Long story short this team is soft. Besides Kunitz this team has no grit. We are built for the regular season.
- Francois Leroux

Cause Tampa and Chicago were SO GRITTY last year in the finals... oh brother.

Although I do think physical play has at least some effect on the Pens, I thought the overwhelming problem was being gassed from playing the night before. In the last 5 minutes they didn't have the legs to put on a push.

I'm probably going to get some heat, but I still think Geno needs to clean up details in his game. He can't be the guy leading our team in PM's. It's ridiculous and I feel he cost us a point at minimum.
- madmike71

Its pretty easy on how to beat the Pens, if you're a team that gets under their skin.

Step 1. Shut down Crosby line. Hes not unstoppable, and most teams have a D pairing/forward group that can shut down near any top line.

Step 2: Piss off Geno, make him take a stupid penalty or two. Pretty simple... but more risky as he could turn into "pissed off Rushky" mode and score all over you.

Step 3: Don't let off the momentum tempo. They don't have to score right away on us or completely outplay if they get the first 2 points done, just don't let us settle down. Then its over when we implode and goals trickle in against.

Its pretty easy on how to beat the Pens, if you're a team that gets under their skin.

Step 1. Shut down Crosby line. Hes not unstoppable, and most teams have a D pairing/forward group that can shut down near any top line.

Step 2: Piss off Geno, make him take a stupid penalty or two. Pretty simple... but more risky as he could turn into "pissed off Rushky" mode and score all over you.

Step 3: Don't let off the momentum tempo. They don't have to score right away on us or completely outplay if they get the first 2 points done, just don't let us settle down. Then its over when we implode and goals trickle in against.
- Guile

Shut the hell up! If the bloggers here are right people in the league actually read this.

I honestly only see you, velvet and SAMMY when there is negative stuff. you are bringing NOTHING to this board with stuff like that. we are soff but yet we are 13th in hits... people like you and sammy seriously get on my nerves. sometime I CAN admit you people can be a little right but you are ALWAYS ALWAYS negative even when the situation don't deserv it at ALL.
- martox

My apologies. I didn't know this was your forum, and only homer positive thoughts could be posted. FYI most of the negative perceptions have been 100% accurate over the years on this board.

Shut the hell up! If the bloggers here are right people in the league actually read this.
- Topshelf Mountain

Like anything I said isn't near common knowledge for us against Philly, the Rags, Islanders, and the Caps.

Its pretty easy on how to beat the Pens, if you're a team that gets under their skin.

Step 1. Shut down Crosby line. Hes not unstoppable, and most teams have a D pairing/forward group that can shut down near any top line.

Step 2: Piss off Geno, make him take a stupid penalty or two. Pretty simple... but more risky as he could turn into "pissed off Rushky" mode and score all over you.

Step 3: Don't let off the momentum tempo. They don't have to score right away on us or completely outplay if they get the first 2 points done, just don't let us settle down. Then its over when we implode and goals trickle in against.
- Guile

Ah basically the Rangers blueprint the last few years

My apologies. I didn't know this was your forum, and only homer positive thoughts could be posted. FYI most of the negative perceptions have been 100% accurate over the years on this board.
- Francois Leroux

oh it is definitely not my forum and I don't really like people being overelly positive either but it is not annoying. being realistic I can handle. But it is when the only time I see specific people show up it is when to poop on the penquins and only post negtive comments with the only effect of spreading deppresion all over the board (even if that is not the point) that I get mad. and then the people also have the guts to have "pittsburgh penguins" set as their team on this site...

Cause Tampa and Chicago were SO GRITTY last year in the finals... oh brother.
- j.boyd919

GRITTY, Grindy aka Hardworking (whatever you want to call them), not like our team filled with finesse players.

Chicago:

Duncan Keith
Saad
Seabrook
Timmonen
Patrick Sharp

I can keep going, and that was just off the top of my head.

Tampa:

Callahan
Hedman (at least he uses his body)
Boyle

GRITTY, Grindy aka Hardworking (whatever you want to call them), not like our team filled with finesse players.

Chicago:

Duncan Keith
Saad
Seabrook
Timmonen
Patrick Sharp

I can keep going, and that was just off the top of my head.

Tampa:

Callahan
Hedman (at least he uses his body)
Boyle
- Francois Leroux

and you wouldn't say horny and kunitz fits those molds (I know you mentioned kunitz before).? maybe even haglin. and some of those kids that came up from ahl?

Ah basically the Rangers blueprint the last few years
- rangerdanger94

Like I said... nothing groundbreaking there. If the Pens get over their getting pissed off nature, they could have had multiple cup runs since the last one.

