Posts Tagged ‘pittsburgh penguins’

Pittsburgh Penguins Stanley Cup Odds 2010-2011

October 21st, 2010 by Derek S | Comments Off | Filed in NHL Betting

This could be a make or break year for the Pittsburgh Penguins. Despite finishing last season with 101 points and scoring 257 goals (2nd best in the conference after Washington), Pittsburgh only had 5 players surpass 40 points. Two of those players, Sergei Gonchar and Bill Guerin, are no longer with the team and Jordan Staal will begin the season on injured reserve as he still struggles with a foot injury that plagued him during the playoffs. That leaves Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin as the only players with more than 40 points last year.

The good news for Pittsburgh is that they are in a very unstable division and despite the lack of talent after Crosby, Malkin and Staal, should still be a lock for the post season. While Philadelphia made the cup finals last year they once again enter the season with goaltending issues as Michael Leighton will have to prove last season’s playoff’s where not a fluke. New Jersey will have to settle cap issues after finally clearing up the Ilya Kovalchuk contract, and they must also hope that Martin Brodeur still has a lot left in the tank. The New York Rangers and New York Islanders will probably not be serious threats this year although the Rangers should be one of the bubble teams if Alexander Frolov can help provide some much needed offence, and the Islanders have a decent young core of talent. Finally the Penguins should be able to catch some breaks if they need points, as 5 of their last 7 games are against teams that didn’t make the playoffs last year and of those teams only Tampa Bay looks significantly improved.

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On paper, the Penguins seem to be lacking after the big three and indeed if Crosby or Malkin should suffer any major injury problems, especially Crosby who is coming off a career best 51 goals, it will be a long season for Pittsburgh. The Penguins do have some interesting players to watch as Mike Comrie, while extremely inconsistent, is also quite skilled and if on his game could be a nice compliment to either Crosby or Malkin. Chris Kunitz has been a nice addition since coming over from Anaheim, totaling 50 points in 70 games as a Penguin. Also, look for youngsters Eric Tangradi and Mark Letestu to show some potential this year as both are quite skilled and if either end up on one of the top two lines could provide some badly needed offence from the wings. The addition of Arron Asham from Philly should also help to provide more grit to a line up that includes the likes of Matt Cooke, Maxime Talbot, Tyler Kennedy, Michael Rupp and Ryan Craig.

The defense under went a major over haul this off-season after being 20th in the league in goals against last season. Gone are Sergei Gonchar, Mark Eaton, Jay McKee and Jordan Leopold. GM Ray Shero brought in Paul Martin from New Jersey and Zbynek Michalek to help. Of the defenseman not returning, Gonchar will be missed the most as he has proven to be one of the most dangerous point men in the game today. The addition of Martin as well as Alex Goligoski and Kris Letang should keep the powerplay strong. However, all three are not known for strong defensive play and while Michalek and Brooks Orpik are solid, it remains to be seen if this team will improve defensively.

Despite finally showing his potential and leading this team to the Stanley Cup two year ago, Marc-Andre Fleury still remains a question mark. After posting a .921 save percentage in 07/08 he has followed with a .912 two years ago and a .905 last year. He is an extremely talented goaltender but continues to fight the puck many nights. The Penguins do have some insurance with Brent Johnson as backup, but will still need Fleury to return to form.

This team shouldn’t have any problems making the playoffs as long as Crosby is healthy but will need Malkin, Fleury and some of the youngsters to step up if they want to return to the Stanley Cup finals for the third time in four years. They definitely have the pieces in place to return. Oh yeah, they also need the Washington Capitals to continue to lose playoff hockey games.

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Pens Take It All – What's Next?

June 13th, 2009 by Brent | 1 Comment | Filed in NHL News, Opinion

First things first, congratulations to captain Sidney Crosby and his Penguins for winning the 2009 Stanley Cup. Well done, guys, you put on quite a show. It was a hard fought series, right until the final seconds when goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury had to dive across the crease to rob Detroit captain Niklas Lidstrom of a sure goal. Wondering what Fleury was thinking when all that was happening? Take a look:

Now while Pittsburgh soaks up the next few days, you can guess what the other 29 teams will be thinking about. Next season, starting with the Draft, then the opening day of free agency. You can tell that’s what they’re thinking about just by looking at some of the stories that have been reported in the past few days.

Lets start with the Flyers and their goaltending situation. Earlier this week the Flyers announced the signing of Ray Emery to a one-year $1.5 million contract. Many see it as a low-risk, high-reward kind of deal. I think any time you deal with Ray Emery, the situation is high risk. I’m not saying he’s a bad guy, but he has the capability of bringing down a team from the inside. What’s the best scenario? He has a stellar year, the Flyers go far in the playoffs riding his play, and he asks for major bucks in the off season, or leaves the team. That being said, this is Emery’s second chance at an NHL career, so to speak. He blew his first chance in Ottawa, so you can bet he won’t want to screw up his second chance in Philly. I really hope he stays on his best behaviour and succeeds, I really do. Then today we are hit with another shocker. Darren Dreger of TSN reports that the Flyers are interested in bringing Robert Esche back! He had a stellar year playing in the KHL, posting a 1.87 goals against average and .912 save percentage. If that report turns out to be true, you can kiss Martin Biron and Antero Niittymaki’s butts goodbye.

But then we’re forced to wonder, is a Emery-Esche tandem that much of an upgrade over a Biron-Niittymaki tandem? Is it even an upgrade at all? Sure they save a few bucks under the cap, but is it really worth taking such a risk with your goaltending situation? Only time will tell.

Then there was the Score’s report of Pronger being traded to LA for Jack Johnson and the 5th overall pick in this year’s draft. I saw that as soon as I turned on my TV and sat back, thought about it for a second, then muttered “What the hell is Los Angeles thinking??” Sure, lets trade away the 5th overall pick (Who I have as Magnus Paajarvi-Svensson in the Everything Hockey mock draft) and Jack Johnson, a former 3rd overall pick, for an older Chris Pronger, who has 1 year left on his contract and makes just over 4 million dollars more than Johnson. I really really hope LA has some kind of plan for this, like signing him to an extension and naming him captain or something. Seems to me like they could have just kept Rob Blake, a much cheaper leader.

I said that 29 teams will be thinking of next season already, but one team has a very unique situation. The Phoenix Coyotes aren’t just worried about their product on the ice, they are also worried about where the ice they will skate on will be located. Let me begin by saying I am a completely biased Hamiltonian. I have refrained from writing about the deal because of my bias. I would thouroughly enjoy having an NHL team in this city, as would hundreds of other people I know, but especially me seeing as how it would open all sorts of doors for jobs, especially in the media. So when you make the argument about how moving the team out of Phoenix will take away hundreds of jobs, think of all the jobs it would open up, especially to people like me! We all know what’s happening in terms of the court preceedings and so-on, so I won’t bore you with that. I just want you to know that the fan support for an NHL team in Hamilton is very real. The team will be immensly popular, and the area is a hockey gold mine. Oh…and Jim Balsillie for Prime Minister!

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