By Dejan Kovacevic | Trib Total Media columnist
OTTAWA — Looking ahead to faceoff …
Game: Penguins (2-2) vs. Ottawa Senators (3-1)
Time: 5:08 p.m.
Site: Scotiabank Place, Ottawa
TV, radio: Root Sports, WXDX-FM 105.9
Here is the official live summary.
Here is the the Trib’s Penguins page. I’m delighted to be back in Canada’s capital for the first time since 2004. Been too long.
UPDATE 3:21 p.m.: Just spoke with Dan Bylsma downstairs …
Tanner Glass will be a gametime decision, Bylsma said. If he can’t go, Dustin Jeffrey will. No other lineup changes from Winnipeg other than Marc-Andre Fleury in goal.
Sure, Ottawa is great, but Honolulu wouldn’t be too bad to go to in January…
I’m flying to Iowa on Tuesday.
Iowa. January.
At least Ontario has…what?
Canadian Bacon
Lorne Green
Justin Bieber
Eugene Levy
Howie Mandel
Alan Thicke
Don’t EVEN bring up Justin Bieber!! Grrrr!
Say hello to Stephen Harper for me.
Ottawa Senators
Forwards
9 Milan Michalek – 19 Jason Spezza – 33 Jakob Silfverberg
73 Guillaume Latendresse – 7 Kyle Turris – 11 Daniel Alfredsson
14 Colin Greening – 15 Zack Smith – 25 Chris Neil
13 Peter Regin – 42 Jim O’Brien – 22 Erik Condra
Scratch: 23 Kaspars Daugavins
Defensive Pairings
1st: 3 Marc Methot – 65 Erik Karlsson
2nd: 4 Chris Phillips – 55 Sergei Gonchar
3rd: 46 Patrick Weircioch – 61 Andre Benoit
Scratch: 74 Mark Borowiecki
Goaltenders
Starter: Craig Anderson
Backup: Ben Bishop
Injured Reserved:
Jared Cowen, D – (hip surgery)
Mike Lundin, D – (finger surgery)
Stats
Leading Scorer – Kyle Turris 4 goals and 5 points
Top Defenseman – Erik Karlsson 5 points and 26:35 TOI/game
Sens PP: 30.8%
Sens PK: 83.3%
Penguins
1st: Kunitz – Crosby – Dupuis
2nd: Kennedy – Malkin – Neal
3rd: Glass – Sutter – Cooke
4th: Tangradi – Vitale – Adams
Scratch: Jeffrey
Defensive Pairings
1st: Orpik – Martin
2nd: Niskanen – Letang
3rd: Engelland – Lovejoy
Scratch: Despres – Bortuzzo
Goaltenders
Starter: Fleury
Backup: Vokoun
*Jeffrey might starat in place of Glass as he missed practice due to taking a hard hit to the shoulder against the boards in Winnipeg.
*In the Pens first four games, they’ve lost the turnover battle just once and that came at the hands of the Winnipeg Jets on Friday night.
Turnovers
PIT at PHI: 16-22
PIT at NYR: 10-14
TOR at PIT: 10-5
PIT at WPG: 19-8
After the Jets game, Bylsma was like a baby seal out on the ice being chased by a polar bear as the media wanted to know why the team struggled so badly in the second period for the second game in a row.
Bylsma offered the lazy excuse that the team struggled with the long change in the second period. An occurrence that happens in every game… a second period.
Then on Saturday, after practice Sidney Crosby spoke about the team needing to work harder.
Sure, their work rate decreased in the second and third periods but that was the direct result of getting frustrated and losing their composure, again.
What caused the nightmares of last season to return was simple, a refusal to play a simple game with the puck.
Far too often, defensemen would be left standing alone in the defensive zone and the forwards rushing up the ice to the opposing blue line.
The gap between the defense and forwards were so wide, Winnipeg was able to easily jump the passing lanes along the boards and create offensive chances on the counter-attack.
The Penguins offense did little to generate any scoring chances as they registered 9 shots in the third period.
After a practice in Ottawa that was described as intense, it will mean very little if the team doesn’t adjust their breakouts up the ice and manage the puck better.
They will be tested as Ottawa has averaged 7 takeaways per game.
