Why Can't the Pennsylvania teams score?
Re: Why Can't the Pennsylvania teams score?
Thanks for an explanation.
It ain't over until it's over.
Re: Why Can't the Pennsylvania teams score?
I'll be honest. I just struggle to watch any NHL hockey anymore. Why they are so fixated on not opening up scoring blows my mind. As many of you know, I have anyways been a huge hockey fan. This year, I let my NHL Gamecenter Live subscription expire and I live out of market for the Pens. I've watched them a few times on national tv but nothing I've seen makes me want to spend $130 on watching more of it. Really the only 3 teams I have seen play this year that play any style worth spending money on are the Rangers, Stars, and Blackhawks.
From what I've seen of the Penguins and Flyers, it is the same song and dance for both teams. Due to the ridiculously stupid salary cap ceiling, teams that have top end talent can't pay to get complementary players in the bottom 2 lines.
Basically here is the cycle I'm seeing in the NHL:
•A team performs badly and gets a handful of top end players (FYI hockey players may be he easiest of all the major sports to scout)
•The team make a rise through the standings and perform very well for a few years.
•The team gives out a few good contracts
•The team immediately becomes depleted on the blue line and bottom 6
•Every opponent of that team now plays its top defensive paring against that teams top line or 2. The league allows pretty everything outside of a double legged take down and let's players dress in military grade armor to block 45 shots a games.
•That team's top line now struggles to produce and the bottom 6 aren't talented enough to consistently score. (Mainly because they have a few million of cap space to fill several roster spots)
This same rhetoric has played out for so many teams since the last lockout. The Pens, the flyers, the Kings, the Bruins, the Ducks, the Caps (though now they are on to something), and now the Lightning.
Every other league tries to set up their stars for a path to success instead the NHL has stars like Crosby, Malkin, Giroux, Stamkos, Vorachuk, Brown, Bergeron, Perry, Getzlaf, Kopitar, Ovechkin and more struggle through the majority of their careers and beat up by the biggest and basest defenseman in the league all because their organizations can't afford to pay for any role players worth a dang.
The only team that can consistently get great annual performance from its players is the Blackhawks.
I see this being the case for the Stars in the upcoming few years. They have the young players on entry level contracts but in 2-3 years I'm sure they will follow along this same path.
From what I've seen of the Penguins and Flyers, it is the same song and dance for both teams. Due to the ridiculously stupid salary cap ceiling, teams that have top end talent can't pay to get complementary players in the bottom 2 lines.
Basically here is the cycle I'm seeing in the NHL:
•A team performs badly and gets a handful of top end players (FYI hockey players may be he easiest of all the major sports to scout)
•The team make a rise through the standings and perform very well for a few years.
•The team gives out a few good contracts
•The team immediately becomes depleted on the blue line and bottom 6
•Every opponent of that team now plays its top defensive paring against that teams top line or 2. The league allows pretty everything outside of a double legged take down and let's players dress in military grade armor to block 45 shots a games.
•That team's top line now struggles to produce and the bottom 6 aren't talented enough to consistently score. (Mainly because they have a few million of cap space to fill several roster spots)
This same rhetoric has played out for so many teams since the last lockout. The Pens, the flyers, the Kings, the Bruins, the Ducks, the Caps (though now they are on to something), and now the Lightning.
Every other league tries to set up their stars for a path to success instead the NHL has stars like Crosby, Malkin, Giroux, Stamkos, Vorachuk, Brown, Bergeron, Perry, Getzlaf, Kopitar, Ovechkin and more struggle through the majority of their careers and beat up by the biggest and basest defenseman in the league all because their organizations can't afford to pay for any role players worth a dang.
The only team that can consistently get great annual performance from its players is the Blackhawks.
I see this being the case for the Stars in the upcoming few years. They have the young players on entry level contracts but in 2-3 years I'm sure they will follow along this same path.
Re: Why Can't the Pennsylvania teams score?
I knew the Stars were gonna have the year they are having. Aside From Seguin and Ja. Benn, they have Spezza and Sharp who are both having tremendous seasons. Sharp, IMO, is better in Dallas than he ever was in CHI or Philly. I know that's bold.
Nichuskin is a beast. He's so big and powerful, I look for him to continue to be a premier player on both sides of the ice. And then there's Hemsky: I've said it for a while now, he is both underrated and underestimated at such high levels.
Klingberg is dominate, could be shortlisted for the Norris. Goligoski is solid as well as demers and Jokkipaka. Jo. Benn is the weak link of this team.
I know it's early but my SC Final prediction is this Dallas team and Tampa.
Nichuskin is a beast. He's so big and powerful, I look for him to continue to be a premier player on both sides of the ice. And then there's Hemsky: I've said it for a while now, he is both underrated and underestimated at such high levels.
Klingberg is dominate, could be shortlisted for the Norris. Goligoski is solid as well as demers and Jokkipaka. Jo. Benn is the weak link of this team.
I know it's early but my SC Final prediction is this Dallas team and Tampa.
Re: Why Can't the Pennsylvania teams score?
As for the Penguins, I think they are doing well. They play hard. I love the Sheary kid, he's a tough, grinding player. His first goal off that feed from Sid was something special.
I like Sullivan, I am buying into his words. I didn't hate Johsnton but I think he was just stagnant; his hockey mind wasn't as diverse as it should have been for the NHL. He had such a stingy "my way or the highway" attitude and he didn't change his system from day one, as much as it failed. I think Sullivan is the opposite of that, thankfully.
Go pens tomorrow night!
I like Sullivan, I am buying into his words. I didn't hate Johsnton but I think he was just stagnant; his hockey mind wasn't as diverse as it should have been for the NHL. He had such a stingy "my way or the highway" attitude and he didn't change his system from day one, as much as it failed. I think Sullivan is the opposite of that, thankfully.
Go pens tomorrow night!