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Will “Superstar” Talbot be the odd man out?
by Tony on 03/11/10 at 10:36 AM ET
Comments (22)
It’s a nice luxury for Penguins’ head coach Dan Bylsma to have.
The trade deadline day acquisition of Alexei Ponikarovsky, along with the recent non-suspension of Matt Cooke and the healed back of Bill Guerin, has forced HCDB into having to make a difficult decision starting with tonight’s game in Raleigh. With 13 forwards on the roster, who’s gonna sit ?
Realistically, Bylsma only has a few choices. But one recent Penguins hero may have to be the odd man out.
The “Superstar”.
Before I go further, let’s clarify. “Superstar” is an inside Penguins fan joke, based on Talbot’s intentionally goofy commercials that he has done in the past with a local car dealership. It’s not something that Talbot insists people call him, or anything of the sort. It’s all in fun.
But all fun aside, Talbot, during this injury-riddled season, is having one woeful year. Only playing in 32 games so far, Talbot has only one goal and four assists for the year. Not only that, he really hasn’t come close to being a regular contributor to the Penguins’ offense. Now that may be due to his lingering injuries, which may just require that only time will heal them (meaning the offseason). But whatever the cause, Talbot is having a terrible season.
But what makes the decision even tougher is Talbot’s recent history, especially in the postseason. It was his goal in the waning seconds in Game Five of the 2008 Stanley Cup Finals to tie the game, which eventually was won by the Pens after Petr Sykora’s goal in the third overtime. it was Talbot who “graciously” got his ass kicked by former Pen Dan Carcillo in Game Six of the ‘09 Pens/Flyers playoff series, with the Pens down 3-0 in the second period. As former Pens coach Eddie Olczyk correctly predicted immediately afterward, the fight energized the Penguins, who quickly scored three goals to tie the game and eventually won it to win the series.
And, of course, it was Talbot who scored both Penguins’ goals in Game Seven of the Stanley Cup Finals on June 12th at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit to win the Stanley Cup for the Penguins. In 24 playoff games last season, Talbot had 8 goals and 5 assists.
I’ve said it before, but those two goals Talbot scored in Game Seven will boost his reputation for the rest of his career. But HCDB can’t think about what happened in the past. He must look at the now, as in what Talbot has done lately, or should I say, what he hasn’t done lately.
HDCB has a couple of other options. Maybe he could sit Craig Adams, but as a right-handed faceoff man, that puts the Pens at a disadvantage. He could sit Mike Rupp, but Rupp’s continued strong play rebukes that.
Perhaps it’s not such a difficult decision after all.
Filed in: | The Confluence | Permalink
Tags: NHL-Hockey, Pittsburgh+Penguins,
Comments
It was an accident Animal, I swear…..
Posted by Tony from Virginia Beach, VA on 03/11/10 at 10:43 AM ET
Talbot or Kennedy needs to sit. Kennedy has not performed up to his expected level the past few weeks/months even. I would start with sitting TK for a few games and giving Dupuis the 3rd line duties. Keep an eye on Talbot and if he doesn’t look up to it after those few, have him take a seat and hope TK got the message.
Posted by Russian Rocket on 03/11/10 at 10:54 AM ET
Nice to see you guys still have fond memories….
Posted by Tony from Virginia Beach, VA on 03/11/10 at 10:56 AM ET
Ya know Rocket, I brought his name up a while back (it was pre-trade deadline), and I was immediately blasted….
But I agree, TK has really kinda coasted this season…
Posted by Tony from Virginia Beach, VA on 03/11/10 at 10:57 AM ET
I’d say Fedotenko. Dupuis has earned a spot on the 2nd line with his play, and Feds -16 is pathetic. Let Talbot play on the 4th line, dupers on the 2nd, and Feds in the press box.
Posted by Kstewy16 on 03/11/10 at 10:58 AM ET
I would predict that HCDB will give the Russian/Ukrainian line a chance before he does that with Feds….
Posted by Tony from Virginia Beach, VA on 03/11/10 at 11:00 AM ET
Feds has been better lately. He just seems to hit a switch when the playoffs are near. Kennedy hasn’t done much of note since before he missed time with his groin injury and as you said Tony seems to have just coasted. Dupuis has played well no doubt, but Feds has proven over the past he is a playoff performer and I’m fairly certain he’s cemented into that 2nd line/Malkin winger role. If they can get TK to click with Staal again like much earlier this year they will be a much more dangerous team than they are now.
Posted by Russian Rocket on 03/11/10 at 11:13 AM ET
Tony, that picture is beautiful and I could look at it everyday.
Honestly, I don’t expect much from Talbot the rest of the way. He’s been behind all year with the injury. I think anyone in his position would be the same way, plus with the groin problems he has had. It’s hard for the staff to take out Adams with the right shot. I agree Kennedy has been subpar lately, but I just don’t see the coaching staff breaking up the 3rd line (whether or not that’s a good thing is another topic). So I wouldn’t be shocked if Talbot was the guy that gets scratched. However, once this road trip is finished, with hopefully separation from the Devils, there will be tinkering/resting players down the stretch.
