nossagog

Noss, I feel your pain...

He just doesn't seem capable of reacting to situations in game... Or else he is so blinkered he just doesn't see the need, I'm not sure which. It might be fine during the regular season to a degree but come Playoffs or tournament play you get found out real quick ie during the Boston series last year or this years Olympics.@EDI-Flyer

@EDI-Flyer He's completely clueless with in game changes.  When he makes them it just makes you shutter. 

The above mention line moves aside, here's another one.   The Pens are going to start the third period with a 5 v 3 power play. So DFB decides, hey let's go with 5 forwards for the PP unit.  Not a bad decision on face value.  But what he does is takes off Matt Niskanen a right hand shot playing the left point and inserts in Jussi Jokinen in his place, a left handed shot.  This puts 5 left handed shots on the ice for the Power Play, basically eliminating any chance at a one time shot from the left side of the ice.  Everything on that power play was forced to the right side of the ice for shots basically eliminating the need for the Blues to defend the left side. He made it easier for the Blues to defend, DFBrillaint.

As Popeye would say,  "I've had all I can stands, and I can't stands no more".

Today was a perfect example of "What the hell is he thinking!" example.

A 0-0 game at the early in the third period in a well played defensive game by both teams.  Both teams blocking shots and doing whatever they can in a team effort.  So okay, its 0-0, you got to squeeze a goal out somewhere to get the win.   So you'd think, heck, after a TV break or an icing call, lets stack up Crosby and Malkin with Neal and put you offensive eggs in one basket for a shift. 

That's what I was waiting for.  Instead, DanfrigginBylsma decides, "Heck, let me break up my first line, you know, the one that probably is in the tops of the league in scoring,and  play a few shifts with Adams-Crosby-Glass, Stempniak-Glass-Gibbons, and Kunitz-Sutter-Engellend."

Really? Your big DanfrigginBylsma moment is to take the leading scorer in the league and stick him  with the fourth line?  This was not a double shift, this was a purposeful mix of lines that threw off the flow of those lines for about 4 minutes of play.  UnDFBelievable.

Is that the reason they lost the game, no. But WTF.  You wait to put your two best players on the same line with a little over one minute left in the game.   Sigh . . . .

For those unaware this September the case between Steve Moore and Todd Bertuzzi will finally go to court. Moore is suing Bertuzzi and the Vancouver Canucks for $36 million after his infamous sucker punch on Moore in a game back on March 8th 2004. The NHL is filled with dirty plays, hits from behind, punches, etc. But not every play sees supplementary discipline from the law like we will see in Bertuzzi- Moore case. So where do we draw the line? Remember when Shawn Thornton slew-foot Brooks Orpik and then punched his head into the ice in a game between the Bruins and Pens this year? Why no lawsuit here? Does it come down to the severity of the injury?

 

So essentially, where and when does the law trump the NHL's ability to hand out punishment? 

 

Follow me on Twitter @Craig_Hagerman

Basically, yes.   In this case, it wasn't just the punch, but he then drove his head down into the ice in a move that cannot be questioned at all as an attempt to injure a player.  Moore, who I think was in his rookie season, never was able to play hockey again.  Burtuzzi can say he didn't "mean" to injure him like that, but regardless he took Moore ability to make a living playing hockey away from him at an early age.   That is the difference

It mattered, as it eliminated our power play and I think it was Tatar scored to tie the game just after. However, as Noss said the Pens had every opportunity to win but blew it. That bothers me, but perhaps they just need something to play for right now. If they're going to stall out a little, I'd rather it be now than a few weeks from now.

My biggest problem was the lack of urgency during the 5 min major.    It just didn't seem like they wanted it, and that's got to change coming down the stretch.

Sorry, been driving all day.  My take on this?  I wish they would have suspended him instead of fining him pocket change for a professional athlete.    He needs to learn a lesson, and this will teach him nothing.  He's been suspended in the past, they need to increase his suspensions until he get the message.   I like him and his skills, I do NOT like what he does with these over the edge plays.

I don't care if you consider him a star or not, stupid is as stupid does, and this kind of thing does not belong in hockey.

Sarcasm on

Look, lets all be honest here, we all know that this was nothing but Karma for Matt Cooke doing something totally unrelated years ago in a Pens uniform.

Sarcasm off

In reality, this is just a dirty play that was unnecessary and selfish.  And really, he doesn't need us to tell us that he did something wrong, I'm sure that Babcock filled him up after the game, because HE is a class coach that respects the game.

@jammer2

I'd forgotten about the Swedish Fish! Lol

People didn't realize that his true nickname was really Floppa.

Regardless, as the age old adage(modified) goes, there are two kinds of liars about  players going down easy.  Those that say they never did it and those who say they did it only once.   So yes, I can say for sure, as a Pens fan, that Crosby has embellished penalties in his career.  Okay, now its everyone elses turn to comment on their favorite player.

That was a crap penalty. Glendenning never made a move for that stick at all. It was pushed towards him by Smith. How is Neal supposed to know its not broken?? Man that aggravates me. Watching it in replay... That was a horrible call.

The penalty was aweful, but the loss is all on the Pens.  The sat back on a 5 minute power play that would have won them the game.   

Good on ya Yave, later

Wow, three goals in the pens net off of Pens players.   Good win for the wings.

