Series Thread: Pens v BlueJackets Rnd 1

[element1286]

Figured we might as have one of these.

 

[element1286]

Predictions for playoffs lines, assuming Malkin is playing. Wildcards being Goc/Vitale and their health.

Kunitz - Crosby - Bennett
Jokinen - Malkin - Neal
Glass - Sutter - Stempniak
Adams - Gibbons - Kobesew

Orpik - Martin
Scuds - Letang
Maata - Niskanen

I don't see how you take Bennett off Sid's line, and I think the like Kobasew, I have a feeling he gets some playing time. Although I would pick Megna.

 

[DoobeeDoobeeDoo]

Bennett is basically a younger & more talented version of Dupuis. No way we take him off the Sidnitz line.

 

[thehobocop]

Predictions for playoffs lines, assuming Malkin is playing. Wildcards being Goc/Vitale and their health.

Kunitz - Crosby - Bennett
Jokinen - Malkin - Neal
Glass - Sutter - Stempniak
Adams - Gibbons - Kobesew

Orpik - Martin
Scuds - Letang
Maata - Niskanen

I don't see how you take Bennett off Sid's line, and I think the like Kobasew, I have a feeling he gets some playing time. Although I would pick Megna.

Ideally, my lines would be

Kunitz-Sid-Bennett
Jokinen-Geno-Neal
Glass-Sutter-Stemp
Megna-Goc/Vitale-Gibbons

This is what I believe would be the optimal use of our forward crop, but based on this season, Disco thinks differently. I suppose I'd be fine with Adams or Kobesew in there somewhere, but absolutely no Pyatt, still have no idea how he's on this team.

 

[thehobocop]

Bennett is basically a younger & more talented version of Dupuis. No way we take him off the Sidnitz line.

I've actually been really impressed with Bennett since he's come back. I think he has a pretty good chance to become a fixture in the top 6 of this team.

 

[element1286]

Bennett is basically a younger & more talented version of Dupuis. No way we take him off the Sidnitz line.

Eh, Beau has 100x times the hands/poise with the puck Dupuis. Dupuis is more a mucker who gets goals because he works so hard, has a great shot, more quantity than quality, which is fine. Bennett is a pure top six forward with the whole skill set, hands, patience, speed, elusiveness.

Watch a 3-2 when executed by a bottom six guy, and a top six guy, that's really a good way to tell who sees the ice like a scorer, and who sees it like a grinder.

 

[DoobeeDoobeeDoo]

I've actually been really impressed with Bennett since he's come back. I think he has a pretty good chance to become a fixture in the top 6 of this team.

I agree, as long as he's healthy I would like to see him on the top 2 lines. Either with Sidnitz or GeNeal.

 

[element1286]

Ideally, my lines would be

Kunitz-Sid-Bennett
Jokinen-Geno-Neal
Glass-Sutter-Stemp
Megna-Goc/Vitale-Gibbons

This is what I believe would be the optimal use of our forward crop, but based on this season, Disco thinks differently. I suppose I'd be fine with Adams or Kobesew in there somewhere, but absolutely no Pyatt, still have no idea how he's on this team.

Yeah, those would be my lines too. I'm not fine with Adams but have accepted Dan's reality that he isn't coming out, ever. And Kobesew is just a hunch. Agreed on Pyatt, I'd play Engelland above him on the 4th.

 

[thehobocop]

Yeah, those would be my lines too. I'm not fine with Adams but have accepted Dan's reality that he isn't coming out, ever. And Kobesew is just a hunch. Agreed on Pyatt, I'd play Engelland above him on the 4th.

Yeah I'm the same, ideally I don't really want Adams in there, but it's pretty much a given he will be so we just have to accept it at this point.

 

[DoobeeDoobeeDoo]

Adams went to Harvard so of course Disco will play him. For some reason our coach is very impressed by an Ivy League education.

 

[Darkstone42]

Predictions for playoffs lines, assuming Malkin is playing. Wildcards being Goc/Vitale and their health.

