Consol Energy Center Home Opener: Part II

by FrankD on Oct 9, 2010 12:00 PM EDT

Canadiens Blog: Habs Eyes on the Prize

All right, so the first game at the new arena didn't work out so well. Tonight at 7:00 against the Habs, the Pens have the chance to do it all over again.

You have to think the nerves will be tuned down a bit more when compared to the other night. As PensAreYourDaddy expressed in comments following that first game, the whole arena-opening ceremonies created a bit of a spectacle. That doesn't mean seeing Mario pour Mellon Arena "ice" at center ice of the new barn wasn't cool and all, but heading into this game the hype has officially died down and the Pens can focus on winning.

The Pens have a post-lockout home record of 6-3-1 against the Habs during the regular season. Granted Carey Price registered his first NHL win against the Penguins at Mellon, but Dan Bylsma also registered his first win against the Canadiens.

Habs to keep an eye on: Mike Cammalleri, P.K. Subban and, for the sake of containing speed, Scott Gomez.

The Penguins' Sam Kasan has the line combos from this morning's practice.

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Please please please beat them it. It would be nice to see a rival on a losing streak to open the season.
That, and this is as good a time as any to get revenge for… you know, what happened last year

"It reminded me a lot of when I was in Pittsburgh and we were growing together as a group. The Leafs are going through the same thing" - Colby Armstrong

by Leafer87 on Oct 9, 2010 12:28 PM EDT reply actions

Habs

Carey Price is in goal
Worst glove in the NHL
And he’s mentally weak
Pens could really lay the wood to him tonight

by truculence is a virtue on Oct 9, 2010 1:10 PM EDT reply actions

If they could get to him.

Half the reason why the Canadiens were so tough in the playoffs last year was because their defense, Gorges/Gill in particular, made it very hard to get any good shots on goal. They were able to limit us and the Caps to taking bad shots, making Halak’s life a bit easier.

Price can make routine saves but we just need to shoot a lot more than we did against Philly and get bodies to the net.

There are two theories on hitting a knuckleball - unfortunately, neither of them work.

by BobPurkey34 on Oct 9, 2010 1:13 PM EDT up reply actions

No surprises with those lines – but please do not dress Godard, put Lovejoy in instead of Engelland, and I’d like to see the Orpik/Michalek combination split up. It’s not that they weren’t good together, they were fine, it’s just that I don’t like the look of a Martin/Letang pairing. Too much offense there and their communication wasn’t good, while 44 & 4 is almost too defensive. Go with the O/D combo across the board.

And for the love of all that is holy, DO NOT GIVE Goals-against-ski that much power play time. Martin is a better distributor and I feel a lot better having him up top with Malkin, rather than two huge defensive liabilities with Gogo.

There are two theories on hitting a knuckleball - unfortunately, neither of them work.

by BobPurkey34 on Oct 9, 2010 1:17 PM EDT reply actions

amen to all of that, BP34

by truculence is a virtue on Oct 9, 2010 1:47 PM EDT up reply actions

Gogo is a prototypical PP QB. He needs time on the man advantage to master his craft.

by SlayerGhaleon on Oct 9, 2010 2:45 PM EDT up reply actions

He is?

That’s news to me. A prototype PP QB has a lethal slapshot, great vision of the ice, can carry the puck through the neutral zone and still play solid defense. Gogo only has one or two of the 4 at best. We don’t have the time to experiment right now, every game is important, if he isn’t a finished product then he needs to be in WBS to learn. I’d rather not give up a shorty every game because we have two defensively inadequate point men, one is too much but I can live with Malkin.

There are two theories on hitting a knuckleball - unfortunately, neither of them work.

by BobPurkey34 on Oct 9, 2010 2:54 PM EDT up reply actions

Yeah, he is. He’s played the PP QB in every level of his development. He was groomed to be Gonchar’s replacement.

Also, he’s been up one full year. He needs more time to develop at the NHL level before we make any final judgments. Which leads me nicely to…

if he isn’t a finished product then he needs to be in WBS to learn.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but nobody’s a “finished product” coming out as a rookie. There’s a serious talent jump from the AHL to the NHL, and every player goes through a learning curve. Scuderi was awful his first couple years in the NHL. Should we have canned him then and then not won the Stanley Cup as a result?

by SlayerGhaleon on Oct 9, 2010 3:05 PM EDT up reply actions

I’m glad he was brought up in a certain way. Jordan Staal was also brought up and used initially as a power forward that is going to score 30+ goals a year from around the net. How did that work out? He became a different player, that’s all. To me, Gogo’s been brought into a role he doesn’t belong.

You make a perfectly legitimate point, no, nobody is a finished product as a rookie. But Gogo is not a rookie. And last year, where you expect most players who have had considerable time in college or the AHL (as compared to 18 year olds out of juniors) would take small steps forward in their first year. Gogo got worse as the season progressed.

I’m not saying we should “can” Gogo and never use him on the PP again. All I’m saying right now is he should not be seeing far and away the most PP time of any blueliner.

