Islanders 4, Pens 1: GRIPES

This jersey that I spotted at the game last night just about sums up my feelings.  It was a brutal loss that brought the boo-birds out in our second home game.  The forecheck yet again was nonexistent, we saw dozens of lazy passes, and the power play . . . LORD the power play.  The first unit couldn't generate anything - no open looks, no unexpected passes, no sustained possession - aside from a whole mess of supergreat SHOOOOOOOOT cheers from the fans (spoiler alert, when they did shoooooooot, it got blocked).  The second unit features Tyler Kennedy as the primary playmaker, so you go ahead and guess how that turned out.

The Penguins' woes with the man-advantage were exacerbated by the Islanders' own power play, which basically set up a couch, a coffee table, and a couple of Barcaloungers in the Pens' zone and made themselves at home.  The Penguins penalty kill, ever the gracious host, welcomed them in with open arms and stationary legs.  And this:

That's John Tavares in the circle, by far the Islanders' most dangerous scorer.  Somehow, he was open for this shot at least three times over the course of two second-period power plays, both of which resulted in goals.  And when I say open, I mean, there isn't a Penguin on his side of the ice.  And I used my Photoshop diagramming skills to illustrate that he had approximately 85% of the net to shoot at.  In this case, Tavares chose to rocket a one-timer directly at Marc-Andre Fleury's face, and Fleury ducked the hell out the way.

Apparently the boos that rained down as the Penguins steadfastly refused to take advantage of a five-minute major penalty to Colin MacDonald (who was handed a two game suspension today) did not fall on deaf ears.  Word out of Penguins practice today is that Byslma will be moving Malkin to the point and shifting Neal down low, which is all well and good except for the fact that it takes our best scorer (Malkin) away from his favorite spot (on the right half-boards).  I guess we'll have to hope that Malkin will be able to create space at the point and eventually fade toward his spot, and that we won't just give up infinite short-handed goals.

Problematizing things even further is the fact that Matt Niskanen is out for 2-4 weeks with a "lower body injury," eliminating one of our top offensive defensemen from the power play discussion.  While I'm on it, the whole vague, cheeky "lower/upper body injury" thing is truly frustrating.  The fans would like to know what is actually ailing injured players, but coaches find it strategically beneficial to give out the bare minimum, only disclosing where the injury occured vis-a-vis some imaginary bodily equator.  Why?  Because if they said "so-and-so has a fractured ankle," they fear that opposing players will target those areas.  In which case, what is wrong with us?  Don't get me wrong, I love hockey, but when coaches have to withhold information for fear that other players will use that information to willfully reinjure another human being?  Yikes.

Perhaps the most worrisome thing to take from the Islanders game is the Penguins' inability to bounce back.  After struggling to find a rhythm and falling behind, the game quickly devolved into "Geno or Sid need to save the team, let's have them try to bust into the zone 1-on-2 and do something magical."  Sure, sometimes they are going to do something magical and score an unbelievable goal, but the majority of the time the puck is going to drift harmlessly into the corner boards, and the Pens wingers won't be close enough to put pressure on the opposing defense.  The flip side of Sid and Geno putting the scoring burden on their own shoulders is the feeling that, if those two can't create a goal, no one will.  That's what we call in the blogging world a self-fulfilling prophecy.  We need to go back to generating scoring by attrition, by sending forecheckers in waves and wearing down the opposition.  Until that happens, we're a two-headed monster without a leg to stand on.

Anyway, long story short, this game sucked.  The Penguins have a lot to work on, and Pens fans will just have to keep on hoping that this is all due to "lockout rust," as opposed to "systemic flaws in the make up of the team."

A few bright spots from last night: Dustin Jeffrey, who my girlfriend's dad told me played really well in Croatia (above), was finally active, and got a lot of run on the wing with Malkin and Neal.  He's going to get the chance to stick on that line, especially if he keeps playing like he did last night.  He made a lot of solid plays, and no jaw-droppingly bad plays (which can't be said about, for instance, Malkin and Crosby), and overall looked good - ZAGREB good.

Kris Letang was the team's most dynamic player.  He looks good.  This is an ongoing theme.

I - and the rest of the ticketholders who stuck around for the final horn - appreciated the urgency the Penguins showed to spoil Nabokov's shutout.  Dupuis' put back was a hollow goal par excellence, but it was nice to cheer for something.  This is what we've been reduced to.

Chasedowns and Shootouts: Pens Win in Ottawa

Notes from a 2-1 (SO) win over the Sens lat night, that I found oddly watchable:

• The Penguins played a strong defensive game here, which was nice to see.  They blocked a Rangers-esque 24 shots, with Orpik absorbing 9 of those pucks.  He and Martin played a nearly flawless game, shutting down Spezza (who should terrify any Pens fan who has watched these teams play) and company.  It is great to watch Martin win over the fans again, or as it's better known, "pulling a Gonchar."


• The three best plays of this game came from our back end, where Letang, Martin, and Engelland (listed in order of least to most surprising) each made beautiful chasedown efforts to short-circuit possible breakaways.  These plays take persistence, patience, and timing to pull off without drawing a penalty, and in all three cases, that's what happened.

 

• Letang's play was particulary impressive.  Neal got caught pinching on the power play, and a clearing lob sprang Erik Condra on a breakaway.  He had a couple of strides on Letang, but I don't think there was doubt in any of our minds that Letang would catch him, and that confidence is what makes Letang such a strong point man.  But the manner in which he disarmed Condra is what makes Letang a Norris Trophy candidate.  Let's break it down: when the puck is cleared, Letang and Condra seem to be converging on the puck, Condra from the left side and Letang from the right. 