GRITTY, Grindy aka Hardworking (whatever you want to call them), not like our team filled with finesse players.

Chicago:

Duncan Keith
Saad
Seabrook
Timmonen
Patrick Sharp

I can keep going, and that was just off the top of my head.

Tampa:

Callahan
Hedman (at least he uses his body)
Boyle
- Francois Leroux

haha

Crosby, Kunitz, Hornqvist, Hagelin, Fehr, Rust and Wilson are all hard working and "grindy". If you watched all the games you might konw that Letang uses the body quite a bit...so do Maatta and Dumoulin.

and you wouldn't say horny and kunitz fits those molds (I know you mentioned kunitz before).? maybe even haglin. and some of those kids that came up from ahl?
- martox

Kunitz definitely even though he is getting old in the tooth.

Horny somewhat, he at least isn't afraid to stand in the paint and get whacked.

Just as a whole this team isn't hard to play against is maybe what I'm trying to say.

GRITTY, Grindy aka Hardworking (whatever you want to call them), not like our team filled with finesse players.

Chicago:

Duncan Keith
Saad
Seabrook
Timmonen
Patrick Sharp

I can keep going, and that was just off the top of my head.

Tampa:

Callahan
Hedman (at least he uses his body)
Boyle
- Francois Leroux

I'll give you Bickell, Seabrook and Shaw from Chicago, and Callahan and Boyle from Tampa (and Paquette) but that series had so much skill in it it was ridiculous. Keith and Hedman didn't even average a hit per game lol, Timmonen? Really? with his 3 minutes of ice time per game? Did you watch the finals? Gritty and Hardworking are not one in the same. There were games with a high volume of hits, but it sure as hell was not as physical as a Kings/Rangers finals, or Bruins/Kings or anything of that nature.

Kunitz definitely even though he is getting old in the tooth.

Horny somewhat, he at least isn't afraid to stand in the paint and get whacked.

Just as a whole this team isn't hard to play against is maybe what I'm trying to say.
- Francois Leroux

I dunno man, I get what you're trying to say, but I don't buy it. They lost by 1 goal to the best team in hockey. You might not think they are hard to play against, but I guarantee you the players playing against them would say quite the opposite.

"When I grew up" I could skate all day and night and we just goofed off or played a pick up game. When my son started and I saw them idle for half of our ice time I pulled him from the program. The next season the program started and it's been great. Nothing replaces open ice for kids to just play.
- Topshelf Mountain

I agree I never played pond hockey until I was like 12 yrs old. The teachers at my school went on strike so we had almost a month off from school in the middle of winter, and my teammates and I cleared off a small pond and spent almost everyday out there playing 3 on 3 tournaments. We played with no goalie and a little wooden box for our net and I would have to say my hands/legs/lungs benefited greatly from it. We have played at least once every year since then but with the weather it didn't and won't happen this year.

I've played for a while but only one season in a full contact league. I guess that makes a lot of sense. It's just a weird dynamic in that it's a skill set as much as it is a physical charactersitic. Of course Ovechkin can check hard, hes ginormous and fast as hell. But other guys like Cooke, Downie, Kunitz, etc have that checking ability in a smaller frame. You'd think someone like Hornqvist or Adams or Jordan Staal would be just as capable given their build.

Completely random thought I know...
- YouMeAndDupuis9

It was actually a pretty indepth thought that really illustrates one of the biggest misconceptions in hockey and that the difference between "hitting" and "bodychecking" because the 2 are far from mutually exclusive. Anyone can skate into another play and "hit" him but it takes a skill to properly apply a "bodycheck". A bodycheck serves a purpose in the game, it's used to seperate the player from the puck and gain control of the play, hitting is a completely acacia practice that really serves no purpose other than to entertain the neanderthals and more often than not hurts the executing team by the player taking himself out of the play as we saw with Orpik.

Its not just the capitals hitting, its the effect of rolling 4 lines over the boards all hellbent on getting in on the forecheck and arriving there in ill fashion. All the pens time a space was taken away after the caps clearly decided to hit first and ask questions later. Made it almost impossible to get a clean breakout, which in turn gave the pens no speed through the neutral zone, which in turn made backchecking easier for the caps. Its how they neutralized our "speed" game. How do you combat this? Dump the puck in and go be hellbent on getting it back yourself.

