Confirmed with Link: Penguins Sign Tom Sestito to PTO

[Honour Over Glory]

right, the Bruins are all about class

I think that was the last year Thornton played for the Bruins, he took off to Florida after or something, didn't he?

Sestito, if he earns a spot, he earns a spot. But he should earn it on the merit of being able to take a regular shift and carve out a niche as a pk type guy or something. If all he can do is fight, no, that's is going to sour real quick with people here, it has for a long time, we get a goon and after a few months, people want him gone because they realize that he takes a forward roster spot away from someone that could use it.

 

[Ogrezilla]

I think that was the last year Thornton played for the Bruins, he took off to Florida after or something, didn't he?

Sestito, if he earns a spot, he earns a spot. But he should earn it on the merit of being able to take a regular shift and carve out a niche as a pk type guy or something. If all he can do is fight, no, that's is going to sour real quick with people here, it has for a long time, we get a goon and after a few months, people want him gone because they realize that he takes a forward roster spot away from someone that could use it.

I don't want him anywhere near the team. I just think its funny to think the Bruins are going to control him more than philly.

 

[Ugene Magic]

It is simply overvaluing the 13th forward position here. A guy for the most part who is sitting in the owners box for 60 games.

That guy, is not contributing much of any significance with the depth of this team. It's actually stunting the guys most here feel Sestito would be blocking by merely not playing enough.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

I don't want him anywhere near the team. I just think its funny to think the Bruins are going to control him more than philly.

See my point is this - If he does something stupid, it'll likely be against the Habs. Pens are not the rival team here, with the Flyers you expect basically anyone to do something stupid to a Pens player because of the rivalry, we've seen it for decades now.

Bruins? I think that was just a misnomer, I don't remember anything else like that happening since Cooke was gone and I don't think Cooke was a Penguin when that happened as well. I can't remember, did Orpik lay anyone out with a big hit? I remember him being targeted in that game.

 

[Ugene Magic]

See my point is this - If he does something stupid, it'll likely be against the Habs. Pens are not the rival team here, with the Flyers you expect basically anyone to do something stupid to a Pens player because of the rivalry, we've seen it for decades now.

Bruins? I think that was just a misnomer, I don't remember anything else like that happening since Cooke was gone and I don't think Cooke was a Penguin when that happened as well. I can't remember, did Orpik lay anyone out with a big hit? I remember him being targeted in that game.

Orpik laid out Eriksson, who got a concussion from his head hitting the ice. Nothing Orpik did in that hit was a penalty or worth a suspension.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

Orpik laid out Eriksson, who got a concussion from his head hitting the ice. Nothing Orpik did in that hit was a penalty or worth a suspension.

Yeah, but I can see why they would do something stupid - Pens vs Bruins had some sting because of the Savard thing, but the Orpik hit really didn't add to the hate, if anything, I think it's died down altogether.

 

[Ogrezilla]

It is simply overvaluing the 13th forward position here. A guy for the most part who is sitting in the owners box for 60 games.

That guy, is not contributing much of any significance with the depth of this team. It's actually stunting the guys most here feel Sestito would be blocking by merely not playing enough.

well Fehr is out to start the year, so the 13th forward will be playing day 1. And personally, I'm hoping Cullen is the 13th when healthy. Granted, if it is Sestito as the 13th, we could call someone up to replace Fehr in the meantime. Anyway, I think Cullen would be a good 13th when healthy.

 

[Ogrezilla]

See my point is this - If he does something stupid, it'll likely be against the Habs. Pens are not the rival team here, with the Flyers you expect basically anyone to do something stupid to a Pens player because of the rivalry, we've seen it for decades now.

Bruins? I think that was just a misnomer, I don't remember anything else like that happening since Cooke was gone and I don't think Cooke was a Penguin when that happened as well. I can't remember, did Orpik lay anyone out with a big hit? I remember him being targeted in that game.

That was after Orpik hit Eriksson. Maybe the next time we played them. I'm not sure how the teams feel about each other, but it was definitely legit dislike not very long ago between Cooke on Savard, Orpik on Eriksson and Neal kneeing Marchand.

 

[Terrapin]

why can other sports get by without fighting but it would be so hard in hockey? Hockey is the only major pro sport that allows fighting, and it is also the sport with the most cheap shots. If someone slashes a guy with his stick away from the puck, give him a double minor every single time. If a guy punches someone in the head, give him a double minor every single time. He does it again, suspend him. There's no good reason a player should be able to use his stick as a weapon, even if its just a love tap. It has nothing to do with playing the game.

