I'm not arguing against the Pens having great players but I swear I remember them starting slow, Crosby included, and people questioning Rutherford's moves and if Sullivan was the right choice to coach.
- hillbillydeluxe

They did start slow, and there were a lot of questions but they then went on an incredible second half of the season. Ironically after a coach change.

Cue Dragon......

Dinner's between 3:30 and 4, bed by 7
- WhiteLie

from the last blog



I'm not advocating that we should be wishing to scrape into the playoffs and hope to win the cup, no one is, but dude it can totally happen - it just did!!

Do you really have hard time understanding how Pitts just won the cup? Admittedly, I do....Cus back in December who would've called it? I'm still blown away at how they won - Bonino, Kessel and Haglin??? their second line?? look at the destruction those guys caused - which disproves the theory of line mates needing time to gel argument. The rookies that played WAY over their potential, a D-core made up of Daley, Cole, Lovejoy, Schultz, Dumoulin and Letang - there's no way anybody would look at that Defense and honestly say "Yeah we're going win the cup with these guys." NO FU*KING WAY. Ever hear of Matt Murray?? nobody did!!! not even Matt Murray had!! So the "we need a goalie with playoff experienced goalie" theory gets thrown out the window too. There's no doubt that Sid, Gino, Hornqvist, 35yr old Kunitz and Letang are a great core but no f&*king way did anyone see them winning the cup this year. The core was surrounded by castaways. And you wanna take a look at their draftees the last 10 years.....cus the only players of any significance were Maata & Rust - Bennett only played one game!

Everybody's going on and on about what it takes to win a cup and be successful but the Pens just proved that we all don't know what the F*& we're talking about. The recipe didn't make a lick of sense.

Playoffs are a different beast and strange things can happen that time of year and this isn't the first time - Kings barely made it into the playoffs in 2011.

this rant isn't directed at you bud - its more of a general statement/observation
- Brooks_Light

Great post! Pittsburgh won he cup with a horrific defense. Anything can happen. Most people thought they wouldn't make the playoffs let alone win a round

Afternoon all, thank you Carol for another good blog.

I would like to say that I was impressed with the discussion in yesterdays blog, it was really good to see varying points of view on different subjects. Our "out of team" posters having input in a constructive manner, and holy sh!t there was no name calling or derogatory innuendos being throw around.

Two hopefully we can keep it going

I was really impressed with Subban's progression last year and hope he can earn a call up or two but I would be really surprised at this point if he can earn a spot over Larsen. It sounds like mgmt is going to give Larsen a decent amount of rope to show if he belongs, as they should IMO.

Subban and Stecher need prove they can take another step in the AHL before we start penciling them in as saviors.
- belcherbd

Stecher is not even in the conversation as far as I'm concerned.

Great post! Pittsburgh won he cup with a horrific defense. Anything can happen. Most people thought they wouldn't make the playoffs let alone win a round
- CanuckDon

Incorrect. They were in the top 5 odds favorite to win in vegas before the year even started. Not to mention they finished second in the east. They are not some kind of underdog story.

I doubt Tanev gets more than 4 goals... if anything we should be using him as trade bait. Maybe Dallas can trade us Nichuskin and Honka/ Johns...

Now that would be a great deal. They get another legit top 6 dman (people here think top 2/3 dman ) and Nux get a guy who is surplus in big D (Nichuskin) and a guy who'll make the team likely this season (Honka/ Johns)

- kaptaan

I was under the impression Tanev was a decent quality second pairing RD. He doesn't produce offense like a top 4 guy but his possession statistics have been consistently there. I'm not sure what his zone starts or PP time are like but his shot suppression stats over the previous two seasons have been easily top pairing quality and he seems to make his line-mates better. Seems like the kind of D man who would be well suited on the second pairing with a more offensively gifted partner.

Stecher is not even in the conversation as far as I'm concerned.
- neem55

I think I am going to order a Comets Jersey.

