“He’s [Fleury] going to have good games. It’s not like he can change overnight. He’s going to put strings of games together, and he can’t do that with one game. So, you’ve got to be patient, too, and let him get back there.  With a goalie, you’ve got to give him time. He’s got to play four or five games maybe to prove that, but to sit here and question his psyche doesn’t really give him a chance.”

Love Marc-Andre Fleury or hate him, I couldn’t agree with Sid more.  Flower deserves a chance to get back on his game. The 09′ Cup earns him that.   Sid shows us all why he is a captain right here.  He is speaking directly in opposition with Coach Dan Bylsma’s current operating methodology of win one and get another for Flower.  That is treating Fleury like the backup, which he isn’t.   Bylsma has thrown Fleury under the bus a few times this year, but yesterday put Flower’s confidence directly under the spotlight.

“[Fleury] understands he doesn’t have confidence right now”

Nice coach.  Hang him out to dry to the press.  That’s just what he needs.  I mean if we are going to hold people accountable then  it is time to start tossing some of the fringe guys you are obsessed with giving chance to out there too.  Why is it that Tyler Kennedy gets a pass when he plays back to back crappy games?  Why has Mike Comire not been set on fire for pretty much pooping on the ice and then taking his next shift?  By his own player’s anonymous admission Dan is obsessed with the 3rd/4th liners and likes to give them opportunities.

Powerplay, line juggling, and all of the other nonsense aside, Disco has fumbled the handling of the goalie situation. You don’t take your confidence struggling starting goalie and burn him like you have four times this year to the press.  Sid and backup Brent Johnson have handled it like leaders.  Johnny went so far as to bark pretty hard at Shelly Anderson of the PPG when she tried to use baited questioning to get him to cut Flower’s legs out.  Good on those two for being teammates.

I agree with Sid, and the next opportunity where you can commit to giving Flower a solid chance to get his confidence back is to win or lose start him at home against the Canucks and Hurricanes next week and then at Florida and Buffalo the week after.  Vancouver is a West team so losing two points there isn’t going to hurt as bad and then next three games are against teams at the bottom of the East.  Creampuffs.  Tuneups.  There isn’t another opportunity like this on the schedule until the end of January (DET/NJD/CAR/NYI).  If Fleury hasn’t found it by the conclusion of the Buffalo game on the 24th, you have you answer from Fleury.

Other things in my notebook today:

• Apparently the All-Star game is moving to a format when players are voted to the teams and the elected captains pick sides.  Sure it sounds nifty, but it has a chance to put teammates on opposite teams which is why I hated the North America vs The World format.  I’m not sure why the All-Star game isn’t just a skills competition anymore anyway.
• Eric Tangradi upon his return to Wilkes-Barre has been rode fairly hard by new baby Pens head boss John Hynes.  Tangradi was drilled extra hard while being yelled at on the ice by Hynes during a practice last week for quitting on a rush drill according to Citizen’s Voice beat reporter John Bombulie.  There is some speculation that the directive came from on high to get Tangradi motivated but Hynes is also a taskmaster more like Michel Therrien than appeasing creativity man Dan Bylsma.
• So Mark Madden doesn’t think that Marc-Andre Fleury is over using his pokecheck.  The rest of the vision empowered world does.  Madden also said today on his HD-2 show that the Capitals are the Penguins biggest rival.  For a guy who knows so much about Penguins history I wonder how he cold ignore the Flyers like that.  The Caps won’t generate near the level of hate until they actually defeat us somewhere.
• Good to hear out of the GM’s meetings the Florida GM Dale Tallon’s proposal for a coach’s challenge/replay was shot down due to lack of support.
• The Bruins are rolling into town Wednesday pretty banged up.  Marco Sturm and David Krecji are both doubtful or worse.  Marc Savard won’t be back either but expect the Bruins to remember to take a few shots at Matt Cooke for last spring and maybe the Pens’ stars.  By the way, that’s why the game is on NHLN.
• After being absent from practice Monday both Evgeni Malkin and Johnson returned to the ice at Southpointe Tuesday.
• Of all of the centers that Crosby has taken more than 30 draws against the Bruins Patrice Bergeron owns him winning more than 60%.  Sid has a worse FO% against Bergeron than anyone.  Expect Disco to exploit last change on that one Wednesday night.

On a personal note you can expect more of these lump sum type summaries moving forward from me.  I finally an employed again and writing during the day is a non-starter.  I am taking notes in a real notebook now and bringing them here.  Be sure to follow me on Twitter:  @Ozman51

David Shribman, Vice President and Executive Editor ( dshribman@post-gazette.com 412-263-1890.)
Susan Smith, Managing Editor ( ssmith2@post-gazette.com 412-263-1858.)
Mary Leonard, Deputy Managing Editor ( mleonard@post-gazette.com 412-263-0443)
Jerry Micco, Assitant Managing Editor/Sports ( jmicco@post-gazette.com 412-263-1890)

Twitter: @pittsburghpg @sportsnewsPG #saveemptynetters

You can also use the PPG’s Sports Department’s Contact Page

Seth asks the following:

Please be respectful when you contact these people. They have given me an amazing opportunity to create this blog and have allowed me nothing but freedom to write it as I please from day 1.

Original Post: Late Thursday night Seth Rorabaugh of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Empty Netters Blog started tweeting that he may have to sell t-shirts on Monday in order to keep his bastion of hockey knowledge afloat.

Sufficed to say reaction from loyal Twitter followers and readers was shocked and confused.  You see Empty Netters is pretty much the bright central professional hub of Pittsburgh Penguins blogging.  Seth has crafted and cultivated Empty Netters for years, through some of the darkest days of the Penguins franchise.  It’s stunning that now, in what is nothing short of the second golden era of Penguins hockey that the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette would make the short sighted move of pulling the plug on EN.  Seth then got a little more specific.

A little more stunning.  Seth is routinely on Penguins HD Radio with Steve Mears and others to talk Penguins hockey.  He eat, sleeps, and breathes hockey.  Empty Netters Assists even covers the rest of the league better than most 10 man operations.  The notion that the Post-Gazette would take what they have in Seth and Empty Netters and flush it is out of this world crazy.  You have to remember day in day out this is in essence a one man show and it’s the best Penguins one man show on the planet.

Beyond that Seth is a great author.  He takes the time to interact, to the detriment of having any semblance of a life outside of hockey, will all of the readers who take the time to comment or tweet him up.  He has more random useful stuff about hockey in his pinky than most people my age have in their bodies.

I’m interested to know what motivation the PPG would have to even consider this move.  They have other writers like Ron Cook who know nothing about hockey writing on the subject.  Seth is far more qualified and informed on Penguins hockey and the NHL to write for them.  The idea that EN would shut down before the PPG would take its far lesser writers off of the Penguins is beyond me.  I truly hope its not about Ad revenue because they can blame their own architecture and the aging server EN runs on for that.  Regardless I posed the question of would phone calls or contacting the PPG help.  He tweeted the following:

So for now those wanting to help should wait for that list and instructions as to how we can help. Getting too involved pre-emptively could be a detriment to Seth and EN’s future. Trust though that when it is published along with what Seth needs this post will be updated with that information for you.

Police Sergeant John Fisher provided an email to local television station Channel 4 in Pittsburgh that was sent to all of the officers scheduled to work the Winter Classic.  The email provided states:

“It is our position that we will not supply officers unless we receive the holiday pay rate.”

This creates the brewing possibility that the Pittsburgh Police Department make boycott providing security for the Winter Classic.  Sgt. Fisher is the officer in charge of the police detail for every Steelers game and in turn the Winter Classic as it takes place at the Steelers home venue Heinz Field.  The same email requested the offices to work at a reduced rate.  The Police Department has the option of assigning officers already scheduled to work that day to instead work at The Winter Classic but due to contractual obligations with the Union officers cannot be forced to work on a holiday.

There is plenty more to develop on this and I would be shocked if the city ended up not having enough officers on duty that day.

Mike Yeo was blamed for the Pens' PP woes last year. O for the last 27 and Yeo in Houston coaching the Aeros I think its safe to say it wasn't him.

The Pittsburgh Penguins rolled into Dallas Wednesday night eying to continue riding the momentum they started in Carolina last Saturday.  Those hopes, and maybe Brent Johnson’s hot streak ended quickly in the 1st period after the Penguins and their poor passing and defensive play gave up a quick 2-0 lead to the Stars on goals by Stephane Robidas and Brad Richards.  The Penguins went to the locker room after the first intermission down 2 and were outshot 12-4. Tyler Kennedy dropped the gloves at the end of the period with Jamie Benn.  It was a spark your team kind of move as the Pens had been completely outplayed for the entire 20 minutes.

The second period was the epitome of what I don’t want to see out of my hockey team.  After Kennedy got the Pens back to within one in the early part of the period the Stars Brenden Morrow made one of the most classless moves I’ve seen in a while, giving Kris Letang no opportunity to walk away from dropping the gloves after Morrow slashed him at least five times.  Letang is battling a hand injury from the Tampa game a week ago and was visually disgusted with Morrow for forcing the issue and in essence making him fight. Classless.

Then it just got stupid.

On the ensuing faceoff Sidney Crosby dropped the gloves with Matt Niskanen, and dropped him with a right.  This was in a situation with Deryk Engelland on the ice.  Nine seconds later Chris Kunitz and Benn dropped the gloves as well.  In between the two fights Brooks Orpik took what can only be categorized as a run at the Stars Steve Ott.  After the Kunitz fight Stars’ coach Marc Crawford could be seen mouthing the words “What the f*** are you doing?” to Penguins coach Dan Blysma.

That’s my question.  What were we doing?  The frustration was mounting due to the Pens getting down quick again in a game and then failing to capitalize on a 5 on 3 for over 90 seconds in the first.   It was frustration for getting back into the game and then being slammed right back out of by the 3rd goal from Ott.   I understand that.  However it was no excuse to turn into the Flyers in the second.  We see this team once a year.  There is no rivalry here.  The Pens decided the game was over or that they weren’t interested in playing their game anymore and went goon.

