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Mongoose87 wrote:I don't think you can call Sid out on his durability, given the nature of his injuries.
Mongoose87 wrote:I don't think you can call Sid out on his durability, given the nature of his injuries.
headh wrote:Mongoose87 wrote:I don't think you can call Sid out on his durability, given the nature of his injuries.
The guy has played in 99 out of a potential 204 games over the past three seasons. Reasons are secondary to actual results.
Exactly. My post was not intended to be a criticism of Sid, but rather a praising of Shero and the job he has done.
RxBandit66 wrote:One of the problems with last year's Penguins team (and also the configuration of the team before the trades) was a lack of versatility and durability. Centers who could not make the move to wing, wingers who play terrible when they are asked to move to their off wing. But Jokinen and Morrow are willing and able to play anywhere, and especially Jokinen can play all forward positions on any of the 4 lines. If Bylsma is still in the mindset (and I assume he is because his mindset never changes) of "wearing opponents down," then he needs to roll 4 lines and have players who are durable and versatile.
Letang, Sid, and Geno are great players. But they are not durable players. It's not their fault, they just miss a ton of games. Jokinen, Morrow, and Iginla are very durable and never get hurt. And they can all play special teams. The veterans seem to roll with whatever changes come about and are willing to adjust. They also tend to not take lazy/stupid penalties or lose their composure, which has been a problem for Neal and Malkin.
And as far as Murray is concerned, he is gritty and consistent, two qualities most of the blueliners lack in some capacity. If one takes a deeper look at who Shero acquired, it is apparent that he knew exactly what the team's needs were, and he went out and picked these guys off before other GM's were able to do it.
The trades show that Mr. Shero is not only an excellent GM, but a student of the game who knows his players well. Not since the Ron Francis trade has a Penguin team been improved this much at the deadline overall. RS went out and added four players who bring experience, grit, scoring, depth, and all the intangibles to his team. And he gave up not a single player on the current roster.
rkarete wrote:To me the Murray trade is where Shero realised the old Brooks Orpik is gone, maybe Brooks spent too much time watching Letang and Martin skate up ice, and we needed someone mean, nasty, intimidating, crease-cleaaring and that Borts and Engo were not likely to evolve into that role (maybe Bortuzzo will, over time). Same goes for Morrow - we needed a dirty front of net guy instead of perimiter snipers like Neal, TK (that was the hope, he shoots enough!) etc. Kunitz is the only Pens fwd w. some scoring touch + grit. Losing Cooke for playoffs a few years back didnt help either.
Shero didnt just get durability, he got character, and guys who are hungry beyond our feeble imaginations to win a Cup. Lets hope that's the edge we need, since the last few years of playoff hockey have been a suffer-fest for us die-hards! And lets all hope Sid is back soon, since the team is transformed when he is on the ice, and its him that 12 and 10 came to play with, egos in check.
headh wrote:
over the past three seasons Sid has played in 99 out of a possible 206 games
over the past three seasons Geno has played in 146 out of a possible 206 games
I have zero interest in characterizing injuries but..... I think I'd take nagging injuries over head trauma/potential career threatening injuries any day if I'm gambling on one or the other being a viable long term player.
taz71 wrote:Arguably the best team we have had since the salary cap era
Pitt87 wrote:headh wrote:
over the past three seasons Sid has played in 99 out of a possible 206 games
over the past three seasons Geno has played in 146 out of a possible 206 games
I have zero interest in characterizing injuries but..... I think I'd take nagging injuries over head trauma/potential career threatening injuries any day if I'm gambling on one or the other being a viable long term player.
I think that's obvious. Point is that Sid's injuries have virtually nothing to do with his style of play.
Defence21 wrote:taz71 wrote:Arguably the best team we have had since the salary cap era
I don't think this is "arguably" the best team. I think it is absolutely the best team in the NHL in the post-lockout era. Additionally, I think there's a very good chance that, on paper at least, this is the best team in the NHL since the early 90s Penguins.
shmenguin wrote:Defence21 wrote:taz71 wrote:Arguably the best team we have had since the salary cap era
I don't think this is "arguably" the best team. I think it is absolutely the best team in the NHL in the post-lockout era. Additionally, I think there's a very good chance that, on paper at least, this is the best team in the NHL since the early 90s Penguins.
i think our defense may prevent us from being historically good on paper.
i think my favorite paper team since the early 90's penguins was the 2000-2001 devils. the only issue with them is that they didn't have a forward who was a generational talent in their prime. the 96 avs are up there too, but i don't know if they had an elite Dman on that team.
DelPen wrote:shmenguin wrote:Defence21 wrote:taz71 wrote:Arguably the best team we have had since the salary cap era
I don't think this is "arguably" the best team. I think it is absolutely the best team in the NHL in the post-lockout era. Additionally, I think there's a very good chance that, on paper at least, this is the best team in the NHL since the early 90s Penguins.
i think our defense may prevent us from being historically good on paper.
i think my favorite paper team since the early 90's penguins was the 2000-2001 devils. the only issue with them is that they didn't have a forward who was a generational talent in their prime. the 96 avs are up there too, but i don't know if they had an elite Dman on that team.
Well let's see what it looks like when Martin is back.
Martin-Orpik
Eaton-Letang
Murray-Nisky
that's definitely at least the 2nd best defense we have seen since the early 90's but isn't as proven as the 2009 team.
newarenanow wrote:Great, now Jokinen, Morrow and Iginla are going to get hurt.
shmenguin wrote:DelPen wrote:shmenguin wrote:Defence21 wrote:taz71 wrote:Arguably the best team we have had since the salary cap era
I don't think this is "arguably" the best team. I think it is absolutely the best team in the NHL in the post-lockout era. Additionally, I think there's a very good chance that, on paper at least, this is the best team in the NHL since the early 90s Penguins.
i think our defense may prevent us from being historically good on paper.
i think my favorite paper team since the early 90's penguins was the 2000-2001 devils. the only issue with them is that they didn't have a forward who was a generational talent in their prime. the 96 avs are up there too, but i don't know if they had an elite Dman on that team.
Well let's see what it looks like when Martin is back.
Martin-Orpik
Eaton-Letang
Murray-Nisky
that's definitely at least the 2nd best defense we have seen since the early 90's but isn't as proven as the 2009 team.
it's deep, but it's not exactly rob blake and ray bourque as your top pair.
Nizzy wrote:Despres > Eaton
Bennett > Kennedy
Vitale > Glass
Eaton > Engelland
I would like to see those changes for the playoffs.
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