Honest question. Do you guys think Mike Sullivan just thinks advanced fancy metric stats are garbage or what? JJ is not coming out when Shultz is back. So what conspiracy theories are out there to why Sullivan keeps playing him when coachingcheatsheet.com tells him otherwise? I’m not really a supporter of JJ, just want an explanation from stat nation on this one.
Edit. I have to be a bit if a sarcastic Richard on here but I really want to know your opinions.
- Grinder47

No conspiracy. I think he just likes the guy and thinks he hustles (which is true). Husteling gets you far in sports. I got way more PT in high school basketball than I should of just because I gave it everything I got when I was on the court despite the fact that I was offensively anemic.

I think this “slow” reputation is overblown. Maatta is not a super fast skater, but he’s far from “slow as hell.” IMO he has some skating issue against the rush.

I’d say his issue is more of skating “skill” and not “speed.” When play goes the other way, there just seems to be an issue sometimes in adjusting his skating.
- Rinosaur

Oh no, he’s slow as hell hes one of the slowest skaters in the league dude. He got burned by Bobby (frank)ing Ryan lol

Maatta can play any role you ask and excell at it. He plays the PK, PP, shutdown D, offensive D... He can be a 1/2/3/4/5/ or 6... That's versatile for 4mil a year... No way he's going anywhere!
- hipcheck_goalie

Which is exactly why I really hope Maatta isn't moved. Moving him with the current state of our defense would be a horrid move.

He chews. When Schultz is healthy they have 7 Dmen better than him.
- MattStrat

My favorite part about this is that when Schultz is out, that means we have 6 better Dmen than JJ which means he shouldn't be dressed.

No conspiracy. I think he just likes the guy and thinks he hustles (which is true). Husteling gets you far in sports. I got way more PT in high school basketball than I should of just because I gave it everything I got when I was on the court despite the fact that I was offensively anemic.
- Victoro311

Hustling shouldn't be a big factor in professional sports. If a player doesn't try. Bench him. They all should be hustling every game regardless of being labeled as such.

A good player should be better than a bad player who "hustles".

Oh no, he’s slow as hell hes one of the slowest skaters in the league dude. He got burned by Bobby (frank)ing Ryan lol
- j.boyd919

Yeah that's why I was on the trade him train earlier this season (plus I think he would bring our best return, not about dumping him)but hes looking much better lately and glad to have him. And JJ isn't going anywhere for two reasons. A) He just signed this year and B) Sid would be (frank)ing pissed. That leaves JO as the only Dman worth moving cap wise. I'd try and Move both Sheahan and JO.

Edit: Brass as well if we can get another 3c like Coyle. (Not about dumping Brass either)

Yeah that's why I was on the trade him train earlier this season (plus I think he would bring our best return, not about dumping him)but hes looking much better lately and glad to have him. And JJ isn't going anywhere for two reasons. A) He just signed this year and B) Sid would be (frank)ing pissed. That leaves JO as the only Dman worth moving cap wise. I'd try and Move both Sheahan and JO.
Edit: Brass as well if we can get another 3c like Coyle
- 668710

Sid does not run this team. If he did, there would be multiple players still here because they were boys. Sid’s feelings have no bearing on the moves that GMJR has made or will make. We have seen this in the past. (Trading Fleury, Reaves, etc., guys Sid was close with.) This is some weird narrative that just isn’t true and will never die. But whatever.

Sid does not run this team. If he did, there would be multiple players still here because they were boys. Sid’s feelings have no bearing on the moves that GMJR has made or will make. We have seen this in the past. (Trading Fleury, Reaves, etc., guys Sid was close with.) This is some weird narrative that just isn’t true and will never die. But whatever.
- j.boyd919

Yeah I agree with you, maybe felt like this situation was different but IDK. The only hope I'm having is if JJ is playing come playoffs that he keeps his almost point per game(21p 23gp) going because we all know he's not defending poop

Hustling shouldn't be a big factor in professional sports. If a player doesn't try. Bench him. They all should be hustling every game regardless of being labeled as such.

A good player should be better than a bad player who "hustles".
- Guile

I mean its all relative. Very few players are naturally gifted enough to get to the highest level without giving a (frank) (Alexander Semin is really the only guy in hockey that I can think of that applies to), but that doesn't mean that everyone gives the same level of hustle. Like Phil Kessel is (frank)ing great, and he tries plenty and anyone that says otherwise is a (frank)ing jackass, but it can't be argued that Phil gives the same level of hustle on a night to night basis as Sid and Letang.

I agree with you that actual skill should trump some arbitrary, subjective measure of who's trying more every night, but that's just not how coaches are wired. Coaches have natural biases to players who buy in and work their asses off to do what the coaches tell them to do, even if they generally fail at them.

I think I did a good thing. Got the most thumbed down comment on a DK article for saying Johnson was our worst rostered Dman.

I will definitely be doing that much more often since I am such a great person. Maybe add graphs.

Pens 0-7-3 vs Chicago since 2014... Outscored 41-14... Ouch.

Pens 0-7-3 vs Chicago since 2014... Outscored 41-14... Ouch.
- hipcheck_goalie

They definitely have our number.

