The All Things Sprong Containment Thread

[Gurglesons]

What makes you think I haven't?

The fact you don’t have any as if you did you wouldn’t be so freely to say it.

 

[Ogrezilla]

No, but the reasons he was subjected to those roles should matter. You believe it was because we had 3RW's ahead of him. But if that were the case then why when Horny was injured and Rust struggled why wasn't he given a shot then?

Here's a few reasons in no particular order. Actually they are probably pretty much backwards in order of importance.

1. The decision was likely already made to trade him.
2. Sully trusted Rust to bounce back. And Rust was still helping with possession and general defensive play on a team that was struggling with both.
3. Simon was playing RW at that point.
4. Sprong had played badly enough to start the year that Sully likely ranked Sprong outside of the top 3 RW's even with Horny out and Rust struggling.

 

[Ryder71]

wrong thread

 

[Gurglesons]

You're telling me that I'm the only person who over the years has questioned Letangs puck management?

It’s another knee jerk reaction. “Letang mishandled the puck”. Oh, but look he also put a .80 PPG pace throughout 2011-2016 basically a shade difference between him and Karlsson.

 

[Ryder71]

It’s another knee jerk reaction. “Letang mishandled the puck”. Oh, but look he also put a 1.00 PPG pace throughout 2011-2016.

So an opinion based on 10 plus years of watching this guy play game in and game out, year in and year out is ''knee jerk''? You're going off the deep end here.

 

[Gurglesons]

So an opinion based on 10 plus years of watching this guy play game in and game out, year in and year out is ''kneejerk''? You're going of the deep end here.

I honesty don’t believe you’ve watched the Penguins year in and year out. You seem like the type of fan that probably said “I’m done with them” a lot over the last 20 years.

And yes it is a knee jerk reaction to thinking the player we are seeing this year is anything different from the Letang we’ve seen the last ten when healthy.

 

[Ogrezilla]

Here's a few reasons in no particular order. Actually they are probably pretty much backwards in order of importance.

1. The decision was likely already made to trade him.
2. Sully trusted Rust to bounce back. And Rust was still helping with possession and general defensive play on a team that was struggling with both.
3. Simon was playing RW at that point.
4. Sprong had played badly enough to start the year that Sully likely ranked Sprong outside of the top 3 RW's even with Horny out and Rust struggling.

oh I want to add a 5th. It kind of goes with 2 and 4 both though.

A huge issue for our team early in the year was the defensive play of the forwards, which is Sprong's biggest weakness as a player. So if a coach is preaching to fix these things, he's not super likely to promote the worst offender or demote one of the guys doing it right (Rust.)

 

[SHOOTANDSCORE]

That's just an argument for benching him completely, not for promoting him. Because he also hadn't indicated that he was a more effective player than Horny, Kessel, or Rust.

IMO an NHL player should be able to keep their head above water with Cullen and Sheahan.

Agreed but at the same time, Cullen and Sheahan were playing like trash to start the year.

 

[Ogrezilla]

Agreed but at the same time, Cullen and Sheahan were playing like trash to start the year.

better without Sprong than with him though.

 

[Ryder71]

I honesty don’t believe you’ve watched the Penguins year in and year out. You seem like the type of fan that probably said “I’m done with them” a lot over the last 20 years.

And yes it is a knee jerk reaction to thinking the player we are seeing this year is anything different from the Letang we’ve seen the last ten when healthy.

Don't presume to know what I know, who I know and how long I've ''followed'' this team. It's absurd.

As far as Letang goes, he's much more polished defensively then he use to be regarding gap and D zone coverage. He's making better reads and is much more prudent in when he pinches and jumps up. If you don't agree with that it's fine. But for a lot of his career he was considered to be quite reckless with the puck.

 

[Ogrezilla]

and we're back to Letang

 

[Gurglesons]

Don't presume to know what I know, who I know and how long I've ''followed'' this team. It's absurd.

As far as Letang goes, he's much more polished defensively then he use to be regarding gap and D zone coverage. He's making better reads and is much more prudent in when he pinches and jumps up. If you don't agree with that it's fine. But for a lot of his career he was considered to be quite reckless with the puck.