Just the Sunday song this morning, Sometimes in Winter Blood, Sweat and Tears 1968 BS&T’s second album, which produced 3 major hits, You’ve Made Me So very Happy, And When I Die, and Spinning Wheel. This song was written and sung by Steve Katz.
Ok, that’s different, post the song url and it puts the video up. Did not know that would happen
That’s a good thing.
JAL my BS&T fave “Lucretia McEvil”. Who sings the lead vocal on that one?
Stuart
David Clayton Thomas
Dejan is going to be floating on air.
Novak Djokovic won the Australian Open.
(Hard to believe they play tennis there in the middle of the night.)
Are we allowed to talk tennis here?
no
Got it. No problem. Back to baseball.
Drew dahling, I’ve told you several times, you may talk about whatever your heart desires in this blog
Thank you, Saint Jandy
No Saint here, but I’ll defend your right to speak about whatever your heart wishes.
Don’t egg him on, next thing you know, he’ll want to talk about a hot dog eating contest.
LOL! well, we’ll have to figure out teams then!
Not hot dogs. But I do naga ghost hot pepper eating contests.
Love the saintly picture, though.
The Blackhawks have 10 points in one week of action!
…and the coolest jerseys in hockey.
I enjoy the Australian Open. Actually woke up to watch the final. I like having a non-football major sporting event in the heart of winter.
Me too.
The Hot Stove League.
Ha! It’s always about baseball around here. Serves me right for posting about hockey and tennis. Poor Dejan, just can’t keep his threads clean.
I watched about 2 minutes of the tennis match… and fell asleep.
Two things I can’t get into….tennis and golf YUCK!
If Glass (shoulder) can’t go today, I’d like to see Jeffrey on a line with Crosby and Dupuis as I think Kunitz needs back with Malkin and Neal. Those two need a defensive presence on the line and I thought Cooke and Sutter were out of place without Kennedy.
Dupuis – Crosby – Jeffrey
Kunitz – Malkin – Neal
Cooke – Sutter – Kennedy
Tangradi – Vitale – Adams
Is Dejan going from Ottawa to the Super Bowl? Hope he can tell Beyonce that Jello Biafra has undoubtedly never performed with a backing track.
DK: He is not. Our Steelers beat man, Alan Robinson, will be in New Orleans.
Saw your fair city on The Weather Channel today. Just showed a park or something, though. Didn’t have the volume up, as I was working on my message. You must have gotten some weather or going to get some.
Hi Lucky:
I didn’t see that on The Weather Channel. I did see something on CNN about our ice surges. As Lake Winnebago freezes the expanding ice pushes ice to the perimeter so on shore are created massive ice boulders that take unique designs and formations. This year the cold and high winds have made them more impressive. Some of them have taken out light posts, etc. Maybe, it was about that. We do have ice and snow coming this afternoon. I travel around the area with my work. I can handle snow but, as I age, I’m losing my nerve driving in ice and sleet. It’s the one thing that grounds me!
I hate driving in ice too, OshKosh. Snow…ehh…I’ll be fine…but ice…just makes me shudder and want to stay home.
Lake Winnebago? Did they name it after the RV?
Both lake and RV are named after Winnebago Indian Tribe.
We had a little ice Friday and you’d have thought it was Armageddon here. People just aren’t accustomed to it like us Northerners.
More ice coming Monday morning in Pittsburgh.
60 degrees here, Monday and 70 Tuesday. Drew will have to come here to warm up.
Did DK just respond in the third person???
He sure did.
Simon Despres hasn’t gotten off to a great start this season for the Penguins or earlier in the AHL but that hasn’t stopped some in the media to wonder if the Penguins will trade the young defenseman for help at forward.
Michael Russo (Minnesota Wild beat reporter) wondered if the Pens would entertain a deal involving Despres for winger Devin Setoguchi. A few years ago, I probably would have been in favor of such a deal but Setoguchi has struggled to play with any kind of consistency and wouldn’t address the team’s need for a big forward that can play on the top two lines.
I was hoping for Beau Bennett to get a shot but he’s missed the last game or two in WB/S due to injury and with him trying to gain back the weight (10 lbs) lost from the flu, Pens might take it easy with him for remainder of season and find another option.
Some guys that interest me are Blues RW Chris Stewart, Ducks RW Bobby Ryan, and Kings LW Kyle Clifford.
