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So far today the notable happenings from the training camp scrimmage include:
Letang scored 2 goals.
Crosby scoring yet again from a feed by Pascal Dupuis. Dupuis added an empty net goal to ice the scrimmage, 4-1 group B over Group C. Crosby line has been complete domination.
Bennett is with the Malkin and Neal duo again. Bennett was stoned by Vokoun in close.
Vokoun has yet to allow a goal.
Olli Maatta has been put with the Malkin line and matched against Crosby's unit. Maatta and Harrington continue to impress.
Simon Despres caught Crosby with his head down and delivered a hard hit. Hit was potentially a little high but Sid is ok. But in a nice bounce back day Despres was also one of the better defenseman on the ice today.
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Yesterday I touched on Fleury's struggles as well as the top line firing on all cylinders. Today I shift the focus to Simon Despres and his potential lack of preparation for this season.
Over the past year I have been very bullish about the play of Simon Despres. Like many of the readers, I felt he was underutilized for large parts of last season, specifically the playoffs. I was looking forward to him becoming one of the best bottom pairing defensemen in the NHL this season.
However, after reports surfaced yesterday of Despres finishing upwards of 50 feet behind his teammates in the suicide sprinting drills I might have to put my foot on the brake. I'm not stepping on the brake yet, but the foot is there.
Knowing that there is a great opportunity to be had this season the last thing a player should do is show up out of shape, but it appears on the surface that is exactly what Despres has done. This also wouldnt be the first time he has had a sluggish start to a training camps either. Was it a bad day, was he sick? Perhaps, but much like Fleury's play yesterday it's not what you wanted to see.
Despres was paired with Engelland in practice and that had the appearence of being the 4th pairing. Niskanen was paired with Bortuzzo.
Speaking of line combos here is Josh Yohe's observation of the lines yesterday.
Kunitz-Sid-Dupuis
Bennett-Geno-Neal
Jokinen-Sutter-D'Agostini
Glass-Vitale-Adams
Scuds-Letang
Orpik-Martin
Nisky-Bortuzzo
Despres-Engelland
In a perfect world that is probably what the forward lines would look like except for one little problem, that lineup is over the cap. Even if Despres were sent down they would still be 258k over the cap limit. Not to mention it is lacking the salary cap cushion that Shero always likes to operate from.
Personally I think Tanner Glass is going to have to impress during cap to justify the 1.1M price tag he carries. He has guys like Kobasew, Jeffrey, Payerl chomping at the bit to take his 4th line spot.
This year officially marks the end of an era as it pertains to the third line. Staal, Cooke, and Kennedy are all gone.
With those players gone we may see a shift in philosophy from the third line. Bylsma had this to say about the third line
“There are guys who can add a different element to our third line. We'll look for crash and bang elsewhere.”
Is this a philosophy that has been developed out of necessity or is it something else? It could be that the Penguins learned they put too much stock into trying to beat up the Bruins instead of out skating them and their terrific neutral zone system. It's probably a little bit of both.
Aforementioned third liner Tyler Kennedy is obviously not with the Penguins, but he is also not currently a third liner. Reports have it that he is skating with Jumbo Joe Thornton and Brent Burns out in San Jose (h/t rival22).
Thornton is one of the best passers in the NHL and some folks think he is the very best. Thornton plays a different style than Crosby or Malkin and perhaps that will mesh better with Kennedy in a top 6 role. One thing is for sure, Kennedy will shoot, and if he gets a hot hand he will be able to score goals based on Thornton's effectiveness as a distributor. History says he will most likely fall back into a third line role but the Sharks are certainly giving him a chance to prove otherwise.
Reporters tried to get Malkin to bite on Russia's stance against homosexuality but he smartly side stepped the question by saying that English is not his first language. He said he wouldn't feel comfortable addressing the complexity of the issue given that language barrier. Good slick non answer by Geno.
Although he did offer up a little something on the subject when asked if he would have a problem with a gay teammate, his response:
"No. No problem"
More updates as I get them
Thanks for reading!
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