Post-Game Talk: Pens 5, Habs 2 - Pens Clinch a Playoff Birth

[Honour Over Glory]

So how sure are some of you that the Pens are just loafing through these games, not exerting themselves or really trying all that hard because they don’t have to?
So the mental mistakes and defensive breakdowns are just the result of them taking it easy till the end of the year? We know this for sure?

This team has so much confidence that they know they can flip that switch whenever they want to?

Trust me, I want to believe that but pardon me if I am a bit leery about that being the case...

IF and that's a big IF that is what the team is doing, you have 2yrs of proof that they can "turn that switch on" when the playoff starts. I think if that is what they are doing, then it's safe to say they have enough of a track record there to trust them.

But then, you're banking on that being the reason they are so lazy in some games.

 

[LOGiK]

Again, you use hyperbole. Amazing! You just don't get it. I never said Cole was great, I said such a player is necessary. You can't seem to differentiate between the two. But when Letang is on the PK late in a tie playoff game, and attempts to block a shot or man someone off the puck, just remember what you're saying here. lol

Maybe you want to throw out some false stats about our PK from last year to promote your misguided narrative?

nevermind

 

[Honour Over Glory]

Again, you use hyperbole. Amazing! You just don't get it. I never said Cole was great, I said such a player is necessary. You can't seem to differentiate between the two. But when Letang is on the PK late in a tie playoff game, and attempts to block a shot or man someone off the puck, just remember what you're saying here. lol

Maybe you want to throw out some false stats about our PK from last year to promote your misguided narrative?

Essentially we've replaced Cole with a behemoth in Oleksiak and Ruhwedel is playing like a regular again. Yeah we miss the rugged shot blocking warrior, but who's to say Oleksiak doesn't emerge there, or someone else starts to block more shots and another player picks up the warrior slack (again, Oleksiak can handle the rough stuff a f***-tonne better than Cole could, blocking shots? Are we blocking them any less?).

 

[Ryder71]

Or you know, Murray goes on a tear like he has two Cups in a row and our forward depth carries us like they have two Cups in a row.

I'm not worried about MM that much. The reason? Because if we play like we are currently in front of him, it doesn't much matter who's in goal. How many breakaways can we expect him to stop a night?

 

[Honour Over Glory]

Riley Sheahan's come a long way this year. Good stuff. Interested to see where that goes in the future. I really liked the potential of this player when he was a rook.

Yeah man, 30pts.

Imagine that.

Remember when we had that poster that said Sheahan was crap and we needed a 30pt C for our 3rd line?

Good times those were, good times.

 

[Ryder71]

Essentially we've replaced Cole with a behemoth in Oleksiak and Ruhwedel is playing like a regular again. Yeah we miss the rugged shot blocking warrior, but who's to say Oleksiak doesn't emerge there, or someone else starts to block more shots and another player picks up the warrior slack (again, Oleksiak can handle the rough stuff a ****-tonne better than Cole could, blocking shots? Are we blocking them any less?).

Oleksiak hasn't looked as effective as he did with Cole. That's rather obvious. I'm not suggesting he's playing bad, but he's been less effective since. And the difference is Oleksiak is not a proven commodity in the post season here, Cole was. I'm not saying he can't be effective, I'm just saying it remains to be seen.

 

[LOGiK]

I'm not worried about MM that much. The reason? Because if we play like we are currently in front of him, it doesn't much matter who's in goal. How many breakaways can we expect him to stop a night?

Well hey, if Penguins kept the same team from 2016 is there a dispute anyone can compete with that? Unfortunately people have to get paid and move on.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

Oleksiak hasn't looked as effective as he did with Cole. That's rather obvious. I'm not suggesting he's playing bad, but he's been less effective since. And the difference is Oleksiak is not a proven commodity in the post season here, Cole was. I'm not saying he can't be effective, I'm just saying it remains to be seen.

Remember when Cole didn't have that experience and was given the opportunity to prove himself?

Remember that?

