Post-Game Talk: Pens vs Leafs: Spanking, Canada's revenge

[Ryder71]

Reebuild isnt happening until the core retires. New ownership didnt spend 100s of millions to just blow this up. Sid and Co will be allowed to ride into the sunset and then the scorched earth approach will happen. This the way.

It might happen whether they like it or not because this group isn't going anywhere. They'll drop out of contention regardless...

Just gotta hope we garner some assets or make good picks at the draft.

Awesome! Then we can hire Cooper.

They can hire toe blake or Scotty in his prime, but it's inevitable they'll be a decided down turn. Tonight is an early indication.

 

[DesertedPenguin]

Thing is how or even why? He's on a PTO training with the team, hasn't played a WBS game at all and at this point where do you slot him in?

If you demote Harkins and Gruden, to make room for Rakell back, you still keep up Puustinen on this roster. There is no way Puustinen should be demoted before Dubas waives Gruden, Harkins, or even Hinostroza. Johnstone being up is weird, they played him 1 game for what now feels like some feel good story, then never played again. Acciari and Nieto are on LTIR I think so that's whatever.

At best I would say sign him, have him report to WBS on a conditioning assignment (ideally I would have liked to see him do the PTO and play in WBS for a few games first and then sign him to see how his hip holds up). But also there's the catch that if you sign him, he doesn't last 10 games because of his hip, you get LTIR space, so either way, maybe signing him is just worth it for the LTIR space alone.

Players with that procedure are ticking time bombs, they rarely last 40 games or play ever again. Kane is someone to keep an eye on, oddly enough Backstrom has had this procedure and is basically done (Hagelin had his 4th procedure on his hip and the last one was a resurfacing but his eye injury did him in, that surgery probably would have as well).

Puljujarvi will sign for the league minimum on a prove-it deal to show he's healthy. He's on the PTO right now to at least give some indication that he can still play.

Where does he play? Anywhere. Not like anyone is blocking him. He can play up and down the lineup. Just tell him to forecheck and go to the net.

 

[Zirakzigil]

Thing is how or even why? He's on a PTO training with the team, hasn't played a WBS game at all and at this point where do you slot him in?

If you demote Harkins and Gruden, to make room for Rakell back, you still keep up Puustinen on this roster. There is no way Puustinen should be demoted before Dubas waives Gruden, Harkins, or even Hinostroza. Johnstone being up is weird, they played him 1 game for what now feels like some feel good story, then never played again. Acciari and Nieto are on LTIR I think so that's whatever.

At best I would say sign him, have him report to WBS on a conditioning assignment (ideally I would have liked to see him do the PTO and play in WBS for a few games first and then sign him to see how his hip holds up). But also there's the catch that if you sign him, he doesn't last 10 games because of his hip, you get LTIR space, so either way, maybe signing him is just worth it for the LTIR space alone.

Players with that procedure are ticking time bombs, they rarely last 40 games or play ever again. Kane is someone to keep an eye on, oddly enough Backstrom has had this procedure and is basically done (Hagelin had his 4th procedure on his hip and the last one was a resurfacing but his eye injury did him in, that surgery probably would have as well).

At this point I am willing to try anything else to see what happens, cant be worse than the effort that was shown tonight. He would at least have something to prove. Id like to see Poulin up with the team too. But he needs to be allowed to settle in and get back to hockey without having to worry about other pressures.

 

[Ryder71]

Does anybody else understand that the core is simply too old? It's pretty amazing they didn't drop off sooner. And with this coaching staff they've become stale. No matter what moves we make it's likely not gonna change our trajectory all that much. Which is outside of the playoffs.

 

[Zirakzigil]

Does anybody else understand that the core is simply too old? It's pretty amazing they didn't drop off sooner. And with this coaching staff they've become stale. No matter what moves we make it's likely not gonna change our trajectory all that much. Which is outside of the playoffs.

Sid isnt playing like hes too old. Team needs a shake up though. Are they cup contenders? No, but they should be a playoff team with the talent at hand.

 

[canadianguy77]

Does anybody else understand that the core is simply too old? It's pretty amazing they didn't drop off sooner. And with this coaching staff they've become stale. No matter what moves we make it's likely not gonna change our trajectory all that much. Which is outside of the playoffs.

Just be honest and say Geno and Kris. The other guy doesn’t apply. At least not yet.

 

[Zbynek]

Scrappy Jansen and Big Jeff getting abused on goal 2 is so funny to me.

Hard to care anymore.

If I were a betting man, I would wager the problem tonight was that they didn’t get to their game.

We like our group though. We got a good group of guys.

