GDT: debbies v. PENGUINS (3/17/12)

[shmenguin]

This is a team that can seriously contend for the cup.
Is there a rational explanation for Park being out today and having Tangradi in?

And, please, don't reference his alleged physicality.

i didn't feel good about our 4th line today. park, please.

[LeopardLetang]

5-2 against the Bruins, 5-2 against the Rangers, 5-2 against the Devils...

[LeopardLetang]

This is a team that can seriously contend for the cup.
Is there a rational explanation for Park being out today and having Tangradi in?

And, please, don't reference his alleged physicality.

i didn't feel good about our 4th line today. park, please.

vitale was reckless but without effect today. or maybe it was that the rest of the lines were so strong that the 4th line is judged more harshly

[Shakes]

I've watched the Malkin goal about 25 times. Only 2 people knew what Sid was going to do there: Sid and Geno. It's so much fun to watch them together again. They think the game on a different level from everyone else on the team (in the league?).

[shmenguin]

This is a team that can seriously contend for the cup.
Is there a rational explanation for Park being out today and having Tangradi in?

And, please, don't reference his alleged physicality.

i didn't feel good about our 4th line today. park, please.

vitale was reckless but without effect today. or maybe it was that the rest of the lines were so strong that the 4th line is judged more harshly

maybe. but i've thought that adams has been a total slug at even strength for a while now, so i'm a little skewed. who knows. i guess they do the job, but tangradi's lack of speed certainly doesn't fit in with the rest of the team

[The Snapshot]

That is a Devils team that should not even be a playoff team were it not for the fact that Broduer has stayed healthy. He is one of 4 good players that they have - with Elias, Kovalchuk and Parise in that list. They have two pretty good young players in Larsson and Henrique and a good grinder having a career year in Clarkson. A very very average team.

The Pens have now made 3 of the 4 "other" top teams in the conference look absolutely bewildered in the last 3 games. Tomorrow we get a chance to do it to the Flyers.

[IanMoran]

Missed the game, how did Crosby look?

[The Snapshot]

Missed the game, how did Crosby look?

Could have had 3 goals to go with the three assists. Seriously, Brodeur stoned him at least 5 times. His pass on the Malkin goal was brilliant. The other two assists were run of the mill for him....

[DudeMan2766]

Missed the game, how did Crosby look?

Crosby looked...

Spoiler:

Better

[thepittman]

Missed the game, how did Crosby look?

Crosby looked...

Spoiler:

Better

Just let it die

[malksby8771]

As it stands, with today's effort Crosby just passed Bobby Orr for 4th all-time in points/game (1.396).

Any chance he passes Mike Bossy? Bossy has 1.497 and Crosby has 1.396. How hard is it to increase your career ppg by 0.1? I'm guessing it's pretty difficult but that would be sick if he is only behind Lemieux and Gretzky.

[malksby8771]

Just ran some numbers...It would take four straight 130 point pace seasons of playing around 70+ games in each season for Crosby to catch Mike Bossy for third all time in career points per game. That's really difficult but not impossible since he's been scoring on 131 point pace since October 2010 so anything is possible.

[Henry Hank]

Just ran some numbers...It would take four straight 130 point pace seasons of playing around 70+ games in each season for Crosby to catch Mike Bossy for third all time in career points per game. That's really difficult but not impossible since he's been scoring on 131 point pace since October 2010 so anything is possible.

Keep in mind that he may possibly catch him but staying there would be another story. We're looking at Crosby while he's in his prime. He hasn't had the down side of his career yet, whatever that is going to be. The thing that some of those guys above him have in common is that they retired early and thus didn't hang around long as their abilities faded. Bossy and Orr retired at 30 due to injuries. Lemieux, for that matter, originally was over two points per game and was number one all-time even above Gretzky when he originally retired in his early 30's. Coming back dropped Mario below Gretzky. Anyway, Sid could peak at a higher points per game than he's at now but it may not stay there. Then again, who knows how abrupt the end of his career could be. Sorry I even had to mention it.

[WhoDaresWins]

Just hope all is ok with 58.

