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Ponikarovsky, Leopold will make Penguins even tougher team to beat
by Tony on 03/06/10 at 09:59 PM ET
Comments (6)
The Penguins’ two acquisitions at the trade deadline didn’t make big headlines around the NHL, especially compared to the Hossa deal of two seasons ago. Two good, but not great players at forward and defense.
Some would argue they didn’t need too much help to begin with. I’m not one of those people, but some would.
But with Alexei Ponikarovsky and Jordan Leopold now in the Penguins’ fold, it makes an already-strong group that much stronger, and that’s not good news for the rest of the NHL.
Sure, it’s only been a few games for Leopold and only one game for Ponikarovsky. But the steady defense of Leopold and the presence of Ponikarovsky in front of the net look to have filled two parts of the Penguins’ game that was in need of repair.
In the course of this season, after the losses of defensive defensemen Rob Scuderi and Hal Gill, it’s become pretty clear that the Pens have had problems in their own end, whether that be getting the puck out of their zone, defending opponents around their net, or not turning the puck over.
Enter Jordan Leopold, who we Pens fans have heard whispers about in trade rumors for a few years now. Leopold has the offensive attributes that GMRS and HCDB love; good puck mover, decent skater, puts a nice shot on net from the point, including the power play. But he also does the defensive things that they love as well; Very good shot blocker, decent defender, and can kill penalties. With the trading of Martin Skoula to Toronto in the Ponikarovsky trade (eventually landing Skoula in New Jersey), Leopold’s acquisition now leaves seven NHL defensemen on the roster. Since Leopold’s arrival, veteran defenseman Jay McKee has been the odd man out, being a healthy scratch in two of the three games, and the only reason he wasn’t a scratch in the third game was due to a last minute scratch for Bill Guerin, forcing HCDB to use seven defenseman. McKee is a pro, he won’t pout, but you can be sure that he’s gonna work his tail off in practice to get back in the lineup. The six dressing D-men know they can’t relax, or McKee will be there to take their place, making for what should be a motivated group.
In the case of Ponikarovsky, not since the days of Ryan Malone have the Penguins had a presence in front of the net with a big body like they have now with Poni. While today’s power play goal by Ponikarovsky may have been on the fortunate side, with the puck bouncing back to him off the boards, it showed he’s got a good set of hands as he lifted the puck to the top shelf over goaltender Kari Lehtonen.
It remains to be seen how the Russian/Ukrainian line of Ruslan Fedotenko, Evgeni Malkin and Ponikarovsky work together. Today’s game vs. Dallas really doesn’t provide enough of a litmus test to give any indications just yet. Poni was short-shifting and paired with different lines throughout the game. But the little time that the Feds/Geno/Poni line was together, they appeared to have some chemistry already.
But as in the case of the defensive group now with the addition of Leopold, the addition of Ponikarovsky should make for a hungrier forwards group as well. Even with the probably long-term injury of enforcer Eric Godard, the Penguins now have one extra forward. Bill Guerin’s continued back spasms saved HCDB from having to make a decision for.today’s game vs. Dallas. But when Guerin comes back, maybe as early as Sunday for the game vs. the Bruins, someone’s gonna have to sit. Who knows what will go in HCDB’s decision making progress. Perhaps if the opponent is of the more physical variety, like the Bruins, maybe Craig Adams or Max Talbot, while Mike Rupp will dress. If the opponent is more conventional, perhaps Rupp will sit. It will be interesting to see how the scratch game is played, barring any injury, of course.
The other aspect that will eventually need to be worked out is that both Leopold and Ponikarovsky will be Unrestricted Free Agents at season’s end. No doubt, their fate, as well as the other UFA’s-to-be as the Penguins go through the playoffs, will determine their fate for next season.
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Comments
Agreed, the Poni pick-up is very nice for the Pens.
But could someone remind him he needs to make hay while the sun still shines?
We’re a little under that four-year window where Pittsburgh “hockey fans” just won’t care anymore.
Posted by Red Winger from Sault Ste Marie on 03/07/10 at 01:32 AM ET
aww. another red wings fan creepin’ in trying to spoil all the fun.
i dont really mind the band wagon fans. but i distinctly remember when they joined in. it was the february of ‘07. the first season after the lockout it was me in a dorm room in college, watching the game, talking to my dad on the phone about the game, because nobody knew what hockey was. you could get in the student rush line at 5:30 and get a ticket. i purposely failed a test in a math night class because my dad got tickets to a game that night, and i wanted to make it on time. got there, half filled arena and the pens lost 5-0. alexander daigle scored a goal against them. my school had student tickets once for $20 bucks a piece, nobody bought them so they gave me 5 for $25 and i gave them to some other friends because i couldnt even scalp em.
06-07 started and things were noticeably picking up in attendance, the student rush line was longer, i knew more people who were into it.
fast forward about 8 months.
the pens went on that amazing win streak in february of ‘07, crosby was in the all star game, malkin was looking beastly. fleury was coming around and jordan staal was racking up shorties. then it just exploded.
the student rush line ran around the block. you had to get there at about 1 in the afternoon if you wanted to get in. every girl i knew had a crosby or a malkin t shirt. games were selling out.
THEN. they got gary freaking roberts in march.
circle the wagons. it was over. that was it. that was the tipping point. never been the same since that trade deadline.
and i dont mind it so much, except when they talk hockey. because its the easiest sport to act like you know what you’re talking about, and the easiest to look like an absolute idiot to anyone who knows what they’re talking about.
thats the story. whatever. always wanted to tell it like that.
Posted by Boo Kershaw from k on 03/07/10 at 04:43 AM ET
The only period of time in the last 20 years where Pittsburgh hockey fans “didn’t care” was between trading Kovalev for Rico Fata + cash and the long win streak from 06-07 (three seasons, more or less). There are more fans now than there ever have been, but it isn’t like the Penguins weren’t still a big-ticket item from 1990 right up until that trade.
I was still following during that time and, in other Pittsburgh fans’ defense, the hockey the Penguins were playing was unwatchable. Not only was obstruction hockey itself boring, but the Penguins weren’t even good enough to play it. Their top line included guys like Rico Fata, Kris Beech and Konstantin Koltsov—none of whom are good enough to take a regular shift on even Edmonton’s fourth line in 2010. It was very difficult to find reasons to tune in. Even their goon (Buchburger) would get creamed every single game.
I bring this up just to put the idea out there that any American market with a team that horrible for three or four years would essentially face the same lack of interest.
Posted by steve on 03/07/10 at 08:09 AM ET
Boo Kershaw, the first season after the lockout was 2005-06, FYI.
Posted by NHLJeff from Pens fan in Chicago, IL on 03/07/10 at 08:11 AM ET
I agree. They can only make the Pens stronger. The fact that they will be UFA’s isn’t a “problem”. Most if not all UFA’s are picked up at the deadline strictly to help the team in the playoffs. If they get signed after the season that’s a bonus.
Posted by ubie2 from Pgh on 03/08/10 at 02:44 PM ET
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I agree that GMRS made some nice moves to get Leopold and Poni. Hopefully it’ll work out just like the similarly non-blockbuster trades last year that brought in Kunitz and Guerin.
Posted by penguinsfan on 03/06/10 at 10:21 PM ET