Pittsburgh Penguins Thread

[ajs510 122]

So, yeah...Brett Sterling...2G and 1A in the three games since his callup from WBS. This is kinda messing me up, I was planning on cutting him from my farm this summer as I'm maxed out at 28 and I have 5 draft picks this year, two first round, two second round, one third round (valuable picks). I have to either cut, callup or trade 5 guys from my farm, or I have to trade picks instead. This is an issue as my farm is pretty damn good and finding 5 dead weight players isn't that easy for me (I'm also very sentimental about guys I drafted, this does not make hard decisions easier). On the one hand, Pittsburgh badly needs scoring wingers and if he can actually translate his game to the NHL level it's a great, almost Marty St. Louis-like situation for him. On the other hand, the last three games are the only ones since he was drafted in 2003 where he's looked like an NHL-level talent and not like an out of place career minor leaguer. I'm hoping his solid play of late will allow him to remain with the team for the rest of the season, so I can get a proper evaluation of whether or not he stands a chance of making it. Decisions, decisions.

[gruven 530]

I don't see anyone saying anything close to that. We all agree the behaviour is terrible and should be prevented. I'm just questioning whether Mario's message had any power or meaning to it.

I wasnt referring to here, Danny. The discussion here seems to be around whether or not Mario should condemn his own player publicly along with that type of play in general. But elsewhere, radio, etc, people are using the hypocrite angle to completely discredit Lemieux and suggest that gooning it up is part of the game. Strange as it sounds, the opinions and discussion here at FCP are usually very good and very reasonable.

[ajs510 122]

Strange as it sounds, the opinions and discussion here at FCP are usually very good and very reasonable.

This is very true, I can't think of a single regular poster in the hockey board whose opinion I don't respect. Maybe their views are wrong in my mind, but I always respect the poster and the opinion. You go to HFBoards and granted, they have like 2000 times the regular posters FCP Hockey does, but the vast majority of them are just crackpots with zero clue what they're talking about. Then you go to your average CNN.com story board or the comments section on your average PuckDaddy column and I'm just blown away at the number of truly insane people there are in the world with internet connections. It's frightening.

[dEv~ 19]

So, yeah...Brett Sterling...2G and 1A in the three games since his callup from WBS. This is kinda messing me up, I was planning on cutting him from my farm this summer as I'm maxed out at 28 and I have 5 draft picks this year, two first round, two second round, one third round (valuable picks). I have to either cut, callup or trade 5 guys from my farm, or I have to trade picks instead. This is an issue as my farm is pretty damn good and finding 5 dead weight players isn't that easy for me (I'm also very sentimental about guys I drafted, this does not make hard decisions easier). On the one hand, Pittsburgh badly needs scoring wingers and if he can actually translate his game to the NHL level it's a great, almost Marty St. Louis-like situation for him. On the other hand, the last three games are the only ones since he was drafted in 2003 where he's looked like an NHL-level talent and not like an out of place career minor leaguer. I'm hoping his solid play of late will allow him to remain with the team for the rest of the season, so I can get a proper evaluation of whether or not he stands a chance of making it. Decisions, decisions.

I'd like to see him step into a solid role with the big pens for your franchise but I'd rather see him tearing it up in WBS with plenty of depth on the NHL roster ahead of him for the Pens sake. His goal against the Kings was a great play by a couple guys I'm sure have played together in WBS. http://video.nhl.com/videocenter/console?e...=20102011,2,818Going back to the issue at the moment, I'm getting pretty fired up listening to Mark Madden's radio show in Pittsburgh today. He interviewed to Dave Hanson and Paul Steigerwald and both all are up in arms about the whole thing. Here's their opinions in list form.1. The Isles went into Friday's game with a lineup that that was obviously built to use those tactics.2. Gillies charged Tangradi with an elbow to the head, Tangradi goes down and covers up and Gillies continues to hit him before being escorted off the ice in the nearby tunnel only to bark nonsense to Tangradi who was being attended to by the trainer. All that and only 9 games...joke.3. Martin does a Bertuzzi/Moore on Talbot in reaction to a clean (unpenalized) hit to Comeau in the previous game. Comeau ended up with a concussion on what could have been called interference at the worst. It was 4. Haley fights Talbot and gets escorted partially to the penalty box but on his way he decides to go after a Pens goalie who did beat the shit out of his goalie but in a way that followed all the unwritten rules.5. Garth Snow is a joke. 6. Mario doesn't speak up much but when he does you'd think he'd get at least a little respect. As soon as "well he pays Cooke" is brought up people are totally missing the point of the statement.7. The NHL's statement back to Lemieux was a uncalled for slap in the face.8. The Pens may lead the league in penalty minutes and majors 9. Zenon Konopka (who leads the league in penalty minutes) is a joke. http://tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=353855All in all screw the NHL. They have no control over what happens in their league and it may take a death for something to truly change.

