Pens sign defenseman Martin Skoula to a one year contract

by Hooks Orpik on Sep 29, 2009 2:24 PM EDT in News Comment 8 comments

Minnesota Wild defenseman Martin Skoula (41), from Czech Republic, center, celebrates his goal against the Edmonton Oilers with teammates Owen Nolan and Antti Miettinen, from Finland, in the first period of an NHL hockey game in Edmonton, Alberta, on Sunday, March 29, 2009. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Jimmy Jeong)

7 months ago: Minnesota Wild defenseman Martin Skoula (41), from Czech Republic, center, celebrates his goal against the Edmonton Oilers with teammates Owen Nolan and Antti Miettinen, from Finland, in the first period of an NHL hockey game in Edmonton, Alberta, on Sunday, March 29, 2009. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Jimmy Jeong)

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Martin Skoula

Minnesota Wild

Height: 6-3

Weight: 226

Born: Oct 28, 1979

After watching Deryk Engelland and Nate Guenin fail to impress during training camp and seeing Ben Lovejoy go down with a shoulder injury, the Penguins management obviously wanted an upgrade. They added what they hope will do the trick with Martin Skoula and his 724 games of NHL experience. Martin "Puck poise" Skoula also is another former first round pick and has a Stanley Cup ring, like almost all of his teammates.

Skoula's had an interesting September: he started training camp on a tryout contract with the Florida Panthers where he didn't make it and went to Columbus last week. I guess that didn't work either, or else the Penguins offered him a better situation to stay in the NHL, who knows.

Also Skoula is a native of the Czech Repiblic, which keeps the Penguins trivial streak of continuous years with a Czech player alive.

After the jump we get a take from Wale4Ever, the editor of SB Nation's excellent Florida Panther blog Litter Box Cats...

The way I see it is that his name carried more prominence than his play; he was the proverbial "solid if unspectacular", but got outplayed by Backman, rookie Dmitry Kulikov, and second-year pro (AHL) Jason Garrison. The squeeze was on from the start.

Other than that, I can't really comment on his play, though being cut obviously tells us something was up: too expensive? Inconsistent? Make room for the kids?

Should be a good depth pickup for the Pens, if nothing else.

Not exactly a ringing endorsement, we'll see how it pans out. As we know, Skoula couldn't have signed with a Pittsburgh team near the salary cap for $$ being a deciding factor, as the Pens are right at the upper salary limit.

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I’m curious why he didn’t stick anywhere else this year, but not much to worry about since he’s the 7th Dman.

by PensFan024 on Sep 29, 2009 2:50 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I agree, if Florida didn’t want Skoula that’s concerning…But the Panthers have 6 defensemen on one-way contracts (McCabe, Ballard, Allen, Seidenberg, Leopold, Koistenen) it could have just been a numbers game that kept Skoula from signing there.

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 Sep 29, 2009 2:58 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

As an Avs fan...

Skoula displayed some poise with the puck early on in his career. And was even second on the team in hits (behind Adam Foote) in his rookie year.

But since then, he had been a common scapegoat for his current team’s fans, citing that he was not physical enough, often out of position, and seemed to have a problem with turning the puck over at bad times (not that there’s ever a good time to turn the puck over.)

All of that said, he can at least be a steady, veteran 7th defenseman. And he probably came at a cheap price.

by c0nquistad0rian on Sep 29, 2009 3:17 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Oh, and...

Thanks to Hooks, Frank, et al. The Avs are my team. But, I lived in Pittsburgh for the past 8 years and watched the Pens throughout. The Pens and Steelers are my adopted hometown teams. I recently moved to another part of the country so I unfortunately don’t get the local Pittsburgh news anymore.

Your blog has really been helping me to stay updated with the Pens.

Thanks!

by c0nquistad0rian on Sep 29, 2009 3:21 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

No prob, glad you enjoy the site and do chime in more!

The puck poise reference is something of an internet meme from HFBoards back in the day, when an oblivious poster argued about Skoula’s puck poise.

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 Sep 29, 2009 3:30 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Our pleasure. Thanks for stopping by.

Can’t speak as an expert on Skoula but I trust Shero and co. know what they’re doing.

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

by FrankD on Sep 29, 2009 4:40 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

that was unexpected, i’m guessing he’s gone once Lovejoy is healthy…i don’t know, but I don’t feel good about picking up a Panther and Blue Jacket reject in the same preseason. Also surprised Bayda gets sent down… oh well. sHERO knows what he’s doing.

by AronV on Sep 29, 2009 5:22 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

For the record...

…I was shocked the Cats dropped him. Really believed he had a better shot at a roster spot than Backman, but again, that comes more from name recognition (and Stanley Cup participation) as much as any other factor. Backman appeared the odd-man-out from the start, but appears to be on the inside looking out. Now that Kulikov is signed, the entire equation is most probably turned upside down.

The Litter Box - Your SBNation Florida Panthers Blogging Colossus

by Whale4ever on Sep 29, 2009 7:48 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs