PGT - Sens 5, Pens 0 (Dupuis out, War lost)

[Ogrezilla]

IT'S A FREAKING HIP CHECK!!!!

We embarrass ourselves as hockey fans by saying otherwise, just because one of our guys got hurt.

1. The hit was legal
2. The hit was clean
3. Shut up and except it. Just be happy Dupuis got hurt, as its what everyone wanted, right?

I haven't seen anybody wish injury on Dupuis accept for one guy who cares more about Sid's stats than the team winning.

 

[Waffle Fries]

IT'S A FREAKING HIP CHECK!!!!

We embarrass ourselves as hockey fans by saying otherwise, just because one of our guys got hurt.

1. The hit was legal
2. The hit was clean
3. Shut up and except it. Just be happy Dupuis got hurt, as its what everyone wanted, right?

It was a perfectly legal hit, but it was dangerous. Sid said he didn't see the replay but he thought it could have been low because it almost blew out his knee.

Methot, the guy who actually threw the hit, said he understood why Sid wouldn't be happy about it and that he wouldn't be happy if he was hit like that either.

So if the guy who threw the hit understood that, why can't anyone else?

And there's a big, big difference between wanting someone off a certain line and wanting to see them get hurt.

 

[billybudd]

Blindside? Methot was in front of Crosby. Blindside would be from the side or behind.

So far I think many on the Pens board say it was a clean hit.

Cook's was not a hit, it was something most agree was dangerous. Hip checks are part of the game.

Pinning a player to the wall is a considerably less dangerous play than a correctly-executed hipcheck and nobody outside Ottawa thought Cooke did anything dangerous anyway.

That said, Methot made the right play there. Players get upset when you hipcheck them from the side instead of the front, because if their blade grips the ice, their MCL is toast. But there's nothing in the rulebook that says you can't do that and Methot would have been walked if he hadn't.

 

[SEALBound]

Only saw a couple minutes of the game. Like I said in the GDT, we were due for this game. Can't have that many injuries, ice that lineup, go on that hot streak, and expect it to last forever. Whatever. It's one game. The xmas break will be excellent for us. Hopefully we can get a few people back. Malkin, Bennett, and Megna can't get back fast enough!

With that...little odd that Z was sent back down. I thought he played excellent given his role and skill set. A Sill-Vitale-Z/Engo 4th line would be amazing for us.

 

[CrozJawz*]

YES!!!!

I guess what bothers me, Pens fans, is that so many on the main boards are coming onto the Methot hit thread and saying what a wonderful hit it was, when if Orpik had done this to Spezza, Sens fans/Crosby haters/Bruins fans/Flyers fans etc. would absolutely be lighting the Pens' up with talk about what a bunch of dirty players the Pens have, etc.

Now we have Pens fans basically apologizing for Crosby saying he did not like the hit.

I didn't like the hit either. Sure it may be legal, but if Methot uses his knee instead of his hip, he gets suspended. In other words, it makes not difference to Crosby HOW he got hit, just that he got low-bridged.

Exactly.

Bruins fans were beside themselves when Orpik blasted Eriksson, claiming that it was a "borderline to dirty" hit and that Orpik had to pay. Now, Methot goes extremely low on Crosby and nearly blows his knee out, only to take Dupuis' knee out in the process and the rest of the league's fans are praising the hit and calling Sid a whiner for complaining about it...

And, as usual, nobody on the Pens did a thing about it. Bruins fans were DEMANDING that Orpik have to fight somebody for such a "borderline to dirty" hit and insinuating that Orpik's refusal to engage actually sealed his fate and led to the Thornton thing...

But the Pens do nothing. Methot could have very easily wiped both Crosby and Dupuis out with one "borderline to dirty" hit and nobody does a thing about it except maybe jaw with him a bit.

But to a bigger point, a one end of the rink Crosby gets hipchecked trying to drive the net and the Sens effectively break up the play. At the other end, Karlsson just walks right through two Pens and rips it home...Oi

 

[WhatsaMaatta]

Nobody wants to be hit like that. . . But the hit was clean. I wish the Pens had more guys who knew how to dish out a hit.

 

[xxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Coulda been a bit low, but it's fine. Whatever. Normal hockey play. We'd be lauding Maatta for a week if he landed that hit on Spezza.

 

[Shady Machine]

That was a great hit.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

Coulda been a bit low, but it's fine. Whatever. Normal hockey play. We'd be lauding Maatta for a week if he landed that hit on Spezza.

And Senators fans would start a thread on the main board about how dirty the Pens are, and Melnyk's CSI team would be called in again.

For as much grief as we, as a fanbase, get, we're quite calm about these kinds of plays than most fanbases out there. We may complain and moan a bit on our boards, but it's rare to see main board complaint threads by Pens fans every time something goes against us. The same can't be said for a lot of Bruins, Flyers, Senators, Rangers, etc. fans.

 

[BrunoPuntzJones]

Yeah, there's nothing wrong with that hit. It certainly isn't this:

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

I think you altered that video. Boston never does anything dirty. They're only ever the victims.

