Both Rookie DMen Are Struggling

[gruntov]

Adjusting to AHL not easy for Letang, nor Gogo.

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsbu ... 34977.html

[Eismann]

Adjusting to AHL not easy for Letang, nor Gogo.

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsbu ... 34977.html

I'm not close to him or his situation, but I can't stopped fearing Letang = Dome. I'll chalk it up to lack of sleep at this point.

[crzymike]

Arent they suppose to get playing time down there? Isnt that the reason KL was sent in the first place, to play and refine his game? Scratching him wont help produce a favorable result IMO. In any case, this ''perception'' some have of this team having unlimited young talent is looking as if their abilities may have been overestimated. I am not giving up on Army, though his production is low as is Staal's and Whitney defensively has been very shaky to say the least. MAF is fire and ice in the net and as this article suggests, our two young prospects are struggling in the minors.

I cant see much to be optimistic about other than Malkin and Crosby. This team is young and hopefully will pull it togethor but I can say on the positive side of things, it doesnt appear JS is gonna get a big number Salary wise if his production doesnt pick up. He will be hard pressed to score 25 this year, EC hasnt lit it up either.

The build from within perspective some have is as precarious a premise as Whit's play in the defensive zone. I believed all along there eventually needs to be some significant changes to this team. The young talent we have isnt enough. Our veterans other than Eaton and Sykora leave alot to be desired also.

[Zscout]

Great quote by Richards:

Most importantly, Richards said, Letang and Goligoski have to learn the proper professional mindset.

"They both came from programs where they were the best players on their teams," Richards said. "A lot of leeway was given for how they play. Now they're competing against men. They aren't as dominant. They're both still good players, will be great players, but they still have a lot to learn."

Goligoski gets it:

"I hadn't been playing that great," he said. "It was probably good for me. I guess you just take it for what it's worth, don't look into it too much and come out the next week and work hard. Play smarter. It's just a wake-up call."

Letang is figuring it out:

"At first, I was (angry), like anyone would be (angry)," Letang said. "I think I had a pretty good start, my first games. (Penguins director of player development) Tom Fitzgerald said I played great. A couple of my agents saw me play and said I played good. It's part of the process, I guess. I have to learn from this."

Letang played last night and scored a goal and Richards says he saw some improvement in his play.

Kris Letang returned to the lineup after two games in the press box and scored a third-period goal. He was fine in his own end too. A Richards quote: "He shows what he can do with the puck. I think there was more urgency in his game, which is what we wanted. There were still some areas where he got beat. He got beat 1-on-1. But on the power play, he’s got such patience with the puck and poise, which is difficult to find in young players. He took a step in the right direction tonight."

http://emedia.citizensvoice.com/Penguin ... fault.aspx

[Easton]

Arent they suppose to get playing time down there? Isnt that the reason KL was sent in the first place, to play and refine his game? Scratching him wont help produce a favorable result IMO. In any case, this ''perception'' some have of this team having unlimited young talent is looking as if their abilities may have been overestimated. I am not giving up on Army, though his production is low as is Staal's and Whitney defensively has been very shaky to say the least. MAF is fire and ice in the net and as this article suggests, our two young prospects are struggling in the minors.

I cant see much to be optimistic about other than Malkin and Crosby. This team is young and hopefully will pull it togethor but I can say on the positive side of things, it doesnt appear JS is gonna get a big number Salary wise if his production doesnt pick up. He will be hard pressed to score 25 this year, EC hasnt lit it up either.

The build from within perspective some have is as precarious a premise as Whit's play in the defensive zone. I believed all along there eventually needs to be some significant changes to this team. The young talent we have isnt enough. Our veterans other than Eaton and Sykora leave alot to be desired also.

Alas, the growing pains of a young team.

Just as MAF is ice and fire in the net, the team will be ice and fire on the...ice. They won't just come together and produce spectacular individual and group results right out of the gate. It's to be expected from a young team like this. They will all get into ruts at one point or another, and hopefully most get out.