Salary Cap: Pens '24-'25 Salary Thread: The Crosbicles Volume XIX

[SEALBound]

You really believe that? Emp and Pixies have never come here to discuss hockey. Not primarily. They are here to get an emotional payoff through the users.
One wants stress relief, by hammering the users and mocking their intelligence for self-gratification.
The other wants to toy with them out of boredom, cuz they have no hobbies and don't know how to spend his days. Since he has almost no empathy for others, torturing others comes easily.

It's different approaches, but they are similar in that they are both trash people.

Except Emp makes good points even they do come off harsh at times.

Take a step back - I think it's reasonable to say that the majority of the people that chose to respond did not agree with your post that bad/soft goals don't matter. We all had our unique way of telling you we disagree. But ask yourself - am I mad because of what was said, who said it, or how it was said. More often than not, people are mad in that order and it tends to snowball from there.

He's not responding that way because he has a personal vendetta against you (that I know of). Relax man. At the end of the day, we're all friends here (admittingly on varying levels). In every friend group, there's the one or two guys that can always hit the nerves. Respond, don't react.

 

[Speaker City]

Didnt Barrasso get stabbed by his wife because she caught him nailing the babysitter?

 

[SEALBound]

Didnt Barrasso get stabbed by his wife because she caught him nailing the babysitter?

I thought he was nailing another teammate's wife?

He didn't get the nickname Barasshole for no reason.

 

[Ugene Magic]

What we got here is..... too many batmans.

 

[eXile3]

Sebastian Caron was the name on my fake ID.

Andy Chiodo was already taken?

 

[Empoleon8771]

Except Emp makes good points even they do come off harsh at times.

Take a step back - I think it's reasonable to say that the majority of the people that chose to respond did not agree with your post that bad/soft goals don't matter. We all had our unique way of telling you we disagree. But ask yourself - am I mad because of what was said, who said it, or how it was said. More often than not, people are mad in that order and it tends to snowball from there.

He's not responding that way because he has a personal vendetta against you (that I know of). Relax man. At the end of the day, we're all friends here (admittingly on varying levels). In every friend group, there's the one or two guys that can always hit the nerves. Respond, don't react.

I hate Gurgs so speak for yourself


(this is a joke)

 

[SEALBound]

I hate Gurgs so speak for yourself


(this is a joke)

*We are all entities (just because I can't verify who is a human and who is a bot or other) that share a common interest in hockey and the Penguins, and focusing energy on positive or hateful retorts makes the day more bearable.

 

[Gurglesons]

I actually enjoy posting in other forums more often because of the lack of intelligent hockey talk in this forum.

I've gone from being the dumbest person in the room to being one of the smartest. It's sad.

Like YOU have ANY room to talk.

I never rant about the users on this forum. My primary thing to do here is discuss hockey. People have bad hockey opinions in here. That's all I say. I don't ever target anyone's personal life / job choice / etc.

Ryder is excused from this point btw.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

They finally win a cup with Trotz and refuse to pay him what he's worth so they let him walk. They've been irrelevant since.

Now look, the Penguins are hardly the model of "well-run franchises," but one of the last things I would be doing is putting, of all teams, the Washington Capitals on the pedestal of models to be envied.

It's less so that vs had they just spiralled into shit after all that. Which they didn't. They said they'd keep the team competitive while retooling out of respect to Ovy.

And what do you know, they f***ing did just that. They didn't hang on to coaches that didn't work. They fired them and hired an up and coming coach to push them and develop the young players they'd be using.

So bitch and whine it's the Caps. That's irrelevant. Stop being the arrogant twats most see Pens fans as and see the bigger picture.

 

[AuroraBorealis]

I'll again say "you must have me confused with someone else". Because while my post at worst may have been pedantic, you didn't need to take it to the level you did by suggesting to f*** off.

I have never treated you that way and I'll challenge anyone to say I've approached them in a similar manner. And I never will do that.

Unsure if it was a case of confusion or misguided anger, but I give respect and expect the same in return.

