GDT: Preseason Game 5: Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Detroit Red Wings -- Final Countdown to the season!

Pancakes

HFBoards Sponsor
Sponsor
Mar 4, 2011
25,929
17,610


Rossi can say that but I'm not sure it's true unless JJ also doesn't play in our final preseason game.

Just as likely to me is they give him a final preseason game as well to show where he is at. And if JJ plays in our final preseason game, then we have no idea where they're leaning.
 

BlindWillyMcHurt

ti kallisti
May 31, 2004
34,091
27,915
Anything you're thinking of in particular here?

Oh yes. The Jack Johnson saga is, of course, the first thing that springs right to mind. The new guy squad is generally the second consideration. I've long been curious as to how much influence JR and his loose contract pen have on lineup decisions. So if Tanev goes down the shitter (I don't think he does overall but in a scoring role?), I'll be curious how much rope he gets. Especially considering how "deep" the forwards supposedly are. That also dovetails into my next thing to watch -- HOW deep they actually are. If this theory starts to unravel as the season progresses and it turns out (as I suspect) that there actually isn't nearly enough offensive talent in this group... how long does that go on? Are other options tried? Are there trades? This is more a GM consideration, I admit but Sullivan obviously has a lot of say.

The second line is of particular interest to me due to the multitude of question marks surrounding it and (as I see it) a lack of good "fit" options roster-wide for Malkin. I'll be curious to see how Sullivan handles that or if Malkin is driven slowly insane all season long, again.

I also want to see how much line juggling there is this year. An awful lot of players, fans, people in the FO and such have been harping on chemistry. Know how you definitely DON'T build chemistry? Playing musical lines. We'll see how that goes.

Goaltending is a minor consideration, to me. I thought there was some weirdness with how Murray was handled last season. Want to see how that plays out.

The powerplay is another aspect I am curious to see how they handle without their ace in the hole on the LHB. I know that isn't entirely on Sullivan, in particular. But it merits consideration since even without Kessel... they should have plenty of options to draw upon.
 

Peat

Registered User
Jun 14, 2016
29,282
25,205
Gotcha.

I think the two I'd be looking at closest are Malkin's line and the PP, largely because if they're firing we can go fairly long periods without other issues dragging us down (which mightn't be that healthy). Although arguably you could boil a lot of that down to "How does he use and get the best out of Galchenyuk and Hornqvist" imo.

But yes - there's a lot of variables now. I'm not sure whether it's a good thing there's been so many changes or not - brings us closer to Sully's ideal, but we've got a lot of uncertainty for him to process and he doesn't have a lot of time in which to get it right.
 

SEALBound

Fancy Gina Carano
Sponsor
Jun 13, 2010
40,076
18,178
What fan base are you talking about? That was Jesse making the comment...if anyone “whines” too much, it’s people on this board about other people posting stuff on this board...

This may win the award for "Most Disingenuous Post of the Summer".

I don't live in Pittsburgh, but based on friends/family, I'd say the average fanbase is just not knowledgeable enough to have an opinion worth caring about. That said, yes we tend to be a more jaded/skeptical/critical group. I think that's just the nature of the internet. I appreciate the counter balance many posters bring to the board.

But how many posts on one single subject did it take for you to shape that opinion? Objectively speaking, did we need 20k posts from same 5 people this summer bitching about Jack Johnson? At what point is it constructive discussion and then mindless bitching and droning?

There a group of about 5-6 posters who turned this board into a toxic cesspool circle jerk this summer. It was shameful. I'm embarrassed for this board currently. I'd much rather discuss shit on Facebook than some of you here.
 

RSPens

Registered User
May 25, 2015
1,888
939
The only issue with Sully is that he often over coaches. Sometimes it's better to let a player or line play through their slumps, but Sully likes to go full blender after a period of mediocre play, sometimes even a shift. The way he has coached in the pre-season this year has been good. He doesn't seem to have the same stubbornness that he had last year. However he also has a lot more options this year, so he is going to have to be more flexible. Did I want to see Tanev get a chance with Sid or Geno? Yes. Did I think Sully would actually give Tanev a shot in the pre-season to see if it could work? No, I did not. Then again Sully doesn't have a Sprong type player that he's misusing. Basically all the wingers this team has (besides Chucky) are two way players. This is a very versatile and relatively easy coaching position to be in. It's okay to blend the lines once in a while, but it's not okay to be going into February and not even know what your top 2 lines should look like. Give them some time to develop chemistry and then look out.
 
  • Like
Reactions: BlindWillyMcHurt

66-30-33

Registered User
Jan 24, 2006
62,598
15,623
Victoria, BC
Wait why are the Penguins firing Sullivan now? He's been making good coaching decisions this entire pre-season so far. Not only do teams not fire coaches who haven't even started their multi-year extension yet, but Sullivan hasn't even done anything fire-worthy since getting the extension. Hell, he's done a good job so far this year, he's actively trying new and unique ideas instead of defaulting to what he has done before.

We all know he wont be fired...


....UNTIL December and replaced by our new WBS coach and we win the cup. But this time we win 3 cups in a row because we already won, then won back to back, now it's 3peat time.
 

Gurglesons

Registered User
Dec 18, 2009
91,427
73,616
San Diego, CA
last-train-tocool.blogspot.com
This may win the award for "Most Disingenuous Post of the Summer".



But how many posts on one single subject did it take for you to shape that opinion? Objectively speaking, did we need 20k posts from same 5 people this summer *****ing about Jack Johnson? At what point is it constructive discussion and then mindless *****ing and droning?

