Comments on: What the Penguins Can Learn from the Steelers http://thehockeywriters.com/what-the-penguins-can-learn-from-the-steelers/ All things NHL. All the time. Thu, 18 Mar 2010 17:13:25 -0400 http://wordpress.org/?v=abc hourly 1 By: Rick Moldovanyi http://thehockeywriters.com/what-the-penguins-can-learn-from-the-steelers/comment-page-1/#comment-156 Rick Moldovanyi Mon, 02 Feb 2009 18:39:11 +0000 http://thehockeywriters.com/?p=1006#comment-156 I don't think a trade or two at the deadline can help the Penguins this year. You're right, Crosby and Malkin are doing almost all of the work. Matt Cooke and Petr Sykora are the only other forwards that have impressed me this year. Staal, Satan, Talbot and others have been very disappointing. Their coaching staff hasn't learned to play with the line-up they have this year. They're not exploiting their strengths and limiting their weaknesses. Their defense which, other than Gonchar, hasn't changed much since last season, is playing horribly. Only Scuderi is doing his job defensively. I don’t think a trade or two at the deadline can help the Penguins this year.
You’re right, Crosby and Malkin are doing almost all of the work. Matt Cooke and Petr Sykora are the only other forwards that have impressed me this year.
Staal, Satan, Talbot and others have been very disappointing.
Their coaching staff hasn’t learned to play with the line-up they have this year. They’re not exploiting their strengths and limiting their weaknesses.
Their defense which, other than Gonchar, hasn’t changed much since last season, is playing horribly. Only Scuderi is doing his job defensively.

]]> By: Chris Shafer http://thehockeywriters.com/what-the-penguins-can-learn-from-the-steelers/comment-page-1/#comment-155 Chris Shafer Mon, 02 Feb 2009 17:51:17 +0000 http://thehockeywriters.com/?p=1006#comment-155 Even from this offseason, I looked at this makeshift Penguins roster and realized that they didn't even have a team. Throw in pieces like Satan and Fedotenko rarely pay off. What the Pittsburgh community was in fact hoping on was for Malkin and Crosby to pull Satan and Fedotenko out of their slumps, for Staal to finally put up some points to help a desperately thin offense, for Fleury to play like he did in the postseason, for Gonchar to stay healthy, and for Sykora to never age. What happened was just the opposite. All the Penguins fans that had the audacity to laugh at my claims of a massive Pittsburgh implosion are probably not finding it so funny now. This team seriously lacks direction and maybe the only hope that has come from this is Matt Cooke who has consistently done his job better than expected from what I've seen. The rest of this team needs different parts. A healthy Gonchar doesn't automatically fix this problem, but of course it would help. It's also important to realize that when Pittsburgh gets down in a game or down in the standings Malkin and Crosby get relied on more and more. You can't have a team that relies on two players. How many times have I said this and no one listened. Look at the Flyers, Bruins, Sharks, Red Wings, Canadiens, Devils, Capitals, etc. Balanced offense and solid defense wins games. Should the Penguins even make the postseason Crosby and Malkin will be so burnt out that they likely won't make it past round one. This team needs to do something immediately. It needs some spark at the trade deadline and then in the offseason they have to consider moving something important to them. Even from this offseason, I looked at this makeshift Penguins roster and realized that they didn’t even have a team. Throw in pieces like Satan and Fedotenko rarely pay off. What the Pittsburgh community was in fact hoping on was for Malkin and Crosby to pull Satan and Fedotenko out of their slumps, for Staal to finally put up some points to help a desperately thin offense, for Fleury to play like he did in the postseason, for Gonchar to stay healthy, and for Sykora to never age. What happened was just the opposite. All the Penguins fans that had the audacity to laugh at my claims of a massive Pittsburgh implosion are probably not finding it so funny now. This team seriously lacks direction and maybe the only hope that has come from this is Matt Cooke who has consistently done his job better than expected from what I’ve seen. The rest of this team needs different parts. A healthy Gonchar doesn’t automatically fix this problem, but of course it would help.

It’s also important to realize that when Pittsburgh gets down in a game or down in the standings Malkin and Crosby get relied on more and more. You can’t have a team that relies on two players. How many times have I said this and no one listened. Look at the Flyers, Bruins, Sharks, Red Wings, Canadiens, Devils, Capitals, etc. Balanced offense and solid defense wins games. Should the Penguins even make the postseason Crosby and Malkin will be so burnt out that they likely won’t make it past round one. This team needs to do something immediately. It needs some spark at the trade deadline and then in the offseason they have to consider moving something important to them.

]]>