Ryan Wilson: Penguins Falling Back Into the Grit Trap Penguins Falling Back Into the Grit Trap

Good trade. Penguins got harder to play against now. This penguins team is softer then two ply toilet paper.

It was good to see Hornqvist back in the line-up. He brings a different element to this team, and was sorely missed. A first line of Perron-Crosby-Hornqvist is going to be a scary combination.

It's OK bc it's all for jagr!

Perron sid horn
Bennett geno jagr
Kuni sutter downie
Comeau lap spaling
Arc

Boom 4 decent lines that can be thrown out at any time... can't just play 2 or 3 lines in playoffs... need all 4. That's how the past cup winners have played.

I think the pens now have to trade for winnik. I don't think you can lose goc and not bring in a good possession replacement.

Wrote this at the end of the last blog and just saw there was a new one....


One thing that this does, is assures us that Johnston won't try to dress Zack Sill in a real live NHL playoff game.

You can argue whether it's effective all day if you want, but Johnston seems to be a believer in the traditional grit/grinding fourth line.

With Goc there, he might be a better player, but it is almost certain that he would be flanked by two tougher, grittier guys like Adams and Sill.

Lapierre gives him flexibility. He wouldn't play Spaling - Goc - Adams together in the playoffs, as it would be too soft. But Spaling - Lapierre - Adams has instantly more sonofab!tchness as a line.

Goc- 8 points in 55 games with us.
Lapierre-9 points in 45 games this season.

Lapierre produces about the same, faceoffs are pretty much the same. Only difference is that Lapierre brings a much more physical game. Goc wouldn't hurt a fly. I like this deal a lot. Too bad, now we won't get to see Goc as our first center #FancyStats

It's OK bc it's all for jagr!

Perron sid horn
Bennett geno jagr
Kuni sutter downie
Comeau lap spaling
Arc

Boom 4 decent lines that can be thrown out at any time... can't just play 2 or 3 lines in playoffs... need all 4. That's how the past cup winners have played.
- nh4442

STOP MOVING KUNITZ INTO THE 3RD LINE!

Kunitz is a top 6, and Bennett no matter how much you want to pretend, is not a top 6 winger yet.

Ryan Wilson: Penguins Falling Back Into the Grit Trap
Penguins Falling Back Into the Grit Trap
- Ryan_Wilson

Isn't this the kind of player that Penguins fans wanted out of the league?

Could this just be a salary cap move? I mean, I think Goc would be much better as a third line center, but he cant crack our center depth. Maybe he will have a chance of doing just that with the Blues. I wonder what the financial aspects of this trade were.

Perron Sid Hornqvist
Kunitz Geno Comeau
Bennet Sutter Downie
Spaling Lapierre Adams/Arcobello

Could this just be a salary cap move? I mean, I think Goc would be much better as a third line center, but he cant crack our center depth. Maybe he will have a chance of doing just that with the Blues. I wonder what the financial aspects of this trade were.
- toad268

Goc 1.2 million and UFA this summer....ditto for Lapierre on all accounts.

Isn't this the kind of player that Penguins fans wanted out of the league?








- jmatchett383

That only applies to other teams

Could this just be a salary cap move? I mean, I think Goc would be much better as a third line center, but he cant crack our center depth. Maybe he will have a chance of doing just that with the Blues. I wonder what the financial aspects of this trade were.
- toad268

Goc made 1.2M
Lapierre makes 1.1M

Pretty much a wash

Let's not forget that Mike Johnston spent a lot of his earlier coaching career on Marc Crawford's staff. Crawford's best teams had guys like Claude Lemieux, Matt Cooke, Jarkko Ruutu and Chris Simon on them.

Let's not forget that Mike Johnston spent a lot of his earlier coaching career on Marc Crawford's staff. Crawford's best teams had guys like Claude Lemieux, Matt Cooke, Jarkko Ruutu and Chris Simon on them.
- rival22

Yeah, but those guys at least had mediocre talent. Chris Simon scored 29 goals one year, and Ruutu is a 3-time double-digit scorer (Lapierre did it once). Cooke was able to play a solid 2-way game and provide secondary scoring, and Claude Lemeiux was one of the best playoff performers of the 90s/00s.

I mean, hate all of them besides Ruutu, but they're not nearly on Lapierre's level.

Isn't this the kind of player that Penguins fans wanted out of the league?








- jmatchett383

Hahaha.... How quickly their minds forget. I thought Letang was seriously injured and comes back and gets 5 assist in the first game. Good for Letang but I'm sure that played into the 8 games Rinaldo got. I'm not saying Rinaldo shouldn't have gotten at least 5, but 8? And the pens fans can say all the time he's a repeat offender, but also is a consequence of questionable calls. Look I know the hit against Letang was a penalty and worth a suspension of at least 5 games, but there were and still are a lot of times Rinsldo delivers clean, good hits, and still gets penalized because of the name on the back and the logo on the front.

