Ryan Wilson: Getting healthy Getting healthy

Watched Ice Guardians today, really well done...first time seeing it...referenced Sid a lot in it.

Can't wait to get Murray and ZAR back. They're going to have to call up Jooris I would imagine......another good thing.

Can't wait to get Murray and ZAR back. They're going to have to call up Jooris I would imagine......another good thing.
- madmike71

Agreed. If Murray can’t stay healthy the quest for 3-peat is SO UNLIKELY.

On the Billy G front, I’d like to see them give him the job and keep GMJR on as an advisor.

Agreed. If Murray can’t stay healthy the quest for 3-peat is SO UNLIKELY.

On the Billy G front, I’d like to see them give him the job and keep GMJR on as an advisor.
- Doogs

Carolina is a budget team with a new owner who apparently intends to be really "hands on". Billy G was wise to pass on that "opportunity".

I agree, the Pens need to keep him here.

With Garth on the way out in NYI, they will be itching to try to get him too...

any chance they will call up sprong this year? is jooris really better than sprong? i thought they traded for brassard so sheahan could be the 4th line center. no?

Maybe I'm alone in this thinking, while I agree ZAR will help, I just don't think he will have a profound affect on the lineup.

I think the Pens up and down play has far less to do with the roster and more to do with simply how they're playing. When you have the guys in the lineup that they do, they just need to get their heads out of their a$$es.

With Garth on the way out in NYI, they will be itching to try to get him too...
- hipcheck_goalie

Trying to get Garth??

Slow day. Let's get talking.

Wut? Hahahaha I never once said that. I enjoy everything that you stated. That poop and stats don't have to be mutually exclusive. I can enjoy ALL of that as well as enjoy the numbers. I'm not really sure where the one or the other idea came from? I've been watching hockey since I was like 5, so I get all of the poop you're talking about, but again, that doesn't mean that stats are meaningless. And no they aren't "just recording data." Most of the guys that make those stats, play hockey, have played hockey, and study hockey (systems, styles, etc.) so no, they aren't "just recording data." That's a really bad misconception.
- j.boyd919

The guys that were doing the micro stats said they can't do all the games because it's too time consuming. When they are recording their stats they are doing 1 thing - recording whichever piece of data they are assigned to at that time unless they are doing multiple sectors of data at the 1 time which would be more time consuming & prone to errors (in my opinion & experiences from recording game data from videos which I have done a lot of. I usually watch a game at least 3 times - 1 game)!

Unless you watch the game first without recording any data, you cannot see the game as it is nor get a feel for the game & how it flows. So you can watch a game 10 times more than let's say grinder, but unless you are watching it for pleasure you won't get any feeling for it.

A guy recording data - let's say Corsi, well I can record that, my mum can record that. Has nothing to do with having played the game or understanding it. Analytics is so big now I wouldn't mind betting uni students are getting $1 an hour to record some type of data so the bigger guys can get all the data collected & Not have to do it themselves.

#sweatshopanalytics

Maybe I'm alone in this thinking, while I agree ZAR will help, I just don't think he will have a profound affect on the lineup.

I think the Pens up and down play has far less to do with the roster and more to do with simply how they're playing. When you have the guys in the lineup that they do, they just need to get their heads out of their a$$es.
- Rinosaur

After his first few games, I thought ZAR was a noticeable player in all 3 zones. He wins board battles and protects the puck well. Defends well too. More importantly, he's tough to get off the puck. While I can't use the word profound, I wouldn't be surprised at all if he slots in on Sid's line when he returns and Guentzal slides over to RW.

I'll say this til I'm blue in the face, Sid needs someone to open up a little space. Sheary and Guentzal are getting mauled and Crosby ends up spinning round and round with nobody to pass to.

He can hold his own on the top line, or so it appeared anyway. Not a huge sample but he really started looking comfy and good after first few games on the 4th and 3rd line.. Him on top line means trickle down depth effect, thats a big impact on lineup ... Sheary probably ends up on 4th with Sheahan vs much lesser matchups. They looked pretty good together before.

Or Sheary sits... much to MadMike's pleasing...

He can hold his own on the top line, or so it appeared anyway. Not a huge sample but he really started looking comfy and good after first few games in the 4th and 3rd line.. Him on top line means trickle down depth effect, thats a big impact on lineup ... Sheary probably ends up on 4th with Sheahan vs much lesser matchups. They looked pretty good together before.

Or Sheary sits... much to MadMike's pleasing...
- MattStrat

Ha! Nice! I'm actually fine with Sheary on the 4th line. The lesser matchups would make a huge difference IMO.

After his first few games, I thought ZAR was a noticeable player in all 3 zones. He wins board battles and protects the puck well. Defends well too. More importantly, he's tough to get off the puck. While I can't use the word profound, I wouldn't be surprised at all if he slots in on Sid's line when he returns and Guentzal slides over to RW.