And another thing.

Drew O'Connor is a net negative on every line he plays on.

He's slow. He's stupid. He's uncreative. He can't handle the puck. He can't shoot.

On a playoff team, he's the 14th or 15th forward, and that's being generous.

Two goals on the year playing almost half the time in the top six.

He's dragged Sid down, he's dragged Malkin down.

Tangradi was better.

DOC sucks so hard. He was never good. We complain about Jansen Harkins getting unlimited chances but DOC needs to sit. He does not deserve any of the icetime he's gotten with 87 and 71. Get this loser out of the lineup. The ship has sailed.

 

[Zbynek]

Coach Sullivan: "We just didn't play very well... I will certainly dissect it. I'm not quite sure how I'll respond to it. It's a humbling experience. We didn't perform to our expectations and it's disappointing. We're all in this thing together - we gotta figure it out."

Bob Grove
@bobgrove91
·
46m

Tonight was Pens' second-worst defeat under Sullivan, surpassed only by their 1-10 loss at Chicago on 10/5/17.

I'm not sure what I'll do... doesn't really matter though cuz my job is safe anyway!

 

[canadianguy77]

The crazy number of odd man rushes against are a result of Kris and EK playing the exact same way. This shit is systemic. Leafs threw 3 forecheckers at us all night and he had no answers. That’s a team you can cherry pick against all night and get breakaways. But you should only try to sneak one guy up the ice. He kept trying to sneak 4 guys up the ice, leaving the lone dman all alone and the result was a disaster.


The guys an idiot. He will never get the lines right. He’ll never get the personnel right, and he sure as shit won’t get the in-game strategies right. We have enough evidence for all of that by now for sure.

 

[canadianguy77]

Scrappy Jansen and Big Jeff getting abused on goal 2 is so funny to me.

Hard to care anymore.


We like our group though. We got a good group of guys.


DOC sucks so hard. He was never good. We complain about Jansen Harkins getting unlimited chances but DOC needs to sit. He does not deserve any of the icetime he's gotten with 87 and 71. Get this loser out of the lineup. The ship has sailed.

DOC is a legit NHL 4th liner. He’s got about 5 or 6 years to make big money playing a child’s game. I don’t hate on him. We would all do the same.

I hate on the coach who projects himself onto a guy like DOC.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

At this point I am willing to try anything else to see what happens, cant be worse than the effort that was shown tonight. He would at least have something to prove. Id like to see Poulin up with the team too. But he needs to be allowed to settle in and get back to hockey without having to worry about other pressures.

I would have been happy to see Puustinen tried on the top line instead of DOC but whatever, a discarded gimp is at least something.

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

Missed the game due to a migraine. Shame, looks like it was a hilarious watch.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

Puljujarvi will sign for the league minimum on a prove-it deal to show he's healthy. He's on the PTO right now to at least give some indication that he can still play.

Where does he play? Anywhere. Not like anyone is blocking him. He can play up and down the lineup. Just tell him to forecheck and go to the net.

Clearing medically after the surgery is normal, it's when he starts to play in any sort of game situation outside of practices that is where the concern is.

PTO and not playing a single AHL game has me very skeptical he's capable of anything.

 

[DesertedPenguin]

The crazy number of odd man rushes against are a result of Kris and EK playing the exact same way. This shit is systemic. Leafs threw 3 forecheckers at us all night and he had no answers. That’s a team you can cherry pick against all night and get breakaways. But you should only try to sneak one guy up the ice. He kept trying to sneak 4 guys up the ice, leaving the lone dman all alone and the result was a disaster.


The guys an idiot. He will never get the lines right. He’ll never get the personnel right, and he sure as shit won’t get the in-game strategies right. We have enough evidence for all of that by now for sure.

The odd man rushes aren't about any one player.

It's a systemic thing. People complain about individual player usage, but the best argument for firing Sullivan would be to highlight how long it took them to change anything substantial on the power play (and those changes are still being evaluated for long-term effectiveness) and the bizarre refusal to stick to the more conservative forecheck after it won them 3 or 4 games earlier this year.

Personnel is fickle. Even good players run hot and cold.

 

[Zbynek]

DOC is a legit NHL 4th liner. He’s got about 5 or 6 years to make big money playing a child’s game. I don’t hate on him. We would all do the same.

I hate on the coach who projects himself onto a guy like DOC.

But that's exactly it... DOC is an NHL 4th liner on a team already full of them. Yet his utilization has been the middle-6 forward the team so desperately needs. At worst, he's been used as top-6 plug, with Sully talking him up like he can dictate play on a HOF center's line.

