Most teams in the league would feel the impact of losing a player of Hornqvists calibre, there is no team in the league that can absorbe the loss of a player of Malkins calibre with their depth. We are without both.
In the words of Geno "relax" everyone.
- stackthepads

Injury and lack of depth are huge issues. However, some blame should fall with Crosby, Letang et... other teams have injuries (example Kane in Chicago) and their top players step up their game (Teows) I refuse to Blame Bennett, Sutter, Adams, Max et... this is scapegoating when a team has one or less goals 10 of the last 15 games.. Tired of reading about Fenwick... Pittsburgh and San Jose lead the league recently.... Where is that getting them?

Most teams in the league would feel the impact of losing a player of Hornqvists calibre, there is no team in the league that can absorbe the loss of a player of Malkins calibre with their depth. We are without both.
In the words of Geno "relax" everyone.
- stackthepads

Injury and lack of depth are huge issues. However, some blame should fall with Crosby, Letang et... other teams have injuries (example Kane in Chicago) and their top players step up their game (Teows) I refuse to Blame Bennett, Sutter, Adams, Max et... this is scapegoating when a team has one or less goals 10 of the last 15 games.. Tired of reading about Fenwick... Pittsburgh and San Jose lead the league recently.... Where is that getting them?

Injury and lack of depth are huge issues. However, some blame should fall with Crosby, Letang et... other teams have injuries (example Kane in Chicago) and their top players step up their game (Teows) I refuse to Blame Bennett, Sutter, Adams, Max et... this is scapegoating when a team has one or less goals 10 of the last 15 games.. Tired of reading about Fenwick... Pittsburgh and San Jose lead the league recently.... Where is that getting them?
- Brianandr1

So blame 87 even though he's #2 in pts in the league or 58 who is having a career year and most likely Norris nom?

I do blame the bottom 6, most aren't even NHL players. How about Kunitz, 1 goal in 22 games? 87, 58, 71, and 29 are doing their part, same with 72. Nobody else is. You can't have 1/2 your roster as passengers.

I have to be honest. I am loosing faith in this team and the organization. On average I watch 75 penguin games a year. Go up to console 1 or 2 times a year(I'm about 7 hours away)

Every year it's the same crap. Lack of offensive depth, loosing composure, Fluery stinking. Whining to the refs.

It is getting pretty old....I'm starting to wonder why I spend so much of my time on this team. It's to the point where it's not fun anymore. So if I'm not getting entertained then what's the point.

I think this period in time will be looked back on as a dark period for the penguins. we have arguably the best 2 centers in the nhl. One of the top 5 defensemen. And we only have one cup to show for it.

We have wasted too much time with our top centers in their prime.

Bust Bennett will NEVER be a top 6 forward. He is a pretty boy from Calif We should draft players from Western Canada who grow up on the farms and work for a living. Instead we get a roller skating surfer in the first round. Now that is just what the doctor ordered. No grit

I have to be honest. I am loosing faith in this team and the organization. On average I watch 75 penguin games a year. Go up to console 1 or 2 times a year(I'm about 7 hours away)

Every year it's the same crap. Lack of offensive depth, loosing composure, Fluery stinking. Whining to the refs.

It is getting pretty old....I'm starting to wonder why I spend so much of my time on this team. It's to the point where it's not fun anymore. So if I'm not getting entertained then what's the point.

I think this period in time will be looked back on as a dark period for the penguins. we have arguably the best 2 centers in the nhl. One of the top 5 defensemen. And we only have one cup to show for it.

We have wasted too much time with our top centers in their prime.
- pensfan024

You're not the only one who feels this way. My dad has had season tike for 15 yrs, he goes to about 5 games/yr. Sells the rest. If he couldn't sell them, he would be done. We spend over $350 when they came to CO to play the AVS between tiks, food, beer, parking. Thats 2 airline tickets to Cancun right there. Depending on the changes in the off season, I'm about done. too much time devoted to it.

Bust Bennett will NEVER be a top 6 forward. He is a pretty boy from Calif We should draft players from Western Canada who grow up on the farms and work for a living. Instead we get a roller skating surfer in the first round. Now that is just what the doctor ordered. No grit
- holeinone

Shero took a roller skater over Brick Nelson.

Well, Kalpa lost tonight so two more losses and Kapanen is availabe.

