You're cute.
- BINGO!

Like Guile said, it's Eklund. He's the ultimate "throw anything I can think of at the wall and eventually something will stick."
- jfkst1

It's more like... "throw anything against the wall to get clicks".

ALso, not interesed in a 30 yr old E Staal that won a cup 8 yrs ago or whatever. Ill take a younger guy thats hungry for the mega bucks with something to prove. Lindholm?

ALso, not interesed in a 30 yr old E Staal that won a cup 8 yrs ago or whatever. Ill take a younger guy thats hungry for the mega bucks with something to prove. Lindholm?
- sammy87

Why the fuk would the canes trade Lindholm?

Why the fuk would the canes trade Lindholm?
- BINGO!

Same reason Pens would want Staal?

Pouliott, Tangradi, BB, Pesenson, Caputi.....Theres a new one every year. Bring this guy up, he deserves it bla bla bla, Rossi said he was good. Never mind the fact that the GM's and coaching staff disagree and even in the limited NHL experience, they fail to show they are unprepared for whatever level the fans are calling for.

Im not a fan of MJ, I think he's in way over his head but DP even if he played at Dumos' level at this point won't make a difference in the effort or level of play the entire roster is putting out on the ice.
- sammy87

Well, first off, I never said bring him up because he deserves it. I say bring him up because the current lineup is not working. And it does not cost any resources to try to improve from within. Pouliot has 8 points in 9 games in WBS, it's not like he isn't producing. Ian Cole has 1 point in 14 games, and is a -9. Obviously that is not working. The fact that the same GM and coaching staff continually play an abysmal pairing together which is yielding poor results is enough reason to ask for change.

If DP was playing at Dumo's level, how wouldn't that make a difference? It would drastically improve the defense's ablity to move the puck to the forwards. I'm not sure what team you're watching, and yes I am aware there are flaws on the team, but the Pens have the 3rd PK in the league, average 30.9 shots per game (no. 1 is at 31.9), 2nd in GA, their PP has climbed out of the basement and is improving. Lines 2, 3, and 4 are all playing well. If the D corp gets fixed, and Sid gets going, this team is going to be fun to watch. But to fix the D, you have to be willing to make the changes, hopefully it does, but this team is not nearly as bad as you make it out to be.

Pouliott, Tangradi, BB, Pesenson, Caputi.....Theres a new one every year. Bring this guy up, he deserves it bla bla bla, Rossi said he was good. Never mind the fact that the GM's and coaching staff disagree and even in the limited NHL experience, they fail to show they are unprepared for whatever level the fans are calling for.

Im not a fan of MJ, I think he's in way over his head but DP even if he played at Dumos' level at this point won't make a difference in the effort or level of play the entire roster is putting out on the ice.
- sammy87

Hold up... Caputi was awesome due to his name and that first goal. You can't pretend his name wasn't fun to say.

Same reason Pens would want Staal?
- sammy87

.......no?

.......no?
- BINGO!

He's an odd one, excuse him.

just ask that if he could choose any player in the league he would wish to play on the same line as is and get him

wow...I cant blame them. Horny is struggling and Bennett deserves a chance at RW top 6. I'd like to see Sprong get a chance someday as well.

Thats a heck of a bottom 6 if Sid's line clicks.

(lines this morning)

Dupuis-Crosby-Bennett
Perron-Malkin-Kessel
Kunitz-Bonino-Hornqvist
Fehr-Cullen-Sprong/Plotnikov
- YouMeAndDupuis9

Looks like Crosby is centering the 3rd line, considering pre-season the speculation was this:

Kunitz-Crosby-Hornqvist
Perron-Malkin-Kessel
Dupuis-Bonino-Bennett
Fehr-Cullen-Sprong/Plotnikov

Looks like Crosby is centering the 3rd line, considering pre-season the speculation was this:

Kunitz-Crosby-Hornqvist
Perron-Malkin-Kessel
Dupuis-Bonino-Bennett
Fehr-Cullen-Sprong/Plotnikov
- TheGame316

Exactly. Does it really matter what # a line is? Didn't Bonino line start the game in VAN? Were they the #1 line in that game? Or did we simply start our 3rd line? Is there a difference?

Exactly. Does it really matter what # a line is? Didn't Bonino line start the game in VAN? Were they the #1 line in that game? Or did we simply start our 3rd line? Is there a difference?
- chimpira

Time on Ice and offensive zone usage is mostly the difference.

Time on Ice and offensive zone usage is mostly the difference.
- Guile

Well, the way that Crosby has been playing he should be getting Sprong's minutes and Sprong - Sid's.

Exactly. Does it really matter what # a line is? Didn't Bonino line start the game in VAN? Were they the #1 line in that game? Or did we simply start our 3rd line? Is there a difference?
- chimpira

ru4srs

ru4srs
- j.boyd919

No?!

