Is there any evidence that he's a good locker room guy? I honestly have no idea, but he sure seems to get passed around more than a cheap hooker. Just my opinion, but I don't think we need this idiot.
- madmike71

I honestly don't know about the lockerroom stuff.... I always assumed he got moved around because he did stupid stuff on the ice and coaches/GM's just got tired of. But either way, it's probably not going to end well with him here if he makes the team lol.

After the past few seasons Lemieux needs taken to task as well in my opinion. the whole "holier than thou" BS that went on with Cooke is a total joke, then we sign my new favorite player Downie and Car-Bomb??? Please

- nbartley9

Lemieux was only referring to this:



...when he voiced his displeasure with the state of the league a couple of years ago.

He didn't have anything controversial to say after Crosby got hit in the head multiple times.

And Cooke and Neal found their way out of town.

But just because Lemieux complained about the Long Island Assault, it doesn't mean he can't employ guys who have layed bad hits before. If his team avoided all players with records of questionable hits, he'd have no way to fill out the bottom two lines.

And the Penguins had no enforcers or players of questionable physicality outside of Neal last year (and he was neutered after the Marchand knee), and we saw how teams took advantage of that fact in the playoffs last year.

The Pensblog highlighted this Beau Bennett quote from Jonathan Bombulie:


And this from Letang on the Pens' site:


That tells you a lot about how things were run under Bylsma..
- rival22

Most kids like the new teacher on the first day of class. I hope this keeps up, but lets check back in April.

Don't go there, Cooke is the most impactful player that we have ever had.
- nbartley9

Oh man, is this guy sharing everyone else's oxygen?

Side note: awesome jerseys!

Me and buddy are going flyers game when unreal veal there new Jereys can't wait

I was hoping for a completely different jersey format for this new era of Penguins hockey. Thus is a great start. Perhaps this will be the new home/away and the next alternate will feature the diagonal Pittsburgh lettering. Just so long as we don't have the same jersey pattern as Ottawa...

I was hoping for a completely different jersey format for this new era of Penguins hockey. Thus is a great start. Perhaps this will be the new home/away and the next alternate will feature the diagonal Pittsburgh lettering. Just so long as we don't have the same jersey pattern as Ottawa...
- Johnny Wrath

At least they're "throwing-back" to a time that was actually good for the franchise. Not a whole lot of success for this team in the color blue. They had a handful of competitive seasons, but for the most part it wasn't good.

Most kids like the new teacher on the first day of class. I hope this keeps up, but lets check back in April.
- Emperor Filonius

I read it as more of a look into what Bylsma's system was like rather than what like 24 hours of Johnston's looked like.

Not sure of this was mentioned, but Johnston made little hints that Bennett could be with sutter and downie on the 3rd line. I like it for depth, but who the hell will take the open top 6 spot? Even if kapanen makes the team, I'd still rather see dupuis to the 3rd line and Bennett getting consistent top 6 minutes

I was hoping for a completely different jersey format for this new era of Penguins hockey. Thus is a great start. Perhaps this will be the new home/away and the next alternate will feature the diagonal Pittsburgh lettering. Just so long as we don't have the same jersey pattern as Ottawa...
- Johnny Wrath

That diagonal Pitt one is my favorite. My wish was to have that as the 3rd jersey with the lace ties on the collar.

Not sure of this was mentioned, but Johnston made little hints that Bennett could be with sutter and downie on the 3rd line. I like it for depth, but who the hell will take the open top 6 spot? Even if kapanen makes the team, I'd still rather see dupuis to the 3rd line and Bennett getting consistent top 6 minutes
- drummer829

Don't worry, Bennett won't be there for long, he'll be injured within the first 2 or 3 weeks of the regular season and we'll be back to where we started.

Not sure of this was mentioned, but Johnston made little hints that Bennett could be with sutter and downie on the 3rd line. I like it for depth, but who the hell will take the open top 6 spot? Even if kapanen makes the team, I'd still rather see dupuis to the 3rd line and Bennett getting consistent top 6 minutes
- drummer829

I wouldn't really read anything into what wings are with what center until both Malkin and Crosby are back in the fold.

Even then, it wouldn't be a terrible idea to have Bennett with Sutter. We saw how impotent that our bottom six was last season, as soon as a third or fourth line came out, you could turn the channel and come back in a couple minutes.

Johnston has said that he likes pairs... You have Crosby/Kunitz, hopefully Malkin/Hornqvist work well, and if you have Sutter/Bennett, that could be a nice top nine. Looking at the top teams in the west, you need a nice top nine.

As far as how would slot in on the left side next to Malkin, that could end up being a lot of guys... Spaling, Downie, even Comeau. If Malkin and Hornqvist click, it doesn't really matter who is on the other side.

I wouldn't really read anything into what wings are with what center until both Malkin and Crosby are back in the fold.

Even then, it wouldn't be a terrible idea to have Bennett with Sutter. We saw how impotent that our bottom six was last season, as soon as a third or fourth line came out, you could turn the channel and come back in a couple minutes.

Johnston has said that he likes pairs... You have Crosby/Kunitz, hopefully Malkin/Hornqvist work well, and if you have Sutter/Bennett, that could be a nice top nine. Looking at the top teams in the west, you need a nice top nine.

As far as how would slot in on the left side next to Malkin, that could end up being a lot of guys... Spaling, Downie, even Comeau. If Malkin and Hornqvist click, it doesn't really matter who is on the other side.
- rival22

Sutter needs a banger on the boards not a toothpick.

Is there any evidence that he's a good locker room guy? I honestly have no idea, but he sure seems to get passed around more than a cheap hooker. Just my opinion, but I don't think we need this idiot.
- madmike71

He sure does end up getting passed around, but he gets passed around by some pretty good teams.

Sutter needs a banger on the boards not a toothpick.
- powerhouse

Then put Downie or Carcillo on the other side.

In the past Sutter and Bennett have played good together with guys like Brendan Morrow and even Chuck Kobasew. Those lines always seemed to quickly get broken up with injuries though.