He stated he felt NYR gave him a great chance and they could roll 4 lines. He liked that a lot. Do we even know if JR threw him an offer though?
- HopintheCordoba

Hell, was he even still a free agent before JR was signed?

Absolutely... He never gave a reason, but I do not believe it was money related seeing how cheap he went.
And I personally cannot fault him for leaving when a team had no GM and a coach you knew was going to be fired.
- Guile

I am quite sure several of the players would have bolted for "classier" organizations had they not been under contract after that fiasco. Martin for one.

Hell, was he even still a free agent before JR was signed?
- Guile

Yes. JR was hired before free agency--hence he got Erhoff on day 1.

He stated he felt NYR gave him a great chance and they could roll 4 lines. He liked that a lot. Do we even know if JR threw him an offer though? If he didn't that would've been a HUGE mistake.
- HopintheCordoba

Is stemp the modern day Hossa?!?! that says something disturbing about the pens

I am quite sure several of the players would have bolted for "classier" organizations had they not been under contract after that fiasco. Martin for one.
- ChrisMS

I believe that was another reason ownership picked JR... at the time, most of us viewed him as a lesser version of Shero, especially since we made out EXTREMELY well off the Staal trade to him, and the Jussi one. Hes done great here so far, this current trade the only thing we are really questioning...

But, from a step back, if we "needed" a more stable, calm, and professional look... I don't see any better who were available than old man JR.

0= the number of games Goc has made an impact since we aquired him; he sucks.



Lapps will make an immediate impact.

tall, gangly, starting to blad at the temples, renaldo-like mustache, wearing a goc jersey, holding a calculator in one hand, a copy of "bar graph vs line graph: a history" in the other, yoha pants, and adidas sambas. that the one?
- ChrisMS

The bashing everyone on this board through his Twitter account was my last straw with him. Hopefully he doesn't profit from people clicking directly to the comments section.

Is stemp the modern day Hossa?!?! that says something disturbing about the pens
- ChrisMS

I don't know about that but he definitely played up from what was expected going in. Much like Jokinen(last 2 years) and Comeau(this year). Signing gor less than $1M was great for NYR. We may have even relied on him more so it would've been better for us. Can't ever have enough depth. If we don't know that, with all our injuries, then I don't know what to say.

Wasn't physical. Not a great PK guy. Terrible stick handling. No shot. Didn't agitate or fight.

Basically, he brought nothing to the table. Was likely not even on the other teams radar in the scouting reports.
- 87_71_11_29

This basically describes how Lapierre has been the last couple seasons. I have no idea why Pens fans think he is gritty or physical. Goc throws more hits. Lappy is basically Goc with worse possession numbers, fewer hits, plus a suspension level cheap shot every third season, more penalty minutes, and a reputation because he used to be an agitator but now is basically invisible to the opposition.

0= the number of games Goc has made an impact since we aquired him; he sucks.



Lapps will make an immediate impact.
- nbartley9

Probably. 4:00 penalty. Ovechkin scores 2x.

November 18, 2013 - Boyle hit.

He's still within the 18 months.
- Topshelf Mountain

Ahh my bad, thx for clarifying. Not even certain if I recall correctly that 18 months is the limit...but point being he has not been suspended much despite his antics.

Must be nice to be able to just say whatever you want whether it is factual or not. Ebbett has 6 points. 2 of those came with one or both of Sill and Adams on the ice, and one of them was with Rust and Adams, and Adams didn't factor in on the goal.
- PensFan1103

Okay, now go and see how many ES points Goc put up on a line with Sill or Adams.

HINT: It's less than 2.

I believe that was another reason ownership picked JR... at the time, most of us viewed him as a lesser version of Shero, especially since we made out EXTREMELY well off the Staal trade to him, and the Jussi one. Hes done great here so far, this current trade the only thing we are really questioning...

But, from a step back, if we "needed" a more stable, calm, and professional look... I don't see any better who were available than old man JR.
- Guile

I like it so far. didnt like the downie signing, still dont. but it was cheap. I do wonder about why we had to move neal at the draft if a pick wasnt coming back... might hve got more later in the summer from teams that failed to find someone in FA. (though I do like the trade, Horny great, spaling ok, just overpayed) I like the goc trade... he needed to either be used top 9 or moved. The team obviosly prefers spaling to bump up to top 9, for better or worse. I wish they would keep DP in the minors as to not rush him... give him the simon treatement and let him ferment and develop... detroit style. see what you have in dumo before he ages out. but he suprised me so far by being rather prudent after the disaster few years with CAR he had

Adding more rats to the Penguins? That's a problem. It says that the team needs to be sucked into fighting other people's battles to stay competitively engaged. That's a much bigger problem than simply adding what amounts to another name-brand rat in Max Lapierre. Make no mistake, he is going to cost the Penguins. I hope we're all prepared to have fans of other teams being 100% correct when they complain of sinking to Pittsburgh's level.

I am never so ashamed of the game I love than when something like this happens:

The man on the ice needs medical attention. He isn't going to receive optimum care because there has to be a scrum and a fistfight. You know what doesn't matter? Who has a height/reach advantage while a player is powerless to move on the ice.

This basically describes how Lapierre has been the last couple seasons. I have no idea why Pens fans think he is gritty or physical. Goc throws more hits. Lappy is basically Goc with worse possession numbers, fewer hits, plus a suspension level cheap shot every third season, more penalty minutes, and a reputation because he used to be an agitator but now is basically invisible to the opposition.
- Antilles

If that's all true then this was a terrible move for the Pens lol. I only know him from his MTL days.

