The Penguins address team toughness with Downie and Carcillo

The Pittsburgh Penguins signed Steve Downie and Daniel Carcillo because they had to.  Downie is a cheap shot artist with a little skill and Carcillo is goon with even less skill. Carcillo will fight anyone, which is good, but he will always take a stupid penalty…which is bad. Carcillo is a modern day Craig Berube which means he’s a Neanderthal. Downie is a class A rat. A  crap disturber who has more than once gone over the boards just to injure people including Penguins and NHL poster boy Sidney Crosby. Downie has few friends but one of them is newly hired Penguin assistant coach Rick Tocchet. Tocchet is a folk hero in Pittsburgh and he was hired by Pittsburgh’s new management specifically to make the Penguins a tougher team.

The Pittsburgh Penguins needed to get tougher. Tougher not only as a team that would fight more often but also throw more hits, grind in corners and generally just be a harder team to play. The Penguins since their most recent Stanley Cup have become a super talented but small soft team to play against. They are the NHL version of Disney on Ice. A show packed with familiar stars and fun for the whole family but unable to win playoff series.

It wasn’t always that way, the previous regime took over a team with young baby faced stars who they “won” after being at the bottom so long they stockpiled lottery picks. Not only did these stars need protection but the franchise also needed to reacquire respect on the ice. In the rough and tumble world of the NHL respect is bought and it’s earned. The Penguins brought in big ,tough and sometimes dirty players like Gary Roberts, Georges Laraquae, Mike Rupp, Jarkko Ruutu , Matt Cooke to name a few. Along the way they went to two Stanley Cup finals , won one and were near the top of the league in penalties and fighting majors. Everything was swell unto the debacle on Long Island in 2011.

The debacle on Long Island was a game long brawl between the Penguins and the New York Islanders ( who were looking for respect , NHL style). The game’s crimes scenes were so over the top they actually made the lead story on ESPN’s SportsCenter. Lebron must have had the night off.

Penguin’s owner /legend Mario Lemieux was so appalled he wrote a famous letter to the NHL league asking it to clean up its act and he started with his own house. Tough guys were moved out and not replaced. A defenseman Deryk Engelland was asked to play team enforcer as well as take a regular shift on defense and Matt Cooke was rehabilitated then not signed. Big, heavy  forwards who live in the corners and in front of the net were replaced  by  small, light players who would rather make a nice pass than a bone crunching hit.

Since the organizational shift Pittsburgh have not advanced in the playoffs has far as any member of the Penguins organization or their fan base thinks they should have and the main reason/excuse being the  i was  too small and soft. GM Ray Shero was replaced by Jim Rutherford and Head Coach Dan Blysma was replaced by Mike Johnston. Sure Shero and Blysma won but not in June in six years. Prevailing thought was if the team was tougher they would have. The theory of if Crosby isn’t being cross checked in the head he might score.

I agree whole heartily agree the Penguins need to get bigger and tougher but they didn’t not win a Cup in five years solely because of toughness but that’s another column. I don’t hate the signing of Carcillo on principle and just think there were better fits than Carcillo. Mainly three former Penguins Mike Rupp, Ryan Malone or Paul Bissonette. Each is bigger than Carcillo and has more hockey skill the Carcillo even if for Biz Nasty only barely. Sure Daniel is a better fighter but more important than fighting prowess is the former Penguins don’t randomly lose their minds and take stupid penalties that hurt the team. Stevie Downie I don’t want on the Penguins or in the NHL. He has purposely injured people and the Penguins and the league don’t need him. As for Downey I’m trusting Tocchet. Tocchet could probably tame a wild tiger so why not Downie.

 The Penguins realized if the NHL is not going to play nice why should the Penguins. Time to fight fire with fire and reestablish the respect the Penguins once had but lost thinking the NHL would change. You  know the old saying if you can’t beat them, join them

A Quick Review of the 2014 Off Season -So Far

As the calendar hits August let’s take a quick look at what NHL teams have done this offseason. The top teams in the West have improved and the top teams in the East have weakened.

The Stanley Cup Champion Los Angeles Kings did the only thing they had to do they resigned winger Marian Gaborik. The Kings did lose steady and clutch defensemen Alec Martinez but someone had to go. The Kings have the best team in hockey and every other team has to catch up to them. Most teams out West figured the best way to win the West was have two great centers like the Kings do (Anze Kopitar and Jeff Carter)

The Blackhawks went out and got center Brad Richards, some say he’s past his prime but I’m sure working with wingers like Brandon Saad and Marian Hossa will revive him. They also resigned Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane long term.  