           When it beomes clear that Condra has a step, Letang falls in directly behind
           him, a move which prevents Letang from overcommitting to one side and gives
           him a chance to make a play whether Condra goes forehand or backhand. For
           Condra, having Letang in his blind spot plants a seed of doubt: he can't
           anticipate Letang's play on the puck, and because of Letang's speed, he decides
           to rush a forehand shot rather than try and deke Fleury and risk being
           overtaken.  (Note: he may also have rushed the shot because he is Erik Condra 
           and has a very limited offensive repertoire, but I want to give Tanger some
           credit)

           Letang inevitably catches up with Condra, he doesn't try to sweep the puck
           away with his stick across Condra's body, which would have allowed Condra to
           protect the puck by lowering his left shoulder and get a shot on net and/or draw
           a penalty shot.  Instead, Letang makes a quick move over to Condra's right
           (stick) side as Condra goes into his shooting motion, locks down Condra's stick
           with his own, and the puck slides harmlessly into Fleury's pads.  A Jason
           Bourne-caliber disarming.

• On the offensive side, things were a mess.  for most of the game, it seemed like we couldn't muster a breakout pass, and we had trouble even getting the puick out of our zone.  When we did, the forecheck just wasn't there for us like it normally is, and Erik Karlsson and Gonchar were able to skate the puck past centre ice without challenge.  Crosby, Malkin, and Neal did their yeoman's work, but they are going to need some help, and fast.


• The power play was an especial disaster, going 0-for-5 and making countless half-assed plays around the blueline.   I'm going to assume we were tanking so that Gonchar would take pity on us and come back.  We'll see if it worked.


• Erik Karlsson is a fun player to watch.  He is what we in the biz call "not good" on defense, not good at all, but he is electrifying on the offensive end.  For the entirety of the third period and overtime, it was legitimately scary every time he touched the puck.


• Fleury played a brilliant game, stopping 31 of the 32 shots he faced.  This was one of those games he excels in:  he was getting a lot of shots thrown at him, but the defense in front of him was strong, putting bodies on bodies and clearing out rebound chances.  When Fleury's afforded the chance to warm up like that, his kick saves start popping, and his refles are a sight to behold.  This one easily could have gone in the loss column if not for him.


• Hey, our first shootout!  Shootouts are stupid, first off, but it is nice going into them with the confidence that the Penguins are going to win them more often than not.  Craig Anderson played an outstanding game in net for the Sens, but Neal, Crosby, and Malkin just abused him in the breakway competition.


• A rollercoaster game for Geno, who embarrassed Zack Smith and made a perfect cross-ice pass to set up Neal's goal, then had a turnover and whiffed on a long pass to Jason Spezza that resulted in the Sens' tying goal, and then scored the game-winning goal in the shootout like it was nothing.  Quite a day at the office for him.


• I officially do not understand how boarding is being called anymore.  I can't even get mad at the refs because I just don't know what's going on.


• After this game ended, I switched over to Blues-Preds on NBC Sports, a back-and-forth contest which St. Louis won in overtime, 5-4.  I gotta say, I'm in the bag for this Blues team.  I love their system and how holistically it's been installed, I love their lineup, which is deep and full of small-name players who are fast and fun to watch (increasingly more so now that they've got their rookie Tarasenko tearing up the league), and I love their colors.  They're this year's Western Conference team I will occasionally root for.  Watch them if you have the opportunity.

Game 5: Ottawa. Do You Like Dan Bylsma?

Friday night, with the Penguins in the process of blowing a two-goal lead on the Winnipeg Jets en route to a 5-2 loss, I sat watching the game with my brother at a Bloomfield bar.  A guy standing in front of us turned around and said, apropos of nothing: "Can I ask you guys a question?  Do you like Dan Bylsma?"

Before either of us could answer, he added, "Because I fucking hate him."  To be honest, as I told him, it was a hard question to answer.  You can begin, as did Bylsma's career, by dropping the hammer: he won us a Cup.  You do that, and you're almost untouchable.  Almost.

But with three consecutive disappointing showings in the playoffs, Bylsma's post-championship grace period might be coming to an end.  

So, do we like him?  It can be extremely difficult to assess a hockey coach's influence on the on-ice-product.  If we look at the record alone, Bylsma comes out smelling like roses; the Penguins have made the playoffs in every year of his tenure, and perennially challenge for the top spot in the conference.  Then again, having Crosby and Malkin on your team will cover up a lot of mistakes.  I get the feeling that this squad could make the playoffs with that Watson robot from Jeopardy! calling the shots (seriously, this is an idea that would probably work).

Beyond the wins, Bylsma's got a lot to recommend him.  He's well-liked by players, and seems to have contributed considerably to secondary players like Chris Kunitz, Pascal Dupuis, Matt Cooke, and Matt Niskanen performing beyond expectations.  He's instilled in his team some of the trademarks for which they are known: tenacious forechecking, quick breakout passes from the blue line, a swarming penalty kill and a dump-and-chase, puck-possession game on the other end.

And on the other hand, we've seen Bylsma fall in love with his system, and show a reluctance (if not an inability) to adapt to opposing schemes.  He can be predictable, down to his vague, constant dictate to "Get To Our Game," and as a result the Penguins are susceptible to the kind of teams that can throw a lot of looks at you.  This is especially an issue with fast, young teams like the Maple Leafs and Jets, who overwhelmed the Pens in consecutive contests.

Worst of all is the feeling of watching an opponent adjust to the Pens as a game progresses.  They are a force in the first period, often looking like they are going to bowl over the other team, but that dominance is almost never sustained through the entire game (the win against the Rangers in our second game came close).  No lead feels safe with this team, particularly in the wake of the Flyers series last playoffs.  In those situations, like our last game against the Jets, the calm, collected mien that we've come to appreciate from Bylsma instead can read as frozen and ineffectual.

Finally, there's the goatee that has sprung up on his face this season.  Look at the photo up top: it's an unfortunate rhombus of hair surrounding his mouth, calling into question anything that comes out of it.  Oddly enough, it looks like he's channeling another goateed Pittsburgh coach who went from universally loved to somewhat divisive - Bill Cowher.  Cowher was an institution in the city, who positioned the Steelers as a Super Bowl favorite year after year, but those teams all too often fell short against teams who challenged them to adapt to different styles.  Of course, Cowher's reputation was forever validated with a late-career Super Bowl win, while Bylsma's career was, from the first, christened with that "CHAMPION" seal which never fades.

All of this is to say, I don't really know how I feel about Dan Bylsma.  What I DO know is that it will be interesting to see what he does this season, and how it will affect fans' opinions of him.  This team is not without flaws (*cough* third defensive pairing and offensive depth *cough*), but when you have the two best players in the world in their prime, the expectation is to win now.