We scream at Flyers fans when their teams behave like this almost every time we play them.  To not be critical of my own team when they stop playing hockey and turn into an mindless bunch of goons would be hypocritical.  I was embarrassed for my team in the 2nd period.  That’s not who were are.

• Penguins wasted a chance to get right back in it in the first be squandering 1:37 of 5 on 3 time with five minutes left in the 1st and the score only 2-0.  It’s the fifth 5on3 wasted this year.
• The penalty shot awarded to Loui Eriksson in the mid-2nd was a joke.  Ericksson scored on it and the game was over.  Johnson did not look good at all on the effort either
• Letang’s injured hand likely led to the turnover that Eriksson buried in the 3rd to make it 5-1.  Letang’s hand will be a matter to watch now until Friday.
• Ben Lovejoy was a healthy scratch for Deryk Engelland tonight with Zybnek Michalek’s return to the lineup
• Brent Johnson was good in this game but 5 goals on 25 shots in the middle of the 3rd is still not good enough.  That’s the same criticism that people lambasted Marc-Andre Fleury with after he gave up too many goals on too few shots despite it being his defense’s fault in mid October
• Michalek was on the ice for the first two Stars goals that set the tone for this entire game. Not a great return for him.
• Matt Cooke added a goal late and is now tied with Evgeni Malkin with 3.  There is something very wrong there on November 3rd.
• I’d have bet that Flower got the start in Anaheim before tonight.  Now I’m sure he gets it.
• Pens 0 for their last 27 on the Powerplay.  Look right there for the reason we are losing so many game like this.  No scoring with the man advantage and you can’t climb back into game.
• If Bylsma draws one thing from the line combos tonight it should be that Cooke-Max Talbot-Kennedy clicked.   Sorry Mark Letestu but you go with what works. It might be time to try Tubes on the wing on the second line.
• Penguins still took 8 non-fighting minors tonight.  Play is still far too undisciplined.
• Pens drop to 6-5-1 and sit 8th in the East.  They are 3rd behind the Rangers and First Place Flyers in the Atlantic Division.
• Penguins played with no desire, no drive they didn’t want it enough and that’s becoming a reoccurring theme.  If you want to blame Jordan Staal’s reinjury for the drop in attitude so be it, but I think that’s a cop-out.
• Here’s the Crosby fight, not to glorify it, but because it happens so infrequently.

Click here to view the embedded video.

I read as much as I can about the Team and the Fans, listen to everything I can (apart from Mark Madden).  There is now a small group of loyal fans beginning to question Bylsma.  The major question is was 09′ a perfect storm and does he have any real X’s and O’s beyond Sid and Geno paired?  Yeo was obviously not the problem on the PP.  The Pens keep playing lose one win one it’ll be a mob by March.

Zybnek Michalek will return to the lineup for the Penguins tonight.

The Pittsburgh Penguins are getting good news on two fronts today.  First is the announcement via Twitter that Defenseman Zbynek Michalek will return to the lineup tonight in Dallas after missing almost the entire month of October with a shoulder injury.  Joining him on the ice will be Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang, and Alex Goligoski who have all been day-to-day through practices this week.  Geno missed all of  this past Saturday’s game with a bruised knee sustained the night prior against Philly.  Letang re-aggravated a hand he injured off of a shot in Tampa Bay last Wednesday.  Goose had been given consecutive “maintenance days” by head coach Dan Bylsma.  All will play tonight.

Not in the lineup tonight will be Pascal Dupuis who has returned to Pittsburgh to be with his wife who went into labor early Wednesday. Lola Dupuis was born at 12:57 EST this afternoon.  Dupuis reportedly made it home 8 minutes before the baby was born.  The Penguins have made no call-ups from Wilkes-Barre Scranton to compensate for the missing forward in the lineup tonight.  Byslma is considering 7 defensemen in Dallas which would help him out off the Ben Lovejoy / Deryk Engelland 6th man question for one more night and fill the roster hole left by Dupers absence.

Geno returned to practice today in his traditional center role a day after he was the odd man out in second line practices.  Oddly he was paired with Matt Cooke and Tyler Kennedy, suggesting a 3rd line role.  However the Penguins Practice report shows the trio listed as the 2nd line.  With Dupuis out Mike Comrie has been slated as Sidney Crosby’s right wing.  Looking at the practice lineups there is a noticable lack of scoring threats.

Kunitz-Crosby-Comrie
Cooke-Malkin-Kennedy
Talbot-Letestu-Asham
Rupp-Adams-Godard

All seven defensemen rotated at practice.

Goalie:  Johnson (projected)

It’s amazing to look at those lines and just ponder in amazement.  “Where is the scoring going to come from past Sid and Geno?” Malkin only has three goals this year.  Stunning in a sense just to see how little true scoring depth the Pens have.

WWGRD? Work for the Dallas Stars apparently.

In addition I have not been able to pick up a vibe on he goalie situation tonight.  Official Penguins outlets do not have a starter listed. The only indication that Brent Johnson may be the goalie of record this evening comes from the Penguins gameday preview which talks about Johnny not letting up a goal in regulation in his last two starts.  However I’d hardly call that official.  Look for your first confirmation to come during warm-ups which stinks for fantasy players looking to know where to go in net tonight.  The closest I’ll go is to say the projected starter is Brent Johnson.

Also of note is that Penguins icon Gary Roberts is a part of the Dallas organization this year.  He has been hired as a Fiji Water Player Development Consultant.

Go vote or stop whining.

Lets get this out of the way.  Go Vote today.  Imagine if you got to vote for NHL Commissioner, you’d all be there.  If you don’t vote you lose your right to complain in my book.  Now moving on…

Penguins fans are all still dealing with the aftermath of the tragic news regarding Jordan Staal’s broken hand.  I told my sons (10 and 12) yesterday and they both looked at me like I had told them there was no Christmas this year.  In listening to the interviews and reading the available literature after the fact I have a few things that I think merit mention.

• Dan Bylsma needs to sound informed or at least confident in interviews.  He was asked immediately about Staal and all he had was “the doctors are looking at him”. Now I get it, he didn’t know. He needs to sound less like he is looking for a non-specific out and more like the head boss of a hockey team.
• The press immediately pivoted to the status of Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang and Bylsma’s first words were “There’s not a clear understanding”.  Hardly what you want to hear from your coach.  I’m sure he knows but he needs to sound like he knows.  He sounded like he had no clue yesterday and I am sure that’s not the case.  It’s a matter of word choice.  On what was likely the toughest day of the Penguins regular season as a fan, Bylsma failed to instill any sense of confidence that he had a handle on things.
• Some press members have indicated that 6 weeks is a conservative figure.  It makes me hold out hope that it is more like 4 weeks.  However today’s surgery puts a damper on that hope.

Now that we sort-of know the extent of Staal’s situation the Penguins question of the week is “Who needs to step up?” I sent my response to Penguins Live, but they like me to keep it short.  Here is a more elaborate version.

• Mike Comrie must take advantage of what is likely his last chance to stay on the Penguins roster.  He was signed to be a top 6 guy and lately he has been playing with the bottom 6, mostly on the 4th line.  At lease one Comrie fan has taken me to task, citing statistics that Comrie has been getting some assists.  Check my Twitter stream.  I’ve given him his nods for getting those assists.  The problem is that the rest of the time he is out of position and failing to bury any opportunity that finds his stick.
• Maxime Talbot if we ever needed you to find your 08/09 form, its now.  The goal in Carolina was great but by his own admission accidental.  He failed to get the puck to his forehand and got lucky.  We’ll take garbage goals but Max is not the player he was for this team two years ago.  This team is in dire need of a scoring threat at forward.
• Chris Kunitz needs to score some goals.  After a promising two goal start to the year he has gone as cold as he was to start last season.  Kunitz hasn’t netted a goal in several weeks (1 goal in last 8 games).
• Mark Letestu has cooled after rocketing to the top of the rookie goal scoring stat sheet.  It’s a lot to ask a rookie to fill the shoes of Jordan Staal but Tubes is the closest thing we have to him.  He can play both sides of the game and has shown scoring touch.
• Craig Adams should not be looked at to fill the void for Staal in any capacity beyond the penalty kill.  Adams will continue to be looked at as a primary PK forward.  He has done well in that role thus far and we need him to maintain.  Anyone looking for more goals from Adams or a lack of goals as a reason to sit him obviously has not been acquainted with this team for long.
• Arron Asham has to ability to contribute some time on the second line and maybe chip in a goal here and there.  He is more suited to be Matt Cooke’s buddy on the 3rd line.
• Tyler Kennedy needs to keep shooting, but he also needs to realize he is a grinder and play more like one.
• Finally and most importantly Evgeni Malkin must step up.  More appropriately he must step back up to his normal output.  Geno is paid 8+ million a year to score at least a point per game.  He has 3 goals this year.  Even with a healthy Jordan Staal, that’s not good enough.  Out of everyone Geno has to show he is a leader and he has to show he is not in line for back to back disappointing seasons.

On the goaltending front:

• Pensblog said it well after Brent Johnson’s shutout in Carolina.  If you are advocating that Marc-Andre Fleury get night in night out starts right now you are putting your love of MAF above the best interests of the team.  Ride the hot hand.  Johnny is second in the NHL in GAA at 1.16.  That’s fairly insane.  Fleury is still the number one guy but you have to take advantage of the fact that Johnny is seeing beach balls
• While not confirmed I fully expect Johnson to start 2 of 3 on this road trip.  It is my opinion that Fleury is most likely to start against the struggling Anaheim Ducks in a back to back situation.
• If Johnson can stay hot it can surely mask some of the other deficiencies on this team.  The absence of Staal and Geno’s lack of production could be hidden by more 1 and 2 goal performances out of Johnny.
• Johnson will cool off.  Be ready for it.  It will happen.  When it does I hope Fleury has found his game again or things could get ugly, fast.