The St. Louis Blues signed Paul Stastny to be their number two center, he should be their number one center and David Backes number two but you know cave man coach Ken Hitchcock won’t see it that way.

The Anaheim Ducks traded to get Ryan Kessler giving them the one two punch of Getzslaf and Kessler arguably the best center combo of scoring and nasty in the league.

The Dallas Stars traded for Ottawa’s center Jason Spezza. Putting Spezza on a 2^nd line behind the dynamic duo of Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin gives the great Lindy Ruff the most offense he’s had to work his whole career , except when he’s Team Canada’s assistant coach.

I loved what the Colorado Avalanche did. Signing Hall of Famer Jerome Iginla and Daniel Briere gives the Avs a much needed veteran presence and payoff toughness they will need next spring. Unfortunately they lost Center Paul Stastny to division rival St. Louis. Losing a top center in this era of the two center model was a mistake.

The other Western playoff teams made made no major moves. The San Jose Sharks have two top centers ( Joe Thorton and Joe Pavelski) but did nothing to improve their chronic underachieving team. The Wild added winger Tomas Vanek. Whoop Dee Doo. Of the West’s bottom feeders Calgary improved themselves the most stabilizing their goaltending by adding Jonas Hiller and yes I do now consider Vancouver a bottom feeder and Ryan Miller does not stabilize their goaltending.

In the Eastern Conference most of the teams got weaker, especially the top teams. The perennial beasts of the East Boston and Pittsburgh lost arguably their best, wingers Jerome Iginla in Boston and James Neal in Boston. Pittsburgh also lost half their blue line, heart and soul defenseman Brooks Oprik and plus minus monster Matt Niskanen while only sort of replacing them with Christain Erhoff. The Eastern Conference winners New York Rangers bought out Brad Richards and lost prime playoff performers D man Victor Stralman and center Brain Boyle.

The Flyers made two stupid moves this off season. They sent Scott Hartnell to Columbus for washed up RJ Umberger and their Captain Claude Giroux got arrested in Ottawa for groping a male cop.

 Montreal lost steady defenseman Josh Gorges to Buffalo as well as their captain Brian Gionta. The Sabres also signed free agent sniper Matt Moulson.

The Sabres weren’t the only also rans who got better. Florida acquired proven Cup winners Willie Mitchell, Shawn Thorton, Jussi Jokenen and Dave Bolland. The Devils added offense with Mike Cammalleri. The Islanders got two wingers, Nikolai Kulemin and Mikhail Grabovski to wingers to play with John Tavares and the Capitals got half the Penguins defense so someone will play defense in DC this year.

THE KINGS DYNASTY

The Kings are a modern ( Cap era) NHL dynasty and are 1 Stanley Cup away from being a dynasty in any era. The Kings have won 2 Cups in 3 years and went to the semifinals the other year. There have been 5 great teams in the post lockout era. The Penguins, Bruins, Blackhawks, Red Wings and Kings, of those teams only the Blackhawks have equaled the Kings 2 Cups. The Penguins and bruins have owned the Eastern Conferences regular seasons but have only 1 Cup apiece. The Red Wings started the Cup era on top and have maintained a playoff presence for the last decade but are not in the same class as the other 4 teams I mentioned.

The Kings have the best goaltender in hockey and certainly the best goaltender of the elite teams. Jonathan Quick is an amazing big game performer. Lunqvist maybe just as good but the Rangers are only a better than average team. Rask and Crawford are steady but not spectacular and Fluery can be spectacular but not always steady. Quick’s back up Martin Jones is no slouch either letting Quick take a breather in the regular season.

The Kings Drew Doughty is the best defenseman in hockey. He’s Kris Letang with a brain and 40lbs. Both the Blackhawks and the Bruins have Norris trophy caliber D men at the top of their 6 ( Duncan Keith, Zdeno Chara) but fall off sharply at the bottom of their 6 ( ancient Michael Rosival, midget Tory Krug). Every King defensemen 1-6 is tough, fast enough and good enough with the puck. Some are better than other but with the exception of Greene , a heart and soul guy, they’re all top 4 on every other NHL team.

The Kings are the best 4 line team in hockey. The addition of Marian Gaborik at the deadline gave the Kings one of the 3 best lines in hockey and the purest best 1^st line in hockey. The Penguins with Sid and Geno and the Hawks with Kane and Toews have amazing 1^st lines but those lines come at the expense of the the 2^nd lines which get broken up to make them. The Kings first line Has a Selkie finalist and all around great player/ beast at center Anze Kopitar , pure sniper who gets his nose dirty Marian Gaborik and the best captain in hockey Dustin Brown.