It's not fair to Byslma to be held to such standards, but when you have early success (and his was really the earliest and most successful), the challenge is to find ways to continue to improve.  If the Pens lose tonight in Ottawa, the fans will certainly be in three-game-losing-streak burn-down-the-team-and-piss-on-the-ashes meltdown mode.  Fair or not, with such a razor-thin margin of error, Bylsma will be hard-pressed to find new ways to prove himself.   According to the guy at the bar, everyone (except for him) loves Byslma.  But in Pittsburgh, where the fans are as passionate as we are spoiled, nothing is guaranteed. 

Game 4: Winnipeg. Bench Fleury (Troll So Hard Edition)!

Tonight, when the Penguins suit up against the Winnipeg Jets, we can expect to see a familiar face in net for the black-and-gold.  A face with a permanent grin and an unfortunate soul patch.  A face that's become, well, a face of this franchise.

That face belongs, of course, to Marc-Andre Fleury. 

It's the wrong face.

When the Pens signed Tomas Vokoun this offseason, it marked the first time in his career that Fleury faced any sort of competition for goaltending supremacy.  Before now, he's had the comfort of knowing that his backup, Brent Johnson, posed no threat to his throne.

With Vokoun behind him, he might be hearing footsteps.  At least, he should be.

It's only three games into this shortened season, but it's time for the man they call "Flower" to plant himself somewhere new.

On the bench.

It doesn't take a genius to recognize that Vokoun is a better goalie in every measurable way.  You want to talk career save percentage?  Vokoun takes it, .917 to .909.  How about goals per game average?  Sorry, Marc-Andre, Vokoun outpaces you, 2.55 to 2.68.

But in the playoffs, when it matters, Fleury steps up his game, right?

Wrong.

Fleury's numbers actually go DOWN from his regular season averages, to a paltry .909 save percentage and 2.68 goals per game.  As for Vokoun?  His numbers improve in the playoffs, to a sterling .922 and 2.47.

Last time I checked, letting in fewer goals helps your team win.  And isn't that what we want?

In the playoffs last year, the "Flower" looked more like a wilting lily, allowing the Flyers to score at will.  He went from head of the class in the regular season to head case when it mattered.

A French-Canadian goalie who's a head case?  Holy Patrick Roy, Batman!

Pens fans spent all summer, and most of fall, making excuses for why Fleury couldn't get it done in that series.  He played too many games during the regular season, they screamed.  Funny, I never heard Martin Brodeur complain about playing too much.  Oh, and in case you hadn't heard, he's won three Stanley Cups and took the Devils to the finals last year, in his twentieth season.  If anyone has the right to feel exhausted, it's Brodeur, not Fleury.

The defense let Fleury down, they complained.  Well, now Zbyněk Michálek's been run out of town on a rail, having taken the fall for Fleury's shortcomings.  I hope you don't mind a little blood on your dainty petals, "Flower."

Why is the Penguins organization so reluctant to pin any modicum of blame where it belongs?  Could it be because they've invested a number one pick and a contract that pays $5 million a season for the next three years to this supposed "franchise goaltender?"  Because benching him, or better yet, trading him would be tantamount to admitting that we put our eggs in the wrong basket?

Like my dad told me about driving when I was 16, being a starting goalie in the NHL is a privilege, not a right.  Fleury seems to think he's entitled to his place in net, because he was the number one overall pick. 

Think again.

You think, if we had to do it all over again, we wouldn't have picked Eric Staal (#2) over Fleury?  Tomas Vanek (#5)?  How about Ryan Suter (#7), Zach Parise (#17), or Ryan Getzlaf (#19)?  Or Mike Richards (#24), Corey Perry (#28), or Shea Weber (#49)?  If we had a do-over, Fleury wouldn't even be in the top 10.

Talk about a bust.

As for Tomas Vokoun?  Well, you'd have to scroll pretty far down the draft board to find him.  He wasn't picked in the first round, that's for sure.

Or the second.

Or the seventh.

Try the ninth round, pick number 226 to be exact.  Think some of the teams that passed on him would like a do-over?

Vokoun had to work his tail off to earn a starting job in the NHL.  That's right, Marc-Andre, he earned his keep.  And his reward?  Two All-Star games and the respect of players, coaches, and fans around the league.

What has Fleury "earned" in his career?  A single, solitary All-Star berth, and a nickname that probably has Gump Worsley spinning in his grave.

But this isn't a career comparison, you whine.  Let's talk about this season then.  Fleury beat the hated Flyers in the season opener, a win which starts to feel pretty hollow when you realize the Flyers are a sorry 1-3 on the year.  His next game, against the league's perennial laughingstock, the Toronto Maple Leafs?  Five goals allowed, one embarrasing loss at home in what is supposed to be the new Hockey Mecca.

Hockey Mecca.  In that case, maybe Fleury is a false idol.

As for Vokoun, he has only seen action in one game, versus the team that won our conference last year, the New York Rangers.  Vokoun skated onto the greatest stage in the world, Madison Square Garden, and skated away with an impressive victory.

Vokoun earned that win, the same way he's earned everything that's come his way in a Hall of Fame caliber career.  Flower has had everything handed to him, and his sense of entitlement shows.

It looks like we've got a bad seed on our hands.  Maybe it's time to plant a new crop.

Maybe it's time to let Vokoun blossom in our net, tonight in Winnipeg, Sunday in Ottawa, and for the rest of this shortened season.

Sorry, "Flower," but the bloom has fallen off the rose.


(Note: Satire.)

Pens Lose. No One Prepared Us For This.

The Leafs outpaced the Pens last night in our home opener, 5-2, in a game where the Penguins looked surprisingly listless.  Some observations from a forgettable one:

• The Legend of Clarke MacArthur continued in Pittsburgh: MacArthur, whose name sounds, let's face it, totally made up, is a career 0.54 points per game player.  He's got a decent skill set, but nothing about him jumps out at you.  I doubt his play has inspired any nicknames from the fans in Toronto (though here are some suggestions: C-Mac.  The Skulking Scotsman.  Braveheart.  Craig MacTavish.).  But against the Penguins, he somehow turns into the second coming of Darryl Sittler.  His career line against us, after potting a goal and an assist last night: 23 games, 9 goals, 14 assists, 23 points.  Jiminy Christmas. 

 

• MacArthur's partner in Penguin-killing, Mikhail Grabovski, also showed up, with a goal and assist.  Grabovski is one of those Enigmatic (Bela)Rusians; unlike C-Mac, his skills are immediately visible.  He's fast as the blazes and has a killer wrist shot, and when he's on (that is, when he plays the Penguins) he absolutely looks like an elite scorer.  Still, his career points per game?  0.63.  In his career against the Penguins?  17 games, 7 goals, 11 assists, 18 points.


• James van Riemsdyk.  Nice to see you again?


•  If you're looking for silver linings, the Penguins penalty kill was outstanding again, holding the Leafs to a 1-of-8 showing with the man advantage, with the lone goal coming in the final minutes, when the game was all but over.  Particularly impressive was a lengthy 5-on-3 kill in the second period, though the Leafs power play was nice enough to play passy-passy while the seconds ticked down. 

• We should take a moment to doff our caps to Gentlemanly Craig Adams, who has played as well as is humanly possible short-handed.  When he retires and writes his book-length treatise on the art of killing penalties, I'll  be buying the first copy off the presses.  Craig Adams went to Harvard, is what I'm saying.


• Speaking of penalties, I hate to complain about the refs (no, nope, I love to do that), but those were some QUESTIONABLE-ass calls last night.  Three very borderline boarding calls, two on Kunitz and one on Letang.  Yes, they should have recognized that the refs were calling the game tight, but those are hits Kunitz makes every night.


• It was nice to see Crosby score his first goal of the season, on a nice breakaway he set up himself with a blocked shot at the point.  BUT, I'd like for someone to explain to me how, with Dion Phaneuf standing at his own blueline, presumably watching Crosby skate right towards him awaiting a pass from Dupuis, Phaneuf ended up beaten THIS badly:

          Look how out of position he is!  He started out in a prime position to thwart the breakaway,
          and somehow didn't think to make a move towards the best player in the world until he'd
          already blown by him.

• Yes, it was nice to see Crosby score his first goal of the season, but he has also looked rusty these first few games.  He has been turning over the puck an awful lot in the offensive zone, and hasn't been as dominant along the boards as we're accustomed to.  Eventually, he'll stop forcing passes and start being Sid again, and that will be cool.


• Eric Tangradi played under 5 minutes last night, but boy did he make an impression!  He made two huge plays that changed the complexion of this game: in the first period, he intercepted a pass and broke into the Leafs' zone in a 2-on-1 with Malkin on his right.  He then proceeded to skate in a wide arc toward the left side boards, giving himself no angle for a shot OR a pass, while allowing the defenseman to stand there and wait for Tangradi to try and pass the puck through him, which he was unable to do.  Meanwhile, Malkin, only the most dangerous scorer in the building, was basically a decoy in this theater of the macabre.  to better illustrate my point, I've diagrammed the play, showing what Tangradi (#25), Malkin (#71), and the Leafs defenseman ("D"), did:

       
          It was a real Family Circus cartoon of a play, if you will.

• Tangradi's second big play occured when he decided to carry the puck up the middle of the ice (generally a bad idea), and, with Neal skating right next to him, maybe 10 feet away from him, he uncorks a backhand pass that was so far in front of Neal that it made me seriously wonder if he'd ever used his back hand before.  Here's a screenshot:

          Look at that pass.  LOOK AT IT.  Why, on God's green earth, would you make this pass at
          the opponent's blue line?  What can be gained here?  Even if it's a perfect pass, Neal will be
          in exactly the same position as Tangradi is.  It's literally a lateral move.  And look again,
          please.  I know it's hard.  But the Pens have numbers here.  If Tangradi dumps the puck and
          lets his all-star linemates chase down the puck, maybe we get a scoring chance.

• If it's not clear, that's not what happened.  No.  Tangradi's pass went pretty much directly to the Leafs d-man, while Neal was stuck out of position trying to chase the puck.  All of the Pens ended up awkwardly half-in-half-out of the Leafs' zone, and when Despres was caught off guard when the puck came back to him, the Leafs counterattacked and C-Mac, of course, scored on the ensuing rush.  I think - I think and I hope and I pray - that we can pour dirt on the Eric-Tangradi-as-a-Top-Six-Forward Experiment.  Oh, how I will miss Pens fans pinning all their future hopes on the Big Dog.  And congratulations Beau Bennett, you are now officially the new Penguin that fans are convinced will be Sid's scoring winger of the future despite never having seen you play!

• If we're looking for new wingers to pair with Malkin and Neal (and please God, let it be so), I thought Kennedy lokoed decent playing with them last night for a shift.  He can skate, he's a good puck control guy behind the net, and lord knows he's not shy about shooting.  Right now my top choices for the role of Bernie on what The Pensblog is brilliantly calling the Weekend at Bernie's Line are: 1. Trade for Jarome Iginla  2. TK   3. Dustin Jeffrey (who my girlfriend's dad said played well in Croatia)  4. Beau Bennett  250. Tangradi


• With Tangradi in the (Big) Dog house for most of this game, Bylsma ran out a ton of different lines.  I might have been hallucinating, but I think I saw a Vitale-Neal-Kennedy line for a moment there.  Calm down, Dan boy.  Pick your lines and stick with them.  Oh, and whenever he loads the Crosby-Malkin-Neal WMD, it is terrifying.


• Sutter is going to score soon.  He will start taking over.  And, when it finally and inevitably does, it will be beautiful.

Game 3: The Leafs Blow in to Town

Ken Wregget sighting!

Sigmund Freud believed that, in the early years of childhood, we are all polymorphous perverse; our sexuality, as yet unfettered by societal norms, is not directed at a specific target, but at any possible source of pleasure.  Desires that will later become forbidden are entertained in our innocent minds, and we're happy, blissfully ignorant of the constraints soon to be placed on our developing libidos.

