The Confluence
Off Day Notes: Scuderi performance on Ovechkin driving his UFA price up
by Tony on 05/10/09 at 06:35 PM ET
Comments (0)
- It wasn’t but a few years ago that Rob Scuderi, often paired with the one and only Joe Melichar, was being unmercifully blasted by the Pittsburgh press and fans. How quickly things change. Hopefully I’m getting way ahead of myself, because the Pens hopefully have much more hockey left to play, but UFA-to-be Scuderi’s fabulous defensive performance against Alex Ovechkin is quietly driving his asking price up quite a bit. Ovechkin has seven goals so far in the five games of this series. Scuderi has actually been on the ice for four of those goals, but Ovechkin has not scored when Scuderi has actually been defending him. The Pens will have 10 UFA’s when this season ends, including 3 on defense, but Scuderi is quickly becoming the primary target for GM Ray Shero.
- What some couldn’t previously think was possible, but Capitals owner Ted Leonsis’ level of whine is reaching Flyers proportions. There hasn’t been too much during this series that he hasn’t complained about. He’s moaned about the penalties getting not getting called against the Penguins, the penalties getting called against his Caps, he’s even complained about Yanni. Seriously, Yanni Ted ?? As if in months past, the promoters and the Mellon Arena folks got together and got out a crystal ball and conspired to force back-to-back games in the 2nd round of the playoffs. Perhaps Mr. Leonsis, rather than constantly complaining about just about everything related to this series, you should take a step back and just enjoy the hockey. While your team is still alive, that is.
- Still nothing official from the Pens on the Sergei Gonchar injury, and most likely, we won’t. However, HCDB did provide an interesting update when he said, according to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, “He’s coming in and evaluating the situation,” Bylsma said. “It’s nothing more than that for us. He’s here today. We’ll find out more after his treatment. I don’t know any more than that. I’m hoping he improves and we can see him on the ice today and tomorrow, and we’ll go from there.” Of course, all of that could be nothing more than a smoke screen. We’ll see if there’s anything to it.
- Just in case you haven’t noticed: If the Penguins close out the Caps, and the Hurricanes finish the upset over the Bruins, the Penguins will actually get home-ice advantage for the Eastern Conference Finals. What a difference when you consider this team was very close to not making the playoffs back in February.
- Another whiteout for Game Six at the Igloo on Monday night. By the way, Ted, that’ll be 113 straight sellouts at the Igloo. Give me a call when (or shall I say, if) the Caps ever get that high. Also, for those who can’t get tickets, the game will be shown on the big screen outside the arena.
- Rather than complain about the officials, perhaps Ted can complain about the production of Alex Semin (0 goals, 4 assists, -5) and Mike Green (0 goals, 4 assists, -2).
- Penguins are 7th out of the 8 remaining playoff teams on the powerplay with a 14.6% conversion rate, while their penalty kill is ranked 5th at 83.7%.
- Amongst the 8 remaining goalies, Marc-Andre Fleury is ranked last with a 2.61 GAA and 7th in save pct. with .909. Simeon Varlamov is ranked 6th in GAA with 2.15 and 6th in save pct. with .927.
Filed in: | The Confluence | Permalink
Tags: NHL-Hockey, Pittsburgh+Penguins, Washington+Capitals,
Comments
Be the first to comment.
Add a Comment
Please limit embedded image or media size to 575 pixels wide.
Add your own avatar by joining Kukla's Korner, or logging in and uploading one in your member control panel.
Captchas bug you? Join KK or log in and you won't have to bother.
Commenting is not available in this weblog entry.
Most Recent Blog Posts
Turn Out The Lights, The Party’s Over: I’m Stepping Down
Bill Cowher’s Daughter to Marry Kevin Westgarth
Penguins Sign Forward Steve MacIntyre
Penguins Re-Sign Forward Dustin Jeffrey to Two-Year Deal
Crosby Donation Leads To Renovation at Children’s Hospital
About Kukla’s Korner
Kukla’s Korner is updated around the clock with the work of our own talented bloggers, plus links to the best hockey writing around the internet. We strive to bring you all the breaking hockey news as it happens.
The home page allows you to see the latest postings from every blog on the site. Subscribe here. For general inquiries and more, please contact us anytime.
Get the top online sports betting bonuses available to sports betters!
Kukla’s Korner is always a free service for readers, but it costs some money to maintain. If you’re ever in a position to donate a few dollars to help out, we’d be very appreciative.