Pens 3, Rangers 0

Thursday night, the Penguins ended their one-game "slump" if you could call it that.  A lot of fans have been calling it that, but it doesn't make much sense.  Not that the Pens have been on fire this eyar, but we haven't lost more than two in a row.

This was easily the Penguins' most compelling win of the year from top to bottom.

The most obvious part was the goaltending.  Tomas Vokoun got the start, and he finished with 28 saves and a shutout.  He made shots from star players such as Rick Nash and Marian Gaborik look average.  Vokoun seems to be a positioning expert, taking most shots right in his chest.  This is different from Fleury, who is always flying across the crease to make the save with the pads, blocker, or glove.  

The team defense looked great.  The Rangers had a lot of opportunities on the rush, including some from their top line, that were thwarted when a Penguin stick interrupted the pass.  I've been very impressed by the speed of this defense unit.  Sunday night in Ottawa as well as tonight in New York, they have used their speed to catch up to players, sometimes on breakaways, and not let them even get a shot on goal.  

The offense looked a lot better.  They got three goals, but if it weren't for Rangers' goalie Henrik Lundqvist they would've had a lot more.  The two top lines, centered by Crosby and Malkin respectively, seemed to click.  Those two stars seemed to hit full stride today.

Other notes:

-Congrats to Simon Despres on his first (important) NHL goal.  He has redeemed himself since my last blog in which I criticized him.  His defensive play has strengthened, and he isn't such a bad playmaker at the point.

-The power play looked above average tonight, despite only scoring one goal (a beautiful deflection play by Neal off a shot-pass from Crosby).

A Bump In The Road

Don't let it get blown out of proportion, but the Penguins played a dreadful game against the Toronto Maple Leafs Wednesday night, in their home opener no less.  Don't let it get blown out of proportion, because there are 45 games left in the season, and the Penguins' chief divisional rivals have yet to win a game.  Even so, the Penguins played a poor, poor game.

The Penalty Kill was surprisingly one of the bright spots of the game, killing off a long string of penalties in the 2nd period, including two 5-on-3's.  I like the idea of throwing Sidney Crosby out there towards the end (what can't he do?).  Every time he was out there on the PK you could sense that he was still an offensive threat.

The Penguins' offense was their worst asset in this game, looking sloppy for the whole game.  They got absolutely nothing done on the rush (besides Crosby's breakaway goal).  You got the feeling they weren't speeding down the ice like they nomally do; most of the time they seemed to be standing around waiting for the pass, and by the time it got there the speedy Leafs were able to stifle it.

A few players I've been thoroughly unimpressed with:  Simon Despres.  He has been very sloppy with the puck, which is a no-no for a defenseman; Tyler Kennedy.  I've always hated TK's skating style, but it's just now catching up to him.  He seems to stop moving his legs once he enters the zone, which doesn't work because obviously it slow you down.  So he just glides there, and once all his options are gone, he tries to blast it on goal with it being blocked or missed most of the time.  One other dissapointment is Eric Tangradi.  Eric has been trying to break into the NHL for 3 years now, and he's blowing his best chance yet.  He gets to be on Evgeni Malkin's wing, and he's done nothing.  Don't be surprised to see Beau Bennett up from the minors.

Pens 3, Flyers 1: Starting Off Right

The Penguins definitely learned some things from las year's playoff loss to the Philadelphia Flyers.  They proved it today in their 3-1 win over the Flyers in their season-opener.  Last Spring, the Flyers' power play tortured the Penguins, and the Pens' PK failed to adjust.  Today, the Flyers had a whopping five chances on the power play, and the Penguins held them to nothing.

Other game notes:

Marc-Andre Fleury avenged his horrid performance in last year's playoff, shutting down the Flyers with 26 saves and only 1 goal allowed.

Evgeni Malkin was a monster in the first period, hounding the puck furiously on the forecheck.  He earned an assist on the Pens' first goal (scored by Tyler Kennedy).  Although his pace slowed a bit, he looked solid for all 60 minutes.

Tomas Vokoun will get a start right of the bat tomorrow night, against the New York Rangers of all teams.  The Rangers, led by goalie Henrik Lundqvist, seem to be the Penguins' biggest competition for the Eastern Conference title, however the Pens had their number last year.

