2 Pens, 2 Ex-Pens invited to Team USA Olympics Camp

by Hooks Orpik on Jun 30, 2009 1:09 PM EDT in News Comment 13 comments

Finally the painful answer of the age old question: do you think a man named Brooks would really hit another guy named Brooks?

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Congratulations to Penguins defensemen Brooks Orpik and Rob Scuderi for being two of 34 players invited to Team USA's "Ice Hockey Orientation Camp" in mid-August.

Ex-Penguins Ryan Whitney and Ryan Malone are also going to participate.

For the complete list of players still competing to be on Team USA's Olympic hockey team this winter in Vancouver, click here.

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By the way, thanks for the great coverage of the NHL draft and for all that you guys do here on the blog

by CGNC on Jun 30, 2009 1:40 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

It was so great to be down there. Amazing opportunity that I can only hope will be available again down the road. As always thanks for reading and commenting. Makes doing stuff like that all the more rewarding.

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by FrankD on Jun 30, 2009 1:49 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Awesome. Have fun. Just don’t get hurt…

Follow the Penguins on SBN @ Pensburgh.com and twitter.

by FrankD on Jun 30, 2009 1:48 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

So that’s…pretty much everybody playing in the Olympics now?

Thanks for getting and sharing all the news. What an action-packed off-season!

Oh, and the picture you used to illustrate is awesome, too.

"Miracles require hard work."--Agent Gibbs, NCIS

by GreenEyedLilo on Jun 30, 2009 5:56 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Brian Burke likes Rob Scuderi more than Liles, Leopold, and most shockingly, Keith Ballard. TML are my early guess for the team that gives Scuderi and offer that destroys PITs ability to match.

by Fehr and Balanced on Jun 30, 2009 7:32 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Toronto already has Jeff Finger — a Scuderi like player at $3.5 million, not sure if they could dip back into the free agent pool.

We’ll see tomorrow if you’re right, but I think Scuderi’s got a good playoff reputation (from shutting down Jeff Carter, Alex Ovechkin [at even strength], Eric Staal and Zetterberg)….I think it’ll be a lot more GM’s than Burke that are sweet on Scuderi starting tomorrow.

I still agree though that it’s borderline criminal to leave Ballard out of the “training orientation”…..I’d probably chose Liles over guys like Martin, Gilbert and Gleason too. Ballard might be one of the most under-rated players in the game.

Pensburgh.com -- it's like the Max Talbot of blogs*

*not just because we only work for 12 minutes a night

by Hooks Orpik on Jun 30, 2009 8:18 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I really thought Ballard was more respected and I thought he played extremely well for FLA all year. I’m not really sure what the knock on him is. If anything it’s just experience and decision making but if both Johnson’s are invited then Burke is obviously not that concerned with youth.

I’m sure more than one GM will line up to overpay for Scuderi. He had a very good post-season and earned himself some money but I still don’t know if he’s even a 4th Dman on a contending team for a full 82 games. I dispute the characterization that he “shut down” Carter, AO, and Hank. I think Hank was mostly shut down by chasing Sid around, Carter was shut down by himself (h/t to the shoulder) and AO put up 2 points a game for that series and was a regular threat. Scuderi still made some of the biggest saves of the playoffs for the Pens, and I don’t remember him making any costly mistakes; he’s a very valuable player (and a native LI boy so I’ll always like him for that) but he’s not as valuable as he is going to get paid tomorrow.

by Fehr and Balanced on Jun 30, 2009 8:55 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

but he’s not as valuable as he is going to get paid tomorrow.

Don’t disagree there at all (even if I give Scuderi a little more credit for his post-season work then what you alluded to)….But on the open market he’s sure to get over-paid — even if he takes the “discount” from the Penguins for $2-3 million on a multi-year contract that’s still an inflation.

And I’m with you totally on Ballard, don’t see what more he could do…..I think if he would have played in New York and Toronto instead of Phoenix and Miami is there any doubt he makes at least the Team USA summer camp? I don’t think so. If I was in charge of the personnel Ballard definitely makes the Top 6 in Vancouver.

Pensburgh.com -- it's like the Max Talbot of blogs*

*not just because we only work for 12 minutes a night

by Hooks Orpik on Jun 30, 2009 10:21 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Maybe some old Pacific Division bad blood between Ballard and Burke and Wilson. (My top 6 would be Rafalski, Komisarek, Suter, Orpik, Martin, and Ballard. The Johnsons and Whitney can fight it out for the Taxi Squad.)

by Fehr and Balanced on Jun 30, 2009 10:47 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I also just remembered that Ray Shero is an “advisor” to Team USA, so his word probably helped get Scuderi to this point.

Couldn’t have hurt, right?

Pensburgh.com -- it's like the Max Talbot of blogs*

*not just because we only work for 12 minutes a night

by Hooks Orpik on Jul 1, 2009 10:39 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Haha no. And I want to be clear that I absolutely do not blame Scuderi or hold any of this against him. He played well and got some attention and deserves a chance to try out for the team. It is funny that the “who you know” political connections seem to have infiltrated USA Hockey even up to the Olympic level. That kind of crap has been hurting US teams in international tournaments at the youth level for a long time, glad to see they are keeping consistent.

by Fehr and Balanced on Jul 1, 2009 4:53 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Agreed, nothing wrong with inviting guys in — problem is when you have worthy guys (like Ballard, maybe Liles) left out.

And yeah, Team USA is weirdly political. You’d think the message would be winning more than politics, but it doesn’t seem that way. I think, to an extent, Team Canada is about the same way.

Pensburgh.com -- it's like the Max Talbot of blogs*

*not just because we only work for 12 minutes a night

by Hooks Orpik on Jul 1, 2009 5:13 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah Team Canada has a pretty fierce loyalty streak. Shane Doan is not a better hockey player than Patrick Marleau. Team USA doesn’t have enough depth to get away with that, they have to play their best 18 to really have a chance to medal at all.

by Fehr and Balanced on Jul 1, 2009 11:30 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs