Pens Tidbits

[HometownGal]

Originally Posted by TackleMeBen

i dont know what i will do if it comes down to the pens and wings for the cup..

In what respect?

[fansince'76]

Do hot air balloons procreate?

[TackleMeBen]

Originally Posted by HometownGal

In what respect?

well i live in detroit so i should pull for the wings.. but i really want the pens to win!! i might have to invest in a crosby jersey to sport around detroit if it comes down to them and the wings in the finals

[HometownGal]

Originally Posted by TackleMeBen

well i live in detroit so i should pull for the wings.. but i really want the pens to win!! i might have to invest in a crosby jersey to sport around detroit if it comes down to them and the wings in the finals

Using that "formula", you should technically be a Lions fan too and you're not. Follow your heart on this one.

[TackleMeBen]

Originally Posted by HometownGal

Using that "formula", you should technically be a Lions fan too and you're not. Follow your heart on this one.

yes but the lions suck the wings,tigers(well this yr), and pistons do not..lol..
i would become a bengals fan before i became a lions fan.

at least i know i wont be dusting off my flyers jersey..lol...

[HometownGal]

Originally Posted by TackleMeBen

yes but the lions suck the wings,tigers(well this yr), and pistons do not..lol..

You don't happen to be a bandwagon jumper, do ya?

[pittsburghp8baller]

Originally Posted by TackleMeBen

i dont think the stars will get past the wings.

i dont think so either but it would be cool though. but u never know the Stars are the hot team coming into the series knocking out the defending champs and the team that most people thought would represent the west in the stanley cup. if the Stars can jump out quickly with Detroit having some time off Dallas could steal this series

[Counselor]

Is it Friday yet???

[HometownGal]

Originally Posted by pittsburghp8baller

i dont think so either but it would be cool though. but u never know the Stars are the hot team coming into the series knocking out the defending champs and the team that most people thought would represent the west in the stanley cup. if the Stars can jump out quickly with Detroit having some time off Dallas could steal this series

Agreed 100%. The Stars have been on a very hot streak, much like the Pens and Flyers, so you just never know.

Counselor - I'm with ya on that!

Great read on Therrien. Hope you all enjoy this article as much as I did. I said it in a prior post and I'll say it again - it is that Therrien wasn't one of the 3 finalists for NHL Coach of the Year. I have to strongly disagree that Boudreau is more deserving than our Coach Therrien.

http://postgazette.com/pg/08127/879434-87.stm

Therrien worthy of respect

Tuesday, May 06, 2008
By Ron Cook, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

It's hard to believe Michel Therrien is not a candidate for the NHL's coach of the year award.At the start of the Stanley Cup playoffs, conventional thinking had the Penguins needing to win a round -- maybe two -- for coach Michel Therrien to keep his job.

Guess who you're going to get to kick around for another season?

There are many reasons to be thrilled about the Penguins' domination of the Ottawa Senators and New York Rangers, but the fact that it secured Therrien's future here at least for the short term is at the top of my list. I can't remember the most recent time I respected a coach more because of his honesty, strength and convictions.

Bill Cowher, maybe?

Jim Leyland, Joe Paterno and Chuck Noll, for sure.

That's pretty high company.

It's a crying shame that Therrien isn't one of the three candidates for the NHL's coach of the year award.

I've got no beef with Washington's Bruce Boudreau or Montreal's Guy Carbonneau. Boudreau led the Capitals to a remarkable 37-17-7 finish and the playoffs after replacing fired Glen Hanlon in late November. Carbonneau led the Canadiens to the Eastern Conference's best record in the NHL's toughest market. Therrien knows all about how rough Montreal is on its coaches. He was fired by the Canadiens in 2003 after two-plus seasons.

"It was like going to Harvard," Therrien said of that learning experience.

But how is Detroit's Mike Babprofanityfilterprofanityfilterprofanityfilterpr ofanityfilter a finalist ahead of Therrien? The Red Wings had the NHL's best record, but they didn't have the injuries the Penguins did.

That's why Therrien had to laugh after the Penguins lost Game 4 to the Rangers -- their only loss of these playoffs -- when asked how his team would respond to the adversity.