I also want to see what Bennett can do, but not if he’s having problems. We need to pick up a winger.
Let’s ask them to put up a separate Pirate thread and see how long it takes to get 20 posts (which this one is #20) My guess is about a minute and a half.
Any truth to the rumor that sponsors of the online portion of the Trib have called to complain about the double-secret unofficial ban on Pirate talk on the blog? They need eyeballs!
But will ‘they’ put up separate threads for apologists and vendetta-ers?
Oh, and ‘Go Pens!’
Can’t imagine what the fanbase will be like with a 3-game losing streak. In a 48 game season, that compares to a 10 game losing streak for the Pirates. There will be torches and pitchforks in front of CEC.
“vendetta-ers” ?
vendettistas
The SVA?
Just because Pens fans don’t talk about management 24/7 doesn’t make us bad fans
No one can accuse me of going soft on the Pens coaches or management. I’ve been critical of Bylsma for three years and harping on and on about Shero’s lack of draft/development success.
Heck, I’ve ripped on Crosby yesterday for trying to give the lame excuse about their work ethic being the problem the last two games.
yeah Eric, but you don’t talk about it every 30 minutes lol
Well, Bylsma is quite possibly at that point with me.
I have zero confidence in him to make the necessary adjustments to tighten up the breakouts.
There is Pirate blog , Bucco Blog–Rob Biertempfel does it but it not updated every day
Nobody ever post on it either. Pirate fans prefer to post on Dejan’s blog. Must be because RB doesn’t respond to posts.
My opinion is that a lot of Pirate fans post here because it was talking about the Pirates over at the PG with DK that brought us together in the first place. Probably has little to nothing to do with RB.
AW
If Dejan stopped interacting with posters, then the comment section would dry up here. No one posts on any of the other Trib sports blogs.
I agree with you, AW. Wonder how DK will adapt in April. I’m sure he gets tired of Pirate talk and he loves hockey, but the time will come when it will be Bucco heavy on here even without Drew, you, Biz and myself. Hope he doesn’t “shun” us like the Amish.
I believe you are correct AW. But there is also a 24/7 component. I’m an avid Penguin and Steeler fan, but I can talk baseball at any time in any season!
Stuart
I think Arriba nailed it with post number…um…
The Bucco Blog is lucky if it gets updated once every 2 weeks.
Like +1
Like +2
I think there should be a general sport blog area everyday. And we can post whatever topic we would like. With the new format we can post Pirates and reply off of it
You should have your Pepperidge Farm logo as your avatar. Or a picture of your truck.
I won’t have my pitchfork out, but I WILL be upset if they lose because of undisciplined play. This team shouldn’t be having the struggles it is having.
They’ve lacked discipline and composure but when your system on breakouts is predicated on long passes from your defensive zone through the neutral zone to the opposing blue line and tipped into the corners for a race to the puck, it leaves a lot to be desired.
Obviously they are being exploited.
Gotta go get some stuff done..maybe catch you all later guys
So how do I upload a nifty profile pic? Such is my technical prowess, that if it can’t be done by thwacking my thumb with a hammer, I need support.
Officer-I, as some others here, went to a site called gravatar.com to set our avatars. Just follow the instructions at that site. If I can do it, anybody can.!
Upload at gravatar
https://en.gravatar.com/
will take a few minutes to show up
Thanks for info
Pretty good game between the Celtics and Heat going on. One minute left in OT.
Double OT
Rondo not playing?
Torn ACL. Just diagnosed.
A shame.
Wonder where their O will come from. Both direct (his) and indirect (created)
Maybe nowhere.
Good question. Terry will probably see increased minutes.
I’m sure you are correct in the immediate future, 21. It could also give them cover to expand their rotation and learn some things with the “gift” of lowered expectations. And if it goes as I suspect, there’s an opportunity to trade parts to contenders for longer term rather than immediate needs.
Why are you talking basketball, Drew? This is a hockey thread.
Any news on the Pirates?
It’s a deficiency, Spunk.
For those on the edge of their iPhones, Celts won 100-98.
Now that that’s over, you can ready yourself for the Pro Bowl. Get the food ready for your Pro Bowl party.
I like the NFC lucky. Here are my keys to the game.
