The Confluence
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Penguins would be smart ignoring Wings’ game hype
by Tony on 11/09/08 at 11:25 AM ET
Comments (9)
And let the hype machine begin.
Tuesday night at the Joe, the Penguins will return to Detroit for the first time since June’s Stanley Cup Finals, which of course the Red Wings won in six games.
A lot will be made of the matchup by the MSHM, it’s the en vogue story, especially with The Marian Hossa Story thrown in there for good measure.
But the Penguins should do themselves a favor; Forget about comparisons to the Wings, you’ve got more important things to worry about.
Now, naturally, there will be some glass half-full Penguins fans’ opining that things are not as gloomy as I’m portraying them to be; “They’re 8-4-2, whatcha want, an undefeated season !!!” That’s OK, I’m used to it.
Yes, if you’re looking at it in strictly a won-loss perspective, then things could be a lot worse, I concur with that. They’re also keeping their head above water without their best two defensemen (offensively, anyway) in Sergei Gonchar and Ryan Whitney, I concur with that as well.
But you can’t attribute everything to being without Gonchar and Whitney. If you follow this team on a daily basis, and you’re looking at it in an objective point of view, you’d be hard pressed not to give this opinion: This team is not playing very well, and any comparisons to the Wings, at this point anyway, are simply foolish.
Marian Hossa’s decision not to sign with the Penguins and sign with the Wings has made them an even stronger team. And because their player turnover was very little, everyone is already familiar with their system. So let’s just forget about them, m’kay ??
Back to the Penguins. Their lack of intensity has resulted in lackluster performances (last night included, for the first two periods anyway) and several blown leads. Their quote-unquote vaunted powerplay, earlier in the season in the top handful in the NHL, after another goose egg last night on Long Island is down to 13th. I’m gonna keeping bitching about the powerplay coaching and assignments until I’m blue in the face, I’m not the only one to see it.
Thank goodness for their much improved penalty kill, which is now rated #5 in the NHL. If their PK units were even down to the middle of the pack in the NHL, they’d probably down to a .500 record.
In addition, chemistry amongst the Pens’ scoring lines has been spotty at best. We’re only 14 games into the season, and conventional wisdom suggests that with their high turnover, you have to give them time to learn their tendencies. Well, that’s all fine and dandy, but with HCMT, that’s not easy to do, since he changes his lines about as much as he changes his boxers.
All that said, there will be two significant items that will change the complexion of this team. First is the return of Gonchar and Whitney. There are defensemen like Mark Eaton and Darryl Sydor who may be on their way out by that time. The second item will be the NHL trade deadline of March 4th. One thing that is clearly apparent is that GM Ray Shero is not bashful at all to pull the trigger on a major deal in order to make the team better, last year’s Hossa deal of course being the biggest example.
So, Tuesday night’s game should be some exciting hockey. Both teams naturally have fond memories of that series not so long ago, it should be quite intense. The Penguins feel that by the time they were eliminated in Game Six, they were playing at the Wings’ level. I’m sure that the emotions will be running high.
But that’s where the comparisons should end, for now at least. We’ll see how they match up when they get back together in Pittsburgh in February.
Filed in: | The Confluence | Permalink
Tags: Detroit+Red+Wings, NHL-Hockey, Pittsburgh+Penguins,
Comments
There’s enough mature leadership among the Penguins that they won’t think about any pre-game hype and they’ll just play their game.
(and hopefully not collapse in the 3rd period)
Posted by Sean Leahy on 11/09/08 at 12:46 PM ET
In my humble opinion, trade-deadline moves like the Hossa move last year are too costly to an organization to pull off every year. Depending on cap space, a GM can fill some holes, but Hossa-level trades cost too much talent over the long term.
Posted by w2j2 on 11/09/08 at 01:02 PM ET
Shep, no not necessarily. I’m saying that by the time they played Game Six, they no longer were clearly outplayed like they were in Game 1 and 2. In my view, they shouldn’t even be concerned about that now, they’re a completely different team, and quite frankly, not nearly as good, for now…
Sean, let’s hope you’re right….
W2J2, I concur. That’s why I think those trade rumors linking the Pens giving away another 1st round pick was hogwash…..
Posted by Tony F from Virginia Beach, VA on 11/09/08 at 02:34 PM ET
Exactly the way the Wings would like to approach it as well.
Just another game…
Posted by SYF from a "Bron-Y-Aur Stomp" on 11/09/08 at 03:32 PM ET
So let’s just forget about them, m’kay ??
+10 for a South Park reference.
So you’re saying they’re still in denial?
TIMMAY!! lol
The Wings, up until the past two games at best, are playing far worse than their record would indicate. We’ve had third period collapses, a penchant for getting into 5-3 situations, and generally sloppy defensive play. From what I little I saw and all that I’ve read about their last game, their first after a real week of practice, they looked much better against the battered Devils.
The worst part of the Hossa deal was dealing Armstrong. I couldn’t believe they sent him off too.
Posted by Osrt on 11/09/08 at 05:28 PM ET
Completely agree with you Tony, unfortunately for Pens fans, I’m not so sure that your team is focusing on the hockey. The media has been relentless in asking Crosby, Talbot, Fleury, and company about the Hossa situation, and even when one of them says, “No comment,” there is always someone in the room that’ll speak up about it.
The Pens aren’t as good as they were last year, and Hossa isn’t the only reason. They lost a small handful of other good players.
Posted by Nathan on 11/10/08 at 09:18 AM ET
Well, yes and no Nathan….
I think the Pens handle the media quite well. Crosby has been hounded by the media since he was 13. And I’m sure the rest of the Penguins get relatively more press than they normally would because of the increased requests for Crosby, so I don’t think they’re focused any more on the press than they normally are. They just need to look at this as another game, and to improve their overall play.
In terms of the “good” players they lost, I think that’s been a tad bit overrated, strictly in terms of quality. Of course, Hossa is the exception, but at least so far, the loss of Malone, Roberts, Laraque, Ruutu, Hall, and Conklin in my view were a bigger character loss than of quality.
Posted by Tony F from Virginia Beach, VA on 11/10/08 at 11:05 AM ET
Please can we end the “pens lost too much” speeches? The pens went from a mid of the pack team to 2nd in the conference without having Hossa, Crosby, Armstrong, Christensen, and Fleury for most of it.
The Pens still have the talent to win games, maybe not the stanley cup, but to be top in the conference. They just aren’t playing anywhere near as good as they should be right now. Fortunately as Osrt pointed out, the Wings aren’t yet either, so it will probably be a close game.
And by the way, I’m not really trying to compare these two players, but Satan and Hossa both have 8 goals right now.
Posted by Kevin from Pittsburgh on 11/10/08 at 08:28 PM ET
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So you’re saying they’re still in denial?
Posted by shep from california on 11/09/08 at 12:20 PM ET