A similar process happens with sports fandom.  When you watch hockey as a kid, you respond to the sounds, the colors, the speed, the guys running into each other.   You start to find players you like based on their style, their personalities, their nicknames, and you form affinities that don't necessarily jibe with your socially proscribed rooting interests - i.e., your hometown team.

Case in point: I grew up in Pittsburgh as a Penguins fan, but I was never just a Penguins fan.  I pored over playing cards, read The Hockey News, and formed opinions on players I probably had only seen play a couple of times, if even that.  Maybe after seeing so much of the Penguins, being spoiled by Lemieux and Jagr and Francis, it felt exotic and exciting to root for guys from other teams, to pick other teams that I liked (some from foreign countries, even!) and root for them.  It gave me, I imagined, cachet, made me more worldly than the provincial shlubs who couldn't appreciate players wearing anything other than black and gold.  Of course, the vital difference between me and them was that I was free to root for whoever I wanted; nobody is going to get on a kid for being "fair-weather," or "bandwagon," or, worst of all, a "traitor."  

It's an extremely fun way to enjoy a sport, and while it's by no means restricted to children - in fact, the geniuses at basketball blog FreeDarko built their appreciation of the game around this concept, which they call "liberated fandom" - it did seem like there came a time when I was expected to grow up and settle down with a single team, til death do us part.

Which brings us, finally, to tonight's home opener, which will see the Toronto Maple Leafs come to the CEC.  My family used to travel to Toronto every year for vacation, and since it was this cool, metropolitan, hockey-crazed, Canadian city, it was a paradise to my impressionable eyes.  And their hockey team, it was great.  They were led by Doug Gilmour, who tucked his jersey in one one side and had great hair and was a fantastic scorer and an equally fantatic defensive player.  I adopted him as one of my own, bought his jersey, and became a full-fledged (no...a half-fledged, really) Leafs fan.  Gilmour, along with tough wingers Wendel Clark and Dave Andreychuk, awesomely nicknamed goalie Felix "The Cat" Potvin, made the Leafs a year-to-year contender in the early-mid-90s, and one of the most watchable teams of the era, especially in those beautiful sweaters.

As that team aged and faded, Mats Sundin arrived in Toronto as a franchise savior, and kept the team competitive into the aughts. Since then, however, things have tailspinned/tailspun.  The Leafs haven't made the playoffs in the last 7 years, and a look at their roster makes it pretty clear that they are a ways off from being a contender.

The NHL is a lot more fun when the Maple Leafs are good.  Their fans are awesome, their uniforms are awesome, their city is awesome.  Their ownership has been deplorable in "building" this marginal, boring, directionless team.  I would love to see them win again very very soon, because those childhood loves die hard.  Just not tonight.  Go Pens.

Pens Win! A Story in Two Passes

The Pens came to MSG ready to play, and they rolled over the Rangers before letting in a couple of garbage time goals to make the score interesting in the third period. Playing in the limelight of New York City, the setting of Home Alone 2, seemed to bring out the best in some of the Penguins' big name players.  Malkin assisted on three of the Penguins' six goals, and more unexpectedly played really well in the defensive zone.  James Neal continued his assault on opposing goaltenders with a couple of goals.  Letang was in attack mode all night, keeping the Rangers on their heels for much of the game, and eventually potting the empty-netter to put the cherry on top of the sundae.  Tomas Vokoun showed the Pens what they can expect when Flower is on the bench, shutting the door whenever the Rangers tried to show up.  Orpik uncorked a couple of big open-ice hits, and he and Paul Martin were protecting our house like the Wet Bandits were trying to break in.  And, of course, Broadway Joe Vitale (h/t to The Pensblog) took to Manhattan like a fish to water, and showed Eric Tangradi what it looks like to fight for a roster spot.

In lieu of a full recap, I want to look at two plays that helped break open this game, passes that utilized the element of surprise to circumvent the Rangers' zone-clogging defense, much like Kevin McCallister used the element of surprise to thwart his would-be assailants.

The first was Simon Despres' carom pass to Vitale to set up the Penguins' second goal.  It was an unexpected pass from a young defenseman, and turned an innocuous neutral zone possession into a scoring opportunity.  Let's see how it happened, shall we?

Click to Enlarge

In the image above, Despres has received a cross-ice pass from Deryk Engelland (#5).  The Rangers are in a defensive formation, all five players on the New York side of the ice.  With their forwards lined up across the neutral zone, logic dictates that Despres either chip the puck into the Rangers zone and let the forwards chase, or pass it to Joe Vitale (#46), swooping across the redline, at center ice so he can dump it in.

Instead, Despres holds onto the puck, drawing two Rangers forwards toward him and away from their net, as you can see above.  With Matt Cooke out of frame at the far blue line, and Tyler Kennedy at the bottom of the frame ready to drive down the center of the ice, the Penguins have compromised the Rangers' defensive set, and they have the opportunity to take advantage of an imbalance on the ice.  But that only happens if Despres can get the puck past the forecheckers to his forwards.  In the freeze frame above, Despres is "showing" the pass to Vitale, and the Rangers' Jim Halpert, er, Jeff Halpern is in a great position to deny it, and possibly turn the play into a 2-on-1 with Mike Rupp on his left.

But Despres doesn't make the expected pass.  He freezes Halpern (#15) and Chris Kreider (#20) by faking that pass, then opening up to pass the puck off the boards, just as Vitale is breaking toward the blue line.  Halpern, skating directly at Despres, has no play on the puck.  Kreider, reeled in by Despres' fake, is standing still as Vitale sneaks behind him.  He stabs at the puck with his stick, but it is just outside of his reach.

