Pens Pregame Thoughts & Death of the Podcast

Just a few thoughts heading into the Panthers game tonight:

Lines at the Gameday Skate:

Kunitz-Crosby-Dupuis 
Cooke-Malkin-Neal 
Bennett-Sutter-Kennedy 
Glass-Jeffrey-Adams 
(Boychuk, Vitale)

Orpik-Martin 
Niskanen-Letang 
Engelland-Despres 
Eaton-Bortuzzo

Ummm, what?  What did Vitale do to get bumped off the 4th line?  What did Bortuzzo do to get bumped off the 3rd pair? Is there a coaching handbook that says "Following a loss - change one 4th line forward and one 3rd pair defenseman?" I guess for this team, it would say the 4th line center.

Sorry Joe, maybe if you put in less effort.

Vitale should be a staple in the lineup by now. He brings more energy to this team than any other player and has been dominant in the faceoff circle.  Moreover, he's a great fit on the 4th line.  Inserting Jeffrey on the 4th line does no favors to the team or DJ.  I love Jeffrey's defensive prowess and puck skills, but most of that won't be on display on the 4th line.  It does give Bylsma the option of juggling lines though and we all know how awesome that is....

As for the defensive side, I firmly believe Bortuzzo and Despres should both be in over Engelland.  Both have higher upside, and both have brought more to the table this season as well.  This is turning into a game of Survivor between Despres and Bortuzzo.  There is no quicker way to slow their development and ruin any confidence each of them has.  Remember the comments Strait made about essentially being terrified of making a mistake because he would get benched?  Despres and Bortuzzo are living that world right now.  That's a great way to risk ruining one, if not both prospects.  

Admittedly, there is a small part of me starting to wonder if Bylsma and Shero's true developmental styles, techniques, and skills aren't being masked by the greatness that is Crosby and Malkin (which spills over to their linemates) right now.  Take note that I did not include Letang there because for all the natural skill he has, I'm not sure what to say about him developing into a better player than he was.  One day in the future, I'm going to sit down and take a long look at who exactly has developed well under this regime.

Please don't ruin him.

As for Beau Bennett, as I mentioned in my Flyers recap - I'm okay with him on the 3rd line.  I don't think he's being used enough or properly, but I would rather see him gain confidence on the 3rd line than watch him get thrown from 2nd line to healthy scratch because of a bad game.  All I ask with Bennett is that he is used steadily to help him grow his game.  I want to see him on the 2nd line wing, but that position has been anything but steady and this just might be safer for his development right now.

Last thought on the lineup...HOW HAS KENNEDY NOT EVEN BEEN BENCHED FOR ONE GAME YET?!?

Last Night: Panthers 5  Flyers 2

While the result appeared lopsided and the Panthers got off to a very quick start against the Flyers, don't let the score fool you.  The Panthers were by no means dominant against Philly; they pretty much capitalized on 3 huge mistakes by the Flyers in the 1st period.  This should be a win if the Penguins just play smart, focused hockey.  I don't believe that'll be an issue after that Flyers loss.

Weird Stat for the Panthers, here are their goal outputs for the last 6 games (record of 1-2-3): 0, 5, 0, 5, 0, 5.  Fleury shutout on the horizon?

Death of the Podcast

As you may have noticed, we have not done a podcast in two weeks now.  I'll throw Adam under the bus for having a life and a busy schedule.  In the wake of such factors, I am joining the crew at The PensNation and will eventually start doing posts on their site.  I have already been joining them on some of their radio shows, so make sure you check out their site.  Here is an iTunes podcast link for their shows.  Thanks for listening to the CrosbyFTW podcast while it lasted and I hope you join me and my new colleagues over at The PensNation!  I'll still post to this site for a while though, fyi.