I was going to post this after the Devils game, before I heard the Neal news and the extent of Staal's injury. It almost seems unimportant in light of the bigger issues we're about to deal with, but in some ways these issues are going to take center stage now without those guys to lean on.

I'm no bridge-jumper, so I'll remain cautiously optimistic as with last year that the Pens will somehow find ways to win. Lately they haven't been, and it's easy to point a finger at the injuries, which are certainly a contributing factor. But the injuries mask other issues as well. These Pens, including the healthy ones, don't look like the Pens of a couple years ago, or even last December. In the later days of Therrien and the early days of Bylsma, the Pens played with determination, but also with skill. Highlight reels featured Pens goals. Passing plays like the Devils executed the other night were fairly regular. Remember the Kennedy goal in game 3 of the 09 Finals? Now, some of that magic is gone, even among players who are capable of it. But without grasping at old intangibles, let's look at some things the Pens are dealing with right now. These are hard areas to fill with a trade because they're systemic, but it may not be Bylsma's fault either.

1) Missing nets - It all comes down to execution for the Pens, as we know, and many of their best opportunities are shot wide or fanned on, or they don't have the strength to get to pucks. The amount of times Malkin alone has missed the net is staggering. It's not just him though. Relating to this is accuracy. The Pens throw pucks at the net, but only Neal really seems to be able to pick a spot. Everyone else shoots and hopes.

2) Sloppy D coverage - Martin was an easy whipping boy back in October and November, but given his improved play before his injury, and his absence in December, it's easy to see it's not just him. Even the injuries on the back end don't quite explain it, because it's just as often Orpik messing up as it is Sneep or Despres. The problem isn't with the defensemen individually but with the five-man D coverage. Last year the Pens suffocated their opponents and never let them get good shots on net. Recently, the Pens have done a good job of limiting shots by holding offensive zone time, but there are too many costly breakdowns that result in opportunistic goals for the other team [incidentally, another Pens problem is that they don't cash in on their own opportunities often enough]. The Rangers blocked shots left and right, they collapsed 5 men deep, they hounded the puck. The Pens seem content with passive positioning, but it hasn't been working. Gotta stop letting the forwards wait for the D to do the work and pass to them at the blue line.

3) Forcing plays/bad passing/general sloppiness - They've done a good job in the last few games of holding offensive zone time, but it hasn't often been dominant offensive zone time. The cycle hasn't looked threatening, for one. Passing has been a huge problem too. There was a shift in the last game where there were about 4 or 5 bad passes in a row that kept forcing them further back into their own zone despite the other team changing and applying no pressure. Passes have not been on the tape. It gets worse in the offensive zone, where the passes are poorly thought out, not looking for the open man. I start to wish the Pens would watch the Flyers and Rangers more, who seem to know what to do to create and then cash in on opportunities. The Pens also rely on crisp passing for their transition game, on which their offense thrives. This, unfortunately, does come back to injury. Nobody was better than Letang on this. But the other D have also been touted for their puck moving/transition skills, and it hasn't been as evident this year. I haven't liked us through the neutral zone at all.

4) Bad line combos - This one is debatable for sure, but Bylsma has been reminding me a bit more of last year's playoffs where he refused to adapt his lines when they weren't making sense. Initially I liked the 14-17-18 combo a lot. It worked well for a couple weeks. But then it didn't for at least 6 or 7 games. Kunitz and Neal wanted to be in the same place at the same time and kept getting in each other's way. Instead of reuniting Kuni and Dupuis and giving some more punch to that line, and instead of reuniting the lethal 26-71-18 line, Bylsma did nonsensical things like put Adams with Dupuis while Sullivan was left on the third line. Now with the injuries, more difficult decisions have to be made, and I'm glad I'm not HCDB, but I will be very disappointed if Tangradi isn't given a shot with Malkin or Dupuis. There's no real excuses about lack of scoring wing openings for him. He plays a similar game to Neal. Either slot him in that spot, or let him play 2nd line, but if they call him up, play him on the 4th line, and put Adams or Cooke or Vitale in a scoring line role, there's something seriously wrong there. Nothing to lose at this point, let's see if Big Dog is worth the hype by giving him the NHL minutes he needs to grow. If he's not worth it, at least we'll know and maybe we can get something for him at the deadline.

It's obviously not as simple as all that, but those have been my observations over the last few weeks. There's any number of other factors to bring in as well, but I don't want to dump on the team too hard, especially given the tremendous odds they have to face. I'll stick with these guys to the end, but even decimated I know they have more in them. Time to get back to the disciplined, structured play from last year, and maybe when we start getting healthy the highlight-reel skill plays will start to come back.

I think by now we've all resigned ourselves to the possibility that Sidney Crosby will not be available when the Pens start the ice against the Vancouver Canucks in October.  While he very well may be ready then, he might not be ready till November, December, or whenever.  That's a fact of life we've all learned to live with, and I think we're all prepared to deal with it as long as he gets better eventually, which his doctors have assured us he will.