You can see above that the puck is placed perfectly to elude Kreider and hit Vitale in stride.  Despres pass here is not an easy one, particularly for a young player in an unfamiliar building.  It's a billiards shot, essentially: get the angle wrong, and the puck is bouncing directly to Kreider; get the angle right, and you get the above still.  Vitale's got the puck and a full head of steam, Kennedy and Cooke are following him across the blue line, and suddenly you've got a 3-on-2.  When Rangers defenseman Stu Bickel, who the Pens made look silly on a few occassions last night, misjudges Vitale's speed and tries to stand him up along the half boards, Vitale slips the check and heads for the net, with the Pens' now on an attenuated 3-on-1, as shown here:

Vitale gets the puck to the next, and Kennedy puts home the rebound to break the tie.  Vitale's speed and situational awareness was on full display, but it was Despres' outlet pass that made this happen.  Like a quarterback play-faking to freeze the secondary, Despres tips the on-ice balance in Pittsburgh's favor, while the Rangers' defense scrambles to recover.  Here's the play in real time:


The second unexpected pass came from Neal, in his new capacity as point-man on the power play, with the Pens up 3-1.  Clearing the puck into the Pens' zone at the halfway point of the penalty (after one of many uncharacteristic Crosby turnovers), the Rangers send three of their four penalty killers to the bench for a change.  As I mentioned in my post detailing my reservations about Neal playing the point, he is not known as a speed demon or a distributor, and as he chases the puck into his own zone, the Rangers certainly don't seem to think that Neal poses an urgent threat.

It isn't difficult to understand why the Rangers feel they have time to make a change.  As this freeze frame shows, the three Rangers are on their way to the bench while the three Penguin forwards are deep in the Ranger zone.  You can see Neal looking over his left shoulder to see the penalty killers calling for replacements.  He picks up his speed, then looks back over his right shoulder to see nothing but open ice:

That quick backward glance tells him everything he needs to know, and he turns back to the puck, corrals it, spins, and whips a pass all in one motion.  The Rangers jumping over the board sense something up, but they've got a lot of ice to cover.

Now, aggressive outlet passes are one of the hallmarks of the Penguins' offence, but James Neal is an unlikely source for one, and for one of such precision.  What's amazing is the economy of motion; he doesn't waste a single moment, or a single movement, in moving the puck up the ice.  And when he does send it, it isn't to Letang at the redline, which would certainly have been the lower risk/lower reward option, and the option most comfortable for someone playing out of position as Neal is.  Instead, he rockets the puck all the way to Chris Kunitz on the far blue line, a 20-yard, no-look, tape-to-tape bomb.  It's downright Zubovian.  Kunitz walks the puck into the Rangers' zone, as Dupuis races to the net, with the new penalty killer busting ass after him, leaving Malkin all alone across the ice...

...which is a bad thing for New York.  Kunitz finds Malkin, who skates toward the goal.  The defenseman on Dupuis is forced to give up his man to try and contain Malkin and ends up in no-man's-land.  Malkin threads the puck past him to Dupuis for the tap-in.  It was a beautiful look by Geno, but all made possible by Neal's outlet, which in a split-second jumpstarted a stalling power play.  Here's video of what ended up as the winning goal:



Now's the part where I remind you that we are only two games into the season.  Two wins against our biggest division rivals, yes, but only two games.  Things won't always be this good.  But if we are going to look at this game for signs of encouragement, these passes show more than just an offence clicking on all cylinders to start the campaign.  They show two key players taking on new roles, and yielding results: Despres as part of our regular third defensive pairing, Neal as power play quarterback.  Both players evidence tremendous recognition of what is going on around them, and what they need to do to take advantage.  In Despres' case, it takes a subtle fake and a little patience, as well as a perfect angle off the boards.  In Neal's case, it takes impatience and a willingness to make a difficult pass without hesitation to pounce on a mistake by the opposition.  No doubt, there will growing pains with both players as the acclimate to their new responsibilities, but Pens fans should be encouraged by these two high-degree-of-difficulty passes, and even more so by the fact that they came against the Rangers, a team that isn't going to allow you the easy pass for a scoring chance.

Well, sometimes they'll allow you the easy pass for a scoring chance:

In my expert analysis, if you leave Neal alone in front of the net so that you can send two defenders to deny a pass from Malkin to Eric Tangradi - who has displayed absolutely no offensive aptitude, but I'm sure is absolutely deadly from the corner boards - it might come back to bite you.  What do you think, Rangers coach John Tortorella?

Yeah, me too.  Tough break, but on the bright side, I'm sure Richard Gere will do you justice in the film adaptation of Garbage-Time Superstar: The Rick Nash Story.

Game Two: Pens/Rangers

We can expect to see a lot of this tonight.  No rest for the weary as the Pens follow up a game at their division rivals with...a game at their division rival.  If you're like me, it's starting to sink in that this season is going to be exhausting for those of us watching at home as well.  But, if you're like me, you're also happy to have something else to watch tonight than then Ravens-Patriots crapfest.

The Pens get no time to celebrate their victory over the (now 0-2) Flyers - pretty much every Atlantic Division game is going to be a battle, and the Rangers look like the cream of the crop...on paper, at least.  The beat us out for the number one seed a year ago, and they added Rick Nash for the low low price of Brendan Stupinsky and Artem Anisimov.  But this isn't your older brother's New York Rangers, throwing money at washed-up superstars (Wayne Gretzky!  Theo Fleury!  Eric Lindros!  Pavel Bure!) and embarrassing themselves every year.  Now, despite signing their stars - Nash, Gaborik, Richards, Lundqvist - for big money, they've got themselves a stacked roster with $4 million in cap space to spare.  But that doesn't mean that they can't embarrass themselves in the end, right?

Tomas Vokoun will get the start tonight, and he'll have the chance to get firmly into our good graces with a strong performance.  He'll need to keep the puck out of the net, because we know that the Rangers will be blocking shots, clogging up the center of the ice, and otherwise making hockey more difficult to watch.  

We'll have to get people in front of Lundqvist, have patience and make the extra pass to get the puck on net, and pounce on rebounds.  I think we're going to see Crosby's first game in Beast Mode: his career numbers against the Rangers are 20-32-52 in 37 games, he's got King Henrik's number, and, come on, this is Madison Square Garden.  Where better to announce to the world that he's taking over?

We'll get to see old friends Aaron Asham and Mike Rupp tonight, whom the Rangers signed the last two offseasons.  They'll probably be scouting Tanner Glass hard during the game.

There's a lot to dislike about  the Rangers: their stultifying style of play, their years of attempting to buy a Cup, John Tortorella's gnarly 'tude, the entire leadership mythology constructed around Mark Messier, one of the dirtiest and least-likable players in NHL history...but let's forget about ancient history and win this one tonight for Mario.