Further information on injuries:

• Malkin (knee), Letang (hand), and Alex Goligoski (unknown) are all day to day.  Geno and Tanger missed practice on Monday. Goose did not finish practice. Their statuses for Wednesday are up in the air.
• Geno and Tanger did work with Dan Bylsma on the ice prior to Tuesday’s practice.  The pair both participated in practice after-wards but Goligoski missed the Tuesday session.   Geno worked as the extra forward on the 2nd line and his availability for Wednesday will be a matter of how much pain he can play with.  Letang took a normal practice with D-partner Paul Martin.
• By all account Zybnek Michalek should return to the lineup in Dallas barring a setback.
• As the Penguins get ready to hit the road there have been no call-ups from Wilkes-Barre as of 11am EST Tuesday.  If there is a forward brought up, don’t be surprised if it is someone not named Eric Tangradi.  I’ve heard Nick Johnson offered up as a more likely possibility.

Some Random Information:

• The Bruins Marc Savard continues to struggle with concussion problems stemming from the hit Matt Cooke laid on him last spring.  You will remember that Cooke served no time for the incident which was questionable.
• Coincidentally, Matt Cooke is also November’s mustache boy following the shootuout competition at Tuesday’s practice.

Staal left Monday practice with a hand injury. He will have surgery Tues and miss 6 additional weeks.

On what was the eve of his all but confirmed return to the lineup Wednesday night in Dallas, Jordan Staal left the Penguins Monday practice at Southpointe at 12:25 EST with an apparent injury.   This s a bitter pill to swallow for fans who have seen Staal out of the lineup all season due to off season foot surgery. Dan Byslma wasn’t saying much after practice.   Early word from TSN is that it is a hand injury and will mean weeks more recovery time.

We are waiting to see. [Staal] left and went to see the doctor right now.

UPDATE: As things continued to develop after practice TSN’s Bob McKenzie tweeted the following terrible news:

Awaiting official word from Penguins, but hearing Staal will be out six-plus weeks with what may be a broken bone in his hand.

It really tough news for a fan and who knows how Staal is handling it.  Those present said he left the ice in disgust.  He’s worked hard to get back into game shape after missing a summer of conditioning and now this major setback.  At least he can continue leg conditioning over the next several weeks.

UPDATE 2: As of 5:30pm EST the Pens have confirmed the 6 week timeline to TSN:

Pens confirm: Jordan Staal, broken hand, hit by puck in practice, out about 6 weeks.

Inside Pittsburgh Sports is saying that Staal will have surgery on his hand tomorrow.  The Penguins Official Twitter confirmed Staal’s Tuesday surgery shortly after.

As most know Evgeni Malkin was a surprise scratch Saturday after having his knee bruised late in the Flyers game Friday night.  Kris Letang left Saturday’s contest after apparently aggravating an injured hand he sustained from a Vinny Lecavailer shot the prior Wednesday in Tampa.  Both players were absent from the Monday practice at Southpointe.  On those two Bylsma would only offer the following:

There’s not a clear understanding. They are still day-to-day. When I spoke to you all before the game at Carolina, I hoped to see ‘Geno’ on the ice, so he is still day-to-day. Same thing with Tanger.

New to the casualty carousel is news that Alex Goligoski is also day to day.

There is nothing new on [Goligoski] today. We are hoping to see all the (injured) guys play. You never want to have three guys who are day-to-day like that. We’ll make an adjustment tomorrow whether we bring somebody up or not.

Nothing specific is mentioned on Goose’s injury.  Bylsma indicated that if callups were to be necessary that they would happen Tuesday.  The good news is that Zybnek Michalek is still on track to play Wednesday in Dallas according to Dave Molinari of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and other sources.

Last November the Penguins ran a M*A*S*H Unit in their defensive corps, starting as many as 4 AHL players.  Let’s hope this is not a repeat performance beginning to unfold.  Someone should also find Mike Comire and tell him most people don’t get a third chance.

• Jordan Staal and Zbynek Michalek are expected to play Wednesday in Dallas.  The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is reporting that both players are targeting this Wednesday as the date they will return to the lineup.  Staal came off of the LTIR and is now eligible for play.
  
• Kris Letang left for the locker room after taking only 2 shifts in the second period of the Penguins 3-0 win in Raleigh Saturday night.  Letang was stung a hand he injured the previous Wednesday at Tampa Bay.  Seth Rorabaugh posted in his assists column that Letang is day-to-day.
  
• Evgeni Malkin was a surprise scratch Saturday night.  After assurances all day that he would play following a knee bruise sustained the previous night versus the Flyers, Malkin struggled in warmups and quickly left the ice. There has been no update on his status but Coach Dan Bylsma has said that the injury is not structural.  I expect Geno to play Wednesday.
  
• Brent Johnson did little to help Marc-Andre Fleury’s case to remain the starting netminder in Pittsburgh after posting his 14th career shutout and first since 2006 Saturday Night. Johnny is now 2nd in the NHL with a 1.16 GAA behind the Bruin’s Tim Thomas at 0.50  As Dan Bylsma left the bench in Raleigh he gave Flower a tap on the pads which would indicate that he would likely get the nod in Dallas.  At this point riding the hot  hand is probably the best thing for the team but long term you have to consider both Fleury’s confidence and Johnny’s durability.  The Penguins could find themselves in big trouble quickly in the spring.
  

With the return of Staal and Michalek the question is who sits? At forward I think the obvious answer is Mike Comrie.  He’s had a solid month to legitimize his signing and has done nothing except play out of position and fumble every chance he’s had to score.  Given their recent play you cannot bench Craig Adams, Pascal Dupuis, or Tyler Kennedy who all have goals in the last three games.  Adams especially needs to stay in the lineup given that scoring is not even his role.

On the defensive side it’ a tougher question.  Do you sit Ben Lovejoy or Deryk Engelland?  In my opinion Engelland has moved himself into the 6th spot by the way he played all October.  While Lovejoy is the better skater Dan Bylsma said this during training camp:

If you look at the top five guys, you can expect them to play more than the sixth guy, whoever that is,” Bylsma said.  “I think the sixth guy is going to have to bring some kind of different element to the table, whether that’s on the penalty kill or maybe with grit and physicality.

If that’s not Engelland (who has dropped Colton Orr and Jody Shelley in the past month), I don’t know who is.  It’ll be a tough decision for Bylsma Wednesday afternoon.

The Penguins were given a day off Sunday and will return to Southpointe for practice Monday before getting on the road this week.

One other note.  Rob Rossi of Trib Total media made the following ridiculous suggestion in his postgame blog last night:

Blue uniforms are 2-0-0, and they’ve stopped a three-game home losing streak AND a 0-2-1 stretch. Make the move now, MR. Team CEO/President DAVID MOREHOUSE: Next season the Penguins should wear the 2008 Classic uniforms at home and the 2010 Classic uniforms on the road. Blue will be the answer, let it be.

I hope Rossi was joking.  If not it’s the dumbest idea I’ve heard in some time.  First off all it would leave the Pens without a white jersey for road games.  Secondly the Penguins are black and Vegas gold.  They just spent a lot of money making everything in the Consol Energy Center Black and Vegas Gold.  They have the current Black and Vegas Gold Penguins logo emblazoned on everything in that building.  The color change is a really dumb idea and something I would expect a puck bunny who didn’t care about the team until 2005 to say.  Oh yeah Rossi didn’t start covering the Penguins until 2007 as a beat writer for the Trib.

The City of Pittsburgh is the only city that has a unified color scheme for its professional teams.  I’ve taken pride in that since I grew up there.

Yup, it's an ugly ugly monster. The Pens Winter Classic Jersey has not resonated with fans out of the gate.

The Pittsburgh Penguins unveiled their 2011 Bridgestone Winter Classic Jersey this afternoon following practice.  The reception has been negative, about 80/20 on Twitter.  For those who pay attention the unveiling is confirmation of images we’ve had for a few weeks.  However it doesn’t make the sweater an less ugly in my opinion.

The first thing that is getting most people is the lettering.  “How much did you have to pay Loony Tunes for the rights to that font“.  The number are cartoony.  One of my older Twitter friends said it was the first time his Pens friends on Twitter were ever in agreement on anything.  The sweater’s horribleness might be the unifying factor to get us over the Marc-Andre Fleury business.

Once you get past the Space Jam infringement on the numerals the next thing is the stripes that stripe cover the stripes entire stripes jersey stripes.  I mean there are a lot of stripes.  Does Sidney Crosby have  a third cousin down on his luck working someplace in the jersey stripe factory?  There is five stripes on each sock for heaven’s sake. I actually like the old fat Penguin, but after the big time summer presser at Heinz Field where the banners featured the logo, we’ve all known that was coming for some time.

Why is fan reaction so negative?  Well honestly its the second time that the Penguins as an organization have disappointed their fan base with the Winter Classic jersey.  Now it’s true, the ’08 jersey, now the alternate is the highest selling jersey in the NHL.  However it’s not what the fans wanted then just like this is not what the fans want now.

It’s  tremendous failure by the organization not to have the pulse of their fan base, yet again, on this.  Most fans were begging for an ’84-92′ styled Pens WC sweater than took them back to the glory days of Rob Brown, Troy Loney, Phil Borque, Kevin Stevens, Rick Tocchet, and Mario Lemieux’s heyday. Instead the Penguins decided to introduce this sweater that honestly no one wanted.  They would have been better off in my opinion reusing the 08 WC jersey instead of going here.

One of the things that plagues the current Pens 3rd jersey is its association with bad luck.  The Penguins typically don’t play well in them.  Some fans call them blue death or blue curse. I’m sure none of them are happy to see blue yet again in what is likely to be the alternate for the 11/12 season.