 

[JTG]

Yeah, this was a brutal one, for sure. It was inevitably going to happen.

And I thought Methot's hit was textbook. Could be argued it was a few inches too low, but I don't think it was low enough to be dirty.

 

[Jag68Sid87]

If I'm Ottawa, I LOVE that hit. Basically, it gave them all the wings they needed to defeat us last night. From a league standpoint, I have no issue with the hit. Legal, clean, mean and perfect really.

From OUR perspective, I f&^%in' hated the hit, and the aftermath (lack of response). Ottawa just showed the rest of the NHL how to beat the Penguins. Physically go after us, there will never be enough retribution from our side, do whatever you want really.

It's sad, but this will be our downfall. If we don't respond, it's going to happen over and over and over again.

You'd think that a team with 11 guys on IR would figure this ***** out eventually.

 

[WayneSid9987]

I have no issue with the Methot hip check but i take issue with posters pointing out Sid's comments about.

The facts are it was a bit low(but still clean) and it could've blew out his knee if it wasn't done properly. Thems be the facts. Didn't see Crosby calling for a penalty on the ice or with his comments post-game.

 

[Randy Butternubs]

-Some chick last night tried giving me **** whenever I said I'd take Chris Neil on our team.

+I barely watched the game

 

[billybudd]

If I'm Ottawa, I LOVE that hit. Basically, it gave them all the wings they needed to defeat us last night. From a league standpoint, I have no issue with the hit. Legal, clean, mean and perfect really.

From OUR perspective, I f&^%in' hated the hit, and the aftermath (lack of response). Ottawa just showed the rest of the NHL how to beat the Penguins. Physically go after us, there will never be enough retribution from our side, do whatever you want really.

It's sad, but this will be our downfall. If we don't respond, it's going to happen over and over and over again.

You'd think that a team with 11 guys on IR would figure this ***** out eventually.

Reading a bit too much into this game. Ottawa made it known early that to win this nothing game in December, the Penguins would have needed to engage in the sort of trench warfare you see in game 1s in the playoffs.

Penguins declined. Frankly, they were probably wise to do so, banged up as they are.

Sens needed this game if they have any hope of salvaging their season and were gonna kill or be killed to get it. Penguins didn't. This victory wasn't worth to them what it would have cost to get it.

Oh well, moving on.

 

[Speaking Moistly]

If I'm Ottawa, I LOVE that hit. Basically, it gave them all the wings they needed to defeat us last night. From a league standpoint, I have no issue with the hit. Legal, clean, mean and perfect really.

From OUR perspective, I f&^%in' hated the hit, and the aftermath (lack of response). Ottawa just showed the rest of the NHL how to beat the Penguins. Physically go after us, there will never be enough retribution from our side, do whatever you want really.

It's sad, but this will be our downfall. If we don't respond, it's going to happen over and over and over again.

You'd think that a team with 11 guys on IR would figure this ***** out eventually.

I kind of agree. The sad reality is that physical play hasn't done this to them.

Vokoun - Blood clots
Scuderi - Fell awkwardly with another player
Martin - Fell awkwardly by himself
Glass - Blocked a shot
Bennett - Blocked a shot
Megna - Got taken out by a goalie
Malkin - Went into the boards
Letang - Infected elbow
Orpik - Attacked by Thornton
Dupuis - Physical play, but he wasn't the recipient of it.

You can say Orpik (beyond physical play), and throw in Scuderi (there was a fight after that) and Megna (stretch); that's only 4 players. But it's not physical play that's made the IR list so long. They need to start responding to Crosby and Malkin getting ****ed with, that's the big one for me. I don't want them responding to every clean hit, or every hit one every player; I want them to not tolerate their stars being targeted. It's a physical game, I find the need to respond to clean hits to be tedious, but my God, protect your stars. It's not even a need for fights, but make the other team pay by being more physical with them.

Having Sill, Engelland (as a forward), Bortuzzo and Despres in the lineup will help that, toss in Zolnierczyk for the crazy; but only one of them will be there when they're healthy. They also just need to be more physical to wear other teams down, and these tougher players are better than their counterparts. The team needs more physicality just from a performance perspective, so it's a win win situation.

 

[Jag68Sid87]

I kind of agree. The sad reality is that physical play hasn't done this to them.

Vokoun - Blood clots
Scuderi - Fell awkwardly with another player
Martin - Fell awkwardly by himself
Glass - Blocked a shot
Bennett - Blocked a shot
Megna - Got taken out by a goalie
Malkin - Went into the boards
Letang - Infected elbow
Orpik - Attacked by Thornton
Dupuis - Physical play, but he wasn't the recipient of it.

You can say Orpik (beyond physical play), and throw in Scuderi (there was a fight after that) and Megna (stretch); that's only 4 players. But it's not physical play that's made the IR list so long. They need to start responding to Crosby and Malkin getting ****ed with, that's the big one for me. I don't want them responding to every clean hit, or every hit one every player; I want them to not tolerate their stars being targeted. It's a physical game, I find the need to respond to clean hits to be tedious, but my God, protect your stars. It's not even a need for fights, but make the other team pay by being more physical with them.

