Friday Pittsburgh Penguins practice review, for whatever it's worth
Spent some time at Southpointe on Friday morning. Six Penguins players took the ice and one goalie. Sidney Crosby, Chris Kunitz, Craig Adams, Tyler Kennedy, Matt Cooke and Pascal Dupuis all skated.
Crosby continues to look spectacularly. One one hand, it’s a shame that a prime year of Crosby’s is being lost to the lockout. He played well after coming back last spring but never found his shooting mark. He’s all the way back now.
On the other hand, no one can convince me that whatever additional time Crosby gets from taking heavy hits to the body and to the head isn’t a good thing. Brain injuries are unique from person to person. Perhaps Crosby was fully recovered in the spring, he was cleared. Still, neuroplasticity is a marvelous thing. Whatever bruising Crosby’s brain endured can only benefit from the extra time away from jarring collisions.
Matt Cooke left the ice Friday after taking an apparent stick to the face from Crosby. I had my head down tweeting when the incident took place and asked a fellow onlooker what had happened. All I heard was someone use the “F” word after the fact.
Both Crosby and Cooke left the ice together, which brought up an interesting scenario. There are no team doctors on site. The players don’t even use their normal dressing room. It appeared as though Crosby earned a new title to his name “trainer.”
Minutes later, Crosby came back on the ice while Cooke remained absent.
Southpointe is also home to a gym. Hockey fans were treated to a women’s aerobics class. The group of about 10 attractive females scaled the steps for about five minutes. Not coincidentally, the players called for a break during the activity.
Getting back to hockey, one interesting drill involved two players, both at the red line on each side of the goalie. The two would race to a pre-placed puck in the slot, fight for possession, control it and then come in on the netminder. On more than one occasion there was a false start, just like sprinters in the Olympics. It’s hard to replicate the competitiveness of actual practice, but this drill was the closest thing to it.
Another drill involved a player by the end boards passing out in front. Cooke was overheard saying that was the first pass Tyler Kennedy ever made when he served as the designated passer.
For whatever reason – logistics most likely – all of the skaters who practiced Friday were forwards. There wasn’t one defenseman present.
Union rep Craig Adams taking time out from negotiations
Pascal Dupuis settles a bouncing puck
Sidney Crosby preparing for a trick shot into the corner pocket
Practice drill involves starting with back to the net
What hockey fans are missing
The NHL in a deep freeze
Resolve is never too far away from Crosby’s eyes, even in the face of the current conditions
Here’s the drill with two players – Crosby and Adams -- racing to the slot for puck possession
Crosby wins the race with a reach
Adams with that off-balanced uh-oh moment realizing Crosby’s got the puck
Crosby with his head up
*****
Treasure Life!
JT
Pittsburgh Penguins Blogger • 
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