Moderators: Three Stars, dagny, pfim, netwolf
Dickie Dunn wrote:"Protected minutes", "developed the proper way", blah blah blah. Its all just mumbo jumbo for people trying to ignore facts. Ignoring that being "developed the proper way" has gone right out the window in recent seasons, that it can easily be argued that Despres is better than Niskanen (which puts him in the teams top four), and that regardless of where you put him in the lineup rookie mistakes will happen, these are facts:
- Letang has played his best hockey this season when paired with Despres. The Nisky-Letang pairing the past couple games was a mess. They just didn't play well together.
- Despres has played his best hockey this season when paired with Letang. Despres' worst two games (which caused him to become a healthy scratch) were when he was paired with the pile of suck that is Derek Engelland.
- Because Letang and Despres have played better with each other than anyone else, they should probably play together, since playing together is important.
Its not rocket science. Put the players in the best position to succeed and the team will succeed. A Letang-Despres pairing contributes to the team succeeding more than either of them being paired with someone else.
slappybrown wrote:Godric wrote:slappybrown wrote:A letang Despres pairing would be likely be a dumpster fire in the playoffs IMO
I completely disagree, they are both really fast and great transitionally.
Agreed re skating and transition play.
BUT
The problem is letang chases things in his own end all the time and is out of position a lot (one of the goals tonite being a prime example where's he's chasing MTL player behind out own net) and relying on Despres who's also offensively inclined to cover that is a big ask. You take the bad letang because the good is exceptional, but in the playoffs that's a pairing that is primed for self immolation
mikey287 wrote:With what I said, Despres and Letang have each looked their best when paired with each other...so, why not...what are we gonna do, give up more goals?
Even though it's not really my thing, sometimes you just have to have an "ah **** it..." attitude...that's how the team plays anyhow...go for it.
Despres-Letang
Orpik-Martin
Niskanen-Bortuzzo
Henry Hank wrote:Despres is a talent. There's not any doubt about it. But he's 21 and mistake prone. He played 15 some minutes tonight. Giving him big minutes now is not going to help this team do anything but maybe score some more goals, but it's going to feed into their defensive failings.
What they really need is a veteran "leader" like Orpik doing his job on the ice instead of just talking about it to the media. And rather than push Despres over his head, it'd be nice if they could bring in a good defensive defenseman to keep him where he belongs in a protected third pairing role.
GeoTank wrote:Kunitz - Crosby - Dupuis
Bennett - Malkin - Neal
Cooke - Sutter - Boychuk
Glass - Adams - Vitale
Letang - Despres
Orpik - Martin
Niskanen - Bortouzzo
Fleury
Vokoun
brwi wrote:Henry Hank wrote:Despres is a talent. There's not any doubt about it. But he's 21 and mistake prone. He played 15 some minutes tonight. Giving him big minutes now is not going to help this team do anything but maybe score some more goals, but it's going to feed into their defensive failings.
What they really need is a veteran "leader" like Orpik doing his job on the ice instead of just talking about it to the media. And rather than push Despres over his head, it'd be nice if they could bring in a good defensive defenseman to keep him where he belongs in a protected third pairing role.
I'd definitely agree with that. The main issue to me is that Despres needs to be out there every game, even in the 3rd pairing which as we all know, DB will minimize in the 3rd period as do other HC's, but at least get him out there regularly for 2 periods+ and not sit him in the press box.
Pens have a 1st rounder invested in the guy and he obviously has some size and talent. Dressing an Eaton, Engelland or even Niskanen who runs hot-to-awful isn't going to help his development any and it's not going to help the team win either in the long-run.
Pens need a stay-at-home dman to be acquired and paired with Despres and I am not thinking Eaton either. UGH.
Godric wrote:Dickie Dunn wrote:"Protected minutes", "developed the proper way", blah blah blah. Its all just mumbo jumbo for people trying to ignore facts. Ignoring that being "developed the proper way" has gone right out the window in recent seasons, that it can easily be argued that Despres is better than Niskanen (which puts him in the teams top four), and that regardless of where you put him in the lineup rookie mistakes will happen, these are facts:
- Letang has played his best hockey this season when paired with Despres. The Nisky-Letang pairing the past couple games was a mess. They just didn't play well together.
- Despres has played his best hockey this season when paired with Letang. Despres' worst two games (which caused him to become a healthy scratch) were when he was paired with the pile of suck that is Derek Engelland.
- Because Letang and Despres have played better with each other than anyone else, they should probably play together, since playing together is important.
Its not rocket science. Put the players in the best position to succeed and the team will succeed. A Letang-Despres pairing contributes to the team succeeding more than either of them being paired with someone else.
A MILLION TIMES THIS.
great job
guiner wrote:GeoTank wrote:Kunitz - Crosby - Dupuis
Bennett - Malkin - Neal
Cooke - Sutter - Boychuk
Glass - Adams - Vitale
Letang - Despres
Orpik - Martin
Niskanen - Bortouzzo
Fleury
Vokoun
Hey bro,
I'd like them to try this.
Bennett - Crosby - Dupuis
Kunitz - Malkin - Neal
Cooke - Sutter - Boychuk
Glass - Adams - Vitale
Letang - Despres
Orpik - Martin
Niskanen - Bortouzzo
Fleury
Vokoun
Kunitz has also played huge with Malkin - Neal and Malkin could use some help. Bennett is a smart hockey player, he knows at what pace to go to match the play, good breakout and neutral zone delays/passes. And he always finds a soft spot in the offensive zone and is facing the play. Still seems a little tentative on execution. I think he'd get off lots of quality shots with Crosby. He just doesn't fit very well on 3rd line even though he can play a physical/board game, which is also a requisite with playing with Crosby.
I'm not sure Boychuk fits on 3rd. Even though I'm still a Kennedy supporter, he has been real erratic. Does hustle, but sometimes totally braindead. I liked what Boychuk did, can't be worse.
mikey287 wrote:With what I said, Despres and Letang have each looked their best when paired with each other...so, why not...what are we gonna do, give up more goals?
Even though it's not really my thing, sometimes you just have to have an "ah **** it..." attitude...that's how the team plays anyhow...go for it.
Despres-Letang
Orpik-Martin
Niskanen-Bortuzzo
pcm wrote:Scratching Despres has been good for him to reflect on his game and focus on things that need improvement. I think "should never be a scratched again" is going too far. I've got nothing against Blysma scratching young players, as it does teach accountability. I just wish he would do the same thing for the older guys.
Good article by Bombulie on Morrow: http://triblive.com/sports/nhl/3550683- ... hlpenguins
It's crazy that he could potentially be BETTER than Despres. Learning how important confidence is to success is a huge lesson, and one that is kind of amazing Joe's already figured out so succinctly.
Morrow should be on the big club next season, which means that (1) Despres can't be playing like a rookie by then, (2) there needs to be a spot on the roster for him. I guess this means Niskanen is a goner, though until he shows what he can do in the playoffs, I think his value to us (this season) is greater than his value in a trade.
shmenguin wrote:the only thing i can think of is this...
the team is committed to depres and to a lesser extent some of the players below him like morrow and pouliot. they are NOT necessarily committed to bortuzzo. so before next year (also a contract year), they need to decide if there's a place on this team for him. we're in the "data collection" phase of that process.
though this theory kind of falls apart when mark freaking eaton starts bumping them off the depth chart.
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 29 guests