Injury and lack of depth are huge issues. However, some blame should fall with Crosby, Letang et... other teams have injuries (example Kane in Chicago) and their top players step up their game (Teows) I refuse to Blame Bennett, Sutter, Adams, Max et... this is scapegoating when a team has one or less goals 10 of the last 15 games.. Tired of reading about Fenwick... Pittsburgh and San Jose lead the league recently.... Where is that getting them?
- Brianandr1

Literally almost everything you wrote is wrong. Pens have been the most injured team over the last 6 years in the league. Bruins, Blackhawks, and Kings have been top 5 healthiest since 2010. They've also been the best possession teams and had higher percentages of scoring in their bottom 6 relative to other playoff teams.

The second he mentioned replacing Sutter I knew the rest of the blog was a waste of time.
- stackthepads

Especially when Sutter is one of the few guys playing like he gives a crap right now. His Fenwick McCorsi is even pretty solid (over 54% over the last 13 games) over the past 6 weeks, which I guess is only important when a player you don't like doesn't have a great Fenwick McCorsi.

Lapierre sucks. So did Goc. Whatever, they're both 4th line slugs.

Perron and Kunitz are the two forwards who need to play better, and finish more.

I have to be honest. I am loosing faith in this team and the organization. On average I watch 75 penguin games a year. Go up to console 1 or 2 times a year(I'm about 7 hours away)

Every year it's the same crap. Lack of offensive depth, loosing composure, Fluery stinking. Whining to the refs.

It is getting pretty old....I'm starting to wonder why I spend so much of my time on this team. It's to the point where it's not fun anymore. So if I'm not getting entertained then what's the point.

I think this period in time will be looked back on as a dark period for the penguins. we have arguably the best 2 centers in the nhl. One of the top 5 defensemen. And we only have one cup to show for it.

We have wasted too much time with our top centers in their prime.
- pensfan024

So you're lying to us all of the other times? Geez man! No one knows who you are, always speak the truth!!!

You're not the only one who feels this way. My dad has had season tike for 15 yrs, he goes to about 5 games/yr. Sells the rest. If he couldn't sell them, he would be done. We spend over $350 when they came to CO to play the AVS between tiks, food, beer, parking. Thats 2 airline tickets to Cancun right there. Depending on the changes in the off season, I'm about done. too much time devoted to it.
- sammy87

Management, in terms of hockey operations, has been suspect at best. Conversely, management, running the business, has been masterful at creating a cash cow. There is no questioning whether or not this organization is profitable. After all sport is a business. There is great parity in the NHL now, especially in fitness, skating, style of play, etc… so expecting a championship every year is asking too much. Don’t get me wrong – this team has massively underachieved. From the business-side, the organization has sunk a ton of cash in return for such disappointment. It really doesn’t matter though, if you convince your local fan base that #87 (the best in the world at everything), #71, #29, and #58 will contend year after year. The fallacy here is in strength of roster; hockey is a team sport, and success is found as such (and not in individuals). I’ll throw a hypothesis out there that PGH (since 2009) is in the bottom decile, if not dead last, of NHL teams for contributions from ELC’s (especially at F).

Management, in terms of hockey operations, has been suspect at best. Conversely, management, running the business, has been masterful at creating a cash cow. There is no questioning whether or not this organization is profitable. After all sport is a business. There is great parity in the NHL now, especially in fitness, skating, style of play, etc… so expecting a championship every year is asking too much. Don’t get me wrong – this team has massively underachieved. From the business-side, the organization has sunk a ton of cash in return for such disappointment. It really doesn’t matter though, if you convince your local fan base that #87 (the best in the world at everything), #71, #29, and #58 will contend year after year. The fallacy here is in strength of roster; hockey is a team sport, and success is found as such (and not in individuals). I’ll throw a hypothesis out there that PGH (since 2009) is in the bottom decile, if not dead last, of NHL teams for contributions from ELC’s (especially at F).
- out_of_market

No you're right making $$$ for the Pens isn't a problem. However there is a lot of frustration among season ticket holders and corporate sponsors for how this team is doing. Remember playoff tickets are about 2x regular season. They had trouble selling out last year. Anyone that knows hockey well, realizes this isn't that good of a team and that they can't put together a solid playoff team. Expecting a cup every year is ridiculous. A solid effort on the ice night in night out? Not so much and your money isn't even buying that anymore. If they flame out early, I expect a very large multiple player move that shakes the NHL to be made.

