Post-mortem on the season

[DegenX]

Does the team release an injury re-cap? If Sully won't do it, and the players won't talk, then maybe no info comes out at all?

The team is not obligated to release any information. Anything more will come out in bits and pieces during the off season, if we get any information at all. Usually, if a player has surgery the team will Tweet that it was successful. Otherwise, we won't hear anything from the team unless someone will miss part of the pre-season.

 

[Mr Jiggyfly]

Per Shelly, Sully says he will not be disclosing the Pens' injuries. Wow.

I hinted at this a few times, but I know Brassard was f***ed up and I’ve played through something like that and it’s horrible.

Surprised they didn’t say anything about it. Did they at least admit he’s hurt or anything?

 

[DegenX]

I hinted at this a few times, but I know Brassard was ****ed up and I’ve played through something like that and it’s horrible.

Surprised they didn’t say anything about it. Did they at least admit he’s hurt or anything?

They said he was injured at the end of the season, they wouldn't offer any details other than he won't need surgery.

 

[Gurglesons]

I hinted at this a few times, but I know Brassard was ****ed up and I’ve played through something like that and it’s horrible.

Surprised they didn’t say anything about it. Did they at least admit he’s hurt or anything?

They basically insinuated that it was an injury that was difficult to play through.

Mind sharing what it was? Seemed to play like it was a sports hernia.

 

[EliteGoaltending]

Per Russian sources, he had some ligament damage and was playing with a brace on a knee.



Surprised to not hear anything on Rust, he was invisible most of the time.

 

[DesertedPenguin]

Malkin spoke at length after Game 6 and hasn't always spoken on clean out day. Kessel is the only one of note, but we know he avoids the media as much as possible as a matter of routine.

 

[Mr Jiggyfly]

They basically insinuated that it was an injury that was difficult to play through.

Mind sharing what it was? Seemed to play like it was a sports hernia.

Don’t want to be blab about what I was told since the team isn’t disclosing the injury, and you are never 100% sure when you hear stuff, but looks like they were on the money again. Big props.

At least the org admitted it was difficult to deal with, so people know why he wasn’t right.

 

[66871]

Take a look at every back to back finals participant back to the islanders... there is a pretty common theme there....3 peats are nearly impossible in the last few eras

Was messing around with the numbers different ways to look at multiple cup winners. One way to think about it is in terms of how many other teams the team in question finished above before losing. I realize you can manipulate numbers to say a variety of things -- so I offer this with a few grains of the salt that have been poured all over the mains this week. By this metric, the Penguins are only behind the Islanders (and don't get me wrong, I'd rather have the four cups of the Habs)

Islanders 1980-1984: 99 teams
Penguins 2016-2018: 81 teams
Canadiens 1976-1980: 80 teams
Red Wings 1997-1999: 67 teams
Penguins 1991-1993: 57 teams
Oilers: 1984-1986: 53 teams
Oilers: 1987-1989: 45 teams

 

[Joejosh999]

Assuming Kessel was injured (and it seemed beyond obvious he was) , to have both Sullivan and apparently the Pens training staff call it no biggie seems like a real smack down.

 

[RizzleMcRib]

Reaching? Eh, more likely, I'm just stupid. Just seems like in OT, facing a long change, it would make sense for Kris to make sure we had puck possession before completely vacating the zone with the Caps trapping and Ovi and Kuzy ready to roll at their blue line. Again, I used the term "indirect". Did Letang play this well in your opinion? Not trying to be a d***, I'm interested in understanding more about the game.

First off, I apologize if I came off snarky. Wasn't my intention. When it comes to Letang, I'm in the group that still believes he is a #1 defenseman in the league. Are there better dmen in the league? Sure, but I think the number of them is GREATLY exaggerated on this board. That being said I'm in agreement with majority of this board when it comes to the fact that he does make bonehead plays. Some of those plays (which he will be the first admit) can and did cost us games. He does deserve criticism when it's warranted. But that can be said for pretty much every top dman in the league. His are more noticeable because we see him play more often than others. The problem is people who preach that Letang is the worst dman ever. When people start blaming him for everything, their point becomes null and void because if you can't give him credit for the things he does well then obviously you are just walking around with blinders or just repeating what a certain group repeats ad nauseum.