[dEv~ 19]

Oh and here...trash Matt Cooke for this. http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburgh...s/s_722744.html

[Skeleton Jelly 2]

Oh and here...trash Matt Cooke for this. http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburgh...s/s_722744.html

Relevance?

[Fenxis 99]

All in all screw the NHL. They have no control over what happens in their league and it may take a death for something to truly change.

Agreed... so much for making this a skill -based league . I want physical game, not a goon game.

[Zach6668 513]

God this thread has become stupid.I'm really starting to hate the internet. (not you guys)I'm glad I chose to ignore this thread for most of this. Arp, I pretty much agree with you 100% about this, and well, apparently everything in life.Cooke's admittedly dirty style of play is apples and oranges to what the Isles goons did. Cooke plays an effective brand of hockey, but he plays it on that fine line, and crosses it too often. He gets suspended, although maybe not enough, and the player and the team suffer for it when he does.What the Isles did was clearly premeditated attempts to injure because they got mad about some perceived injustices in the previous game (Talbot with a CLEAN hit on Comeau, and DiPietro CHOOSING to fight Johnson and getting hurt). The management and the coach CALLED UP a guy known only for being a good, for this game. The Penguins called up a scoring forward, Eric Tangradi.The Islanders deliberately targeted defenseless players. I can only be thankful that Talbot saw Martin at the last second and was able to duck, or there was a good chance he'd be lying on the ground with a broken neck, like Steve Moore.Trevor Gillies ran from one side of the ice to another, at his top speed, JUMPED, LED WITH THE ELBOW, and TARGETED THE HEAD of rookie Eric Tangradi. As Tangradi stood there in a daze, he immediately dropped the gloves, sucker punched him and jumped him. Then, when he was escorted off the ice, he proceeded to stand over Tangradi and taunt him.The goon call up, fought on that stoppage, got separated, then skated the entire length of the ice to engage a fight with Brent Johnson. I can only be thankful that Godard was watching on the bench and got in there to save his goalie. This is a guy known for fighting! It's the strongest point of his game. Goalies are inherently had a disadvantage with their bulky and restrictive equipment. Johnson could have gotten severely injured if not for Godard. Now, what Godard did was against the rules, but it wouldn't have happened if the Isles weren't trying to injure the Penguins. Good on him for saving our goaltender, and you know what, he'll sit his 10 games, maybe not play again this year, or in his career, for that matter. You won't hear anyone on the Penguins whine about the severity of the punishment, though.How people can't separate what the Islanders did from what Cooke does, during the course of playing hockey, is absolutely mindblowing to me. It's asinine. It's why I don't understand why I read some of the shit on the internet. The fact that Mario is taking ANY heat for this just blows my mind.I'm done talking about this, I'm done talking about Cooke. These are my feelings on the subject, and I will not respond to any other opinions at this time.Let's get back to playing hockey.Let's talk about how awful this stretch of luck has been for the Penguins. It's unreal to have this many injuries. With a 3 day break here (and only 2 games this whole week), we should be able to regroup, refocus, and get back to what's winning games for us. Solid goaltending and defense. We'll need to win these games 2-1 to have a chance. Luckily we've built up enough of a cushion, and shouldn't have a problem sneaking into the playoffs, at the worst. Our focus should be on getting healthy and ready for a tough playoffs, sans Evgeni Malkin. Hopefully with Sidney Crosby.

[dEv~ 19]

[good stuff]

Good stuff.

[dEv~ 19]

Relevance?

It has no relevance to the Isles game/Lemieux...that's what I've been saying all along. It's relevant to the type of human being Cooke really is.

[Skeleton Jelly 2]

It has no relevance to the Isles game/Lemieux...that's what I've been saying all along. It's relevant to the type of human being Cooke really is.

I haven't really been paying attention to what anyone has been saying all along. What type of human being do you think he really is?And do you think that's relevant to the type of hockey player Cooke really is?Note: I don't care about this latest brouhaha. I think hockey is stupid for allowing fighting at all and I just expect this sort of stuff to pop up every now and then. I think there's an interesting discussion on the above topic to be had though.

[MapleLeafpoker 1,462]

I'm really starting to hate the internet.

I know this feeling.

[dEv~ 19]

I haven't really been paying attention to what anyone has been saying all along. What type of human being do you think he really is?And do you think that's relevant to the type of hockey player Cooke really is?Note: I don't care about this latest brouhaha. I think hockey is stupid for allowing fighting at all and I just expect this sort of stuff to pop up every now and then. I think there's an interesting discussion on the above topic to be had though.