Whether it's Sully's stubbornness or whatever, so often we fall into this bs of marrying a bottom-6 winger well past their expiry date with this club, well past they are proven to not fit here.

This guy has been given plenty of chances (this season especially) and still struggles to crack 20 point pace. He's an easy target to replace with someone out there who maybe can make a difference on this team.

 

[canadianguy77]

Sid isnt playing like hes too old. Team needs a shake up though. Are they cup contenders? No, but they should be a playoff team with the talent at hand.

If the Pacific division wasn’t so shitty, we’re a lottery team right now. Without Sid, we’re at the very bottom of the league in the standings. Anyone lumping Sid in with Kris, Geno, or EK is crazy.

 

[DesertedPenguin]

Clearing medically after the surgery is normal, it's when he starts to play in any sort of game situation outside of practices that is where the concern is.

PTO and not playing a single AHL game has me very skeptical he's capable of anything.

I'm not sure what they can do from a contractual basis. But I do know they contractually cannot send him to the AHL until they sign him to an actual contract. And at that point, he'd have to pass through waivers because of his age and experience. I think they'd be hesitant to do that, because signing him to a contract after working him out on a PTO would signal to the rest of the league that they believe he's healthy.

I'm not sure what the requirements are for a conditioning assignment. That would be the only way to get him to the AHL without going through waivers after signing him.

Also, if you sign him to a league minimum and he bombs out because his hips are still shot after surgery, you just put him on LTIR. Or you bury his contract at no cost. It's no different than sending any of the other vets down like Hinostroza, White, Nylander, etc.

 

[canadianguy77]

But that's exactly it... DOC is an NHL 4th liner on a team already full of them. Yet his utilization has been the middle-6 forward the team so desperately needs. At worst, he's been used as top-6 plug, with Sully talking him up like he can dictate play on a HOF center's line.

Whether it's Sully's stubbornness or whatever, so often we fall into this bs of marrying a bottom-6 winger well past their expiry date with this club, well past they are proven to not fit here.

This guy has been given plenty of chances (this season especially) and still struggles to crack 20 point pace. He's an easy target to replace with someone out there who maybe can make a difference on this team.

He definitely stinks on any sort of scoring line. But this is on the coach for putting him in way over his head. This is the same coach who has the entire broadcast team talking up Jansen f***ing Harkins every chance they can get.

 

[Zbynek]

I think DOC would have so much more success going somewhere like NYR or BOS and playing on their 4th line than staying here forever and being one of our twelve 4th-line specialists.

 

[canadianguy77]

I think DOC would have so much more success going somewhere like NYR or BOS and playing on their 4th line than staying here forever and being one of our twelve 4th-line specialists.

You might be right. Anyone who has spent a considerable amount of time under Dully (over a season) and then move on, either flourish, or play themselves out of the league relatively quickly.

It’s almost like he can’t judge NHL talent for shit.

 

[CascadiaPenguin]

Reebuild isnt happening until the core retires. New ownership didnt spend 100s of millions to just blow this up. Sid and Co will be allowed to ride into the sunset and then the scorched earth approach will happen. This the way.

Good luck getting folks to understand that immutable fact.

 

[Kristopher Letang]

Woah Sully made it past midnight.

It’s over boys, see y’all in 2030.

 

[CascadiaPenguin]

Woah Sully made it past midnight.

It’s over boys, see y’all in 2030.

Hard to believe 2030 will be the first year without the $4,500,000 Ryan Graves contract. Dude reminds me of a reincarnation of Jack Johnson, just cuter.

 

[hfman]

You guys haven't figured out what Dubas is yet?

He's a mannequin with glasses who can talk his way in and out of any situation

Sports... politics.. entertainment... doesn't matter, he puts on his make up, his glasses, his sweaters and suits, and he's ready for the cameras. That's where he convinces everyone that he's the most intelligent well-spoken man on the entire planet by speaking perfect sentences, phrases and paragraphs for the cameras and leaves everyone in awe. It's his thick-framed glasses that throws all of you off.

Bottom line is, this is just a guy who talks his way in and out of everything. Just pay attention. He's the most classic bullsh&tter of all time by the way he speaks. He's not doing anything, he just talks. His time will run out; he's still young but that runs out and by that time his game will be over. He has no place in the world of hockey lol, you have just been fooled into believing that. He's that 1/100 that can trick you into believing anything just by the way he talks.

A losing record back this up.

 

[McGroarty2]

His albums with Streisand didn’t age well IMO but, as a whole, I don’t think you can pin this on Kris Kristofferson.

I thought he was referring to Kris Kross.