Pens Tidbits

[X-Terminator]

Here's the trade story from the Arizona Republic:

'Yotes work with Penguins on Laraque deal

David Vest
The Arizona Republic
Feb. 23, 2007 01:44 PM

The Coyotes and Pittsburgh are working to complete a trade that would send Phoenix enforcer Georges Laraque to the Penguins.

An NHL source said the Coyotes are offering Laraque and either a second- or third-round draft pick to Pittsburgh and are hoping to land a first-round pick and an American Hockey League player or two in return.

Laraque said Friday morning that he has yet to be approached about waiving his no-trade clause, but he did reveal the Coyotes told him he would not be playing another game for them.

A deal could be completed by Friday afternoon. The NHL trade deadline is Tuesday at 1 p.m.

http://www.azcentral.com/sports/coyo...araque-ON.html

If this goes down as written, I will be EXTREMELY pissed at Shero for making this deal. Hey Ray - if you're willing to part with a first-rounder, the Blues are offering Bill Guerin for one. I think that would be a WAY better deal than offering it AND minor leaguers for a washed-up enforcer like Laraque. Plus, Guerin has and will stand up for his teammates and will take on a heavyweight if need be, in addition to shoveling Sidney Crosby passes behind opposing goalies with regularity. I can't believe that he would allow himself to be raped like this after all of the shrewd moves he has made, and will demand another player from the Coyotes' NHL roster to be included.

[X-Terminator]

Originally Posted by HometownGal

You know how I feel about Laraque, XT, but Therrien seems to have that magic touch with the guys, so who knows? I've never been particularly fond of him, but I wasn't fond of Kasper either when he was with the Isles and when he came to the Burgh, he ended up being one of my faves! I guess we'll know soon enough which of our guys will be wearing a Coyotes uniform- better not be Gei or Ruutu. LOL!

Thank you for the more detailed article, 83.

I'm not all that thrilled with Laraque either - his best enforcing days are behind him. Sure, he's the heavyweight champ, but when Wayne Gretzky - the biggest puss this game has ever seen - challenges your willingness to fight and stand up for your teammates, I think you're just about done. And giving up a 1st round pick plus minor leaguers for him is just friggin insane. Laraque is nowhere near worth that much - maybe a 3rd round pick AT BEST. We'll know soon enough what this deal will include, but it had better not be what has been reported, I know that.

[X-Terminator]

Thank God! Shero isn't going to pull a Craig Patrick after all. I knew he was smarter than that.

Asking price might be too steep for Penguins to acquire enforcer
Laraque trade is unlikely

Saturday, February 24, 2007
By Dave Molinari, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

TAMPA, Fla. -- No, the Penguins wouldn't mind adding some toughness before the NHL trade deadline Tuesday.

And yes, the name of Phoenix enforcer Georges Laraque has turned up in a few conversations between Penguins general manager Ray Shero and his Coyotes counterpart, Mike Barnett, in the past few weeks.

But there is absolutely no evidence that a trade that would send Laraque to the Penguins is likely, let alone imminent. Indeed, an individual familiar with the situation said last night that while Phoenix is openly entertaining trade offers for Laraque, it is "not desperate to get rid of him."

Although neither Shero nor Barnett would comment on a possible Laraque deal last night, there were strong indications that the Penguins would not be willing to give up a first-round draft choice, let alone a No. 1 and a prospect, for Laraque and a second- or third-round pick, a variation that has been reported in Phoenix.

Laraque, a 6-foot-3, 243-pound right winger who spent his first eight pro seasons in Edmonton's organization, signed a two-year contract with Phoenix last July 5.

He will earn $1.1 million this season, $1.3 million in 2007-08. His deal includes a no-trade clause, so he would have to agree to any trade before it could be finalized.

Laraque, 30, is widely regarded as one of the NHL's premier heavyweights, but can do more than just make a fist with his hands. He has five goals, 17 assists and 52 penalty minutes in 56 games this season.

His most productive NHL season was 2000-01, when he had 13 goals and 16 assists, both career bests, in 82 games with Edmonton. He also piled up 157 penalty minutes, another career high, that winter.

At least three other clubs, one in the Eastern Conference and two in the West, are believed to have expressed interest in Laraque, whose tough-guy role in Phoenix presumably would go to rookie Josh Gratton if he is dealt.

http://www.postgazette.com/pg/07055/764725-61.stm

[X-Terminator]

For some Penguins defensemen, scoring droughts are no big deal

Saturday, February 24, 2007
By Dave Molinari, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

TAMPA, Fla. -- There was a delayed penalty coming on Boston, and Brooks Orpik decided he should move up on the play.

