Penguins Practice updates and a look back over the last couple days
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Line rushes from Thursday’s practice are:
Kunitz-Malkin-Neal
Cooke-Dupuis-Sullivan/Kennedy
Asham-Adams-MacIntyre
Jordan Staal, Kris Letang, and now Joe Vitale are missing. Defensemen Zbynek Michalek and Brian Strait are both back, according to the
Penguins’ Web site.
Don’t look now but the Penguins are five points out of the playoffs and have played more games than any of the top 10 Eastern Conference teams. Of course they’re still just three points from the top spot, too.
What’s up with NHL goaltending? It’s as if Billy Smith hit ‘em all with his stick and turned them upside down. Brian Elliott with a 1.46 GAA? Last year Elliott went 3.19 GAA with Ottawa and 3.83 for the Avs. Nikolai Khabibulin and Josh Harding are also near the top. At the bottom we’ve got Corey Crawford, Jonas Hiller, Cam Ward and Michael Neuvirth all 3.00-plus.
Speaking of goalies, Marc-Andre Fleury has held opponents to fewer than three goals just two times in his last 12 starts. The Pens’ defense has played through a spate of injuries and Selke-like forward Jordan Staal has played at less than 100 percent. If you watch Fleury, his glove has been really shaky recently. It’s tough staying on top of your game all season long, though, and if this is as bad as his play gets then we’ll all take it.
Zbynek Michalek hopes to help Pittsburgh’s defensive corps out with a return Friday night. Z’s concussion was apparently transferred to his brother Milan, who is now out indefinitely.
Penguins fans have sounded off on HockeyBuzz the last couple days about what can be done about the rash of concussions.
Gunner writes about one of my favorite active players, Patrice Bergeron. The Boston faceoff whiz has survived three concussions and suited up for 80 games in 2010-11. The Bruins have taken Bergeron’s recovery slowly and he’s having a fantastic, healthy season so far. I think it’s physically easier to bounce back from a concussion at age 21 or 22 than at 32 or 33, when Marc Savard got his.
Rawdog writes of the elimination of the two-line pass speeding up the game. That could certainly play a role in some of the head hits.
Rival talks about the crackdown on obstruction, though nobody wants to go back the Devils’ trapping style of boredom. He also touches on player equipment.
Emperor Filonius says the league should remove body armor, improve headgear and implement full face shields. The Emperor also talks about money and keeping guys like Crosby and Giroux healthy. That’s one aspect I don’t think receives enough consideration when talking about re-signing Crosby to a new contract. The revenue he generates off the ice greatly exceeds any cap hit. I’m not sure the Pens would sell out every night without Crosby on the roster.
MadCap doesn’t claim to know the concussion answer but believes the league needs to move away from some of the fighting.
Mario Lemieux once suggested going to 4-on-4 even-strength play, but that might make open-ice hits even more dangerous.
What’d I miss on 24/7? I don’t get HBO but I’ve heard that the production levels are simply awesome again.
Anyone else notice how cranky coach Dan Bylsma has looked the last couple weeks? Hey, he’s got good reason to be upset; he doesn’t seem happy with his team’s play. The shot during Tuesday’s game with Bylsma on the bench as a Ducks player in front of coach Mike Babcock was classic. Bylsma had a good playoff beard going.
How about ROOT Sports missing Johan Franzen’s power-play goal in favor of a Chicken McNugget commercial Tuesday?
The Pens are holding an outdoor practice on the South Side of Pittsburgh next Wednesday, Dec. 21. Here are the details, in case you want to enter the
lottery to attend. Only 100 names will be drawn.
Don’t know how many readers are hockey card enthusiasts, but I tried out PSA card grading last month and got my graded cards back yesterday. My 1980-81 Topps Wayne Gretzky came back with an “8” grade, which was lower than I expected, but not too bad. What really got me is that the 2001 Bowman Chrome Ichiro rookie I sent in was returned without a grade because the so-called expert said it had been tampered with or trimmed. I got this redemption card straight from the manufacturer 10 years ago and never even took it out of the plastic. The PSA grader was the first person to ever touch the card and he says it was tampered with. I’m sending it back per my phone call yesterday and I’ll let you know the results.
By the way, if you wondered why I didn’t post an article Wednesday it’s because I was working on my 2012 Pirates player profiles for RotoWire. They’re due by midnight tonight and I still have about 10 to do. Quick quiz. Who was the Pirate to play junior hockey? Former Pirate Nyjer Morgan played junior hockey for Regina in 1999-2000.
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RINK LINKs
Penguins tattered but not torn, the
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.
Defenseman Paul Martin gave a pretty blunt account of the Pens’ injury situation.
"You can get discouraged, but that's just because you always want those guys in," defenseman Paul Martin said. "You want your top lineup. You know how good you can be when you have them.
"It's too hard to tell what will happen in the long run. For now, you go out when you're told and do the best you can and see what happens."
Scott Harrington makes Team Canada’s under-20 squad for the upcoming championship, according to the
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Joe Morrow, the Pens’ no. 1 pick, didn’t make the team as an offensive defenseman. Penguins prospect, Dominik Uher, also made the cut for Team Czech as a forward.
Also in the above article, coach Bylsma reveals that backup goalie, Brent Johnson, will start against the Senators on Friday.
Concussions continue to nag top NHL stars, the
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports.
"It seems like someone is going down every single night now," retired NHL standout Jeremy Roenick said. "It's frustrating to watch. You don't like having your top guys out."
Roenick’s really got to be sick of hearing not just about Sidney Crosby but of so many stars around the league.
Michalek due back Friday, according to the
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
Crosby was in attendance Wednesday during the Pens practice and was said to be in good spirits. There remains no timetable for his return to practice, however.
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Have a great Thursday & Treasure life!
JT
Pittsburgh Penguins Blogger • 
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