Post-Game Talk: You can't fire me, I quit. Pens - 1, It's a Tarp - 3

[Speaking Moistly]

I'm not disagreeing with you, I'm tired of Scuderi too. But perhaps MJ perhaps felt the young core needed to watch from the bench in that situation-They are learning on the ice and from the bench. Some of them like Pouliot and Dumo are not physically or mentally ready for an 82 game NHL season. Even Bortz, this is really his first year playing up.

I'm not trying to make excuses but it's easy for us to sit here and criticize w/o knowing the facts or what he's doing to help develop these guys the best way possible.

The young guys won't learn anything from watching Scuderi in any offensive situation unless it's what not to do. They're not going to learn anything from watching Scuderi be too slow for 4 on 4 hockey either and that was happening when Ehrhoff and Martin were still in the land of the living so there's better veterans to learn from there; except the youth wasn't really there.

We don't know all of the facts though, however the usage is pretty telling. Playing him is one thing, putting him out in these situations is another and the reasoning is probably faulty. Coaches make bad decisions or they develop a weird relationship with a player, it happens. It's just something that has to be within reason or stopped. If Johnston is going around thinking using Scuderi in the previously mentioned situations is a good idea then it's time for JR to do something. Unless this is coming from above Johnston and if that's happening then I give up.

Somebody wake Rutherford up from his nap. Somebody should go check on him in his office. He's been sleeping since he got hired in June.

JR isn't napping, he got plastic surgery so the old man jokes would stop. He's recovering slowly because that's what the elderly do.

 

[ProgOg]

Wheeling somehow won 3-1 tonight.

 

[Vujtek]

Penguins are 1-3-1 without Craig Adams.

Clearly he was the driving force for the team's success over the years in the regular season.

 

[Speaking Moistly]

He had mumps. I have yet to see a player play good directly after getting it. Ryan Suter, for example, is -8 in the games he has played since returning from it.

I predict that Downie will get similar comments when he returns.

But the issue with him and Malkin would still be there if he played better - they are just a bad fit.

Sutter didn't have the mumps.

Crosby, Bennett, Maatta, Downie and Greiss have. Sutter, Bortuzzo and Fleury tested negative, although Greiss was negative and then positive so there's still time. It's something like that.

 

[Tender Rip]

We looked pretty terrible most of the way.

I have given Johnston mostly a free pass so far, but the Malkin at wing nonsense has to stop - most definitely when it isn't panning out. We are hindering what has been our best player for most of the season, and it is just not OK, never mind if one can understand some of the reasons for the attempt.

That said, I must admit I still find it tough to understand the hand wringing about the lack of quality from the call-ups, who are largely being played above their station. Even highly touted prospects with much higher draft pedigree than our guys would look out of place when put on Sid's wing for instance. I liked Rust when he was playing on the bottom6. No slight on him that he is not ready for that other stuff - indeed many capable NHL forwards would be in "fish out of water" territory there.

I have also come to the conclusion that most appreciated member "gordie" deserves scorn and derision by the bucket load(s) for the altogether unreal lack of appreciation for Simon Despres.
It is entirely possible that a few of us went overboard talking about what he could become during the time when he was being savaged by his previous coach - or somewhat misused by Johnston - but then again now that the training wheels are off, he is consistently one of our best players game in game out, and over the past month probably our best D-man while providing (in spades) qualities we have been desperately short of for years.

So, Happy New Year dear gordie... when I think of you, this is what I see before my minds eye...

 

[Michael8771*]

Penguins are 1-3-1 without Craig Adams.

Clearly he was the driving force for the team's success over the years in the regular season.

Are you sure?

 

[ProgOg]

Sutter didn't have the mumps.

Crosby, Bennett, Maatta, Downie and Greiss have. Sutter, Bortuzzo and Fleury tested negative, although Greiss was negative and then positive so there's still time. It's something like that.

Damn.

 

[Vujtek]

Are you sure?

Stats don't lie.

On the other hand the Penguins are 19/21 on shorthanded without Adams so perhaps his expertise in that area isn't all that important after all and the team can survive there without Adams. I guess it's Adams' leadership then that has guided the team to win after win over his consecutive games streak.

Anyways, missed the game, but was good to see Sid get that sweet goal. Hopefully he'll get it going and with Bennett and Downie hopefully soon returning, the team can get back to winning ways again. Without Adams.

 

[Michael8771*]

Stats don't lie.

On the other hand the Penguins are 19/21 on shorthanded without Adams so perhaps his expertise in that area isn't all that important after all and the team can survive there without Adams. I guess it's Adams' leadership then that has guided the team to win after win over his consecutive games streak.

That's a very interesting take.

 

[Vujtek]

That's a very interesting take.

You know what, I'm not sure if you aren't getting that I'm joking on the subject or if you're joking back

 

[Michael8771*]

You know what, I'm not sure if you aren't getting that I'm joking on the subject or if you're joking back

I'm joking back, I got your humor there. Just wanted to keep you guessing for a few minutes. Sorry, it's late, just wanted to see if I could get your goat without being too big of a jerk.

 

[ProgOg]

[NHL]712092&catid=829[/NHL]

Johnston somewhat called out the refs there. Has he done that before?

IIRC, he seemed really cautious in regards to that when the knee-on-knee happened to Malkin, or when the Penguins didn't get any PP opportunities.

And boy, is he unhappy with their effort.

 

[flaneur]

[NHL]712092&catid=829[/NHL]

Johnston somewhat called out the refs there. Has he done that before?

IIRC, he seemed really cautious in regards to that when the knee-on-knee happened to Malkin, or when the Penguins didn't get any PP opportunities.

