The All Things Sprong Containment Thread

[Ogrezilla]

Cole's situation and Sprong's situation aren't at all alike. Sullivan actually had a well documented personal problem with Cole. There has been nothing stated about Sullivan having a personal issue with Sprong.

Sully also didn't stop playing Cole so he obviously thought he helped us win games.

 

[Gurglesons]

Why are people willing to say sprong will be a top 6 scorer yet MP is just bottom pairing D man. D man take longer to develop, he's only a year older than sprong, also was drafted higher.

Because Sprong has 3 goals and all MP has done is made JJ look like an NHL defenseman.

 

[Empoleon8771]

Why are people willing to say sprong will be a top 6 scorer yet MP is just bottom pairing D man. D man take longer to develop, he's only a year older than sprong, also was drafted higher.

Because this website is littered with massive Sprong fanboys who want to make the trade way worse than it actually is.

I got a chuckle out of reading that Sprong has "won games for the Ducks" and "has been elite in 2 of the 5 games this year". Like it's just a great way to make you stop wasting your time on a discussion.

 

[Empoleon8771]

Nothing's being ignored - I've had a rebuttal every time your arguments have been trotted out. Sullivan didn't think Sprong warranted a look further up the line-up despite having a number of opportunities to do so. That's being proven a mistake.

No you haven't, you just keep screeching the same things over and over again. What has proven to be a mistake? Sullivan didn't think Sprong was better than the RW options ahead of him here. How is that proven to be a mistake? Sprong scoring 3 goals after leaving Pittsburgh is totally irrelevant of that, because the RWers Sullivan has played above Sprong are doing better than Sprong did here.

Sullivan's going to look like an idiot if he wasted a good young goal scorer with poor deployment due to a narrow-minded idea of what a scoring wing prospect has to be/do in order to get chances above the 4th line. Simple as that.

You just saying that doesn't make it magically true. Again, you're intentionally ignoring the logic behind what Sullivan did to whine about him mistreating Sprong. It was perfectly logical for Sullivan to use Sprong like he did, because the team had better options than him and he was terrible here in a bad role.

Your idea was that Sprong wasn't getting opportunities in part because Simon was one of the 4 RWs ahead of him. That's not the case, and even a cursory glance at his linemates shows as much. He was primarily playing LW to start the season - that did not logjam Sprong.

In that case, it was Kessel, Rust and Hornqvist above him. When Simon moved to RW, it added another guy in front of him. Don't know why that's so hard for you to grasp.

Simon was primarily playing LW while Sprong was here, and Rust wasn't a better top 9 RW than anyone this year.

Sprong did literally nothing to warrant playing over Rust. You can say Rust was crap all you want, but Sprong did literally nothing to warrant playing over him. Sprong had like 1 point in his last 12 games in Pittsburgh while being directly responsible for multiple goals against. He did literally nothing here to warrant playing over Rust.

I have mentioned it, a number of times, because Rust's case helps my position immensely for a couple reasons.

1. Rust didn't show any signs of life offensively until Game 30. A recent surge doesn't erase the fact that Rust's production has been ****.

Sprong didn't show any signs of life at any point when he was in in Pittsburgh.

2. In his recent surge, 3 of Rust's 4 recent goals came WITHOUT EVEN PLAYING WITH A SCORING LINE CENTER, so the narrative that he had to be in the top 9 is completely blown apart. He needlessly took up prime real estate with garbage play for 1/3 of the season. Had Sullivan not stubbornly insisted on keeping Rust in a role where he had been floundering because of some misguided hierarchy, Rust might have broken out of his funk earlier and we could have seen what we had in Sprong.

No one ever said Rust needs to be in the top-9, people said that Rust is better than Sprong and should be in the top-9 because of it. Seeing how Rust is just a clearly better player, hard to argue against that claim.

Instead, Sullivan tanked Sprong's value and the Pens traded him for a defense prospect nobody would have entertained moving him for at the beginning of the season, and we have to endure Pittsburgh media blowing smoke up Pettersson's ass for fairly pedestrian performances while the guy they traded has 3 snipes and a shootout winner in 5 games. One's as valuable as the other, fans!