He did, he got open and he received a feed from teammate Ziggy Palffy.

"Of all people," Orpik said, smiling. "I can't believe he actually passed it to me."

Turned out to be a shrewd decision, because Orpik launched the puck past Bruins goalie Andre Raycroft.

He remembers the details like it was yesterday.

Except it wasn't.

Not even close.

Orpik scored that goal on Oct. 22, 2005. He has played 105 games since then without getting another. Or even coming close very often, for that matter.

So, while a few eyebrows might be arched over the 10-game goal-less streak defenseman Sergei Gonchar takes into the Penguins' game against Tampa Bay at 5:05 p.m. tomorrow at the St. Pete Times Forum, no one is even a little surprised that Orpik has gone more than 16 months without one.

Or that Josef Melichar doesn't have a goal in his past 47 games, or Mark Eaton in his past 29. Or that Rob Scuderi went 110 without one before scoring Feb. 16 at New Jersey.

"We know it's not expected of us," Eaton said. "If we can add a goal, it's a bonus."

And potentially profitable. Although the NHL's collective bargaining agreement bans performance bonuses for most players, that didn't stop Orpik, Scuderi and Eaton from agreeing to a wager to reward the first of them to get a goal this season.

The catch is, there didn't seem to be any urgency to work out the finer points of their agreement, so they hadn't settled on what the winner's payoff actually would be before Scuderi tossed a shot past Devils goalie Martin Brodeur.

"We kind of had a gentleman's bet," Scuderi said. "We kind of threw it together at the last minute. Maybe someone will buy tickets for a Pirates game or something like that. We'll figure something out."

Assuming, of course, that the league doesn't intervene.

Not because it's concerned about the wager -- this won't be the NHL's next great gambling scandal -- but because some people still aren't entirely convinced that Scuderi deserves credit for his goal.

At the time, it appeared that Ryan Malone had deflected in the shot.

"It's still a controversial issue," Orpik said. "Malone swears he tipped it. [Scuderi] swears that he didn't."

Actually, Scuderi was adamant after the game that he thought the goal belonged to Malone, but the off-ice officials reviewed the play multiple times and could find no compelling evidence that the puck touched Malone's stick.

Consequently, the original scoring stood and, now that more than a week has passed, it isn't likely to change.

"I told [Malone], 'If you tipped it, you tipped it. Just tell them.' " Scuderi said. "They couldn't really find anything. Since there was no video evidence, it stayed mine.

"I'll take it, don't get me wrong. But I didn't want to steal one."

There was a time when he didn't have to, because Scuderi entered Boston College with a reputation as a pretty good point-producer, which is pretty much the way Eaton was regarded when he turned pro.

"I came into the pros as an offensive guy," Eaton said. "For whatever reason, my role in Nashville changed. My role on the team was to be more of a defensive guy, so the offensive numbers went out the door."

In Orpik's case, those big numbers never made it in the door in the first place.

"I've never been a goal-scorer," he said. "Never. I'm pretty sure that's not why I'm here.

"I don't think the coaches are too disturbed by the fact that I haven't scored yet this year. I think we could go two years without scoring and I don't think the coaches would care too much."

Truth be told, Orpik set a sizzling pace early in 2005-06, when he scored twice -- both against the Bruins -- in the first six games.

"I came out of the gates hot," he said. "I think I used them up too quickly."

He's had plenty of time since to replenish the supply, as have Eaton and Melichar. But while all of them enjoy scoring, none of them puts it anywhere on his to-do list.

"It's always nice," Orpik said. "But as long as the team's winning, I don't really care."

Strictly defense

Staticstics this season for defensemen Rob Scuderi, Mark Eaton and Brooks Orpik:

Scuderi

GP.....G.....A.....PTS.....+/-.....PIM

57.....1.....8.....9.....3.....22

Most recent goal: Feb. 16, 2007 vs. Devils.

Eaton

25*.....0.....2.....2.....12.....12

Most recent goal: April 8, 2006 vs. Blackhawks.

Orpik

48.....0.....4.....4.....-1.....64

Most recent goal: Oct. 22, 2005 vs. Bruins.