Looks like he missed a few minutes at the beginning of the PP, but is okay.  Big for the WIngs to get it to OT to get a point.  Pens look like there just waiting for something to happen instead of pressureing.

Bad defensive play there behind the net.  Didn't need to double team Sutter.

Hard work is paying off by the wings.

Nice goal, weird call on Neal

Sutter goes in streaks through. He's playing well at the moment, but part of that is jut that we're starting to get healthy, and he's starting to feel more comfortable with a more limiter role.

 Obscene amount of talent. I saw Letang is skating again. Good news for your boys.

I'm not counting on Letang playing again this year.  If he does, great, but that's a scary thing to happen, and they need to be careful.

Judging from the sounds, it seems like there are a lot of Pens fans in attendance.

Yave, sometime its weird, the Pens will just score them in clusters.   Just saw the last 40 minutes of the period.

The Flyers Erik Gustafsson is in the same boat as Depres.

 

I really thought both Gus and Simon would be playing big minutes by this point in the season.

I often wonder what their work ethic at practice is like or if there are other factors at play.

 

Depres was a guy I coveted from you team last year, and his play has really plateaued,  same with Gustafsson, he was looking pretty good at the end of last year and now it's like all that progress has been lost/forgotten.  Defensmen are tough to get a good grasp on.

Problem is that the Pens purposefully told him solely focus on his defensive game.  That normally is not a problem to tell someone to focus on their defensive game, but they basically told him they didn't want him shooting or rushing up ice.  So they took an offensive minded defenseman, turned him into something completely different, and punish him when he does something during this transition.   What do they expect?

  I can't for the life of me figure out why only 1% of yahoo fantasy players have Bennett stashed away on the IR. This is very puzzling to me, the kid is gonna get a shot at playing with Malkin and or Crosby, if he happens to light it up when he comes back, he could be a mainstay on the top line and maybe even the top pp. That is worth an IR stash in my estimations.....I mean, how risky is it to stash him away....if he sucks you just never activate him and drop him. The positives FAR outweigh the negatives in this type of move......the other 99% should be ashamed of themselves....unless they are in a keeper league and have keepers stashed there....like my other spot is used up for Tavares. I hardly think this is the case for most of the 99%....maybe 10-15% are in that boat. This is just a huge miss by fantasy owners IMHO.

One word, danfrigginbylsma.   Coach Dan(said in my best Forrest Gump accent) has not been very good at developing young talent.  They go in the dog house quickly and are slow to be release, or regulated down a level.  The exception to this rule has been Olli Matta.   Just look at Simon Despres as an example, he's good enough to be playing in the NHL, and has great offensive skills, but every time he makes a defensive mistake, he's penalized with ice time or demoted. 

I think Giroux probably deserves to be a finalist but I think this is Crosby's to lose.

We can say "if only not for the slow start..." but there WAS the show start. And it was dreadful.

And Crosby had been good gate to gate. I know the Pens have malkin, but this year more than most, I don't think Malkin carries them if Crosby goes down. Not for any significant time.

With the year Crosby has had and the adversity that team has had with the injuries and a bobblehead coach, you almost have to give it to him.

I think Giroux is a great candidate for the Hart Trophy(Hold on one second, I think I just threw up in my mouth).   His leadership on this ice putting the Flyers in playoff position has been great.

The whole "if not for the slow start" thing can be tossed out the window based on Ovechkin last season where he basically was MIA for most of the first half of the season, went on a tear in the second half and took home the Hart.   I think the voters look at how a team made it to where they are at the end of the season, and not necessarily at the whole season from start to finish.

Based on that, you can make an easy argument for Giroux whose Flyers are climbing in the standings as he played better starting in December.

Will he win?  I don't think so.  For whatever reason, he has never been seen in the same category as Crosby, Ovechkin, Getzlaf or Teows.  Is it right, no, but there it is.   Its almost like the hesiman where you have to already have been considered for it at the beginning of the season to be able to win at the end.

If you'll excuse me, I need to go take a shower.

It was refreshing to see the lineup coming back together again.  Sid's line played fantastic, you can tell the difference when Kunitz is in the lineup. He's not flashy, but he's a workhorse and knows where to go on the ice for Sid.  Stempniak is really starting to play nicely on that line, he's only going to get better.

I like what Goc is bringing to the team, he has especially solidified what was already a pretty good  penalty kill unit.  He's brought a new level to the fourth line also.

Let's get Geno's line going now and I'll be real happy.

Kunitz and Neal practiced with the first PP unit today.   Looking to be cleared to play, maybe as early as tonight.

Dan Bylsma is abylsmal.

 

 

 

 

 

 

See what I did there?

So what you're saying is you can have abysmal without Bylsma.  Damn its all so clear now.   

Now if you can only clear up the Kennedy asassination, Area 51 and which came first of the chicken and egg I can sit back and relax.

@Vanflyerc

Its more than just Kunitz and Neal going down. Plan B falls apart for anyone when you lose 4  forwards from your top 2 lines and your two top defenseman.  

I'd have to agree that moving one of Crosby or Malkin would give them room in salary cap, but its still the style that bugs me with the Pens.  Even when they bring in players like Iginla, they indoctrinate them into the school of grind.