In the end I was personally waiting for this day (actually yesterday when I knew this was the actual sweater) to decide on what jersey I wanted for the holidays.  I had set on Crosby as I did not have a his sweater yet.  I wanted to see if I liked the new Winter Classic sweater.  I’ll never own one of those monsters.  It’ that ugly to me.  Instead I purchased the current 3rd jersey.  However I’m watching the comments of plenty of people who are stating there is no way in hell they order one of these uglies.

Penguins, imagine the money you could have made if you have taken the time to test the waters with your fans.  I’m sure this jersey will sell as some fans will buy anything.  Don’t expect past performance to ring true here however.

Long time fans know that the Pens Powerplay woes are nothing new. This guy knew it in 2009 before Michel Therrien was fired.

A quick glance at the NHL stats machine by a fan who has not really watched any Penguins hockey this year would easily lead them to believe that the Powerplay, while not spectacular, is not the source of the problem.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  On the surface a 19.2% Powerplay efficiency rate doesn’t look all that bad even if it is 19th in the league.  However of the 5 goals the Penguins have scored in their 26 opportunities, 40% of them came in one game, against Ottawa on October 18th.  The first two Penguins goals in that game were powerplay goals scored by Mark Letestu and Sidney Crosby.  That means that the Penguins have only scored 3 markers with the man advantage in 9 other contests this season and one of those only barely qualifies as a PP goal as it came with :01 second left with the extra man.

In fact as the Pens left The St. Pete Times Forum Wednesday night with a loss after giving up a 3-1 first period lead, they had gone 0 for their last 15 powerplay opportunities.  In Tampa they were 0 for 5.  It’s true that the goalie is the most important single position on the ice with respect to the result of a game but there is another hockey fundamental called making the most of opportunities that the Penguins are absolutely miserable at this season.  The Pens are not capitalizing on their chances plain and simple.

Some people will say “they got two short handed goals last night“.   That’s true.  However a shorthanded goal is like a five dollar bill you find in a coat you haven’t worn in a year.  It’s awesome, unexpected, and you can never ever count on it being there again.

Watching the game while being an active Twitter participant gives me some measure of the instant reaction some fans have to what they see on the ice.  After the first Powerplay opportunity of the night last night against the Lightning fans were encouraged by the puck movement and player fluidity of the Pens powerplay.   I still saw the same pass-happy play that doesn’t put pucks on net to create second chance opportunities.  The Penguins powerplay is loaded with talent and that talent continues to look for the pretty play, or the wide open net instead of getting dirty and just putting pucks on pads and then behind goalies.

Combine the poor offensive output of the Pens special teams with the fact that they are guaranteed to give up an short handed odd man rush against at least once a night if given 3 or more powerplay opportunities.  It is absolutely unacceptable how many times the opposition has gotten behind Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang this season.  This isn’t something new either.  In the latter half of last year it was Letang, Sergei Gonchar, Alex Goligoski, and Malkin who were being torched for the same short handed chances against.  The symptom is the same desire to pass, in this case ill-advised passes under pressure back to or across the blue line on the powerplay, that is leading to these chances against.

Now I am not saying that I am thrilled with Fleury’s play.  He has not been the same goalie since the Olympic break last season when he was essentially shelved for a month with no playing time and little practice.  People see a 3.41 GAA for Flower and  1.39 for Johnny and draw a conclusion.  It’s not a completely unfounded one.  However you have to look beyond Marc-Andre Fleury if you are trying to point your finger.  The Penguins definitely play a different way defensively when MAF is in net.  Defensemen are more likely to jump into the play.  There is this unspoken trust that is evident on the ice where the Penguins trust Flower to bail them out of mistakes if the D gets too involved.  Flower hasn’t been doing it.

I commented last night that Fleury can’t just hold on.  He has to big the big save difference maker in some of these games.  Last night in the first he was not stellar.  The Martin St. Louis goal was a product of Flower being too relaint on the poke check in breakaway situations and the opposition knowing it.  However most people are forgetting the multiple oddman rushes against that he stoned the Bolts on.  They are forgetting that he shut the door on a Tampa penalty shot in the 2nd.  His play is erratic, but you cannot place the blame only on his shoulders.

You can’t place it on Mike Yeo’s anymore either

The Penguins Powerplay remains just as much to blame for these losses as does the marginal-at-times goaltending of Marc-Andre Fleury.

Don't get me wrong, I like that someone is tweeting on Hillary Duff's Twitter account about her husband Mike Comrie and Pens hockey but does she know anyone who can actually play forward?

That’s what Seth Rorabaugh of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Empty Netters Blog had to say about Mike Comrie this morning during a discussion we had while he was a guest on Pens HD Radio’s Penguins Live.  The reason for the discussion is the rapidly improving health of the Penguins forwards corps.  With Arron Asham expected back in the lineup for Wednesday’s game versus Tampa Bay and Jordan Staal to return in the very near future the questions have begun to swirl as to who would be out once the two injured forward get back onto the ice.

The Penguins took the first step towards answering that today when they reassigned winger Eric Tangradi to Wilke-Barre/Scranton of the AHL along with d-man Andrew Hutchinson who was called up to backfill for a now healthy Brooks Orpik.

So who becomes the other oddman out?  In training camp it was Tyler Kennedy who could not find a dance partner on any line and was widely considered to be the guy that would be healthy scratched or worse come the regular season.  Kennedy is still on that short list of people who cold be on the outside looking in.  Maxime Talbot is a name that is often mentioned as well, citing his lack of production.  However he still brings a boost to the team and I personally consider him a integral part of Marc-Andre Fleury’s stability matrix due to their french connection bromance.

Craig Adams is on the tip of other people’s tongues as well given he was a healthy scratch twice this season already after not missing a game last year.  Adams brings things to the table that Comrie does not however.  He sells out on every shift, comes to play with everything he has, and is a solid defensive forward and penalty killer.  He’ll drop the glves with people bigger and meaner than him for his teammates.  He plays the fourth line and those are the things we expect of him.  He is a right handed faceoff man like Comrie and I can only hope his sub-40% to start the season in the dot improves. Comrie as the other right handed faceoff man has taken less than 25 draws in a month and is sub 50% in that effort.

In my opinion Comrie has wasted a chance with the Penguins much like Alexi Ponikarovsky did last year in the spring.  As Seth said during our discussion “he looks like the same guy who slept through a season with a bad Edmonton team” last year.  Comrie has missed every single chance he’s had offensively after having a preseason that showed tremendous promise that we had our solution on the other 2nd line wing. Now it appears that void may be more aptly filled by Mark Letestu, who had a stellar first month as the 3rd line centerman.

Releasing Comrie or just scratching him will not cost the Penguins much.  He only has a 500k cap hit due to the discount he gave the Pens to come here and get a chance to prove himself.  TK’s speed and scrappyness, Talbot’s sparkpluggy nature and Adam’s all-around solid defensive play make them greater assets to the team than a Mike Comrie who is struggling to be the type of player he was brought here to be.

The other thing to note on the defensive side is the emergence of Deryk Engelland as a serious fighter at the NHL level.  In 16 NHL games e has dropped the gloves 9 times.  Of recent note is when he caught Toronto heavyweight Colton Orr clean with a right on October 13th, knocking Orr out of the game.  Eric Godard is payed more than Tyler Kennedy at 750k to do not much more than fight.  Given his TOI from last season he is paid about 4 thousand dollars per minute skated.  I know the Penguins love the role Godzilla fills, but given the roster situation is it time to consider Engelland as a substitution for Ben Lovejoy in the 6th D-spot on nights where a Godard like presence is needed and maybe shop Godard?   The idea needs to be tossed around at least.

In any event the rapid healing roster will present some interesting decisions for Dan Bylsma to make.  With the still lethargic powerplay searching for the key anything could happen.

“if Sidney Crosby fights [Dan] Carcillo then maybe I’ll fight [Cooke]“

The local press was dogging Richards about the Flyers 5 minutes of penalty time to start the third where the Penguins extended their 2-1 lead to 4-1 off of two Crosby goals.  Those markers plus his assist on Chris Kunitz‘ goal in the first means Sid now has 26 goals and 59 points in 33 career games (both in the regular season and playoffs) in Philly.  Keep on chanting Crosby sucks.  He’ll just keep on racking up points in your barn.

Click here to view the embedded video.

It’s ok Mike, Sid’s too busy burning your squad on your ice regularly to fight a guy who was a healthy scratch tonight. Carcillo wasn’t in the lineup.  It’s not to say that Crosby is going to drop the gloves anytime soon.  He’s fought I think three times in is career.  He’s been busy getting a Stanley Cup ring you know.

Here’s a counter proposal: Rack up a point total like Sid’s when you play in Pittsburgh and then we’ll talk about who’s going to fight who or you could just get used to the idea that he’s a better leader, example,  and a far more skilled player than you’ll ever dream of being.

As Blake Comeau entered the Penguins zone with a little over 12 to go in the frame he was cleanly checked by Kris Letang, shoulder to shoulder.  Comeau’s helmet flew off and he went to the ice and Letang, of balance from the hit extended his forearm.  Josh Bailey took exception to the clean hit and dropped the gloves, going after Letang.

The officials deemed it an “lIllegal Hit to the Head” despite no part of Letang ever making contact with Comeau’s dome.  They gave him 5 and the game misconduct.  It was an atrocious call.  Bailey’s actions put the teams at 4 on 4 for two minutes and then the Islanders went to work on a 3 minute major penalty on which Comeau was an active participant.  He fired a shot from he point on the Isles PP and none other than Bailey settled the shot and put it behind Brent Johnson to make it 2-1 on a Powerplay the Islanders should have never had.

The Powerplay wasn’t over.  The Pens would technically kill the rest of it and as they were exiting the zone Maxime Talbot was tripped and there was no call.  The Islanders charged the Pens zone off of the turnover and Radek Martinek would score from Comeau.  One single bad call put the Penguins into situations they should never have been in and equalized the game.