Here is my full scouting report for the Penguins 2013 season

Penguins 2013 Scouting Report

Its been over eight months.  And finally, we are down to three days.  Three days until this sports town, left without a sport, gets its hockey team back.  The whole city's force going behind one team at full blast is a site to behold.  And they are not letting up.

On Wednesday night, the Penguins staged a scrimmage game, with the purpose of getting the players prepared for all types of game situations.  Then, they thought they might as well let some fans come and watch.  Every single one of the 18,387 seats were filled, with over two-thousand people left outside.  This town is desperate for hockey.  Now lets look at what to expect for this season, which, by the way, starts at 3 PM on Saturday in Philadelphia.

Forward

Dan Bylsma hasn't left us wondering too much about this one.  The first line will definitely feature Chris Kunitz and Pascal Dupuis, centered by captain Sidney Crosby.  The second line is a little less clear.  It will definitely contain winger James Neal and reigning MVP center Evgeni Malkin.  The right wing is still up in the air, but will probably be filled by Tyler Kennedy, Eric Tangradi, or rookie Beau Bennett.  The third line will be centered by offseason addition Brandon Sutter, flanked by Matt Cooke and Tyler Kennedy (if he isn't on the second line).  The fourth line will be Craig Adams, new addition Tanner Glass, and Joe Vitale.

Defense

The first defensive pairing will certainly feature star Kris Letang, probably alongside Matt Niskanen.  Should be an excellent shutdown pair, given Letang's track record, and the promise Niskanen showed in the playoffs last year.  The next pair will be the wrecking ball Brooks Orpik, with Paul Martin.  Paul Martin had a horrid year last year defensively, many fans hoping for him to be traded.  Instead he is being paired with Orpik in the hopes that the shakeup will improve his game.  The third pairing will be Ben Lovejoy and Deryk Engelland, both solid, tough, defensemen.


Goal

Marc Andre Fleury is the team's number one.  He will get at least 28 of the 48 games this year, probably more if he goes on a tear.  New addition Tomas Vokoun adds stability in the backup position, which will do two things.  It will allow Fleury to get adequate rest, which he didn't last year (backed by Brent Johnson).  It will also add pressure on Fleury to be better, as Vokoun has the potential to be a number one.

Three days.  The city is ready.  Hockey is back.

Pens are elite, on the ice and off the ice

Yes, the Penguins have one of the best on-ice teams in the NHL.  That is for sure.  But they also have possibly THE best front office/fan relations in the NHL, and maybe all of professional sports.

On monday, the day after the lockout ended, co-owners Mario Lemieux and Ron Burkle released an apology.  It wasn't like some might expect.  It wasn't filled with "we are so sorry" or any method of assigning blame anywhere else.  They took full responsibility, and told fans they had every right to stay Angry.  Real classy move.

On thursday, They announced an unprecedented lineup of bonus promotions.  Promotions include free food at games, and half off merchandise.  May not seem like much, but that stuff is pricy at the Pens' home Consol Energy Center.  They also announced that they will hold a contest which will give away signed jerseys, numerous free tickets, partial season tickets, front row seats to the home opener, and even season tickets (yes, season tickets.  Those things you have to get on an 8,000 person waiting list to get).

I'm sure every team in the NHL will attempt something like this, but you can just tell that they are being sincere.  You can tell that they are truly embarrassed of the actions of Gary Bettman and the rest of the villains of the lockout.

Pittsburgh: A hockey town.

Sure we're not Montreal, or Toronto.  But we are still one of the league's biggest "hockey towns".  Last year, the Penguins ranked number 1 in TV ratings despite being in the bottom 10 in city populations (out of NHL teams, of course).  People are passionate about hockey.  During the lockout, 20,000 flocked to see College Hockey last month

The Penguins have sold out over 200 consecutive home games (not including playoffs).

Penguins merchandise ranks in the top 5 sold countrywide out of all 30 NHL teams.

When word came out early on sunday morning that the NHL lockout would end on its 107th day, the city of Pittsburgh rejoiced.  People wore their Penguins apparel around town,  Social media was buzzing with Penguins predictions, and local newspapers and radio stations scrambled to start their Penguins coverage/scouting reports.

