I don't think I will ever understand why that bothers hockey players so much, but yet across the board it does. Especially incidents like yesterday with Kunitz, when the player misses the net. If I were one of the Flyers I would have been laughing my ass off, no retaliation necessary on that.
- PensFan1103

How symbolic was Kuni missing that open net? Exactly right, they should have just laughed at him. I was.

Because he slapped the puck in the direction of opposing players on an obvious delayed penalty against the Penguins. It was clever, but definitely something I can understand the Flyers' getting upset over.
- jfkst1

Meh, it was a douche move for sure...but it would have been a lot worse if he shot it at a player or a ref...he just shot it at an empty cage and proved he still cant hit the net lol.

How symbolic was Kuni missing that open net? Exactly right, they should have just laughed at him. I was.
- madmike71

I still don't know if he was trying to put it in, or just blast it at the end as a "whatever, (frank) you guys" move.

For what it's worth, Holmgren is no longer a GM.

Thank God. He was actually really good at first, then did a bandaid job and, well, you see the result.
- jmatchett383

Yeah, that's why I included "are/were were" in that same time period of Shero's time. Hextall is clearly much better. Though, not sure how much of Holmgren's decisions were influenced by ownership's demands.

I still don't know if he was trying to put it in, or just blast it at the end as a "whatever, (frank) you guys" move.
- Guile

Maybe he really didn't like one of the board ads.

Yeah, that's why I included "are/were were" in that same time period of Shero's time. Hextall is clearly much better. Though, not sure how much of Holmgren's decisions were influenced by ownership's demands.
- jfkst1

The Bryzgalov deal came down from above, that's pretty much agreed upon by most. However, AMac/Lecavalier are all on him, as was JvR for Schenn (which can surprisingly be justified).

Maybe he really didn't like one of the board ads.
- jmatchett383

Well then which of us hasnt blasted something at an annoying ad before? We should be giving Kuni a parade for doing what we all want to do on national television.

Not gonna disagree with you there. I think that respect for other players has gone out the window in the "new" NHL.
- jmatchett383

I think you could greatly broaden that statement to say respect for other poeple has gone out the window with life in general.

The year after the season long lockout, hits like we are saying with greater frequency now were not nearly as common as it was far more difficult to line a guy up to blast him due to the speed of the game being so high.

The powers that be said the game needed to slow down due to player safety.

Seems to me the opposite has happened since the game has slowed down.

Dumb decision by the league.

I still don't know if he was trying to put it in, or just blast it at the end as a "whatever, (frank) you guys" move.
- Guile

Whatever he was trying to do, he sure wasn't aiming for the post. If he misses the glass or boards it's even worse than I thought.

Guy's hands are just gone. I get no joy in saying this because he's one of my favorite players since coming here.

Ryan Wilson: Playoffs Starting Early For Pittsburgh
Playoffs Starting Early For Pittsburgh
- Ryan_Wilson

Playoffs?

Time to blow it up and start fresh. This team is a joke.

I wish I had an explanation for Perron. He's got to be a solid scoring winger for us to have a chance. Is he tired? He just looks invisible right now.

It's not the "worst in the league." I don't like what Shero did, but there are plenty of GMs that are/were worse. Nonis, MacTavish, Nieuwendyk, Sakic, Holmgren are some off the top of my head that were worse.
- jfkst1

There are plenty of dumb GMs out there. You mentioned some of the worst. However, where does Pittsburgh stand as far as younger players 24 or younger at forward. I will be interested to see your take.

Fact is, Pittsburgh has the worst collection of forwards 24 or younger. It's rather embarrassing and that is why we have the problems we have.

I wish I had an explanation for Perron. He's got to be a solid scoring winger for us to have a chance. Is he tired? He just looks invisible right now.
- YouMeAndDupuis9

Perron is looking like the guy that played the last 1.5 years in Edmonton right now. His first three weeks or so, it looked like he just got out of jail and was a free man. Edmonton will do that to people.

Playoffs?

Time to blow it up and start fresh. This team is a joke.
- deadmau5

Bad troll is bad

Not gonna disagree with you there. I think that respect for other players has gone out the window in the "new" NHL.
- jmatchett383

Agree with the lack of respect. But players have to protect themselves better out there at times. It drives me nuts watching a player go for a puck and turn to face the boards to try and discourage a play from hitting them or to try and draw a penalty

Whatever he was trying to do, he sure wasn't aiming for the post. If he misses the glass or boards it's even worse than I thought.

