http://thehockeywriters.com/jim-rutherfords-future-penguins/

From the article...

"This series has featured the most determined version of Crosby we’ve seen in years but also the most visibly frustrated…at his own teammates. Crosby went intentionally offside in Game 1 after not receiving a pass from Rob Scuderi. He quit on a powerplay and casually glided to the bench in Game 3 after Patric Hornqvist shot a puck from the goal-line. Crosby wanted this series badly but isn’t thrilled with the lack of talent around him. Embarrassing teammates and pouting in playoff games doesn’t win points in the locker room though."

Did anyone see the NHIC pregame video with the Sid/Scuderi incident? That was pretty bad on Sid's part. When you see your captain do something like that, I don't see how you wouldn't lose some respect for him.
- 87_71_11_29

Yeah sure, but frustration at this current d core and Rob Scuderi in particular is very well warranted. Crosby, Horqvist, and Flower are the only ones trying and succeeding. Malkin looks like he's trying but he's not 100% and Dumo and Chorney are doing their best but there's a limit to what AHLers can do. Martin is gassed, so he's a non factor and gets a pass. Everyone else looks like they reserved their tee times and are just trying to get there as fast as possible.

Another side note about 87 and 71..

Neither of them kills penalties. So, we are required to keep other players on the roster who can solely do that task. Those players aren't usually goal producers. THis probably isn't helping our overall skill level either. If, say, Sid was a regular on the PK, instead of having the need for a Winnik or an Adams, we could get a 3rd line guy with some skill.

Chicago, LA, etc.. they don't have that issue.

We've been shorthanded a lot this series. Hence the low ice time totals for the twins.

You are right. Any team can make a list like that of players they passed up on the draft. But problem is a lot of those guys were the top ranked player left and the Pens passed them over, not like a suprise player 5 years later. I superficially remember watching the morrow draft on TSN and Bob Mckenzie saying Pittsburgh would take SAAD, best play available and was a Pittsburgh native, it was a sure thing... Nope, morrow. Same with the Poliout pick... We NEEDED offensive depth already at this point... Forsberg was ranked 4th or 5th I think... He feel to us, and we still took a D MAN!!! and finally the Staal draft... We already had Malkin and Crosby and at the time Toews was listed as a winger and was ranked above Staal.... Yet we went for Staal purely based on size..... Ah well, atleast we got 1 cup out of it all.
- Willaged

I don't see why people female dog about Staal over Toews. Staal was a perfect fit here the way he was able to open things up for 87 and 71. There's no guarantee that Toews would have worked out as well as Staal did. And if he did, it wasn't like we could have fit everyone under the cap. We couldn't even retain Staal. There's plenty of Penguin draft decisions that warrant much female doging. I don't see why we pick one of the least consequential ones to constantly bring up.

http://thehockeywriters.com/jim-rutherfords-future-penguins/

Did anyone see the NHIC pregame video with the Sid/Scuderi incident? That was pretty bad on Sid's part. When you see your captain do something like that, I don't see how you wouldn't lose some respect for him.
- 87_71_11_29

No, what was that?

Letang. is the only Dman that is better than any NYR Dman. ONe could also say that Yandle (at times) is just as talented and Letang.
- rrentz

And with that statement right there you show youre an idiot.

Another side note about 87 and 71..

Neither of them kills penalties. So, we are required to keep other players on the roster who can solely do that task. Those players aren't usually goal producers. THis probably isn't helping our overall skill level either. If, say, Sid was a regular on the PK, instead of having the need for a Winnik or an Adams, we could get a 3rd line guy with some skill.

Chicago, LA, etc.. they don't have that issue.

We've been shorthanded a lot this series. Hence the low ice time totals for the twins.
- 87_71_11_29

Sid could kill PKs. Coaching staff has just chosen not to implement him in such a fashion. Malkin could have been developed into a PK monster if we had started doing so when he was a rook. Probably would lead the league in short handed goals with his speed. Just more examples of faulty decision making.

Another side note about 87 and 71..

Neither of them kills penalties. So, we are required to keep other players on the roster who can solely do that task. Those players aren't usually goal producers. THis probably isn't helping our overall skill level either. If, say, Sid was a regular on the PK, instead of having the need for a Winnik or an Adams, we could get a 3rd line guy with some skill.

Chicago, LA, etc.. they don't have that issue.

We've been shorthanded a lot this series. Hence the low ice time totals for the twins.
- 87_71_11_29

You're right, Pens should trade them for PKers.

You "take offense" that you would want Hunwick? Sometimes the best you can say about a dman is that you "don't notice" him. You sure cant say that about your dman....that's for sure. Kreider???? Hayes???? Brassard??? where are youuuu? Oh yah ...I left you alone , again... GOAL!!!!!
- rrentz

I cant even stand how you type. Are you dyslexic?

You're right, Pens should trade them for PKers.

- jfkst1

Or you could let them kill penalties... it's really not that difficult. There's nothing in the rules that says you must have a mandatory PK unit. Why not just set up pairs of forwards to work on the PK?