I don't know Cooke personally so that's kind of tough to answer. I haven't gotten any indication that does anything but add to the thought that hockey players in general are the best humans in major sports.On the ice I think Zach covered it perfectly...

Cooke plays an effective brand of hockey, but he plays it on that fine line, and crosses it too often. He gets suspended, although maybe not enough, and the player and the team suffer for it when he does.

All in all Cooke is a guy you'd want on your team until he does something stupid.

[Skeleton Jelly 2]

I don't know Cooke personally so that's kind of tough to answer.

Exactly. We don't know who these athletes really are, so why do we care about these stories, good or bad?Let's see, who is considered the biggest douchebag athlete...? Barry Bonds? Quick google search...Bonds, they say, anonymously donates computers to inner-city Los Angeles schools and money to children's hospitals and recently spent half a day with a stranger (Mike Weitz) who lost a lung to cancer, trying to cheer up his three children.(Try to ignore that the writing makes it seem like cheering up children causes cancer.)All this character stuff is just noise. Do you like what he does for your team? That's all that matters.

[troyomac 0]

Part of me would like to see a lifetime ban for Cooke, but the other part of me would like to see him traded to another team and end the career of a Penguin, and see how you guys feel about him then.

[ajs510 122]

Part of me would like to see a lifetime ban for Cooke, but the other part of me would like to see him traded to another team and end the career of a Penguin, and see how you guys feel about him then.

As Seinfeld famously said...at the end of the day we're just cheering for laundry.

[serge 904]

Part of me would like to see a lifetime ban for Cooke, but the other part of me would like to see him traded to another team and end the career of a Penguin, and see how you guys feel about him then.

The guy doesnt post a lot, but when he does comes up with this gem.

[fryer98 30]

Moving on...

Hey, that's me!

I kinda hate Fryer at the moment.

Don't hate!I ended up doing 2 of Mario's son's games on Saturday. He's the head coach of the team. Two highlights...1) With about 20 seconds left in the first game, the Pens are up by 1 and short handed. They fire the puck down the ice and my partner puts their hand up and yells ice. I take a couple of strides and check the clock to make sure I was right and they were wrong and wave it off. The plays goes in front of the Pens bench when the buzzer goes off and I serperate 2 players jawing at each other. I hear "Hey ref..." when I turn to see Mario walking on the ice with the other coaches for the hand shake.Me: Yea?Mario: Sorry I yelled "No ice!" there at the end, but I thought you were gonna blow it down. (I didn't hear him or anyone on the bench yell anything.)Me: Oh, I didn't hear it, but I had it anyway.Mario: Just making sure....good game, ref. :: ass pat :: (Awkwardly awesome? haha)Besides line changes, I didn't hear anything out of him from the bench. His one assn't was pretty vocal to me so I'm guessing that's his role on the bench. Also, I called a "too many men" in the 2nd game...so, I gave Mario a penalty since it's his bench! 2) Middle of the 2nd period and the Pens have an offensive faceoff. I'm backing towards their bench while my partner is preparing for the faceoff and I hear behind me...Mario: Hey ref...Me: (turns my head and looks at him)Mario: You got a date tonight?(I'm thinking he's saying I'm not calling any penalties to get the game over quick...)Me: Uhhh....whaaa.....why did I miss a call or something?Mario: Nope, just making small talk. ::laughs::(I laughed as my partner dropped the puck and the play moved quickly to the neutral zone.)

[Dubey 1,035]

