Pens Tidbits

[X-Terminator]

Originally Posted by WH

I wonder what the Fleury lovers' excuse will be for him now? He's getting a little old to play the ''he's still young'' card.

Yeah, backstopping his team to within 2 games of the Cup 2 years ago and a Cup victory last year doesn't give him any rope at all.

If anything, I don't know what else he needs to do to get his constant critics off his back. He should have won the Conn Smythe Trophy instead of Zetterberg 2 years ago and could have been considered last year too. Means nothing, I guess.

Oh BTW, those alleged "betters" have a combined 3 Stanley Cups, all won by Brodeur and none in the last 7 years. Luongo not only has never won a Cup, he's never gotten his team past the 2nd round.

Originally Posted by X-Terminator

Yeah, backstopping his team to within 2 games of the Cup 2 years ago and a Cup victory last year doesn't give him any rope at all.

That's great for him. Good memories. That doesn't excuse the fact that he's been inconsistent AT BEST all year . You would think an elite goaltender that took his team to within 2 games of the Cup 2 years ago and a Cup victory last year would come out looking like one. He's hasn't.

If he rights himself and plays solid and the Pens go deep in the playoffs, I'll eat my crow sandwich. Right now though,

Originally Posted by X-Terminator

Oh BTW, those alleged "betters" have a combined 3 Stanley Cups, all won by Brodeur and none in the last 7 years. Luongo not only has never won a Cup, he's never gotten his team past the 2nd round.

Unless he was being serious, I think that's the irony in his statement. After Brodeur - Fleury should have been in goal for Canada. I think the decision to go with Luongo is what affected him so negatively.

[Killer]

I think people are just looking for a scapegoat - just admit this Pens team might not be as good as last years.

Gogo is a turnover machine - Eaton has been worse than invisible and Staal has done nothing for months - start there.

[steelpride12]

I thought Staal was having a great year Killer IMO. 48 points and 21 goals so far im impressed.

Originally Posted by WH

That's great for him. Good memories. That doesn't excuse the fact that he's been inconsistent AT BEST all year . You would think an elite goaltender that took his team to within 2 games of the Cup 2 years ago and a Cup victory last year would come out looking like one. He's hasn't.

If he rights himself and plays solid and the Pens go deep in the playoffs, I'll eat my crow sandwich. Right now though,

Fleury has never been great throughout a regular season. Some goalies have it under pressure....some don't.

Originally Posted by Killer

I think people are just looking for a scapegoat - just admit this Pens team might not be as good as last years.

Gogo is a turnover machine - Eaton has been worse than invisible and Staal has done nothing for months - start there.

I disagree about Staal, he's a Selke contender IMO. I agree with the rest though.

I'm happy the Pens are making it to the playoffs again this year, but I'm not so delusional that I think they'll make it to the SCF again. If they do....great, but in this cap era of hockey, it's unreasonable to expect a team to make it to the finals every year. I think the main reason the Pens may not make it is simply the fact that so many players on the team have had extended seasons the past 2 years. It wears down on a player for sure.

[X-Terminator]

Originally Posted by WH

That's great for him. Good memories. That doesn't excuse the fact that he's been inconsistent AT BEST all year . You would think an elite goaltender that took his team to within 2 games of the Cup 2 years ago and a Cup victory last year would come out looking like one. He's hasn't.

If he rights himself and plays solid and the Pens go deep in the playoffs, I'll eat my crow sandwich. Right now though,

I agree that he has not played well for the most part this season, but he didn't play well much of last season either. He has never put up elite numbers in any regular season other than wins. But when it counted, he was money in the bank. I'll take that every time, especially if it ends in hoisting that 35 lb silver cup thingy. I'm confident he will rise up again.

Originally Posted by Killer

I think people are just looking for a scapegoat - just admit this Pens team might not be as good as last years.

Gogo is a turnover machine - Eaton has been worse than invisible and Staal has done nothing for months - start there.

Given that there are 18 players from that team still here, I'm not ready to say they aren't as good as last year's team. Has everyone forgotten how inconsistent and downright bad they were for half of last season? That they were out of the playoff picture last Valentine's Day? If they had faltered for even an additional 5 or so games, they probably do not make the playoffs last season despite that hot streak. Let's play the postseason first before we make that determination.

Staal has done nothing for months? Are you talking about the guy that leads the team in +/- with a +23, while playing against the other teams' top lines most nights? Goligoski I'll agree with, but before we start throwing darts at Mark Eaton, how about we throw them at our new $14 million man Kris Letang instead, who was -3 last night and looked bad doing it. He has been a huge disappointment this season, yet somehow management felt he was worth $3.5 million and losing Sergei Gonchar.

[Killer]

Originally Posted by steelpride12

I thought Staal was having a great year Killer IMO. 48 points and 21 goals so far im impressed.

I'm not talking about the YEAR, I'm talking about NOW - heading into the playoffs.

He's cold as hell - 0 points in the last 5 games

[X-Terminator]

Originally Posted by SteelCityMom

I'm happy the Pens are making it to the playoffs again this year, but I'm not so delusional that I think they'll make it to the SCF again. If they do....great, but in this cap era of hockey, it's unreasonable to expect a team to make it to the finals every year. I think the main reason the Pens may not make it is simply the fact that so many players on the team have had extended seasons the past 2 years. It wears down on a player for sure.

That's not going to matter to the bandwagon fans. They now expect the Pens to win the Cup every year, and God help them if they don't. Not much different than many Steelers fans in that regard. And if the lose to the Sens in the first round, oh man...you'll think you're in Beirut in 1982 after the fans all go apeshit.

Originally Posted by Killer

I'm not talking about the YEAR, I'm talking about NOW - heading into the playoffs.

He's cold as hell - 0 points in the last 5 games

You said MONTHS, not the last 5 GAMES. Big difference there. If we get what we got out of him last year in the playoffs - solid D and PK with a few goals here and there - I'll take it.