Posted by pens fan in baltimore on 03/11/10 at 11:20 AM ET
TK is Sitting according to someone on LGP,com
Posted by Evilpens on 03/11/10 at 11:20 AM ET
Nice to see you guys still have fond memories….
Try nightmares, Tony.
Posted by Incognetis from Delaware... Hi... I'm in... Delaware on 03/11/10 at 11:23 AM ET
why not adams? talbot is just as good a penalty killer and actually has a shot at scoring.
Posted by gretzky_to_lemieux on 03/11/10 at 11:24 AM ET
Posted by Incognetis from Exile in Alabama on 03/11/10 at 11:23 AM ET
Winner winner, chicken dinner.
Posted by mrfluffy from Long Beach on 03/11/10 at 11:30 AM ET
Maybe he could sit Craig Adams, but as a right-handed faceoff man, that puts the Pens at a disadvantage.
One could argue that dressing Craig Adams and allowing him to continue taking faceoffs in key situations (only six guys in the league have a worse faceoff percentage than his 43% —among players who’ve taken more than 300 faceoffs) is what really puts the Pens at a disadvantage. Good Lord, he’s only three percentage points above Malkin, who is a joke on faceoffs. This is our PK / faceoff specialist? His shorthanded faceoff percentage—astoundingly—is even worse: 40.8%. Considering those are the most important faceoffs he takes, that’s just brutal. You might as well put Malkin out there. Still not sure why Shero gave Adams a two-year deal. Can’t believe we couldn’t have done better.
Also, why is Talbot’s 1 G, 4 A season (when he clearly hasn’t been healthy) somehow more worthy of criticism than Adam’s 80+ regular season games with no goals at all, plus the fact that his faceoff skills are neglible at best?
With all that said, I’d scratch Kennedy to wake him up a bit. No goals since January 14? And just not very noticeable in other ways either. That way Adams can still be there to take the faceoffs—even if he mostly loses them.
Posted by Lex Talionis on 03/11/10 at 11:42 AM ET
I don’t know if it’ll be Max. At least, not at first. He hasn’t played a whole lot this year, and though he hasn’t been scoring, he’s played well the last few games since the Olympic break.
That said, I think we might see a sort of revolving door up until close to playoff time, with TK, Max, Guerin, Adams and possibly Rupp or Dupuis - though they aren’t as likely…Rupp is the “enforcer” with Godard hurt and Dupes has been playing out of his mind lately.
I do agree that the Poni/Geno/Feds line will get a shot to develop some (more) chemistry. They’ve looked good so far…there’s always room for improvement, though.
But, what do I freakin’ know? There’s a reason Disco Dan is the coach of the Stanley Cup champs and I’m sitting at home working on an English paper and eating a bologna sandwich.
Posted by Flashtastick56 from Milford, CT on 03/11/10 at 11:44 AM ET
talbot is just as good a penalty killer
Maybe, but Adams is a better face off man compared to Talbot. And more importantly he’s the only right shot that can take face-offs on the PK for the Pens as Tony noted. Which is probably the main reason he won’t be scratched. Besides he’s one of Disco’s favorites.
Tenk looks to be rounding into playoff form of late, and with the arrival of Poni on Geno’s line I think he (Fedotenko) needs to stay in the line-up to help develope some more chemistry with them two.
Rupp could be the odd man out, but I doubt it. When you watch the Pens you will notice Rupp all night. At the end of the game you look at the stats and he’s played something like 7 minutes. You think to yourself no way, he must have played at least 15 minutes or something like that.
So it looks like Talbot will be the healthy scratch.
If everybody’s healthy enough to play, it will be very interesting to see who sits next thursday against Boston.
BTW Tony, it’s nice to see all the Wings fans following the Confluence, hah? Kind of funny what one little snapshot does.
Posted by Lindas1st from New England on 03/11/10 at 11:58 AM ET
TK is Sitting according to someone on LGP,com
Probably the most deserving a seat tonight.
Posted by Lindas1st from New England on 03/11/10 at 12:00 PM ET
TK out with Lower Body Injury
http://penguins.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=520976
Posted by Evilpens on 03/11/10 at 12:08 PM ET
Looks like Disco’s trying to save Tyler from the embarrassment of being a healthy scratch. Then again, he’s probably got some sort of injury. Most players do at this point of the season.
Posted by Lindas1st from New England on 03/11/10 at 12:19 PM ET
TK out with Lower Body Injury
http://penguins.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=520976Posted by Evilpens on 03/11/10 at 12:08 PM ET
Way to throw my article out the window, TK…..
Posted by Tony from Virginia Beach, VA on 03/11/10 at 12:37 PM ET
But you got to Rub a lot Of salt in the Wound of Red Wings fans !! 
Posted by Evilpens on 03/11/10 at 12:47 PM ET
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Posted by Animal Drew from A Nightmare on Helm Street on 03/11/10 at 10:41 AM ET