Keep your Detroit, keep your Montreal.  Pittsburgh is just as much a hockey town as anyone.

College football: Playoffs can't come too soon.

Thank god college football is adopting a true playoff format.

I'm writing this as Alabama and Notre Dame go to the locker room at halftime.  It is 28-0.  This is the game that decides who gets college football's biggest prize.  Let's talk about some issues with the current ludicrous format.

-- What other sport lets you skip from the regular season to the championship game?  The NHL, MLB, NFL, and NBA do not simply take the top two seeds and automatically place them in the finals.  It makes no sense.  The regular season should be about making the playoffs, not about making the championship.  Totally takes away the thrill of a low seed going all the way in the playoffs.

-- Notre Dame is being slaughtered in this game.  They are an excellent football team, but their perfect record was helped by a couple flukes.  No offense to them, but they probably should not be in this game.  If there were a proper playoff, they would have been knocked off well before the championship game.

-- They say it's because of the money.  Why isn't there as much money to be had in a March Madness-esque playoff?  It would be weeks straight of high stakes, win or go home, playoff football, complete with dramatic story lines and everything else that comes with playoffs.  How is there not enough money to be made in that?  It would probably get way more viewership overall, considering all the bowls that nobody has heard of.

-- And honestly, what fan could possibly prefer the current format over a traditional playoff?

Let's Play Hockey

The NHL lockout is over.  This is thanks to a bunch of old men sitting in a board room talking about money all night.  I am not going to talk about that.  I'm going to talk about HOCKEY.

Amidst all of this lockout nonsense, many have forgotten about new Penguin Brandon Sutter.  He was born to be a Penguin:  tough, physical style, good on the penalty kill, and not unfamiliar with scoring goals.  Great prize for getting rid of Jordan Staal and his cap hit.

Sidney Crosby is a bottle of energy waiting to burst.  He has been skating with his buddies almost every day since september, and he is just waiting to be unleashed on real NHL competition.  Should be quite a sight to see.  Will give Malkin a run for his money on the scoring title/MVP.

Evgeni Malkin is ready to go, as he has been playing for his hometown in Russia since september.  Look for him to get right back into things.  Plus he will probably be reunited with his linemates James Neal and Chris Kunitz.  One interesting thing is that in Europe, the rinks are wider than in North America.  We'll see if that plays into things.

Kris Letang is ready to have a career season.  He was poised to do so last year, but he was interrupted by an injury.

Marc Andre Fleury.  This one's a puzzler.  He had a bit of a meltdown in the playoffs, but he has been good at bouncing back in the past.  With solid backup Tomas Vokoun, Fleury will no longer have to do insane things such as start 25 games in a row.  He had to do that when the Penguins had Brent Johnson/Brad Theissen backing him up, neither of which could put on a compelling performance.

Hopefully the power play can click this year.  The key to doing that is putting Malkin on his favorite spot-- the right half wall-- and putting Crosby down low near the goal line.  Letang and someone else can take the points.  Throw James Neal out there too.

"It's a Great Day For Hockey"

-Badger Bob Johnson

How they can end the lockout NOW

We all know that both sides in this lockout know that we can't lose a season.  The entire media is speculating that there is no way we could lose the season given the progress of the last few days.  But that notion is made possible by logic, and logic has not been used throughout this process.

The CBA term length has finally been decided.  The contract length cap has finally been decided.  They have finally decided on a 50/50 revenue split.  Pensions have finally been settled.  The only hurdle that seems to remain is the salary cap.  The owners want it to be 60 million dollars, but the players want it to be 65 million dollars.  Really makes you wonder how these people got in charge of a sport.

Logic would dictate a compromise, having the cap be 62.5 million dollars.  But logic hasn't been used throughout this lockout, so why would they use it now?

Top 5 performances of 2012

2012 was a year that ended mostly in disappointment for Pittsburgh,  but it was a fun ride.  Here's what I think were the top 5 individual performances of 2012. If you disagree with the order, please note that I had a very hard time putting them in order.