Most cheap shots? Have you ever watched a football game? Ever been at the bottom of a pile going for a fumble? lol. Players routinely have their seasons/careers ended by cheap shots (head shots, taking out someones knee, etc).

You ever watch baseball? Specifically the Pirates? McCutcheon gets beaned about 20 times a year. And it keeps happening until our pitcher drills their star player.

 

[Ogrezilla]

And if the players get caught intentionally doing those things, they get suspended in those leagues. Meanwhile, NHL players freely use their stick as a weapon. Staal was standing right in the middle of the play blatantly hitting the league's biggest star in the back of the neck with a stick. If that's another sport, he's out for a long while. In hockey, its a good tough hockey play. Can you just imagine an NFL linebacker walking up behind Brady after a play and just forearming him in the back of the neck? Or maybe on his way up to the plate a baseball player crosschecks Buster Posey in the back of the neck with his bat? They'd be out of the damn league.

Sure, its hard to see what's happening in a football pile. And its hard to judge intent with pitchers in baseball. But hockey players are allowed to blatantly attack one another all game long. So yes, hockey absolutely has the most cheapshots. Its really not close enough to even debate. Hit by 20 pitches a year? Sid takes 20 slashes, crosschecks or punches every week, if not most games. And guess what, every single time it happens, Cutch gets his free base. It is against a rule and its actually enforced. If we got a powerplay every time a ref saw someone hit Sid with his stick away from the puck, we'd have a powerplay all game long until teams learned that they can't keep doing it.

This play went unpunished in an NHL playoff game. That's really all that you need to see to understand the level of incompetence in NHL reffing and discipline. And notice he stayed on his feet because he is ready for it. That's how often this kind of **** happens. You don't stay on your feet from that if it surprises you.

 

[Black Label]

well Fehr is out to start the year, so the 13th forward will be playing day 1. And personally, I'm hoping Cullen is the 13th when healthy. Granted, if it is Sestito as the 13th, we could call someone up to replace Fehr in the meantime. Anyway, I think Cullen would be a good 13th when healthy.

Exactly. The guy is 38 anyway, he shouldn't be playing every game unless we really need him to. If he sits in the press box for 50 games it isn't going to "stunt his growth" because he really isn't going to grow into anything he isn't right now.

 

[Ogrezilla]

Exactly. The guy is 38 anyway, he shouldn't be playing every game unless we really need him to. If he sits in the press box for 50 games it isn't going to "stunt his growth" because he really isn't going to grow into anything he isn't right now.

and he's good enough to play when he does. But at the same time, if Sundqvist can't outplay him and earn a spot it probably means he could use the AHL time anyway. That's obviously assuming sitting Cullen is seen as an option. I hope it is, but I won't be holding my breath.

 

[steveg]

And if the players get caught intentionally doing those things, they get suspended in those leagues. Meanwhile, NHL players freely use their stick as a weapon. Staal was standing right in the middle of the play blatantly hitting the league's biggest star in the back of the neck with a stick. If that's another sport, he's out for a long while. In hockey, its a good tough hockey play. Can you just imagine an NFL linebacker walking up behind Brady after a play and just forearming him in the back of the neck? Or maybe on his way up to the plate a baseball player crosschecks Buster Posey in the back of the neck with his bat? They'd be out of the damn league.

Sure, its hard to see what's happening in a football pile. And its hard to judge intent with pitchers in baseball. But hockey players are allowed to blatantly attack one another all game long. So yes, hockey absolutely has the most cheapshots. Its really not close enough to even debate. Hit by 20 pitches a year? Sid takes 20 slashes, crosschecks or punches every week, if not most games. And guess what, every single time it happens, Cutch gets his free base. It is against a rule and its actually enforced. If we got a powerplay every time a ref saw someone hit Sid with his stick away from the puck, we'd have a powerplay all game long until teams learned that they can't keep doing it.

This play went unpunished in an NHL playoff game. That's really all that you need to see to understand the level of incompetence in NHL reffing and discipline. And notice he stayed on his feet because he is ready for it. That's how often this kind of **** happens. You don't stay on your feet from that if it surprises you.

And, to say it just once more, not ONLY did this play go unpunished ON the ice, the league actually looked at it AFTER the fact, in the gory detail of slow-mo, and yet still didn't see it as worthy of any form of discipline. You can only conclude from that, that those within the league who reviewed this play simply did not feel it "crossed any lines," so as to require discipline.