Click here to view the embedded video.

I take a large amount of exception to Comeau’s actions.  He sold the hit to the head.  He lay fairly motionless on the ice and then on his knees for a least :45 seconds before getting up, going to the bench with a smile on his face, and taking his next shift while Letang was gone for the night for doing absolutely nothing.  Comeau took advantage of a culture change  in the league to the new headshot rules implemented over the summer and the Jason Pominville/Niklas Hjalmarsson incident earlier in the week.  I don’t know why you’d fake an being hurt like that but it was a dive.  Worst of all it was an embellishment that forced the Officials to take a reactionary course of action just in case Letang had hit him in the head

That course of action by the officials changed the course of a game for nothing but a completely legal play.

The Pens would need Overtime and a Powerplay goal from Alex Golisgoski to notch their first ever win at Consol Energy Center.

If Colin Campbell and the league actually enforce some sort of sanction on Letang I’ll buy the torches and the pitchforks.

This is a scheduled start for Johnny, pipe down.

Head Coach Dan Bylsma addressed the media following the Penguins Thursday practice at the Southpointe Ice Complex.  First off  Brent Johnson is the confirmed starter tonight against the Isles.  This is planned before anyone decides to ramp up to goalie controversy machine again.  The Pens are on back to back games with an early start Saturday on the road in Philadelphia due to the NLCS.  Johnny is supposed to start 3 of the first 11 games according to information Bylsma provided the media before the regular season started.  The thing about all of this early season goalie turmoil to remember is that Brent Johnson is an excellent backup.  The idea of putting him in and expecting him to play 60 games is not a good one.  His durability is a concern.  So before you get the wise idea to bark up that tree ask him about his hip when the Washington Captials played him over 60 games the last time he was a #1 netminder.  If Marc-Andre Fleury truly is a concern in a few more weeks the Penguins will actually have to consider alternatives not named Johnson if there is to be a new starter for the Penguins, so pipe down on all the goalie smack talk.  Flower’s  line against the Leafs wasn’t great, but it wasn’t the whole story either.  Coach threw him under the bus a little bit in the post game interviews Wednesday so lets hope that lights a fire Saturday against Philadelphia.

Also in Disco’s run down after Thursday practice was the current injury status of several key players.  First off all Jordan Staal is still out indefinitely.  He did take more work with Strength and Conditioning Coach Mike Kadar, this time in full gear, but it is a matter of an entire missed summer of conditioning.  Arron Asham has been categorized as “a matter of weeks” due to his upper body injury.  The good news is that he was taking shots in a track suit and skates at the same time Staal was working out.  Brooks Orpik is day-to-day with his groin.  He’s likely a game time decision everyday.  You’ll know that he’s back for good when Andrew Hutchinson packs his bags for Wilkes-Barre.

Then there was the very good news.  Zybnek Michalek will miss 2-4 weeks.  This is a far better scenario than the worst case which could have been surgery and then a return in the stretch run next spring.  Best case he is back on the 29th when the Pens host the Flyers.  Worst case on November 12th when we host the Bolts.

The Islanders come to town 2nd in the Atlantic at 1-1-1.  Doubtful is 2009 #1 Draft Pick John Tavares who has been fighting concussion problems.  We will get to say hello to an old friend in Mark Eaton who signed with the Isles in the offseason.  Blake Comeau leads New York with 3 goals and is tied with Captain Doug Weight and Josh Bailey with 4 points total.  The Islanders have been in town since late Wednesday following their loss to Washington and got in a full practice Thursday.  James Wisniewski will not be in lineup as he is serving a suspension following his awesome lewd gesture toward the Rangers Sean Avery this past Monday.

The Pens announced the remainder of their 3rd Jersey schedule yesterday.  Tonight’s game against New York is on the list.  Let’s hope that karma is reversed.  The Pens did not fare well in the Columbia Blue at The Civic Arena.  Pittsburgh also has three games on the schedule where they will wear the Winter Classic jersey.  That jersey will be unveiled later this month.

The only things that are really up in the air moving into Friday night are the status of Orpik and Mike Comrie.  Comrie was a healthy scratch against the Leafs to place Eric Godard in against a Colton Orr laden lineup.  You’d assume that Comrie is back in tonight.  He did skate with the 2nd line at Friday’s practice.  Brooks did some light skating and stretching about 40 minutes before the Penguins took the ice for practice.  Following his surgery he has said it takes him about that long to get it stretched out and ready to go. However he was not paired at the full practice so I would categorize him as out unless the Penguins announce otherwise.

Two of the four goals scored by the Leafs came directly as a result of giveaways exiting the defensive zone from defensemen’s sticks.  Callup Andrew Hutchinson looked as if he had never been acquainted with the idea of defense all night and apart from Paul Martin the Pens D-corps struggled to get out of their own zone and start the breakout from the moment the puck dropped.  The biggest sign of this was the Penguins inability to even gain the Maple Leaf zone long enough to register a shot (which went in) until Chris Kunitz tipped in an Evgeni Malkin shot on the Powerplay at the 11:27 mark.   The other reason the Penguins didn’t register a shot until half of the first frame was gone?  Shot selection. The Penguins were taking shots that the Leafs were easily blocking.  In a span of roughly one minute from 12:47 to 13:52 in the first the Leafs blocked four shots.

Defensive Zone Faceoff losses have cost the Pens two goals already this year.

For the second time in as many home games a defensive zone faceoff loss resulted directly in an opposition goal.  Former Penguin Mike Zigomanis beat Sidney Crosby and fed the biscuit to Luke Schenn who passed to Francois Beauchemin for a slapper that found twine.  The Penguins are hurting in the faceoff circle.  Only Max Talbot, Mark Letestu and Crosby have taken more than 10 draws so far and noone  is over 56% except Sid.  Max is only winning 35.9% of his.  It’s a trend to watch as the Pens have lost each of their games by 1 goal.

Now the world is rejoicing that the Penguins Powerplay notched a marker.  Look I am happy it went in but honestly it was a lucky tip in.  The traffic in front is good but I still witness the same problem that has been plaguing the Pens PP since the start of the regular season.  Sid and Geno are in love with the idea of finding each other for the pretty play.  They are passing circle to circle through two and sometimes three defenders’ sticks and the pass is rarely making it.  When it does it is bouncing or on edge from not making it cleanly and the shooter is having to settle it or feed it to his stick from his foot giving the defending penalty kill time to close and force a pass away or a bad shot.   I know Head Coach Dan Bylsma has said he wants more shots and less pass-pass-pass on the PP but either the players are not getting the message or they are ignoring it.   At one point during the game I advocated splitting Sid and Geno up on the man advantage for a game or two to send the message.  It’s not like they are hooking up anyway.

After defending Marc-Andre Fleury for two days after Brent Johnson secured the first Penguins win of the season in New Jersey this past Monday he failed to impress me completely for he first time in his three starts.  Flower looked nervous and out of position for the entire first and much of the second period.  In that second frame he gave up the 2nd (tying), 3rd (go ahead), and 4th (insurance) goals.  The big problem is at the time of the fourth goal, Toronto had only registered 10 shots.  That’s .600 Sv% for those of you without an abacus.   Regardless of the poor defensive play in front Fleury should have realized he was on an island early and buckled it down.  He didn’t.  With both Zybnek Michalek and Brooks Orpik out of the lineup MAF knew coming into this one he was going to have to be special.  He wasn’t.  That is not the makeup of a championship netminder.  Now I am not advocating his replacement.  However his play is not getting better.  It’s getting worse.  Fleury’s numbers for the year after the loss Wednesday night?  0-3-0 with a 3.41 GAA and a .853 Sv% on 68 Shots Against.  He’s let in 10 goals in 3 games.

To the Penguins credit they played a solid 3rd period.  It took Toronto over half of the 3rd to register their first shot of the frame and as they locked it down to hold onto the one goal lead after Captain Crosby brought it to within one with his first of the year the Pens finally got to their style of hockey.  The problem is that the Pens’ style of play needs them to put that kind of effort out in the first period and they aren’t getting it done.  Not in any of their contests so far this year.

The high point of the night for Penguins fans was when 7th Defenseman Deryk Engelland dropped the gloves in the first period with Toronto and NHL-wide heavyweight Colton Orr.  We were all pleasantly surprised when Orr was caught by a right hand from Engelland and fell to the ice.  Orr noticeably hit his head and did not return. I loved hearing Down Goes Orr.

Click here to view the embedded video.

• Sidney Crosby did notch his first of the year in the third period.  Ben Lovejoy and Matt Cooke assisted.
• Talbot registered his first goal as well near the end of the first period from Cooke and Tyler Kennedy
• Fleury ended up facing only 14 shots total.
• Geno had a Penalty Shot opportunity in the late 2nd period and is still 0-fer his career.
• Bill Guerin was in attendance at the game following a surprise visit to practice.  He’s not in game shape so please stop that rumor.
• Paul Martin and Alex Goligoski now share the Pens point lead with 4.
• The Pens only have 6 players on their roster who are positive +/- (Goose, Cooke, TK, Kris Letang Max, and Benny Lava).
• Mike Comrie was a healthy scratch for the game after only registering 1 shot in his prior 8 period of work.
• Jordan Staal and Aaron Asham both worked out at Southpointe Thursday morning.  Staal did so in full gear.

After some early week goalie drama, Flower is your starter as expected

However Michalek’s problem seems to get bigger the longer the Penguins provide little information on it.  According to the team he is being evaluated today in Pittsburgh by the medical staff and a more definitive diagnosis will be coming soon.  As a fan I honestly don’t believe they don’t know what the problem is 2 days after it happened.  I think it is much more likely that they are getting additional medical consultations in order to work up a course of treatment and provide options one of which could include surgery.  If that small bit of speculation is correct then Big Z might be on the shelf for an extended period of time and Andrew Hutchinson, who was recalled from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton yesterday, should get accustomed to the look of the big Pens locker room for the foreseeable future.