I'll say this til I'm blue in the face, Sid needs someone to open up a little space. Sheary and Guentzal are getting mauled and Crosby ends up spinning round and round with nobody to pass to.
- madmike71

I don't completely disagree, but I also think Sid's line takes charge when Sid gets his confidence back. He's clearly been dealing with more mental blocks this year than anything. When he's confident, he's still as dominant as ever.

So yeah, I think there are possibly better fits for him, but at the end of the day I think he depends on when he gets his confidence going.

He can hold his own on the top line, or so it appeared anyway. Not a huge sample but he really started looking comfy and good after first few games on the 4th and 3rd line.. Him on top line means trickle down depth effect, thats a big impact on lineup ... Sheary probably ends up on 4th with Sheahan vs much lesser matchups. They looked pretty good together before.

Or Sheary sits... much to MadMike's pleasing...
- MattStrat

Well he's pretty much useless then

Well he's pretty much useless then
- DeflatedPucks

Yes like Culldog playing on the 4th line last season.

I don't completely disagree, but I also think Sid's line takes charge when Sid gets his confidence back. He's clearly been dealing with more mental blocks this year than anything. When he's confident, he's still as dominant as ever.

So yeah, I think there are possibly better fits for him, but at the end of the day I think he depends on when he gets his confidence going.
- Rinosaur

I don't know if it's confidence as much as his inability to elevate two smallish wingers that are struggling in tight checking games. Crosby get's all the attention. I think his confidence will sky rocket as soon as he gets a little help on the possession front.

After his first few games, I thought ZAR was a noticeable player in all 3 zones. He wins board battles and protects the puck well. Defends well too. More importantly, he's tough to get off the puck. While I can't use the word profound, I wouldn't be surprised at all if he slots in on Sid's line when he returns and Guentzal slides over to RW.

I'll say this til I'm blue in the face, Sid needs someone to open up a little space. Sheary and Guentzal are getting mauled and Crosby ends up spinning round and round with nobody to pass to.
- madmike71

I agree with everything except I'll put ZAR on RW since he played just as much there as LW last year.

That's the one line that isn't clicking and ZAR had some success and I thought got pulled too soon. With Guentzel as the opposite wing should be even more dangerous. ZAR just does so much from net front, board work, defense, and some decent hands to help a line.

I agree with everything except I'll put ZAR on RW since he played just as much there as LW last year.

That's the one line that isn't clicking and ZAR had some success and I thought got pulled too soon. With Guentzel as the opposite wing should be even more dangerous. ZAR just does so much from net front, board work, defense, and some decent hands to help a line.
- Tojo.

I read your response & without going back into it' it's not a srtrawman arguement saying their ice time & QoC is just as important as their individual stats. If Knuckles (& Again I'm not defending him), is facing more time against better opposition then of course he will have worse stats - Knuckles & Rust for example. Put Rust more against the top guys & he may struggle aswell. I agree 130 GA compared to let's say 100, is pretty bad. The only thing that I'm not going to do is add up all the ice time for the players - (frank) that, I'm worth more than $1 an hour, & there's a FBBW waiting to get knocked down in my lounge room.

That's what I mean about having all the info. Quoting Corsi, Fenwick etc is great, but it doesn't tell the whole story. In my opinion GA Is THE most important stat when looking at PKers but you have to take into consideration ice time & opposition. So what if a player gets slaughtered in Corsi & he can't get out of his own zone, if his GA is zero or low that's what counts for moi.

5-2 female doges!

5-2 female doges!
- Byfuglien Ate Me

Go Leaves Go!

March: Three back-to-backs

February: Three back-to-backs

January: Three back-to-backs

November: Three back-to-backs

October: FOUR back-to-backs

This can't be normal. Basically every month except for December they've had three or more back-to-backs. Not to mention:

October: three of the four B2Bs were all road games.

November: two of them were all road games.

January, February & March: one of them were both road games.

People still think there's some kind of conspiracy wanting the Pens to win. One could argue they're trying to prevent the same team winning too much.

I randomly chose Boston's schedule to look like. Only two months of the season did they have more than one back-to-back.

sure looks like mcdavid will win the art ross again. noone can stop him it seems... steckel doesn't still play does he?

sure looks like mcdavid will win the art ross again. noone can stop him it seems... steckel doesn't still play does he?
- martox

I thought Lucic was doing a pretty good job!

I thought Lucic was doing a pretty good job!
- Aussiepenguin

who gives a poop about those slouches. sid had his fair share of bad line mates and never had a GREAT teammate except for half a season with Hossa. mcdavid has (frank)ing draisaitl cuz the damn german can't handle his own line most of the time. also yes I know mcdavid and drai havn't played that much on the same line this year. with the way mcdavid is going he could easily break the 200 point in a season mark when he is 25