Given PGH’s recent goal drought, and that we’re heading into April hockey, maybe the team should concentrate on a strictly defensive game. Lock it down, limit shots against (especially w/ #29’s history), limit time/space, grind it out 5-on-5/ don’t equate winning to PP success, and plan to win by one-goal. Hmm… sounds like playoff hockey.

*Expect they’ll drop a turd tonight in the desert.

No you're right making $$$ for the Pens isn't a problem. However there is a lot of frustration among season ticket holders and corporate sponsors for how this team is doing. Remember playoff tickets are about 2x regular season. They had trouble selling out last year. Anyone that knows hockey well, realizes this isn't that good of a team and that they can't put together a solid playoff team. Expecting a cup every year is ridiculous. A solid effort on the ice night in night out? Not so much and your money isn't even buying that anymore. If they flame out early, I expect a very large multiple player move that shakes the NHL to be made.
- sammy87

Why would they shake up the core, as you mentioned it's a cash cow.

Given PGH’s recent goal drought, and that we’re heading into April hockey, maybe the team should concentrate on a strictly defensive game. Lock it down, limit shots against (especially w/ #29’s history), limit time/space, grind it out 5-on-5/ don’t equate winning to PP success, and plan to win by one-goal. Hmm… sounds like playoff hockey.

*Expect they’ll drop a turd tonight in the desert.
- out_of_market

I think the Pens will win 2-0 tonight, 1 goal will be an empty netter under a min left. They everyone here will award the Pens the cup and talk about how awesome they are and that the score would have been 5-0 if BB was on the 1st PP. Oh and there will be 0 PP goals.

Why would they shake up the core, as you mentioned it's a cash cow.
- Topshelf Mountain

The cow is running dry. 87 and 71 don't run away with the scoring leads anymore. Always hurt, the TV ratings and national broadcasts will start to move to NYI and other emerging markets. Remember the Pens can sell out every game, that doesn't mean they are making a lot of money. OTT has the same problem and Peg pretty much has to make the playoffs to be in the black. Ticket sales are only a fraction.

Unlike a lot of the other people, I am still not impressed with what JR has done. Honestly I think our team last year was much better than it is now. Disagree all you want with me, that is my opinion.

I also don't think Horny is an upgrade over Neal, granted Neal was a D-Bag (sometimes you need that). Up until this point yea Horny has 10 more points but I think if Neal was still on our team he'd probably be around 60 points.

Also, enough is enough.. This BB AKA Eric Tangradi 2.0 experiment needs to end. Dude sucks.

Also, enough is enough.. This BB AKA Eric Tangradi 2.0 experiment needs to end. Dude sucks.

Unlike a lot of the other people, I am still not impressed with what JR has done. Honestly I think our team last year was much better than it is now. Disagree all you want with me, that is my opinion.

I also don't think Horny is an upgrade over Neal, granted Neal was a D-Bag (sometimes you need that). Up until this point yea Horny has 10 more points but I think if Neal was still on our team he'd probably be around 60 points.
- Francois Leroux

Not sure most are saying they are impressed so much as they will wait to see how it produces in the postseason. Which I think is a fair approach.

PL3 is prob the best option. Is it impossible to call up kostopolous?

PL3 is prob the best option. Is it impossible to call up kostopolous?
- Grinder47

I'm not sold on PL3 but I think TK would do wonders for this team in terms of steady veteran leadership. Sadly I think he's on an AHL deal though. If not though I'd be all for it!

The cow is running dry. 87 and 71 don't run away with the scoring leads anymore. Always hurt, the TV ratings and national broadcasts will start to move to NYI and other emerging markets. Remember the Pens can sell out every game, that doesn't mean they are making a lot of money. OTT has the same problem and Peg pretty much has to make the playoffs to be in the black. Ticket sales are only a fraction.
- sammy87

Sure I can see broadcasts being moved around more, but I'm disagreeing with your other points. The scoring race is being watched closer by more fans, and with two Pens involved that ain't bad for business. The Pens are also absolutely killing it with ticket sales, concessions, and merchandising...pretty much everything else they do too. Even if they don't sell out the higher ticket prices and corporate drive more than make up for losing Joe Schmoe and his kid. Your comparison of the Pens and those two Canadian cities is, not much of a comparison. The Peg has a smaller building, Ottawa is fighting for fans against Toronto and Montreal, and both have .78 cent to our 1.00 to boot.

Trade everyone.