God this thread has become stupid.I'm really starting to hate the internet. (not you guys)I'm glad I chose to ignore this thread for most of this. Arp, I pretty much agree with you 100% about this, and well, apparently everything in life.Cooke's admittedly dirty style of play is apples and oranges to what the Isles goons did. Cooke plays an effective brand of hockey, but he plays it on that fine line, and crosses it too often. He gets suspended, although maybe not enough, and the player and the team suffer for it when he does.What the Isles did was clearly premeditated attempts to injure because they got mad about some perceived injustices in the previous game (Talbot with a CLEAN hit on Comeau, and DiPietro CHOOSING to fight Johnson and getting hurt). The management and the coach CALLED UP a guy known only for being a good, for this game. The Penguins called up a scoring forward, Eric Tangradi.The Islanders deliberately targeted defenseless players. I can only be thankful that Talbot saw Martin at the last second and was able to duck, or there was a good chance he'd be lying on the ground with a broken neck, like Steve Moore.Trevor Gillies ran from one side of the ice to another, at his top speed, JUMPED, LED WITH THE ELBOW, and TARGETED THE HEAD of rookie Eric Tangradi. As Tangradi stood there in a daze, he immediately dropped the gloves, sucker punched him and jumped him. Then, when he was escorted off the ice, he proceeded to stand over Tangradi and taunt him.The goon call up, fought on that stoppage, got separated, then skated the entire length of the ice to engage a fight with Brent Johnson. I can only be thankful that Godard was watching on the bench and got in there to save his goalie. This is a guy known for fighting! It's the strongest point of his game. Goalies are inherently had a disadvantage with their bulky and restrictive equipment. Johnson could have gotten severely injured if not for Godard. Now, what Godard did was against the rules, but it wouldn't have happened if the Isles weren't trying to injure the Penguins. Good on him for saving our goaltender, and you know what, he'll sit his 10 games, maybe not play again this year, or in his career, for that matter. You won't hear anyone on the Penguins whine about the severity of the punishment, though.How people can't separate what the Islanders did from what Cooke does, during the course of playing hockey, is absolutely mindblowing to me. It's asinine. It's why I don't understand why I read some of the shit on the internet. The fact that Mario is taking ANY heat for this just blows my mind.I'm done talking about this, I'm done talking about Cooke. These are my feelings on the subject, and I will not respond to any other opinions at this time.Let's get back to playing hockey.Let's talk about how awful this stretch of luck has been for the Penguins. It's unreal to have this many injuries. With a 3 day break here (and only 2 games this whole week), we should be able to regroup, refocus, and get back to what's winning games for us. Solid goaltending and defense. We'll need to win these games 2-1 to have a chance. Luckily we've built up enough of a cushion, and shouldn't have a problem sneaking into the playoffs, at the worst. Our focus should be on getting healthy and ready for a tough playoffs, sans Evgeni Malkin. Hopefully with Sidney Crosby.

I'm not a Pens fan, and I agree with all of this. Well, except I think Brent Johnson might have actually held his own against Haley if Godard had let them go. I really don't believe The fact that Cooke is a penguin has any relevance to anything that happened in the game, or was said after. I do think cooke is a piece of shit though (as a hockey player).

[WestcoastCanuck 0]

I maybe wrong but there is a general anti Mario slant by the media. He isnt very talkative, he rarely gives interviews and overall a quite person.

This is why I don't like him. Lemieux was a class act that everyone loved to watch, but because he makes the media's job harder by being reclusive certain media members have taken it upon themselves to do a hatchet job on him.I admit I may be biased because Lemieux was the best player I ever got to see live.

[MapleLeafpoker 1,462]

I'm not a Pens fan, and I agree with all of this. Well, except I think Brent Johnson might have actually held his own against Haley if Godard had let them go. I really don't believe The fact that Cooke is a penguin has any relevance to anything that happened in the game, or was said after. I do think cooke is a piece of shit though (as a hockey player).

yup, me too.

[serge 904]

Zenon Konopka is shooting his mouth at Mario...Pretty stupid comments.

[MapleLeafpoker 1,462]

All this character stuff is just noise. Do you like what he does for your team? That's all that matters.

Not for me, sorry. That stuff makes a huge difference to me.You can call me naive, and say that stuff is just planned propaganda, and they are doing it for all the wrong reasons. I dont care. I know what matters in life to me, and it aint that Bonds took steriods, or that some guy beat my team. Like Adam said, its all ****ing laundry, at some point, perspective has to enter your head or your just a tool in my eyes. (sorry if that bothers some)The more I read about an athelete doing something to help others, especially causes that are near and dear to me, the more I like them.If the athelete does anything to help the charity I belong to, he has a fan for life in me.I get the point your making, that we dont really know these guys, and we're taking others' words as fact, but I disagree.

[Skeleton Jelly 2]

Let me say this, just in case there was any confusion:Character matters to me. Athletes' character doesn't matter to me solely because I can't ever know what their true character is. Let's say you go to a game and you happen to run into one of the players afterwards and he's super nice, really down to earth, and just acts with total respect towards you. You're going to like him a little more, right?Then you start googling him because wow what a great guy and you find a bunch of anecdotes about him being a total asshole. Do you stop liking him? Which is his true nature? (Probably something in between.)These guys aren't role models to me; I'm not trying to be like them. I just want to watch the best in sports. Why do I need to keep up with their personal lives as a prerequisite to being a fan?

[serge 904]

Let me say this, just in case there was any confusion:Character matters to me. Athletes' character doesn't matter to me solely because I can't ever know what their true character is. Let's say you go to a game and you happen to run into one of the players afterwards and he's super nice, really down to earth, and just acts with total respect towards you. You're going to like him a little more, right?Then you start googling him because wow what a great guy and you find a bunch of anecdotes about him being a total asshole. Do you stop liking him? Which is his true nature? (Probably something in between.)These guys aren't role models to me; I'm not trying to be like them. I just want to watch the best in sports. Why do I need to keep up with their personal lives as a prerequisite to being a fan?

The old Michael Vick and Tiger Woods argument..To push it even further OJ Simpson argument and Pete Rose as well...