So that said, you can only play with who you have, so let's see who exactly that is.  Fortunately for Pens fans, it's quite a lot.  Because of excellent drafting and Shero's mind-control trading and signing powers, even without the best player in the world, the Pens still have the kind of roster that can strike fear into just about any team and could be considered legitimate contenders for the Cup.  Here's my projected lineup:

Neal - Malkin - Sullivan

Kunitz - Staal - Kennedy

Cooke - Letestu - Jeffrey

Asham - Adams - Dupuis

First of all, how solid is that 4th line? Especially when it doesn't even include possible strong training camps from McIntyre, Williams, Tangradi, or Vitale.  Most 4th lines are a liability, but those are guys who keep the puck in the opposing zone, are strong defensively, and are more than capable of chipping in goals (Dupuis - 18 last year, and Asham 3 goals in the first round).  The first line can stack up against just about anyone, with a former Art Ross and Conn Smythe winner alongside two guys who will score at least 20, and in Neal's case possibility 30, goals.  Staal's line is also legitimate, as the massive center should be a beast this year after starting the year healthy, and Kunitz and Kennedy each had 20 goals last year.  We all know Letestu's prowess as a 3rd line center, and Jeffrey and Cooke can score and play good defense.  Obviously defense and goaltending are never a worry as long as everyone is healthy.

Basically, it's time to stop worrying about Sid being there on opening night.  If this were the playoffs, it might be a different story, but even if Sid misses the first half of the year (God forbid), Pens fans need not worry.  When Crosby returns, healthy, he will dominate the league once more and turn an already formidable lineup into quite possibly the best in the league.

Go Pens.

Unlike Andy Sutton, I'm not an expert, so I have no qualifications to speak on the long-term effects of concussions, but the thing that worries me most about Sid's concussion is not how long he'll be out (which is bad enough, as he was having a year like nobody has had in almost 20 years), but how he'll be when he comes back.  Fortunately, they say it's a "mild" concussion, but my observations of players coming back from concussions is that they often tend to be shadows of their former selves.

Marc Savard has been extremely ineffective this season, David Booth is not who he once was, Lindros went from star to Star (see what I did there?) and out of the league before his time.  Keith Primeau was forced into retirement by a concussion.  It took Erik Cole a long time to get back into the swing of things.  The examples go on and on of players who have had concussions and never been quite the same, or at least took a while to get back there.

Granted this is anecdotal evidence, but it's enough to make me worry.  Let's hope and pray that Crosby is Crosby again at least by April.

With the absolutely astonishing and unprecedented coverage we've been treated to for two weeks now by HBO's 24/7 special, it just feels greedy to ask for more, especially since I can't think of too much I'd cut out of what they've shown so far.  Nevertheless, most likely everyone has that thing that they've been hoping to see about either team on the show that may not have been covered yet.  Here's my list of a few things I'd like to see on the Pens' end:

1) More candid player conversations.  Every time they do this, it's a home run.  Let's see more team dinners or players milling around before or after games.  I want to know who and what they talk about.  Are they chirping on current hockey events around the league?  Complaining about someone on the team or on another team?  Lamenting their own mistakes or bragging about accomplishments?  Getting involved in events outside the world of hockey?  Let's hear what's going on in their heads.

2) More Malkin sound bytes.  The guy is absolutely one of the funniest Penguins and should have a little more exposure.

3)  More secrets revealed.  By this I mean, let's have HBO disclose all the things that are "undisclosed" by the Pens.  Like what's really going on with Staal?  The team's keeping mum publicly but HBO has no such obligation.  If something went wrong they should say so.  And details please.

4) More coverage of bench and in-game dialogue (although what they've done has been great).  What are the players saying before and after plays? 

5) Footage of Ovie being a jerk.  Shouldn't be hard to find. 

6) An indication that Orpik, Kunitz, Martin, Z, Gogo, Conner, and Asham are on the team.  Several of those guys are real characters, and should be shown more often, especially Orpik.  Let's get more Tanger and Flower too.

Anyway I know this sounds demanding, and if none of these things happen, I'll still be thrilled by what we did see.  HBO has confirmed everything I ever thought about the Pens organization, that it is class from top to bottom, and the locker room is tight and nobody gets too down after a loss.  They simply know what they're doing in there.  Can't say the same for the Caps.  Still, if they release some of the unaired footage, I will pay almost any price to see it.  The stuff is brilliant and each episode really should be longer to really capture how awesome the sport is.

Pens rock.  Caps suck.  Bring it.

It's 15 games into the season and Fleury still hasn't rebounded from a shaky start (or a shaky end to last year) and it has become the focus of the Penguins' young season so far, and rightfully so.  A franchise goalie, a Cup-winning goalie at that, with an impressive resumé of big time saves, of clutch performances, and with an incredible history of bouncing back from tough outings has seemingly failed every test this season and continues a slump which has seen his self-confidence and the coach's confidence in him plummet faster than his numbers.

One could argue that Bylsma's sporadic method of playing him and lack of patience (as Crosby's argues) has not helped his cause, and I would agree, but this post isn't about that.  This post is about something which I see as being a more fundamental problem.  The goalie coach.  Not being a goalie himself, Byslma can be excused for not knowing how to get into the head of a goalie, so the main responsibility for coaching Fleury out of his slump falls on the shoulders of Meloche.  Yet I have not heard his name mentioned once this season in conjunction with Flower's struggles. 