Also apparently out this morning is newly acquired forward Mike Comrie.  He appeared not to have any linemates at practice this morning and there were rumblings from Maple Leafs bloggers as early as 9am that he would be a healthy scratch.  Byslma does what he does which is juggle the lineups on a game in game out basis.  It makes it hard to develop chemistry when you continually shuffle the winger for Sidney Crosby, who still has not notched his first marker of the season, but in HCDB we trust.  At least for now.

One thing is at least settled following some grumblings early in the week and that is that Marc-Andre Fleury is indeed still indeed the starting goalie.  He will go in net opposite of Jonus Gustavsson aka “The Monster”.

• The Penguins have politely obliged the Flyers by moving up the start time of Saturday’s contest to 6pm EST in order to allow the city and the sports complex to accommodate the National League Championship Series.
• Former Penguin Colby Armstrong signed with the Leafs in the offseason after his tour with Atlanta in the Pascal Dupuis/Marian Hossa deal.  Also now a Maple Leaf is Mike Zigomanis.
• This is a planned start for Gustavsson according the Leafs Head Coach Ron Wilson.  It was on the books as early as two weeks ago.
• Officially Comire is a game-time decision per Bylsma.
• Paul Martin and Alex Goligoski are your top pairing on the Pens Powerplay.  Bylsma worked to diminish he demotion for Kris Letang when he spoke with the press.
• Bill Guerin was spotted at the CEC today but assured all that he was just visiting and tying up some loose ends.

Jordan Staal on the ice this morning 14 days after he couldn't timetable a return and citied skating as the limiting factor is truly good news.

Jordan had surgery over the summer, had very limited skating, and developed a post-operative infection after a follow-up procedure which required yet another invasive cutting session to clean out.  As recently as September 30th, he could not timetable when he would be able to put his foot back into a skate boot.

So the fact that Staal is on the ice this morning with said foot in skate working with Strength and Conditioning Coach Mike Kadar is promising news.  First it now puts the focus on comfort, playability and conditioning.  Obviously Jordan’s ability to cut and skate effectively is the first big factor is estimating a return.  In the same September interview he stated that he was not in pain and that is was the incision itself that was preventing his skating.   You would assume that if he is not experiencing pain that his typical style of play will not be a problem.  There will be no huge alteration to his skating style.

The biggest factor now in a return is most definitely conditioning.  Staal had his first procedure during the playoffs and returned dramatically to play the next game adding to his iron man persona.  However he has been largely on the shelf since June, foot up on the coffee table.  How long will it take him to get into game shape?  He had played the first 302 games of his career prior to missing the start of the season.  You have to hope that  the conditioning has not fallen off that much.  He is only 22 years old, so that is another factor in his favor.  He was also a disciple of Gary Roberts when they two were team mates and Staal made dramatic changes to his diet and exercise regimen back then.

Those who saw him skate stated that the drills were not at full speed but did incorporate some cone work.  Jordan did not favor the bad foot which is a good sign that he is skating comfortably.  Now the question is does he skate again tomorrow, is this every other day?  We are still talking in terms of weeks for his return and he is working out off the daily condensing 3+ months of conditioning into as few weeks as possible.

Regardless with the looming injury to Zbynek Michalek and to a lesser extent the unknown status of Brooks Orpik’s groin a speedy return for Staal would benefit a Penguins Penalty Kill that now looks depleted.  Staal on the ice in skates the morning, hat backwards in a track suit is the first good news on his status in months.  He’s known for quick turnarounds so Penguins fans can only hope that its a shorter road now that he is able to get back out on the ice.

Members of the Devils’ broadcast staff saw Michalek with ice on his shoulder following the second period according to Rob Rossi of the PPG.

Michalek's Shoulder is the problem, we just don't know how bad of one.

The Penguins are usually tight lipped about injuries until their hand is forced by the matter.  I wouldn’t expect any official indicator about Michalek’s readiness until the morning skate on Wednesday.  Head Coach Dan Bylsma said both Michalek and Brooks Orpik (groin) would be evaluated Wednesday.  Regarding Michalek specifically I would get ready for the words upper body injury but feel pretty confident that means right shoulder in this case.

The problem with a shoulder injury is that is could be a wide range of things.  The idea that Michalek was just icing the shoulder and not doing something more severe is a good indication that initial examinations were negative for anything terrible.  A separated shoulder that would require surgery to repair could sideline Michalek until February or longer, but the early signs point to something more short term like a stinger.  Even if Michalek is a go tomorrow night he could sit out the skate.  Usually the Penguins as an organization are up front about long term injuries as a game forces them to come forward about it.  The definitive word on Michalek likely won’t come until game time tomorrow night.

If he is out it raises some concerns about the Penguins PK.  With Jordan Staal out of the lineup indefinitely (a few more weeks) the loss of shot blocker Michalek could prove disastrous especially if combined with any sort of lingering problem with Orpik’s groin.  On that front the Penguins have said that Brooks’ injury is not considered serious but that he could miss Wednesday’s game with the Leafs as well.

Time will tell but count on the fact that the injury is a right shoulder.  It’ll be much clearer how bad by tomorrow evening.

Update 1: The Penguins Official Twitter announced at 5:24pm EST that Andrew Hutchinson has been recalled from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.  This is likely to fill the vacancy of Michalek as Orpik’s absence is already covered by 7th defenseman Deryk Engelland

Andrew Hutchinson
Defense
Born Mar 24 1980  -- Evanston, IL
Height 6.02 -- Weight 198 -- Shoots R

Selected by Nashville Predators round 2 #54 overall 1999 NHL Entry Draft

                                            --- Regular Season ---  ---- Playoffs ----
Season   Team                        Lge    GP    G    A  Pts  PIM  GP   G   A Pts PIM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1997-98  U.S. Junior National Team   USHL   15    0    7    7    8  --  --  --  --  --
1997-98  U.S. National Under-18 Te   NAHL   12    2    0    2    8
1998-99  Michigan State University   CCHA   37    3   12   15   26
1999-00  Michigan State University   CCHA   42    5   12   17   64
2000-01  Michigan State University   CCHA   42    5   19   24   46
2001-02  Michigan State University   CCHA   39    6   16   22   24
2001-02  Milwaukee Admirals          AHL     5    0    1    1    0  --  --  --  --  --
2002-03  Toledo Storm                ECHL   10    2    5    7    4  --  --  --  --  --
2002-03  Milwaukee Admirals          AHL    63    9   17   26   40   3   1   0   1   0
2003-04  Milwaukee Admirals          AHL    46   12   12   24   39  22   5  11  16  33
2003-04  Nashville Predators         NHL    18    4    4    8    4  --  --  --  --  --
2004-05  Milwaukee Admirals          AHL    76   10   35   45   79   7   1   3   4   8
2005-06  Carolina Hurricanes         NHL    36    3    8   11   18  --  --  --  --  --
2006-07  Carolina Hurricanes         NHL    41    3   11   14   30  --  --  --  --  --
2007-08  Hartford Wolf Pack          AHL    67   18   46   64   66   5   2   2   4   4
2008-09  Norfolk Admirals            AHL    20    1   12   13   14  --  --  --  --  --
2008-09  Tampa Bay Lightning         NHL     2    0    0    0    0  --  --  --  --  --
2008-09  Dallas Stars                NHL    38    2    3    5   12  --  --  --  --  --
2009-10  Texas Stars                 AHL    78    9   29   38   50  21   5  11  16  14
2010-11  Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pen   AHL     1    1    1    2    2
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
         NHL Totals                        135   12   26   38   64

Beej played a great game, but MAF is still the starter.

If you take the first two Penguins games of the season at face value it would be easy to pin the problem between the pipes. This morning on Pens HD Radio host Steve Mears heavily suggested based off of fan reaction that there was or should be  a question as to who should start the Pens 4th game of the year against Toronto Wednesday night. So let’s get this out of the way right now.  There is no goalie controversy in Pittsburgh unless we allow there to be one.

Marc-Andre Fleury cannot be held responsible in any form for the loss opening night to Philadelphia.  None of the goals were his fault. The goals were far more indicative of the breakdowns by the defensemen in their own end, apart from the Briere tally. The only goal that is squarely on Flower’s shoulders in the Scotty Gomez game winner against Montreal last Saturday.  That’s a goal Fleury should have had.  He didn’t get it, it was a crucial part of the game and it stands out for people.  Too bad they so easily forget about this from Thursday night:

Click here to view the embedded video.

It’s a fact that Brent Johnson stood on his head yesterday in the Pens’ first win of the season against the Devils.  The sad thing is that he even had to late.  The Devils had only 15 skaters on the ice (9 forwards) due to injuries,  suspensions, and Ilya Kovalchuk salary cap concerns.  Yet they were in the game late and it is due to two factors.  First of all the Pens are not getting primary scoring.  Captain Sidney Crosby has just one assist and is a +/- 0 through three games.  He has missed opportunities he buried last year.  Evgeni Malkin has a lone goal and is a minus one.  After having shaking first games defensively, Paul Martin (1G 3A) and Alex Goliskgoski (2G 1A) are putting up most of the offensive contributions.

That leads us to the second factor and that is defensive zone play by our defensemen.  It has been sketchy to be kind.  An errant Kris Letang pass back to Martin in his own zone opening night handcuffed him and led directly to a Claude Giroux (backbreaker) goal. The breakout has been weak and in the collapse loss to Montreal Saturday night the Pens defense backed off of the Habs after containing them to their own zone for over 3 of the final five minutes.  It was almost as if the defense felt the job was done and on the next solid Montreal rush the defenseman we already in the middle of the circles when the Canadiens brought the puck across the Penguins’ blue line right before they tied it.  I’ll be honest, Letang has been the most underwhelming defenseman on the Pens roster, especially considering the 3.5 $Million deal he signed through the end of the 2013/14 season last spring.  It was said he has to grow into the contract.  He’d better start growing soon.