Having Sill, Engelland (as a forward), Bortuzzo and Despres in the lineup will help that, toss in Zolnierczyk for the crazy; but only one of them will be there when they're healthy. They also just need to be more physical to wear other teams down, and these tougher players are better than their counterparts. The team needs more physicality just from a performance perspective, so it's a win win situation.

We can't out-physical ANY NHL team, though. That's a problem. OK, maybe Detroit, bunch of pusssies. Not good.

 

[Jag68Sid87]

Reading a bit too much into this game. Ottawa made it known early that to win this nothing game in December, the Penguins would have needed to engage in the sort of trench warfare you see in game 1s in the playoffs.

Penguins declined. Frankly, they were probably wise to do so, banged up as they are.

Sens needed this game if they have any hope of salvaging their season and were gonna kill or be killed to get it. Penguins didn't. This victory wasn't worth to them what it would have cost to get it.

Oh well, moving on.

That's a terrible excuse. We decided we weren't interested in their physicality, so we mailed it in?

We almost lost Crosby (as we currently know and love him) forever.

 

[WayneSid9987]

Zolniercyk already got sent down.

I figured as much cuz they're going to need a PK'er now with Dupuis out. Gibbons will probably get an extended look anywhere in the lines and on a PK unit.

 

[Speaking Moistly]

We can't out-physical ANY NHL team, though. That's a problem. OK, maybe Detroit, bunch of pusssies. Not good.

Yeah, that's what I'm saying my main problem is. They need to be more physical in general. Sill, Bortuzzo, Despres and Engelland will help with that if they're playing; they need to make the team more physical. They have the personnel to do it, they just won't.

It's not just about the stars, it's about a team need. It's a physical league, this team needs to do that too; they sure as hell don't have enough skill throughout the roster to go the other route. They also have the damn luxury of the physical players they have being an improvement on the usual scraps. It's not the toughest lineup ever, but it's an improvement and it's not about having the toughest lineup ever.

Kunitz - Crosby - Bennett
Megna - Malkin - Neal
Jokinen - Sutter - Dupuis
Sill - Vitale - Engelland
Zolnierczyk

Scuderi - Letang
Despres - Martin
Maatta - Bortuzzo

* It's not an indictment of Niskanen, just the point of the value and need for this team to be more physical and tougher to play against. You could argue Orpik, but he's not consistently tough and he's been crap this season.



I've also never understood "*****" as an insult aside from the obvious sexism. What's tougher, a penis or a vagina? Yeah...

 

[IcedCapp]

Yeah, that's what I'm saying my main problem is. They need to be more physical in general. Sill, Bortuzzo, Despres and Engelland will help with that if they're playing; they need to make the team more physical. They have the personnel to do it, they just won't.

It's not just about the stars, it's about a team need. It's a physical league, this team needs to do that too; they sure as hell don't have enough skill throughout the roster to go the other route. They also have the damn luxury of the physical players they have being an improvement on the usual scraps. It's not the toughest lineup ever, but it's an improvement and it's not about having the toughest lineup ever.

Kunitz - Crosby - Bennett
Megna - Malkin - Neal
Jokinen - Sutter - Dupuis
Sill - Vitale - Engelland
Zolnierczyk

Scuderi - Letang
Despres - Martin
Maatta - Bortuzzo

* It's not an indictment of Niskanen, just the point of the value and need for this team to be more physical and tougher to play against. You could argue Orpik, but he's not consistently tough and he's been crap this season.



I've also never understood "*****" as an insult aside from the obvious sexism. What's tougher, a penis or a vagina? Yeah...

This feels like the kind of question I should weigh in on

 

[Slabber Chops]

IT'S A FREAKING HIP CHECK!!!!

We embarrass ourselves as hockey fans by saying otherwise, just because one of our guys got hurt.

1. The hit was legal
2. The hit was clean
3. Shut up and except it. Just be happy Dupuis got hurt, as its what everyone wanted, right?

To be honest, I never had a problem with the hit and if Dupuis hadn't of been injured then the hit wouldn't be discussed. Dupuis's injury was just plain bad luck (or good luck if you consider Crosby's skate blade).

Let's be fair about this. If it was Depres throwing his hip, everyone would be jumping to his defense. A bit of objectivity.

 

[IcedCapp]

Let's be fair about this. If it was Depres throwing his hip, everyone would be jumping to his defense. A bit of objectivity.

This is a totally untrue, unfair opinion.

While I appreciate you speaking for the entire board, I don't know know how you could conclude that everyone would be jumping to Despres' defense after what happened with Neal.

Your opinion, you own it. Everyone else will own theirs.

 

[aSockalypse]

Clean hit, of course anything down low on the face of the league is going to cause a discussion but it's over and done with and nothing direct came from it. Indirectly, we lose Dupuis, who has been playing better. Kinda pathetic that people are happy he's hurt. Yeah he's played like **** most of the year but still, great guy and usually great player.