Pittsburgh Sports Media Gibberish - Part IX

[td_ice]

I disagree that the media is blowing it out of proportion. In fact I think it is the opposite.

I realize that Geno is not in Mario's league/stature, but if someone had got into a fight with Mario at practice, (during his playing days) the media would be all over it. That player would be a pariah after the incident.

Malkin may not be a Mario, but he is a franchise player. But maybe since we have two of "those" maybe the gravitas Geno holds is diminished.

I am surprised that there are not more media calling out Adams.

 

[Joejosh999]

i still find it odd that adams "refused to speak" about the original malkin incident while malkin had no trouble talking about it and brushing it off. does he still brush off the second incident? does he have to go after sutter to finally piss mj off?

this is all perfect timing with the whole sill is gonna pk now thing

I would think going after Poo is plenty to piss off MJ....

 

[Rocket of Russia]

I dislike Adams' play last season, occasional inability to clear the zone, and complete offensive ineptitude as much as the next guy. But some of this talk is in tin-foil territory.

To the underlined- c'maaaaan.

To the bolded - I think most of your conspiracy theories are given in good fun. Best to not take it too seriously.

He's an intelligent guy that is on the wrong side of 35 and staring down the end of his career. Everyone here notes how his contract is one that no team would touch, and he wouldn't be claimed on waivers, so I am sure he knows when we don't want him anymore, he is done in the league. He sees guys like Farnham come up that do all the things he can do and then some, and look to be shot out of a cannon on every shift, and he likely fears for his job like anyone in his position would.

This is his attempt to show he's still got some gas in the tank. You may not like his approach, but guys like Tocchet probably do, and Malkin can obviously check him if he feels it's necessary, so I wouldn't get too worked up about it.

If guys like Tocchet like the approach of a non-NHL player attempting to injure a $9.5M franchise player and a premier prospect then they should be fired without hesitation. (and let's not lose focus, nobody gets into a fight without attempting to injure)

If Adams was really a problem in that locker room i think he would of been waived or traded before the year, common sense tells you they wouldn't keep a 4th liner who makes 700 K on the team if he was a problem in the locker room.

Because this team's playbook for 5+ years has always adhered to common sense....

I swear sometimes you take the temperature of a thread and just throw a comment out on the complete opposite side of the thermometer for ***** and giggles.

 

[Fordy]

i really don't understand how after the last 5 years anyone can believe that this is anything other than worse than they will ever let on. that's how everything turned out, that's how this will too

 

[Kiith Nabaal]

I am surprised that there are not more media calling out Adams.

I listened to the fan at two different times yesterday, and each host was calling him out. The first guy took callers who basically ripped on Adams, and the second one had someone call in asking why Adams is even here lol.

Then it sounds like DK is giving an opinion as well.

 

[Dying Alive]

I dislike Adams' play last season, occasional inability to clear the zone, and complete offensive ineptitude as much as the next guy. But some of this talk is in tin-foil territory.

He's an intelligent guy that is on the wrong side of 35 and staring down the end of his career. Everyone here notes how his contract is one that no team would touch, and he wouldn't be claimed on waivers, so I am sure he knows when we don't want him anymore, he is done in the league. He sees guys like Farnham come up that do all the things he can do and then some, and look to be shot out of a cannon on every shift, and he likely fears for his job like anyone in his position would.

This is his attempt to show he's still got some gas in the tank. You may not like his approach, but guys like Tocchet probably do, and Malkin can obviously check him if he feels it's necessary, so I wouldn't get too worked up about it.

This is kind of how I feel. I think he's more than run his course on this team and I can buy everything up to and including that he's not liked in the room, even though I question that even sports writers would have any member of the team blatantly tell him that.

The one I can't get behind is the mole thing. It just sounds so silly to me. Not to mention so easily remedied. Is there any doubt that if this had actually been happening, Sid couldn't have gone around Shero/Bylsma and directly to Mario and said that Adams was creating a rift in the locker room? I don't know. The cloak and dagger stuff just seems too over-the-top dramatic to me. Has there ever been a legitimate source of this rumor other than Madden or someone quoting Madden? Because I know a lot of people like MM, but he's not above floating something ridiculous just to whip up his listeners.

 

[Rocket of Russia]

This is kind of how I feel. I think he's more than run his course on this team and I can buy everything up to and including that he's not liked in the room, even though I question that even sports writers would have any member of the team blatantly tell him that.

The one I can't get behind is the mole thing. It just sounds so silly to me. Not to mention so easily remedied. Is there any doubt that if this had actually been happening, Sid couldn't have gone around Shero/Bylsma and directly to Mario and said that Adams was creating a rift in the locker room? I don't know. The cloak and dagger stuff just seems too over-the-top dramatic to me. Has there ever been a legitimate source of this rumor other than Madden or someone quoting Madden? Because I know a lot of people like MM, but he's not above floating something ridiculous just to whip up his listeners.

It doesn't have to necessarily be a "mole" or a "rat." Craig DID have coffee with the coaches (that part was not debated), and as an older grinder had a ton in common with Bylsma and co., and he used that commonality to form a bond, to keep himself alive in the organization.

When it came time to discuss players, I don't think Bylsma was professional enough to separate his friendship with Craig from his coaching role over Craig. During this time Craig could (and certainly had motive to) badmouth players he could potentially see taking the food off the table for his kids.