That's why when you single him out and say he contributed to these goals "indirectly" you are deflecting blame from the main culprits who were responsible for those goals like Crosby in game 6 and Maatta in game 3. Letang didn't cause that 2-1 that costs us the game. He didn't cause the Crosby turnover that cost us the game and ultimately the series.

 

[Peat]

Assuming Kessel was injured (and it seemed beyond obvious he was) , to have both Sullivan and apparently the Pens training staff call it no biggie seems like a real smack down.

Or, you know, the way Sully treats every injury. There's a reason people here joke that he'd refer to a decapitation as a week to week upper body injury.

 

[WayneSid9987]

I'd put number one on injuries(Geno, Phil, Brass can really do a number on the primary/secondary depth scoring). Also the love affair with highly non-productive guys like Kuhn/Rowney over guys in Wilkes-Barre who should've been given more of a chance(namely Sprong/Bleuger).
Number two, Murr not on the top of his game.
Three, Tanger's mistakes.
Four, the rest.

 

[Finesse]

I'd be interested to hear exactly what happened to Hagelin's face at this point.

 

[Gurglesons]

First off, I apologize if I came off snarky. Wasn't my intention. When it comes to Letang, I'm in the group that still believes he is a #1 defenseman in the league. Are there better dmen in the league? Sure, but I think the number of them is GREATLY exaggerated on this board. That being said I'm in agreement with majority of this board when it comes to the fact that he does make bonehead plays. Some of those plays (which he will be the first admit) can and did cost us games. He does deserve criticism when it's warranted. But that can be said for pretty much every top dman in the league. His are more noticeable because we see him play more often than others. The problem is people who preach that Letang is the worst dman ever. When people start blaming him for everything, their point becomes null and void because if you can't give him credit for the things he does well then obviously you are just walking around with blinders or just repeating what a certain group repeats ad nauseum.

That's why when you single him out and say he contributed to these goals "indirectly" you are deflecting blame from the main culprits who were responsible for those goals like Crosby in game 6 and Maatta in game 3. Letang didn't cause that 2-1 that costs us the game. He didn't cause the Crosby turnover that cost us the game and ultimately the series.

I think the other thing with Letang is until Dumoulin came along he had very little back-up.

I’d argue that he still doesn’t. Schultz and Maatta are flawed # 4s and Dumo isn’t going to pick up any offensive slack.

Is it weird that Karlsson had his worst season after Methot left or the Kings missed the playoffs after Voynov was a human trash can?

What about Keith sucking after Hammer got traded?

 

[Joejosh999]

I think the other thing with Letang is until Dumoulin came along he had very little back-up.

I’d argue that he still doesn’t. Schultz and Maatta are flawed # 4s and Dumo isn’t going to pick up any offensive slack.

Dumo is our best defenseman and even he can't believe what his partner is doing.

 

[Joejosh999]

Or, you know, the way Sully treats every injury. There's a reason people here joke that he'd refer to a decapitation as a week to week upper body injury.

Not his training staff.

 

[Gurglesons]

Dumo is our best defenseman and even he can't believe what his partner is doing.

When Brian Dumoulin is your best defenseman you’re going to lose a lot of games.

 

[RizzleMcRib]

It would be nice if he would admit his mistakes in Game 3 and 6 as well.

Stop reaching. Game 3 was on Maatta. Game 6 was Crosby.

 

[Joejosh999]

First off, I apologize if I came off snarky. Wasn't my intention. When it comes to Letang, I'm in the group that still believes he is a #1 defenseman in the league. Are there better dmen in the league? Sure, but I think the number of them is GREATLY exaggerated on this board. That being said I'm in agreement with majority of this board when it comes to the fact that he does make bonehead plays. Some of those plays (which he will be the first admit) can and did cost us games. He does deserve criticism when it's warranted. But that can be said for pretty much every top dman in the league. His are more noticeable because we see him play more often than others. The problem is people who preach that Letang is the worst dman ever. When people start blaming him for everything, their point becomes null and void because if you can't give him credit for the things he does well then obviously you are just walking around with blinders or just repeating what a certain group repeats ad nauseum.