The Kings 2^nd line is centered by long time NHL lamp lighter Jeff Carter and his wings Tyler Tiffoli and Tanner Pearson are young, fast ,big and both got nice hands.

What more do you want out of your 3^rd and 4^th lines. You got the NHL’s best face off man Jared Stoll and one of the clutchest guy of all time , this year’s Conn Smythe Justin Williams on the 3^rd line  and the win at all cost Mike Richards centering your 4^th line. Most of the Kings 3^rd and 4^th liners would have played on the Pens top 2 lines this year. Boston’s bottom 2 lines never recovered from trading Tyler Seguin and Rich Peverly to Dallas. The Blackhawks are the closest to the Kings in forward depth and may even be stronger up top. That is why they are the Kings biggest challenge to cementing an all time dynasty in Southern California because they’re working on one of their own next to a great lake.

Stanley Cup Final Prediction

The Los Angeles Kings are 4 wins away from being hockey’s salary cap era dynasty. They will have won 2 Stanley Cups in 3 years and the year they lost it was to the era’s other great team the Chicago Blackhawks and it was in Western Conference finals when the Kings were injured. I picked the Kings to beat the Blackhawks this year in what was maybe the greatest hockey ever played. Take that you bullshit Olympic purists. The Kings came from 3-0 down to beat a super talented but gutless San Jose Sharks and from 3-2 down to beat the super talented but BBQ Bruce led Anaheim Ducks. They trailed the defending Cup Champs Chicago in game 7. They won 3 game 7s on the road. Darryl Sutter’s men were undefeated when facing elimination. By contrast the Eastern Conference champs the New York Rangers took a much easier path to the Stanley Cup Finals. The beat the Flyers, maybe the toughest team they played, with their goalie Steve Mason injured. The Flyers had to play goalie Ray Emery, a gangsta thug who is lucky when the puck hits him. They beat the Penguins, a mess of an organization who let them off a 3-1 hook. The Rangers beat the Canadiens after they injured Montreal’s  Gold Medal winning goalie Carey Price in game 1. The Rangers road to the Stanley Cup was so easy it’s like they got a police escort.

So guess who I’m picking in this series….. Not yet. Let’s break it down.

The best player in hockey lately has been a choice of either Crosby, Toews, Getzlaf and Malkin. Well now you can put Anze Kopitar at the top of the list. I used to call Kopitar west coast Malkin but now that is an insult to Anze. Kopitar is superior. A Selke finalist ( defensive award)  who can flat out score. His linemates Dustin Brown (best captain in hockey) and Marian Gaborik ( best deadline deal in a generation) gives LA the best line in hockey. They ate up the Toews line when it mattered. The Kings second line, that 70’s line is as fast a line as you will ever see. The Kings are so loaded Mike Richards is their 4^th line center. The Rangers have some nice players ( St. Louis, Richards, Stephan) but they are tiny compared to the Kings. Rick Nash has size but he plays like Eric Lindros after all the concussions. soft.

The Kings have the best defenseman in hockey Drew Doughty and every other King’s top 6 defensemen would be in the Rangers top four defensemen after Mc Donagh, Girardi and Staal.

The Rangers do have an incredible goaltender in Henrik Lundvist. He may very well steal a couple games but he can’t steal a series. Jonathan Quick is also an incredible goaltender who always rises to the occasion. Even if the Rangers injure Quick I think they can beat the Rangers with back up Martin Jones in net.

KINGS in 5, let dynasty talk begin.  

My Reaction to Another Penguin Playoff Debockle

I’m not upset the Penguins lost to the Rangers in Game 7. Sure if Sidney Crosby played up to half his ability they win the series but it would have only prolonged the in evadible. Funny thing is everybody including Fleury played pretty well, except for a few folks I’m looking at you James Neal,

Knowledgeable Penguin fans, and I think deep down Sid and Geno knew this team was not good enough. Is Dan Blysma to blame? Absolutely, he has made some very questionable personnel decisions, he played favorites and ignored young talent but he can’t turn hamburger helper into a bone in rib eye.