* missed 34 games because of injury.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07055/764724-61.stm

[X-Terminator]

Penguins' chemistry plays role in success

By Rob Rossi
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Saturday, February 24, 2007

SUNRISE, Fla. -- Prior to Thursday, Jocelyn Thibault had only appeared in 14 games this season. Of those, he had only won three times.

So, how to explain Thibault's clutch performance for the Penguins in a 2-1 overtime victory over the Florida Panthers on Thursday?

There he was Thursday night -- flashing brilliant glove save after textbook butterfly stop for a Penguins squad that, despite having gone 11-1-1 since the All-Star break, seemed destined to drop a second consecutive decision in a building where they had won just once in nine prior visits.

"Everybody else on this team has been stepping up lately," Thibault said. "I did not want to be the one to let us down, to ruin that chemistry."

No wonder teammate Mark Recchi, who joins Thibault as one of the few veterans among these upstart Penguins, expressed supreme confidence in the club's backup goaltender following a morning skate on Thursday.

"Chemistry is an important part of winning. It seems like a cliche, but it's true from what I've seen," said Recchi, a two-time Stanley Cup champion. "If you don't have guys all buying into the same thing, you'll have guys going in different directions. We don't have that problem. We have everybody pulling together -- from the stars, like Sidney (Crosby) and Geno (Evgeni Malkin), to the role players, like (Jarkko) Ruutu and (Dominic) Moore.

"You can feel it. These guys are growing up together. There are no egos. They know we are in this thing together."

So it was that the Penguins avoided a losing skid by getting game-changing contributions from a seldom-used goalie and a winger whose scoring touch from last season had vanished.

"You know, it might seem weird to some people, but I have not worried about my goals total for a while now," second-year wing Colby Armstrong said after he scored the winning goal in overtime against the Panthers. It was only Armstrong's seventh goal this season after netting 16 in 47 games last season.

"I'm so focused on helping this team win that the individual stuff has not really mattered," he said. "We've got something special going in this locker room, and I think everybody realizes that."

In fact, the immeasurable quality that is the Penguins' chemistry might force general manager Ray Shero into holding his cards as the trade deadline approaches. After all, why mess with a team that has amassed the league's highest point total since the All-Star break?

"Anybody we get would come in and work hard to fit in, but trading for another player, even if he is more talented than some of the guys we have here, might not make the team any better," said left wing Ryan Malone, himself the subject of trade speculation. "This group of guys has spent a lot of time together. The natural stuff, the fighting for one another -- it seems pretty easy, to the point that it's not something we think about. We just get along really well and have a good time. There's no secret to it, I don't think. It's just what it is -- we're a close team."

One that Recchi insists might prove best suited to chase the Stanley Cup as is.

"We believe in what we're doing, and that is a lot of the battle," Recchi said. "Once you get in the playoffs, it's a two-month process. I know this: You have to have chemistry to survive that grind, whether it's a two-month run to the Cup or an opening-round series. You have to be there for one another, and so far this team has done that."

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pitt.../s_494723.html

[83-Steelers-43]

"At least three other clubs, one in the Eastern Conference and two in the West, are believed to have expressed interest in Laraque,"

For the rumored asking price, they can ****ing have him. Please Mr. Shero, play this season out, see how far we can go, head into the offseason and play around with trades and the FA market.

It's not worth it.

[83-Steelers-43]

Originally Posted by Brendon-The-Bus

WHAT?!?! THAT GUY WAS GREAT!

He's great? That's kind of stretching it just a bit don't you think?

[83-Steelers-43]

I can see it now. This upcoming Monday at approximately 7:00 PM on FSN Pittsburgh.......

Stan: Mullet Hank from New Brighton, your up.

Caller: Stan, love the show. Yinz all hear abaht that Laraque guy? Shero is a jagoff for not snagging him!!

Stan: Well the asking price was high.

Caller: Jano what Stan?

Stan: What?

Caller: Stan...

Stan: What?

Caller: Stan, yinz all hear abaht that Laraque guy? Shero is horrible!!! Bring back Mike Lange!!! *burps IC*

Stan: Do you mean Craig Patrick?

Caller: Same difference!!!

Stan: Thank you caller *click*

[SteelersTilIDie]

Lange was and always will be the best announcer in penguins history and im glad he took the radio job

[83-Steelers-43]

Originally Posted by SteelersTilIDie

im glad he took the radio job

You and me both.