1. Don’t turn the ball over.
2. Get turnovers.
3. Control the line of scrimmage.
4. Don’t let the AFC control the line of scrimmage.
5. Reduce Engelland’s minutes.
Right, 21. Keep the score under 50 and you’ll win. You left that one out.
Bylsma – All five guys sounds nice, let’s see if that still includes long stretch passes.
I have a question for DK. Was that “random gorgeous girl” on your insta-gram the famous Dali K.? Looks like her if it wasn’t.
I had to click on it. You usually don’t drool over women in all your city tours. Made for some curiosity on my part.
DK: Yes, that’s her. She flew up to Ottawa to join me here for the weekend. She’d never been, and she’d heard me glow about it for a long time.
Nice of Alan Thicke to join us.
I’ll never forget. The only time I ever went to a parade downtown was St. Patrick’s day about 15 years ago. Alan Thicke was the Grand Marshall. Hiw exciting.
What was he wearing, 21?
T shirt and sportcoat.
I can’t remember anything from the last time I went to that parade
isnt that parade in the morning, Thunder?
I’m certainly glad she doesn’t have your fashion sense. My wife saw it and said she looked fabulous.
She has weather sense, too, John. DK glows about Winnipeg more, but Dali had the good sense to go to Ottawa, where it’s only -5.
Alfredsson out, he’s sick. That’s good for the Penguins
Glass and Jeffrey both out on the ice during warmups.
Washington Capitals, like their baseball counterparts, have the worse broadcasters in the league. Can not wait to turn it to the Pens/Sens game.
Scratches:
PIT: Jeffrey, Bortuzzo and Despres
OTT: Alfredsson, Wiercioch
Good job by Rossi on the pregame show
If you don’t see your current residence, please post and sign in
We need this one tonight
Dejan’s Lunatic Nation – at the Trib,
Arizona – Tucson, Chandler, Phoenix, Sunnyslope
Arkansas – Rogers
Austrailia – Mackay
California – Bakersfield, San Francisco, UNION CITY, Los Angeles, Newport Beach, Hollywood, Huntington Beach, Yuba City, Solana Beach, Yorba Linda, Yuba City*, Edwards, Long Beach, Modesto, Davis
Canada – Toronto, Winnipeg, Moncton – New Brunswick
China – Beijing
Colorado – Ft Collins, Estes Park*, Denver, Boulder, Colorado Springs
Connecticut – Cos Cob, Bridgeport, Wallingford, Norwalk, NEWTOWN
Costa Rica
Czech Republic
Delaware – Newark
Denmark – Greenland – Thule*
District of Columbia
Florida – Palm Harbor, Orlando, Valrico, Gainesville, Daytona Beach, Oviedo, Tampa, Jacksonville, Sarasota, Palm Beach Gardens, Cape Coral, Coco Beach (Major Nelson and Mary Ann), Niceville (Red Neck Rivera), St Petersburg, Pembroke Pines, Ft Lauderdale, Palm Beach Gardens
Georgia – Marietta, Atlanta, Sandy Springs, Acworth
Germany – Leverkusen/Cologne
Hawaii – Honolulu
Idaho – Mountain Home, Coer d’Aline, Mountain Home AFB*
Indiana – Indianapolis, Burns Harbor, South Bend, Bicknell, Ft Wayne
Iowa – Bettendorf, Humboldt
Illinois – La Salle, Peru, Payson, Chicago, Palatine (3 inmates there), Lincoln Park, Grayslake, Algonquin
Japan – Tokyo
Kentucky – Louisville, Bowling Green, Lexington
Louisiana – Slidell
Maine – Bangor
Maryland – Arnold, Odenton, Severn, Baltimore, Waldorf, Hagerstown, Chevy Chase
Massachusetts – Boston
Michigan – Kalamazoo, Eaton Rapids, Lansing, Ann Arbor
Mississippi – Biloxi
Missouri – St Peters***
Montana
Nebraska – Omaha
New Hampshire – Barrington
New Jersey – Chesterfield, Princeton, Roxbury, Lebanon, Lincoln Park, Berkeley Heights, Somerville, Hammock, Barrington, Delran, Pennsville
New Mexico – Mike
New York – New York, Smithtown, Manhattan, Long Island, Nyack
Nevada, Las Vegas
