“What we have here is a failure to communicate!” Or to score, or stop a puck, or hit, or, well, play consistent hockey. The Pittsburgh Penguins, a young, talented team full of energy and expectations. Or is it a team full of dreams and cow manure?
Right now they are like the Jekyll and Hyde of the National Hockey League. Their play against the New Jersey Devils was inspiring and electric. Great goaltending, offensive production and defensive positioning that led to a 5-0 shutout of one of the most feared teams in recent years. Now, granted, these aren’t your daddy’s Devils, the “snuff them out”, shut them down and score just enough to win Devils but they aren’t dead just yet, and they’ve won twice against them so far. The Pens beat a very good Ranger team, 1-0, the Hurricanes, Wild and the Stanley Cup champs of last year, the Anaheim Ducks.
But they have lost recently to the goalie tandem on the Islanders, and to the Maple Leafs and Flyers. The last two teams listed there, the Penguins could have mailed in the result and stayed home.
Against the Flyers, a much-improved team over last year, the Pens were down 1-0 after 28 seconds and 2-0 after five minutes. The first score as a result of a bad pass attempt/good defensive play involving Sidney Crosby playing the part of passer-inexperienced and Daniel Briere in the role of defensive genius. The second was as a result of a poor clearing attempt by Sergei Gonchar that went bing-bang-bong into the net behind Dany Sabourin. Yeah, thought that would grab your attention.
Blame Crosby and Gonchar for the goals, but so far this year at least they have done their part. After fifteen games played, Crosby, Gonchar, Evgeni Malkin, and Petr Sykora have scored 23 of 43 goals and 63 of 119 points. That is roughly half of all goals and points scored by four of twenty-one players or about one fifth. Names such as Erik Christensen, Gary Roberts, Jordan Staal, Mark Recchi, and Colby Armstrong have done little to help out. Staal had seven short-handed goals last year himself and the team has only one so far. That equates to about 7-8 for the whole season as a team. Christensen and Recchi have been dead in the water with the exception of Erik’s ability to score during the shootout.
Even things that don’t stand out on the score sheet, these players are as missing as common sense is on The Maury Show. Roberts, known for his gritty play, has looked a little late on a lot of plays and Armstrong’s penchant for the bone jarring hit from last year, has melted into the snow around the dashers. Colby has spent the last few games in a suit and tie with his Alfalfa hair, sitting in the press box as a reward for his play.
No team, including this one, can go very far with one offensively productive line. And no team can survive an eighty-two game season riding the backs of four players. Something or someone has to change.
And hopefully soon.
Right now they are like the Jekyll and Hyde of the National Hockey League. Their play against the New Jersey Devils was inspiring and electric. Great goaltending, offensive production and defensive positioning that led to a 5-0 shutout of one of the most feared teams in recent years. Now, granted, these aren’t your daddy’s Devils, the “snuff them out”, shut them down and score just enough to win Devils but they aren’t dead just yet, and they’ve won twice against them so far. The Pens beat a very good Ranger team, 1-0, the Hurricanes, Wild and the Stanley Cup champs of last year, the Anaheim Ducks.
But they have lost recently to the goalie tandem on the Islanders, and to the Maple Leafs and Flyers. The last two teams listed there, the Penguins could have mailed in the result and stayed home.
Against the Flyers, a much-improved team over last year, the Pens were down 1-0 after 28 seconds and 2-0 after five minutes. The first score as a result of a bad pass attempt/good defensive play involving Sidney Crosby playing the part of passer-inexperienced and Daniel Briere in the role of defensive genius. The second was as a result of a poor clearing attempt by Sergei Gonchar that went bing-bang-bong into the net behind Dany Sabourin. Yeah, thought that would grab your attention.
Blame Crosby and Gonchar for the goals, but so far this year at least they have done their part. After fifteen games played, Crosby, Gonchar, Evgeni Malkin, and Petr Sykora have scored 23 of 43 goals and 63 of 119 points. That is roughly half of all goals and points scored by four of twenty-one players or about one fifth. Names such as Erik Christensen, Gary Roberts, Jordan Staal, Mark Recchi, and Colby Armstrong have done little to help out. Staal had seven short-handed goals last year himself and the team has only one so far. That equates to about 7-8 for the whole season as a team. Christensen and Recchi have been dead in the water with the exception of Erik’s ability to score during the shootout.
Even things that don’t stand out on the score sheet, these players are as missing as common sense is on The Maury Show. Roberts, known for his gritty play, has looked a little late on a lot of plays and Armstrong’s penchant for the bone jarring hit from last year, has melted into the snow around the dashers. Colby has spent the last few games in a suit and tie with his Alfalfa hair, sitting in the press box as a reward for his play.
No team, including this one, can go very far with one offensively productive line. And no team can survive an eighty-two game season riding the backs of four players. Something or someone has to change.
And hopefully soon.