Hahaha.... How quickly their minds forget. I thought Letang was seriously injured and comes back and gets 5 assist in the first game. Good for Letang but I'm sure that played into the 8 games Rinaldo got. I'm not saying Rinaldo shouldn't have gotten at least 5, but 8? And the pens fans can say all the time he's a repeat offender, but also is a consequence of questionable calls. Look I know the hit against Letang was a penalty and worth a suspension of at least 5 games, but there were and still are a lot of times Rinsldo delivers clean, good hits, and still gets penalized because of the name on the back and the logo on the front.
- BernieKorch

It was a stupid hit and he deserved the 8 games he got. And I'm pretty sure Letang missed the game after the Rinaldo hit, so I don't think he was faking it.

Hahaha.... How quickly their minds forget. I thought Letang was seriously injured and comes back and gets 5 assist in the first game. Good for Letang but I'm sure that played into the 8 games Rinaldo got. I'm not saying Rinaldo shouldn't have gotten at least 5, but 8? And the pens fans can say all the time he's a repeat offender, but also is a consequence of questionable calls. Look I know the hit against Letang was a penalty and worth a suspension of at least 5 games, but there were and still are a lot of times Rinsldo delivers clean, good hits, and still gets penalized because of the name on the back and the logo on the front.
- BernieKorch

I guess the "victim of circumstance thing" was also true when he got suspended while playing for two different OHL teams and an American Hockey League team.

He just can't catch a break...

Goc was very cheap insurance at the center position and that is now gone.

Spaling can provide the same kind of insurance but with more skill and much greater production.

And this points per 60 stat is garbage. He had one goal and two assists in 8 games.

Whoop-T-do.

Plug for plug trade. One guy had a tick more skill, one guy has more grit.

Who cares. Neither one was going to be the reason the Penguins will win/lose in the playoffs.

Oh, and Goc's FenT% is much higher than Lapierre's. So by the laws of blind statistics, Lapierre was more productive with worse line mates.

Fun stuff.

I guess the "victim of circumstance thing" was also true when he got suspended while playing for two different OHL teams and an American Hockey League team.

He just can't catch a break...
- rival22

Rinaldo has never been much more than an agitator who delivers borderline hits as often as clean ones. He goes around looking for predatory hits (yes, most of them are clean, but the few that aren't make him a total liability) and offers little else.

That said, it's not like Lapierre is some bastion of morality on the ice either.

In this 'possession' era of hockey there either seems to be a misread by GMs or an overestimated importance from analysts (bloggers) when it comes to possession numbers and bottom 6 players.

I tend to agree with Ryan on this trade in that I see more versatility with Goc than Smiley Boy but clearly the coaches/management see that something is missing now...or...they are making this move with the intent to do other things and re adjust the balance.

Rumors about Jagr were abounding yesterday on the X...and mentioned in that was Kunitz's name...although Madden made it clear those may have been two separate 'potential' deals with other players involved.

A Lapierre trade for Goc might make more sense if somewhere down the line we have Jagr and lose Kunitz (and pick up another 'scoring' but not necessarily gritty winger).

Another point... I get people wanted another player of this type on the team. Mostly because Downie is freaking tiny and moreso an agitator than enforcer... Couldn't we have traded something else for him?

Hahaha.... How quickly their minds forget. I thought Letang was seriously injured and comes back and gets 5 assist in the first game. Good for Letang but I'm sure that played into the 8 games Rinaldo got. I'm not saying Rinaldo shouldn't have gotten at least 5, but 8? And the pens fans can say all the time he's a repeat offender, but also is a consequence of questionable calls. Look I know the hit against Letang was a penalty and worth a suspension of at least 5 games, but there were and still are a lot of times Rinsldo delivers clean, good hits, and still gets penalized because of the name on the back and the logo on the front.
- BernieKorch

Rinaldo should have gotten more than 8. He's an actual piece of human waste. The "logo on the front" has nothing to do with it, but his name has everything to do with it because he's an unskilled maggot that does nothing but run around like a donkey and try to either fight or injure someone. There is literally nothing else to his game. He is a cancer in this league.

Another point... I get people wanted another player of this type on the team. Mostly because Downie is freaking tiny and moreso an agitator than enforcer... Couldn't we have traded something else for him?
- Guile

I think with Lappy being on a contender and making $1.1M....its not like we could give them a mid round pick (salary cap reasons for us, and they are a contender).....or give them Adams or Sill because why the hell would St. Louis want either of them.