Crosby was braced/ready for that shot, as Ogre said. He kept his feet, and was also fortunately uninjured. What's frustrating is that had he gone straight down, face first, like a ton of bricks, and sustained an injury, that very same play would have been disciplined. And that's the backward nature of the league -- as long as a play does not result in injury, it's legal, most times. What kind of stupidity is it, to say that unless you cause bodily injury to a player, any action you take is A-OK. I guess the league doesn't discern the difference between preventative, and punitive; I don't believe the league will garner any more respect for itself from amongst the barely-fans and non-fans, until it absolutely exorcises this crap from the game, and allows the stars to shine as stars...

One more thing...

It makes me absolutely furious that the league permits the game to be played this way (where stars are incessantly slashed/hooked/cross-checked/held/impeded/clutched/grabbed, and any other manner of idiocy), and yet, when these geniuses witness the (inevitable) cratering in scoring statistics, and thus convene to "figure out how to solve the problem," that instead of the obvious, simple solution (i.e. instruct the referees to ENFORCE THE RULEBOOK), they somehow -- in all their collective wisdom -- conclude things like "perhaps we need to make the nets bigger..." Are you KIDDING me??? Utterly incompetent morons, they must be...

 

[Ogrezilla]

its easily the worst run of the 4 NA pro leagues, and deserves to be in last place as it is.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

its easily the worst run of the 4 NA pro leagues, and deserves to be in last place as it is.

To be honest, I'm not even sure what the officials are attempting to achieve with the way they call the game. It's not making the game more exciting, it's not "letting the players decide the outcome" because they're actually hampering the good players' ability to decide the outcome.

NHL referees seem like petulant children who seem to act out against the star players rather than actually enforcing the rules to make the game as good as it's meant to be. I've never seen a collection of more cocky, vindictive set of officials in pro sports.

 

[Speaking Moistly]

To be honest, I'm not even sure what the officials are attempting to achieve with the way they call the game. It's not making the game more exciting, it's not "letting the players decide the outcome" because they're actually hampering the good players' ability to decide the outcome.

NHL referees seem like petulant children who seem to act out against the star players rather than actually enforcing the rules to make the game as good as it's meant to be. I've never seen a collection of more cocky, vindictive set of officials in pro sports.

Parity and secondly not pissing off fan bases with calls? The refs need to be culled, though, look over their work and either get rid of or "reeducate" the bad ones. The league needs a complete overhaul, the refs, the refs' bosses and player safety. Give me a year of unlimited power and I'd have it sorted... and world domination. Everything needs to constantly be reviewed and improved on, not stagnate in stupidity.

The Staal thing was what will probably be a defining moment in the future where we look back at it being a sign of the problem that went checked until a disaster happened or a reason they were eventually forced to deal with it. lbr, this ends in an avoidable disaster.

 

[Ogrezilla]

get the refs and players to stop talking so much. Talk about what needs to be talked about and nothing else. The refs are talking with the players on their level, right in with the trash talk. Then they get to feel like they are a part of the game.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

Parity and secondly not pissing off fan bases with calls? The refs need to be culled, though, look over their work and either get rid of or "reeducate" the bad ones. The league needs a complete overhaul, the refs, the refs' bosses and player safety. Give me a year of unlimited power and I'd have it sorted... and world domination. Everything needs to constantly be reviewed and improved on, not stagnate in stupidity.

The Staal thing was what will probably be a defining moment in the future where we look back at it being a sign of the problem that went checked until a disaster happened or a reason they were eventually forced to deal with it. lbr, this ends in an avoidable disaster.

Letting the Staal crosschecks go was the perfect example of incompetence by the officials. Instead of giving him a penalty (even just a 2-minute minor), they let it go and risk the following happening: a]Sid gets hurt, b]Sid has enough and turns around and swipes his stick at Staal, breaking his wrist or ankle, or c]The Pens have enough and send someone next shift to Bertuzzi Staal. All three perceivable negative outcomes could have been avoided if the referees just did their ****ing job.

 

[billybudd]

its easily the worst run of the 4 NA pro leagues, and deserves to be in last place as it is.

Eh. That's arguable. NFL and NBA are clearly 1 and 2, but baseball's economics are weird and the Umpires get way too much wrong considering that it's by far the easiest sport to officiate.

Don't get me wrong, NHL gets in its own way a ton, but MLB has a lot of self-inflicted wounds as well.