Oh okay, you're just grossly overrating/overvaluing Sprong. Glad we cleared that up. Well, I already knew that, as does literally everyone else who has wasted their time in this conversation, but it's nice to get even more confirmation.

 

[GregR]

Carlyle gives Sullivan the business:

 

[SouthGeorge]

Carlyle gives Sullivan the business:

 

[Empoleon8771]

Carlyle gives Sullivan the business:

Yes, because Randy Carlyle has such a strong track record of young players to be taking shots at coaches with actual success in the NHL.

The last time I checked, Anaheim doesn't have Phil Kessel on their roster and are generally a terrible offensive team, so maybe it makes a little bit of sense why they're more willing to play Sprong in their top-9. I wonder if Carlyle being more willing to play Sprong in the top-9 has to do with Anaheim being 29th in goals/game this year, with the Penguins being 7th.

 

[Gurglesons]

Carlyle gives Sullivan the business:

Sick Randy.

Did you forget you put him on the fourth line with Rowney literally 3 games ago?

 

[gac3378]

I just wonder what the welcome back to Pittsburgh and thank you video for sprong is going to be like during the first television time out. I bet you see some of that footage from that one shift in that one game sprong played in

 

[WheresRamziAbid]

I just wonder what the welcome back to Pittsburgh and thank you video for sprong is going to be like during the first television time out. I bet you see some of that footage from that one shift in that one game sprong played in

Kinda hope its 3 straight minutes of him sitting on the bench

 

[Shady Machine]

He is far from a finished product, and like I said my qualms have always been that if *I* can see this talent in him you know the Penguins staff can too, it's not rocket science to go well if they see the talent, why aren't they giving him a chance to develop it and go hmm, something is up there.

As to the 30G scorer comment. That kind of shot is rare and elite. That shot he rebounded off Bob's hip he picked that spot and was 100% trying that. Bob's glove was higher so he went below it on that small hole. Against Crawford his glove was lower and he did the same sort of shot up higher above it. He has a high offensive hockey IQ. Will he reach 30 goals? We'll have to see if he can do that. But the kid is already a star player in 2 of the 5 games he's played with his new team. He literally has won the ducks games already. He has been a leading scorer in every single league he's ever played in. All of those things project well.

Pettersson to be a middle pairing anchor needs to put on 15-20lbs or he will just be either injured all the time or pushed around quite a bit. That is not easy to do for someone like him. It *can* be done but he is fighting against his genetics. JR himself said that in 2 years he might be a dumo light. I don't think he surpasses Schultz here, so best case scenario for us is #4 defensemen. So that is a little over 5/6. He might be that I'll concede a #4 on our team. Could he end up being better? Sure that would be great for us.

Not sure I agree that he has a high offensive hockey IQ. He has a very good shot when he has the space to release it and can do good things with the puck on his stick. IQ is more than that. It's as mush about what you do without the puck as what you do with it. Sprong hasn't yet shown he knows what to do without the puck.

 

[Empoleon8771]

I just wonder what the welcome back to Pittsburgh and thank you video for sprong is going to be like during the first television time out. I bet you see some of that footage from that one shift in that one game sprong played in

Maybe they'll show one of his 4 goals he had over 4 seasons in Pittsburgh. I'm willing to bet any tribute video of his will be very Plotnikov-esque.

 

[Pens x]

Carlyle gives Sullivan the business:

Booooom

So true

Eff Sully

 

[Pens x]

Maybe they'll show one of his 4 goals he had over 4 seasons in Pittsburgh.

They will just show a montage video of Sully yelling or maybe some comments from his AHL talented former line mates here.

 

[vikingGoalie]

Because this website is littered with massive Sprong fanboys who want to make the trade way worse than it actually is.