North Carolina – Asheville, Hickory, Charlotte, Raleigh, Charleston, Wilmington, Chapel Hill, High Point
North Dakota
Ohio – Cincinnati, Columbiana, Westerville, Green, Hilliard, Toledo, Louisville, Columbus, Perrysburg, Pickerington, Youngstown, Cleveland, Olmsted Township, Liberty Township, Warren, Oregon, Wintersville, Austintown, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base*, New Philadelphia, Powell, Canton, Salem, New Albany, Bloomingdale
Ontario – Muskoka
Pennsylvania – Downtown, Hopewell, Indiana, North Wales, Franklin Park, Forest Hills, Lansdale, Philadelphia, Du Bois, Reading, Crafton, Arnold, Wexford, Mt Lebanon, Canonsburg, Lancaster, Huntington, York, Boiling Springs, Philly suburbs, Morningside, Harrisburg, Lawrenceville, Bradfordwoods, Norristown, Hanover, Clearfield, Sewickley, DuBois, Plum Boro, Slippery Rock, Wilks-Barre, Sharpsville, Bessemer, Greensburg, Washington, Imperial, South Side, Duncansville, Newville, Sheppton, Grove City, Butler, Allentown, Ross Township, Blairsville, Flood City (Johnstown), Overbrook, Danny’s Hoagies, Baldwin, Economy, Sharpsville, Erie, North Huntington, Bellfonte, West Mifflin, Kennywood, Pleasant Hills, Beechview (Mad Turk, No 200), Macgunie, Mechanicsburg, Uptown, Cambria County, Mon Valley, Salisbury, Coraopolis, Emsworth, Cranberry Twp, Garrett, O’Hara Township, McCandless Township, 115 Federal Street, Bethel Park, Harrison City, Penn Hills, Kittanning, Dover, Lebanon, Upper St Clair, Rennerdale, Oakland, Scranton, Moon (RMU), State College, Erie, Penn Twp, Stowe, Elizabeth, Hermitage, Easton, Carlisle, Finleyville, Belle Vernon, Madison, Sellersville
The Philipines
Rhode Island
Singapore
South Carolina – Duncan, Longs, Columbia, Bluffton, Greensville
South Korea – Seoul, Mike
Sweden
Tennessee – Smithville, Nashville
Texas – Tyler, San Antonio, Belton, Houston, Katy, Plano
Utah – Salt Lake City, Provo
Vermont – North Bennington
Virginia – JAL, Hampton, Rescue, Richmond, Front Royal, Woodbridge, Suffolk, Warrenton, Springfield, Virginia Beach, Fairfax, Arlington, Yorktown, Henrico, Aldie, Manassas, Newport News
Washington – Seattle, Nine Mile Falls, Spokane, Sammamish
West Virginia – Martinsburg, Morgantown, Wheeling, Mt Olivet
Wisconsin – Madison, Oshkosh, Hortonville
Wyoming – Caspar, Lander
301 locations represented in the blog,
Honorary members
Beano
Lemonaid Guy
The Gunner
Mr Roberto Clemente
Mike Lange
13 countries
43 states, plus the District of Columbia
Two planets, at least confirmed
Honorable mention, England – London – Lisa
Asterisks denote confirmed hero’s, military, police officers or firemen/ladies
1/27/2013 5:12 PM
add Waynesburg, PA. I’ve defected from the PG.
DK: Glad you’re reading us. Thanks!
Penguins have 3 breakouts where the center stayed back and helped lead the rush, I counted 4 other times the defensemen were just in front of or behind the defensive blue line and passed the puck up the ice to a forward standing at the opposing blue line, to just simply tip the puck into the zone.
Those tip in plays kill puck possession and is one of the main sources of the bad turnovers.
Spezza went into box for hooking, Penguins first unit was terrible.
Mike Yeo isn’t around to blame anymore.
James Neal!!!
walk out of room for a minute, of course Neal scores.
1-0 Pens
Pens have 7 turnovers in first period
They have been here before, up after 1
Lets hope they have learned sumptin
Second period has been the problem in the first four games, outscored 6-1 if I recall correctly.
Niskanen and Letang had good first period.
Penguins PP had 6 minutes, produced 4 shots on goal and 1 scary SH chance for Condra saved by Letang and Fleury.
