Pittsburgh Sports Media Gibberish - Part IX

[Asuna]

But see it's not pretty much the same as Bylsma's. Despres wouldn't be playing every game if Bylsma was here. Pouliot sure as hell wouldn't have played as much as he did. Scuderi would be on the second pairing (one could argue Johnston overplays him, but it's still the "3rd" pair). Downie wouldn't even be here and if he was, he would have been benched after a few games. Kunitz wouldn't have been on the 3rd line. I could go on and on.

Maybe. Few things are much of the same, ie Scuderi and Adams. It's more usage really. Scuderi shouldn't be 3-4th in minutes every night. He shouldn't be the first dman out on the PK and he sure as hell shouldn't be playing in OT. Adams shouldn't be the first or second forward on the PK either, nor should he even be playing. But I guess I should just accept that they're going to play no matter what.

Despres is playing more but he's still playing 3rd pairing minutes, which is unacceptable.

To be fair, MJ likes Pouliot a lot so that's probably why he played so much, even over Harrington and a few times Despres.

Downie would probably be on the 4th line if Byslma was here, haha.

I'm fairly confident had Kunitz played this badly when Bylsma was here, he would have moved him off the line. Bylsma rarely made changes, but let's not act like he never made a change ever.

Most of my criticism stems from Adams and Scuderi tbh....I just hate seeing them on the ice ever

 

[steveg]

Gordie's goal is to get a reaction out of people. I don't see how anyone can read his comments and take them seriously. His responses are so obvious I'm surprised he hasn't been infracted yet.

Shame on any of you for even responding.

I agree...NO IDEA how he hasn't been infracted...

 

[Waffle Fries]

But see it's not pretty much the same as Bylsma's. Despres wouldn't be playing every game if Bylsma was here. Pouliot sure as hell wouldn't have played as much as he did. Scuderi would be on the second pairing (one could argue Johnston overplays him, but it's still the "3rd" pair). Downie wouldn't even be here and if he was, he would have been benched after a few games. Kunitz wouldn't have been on the 3rd line. I could go on and on.

I've noticed that "same as Bylsma" is used whenever there is a decision that someone doesn't like, regardless of what it is. Sure Johnston makes decisions that seem odd, but so does every coach. That is something that every coach in the league has in common.

 

[Shady Machine]

I've noticed that "same as Bylsma" is used whenever there is a decision that someone doesn't like, regardless of what it is. Sure Johnston makes decisions that seem odd, but so does every coach. That is something that every coach in the league has in common.

Yup exactly. No coach is perfect and it feels weird to be constantly defending him, but several posters have a pretty clouded and short memory to be throwing out statements like "same as Bylsma"

 

[Shwag33]

Yup exactly. No coach is perfect and it feels weird to be constantly defending him, but several posters have a pretty clouded and short memory to be throwing out statements like "same as Bylsma"

When you have posters *****ing about 1 minute of ice time here and there in the middle of the regular season, you should ignore their posts. The only problem is most of those posters have 20k+ post and are the most vocal of their ignorant viewpoints.


Everyone *****es who cares about the regular season save it for the playoffs, yet treat every regular season game as if its a playoff game. Won't give the coach even the slightest benefit of the doubt.

 

[ProgOg]

Pens' Leaders Reflect on First Half:

“One of the first things they said in our meetings at the beginning – I think it was Jim – he came in and he said I want to see smiles on the faces of all the guys and I want the guys to come to the rink and have fun, and in the games having fun, enjoying every moment of it,” Letang said. “That’s why you can see it’s looser here.”
(...)
Letang acknowledged that the atmosphere is different, but the goal is still the same.

“It’s the same pressure,” Letang said emphatically. “We want to win, there’s no doubt in our mind that we’re not just trying to be in the playoffs – we want to win. But at the end of the day, it’s just how it feels is different.”

“They’re pretty upbeat and want us to be, too,” Fleury said. “They want us to win and have fun doing it.”

“You want your coaches to be happy to come to the rink and bring that energy, and I think they definitely do that,” Crosby agreed.

“Mike’s pretty calm,” Crosby smiled. “I think it’s easy to get emotional and you want to have that intensity, but you know when your coach has that sense of calm and that confidence, that quiet confidence, I think that helps everybody. So I think that’s been something that has helped us that way.”

“Honestly, as a whole group, they’ve been trying to address the fact that we have to use our heads, use our reads, be confident in ourselves,” Letang said. “I think that’s the main thing. It’s not always playing the same way so you try to reduce percentages. It’s more of reading and trying to be a better player.”

For those who are interested, there are more quotes in the article.

 

[Asuna]

Good quote by Letang:

What do they feel they have to continue to work on?

I think the possession,†Letang replied. “We’re still having some habits of the old system. When we feel squeezed, we don’t hold onto the puck. Those are things that you started to see more, but it’s not perfect yet. There’s other things. The power play, it was great at the beginning of the year, now it’s slowed down. We’re trying to get it back up, but it’s tons of things. It’s the whole system that needs to be perfected.

 

[Dying Alive]

When do they give Letang an A? He's pretty clearly a leader on that team.

 

[Asuna]

I also find it interesting that before the season, Johnston's system is predicated on possession and offense. But now all we here is possession and playing defense.

It's good to see.

 

[Speaking Moistly]

So....

At one point in December, they were missing 12 players, nine of whom were on their 20-man opening-night roster. Right now, they’re still missing four of those players: Pascal Dupuis (blood clot), Patric Hornqvist (upper body), Blake Comeau (upper body) and Olli Maatta (upper body).

Haven't the Pens had him as that a few times instead of lower body?

 

[Dying Alive]

So....