I got a chuckle out of reading that Sprong has "won games for the Ducks" and "has been elite in 2 of the 5 games this year". Like it's just a great way to make you stop wasting your time on a discussion.

but those are factual statements. perhaps they make you laugh. but he did literally win the ducks 2 games, and he literally was a number 1 star, and number 2 star for 2 of the 5 games. take from that what you will but those happened. can he burn out and be playing in the KHL next year? sure. can Pettersson suddenly become a top pairing D man? sure.

 

[Andy99]

Carlyle gives Sullivan the business:

Throwing shade...I love it! Troll job

 

[Coastal Kev]

Carlyle gives Sullivan the business:

Boom...........!!!!!!!!!!!!

Which is all that most of us ever stated.


But you know better Emp? BOOM

 

[Andy99]

I just wonder what the welcome back to Pittsburgh and thank you video for sprong is going to be like during the first television time out. I bet you see some of that footage from that one shift in that one game sprong played in

Guarantee there won’t be one...

 

[Coastal Kev]

Carlyle gives Sullivan the business:

BURN

 

[Empoleon8771]

but those are factual statements. perhaps they make you laugh. but he did literally win the ducks 2 games, and he literally was a number 1 star, and number 2 star for 2 of the 5 games. take from that what you will but those happened. can he burn out and be playing in the KHL next year? sure. can Pettersson suddenly become a top pairing D man? sure.

I think you need to look up what "factual" means. You saying Sprong has been "elite in 2 of 5 games" is purely an opinion, not fact. Saying Sprong has "won multiple games for Anaheim" is an opinion that is closer to a lie (how does scoring the 2nd goal in a 4-2 win "winning the game" for Anaheim?). Saying Sprong is a 30 goal scorer is a lie, seeing how he has 7 career goals in the NHL.

You can actual make factual statements, like "Sprong has scored in 2 of 5 games for Anaheim" or "Sprong scored both goals in a 2-1 win for Anaheim" or "some scouts think Sprong has 30 goal upside in the NHL". Those are factual statements, saying he has been elite in 2 of 5 games isn't a factual statement.

 

[vikingGoalie]

Sick Randy.

Did you forget you put him on the fourth line with Rowney literally 3 games ago?

he did, true statement. he started on the top line the game was going south and RC did a line mixer with many of the players in that game. But he did not start the game on the 4th line nor did RC blame the entire game on him and bench him for the 3rd period either. The point is you put him in a position to succeed, at least give him a chance. The next game he was back in the top 6, sounds like reasoned bench management to me.

 

[Shady Machine]

Credit to Carlyle. That's a solid burn.

 

[Coastal Kev]

Maybe they'll show one of his 4 goals he had over 4 seasons in Pittsburgh. I'm willing to bet any tribute video of his will be very Plotnikov-esque.

Why is this relevant to Sprong????? Oops, logic vs a fake narrative.....head explodes.... meltdown begins.......but you said YAKKKKKKKKKKK...

 

[WheresRamziAbid]

he did, true statement. he started on the top line the game was going south and RC did a line mixer with many of the players in that game. But he did not start the game on the 4th line nor did RC blame the entire game on him and bench him for the 3rd period either. The point is you put him in a position to succeed, at least give him a chance. The next game he was back in the top 6, sounds like reasoned bench management to me.

I think Sullivan was more worried about putting the team in a position to succeed. You know his job.

 

[Shady Machine]

he did, true statement. he started on the top line the game was going south and RC did a line mixer with many of the players in that game. But he did not start the game on the 4th line nor did RC blame the entire game on him and bench him for the 3rd period either. The point is you put him in a position to succeed, at least give him a chance. The next game he was back in the top 6, sounds like reasoned bench management to me.

Blame the entire game on him? I don't recall Sully ever saying anything like that. It is true Sully didn't trust Sprong and never gave him the benefit of the doubt. There are a number of reasons why, but totally fair to say the Penguins didn't put Sprong in the best position to succeed on the Penguins. That's an important distinction vs not putting the team in the best position to succeed. Whether the latter ends up being true will be seen in time.