Peter Taglianetti takes your questions
Through the wonder and majesty of the internet, former Penguins defenseman Peter Tagliantti has agreed to do a Q & A with Pensburgh.
Taglianetti, 48, provided a physical presence on the Penguins blue line for parts of five seasons. He was a member of both the 1991 and 1992 Stanley Cup-winning Penguins teams, notably playing through injury with the aid of peanut butter during the 1991 playoffs.
He finished his NHL career with 451 regular season games played, 92 points and 1106 penalty minutes. Yeah, he got in a few scraps. He also (unsuccessfully) attempted to bodyslam Yokozuna in 1993.
Don't worry. Lex Luger flew in on a helicopter and slammed Yokozuna a short while later, saving the Fourth of July.
When it came to fighting, Taglianetti fared better in non-scripted brawls against opponents who weighed under 500 pounds.
Taglianetti still lives in Pittsburgh and is the father of current Pittsburgh Panthers safety Andrew Taglianetti.
Peter is responsible for perhaps the most entertaining, forthright Twitter account of any ex-Penguin at @PeterTags. On his website www.PeterTags.com, he occasionally blogs about hockey and sports in general. He is also one of the driving forces behind POWERPLAY, a series of hockey-specific training videos.
Instead of just throwing typical questions at Taglianetti, we're going to pick a handful of the best questions proposed by Pensburgh readers, mix them with a couple inquires from Pensburgh bloggers and send the resulting mess Tags' way. Ideally, that resulting mess will be very atypical.
In the comments section of this post, ask anything (within reason) you'd love to hear Peter respond to.
Wondering what it was like winning two Stanley Cups with the Penguins? Or how it felt getting shipped to Pittsburgh with Larry Murphy in 1991? Being picked by the newly minted Tampa Bay Lightning in the 1992 expansion draft? How about who the toughest guy he ever fought was? How disappointed was he that he couldn't slam Yokozuna? How, as a Winnipeg Jet, did he go from a -23 in 1988-89 to a +20 in 1989-90? Which current NHL player would he love to lay out with a picture perfect hip check?
The world is your oyster, if the oyster is asking Peter Taglianetti questions and the world is the comments section.
If you see a question that you think would be interesting, hit the 'Rec' button (it can be found after clicking 'Actions' for those unfamiliar) under that comment. It'll make it easier for us to pick out what people would like to see answered
The deadline for submissions is Thursday at noon. Please help us make this a success!
Simon Despres is Healthy, and going back to Wilkes-Barre
The Pens activate Simon Despres from IR today and send him back to the AHL. Good sign for the young defenseman coming off a knee injury.
The real question is- how long until he's back in the NHL for good? The answer is probably sooner than later.
Trollin' for goals: Malkin, Letang lead Pens past Lightning 4-2
Everything Evgeni Malkin has touched against the Tampa Bay Lightning this year has turned golden. After Sunday night's two goal performance, Geno now has five goals and two assists in three games versus Tampa. They simply don't look like they have any idea how to stop the big Russian and he's been able to produce practically at will. No different in this game as Malkin, James Neal, Chris Kunitz and Kris Letang carved up the Lightning shift after shift and skated to a 4-2 win.
Tampa would take the lead with two quick goals by Steve Downie, but after that they barely seemed to challenge Brent Johnson, who did enough to earn the win. When the Pens finally woke and started grinding down TB, they generated a ton of zone time, possession, shots and looks at the net. It was only a matter of time before Mathieu Garon cracked, and he did time and time again. Another game, another win for Pittsburgh.
Some more thoughts on the game:
- A second 3 point night in as many games for Kris Letang. When he returned from his concussion on Jan 19, he put together four points in three games, an encouraging return to the lineup. Then, maybe the adrenaline wore off as he settled back into the routine of the NHL regular season as 'Tang went scoreless (and was a -5) in his next six games. Still, 6 points in this weekend's two matinee games is a nice bounce back for the blueliner.
- Remember when I talked about rubber to the net? The Pens final stat line: 41 shots on goal, with 77 attempts (36 being blocked or missing the net). Tampa, for their efforts, could only must 23 SOG and 40 total attempts. Pure domination in that regard.