 

[Ryder71]

Remember when Cole didn't have that experience and was given the opportunity to prove himself?

Remember that?

We're on the other side of that now, because we know what he's done since. We still have to see about Oleksiak. And that's the truth. We don't know yet.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

Well hey, if Penguins kept the same team from 2016 is there a dispute anyone can compete with that? Unfortunately people have to get paid and move on.

Apparently...

We were better with:

Hainsey - Who people complained about incessantly.
Ruhwedel
Cole
Schultz
Maatta
Dumoulin
Daley - A not as effective version of the previous year
Streit - For moral support from the press box.

vs

Letang - Jekyll & Hyde
Dumoulin
Maatta
Schultz
Oleksiak
Ruhwedel
Hunwick - doing the short triangle orange slices vs the long ones are a huge help during intermissions.

It's not so much of who we have, it's how they've been used. Letang needs to play less, some of the pairings need to be adjusted. It's a fixable problem that the team hasn't fixed and it hasn't required anyone being moved or otherwise, Hunwick being benched was the best they've been able to do with starting to fix the D with who they have already on the roster that they need.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

We're on the other side of that now, because we know what he's done since. We still have to see about Oleksiak. And that's the truth. We don't know yet.

Again, what do you want to whine about?

Not having Brassard and having Cole because that is how that needed to be done?
Or
Losing Cole to have Brassard?

Because lord strike me down now, I am f***ing sick of you whining about one or the other, we got one, we lost the other, do you just need a cause to like shit all over or what?

 

[LOGiK]

Apparently...

We were better with:

Hainsey - Who people complained about incessantly.
Ruhwedel
Cole
Schultz
Maatta
Dumoulin
Daley - A not as effective version of the previous year
Streit - For moral support from the press box.

vs

Letang - Jekyll & Hyde
Dumoulin
Maatta
Schultz
Oleksiak
Ruhwedel
Hunwick - doing the short triangle orange slices vs the long ones are a huge help during intermissions.

It's not so much of who we have, it's how they've been used. Letang needs to play less, some of the pairings need to be adjusted. It's a fixable problem that the team hasn't fixed and it hasn't required anyone being moved or otherwise, Hunwick being benched was the best they've been able to do with starting to fix the D with who they have already on the roster that they need.

Yes yes and yes.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

And btw, Ian Cole really didn't emerge until the 2016-17 season when he was paired with Schultz and was just a damn solid anchor as the #4 on the defense. I see a lot in Jamie Oleksiak that makes me think we have a much much better player there that JR would be smart to lock up for a few years right now at a good cap hit and avoid a similar situation down the line.

I liked Cole, a lot, not the EDC loving Shoe hoarding son of a gun here, but the Defenseman. JK I like you too Cole. The guy was built like a tank, funny, good team mate, just a flat out awesome player. But Sullivan had a spat with him, which yeah irks me to no end, and he was an impending UFA that the Senators likely wanted so they can maximize their picks after blowing some for Duchene. It is, what it is.

It's not like we lost Cole and had nothing physical to replace him. Cole was in a worse situation than Oleksiak when he was with the Blues. Oleksiak has been better quicker than Cole was when we got him.

That's promising to me, people put so much god damn weight in that loss, it's ridiculous. It's like we lost a perennial Norris Trophy finalist.

 

[Ryder71]

Again, what do you want to whine about?

Not having Brassard and having Cole because that is how that needed to be done?
Or
Losing Cole to have Brassard?

Because lord strike me down now, I am ****ing sick of you whining about one or the other, we got one, we lost the other, do you just need a cause to like **** all over or what?

Are you sick of me whining? Well put me on ignore, I could not care less.

Honestly, you don't have to agree with me. I truly don't give a crap about none of that. I'm entitled to my perspective as are you. If you and others here think this defense is satisfactory, you'll find out the hard way. It's fine by me.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

Are you sick of me whining? Well put me on ignore, I could not care less.

