Pens

[HockeyGenie]

True, do you think maybe him and Hornqvist are interchangeable? I think they are at the same level offensively, maybe 72 is a little more of a two way player, but I think they could slot Perron in at any time for 72 on PP and lose no real offensive production

[theoneandonly]

Personally.. I think there would be a big drop-off (not that the PP has been good this year). Hornqvist and Kunitz are more interchangeable on the PP, in my opinion. Perron doesn't provide much of a net front presence where those two can play that role.

As bad as the PP has been though trying anything won't hurt at all.

[Jrs237]

The more and more I watch Perron the more I like him. He is so tough, so good in open space, you watch him make plays or finish them, I love it.

I'm going to have to agree though, I don't think Perron>Hornqvist, if you watch Perron closely in the defensive zone his coverage isn't great. And like oneandonly said, big body in front of the net isn't there with him. Does anybody else feel like sometimes his positioning is off? He saves himself with his great puck handling but sometimes he sets himself up in the worst way

[abpk2903]

If the NHL officials are going to continue to allow grabs, holds, interference, trips, ect, expect a ton of 1-0 playoff hockey games. They are quickly approaching another dead puck era. I just don't understand why this is how games are being officiated. You would think the league would want teams with the most talent and skill to thrive but the way they are calling these games it doesn't allow skill to prevail because it is negated by what is should be penalties.

Pens fans want to constantly point the finger at coaching, goaltending, and missing production by their stars for their lack of postseason performance but maybe it's time to look at how these games are being officiated. No one will debate the skill up and down the pens roster but unless the officials call the grabs, trips, and subtle interference penalties, the pens will struggle in the postseason.

[Jrs237]

You said it man, I am not usually one to point blame at any official in any sport especially in a sport as intense and officiatingly demanding as hockey, but it's blatant. Proportionally the Penguins get screwed penaltywise every year. I hope this isn't true but I heard Sid has an awful reputation among NHL officials, and that they are lenient towards opposing players when they do anything out of context to him. From what I see I can believe it.

I'm happy, as always, with everything right now. Most of the stuff happening to them is out of their control. But hey, what do we know? We are just delirious Penguin fans.

[abpk2903]

I'm not just talking about the Pens, I'm talking about the game in general. The Bruins managed to score 1 goal in 65 minutes of hockey against the backup goaltender of the lowly Sabres and that was off of a flukey bounce. The scoring champion this year is on pace for about 90 points. Let me say that again, the scoring champ this year is on pace for 90 points. In the early to mid 90s, every team head multiple players over the 90 point mark.

Trust me, I'm as big of a proponent of sound defense and goaltending as anyone but with the skill up and down these NHL rosters, games should not be consistently ending 2-1, 1-1, 2-0.

Yeah, the pens game tonight is probably what put me over the edge with frustration but it's happening across the NHL.

[theoneandonly]

Last night was the most frustrated I've been following a regular season game in as long as I can remember. I actually paid money to watch the debacle on Sunday in person but last night pissed me off more and put me over the edge.

No one pays money to watch Wes McCauley and his group of hacks dictate the outcome of the game. I paid money to watch the Red Wings and Pens play. Granted the Red Wings blew the Pens doors off but McCauley made it known quickly he was going to be a part of that game.

Last night against NJD was almost unwatchable. If that's what the NHL wants then expect attendance to drop 50%, teams will end up in financial trouble again and it'll be 2004/05 all over again. The open ice trip on Letang with under 2 mins to go is a penalty from pee wee to the third OT in Game 7 of the SC Finals. To not call it is an embarrassment. I'd be singing the same tune if the Pens weren't involved in that game last night. Any coincidence that Letang was tossed on Sunday for something verbal and then can't get a call... probably not.

[abpk2903]

I just don't understand why the NHL wants this clutch and grab style of game. Last night 12 of the 18 teams in action scored 2 goals or less. 6 of them were 1 goal or less. Sunday was atrocious, 11 of the 14 in action failed to score 3 goals.

These final scores are deceiving too because due to no one scoring, a lot of games are either resulting in empty netters or shoutout tiebreakers. Yes, that counts on the scoreboard but I'm not spending $120 bucks a seat to watch Sutter flutter in a EN goal.

[theoneandonly]

I took my brother in law to his first game on Sunday before he embarks on a 7 month deployment... He'd been saying that's one thing he wanted to do before he left. I felt bad that his first Pens experience was that garbage. The only thing worse would have been taking him to see the NJD last night.

If some idiot like me can see how horrible NHL officiating is across the board I don't know how it goes unnoticed by people that are actually paid to worry about this stuff.

That was the 10th time this year the Pens have had one or zero PP's. Overall the Pens avg 4.00 PP per game in October and now it's down to 2.22 per game. That's an astronomical drop and there is no rhyme or reason to it.

[Jrs237]

I don't know about you guys, but personally I'd rather see the drastically high scoring (8-7, 6-4) over the drastically low scoring (1-0, 2-1) any day. I was born in 1996 so I'm at the start of the dead puck era, so maybe I feel that way because I never got a true taste for Gretzky or lemiuex esque hockey but I really crave for that type of hockey. Partly it's because I know that if Crosby or even a player like Getzlaf or Ovechkin was thrown back in the late 70's, 80's, and/ or early 90's they would be hitting upwards of 150-175 points. For crosby you could make the case for 200, although I don't think he'd ever hit 200 because of how great of a two way player he is and how defensively responsible he is.

Just sucks to see officials ruling games like they do now. And the excuse people have been making: "it's playoff hockey time" is garbage, because when somebody gets slew footed you call it, doesn't matter if it's RS or PS.