To put in perspective the importance of a goalie coach, just ask the Flyers how much better their mid-range talent goaltending got once they hired Jeff Reese as goalie coach.  The fundamentals of their goaltenders' games improved dramatically and so did Philly's record.  Some things a goalie does can be coached one way or another, and some can't.  Talent, athleticism, flexibility, vision -- these are all things a coach has minimal effect on.  But Fleury has all these qualities in abundance.  What are his primary flaws (besides confidence - which, incidentally, a good goalie coach would likely be able to help with as well) right now, and throughout his career?  Positioning, rebound control, playing the puck, conservation of movement.  These are all things that a good coach can fix in very little time, yet Meloche has had a great deal of time to work with Fleury on these issues, which are not new.  I have a hard time believing Fleury is  a poor student of the game, or that he can't be taught.  It seems more likely that he has a bad teacher.  In the last few years I have seen very few examples of areas in which Meloche has worked with Fleury that Fleury managed to improve dramatically.  At various times, he improved his rebound control and conservation of movement, but never by enough, and never consistently.  Much of the lessons he has learned seem to have come from more experienced goalies like Ty Conklin, from whom Fleury learned to play the puck less abysmally.  Bylsma has recently implied shoddy practice habits on Fleury's part as well, which can be eradicated by a good goalie coach.  

The Penguins' mediocre start is not only on the goaltending - injuries (particularly to Staal, with whom Cups are won), and another underachieving superstar have played a huge role in it.  But the Penguins have always gone as far as Fleury will take them.  Bridge jumpers have pointed fingers at Bylsma for being unable to correct his team's fundamental problems and get a consistent effort or systematic structure from them on a nightly basis; at Malkin for his paltry 4 goals; at Comrie for being invisible; at Shero for not trading for a solid winger or two, but lost in this shuffle is one member of the coaching staff who has never proven his abilities in the same way Bylsma, Malkin, and Shero have: Gilles Meloche.  Is it time for a change?

Let me preface this by saying that I am a Penguins fan who has always lived in Flyers territory.  My dad has always been a Flyers fan, so I don't know how I ended up a Pens fan at age 6, but I'm certainly not complaining.  But, as you might imagine, growing up in hostile territory hasn't always been easy, especially since I've never really known any other Pens fans here personally.  The last few years have been great because I've been able to gloat for once.  That said, I've had probably more reason to hate the Flyers than most, and I've done so as much as possible without hurting my family's feelings (too much) over the years.  I've never seen a Pens game in Pittsburgh, as a 6-7 hour drive is a bit much for a guy without a car, and without enough money to spend on gas and a hotel (all my money goes to college...).  I've seen several in Philly though, so I'm no stranger to the Wachovia Center. 

Friday night, however, I went with my dad to the Wachovia Center to watch the historic game 7 against the Bruins on the Jumbotron (free admission and parking, why not?).  I was torn obviously about even wanting to go (who to root for??) but the chance to see history was too much to pass up.  And honestly, I gotta say, I was pretty impressed with what the Flyers had done to come back that far.  Then I got there and I remembered why I hate Flyers fans so much. 

But in the end, when they pulled off that amazing comeback I had to stand up and applaud with the rest of the neanderthals.  It takes a lot of guts and passion to do what they did, something the Pens just didn't have.  They battled through injuries, they had folk heroes, they had amazing comebacks, they had heart, and they had belief in themselves.  All the things, in short, that we had last year, and what I now realize were missing this year.  The only player who could be considered a kind of folk hero would be Staal with his courageous return, but the one big comeback against Ottawa didn't even feel as special as last year. 

On the other hand, there is now something more heartbreaking than being a Pens fan right now.  Being a Bruin's fan.  Talk about being on the wrong side of history.  But I digress.  After the jump, pictures and analysis of the lion's den.

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So every time we go into the shootout, I hear people complaining about it as a "gimmick," yet across the league it is one of the most popular products of the lockout.  I'm sort of curious what everybody's true feelings are on the shootout.

My opinion is that it was a very good addition to the game.  Everyone always loved penalty shots, and international play always had shootouts, so the interest was definitely there.  It also provides some resolution to hockey games.  There was nothing more unsatisfying than watching a tie.  Somehow it felt like you wasted your time.  Now, there's definitely a winner.  Perhaps the number of shooters should be adjusted, or the points awarded (although 3 point games were a product of the OT loss, not the shootouts), but I have no problem with it the way it stands.

So thus far the Penguins look pretty decent, going 3-1 in their first four games, seemingly picking up where they left off last year.  The defense hasn't shown any huge breakdowns yet, and the penalty killing simply needs to mesh better.  Crosby and Malkin's relatively slow starts surely are aberrations and it won't be long until they start challenging Ovechkin for league lead in points again.  Yet there is something wrong, something obvious, something that everybody knows but nobody wants to address.  The answer after the jump.

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