Still hope a piano falls on you, Graves-y.

Pens Win! One Down, 47 to Go!

For those of us who had forgotten what it was like to celebrate a Penguins win, this was a great start to the season. They didn't dominate the game in any sense of the word, but the Pens showed they came ready to grind out wins, and held on to an early lead for about 53 suspenseful minutes. Philly threw everything they had at us, and we walked away with a nice win.

To the surprise of no one who has watched these teams play each other, the Pens came out firing. The NBC booth couldn't stop talking about the speed of the Penguins, and they certainly seemed to have an extra step in the first period. Paul Martin, last season's whipping boy, showed in his first shift that he came to play, chipping a puck off the boards between his legs to a streaking teammate for a quality chance. Crosby drew a penalty when two Flyers tried to slow him up along the half-boards, and we got our first look at the new power play line up. The first unit looked good, and Neal even made a really nice play at the point to knock down a clearing attempt with his glove. Malkin's shot from the outside hash marks is an ever-present threat, but it wasn't hitting the target yesterday.

 Instead it was up to the rag-tag second unit to pick up the scoring slack, and they rose to the occasion. Brandon Sutter, who won over every Pens fan out there with what Emrick called a "perfect game," won the faceoff cleanly back to Niskanen, who passed up a clear shot to slide the puck to Martin, whose shot deflected off a Flyer stick and past Bryzgalov. For some reason, they credited Tyler Kennedy with the goal, which, thanks for the screen TK, but that was Martin's goal. If that game was any indication, Martin is ready to pull a Gonchar and change the entire fan base's opinion on him. Grab a seat on the bandwagon now before it fills up.

The Pens's second goal came on the NEAL PLAY, as Malkin won the faceoff back to him for a shot that Bryz never saw. Apparently, this play can't be game-planned for, because we saw it work about 25 times last season, and still teams get caught sleeping on it. It's a beautiful, deadly play, but I think my favorite part of it is the havoc it creates for the TV cameramen: they pull in close for the faceoff, pan back to follow the puck, and then whip back toward the goal in time to see the puck hit the twine. Neal's release is so hair-trigger that the replays never seem to catch the entirety of the shot; it leaves his stick and then appears a split-second later in the back of the net.

 The excitement of this quick start was tempered by the fact that we knew this wouldn't be a blow-out, so we were in for a painful two-and-a-half periods of hockey. The refs called this one extremely tight - I don't think they wanted things getting out of hand, and we got a LOT of ticky-tack penalties on both teams. The Flyers were getting every chance to mount a comeback, most notably when Wayne Simmonds jumped on Simon Despres' back and drew an interference call. Despres looked really good in limited minutes, though. We also got to see Crosby play on the penalty kill, and he looked very comfortable. Bylsma ratcheted up the pressure by throwing Malkin and Neal out there with Crosby as the penalty expired, and they were definitely making things happen. I love to see Bylsma take advantage of the situation, choosing exactly the right moment to go all out trying to drive a dagger into a huge rival.

 And, oh, those Flyers. They are so eminently hateable. A very short list of some of the things that I can't stand about them: Hartnell's face, Couturier's face, Rinaldo's constant fight-baiting, Giroux's face, Voracek wearing number 93, any mention of the Schenn brothers playing together, the way Kimmo Timonen's name gets stuck in my head like a pop song, Peter Laviolette's greasy, bizarrely balding-from-the-front hair, and Wayne Simmonds.

 Hartnell and Giroux teamed up on a pretty goal at the start of the second that I missed because I was buying chicken wings, and I steeled myself for the inevitable comeback, but the Pens held the fort for the rest of the period. I finally got to see the Giroux goal during the next intermission, when the NBC brain trust of Mike Milbury and Keith Jones broke it down. They quickly, and rightly, pin the blame on Kunitz for losing Kunitz, and then follow that up by blaming it on Crosby for not skating back faster so he could yell to Kunitz to take Giroux. Yup, definitely Sid's fault there, nothing to do with a left winger trying to kick-save a perfect saucer pass.
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 The third period couldn't wind down fast enough. The Flyers were getting a lot of chances, but Fleury was locked in, making big stops without giving up any big rebounds. The legend of Sutter began as he took on the shutdown role against Giroux, and props also go to Craig Adams, who miraculously redirected a puck on our goal line, Dupuis and Cooke, who were able to keep the formidable Flyers PP goalless on five tries. The game ended on a sloppy note, as Malkin got called for an inadvertent high stick and then Giroux returned the favor with a momentum-killing tripping penalty. The Pens weren't giving anything up in the last two minutes, and pulling Bryz didn't do any good. Kunitz made up for his earlier blunder with an empty-netter to put this one to bed.

- A predictably physical game, but no fights. Again, the refs were being disuasive.
- Pens were strong in the faceoff, winning 35 to the Flyers' 27. Crosby (13/20), Malkin (7/12, and Sutter (8/14) can be thanked.
- Fleury officially took over first place on the all-time franchise win list.  He earned it, too.  Congrats, Flower, and remember that time I saw you at the airport in November?  Me too.
- Eric Tangradi did not magically grow hands during the last week. To call him the weak link in his line with Malkin and Neal is like calling The Godfather III the worst of the trilogy. He looked lost, killed a few chances with bad passes and bad puck-handling. Don't want to dump on him, but if he can't show a ton of imporvement, fast, the Pens will have to look at other options.
 - Mr. Glass was pretty much invisible all game. Showed some forechecking ability, but the jury's still out on him.
 - Again, I think Despres made a good case to be put out there more often. Looked calm and collected out there, and I'm looking forward to see what he can do.
 - Doc Emrick, referring to Flyers' rookie Scott Laughton, dropped a "no relation to Charles Laughton" reference during the broacast. I'll allow it.

-At one point, NBC showed a succession of shots of Penguins fans sprinkled in the Philly crowd. We got the obligatory "Flyers fan pretending to beat up the Pens fan," a super nerdy loooking guy playing on his phone, and some corny woman who seemed to be wearing gold lamé carpet squares as earrings. Not our shining moment, by any means, but at least no one got shot.