Haven't the Pens had him as that a few times instead of lower body?

I think he had missed a few games with a concussion, right? This time I thought it was that shot he took off his foot.

 

[ProgOg]

So....



Haven't the Pens had him as that a few times instead of lower body?

Last time they had it that way they corrected it to "lower body" pretty quickly, I think.

 

[DegenX]

so....



Haven't the pens had him as that a few times instead of lower body?

Guessing it's a typo ... but it's the Pens, so who knows, right?

 

[Speaking Moistly]

I think he had missed a few games with a concussion, right? This time I thought it was that shot he took off his foot.

It was something like that but I don't think they ever confirmed it.

Last time they had it that way they corrected it to "lower body" pretty quickly, I think.

Guessing it's a typo ... but it's the Pens, so who knows, right?

I definitely think he's got a lower body injury but it's making me wonder if there's something else going on because it's the Pens.

 

[billybudd]

Guessing it's a typo ... but it's the Pens, so who knows, right?

Root made the same mistake during a game. I'm inclined to think the Pens are saying upper body in some of their press releases for God Knows what reason.

 

[Winger for Hire]

So what were getting at is when the NHL adopts NFL style injury rules and reports, we can easily blame the Penguins

 

[AjaxTelamon]

When do they give Letang an A? He's pretty clearly a leader on that team.

Next year, when Kunitz is a full time 3rd liner or gone.

 

[Waffle Fries]

Letang gets called "dumb" and "an idiot" a lot around here, but I think he's actually a pretty smart guy.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

I don't think his sometimes questionable decisions have much to do with intelligence. And he's cut down on that quite a lot, anyway. I just think, especially in the past, he would often simply try to do too much. He's just one of those guys that feels like they have to push harder if they aren't making things happen every shift out on the ice. Lack of patience, essentially.

I feel like he was also a guy who really (secretly) chaffed under the last regime. And that would very often come out on the ice.

 

[Joejosh999]

Well DK came out and (mildly) criticized letang today, after saying a few weeks ago how fab he was for getting an actual shot on net once in awhile.

Yes but is he 7.25 mil fab on a team flanking Crosby and Malkin with the drek we've seen for umpteen years?
And now cannot waive the likes of Adams due to cap?

Perhaps we carry this over to the 7th grade recess Adams Hate thread!!

Have at it!!!

 

[ProgOg]

It's not really Pittsburgh media, but here is an article on Fleury and Bales:

Zen and the art of NHL goaltender maintenance: Marc-Andre Fleury keeps calm, keeps winning

When Marc-Andre Fleury allows a goal, he skates to the corner to blow off steam. He scrapes his stick blade across the crease to clear off snow. He watches the replay on the scoreboard screen to see what happened, to see if he could have done something differently, and then he moves on.

“I try,” he said.

He said he has always followed this routine. But there are a couple of key differences now: One, he’s 30. He’s older and wiser. He said he knows how to “relax at the right time.” Two, he’s in his second season working with Pittsburgh Penguins goaltending coach Mike Bales, who has taught him not only about stopping the puck, but about letting it in.

“Goals are going to go in,” Bales said. “It doesn’t matter how good you are. You’re going to let goals in in practice, you’re going to let goals go in in the game, and you need to have a plan how you deal with that. It doesn’t mean you have to be happy that they go in, but you have to have a way to reset. Marc’s worked on that, and he’s very good at that.”

It wasn’t necessarily easy. Fleury was close to Meloche, and now here came Bales trying to change some things he had done for years. “It was a bit of a process where we had to get to know each other first, learn how to communicate and learn what one person sees and how the other person sees it,” Bales said. “We had to be able to come to common ground on how we’re going to talk about things.”

Fleury had another solid regular season in 2013-14, and he had his best playoff run since 2008, posting a 2.40 goals-against average and .915 save percentage. He was not the reason the Penguins lost in the second round. He was not the reason Shero and coach Dan Bylsma were fired. He went into the off-season with a plan from Bales. “Bigger technical things are most often best worked on in the summer,” Bales said.

Bales and Fleury have worked on Fleury’s depth – when to be aggressive, when not to be – and his post play. Fleury stays deeper in his net. He travels less distance. He squares to the puck more. He handles the same situations the same way repeatedly. “It’s not as flashy, but it can be more consistent,” Fleury said. “I think it’s been helping.”

“When there’s stressful situations or when maybe the pressure’s up a little bit, you have that structure to fall back on,” Bales said. “It helps you be more confident and more calm in net.”

I didn't know too much about Bales, so this was interesting.

 

[cygnus47]

Letang has really showed his leadership this season I think. He's appearing much more mature and insightful than he has in seasons past. He's also been more consistent on the ice.

 

[WayneSid9987]

I also find it interesting that before the season, Johnston's system is predicated on possession and offense. But now all we here is possession and playing defense.

It's good to see.

MJ's not a dumb guy in terms of his preparation. Theres a reason he brought in Agnew from a very good defensive organization in the Blues.
He knew what his weakness was/is. He made the right choice to do that. He could've easily just tried to tackle the defense on his own but he knew he would need help. Sign of a smart coach. One that doesn't know everything and is constantly learning.

 

[ObsessedCreative*]

Letang gets called "dumb" and "an idiot" a lot around here, but I think he's actually a pretty smart guy.

Off ice perhaps, but his shot choice, selection, and much of his on ice decisions are downright "short bus" worthy.

 

[ProgOg]

Letang has really showed his leadership this season I think. He's appearing much more mature and insightful than he has in seasons past. He's also been more consistent on the ice.

I agree. He has improved in a lot of aspects, and it shows.