Follow me on twitter
The Pittsburgh Penguins have one of the nicest facilities in the NHL, they have one of the more committed ownership groups, and have one of the better rosters in the NHL. On the surface not much is going wrong for the Penguins right now.
However it appears that there is one dynamic of their new building that has not been up to par since its opening in 2010. The Pittsburgh Penguins home ice quality is below average.
Today in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette current Penguins players were asked under anonymity about the ice conditions at Consol Energy Center. The general consensus is that the ice is not all that great.
"Right now, at the start of the season, I think they're still searching for the right ice," Player A said earlier this week. "Obviously, they haven't found it yet."
The complaints are not lost on the Penguins higher ups as David Morehouse reiterates their commitment to giving the players the best conditions to work in.
"We try to treat our players better than any other team. We're not 'capped' on how well we treat the players, so if the players have a problem with the ice, we'll do everything we can to fix it."
This is not a new development for the Penguins, but given that the Penguins are a team that have incredibly skillful players with the puck, it is definitely a concern. When a team is playing at home they should have the advantage. In the Penguins case it appears that is not the case. We are spoiled when it comes to watching the Penguins and the amount of high caliber, aesthetically pleasing plays they make per game, but how many of those plays have we been deprived from because of the subpar ice conditions?
How many important moments in playoff games have been altered because of the low ice quality?
While I understand that both teams play on the same ice surface and there should be no distinct disadvantage/advantage to either team, I do think that it hurts the Penguins more than most. Not many teams can boast the amount of high end talent that Pittsburgh does and when the ice is a deterrent to making high skilled plays, then the Penguins are at a disadvantage.
The damning part for them is that it is their own fault. The Penguins have invested heavily in paying Crosby and Malkin big money, they need to further invest in those assets by getting the ice situation under control.
****
Kris Letang skated hard for 50 minutes yesterday before the team officially practiced. Kris Letang will be making the trip to Florida with the team. Dan Bylsma added that Letang will not be eligible to play before he takes part in practice with the rest of the team. Today is the Penguins final opportunity to practice before the Penguins play the Panthers and Lightning on back to back nights Friday and Saturday.
As of right now Letang skated with strength and conditioning coach Mike Kadar before the Penguins practice. The session has been intense with Letang pushing himself hard.
UPDATE 11:15 AM Letang did not join his teammates for practice today.
James Neal will not be making the trip to Florida and will remain out with his upper body injury. Neal did skate before practice yesterday but it was not nearly as long as Letang did.
Matt D’Agostini may or may not make the trip to Florida. He joined Letang in skating with Mike Kadar today.
UPDATE 11:38 AM
Absolutely no changes to the lines for the Penguins. Maatta is still skating with Bortuzzo with Deryk Engelland as an extra.
PP units remain the same as well:
Kunitz-Crosby-Jokinen
Martin-Malkin
Jeffrey-Sutter-Bennett
Maatta-Niskanen
****
Jesse Marshall of the Faceoff Factor
wrote a really nice article about how Dan Bylsma has paired the Penguins third line up with Olli Maatta and the success that has come from that. Currently Olli Maatta leads all Penguins defense in the quality of competition that he faces. Seeing as though he is predominately paired with the Sutter line, now we know why. Good stuff.
****
Mike Colligan of The Hockey Writers takes a look at the Penguins schedule and why October was perfect for Marc Andre Fleury to get off to a hot start and why March might be a bear for the Penguins.
Mike consistently produces some of the highest quality Penguins related material out there on the internet.
****
In totally non-Penguins related news
Sergei Fedorov has signed a one year, two way contract with CSKA of the KHL. Who signed Fedorov? He did, he did as he is the GM of the CSKA team. The team currently has injury issues and instead of going out and finding new players it appears Fedorov thinks he can do the job himself.
Any time a legend of hockey wants to come back and play its never an uninteresting development.
I’d argue that Sergei Fedorov was the best video game forward of all time. Speed, shot, and ability to check. Total package from the 90’s EA scene.
Thanks for reading!
Follow me on twitter
Pittsburgh Penguins Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»