Sunday, September 17, 2006

Penguins Preview Part 1: I Pretend to be a Real Journalist

Sometimes, even at age 23, it’s fun to play make believe. Two mornings this week, I awoke bright and early and hauled myself down to Mellon Arena to watch Penguins Training Camp. Sure, the only reason I got in was because the event was open to the public. However, I didn’t let that stop me form bringing a pen, notebook and digital camera in order to obtain the inside “scoop.” So now I present to you my observations from training camp, with pictures to follow in the next couple days.

It looks like the team is trying to establish its lines right away. Through two forty minute scrimmages, the coaching staff made an effort to keep the following combinations together:

LINE 1: Sidney Crosby (Center), Nils Ekman, Colby Armstrong (Wings)

LINE 2: Evgeni Malkin (Center), Ryan Malone, Mark Recchi (Wings)

LINE 3: Erik Christensen (Center), John LeClair, Jarko Ruutu (Wings)

LINE 4: Maxime Talbot (Center), Michel Ouellet, Andre Roy (Wings)

DEFENSEMEN:

Ryan Whitney, Brooks Orpik

Sergei Gonchar, Mark Eaton

Josef Melichar, Rob Scuderi

-- It’s interesting to compare this line-up to the one the Pens had in training camp last year. Without a doubt, the overall offensive firepower was more impressive in 05-06. Lest we forget, that squad had Mario Lemieux, Zigmund Palffy, Ric Jackman and Dick Tarnstrom, two 80-90 point forwards and a pair of 50 point defenseman. Even before injuries derailed the careers of Lemieux and Palffy, and the new rules exposed the defensive shortcomings of Jackman and Tarnstrom, the unit struggled to find any cohesiveness. That version of the Pens lacked a true second-line center, which meant that either Lemieux had to shift over from the wing (a position with far less defensive responsibilities at this point in his career) or Lasse Prjeta ended up centering a line expected to generate goals. Either way, it was ugly.

So while this team may lack the pedigree of last year’s group, I like the overall sum much better. The Crosby/Malkin center at combo gives the Penguins perhaps the best 1-2 punch at the position this side of San Jose. I also love the Nils Ekman pick-up. Having played with Cheechoo and Thornton on the Sharks, he strikes me as the perfect complement to someone of Crosby’s skill level. Ekman has enough offensive prowess to hang with skill forwards, but also a commitment to the defensive zone. If the top line could find a sniper to put on the other wing…we might really have something. Which leads me to point number two…

--It appears doubtful Jordan Staal is going to make the team. As everyone knows, the top two center spots (Staal’s natural position) are filled, and he would be badly miscast on a checking line. There has been strong talk about converting him to wing, especially since it’s a position where the organization in depth. If Staal were going to make the team, it would serve to logic he would spend considerable time there during training. However, Staal took all of his shifts at center, on a line with Connor James and Ryan Stone. Both James and Stone are ticketed for the minors this year, and considering Staal is barely 18, all indications are that he’s going to spend another year in juniors.

-- Evgeni Malkin is sick, in a very, very good way.

-- Dennis Bonvie was in camp! For those of you who are unfamiliar, Dennis Bonvie is a man with no discernable hockey skills. His only positive traits appear to be: 1) he’s not afraid to start a fight with anyone, and 2) he’s very good friends with Mario Lemieux. Bonvie provided one of the highlights of training camp last year, when he started brawls against his own teammates on consecutive days. Bonvie falls into a long and proud line of “Lemieux guys” whom the Penguins employed only because of their good relationships with the big guy. I hope when Lemieux eventually sells the team that new ownership keeps this tradition alive—kind of like the captains picks for the Ryder Cup. Every season, Lemieux gets to pick one guy to be on the team regardless of said players position, age or talent level. The only question is not whether or not this would be awesome, but rather whether Lemieux’s first captain’s pick would be Marc Bergevin or J.J. Daigneault.

-- Josef Melichar has no idea when he's supposed to check someone. When it's the regular season, and your opponent has the puck against the boards, that's a good time to lay a thunderous check. When it's an intrasquad pre-season scrimmage, and your star prospect, who finally made it over from Russia has the puck against the boards, that's a bad time to lay him out with a thunderous hit to the head. What's even more troubling is that Melichar did this to Malkin twice. Can anyone tell me the last time Melichar creamed an opposing team's best player? Anyone?

-- You have to love Kevin Stevens. He was the coach for the “Black Team” during the scrimmage, and he spent the entire time shifting, twitching and rubbing the back of his head. He looked like he’d just detached himself from an espresso IV drip. Although I suppose if I were a recovering crack head who once had my face broken into a hundred pieces on the ice, it would be something of an accomplishment if I looked that good.

-- Marc-Andre Fleury still blows at penalty shots. In the first scrimmage, he stopped only one of four breakaways; a troubling number considering the teams struggles in shoot-outs last season. On the flip-side, Jocelyn Thibault looked good, stoning twice among others. Does anyone know the rules on a shoot-out? Can we keep Thibault around as a shoot-out specialist? The team could put him in during the last five seconds of a tied game, and have him be the guy in net during “the most exciting play in hockey.” Thibault would be like our version of Mike Stanton, a guy the Yankees kept around only to get lefties in late innings. The only hitch is that I’m not sure I want to count on Thibault to keep the opposition from scoring during the last five seconds of a tied game.Crosby

-- They should change the quote from “See Paris and die,” to “see Michel Therien run a practice and die.” I can’t possibly do justice to this in print, but trust me when on this next part. Any chain-smoking French Canadian who once summed up his team’s performance by simply saying “we are za suck,” is a site to behold when drawing up plays on a white-board.

-- .Bring on the Flyers

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