COMMERCIAL THAT'S STICKING IN MY CRAW

This new series of ads from Discover that played throughout the game, where Discover Card customers talk to Discover Card customer service people who look and act just like them, but are played by difference actors, are so puzzling. The tagline - "We treat you like you'd treat you" - doesn't clear things up; so does that mean they're meant to be understood as the same person? They're clearly not. Is this like a That Obscure Object of Desire experiment where two actors play the same character?

 Nope. I've put more thought into this than is normal (as I am wont to do), and the message of this commercial can only be: "We know that, in a perfect world, you would only have to interact with people who look and act exactly like you. Here at Discover, we understand that unsettling brand of essentialism, and we'll make sure that when you call in, you'll be immediately answered by an eerie doppelganger who mirrors you in all visible aspects. At no point will you be faced with racial, cultural, or socioeconomic difference, just the way you like it." They don't explain how they get these folk to work at their Bangladesh call center, but still, SUPER CREEPY COMMERCIAL guys!

Hey, It's Hockey! Game One - Pens/Flyers

Well, here we go.  Hockey Christmas came late this year, but it's here now and look what's under the tree!  A rematch between two of the league's best and most popular teams, who hate each other, and who nearly fought to the death in the playoffs last year.  For Pens fans, there will be no respite from the memories of that series; NBC will shove them down our throats.  The soundtrack will be the same one that fueled our nightmares this long offseason: Doc Emrick's Mrs. Doubtfire-looking ass will reach deep into his vocabulary to describe the animosity on the ice, Edzo will sound like a walking concussion, hockey's answer to Troy Aikman, and that shit-eater Pierre McGuire will chime in with mind-numbing observations ("There is NO LOVE LOST between these teams!") that we already knew but which he has special insight into because he's standing between the two benches and quick let's get this guy a Pulitzer.

There will be a game, though, a game pregnant with meaning for the league, for the fans in both seasons, and no doubt for the players.  Any idea that the Pens can exact revenge is a joke, but we will get to see if Geno's offseason spent destroying Russia and Crosby's spent probably lifting trucks while staring at a video loop of this:


 Will help them get to a new level that the Flyers' schemes can't fuck with. We'll get to see if Bylsma, after being completely out-maneuvered by Peter Laviolette, can show some ability to make changes on the fly, to show different looks to teams like the Flyers who know exactly what to expect from you. The Penguins have become predictable, and all the talent in the world isn't going to overcome a good team that's prepared for everything you have to throw at them. Bylsma's earned a lifetime pass by winning the Cup, but could (or should) another early playoff exit give Shero pause about keeping him behind the bench? Hey look, I'm already getting way ahead of myself and starting fires where there aren't any - HOCKEY'S BACK!

 I'll be watching this game like all Pens' fans, with a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. No lead will be enough, our hearts will sink every time the Flyers bring the puck into our zone, and we will instinctively curse at every shot of a smiling, cocky ginger, Giroux or Hartnell. It will elicit more anxiety than watching Training Day stoned, and it will be awesome. And then we get to do it again tomorrow night with the Rangers! It's hockey Christmas, uncancelled, so let's count our blessings.

Head on a Swivel Pens Preview, Part III: New Faces

This is going to be a weird season, and not just because it's only going 48 games. Losing Jordan Staal, one of my all-time favorite Pens, stung, and it will feel strange to watch the Pens play without his crooked-nosed face out there.  But as the old saying goes, out with the old and in with the nucleus.  Let's see the players we can look forward to meeting this season.

Tanner Glass - LW

We pick Glass up from the Jets way back in July.  Not much to say about him: he hits, he fights, and apparently he can skate.  He'll probably be bros with Matt Cooke.  Most importantly, he's already got a cool nickname: Mr. Glass.  Get used to it.

Spoiler alert

Tomas Vokoun - G

I was of two minds when we traded for and signed Vokoun in June. On the one hand, I've always wanted him on the Pens; I was always terrified of him when we faced the Panthers, and he was perennially one of the leagues most underrated star goalies. When the Caps signed him last year to a one year, $1.5 million contract, I thought it was a great move. On the other hand, he underperformed for the Caps, and they were more than willing to get rid of him. I was happy to have him, but pretty blown away by the terms of his contract; 2 years at $2 mil per is a pretty hefty raise for someone who just had an off year and just turned 36. But I recognize that this was a move to shore up the back-up spot behind Flower. His no-show in the playoffs has been widely dissected, and his hefty workload was pointed to as a contributing factor. In the end, Vokoun has the chance not just to back up Fleury, but to challenge him, and to be remembered as a better Ken Wregget.

Brandon Sutter - C

I couldn't be more excited for Sutter.  Have you ever heard a movie described to you that was so perfect that you don't want to see the trailer, or read reviews,  because you want to enjoy it in its most pure form, unencumbered by any preconceived notions?  Like "David Cronenberg is directing an adaptation of a Dom DeLillo book starring that dude from Abduction," or "The kid from Third Rock from the Sun is a bike messenger and he gets chased around on his bike."  I loved those movies before I ever saw them; in fact, I still haven't seen either of them, because delaying my gratification will make finally watching them that much better.  When the movie Shooter (2007), starring Mark Wahlberg, came out, all you needed to tell me was that there was a movie, called Shooter, where Mark Wahlberg played the world's best shooter, who has retired.  That's it.  I love that movie, sight unseen.  It took me a full four years to actually see it, when it hit basic cable, and sure enough, it was everything I thought, nay, knew it would be.

That's how I feel about Sutter.  When I heard we'd traded for him, a defensive center, stand up teammate, and underappreciated talent, I decided he was my new favorite Pen.  I didn't even bother looking at highlights or stats for him.  I'm going to savor watching him play without any other knowledge to sully my palate.  Hell, I might even shut my eyes when he's on the ice for the first few games, so I can put off that moment where I first see him play and realize the feelings that I had conjured up months before, on Draft Day, just like I persuaded myself not to rent Premium Rush from the Red Box the other day, so that when I ultimately do, it will be all the sweeter to my eyes. Brendan Sutter, you are my Premium Rush.