Sid could kill PKs. Coaching staff has just chosen not to implement him in such a fashion. Malkin could have been developed into a PK monster if we had started doing so when he was a rook. Probably would lead the league in short handed goals with his speed. Just more examples of faulty decision making.
- Victoro311

our last good pk'er that had any offense I think was J staal...this year more than any that I can recall weve been getting scored on short handed what feels like a lot...we also probably have the fewest shorthanded goals as a team, solely based on brandon sutter. adams, lappy, goc, spaling are not going to score a goal regardless of the situation the majority of the time

malkin should not be on the pk, that is an easy decision to make. the reason they arent putting sid out there is obviously bc they have confidence in their current pk'ers and want sid to get the rest so he can perform come 5v5 play. not saying it is right, but it is what it is

our last good pk'er that had any offense I think was J staal...this year more than any that I can recall weve been getting scored on short handed what feels like a lot...we also probably have the fewest shorthanded goals as a team, solely based on brandon sutter. adams, lappy, goc, spaling are not going to score a goal regardless of the situation the majority of the time

malkin should not be on the pk, that is an easy decision to make. the reason they arent putting sid out there is obviously bc they have confidence in their current pk'ers and want sid to get the rest so he can perform come 5v5 play. not saying it is right, but it is what it is
- JLT168

You're correct. I'm not apposed to not playing Sid on the PK regularly so he's fresh for offensive output, but he should be mixed in, especially when his ice time is suffering due to 12 PKs a game.

And yes, with the way he was developed, Malkin should never see PK time. Just saying he has the skill set that, if properly developed, could have turned him into a PK machine. In fact, doesn't he kill penalties for Russia?

http://thehockeywriters.com/jim-rutherfords-future-penguins/

Interesting piece on the Pens and their future.
- sammy87

Some good stuff in there, but how does he say that trading Neal left a scoring void when we got Hornqvist? Did he just forget about him?

Oh and that other guy too...he does some stuff I think. Spaling? Him I want to forget about...

You're right, Pens should trade them for PKers.

- jfkst1

Yup that's exactly what I was proposing. Glad your comprehension skills gleaned that from my post.

You know what that means right?

No, what was that?
- Conse

87 was screaming for the puck from Scuds as they were approaching the Rags blueline on a rush. Scuds didn't get it to him. Sid was a few strides ahead of him. He didn't even attempt to slow down and just went intentionally offsides. He then skated back to the bench complaining like a little byatch.

That's our leader....

Splains a lot I think.

And with that statement right there you show youre an idiot.
- thickman1178

We don't agree on much, but the dude is an idiot if he thinks Yandle is on par or better than a healthy Letang. I know that is infrequent, but Letang blows Yandle away.

Or you could let them kill penalties... it's really not that difficult. There's nothing in the rules that says you must have a mandatory PK unit. Why not just set up pairs of forwards to work on the PK?
- BINGO!

87/71 would be fine killing penalties, but it doesn't maximize their value on the team so I'd prefer to not have them doing it. No one complained about this when Staal was on the team either. Management shouldn't be acquiring/retaining players strictly because of their PK play in the first place. Fleury has had one of the highest PK save percentages for several years now which is covering for the fact they many of the PKers are not actually good at preventing shots on goal.

Final game of this disaster of a penguin season...I can see the Rangers having a big blowout game tonight...is there even a point of watching it? Probably not I'll save myself the misery and watch the Montreal game and hope somehow pittsburgh can escape with a win
- jeremy087

I can see you're a real die hard fan. Do us all a favor and get off the bandwagon now and don't look back.

87 was screaming for the puck from Scuds as they were approaching the Rags blueline on a rush. Scuds didn't get it to him. Sid was a few strides ahead of him. He didn't even attempt to slow down and just went intentionally offsides. He then skated back to the bench complaining like a little byatch.

That's our leader....

Splains a lot I think.
- 87_71_11_29

I didn't like that play by Sid either but what wad Scuderi thinking? First he doesn't pass it up then he gets over the blue line and doesn't dump it in. Was he going to go coast to coast ?

Thats pretty much the same roster today just players switched around. The same roster that even when healthy can't score very well.
- sammy87

When was the last time we had all our starting D and starting O together? When we were lighting up the league and leading it in scoring.

Management is a joke.
- acdc1206

That's what happens when you have a guy like Burkle who just looks at the $ and doesn't see it as a sport. You cant run a hockey team like a fortune 500 company.

You're right, Pens should trade them for PKers.

- jfkst1

Went a little overboard with that one huh? I think his point was more, let 87 and 71 kill penalties so we don't need "pk specialists" and we can find more guys with skill to round out our bottom 2 lines.

You're correct. I'm not apposed to not playing Sid on the PK regularly so he's fresh for offensive output, but he should be mixed in, especially when his ice time is suffering due to 12 PKs a game.

And yes, with the way he was developed, Malkin should never see PK time. Just saying he has the skill set that, if properly developed, could have turned him into a PK machine. In fact, doesn't he kill penalties for Russia?
- Victoro311

I think Crosby should always be out there for the last 30 seconds - 1 min of a PK. Let the other team think twice if their first line is out there tired, or if its their 2nd pk unit out there. Or if they are as dumb as we are and put a forward on the point.

We don't agree on much, but the dude is an idiot if he thinks Yandle is on par or better than a healthy Letang. I know that is infrequent, but Letang blows Yandle away.
- Oneonta Penguin

Yeah, its like family. We Pens fans can all disagree with each other and infight. But no other team better come in here talking smack to us cuz we always have each others backs! Well, unless we are being completely obtuse and deserve a call out anyway.

Went a little overboard with that one huh? I think his point was more, let 87 and 71 kill penalties so we don't need "pk specialists" and we can find more guys with skill to round out our bottom 2 lines.
- thickman1178

My point is that it isn't an effective use of their TOI and many other elite players don't kill penalties for that reason. Including on the teams that were mentioned (CHI and LAK). Differences in results from "pk specialists" is relatively insignificant. So it is a perception that flawed organizations, like this one, tend to overvalue.

I didn't like that play by Sid either but what wad Scuderi thinking? First he doesn't pass it up then he gets over the blue line and doesn't dump it in. Was he going to go coast to coast ?
- willi

If I had a nickel for every time I asked that question....