I have always given respect to those who give it to me.
Lots of evidence here of it working out with people who chose that path. Andy, KrisLetAngry, Meiner, Darren McCord, etc...
We've disagreed on a ton over the years, yet as you can see there's no trace of bad blood. Everything is fine.
I'm an easy guy to get along with if that's someone's intention. It's their call.

The problem is we have an inordinate amount of toxic people here, and you have to navigate them like a minefield to get to anything substantial.
I have a weakness where I get too involved in their trash, because I don't like what they stand for.
I could do a better job of pretending they don't exist.

Anyways, It sounds like we're in agreement. If we both want the same thing, it should work out.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

Today I learned "momentum matters in hockey" counts as "dumbest shit imaginable".

Today I learned being an ignorant wanker to keep hating on a player any chance you get is considered insightful.

 

[HandshakeLine]

I don't think that's true. In part bc Barrasso himself was a headcase

Hedberg?
JS Aubin?
Conklin?
CDS?

Lol, I'm glad I'm not the only one who remembers Tommy B's issues.

I'll never not laugh at the story of him throwing a chair at JS Aubin because Aubin was playing well and taking his job.

My favorite Barrasso story is how he got put on IR because his wife caught him f***ing the babysitter and stabbed him with a fork.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

Lol like for f***s sakes, talking about how the Caps weren't complacent after bad decisions turns into some idiotic whine fest about "I don't care about the Caps!" f***ing pearl clutching dipshits.

It's about how they moved on when they should have. They miss the playoffs they fire the coach, they hired a young coach with fresh ideas and a good development background and have far exceeded expectations. The Penguins clutching to Sullivan because FSG loves him is worse. Far worse. That's the point.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

Except Emp makes good points even they do come off harsh at times.

Take a step back - I think it's reasonable to say that the majority of the people that chose to respond did not agree with your post that bad/soft goals don't matter. We all had our unique way of telling you we disagree. But ask yourself - am I mad because of what was said, who said it, or how it was said. More often than not, people are mad in that order and it tends to snowball from there.

He's not responding that way because he has a personal vendetta against you (that I know of). Relax man. At the end of the day, we're all friends here (admittingly on varying levels). In every friend group, there's the one or two guys that can always hit the nerves. Respond, don't react.

In the grand scheme of things - soft and bad goals don't matter if you shut down the door. In a period where your team is severely out shot and you bend a little, if you don't give your team a shot to fight back, it's a problem. We've had Murray at his best do the same and various other goalies in the leagues have as well. A bad goal that spirals out of control - that is when it's a massive issue. But a soft goal in a first or second period and then shutting it down to win the game? That isn't an issue unless you have an axe to grind and be a twat about it and then play it off as "I played goalie I know!! The teens that lit my ass up, I totally knew all there is by then."

But players lose confidence, as much as it may shock everyone, they're people too. Sid is struggling and they had to stack his line to help him. A goalie struggles and the team still plays shit defense, it's still the goalie's fault. The lack of understanding is moronic here.

 

[KrisLetAngry]

Alright, everyone relax. We are all here to just talk Penguin hockey and occaaaaasionally rag on each other a bit. The only hate we should have is for Mike Sullivan.

This is literally the chat.

We are all penguin fans here. All of us very passionate insane fans

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

I would totally be interested in getting Xhekaj but man, if there was every a player that was the exact opposite of what this coaching staff wants, it's him.

I was just going to say. Why would anyone think a player like Xhekaj would be a good fit for this coach? Xhekaj's best attributes are the antithesis of what Sullivan wants out of his players.

Xhekaj's entire appeal is he adds that physical/nasty element we sorely lack. Sullivan would neuter that, so all we'd have left is a fringe bottom pairing guy who isn't great either offensively or defensively. In other words, a Ryan Graves.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

I don't think that's true. In part bc Barrasso himself was a headcase

Hedberg?
JS Aubin?
Conklin?
CDS?

Those that keep using head case incorrectly it's clear...

Tom also had a lot on his plate with his daughters illness and despised speaking to the media, among his other shit. Maybe that made him one.