Pens 0-7-3 vs Chicago since 2014... Outscored 41-14... Ouch.
- hipcheck_goalie

Damn. We owe them haha

I think I did a good thing. Got the most thumbed down comment on a DK article for saying Johnson was our worst rostered Dman.

I will definitely be doing that much more often since I am such a great person. Maybe add graphs.
- Guile

Yohe did a season to date grading on the Athletic yesterday and it was a total abomination. It read like propaganda with how inflated the grades for guys like Johnson and Cullen were and how low Kessel's grade was. I feel like Rutherford has all these media dudes in his pocket.

Yohe did a season to date grading on the Athletic yesterday and it was a total abomination. It read like propaganda with how inflated the grades for guys like Johnson and Cullen were and how low Kessel's grade was. I feel like Rutherford has all these media dudes in his pocket.
- Victoro311

I'm going to just have SKATR chart for Johnson in any article where they speak well of him

Yohe did a season to date grading on the Athletic yesterday and it was a total abomination. It read like propaganda with how inflated the grades for guys like Johnson and Cullen were and how low Kessel's grade was. I feel like Rutherford has all these media dudes in his pocket.
- Victoro311

Beat writers always moderate their opinions because they have to deal with the players almost every day. I rarely take their opinions on player performance seriously. It's the other stuff they report that's interesting. Organizational stuff, personnel movement.....those kind of things.

Beat writers always moderate their opinions because they have to deal with the players almost every day. I rarely take their opinions on player performance seriously. It's the other stuff they report that's interesting. Organizational stuff, personnel movement.....those kind of things.
- madmike71

Makes sense and generally applies, but Yohe is more biased than moderate. He's not shy about putting guys on blast and telling it how it is according to him. Thing is that his opinion is super clouded by who he personally likes and doesn't like. He gushes over dudes that don't really deserve it because they're nice to him and then goes on twitter diatribes about how the fanbase is wrong to love Phil because he's not a nice guy and isn't that good anyways.

Damn. We owe them haha
- 668710

I think it was 2012 when I went to the outdoor game against Chicago... They got thrashed in that too... Maybe 6 -0...

I think it was 2012 when I went to the outdoor game against Chicago... They got thrashed in that too... Maybe 6 -0...
- hipcheck_goalie

I was at U of I hanging out with my college buddy's friends from high school, so I watched that game with a ton of Chicago people. It sucked.

I was at U of I hanging out with my college buddy's friends from high school, so I watched that game with a ton of Chicago people. It sucked.
- Victoro311

I drove up from Louisiana the day before and parked early in the morning when the parking cost was $15. I didn't have a Stadium ticket. Tailgated with some Blackhawk fans and one of them sold me a ticket for fifty bucks. To me the funniest part of the game was when the puck got shot down toward the Blackhawks end and it slid underneath snow and the refs couldn't tell if it was icing or not.

Yohe did a season to date grading on the Athletic yesterday and it was a total abomination. It read like propaganda with how inflated the grades for guys like Johnson and Cullen were and how low Kessel's grade was. I feel like Rutherford has all these media dudes in his pocket.
- Victoro311

Weren’t you the biggest fan of Yohe too? Lol

Pens 0-7-3 vs Chicago since 2014... Outscored 41-14... Ouch.
- hipcheck_goalie

lets make that 41 - 41 shall we

Weren’t you the biggest fan of Yohe too? Lol
- j.boyd919

I’ve sowered on him significantly over the past two years. I still think he’s talented and has a good style, but his biases are (frank)ing obnoxious. I think what pushed me over the edge with him was his LeVeon Bell spew while that stuff was still relevant.

I’ve sowered on him significantly over the past two years. I still think he’s talented and has a good style, but his biases are (frank)ing obnoxious. I think what pushed me over the edge with him was his LeVeon Bell spew while that stuff was still relevant.
- Victoro311

I didn't re-up my Athletic subscription, but I am curious to the grades he gave JJ and Cullen. I always thought he was one of the better out of the bunch, but at the same time is bias has always been there IMO, which is why I look to guys like Jesse Marshall and Ryan Wilson for information on the team. Jesse is easily the best Pens writer on the web in my opinion. Pensburgh guys are okay too. Gretz is usually solid.

Makes sense and generally applies, but Yohe is more biased than moderate. He's not shy about putting guys on blast and telling it how it is according to him. Thing is that his opinion is super clouded by who he personally likes and doesn't like. He gushes over dudes that don't really deserve it because they're nice to him and then goes on twitter diatribes about how the fanbase is wrong to love Phil because he's not a nice guy and isn't that good anyways.
- Victoro311

Just like in the news media, opinion based journalism and "reporting" has basically merged. Now we get "reporting" through the filter of some individuals opinion.

Anyway, Seth Rohrbaugh and Jessie Marshall are awesome. I think Yohe has gotten lazy. That mid-season grade thing is a pretty rote concept. Then he follows it up with giving JJ a C+ and backs it up with zero facts.

As an aside.... Dave Molinari was the standard for a beat writer. The guy reported the facts and left the opinions to the columnists. The Post Gazette rewarded him with a demotion and gave Jason Mackey his job.....who is another Yohe clone.