"Adversity? I don't think [one loss] is adversity," he said. "This team faced adversity during the season, losing our captain and our goaltender ... There were a lot of times we had seven or eight players out of the lineup. We had a lot of guys up from Wilkes-Barre ...

"The odds were against us. That was adversity."

Despite the long-term losses of Sidney Crosby and Marc-Andre Fleury, the Penguins finished with 102 points, two fewer than Montreal. Therrien did a phenomenal job keeping his club on track.

He has been even better in the playoffs.

The biggest thing is the way Therrien has convinced a team loaded with offensive stars to play responsible defensive hockey. Fleury has been fabulous, but he will tell you his teammates have done a great job limiting the opponent's scoring chances.

Therrien was widely second-guessed after shuffling his defensive pairings before the series against the Rangers. Why fix something that isn't broken? But Therrien had his reasons, most dealing with matchups. How can you argue with the Penguins' success?

Check this out: In two of the three games at Mellon Arena, when Therrien had the final line change, the Rangers' great Jaromir Jagr didn't get a shot.

Game 5 Sunday was the best example of the all-around team the Penguins have become under Therrien. The Rangers had three shots in the final 19 minutes of the first period, none in the final 14:50 of the second period and none in overtime.

I'm thinking coaching had something to do with that.

Therrien has consistently shown great faith in all of his players, rolling out four lines. He was rewarded with huge goals from Gary Roberts, Max Talbot and Jarkko Ruutu against Ottawa and even bigger goals from Ruutu and Georges Laraque against the Rangers. He has received terrific energy from Tyler Kennedy and wonderful penalty-killing from Adam Hall.

The benefit of using all of his players is that Therrien is keeping stars Evgeni Malkin and Crosby fresh. They are averaging 21:01 and 19:43 of ice time. Compare that to Washington's Alexander Ovechkin, who averaged 24:03 in the Capitals' series against Philadelphia. That will be important later in the postseason, which, everyone knows, is a marathon, not a sprint.

There have been other things from Therrien. The timeout in Game 3 against the Rangers, which clearly settled his players. The fact he has been spotting two centers in the defensive zone for faceoffs late in games in case one gets waved out. The fact he used Malkin and Marian Hossa as penalty-killers late in Rangers' power plays, which made the Rangers a little less aggressive.

Off the ice, Therrien was quick to deliver a powerful defense of Crosby after the Rangers accused him of diving early in the series. He also vigorously defended Crosby and Malkin after they took bad penalties late in the Game 4 loss to the Rangers. You think his other players might have noticed?

I know the playoffs have nothing to do with the coach of the year award, but you can't tell me Therrien shouldn't win it.

"Recognition is nice, but that's not my main focus," Therrien said the other day. "My main focus is on my players, my assistant coaches, my management."

Penguins general manager Ray Shero laughed when he said Therrien probably shouldn't want the coach of the year award, anyway. "I told him not to hope too much for the darn thing when he was nominated for it last year [after leading the Penguins to a 47-point improvement]. A lot of times, when you're coach of the year, it just means you get to be coach for a year."

That was in reference to how quick NHL teams are to fire coaches, even successful ones. The Penguins are a perfect example of that foolish thinking. They've never had a coach start and finish four consecutive seasons.

It's nice to think Therrien will be the first.

"I'm a big believer in loyalty and communication. So is he," Shero said. "The loyalty and communication is there both ways.

"I think he and his staff have done a great job. Look at the results.

"I know people look at him when we don't win. Any time we hit a bump in the road, people want me to toss him overboard. That's the easiest thing for a manager to do. But what would that fix?"

Nothing.

In the Penguins' case, nothing needs to be fixed.

Not with Therrien in charge.

[SteelCityMan786]

Originally Posted by TackleMeBen

you know what. forget sending to HTG, i am sending it to you steelman. along with a michigan jersey

I'll be mailing it to Penn State Students and saying "Here, I found you something to burn during the week of the Penn State/Michigan game this year as ya did with the Michigan Hat not long ago." They'd thank me for that. By the way, I'd also burn that Flyers Jersey to. In fact, I think I'll have it sent out to those who will be watching it outside Mellon.