Pens Find Their Groove; KO the Flyers

Well we had at least one night where we could forget the woes of the 2008/09 Penguins, and what better opponent to do it against than the hated Filth-adelphia Cryers. As it always against Philly, this one was a physical war that at times resembled more of the forth-coming Steelers-Eagles Super Bowl (whoops I'm not supposed to make that prediction until Friday!) than a hockey game.

Eric Godard and Riley Cote got things going early with a very short, one-sided fight that Godard won, and was probably a little lucky to have the officials step quickly in, because Cote is known far and wide as a comeback kid in these fights. This set the tone, and while there was only one more fight the rest of the game, the hitting was fierce the whole way through.

As for the portion of the game that involved actual hockey playing, the Pens newly formed top line of Sidney Crosby centering Evgeni Malkin and Matt Cooke was clicking on all cylinders for 60 straight minutes. Geno and Cooke both put tallies on the board and Sid assisted both times, and the unit as a whole was wreaking havoc all game long on Marty Biron. It was incredibly encouraging to see that kind of pressure being generated by our top unit, and J-Staal also continued his excellent work since the contract extension, chipping in a goal and playing his usual solid work on the defensive end.

Believe it or not, the Pens are actually still 2 games over .500 right now at 21-19-4, and while those 4 OT losses, technically would push their total losses past their wins, having 46 points in 44 games is over .500 in my book. What this means is that, despite the gloom and doom in town, this team is still very much alive, and very capable of getting right back into the playoff mix if they can bottle some of the excellent they demonstrated tonight. The 8th place Canes have just 1 more point then the Pens in the same amount of games, and we are still just 10 points out of first with a game in hand on those first place Rangers. All very encouraging figures when you think about how bad this tailspin has been.

Now, I'm not saying the Pens are out of this slump, because I've said that previously on this site, and was quickly proven wrong, but a win like this one is the sort that gives a serious glimmer of hope to the players on the roster. We should get a good idea about any possible carryover momentum pretty quickly, as the Pens taken on their sudden rivals, the Washington Capitals, tomorrow for the start of a critical 5 game home stand.

Go Pens.

Pens Ink Jordan Staal For 4 years

In a move that appeared to come out of nowhere, the Penguins have signed young center Jordan Staal to a 4 year 16 million dollar contract. Staal has as much upside as just about any young player in the league, but has yet to really fulfill much of the promise in his game.

The price is also about what I expected per year for a Staal contract, and is actually probably less than what Staal would have gotten this coming summer on the open market from some foolish, free-wheeling team in a move of desperation. So regardless of your feelings on Staal as a player, you've got to at least appreciate the value in this contract.

This also quashes any and all trade rumors regarding young Mr. Staal, which likely also quashes any mega-trade fantasies that anybody out there has regarding bringing in the likes of Ilya Kovalchuk or whoever else. Surely the Pens didn't sign Staal to increase his trade value (though that actually makes sense), as no one does such a thing. Jordan is here for the long-term people.

It remains to be seen at what position Staal's future lies with this team. There has been much clamoring for him to play on a wing with Sid and Geno, but Staal, Mikey Therrien, and Ray Shero all seem to prefer him centering the 3rd line, at least for now. I still am skeptical as to whether or not that is really the position he ends up at, but time will tell. One thing that is certain, though, is that he can get plenty of playing time on the 3rd line as a center line as well as being on the top PK unit and being on the ice for the powerplay as well.

I see Staal morphing into a more physical player given his very large stature as his career progresses. He could certainly be a force in front of the net with that unteachable attribute if he is able to pick up the nuances of it and get some time there.

For now, I expect we will see the same things out of Staal that we have of late. Inconsistencies on offense, excellent skill, great defense especially on the PK, and occasional flahses of brilliance. The value of this contract is in the assumption that he will mature and evolve, and that is the reason I am very much in favor of this extension. No matter what they say, I give Ray Shero another thumbs-up for this deal.

NHL Salary Cap Issues For the Penguins?

Dave Molinari has an interesting little piece in the Post-Gazette today about the NHL Salary Cap and how the recession could end up dragging it downward. As he mentions, the person this most affects right now is none other than Mr. Jordan Staal, with whom the Penguins are continually negotiating an extension that would likely have to end up in the 3-4 million dollar per year range.

As Molinari puts it, it's unlikely that next year's cap will be affected too much by this. And while that certainly is true that the cap certainly won't go down, with potential hardship on the horizon, I find it hard to believe it will go up much, either. The cap is currently 56.7 million, and in my mind, I have trouble seeing it go much beyond 58 million or so next season, a relatively small increase given the jump this past offseason.

However, even though the NHLPA is basically on life support at this point after Gary Bettman broke them in half, I'd be more than a little surprised if the NHL's power was so vast over the union that they could bring the cap downward. I'd guess it'd be more likely to remain stable at 58 million for the following season (2010-11) instead of going down.

But even if that's the case, I don't see the Pens having any more or less difficulty handling the cap than most other teams. Granted, they may have more long-term deals than most, but most of these deals seem wildly favorable (Sid and Geno for anything less than the league max is a bargain, Talbot and TK have small deals, and Fleury's is very reasonable if he continues to mature). The one deal that probably isn't too favorable of course belongs to one Ryan Whitney. While everyone (myself included) is wildly excited to see the return of Whitters next Tuesday, his deal is a little unwieldy, and I fully expect that, given the emergence of Kris Letang and Alex Goligoski this season, this will be the final season we see Whitney in a Pens uniform. If he comes back and plays well, that deal suddenly becomes a bargain for many teams in need of a top-flight defender who can contribute offensively. For the Pens, those kind of defenders seem to grow on trees, which leads to me think that if the Pens can ink Staal this summer (and I think they will as too many teams will be afraid of the same coming doom that Molinari forecasts) to make an overly aggressive pitch for Jordan, then a Whitney trade will be the accompanying move with that deal. Of course, all this also means that the Pens will continue to have to shop at the bargain bin for some of their complementary pieces, but I think that just seems to be the way of the New NHL, and it's worked out well so far for us, so I see no reason to fret just yet.

An All-Time Great W For the Penguins

Talk about a once in a lifetime comeback. In case you missed out, or were one of the sorry suckers who turned off the game a tad prematurely, the Penguins just finished up one of the most amazing comebacks I have ever seen in hockey. You could tell towards the end of the third period just how bad they really wanted this one, not just because they were playing against an elite team, but because they were playing against the team that knocked them off in last year's Stanley Cup, and perhaps most of all, because they were playing against the turncoat, Marian Hossa.

My eyes were on the Captain early on, Sidney Crosby, and he didn't disappoint, with an impressive early goal and a pair of assists, but he was greatly overshadowed by the suddenly-hot-as-the-sun Jordan Staal. Staal put up his second career hat trick, including the game tying goal with less than a minute to go in regulation. Let's hope this is just the beginning of Staal tapping into his sky-high potential, as if he can keep up this consistent offensive performance up, the Pens suddenly become a top-line contender.

A few minutes into overtime, Ruslan Fedotenko buried a puck behind Chris Osgood to cap off a truly memorable win, and perhaps a turning point in the season to make the Penguins the team that many think they will ultimately become.

That's not to say that this game wasn't without it's bumps, though, as the Pens fell behind 5-2 in the third period before they ultimately pulled off the 7-6 W. And yet again, we saw the Pens struggle with consistency and the next time they put together a legitimately dominating 60 minute game, it will be the first I've seen all season. But I'm not about to dwell on this tonight, not after a spectacular 2 points, I'll savor the flavor of this one while it lasts.