The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the Kid
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Since Pens GM Ray Shero’s proclamation that the Penguins would make the playoffs after a 1-0 loss to the Capitals on Jan. 11, Pittsburgh holds a 21-4-1 record. Evgeni Malkin has been named a No. 1 star in eight games, Marc-Andre Fleury in six and James Neal, two. Maybe Shero should’ve just come out and said the Pens would win the Cup!
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Do you believe that Kris Letang is more important to this Penguins’ team’s success than Sidney Crosby? The logic behind the thinking is that the Pens have shown they can win without Crosby this year but have no one to replace Letang on the blue line – there are even plenty of numbers to back it up. The Pens have yet to score a 5-on-4 power play since Letang got hurt Feb. 29.
It’s interesting because those suggesting Letang is more valuable almost invariably preface their thinking with the acknowledgement that Crosby is the best player in the world. I think I understand where the Letang backers are coming from, but give me Crosby any day. We’re talking about the best player in the world.
The Pens are 3-0-1 with Crosby and Letang in the lineup.
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Starting Thursday, the Pens play 14 times in 24 days to close out the regular season, including nine games against Atlantic Division foes. Talk about a rigorously book-ended season. Pittsburgh opened 2011-12 with 13 games in 24 days way back in October.
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“The only constant in life is change.”
“The only two things guaranteed in life are death and taxes.”
We can add another saying with surety to the list ...
“The Penguins will change lines many times before season’s end.”
What are your favorite lines? Here are mine.
Pascal Dupuis is playing great but I don’t want to count on him for secondary scoring come playoff time. I see Crosby reunited with Chris Kunitz and Dupuis. I see Malkin and Neal together, and see Jordan Staal with Tyler Kennedy and Matt Cooke. Of course, every possible line combination might get a chance before the playoffs start.
Currently, coach Dan Bylsma said he’ll play Crosby with Kennedy and Cooke, limiting Crosby’s minutes to third-line ice time. It’s been said that Crosby hasn’t played with either player, but the team tried Kennedy alongside Crosby in the 2008-09 training camp and throughout the first half of that season with little success. Perhaps Kennedy has matured as a player and will work well with Crosby. He has been given a chance before and failed.
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Thanks to Ryan, Sean and Duncan for writing such good stories over the past week. Your efforts made it possible for me to attend spring training with my father. We’ve headed to spring training nine times in the last 10 years. Perhaps this will be the year the Pirates end their 19-year losing streak. Hey, everybody’s in first place on Opening Day!
After touching down in Tampa Bay, we took the airport people mover and guess who welcomed us over the loudspeaker? None other than Vincent Lecavalier, whose recorded message thanked passengers for visiting.
I told my dad I appreciated Lecavalier’s friendly greeting – as opposed to a cheapshot knuckle sandwich like the one he gave Evgeni Malkin a few months ago.
We attended four games at McKechnie Field, the Southern home of the Pittsburgh Pirates. We also traveled to Sarasota, Florida, where the Baltimore Orioles play.
I chatted with an Orioles fan about hockey. He roots for the Washington Capitals. He
said Sidney Crosby is such a whiner and that Crosby has so much protection around him, that Wayne Gretzky didn’t need any body guards. He believes that Alexander Ovechkin’s decrease in scoring is because of the team’s improved defensive philosophy -- that Ovie is just being a team player. Sorry, I can’t type any more of his quotes or thoughts – he was a bit misguided.
Not only is Crosby better than Ovechkin at hockey, but he can hit a baseball, too. Here’s Crosby
going deep at PNC Park while Ovechkin takes
batting practice in Washington. Ovechkin probably never picked up a baseball bat prior to his batting practice date, so we’ll give him a pass on the diamond.
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I'm off to watch the Pens practice at Southpointe. Have a good day, it's great to be back.
Treasure life!
JT
Pittsburgh Penguins Blogger • 
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