Great post! Pittsburgh won he cup with a horrific defense. Anything can happen. Most people thought they wouldn't make the playoffs let alone win a round
- CanuckDon

Incorrect. They were in the top 5 odds favorite to win in vegas before the year even started.
- neem55

I should have been more specific....I meant at the midway point of the season. They were a trainwreck

Stecher is not even in the conversation as far as I'm concerned.
- neem55

Hard to tell with college players but few are able to jump directly in. Some certainly have very high opinion of him though.

I should have been more specific....I meant at the midway point of the season. They were a trainwreck
- CanuckDon

And they finished second in the east. I get maybe it surprised you or a few others. But to paint them as some kind of underdogs when they were cup top-5 favorites before the year and finished 4th overall in the regular season is just too far.

Sadly….the Canucks defence will probably score less this year than last. Hutton & Tanev could score more but Gudbranson surely won't. The bright side is, they'll most likely defend better and allow less goals.
- LeftCoaster

Our second pairing last year for RHD was Weber 0 and Biega 1. Can't be too hard to beat that.

Great post! Pittsburgh won he cup with a horrific defense. Anything can happen. Most people thought they wouldn't make the playoffs let alone win a round
- CanuckDon

Not sure which 'most people' you've been talking to.

Great post! Pittsburgh won he cup with a horrific defense. Anything can happen. Most people thought they wouldn't make the playoffs let alone win a round
- CanuckDon

In all fairness Letang was a beast. He played heavy minutes and hard on every shift. I would say he was one the catalyst's for their success. So their defence didn't totally suck imo.

And they finished second in the east. I get maybe it surprised you or a few others. But to paint them as some kind of underdogs when they were cup top-5 favorites before the year and finished 4th overall in the regular season is just too far.
- neem55

I follow the Penguins very closely as I have always been a fan. It was more than a few people. Many "experts" thought they would miss the playoffs after their terrible start. I also don't think Brooks was comparing the Penguins to the Canucks in any way. He was simply pointing out that non-cup favourites surprise in the playoffs every year. I highly doubt anyone on here predicted the penguins to win the cup

I follow the Penguins very closely as I have always been a fan. It was more than a few people. Many "experts" thought they would miss the playoffs after their terrible start. I also don't think Brooks was comparing the Penguins to the Canucks in any way. He was simply pointing out that non-cup favourites surprise in the playoffs every year. I highly doubt anyone on here predicted the penguins to win the cup
- CanuckDon

Again, they were top-5 favorites in Vegas. Im pretty sure many, many people predicted it.

Our second pairing last year for RHD was Weber 0 and Biega 1. Can't be too hard to beat that.
- VANTEL

F@cking Weber. I disliked him as bad as Murzyn. Best thing to do is pretend he doesn't exist.

In all fairness Letang was a beast. He played heavy minutes and hard on every shift. I would say he was one the catalyst's for their success. So their defence didn't totally suck imo.
- thundachunk

For sure, he was great. And once again it goes to show that you need a #1 D to win the cup.

I hope Guds shows up and has a terrific year. All these guys saying the trade was horrible can slink back to the rock they came from.

Again, they were top-5 favorites in Vegas. Im pretty sure many, many people predicted it.
- neem55

Again, I am talking about December. Why do you keep bringing up the summer like a broken record?

Again, they were top-5 favorites in Vegas. Im pretty sure many, many people predicted it.
- neem55

There is only a handful of players in the league that can single handedly take over the playoffs for their team. Pittsburg has 2. Also a solid #1 defence man. A supporting cast of castaways that were 1st and 2nd line players on the teams they left. They had a win now team still do. Great move to change coach. This was not fluke this was a good team. I will give credit where its due.

Again, they were top-5 favorites in Vegas. Im pretty sure many, many people predicted it.
- neem55

http://sports.yahoo.com/b...2dGlkA0IyNjE5XzEEc2VjA3Ny

Also, they we're not top 5 in the summer

F@cking Weber. I disliked him as bad as Murzyn. Best thing to do is pretend he doesn't exist.
- thundachunk

Watching Weber play was like biting into a fork over and over whilst someone angle grinds a chalkboard.. Bleeping terrible.