I remember thinking opening night that it was the most confident that I had ever seen Fleury with his stick handling.  Lets ease off of the lynch mob in Pittsburgh.  We are exactly three games into the season, expectations are high and we do not have a controversy in net unless we create it ourselves.  Remember that this was a scheduled start for Brent Johnson in New Jersey yesterday.  He is scheduled to make 3 starts in the first 11 games.  Leave it at that.  We’ll see where we sit mid-November before we think about grabbing torches and pitchforks.  Even then we need to consider where we are aiming.  Should it be in net, or should it be at the shaky play of the players most responsible for supporting the man in the pipes?

Much to his credit Mears read my email on-air and agreed that its more reactionary Penguins fans who are bashing Flower.  The Pens and Penguins Live are not suggesting that Beej is or should be considered as the starter in this young season.

The problem Mearsy is that the small contingent of people on Penguins Live who are calling for Johnson over Fleury don’t know a thing about hockey beyond the score and you are giving them greater voice. Even the NHL’s official iPhone app was throwing fuel on this fire today:

Kinda funny that is says Mellon Arena. It would still just be Civic Arena at this point and still be the wrong building.

The Penguins are getting outmanned everytime the opponent dumps

The first place is on the defensive side, covering the opposition’s dump-ins. Opponents are routinely dumping it in from the right wing and getting to the puck on the end boards before we do. Couple that with the fact that the left wing or center up on the rush is also getting to the end board generating a situation where our defense is fighting for the puck while being outnumbered. The left side defenseman or forward covering the slot should come back to even up the odds. That’s not happening. Communication has to occur as well as a level of situational awareness to pick up the left side forward coming low to join into that fight on the end boards. We are losing this battle consistently and allowing the play to be outletted to the left side and back to the left point where our opponents are setting up zone possession.

The next place we are getting burned, and this one doesn’t require a chalkboard, is on turnovers. We are not taking care of the puck. Alex Goligoski and Evgeni Malkin have been the most consistent and obvious offenders during this slump and its really bad when Geno gives it away because the rest of the team trusts him so much with the puck they start up ice and leave our own zone defenseless. When he makes a bad TO, like he did yesterday, it leaves the goalie hanging.

No one is clearing out the front of the net or disrupting play there

The defense also continues to underwhelm in front providing very little support to Marc-Andre Fleury or Brent Johnson. We are allowing opposition forward to play in front at will without much challenge. When they are allowed to sit there with a stick on the ice it makes deflections and rebound goals very easy to create. It also makes for a solid passing lane. It is the responsibility of the wings to cover the defensemen at the point so either the off defenseman or the slot forward needs to come down and cover/clear the top of the crease. Dan Bylsma’s style of hockey calls for an agressive offense where we ask Dmen to jump into the play. Right now the entire team is so hell bent on getting the offense going that the forwards are leaning to the rush and leaving the defensive zone vulnerable. You’ll notice that the 3rd and fourth lines have been more effective lately because they cleanup their own zone first when they start the rush. All 7 defensemen have not been playing well at all in our own zone as well, failing to start the rush effectively whenever they feel the slightest pressure from the opposing forecheck.

The pass-happy PP needs to get off its duff

The other major pain point is on the Powerplay. The Penguins are 0 for awhile on the PP and are rocking the league’s worst performance with the man advantage at 14.4% A good PP performs at a 20%-25% clip. One of the dangerous things about a bad PP is that is can swing momentum. When you fail to convert on back to back to back chances in the middle of a game it starts to give a lift to an opposing team who feels they are accomplishing something against you regardless of if they are up or down on the scoreboard. Apart from not scoring goals, our disgustingly bad PP is a momentum swing in each game. It’s so bad right now I’d rather decline the penalties. Everything starts off with the over-passing. Sidney Crosby is 3rd in the league in goals scored right now. He needs to shoot from his position on the side boards a lot more often, if only to generate rebounds for the slot forward or Geno coming in from the left point. Sid needs to stop forcing that cross slot pass to Geno so much. Even if it makes it it has been bouncing off and over his stick 9 out of 10 times forcing the PP to fight for the puck and regroup. At the point, in the QB’s position either Gogo or Sergei Gonchar when healthy, has to make better shot/pass selection. The umbrella style we play is designed for the player at the middle of the blue line to control the direction of the PP. Usually that’s the right point D-man. From the top of the circle he is supposed to determine where to pass/direct the play to for a shot. If the shot is stopped and no chance in front occurs the play should reset back to the right point to be carried to center blue line and repeat. We are taking far too long to generate that first shot and subsequent rebound/in front chance. The Penguins have spent up to 45 seconds looking for the shot. If should be no more than three or four passes between shot attempts. Yesterday during the Florida game there was a sequence of twelve.

Underneath all of it, play 60 minutes. No more good first periods and setting the cruise control. You cannot expect to be able to take 10-30 minutes off a game and win. We play good hockey, but it comes in spurts. Play a full 60 minutes every night of you all have to put Kovalev on the back of your sweaters

These are by no means the only problems happening on the ice but they are major contributors to the current losing streak. The Penguins must adjust out of these habits and back to a style of play that drives the next and forces good chances while being responsible in their own zone.

Take [Mike] Richards, if he knew Probert was sitting on the bench and McSorley was sitting on the bench and something was going to happen, he wouldn’t have hit [Florida's David Booth] like that in the first place.

Booth has not played since Richards' Head Shot Oct 24th and setbacks have certainly cost him an Olympic roster spot.

Cherry would have you believe that the play of Richards would have been different it he had known some form of repercussion was coming.  I agree with that statement.  However Cherry wants it to come from the other players on the ice, like a Marty McSorely, Dave Semenko, Bob Probert, or Colton Orr.  I’d like it to come from Colin Campbell, the NHL Vice President in charge of discipline.    A Toronto neurosurgeon, Dr. Charles Tator, recently called out Don Cherry as having a counter productive sway on the game.

“He’s a negative influence,” Dr. Charles Tator told CBC News in reference to Cherry... “The aggressive, lack-of-respect hockey that he preaches — we need to get that out of the game.”

I couldn’t agree more.  Dr. Tator is right that Cherry is a negative influence.  He advocates for player on player violence and policing.  Dr. Tator is trying to lead a program to reduce head shots in the league and would like Cherry on his side.  That’s not going to happen.  Don Cherry is who he is and he is convinced that the Instigator Rule is the reason that there are so many bad hits or ‘cheap shots’ occurring in the NHL right now.  That’s where I part Don and I drastically part ways.

NHL Rule 56 – An instigator of an altercation shall be a player who by his actions or demeanor demonstrates any/some of the following criteria: distance traveled; gloves off first; first punch thrown; menacing attitude or posture; verbal instigation or threats; conduct in retaliation to a prior game (or season) incident; obvious retribution for a previous incident in the game or season.

Goons like Carcillo are a dying breed and the NHL needs to keep driving down that road.

The Instigator Rule is a big reason why players do not come after other players with anywhere near the frequency and violence that they did when I watched hockey growing up, and that’s a good thing.  Joe Yerdon of Gross Misconduct Hockey wrote an article on the dying goon breed after Dan Carcillo’s cheap shot during a “fight” with Matt Bradley of the Capitals.  The reason there was such egregious uproar over Carcillo’s actions was because of the decreasing level of goon violence in hockey, making the thick headed Carcillo one the last bastions of a dinosaur playing style hockey.  The Instigator Rule is only one part of the puzzle though.  Goons know that they will serve in the box or more likely receive suspension, fine or some combination of all three for retaliatory or dirty conduct.   The problem is the people laying the dirty hits feel no such pressure.

Richards, Alexander Ovechkin and yes to a much lesser extent Evgeni Malkin play an aggressive style of hockey.  Richards took out Booth earlier this year and saw no sanction from the league.  It took Ovechkin getting ejected twice in three games for the league to hand him a measly two-game sit down while he nursed a sore knee from a knee-on-knee hit on Carolina’s Tim Gleason.  Malkin should have been sat by rule for his run at Henrik Zetterberg in the Stanley Cup Finals last year.  I said it at the time and I’ll still say that the rules change in the playoffs and Malkin’s star status are the reasons ratings won out over rules at the time.  The NHL wasn’t about to sit the soon to be Conn Smythe winner.  They need to be willing to and they need to set that tone during the regular season.

Until the NHL wants to get serious about consistency in the application of its automatic suspensions and discipline from Colin Campbell and treats all players equally while evaluating them for sanction, things will continue the way they are now.  As long as the top/notable players on a team feel no pressure to rethink their conduct towards their fellow players, Cherry is right, “cheap shots’ will continue to occur.  His solution however, is antiquated.  We do not need to see a return to the old ways of hockey that saw countless goons maintained on a roster to protect top line talent.  That sends to wrong message to young players and it also likely stagnates the fan base of the league.  As the NHL tries to draw in more and more new fans they need to do it by producing an open, loose, non-Devils product on the ice.  Sure that is counter intuitive to my above statement of suspending your stars, but it sure beats the alternative of a goon eventually killing another player on ice.  That’s exactly what will happen if we allow a generation of players in better shape, who are faster, and wield deadlier equipment police themselves as they did 25 years ago.

We all knew it was going to be this way the moment the boos began to rain down in the Bell Center last night.  Late in the 3rd period against the Penguins Referee Chris Lee blew the play dead in front of the Pittsburgh net a sheer fraction of a second before Scott Gomez put it behind Marc-Andre Fleury.  Lee had lost sight of the puck and did what has has been instructed by the league to do… blow the whistle, and the goal was appropriately waived off by rule.  Hockey Fan House would have you believe that the Canadiens were badly done to and it cost them dearly.  I call it a draw.