 

[Speaking Moistly]

Letting the Staal crosschecks go was the perfect example of incompetence by the officials. Instead of giving him a penalty (even just a 2-minute minor), they let it go and risk the following happening: a]Sid gets hurt, b]Sid has enough and turns around and swipes his stick at Staal, breaking his wrist or ankle, or c]The Pens have enough and send someone next shift to Bertuzzi Staal. All three perceivable negative outcomes could have been avoided if the referees just did their ****ing job.

Yeah, the way I see it they're playing with fire here. It ends a few ways, a player being messed with snaps and seriously injures the player doing it, the player doing it seriously injures the victim, or someone takes revenge and the offender or a teammate gets seriously injured. The dirty **** is going to end really ugly one day, worse than it has so far, and everyone will be able to look at it and say the league failed to prevent it. Just have the ****ing refs do their jobs and come down hard on safety issues.

 

[Terrapin]

And, to say it just once more, not ONLY did this play go unpunished ON the ice, the league actually looked at it AFTER the fact, in the gory detail of slow-mo, and yet still didn't see it as worthy of any form of discipline. You can only conclude from that, that those within the league who reviewed this play simply did not feel it "crossed any lines," so as to require discipline.

Crosby was braced/ready for that shot, as Ogre said. He kept his feet, and was also fortunately uninjured. What's frustrating is that had he gone straight down, face first, like a ton of bricks, and sustained an injury, that very same play would have been disciplined. And that's the backward nature of the league -- as long as a play does not result in injury, it's legal, most times. What kind of stupidity is it, to say that unless you cause bodily injury to a player, any action you take is A-OK. I guess the league doesn't discern the difference between preventative, and punitive; I don't believe the league will garner any more respect for itself from amongst the barely-fans and non-fans, until it absolutely exorcises this crap from the game, and allows the stars to shine as stars...

One more thing...

It makes me absolutely furious that the league permits the game to be played this way (where stars are incessantly slashed/hooked/cross-checked/held/impeded/clutched/grabbed, and any other manner of idiocy), and yet, when these geniuses witness the (inevitable) cratering in scoring statistics, and thus convene to "figure out how to solve the problem," that instead of the obvious, simple solution (i.e. instruct the referees to ENFORCE THE RULEBOOK), they somehow -- in all their collective wisdom -- conclude things like "perhaps we need to make the nets bigger..." Are you KIDDING me??? Utterly incompetent morons, they must be...

Completely agree. But the argument here is, some people say there is absolutely nothing to prevent that stuff (and I don't completely disagree), and others say that going after those guys, being the aggressors, etc may help deter it.

Look, we can all agree it's a poorly officiated league. So do we just want to constantly turn the other cheek, ignore the rough stuff, etc, or actually deal with it (let alone, excel in it)? Fact is, the league ain't changing, at least anytime soon. Why anyone wouldn't want to 'fight fire with fire' is absolutely beyond me.

 

[Ogrezilla]

we are all fine with adding tough hockey players. We are just against adding guys who are terrible at hockey for the sake of fighting. That's what Sestito is.

 

[WayneSid9987]

I don't see anything wrong with Sestito being a PL3 replacement.
I wouldn't sign him to a 2-way though, if he has a poor showing in camp/pre-season games. ie. a step behind the play.

I'd like to have the option to call up a Sestito(big hammer) or a Farnham(little devil), not just Farnham.

 

[Ogrezilla]

I don't see anything wrong with Sestito being a PL3 replacement.
I wouldn't sign him to a 2-way though, if he has a poor showing in camp/pre-season games. ie. a step behind the play.

I'd like to have the option to call up a Sestito(big hammer) or a Farnham(little devil), not just Farnham.

I don't have a problem with Sestito in the AHL either. Again, my only concern is that he may end up on the NHL team purely because he can fight.

 

[lastcupever75]

The last few years, Sid had to fight Dubinsky, Geno stepped in to fight Phaneuf. Everytime we play a big metro team lately they just take runs at our skill guys with impunity. Sestito would step up and make someone pay for taking runs and perhaps that curbs it a little bit. And if it doesn't, so what. Atleast the ones taking runs know they're gonna get punched in the face for doing it and thats the part i like more than it being a possible detterent. And it also means, the Sid's and Geno's won't have to be doing the punching. That part, i also like.

.

correct.

there is no reason we should see them 2 fighting. don't need an injury to either one when we can have some 4th line plug do it and accomplish the same