So if you move away from labeling him a rat or mole, and move away from calling what he was doing narcing, and just kind of imagine it taking place in an everyday social situation, it's not a stretch to say Craig was totally out for himself, at the expense of his teammates.

 

[johnniewalker]

To the underlined- c'maaaaan.

To the bolded - I think most of your conspiracy theories are given in good fun. Best to not take it too seriously.

Fair enough on the first. On the second, they appear to take hold and get talked about to such an extent around here that they end up ceasing to be conspiracy theories and end up being considered facts after a while. i.e. Despres has a well-documented severe eating disorder around here, due to allegedly being out of shape in one training camp.

If guys like Tocchet like the approach of a non-NHL player attempting to injure a $9.5M franchise player and a premier prospect then they should be fired without hesitation.

I am not trying to say Tocchet will like him trying to injure anyone. Just that him going hard even against star players in practice is probably appreciated more by former players than by us. Boarding or high-sticking those players is a different story.

I swear sometimes you take the temperature of a thread and just throw a comment out on the complete opposite side of the thermometer for ***** and giggles.

That's probably true to some extent. Maybe it is just me getting old and bitter.

I miss the days when we were just happy to make fun of other Atlantic division fanbases and people that came here asking about our stars status for their fantasy teams.

 

[ColePens]

Let's try to move the Craig Adams discussion to it's own thread now as it's starting to hijack just about every single one.

 

[Winger for Hire]

Adams wore an A under Mike Johnston as well during the preseason.

Come on son, that counts less than the regular season... but still hurts me.

 

[End of Line]

Rossi's latest article.

 

[Asuna]

http://triblive.com/news/adminpage/7501842-74/game-per-hits#axzz3OQciClSb

Pretty cool article on Despres.

 

[ProgOg]

http://triblive.com/news/adminpage/7501842-74/game-per-hits#axzz3OQciClSb

Pretty cool article on Despres.

Armed with new contract, defenseman Depres has found a fit with Penguins

They really don't want to spell his name right, do they?

Despres' per-game averages when it comes to hits (3.10), shots (1.31), blocked shots (1.52) and points (.28) are at career-best levels. Less quantifiable: Despres is comfortable. He's happy. And he feels like, after several years of frustration, he's finally a key piece of something special.

“I always watch defensemen because every mistake they make is usually a critical one that results in a scoring chance. If they make a mistake, how do they respond?” Johnston said. “For me, Despres this year has been really good in those areas. That's what I was looking for, just to see how a young defenseman who was given the chance, how is he going to handle that?”

The way Despres saw it, he always had been physical. Only this time, those hits never seemed to take Despres out of the play. His positioning was better. He made better decisions with the puck. He fought. He became a leader.

“After last season's American Hockey League playoff run, he had a lot of confidence,” Hynes said. “When he came back to camp, he was probably the most mature Simon Despres that we've had in the last four years.”

“We wanted to in training camp get an impression of them through practice, through the games,” Johnston said. “Everything I've seen in (Despres') game, I love his compete and his battle every night. His puck decisions have been quite good.”

Scuderi said. “To his credit, he's played fantastic. He deserves a lot of credit.”

Man, reading that makes me just really happy.

Also:

“I have a big routine now before each practice and each game,” Despres said. “I come on the ice, I'm sweating, I'm hot, I'm ready to go.”

 

[Mr Jiggyfly]

Rossi's latest article.

Why do you do that to yourself.

 

[MrBurghundy]

Rossi's latest article.

Rossi wrote an article? Never knew.

 

[IcedCapp]

“I have a big routine now before each practice and each game,” Despres said. “I come on the ice, I'm sweating, I'm hot, I'm ready to go.”

Yea you are...........

 

[MrBurghundy]

Yea you are...........

IC got his hands on some erotic Despres literature.

 

[IcedCapp]

IC got his hands on some erotic Despres literature.

"Night at the Foxbury"
"Simon Says..."
"Two-Way Defenseman"

 

[billybudd]

Rossi wrote an article? Never knew.

Block function on twitter has proved to be amazingly useful to me.

 

[Mr Jiggyfly]

Rossi wrote an article? Never knew.

It's easier to avoid his articles now because the title has his name first. Ie

Rossi: Article Title

When he was a beat guy, his name was in small letters under the title and I rarely paid attention and just clicked the title. Now there is no excuse to be reading his um... hard hitting journalism.

 

[MrBurghundy]

Its just so much better pretending he doesn't even exist.

 

[Jacob]

Can ssomeone do one of those Vince McMahon reaction gifs only with clips of Despres for IC?

 

[IcedCapp]

Can ssomeone do one of those Vince McMahon reaction gifs only with clips of Despres for IC?

 

[Xavier Laflamme*]

Solid article on our coach MJ

http://triblive.com/mobile/7502210-96/johnston-coach-penguins

 

[ProgOg]

^Good read on Johnston.

“I never read the stories. Never watch,” Johnston said. “If my wife turns on the TV and there's 3 seconds on the Penguins, I shut it off. I don't want to hear anything.

“Some days you're going to write that I'm an idiot. Some days you're going to write that I'm a genius. I don't want to know either.”

That's not to say he isn't helpful. Johnston is sometimes strikingly detailed in his answers, something that makes him a rarity among professional sports coaches.

“You don't want to feed the other team,” Johnston said. “But I want to answer the questions as honestly as I can and be as educational as I can in my answers so that you can say, ‘That makes sense. I see what he's doing.' ”