Guy's hands are just gone. I get no joy in saying this because he's one of my favorite players since coming here.
- madmike71

87_71_11_29 or whatever his name is and I took a lot of heat for saying Kunitz/Dupuis were on a decline at the beginning of the year and predicted what would happen as the season wore on.

THe biggest problem with win-now mode and asset management is not giving away draft picks but rather not being able to sell high. It's a vicious cycle and both hurt the team in the long run but getting good young pieces for guys like Kunitz, Martin, etc are vital to long term success. Guys with value that you can get rid of before their decline or as UFAs. Think of what Orpik or Nisky would have commanded at the trade deadline. Or Martin this year....if Maatta and Ehrhoff stayed healthy...I have no doubt Martin returns at least a 1st if not a 1st +.

The Bryzgalov deal came down from above, that's pretty much agreed upon by most. However, AMac/Lecavalier are all on him, as was JvR for Schenn (which can surprisingly be justified).
- jmatchett383

Just like any asset management position, it is very difficult to be better than random and very easy to be worse than random. NHL GMs are no different. Except maybe their field is even more nepotistic than others. Outside of guys like Dubas or Dellow, almost all these guys are getting hired based on connections.

There are plenty of dumb GMs out there. You mentioned some of the worst. However, where does Pittsburgh stand as far as younger players 24 or younger at forward. I will be interested to see your take.

Fact is, Pittsburgh has the worst collection of forwards 24 or younger. It's rather embarrassing and that is why we have the problems we have.
- Oneonta Penguin

That's why I was hoping we could flip one or two of our D prospects for a similar type forward.

Maybe if they are souring on Despres, he could bring back..... D'oh!

I wish I had an explanation for Perron. He's got to be a solid scoring winger for us to have a chance. Is he tired? He just looks invisible right now.
- YouMeAndDupuis9

Maybe the "flu" he had last week was more than the flu?

Well then which of us hasnt blasted something at an annoying ad before? We should be giving Kuni a parade for doing what we all want to do on national television.
- Guile

I LOVED that, minus hitting the post; one of my most enjoyable moments of the year.

The only thing that would have been better is if he would have turned towards the Flyers bench and blasted it toward an unsuspecting player.

Maybe the "flu" he had last week was more than the flu?
- willi

Can a player play with Mono in the NHL? Don't think anything else would fit, but I think its just a bad slump compounded by all our injuries and half the team slumping also.

Ryan Wilson: Playoffs Starting Early For Pittsburgh
Playoffs Starting Early For Pittsburgh
- Ryan_Wilson

I know people will probably laugh at me for saying this, especially in the day and age of "fancy stats", but are we shooting too much? Are we so insistent on getting the puck on net that we arent waiting for plays to develop as much as we have in the past?

Im talking 5v5 though. We all know our PP doesnt shoot enough.

There are plenty of dumb GMs out there. You mentioned some of the worst. However, where does Pittsburgh stand as far as younger players 24 or younger at forward. I will be interested to see your take.

Fact is, Pittsburgh has the worst collection of forwards 24 or younger. It's rather embarrassing and that is why we have the problems we have.
- Oneonta Penguin

There's no doubt that Pittsburgh has some of the worst organizational forward depth. And that is directly attributable to Shero's decisions, and some of Rutherford's as well. Conversely, they have some of the strongest young defensive depth in the league (arguably had the best before the Despres trade that I still don't like). Goaltending is hardest to predict, but that is also looking like a strength relative to other teams.

There are plenty of dumb GMs out there. You mentioned some of the worst. However, where does Pittsburgh stand as far as younger players 24 or younger at forward. I will be interested to see your take.

Fact is, Pittsburgh has the worst collection of forwards 24 or younger. It's rather embarrassing and that is why we have the problems we have.
- Oneonta Penguin

I don't disagree. But Perron is 26 and Hornqvist is 28. I typically consider under 24-28 to be prime years.

Big believer in peak performance theory for hockey teams. Top players (forwards) peak out at age 26-27. More important, once top performance has been accomplished the player will begin to see a constant progressive decline in their performance.

Pens best players have clearly peaked. The decline will be constant and relentless as we go forward. The fallacy that people want to believe is that you can somehow effectively rebuild around an asset pool that is in clear decline.

Pens are at risk of missing playoffs and not having a 1st round pick. This is not good asset management.
- spatso

When your best asset is still better than 100% of the other players in the league, even when past their "prime", you can still build around them.