, multi-year Bylsma-critic will simply eschew that topic in the following.
1: We are 4-1-0 on the young season without even once having any of the top two lines go like they should be capable of.
2: We are 4-1-0 while playing without our Norris contending nr.1 D-man as well as being deprived of our best winger, a 40 goal All Star.
3: Our only loss so far was when we played our backup, who had a lousy first NHL game while our PK took a night off and key players such as 87 and 44 were horrible.
4: Our captain has played two very poor games by his standard out of five, has seen both his wingers play way below par.... yet leads the NHL in points.
5: Our other super star has been deprived of his number 1 side kick, has seen a revolving door on his wings, had his minutes and role mishandled greatly, and while being snake bitten, has gotten to a PPG average while showing steady improvement in one of his past weaknesses (faceoffs) and has had only one game where anyone could accuse him of playing less than great defensively.
6: On defense the number 5 D-man most here wants to trade (me too, certainly) in order to find a hard nosed forward/cap space, has five points in five games and leads the team with +7. Seems like he should be a decent trade pawn.... The other D-man we could desire to trade is our number 4 arguably, despite being 2nd in ice time among our D-men and leading us in both hits and blocked shots, as per usual. With his resume and style, most likely a good trade pawn also.
7: We have gotten our results and offense so far without having sorted out our offensive zone entries and getting barely any cycling of the puck outside of short bursts.
8: Our much (justly) maligned number 1 goalie has looked very good and can hardly be deemed culpable on any one goal he has allowed in his four starts so far, all wins.
9: We are yet to actually unleash any of our best and most 'prime time ready' youngsters in Beau Bennett and Simon Despres.
10: Kunitz and Dupuis can hardly play much worse than they are.
11: Our biggest duds, Gladams, have actually looked more than NHL worthy so far - indeed they have been key contributors.
12: Previously underused players such as Vitale and Jeffrey have both largely been used right, and now even gets to showcase the PK ability we all knew they had.
13: Outside of two, maybe three teams in the league, every other GM and coach would look at our roster with naked envy.
So, it is a long season ahead. We have the foundation for success and the assets with which to adjust/upgrade our lineup in the areas where it would be useful now AND long term. Personally I think it SHOULD be extremely possible for a competent GM, which despite a few misgivings I believe we have, to re-tool slightly with significant resulting benefits.
Next time we get an indication if the club has an inkling which direction it should be going in will be upon us shortly with the returns of Letang and Neal causing some decisions to be made roster wise.
NB: My moratorium on (rabid) Disco criticism ends with October.