Casey literally beat a woman and spat on her in a fit of rage like a f***ing loser. He wasn't a head case, he was just a pathetic human being.

Fleury wasn't a head case but the way he lost his confidence made everyone call him that. He was a good bloke to fans and the community and did nothing wrong, so his head case label was he couldn't refocus after a had goal? Lol no.

A goalie struggling isn't a head case. I don't think these idiots know what that word means if a player struggles and is called that. I guess Malkin was a head case last year? Crosby is a head case this year?

Nedeljkovic, Jarry, and Blomqvist aren't head cases. Two of them are struggling and one of the two is really struggling but neither of them has done anything worthy of being called a head case.

I was just going to say. Why would anyone think a player like Xhekaj would be a good fit for this coach? Xhekaj's best attributes are the antithesis of what Sullivan wants out of his players.

Xhekaj's entire appeal is he adds that physical/nasty element we sorely lack. Sullivan would neuter that, so all we'd have left is a fringe bottom pairing guy who isn't great either offensively or defensively. In other words, a Ryan Graves.

I wanted both brothers on this team, but yeah Sullivan would pout about having to use Arber.

 

[Empoleon8771]

Today I learned being an ignorant wanker to keep hating on a player any chance you get is considered insightful.

I wasn't hating on Jarry when I said that goalies giving up bad goals deflates their teams.

I don't understand how this is at all controversial. A goalie that gives up a bad goal deflates your team, while a goalie who makes a great save gets your team pumped. Those basic emotions when your goalie does something good or bad seem insanely self explanatory to me.

This isn't even necessarily about Jarry in the first place, the concept applies to any goalie. The momentum shifts from a goalie making a big save and bailing his team out versus a goalie giving up a bad goal and deflating the team absolutely have an impact on the game.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

I wasn't hating on Jarry when I said that goalies giving up bad goals deflates their teams.

I don't understand how this is at all controversial. A goalie that gives up a bad goal deflates your team, while a goalie who makes a great save gets your team pumped. Those basic emotions when your goalie does something good or bad seem insanely self explanatory to me.

This isn't even necessarily about Jarry in the first place, the concept applies to any goalie. The momentum shifts from a goalie making a big save and bailing his team out versus a goalie giving up a bad goal and deflating the team absolutely have an impact on the game.

What I am saying is yeah a goalie giving up a bad goal deflates the team but it's also on the team to rally around the goalie and figure it out. This team sees that and collapses even harder by playing piss poor and allowing the other team to control them for the next couple. A lot of teams the Pens play let in a bad goal or a soft goal that would deflate the f*** out of the Pens but they don't get deflated the same way, that's coaching. A coach rallies his team and gets them to refocus. On the Pens it's like Sullivan staring daggers at the goalie is already making his excuse for why they will lose.

For example if a goalie let's in a deflating goal - he's a goalie that's let the team down.

A franchise player turns over the puck several times this season that causes a goal, he's just a player they need to help get going.

See the f***ing issue?

That's the problem here.

You keep making it about the goalie when it's not entirely about the goalie. The team hasn't tightened up the defense in front of either goalie, last year they played fast and loose in front of Jarry when he was good and bad, in front of Ned they played a much tighter defense, this year they haven't even done that in front of Joel. They just aren't coached to do anything of the sort. So you have either goalie let in a bad goal, it's over. This team has no ability to rally. The coach has had no answers and the players can't follow a lead the coach doesn't provide them.

 

[Empoleon8771]

What I am saying is yeah a goalie giving up a bad goal deflates the team but it's also on the team to rally around the goalie and figure it out. This team sees that and collapses even harder by playing piss poor and allowing the other team to control them for the next couple. A lot of teams the Pens play let in a bad goal or a soft goal that would deflate the f*** out of the Pens but they don't get deflated the same way, that's coaching. A coach rallies his team and gets them to refocus. On the Pens it's like Sullivan staring daggers at the goalie is already making his excuse for why they will lose.

For example if a goalie let's in a deflating goal - he's a goalie that's let the team down.

