Sunday, September 7, 2008

NHL Four-cast: Pittsburgh Penguins

1 - Why is this team worth watching? Did you enjoy Beijing? If so, the Cole Harbour Crybaby is one helluva diver (and, I must grudgingly admit, a decent hockey player). Brooks Orpik is capable of more rock n' roll shifts like this, that Kris Letang kid is a shootout ace (even if he is a little weasel the rest of the time) and that Malkin guy ain't half bad.

2 - Are they better or worse than last year? Worse. Gone are key wingers Ryan Malone and Marian Hossa, who were replaced by two Islanders - Miro Satan and Ruslan Fedotenko - because when you think scoring, you think Islanders /sarcasm. Gone is the Conkblocker, who picked up the team on his back for several months, and in his place is Dany Sabourin, who isn't very good. And gone is the league's best enforcer, Georges Laraque. In his place? Eric Godard.

3 - Who should YOU draft in fantasy? There is that Malkin guy, and that Crosby girl. Sergei Gonchar puts up huge points from the blueline every season. Remember, Ryan Whitney is out for a while. His replacement on the power play will likely be Letang, who does have some good skills and should have a breakout season. Petr Sykora slowly but steadily puts up his 50 points per year. I am not sold on Jordan Staal, but I will allow that he may have just had a sophomore slump last season. Staal should do better than 28 points and -5 but I don't expect a return to the 29 goals he scored his rookie year. Marc-Andre Fleury won over a lot of fans with his play during the postseason but keep in mind that he did it after missing months of action with injury. He put up some great numbers though and will be relied upon to play 65 or so games so he is still worthy of a second-starter position on your team.

4 - Is this the year Cindy Crosby finally becomes a man? Nope. She is too wrapped in a cocoon of sycophants who worship the ice she skates on. Sadly, they include a legion of parasites who depend on her happiness for their livelihood: Bettman, NBC, Versus, Pittsburgh, even Don Cherry ... someone to get in Cindy's face and explain to her that it isn't honourable to dive, it isn't honourable to take cheap shots and it isn't honourable to run to the refs demanding protection.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

You might want to watch the Penguins before writing about them.

Is the team downgraded from last season? Yes. Did Hossa play any role in the team's 2nd place regular season finish? Minimal at best. Satan/Fedotenko then replace Malone, not Hossa and Malone. Malone will be missed, but depth will be appreciated.

Crosby and Malkin, along with Staal, Letang and a few others, are a year older and a lengthy playoff run wiser than they were a year ago. Experience means a lot, and this team now has it. Oh yeah, and they have two of the top five players in the league, both of whom are 22 or younger.

So you want to question whether the team that just finished the season two games away from a Stanley Cup utilizing a high-powered offense is worthy of watching, go ahead, but you look like more like a crybaby than "Cindy."

Your profile says you try not to let your status as a Rangers fan cloud your judgment -- yeah, good luck with that.

Scotty Hockey said...

Ah, I love people who attack under the mask of anonymous.

1 - I watched about 40 Pens game last year, I would say I feel qualified to write about them.

2 - If you call Satan and Fedotenko depth, then you didn't watch the Islanders. And if you think either can replace Malone's ability to cause chaos in the crease, then you are an idiot.

3 - Literacy is a wonderful thing. You should try it. I didn't once question if they were worth watching.

Thanks for 'reading,' whoever you are.