I blame GM Ray Shero. He has mismanaged this team for the last 5 years. This team has gotten soft and easy to play against. Talk all you want about a skilled winger and a puck moving defensemen, hockey, especially the playoffs is about toughness and BALLS, and the Penguins roster lacked both of them. When Shero came to town he immediately made them a tougher team. Tougher in the corners, in front of the net and with the gloves off. In the 2007 regular season the Pens beat the Flyers all seven games and in the last game won every fight (I thought they should have put up a statue to coach Mike Therrien right there).

The Pens remained a tough team until they felt they embarrassed the league after their line brawl with the Islanders in 2011. Since then management has shipped out or not resigned big , tough , on the edge players and brought in finesse players, guys who stay on the outside of the fray, who never get their nose dirty. It’s bad enough to have finesse on your top two lines but the Penguins had those guys on their bottom two lines.

Shero retained too many 3^rd and 4^th liners. He let those players get comfortable. Chicago doesn’t do that and they won two Cups since the Penguins won theirs. I consider Shero’s retention of mediocre 4^th liners his second biggest offense, signing offensively overrated and defensively brain dead Kris Letang to a large, long contract is his biggest offense.

Both Shero and Blysma should and hopefully will be fired. The players will be fired too. Only Sid and Geno are safe and probably Letang because who wants a 8 million dollar stroke victim. Chris Kunitz looked tired in the playoffs and maybe the Olympics wore him out. James Neal needs to GO. He’s acts like he won a Stanley Cup, he has not won anything but rides Geno coattails. He’s a bum. Jussi will want too much money so bye. Sutter played well for a month , if he leaves oh well. As for every other forward don’t let the door hit you. If Craig Adams was a horse he’d be glue. Only forwards I want back are Sid, Geno, Kunitz, Pascal Dupius (get well soon Super Duper) and Beau Bennett.

For the Defense, I’m not as down on them.  I wish Blysma gave the kids a chance to play more in the regular season but obviously those regular season points were needed. I love Robert Bortozzo’s game and Simon Depres is an NHLer. Ollie Maata faded but he’s nineteen. Paul Martin played great this year. Love Paulie. Brooks Orpik, Derek Engelland and Matt Niskanan are gone. Rob Scuderi should be but his contract is another chain around Shero’s neck. I love Scuds but he looked like an orange traffic cone in the playoffs. The Pens have lots of kids in their minors with pedrigee so bring em up. Flower player B+ goal all year and to the surprise of most was not a problem.

All in all, a smarter tougher coach and six new forwards who COMPETE and the Penguins could be back on top and by on top I mean a Stanley Cup winner not racking up a bunch of regular season points.

ROUND 2

I went 7-1 in round one. The Wild took extra time but they stuck it to me. Here’s a look back at round one and a look ahead to round two.

Round 1 Recap –

Boston took care of business and handled the Red Wings in 5 games. They were helped by horrible call on Todd Bertuzzi (who never gets a call) but after a game one scare they were never really challenged. Milan Lucic absolutely imposed his will on the series. Detroit fans have to be happy watching their young guys compete and Zetterberg return. Detroit will be a lot to handle next year but Boston is looking like the beast of the East.  Montreal also took care of business sweeping overmatched Tampa Bay. After hearing Oh Canada sung in French the Lightning had no chance.

The Rangers beat the Flyers because they didn’t let Philly goadthem into their bullshit and make it a special teams game.The Rangers are and were the better team five on five Wayne Simmonds had a classic Simmonds hat trick , three feet from the net but was the Invisible man on game seven.

The Penguins got past Columbus after the Penguins specifically Geno had enough. The Blue Jackets made a big deal out of out hitting the Penguins but hitting means you don’t have the puck. Columbus had heart but not nearly enough talent. Marc Andre Fluery except for one flub had a strong series and seems too have shaken off his post season woes.

Out West the Kings showed their championship hearts with an historic comeback against the San Jose Sharks a franchise that never seems to have any heart. Goaltender Quick was hung out to dry in the first the games but the King’s defense tightened in the final four games and Quick looked like his old Conn Smythe self.

BBQ Bruce reared his clueless head for Anaheim by starting a goalie controversy before game one than healthy scratched the living legend Teemu Selanne but Anaheim Captain and possible league MVP Ryan Getzlaf,  puck to the face and all would not let Lindy Ruff’s overachieving Stars beat them. Lindy and the Stars will be back.

Minnesota and Colorado had the most exciting series in the opening round. Nathan McKinnon had a coming out party but putting up ridiculous Lemieux like numbers at home. Erik Johnson had a inspirational empty net save in game one but got caught up ice in game 7.