There are two theories on hitting a knuckleball - unfortunately, neither of them work.

by BobPurkey34 on Oct 9, 2010 3:20 PM EDT up reply actions

Gogo did not get worse as the season progressed: he never was able to adequately bounce back from his injury. There’s a big difference between the two. The kid is extremely talented, which is why i don’t understand the hatred for him on this blog. He looks worlds better with the puck this year, and he had a great preseason and first game. I’d rather have him on the PP than Letang.

"Those goals just rip the heart right out of your stomach." - Edzo

by ipenguin67 on Oct 9, 2010 3:34 PM EDT up reply actions

I understand the hatred for him…he’s got a lot to learn defensively. However, his play at the end of last year was a result of his injury.
I would rather have Letang, though.

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by PensFan8725 on Oct 9, 2010 3:37 PM EDT up reply actions

I think it’s more prudent that we just let GoGo develop. Us having 2 clear pairings afford us a little bit of time to groom GoGo… It’s not like we’re asking him to play top pairing minutes…

Furthermore, if we don’t do this now, when?

Next year when we have even more prospects coming up like Despres, Hutchinson & Sneep? Not to mention Lovejoy & Engelland.

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by Alighieri on Oct 9, 2010 4:45 PM EDT up reply actions

I disagree

Now is precisely the time to experiment and get things right, so we’re ready come April. It doesn’t matter much if we finish the season with 120 or 100 points, the objective shouldn’t be to win the presidents trophy, but to win the Cup.

Gogo has all necessary ingredients to be a great PP QB: Great skating and stickhandling, very good passing, vision and offensive flair and a great shot to boot. His defense isn’t ideal, but it’s not as terrible as some make it out to be. Most of it stems from his lack of size and his offensive mindset, neither of which is a terrible risk when it comes to the PP.

Sometimes he freezes a little bit out there, but I’m confident he’ll grow out of that. Martin and Letang possess these things too, although some of them to a lesser degree, so we need to figure out who will be the best fit for the first PP squad. My vote goes to Goligoski, though.

by Skyff on Oct 9, 2010 3:09 PM EDT up reply actions

You’re right about the President’s Trophy. I don’t care if we win that. But the fact is, we’re already 2 points behind Philly and 1 point behind the Devils in, what I think is the most competitive division in hockey. Even if it is only October, every game is important.

I disagree on your assessment of his skill though. He is a great skater, sure. His stick handling is probably above average for a defenseman. His vision is good, as it should be for someone with his experience, but I don’t think his passing is all that fantastic. He’ll make plays but he also turns it over too much. Calling his shot great is an insult to fellow PP QB’s like Gonchar or Mark Streit. They have great shots. Gogo is league average.

We as Penguin fans chew Mike Green out for his defense constantly, but it’s better than Gogo’s. “Isn’t ideal” is putting it very friendly.

All I would like to see is him and Malkin not on the ice at the same time. Two experiments up top at once is far too much. Mix them up to prevent catastrophes.

There are two theories on hitting a knuckleball - unfortunately, neither of them work.

by BobPurkey34 on Oct 9, 2010 3:27 PM EDT up reply actions

Calling his shot great is an insult to fellow PP QB’s like Gonchar or Mark Streit.

I don’t think they’d be to offended. They both know they’re shots are fantastic.

We as Penguin fans chew Mike Green out for his defense constantly, but it’s better than Gogo’s.

No it’s not.

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It's finally here.
Nash says Malkin's fist has "big taste."

by PensFan8725 on Oct 9, 2010 3:39 PM EDT up reply actions

their*

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It's finally here.
Nash says Malkin's fist has "big taste."

by PensFan8725 on Oct 9, 2010 3:58 PM EDT up reply actions

We as Penguin fans chew Mike Green out for his defense constantly, but it’s better than Gogo’s.

And besides, Mike Green is on the Caps top pairing, Gogo is on the Pens third D pairing. There’s a difference there.

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Nash says Malkin's fist has "big taste."

by PensFan8725 on Oct 9, 2010 3:59 PM EDT up reply actions

We’ve been spoiled by Gonch for 5 years. I think we’re all guilty of comparing Gogo to Gonch, and it’s likely Gogo will never be as good as Gonch. I personally would prefer Tanger as the PP QB. However, Gogo has much more experience than Tanger QBing the PP.

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Nash says Malkin's fist has "big taste."

by PensFan8725 on Oct 9, 2010 3:15 PM EDT up reply actions

I would prefer either Tanger or Martin. I always thought Martin was a very underrated PP guy with the Devils. I still want to see all of them get time but just don’t stick Malkin and Gogo out there together, that’s asking for problems.

There are two theories on hitting a knuckleball - unfortunately, neither of them work.

by BobPurkey34 on Oct 9, 2010 3:29 PM EDT up reply actions

They’re experimenting. I can guarantee that Gogo’s spot is not secure. However, Malkin’s might be. He has told DB that he wants to play on the left side.

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Nash says Malkin's fist has "big taste."

by PensFan8725 on Oct 9, 2010 3:40 PM EDT up reply actions