- Every Pens player, save Cal O'Reilly and Richard Park recorded a shot on goal.
- Quietly, Evgeni Malkin is improving on faceoffs. 4 straight games of 50%+ winning draws, including tonight's 60% showing (12 out of 20). Malkin's been a monster once the puck drops, but a knock on him has been his work in the circle. But like every other aspect of his game, he's especially dialed in right now.
- What a game for Matt Niskanen, who continues to play well. And don't look now but he skated more time out there than either Zbynek Michalek and Paul Martin. The Pens will need their high priced blueliners to sort out their issues for the playoffs, but it's a nice relief to have a defenseman playing as well as Niskanen is to eat some of the minutes and lighten the burden for Letang and Brooks Orpik.
- Though he was on ice for both goals against, isn't it nice you can just plug Jordan Staal back into the lineup and get 20 minutes, a good night of faceoffs, 4 shots on a goal and a takeaway? Definitely good to see Big Gronk back on the ice.
Two weekend matinee games at home versus two teams outside of the playoff bubble should equal two wins. And the Pens made no mistakes piling up the goals and taking 4 needed points out of them.
Tampa Bay Lightning at Pittsburgh Penguins [Open Thread]
Game Photos: 2012-02-11 Pens vs Jets
The Pittsburgh Penguins faced the Winnepeg Jets Saturday afternoon at Consol Energy Center. We were there, with our camera, check out the photos, including some #PensToons versions.
Seven may be heaven, but eight is great. Pens blast past Jets 8-5.
If there was any question of Evgeni Malkin's credentials, let his performance on Saturday serve as a reminder that, right now, he is probably the best hockey player in the world.
Malkin put up five points and the Penguins scored eight goals, besting the visiting Jets 8-5.. The result snaps a modest two-game losing skid for the Penguins and a two-game winning streak for the Jets.
Rather than a game story, I'll steal Hooks' schtick and hit out on some bulleted notes.
- While Malkin was the best player on the ice, full credit must be given to Chris Kunitz for playing a tremendous game. Aside from his four-point effort, we saw him do a number of the little things I mentioned a few weeks ago that often go unnoticed. James Neal's goal was an exact replica of his goal against the Washington Capitals on Jan. 22. Malkin wins the draw clean, Kunitz creates space, Neal snipes the goaltender. Kunitz doesn't get a point for doing this effectively, but he makes the play happen.
- All four of the Penguins forward lines looked cohesive, balanced and effective. The reintroduction of Jordan Staal added some offensive impetus on his line with Matt Cooke and Pascal Dupuis, who skated hard all game. Steve Sullivan, Cal O`Reilly and Dustin Jeffrey just seemed to be on the same page all day, at least while in possession.
- Richard Park, meanwhile, saw the benefits of playing with 2005-era Max Talbot clone Joe Vitale and Craig Adams. Park's not a physical player, but he is a smart one and not devoid of talent. He adds just enough game smarts and skill to keep the fourth line from being one-dimensional.
- Staal was solid in his return, nabbing a late goal and adding an assist. He clearly wasn't at his best, and was made to look silly occasionally while play-making or getting knocked around after ambitious attempts to dangle the Jets' defense. But he definitely adds something to the lineup when he's healthy.
- The defense didn't help, but Marc-Andre Fleury wasn't at his best. We can try to overlook that because the Pens scored eight goals. On a normal day, even though the defense didn't exactly inspire confidence, you'd really like to take one or two of those back.
- And to be fair to the defense, these types of games can happen when you play an aggressive, attacking style. Teams capable of scoring eight goals often have to make a trade off to do so. It'd be nice to bring in a solid, experienced defender to pair up with Matt Niskanen as the playoffs draw nearer, but if you're going out there trying to outscore your opponents rather than shut them down, occasional ugly defensive showings shouldn't be a surprise. That doesn't make them acceptable, it just makes them reasonable.
- And, oh yeah. Malkin. What a goal, eh?
Winnipeg Jets at Pittsburgh Penguins [Open Thread]
Jordan Staal Returns
He will be back this Saturday against the Jets. Will be Playing with Cooke and Dupuis.
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