GDT: Olympic Thread - The Pens Board Divided!

[Shockmaster]

So if Bylsma matches lines against Russia tomorrow, is it because he's finally wised up, or is it because Peter Laviolette and Todd Richards forced him into it?

 

[Captain Hook]

Sid has been feeding his line mates quality chances consistently in spite of being double teamed, hooked, held, punched, etc. They need to capitalize on them.

I agree. Sid is creating good chances for his linemates. He just hasn't been as dominate as he's capable of being. I think that's why some people are getting on him. He's just held to a different standard than the rest because he's probably the best in the world. They haven't found him the right linemates. Figures Carter would go off for a hat trick today after not being able to finish anything for Sid the other day.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

Its Austria and Norway, those teams have very few NHL players, and Sid is getting top pp time, there is no reason for Crosby not to score against those teams, Carter had a hat trick today, St Louis won the scoring title last year, even if you wanna say Kunitz is played bad(which he is) he should still be able to put up points against Norway and Austria.

Remember in Vancouver people blamed Sid's line mates, you can't keep on blaming his line mates, eventually you gotta blame Sid.


Crosby and Kunitz(unless hes benched) still have lots of hockey left to play better, but there first 2 games have been bad.

Again, did you actually WATCH the Canada games or just see the boxscore. I'm honestly curious, because there is no way you can come to the conclusion Crosby's game has been bad. Even the Olympic game threads, where Crosby haters come out of the wood work, mostly acknowledge Crosby has been good.

 

[Captain Hook]

please dont trade maatta, please dont trade maatta, please dont trade maatta.

You think its working? or will he still get shiped for a rental like Vanek or something?

Shero has never traded a young thriving NHL player like Maatta for a rental. He traded a flawed prospect in Joe Morrow that this board way overrated. I was guilty of it too. We all thought Morrow was our #1 prospect but it turned out the Pens didn't think he was anywhere near their #1 prospect. They thought Maatta and numerous others were better and so far the Pens brass is right about that. The value of Morrow for Morrow still sucked but that's the ridiculous price of rentals at the deadline these days. Keep that in mind if Shero decides to stand pat this year.

 

[Will Hunting]

Yeah, Sid is fine. Kunitz is even worse than I expected, though. He just can´t handle the easiest passes & pucks. His last pre-olympic games for the Pens were the same, his starts to the season were the same. He has the awful periods like this, timing is unfortunate, but we shouldn´t be THAT surprised. It´s Chris Kunitz. Neal is much better.

 

[Shady Machine]

Again, did you actually WATCH the Canada games or just see the boxscore. I'm honestly curious, because there is no way you can come to the conclusion Crosby's game has been bad. Even the Olympic game threads, where Crosby haters come out of the wood work, mostly acknowledge Crosby has been good.

I actually watched both games (didn't see all of the 3rd today) and Crosby has been decent. It's true that he has set up his teammates for severl prime chances but I don't see any fire in him. It looks like he's half assing it honestly. Maybe he is saving his best for the games that matter, but I wanted to see him dominate this competition. In fairness to him, both Austria and Norway just hang back and pack the middle of the ice. There's not a lot of room in prime real estate and Kunitz has been a detriment to that line.

 

[Waffle Fries]

Its Austria and Norway, those teams have very few NHL players, and Sid is getting top pp time, there is no reason for Crosby not to score against those teams, Carter had a hat trick today, St Louis won the scoring title last year, even if you wanna say Kunitz is played bad(which he is) he should still be able to put up points against Norway and Austria.

Remember in Vancouver people blamed Sid's line mates, you can't keep on blaming his line mates, eventually you gotta blame Sid.


Crosby and Kunitz(unless hes benched) still have lots of hockey left to play better, but there first 2 games have been bad.

Sid's looked very good in both games. He's been one of the better forwards for Canada. Kunitz has been terrible (and he's been terrible for a few weeks now). If Sid's linemates can't score when they are consistently set up for point blank chances, that's not his fault.

Again, did you actually WATCH the Canada games or just see the boxscore. I'm honestly curious, because there is no way you can come to the conclusion Crosby's game has been bad. Even the Olympic game threads, where Crosby haters come out of the wood work, mostly acknowledge Crosby has been good.

My favorite comment was from a Flyers fan who said that Crosby really is the best in the world if he has to play with Kunitz all the time because it's like playing with a man down

If only everyone saw Dupuis and Kobasew.

 

[HuskerTornado]

lol, I can't help but still love the guy.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

I actually watched both games (didn't see all of the 3rd today) and Crosby has been decent. It's true that he has set up his teammates for severl prime chances but I don't see any fire in him. It looks like he's half assing it honestly. Maybe he is saving his best for the games that matter, but I wanted to see him dominate this competition. In fairness to him, both Austria and Norway just hang back and pack the middle of the ice. There's not a lot of room in prime real estate and Kunitz has been a detriment to that line.

It's one thing to expect a bit more out of Sid, but the guy I quoted said he'd had two bad games. It was like he was inferring that Crosby's been as bad as Kunitz, so it's not fair to blame Kunitz for being horrible.

Which is blatantly incorrect for anyone who has watched the games. Nobody in their right mind would call either of Crosby's games thus far "bad". On the other hand, nobody who isn't a Pens homer can watch both games and still argue in defense of Kunitz.

That's my issue. Sure, Sid can be better. But he's been fine. Kunitz, on the other hand, has looked completely out of his element.

 

[penguins2946*]

The Pens organization has done many things that infuriated me in the past. Signing TK instead of Jagr, trading Morrow for Morrow and our 1st for Iginla (my problem was trading for both, either one or the other), signing Scuderi instead of retaining Cooke, signing Eaton and stuff like that. Trading Maatta would make me madder than all of those things combined.

I would put him as the 4th most untouchable Penguin, behind Sid, Geno and Neal. Trading him right now rivals Milbury levels of stupidity.

 

[PensFanSince1989]

Just because Crosby isn't scoring 2 points/game doesn't mean he's 'half-assing' it, or not trying. Some people have unrealistic expectations on him.

He's been pretty damn good for the first 2 games, and that's even ignoring the anchor of Kunitz, and in the first game, Kunitz and Carter. He's winning board battles down low, has had some huge setups, made some great passes and has back checked like a machine. The points will come if he keeps playing like this.

But Kunitz really has been terrible.

 

[cheesedanish87]

Again, did you actually WATCH the Canada games or just see the boxscore. I'm honestly curious, because there is no way you can come to the conclusion Crosby's game has been bad. Even the Olympic game threads, where Crosby haters come out of the wood work, mostly acknowledge Crosby has been good.

Yes i'v watched both games, iv seen Sid make some nice passes to Carter, some nice passes to his def for chances, a couple nice passes to St. Louis, but how many of those chances were grade A chances? only one that comes to my mind was the Carter one when he was wide open in the slot, how many great scoring chances has Sid created for himself? i can't remember any grade a scoring chances Sid has had.

Sid isn't playing with Kobasew and Glass anymore, and he isn't playing against NHL players, you gotta do better then 1 assist in 2 games against those teams. you can't just keep on blaming Sid's line mates every game he doesn't score.

 

[Shady Machine]

Sid's looked very good in both games. He's been one of the better forwards for Canada. Kunitz has been terrible (and he's been terrible for a few weeks now). If Sid's linemates can't score when they are consistently set up for point blank chances, that's not his fault.

We clearly have a different opinion of a very good game for Sid. He's been fine, but not very good by his standards.

 

[Shady Machine]

lol, I can't help but still love the guy.

That's hilarious.

 

[IcedCapp]

Shero has never traded a young thriving NHL player like Maatta for a rental. He traded a flawed prospect in Joe Morrow that this board way overrated. I was guilty of it too. We all thought Morrow was our #1 prospect but it turned out the Pens didn't think he was anywhere near their #1 prospect. They thought Maatta and numerous others were better and so far the Pens brass is right about that. The value of Morrow for Morrow still sucked but that's the ridiculous price of rentals at the deadline these days. Keep that in mind if Shero decides to stand pat this year.

If I have 14 Lamborghinis, it doesn't mean it was smart of me to sell my BMW for 50 cents.

 

[IcedCapp]

We clearly have a different opinion of a very good game for Sid. He's been fine, but not very good by his standards.

I strongly, strongly disagree with the "half-assing it" notion. Like, so strongly that I might drive to your house and smash your mailbox with a baseball bat.

 

[Shady Machine]

Just because Crosby isn't scoring 2 points/game doesn't mean he's 'half-assing' it, or not trying. Some people have unrealistic expectations on him.

He's been pretty damn good for the first 2 games, and that's even ignoring the anchor of Kunitz, and in the first game, Kunitz and Carter. He's winning board battles down low, has had some huge setups, made some great passes and has back checked like a machine. The points will come if he keeps playing like this.

But Kunitz really has been terrible.

See this is my issue. You think Crosby has been "pretty damn good"? In comparison to who? He's not playing bad, but if his performance thus far is pretty damn good, then we just won't agree on anything with regards to Sid.

 

[Shady Machine]

I strongly, strongly disagree with the "half-assing it" notion. Like, so strongly that I might drive to your house and smash your mailbox with a baseball bat.

Come at me


EDIT: I'll concede the half assing it comment if we can be friends.

 

[Waffle Fries]

Sid isn't playing with Kobasew and Glass anymore, and he isn't playing against NHL players, you gotta do better then 1 assist in 2 games against those teams. you can't just keep on blaming Sid's line mates every game he doesn't score.

And just because he didn't score doesn't mean he played poorly.

We clearly have a different opinion of a very good game for Sid. He's been fine, but not very good by his standards.

I guess so. I don't really see what you're seeing with the 'half assing' play either. He's been creating offense, winning board battles and playing hard.

Sometimes I think that Crosby will never live up to the standards that people set for him, and therefore people will always be disappointed with his play even when he looks good.

 

[Wes C Addle]

Looks to me like Sid has played about the same as he did coming into the Olympics, maybe slightly better. You could see some chemistry at times with him and St. Louis. I still think he's passing too much, especially those cross-ice ones.

Stoked for this weekend. USA/RUS and CAN/FIN. Can't wait

 

[IcedCapp]

Come at me


EDIT: I'll concede the half assing it comment if we can be friends.

Deal

 

[Shady Machine]

I'll admit that some of my harsh criticism (which honestly hasn't been that harsh, half assing it comment aside) is because I want him to play like the best player in the world. I don't think he's been Canada's best player through 2 games. Maybe that's an unfair expectation.

 

[Crafton]

If I have 14 Lamborghinis, it doesn't mean it was smart of me to sell my BMW for 50 cents.

i did not infer Captain Hook's post as an endorsement of the Morrow deal - is that what you read? your response seems to indicate that.

 

[xxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Sid's definitely been off, but a few flubbed chances by linemates gone differently and he has like 4 assists. Kunitz and Carter were dogging it in the first game, and Kunitz was even worse in the second. Add to that a couple of golden opportunities to score himself, whether it be deflections hitting posts or missed chances on the rush, and he's had a shot at getting a few goals, too.

He's not converting, and his linemates haven't played well. He's playing alright--not Sid-like--but nothing to really be upset about. I think we'd all like to see him light it up for a bunch of points from here on out, though.

 

[mpp9]

Starting the weekend off right. Taking the lady out tonight. Waking up to watch the USA-RUS game at Carson City Saloon. Beer and Breakfast.