Decent first period, but been here before.
DK: Exactly.
That said, they’ve been generally smarter.
Hello friend!!!
Hello Eric. On top of things as always, I see.
Test
We saw Lincoln today
Loved it, except for the ending
That was an EXCELLENT film. The dialogue and cast were just superb.
I got to agree with you about the ending though. It was as predictable as it gets. I thought that they would have revamped the story since I first learned about it in the third grade.
Can’t change the ending on that one, Biz. Not like Lord of the Rings.
Well, they changed the story in that one movie where he hunted vampires. I’m suprised that Daniel Day-Lewis didn’t star in that one too.
He could have. He really looked the part.
I’ve always been a football guy. But now at 60 years old I realize there is nothing like the intensity that hockey brings. It is a brutal and honorable sport. Simply fantasitc.
Great save byAnderson. A team will always remain in a game with that type of goal tending.
Look at the eye on Engelland.
Tomorrow he could walk through town with a suit and tie and everyone would know he’s a hockey player.
Just when I thought that turnover on the line change wasn’t going to hurt us.
1-1.
Bad line change costs Pens a goal. 1-1
The amount of turnovers we gave away is a common theme to this game.
13 turnovers so far….
teams averaged 7 per game against Sens
Another bad decision by Malkin turns into a goal against.
Keep it simple stupid… apparently, that message didn’t get through. Not that many do anymore for Bylsma. There’s a reason why no Penguins coach has started and ended four seasons in a row.
What’s WRONG with Malkin?? He’s been dreadful!
I don’t know but it is a concern.
Pens played solid (for them) until the goal. Now we find out if they are fragile. Ok Eric, is Arrey right – no Niskanen?
yeah, I think he has an injured leg.
After period is over, going to check the tape
And he was playing solid.
yeah, he’s been skating well, in good position…
NHL GameCenter has a live scoreboard above the game video. It refreshed at :38 seconds remaining in the period—but there was 1:18 left in the period on the ‘live’ video stream.
Just watched replay, Niskanen was tripped by Michalek and went hard into boards with his knee. Hasn’t played a shift since and was in obvious pain hoping around….
DK: Which knee, Eric?
Thanks Eric. So the big question is how long will he be out. And from what I’ve seen, the nature of injuries are the biggest kept secret in hockey.
Dejan, it looked like the right knee took the brunt of the fall into boards
Here is one small reason why Kathy and I have remained married for 41 years. She doesn’t give much thought to hockey. A turnip or a puck makes no difference to her. But she comes down into the man cave and tells me she is purchasing NHL Center Ice so I can watch (agonize) through the rest of the Pens season. She is a a keeper, for sure.
Yeah, always great to find someone who gets ‘it’.
Why does bylsma hate lovejoy?
he’s just not very good.
He’s not THAT bad. When down to 5 d-men and you still can’t see the ice that’s just down right obsurd. He wants to dress Despres and is being told by Shero to give the spot to Lovejoy. Bylsma LOVES Despres. But it appears he is the only one. There is no other explanation to have Lovejoy in uniform every night and not on the ice at all. I thought he played well against the Jets.
The Pens were a lot better defensively tonight and through the neutral zone. No stretch passes.
Wow Thank you for the whistle!
“Return questionable.” No kidding.
The quality of the broadcast by Root Sports has been bad this year…
A few cracks in the Pens defense and Fluery covers.
An inch inside and Geno puts the Pens ahead.
Kunitz… is a passenger right now.
Better performance for the Pens defensively. But inside a minute and Karlsson firing pucks at will.
defensively better, puck mgmt was still concern with 19 turnovers
Real nice speed by Neal to score 1-0 in shootout
2nd round, Spezza scores…
sweet backhand by Crosby
AwesomE!
HUGE win tonight!
big 2 points on the road
Why can’t they put puck in net in regulation??
So talented, they try to make things look cute instead of just executing the play that is there.
And Malkin just flew into zone and unleashed a wicked backhand… Pens win 2-1.
3 Stars
#3 – Malkin
#2 – Martin
#1 – Fleury
those are my 3
Nice.
Whew!
Faceoffs
Crosby 16/31 – that’s a ton of draws
Sutter 9/13 – much better tonight
Good game going on in New York.