Chicago and St Louis played the most intense opening round series. St, Louis lost their Captain Backes to a questionable hit thrown by Seabook who was suspended for that hit. Steve Ott gave Duncan Keith a similar dirty hit but it didn’t stop the Norris trophy candidate form torturing the Blues. The Blues, who never score when it matters could not keep up with the Toews, Kane and Sharps of the world.

Round Two –

The West is very easy to pick. The Kings are rolling. They have four lines of scoring and grit and Quick between the pipes. It’s May so it’s time for BBQ’s chariot to turn into a pumpkin. The Ducks Dynamic Duo will win a few games though.  Kings in 6. The Blackhawks will have no problem with the happy to be there Wild. Blackhawks in 5.

Both East series are almost a pickem. Almost. Montreal is probably the second best built team in the East, the problem is Boston is the best built team in the East. Habs vs Bruins is hockey’s Jews vs Arabs so anything can happen but I say Boston squeaks by. Boston in 7. The Penguins and Rangers will play a fast, skilled and extremely entertaining series. The teams are pretty even so whichever team’s superstar wakes up will determine who wins this series. I’ll go with Sid because Nash has never woken up. Pens in 6.

2014 Playoffs Round 1 Predictions

Yes, the most wonderful time of the year is here, The Stanley Cup Playoffs. The 60 Day War for Lord Stanley’s Cup. I think the Cup is up for grabs this year more than any year since the Lockout. Last year I picked correctly picked the winner in every series except the Finals. This year I can only guarantee won one series, so let’s begin there.

The East-

 Pittsburgh vs Columbus- If the Penguins don’t win this series, the planet better be hit with a meteor because life as we know it will end in Pittsburgh. The Pens will have everybody healthy except Pascal Dupuis. Geno Malkin was flying before his injury and Kris Letang is rounding into shape. The Blue Jackets will be missing their only playoff tested guys in Nathan Horton , R J Umberger and Nick Foligno. I’m not picking Pens in 4 because I’m old school and that means revenge.

PENS in 5

Boston vs Detroit- The Bruins had a great regular season and did not deserve the Red Wings in round 1. Boston is the best team in the East and has the best goaltending but Detroit is fast and skilled. Detroit Mike Babcock will know how to make Zdeno Chara’s life hell but I think the B’s have too much size and depth up front to wear out the smaller Wings. If Wings Nyquist, Tatar and the old witch Datsyuk steal one in Beantown it could get interesting.

Bruins in 6

New York vs Philadelphia – This will be an absolute war. The Flyers have scoring depth up front but the Rangers have the advantage on defense. The Rangers big tough defensemen will not let the Flyers pull their usual bullshit around the crease and King Henry is the difference in this series

Rangers in 7

Tampa vs Montreal – Tampa has had a swell year over coming tons of drama but they will not overcome losing their goaltender Ben Bishop. Montreal has too much tradition and scoring for a back up to handle.

Montreal in 6

This leaves us with an amazing second round. Bruins vs Canadiens is hockey’s Jews vs Arabs and the Penguins would face one of their two biggest New York or Philly. In Pittsburgh losing to New York is equal to your fish dying, losing to Philly is your dog dying but we will save these predictions for the next round, onto the West.

The West -

Anaheim vs Dallas- I love the Stars. Lindy Ruff is a great coach and the power duo of Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin are exciting but the Ducks duo if Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry have a better supporting cast. BBQ Bruce Boudreau will get exposed in the playoffs but not in round one.

Ducks in 5

Los Angeles vs San Jose – Both of these teams could be picked to win the Stanley Cup for a variety of reasons. Both teams have four lines of big, nasty men who can score, a sound defense and Cup winning goalies, so who do you take? I’ll take the Kings because of the goalies. Quick has been sharper than Niemi this year, plus Drew Doughty is just a beast on the Kings blue line.

Kings in 7

Chicago vs St Louis- Chicago was looking like a lock to win the West then their two superstars got hurt but now Toews and Kane are back so lookout West. Chicago DOES have the ability to turn it on and they will this series. St Louis is limping into the playoffs and always has trouble scoring in the playoffs. Ryan Miller is not enough to save their fate.

Blackhawks in 5

Colorado vs Minnesota- Colorado is missing scoring machine Matt Duchene but they still have enough to beat a goal tender that either belong in a hospital (Harding) or a mental institution (Bryzgalov) . The Avs kids came on strong and earned the right to take on the Wild. Roy won’t let them waste that good fortune.

Avs in 6

If you live in the East, stay up a watch LA vs SJ it could be the best series of the entire playoffs.