And boy, is he unhappy with their effort.

not that i can recall. i think he is reaching a breaking point in terms of ref shenanigans. it seems like every game there is some egregious miss call or wrong call he is slowly upping the anger in the post-game scrum (the refs did a good job -> we just need to work harder for penalties -> i'll need to rewatch the hit but it seemed okay from the bench -> the league will probably look into the helmet thing -> wtf there obviously was suppose to be an instigator penalty -> -> -> **** this **** (projected future scrum))

 

[Will Hunting]

I´m happy that Johnston praised Pouliot for this game. He was very solid defensively, his best defensive game so far. Other than him, it seems like he didn´t like the rest of the AHLers.. OK, so why do you keep Rust & Megna in the TOP6, MJ ?

Honestly, if the return of Craig Adams means that Megna is re-assigned to WBS, then I´m all for it. That´s how terrible Megna is. Megna is actively hurting the team EVERY game, in a different ways (he´s just finding them). Guy is almost 25, not exactly a kid anymore. I think we´ve seen enough of him jmelm, there´s no point in defending him anymore. Dumb player is a dumb player and he will continue to be lost out there. You can´t teach hockey IQ, time to move on.

As for Rust playing over his head.. I understand it, but he should be able to convert those glorious chances when he gets them. He missed a wide-open net at the end of the 2nd period the minute before Jagr scored. There were other chances for him as well. He´s creating nothing out there, so when Sid feeds him like that, he has to at least convert it. If he´s not able to do that, then send him down or play him on the 4th line..

At the end of the day, MJ is the one who refuses to put Crosby & Malkin together and then we have to deal with things like this, the AHLers costing us games and costing Sid & Geno their deserved points. Really sad to see.

 

[PensPlz]

+ I don't think anyone was injured.... that's so much better than a win right now.

I'd take a loss with no one injured over a win and losing another piece of the team for "a few weeks" with a "lower/upper body injury".

 

[ProgOg]

not that i can recall. i think he is reaching a breaking point in terms of ref shenanigans. it seems like every game there is some egregious miss call or wrong call he is slowly upping the anger in the post-game scrum (the refs did a good job -> we just need to work harder for penalties -> i'll need to rewatch the hit but it seemed okay from the bench -> the league will probably look into the helmet thing -> wtf there obviously was suppose to be an instigator penalty -> -> -> **** this **** (projected future scrum))

I'm almost looking forward to that.

 

[Shrimper]

I was pleased with Sid's game tonight despite only having one goal he should have had more points. Kunitz had about four shots in a close span that he put straight at Schneider, not to forget Rust's missed chance. It was about a clear an indication as you will get that the lines need changing.

 

[fcfury]

I can't say how much I hate the Scuderi/Bort pairing. They should never be a pairing again.

 

[ProgOg]

Fire Uher and Ebbett into the sun.

 

[helicecopter]

Paajarvi would be nice if he could slip, which I doubt.

cause it was too difficult for the Pens management to throw a 7th rounder at the Blues and get him in the first place

 

[ProgOg]

 

[Will Hunting]

So Greiss should be healthy now.. We need forwards back, so this solves absolutely nothing for now. Bennett or Downie back would be much bigger news.

 

[ProgOg]

Some impressive numbers by Farnham when it comes to drawing penalties.

First in the league by a pretty wide margin.

 

[Mr Jiggyfly]

I´m happy that Johnston praised Pouliot for this game. He was very solid defensively, his best defensive game so far. Other than him, it seems like he didn´t like the rest of the AHLers.. OK, so why do you keep Rust & Megna in the TOP6, MJ ?

Honestly, if the return of Craig Adams means that Megna is re-assigned to WBS, then I´m all for it. That´s how terrible Megna is. Megna is actively hurting the team EVERY game, in a different ways (he´s just finding them). Guy is almost 25, not exactly a kid anymore. I think we´ve seen enough of him jmelm, there´s no point in defending him anymore. Dumb player is a dumb player and he will continue to be lost out there. You can´t teach hockey IQ, time to move on.

As for Rust playing over his head.. I understand it, but he should be able to convert those glorious chances when he gets them. He missed a wide-open net at the end of the 2nd period the minute before Jagr scored. There were other chances for him as well. He´s creating nothing out there, so when Sid feeds him like that, he has to at least convert it. If he´s not able to do that, then send him down or play him on the 4th line..

At the end of the day, MJ is the one who refuses to put Crosby & Malkin together and then we have to deal with things like this, the AHLers costing us games and costing Sid & Geno their deserved points. Really sad to see.

I've long hinted that Megna may lack hockey sense, and it's becoming pretty obvious now. It's not shocking given where he came from to be a pro. He looks much worse this season than last. He was carrying the puck and making things happen last season, going to the net and being a pest, etc.

Rust has shown good finishing ability in the A, but he's made a huge leap up in competition in a short period of time. He has pretty much been projected as a third liner since he was drafted though. It's kind of silly for us to expect him to have an impact with Crosby.

Crosby and Malkin should be playing together, but why they aren't is baffling me as well.

 

[joeyjake5]

I get that, but spaling is playing a role above his capabilities. He was brought in to be a 3-4 liner who will kill penalties and chip in the odd goal here and there. Not to play with Sid, and with that, be expected to produce 1st line numbers.

I don't Scuderi is as bad as advertised around here. He sucked at the start of the year but has turned his game around. And Scuds is not the main reason we are losing right now.

In 3 of the last 4 games Scuds was bad really bad. Plus his offensive skills are off the charts. I can't recall how many good scoring chances the pens had when he was on the ice. As MJ says "Scuds is our SHUT DOWN D" . That is certainly correct, but he just shuts down the pens offense and gives up goals against.