Hawks, 25-18, at Knicks, 26-15.
Back and forth action and lead changes. 72-70 NY with 3 minutes left in the third. Carmelo Anthony with 30.
Knicks had me interested for a minute last year with Jeremy Lin… cannot stand the thug, otherwise known as Carmelo Anthony.
Felton is a better fit for them. Doesn’t score as much, but he is an underappreciated, all around PG. Assists, much better D than Lin.
NY is a deep team. They go 8-9 deep with guys who can score at least a little, a star at the top of the lineup, and solid D at the center and point guard spot. Deep, fairly talented and good all around. Much better chemistry than last year. And much, much, much better coaching than last year since they dumped their problem on the Lakers.
If this continues I will petition the powers that be to shut this thing down
yeah really, NBA discussion is against the rules.
Can’t we at least stick to college kids who are playing for ‘free’?
well. most of them are.
I guess it is better than soccer. Not by much
I’ll watch EPL soccer over the NBA…. just not a fan of the NBA.
Wow, lucky to get the win on that one. Someone has to whack Malkin upside the head after every giveaway…then he’ll quit. At least he made up for it with that beauty of a SO goal
Agreed on the giveaway. I thought Neal and Malkin had a good game, if you take away Malkin’s really bad no-man’s pass that ended up behind Fleury.
You know, I’m sure Mother Teresa was a wonderful person, a great humanitarian and a saint J-girl, but I sincerely hope you don’t look like her. (I’m sure you don’t)
Jandy makes her look GOOOODDDDDD
you two are killin me…and no, SPunky, I sure don’t look like her. I’m not a Saint
Yes you are. You enjoy being around us. That makes you one. Thank God you don’t look like her. She was in her 80′s when she died, anyway, right?
LOL Spunky, thanks, I think. Yes she was old as dirt when she died. God bless her.
anything new on Niskie?
team calling it a lower body injury, from the video, sure looked like a leg injury of some sort.
After game, Bylsma said Niskanen would be re-evaluated in Pittsburgh tomorrow.
Thanks, Eric. I guess we’ll have to wait until tomorrow to hear more.Niskie has been very dependable on his end…sure hope it’s not too bad
Opportunity for Despres to play with Letang
might be good for Depres
If he’s out for any length of time, probably means the end of those Despres trade rumors.
The #7 minor league first base prospect is Alex Dickerson. He is in the Pirates’ system
It has not yet been proven that if he didn’t go through tha Navy Seals training he would have been #9
Is Dickerson going to start the season in AA?
Glad to see that. A pure 1st baseman compared to a 1B/OF.
Knicks squeek by the Hawks, 106-104. That bum Carmelo Anthony plays 44 minutes and scores 42 on 15-28 shooting. Felton has his typical all around solid game. Five for 9 shooting for 12 points, 10 assists, 4 rebounds, playing 38 minutes.
Atlanta played a solid game, especially on the road in a tough environment. Typical for the Hawks, 5 players in double figures.
Thunder, would you like a player by player stat breakdown?
If the Knicks can keep Stoudemire happy coming of the bench, that could be deadly. And provide a better chance for him to stay healthy.
He played 29 minutes as their sixth man, scored 18 on 6 of 9 shooting. Threw himself around, too, snagging 8 rebounds and picking up 4 personal fouls in limited minutes. That’s pretty intense. And when he’s going up against the competition’s second team, he should be, well, deadly.
Just ask Thunder.
Thunder?
Thunder?
Thunder?
No team had a decent training camp. Why do the Pens seem to be behind every other team in looking “ready?”
I’ve seen every team play this season, Pens are in the middle of the pack right now in terms of their play on the ice. Much of that is due to the loose system Bylsma has where his limited demands hurt this team.
There are some teams who are just locked into their systems already, limiting the creative stuff and playing simple straight ahead hockey. This 48-game schedule is going to benefit teams that have no issue with boring hockey.
Yeah….A win is a win.
Icy..
Anybody want a Pro Bowl update?
No?
Me neither.
Talk about going through the motions. They make the hockey all-star game look like a playoff game. About as much defense.
Why no separate thread for the Pro Bowl?
Hearing rumors about Devin Setoguchi for Despres. Setoguchi is not the answer. Pens need a leader.