WBS Pens' weekly report - 10/8

[eastonpensfan]

Well, the Baby Pens have made it through its first week. Just like the big Pens, they have a light October schedule.

TRANSACTIONS: G Dany Sabourin has been claimed by Vancouver, winning the NHL backup job. He will be missed here, but congratulations to Dany for winning a regular job.

INJURIES: C Maxime Talbot missed Saturday's game due to a "knee infection". No word yet on how serious or how long this will hold him from action.

GOOD: RW Jonathan Filewich has been having an incredible start to the season. 1G+3A=4P for the year so far and believe me when I say that you notice him when he's out there. He has picked up his skating speed over the offseason. He is a very good forechecker and causes pressure on the breakout pass. Way to go Filly!

LW Daniel Carcillo has changed his game drastically. He looks to be holding his own as a member of one of the 2 scoring lines. At times he has played with Pouliot and James and also he has played with Christensen and Filewich. He has not completely overcome his issue with PIMs though. He does show more discipline overall and stays away from the rough stuff now but took a very costly minor in Saturday's game. At one point, he chipped the puck through a defender's legs, took a shot, got his own rebound and banked it off the goalie to score. Looked like a Crosby or Lemieux play. I don't expect this from him often though.

C Marc-Andre Pouliot has become an excellent 2-way player, much like Dixon or Stone. He is the type of player you may not notice because he is not flashy, but is used on the PK and also as a shut-down player against the other top lines along with Stone and Dixon. His -1 is misleading since he is used against top forwards. I wish he were in the Pitt system and not from Edmonton.

D Noah Welch does not belong here. It's that simple. He controls the game like an NHL d-man should, doing the subtle things that are required. His point shots are low and on net during the PP, his positioning is very sound, he can control the puck on his own so his teammates can change the line, he double-shifts when necessary, etc. One change he has made (at the request of Therrien/Shero?) is he has pulled back from offense more to be a more defensive d-man. That will help in Pitt.

UNDECIDED: C Erik Christensen is filling up the stat sheet, but glides a lot, loses faceoffs, and shies away from contact.

G Andrew Penner makes some highlight-reel saves, especially in traffic. Has excellent vision and anticipation. However, he is letting pucks in on one-on-one breaks (which means he may struggle in shootouts) and did have one episode where he drifted on Saturday. Carcillo boarded a PP wing and the ref put his arm up. 2 Bears tackled Carcillo, but the ref had not blown his whistle. The alert Bears point-man put a wrist shot on net and scored because Penner was watching the Carcillo situation.

BAD: C Rob Schremp has promise, but needs work on his defense. He is skilled offensively, but occasionally does too much and costs the team by turning the puck over.

Ds Skolney, Gilbert, Carkner are grouped together because they are about as effective as Melichar, Scuderi and Cairns on the big Pens and play the same roles. The three of them cost us the Hershey game, especially Skolney by taking a penalty against Robitaille that was the turning point.

W Dennis Bonvie needs to go. He looks lost in getting maybe 5 minutes of ice time. He's a side show and, when not fighting, has no purpose on the ice. I hope he enjoys nachos. He will be in the pressbox a lot this year. Should be a good coach in the future though.

FINAL THOUGHTS:
This is a talented team, especially up front. They have 3 lines that are capable of scoring and the coaches roll them well. Other than Welch and Lannon, the D-men need to be stronger positionally. Too many odd-man rushes and quality scoring chances. I'll be looking forward to seeing Deslauriers play goal also. Filewich looks like he should be the next to come up if a top 2 line winger gets hurt. Carcillo looks like he should take Ouellet's spot on the 3rd line. Moore, Carcillo, and Ruutu would be a scary line.

UPCOMING GAMES:

10/13 @ Syracuse 7:30
10/14 vs. Bridgeport 7:00

As always, LET'S GO PENS!!!!!

[Ron`]

Dead on with the goaltending questions, Bonvie is done, and the good play by Filewich and Carcillo. I'd add Dixon, Kennedy and James to the list of putting in a good showing.

Gilmore is more of an offensive Dman currently paired with veteran depth dmen right now. Look for him to be moved into Whitneys place when he get's called up.

As far as Schremp, why did you say he needs to work on his D play. He was fairly responsible all night defensively I thought. I was looking for this. The time in London did him some good it seems.

The two bad plays he made in the third both occurred in the Ozone. One behind the net on the PP and the other at the red line. In both cases he should have moved the puck before the two bear defenders converged on him stripping him. The first interrupted a pp with a Bear clear. The second ended up in a goal from a good pass to a Bear streaking behind our D. That put Hershey up two and sealed the game. He has to learn that he cannot expect to beat two guys at this level, ever. He won't be here all season though I suspect.

The veterans cost this game last night more than anything though. Bad penalties. The stats don't lie in this case. The D needs to recognize and prevent guys slipping behind them. 3 goals against last night due to that alone. That can be coached and will be fixed soon enough I'm sure.

http://stats.theahl.com/stats/official- ... id=1002243

[eastonpensfan]

Good call Ron. I think you're right with Dixon, Kennedy, and James. I noticed all 3 finish their checks very well which is exceptional for guys as small as they are. Kennedy and James are more scoring-minded and so that makes it even better that they check well.

The D question I thought with Schremp was in the transition game. Perhaps I worded it wrong. When the play was set up in his own D zone, he did cover his responsibilities well. I thought he got turned around and was off positionally when the attack was coming against him. He had chances to play the passing lanes through the neutral zone that I don't think he capitalized on.

However, it is early and I am confident that coaching will help with some of the sloppy play that we have seen this past week.

[Jim]

Taticek scored against us... Wasn't he a Penguin, lol.