Penguins Bad Luck Continues

[dash]

Penguins’ forward Pascal Dupuis will not be in the lineup tonight in Dallas, as he is heading back to Pittsburgh to be with his wife as they expect their fourth child.

Pascal doing more scoring at home than on the road...

 

[beantownmaniac]

Staal breaks his hand


Fleury is playing like a rookie

Malkin is out with an injury

Letang is out with an injury

when will it end?

Sorry man, I can't feel bad for ya. My Bruins haven't won a cup in almost 40 years

 

[evolver115]

Sorry man, I can't feel bad for ya. My Bruins haven't won a cup in almost 40 years

I can sympathize with you from another sport... Pirates baseball has become the laughingstock of N. American Professional Sports.

But, this thread really wasn't dedicated to bad luck in reference to cup wins. I was talking about the amount of injuries that are piling up, plus the poor performance of the Penguins #1 goal-tender.

 

[elocomotive]

I would agree with this. Fleury has been regressing for a couple years now. Time to change strategy.

I don't think it's regressing. I said a couple years ago I thought he was an average NHL goalie (not a bad goalie, but nowhere near the elites either). His mechanics are good, but his lateral movement and reaction time are just not up to snuff with the top goalies in the league. That said, I still think the Pens are a dangerous team that can win with him. I think a lot of this is that he was hot at the right time (and all goalies go through hot and cold periods) early in his career and Penguins' fans expectations and analysis of how good he actually is was out-of-line with reality.

That said, I'm biased as a Caps' fan, and not because of any hatred towards the Penguins, but because we generally torch the guy.

 

[evolver115]

I don't think it's regressing. I said a couple years ago I thought he was an average NHL goalie (not a bad goalie, but nowhere near the elites either). His mechanics are good, but his lateral movement and reaction time are just not up to snuff with the top goalies in the league. That said, I still think the Pens are a dangerous team that can win with him. I think a lot of this is that he was hot at the right time (and all goalies go through hot and cold periods) early in his career and Penguins' fans expectations and analysis of how good he actually is was out-of-line with reality.

That said, I'm biased as a Caps' fan, and not because of any hatred towards the Penguins, but because we generally torch the guy.

Fleury has regressed. Just look at his numbers:

2007 - .921 / 2.33
2008 - .912 / 2.67
2009 - .905 / 2.65
2010 - .863 / 3.35 (6 games)

 

[DaBoltsNIsles]

I don't believe you. It must be fan support.

The fan support is their. The Islanders drew over 5,000 people for a prospect game after their prospect camp. The Town of Hempstead has fought Chuck every step of the way regarding the Lighthouse Project. The lease is up on the NVMC after the 2015 season. The clock is ticking.

 

[dare2be]

The fan support is their. The Islanders drew over 5,000 people for a prospect game after their prospect camp. The Town of Hempstead has fought Chuck every step of the way regarding the Lighthouse Project. The lease is up on the NVMC after the 2015 season. The clock is ticking.

Unfortunately, the sarcasm was missed.

 

[elocomotive]

Fleury has regressed. Just look at his numbers:

2007 - .921 / 2.33
2008 - .912 / 2.67
2009 - .905 / 2.65

I'm just gonna take the 2010 numbers out b/c it's only 6 games. Having a falloff after your rookie year is not uncommon for NHL goalies. After a year in the league, other teams get to know your tendencies, weak spots, etc., so that's not all that unusual. Anyone remember Jim Carrey?

Those numbers are also a function of defense. Someone mentioned losing Gil and Scuderi earlier, and that's a very valid point. That said, I realize that Johnson is putting up better numbers with the same guys in front of him, but it's a small sample at this point. I think the '08/'09 numbers are a reflection of who Fleury really is, an average NHL starting goaltender. Brent Johnson is the same, he's just hot right now.

 

[evolver115]

I'm just gonna take the 2010 numbers out b/c it's only 6 games. Having a falloff after your rookie year is not uncommon for NHL goalies. After a year in the league, other teams get to know your tendencies, weak spots, etc., so that's not all that unusual. Anyone remember Jim Carrey?

Those numbers are also a function of defense. Someone mentioned losing Gil and Scuderi earlier, and that's a very valid point. That said, I realize that Johnson is putting up better numbers with the same guys in front of him, but it's a small sample at this point. I think the '08/'09 numbers are a reflection of who Fleury really is, an average NHL starting goaltender. Brent Johnson is the same, he's just hot right now.

Technically, Fleury's rookie season wasn't 06-07. He went 4-14-2/.896/3.64 in 03-4.
In 05-06 (the first year he started 40+ games) he went 13-27-6/.898/3.25. By 06-07, MAF finally posted a winning record for the year, he went 40-16-9/.906/2.83.

The Pens are giving up an average of 26.9 shots/per. That's good enough for 5th best in the league. I agree it's still a small sample size, but there is little doubt that since 2006 to today, Fleury has steadily regressed from his career best numbers in 2007/08.

And I disagree about 08-09 being the norm. He's capable of much more. I believe a smart play might be to change the goal-tending coach. He needs something to jumpstart him, because Meloche isn't doing it.