Monday, March 23, 2009

Do I Really Have To Watch

As i Puke my way through the Devils against Philly game on versus tonight i gotta wonder if, by losing yesterday, did the Pens give away their chance at home ice advantage in the 1st round of the playoffs. Lets face it, the Pens played well enough to win, the problem was that a good goalie stole all of Birons pads and played goal in his place.

The Pens are 2 points behind the Flyers with the game tied at 1 all heading into the second Period. In the middle of the 1st period the always classy philly fans broke out chanting the name of their beloved captain as you could hear on the tv A S S H O L E, A S S H O L E coming from the crowd. (update: It is now 2-1 Philly) Being a Pens fan it is hard to root for either team, since both teams can't lose, it's a no brainer to hope that the Devils win.

Are The Penguins better than last year ? That's an interesting question with really, no wrong answer. some ways they are and some ways they aren't. First, I think the East is a lot better this year than it was last year so you can't judge it by the overall record, Other than the fact that Montreal has been in a downward spiral, one spot away from losing 8th spot. That has a lot to do with the leading all star vote getter in Carey Price, can't keep a puck out of the net right now. Boston is a force, Washington, although i hate to say it, will be tough to beat. Philly? I don't care they still suck (Richards is a diver). Ottawa is coming on strong, so now you have to worry about them.
So we go by personnel. The main people the Pens lost were Marian D-bag Hossa, Ryan Money bags Malone, And Jarko "I hate Therrian" Ruutu, and don't anybody say Adam Hall was an asset. Ruutu was replaced with Matt Cooke, which would be an upgrade. Hossa was replaced by Guerin and Kunitz, which the way that line is playing now, you have to say it's an even trade at least, if not an upgrade. The only player that hasn't been replaced is Ryan Malone. Kunitz a Guerin are filling his role on the Power play by standing front of the net, so now that's taken care of.
So now we go to coaching staff. although i was against the firing of Coach T, the System that Bylsma has implemented has brought out the best in the Pens offensive prowess. With players like Sid, Malkin, Staal, Gonch, and Letang why not open it up and play more of a skating game. So i would say the coaching staff is an upgrade.
Bottom line in my opinion, the Pens have a better team than last season, but so does a lot of other teams in the east and right now we are on a collision course with the Flyers in the first round. I'm picking the Pens to take the East only if Maf can continue his dominance in net.

The Penguins are scoring goals. That's what the do. The article in the Trib pretty much sums it up. The Pens win by scoring a lot of goals, not by playing better defense. Score goals and have a solid net minder that can save a few that you wouldn't expect him to get. Tommy Barrasso has a lot of wins where he gave of 3 or more goals, but still played a solid game. Maf can do the same, maybe even better.

The Pens are finally winning, but you can't get deep in the playoffs without clicking on all cylinders and right now the Pens aren't. If they don;t soon figure out this lack of a power play thing, this could come back to haunt them. GO Pens

Friday, March 20, 2009

Touchdown or Goal

Just wondering when Ovechkin is going to score his next touchdown. Oh, wait a minute. This isn't football, it's the FREAKIN' NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE you LOSER!!!!!!!!!!!

GO PENS!!!!

Monday, March 16, 2009

M.I.A.

Still here P.sqy. I realize I have been missing for awhile. Not to say I haven't been watching my Pens. Frustrating for awhile, but now I think we may be back on track. I think the lines are playing well. Most importantly, they are playing 3 full periods of hockey. 5th place is not too shabby.
Regardless of what P.sqy says about Jordan Staal, he is playing some very aggresive hockey these days. Sometimes creating the plays are as important as the plays themselves. So stick to your borderline stalker man-love for Fleury, Punk. I am older and wiser young P.sqy.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Florida @ Pittsburgh

The Pens look to keep the streak alive by beating the Panthers like a 2 bit whore. No Sykora tonight for the Pens but i doesn't matter much. Will Sid Crosby make Jay Bo look stupid for the third time?
Fleury Cant be happy with only getting the 2nd star of the week he needs to pick it up a little, but of course it soesn't help when Eric Staal (the Staal that can score goals regularly) Puts up 6-point nights.

Its late in the season, you shouldn't need to know anything new about the Florida Panthers, but in case you've been sleeping all season the trib has a good one up for your enjoyment.

Faceoff Factor also has a kick ass Game 68 preview up. Game 68 how interesting. rumor has it 68 will be skating with the Penguins to start next season.

Also to part in the Poll at the Factor and show where you think the Pens will finish in the east. I'm gonna go with the 5th spot. But i don't know if that is just wishful think.

Game time 7:30 (FSN/WXDX) Go Pens

Sunday, March 8, 2009

5-0 Road trip

The Pens bring the 5 game road trip to a close in record breaking fashion, winning them all. They win the biggest game of the trip tonight, beating the Washington Capitals in the shootout 4-3. Crosby, Gonchar, and Guerin all had goals for the Pens, with Crosby getting the lone shoot out goal to get the win. Fleury is playing his balls off right now, doing what needs to be done, which is just what we need from him down the stretch, but sooner or later i think you're going to have to give him a break.

As far as the Caps go, it pains me to say they are a solid hockey team, although their hate status is rising to almost Philly levels. Semin is a d-bag. Backstrom is good, it seems like he is scoring for his own team now instead of putting one-timers in his own net. AO is a dick. His day is coming. I guess he only disrespects the game when he is winning, I couldn't help but notice on the Crosby goal instead of backchecking on a 2 on 1 he was slowly gliding into the zone so he could get a close up of Crosby burying a pass from Guerin. You would never see a lazy play like that from Crosby or Malkin, but AO gets away with it.

The Pens are sitting in 7th place right now, seems like every team above the Pens are winning all their games also. The Rangers won today so we didn't gain any ground on them. REsigning Sean Avery must have been the spark they needed. The Coolest thing would be if The Pens could over take the Flyers to take away all bragging right from a worthless team centered in a worhtless city.

Next Game Tuesday against the Panthers. They can't hang......GO Pens

Monday, March 2, 2009

We're in the Playoffs Now

The Pens started a long road trip off the way a team fighting for a playoff spot should. Downing the Chicago Blackhawks on friday and destroying the struggling Dallas stars on sunday afternoon. A few things that jump out about the weekend games, the Pens are starting to get some of the lucky bounces that have seemed to go the other way the entire season, The arrival of Kunitz seemed to add the right spark for Jordan Staal to get going, or is Staal stepping it up because he is afraid he's on the Trading block. It wouldn't surprise me one bit if Shero has him on the short list of tradable assets.
Another big thing is Maf is starting to regain his early season form. He gave up 4 against the Blackhawks but he was simply brilliant in the 3rd period ensuring a Pens win. It seems every seasson the Maf has a stretch of games where all the fans are calling for his head, but he gets out of the rut and proves his worth down the stretch.
Malkin, what can i say about him, he has been the show stopper all season and i don;t see it stopping anytime soon.
Right now the Pens sit in the 8th spot in the east so the playoff race is far from over but if they are close they finish the season off with a home stand that will keep them in of put them over the edge depending on how this road trip continues. The trade deadline is upon us and who knows what Mr. Shero has in store for the current Pens roster, i can see a few players heading out and I have a few player i hope we can get.

Go Pens