5. Andrew McCutchen-- June 17 @ Cleveland  Cutch powered both the offense and the defense in this game.  He blasted 2 home runs off the Cleveland pitcher, and also made a gem of a catch, leaping up against the wall and swatting the ball down, securing it in his glove on the way down.

4.  Marc Andre Fleury-- April 20 vs. Philadelphia The Penguins were down 3-1 in the series and looking to make a comeback.  In game 5, they held a 3-2 lead in the 3rd period, and the Flyers were getting chance after chance, the Pens' defense nowhere to be found.  Fleury answered with save after save, with 2 that were especially jaw-dropping.  One came with the glove, on a third rebound chance.  The other came on a centering pass coming from behind the net.  Fleury smartly jumped over the pass, so it wouldn't bank off of him and into the net, and landed in time to rob the Flyer from point blank range.

3.  Charlie Batch-- December 2nd @ Baltimore  The Steelers were coming off a disappointing loss to the hated Browns and were looking to avoid being swept by the Ravens.  With franchise QB Ben Roethlisberger still sidelined, all eyes were on Charlie Batch.  Expectations weren't high, because of his poor performance in Cleveland the previous week.  Batch defied the odds and threw for 276 yards, including a game winning drive in the final minutes, capped by a last second field goal by Shaun Suisham.

2.  A.J. Burnett-- July 31st vs. Chicago Cubs  The Pirates were coming off of a disastrous loss the previous night at the hands of the lowly Cubs.  They looked to the ever-reliable AJ Burnett for another solid pitching performance.  They were certainly not disappointed.  Burnett carried a no hitter into the 8th inning, only to be broken up there.  Burnett closed out the game, earning a 5-0 one hitter.

1.  Evgeni Malkin-- February 12th vs. Tampa Bay--  The Penguins were winning 3-0.  Evgeni Malkin ripped a shot on goal, which was saved by Dwayne Roloson.  He crashed in for the rebound, unsuccessfully.  Roloson took offense, and shoved Malkin over.  Lesson learned, don't anger Evgeni Malkin.  Geno went on to score 3 goals and 2 assists in that game.  One of the goal ended up being the goal of the year for the NHL, weaving around all 5 Lightning players

New Years Resolutions

2012 was a year of ups and downs for Pittsburgh, but things always seemed to end on a down.  Here's what the Pens, Bucs, and Steelers should have as their new years resolutions.

Penguins
The Pens' defense was embarrassed by Philadelphia, getting ousted in the first round of the playoffs.  The Penguins have plenty of goal scoring talent, we know that.  But where did all the grit and toughness go?  Players like Max Talbot, Mike Rupp, Eric Godard, Mark Eaton, Hal Gill, Rob Scuderi, the list goes on and on.  They are all tough gritty players that were on the Penguins' '09 Stanley Cup roster, and have been traded or lost to free agency.  No coincidence that The Pens' defense had a meltdown in the playoffs.  Resolution: Get the grit back.

Pirates
The Pirates had an excellent first half, as one of the best teams in baseball.  The second half was a different story.  You could look at it a number of ways, but it comes down to a single trend:  When the starting pitching and bullpen was good, the team was good.  You may say it was the offense powered the team, but look at the first 2 months of the season.  The Bucs had a historically bad offense, yet they still came out of there with a winning record.  In the second half, The starting pitching had a meltdown, much like the Penguins' defense.  James McDonald had the most striking fall, eventually getting pulled from the starting rotation.  Eric Bedard was eventually cut from the team.  Ace AJ Burnett even had his stumbles.  The team went on to finish below .500 for the 20th consecutive year.  Now that reliable Jeff Karstens has left the team, things look even worse for the rotation.  Resolution:  Upgrade and solidify the starting rotation.

Steelers
The Steelers failures were strange.  They had no shortage of talent in any department.  They had a top 5 Quarterback, a top 10 Wide Receiver, another top 20 receiver, 3 decent runningbacks, a top 3 tight end, and the number one ranked defense in the league.  Why did they finish 8-8?  Failure to perform under pressure.  The Steelers constantly made mistakes when it mattered most.  Fumbled punt returns, Pick six's untimely 3-and-out's, you name it.  The Steelers may be the biggest disappointment in Pittsburgh this year.  Resolution:  Improve the intangibles,  the ability to perform under pressure.