Kunitz - Crosby - Bennett
Jokinen - Malkin - Neal
Glass - Sutter - Stempniak
Adams - Gibbons - Kobesew

Orpik - Martin
Scuds - Letang
Maata - Niskanen

I don't see how you take Bennett off Sid's line, and I think the like Kobasew, I have a feeling he gets some playing time. Although I would pick Megna.

Kobasew has surprising scoring touch, which our bottom six needs. If Goc is in, I just throw him in in place of Glass directly. I would prefer to bump down Glass and knock out Adams, but as we've already discussed, we all know that won't happen.

The other option is to center the fourth with Goc and bring Megna onto the third line wing. He showed a lot of good things yesterday, I thought.

We struggle with fast teams because Byslma insists on playing slow forwards in our bottom six, in my opinion, and he won't take Orpik and Scuderi out of the lineup. If we play guys like Harry Z and Megna and Despres against fast teams, I think we would do a lot better mitigating the rushes the other way, simply because we could keep up better. However, Letang and Martin do a lot to help out Orpik and Scuderi. When Orpik and Scuderi can defer to a talented defenseman to get the puck out of the zone, they can focus on their very limited skill sets.

 

[element1286]

I know Dan would do something like dressing Engo against a 'tough', but yeah dressing speedy players against a fast team seems too drastic. I still don't get the Adams stuff, now he has that stupid games played streak going, and can never come out of the lineup sans injury.

 

[scoutyjones2]

Eh, Beau has 100x times the hands/poise with the puck Dupuis. Dupuis is more a mucker who gets goals because he works so hard, has a great shot, more quantity than quality, which is fine. Bennett is a pure top six forward with the whole skill set, hands, patience, speed, elusiveness.

Watch a 3-2 when executed by a bottom six guy, and a top six guy, that's really a good way to tell who sees the ice like a scorer, and who sees it like a grinder.

Bennett needs to remain healthy to know what he can do...one thing he is not, a two way forward. He shows great puck possession and has a good shot with a knack for scoring.

 

[element1286]

Yeah he's not a standout defensively, I don't see him as markedly bad though, and usually defense is something that gets better as you age.

 

[Darkstone42]

I think Bennet might have the quickest puckhandling hands on the team. They're in constant rapid motion. He's tough to strip of the puck as a result. Honestly, sans Malkin, he might be our best pure puck-possession player.

 

[element1286]

I think Bennet might have the quickest puckhandling hands on the team. They're in constant rapid motion. He's tough to strip of the puck as a result. Honestly, sans Malkin, he might be our best pure puck-possession player.

Agreed, Sid needs a guy like that too. He's too much of a gambler sometimes. He'll risk turning a puck over because he wants to move it around so fast.

 

[DoobeeDoobeeDoo]

I don't have high hopes for us to win the Cup, but if we could do one thing and do it well this season it was beating the Blue Jackets. If we could just get out of round 1 I'll be content. Anything after that is a bonus for me.

 

[Todd1a]

I think the penguins beat the blue jackets in six games. Then I think you guys can handle the flyers or rangers. I think the only team thats stops you guys to the cup is boston! I know as a tampa fan I'm hoping we get by montreal and the redwings upset boston! I have no doubt tampa can handle the redwings! but getting by montreal and price is going to be hard.

 

[DoobeeDoobeeDoo]

I think the penguins beat the blue jackets in six games. Then I think you guys can handle the flyers or rangers. I think the only team thats stops you guys to the cup is boston! I know as a tampa fan I'm hoping we get by montreal and the redwings upset boston! I have no doubt tampa can handle the redwings! but getting by montreal and price is going to be hard.

Hmm, IDK if we could beat the likes of the Flyers or Rangers, I'm just hoping we could beat the Blue Jackets and take it from there. Penguins' defense is atrocious, we lack forward depth, our coach doesn't make adjustments, and our goaltending is hit or miss. Really only thing we got going for us is our star power, which could only get you so far on its own.

 

[element1286]

Wouldn't be as worried against the Rangers, the Flyers are a bogey team, not necessarily that they are actually better than the Pens, because they aren't. More they know how to play to beat them.