That's why when you single him out and say he contributed to these goals "indirectly" you are deflecting blame from the main culprits who were responsible for those goals like Crosby in game 6 and Maatta in game 3. Letang didn't cause that 2-1 that costs us the game. He didn't cause the Crosby turnover that cost us the game and ultimately the series.

IN fairness, he gets singled out because he makes 7+ mil and has been woefully inconsistent all year.

No, he did not completely cause the Crosby turnover but he certainly contributed to it with a bad pass as Sid was moving into traffic. That’s a physical mistake, fine, everybody makes them. But he compounded it w a mental mistake, pinching up and out to the boards when it was not clear (on the contrary, Crosby was pressured and not in control of the puck) that the Pens had possession, which “might” justify Letang joining the rush even though his partner was moving up also and was ahead of him. But he left his lane, seeing God knows what.
Even with his bad pass and Sid not controlling it, if 58 just stays put in his lane, it’s 1 on 1 w Kuzy and a whole different play. Instead, Ovie and Kuzy are “shocked” at the wide open ice and the opportunity they were given.
You just do NOT see these kinds of mental mistakes from #1 D in these playoffs. They’re absolutely glaring. He used to be able to cover up for a lot of them. He can’t anymore. We have to deal with it.

 

[Vujtek]

Per Russian sources, he had some ligament damage and was playing with a brace on a knee.

Can't help but to wonder what could've been had Malkin not been careless in that play that led to his injury. That basically turned Penguins into a one line team and as a result season is now over. Shame. Sure there were lots of other issues as well but a healthy Malkin still could have done wonders against Caps in the even strength play.

 

[Gurglesons]

IN fairness, he gets singled out because he makes 7+ mil and has been woefully inconsistent all year.

No, he did not completely cause the Crosby turnover but he certainly contributed to it with a bad pass as Sid was moving into traffic. That’s a physical mistake, fine, everybody makes them. But he compounded it w a mental mistake, pinching up and out to the boards when it was not clear (on the contrary, Crosby was pressured and not in control of the puck) that the Pens had possession, which “might” justify Letang joining the rush even though his partner was moving up also and was ahead of him. But he left his lane, seeing God knows what.
Even with his bad pass and Sid not controlling it, if 58 just stays put in his lane, it’s 1 on 1 w Kuzy and a whole different play. Instead, Ovie and Kuzy are “shocked” at the wide open ice and the opportunity they were given.
You just do NOT see these kinds of mental mistakes from #1 D in these playoffs. They’re absolutely glaring. He used to be able to cover up for a lot of them. He can’t anymore. We have to deal with it.

The most comparable contracts to Letang in terms of cap hits: Byfuglien, Burns, Shattenkirk, Yandle, Seabrook, Giordano, Fowler, Phaneuf, Erik Johnson, and Vlasic.

One of those players doesn’t make those types of errors on the regular.

Letang’s cap hit is not an issue.

 

[Joejosh999]

It's certainly an issue in terms of moving him, if every single Pens reporter on radio can be believed.

 

[Joejosh999]

Can't help but to wonder what could've been had Malkin not been careless in that play that led to his injury. That basically turned Penguins into a one line team and as a result season is now over. Shame. Sure there were lots of other issues as well but a healthy Malkin still could have done wonders against Caps in the even strength play.

Eh, not blaming Malkin for that injury, they just got tied up moving to the boards.
I DO blame Pens for a half-arsed home G5 v PHL. We win that, Hagelin stays in one piece, which would have been important going into WSH.

 

[RizzleMcRib]

It's certainly an issue in terms of moving him, if every single Pens reporter on radio can be believed.

Yeah, because a 7.25 #1 dman is way overpriced. Especially when you are going to start seeing guys getting 10+ a year.

 

[Joejosh999]

Yeah, because a 7.25 #1 dman is way overpriced. Especially when you are going to start seeing guys getting 10+ a year.

Yeah, I really don't believe the cap hit is a reason. Injuries, yes. Salary, no. But I think more is going on actually.

 

[bathroomSTAAL]

Not sure where to put this, but this is a really interesting article about how luck plays a bigger role in hockey than something like the NBA

Luck plays a bigger role in some sports than others — how come?