Bortuzzo had a monster game, the type Orpik can come up with once in awhile. Lots to like about the kids on defense.

Sill threw Troy Bodie into the Sarlacc Pit! Urrrp!
- Emperor Filonius

The fight was staged

Like I said, it's not the hit I have a problem with, it's the description. "unavoidable head contact" doesn't sound right to me. Why not just say it was deemed a legal hit or something?
- canadianpenfan

Yes, I agree. Crappy description.

The fight was staged

- BulliesPhan87

That wasn't staged, that's just as close as you need to get to inflict damage when you have the force.

I wonder if the people who complained about Shero drafting too many defensemen over the years still feel that way...

That wasn't staged, that's just as close as you need to get to inflict damage when you have the force.
- canadianpenfan

Are we sure it's not two minutes for Force Embellishment?

Whens malkin back

That wasn't staged, that's just as close as you need to get to inflict damage when you have the force.
- canadianpenfan

The best thing about this GIF is Boba Fett flying by in the background,

Yes, I agree. Crappy description.
- madmike71

I'd rather have it refered to as something like "The offensive player decreased the legal 'hit zone' [from above the knees to below the neck] by lunging forward for the puck"

Bortuzzo brings a mean streak that I don't think I've seen in a Pens defenseman since Kaspar...Orpik has always been a big hitter, but I never get that sense of nastiness about him in his game.

That wasn't staged, that's just as close as you need to get to inflict damage when you have the force.
- canadianpenfan

This is high quality.

The best thing about this GIF is Boba Fett flying by in the background,
- Emperor Filonius

Glad somebody else got a kick out of that.

/punny

I'd rather have it refered to as something like "The offensive player decreased the legal 'hit zone'
- s0rcerer1984[from above the knees to below the neck] by lunging forard for the puck"

Lets dispense with the legalese and just say:

"the offensive player was a moron and lead with his head".

Was very impressed with the Pens last night, especially the D.

Prior to last night my list of untouchable Penguins would have been the following: Crosby, Malkin, Neal, Letang, and Maatta. Now, I'd add Despres to that list as well. The guy was just steady all game long & looks like the kind of player we all were expecting at the start of the year.

Also, I loved the Pens bigger look on D last night. Bortuzzo, Dumoulin, & Despres are all 6'4." Wouldn't mind seeing more size on the Pens D in the coming years at all.
- s0rcerer1984

Bortuzzo and Dumoulin both look huge at ice level. Funny was seeing Conner standing next to Bortuzzo. I think his head came up to Bortuzzo's logo on his jersey.

Wanted to comment on something from the last thread. Someone was saying something about all the cap space the Pens are saving right now with all of the players on the IR. It doesn't work that way, once the players come back we are right up against the cap again. We are not currently accruing space while those guys are out. I am pretty sure that with the exception of Vokoun, every guy that is currently on IR will be back and therefore the only cap space we will have come deadline time will be Vokoun's cap space if he ends up being out for the rest of the season. If he comes back, the Pens will have little cap space, I think roughly $800,000.

Lets dispense with the legalese and just say:

"the offensive player was a moron and lead with his head".
- Emperor Filonius

While kinda true, my main concern is letting the hitting player know where he should aim to make contact. D'Amigo slopes down basically eliminating all legal area where Bortuzzo can make contact; he'd either have to knee him or make contact with his head. Its a tough situation.

Real question is this. They deem the Bortuzzo hit on D'Amigo to be a non suspendable offence because D'Amigo was reaching and lowered himself.

Then how about Engelland hit to the head of Abdelkader. Wasn't it almost the exact same play?

Was very impressed with the Pens last night, especially the D.

Prior to last night my list of untouchable Penguins would have been the following: Crosby, Malkin, Neal, Letang, and Maatta. Now, I'd add Despres to that list as well. The guy was just steady all game long & looks like the kind of player we all were expecting at the start of the year.

Also, I loved the Pens bigger look on D last night. Bortuzzo, Dumoulin, & Despres are all 6'4." Wouldn't mind seeing more size on the Pens D in the coming years at all.
- s0rcerer1984

To me, this has been a major missing component. The B's constantly knocked our D off the puck last year. It's nice to see these big guys with a long reach. Especially Despres. He looks like he's developing into a special player. Not just good in his own end, but is fantastic with the puck and skates like the wind.

The best thing about this GIF is Boba Fett flying by in the background,
- Emperor Filonius

If I had one bad thing to saw about the original Star Wars movies it is that there was not nearly enough Boba.

Wanted to comment on something from the last thread. Someone was saying something about all the cap space the Pens are saving right now with all of the players on the IR. It doesn't work that way, once the players come back we are right up against the cap again. We are not currently accruing space while those guys are out. I am pretty sure that with the exception of Vokoun, every guy that is currently on IR will be back and therefore the only cap space we will have come deadline time will be Vokoun's cap space if he ends up being out for the rest of the season. If he comes back, the Pens will have little cap space, I think roughly $800,000.
- PensFan1103

You're correct. LTIR doesn't bank like cap space. You can spend up to the amount of the LTIR'd player's/players' cap cost over the ceiling, but it's use it or lose it.

To me, this has been a major missing component. The B's constantly knocked our D off the puck last year. It's nice to see these big guys with a long reach. Especially Despres. He looks like he's developing into a special player. Not just good in his own end, but is fantastic with the puck and skates like the wind.
- madmike71

I thought aside from a couple poor passes that got picked off Samuelsson looked great too. Fast, big and smart. Everyone they bring up is able to play in this league. That's a credit to the system and the coaching down on the farm.

If I had one bad thing to saw about the original Star Wars movies it is that there was not nearly enough Boba.
- canadianpenfan

I always liked him in the small part. There was a sort of mystery about him, and he was the only guy who talked back at Vader. If those movies were made now, they'd shoehorn him into an inconsequential, drawn out, CGI loaded action scene just to say they had an action scene with Boba Fett in it because, "well, he had to have something to do."

Man, I hope Abrams knows what he's doing.

I always liked him in the small part. There was a sort of mystery about him, and he was the only guy who talked back at Vader. If those movies were made now, they'd shoehorn him into an inconsequential, drawn out, CGI loaded action scene just to say they had an action scene with Boba Fett in it because, "well, he had to have something to do."

Man, I hope Abrams knows what he's doing.
- BulliesPhan87

Bortuzzo brings a mean streak that I don't think I've seen in a Pens defenseman since Kaspar...Orpik has always been a big hitter, but I never get that sense of nastiness about him in his game.
- Emperor Filonius

Bortuzzo has that irritatingly trolling smile too when he's in the middle of crap.

I'm not 100% sold on his ceiling being that much higher than he is now, but he can be a solid 3rd pairing guy in the NHL, with underrated puck skills and that mean streak.

I hate making comparisons to hall of fame players, but as far as playing style, Bortuzzo could be a VERY poor man's version of a Chris Pronger-type player. Nowhere even in the same ballpark as far as talent, but the combination of size, nastiness, and skill kind of reminds me of Pronger's game.

Real question is this. They deem the Bortuzzo hit on D'Amigo to be a non suspendable offence because D'Amigo was reaching and lowered himself.

Then how about Engelland hit to the head of Abdelkader. Wasn't it almost the exact same play?
- ILoveLamp

This is a fair question, although I think the argument can be made that Abdelkader wasn't quite as low and that had Engelland gotten lower he could have hit the shoulder...