There a group of about 5-6 posters who turned this board into a toxic cesspool circle jerk this summer. It was shameful. I'm embarrassed for this board currently. I'd much rather discuss **** on Facebook than some of you here.

This is a pretty good definition of hypocrisy.
 

SEALBound

Fancy Gina Carano
Sponsor
Jun 13, 2010
40,076
18,178
You need to calm down and maybe use the ignore function. This really isn't worth the anger.

Yes and no. Problem tends to snowball when posters quote and continue to bitchfest. You can have 10 guys on ignore but that's not always going to stop the subsequent discussion of those not on ignore replying.

It's not anger, at this point, its sadness to see what the board has devolved into. Even when it was Glass,Adam's, and scuderi it wasnt this bad, even in the summer. There was still actual conversation and discussion. Not "omgAdam's, ahhhh jeez Glass, Rob Scuderi, am I right? SHERO! Ah man Adams... and Glass, right? FIRE SHERO! Rob Scuderi, amright?" And it would take 10 1000 post threads to cover it.

Some of us want discussion outside of Jack Johnson, Tanev, and JR.
 

Andy99

Registered User
Jun 26, 2017
49,999
32,174
Yes and no. Problem tends to snowball when posters quote and continue to *****fest. You can have 10 guys on ignore but that's not always going to stop the subsequent discussion of those not on ignore replying.

It's not anger, at this point, its sadness to see what the board has devolved into. Even when it was Glass,Adam's, and scuderi it wasnt this bad, even in the summer. There was still actual conversation and discussion. Not "omgAdam's, ahhhh jeez Glass, Rob Scuderi, am I right? SHERO! Ah man Adams... and Glass, right? FIRE SHERO! Rob Scuderi, amright?" And it would take 10 1000 post threads to cover it.

Some of us want discussion outside of Jack Johnson, Tanev, and JR.

Then take it there and post some players or issues you want to discuss, instead of contributing to the problem. There are posters who will engage you in that discussion, even me despite what you might think...lol
 

SHOOTANDSCORE

Eeny Meeny Miny Moe
Sep 25, 2005
10,952
4,675
I just notice it here quite a lot. I'm not trying to pick on you or single you out. There is this weird subset of posters (many who have been around a while) who make it a point to hardly ever actually discuss much of anything yet pop into threads occasionally to vent their spleen about what a wretched ****hole of garbage thought this place has "turned into" (spoiler: this place has been cynical, offbeat and sarcastic since before even my join date). How about change people's minds, instead? Or simply ignore what you don't like and engage with the rest.

Regardless, I hope as much as anyone that JJ sits like 60+ games but I really have a hard time seeing that. Though of course it's encouraging to see some dots seemingly start to connect.
Yeah but we had ample reason to be cynical and negative at that point in the franchise's history. :laugh:
 

Gurglesons

Registered User
Dec 18, 2009
91,427
73,616
San Diego, CA
last-train-tocool.blogspot.com
Yes and no. Problem tends to snowball when posters quote and continue to *****fest. You can have 10 guys on ignore but that's not always going to stop the subsequent discussion of those not on ignore replying.

It's not anger, at this point, its sadness to see what the board has devolved into. Even when it was Glass,Adam's, and scuderi it wasnt this bad, even in the summer. There was still actual conversation and discussion. Not "omgAdam's, ahhhh jeez Glass, Rob Scuderi, am I right? SHERO! Ah man Adams... and Glass, right? FIRE SHERO! Rob Scuderi, amright?" And it would take 10 1000 post threads to cover it.

Some of us want discussion outside of Jack Johnson, Tanev, and JR.

Uh. That was 100% here lol.

I’d argue it was even worse since we couldn’t lean back and say we had two more cups.
 

IcedCapp

Registered User
Aug 7, 2009
35,854
11,225
When you click "Post Reply" do have have some sort of satisfying release? Got to imagine the urge to post builds up after awhile...ya know...just like other things.
honestly, there's just not much reason to post. After 10 years of arguing about meaningless stuff that's out of our control, it's hard to force another bite down my gullet, ya know? Like, how many different line combos or coaching mistakes can we create? How many times can we say "Jack Johnson is bad!" before we all collectively go "jesus, the amount of electricity it cost to type "Jack Johnson sucks for the 2089th time actually expedited climate change by 3 seconds?"

Do I get a release from posting reply? No. Do you get a release by solving the Penguins problems in hfboard simulator 2k19?
 

The Old Master

come and take it.
Sep 27, 2004
17,402
4,757
burgh
.

I also want to see how much line juggling there is this year. An awful lot of players, fans, people in the FO and such have been harping on chemistry. Know how you definitely DON'T build chemistry? Playing musical lines. We'll see how that goes.
with all the combo's that could work well. it will be hard not to play musical lines. hopefully it get sorted out by mid season.
 

SHOOTANDSCORE

Eeny Meeny Miny Moe
Sep 25, 2005
10,952
4,675
honestly, there's just not much reason to post. After 10 years of arguing about meaningless stuff that's out of our control, it's hard to force another bite down my gullet, ya know? Like, how many different line combos or coaching mistakes can we create? How many times can we say "Jack Johnson is bad!" before we all collectively go "jesus, the amount of electricity it cost to type "Jack Johnson sucks for the 2089th time actually expedited climate change by 3 seconds?"

Do I get a release from posting reply? No. Do you get a release by solving the Penguins problems in hfboard simulator 2k19?
I know I do. :naughty:
 

Ad

Upcoming events

Ad

Ad

-->