A franchise player turns over the puck several times this season that causes a goal, he's just a player they need to help get going.

See the f***ing issue?

That's the problem here.

You keep making it about the goalie when it's not entirely about the goalie. The team hasn't tightened up the defense in front of either goalie, last year they played fast and loose in front of Jarry when he was good and bad, in front of Ned they played a much tighter defense, this year they haven't even done that in front of Joel. They just aren't coached to do anything of the sort. So you have either goalie let in a bad goal, it's over. This team has no ability to rally. The coach has had no answers and the players can't follow a lead the coach doesn't provide them.

I've said multiple times that it's not just about the goalie. Yes, it is also up to the defenseman to tighten up and not give up a billion chances.

This whole discussion started when someone said Jarry was playing well in the AHL based purely on stat watching while not knowing he's still giving up goals like these:

https://x.com/i/web/status/1851781525802508593

If Jarry is still giving up these leaky kind of goals, I feel like he'll just get completely smoked in the NHL when this team once again can't play defense in front of him. And if that's the case, I don't see how you can at all say he's "playing well in the AHL".

 

[Honour Over Glory]

I've said multiple times that it's not just about the goalie. Yes, it is also up to the defenseman to tighten up and not give up a billion chances.

This whole discussion started when someone said Jarry was playing well in the AHL based purely on stat watching while not knowing he's still giving up goals like these:

https://x.com/i/web/status/1851781525802508593

If Jarry is still giving up these leaky kind of goals, I feel like he'll just get completely smoked in the NHL when this team once again can't play defense in front of him. And if that's the case, I don't see how you can at all say he's "playing well in the AHL".

Ned is also giving up leaky ass goals and more in high danger opportunities.

Blomqvist has let in 1 leaky goal per game.

But they battle back, or at least in some case they do. That's all you can ask of them. To not collapse.

The fact that you didn't even watch the game but chose a shitty clip of him letting a bad goal underscores the fact that the Isles controlled the shit out of that 2nd period in a big push back and then the third the Pens gave it right back and Jarry shut down the door when they needed him to while they continued to push back. Then he stopped 2 of 3 shootout attempts to win.

So he did what you'd want a goalie that is in his situation to do, battle and not lose focus. And your entire narrative is "he can't be doing that dawg."

No shit. But he's fighting back and not collapsing. That's a positive in his game. He had a very strong first game and a second game that he has some things he can take from it to work on more and a lot to also be proud of. Is that a hard concept for you? To see it in a positive light or do you just want to shit on him so you can bitch more about him on the main board?

 

[SEALBound]

It's less so that vs had they just spiralled into shit after all that. Which they didn't. They said they'd keep the team competitive while retooling out of respect to Ovy.

And what do you know, they f***ing did just that. They didn't hang on to coaches that didn't work. They fired them and hired an up and coming coach to push them and develop the young players they'd be using.

So bitch and whine it's the Caps. That's irrelevant. Stop being the arrogant twats most see Pens fans as and see the bigger picture.

I mean, we did that exact same thing, though, did we not? The decisions and parallels between the two teams in the last 5 years are very close. The difference is that the risky moves they have made are paying off more than the risky moves we made. That's hockey. That's life.

Nashville made some risky moves and are paying for it dearly at the moment. Vegas has made some risky moves and they are thriving. Again, that's the way the cookie crumbles. That said, it's 10 games into the season. One month. Things for both teams can change in a heartbeat.

I don't buy that Washington had some sneaky good strategy to be #3 in the Metro at the moment, by 1 point.

 

[Pancakes]

I don't have any issues with any posters on here. I think I'm on a certain someone's ignore list though because he hates anyone that badmouths TJ. He must have 90% of the board on ignore at this point so he can sit there and yell into the void about how people are twats or whatever.

Emp's a good poster. Like me he probably tends to fall more on the optimistic side of thinking about the Penguins which gets him some heat from the folks who solely enjoy misery and wallowing in it.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

I mean, we did that exact same thing, though, did we not? The decisions and parallels between the two teams in the last 5 years are very close. The difference is that the risky moves they have made are paying off more than the risky moves we made. That's hockey. That's life.

