Pre-Game Talk: Pens vs. Panthers

[Shady Machine]

haha they could not have picked a more idiotic way of making PP changes. Why must we suffer through this non sense? Kunitz in for Hornqvist. Malkin to left half boards. Is this shit real?

I can't imagine Geno, Horny, and Kessel think this coaching staff is serious.

 

[Shady Machine]

Hornqvist has been one of the best players for this team this year, and he gets rewarded by being demoted for one of its worst, who is significantly-worse in the same role.

This is really depressing. I mean that can't be lost on Hornqvist. I'm sure he's a great team guy and all, but shit like this has to piss you off.

 

[Speaking Moistly]

Damn it, I wanted Scuderi and Kunitz to be left behind.

 

[Shady Machine]

There was a reason Tocchet was tweeting from his couch for several years before we hired him.

But hey, family atmosphere and feel good vibes are better than winning in pro sports. The Penguins wayâ„¢.

Right but the dude said stuff that made sense from his couch. Now he's behind the bench and makes inexplicably stupid moves like this. There is something really, really weird with this team.

 

[Empoleon8771]

Damn it, I wanted Scuderi and Kunitz to be left behind.

Wait maybe that means he's not getting sent back down to the Q. Maybe that is a good thing.

 

[Shady Machine]

I really want this team going down in flames now and quick. They aren't winning anything with these bozos behind the bench.

 

[billybudd]

Johnston is either officially f***ing bonkers or the inmates are running the asylum. There's a lot of things wrong with the powerplay, but "Pat Hornqvist isn't Kunitzy enough" is not one of them.

In addition, the rest of the configuration sucks. There is exactly one one-timer option

----------Kunitz-----------
Malkin---Kessel<--Crosby
----------Letang----------

Making it even more predictable and defensible than usual.

If there's a bright side to this, maybe Trochek will get a shorty in front of the home town crowd.

 

[Speaking Moistly]

haha they could not have picked a more idiotic way of making PP changes. Why must we suffer through this non sense? Kunitz in for Hornqvist. Malkin to left half boards. Is this shit real?

I can't imagine Geno, Horny, and Kessel think this coaching staff is serious.

I mean, would anyone but Kunitz, Scuderi, Dupuis and maybe Lovejoy think any of this isn't insanity? They're prepared to sacrifice everyone else at the altar of overly connected vets. Seriously, they have three or four beloved vets who trump everyone else and I doubt the rest of the team isn't aware. That's some scary shit for the future of this team.

 

[Penguinzilla*]

 

[Tasty Biscuits]

Bombulie says Sprong won't be ready to play tonight now.

So who dropped the ball on this one?

 

[UnderratedBrooks44]

This really is ridiculous. It's a tired saying, but they can pay anyone to make illogical lineup choices and have the team skate out there with little semblance of cohesion. I guess that's kinda what they did when they hired this crew.

 

[Speaking Moistly]

Wait maybe that means he's not getting sent back down to the Q. Maybe that is a good thing.

I don't know enough about work visas to say, tbh. It could just be a technicality to get him to his 9 games.

 

[WheresRamziAbid]

I don't agree with this setup. They are needlessly complicating things IMO. But I do see in theory why it could work. I just dont think it will.

To play devils advocate...

The obviously want the PP to run through Sid.

Sid obviously want to be on the half wall.

This setup if done correctly will isolate Sid on the right side and give him 4 available sticks to look for. With Kunitz at the left post available for slam dunks and turning into a screen if it goes anywhere else.

If they wanted to go this route it would have been much easier and made much more sense to do it with Kessel on the left wall running the show with Malkin on the right wall and Sid as the rover with Hornqvist at the right post but...penguins gonna penguin.

 

[Fordy]

this team has been disrespecting hornqvist's amazing attitude, work ethic, and skill set since we acquired him

 

[ColePens]

So the "rotation" of Erixon, Clendening, and Scuds basically goes...

Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Clendening, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Erixon, etc.?

 

[Speaking Moistly]

this team has been disrespecting hornqvist's amazing attitude, work ethic, and skill set since we acquired him

It's their way with everyone who isn't in the inner sanctum of being old, probably because they're running around putting out imaginary fires and playing the PR game. Having a demanding star player would be a blessing for this team.

 

[xxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

haha they could not have picked a more idiotic way of making PP changes. Why must we suffer through this non sense? Kunitz in for Hornqvist. Malkin to left half boards. Is this shit real?

I can't imagine Geno, Horny, and Kessel think this coaching staff is serious.

Sid and Geno (I don't really know about Kessel) are guys who will do as their coach tells them to a fault. I think it's a huge reason we've seen a dramatic drop off in production and effectiveness since Johnston's been hired.

Right but the dude said stuff that made sense from his couch. Now he's behind the bench and makes inexplicably stupid moves like this. There is something really, really weird with this team.

Yep. Something's off.

 

[billybudd]

Bombulie says Sprong won't be ready to play tonight now.

So who dropped the ball on this one?

I was about to rant about this, but I wonder if you can't get an extension on a Visa on election day, which yesterday was judging by the hilarious pictures of Canada's new President (or whatever) that are in my twitter feed. If that's the case, I can sort of understand the mistake. Percentage of non-Canadians who knew Canada was having an election is probably close to zero.

 

[Penguinzilla*]

this team has been disrespecting hornqvist's amazing attitude, work ethic, and skill set since we acquired him

Have to keep Kunitz happy so he'll sign another long term contract

 

[Pancakes]

this team has been disrespecting hornqvist's amazing attitude, work ethic, and skill set since we acquired him

Agreed on that.

I even get a weird vibe that Sid doesn't particularly like playing with him. Maybe I'm pulling an Elliot Friedman and reading wayyyyyyyyy too much into it, but I noticed numerous times last season where even when Sid and Horny were having success together Sid would never be all that happy when Hornqvist scored.

 

[UnderratedBrooks44]

This setup if done correctly will isolate Sid on the right side and give him 4 available sticks to look for. With Kunitz at the left post available for slam dunks and turning into a screen if it goes anywhere else.

You're probably right in terms of what they're thinking. Unfortunately they don't seem to realize Hornqvist is quite clearly better than Kunitz and Sid passing from the half wall on the PP is the stuff of nightmares. Honestly despite his extremely troublesome start I love Sid, but he has the least finesse on his passes of any star player in the history of the game.

 

[IcedCapp]

if the Visa is only to get him another 4 games, just ship him back, honestly.

And THIS would have been the perfect test (vs FLA) to see if Sprong's body was ready for 82 games of the NHL

 

[Speaking Moistly]

So the "rotation" of Erixon, Clendening, and Scuds basically goes...

Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Clendening, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Erixon, etc.?

No. Scuds, Scuds, Clendening, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds, Scuds.

 

[billybudd]

I don't agree with this setup. They are needlessly complicating things IMO. But I do see in theory why it could work. I just dont think it will.

To play devils advocate...

The obviously want the PP to run through Sid.

Sid obviously want to be on the half wall.

This setup if done correctly will isolate Sid on the right side and give him 4 available sticks to look for. With Kunitz at the left post available for slam dunks and turning into a screen if it goes anywhere else.

If they wanted to go this route it would have been much easier and made much more sense to do it with Kessel on the left wall running the show with Malkin on the right wall and Sid as the rover with Hornqvist at the right post but...penguins gonna penguin.

Half of these are bad angle shots, that are nearly impossible to one time, though. This is the dumbest powerplay set up I've ever seen, given the pieces that are available. Putting Perron on the left wall and Malkin in front of the net would make no sense, but even that makes more sense than this does.

 

[Sidney BrOSSby*]

Damn it, I wanted Scuderi and Kunitz to be left behind.

Those two drive me up the wall.