Was it a goal?  Sure.  Should it have counted?  Definately. Here’s the play.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Now ok, lets say the Habs get that one.  It should have been 3-2 if it counted.  Instead they got that goal much earlier in the game on a terrible call made by the other official Paul Devorski on Penguins winger Ruslan Fedotenko.  Tenks was called at 12:49 mark of the second period for Delay of Game.  The penalty was called because the official believed that Feds knocked the net off of its moorings as the Habs mounted offensive zone pressure. That was not the case.

Fedotenko was in fact crosschecked into the net by Canadiens defenseman Josh Georges.  The call was the exact opposite of the way it should have been called (just like the no-goal on Gomez).  Instead of going to the Powerplay for Georges’ cross-check the Penguins found themselves trying to kill a terrible call.  It was on the ensuing powerplay that Roman Hamrlik would put in the 2nd goal on the night for Montreal.    Don’t agree that Tenks was fouled?  Watch the replay (3:43 mark)

Click here to view the embedded video.

Sure you got robbed at the end of the game, and decided that footwear tossing was the appropriate recourse.  Just remember who got robbed first.  If the Fedotenko play is called exactly the opposite and appropriately, the Habs don’t get that PP goal.  If Chris Lee is over turned you get a goal.  If that’s not a wash I don’t know what is.

While you never want to see a player get hurt or carried off the ice, it’s hard not to justify Keith’s actions because Matt Cooke was the target.

A True Warrior Keith has fought 4 times in his 5 year NHL career and none since 2007.

In essence, you don’t want to see anyone hurt by a deliberate blow to the head, but this one was ok because he hit Matt Cooke.  The author continues his trek into the land of falsehoods by stating that Keith was retaliating for a hit thrown earlier by Cooke.  Now I have NHL Gamecenter Live and went back and took a look and unless he was retaliating for Artem Anisimov, I don’t see where that statement can be proven true.  However I did note your total lack of video evidence to support your claim.  The only video you do offer is of the actual illegal intentional hit to the head laid by Keith, but lets move on.

Keith must have known he’d be immune from disciplinary events due to being a first-time offender. Nailing No.24 instead of No.87 sits well too.

So Keith premeditated the hit to the head, knowing full well he’d having the blessings of the league in the aftermath because his chosen target was a 3rd line grinder and not a 1st line playmaker?   I’d like to know how long Sean Avery’s sentence is going to be for the run he made at the a fore mentioned 87 the previous weekend.  Additionally you are endorsing the practice of blows to the head on non-stars?  I’m sure Ben Eager and Adam Burish will be glad to see you painting a bulls-eye on their backs. This is one of the most ridiculous things I’ve read in a while.  Someone who actually supports the tiered and broken justice system the NHL currently employs, aka DGB’s suspension chart.

Cooke got what he had coming for a long time. A coward in every sense of the word, he’s got a track record the length of my arm.

Duncan Keith's New Uniform

Truly.  When Cooke laid out Anisimov he threw down later that night willingly.  He didn’t go hide on the bench and refuse to engage and defend his actions like Keith did all night Saturday when Cooke pursued him.  Maybe you need to look up the definition of the word coward.  He did get what he deserved, a two game sit down from Colin Campbell.  Duncan Keith does not work for Campbell to my knowledge so he wasn’t acting as an arm of the league’s official discipline policy as I understand it.  You might have information I am unaware of however as informed as you are, so maybe you can provide it.  Seriously though, Cooke did his time. Why did no Blackhawk teammate come to Keith’s defense?  Maybe they thought he was running scarred too.

He doesn’t have the fortitude to fight after the dirty tactics unless it’s someone with the brawling experience of Ilya Kovalchuk or Ryan Callahan

If he’s such a creampuff, why was Keith running like a frightened kitten from him the rest of the night every time he tired to get him to man up for his actions?

I’m not looking for sympathy for Matt.  What I am looking for is equal application of the law to all parties and advocating head hunting of players “you don’t like” is about the most ridiculous thing I’ve herd since Mike Richards walked after destroying David Booth.  Did David booth do something before that game to someone else that deserved the anvil of justice from Richards?  Yea, I didn’t think so.  Duncan Keith is a coward and showed his goon colors.  Do the world a favor and zip it.

Note:  Shortly after the publication of this piece the article linked above that it was a response to was mysteriously removed from The Hockey Writers without retraction or explanation.  If the link doesn’t work, that is why.

Update – Bruce Hollingdrake, owner of The Hockey Writers, has this to say on the article’s removal:

I thought it lacked good judgement and wasn’t in line with what we try and promote at THW. I hated seeing our name associated with such an article and am rather ashamed of it. By allowing our writers the ability to Publish when they feel the article is ready – it allows for things to slip through. I may have to rethink giving them this leeway.

When Mike Rupp signed his 1.65M/2yr deal with the Pittsburgh Penguins this past off season GM Ray Shero thought he was bringing in a 4th line forward with a solid physical presence.  He surely got that.  What he didn’t bank on was that once the shackles of New Jersey’s trap were removed from Rupp’s wrists, he would begin to score goals.

Stats from NHL.com

Boy has he.  Through 31 games Monday night Rupp has 9G and 3A for 12P.  If you want to talk scary that puts Mike on pace for 23G and 8A for 31P.  He’s only seen that kind of success twice.  Once in the AHL with Albany and the other was in Juniors with Erie.  31 Games in, and this is Rupper’s best offensive season by far.  If you want to talk scary, have a look at this.  Yeah Mike is THIRD in the LEAGUE in shooting percentage.  And this isn’t some fluke I’ve scored once on four shots.  39 Shots is a decent number for a 4th line forward.  He’s 11th on the team in shots.  This is not a ghost stat by any means.  Rupp has seen some time with Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin and when he has seen that time, he has scored points with a solid set up man next to him.

You ready for double scary?  He is SECOND on the team in goals scored this as of this morning.  His marker last night in the loss to Carolina put him in front of Malkin and everyone else except Sid with nine.  So this is what I propose.  Mike deserves a little more TOI/G than the 9:26 he is currently getting.    When Pascal Dupis came on and started putting in goals, Head Coach Dan Bylsma wisely moved him up from the 4 line for solid minutes on the top two lines.  It’s time to do some of the same for Rupp.  He is deceivingly young at 29 years old (1/13/80) and his level of play thus far this year should now merit him some solid wing time with Malkin for sure and sometimes with Sid.  I have nothing against Ruslan Fedotenko, but Tenks is off right now and HCDB has been playing him hoping he is due.  Maybe a reduction in ice time is what will jar Feds a little.  Hand some of his minutes to Rupp who is taking care of business right now.

Rupp is far and away the best off season move made by the Penguins and its time his solid play was rewarded with increasing play time.  He is quickly endearing himself to the fans as a favorite with how he has played the game this year for the Pens.  It’s amazing what a change in systems has done for the guy.  Lets see what happens with more opportunities.

I also wanted to show off my best Photoshop Ever

Think that title is a stretch?  It’s not so much of one as long as people keep piping up about wanting to rename the NHL awards.  This isn’t a new topic of discussion.  The CBCs Elliotte Friedman wrote on it a while back and Y!’s Puck Daddy contributor Sean Leahy brought it up again this past weekend asking the question “Pass or Fail: Renaming the NHL’s awards“.  The theme was continued this morning on XM Home Ice by host Mike Ross who endorsed the idea and then went into a debate with his co-hosts.  All of this more recent talk is generally thanks to Glen Healy of HNiC and formerly a Director of Affairs at the Player’s Association who has had some unkind things to say about Jack Adams amongst others as the reason to force the name changes.   Other people, just want more current names so that new fans can identify with the more recent heroes of the game.

The names need to stay the same for two reasons.  The first one is the one that most people on my side of the argument go with:  Tradition.  These names were chosen for one of three reasons.  First the person donated the trophy (Stanley Cup, Lady Bing, Prince of Wales, Hart Trophy).  Second they had something to do with the founding or building of the league (Conn-Smythe, Calder, Art-Ross, Campbell Bowl, Norris) or finally, they were named for a player (Rocket, Vezina).  That is by no means a definitive listing but you get the point.

Keep talking about renaming Awards and this is a possible future

The second reason is one that is not talked about and it is something that is very very dangerous. That is corporate naming rights.  I joked with Jonathan Moncrief of examiner.com who covers the Los Angeles Kings about the naming of their intermission report this past weekend.  It was the Taiwan Tourism intermission report.  That name is well and good for a period of time between periods of hockey.  However it is that mentality that anything and everything is available for the right price that will lead to true ridiculousness with the NHL awards and the destruction of history.

I know the current intent is to rename the awards for something/someone more current.  For instance changing the name of the Calder Trophy to the Mario Lemieux Trophy.  That’s a noble idea even if I don’t agree with it.  However what happens once that dam is broke?  Once it has become acceptable to rename the awards how far off is it to have a company buy the naming rights of a trophy when the league hits a lean time, or when they need to bail out an ailing franchise?

The NHL has something that the NFL and even Major League baseball don’t have.  Legitimate rich tradition that thus far is unmarred by the fingers of corporate America.  The Stanley Cup is 117 years old this year.  The Vezina, Lady Bing, and some of the other awards have been around since the 1920s or earlier.  When I was a new hockey fan in the early 1980s I took it upon myself to learn the history, not to have it changed to the Bobby Orr award for my own convenience.  I see no reason to do it now nor was it even a thought in my head at age 5 or 10.  I thought “they gave these awards these names for a good reason“.

The next time someone says they support changing the names of the awards, ask them what they think the new name of the Stanley Cup should be.  They will say something like “oh we’d never go that far“.  Sure, you hope they don’t.  There is a wall in place right now.  Don’t take bricks out of it so Nike and Reebok can bulldoze what’s left.

Stick-tap to OneSmugPug for the MCI-Worldcom title.

One more to Mick Kern of XM Home Ice’s War Room for dropping the article on air today in the first segment.