Played very little after hit, not that he needed to but also didn't talk to media after according to Rossi

I really hope he's okay too but he didn't miss a shift after his hit. I don't know where Rossi got that he played very little after the hit. He still led the team in TOI and averaged 7+ minutes for each period. He played 7:36 in the second and 7:16 in the 3rd.

http://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20112012/TV021066.HTM

And fwiw....he spoke to Dave Molinari after the game. Molinari seems to think he was feeling some effects from the hit (doesn't say what) but Tanger says he's fine. He saw Boulton coming and squared up to him to absorb the hit. We'll just have to keep our fingers crossed. Tanger's a pretty tough customer and it didn't seem to involve his head.

"I stayed in the game, played in the game," he said. "I was fine. ... I would have gotten off the ice [if the hit had caused a problem.]"

Coach Dan Bylsma allowed that "it was a big hit," but said he had not seen replays of Boulton's check before meeting with reporters. He also noted that Letang "was right back out there the next shift."

http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/sports/penguins/penguins-notebook-letang-takes-big-hit-from-boulton-517260/

[malksby8771]

Just ran some numbers...It would take four straight 130 point pace seasons of playing around 70+ games in each season for Crosby to catch Mike Bossy for third all time in career points per game. That's really difficult but not impossible since he's been scoring on 131 point pace since October 2010 so anything is possible.

Keep in mind that he may possibly catch him but staying there would be another story. We're looking at Crosby while he's in his prime. He hasn't had the down side of his career yet, whatever that is going to be. The thing that some of those guys above him have in common is that they retired early and thus didn't hang around long as their abilities faded. Bossy and Orr retired at 30 due to injuries. Lemieux, for that matter, originally was over two points per game and was number one all-time even above Gretzky when he originally retired in his early 30's. Coming back dropped Mario below Gretzky. Anyway, Sid could peak at a higher points per game than he's at now but it may not stay there. Then again, who knows how abrupt the end of his career could be. Sorry I even had to mention it.

That really makes me sad to think about. I don't want to go there. I hope he keeps his current pace or close to it for the next few years that would be satisfying enough. It just would look really cool to see him up there with Lemieux and Gretz.

[pugilist13]

This is a team that can seriously contend for the cup.
Is there a rational explanation for Park being out today and having Tangradi in?

And, please, don't reference his alleged physicality.

i didn't feel good about our 4th line today. park, please.

This will most likely be the lineup from here on in and through thje playoffs. Substitute Asham for Tangradi and there you have it. Dicky Park will be the swing man, Lovejoy the 7th D. Hopefully BJ will be ready before the end of the season. I know he's been pretty bad this year, but would rather have him available for the playoffs than relying on T-son as your back up.

[steelhammer]

Just ran some numbers...It would take four straight 130 point pace seasons of playing around 70+ games in each season for Crosby to catch Mike Bossy for third all time in career points per game. That's really difficult but not impossible since he's been scoring on 131 point pace since October 2010 so anything is possible.

Keep in mind that he may possibly catch him but staying there would be another story. We're looking at Crosby while he's in his prime. He hasn't had the down side of his career yet, whatever that is going to be. The thing that some of those guys above him have in common is that they retired early and thus didn't hang around long as their abilities faded. Bossy and Orr retired at 30 due to injuries. Lemieux, for that matter, originally was over two points per game and was number one all-time even above Gretzky when he originally retired in his early 30's. Coming back dropped Mario below Gretzky. Anyway, Sid could peak at a higher points per game than he's at now but it may not stay there. Then again, who knows how abrupt the end of his career could be. Sorry I even had to mention it.

That really makes me sad to think about. I don't want to go there. I hope he keeps his current pace or close to it for the next few years that would be satisfying enough. It just would look really cool to see him up there with Lemieux and Gretz.

I still believe that Crosby has a 150+ point season in him. Let's not forget too that Crosby's 1.396 in today's NHL is way more impressive than Bossy's 1.497 from 77-87. The average goals per game in Bossy's career was 7.50 and the average goals per game in Crosby's is 5.75. In an era with 30.4% more scoring, Bossy is only 7.2% higher in scoring than Crosby.

[Staggy]

^ Good stat, I was wondering what the scoring difference would be in the different eras