Nashville made some risky moves and are paying for it dearly at the moment. Vegas has made some risky moves and they are thriving. Again, that's the way the cookie crumbles. That said, it's 10 games into the season. One month. Things for both teams can change in a heartbeat.

I don't buy that Washington had some sneaky good strategy to be #3 in the Metro at the moment, by 1 point.

No that is absolutely not what the Penguins have also done.

To expect a different result with the same coach using the same usage issues using the same system that has continued to fail hoping for a change is ridiculous. To claim the Penguins have done the same is being absolutely ignorant to the whole situation. The Caps didn't want to pay Trotz, fine, so they went with Reirden, they didn't do well, so they moved on from him to Laviolette and it didn't workout with him either so they decided to not go with another retread and plucked off Carbery that Dubas promoted to the Leafs from the Caps farm to bring in a new direction while also pushing youth and staying competitive as to not have a full tear down until Ovechkin retires but starting the retool while he's there anyway and wanting to still be competitive by adding some good UFA's and making deals to bring in help for their top 6.

Nashville, that's Trotz btw, he went all in to maximize Brunette's system that needed more aggressive offensive weapons and didn't realize it'd take a bit to adjust and the whole team looks off right now but show signs of improving. Nashville isn't even remotely a good comparison for the Penguins situation.

Vegas is very shrewd, I despise that franchise but what they did is closer to what the Caps did but Vegas has to really work things with the Cap hell they've put themselves into, they are also a team that hasn't been complacent with coaches the way the Penguins have and out of the 3 teams you mentioned - Only the Penguins have been complacent in that regard.

You want to move forward? You make roster moves but also coaching changes to get a new voice in there and coaching philosophy - If it's Gallant taking them to the finals and getting fired, or DeBoer still keeping them relevant and getting fired within 3 seasons to Cassidy coming on board and winning the cup after some insane LTIR cheating, they didn't romanticize their coaches as hard as the Penguins have. Same for the Preds and Caps. Vegas is a good example of get complacent, you die, mentality. In their short tenure they have had 3 coaches, Cassidy is the longest tenured coach in their history and will earn maybe another 2 seasons based on that Cup that bought him time.

Sullivan still as the Pens coach - yeah they haven't even remotely done the same as the other teams, they've kept Sullivan while failing the last 2 seasons and the signs were there prior to that, the VGK wouldn't have kept Sullivan after 2022, or at the latest they would have fired him after the 2022-23 season at the latest and given how VGK does things, that might be a stretch, they might have fired him sooner. That conversation ends there.

Re Washington - They surprised a lot of teams last year, this season they added more support. If a lot felt they were flukes last year, this year is proof they weren't. They've pushed a lot of youth in that line-up while adding an interesting amount of veterans like Mangiapane, PLD, and bringing back Vrana. Then some splashes on defense, big one being Chychrun and trading for Logan Thompson. All that and they're still pushing players like McMichael, Protas, Alexeyev, Lapierre, and letting prospects still develop rather than f*** them over with shitty 4th line usage for players like Miroshnichenko, etc.

I don't have any issues with any posters on here. I think I'm on a certain someone's ignore list though because he hates anyone that badmouths TJ. He must have 90% of the board on ignore at this point so he can sit there and yell into the void about how people are twats or whatever.

Emp's a good poster. Like me he probably tends to fall more on the optimistic side of thinking about the Penguins which gets him some heat from the folks who solely enjoy misery and wallowing in it.

I quite literally don't have your dumb ass on ignore, I did for a whole 2 days over a week ago, for the Gurgles impersonation you keep doing.

 

[Pancakes]

I quite literally don't have your dumb ass on ignore, I did for a whole 2 days over a week ago, for the Gurgles impersonation you keep doing.

I don't even remember what I said that pissed you off though I assume it was about TJ. Tbh Pixies and I disagree on a lot of things and hating TJ might be one of the few points where we agree.