I don't understand how an NHL coach with a fully functioning brain can think the Cole-Letang pairing is working. He clearly knows something has to change with Crosby's line and is making changes there (rightfully so IMO).
- jfkst1

Just from what I've seen, Tanger hasn't been good & it's no ones fault but his (as I said from what I've seen in highlights etc). The game against Oil when a player 1x 1 just took the puck off him & skated down & fired with no one around just isn't acceptable - the strip was just too simple & left (I think it was Klefbloom) go in all alone at Flower. That's just not a #1 D play at all! Tanger has to lift his game & it's nothing that a different pairing will fix! He may have caught Sid's cough or whatever the (frank) he has!!

Just from what I've seen, Tanger hasn't been good & it's no ones fault but his (as I said from what I've seen in highlights etc). The game against Oil when a player 1x 1 just took the puck off him & skated down & fired with no one around just isn't acceptable - the strip was just too simple & left (I think it was Klefbloom) go in all alone at Flower. That's just not a #1 D play at all! Tanger has to lift his game & it's nothing that a different pairing will fix! He may have caught Sid's cough or whatever the (frank) he has!!
- Aussiepenguin

maybe sid is playing bad so opposite players focus less on him

maybe sid is playing bad so opposite players focus less on him
- martox

I think they were going for the "let's lose a bunch of games and get the coach fired" thing but Flower didn't get the message and thus they had that crazy winning streak. Now they are back home and got Flower a proper Yinzer-French translator ...

I think they were going for the "let's lose a bunch of games and get the coach fired" thing but Flower didn't get the message and thus they had that crazy winning streak. Now they are back home and got Flower a proper Yinzer-French translator ...
- chimpira

IDK, I can't see pro athletes losing games to get a coach fired. I can see a team unmotivated because of the coach, or not believing in the system. But at that level, I just can't see that happening. You dont get to that level by not wanting to win.

Just from what I've seen, Tanger hasn't been good & it's no ones fault but his (as I said from what I've seen in highlights etc). The game against Oil when a player 1x 1 just took the puck off him & skated down & fired with no one around just isn't acceptable - the strip was just too simple & left (I think it was Klefbloom) go in all alone at Flower. That's just not a #1 D play at all! Tanger has to lift his game & it's nothing that a different pairing will fix! He may have caught Sid's cough or whatever the (frank) he has!!
- Aussiepenguin

Neither Crosby nor Letang have been nearly good enough. But that doesn't mean the coaching staff shouldn't try fixing whatever is wrong with them. Maybe getting them different line mates will be the impetus for improving their games.

IDK, I can't see pro athletes losing games to get a coach fired. I can see a team unmotivated because of the coach, or not believing in the system. But at that level, I just can't see that happening. You dont get to that level by not wanting to win.
- sammy87

I think the sarcasm font should be the default font on this site.

There is something going on with this team and has been for quite sometime ... last 6 years maybe. Underachieving with the roster and salaries of the top players by all standards. Even when overachieving in the regular season, they fall apart completely in the playoffs.

All the concussions, heart attacks, blood clots, and mumps taking their toll?

How do you know he isn't the answer if you don't at least try? Obviously what they have now isn't working in terms of shot suppression, or moving the puck forward... why wouldn't you try a player known for moving the puck? 8 points, +6 in 9 games in WBS? That's pretty solid to me. Sounds better than Ian Cole's 1 point, -9 in 14 games. It's not about him being the "almighty savior of the Pens 2015-2016 season" its about him being an adequate replacement to the terrible defensemen that are on the roster at the moment.
- j.boyd919

How many of those 9 games have you actually watched? If the answer is zero as I expect it will be then how do you know he's playing well or that he would perform better than anyone currently on the roster when he has to play against real competition. Most if not all reports from those covering the Baby Pens and actually watching him play have said that he's been very up and down and even though he has put a few solid games together he's been extremely inconsistent. When there are a plethora of options that don't include interrupting the development of a young player trying to find his game I'd prefer they exhaust all of those options before potentially screwing Pouliot up even farther.

Looks like the D-pairings are status quo.

From the Penguins Official Twitter account:

Cole-Letang
Maatta/Clendening-Scuderi
Dumo-Lovejoy

Every pundit has called for the Letang-Cole pairing to be broken up. HCMJ stubbornness, idiocy, or all of the above?
- chimpira

Which pundits would you be speaking of? I wouldn't consider the Pittsburgh media, RW or the posters on here pundits and I can't say I've seen any of the pundits like Dreger, Bobby Mac or even LeBrun talking about it.

I think the sarcasm font should be the default font on this site.

There is something going on with this team and has been for quite sometime ... last 6 years maybe. Underachieving with the roster and salaries of the top players by all standards. Even when overachieving in the regular season, they fall apart completely in the playoffs.

All the concussions, heart attacks, blood clots, and mumps taking their toll?
- chimpira

Ive been saying this for a while. There is something up with this team and swapping Scuds for DP doesn't change anything. Not going to get into conspiracy theories, but this season started off right where they left off last yr. Lets be honest, these games have been terrible entertainment this season for the most part. Part of that is the NHL's fault but if you watched a game with a buddy who doesn't know the sport and told them that 87 and 71 were 2 of the best players in the world, the response would be really?