State of the Pens...
After the excitement of winning the Crosby lottery and the flurry of free agent signings in the pre-season, its been a steady stream of disappointing news and poor performance for our favorite NHL team.
First, there is the team's inconsistent effort from night to night (some would say from shift to shift). The last three games have been a microcosm of the season. After the debacle of the game against the Wild, they follow up with a mostly consistent and hard fought effort against the Colorado Avalanche, then follow THAT up by squandering a 39 save effort by Marc Andre Fluery by just standing around and watching the Red Wings shoot. They seemed to have solved the problem of who their goal tender is, but they haven't figured out how to get a consistent effort from their players night in and night out.
Second there is the problem of the free agents not working out as advertised. Gonchar is the most glaring example, a goalscoring defenseman who has been neither a goalscorer nor a defenseman. He makes poor plays that wouldn't be acceptable for an emergency AHL call up, let alone a $5M a year star free agent. His play in the Detroit game was atrocious. In addition guys like Leclair and Thibault have ranged from disappointing to abysmal. Aside from Ziggy Pallfy, and to some extent Mark Recci, everyone they signed in the offseason hasn't worked out.
Third, health problems have plagued the Pens early. Gonchar, Ziggy, Roy, Leclair and Caron have all spent significant time on the bench with injuries. A flu bug effected some of the team. And Mario Lemieux's irregular heartbeat has kept him out for a few weeks. At a time when the Pens are scrambling for points, not having a full compliment of players has been devastating.
And if all this hasn't been depressing enough, this week brought the comments that the prospects of the Penguins getting a new arena and staying in Pittsburgh were slim at best. How much of this is posturing by Mario to get the local and state officials to take some action is hard to say. But as a Pens fan, I've grown tired of always having to worry from season to season whether my favorite team will even exist from year to year. I long for the days when they were a consistent franchise and the only concern was what seed they would be in the playoffs and what round would they eliminate the Washington Capitals.
So where are the Pens? With 30 games played, they have 8 wins, 22 points (fewer than all but 4 teams). Their power play has actually gotten worse as the season has gone along (this may have much to do with their injuries), and their effort is questionable on most nights. People are calling for their coaches head and most expect at least one major trade before the year ends.
On the plus side they have found their franchise player in Crosby, a player with skills and leadership ability beyond his years. And possibly their franchise goaltender in Fluery. There is also the promise of Malkin, who is tearing it up in Russia, joining the team next season. And young players like Chistensen, Whitney and Talbot have show brief flashes of potential.
However with 52 games to go, there is real doubt about this season. Can they get on a roll and find their way to a playoff spot? Will Edzo survive to tape the next episode of "The Edzo Show" on FSN? Will the people of Pittsburgh get to see the Pens young talent mature? Or will we be ordering our #87 Las Vegas Penguin Crosby Jerseys in 2007.
The coming weeks should answer these questions.
First, there is the team's inconsistent effort from night to night (some would say from shift to shift). The last three games have been a microcosm of the season. After the debacle of the game against the Wild, they follow up with a mostly consistent and hard fought effort against the Colorado Avalanche, then follow THAT up by squandering a 39 save effort by Marc Andre Fluery by just standing around and watching the Red Wings shoot. They seemed to have solved the problem of who their goal tender is, but they haven't figured out how to get a consistent effort from their players night in and night out.
Second there is the problem of the free agents not working out as advertised. Gonchar is the most glaring example, a goalscoring defenseman who has been neither a goalscorer nor a defenseman. He makes poor plays that wouldn't be acceptable for an emergency AHL call up, let alone a $5M a year star free agent. His play in the Detroit game was atrocious. In addition guys like Leclair and Thibault have ranged from disappointing to abysmal. Aside from Ziggy Pallfy, and to some extent Mark Recci, everyone they signed in the offseason hasn't worked out.
Third, health problems have plagued the Pens early. Gonchar, Ziggy, Roy, Leclair and Caron have all spent significant time on the bench with injuries. A flu bug effected some of the team. And Mario Lemieux's irregular heartbeat has kept him out for a few weeks. At a time when the Pens are scrambling for points, not having a full compliment of players has been devastating.
And if all this hasn't been depressing enough, this week brought the comments that the prospects of the Penguins getting a new arena and staying in Pittsburgh were slim at best. How much of this is posturing by Mario to get the local and state officials to take some action is hard to say. But as a Pens fan, I've grown tired of always having to worry from season to season whether my favorite team will even exist from year to year. I long for the days when they were a consistent franchise and the only concern was what seed they would be in the playoffs and what round would they eliminate the Washington Capitals.
So where are the Pens? With 30 games played, they have 8 wins, 22 points (fewer than all but 4 teams). Their power play has actually gotten worse as the season has gone along (this may have much to do with their injuries), and their effort is questionable on most nights. People are calling for their coaches head and most expect at least one major trade before the year ends.
On the plus side they have found their franchise player in Crosby, a player with skills and leadership ability beyond his years. And possibly their franchise goaltender in Fluery. There is also the promise of Malkin, who is tearing it up in Russia, joining the team next season. And young players like Chistensen, Whitney and Talbot have show brief flashes of potential.
However with 52 games to go, there is real doubt about this season. Can they get on a roll and find their way to a playoff spot? Will Edzo survive to tape the next episode of "The Edzo Show" on FSN? Will the people of Pittsburgh get to see the Pens young talent mature? Or will we be ordering our #87 Las Vegas Penguin Crosby Jerseys in 2007.
The coming weeks should answer these questions.
posted by Steve at 4:55 PM
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