He’s 100% the same player he was in 2013 and 2016.

If you want to come out and say “I know things” than expect to be criticized for it. At least IcedCapp and Jiggy have something to back it up with. You just spout it off whenever someone calls you out.

Sprong didn’t succeed here because of his play and himself. Maybe his style of play didn’t mesh, but I am so sick of hearing how Sullivan “targets” players. Look how players talk about Babcock and how they talk about Sully and you’ll see what happens when coaches target players.

 

[SHOOTANDSCORE]

better without Sprong than with him though.

TBH, I didn't think there was a significant difference.

Unless you're talking about just recently but that's comparing apples to snozberries.

 

[Ryder71]

He’s 100% the same player he was in 2013 and 2016.

If you want to come out and say “I know things” than expect to be criticized for it. At least IcedCapp and Jiggy have something to back it up with. You just spout it off whenever someone calls you out.

Call me out on Letang? lol

Anyone who avidly follows the team knows these things. On this front it's not exactly a secret. Not everything needs to be probed to the extreme. In Letangs case his play speaks for itself. Of course some things are subjective and that's where opinions can vary.

Sprong on the other hand got a raw deal here. But only time will let us know if it was a big mistake or not in how these things were handled. Although, I already see it as mishandled.

 

[Ogrezilla]

TBH, I don't think there was a significant difference.

Unless you're talking about just recently but that's comparing apples to snozberries.

maybe. Either way, Sprong was certainly not good.

 

[Ryder71]

and we're back to Letang

Dammit!!! It's pixies fault! lol

 

[Ogrezilla]

Dammit!!! It's pixies fault! lol

no it's Sprong's fault

 

[Ryder71]

no it's Sprong's fault

Why, cause of his hairline?

 

[Ogrezilla]

Why, cause of his hairline?

if he had Letang's hair that kid would be a star already.

 

[Ryder71]

if he had Letang's hair that kid would be a star already.

Are you sure?

 

[Ogrezilla]

Are you sure?

Sully loves a good head of hair.

 

[SHOOTANDSCORE]

maybe. Either way, Sprong was certainly not good.

I thought he was downright bad to start the year but was decent to good after his stretch of scratches.

It's tough flesh out considering the total mess that this team was. I think one of the things that hurt him early on was that he was hardly getting any touches. It just exacerbated his weakness, play away from the puck. There's just no telling how he would have looked with the current version of Cully/Sheahan.

 

[Tom Hanks]

Rust was brutal for 29 games. At no point during that time, along with Horny being injured for several games they couldn't find room for Sprong? I mean they had better alternatives? Come on, this was an OBVIOUS attempt to DESTROY Sprong. Sully had no intention of giving this sweet sweet kid a chance. Just call it what it was. Sprong was blackballed.

Rust was still good in his own end and wasn’t giving up the goals Sprong was. As a team we could still score but we were getting scored on heavily.

Sprong was not helping that regard in fact he’d likely have made it worse. We weren’t in a position in the standings to let him play through his terrible defensive game when we had others who could help stop the bleeding.

It worked we were scored on less and control score. We are in a much better position now. We need some tweaks for it to be more sustainable but we are going in the right direction and the guy we got for Sprong is helping a lot too.

 

[Ryder71]

Rust was still good in his own end and wasn’t giving up the goals Sprong was. As a team we could still score but we were getting scored on heavily.

Sprong was not helping that regard in fact he’d likely have made it worse. We weren’t in a position in the standings to let him play through his terrible defensive game when we had others who could help stop the bleeding.

It worked we were scored on less and control score. We are in a much better position now. We need some tweaks for it to be more sustainable but we are going in the right direction and the guy we got for Sprong is helping a lot too.

Let me say this, Rust is a pretty solid all around player, right? So he would fit better on a lower line. The group think here is that Sprong was hurting the 4th line. I agree with that. But as far as to how he'd perform in the top six we really don't know. There was a period of time there that it would have made sense to at least try it. Rust could still be a good pker and be solid 5 on 5 on the 4th line. Sprong could have been given an opportunity to play with Geno. At least then we'd have a more definitive answer.

 

[Ryder71]

1,000 posts in the Sprong thread, we made everybody!