Honestly, you don't have to agree with me. I truly don't give a crap about none of that. I'm entitled to my perspective as are you. If you and others here think this defense is satisfactory, you'll find out the hard way. It's fine by me.

If we lose and there's a good possibility we will, it won't be because of who we have, it'll be because of how they were used.

Simple as that.

This year, there's been a ton of issues that have to do with the coaching staff and the players responding to certain things. But who we have right now, that is sure as shit not the problem.

 

[Ryder71]

If we lose and there's a good possibility we will, it won't be because of who we have, it'll be because of how they were used.

Simple as that.

This year, there's been a ton of issues that have to do with the coaching staff and the players responding to certain things. But who we have right now, that is sure as **** not the problem.

Well, we can agree to disagree there. Let's just hope they play to their abilities and let the chips fall where they may.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

Remember when we had a shitty coach that was ruining our team and then he was fired, a new coach was brought in, a few players were changed up but mostly, the core was the same?

Why did that work gang busters? Because that coach was able to look at the roster and say "well shit, let's do this instead because that makes more sense with the guys I have." Well we stopped being like that and have been more like "Nah, I want to do this because I think this should work." We don't need a new coach, we need our coach to realize he needs to get over his ideas that he feels should work and do what does work and that takes a hard step back and seeing the overall picture.

This team has the roster to win it all. The problem isn't the roster. The problem is more with how it is being used, how they are being motivated, and how they are being held accountable.

All season long, Letang has been struggling heavily, struggling has been the most consistent thing he's done this year than he's ever done anything consistent in his entire NHL career. It's been that bad. Yet he's still playing like he's one of the best in the league. The coach has even talked about limiting his minutes and that he might not like it and then didn't. What message does that say?

Imagine your boss telling you "yeah we can do it your way, yeah of course!" and then they don't at all and you're like ok cool, so your word means shit.

 

[LOGiK]

Well, we can agree to disagree there. Let's just hope they play to their abilities and let the chips fall where they may.

Where you hail from, I can't get past your philly phantom like sig.

 

[EightyOne]

Just reviewing footage. Murray looked bigger in net than he had recently. Maybe the confidence is building. Seemed more in control of loose pucks/rebounds too. Over the last few weeks he had seemed a bit off on angles, too low, and too deep in net at times.

 

[PensPlz]

It will never actually be known if Cole will make a difference in the long run of the playoffs, but I do know I would much rather have him here than not. And at the cost of a third? Geez. We've given much more for less.

 

[NeedleInTheHay]

The Kessel injury really puts a damper on the victory. If he’s badly injured, they’re out in the first round.

Hunwick looked really good which is encouraging, same for Sheary.

 

[Tom Hanks]

I just went straight of NHLs stat page (had it slightly wrong the first time)

How the NHL did it was a little misleading. They counted overlapping penalties which looks like it’s s full two minutes when in reality they were 10-20 second kills. Makes the PK% more flattering.

 

[EightyOne]

The Kessel injury really puts a damper on the victory. If he’s badly injured, they’re out in the first round.

Hunwick looked really good which is encouraging, same for Sheary.

Kessel needs to let the consecutive played streak go. He is top 10 as is. He could use a week off even if the injury isnt bad. He is clearly nursing something the last 3 weeks already.

And no, we arent sunk if he misses some playoffs. It would be great to have him and it leaves us without much of a backup plan if 87/71 also get hurt.

 

[Ryder71]

Where you hail from, I can't get past your philly phantom like sig.

I live in a van down by the river.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

Kessel needs to let the consecutive played streak go. He is top 10 as is. He could use a week off even if the injury isnt bad. He is clearly nursing something the last 3 weeks already.

And no, we arent sunk if he misses some playoffs. It would be great to have him and it leaves us without much of a backup plan if 87/71 also get hurt.

He's changed from the ballpark hot dog buns to the more gourmet poppy seed buns and it's been really messing with his intermission bathroom breaks.

He just needs some metamucil really.

Phil is built like a honey badger, he's girthy. That girth is what protects him, people think it's fat, but it's just protective girth.