It was actually a pretty indepth thought that really illustrates one of the biggest misconceptions in hockey and that the difference between "hitting" and "bodychecking" because the 2 are far from mutually exclusive. Anyone can skate into another play and "hit" him but it takes a skill to properly apply a "bodycheck". A bodycheck serves a purpose in the game, it's used to seperate the player from the puck and gain control of the play, hitting is a completely acacia practice that really serves no purpose other than to entertain the neanderthals and more often than not hurts the executing team by the player taking himself out of the play as we saw with Orpik.
- jaydogg1974

I like to just call it all checking. knowing when to stick check and when to body check is REALLY good to have. just throwing your body pretty much anyone can do and when you are bad at the technical part of it you end up like bobby farnham that throws himself into the boards

Its not just the capitals hitting, its the effect of rolling 4 lines over the boards all hellbent on getting in on the forecheck and arriving there in ill fashion. All the pens time a space was taken away after the caps clearly decided to hit first and ask questions later. Made it almost impossible to get a clean breakout, which in turn gave the pens no speed through the neutral zone, which in turn made backchecking easier for the caps. Its how they neutralized our "speed" game. How do you combat this? Dump the puck in and go be hellbent on getting it back yourself.
- Grinder47

Definitely agree with you, but I also believe that people who say the Pens aren't difficult to play against because they're all speed have not chased around people faster than them on the ice for 3 periods. That poop is just as exhausting, has taking hits all game. There are advantages to both, a nice balance is what I'd like to see, and I don't think the Pens are that far off from that balance. The bottom six has produced some solid forechecking, Kunitz and Horny aren't afraid to throw the body, neither is Letang at times. IMO, the Pens can be mentally soft sometimes, but it has gotten much better under Sullivan.

It was actually a pretty indepth thought that really illustrates one of the biggest misconceptions in hockey and that the difference between "hitting" and "bodychecking" because the 2 are far from mutually exclusive. Anyone can skate into another play and "hit" him but it takes a skill to properly apply a "bodycheck". A bodycheck serves a purpose in the game, it's used to seperate the player from the puck and gain control of the play, hitting is a completely acacia practice that really serves no purpose other than to entertain the neanderthals and more often than not hurts the executing team by the player taking himself out of the play as we saw with Orpik.
- jaydogg1974

They write books and send us to classes about proper bodychecking but it's been summed up properly within two pages of Hockeybuzz.

and you wouldn't say horny and kunitz fits those molds (I know you mentioned kunitz before).? maybe even haglin. and some of those kids that came up from ahl?
- martox

The fact that Hornqvist has never been in a fight boggles my mind. Crosby/Malkin/Towes/Datsyuk even Lidstrom found himself in one fight in his NHL career. None of them play like Hornqvist does either. When he let Tom Wilson whos like 23 rag doll him around on the ice earlier this season Horn should have just stopped ever getting involved in the after whistle stuff all together after that. Everytime the whistle blows and I see Hornqvist facewashing a guy I just think to myself what is he going to do? I think the after whistle hug fests are more detrimental to hockey than two guys just punching each other.

I thought Murray accounted himself very well and faced a quality team with a lot of high quality shots. A hard working team with speed is what we have which is good. I don't care about grit as much as size. We have needed more size up front for a while now. Fehr when he comes back will help with that problem.

The fact that Hornqvist has never been in a fight boggles my mind. Crosby/Malkin/Towes/Datsyuk even Lidstrom found himself in one fight in his NHL career. None of them play like Hornqvist does either. When he let Tom Wilson whos like 23 rag doll him around on the ice earlier this season Horn should have just stopped ever getting involved in the after whistle stuff all together after that. Everytime the whistle blows and I see Hornqvist facewashing a guy I just think to myself what is he going to do? I think the after whistle hug fests are more detrimental to hockey than two guys just punching each other.
- Grinder47

I don't get it either. There's a difference between guy like Orpik who don't feel the need to justify clean hitting by fighting and just go about their buisness and guys like Hornqvist who agitate and just wait for the refs to come and break it up before the gloves come off. I do love Hornqvist, but I think he'd be more effective if he fought every now and then.

I honestly only see you, velvet and SAMMY when there is negative stuff. you are bringing NOTHING to this board with stuff like that. we are soff but yet we are 13th in hits... people like you and sammy seriously get on my nerves. sometime I CAN admit you people can be a little right but you are ALWAYS ALWAYS negative even when the situation don't deserv it at ALL.
- martox

So what, its true. Hags long flowing Fabio flocks blowing in the breeze dont count for much in the playoffs. OMG Kessel will score 50+ with Malkin give the Pens the cup now!!!!!Not even on pace for 25. I might be negative but I'm usually right about the direction of this team, but hey why stop drinking the cool-aid.