The bashing everyone on this board through his Twitter account was my last straw with him. Hopefully he doesn't profit from people clicking directly to the comments section.
- Topshelf Mountain

Can't see it til I get home, but that's kind of sad if true.

It's only Marcel Goc for crying out loud.

This basically describes how Lapierre has been the last couple seasons. I have no idea why Pens fans think he is gritty or physical. Goc throws more hits. Lappy is basically Goc with worse possession numbers, fewer hits, plus a suspension level cheap shot every third season, more penalty minutes, and a reputation because he used to be an agitator but now is basically invisible to the opposition.
- Antilles

Thanks for stopping by. I have no doubt that STL will be beter off with this deal. I'm just hoping they still pursue Winnik. I'm hoping this wasn't some "consolation" prize. Winnik and Santorelli are cheap($1.5M), quality players going towards FA. Winnik in particular is more in line with what we told this team was valuing now. Lapierre is not.

Adding more rats to the Penguins? That's a problem. It says that the team needs to be sucked into fighting other people's battles to stay competitively engaged. That's a much bigger problem than simply adding what amounts to another name-brand rat in Max Lapierre. Make no mistake, he is going to cost the Penguins. I hope we're all prepared to have fans of other teams being 100% correct when they complain of sinking to Pittsburgh's level.

I am never so ashamed of the game I love than when something like this happens:

The man on the ice needs medical attention. He isn't going to receive optimum care because there has to be a scrum and a fistfight. You know what doesn't matter? Who has a height/reach advantage while a player is powerless to move on the ice.
- Johnny Wrath

yeah. all of this.

This basically describes how Lapierre has been the last couple seasons. I have no idea why Pens fans think he is gritty or physical. Goc throws more hits. Lappy is basically Goc with worse possession numbers, fewer hits, plus a suspension level cheap shot every third season, more penalty minutes, and a reputation because he used to be an agitator but now is basically invisible to the opposition.
- Antilles

It's an irrational hatred of Goc (mostly because a bunch of posters hate our blogger so they want to disagree with him) and because a small subset want all of the dirty players to be on the Pens. So if you aren't a star forward putting up 50+ points per season, you better be a guy putting other teams players out of the game.

Adding more rats to the Penguins? That's a problem. It says that the team needs to be sucked into fighting other people's battles to stay competitively engaged. That's a much bigger problem than simply adding what amounts to another name-brand rat in Max Lapierre. Make no mistake, he is going to cost the Penguins. I hope we're all prepared to have fans of other teams being 100% correct when they complain of sinking to Pittsburgh's level.

I am never so ashamed of the game I love than when something like this happens:

The man on the ice needs medical attention. He isn't going to receive optimum care because there has to be a scrum and a fistfight. You know what doesn't matter? Who has a height/reach advantage while a player is powerless to move on the ice.
- Johnny Wrath

I see a guy down in the corner away from all the fighting that a trainer could easily get to without going through a scrum. Its hockey, poop happens.

The bashing everyone on this board through his Twitter account was my last straw with him. Hopefully he doesn't profit from people clicking directly to the comments section.
- Topshelf Mountain

He should be Hockeybuzz's advanced stats writer... I'd still read him. But he does do a blog a day and keep things fresh... overall I'm ok with him. But... the titter stuff ( I dont use it so I only hear about it) and the PM'ing people over public discourse is a bit.... haughty... snooty? not sure about the word. He was like that before he became blogger so its no suprise. I give him a b+ I'll not stop reading and hope he has success.... but I dont particularly care for him either. thanks Ryan! and

Okay, now go and see how many ES points Goc put up on a line with Sill or Adams.

HINT: It's less than 2.
- hardnosed

Haven't looked yet, but if that is true, then thank you for proving my point for me. Goc's production was sapped by Sill and Adams, just like Ebbett. Both performed better away from those 2.

Adding more rats to the Penguins? That's a problem. It says that the team needs to be sucked into fighting other people's battles to stay competitively engaged. That's a much bigger problem than simply adding what amounts to another name-brand rat in Max Lapierre. Make no mistake, he is going to cost the Penguins. I hope we're all prepared to have fans of other teams being 100% correct when they complain of sinking to Pittsburgh's level.

I am never so ashamed of the game I love than when something like this happens:

The man on the ice needs medical attention. He isn't going to receive optimum care because there has to be a scrum and a fistfight. You know what doesn't matter? Who has a height/reach advantage while a player is powerless to move on the ice.
- Johnny Wrath

To be honest, and not disagreeing with your overall premise, but that didnt look like a terrible hit. While it was from behind, it seemed like he barely hit Boyle and got caught in an awkward position. I've seen much dirtier hits than that...

Thanks for stopping by. I have no doubt that STL will be beter off with this deal. I'm just hoping they still pursue Winnik. I'm hoping this wasn't some "consolation" prize. Winnik and Santorelli are cheap($1.5M), quality players going towards FA. Winnik in particular is more in line with what we told this team was valuing now. Lapierre is not.
- HopintheCordoba

Pens could come out ahead if the change of scenery turns Lapierre into the player he used to be, the agitator most here are describing. But so far, that Lapierre has been MIA since the Boyle suspension.

Do you guys think this trade makes it more or less likely that we go after another 4th line guy (Winnik) ? Don't have my mind made up on that ...